CRATE FOR CONTAINERS
A crate includes a bottom wall including a plurality of dividers defining a plurality of container pockets and a peripheral wall extending upward from a periphery of the bottom wall. The bottom wall and peripheral wall are thermoformed from a single sheet of plastic, such as recycled PET bottles.
This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/562,052, which was filed Nov. 21, 2006.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to a crate for use in retaining and transporting beverage bottles or other containers.
Plastic soft drink bottles, such as two-liter PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, are often packaged in crates for storage and shipment to the stores. The crates of bottles are often stacked during transportation and display at the store. Typical crates are injection molded with ribs reinforcing a bottom wall and double walls around the periphery of the bottom wall. These crates are relatively stiff and strong to improve the stackability of the loaded crates. These crates are also durable enough to be returned, washed and reused multiple times. Eventually, damaged or worn crates are recyclable. However, it is not possible or practical for the empty crates to be returned, such as in stores where the customers carry the bottles from the store in the crates.
Another common packaging for soft drink bottles is corrugated cardboard, with or without plastic wrap securing the bottles to the cardboard. The cardboard is light and inexpensive, but it is not reusable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a crate that is less expensive, lighter and smaller than the current reusable crates, but unlike the cardboard packaging, is also recyclable and can be made from 100% recycled beverage bottle materials.
The crate includes a single sheet that may be thermoformed to include pockets for receiving two-liter bottles. The crate is not sufficiently strong and stiff by itself to independently support the bottles when stacked. Rather, tight tolerances between bottles and the walls of the pockets and the interaction of the hoop strength of the peripheral wall with the bottles makes the crate and bottles as a unit sufficiently strong and stiff for stacking, carrying and shipping.
Because the crate lacks the reinforcement of the known reusable crates, it is lighter and less expensive. However, the crate is also recyclable and can be molded from 100% recycled materials, such as recycled PET bottles. The crate can be thermoformed, which means that several versions can be made on the same tooling. For example, by using thermoformable sheets of higher thicknesses, a reusable crate may be formed. Thinner sheets can be formed into single-use crates.
Other advantages of the present invention can be understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
A crate 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in
The crate 10 further includes alternating first upper side walls 22 and second upper side walls 23. The first upper side walls 22 are generally flat and extend upward and outward from the lateral dividers 18. The second upper side walls 23 are generally concave and further define the pockets 12.
Each end of the crate 10 further includes a generally flat first upper end wall 24 extending upward and outward from the longitudinal divider 20 and generally concave second upper end walls 25 on either side of the first upper end wall 24 to further define the pockets 12.
A peripheral lip 26 protrudes outwardly and then downwardly from the uppermost edge of the peripheral wall (formed by the first upper side walls 22 and second upper side walls 23) of the crate 10. Optional nesting stops 28 protrude outwardly from lower portions of the second upper side walls 23.
Referring to
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Additionally, the diamond shaped intersection 342 between the lateral dividers 318 and the longitudinal dividers 320 each include a diamond shaped recess 344. The diamond shaped recess 344 includes substantially vertical interior peripheral walls 346 connected to a substantially horizontal bottom wall 348. The peripheral walls 346 resist bending of the crate 310 about the axis of the lateral dividers 318 and the longitudinal dividers 320.
The bottom walls 314 of the pockets 312 include a narrow annular recess 354, which forms an annular rib 356 on the under side of the bottom wall 314, as shown in
A crate 410 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown in
A pair of recesses are formed in the outer portions of the upper surface 460 of the center divider 418A. These recesses 472 each include a substantially vertical peripheral walls 474 extending downward to a substantially horizontal bottom wall 476. The peripheral walls 474 provide further reinforcement to the crate 410 against bending about the axis of the center divider 418A.
A crate 610 according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention is shown in
In this embodiment, the lateral dividers 618A and longitudinal dividers 620 are truncated to leave a substantially flat, horizontal common surface 690 joining the bottom walls 614 of each of the pockets 612. The pockets 612 are oriented such that the bottles (not shown) in the pockets 612 would all be in snug contact with one another to provide strength to the loaded crate 610.
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. Alphanumeric identifiers on method steps are for convenient reference in dependent claims and do not signify a required sequence of performance unless otherwise indicated in the claims.
Claims
1. A method including the steps of:
- heating a plastic sheet;
- forming the plastic sheet to create a crate comprising a plurality of container pockets having bottom walls and a plurality of upper side walls extending upwardly from the plurality of bottom walls, the upper side walls defining a peripheral wall extending about an outer periphery of the crate; and
- placing a plurality of bottles within the crate such that every bottle within the crate is in direct contact with a portion of the peripheral wall, and such that every bottle within the crate is in direct contact with at least two others of the plurality of bottles.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein each one of the plurality of bottles is received within a respective one of the plurality of container pockets.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein a lip is formed to protrude outwardly from an upper edge of the peripheral wall.
4. The method of claim 1 further including the step of forming at least one divider such that the divider is contiguous with the bottom walls and further defines the container pockets.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the at least one divider includes a pair of spaced apart walls, each spaced apart wall defining a portion of a respective container pocket.
6. A method including the steps of:
- (a) heating a sheet of recycled plastic;
- (b) forming the recycled plastic sheet to create a crate including a plurality of walls defining the outer periphery of the crate; and
- (c) placing a plurality of bottles within the crate at a first location such that each one of the plurality of bottles is in direct contact with a portion of one of the plurality of walls, and such that each one of the plurality of bottles is in direct contact with at least two others of the plurality of bottles.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein after said step (c):
- (d) transporting bottles and crate from a first location to a second location; and
- (e) removing the bottles from the crate at the second location.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein after said step (e):
- (f) recycling the crate.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein after said step (e):
- (g) repeating said steps (c)-(e) a desired number of times.
10. The method of claim 6 wherein said step (a) includes that the sheet of recycled plastic is formed from a plurality of recycled PET bottles.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 1, 2010
Publication Date: Jun 3, 2010
Inventors: William P. Apps (Alpharetta, GA), Sean T. Ogburn (Hoschton, GA), Cynthia R. Meissen (Atlanta, GA)
Application Number: 12/697,577
International Classification: B65B 47/02 (20060101);