CARRIER FOR CUPS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING IT

Abstract

A carrier for cups includes at least two accommodations for cups and a circumferential wall surrounding and connecting the accommodations, wherein the carrier is made from moulded fibre, and between two accommodations, the circumferential wall includes a widened part. It provides additional strength. The carrier can be obtained by providing a wet layer of fibre material on suction moulds, and subsequently the wet layer of fibre material is provided on a hot mould in which the layer is pressed to a moisture contents of less than about 5% by weight.

Description

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a cup carrier.

Such carriers for cups are already disclosed in WO-2006/065132, EP-1489015, U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,619 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,876 in general. It was suggested to make these carriers from moulded fibre material, but also from plastic material. These carriers have pockets or accommodations for receiving and holding cups, for instance beverage cups or beakers with ice-cream or milkshakes or hot and cold beverages. These carriers are mostly disposable and often used in fast food restaurants and convenience stores.

These cup carriers should be ridged, disposable, and easy to stack. Furthermore, they should be easy and cheap in production.

Known carriers can be improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention aims to improve known carriers.

According to a first aspect of the invention this is realized with a carrier for cups, comprising at least two accommodations for cups and a circumferential wall surrounding and connecting said accommodations, wherein said carrier is made from moulded fibre.

In particular, the invention provides a cup carrier made from moulded fibre and comprising:

• • at least two accommodations for cups, the accommodations comprises a bottom wall for supporting the bottom of cups and several holding parts extending into the accommodations for in use exerting a resilient force to an inserted cup for holding it in place;
  • a circumferential wall surrounding and connecting said accommodations;
  • at least one gutter-shaped part having a pair of opposite, continuous, inwardly sloping, downward extending walls extending at least 12 mm downward and connecting to a bottom wall part with a width of at least 5 mm and a length of at least 10 mm, said gutter-shaped parts connecting two neighbouring accommodations, and
  • said cup carrier has a weight of less than 7 gr per accommodation at almost 0% moisture content while providing a strength and rigidity to pass the lift test.

It was found that this allows a small footprint and a light weight cup carrier, for instance for a two-cup carrier of a four-cup carrier. And despite the small footprint and light weight, they still match user tests like the lift test.

In an embodiment, the cup carrier has a weight of less than 5.5 gr per accommodation at almost 0% moisture content while providing a strength and rigidity to pass the lift test.

In an embodiment, the downward extending walls of the gutter-shaped part extend at last 20 mm downward.

In an embodiment, the gutter-shaped part has a length of more than 30 mm.

In an embodiment, said gutter-shaped part connects said accommodations lengthwise.

In an embodiment, said holding parts are provided at positions at the circumference of the accommodations and shaped for providing a substantially round, tapered radiused lead into said accommodation.

In an embodiment, the accommodations have holding parts extending into the accommodations and provided with a T-shaped cutting and have an open gap between the bottom of the accommodation for providing lips for exerting a force on an inserted cup for holding it in the accommodation, said holding parts having a wall part providing a radiused lead or lead-in and which tapers into the accommodation.

In an embodiment, which may also form an aspect of the invention, the cup carrier has a weight of less than 7 gram per accommodation at almost 0% moisture content while providing a strength and rigidity to pass the lift test. Thus, for a two cup carrier the total weight would be less than about 2×7 gr=14 gram, while still being able to pass used tests. For a four cup carrier, the total weight would thus be less than 4×7 gr=28 gram. In thus context, determining the weight at about 0% moisture content is done in the following way, which will reduce moisture content to very close to 0%. First, the cup carrier is placed in an oven, usually a hot air oven, and heated to about 150 degrees Celsius for at least 30 minutes. Next, the cup carrier is taken out of the oven and weighted on a scale at an accuracy of 0.1 gram.

In fact, it proved possible to make a cup carrier having a weight of less than about 6.5 gr per cup. The weight could even be further reduced in case of a four cup carrier to about 5.5 gram per accommodation, thus providing a cup carrier of less than 22 gr at almost 0% moisture content.

