RACK FOR CONTAINERS
A rack for securing containers includes a plurality of bays into which one or more containers are received. The rack includes an upper section and a lower section defining a bay therebetween. The bay has a concave support surface for supporting an object. A plurality of columns connect the upper section to the lower section. The upper section and the lower section each include a plurality of complementary interlocking members aligned with the plurality of columns, such that the interlocking members on the upper section would interlock with the interlocking members on the lower section of a similar rack stacked thereon. Each bay may include a resilient member, such as an expandable clamp or a resilient bumper.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/828,201, filed Oct. 4, 2006 and U.S. provisional Application Ser. No. 60/913,283, filed Apr. 22, 2007.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to a rack for holding objects and more particularly to a rack for holding water bottles.
A typical home delivery system for 3 and 5-gallon bottles of drinking water involves a delivery truck, racks, bottles and a driver. The delivery truck is usually configured with several bays on each side with each bay having a rollup door to enclose the product. Inside each bay one or more racks are stored filled with bottles. The racks are typically loaded and unloaded with bottles outside the bays. Fork trucks are used to move the racks in and out of the bays.
The racks have traditionally been made from metal and more recently from plastic. The plastic racks tend to be modular in design with each component making up a layer of the rack. The layer can hold four bottles in a two by two arrangement or eight bottles in a four wide by two deep arrangement. A two deep arrangement is for 5-gallon bottles whereas 3-gallon bottles will be three deep in the same space. The plastic components can sit on top of an existing pallet for transport or can incorporate runners or blocks into the bottom layer to eliminate the need for a pallet. In either case pallet trucks and jacks are the means for moving the racks. The modular design allows the distributor to stack them to any height but usually three to five layers high. At five layers the rack can hold up to forty 5-gallon bottles. Plastic racks have gained acceptance because they have proven to be more durable and the modular design allows for easy repair.
Leaking containers are a problem within the existing system. Testing has shown that the bouncing up and down of the bottles in the racks is a significant cause of leaking containers. Whenever the truck is moving the rack and bottles experience vibration and therefore relative movement. The movement at the contact points in combination with other environmental factors such as dirt and dust eventually weakens the bottle resulting in a hole or crack. Testing has shown that the softer plastic racks can reduce this, but a push toward lighter and thinner bottles to reduce costs has made the problem significantly worse in recent years.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a rack for holding objects, such as containers, and more particularly water bottles.
The rack includes a plurality of bays into which one or more containers are received. Each layer of the rack includes an upper section and a lower section defining a bay therebetween. The bay has a concave support surface for supporting an object. A plurality of columns connect the upper section to the lower section. The upper section and the lower section each include a plurality of complementary interlocking members aligned with the plurality of columns, such that the interlocking members on the upper section would interlock with the interlocking members on the lower section of a similar rack stacked thereon. The interlocking members improve the stability and stacking of layers of the rack. Each bay may include a resilient member, such as an expandable clamp or a resilient bumper.
Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
The upper section 22 has a plurality (in this example, nine) of column portions 36, each having a support pad 38 thereon. In this example, the support pads 38 are tapered blocks snap fit to the top of the column portions 36. The support pads 38 ensure alignment of another layer stacked thereon, although the actual weight is transferred directly to the column portions 36, not on the support pads 38. The outer ones of the column portions 36 including a plurality of vertical ribs 37 extending outwardly from a curved inner wall 41.
The lower section 24 has a plurality of column portions 44. The outer ones of the column potions 44 include vertical ribs 45 extending outwardly from a curved inner wall 47. The upper section 22 also includes a plurality of alignment sleeves 39, in this example, four alignment sleeves 39 adjacent the corner support pads 38.
Retainers 31 each include a pair of fingers 32 for locking between the flange 33 and the tubular portion 34 of the expandable chambers 30 to retain the expandable chambers 30 to the upper section 22, as shown in
In operation, the user loads the bottles 20 into the rack 10 on the truck 64 and then closes the door 66. Upon detecting that the door 66 is closed, the sensor 63 activates the pump 60 which supplies pressure to the expandable chambers 30 as shown in
As a first alternative, the pump 60 could be eliminated. For local delivery trucks, it is possible to store sufficient pressure in the tank 61 for at least one delivery route. The tank 61 would be repressurized when the truck 64 returns to the distribution center to return the empty bottles 20 and pick up more full bottles 20.
As a second alternative, the pump 60, tank 61 and valve 62 could all be eliminated from the truck 64, if the truck 64 is transporting the bottles 20 from a warehouse to a distribution center, or for some other reason, no bottles 20 will be removed from the racks 10 during transportation. In this situation, the racks 10 can be pressurized at the warehouse before being loaded on the truck 64. The pressurized racks 10 remain pressurized without any additional outside source of pressure to protect the bottles 20 during shipment and during loading/unloading at the warehouse and distribution center.
