FIELD
The present disclosure relates to packaging for transporting a bottle. More particularly, the packaging material is comprised of a corrugated paperboard box and an insert for holding a bottle. The packaging is particularly configured for safely containing and holding in place a bottle with sufficient protection for the contained bottle to facilitate shipping without damage to the contents of the package.
BACKGROUND
Various packaging styles and materials for shipping bottles are known in the art. Protecting bottles during transport has long been a goal in the manufacturing and shipping industries. With the advent of online shopping, the protection of shipping of containers, particularly individual containers, has become an increased priority. To date, few packaging designs have achieved success in safe shipping of glass bottles. Additionally, the cost of manufacture and the ease of assembly of these packages have limited the ability of sellers to ship glass bottles.
Previous attempts at creating safe and inexpensive packaging for glass bottles has generally included exterior corrugated paperboard box having various geometric shapes, in particular, an orthorhombic shape. Filler materials, such as foam, have been used to surround the bottle within the box to provide a cushioning support. With the use of fillers, bottles may be maintained in a central position within the corrugated paperboard box. Alternatively, inserts have been placed within the box to secure the bottle and maintain its position away from the box sides. Such inserts have been manufactured from pressed or molded pulp which are formed through a molding process to create a desired structure.
Drawbacks of known bottle packaging boxes include expense of manufacture, environmental concerns, and the amount of space required by the packaging material. Improvements in packaging structure and material can have a great impact on the industry, as packaging may be standardized throughout, thereby allowing for consistent results and treatment of packages by shipping companies. Standardized packaging allows a shipping company to determine whether packages were properly handled during transport or whether damage to goods was a result of inadequate packing. Glass bottles are particularly susceptible to damage; thus, a need exists for an improved support assembly for transporting bottles in a package.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure is directed to a box bracket assembly including a box and an insert for protecting and holding a bottle securely within the box. The insert includes first and second support apertures for holding the bottle. Support aperture edges hold the bottle in place centrally in an inner cavity between the support panels. The support apertures are formed in first and second support panels. Support panels may be linked by a base. Extending from the sides of the support panels are brackets which fold along a bracket hinge to form a 90° angle with the support panels. Once folded and inserted into the box, the sides of the brackets are parallel and in contact with the sides of the box and the edges of the brackets contact the perpendicular sides of the box, such that the insert and the bottle are immobilized within the box.
A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a bottle packaging enclosure capable of safely holding a bottle without damage within an overall package for safe shipping.
In a second aspect of the present disclosure, an economically feasible box bracket assembly is provided.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a fast and efficient means of placing a bottle securely and safely in a box for transport.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides box bracket assembly for resisting damage to a label on a bottle.
In another aspect, the box bracket assembly can be formed from standard corrugated paperboard cutting material.
Other systems, devices, methods, features, and advantages will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present disclosure and the manner in which it may be practiced is further illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the box bracket assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 is a top view of a flat insert prior to folding in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of an insert in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of an insert in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 5 is a side perspective view of an insert in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 6 is a side view of a bottle in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 7 is a side perspective view of a box bracket assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 8 is a top view of a box bracket assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “left,” “rear,” “right,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the disclosure as oriented in FIG. 1. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.
At the outset, it should be clearly understood that like reference numerals are intended to identify the same structural elements, portions, or surfaces consistently throughout the several drawing figures, as may be further described or explained by the entire written specification of which this detailed description is an integral part. The drawings are intended to be read together with the specification and are to be construed as a portion of the entire “written description” of this disclosure as required by 35 U.S.C. § 112.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, presented in FIGS. 1-8, a box bracket assembly includes a box and insert to protect and hold a bottle securely within the box. In the present disclosure, a bottle is placed within support apertures in the support panels of an insert. The bottle is placed between the two support panels and the support panels are then firmly secured around the bottle. Once the bottle is placed in the support apertures, the insert holds the bottle centrally within the support aperture away from the walls of the box. Brackets that contact the walls of the box hold thin insert in place. In one embodiment, support walls of the insert are linked by a base, which holds the bottle away from the bottom of the box.
