Bag-in-box container rack

Abstract

A bag-in-box container rack has first and second side walls, a pair of support bars, spaced apart and parallel to one another, extending horizontally between the first and second side walls, and a plurality of bag-in-box container supports extending between the support bars. The rack has at least one vertical panel having a plurality of flanges that are adapted to slidably support a fluid dispensing component, such as a pump or pump assembly, on the panel; the flanges being made from the same material as the rest of the panel, and being monolithically formed therewith. In one embodiment, the vertical panel is made of metal and the flange portions are cut from the metal forming the panel and bent outwardly to form the flange. The rack can be used in a modular bag-in-box container rack system made from a plurality of substantially identical rack sections stacked vertically on one another. Each container support includes a pair of rails adapted to support a standard size bag-in-box container. The vertical distance between the support bars of adjacent rack sections is sufficient to allow one standard size bag-in-box container to be stacked vertically on each of the container supports, whereby standard size bag-in-box containers can be stacked vertically, side by side, on each rack section.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/683,395, filed May 20, 2005; which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a rack for bag-in-box type containers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Racks of many different configurations are currently available in the food and beverage industry. A number of such racks are employed to store any type of beverage container, including without limitation bottles, boxes, crates, bags, kegs, barrels, and other containers capable of holding fluid. Such racks are often used to support syrup containers in post-mix beverage blending. In this application, syrup is pumped, drained, or otherwise removed from the container and is often mixed with water, or water and gas, to yield a post-mix beverage. In those cases where gas is mixed with the syrup, the gases can include carbon dioxide, nitrogen, a combination of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, or any other gas or gas combination.

One such fluid container commonly used in the food and beverage industry is a “bag-in-box” container. A comestible fluid such as a beverage, a syrup, or concentrate is contained within a bag, which is, in turn, enclosed within a box for support. A tap and pump are used to extract the comestible fluid from within the bag. A tap can be positioned near the bottom of the bag, whereby the contents of the bag are removed from the bag via a conduit between the tap and pump. A metering valve may be connected to the bag and pump to meter the flow from the pump or bag. During post-mix beverage blending, a metered supply of syrup is typically mixed with water, or with water and a metered amount of gas.

In many instances, the locations (restaurants, bars, concession stands, sidewalk vendors, etc.) where post-mix beverages are being mixed have limited space. Currently available comestible fluid container racks are large and bulky, taking up significant amounts of space. Some racks are designed to support the bag-in-box containers horizontally. The bag-in-box containers come from the beverage manufacturer in standard size boxes. Most major manufacturers use the same standard size boxes. These boxes are approximately twelve inches high, six inches tall, and eighteen inches deep.

For racks designed to have the bag-in-box containers placed horizontally thereon, the bag-in-box is laid down so the height is six inches and the width is twelve inches. This limits the number of bag-in-box containers that can be placed onto a standard rack. Typically, standard size racks are either approximately twenty-seven inches wide or approximately thirty-nine inches wide; the twenty-seven inch rack being used to support two bag-in-box containers side by side, and the thirty-nine inch rack being used to support three bag-in-box containers side by side. These racks are limited to only two or three containers side by side because the vertical spacing of the support bars does not allow the bag-in-box containers to be stacked vertically.

Further, in current bag-in box container rack systems, the mounting of pumps or other fluid dispensing components, used to deliver the comestible fluid, is burdensome and complicated. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a current version of a bag-in-box container rack system is shown generally at 10. The rack system 10 includes a mounting plate 12 onto which the pumps 14 are attached.

The pumps are shipped from the manufacturer with a mounting bracket (not shown) attached to them. The mounting bracket is removed from the pump and fastened to the mounting plate 12. After a plurality of mounting brackets have been fastened to the mounting plate 12, the mounting plate is attached to the rack system 10. The pumps 14 are re-attached to the mounting brackets after the mounting plate 12 has been mounted onto the rack system 10. This process is labor intensive and time consuming, and therefore expensive.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,768 discloses a comestible fluid rack and rail apparatus. The rack is designed to be adjustable in its width. The rack includes vertical panels on the rack sections that have rails that can be used to support fluid dispensing components mounted on brackets that slide into the rails. The rack system shown, however, has several limitations, primarily its cost.

