Basket carrier with partition panels attached to end flaps

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6341689
  • Patent Number
    6,341,689
  • Date Filed
    Friday, September 15, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, January 29, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
This invention relates to carriers that have partition panels attached to one or both ends of the carrier via an end flap. All of the outside panels of these carriers are folded about lines that are parallel to the longitudinal direction of the gluer on which the carrier is folded and glued. All of these carriers have multi-ply handles in which none of the plies are foldably attached to each other at their top edges. Nicks may be provided between the handle panels and the side and end flaps to hold the carrier in proper position during the folding and gluing operation. This invention also relates to a method of folding and gluing the carriers on a straight-line gluer.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to bottle carriers with full protection for the bottles that have a partition panel attached to an end flap on one or both ends of the carrier. These carriers have been constructed so that they are easy to fold and glue on a straight-line gluer. All of the fold lines for folding outside panels of the carrier are parallel to the longitudinal line of the gluer. Most of these carriers have multi-ply handles that are not foldably attached to each other. The multi-ply handle panels can be temporarily attached to side walls or end flaps by nicks to hold the handle in proper position during the folding and gluing operation.




2. Background of the Invention




Right-angle gluers for the folding and gluing of basket carriers are timed and consequently make it relatively easy to fold and glue the carriers. Straight-line gluers are not so timed, thus it is more difficult to fold and glue a carrier on a straight-line gluer. It would be desirable to develop carriers that easily could be folded and glued on a straight-line gluer. It would be necessary to have the various flaps and panels that are folded and glued arranged so that they simply can be flipped over 180° and then glued to the appropriate panel or flap without undesirable bunching of the paperboard.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of this invention to develop a series of carriers to provide full protection for bottles that can be folded and glued on straight-line gluers. This object has been obtained by the development of carriers that either have their partition panels attached to an end flap on one end of the carrier or attached to end flaps on both ends of the carriers. The folding and gluing of the outside panels of these carriers take place along fold lines that are parallel to the longitudinal direction of the gluer. The panels or tabs that are to be glued can simply be flipped 180° on a straight-line gluer and glued to the appropriate panel or flap without bunching of the paperboard. The multi-ply handle panels are easy to manipulate on a straight-line gluer in that they are either not foldably attached to each other or are attached by nicks only. The handle plies can be easily flipped into flat position without bunching of the paperboard. It is not necessary that this operation be timed as in the case of carries that are designed to be run on a right-angle gluer. Nicks between the handle panels and the side and end walls and end flaps can be provided to hold the handle panel in proper position during the gluing and folding operation. These nicks are then broken when the carrier is opened to receive bottles.




These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a plan view of the blank for forming an embodiment of the carrier of this invention.





FIG. 2

is a view of the blank of

FIG. 1

in which the median panels have been folded onto the partition panel.





FIG. 3

is a view of the blank of

FIG. 1

in which the partition panels have been folded and the glue tabs glued to the side walls.





FIG. 4

shows the pre-manufactured carrier in which the partition panels have been glued together.





FIG. 5

shows the carrier after it has been opened and is ready to receive bottles.





FIG. 6

is the plan view of the blank for forming an embodiment of the carrier of this invention.





FIG. 7

is the plan view of the blank for forming an embodiment of the carrier of this invention.





FIG. 8

is the plan view of the blank for forming an embodiment of the carrier of this invention.





FIG. 9

is the plan view of the blank for forming an embodiment of the carrier of this invention.





FIG. 10

is the plan view of the blank for forming an embodiment of the carrier of this invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




The present invention are basket-style carriers primarily intended for carrying a plurality of bottles. These carriers can be formed from a single piece of foldable material, such as a blank cut out of paperboard. The layout of the blank is basically rectangular, which shape results in economizing the amount of paperboard used. These carriers preferably can be used for carrying from four to six or more bottles.