In this respect, the lift test is internationally recognised in this field and is defined in the following way.

Lift Test

This test is carried out on the 4-Cup drink carrier to ensure that it is strong enough to support four (4) 0.5 liter filled cups (total load weight of 2.4 kg)

Frequency of testing: Minimum once in 24 hrs.

Test equipment: Four 0.5 litre cups with inserts, each weigh 600 grams and total load weight of 2.4 kg.

Test method:

• • 1. Obtain one 4-Cup carrier sample from the production line and place on the table.
  • 2. Place four 0.5 litre cups with insert firmly into the carrier pockets.
  • 3. Hold the loaded 4-Cup carrier by the side support arm (illustrated in the drawing FIG. 6).
  • 4. Lift the loaded 4-Cup carrier and hold steady in a horizontal position for 30 seconds.

The test sample has failed if the carrier collapses before 30 seconds.

Angle Test

This test is carried out on the 4-Cup drink carrier to ensure that the specified size of cold drink cups remain secure in the 4-cup carrier when it is passed from a drive-in window to a seated car occupant. The angle of passage has been determined to be 30 degrees to the horizontal.

Frequency of testing: Minimum once in 24 hrs.

Test equipment:

• • 1. Angle test board with 30 degree angle and a rim with a height of about 2 cm.
  • 2. Two 0.25 litre cups with insert, each weigh 300 grams +/−5 g
  • 3. Two 0.5 litre cups with insert, each weigh 600 grams +/−5

Test method:

• • 5. Obtain one 4-Cup carrier sample from the production line and place on the table next to the angle test board.
  • 6. Place the cups with insert firmly into the carrier pockets with like sizes located diagonally.
  • 7. Place the loaded carrier on the angle test board, against the rim.
  • 8. Raise the board to 30 degree mark. Hold the loaded carrier in the raised position for 5 seconds and observe the security of the cups.

The test sample has failed:

• • 1. If a cup (s) falls out of its pocket.
  • 2. If any of the upper cups dislodge enough to touch a lower one.

In an embodiment, which may also form an aspect of the invention, the accommodations comprises a bottom wall for supporting the bottom of cups. In particular, the accommodations, also referred to as pockets, comprise several holding parts extending into the accommodations for in use exerting a resilient force to an inserted cup for holding it in place, said holding parts provided at positions at the circumference of the accommodations and shaped for providing a substantially round, tapered radiused lead into said accommodation. An advantage of such a radiused lead or lead-in or run-in into said accommodation is that cups are better supported. Furthermore, it is easier to place cups with different sizes, in particular cross section near the bottom, in the pockets or accommodations. In a particular embodiment, the accommodations have holding parts are provided with a T-shaped cutting and have an open gap between the bottom of an accommodation to a bottom wall of an accommodation. Thus, lips are provided which providing a resilient force on an inserted cup for holding it in the accommodation.

In an embodiment, which may also form another aspect of the invention, the cup carrier comprises at least one gutter-shaped part having two opposite, inwardly sloping, downward extending walls extending at least 12 mm downward and connecting to a bottom wall part with a width of at least 5 mm and a length of at least 10 mm. It was found that such a gutter-shaped part increases the strength and stiffness of the cup carrier. In a four cup carrier, such a gutter-shaped part connects two neighbouring accommodations and has one inward sloping, downward extending wall connected to the circumferential wall. In fact, such a gutter-shaped part has downward extending walls extending at last 20 mm downward. In an embodiment, said pair of opposite, continuous, inwardly sloping, downward extending walls extend about 12-25 mm downward. In an other or further embodiment, said bottom wall part has a width of about 5-10 mm. In order to connect accommodations in a ridged way, the gutter-shaped parts can have a length of more than 30 mm. Thus, it was found that such a gutter-shaped part provides a very ridged cup carrier, and allowing cups to be positioned closed together. For a two cup carrier, a gutter-shaped part is provided for connecting its two accommodations. Furthermore, smaller gutter-shaped parts are provided at the inner circumference of the circumferential wall connecting the accommodations. Thus, additional rigidity is provided which allows further weight reduction in the design. It was further found that providing straight walls which are as large as possible provide more rigidity and stiffness and strength than stepped wall as was the commonly accepted design choice.