In light of the problems and limitations of the prior art described above, a need exists for a bag-in-box container rack that is less expensive to make, and preferably can store more bag-in-box containers in a restricted space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an aspect of the present invention, a bag-in-box container rack has first and second side walls, a pair of support bars, spaced apart and parallel to one another, extending horizontally between the first and second side walls, and a plurality of bag-in-box container supports extending between the support bars. The rack has at least one vertical panel having a plurality of flanges that are adapted to slidably support a fluid dispensing component, such as a pump or pump assembly, on the panel; the flanges being made from the same material as the rest of the panel, and being monolithically formed therewith. In one embodiment, the vertical panel is made of metal and the flange portions are cut from the metal forming the panel and bent outwardly to form the flanges.

In another aspect, the rack can be used in a modular bag-in-box container rack system made from a plurality of substantially identical rack sections stacked vertically on one another. Each container support includes a pair of rails adapted to support a standard size bag-in-box container. The vertical distance between the support bars of adjacent rack sections is sufficient to allow one standard size bag-in-box container to be stacked vertically on each of the container supports, whereby standard size bag-in-box containers can be stacked vertically, side by side, on each rack section. Support bars of adjacent rack sections are spaced at least twelve inches apart, whereby the vertical distance between adjacent support bars is sufficient to allow bag-in-box containers being of the standard size of approximately twelve inches by approximately six inches by approximately eighteen inches to be stacked vertically on the rack sections.

The preferred rack of the present invention is less costly to produce than other racks, and has the benefit that the rack can be set up and the pumps or other fluid dispensing components can be installed on the rack with less labor than racks that involve removing the mounting brackets from the pumps and fastening the brackets to a mounting plate, then attaching the mounting plate to the rack system and then re-attaching the pumps to the mounting brackets.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above, as well as other advantages of the present invention, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art bag-in-box container rack system;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the prior art bag-in-box container rack system shown in FIG. 1, shown from a different angle;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a modular bag-in-box container rack system in accordance with the teachings of the claims herein;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the modular bag-in-box rack system shown in FIG. 3, shown from a different angle;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rack section having three container supports, and overall width of approximately twenty-seven inches, and having pumps supported by flanges formed within one of the side walls;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the rack section shown in FIG. 5 without pump assemblies mounted thereon;

FIG. 7 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of a rack section having a plurality of vertically spaced flanges to support pump assemblies thereon;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 5, showing how the pumps engage the flanges;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a rack section having four container supports, an overall width of approximately thirty-nine inches, and having pumps supported on flanges formed within a pump rack mounted onto the top of a rack section;

FIG. 10 is a top view of the rack section shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line 11-11 of FIG. 10 showing how the top and bottom of the legs of two adjacent rack sections engage one another; and

