Container carriers

Abstract

Improved carriers and improvements in handling equipment to provide for accurate entry of carriers into machines for application of carriers to containers and to prevent inverted entry of carriers into machines for applying carriers onto containers.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

Reference is made to my Provisional Application No. 60/555,642, filed Mar. 22, 2004, entitled “Improved Container Carriers”.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to carriers for containers for a variety of substances and materials. Such containers are generally fabricated of plastic or glass and have removable caps.

The present invention provides various improvements in carriers and related equipment.

The present invention provides improvements in bottling machines for use with such carriers, including a plurality of posts or rods spaced about a stack of carriers in such machine to maintain them oriented for accurate application of carriers to containers.

Tab portions on carriers engage components of carrier application machines. Tabs on carriers engage at entrance plate openings to prevent the insertion of inverted carriers.

Tabs on carriers are provided to engage the openings of carrier installing machines to prevent entry into the machine of inverted carriers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a typical prior art container carrier which lacks the improvements provided by the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a single handle carrier embodying some of the improvements of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side or edge view of the carrier embodiment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a carrier according to FIG. 2 disposed on a container;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken at line 5-5 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken at line 6-6 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken at line 7-7 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a two-handle carrier embodying certain features of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an edge view of the carrier of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an elevational view showing the carrier of FIGS. 8 and 9 with handles bent upwardly for manual grasping for carrying a container;

FIG. 11 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a two-carrier embodiment embodying features of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a plan view, partially in section, showing a carrier according to FIG. 2 disposed in an inlet opening 40 of a container bottling machine, showing a tab feature serving to prevent entry of inverted containers into a container capping machine;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a stack of carriers retained in position by rods of a container bottling machine; and

FIG. 15 is a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 14 showing posts which support and align a stack of carriers prior to carriers passing downwardly for securement to containers.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate a preferred embodiment 10 of the present invention wherein a handle member 12 is connected and integral with a ring or container support member 14 which has a plurality of inwardly extending tabs 16 to support a container at the neck thereof. FIG. 3 is a side or edge view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 5, support portions or tabe 16 are integral with the container support member 14, and have the cross-sectional J-shaped configuration shown. A handle portion has a gripping portion 18 of generally oval cross-section, as indicated in FIG. 7. The handle portion 18 is of a cross-sectional configuration comprising two intersecting portions, as indicated in FIG. 6, and the remainder of the handle comprises an oval configuration, as indicated in FIG. 7.

FIG. 4 shows the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3 disposed on a container 20 which has a cap 22 thereon, with the handle portion 18 thereof in upward configuration for manual grasping.

Referring to FIGS. 8 through 11, an embodiment is shown wherein two handles 23, 24 are provided on a single container support structure 26, The utilization of two separate handles 23, 24 for the gripping and handling of a single container provides advantages in that with the handles extending upwardly together, a person can grasp the two handles between a thumb and finger to lift a container. This arrangement is typically utilized with containers of small cross-section fabricated of a non-breakable plastic, typically polypropylene. This has the advantage that in the event that one of the two handles breaks while held by a person and supporting a container, the container typically will not fall, or involve such a sudden shock as would be involved with only a single handle, thus providing substantial safety and reduction of risk in falling and breaking.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the rod-like portions of the handles have generally oval cross-sectional configurations, or in FIG. 6, a combination of oval portions. Substantial savings of material and cost are provided without substantial reduction in strength in the components.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 8, there is shown the manner in which the handle 12 and the container support member 14 are blended and tapered to provide an arched curve when bent up to 90° during the lifting or carrying of a container, and to provide an arched curve when bent 90° in the supporting of a filled container.

As shown in FIG. 2, the handle 18 is thicker and stronger at the shoulder 19 where it joins the container support structure 26. This is important in so distributing stress that the handle generally will not break in the region of the juncture of the shoulder with the main portion of the handle. The increased radius of the bend effected or caused by such taper distributes stress and greatly reduces the likelihood of breakage in the critical area between the handle and the support structure 26.

The filling of containers is generally done by a machine having an upside-down suction cup member (not shown) which engages about the outer rim of respective carriers in succession to force each carrier ring down about a bottle cap on a filled container. If a carrier ring becomes lodged under the upside-down cup member of the machine, it will not be properly mounted ir will hot be mounted. This problem must be corrected with expensive delay and down-time with no production until the problem is corrected.

