Patent Application
20250178811
This invention relates generally to beverage multipacks and, more particularly, to multipacks made up of a plurality of containers.
Conventional container carriers are often used to unitize a plurality of similarly sized containers, such as cans, bottles, jars and boxes and/or similar containers that require unitization. Flexible plastic ring carriers and paperboard boxes are two such conventional container carriers.
Conventional flexible ring carriers include multi-packaging devices that engage the chime, rim or rib around the upper portion of the container, called “rim-applied carriers” or “RAC carriers.” Another conventional flexible ring carrier is the sidewall-applied carrier, called “SAC carriers,” wherein the multi-packaging device engages the sidewall of the containers.
Conventional carriers are arranged in aligned arrays of longitudinal rows and transverse ranks of container receiving apertures. A common arrangement is two rows of three ranks of longitudinally and transversely aligned container receiving apertures forming six total container receiving apertures and a “six-pack.” Other common configurations include two rows of four ranks forming an eight container multipackage and three rows of four ranks forming a twelve container multipackage.
Flexible carriers are applied to containers by stretching the carrier around the diameter of the container, and allowing the stretched carrier to recover, providing a tight fit. As describe above, the carrier is typically applied to the chime or rib, where this structure exists, or to the main sidewall.
Several modes of failure are known in existing carriers and limit the amount of stretch designed into such carriers. A first common mode of failure occurs if the container engaging portion of the carrier is stretched too much during application. As a result, the carrier may stretch beyond its yield strength and not adequately recover, a condition also called “neck down,” leading to package failure. However, if the aperture is too large and the container engaging portion is not stretched enough, it may not develop enough tension to adequately engage the container, leading to package failure.
Another common mode of failure is caused by stress risers within the carrier created by notches or scratches within the otherwise smooth flexible carrier. Small notches or scratches may be formed during either the manufacturing process or when the carrier is passed over and against the containers. These notches, scratches or tears result in stress risers that propagate into larger tears due to the stresses placed on the carrier during application and/or by the weight of the package thereby causing failure such as a dislodged container.
Recent flexible carriers have incorporated post-consumer recycled (PCR) material and/or other material and/or additives that lower the environmental burden resulting from disposal. Such material and/or additives may affect the ability of a carrier to recover following exposure to heat cycles, particularly high heat conditions. As such, a need exists to design a flexible carrier that permits a firm engagement of the individual container engagement apertures with the respective containers following exposure to elevated or reduced temperatures from ambient.
The invention generally relates to a container carrier for unitizing a plurality of containers into a multipack. The subject container carrier preferably includes a geometry that remains locked under the chime of a container, such as a can, to maintain package integrity through varying temperature ranges.
The subject container carrier for unitizing a plurality of containers preferably includes a plurality of outer bands and inner bands forming an array of container receiving apertures arranged in two or more transverse pairs. Each outer band of the plurality of outer bands preferably forms a convex container engaging portion of each container receiving aperture. Each inner band of the plurality of inner bands preferably forms a concave container engaging portion of each container receiving aperture.
A central grasping aperture is preferably positioned between each transverse pair of container receiving apertures and includes opposite radiused ends and a pair of radiused finger holds extending along each side.
An oblong stress relief cutout is preferably positioned along each inner band between each container receiving aperture and each central grasping aperture. The resulting geometry enables a rim applied carrier that is resistant to failure due to large temperature swings from ambient. This resistance is created in part by the features between each aperture pair that provide a consistent pathway for even stress distribution while the carrier is stretched for application. In addition, the particular radius arrangement isolates forces exerted while lifting the package through the central grasping aperture.
Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the appended claims and drawings.
The present invention provides a container carrier 10 to unitize a plurality of containers into beverage multipacks. The container carrier 10 according to this invention is shown in
The flexible sheet 20 used to form the flexible carrier 10 is desirably a polymeric or plastic sheet, which can be formed by an extrusion process and then stamped or cut to form the container carrier 10. The flexible sheet 20 preferably comprises a thickness which provides sufficient structural integrity to carry a desired number of containers. For instance, each container carrier 10 may be designed to carry two, four, six, eight, ten or twelve containers of a desired product having a specific weight, volume, shape and size. For most applications, the flexible sheet 20 may have a thickness of about 3-50 mils, suitably about 5-30 mils, commonly about 10-20 mils.
The flexible sheet 20 used to form the container carrier 10 is formed using a polymer composition that preferably includes a high-pressure low density polyethylene polymer. Often, this polyethylene polymer is blended with post-consumer recycled (PCR) material and/or other additives or blends to extrude the flexible sheet 20 used in the finished container carrier 10. Such a composition preferably provides a container carrier with satisfactory recovery after stretch, desired elongation and strength at application, and resistance to tearing when the carrier is notched or scratched, however, these factors may be affected by the PCR content of the flexible sheet 20 versus virgin polyethylene polymer alone.
The container carrier 10 generally include a plurality of container receiving apertures 25 that are each stretched around container 50 to form a unitized package 15 of containers 50, such as shown in
Specifically, the container carrier 10 preferably includes a plurality of outer bands 35 and inner bands 40 forming an array of container receiving apertures 25 arranged in two or more transverse pairs.
Each outer band 35 of the plurality of outer bands 35 preferably forms a convex container engaging portion 30 of each container receiving aperture 25. These convex container engaging portions 30 are located along an outer periphery of the container carrier 10, as shown in
Each inner band 40 of the plurality of inner bands 40 preferably forms a concave container engaging portion 32 of each container receiving aperture 25. These concave container engaging portions 32 are preferably located through a central area of the container carrier 10, as shown in
A central grasping aperture 60 is preferably positioned between each transverse pair of container receiving apertures 25. The central grasping aperture 60 preferably includes opposite radiused ends and a pair of radiused finger holds extending along each side.
An oblong stress relief cutout 70 is preferably positioned along each inner band 40 between each container receiving aperture 25 and each central grasping aperture 60. In this manner, two stress relief cutouts 70 are positioned relative to each container receiving aperture 25 along the concave edges of the container engaging portions 32. The stress relief cutouts 70 thus include an outer edge that follows a contour of the concave container engaging portion 32. Further, the stress relief cutouts 70 preferably also include an inner edge that is generally linear.
According to one preferred embodiment, a finger aperture 80 is positioned within the inner bands 40 on each side the central grasping aperture 60. In one embodiment the finger aperture 80 is pear shaped and preferably includes opposing radiused ends. The opposing radii of different sizes are preferably arranged such that a larger radius is positioned on a side facing the central grasping aperture 60.
As shown in
The resulting geometry enables a rim applied carrier that is resistant to failure due to large temperature swings from ambient. This resistance is created in part by the features between each aperture pair that provide a consistent pathway for even stress distribution while the carrier is stretched for application. In addition, the particular radius arrangement isolates forces exerted while lifting the package through the central grasping aperture thus maintaining a firm grip on containers within the unitized package.
The invention illustratively disclosed herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element, part, step, component, or ingredient which is not specifically disclosed herein.
While in the foregoing detailed description this invention has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments thereof, and many details have been set forth for purposes of illustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the basic principles of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/604,488, filed on 30 Nov. 2023. The co-pending provisional application is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and is made a part hereof, including but not limited to those portions which specifically appear hereinafter.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63604488 | Nov 2023 | US |