FIGS. 12A-12C are side views of a rack section similar to the one shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrating how the pump assemblies are placed onto the rack section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a modular bag-in-box container rack system in accordance with the teachings of the claims is shown generally at 20. The modular bag-in-box container rack system 20 includes a plurality of substantially identical racks 22 (also referred to as rack sections), stacked vertically on one another. Each rack section 22 includes a first side wall 24, a second side wall 26, a pair of support bars 28, spaced apart and parallel to one another, extending horizontally between the first and second side walls 24, 26, and a plurality of container supports 30 extending between the support bars 28. The first and second side walls 24, 26 do not necessarily have to be of a panel-like construction. The first and second side walls 24, 26 may have an open or tubular design.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the first and second side walls 24, 26 of each rack section 22 include a pair of support legs 32. Each support leg 32 has a top 34 and a bottom 36. The tops 34 of the support legs 32 are adapted to engage the bottoms 36 of the support legs 32 such that the individual rack sections 22 can be stacked vertically on one another, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 11 illustrates one possible embodiment of the engagement between a top 34 of a support leg 32 and the bottom 36 of an adjacent support leg 32. It is to be understood that other configurations of the support legs 32 could also be utilized without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Each container support 30 comprises a pair of rails 38, spaced apart and parallel to one another, extending between the support bars 28 of the rack section 22. As shown in FIG. 6, a rack section 22a is shown having three container supports 30a, 30b, 30c equally spaced from one another. The rails 38a, 38b, 38c of the container supports 30a, 30b, 30c are spaced from one another approximately five inches, and the container supports 30a, 30b, 30c are spaced between three and four inches apart. This rack section 22a has a fixed height, H, width, W, and depth, D. The height, H, is approximately fourteen and one quarter inches and the depth, D, is approximately nineteen and one quarter inches. The rack section 22a is approximately twenty-seven inches wide, and is adapted to support three bag-in-box containers, stacked vertically, side by side, on the rails 38a, 38b, 38c of the three container supports 30a, 30b, 30c.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, a rack section 22b is shown having four container supports 30d, 30e, 30f, 30g equally spaced from one another. The rails 38d, 38e, 38f, 38g of the container supports 30d, 30e, 30f, 30g are spaced from one another approximately five inches, and the container supports 30d, 30e, 30f, 30g are spaced between three and four inches apart. This rack section 22b is approximately fourteen and one quarter inches high approximately nineteen and one quarter inches deep. This rack section 22b is approximately thirty-nine inches wide, and is adapted to support four bag-in-box containers, stacked vertically, side by side, on the rails 38d, 38e, 38f, 38g of the three container supports 30d, 30e, 30f, 30g.

Preferably, the rails 38a-38g are contoured such that the bag-in-box containers that are supported thereon are oriented at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane. A tap of the bag-in-box container is typically positioned toward one end or side of the box. By contouring the rails 38a-38g of the container supports 30a-30g, the bag-in-box containers are tilted to allow the contents to flow to the tap to allow the entire contents of the bag-in-box container to be pumped therefrom. As shown in FIGS. 3, 5, 6 and 9, the rails 38a-38g include a formed portion that defines lip 40. When the bag-in-box container is placed onto the rails 38a-38g, the bag-in-box container will rest against the lip 40 of the rails 38a-38g.

Portions of the modular bag-in-box container rack system 20 are adapted to support fluid dispensing components, such as pump assemblies, mounted thereon. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, in one embodiment, at least one of the first and second side walls 24, 26 of each rack section 22a includes portions that define features to allow pump assemblies 42 to be mounted to the side wall 24, 26. The pump assemblies 42 as shown each include a pump, a valve, a filter, and a regulator, for pumping the contents of the bag-in-box containers. At least one of the first and second side walls 24, 26 includes a vertical panel 44 having a plurality of flanges adapted to slidably support a fluid dispensing component, such as a pump or pump assembly, on the panel. The flanges are made from the same material as the rest of the panel, and are monolithically formed therewith, meaning that they are not formed as separate pieces that are then affixed to the panel. In one embodiment, the vertical panel is made of metal and the flange portions are cut from the metal forming the panel and bent outwardly to form the flange. Another method to monolithically form the flanges would be to mold the panels from plastic, and form the flanges during an injection molding operation. In either event, by forming the flanges from the same material as the rest of the panel, the panel, and hence the rack, can be manufactured for less cost than if separate pieces were manufactured and then welded or otherwise secured to the panel to provide the flange.