These carriers are designed to be glued on what is referred to as a straight-line gluer. Consequently, the partition panels forming the various cells of the carrier are attached to an end flap on one end of the carrier or end flaps on both ends. This facilitates the gluing on a straight-line gluer as the blank proceeds down through the gluing section with the transverse axis of the blank being parallel to the direction of travel of the conveyor belt conveying the blank through the gluing sections. In this way, as the blank is glued, various panels of the blank can be simply flipped 180° degrees around the fold line after glue has been applied so that the panels are adhered together. The fold lines are either parallel to or at a 90° angle to the line of travel down the gluing line of the blank.




These carriers have multi-ply handles that are either (i) not foldable attached to one another, or are (ii) attached by nicks only as this facilitates folding the carriers. The top of each handle ply ends in a single ply edge rather than a foldable ply when two plies of a handle are folded upon each other, which results in the bunching of paperboard on a straight-line gluer. Even when two plies of the handle are attached by nicks each ply ends in an edge rather than a fold line.




Several embodiments of this carrier are described infra.




Basket-Style Carrier with Partition Panels Attached to Each End of the Carrier





FIG. 1

is a plan view of a blank with partition panels attached to each end of the carrier. The blank is illustrated by the numeral


10


. The numeral


12


refers to a partition panel which is attached by fold line


14


to end flap


16


. Partition panel


12


is attached by fold line


18


to median panel


20


. Fold line


18


may be interspersed with cuts to facilitate folding. Median panel


20


is attached by fold line


22


to cell divider


24


A, which in turn is attached by fold line


26


to glue tab


28


A. Median panel


20


is attached by fold line


30


to cell divider panel


24


B, which in turn is attached by fold line


32


to glue tab


28


B. Median panel


20


may be attached by fold line


34


to stabilizing flap


36


.




End flap


16


is attached by fold line


38


to side wall


40


, which in turn is connected by fold line


42


to bottom flap


44


. Rectangular apertures


46


may by placed in bottom flap


44


adjacent to fold line


42


to receive a portion of the heel of the bottle which are placed in the carrier. Side wall


40


is attached by fold line


48


, to end flap


50


, which in turn is attached by fold line


52


to adjacent end flap


54


. End flap


54


is attached by fold line


56


to side wall


58


, which in turn is attached by fold line


60


to bottom flap


62


, which may also have apertures


46


to receive a portion of the heels of the bottles. Side wall


58


is attached by fold line


63


to end flap


65


, which in turn is attached by fold line


64


to partition panel


66


, which is attached by fold line


68


to median panel


70


, which is attached by fold line


72


to cell divider


74


A, which is in turn is attached by fold line


76


to glue tab


78


A. Median panel


70


is attached by fold line


80


to cell divider


74




b,


which is attached by fold line


82


to glue tab


78


B. Median panels


20


and


70


are separated from their respectively partition panels


12


and


66


by cut lines


120


and


122


, respectively. End flap


50


is attached at its top end by fold line


84


to handle panel


86


A, which in turn is attached by fold line


88


, which is attached to handle support panel


90


, which in turn is attached by fold line


92


to the upper end of end flap


65


. Handle panel


86


A is attached by nicks


94


to handle flap


96


A resulting in both handle panel


86


A and handle flap


96


A having an edge rather than a fold line adjacent nicks


94


. Handle panel


86


A has a hand aperture


98




a


for carrying. Handle panel


86


A is attached by fold line


100


to cushioning flap


102


A to cushion the hand while the carrier is being carried. Handle panels


86


A is suspended between end flaps


50


and


65


. Handle panel


86


A is separated from end flap


54


and side wall


58


by cut line


104


. A nick


106


(i.e., temporary bridge) may be utilized to hold the handle panel


86


A in proper alignment with side wall


58


during the folding and gluing operation. The temporary bridge


106


will be destroyed when the carrier has been opened and filled with bottles. This temporary bridge or nick also serves to hold the folded carrier blank flat during shipment from the manufacturing plant to the bottler where the carrier is opened. A corresponding handle panel


86


B is attached by fold line


108


to handle panel


86


A. Handle panel


86


B is attached by nicks


110


to handle flap


96


B. Handle flap


86


B has hand aperture


98


B. A cushioning flap


102


B is connected to handle panel


86


B by fold line


112


. Handle panel


86


B is attached by fold line


114


to handle support


116


, which in turn is attached by fold line


118


to end flap


16


.




