This invention relates to carriers for beverages, food, liquids in containers and other objects, and to methods of making and using such carriers.
In the above-identified prior patent applications are disclosed a number of different general-purpose carriers, and other carriers which are highly advantageous for use in carrying beverages, e.g., in “six packs” of bottles containing soft drinks, beer, etc. Other carriers are specially adapted for use in carrying both beverage cups and solid foods in sports arenas, fast-food restaurants, etc. The disclosures of those carriers hereby are incorporated herein by reference.
Although those carriers are highly advantageous, it is desired to improve the ease and reliability of the means used to hold the receptacles of the carrier open while objects are being loaded into the receptacles.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a carrier and blank, and a method of making such a carrier, in which the receptacles of the carrier are held open surely and reliably while objects are being loaded into them.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a carrier in which the means for holding the receptacles open is relatively easy to use, and relatively inexpensive to make.
It is another object to provide such a carrier which is relatively strong and capacious, and relatively easy to unfold, and can be used with relative safety and reliability to carry cumbersome objects with a minimum of spillage.
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects are satisfied by providing a carrier with a vertical support panel structure and two foldable receptacles, each extending outwardly from the lower regions of said vertical support panel structure. A bottom panel unfolds automatically as the carrier blank is unfolded in order to erect the carrier. The bottom panel fits into one of the receptacles. A side wall of the receptacle and an edge of the bottom panel have an engagement structure for temporarily holding the bottom panel and receptacle side walls stationary relative to one another to securely hold the receptacle open until an object to be carried has been loaded into the carrier.
Preferably, the engagement structure is a detent which holds the bottom panel at a position between vertical and horizontal until an object to be carried is loaded and presses down on the bottom panel to move it to a horizontal position.
Preferably, the detent includes a projection extending from one side edge of each of said bottom panels, and one side wall of each receptacle has a slot positioned to receive one of the projections during unfolding of the carrier, somewhere between the vertical and horizontal positions of said bottom panels. Preferably, the slots are located somewhere between around 10° to 80°, and, more preferably, 30° to 60° from horizontal.
It also is preferred that the engagement structure be located on what is called “the included side wall” of each receptacle; that is, on the side wall which folds onto the side wall to which the bottom panel is hinged when the carrier relapses due to the persistence of the fiberboard of which it is made. This ensures that the bottom panel will be wedged solidly into one corner of the receptacle to hold it open securely.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from or set forth in the following description and drawings.
It should be understood that
The carrier 20 shown in
The upper portion of the central support structure 22 has a front surface panel 24 and a rear surface panel 26, which are bonded, respectively, to the upper areas of the panels 23 and 25, thus forming a four-ply handle structure.
A receptacle structure extends outwardly from each of the two vertical support panels 23 and 25. One receptacle 27 includes a panel folded to form the side walls 34, 36, and 38 and secured at one end to the panel 23 by a flange 46 extending from the left edge of the panel 23 and bonded to the panel 34.
Similarly, a second receptacle 29 on the opposite side of the carrier is formed by side walls 40, 43 and 44, with a flange 48 extending from the left edge of panel 25 bonded to the panel 44.
Each of the two receptacles has a bottom structure 50 or 52 including a hinged locking panel 64 or 70 (see
Now referring to
Referring to
The right-hand receptacle 29 is shown in
The locking or bottom panels 64 and 70 are substantially rectangular and are almost as long as the distance between side walls 34 and 38. The substantially rectangular shape of the bottom panels 64 and 70 thus advantageously holds the receptacles 27 and 29 open so that the carrier 20 will sit erect on a horizontal surface with the receptacles 27 and 29 open so that the carrier easily can be filled with beverage cups or other objects.
As the carrier 22 is opened, the bottom panels 64 and 70 are automatically pulled downwardly approximately to an angle A such as that shown for the panel 64 in
In accordance with the invention, an engagement structure is provided in each receptacle 27 and 29 as a detent to hold the bottom panel in the position shown until an object to be carried in the carrier is loaded into the receptacle.
Preferably, the detent structure comprises a tab 68 or 75 projecting outwardly from one side edge of the bottom panel 64 or 70 for each receptacle, and a slot 69 or 85 in one vertical side wall 38 or 40 of each receptacle. The slot 69 or 85 is located approximately at an angle A from the front corner 98 or 99 of the carrier, at a radial distance equal to that of the tab 68 or 75 from the hinge or fold line where the bottom panel is attached to the bottom edge of the side wall 36 or 42, so that the tab fits into the slot as the bottom panel 64 or 70 rotates about a hinge axis 98 or 99 during unfolding of the carrier. The angle A varies from about 10° to 80° from horizontal, but more preferably, it is about 30° to 60°.
With this detent structure, the bottom panel 64 or 70 remains securely in place to more surely hold the receptacle 27 or 29 open to receive objects to be carried.