The flanges 46 include angled flange sections 48, extending toward one another. In the embodiment shown, the flanges 46 include four flanges, two on an upper portion of the panel opening downwardly, and two on a lower portion of the panel opening upwardly. The two flanges on the upper portion of the panel are in line with one another, and the two flanges on the lower portion of the panel are also in line with one another. Referring to FIG. 8, the pump assemblies 42, as delivered from the manufacturer, with mounting brackets 50 attached thereto, can be slid in between the flange sections 48. The flange sections 48 engage the mounting brackets 50 of the pump assemblies 42 to support the pump assemblies 42 on the vertical panel 44. In this way, the pump assemblies 42 can be easily and quickly mounted to the rack section 22a. Further, in this embodiment, the pump assemblies are positioned laterally to one side of the rack section 22a, which may be advantageous or necessary depending on the particular application.

FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C, illustrate how the pump assemblies 42 are slid into the flanges 46 of the vertical panel 44. A first pump assembly 42a is slid into the flanges as shown in FIG. 12A. FIG. 12B shows a second pump assembly 42b being slid into the flanges immediately after the first pump assembly 42a, and adjacent to the first pump assembly 42a. Finally, a third pump assembly 42c is slid into the flanges 46 adjacent the second pump assembly 42b, as shown in FIG. 12C. The mounting brackets 50 that are attached to the pump assemblies 42 when they are shipped are never removed from the pump assemblies 42. The pump assemblies 42 are slid into the flanges 46 of the vertical panels 44 substantially as they are shipped from the manufacturer, without being dis-assembled from the mounting brackets 50.

Referring to FIG. 7, in an alternative embodiment, the vertical panel 44a includes a plurality of corresponding flange sections 48a, 48b, 48c. These flange sections 48a, 48b, 48c are vertically spaced with respect to one another such that a corresponding plurality of pump assemblies 42 can be mounted to the vertical panel 44a, wherein the pump assemblies 42 will be vertically staggered with respect to one another.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, in another embodiment, a pump rack 52 is mounted onto the top rack section 22b. The pump rack 52 includes two parallel and spaced apart support legs 54 and at least one vertical panel 44b extending therebetween. Similarly to the vertical panel 44 discussed above, the vertical panel 44b of this embodiment includes portions formed therein that define flanges 46a. The flanges 46a include two inwardly angled flange sections 48d, extending outward from the vertical panel 44a toward one another. The flange sections 48d engage the mounting brackets 50 of the pump assemblies 42 to support the pump assemblies 42 on the vertical panel 44b, as discussed above and as shown in FIG. 8. In this way, the pump assemblies 42 can be easily and quickly mounted to the rack section 22b. Further, in this embodiment, the pump assemblies 42 are positioned at the top of the rack system 20, above the rack sections 22, which may be advantageous or necessary depending on the particular application.

Alternatively, the vertical panel 44b can include a plurality of corresponding flange sections as described above and as shown in FIG. 7, with reference to vertical panel 44a. As described above, this pump rack 52 would support a plurality of pump assemblies 42, wherein the pump assemblies 42 are vertically staggered with respect to one another.

The support legs 32 of each side wall 24, 26 have a uniform length, as defined by the height, H, of the rack section 22. The length of the support legs 32 is sized such that when the rack sections 22 are stacked on one another, the vertical distance, V, between the support bars 28 of adjacent rack sections 22 is sufficient to allow the bag-in-box containers to be stacked vertically on the rails 38a-38g of the container supports 30a-30g. Specifically, when the rack sections 22 are stacked onto one another, the vertical spacing between adjacent support bars 28 is between approximately fourteen and approximately fifteen inches. This allows the standard size bag-in-box containers, having a height, when stacked vertically, of approximately twelve inches, to be stacked vertically thereon.

By stacking the bag-in-box containers vertically, three containers can be placed side by side on the twenty-seven inch wide rack section 22a and four containers can be placed side by side on the thirty-nine inch wide rack section 22b. This allows more bag-in-box containers to be stacked in the same horizontal space than would normally fit when the bag-in-box containers are stacked horizontally. This allows more bag-in-box containers to be supported on the same size rack system 20.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described. For example, in another embodiment, each container support is substantially flat and aligned within a horizontal plane.