This carrier is ideal for folding and gluing on a straight-line gluer in that all of the fold lines


14


,


38


,


48


,


52


,


56


,


63


,


64


for the outside panels are parallel to the longitudinal direction of the gluer and are parallel to each other to facilitate easy folding of the blank into a folded and glued carrier ready for shipment to a bottling plant for opening and filling with the bottles.




This carrier is manufactured by folding median panels


20


and


70


along fold lines


18


and


68


, as shown in FIG.


2


. Partition panels


12


and


66


are then folded along fold lines


38


and


63


respectively and glue tabs


28


A,


28


B and


78


A and


78


B glued to side walls


40


and


58


respectively to form the cells for containing the bottles as shown in FIG.


3


. As shown on

FIG. 4

, handle flaps


96


A and


96




b


can be folded and glued to handle panels


86


A and


86


B, respectively. The presence of nicks


94


and


110


between handle panels


86


A and


86


B and handle flaps


96


A and


96




b


respectively makes it easy to flip the handle flaps on the straight-line gluer. The cut lines between nicks


94


and


110


result in the paperboard handle having an edge along most of its length. The paperboard does not bunch between these nicks which would make gluing on a straight-line gluer difficult, if not impossible. The pre-manufactured carrier is then finished by flipping one half of the carrier longitudinally onto the other half and gluing partition panels


12


and


66


together as shown in FIG.


4


. Handle flaps


96


A and


96




b


are glued together to form a 3 ply handle. Stabilizing flap


36


may be folded around partition panel


12


to provided greater stability to the carrier. The carrier is then ready for shipment to the bottling plant where the carrier is opened on a carrier opening machine and bottom flaps


44


and


62


are glued together and the carrier is ready to be filled with bottles as shown in FIG.


5


.




This carrier is unique in that all of the fold lines for forming the outside panels of the carrier are parallel to the longitudinal line of the gluer. The partition panels


12


and


66


are attached to each end of the carrier. Nicks


104


and


106


hold the handle panels


86


A and


86




b


in place during folding and gluing. This carrier has been designed so that it can be formed on a straight-line gluer.




Another carrier which has partition panels attached to each end flap is illustrated in FIG.


6


. The numeral


111


illustrates a plan view of the blank of this carrier. A partition panel


112


is attached by fold line


114


to end flap


116


. Cell divider


118


is struck from partition panel


112


and is attached by fold line


120


. A glue flap


122


is attached to cell divider


118


by fold line


124


. Cell divider


126


is also struck from partition panel


112


and attached by fold line


128


. Glue flap


130


is attached to cell divider


126


by fold lines


132


. Bottom glue flap


134


is attached to partition panel


112


by fold line


136


. A hand aperture


140


is struck from the top portion of partition panel


112


.




Side wall


142


is attached to end flap


116


by fold line


144


. Side wall


142


is attached to glue panel


146


by fold line


148


. Apertures


150


may be formed within the glue panel to receive a portion of the heels of bottles. A handle panel


152


is attached by fold line


154


to partition panel


112


. Handle panel


152


may be attached to end flap


116


and side wall


142


by one or more nicks


156


. Handle panel


152


is not attached to partition panel


112




a


its top edge, but rather end at the top edge for ease of folding on a straight-line gluer. Handle panel


