Bottle carrier

Nov. 20, 1951

R. H. CASLER

BOTTLE CARRIER

Filed Sept. 16, 1946

2,575,654

At-t’-sca

Patented Nov. 20, 1951

2,575,654

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,575,654

BOTTLE CARRIER

Roger H. Casler, Oakville, Conn., assignor to Boy

S. Sanford, Oakville, Conn.

Application September 16,1946, Serial No. 697,197

Claims.

This invention relates to a carton, and more particularly to a carrier for bottles or similar articles.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive bottle carrier.

Another object is to provide a single piece blank for a carrier of the above type which may be readily assembled on conventional carton making or gluing machines.

A further object is to provide a carrier blank adapted to be folded and glued to form a carrier of the above type, so constituted as to require the application of adhesive on only one side Of the blank.

Still another object is to provide a carrier having a reinforced handle portion of relatively great strength.

A further object is to provide a carrier having a handle portion having reinforcing portions adhesively secured thereto, whereby the adhesive is effective to increase the strength of the handle portion.

Yet another object is to provide a carrier blank having novel compartment wall forming members integral therewith for separating the bottles or other articles in order to prevent engagement therebetween.

Another object is to provide a carrier blank having compartment wall forming members integral therewith and so disposed with respect to the rest of the carrier as to facilitate the insertion of bottles in the finished carrier.

Yet another object is to provide partition forming members integral with the compartment side walls so constituted as to strengthen and brace the side walls.

A still further object is to provide a carrier having article receiving compartments, wherein the partitions defining the compartments serve to yieldingly separate the articles.

A further object is to provide a carrier of paper board or similar material having article receiving compartments, so constituted that the partitions between the compartments are formed with three layers of said material separating the articles in adjacent compartments in order to minimize breakage or damage of the articles.

Still another object is to provide a carrier which may be assembled, shipped flat, and readily opened into article receiving position by the user.

Another object is to provide a blank for a carrier of the above type, so constituted as to permit cooperating parts thereof to be folded and adhesively or otherwise secured to each other during continuous movement of the blank (CL 229—52) through a single machine of conventional type.

A still further object is to provide a carrier blank so constituted that all cutting, scoring and printing operations are performed on one side 5 only of the blank.

These and other objects and novel features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from the following detailed description when considered In connection with the accompany10 ing drawings, wherein one embodiment of the invention is illustrated. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawing is utilized for purposes of illustration only, and is not to be taken as a definition of the limits of the inven15 tion, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawing, wherein similar reference Characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views;

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the blank from which the carrier is formed;

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view looking downwardly on the finished carrier, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled 25 carrier.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a blank 4 of substantially rectangular shape is cut from a sheet of paper board or other suitable material, and is provided with a plurality of scored lines 30 and die cut lines defining various relatively foldable panels, as more fully described hereinaafter. Horizontal score lines 5 and 6, vertical score lines 7 and 8, and portions of die cut lines 9 define a pair of identical adjacent main carrier side wall 35 panels 10, while a pair of handle openings ί ί and handle opening flaps i2 symmetrically disposed on the two side wall panels are defined by die cut lines . 13 and score lines 14. A pair of identical oppositely disposed handle reinforcing panels 40 15 are defined by score lines 8, die cut lines 9, and horizontally disposed die cut lines !6 which intersect the lines 9, the reinforcing panels being divided into identical upper and lower panels 17 and (8 by the partial die cut score lines 18a. 45 Four identical end wall panels 19 at the sides of the main side wall panels are defined by cut lines 9 and (6 and score lines 7, the outer portions of the end wall panels having glue flaps 20 defined by vertical score lines 21. Vertical score 50 lines 22 are also provided on the end wall panels for reasons to be more fully described hereinafter.

A pair of identical bottom panels 23 are provided at the outer ends of the panels 10, these being foldable about score lines 5 and being bisected by horizontal score lines 24. Rectangular

9,57δ,ββ4 outer side wall panels 21 are formed at the outer ends of bottom panels 21. and are defined by horizontal score lines 21 and vertical score lines 27, the outer edges 21 being preferably parallel with score lines 21. Four end wall panels 21 are provided at the sides of panels 21, and adhesive receiving panels 30 are provided adjacent the sides of panels 29 and foldable with respect thereto about vertical score lines 11.