Claims

1. A bag-in-box container rack comprising:

a) first side wall, a second side wall, a pair of support bars, spaced apart and parallel to one another, extending horizontally between the first and second side walls, and a plurality of bag-in-box container supports extending between the support bars; and

b) at least one vertical panel having a plurality of flanges that are adapted to slidably support a fluid dispensing component on the panel, the flanges being made from the same material as the rest of the panel, and being monolithically formed therewith.

2. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 1 wherein the vertical panel is made of metal and the flange portions are cut from the metal forming the panel and bent outwardly to form each flange.

3. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 1 further comprising at least one fluid dispensing component mounted on said panel.

4. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 3 wherein said fluid dispensing component comprises a pump.

5. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 3 wherein said fluid dispensing component comprises a pump assembly comprising a pump, a valve, a filter, and a regulator.

6. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 1 wherein the at least one vertical panel is part of the first side wall.

7. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 1 wherein each side wall includes one of said vertical panels with flanges thereon.

8. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 1 wherein the at least one vertical panel comprises four flanges: two on an upper portion of the panel opening downwardly, and two on a lower portion of the panel opening upwardly.

9. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 8 wherein the two flanges on the upper portion of the panel are in line with one another.

10. A modular bag-in-box container rack system comprising a plurality of the racks of claim 1 staked on top of one another, wherein the support bars of adjacent racks are spaced such that the vertical distance between the support bars of adjacent racks is sufficient to allow one standard size bag-in-box container to be stacked vertically on each of the container supports, whereby a plurality of standard size bag-in-box containers can be stacked vertically, side by side, on each rack section.

11. The modular bag-in-box container rack system of claim 10 wherein each rack includes three container supports and has an overall width of between twenty-four inches and thirty inches, whereby three standard sized bag-in-box containers can be stacked vertically, side by side, on the three container supports.

12. The modular bag-in-box container rack system of claim 10 wherein each rack includes four container supports and has an overall width of between thirty-six inches and forty-two inches, whereby four standard sized bag-in-box containers can be stacked vertically, side by side, on the four container supports.

13. The modular bag-in-box container rack system of claim 10 wherein the support bars of adjacent rack sections are spaced at least fourteen inches apart.

14. The modular bag-in-box container rack system of claim 10 wherein the first and second side walls of each rack section include a pair of support legs, each leg having a top and bottom, the top of each leg being adapted to engage the bottom of another leg.

15. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 1 wherein the vertical panel includes a plurality of flanges vertically staggered with respect to one another.

16. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 1 wherein the vertical panel extends between two spaced apart support legs.

17. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 16 wherein the vertical panel is located vertically above the support bars.

18. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 1 wherein the container supports include features formed therein to provide a stop to prevent the bag-in-box container from sliding forward off the container support.

19. The bag-in-box container rack of claim 1 wherein each container support is substantially flat and aligned within a horizontal plane.

20. A modular bag-in-box container rack system comprising:

a) a plurality of substantially identical rack sections, stacked vertically on one another;

b) each rack section defining a width, height, and depth, the width, height, and depth of each rack section being fixed;

c) each rack section including a first side wall, a second side wall, a pair of support bars, spaced apart and parallel to one another, extending horizontally between the first and second side walls, and a plurality of container supports extending between the support bars;

d) the support bars of adjacent rack sections being spaced at least fourteen inches apart, such that the vertical distance between the support bars of adjacent rack sections is sufficient to allow one standard size bag-in-box container to be stacked vertically thereon such that a plurality of standard size bag-in-box containers can be stacked vertically, side by side, on each rack section;

e) the first and second side walls of each rack section including a pair of support legs, each leg having a top and bottom, the top of each leg being adapted to engage the bottom of another leg such that the individual rack sections can be stacked vertically on one another; and

f) at least one of the first and second side walls of each rack section including a vertical panel having a plurality of flanges that are adapted to slidably support a fluid dispensing component on the panel, the flanges being made from the same material as the rest of the panel, and being monolithically formed therewith.