152


has a hand aperture


158


and cushioning flaps


160


attached to handle panels by fold lines


162


. End flap


164


is attached to side wall


142


by fold line


166


and in turn attached by line


168


to corresponding end flap


170


. End flap


170


is attached to side wall


172


by fold line


174


. The side wall is in turn attached to bottom glue flap


176


by fold line


178


. Bottom glue flap


176


also has apertures


180


for receiving a portion of the heels of bottles. Side wall


172


is attached to end flap


182


by fold line


184


. End flap


182


is attached to partition panel


186


by fold line


188


. Cell divider


190


is struck from partition panel


186


and attached by fold lines


192


to the partition panel


186


. A glue tab


194


is attached to cell divider


190


by fold line


196


. Cell divider


198


is struck from partition panel


186


and attached thereto by fold line


200


. Glue tab


202


is attached to cell divider


198


by fold lines


204


. Hand aperture


206


is struck from the top portion of partition panel


186


. Handle panel


208


is attached to partition panel


186


by fold line


210


. Handle panel is identical to handle panel


152


in that it ends at its top edge. Hand aperture


212


is struck from handle panel


208


. Cushioning flap


214


is attached to handle panel by fold line


216


. Handle panel


208


is attached to end flap


182


and side wall


172


by one or more nicks


222


. Bottom glue flap


218


is attached to partition panel


186


by fold line


220


.




This carrier and the other carriers of this invention are glued on a straight-line gluer in a similar fashion. Consequently, figures showing the stages of manufacture of this and the following carriers are omitted. Reference can be made to

FIGS. 2-5

as an aid in visualizing the manufacturing and opening of each carrier.




This carrier is glued on a straight-line gluer by folding partition flaps


112


and gluing glue tabs


122


and


130


to side wall


142


. All of the folding is around fold lines parallel to the longitudinal direction of the straight-line gluer. Similarly, partition panel


186


is folded, and glue tabs


194


and


202


are glued to side wall


172


. The entire carrier is folded along fold lines


174


and


166


inwardly in the middle along fold line


168


with the backside of partition panel


112


glued to the backside of partition panel


186


to complete the manufacturing of the carton on the gluer. In the process, fold lines


166


,


168


and


174


are folded so that end flaps


164


and


170


rest upon each other. This carrier forms a 4 ply handle.




This carrier can be filled with bottles by lowering the carton over six bottles and folding and gluing bottom glue flap


134


to glue panel


146


. Bottom glue flap


176


is glued to bottom glue flap


218


. It will be understood that the fold lines in this carton may be interspersed with cuts to facilitate folding.




This carrier is unique in that the partition panels


112


,


186


are foldably attached to the end flaps


116


,


182


at the ends of the carrier. Nicks


156


and


222


hold handle panels


152


and


208


in position during the gluing operation. This carrier has been designed so that it can be glued on a straight-line gluer. All of the folds that are necessary to be made to form and glue this carrier are made along the longitudinal line of the straight-line gluer.




Another carrier that has partition panels attached to each end flap, but with somewhat different type of partition panels is illustrated in FIG.


7


. The blank is illustrated by the numeral


510


. Glue flap


512


is attached to cell divider


514


by fold line


516


, which in turn is attached to partition panel


518


by fold line


520


. Partition panel


518


is attached to end panel


522


by fold line


524


, which in turn is connected to side wall


526


by fold line


528


, which in turn is connected to bottom panel


530


by fold line


532


. Side wall


526


is attached to end panel


534


by fold line


536


, and in turn attached to end panel


538


by fold line


540


. End panel


538


is attached to side wall


542


by fold line


544


. Side wall


542


is attached to bottom panel


546


by fold line


548


. Side wall


542


is attached to end panel


550


by fold line


552


. End panel


550


is attached to partition panel


554


by fold line


556


. Partition panel


554


is attached to cell divider


558


by fold line


560


, and in turn is attached to glue tab


562


by fold line


564


. Partition panel


554


is attached to glue flap


566


by fold line


568


. Partition panel


564


is attached to median panel


570


by fold line


572


. Median panel


570


is attached to cell dividers


574


and


576


by fold line


578


and


580


, respectively. Cell dividers


574


and


576


are attached to glue tabs


582


and


584


by fold lines


586


and


588


, respectively. Handle panels


590


and


592


are attached together by fold line


594


, and in turn are attached to handle support panels


596


and


598


, respectively, which in turn are attached to end panels


550


and


522


by fold lines


552


and


528


. Handle panel


590


is attached by fold line


600


to handle flap


602


, and handle panel


592


is attached by fold line


604


to handle flap


606


. Nicks


608


may be provided to attach to handle panels


590


and


592


to the adjoining side walls


542


,


526


, and end panels


534


,


538


. The handle panels


590


and


592


, and handle flaps


602


and


606


are not attached to each other at their top ends, which facilitates folding the carrier on a straight-line gluer.