In an embodiment, which may also form an aspect of the invention, between two accommodations, said circumferential wall comprises a widened part.

The circumferential rim with the widened parts provide central grip parts at the sides which provide an improved grip. Furthermore, these grip part provides additional rigidity to the cup carrier, which proves to be an important product feature. The grip part does not influence the stackability of the carrier. Furthermore, it provides a space for adding a logo or trademark. The logo or trademark can be embossed.

In an embodiment, which may also form another aspect of the invention, notches are provided near each corner. These notches can extend to the same height as the circumferential wall. Between a notch and the circumferential wall, a connecting gutter-shaped part can be provided. In fact, the notches may be provided in the form of upward extending parts of holding parts extending into the accommodations and described above.

The carrier needs to be appealing to a consumer. In an embodiment, it is produced using a rotor mould with suction cups which are passed through a bath of pulp. In particular in an embodiment, production took place on a so called three rotor apparatus and proved to be able to produce beneficial products. In this method, a slurry of fiber pulp was produced. Next, using suction rotors, a layer of wet fiber material is collected on a wire mesh material of the suction rotors. This layer was transferred to a second mould or pressing mould on a second rotor, causing a pre-pressing of the wet moulded layer. Subsequently, the moulded layer was transferred to a third mould. After this, the moulded layer was transferred to an oven and dried in that oven. In particular the wet pre-pressing was found to result in an increase in strength. This allowed a lighter product with a smoother surface.

It was found that the pre-pressing step provided much higher stiffness to the moulded fibre product. This, the same strength could be attained at a lower weight. The current carriers are smoother. In particular, they show a greater smoothness of the back side. Thus, they de-stack or de-nest better. Carriers of the current invention allow better stacking For instance, The carriers of the current invention can be stacks 7200 carriers on a Euro-pallet to a total height of 2.5 m. Before, 6300 carriers could be stacked on a Euro-pallet to 2.5 m height.

Furthermore, the cup carriers need to be only about 26-29 gram to attain the required stiffness and strength. That used to be 30-35 gram. The current design reduces weight. Furthermore, the production method also allows a reduction in weight.

In an embodiment, a through hole is provided in the center of the carrier. This allows faster de-stacking of the cup carriers and saves weight. A user can reach through this hole with a finger and can thus de-stack a carrier from a stack when needed. This takes less time. For instance in a fast food restaurant, every second counts. If an employee can gain one second by easier denesting of the cup carrier, this would save many hundreds of seconds on a daily basis. In case of a fast food chain having hundreds of restaurants, it would save many hundreds of labour/working hours each year and can save money.

The invention furthermore provides a method for producing the carriers.

Embodiments of the carrier are provided in the dependent claims and in the description of the drawings provided. Advantages of these embodiments are also mentioned in the description of the drawings.

In an embodiment in which said cup carrier has a circumferential wall with a widened part, said circumferential wall has a width of about 0.5-1.0 cm, and said widened part has a width of about 1.5-2.5 cm.

In an embodiment, said widened part widens downward at a circumferential edge of the circumferential wall.

In an embodiment, said widened part widens upward at a carrier rim.

In an embodiment, said circumferential wall slopes toward the inside of the carrier.

In an embodiment, said widened part slopes at a smaller angle than the rest of the circumferential wall.

In an embodiment the lower edge of the circumferential wall including said widened part is in one flat plane.

In an embodiment the upper part of the circumferential wall including said widened part is in one flat plane. In an embodiment thereof, the lower edge of the circumferential wall including said widened part is in one flat plane and the upper part of the circumferential wall including said widened part is in one flat plane, providing the upper part of the circumferential wall with a wave in the flat plane of the upper part.