Since the carrier is Intended to receive a plurality of bottles or other articles of a fragile nature, it is desirable to provide partitions or separators between the bottles. In the present invention, these partitions are provided for by partially cutting cooperating and oppositely disposed partition forming members out of the main and outer side wall panels, thus resulting in a simplified construction which eliminates the need for using additional paper board or other material to form the partitions. To this end, partition forming members 32 are defined in the main side wall panels 10 by spaced die cut lines 33 and 34 and a die cut line 35 connecting the outer ends of lines 33 and 34. The inner ends of the lines 33 and 34 are preferably connected by a score line 36, and partition forming members are thus defined which may be folded outward with respect to the plane of the wall panels about score lines 36. In like maimer die cut lines 37 and 38 and die cut lines 39 connecting the outer ends thereof define similar partition forming members 40 in the outer side wall panels 25, the latter members being foldable outward from the plane of the panels about score lines 41 extending between the inner ends of cut lines 37 and 38. Additional score lines 42 extending between the lines 37 and 38, and preferably parallel to the corresponding score lines 4i, define adhesive receiving portions 43 which are foldable with respect to the corresponding remaining portions of the members about the score lines 42. The cut lines 33, 34, 35, and 37, 38, 39, and the score lines 36 and 4i, are so positioned on the panels 10 and 25, that when the panels 25 and the attached outer portions of bottom panels 23 are folded bodily 180 degrees about score lines 24 to bring the upper surfaces of panels 25 substantially in engagement with the corresponding upper surfaces of panels iO, the outer ends of members 32 will engage the outer ends of the corresponding members 40, and the score lines 36 and 4i will be parallel to each other.

As heretofore stated, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a blank for a bottle carrier, so constituted that the various cooperating portions of the blank may be folded and adhesively or otherwise secured together while moving continuously through a single folding or gluing and folding machine of conventional type, it being pointed out in this connection that machines are now in common use which may be adapted by relatively simple adjustments to fold and glue a number of different foldable portions of a carrier or similar blank. As more fully explained hereinafter, the gluing operation above referred to is further facilitated by the fact that the blank is so arranged that it is only necessary to apply adhesive to one side of the blank.

Although the various portions of the carrier may be stapled or otherwise mechanically secured together without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is contemplated that these portions may be most economically adhesively secured together, and it has been found that the operations necessary to effect this result may be accom4 plished as follows In a conventional gluing machine.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the blank may be conveyed through the gluing machine with the right edge of the blank as the leading edge. A suitable adhesive is applied by the machine to the shaded area 44 in the central portion of the blank, the next operation being to fold over the two reinforcing panels 15 with their upper surfaces in engagement with the adhesively coated area 44. Thereafter, glue flaps 20 are folded over with their upper surfaces substantially in engagement with the upper surfaces of end wall panels 19, and adhesive is applied by the machine to shaded areas 45 on panels 30 and shaded areas 46 on portions 43 of partition forming members 40. Completion of the assembly is effected by bodily folding panels 25 and the outer halves of panels 23 upwardly 180 degrees about score lines 24, thus bringing adhesively coated areas 45 into engagement with what were originally the under surfaces of glue flaps 20 as viewed in Fig. 1, and bringing adhesively coated areas 46 in to engagement with the end portions of the corresponding partition forming members 32. During the passage of the blank through the gluing machine, pressure is applied to effect positive engagement of the adhesively coated areas with the cooperating surfaces, and the blank is delivered by the machine folded as above described, and with the adhesively coated areas and cooperating surfaces securely bonded together. The assembled carrier may then be shipped flat in this form, or the upper and lower main side wall panels may be folded 180 degrees about the score line 6 to bring the under surfaces thereof together, whereupon the carrier may be packed in suitable cartons and shipped in this condition to the bottling plant. In the event the latter procedure is followed, the folding operation is facilitated by the partially die cut score lines 18a, which are in alignment with score line 6. To further facilitate the above folding operation, the portions between the die cut lines 18a may be partially cut through the paper from the under side, as indicated by dotted lines 47, thus allowing the paper at the under side, which is on the upper or outer side after the blank has passed through the gluing machine, to open up or separate when the main wall panels are folded together.