This carrier is manufactured by first folding median panel


570


along fold line


572


. Handle flap


602


can be folded along fold line


600


and glued to handle panel


590


. End panel


522


is folded along fold line


528


, and partition panel


518


is folded along fold line


524


, and cell divider


514


is folded along fold line


520


, and glue flap


512


is folded along fold line


516


, and glue flap


512


is glued to side wall


526


to form an end cell for containing a bottle. Handle flap


606


is folded along fold line


604


and glued to handle panel


592


. End panel


550


, and partition panel


554


are folded along fold line


552


, and cell dividers


574


and


576


are folded along fold lines


578


and


580


, respectively. Glue flaps


582


and


584


are folded along fold lines


586


and


588


and glued to side wall


542


. The carrier is then folded in half along fold line


540


and cell divider


558


is folded along fold line


560


, and glue tab


562


is folded along fold line


564


and glued to side wall


526


to finish the manufacture of the folded carrier. The carrier is loaded with bottles in the bottling plant in basically the same manner as the other carriers as described supra.




This carrier is unique in that it has a partition panel attached to one end of the carrier and another type of partition panel attached to the other end of the carrier. The handle panels are held in place by nicks


608


during folding and gluing. With all of the fold lines being parallel to the longitudinal direction of the gluer, the carrier is easy to fold and glue on a straight-line gluer.




Folding Carrier with All Partition Panels Attached to One End of the Carrier




Another type of carrier has been developed that can be folded and glued on a straight-line gluer, is one where all of the partition panels are attached to one end of the carrier. One example of such carrier is illustrated in

FIG. 8. A

plan view of the blank is illustrated by the numeral


220


. The partition panel is illustrated by


222


, which is attached to bottom glue panel


224


by fold line


226


. Cell divider


228


is attached to partition panel


222


by fold lines


230


. Glue tab


232


is attached by fold line


234


to cell divider


228


. Cell divider


236


is struck from partition panel


222


and attached thereto by fold line


238


. Glue tab


240


is attached to cell divider


236


by fold lines


242


. A hand aperture


244


is struck from the top end of partition panel


222


. Partition panel


222


is attached to a second partition panel


246


by fold line


248


. Partition panel


246


is attached to bottom glue flap


250


by fold line


252


. Cell divider


254


is struck from partition panel


246


and attached thereto by fold lines


256


. Glue tab


258


is attached to cell divider


254


by fold line


260


. Cell divider


262


is struck from partition panel


246


and attached thereto by fold lines


264


. Glue tab


266


is attached by fold lines


268


to cell divider


262


. Hand aperture


270


is struck from the top portion of partition panel


246


. Partition panels


222


and


246


are not attached to each other at their tops which facilitates folding on a straight-line gluer. Partition panel


246


is attached to end flap


272


by fold line


274


. End flap


272


is attached side wall


276


by fold line


278


. Side wall


276


is attached to glue flap


280


, which forms part of the bottom of the carrier, by fold line


282


. Heel apertures


284


are provided in glue flap


280


to receive a portion of the heels of the bottles.




Side wall


276


is attached to end flap


286


by fold line


288


, and in turn is attached to end flap


290


by fold line


292


, which in turn is attached to side wall


294


by fold line


296


. Side wall


294


is attached to glue flap


298


, which also serves as a portion of the bottom of the carrier, by fold line


300


. Side wall


294


is attached to end flap


302


by fold line


304


. Handle panels


306


and


308


are attached to each other by fold line


292


. Both of these handle panels


306


and


308


have hand apertures


310


and cushioning flaps


312


. Handle panels


306


and


308


are not attached to each other at their top but rather end in an edge of the paperboard. Handle panels


306


and


308


are respectively attached to handle support panel


314


and


316


by fold lines


318


and


320


, respectively. Handle support panel


314


is attached to end flap


302


by fold line


304


and handle support panel


316


is attached to end flap


272


by fold line


278


. Glue flap


303


is attached by fold line


305


to end flap


302


. Handle panels


306


and


308


are attached to side walls


294


and


276


, respectively by nicks


319


.




