WO2020099260A1

WO2020099260A1 - Crate for bottles

Info

Publication number: WO2020099260A1
Application number: PCT/EP2019/080661
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul Baeyens; Peter Dreessen
Original assignee: Ds Smith Plastics Bilzen N.V.
Priority date: 2018-11-13
Filing date: 2019-11-08
Publication date: 2020-05-22
Also published as: IT201800010281A1

Abstract

The crate material has a rectangular bottom wall (10), and a lateral wall extending transversally from the perimeter of the bottom wall (10) and formed by first and second opposite sides (12) and third and fourth opposite sides (14), so that an internal volume (16) for housing a plurality of bottle carriers (24) is defined, wherein a plurality of spacing elements (20a, 20b, 20c) protrudes from the bottom wall (10) according to a matrix arrangement of rows and columns and individuates a plurality of housings for respective bottles (22). The spacing elements (20a) of a first external row, have an Y-shaped cross section with two concave oblique arms (26) and a stem (28) lying in a direction transversal to the first row, wherein the distal ends of the arms (26) face the first side (12) of the lateral wall, so that a gap (30) exists therebetween. The spacing elements (20b) of a second row, adjacent to the first row and internal, have a rhomboidal cross section with concave sides and a diagonal (32) lying in the direction of the second row. The spacing elements (20c) of a third row, adjacent to the second row, have an Y-shaped cross section with two concave oblique arms (26) and a stem (28) lying in a direction transversal to the third row, wherein the distal ends of the arms (26) face an adjacent surface of an internal partition (18) parallel to the first side (12) of the lateral wall, so that a gap (38) exists therebetween.

Description

CRATE FOR BOTTLES

Crate

The present invention relates to a crate of plastic material, for containing a plurality of bottle carriers.

In detail, such crate has a substantially rectangular bottom wall (wherein the word “rectangular” also includes the“square” option), and a lateral wall extending transversally from the perimeter of the bottom wall and formed by first and second opposite sides and third and fourth opposite sides which are orthogonal to said first and second sides, so that an internal volume for housing a plurality of bottle carriers is defined. Furthermore, a plurality of spacing elements or pinnacles protrudes from the bottom wall according to a matrix arrangement of rows and columns and individuates within said internal volume a plurality of housings, each of which is suitable for housing a respective bottle carried by one of the bottle carriers.

The breweries can thus put the bottles to be filled with the desired liquid in these carriers, typically 4, 6 or 8 bottles into a single carrier, and then these carriers into the crate, so that, when the bottles are filled with the liquid, they are already in an arrangement suitable for the successive transportation to the stores. Accordingly, the packaging and filling operations are quite simplified.

When the crate with the bottle carriers has been transported to a store, the bottle carriers can be let within the crate or put individually on the shelves. Once the costumer has drunken the liquid in the bottles, he returns the carrier with the empty bottles to the store, wherein several carriers are put again into the respective crate. This latter is then returned to the brewery and fed to processing lines, wherein the bottles are washed, subjected to disinfection and refilled, so that a new cycle of transportation, sale, consume and return of the bottles can begin.

Conventional crates are typically able to house not only the bottle carriers, but also single bottles without any carrier, and are specifically tailored for a specific kind of carrier which can be either of plastic or cardboard material. E.g., in order to avoid any shock to the single bottles with consequent ruptures and/or noise generation during crate transport, the pinnacles have a cross section shaped as a Greek cross with four orthogonal arms extensively protruding from a core.

Nevertheless, such shape of the pinnacles may be inconvenient when the crate houses the bottles within the respective carriers and also strongly affects the structure of these latter.

In order to allow the passage of the respective pinnacle, the bottom of the carrier must indeed have a big cross opening, which becomes a weak point of a carrier of cardboard material. Furthermore, the extraction by the customer of the bottle carrier of cardboard material from the crate may be difficult due to interaction between the bottles and the arms of the pinnacle.

On the other hand, such a crate with pinnacles having a cross section shaped as a Greek cross would not be appropriate for carriers of plastic material, because the bottles are already sufficiently protected by such carriers per se and thus these pinnacles would be redundant and merely space-consuming.

One object of the present invention is to overcome the above-captioned drawbacks of the conventional crates.

According to the present invention, this object is achieved by means of a crate having the features disclosed at the beginning of the present description and characterized in that

the spacing elements of at least a first row, which is external, have an Y-shaped cross section with two generally concave oblique arms and a stem lying in a direction transversal to the direction of said first row, wherein the distal ends of said two generally concave oblique arms face the first side of the lateral wall, so that a gap exists between said distal ends and said first side of the lateral wall,

the spacing elements of at least a second row, which is adjacent to said first row and internal, have a rhomboidal cross section with concave sides and a diagonal lying in the direction of said second row, wherein the ratio between the length of said diagonal and the distance between the centers of two adjacent spacing elements of said second row is in the range 10% to 90%, and the spacing elements of at least a third row, which is adjacent to the second row, have an Y-shaped cross section with two generally concave oblique arms and a stem lying in a direction transversal to the direction of said third row, wherein the distal ends of said two generally concave oblique arms face an adjacent surface of an internal partition substantially parallel to said first side of the lateral wall, so that a gap exists between said distal ends and said surface.