Lines 48 define openings in the outer edges of panels if and 18 which are positioned and shaped to register with the handle openings it when the carrier is assembled as above described, and in order to provide the maximum amount of reinforcement for the main side wall panels 10 and the handle portions thereof, the blank is preferably so dimensioned that the maximum width of the reinforcing panels is substantially equal to half the width of the main side wall panels, whereby the outer edges of the opposite reinforcing panels substantially abut each other after the folding and gluing operations are completed. As a result of this construction, the entire upper portion of each main side panel is composed of two thicknesses of material adhesively secured together over substantially the entire area of the reinforcing panels. Also the surfaces of the reinforcing panels make a convenient location for advertising matter, which may be printed on the under sides of the reinforcing panels of the blank before the latter is put through the gluing machine.

Assuming now that the main side wall panels

2,875,684 have been folded together about score line 6 as above described, the carrier may be opened to receive bottles or other articles, by holding the carrier with the handle portions upward and with the center folds of the bottom panels 23 resting on a flat surface such as a table, and thereafter pushing downwardly on the carrier, whereupon the bottom panels will unfold about the centrally positioned score lines 24 to a relatively flat position, and at the same time the outer side wall panels will move outward with respect to the adjacent main side wall panels, which operation the operator may facilitate if necessary by initiating outward movement of the outer side wall panels. As these panels move outward, the the glue flaps 20 will hinge along score lines 21, and the adhesively coated panels 30 will hinge along score lines 31. At the same time, the score lines 22 on the end wall panels permit the latter to bend about these lines, and the carrier end walls thus formed tend to bend in such a manner as to readily conform to the contour of the bottles placed in the carrier. During the opening operation, the partition forming members hinge about score lines 36 and 41 respectively, and the portions 43 of members 40 hinge about score lines 42, resulting in the formation of interconnecting wall panel supporting partitions between the main and outer side wall panels as shown in Fig. 2, with three thicknesses of the carrier forming material separating at least a portion of each compartment thus formed from the adjacent compartment. In order to improve the appearance of the carrier, the ends of the bottom panels are preferably given an arcuate shape as shown, thus substantially conforming to the shape of the end walls when the latter are positioned as shown in Fig. 2.

Although the score lines 36 and 41 may be arranged parallel to score line 27 if desired, loading of the carrier and proper positioning of the bottom in the carrier compartments may be facilitated by disposing these score lines at an angle to the vertical center line of the blank as shown in Fig. 1, the angles formed by lines 36 and 41 with respect to the center line being equal and oppositely disposed. In loading carriers of this type, it is customary to first insert bottles in the center compartments, and to thereafter insert them in the end compartments. There is no difficulty in loading the center compartments, as the partition members are not fully extended r from the side walls when this operation takes place. As the center bottles are inserted, the side walls are forced further apart, and the partition members extend outward more nearly at right angles to the planes of the adjacent side walls. Due to the angular positioning of the score lines 36 and 41, the top edges of the members 32, which are preferably wider than the members 40, engage the walls of the bottles. The partition members thus form flared openings for the easy insertion of bottles in the end pockets, and the angles formed by the score lines 36 and 4i and the widths of the members 32 are so chosen that the lower edges of members 32 engage the walls of the bottles inserted in the end pockets. Relative movement of the center and end bottles thus tends to twist the partition forming members, and a cushioning action is thus provided between the end and center bottles which tends to minimize breakage.

A further feature which may be incorporated for the purpose of minimizing tearing of the paper adjacent the ends of some of the score lines includes apertures SO and 51 punched at the ends of score lines 8 and 14 respectively, and apertures 52 punched at the ends of score lines 36.

As shown more particularly in Fig. 3, a rela5 tively strong single piece carrier of pleasing appearance is provided, as well as a carrier which may be readily and economically fabricated, shipped, set up, and loaded with the bottles or other similar articles.

While one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described with considerable particularity, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may be embodied in various forms without departing from 15 the spirit of the invention. Reference will, therefore, be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.