This carrier can easily be folded and glued by folding the carrier at fold line


248


. Partition panel


222


can be attached to partition panel


246


by glue in selected areas. The carrier is then folded at fold line


278


. Glue tabs


232


and


240


are glued to side wall


276


. The carrier is then folded at fold line


292


and glue flap


303


is glued to end flap


272


. Glue tabs


258


and


266


are glued to side wall


294


completing the manufacture of the folded carrier.




In the bottling plant, the folded carrier is opened and placed over a grouping of bottles and bottom glue flaps


224


,


250


,


280


and


298


are glued to form the bottom of the carrier.




This carrier is unique in that the two partition panels


222


and


246


are attached to each other, and in turn are attached to end flap


272


. This facilitates the folding and gluing of these carriers on a straight-line gluer. Handle flaps


306


and


308


are held in proper position during the gluing and transportation to the bottle plant by nicks


319


.




Another type of carrier is illustrated by

FIG. 9

in which the partition panels are attached to each other at the bottom edges, and one of the panels is attached at one side edge to an end flap. The blank is illustrated by the numeral


320


. Partition panel


322


is attached to partition panel


324


by fold line


326


at the respective bottom edge of each partition panel. Cell dividers


328


A-D are struck from partition panels


322


and


324


. Each is attached to a glue tab


330


A-D. Stabilizing panel


332


is attached to partition panel


322


by fold line


334


. Partition panel


324


is attached at one of its side edges to end flap


336


by fold line


338


. End flap


336


is attached to side wall


340


by fold line


342


, which in turn is attached to bottom panel


344


by fold line


346


. Side wall


340


is connected to end flap


348


at fold line


350


and in turn is connected to end flap


352


by fold line


354


. End flap


352


is connected to side wall


356


by fold line


358


. Side wall


356


is connected to glue flap


360


by fold line


362


. Side wall


356


is connected to end flap


364


by fold line


366


, which in turn is connected to glue flaps


368


by fold lines


370


. Handle panels


372


and


374


are attached together by fold line


354


and they are attached to side walls


340


and


356


via handle support panels


376


and


378


. Nicks


380


serve to hold handle panels


372


and


374


in proper position during the folding and gluing operations. Handle panels


372


and


374


are not attached to each other at their top edges which facilitates folding this carrier on a straight-line gluer.




In the folding and gluing of this carton into a folded blank, partition panel


322


is folded over and glued to partition panel


324


. The carrier is then folded about fold line


342


, and glue tabs


330




a


and


330




b


are glued to side wall


340


. The carrier is then folded about fold line


354


, and glue tabs


330




c


and


330




d


are glued to side wall


356


. End flap


364


is then folded, and glue tab


368


is glued to partition panel


324


.




This carrier is opened and placed over the bottles, and glue flap


360


is glued to bottom panel


344


. The nicks


380


are then broken at the time the handle panels


372


and


374


are brought into the carrying position. The steps in folding and gluing this carrier on a straight-line gluer can be easily accomplished. This carrier also has a strong bottom in that bottom panel


344


extends in a single piece across the bottom of the carrier.




This carrier is unique in that both partition panels are attached at one end of the carrier. The handle panels are held in position during folding and gluing by nicks between the handle panels and the side walls. These features facilitate gluing the carrier on a straight-line gluer.




A carrier in which a partition panel is attached at its side to the side of a partition panel, which in turn is attached to an end flap is illustrated in FIG.