The crate of the present invention is suitable for housing bottle carriers of plastic material, as well as of cardboard material substantially of any size, e.g. with the bottle housings arranged according to the conventional 2*2, 2*3 and 2*4 patterns. It is thus completely flexible and adaptable, which is not the case for the conventional standard crates.

Since two opposite sides of the lateral wall of the bottle carriers are located in the gaps between the first and third columns of spacing elements and the respective adjacent wall or internal partition of the crate of the invention, the carriers with the respective bottles stay safely and firmly in place therein.

Hence, the crate of the invention offers good performances as far as avoidance of bottle ruptures and reduction of noise generation during transport are concerned.

Furthermore, the structure of the bottle carriers to be inserted into the crate of the invention may be simplified and more resistant. The two opposite sides of the carrier inserted into said gaps of the crate of the invention may indeed be straight, and the bottom wall of the carrier does not need any big cross shaped opening, but only one or more rhomboidal shaped center opening, as well as Y-shaped side openings. These latter openings are quite small and do not meaningfully weaken the resistance of the carrier, which is a quite important prerogative when this latter is of cardboard material.

Further advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

figure 1 is an axonometric perspective view of a crate according to the invention with two 2*2 bottle carriers inserted therein,

figure 2 is a top plan view of the crate of figure 1,

figure 3 is a sectional plan view of the crate of figure 1,

figure 4 is an axonometric perspective view of the section view of figure 3, figure 5 is an axonometric perspective view of the crate of the previous figures with a different 2*3 bottle carrier inserted therein, and

figure 6 is an axonometric perspective view of the crate of the previous figures 1 to 4 with a further different 2*2 bottle carrier inserted therein.

A crate of plastic material has (figures 1-4) a substantially rectangular bottom wall 10, and a lateral wall extending transversally from the perimeter of the bottom wall 10 and formed by first and second opposite long sides 12 and third and fourth opposite short sides 14 which are orthogonal to the first and second sides 12, so that an internal volume 16 is defined. A center partition 18 parallel to the first and second sides 12 divides in two halves the internal volume 16.

A plurality of spacing elements or pinnacles 20a, 20b, 20c protrudes from the bottom wall 10 according to a matrix arrangement of rows and columns and further individuates within the internal volume 16 a plurality of housings, which are arranged according to a 6*4 matrix pattern. Each housing has a round shape and is thus suitable for housing a respective bottle 22 carried by a bottle carrier 24, two of which having a 2*2 pattern are shown in figures 1 to 4.

The spacing elements 20a of a first row, which is external, have an Y-shaped cross section with two generally concave oblique arms 26 and a stem 28 lying in a direction transversal to the direction of the first row. The distal ends of the two generally concave oblique arms 26 face the first side 12 of the lateral wall, so that a linear gap 30 exists between the distal ends of the arms 26 and the first side 12.

The spacing elements 20b of a second row, which is adjacent to the first row and internal, have a rhomboidal hollow cross section with concave sides and a diagonal 32 (figure 3) lying in the direction of the second row. Some of the edges of the spacing elements 20b of the second row have a rounded protrusion 34. The ratio between the length of the diagonal 32 and the distance 36 between the centers of two adjacent spacing elements 20b of the second row is in the range 10% to 90%. The distance 36 may be for example 50 mm to 100 mm. The ratio between the height of the spacing elements 20b of the second row and the height of the sides 12, 14 of the lateral wall is in the range 25% to 90%.

The spacing elements 20c of a third row which is adjacent to the second row have an Y- shaped cross section with two generally concave oblique arms 26 and a stem 28 lying in a direction transversal to the direction of the third row. The distal ends of the two generally concave oblique arms 26 face an adjacent surface of the internal partition 18, so that a linear gap 38 exists between the distal ends of the arms 26 and the surface of the internal partition 18. The ratio between the height of the spacing elements 20a and 20c of the first and third rows and the height of the sides 12, 14 of the lateral wall is in the range 25% to 90%.

In an embodiment of the present invention not illustrated by the figures, it is possible that the distal ends of the two generally concave oblique arms 26 of the spacing elements 20a, 20c are connected by a wall.

The same pattern of rows of spacing elements 20a, 20b, 20c is repeated starting from the second side 12 of the lateral wall, so that the crate is fully symmetric with regards to the center partition 18.