With regard to FIG. 1, a top perspective view of a box bracket assembly 150 includes a box 200 and insert 100 to protect and hold a bottle within box 200. Insert 100 is sized and shaped to fit snugly within the box 200. Box 200 may be generally rectangular in shape although various shapes may be contemplated within the present disclosure. The box 200 may be comprised of separate walls of thin planar material such as corrugated paperboard. A bottle 20 is fitted within a support aperture 14 in the support panels 10 of the insert 100. A bottle 20 is placed between first and second support panels 10, where the support panels 10 are then fitted together around the bottle 20. Insert 100 includes brackets 12. Insert 100 holds the bottle 20 centrally within the support aperture 14 away from the walls of the box 200. The box 200 is most preferably merely in the form of a standard corrugated paperboard box. The front wall 82 and rear wall 84 (shown in FIG. 8) of box 200 are preferably of similar size and rectangular shape and are oriented parallel to each other with a distance between the front wall 82 and rear wall 84, adjacent and in contact with brackets 12, and define a depth of box 200.
Side walls 86 extend from lateral sides of the front wall 82 to lateral sides of the rear wall 84. The side walls 86 are preferably perpendicular to the front wall 82 and rear wall 84. The side walls 86 are parallel to each other and a distance between the side walls 86 defines a width of box 200. Bracket vertical edge 16 is in contact with side wall 86 when insert 100 is placed in box 200. Both the front wall 82, rear wall 84 and side walls 86 are preferably all formed from a common sheet of corrugated paperboard material which may be creased at edges between the front wall 82 and side walls 86 and between the rear wall 84 and side walls 86. Flaps 70 comprise a top end of box 200 and bottom end is opposite the top end of box 200.
With regard to FIG. 2, insert 100 may be flat prior to folding. Brackets 12 are foldable along a bracket hinge 24 to contact the walls of the box to hold insert 100 in place. Bracket hinge 24 may comprise a perforation along a line, wherein the linear perforation meets and edge of base 22. In one embodiment, support panels 10 of the insert 100 are linked by a base 22, which holds the bottle 20 away from the bottom of the box 200. In another embodiment, insert 100 may not include a base 22 and may be comprised of two separate and identical insert sections. Between support panels 10 and base 22 is base fold 32 (depicted by solid lines), at which a 90° angle between support panels 10 and base 22 may be formed. Support aperture 14 is located within support panel 10.
The support panels 10 include support apertures 14, which are configured to receive a bottle 20 with a portion of a bottle base 66, bottle body 64 and bottle neck 62 passing therethrough (as shown in FIG. 6). Support panels 10 may be comprised of a planar sheet of rigid material such as corrugated paperboard to support the bottle base 66, bottle body 64 and bottle neck 62. Support panels 10 have a width and a depth which causes them to fit snugly within box 200 in a horizontal orientation extending perpendicularly between the front wall and rear wall of box 200. Insert 100 may begin as a planar sheet of material which has been formed with holes, cuts and creases (or perforations or other zones of weakness) appropriately to allow for folding of the planar sheet of material. At crease sections, the corrugated paperboard material can be partially crushed or perforated or otherwise weakened to facilitate bending at the transitions between the sections forming insert 100. Perforations are depicted by dashed lines. In one embodiment, the support panel may be 9″×4.5″. The bracket may be 9″×1.5″. The base may be 2″×4.5″. The support aperture may be 5.25″×2.25″. The curved portion of the upper support edge may have a depth of 0.75″.
With regard to FIG. 3, support apertures 14 have an upper support edge 30, side support edges 28 and lower support edge 26. A distance between side support edges is slightly less than a diameter of the bottle body 64 such that a portion of the bottle can be fitted into support aperture 14. The support apertures 14 in the support panel 10 are therefore sized to cause bottle 20 to be increasing in width toward the inner side of support apertures 14, so that the bottle 20 cannot move horizontally through the support apertures 14 when placed snugly between the two support panels 10. In one embodiment, upper support edge 30 may be curved to accept bottle neck 62. The distance between lower support aperture edge 26 and upper support aperture edge 30 of support aperture 14 may be customized to a particular bottle 20 size and shape. The distance between lower support aperture edge 26 and the lower edge of support panel 10 is sufficient to maintain the structural integrity of insert 100 when subjected to outside forces typically encountered during transport.