10


. The blank is illustrated by the numeral


410


. A partition panel is illustrated by the numeral


422


, which is attached to a glue flap


424


by fold line


426


. Cell dividers


428


A and


428


B are foldably attached and struck from partition panel


422


and separated therefrom by fold line


430


. Cell dividers


428


A and


428


B have glue tabs


432


A and


432


B, respectively. Partition panel


422


is attached to partition panel


434


by fold line


436


. Cell dividers


438


and


440


are struck from partition panel


434


. Cell divider


440


is foldably attached to partition panel


434


via support panel


442


. Cell dividers


438


and


440


have glue tabs


444


and


446


. Partition panel


434


is foldably attached to end flap


448


by fold line


450


. End flap


448


is foldably attached to side panels


452


by fold line


454


. Side panel


452


is foldably attached to bottom panel


456


by fold line


458


. Side panel


452


is foldably attached to end flap


460


by fold line


462


, and in turn attached to end flap


464


by fold line


466


. End flap


464


is foldably attached to side wall


468


by fold line


470


. Side wall


468


is attached to bottom panel


472


by fold line


474


. Side wall


468


is foldably attached to end flap


476


by fold line


478


.




This carrier has a 2½ ply handle composed of a cantilevered handle flap


480


, which is foldably attached to handle panel


482


, which in turn is foldably attached to handle panel


484


, which are attached via support panel


486


and


488


to side walls


452


and


468


, respectively. None of the handle panels or flaps are attached to each other at their top ends which permits this carrier to be folded on a straight-line gluer.




This carrier lends itself to being folded and glued on a straight-line gluer in that the first step is folding divider cells


428


A and


428


B along fold line


430


. Divider cell


440


is folded along fold line


435


into proper position. The cantilevered handle flap


480


is folded onto handle panel


482


in the third step. Partition panel


422


is folded along fold line


436


, and in turn is folded along fold line


454


onto side wall


452


and


470


and glue tabs


432


A,


432


B,


444


and


446


glued thereto. The carrier is folded along fold line


466


and end flap


476


glued to end flap


448


. This carrier is opened and lowered over bottles in much the same manner as the carrier previously described.




Because partition panels


422


and


434


are attached to end flap


448


, this carrier is easy to glue on a straight-line gluer.




While the invention has been disclosed in its preferred forms, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications, additions, and deletions can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A bottle basket carrier blank which may be folded and glued on a straight-line gluer into a folded carrier ready for opening and loading with bottles, said carrier having a bottom, side and end walls and two partition panels with cell dividers, with the partition panels being foldably attached to at least one end wall and a multi-ply handle with each ply having an unfolded top edge when the carrier has been folded, the top edge of each of said two handle plies being attached by a plurality of small nicks to a handle flap to facilitate moving the flaps into contact with the two handle plies in a flat relationship with each other and thereby maintain an unfolded top edge.
  • 2. The blank of claim 1 in which one of the end walls is composed of two flaps, one of which is foldably attached to a partition panel which in turn is foldably attached to the second partition panel.
  • 3. The blank of claim 2 in which the side walls have a top edge and at least one of the handle plies has a bottom edge which is attached by small nicks to the top edge of said side wall, said nicks being designed for holding the multi-ply handle in proper position during folding and gluing but being capable of being easily broken when the carrier is opened to receive bottles.
  • 4. The blank of claim 1 in which one of the end walls is composed of two flaps, each of which is foldably attached to a partition panel.
  • 5. The blank of claim 4 in which the side walls have a top edge and at least one of the handle plies has a bottom edge which is attached by small nicks to the top edge of said side wall, said nicks being designed for holding the multi-ply handle in proper position during folding and gluing but being capable of being easily broken when the carrier is opened to receive bottles.
  • 6. The blank of claim 1 in which the side walls have a top edge and at least one of the handle plies has a bottom edge which is attached by small nicks to the top edge of said side wall, said nicks being designed for holding the multi-ply handle in proper position during folding and gluing but being capable of being easily broken when the carrier is opened to receive bottles.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
3860113 Helms Jan 1975 A
3917059 Wood Nov 1975 A
3917060 Wood Nov 1975 A
4010847 Wood et al. Mar 1977 A
4450956 Wood May 1984 A
5538131 Harrelson Jul 1996 A
6230881 Gollura May 2001 B1
6247585 Holley, Jr. Jun 2001 B1