Referring to FIG. 12, tabs 48, 50 serve the same function and purpose as tabs 38 of the embodiment of FIG. 13. The tabs prevent installation of a carrier upside down in the same manner as with tabs 38 in the embodiment of FIG. 13. The tabs eliminate the problem of the carrier slipping into a cup of the machine. The same problem exists with single-pack and multi-pack carriers. The inner wall of the cup of the machine may be similar to the diameter of the circle 52 (FIG. 12). The machine cup would press the carrier down over the cap of the container which should be smaller in diameter. Thus, if there were no tab on the carrier, it would tend to slip up inside the cup as it was being forced down, there being substantial bending and distortion of the carrier. The ends of the carrier have extensions 54 on which barcode labels are attached.

FIG. 13 shows the tab 38 of a carrier shown in broken lines disposed at 38′ in relation to a carrier, thus to prevent the carrier from passing through an edge of opening 40 of a machine plate 42. The tab when thus positioned under an edge of the machine opening prevents a carrier or carriers from passing through the intake opening 40 in machine plate 42. If a carrier or carriers are incorrectly oriented upon insertion into the machine, typically as by being inserted upside-down, the tab 38 thus engages at 38′ an edge portion of the opening 40 of the machine, thus to prevent loading of a plurality or stack of carriers into the feed hopper of the machine which would cause stoppage of the machine until the problem is corrected.

If one or more carriers in a stack of carriers is disposed inwardly or is upside down at the opening 40 in machine plate 42 or, even worse, an upside-down carrier may be partially installed on a bottle by the machine, although upside down with a ring carrier portion hung up on the bottle cap. A serious problem results when a person, such as a customer, picks up the container, in that the carrier may allow the filled container to fall from the carrier and fall to a floor or other surface, breaking the container, with possible resultant serious personal injury, and at least causing a substantial cleaning task.

A plurality of posts or rods 60 of FIG. 14 guide a stack of carriers and interfere with a person inserting carriers upside down. If a person during insertion of carriers into a hopper, drops carriers, then inserts one upside down, the stack of carriers will move down in the machine until the upside down carrier encounters a post and then goes no farther. The upside down carrier will bump into the post, and stop.

The posts or rods prevent carriers from passing upside down in the hopper. A cut-out at the bottom conforms to the posts or rods to prevent passage through the throat of the machine. The carrier tab is sufficiently stiff to resist its deflection. If a carrier is upside down it will not pass through. A non-symmetrical placement tab prevents the carrier from being loaded in the hopper upside down. Any carrier in any stack cannot be upside down because the eccentric placement tab interferes with hopper supports. A small tab or finger lays in the same direction so that an eccentric tab is not needed.

FIG. 15 shows in dotted lines a tab interfering with the throat or a post interfering with the tab, so that a person cannot insert the carrier upside down, as indicated in FIG. 14. A post is in the way of the tab with the carrier upside down. FIG. 13 is similar to FIG. 14 but does not show posts because FIG. 13 is a view taken below the posts.

Claims

1. A container carrier comprising:

a generally circular carrier member, and

a tab extending from said carrier member to engage a machine intake opening edge to prevent entry of an inverted carrier into an intake opening of a machine for the mounting of successive carriers on respective containers, whereby entry of inverted carriers into said machine is prevented.

2. A carrier according to claim 1, wherein a ring portion of a carrier is prevented from being retained on a bottle cap being pressed about a container rim.

3. A container carrier according to claim 1, wherein the tab extending from said carrier is adapted to engage a side edge portion of an opening of the machine to prevent insertion of inverted carriers into an input opening of the machine, whereby incorrect insertion of an inverted carrier is prevented.

4. A container carrier according to claim 1, wherein the tab extends radially from the carrier periphery for prevention of inverted entry of the inverted carrier into a bottling machine for mounting the successive carriers on successive containers.

5. A combination according to claim 4 and further comprising a machine intake opening adapted to receive said tab on the side edge portion of said machine intake opening.

6. A combination according to claim 5, and further comprising a plurality of rods disposed about stacked carriers in a machine to retain the carriers in alignment for application to successive containers.

7. A combination according to claim 6 wherein said carriers are of generally elliptical cross-section to economize in ring material without substantial reduction in rigidity.

8. A container carrier comprising:

a carrier member of generally circular configuration,

said carrier member having two handles extending oppositely from the carrier member for upward manual bending and grasping of the handles, and

tab means extending from the carrier to prevent insertion thereof upside-down into a bottling machine by extension of the tab into an edge portion of a bottling machine intake opening.

9. A combination according to claim 8 wherein portions of said handles are at least partially elliptical in cross-sectional configuration, whereby costs of material are reduced.