The valve 62 could also be activated based upon a gear/parking brake sensor 65 (or other vehicle operating state) that activates the valve 62 based upon the truck 64 being shifted into and out of a parking gear or based upon the application/release of a parking brake. Therefore, even if the driver forgets to close the door 66, the racks 10 will be pressurized and the bottles 20 will be locked in place when the parking brake is released and/or when the truck 64 is shifted into gear. Alternatively, a motion or speed sensor could pressurize the racks 10 whenever motion of the vehicle 64 is sensed.
Although the invention is particularly useful for water bottles 20, other containers and other objects could be secured in a rack in a similar fashion using the invention described above. Also, the expandable chambers 30 and resilient bumpers 130, 230 could be directed upwardly, downwardly, horizontally or diagonally against one or more rows of bottles. The upper and lower sections 22, 24 and layers 12 could be molded as one piece, multiple pieces and could optionally snap together.
In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes and jurisprudence, exemplary configurations described above are considered to represent a preferred embodiment of the invention. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.
Claims
1. A rack layer comprising:
- an upper section and a lower section defining a bay therebetween, the bay having a concave support surface for supporting an object;
- a plurality of columns connecting the upper section to the lower section; and
- the upper section and the lower section each including a plurality of complementary interlocking members aligned with the plurality of columns, such that the interlocking members on the upper section would interlock with the interlocking members on the lower section of a similar rack layer stacked thereon.
2. The rack layer of claim 1 further including a resilient member adjacent the bay for contacting the object supported therein.
3. The rack layer of claim 2 wherein the resilient member is an inflatable clamp adjacent the bay for selectively locking the object in the bay.
4. The rack layer of claim 2 wherein the resilient member has an I-beam cross-section.
5. The rack layer of claim 2 wherein the resilient member is retained by a clip removably secured to the rack.
6. The rack layer of claim 1 wherein the interlocking members of the upper section each have a peripheral support surface configured to contact a peripheral support surface of the interlocking members of the lower section of the similar rack layer stacked thereon.
7. The rack layer of claim 6 wherein the upper section includes a plurality of upper ribs extending upwardly, and wherein the support surfaces of the upper section are disposed below the plurality of upper ribs.
8. The rack layer of claim 7 wherein the lower section includes a plurality of lower ribs extending downwardly, and wherein the support surfaces of the lower section are disposed below the plurality of lower ribs.
9. The rack layer of claim 1 wherein the plurality of columns includes a plurality of outer columns, each having a curved inner wall and a plurality of ribs extending outwardly therefrom.
10. The rack layer of claim 1 further including complementary alignment sleeves formed on the upper section and the lower section.
11. The rack layer of claim 10 wherein the alignment sleeves do not transfer weight between stacked rack layers.
12. The rack layer of claim 1 wherein the upper section and the lower section are formed separately and connected to one another.
13. A rack layer comprising:
- an upper section and a lower section defining a bay therebetween, the bay having a concave support surface for supporting an object;
- a plurality of columns connecting the upper section to the lower section; and
- a resilient member connected to one of the upper section and the lower section and extending into the bay.
14. The rack layer of claim 13 wherein the resilient member has an I-beam cross section.
15. The rack layer of claim 13 further including a removable clip securing the resilient member to the upper section or the lower section.
16. The rack layer of claim 13 wherein the resilient member has a flange portion and a body portion, at least one finger on the upper section or the lower section disposed between the flange portion and the body portion to retain the resilient member.
17. The rack layer of claim 16 further including a removable clip having a finger disposed between the flange portion and the body portion to retain the resilient member.
18. A rack comprising:
- an upper layer and a lower layer, each having an upper section and a lower section connected by a plurality of columns and at least one bay defined therein, each bay having a concave support surface for supporting an object; and
- the upper section of the lower layer and the lower section of the upper layer each including a plurality of complementary support surfaces aligned with the plurality of columns, such that the support surfaces on the upper section of the lower layer support at least substantially all weight of the upper layer.
19. The rack layer of claim 18 wherein the upper section of the lower layer includes a plurality of upper ribs extending upwardly, and wherein the support surfaces of the upper section of the lower layer are disposed below the plurality of upper ribs.
20. The rack layer of claim 19 wherein the lower section of the upper layer includes a plurality of lower ribs extending downwardly, and wherein the support surfaces of the lower section of the upper layer are disposed below the plurality of lower ribs.
21. The rack layer of claim 18 wherein the upper section and the lower section of each layer are formed separately and connected to one another.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 4, 2007
Publication Date: Apr 10, 2008
Inventors: William P. Apps (Alpharetta, GA), Andrew William Wiseman (Marietta, GA)
Application Number: 11/867,539