In an embodiment said circumferential wall comprising an end flange extending outward from said carrier.

In an embodiment said carrier is substantially square, said circumferential wall having four substantially identical sides.

In an embodiment said carrier is rotational symmetric for rotations over 90 degrees with respect to an axis of rotation normal to the plane of said accommodations and thought the centre of said carrier.

In an embodiment said carrier is produced in a moulded fibre process comprising a step of pre-pressing a wet moulded fibre layer.

In an embodiment, wherein said cup carrier is made from moulded fibre, and has a weight of less than 7 gr per accommodation at almost 0% moisture content while providing a strength and rigidity to pass the lift test, it has a weight for a cup carrier having two accommodations of less than about 14 gr, while being able to pass the lift test.

In an embodiment, a weight for a cup carrier has four accommodations of less than 26 gr., in a particular embodiment it has a weight of less than about 22 gr at almost 0% moisture content.

In an embodiment of the cup carrier with a substantially round, tapered radiused lead into said accommodation, the accommodations have holding parts extending into the accommodations and provided with a T-shaped cutting and have an open gap between the bottom of the accommodation for providing lips for exerting a force on an inserted cup for holding it in the accommodation, said holding parts having a wall part providing said tapered radiused lead or lead-in

In an embodiment of the cup carrier with at least one gutter-shaped part, the downward extending walls extend at last 20 mm downward.

In an embodiment thereof, the gutter-shaped parts have a length of more than 30 mm.

The invention further relates to an apparatus comprising one or more of the characterising features described in this description and/or shown in the attached drawings.

The invention further relates to a method comprising one or more of the characterising features described in this description and/or shown in the attached drawings.

The various aspects discussed in this patent can be combined in order to provide additional advantages. In fact, features which are mentioned in relation to one aspect of the invention are also combined with other aspects of the invention. Furthermore, several aspects can form the basis for one or more divisional patents.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be further elucidated referring to an embodiment of a carrier for cups shown in the attached drawings, showing in:

FIGS. 1-3 several views of a first embodiment of a carrier for cups;

FIG. 4 a perspective view of an alternative two-cup carrier;

FIG. 5 a perspective view of an alternative four-cup carrier;

FIG. 6 a lift arm used in the lift test;

FIGS. 7-9 are a perspective view, a top view and a side view of another cup carrier.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the description of embodiments, the same reference numerals refer to the same or functionally the same or functionally similar features.

In FIG. 1, a perspective view of a cup carrier 1 of a new design is shown. FIG. 2 provides a top view and FIG. 3 a side view. The cup carrier 1 has four accommodations or pockets 2 for holding cups or beakers. The cup carrier 1 has a circumferential wall portion 10 which at the four sides has a broadened hand grip 3. These broadened hand grips 3 provide additional stiffness and strength. It allows a reduction of material thickness at the inner part of the cup carrier 1. Furthermore, it provides a space for displaying a logo. In fact, a logo or name can be embossed at those regions.

The pockets 2 have a bottom wall 4 for securely supporting cups. In order to reduce weight and material, T-shaped slots 5 are made. An advantage of these T-shaped slots 5 is that these also provide tabs which provide clamping means 20. These clamping means 20 are also referred to as holding parts 20, and are indicated in the upper left accommodation of FIG. 2 only. These as such are known in the art. In fact, many of the features of the cup carrier of the current invention are already described in WO-2006/065132 of the applicant. That disclosure is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth in this description.

From the circumferential wall 10 at the locations of the hand grips 3 inward, a deepened part 8 is created having a gutter shape, and a subsequent rising part 6 which slopes down to the centre. In the centre, a deepened part 7 is created. In its centre, not depicted in this embodiment, a through hole can be created, large enough to allow a finger to easily pass. In an embodiment, a circular hole with a diameter of about 1-3 cm will be sufficient. This hole allows easy de-stacking or denesting.