With regard to FIG. 4, a top perspective view of insert 100 shows brackets 12 folded along bracket hinge 24. Brackets 12 are folded outward along bracket hinge 24 to form a 90° angle with support panel 10. In one embodiment brackets 12 may have a U-shape. Brackets 12 may have beveled corners 40.
With regard to FIG. 5, a side perspective view of insert 100 shows support panel 10 and brackets 12. Inner cavity 50 is formed above base 22 between support panels 10. Inner cavity 50 is shaped and sized to contain a portion of bottle 20. Bottle 20 is held centrally in inner cavity 50. Inner cavity 50 contains a portion of bottle 20 and is otherwise empty. Bracket 12 has a bracket outer side 56 and a bracket inner side 58.
FIG. 6 shows bottle 50 having a bottle top 60, bottle neck 62, bottle body 64 and bottle base 66. In one embodiment, bottle neck 62 is tapered and inwardly curved. Bottle 20 may be an industry standard bottle 20, which in one embodiment may be a 16 oz. decanter glass bottle having a width of 3″ and a height of 7.3″. Bottle 20 may have a shape as shown in FIG. 6 or alternative shapes as would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Bottle body 64 may, in some embodiments, have flat sides or curved sides, or a combination thereof.
With regard to FIG. 7 bottle neck 62 fits into support aperture 14 between support panels 10. Bottle base 66 rests on lower support aperture edge 26. A width of support aperture 14 is less than a diameter of bottle body 64 such that bottle body 64 is partially extended through support aperture 14 and has a snug fit therein. The curve of upper support aperture edge 30 may be convex and is designed to fit snugly around the tapered portion of bottle neck 62. Bottles of various shapes and sizes may be accommodated by support aperture 14 according to the design of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 7. A bottle 20 may be accommodated when the tapered portion of bottle neck 62 is in contact with upper support aperture edge 30. Brackets 12 are folded along bracket hinge 24, which may, in one embodiment, be perforated. Brackets 12 are folded to fit in box body 72 of box 200. Flaps 70 of box 200 may be closed over box body 72 once insert 100 is placed inside box 200. The upper end of box 200 is configured with flaps 70 to close off the upper end of box 200.
FIG. 8 shows a top view of insert 100 containing bottle 20 situated inside box 200. Brackets 12 are folded at a 90° angle to support panel 10. Brackets 12 are sized and shaped to be in contact with sides of box 200. The width of brackets 12 is such that they are in contact with the inner portion of corners of box 200. A width of two brackets 12 combined with the width of inner cavity 50 equals a width of front wall 82 or rear wall 84 of box 200, which are exposed to inner cavity 50. Brackets 12 act as spacer panels to separate support panels 10 from the sides of box 200 as desired. A width of support panel 10 is equal to a width of a side wall 86 of box 200, where sidewalls 86 are exposed to outer cavity 80. The width of outer cavity 80, between sidewalls 86 and support panels 10, is equal to the width of a bracket 12. Insert 100 is configured to keep bottle 20 from impacting the box 200 when jolts or other loads are encountered.
It is contemplated within the present disclosure that a box 200 and support panels 10 could be provided such that multiple bottles 20 could be included in insert 100. In this case, a width of support panel 10, between the front wall and rear wall of box 200, would be increased, such that multiple support apertures 14 would be located in support panel 10. Alternatively, the height of support panel 10 may be increased to accommodate additional support apertures 14.
Since many modifications, variations, and changes in detail can be made to the described preferred embodiments of the disclosure, it is intended that all matters in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Thus, the scope of the disclosure should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalence.
Patent Application
20210031971
