Abstract: The interior of the case is divided by compartmenting walls into a plurality of bottle-receiving compartments and also a central compartment which is not suited for receiving bottles and is elongated. The compartments are hexagonal. At each end of the central compartment there is a Y-intersection of three compartmenting walls. The compartmenting walls are extended upwards at these two intersections at each end of the central compartment and tapered together as they rise. Across the top of the central compartment and attached to the shanks formed by the extensions of the compartmenting wall intersections is a central handle for carrying the case. The handle shanks thus do not require space in the case in addition to the space already taken up by the compartmenting walls, and at the same time provide guide surfaces for the bottles being inserted into the compartments surrounding the end regions of the central compartment. This greatly facilitates machine loading of the case with bottles.

Abstract: A bottle case integrally molded from thermoplastic resin has at least one separator column subdivided into partial pillars rising from the floor of the case for separating bottles in the case sufficiently to prevent breakage in handling and transportation. Each column is subdivided by a gap so that bottles can be accepted together with a carrier or minicase, with one internal wall of one carrier or minicase or one external wall of each of two carriers or minicases being slid into the gap of the column. The pillars have single-webbed profiled walls, the surface of the profiled wall facing the side walls of the box structure being part of side faces of the column and the other surface of the profiled wall being part of the gap configuration. The upper mouth of the gap can be a slot to facilitate insertion of the carrier or minicase and to locate and adjust its walls. Vertical reinforcement corrugations stabilize the pillars.

Abstract: The disclosed case is of the type integrally molded from thermoplastic resin and rectangular, with a lattice floor. The outer bottom side of the floor is so formed as to facilitate nesting of the case on another. Four pillars extend vertically in two facing pairs from the floor, for separating bottles in the case sufficiently to prevent breakage in handling. The pillars of a pair are separated by a slot so that bottles can be accepted together with a carrier, with a wall of the carrier being slid into the aligned slots of the pillar pairs.

Abstract: A crate for beverage bottles and the like has separators for the bottles in the form of clusters of pillars extending upward from the lattice work bottom of the crate, each cluster being centered on the intersection of four bottle cells of the crate. The pillars of the same cluster are separated by one or two vertical slot-like gaps extending to the crate bottom to receive the partitions of a disposable bottle pack, so that the bottles can be loaded in the crate after they have already been placed in the disposable bottle packs in which they will go to consumer. The bottom of the bottle pack is provided with holes to allow the bottle separator pillars of the crate to extend up into the bottle pack. Instead of a single bottle pack fitting into the crate, two or more smaller bottle packs may fit adjacently into the crate, with their adjoining walls fitting into the same slot-like gaps of the pillar cluster.