In the sloping parts running to the deepened part 7, reinforcement ribs 9 are provided. The shapes of this design are such that easy stacking and de-stacking can be realised. At the same time, a maximum number of cup carriers 1 must be provided on a stack of minimal height. Furthermore, weight should be minimised while still providing sufficient strength and stiffness or rigidity. The current design allows four cups to be placed at the four corners. The symmetrical design makes the current carrier easy to use and provides a save carrier which is strong enough to hold even four large beakers of more than 0.5 litre content, even up to 0.75 litre, each. Thus, the carrier can hold up to about 3 kg almost without deformation.

The four sides of the carrier of this embodiment are identical. Thus, a user can hold the carrier at any of the four widened parts 4. In that respect, the carrier is symmetric. It is thus in particular evident that in this embodiment, the carrier is rotational symmetric over 90 degrees with respect to an axis of rotation normal to a plane defined by bottom walls 4 of the pockets or accommodations 2. This axis runs through the centre of central deepened part 7.

The circumferential wall 10 having the widened parts 3 at its end comprises a flange which extends in outward direction. It was found that this flange, which forms a circumferential flange, has a substantial contribution to the strength of the carrier. Calculations based on finite element theory confirmed this effect. Another advantage of the flange is that it reduces or prevents warping of the circumferential wall during production, in particular during drying of the carrier. This further improves stacking of the carrier.

The ribs 9 also contribute significantly to the strength and rigidity of the carrier 1.

In FIG. 4, an alternative embodiment is shown of two-cup carriers 1, 1′. This embodiment shows several feature described in this document and allows a weight of less than 13 gr for the two-cup carrier. In fact, FIG. 4 shows two two-cup carriers 1, 1′ as they come from the production process. Here, they are interconnected via bridges 21 which can be cut. The two-cup carriers 1, 1′ have large carrying lips 16 at both long sides, for carrying the cup carrier 1, 1′.

The cup carriers 1, 1′ have a gutter shaped connecting part 8 connecting both accommodations 2. Gutter shaped parts 8 have opposite, downward sloping walls 11, 11′, and a bottom wall 12. The opposite, downward sloping walls in this embodiment run down continuously. This provides substantially straight, opposite walls for the gutter shaped part. In the two-cup carrier of FIG. 4, the gutter-shaped part has opposite walls extending about 30-40 mm down. The bottom wall of the gutter-shaped part is between about 10-15 mm. Its length is about 12-20 mm. In the past, it was thought that a stepped wall provided an increase of strength. This design showed that the gutter increased strength and rigidity. Both opposing walls can continue smoothly into the bottom wall.

The cup carriers 1, 1′ further have holding parts 20 provided with the already described T-slots 5. In this embodiment, the holding parts 20 have curved wall parts 15. These curved wall parts 15 are concave. Three holding parts 20 are provided around the circumference of an accommodation 2. The curved wall parts 15 of the holding parts 20 of an accommodation together define a radiused lead into the accommodation 2. The curved wall part 15 lead a beaker with its lower part into the accommodation 2. Thus beakers with slightly differing diameters will easily be guided into the accommodation. This is improved as the wall part 15 also tapers into the accommodation.

For the two-cup carrier of FIG. 4, the cross sections of the cup carriers will be between 10 cm and about 11 cm for the smaller cross section, in particular in this embodiment about 10.5 cm. For the larger cross section, it will be between about 19 cm and about 20 cm. In this embodiment, it is about 19.5 cm. The advantages of the small diameters is already extensively discussed above. It allows more cup carriers to be stacked onto pallets.

The two-cup carrier further has a stretched notch 13 which is an extending part of one of the holding parts 20 provided at a corner of the cup carrier. It is connected to the circumferential rim or wall 10 via a small gutter 14. The stretched notch 13 follows part of the curvature of the corner of the cup carriers 1, 1′. The height of the stretched notch 13 is almost the height of the circumferential wall 10. The stretched notch, small gutter and the circumferential wall together provide strength end rigidity to the corner part.