Respective hollow protrusions 40 having hemi-rhomboidal shape protrude from the third and fourth sides 14 of the lateral wall in correspondence of each second row of spacing elements 20b.

The first and second sides 12 of the lateral wall have a plurality of spaced hollow vertical protrusions 42, whose cross section is rectangular and whose top portions are connected by a horizontal traverse 44.

The bottom wall 10 has a plurality of openings 46 in correspondence of each housing, in particular four openings symmetrically arranged around a cross shaped portion of the bottom wall 10, whose two arms orthogonally intersect in correspondence of the center 48 of each housing (figures 2 and 3).

As shown by figures 1 to 4, the crate can house 2*2 bottle carriers 24 of plastic material, whose bottom wall has openings allowing the passage of the spacing elements 20a, 20b, 20c and a couple of opposite sides of which is safely and firmly located within the linear gaps 30 and 38. For the sake of clarity, figures 1 to 4 show just two carriers 24, but up to six of them can be housed within the crate. Figure 5 shows that the previously disclosed crate is also suitable for housing 2*3 bottle carriers 24 of plastic material. In this case, up to four of these latter carriers can be housed within the crate.

Figure 6 shows that the previously disclosed crate is also suitable for housing 2*2 bottle carriers 24 of cardboard material. In this case, up to six of these latter carriers can be housed within the crate.

Naturally, the principles of the invention remaining the same, the details of construction and embodiments may be widely varied with respect to those described purely by way of example, without thereby departing from the claimed scope. As a matter of fact, the number of housings within the crate of the invention can be any even number, but the need of handling the crate with a reasonable effort may limit in practice such number.

Claims

1. A crate of plastic material having a substantially rectangular bottom wall (10), and a lateral wall extending transversally from the perimeter of the bottom wall (10) and formed by first and second opposite sides (12) and third and fourth opposite sides (14) which are orthogonal to said first and second sides (12), so that an internal volume (16) for housing a plurality of bottle carriers (24) is defined, wherein a plurality of spacing elements (20a, 20b, 20c) protrudes from the bottom wall (10) according to a matrix arrangement of rows and columns and individuates within said internal volume (16) a plurality of housings, each of which is suitable for housing a respective bottle (22) carried by one of said bottle carriers (24),

said crate being characterized in that

the spacing elements (20a) of at least a first row, which is external, have an Y-shaped cross section with two generally concave oblique arms (26) and a stem (28) lying in a direction transversal to the direction of said first row, wherein the distal ends of said two generally concave oblique arms (26) face the first side (12) of the lateral wall, so that a gap (30) exists between said distal ends and said first side (12) of the lateral wall,

the spacing elements (20b) of at least a second row, which is adjacent to said first row and internal, have a rhomboidal cross section with concave sides and a diagonal (32) lying in the direction of said second row, wherein the ratio between the length of said diagonal (32) and the distance (36) between the centers of two adjacent spacing elements (20b) of said second row is in the range 10% to 90%, and

the spacing elements (20c) of at least a third row, which is adjacent to the second row, have an Y-shaped cross section with two generally concave oblique arms (26) and a stem (28) lying in a direction transversal to the direction of said third row, wherein the distal ends of said two generally concave oblique arms (26) face an adjacent surface of an internal partition (18) substantially parallel to said first side (12) of the lateral wall, so that a gap (38) exists between said distal ends and said surface.

2. A crate according to claim 1, wherein said spacing elements (20b) of the second row have a hollow rhomboidal cross section.

3. A crate according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least some of the edges of the spacing elements (20b) of the second row have a rounded protrusion (34).

4. A crate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ratio between the height of the spacing elements (20b) of the second row and the height of the lateral wall is in the range 25% to 90%.

5. A crate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ratio between the height of the spacing elements (20a, 20c) of the first and third rows and the height of the lateral wall is in the range 25% to 90%.

6. A crate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein respective protrusions (40) having hemi-rhomboidal shape protrude from the third and fourth sides (14) of the lateral wall in correspondence of said second row of spacing elements (20b).

7. A crate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said first and second sides (12) of the lateral wall have a plurality of spaced vertical hollow protrusions (42) whose top portions are connected by a horizontal traverse (44).

8. A crate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said bottom wall (10) has a plurality of openings (46) in correspondence of each housing.

9. A crate according to claim 8, wherein said openings (46) are four for each housing and symmetrically arranged around a cross-shaped portion of the bottom wall (10), whose two arms orthogonally intersect in correspondence of the center (48) of the housing.

10. A crate according to any one of the preceding claims, having two series of said first, second and third rows of spacing elements (20a, 20b, 20c), which are symmetrically arranged in respect of said internal partition (18).