When an object to be carried is pressed or dropped downwardly into one of the receptacles, the downward pressure of the object on the upper edge of the bottom panel easily disengages the tab 68 or 75 from the slot so that the bottom panel is substantially horizontal, with the lock tabs 66, 67 and 72, 73 (see
In addition, two other slots 79 and 81 in side wall 38 and slots 87 and 83 in sidewall 40 provide places for the tabs 68 and 75 to extend when the bottom panels are in the folded up vertical position or the unfolded horizontal position.
The side walls 38 and 40 are referred to herein as the “included” side walls. This means that they are walls which tend to fold towards one another when the unfolded carrier tries to return or “relapse” to its folded-up starting shape.
Preferably, the slots 69 and 85 forming the detents are formed in the included walls 38 and 40 so that the bottom panel 64 or 70 is wedged into the corner between side walls 36 and 38 or 40 and 42 which tend to collapse together due to the relapse forces of the carrier material. Thus, the bottom panels 64, 70 are held securely in the included corners of the carrier to hold the carrier receptacles open until the loading of objects into the receptacle presses the bottom panels down.
This makes the carrier easier to load, either by hand or by machine, with a high degree of reliability.
Referring again to
In addition, gussets 51, 53, 47 and 49 are provided at the junctions between the side walls 38, 40, 34 and 44 and the vertical panel structure. These gussets, as well as the dividers, are optional. The gussets provide added strength for the carrier structure, if needed.
As it is explained in the above-identified pending patent applications, the tray 82 can be mounted atop the carrier 20 by inserting the handle 30 through the bottom slot of the tray 82 so that the tray can carry additional items beyond those carried in the receptacles 27 and 29.
The carrier 190 shown in
The carrier 190 includes a vertical support structure with a handle 206, two receptacles 220 and 222, with side walls and bottom structures like those of the carrier 20.
Two dividers 266 and 268 are provided in each receptacle. The dividers extend from the central support structure and are bonded to the inside surface of a side wall of each receptacle. Each of the dividers has a downwardly-extending tapered lower portion extending to near the bottom of the carrier in order to provide cushioning between adjacent bottles in the three compartments formed by the dividers to reduce the possibility of breakage of the bottles.
Referring now to
Each of the panels 228 or 232 extends across the bottom structure and has a pair of tabs 230 or 234, each of which extends outwardly and projects through one of a pair of slots 236, 238 in the side wall panels 210 and 216 of the carriers to lock the panels in place when fully unfolded.
Each of the included end side walls 226 and 227 has a detent slot 240 or 242 for receiving a tab 244 or 251 when the bottom panel 228 or 232 is in the position of panel 228 shown in
The bottom panel 228 is at an angle B with respect to horizontal. Angle B is smaller than angle A of
The detent structures consisting of the slots 240, 242 and tabs 244 and 251 hold the carrier receptacles open in the same manner as described above with respect to
The carrier 190 is shown in
It should be noted that the bottom panels in the carriers can be hinged either from the bottom edges of the vertical central support panels or from the opposite side wall. The choice of which construction to use depends on other construction features desired, such as nesting, etc.
The materials of which the carrier of the present invention can be made need not be expensive. Ordinary, medium-weight fiberboard is believed to be sufficient for most purposes. For example, it can be 0.20 S.U.S. recycled newspaper material. If waterproofing beyond the acrylic coating provided on such board is necessary, a further waterproof coating can be applied on both the inside and outside surfaces.
It is within the realm of the invention also to make the carriers out of flexible plastic materials.
If desired, the carriers can be made of plastic materials that are easily washable so that the carriers can be reused.
Bonding of parts to one another can be done by means other than adhesives. For example, plastic or plastic coated parts can be bonded together by ultrasonic or heat bonding. Staples or other mechanical fasteners also can be used.
The above description of the invention is intended to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes or modifications in the embodiments described may occur to those skilled in the art. These can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.
This patent application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 10/213,938 filed Aug. 9, 2002; Ser. No. 10/662,265, filed Sep. 15, 2003; Ser. No. 10/737,612 filed on Dec. 16, 2003; Ser. No. 10/939,264 filed on Sep. 10, 2004 and Ser. No. 11/012,440 filed on Dec. 15, 2004. The disclosure of those patent applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 10213938 | Aug 2002 | US |
Child | 11301407 | Dec 2005 | US |
Parent | 10662265 | Sep 2003 | US |
Child | 11301407 | Dec 2005 | US |
Parent | 10737612 | Dec 2003 | US |
Child | 11301407 | Dec 2005 | US |
Parent | 10939264 | Sep 2004 | US |
Child | 11301407 | Dec 2005 | US |
Parent | 11012440 | Dec 2004 | US |
Child | 11301407 | Dec 2005 | US |