In FIG. 5, an alternative embodiment is shown of a four-cup carrier. It too has several of the features described in this document and allows a weight of less than 23 gr, even less than 22 gr, for the cup carrier in total. Identical reference numbers are used for similar parts as the two-cup carrier of FIG. 4.

In the four-cup carrier 1, the gutter-shaped parts 8 also connect the accommodations 2. Here, these gutter-shaped parts 8 are provided next to and along the circumferential wall 10. The opposite walls 11, 11′ provided substantially straight walls giving the gutter strength. The opposite wall 11 is about 20-25 mm deep, and about 40-50 mm wide. The opposing wall 11′ has the same depth, and is about 25-35 mm wide near bottom 12. The opposing walls 11, 11′ can continue in the bottom wall 12 in a continuous manner.

Furthermore, combining several features allows an extremely small footprint for the cup carriers shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In fact, for a four-cup carrier the cross section will be between about 17.5 cm and about 20 cm. In this embodiment, the cross section is about 19.5 cm.

In FIG. 6, a lift arm 100 is demonstrated for doing the lift test for a four cup carrier 1. The cup carrier 1 carrier four filled beakers 101 in this lift test. The lift arm 100 clamps the side of the cup carrier 1. The lift test was described earlier in this document.

In FIGS. 7-9, yet another embodiment of a cup carrier 1 is presented, respectively showing a perspective view, a top and a side view. This cup carrier 1 is a four-cup carrier and again has a circumferential wall 10 surrounding four accommodations 2. In this embodiment, the circumferential wall is slightly curved to flare out a little to further increase the strength. This embodiment again comprises the gutter-shaped parts 8 having a pair of opposite walls 11, 11′ connected via a bottom wall 12. In this embodiment, the widths of the slightly tapered side walls 11, 11′ of the gutter-shaped parts 8 are about 12-25 mm. In this embodiment, the bottom wall 12 has a width of about 5-10 mm. In particular, in this embodiment the gutter-shaped part has a botoom wall 12 with a width of about 6.1 mm and a height of about 15 mm. Its length is about 5 cm. In the embodiments shown, the gutter-shaped parts 8 open substantially in the same direction as the accommodations 2. Furthermore, in this embodiment the inner surface of the bottom wall 12 is almost or substantially flat, as far as possible in moulded fibre technology.

The gutter shaped part 8, in particular the gutter-shaped parts 8 neighbouring and/or situated within the circumferential wall 10, provided rigidity to the cup carrier 1. Thus, the gutter-shaped parts 8 align with the circumferential wall 10. In fact, tests showed that the gutter-shaped part allowed a reduction in material and thus weight while still allowing a design which passes the lift test. In this embodiment, the central part 30 is dome-shaped to provide additional strength. Furthermore, the specific shape also allowed an aesthetic design.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 7-9, the clamping means 20 only have openings 31 at their lower ends. Thus, the clamping parts 20 have sufficient flexibility in a direction transverse to the accommodations 2 in order to allow them to clamp a beaker or cup by allowing flexing in outward direction and exerting an inward directed pressing force to an inserted cup or beaker. It was found that in this design the T-slots were no longer required. The absence of the T-slots further provided additional strength to the cup carrier 1. Again, the clamping parts 20 have a curved wall part 15. This design allows a cup carrier which complies with all the requirements summed above and having a weight of about 22-23 gr.

In a current embodiment, a three-rotor method is used in production. In this method, first a wet fibre layer is produced on a suction rotor. Next, this layer is transferred to a second moulding rotor, also called pressing rotor. This transferral provides an additional pre-pressing which was found to provide additional strength. This allowed a material and weight reduction. Furthermore, it provides a smoother product, in particular a smoother back, i.e. the non-wire side or non-gauze side. This all allowing more carriers 1 to be stacked on a unit height. In this method, via an additional rotor step the products are transferred to a drying oven in which the carriers are dried to a moisture content of about 5% by weight or less. In a conventional two-rotor process, a distance between the suction mould and a transfer mould will be about 2.5-3 mm. In the three-rotor process, it can be reduced to 1-1.5 mm. This allows the fibres in the pulp to get more aligned. It was found that this increases the strength of the moulded fibre material.

In another embodiment, a moulded fibre method is used in which the wet fibre layer is transferred onto a hot mould on which a high pressure is applied to the fibre layer. In this production step, the carrier of carriers is or are dried to a moisture content of about 5% by weight or less. This provides an even smoother product with a thinner wall.

Using the processes described, it may be possible to produce several mutually attached carriers in each go. Subsequently, these can be cut into individual carriers.

It will also be clear that the above description and drawings are included to illustrate some embodiments of the invention, and not to limit the scope of protection. Starting from this disclosure, many more embodiments will be evident to a skilled person which are within the scope of protection and the essence of this invention and which are obvious combinations of prior art techniques and the disclosure of this patent.

Claims

1.-34. (canceled)

35. A cup carrier made from moulded fibre and comprising: at least two accommodations for cups, the accommodations comprises a bottom wall for supporting the bottom of cups and several holding parts extending into the accommodations for in use exerting a resilient force to an inserted cup for holding it in place; a circumferential wall surrounding and connecting said accommodations; gutter-shaped parts each having a pair of opposite, continuous, inwardly sloping, downward extending walls extending at least 12 mm downward and connecting to a bottom wall part with a width of at least 5 mm and a length of at least 10 mm, said gutter-shaped parts each connecting two neighbouring accommodations and extending within and along the circumferential wall, a dome-shaped central part, extending between said accommodations and ending in the gutter-shaped parts transverse with respect to said dome-shaped part, and said cup carrier has a weight of less than 7 gr per accommodation at almost 0% moisture content while providing a strength and rigidity to pass the lift test.

36. The cup carrier of claim 35, having a weight of less than 5.5 gr per accommodation at almost 0% moisture content while providing a strength and rigidity to pass the lift test.

37. The cup carrier of claim 35, wherein said circumferential wall slopes toward the inside of the carrier.

38. The cup carrier of claim 35, wherein said circumferential wall comprising an end flange extending outward from said carrier.

39. The cup carrier of claim 35, wherein said carrier is substantially square, said circumferential wall having four substantially identical sides.

40. The cup carrier of claim 35, wherein said carrier has four accommodations.

41. The cup carrier of claim 35, wherein said carrier is rotational symmetric for rotations over 90 degrees with respect to an axis of rotation normal to the plane of said accommodations and thought the centre of said carrier.

42. The cup carrier of claim 35, wherein said carrier is produced in a moulded fibre process comprising a step of pre-pressing a wet moulded fibre layer.

43. The cup carrier of claim 35, wherein said pair of opposite, continuous, inwardly sloping, downward extending walls extend about 12-25 mm downward.

44. The cup carrier of claim 35, wherein said bottom wall part has a width of about 5-10 mm.

45. The cup carrier of claim 35, wherein said gutter-shaped part having a pair of opposite, continuous, inwardly sloping, downward extending walls extending at least 15 mm downward and connecting to a bottom wall part with a width of at least 7 mm and a length of at least 10 mm, said gutter-shaped parts connecting two neighbouring accommodations.

46. The cup carrier of claim 45, wherein the downward extending walls extend at last 20 mm downward.

47. The cup carrier of claim 45, wherein the gutter-shaped parts have a length of more than 30 mm.

48. The cup carrier of claim 42, wherein the wet layer of fibre material is provided on suction moulds, said wet layer of fibre material is provided on intermediate moulds providing a pre-pressing step, said pre-pressed layer of fibre material is transferred to a drying oven in which the carrier is dried.

49. The cup carrier of claim 48, wherein the wet layer of fibre material is provided on suction moulds, said wet layer of fibre material is subsequently provided on a hot mould in which said layer is pressed to a moisture contents of less than about 5% by weight.

50. The cup carrier of claim 46, wherein the gutter-shaped parts have a length of more than 30 mm.