Plastic Bottle Racks

Abstract

Bottle racks made of plastic material, comprising at their upper part, four handling openings having a trapezoidal form and undulated edges without any sharp angles.

Description

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The use of bottle racks made of plastic material is well known.

However, the bottle racks manufactured up to this day, the shape of which is more or less similar to the known type of shape of the wooden bottle racks, are not easily handled and show different drawbacks, namely because of the lower rabbet usually provided for allowing the stacking of the bottle racks one above the other, the said rabbet-causing cracks, after a certain time, particularly on the lower bottle racks of the various stacks, resulting from the weight of the superposed bottle racks which is only transmitted through the peripheric part of these bottle racks.

The present invention is intended to avoid these drawbacks, and has for its object an improved type of bottle racks, made of plastic, showing a certain number of features facilitating namely the handling and the use of these bottle racks as regards their delivery, their storage and the dripping of the empty bottles, storage which must be also expected to be performed in an horizontal position.

In order to avoid the lower nesting rabbet, the upper part of the new bottle racks is provided on its edge, close to the angles of this bottle rack, with lugs in the shape of the frustum of a pyramid, with a rectangular base, having slopes with inclinations and intended for engaging with recesses in the shape of passages, provided in the base of said bottle racks, in order to enable the nesting of the bottle racks superposed one above the other, to ensure their vertical alignment whilst making their disengagement and their longitudinal displacement in relation to a lower bottle rack easier.

An increased stability of the bottle racks is thus obtained, whilst it avoids any overhang and any risk of cracks as regards the lower bottle racks.

The present invention is also intended to add another improvement to the new bottle rack, by presenting rounded corners showing vertical ribs, the central rib of which is not so thick, on one part of its height, than the other horizontal and vertical reinforcement ribs, this central rib ending externally in the shape of a rounded bulb, which facilitates the gripping of the bottle racks and their disengagement in relation to the neighboring piles of bottle racks, namely allowing the lifting of these bottle racks by holding the lower part of a median horizontal rib, placed at the level of said rounded corners.

A third important improvement consists in the fact that the bottle rack, bored in the longitudinal direction of ports enabling the passage of lifting forks, includes on its lateral faces, close to its upper part, median ports in a general trapezoidal shape, wider at their lower part than at their upper part and enabling the lifting of the bottle rack by holding same by one slanting side of said trapezia, which facilitates its handling when the said bottle rack is filled with full bottles.

Furthermore, the edges of the above mentioned trapezoidal median ports show an undulated outline, which enables the storekeeper to locate his fingers more easily, and increases the surface of contact between his fingers and the bottle racks to be lifted.

A further improvement added to the new bottle racks, concerns the use of a perforated and cellulated bottom provided on the sides of each cell, with openings and guiding internal ribs, and at their lower part, with radial elements made of plastic material showing a certain elasticity used as bottle support, the said radial elements being integral with bowls provided with a central aperture enabling the dripping of the empty bottles turned upside down the spouts of which have been centered by the said bowls, joined one to the other by longitudinal and transversal crossmembers connecting the parallel sides of said bottle rack one to the other, and holding the solid parts of the walls of said cells.

The borings of the above mentioned bowls, and the bottom perforations are made in such a manner that the spouts of the conventional bottles cannot pass through this bottom part, which avoids the risks of chipping or severing the spouts particularly when the bottle racks are removed on roller conveyors, and also the corresponding scraping of said bottles.

Besides, the numerous slanting, horizontal and vertical reinforcement ribs providing this bottle rack, together with the openings on its walls, enlighten the bottle rack to a maximum without impairing its mechanical strength.

The new bottle rack can also include at the upper part of its long sides, between the two horizontal ribs provided above the trapezoidal ports already mentioned, and very close to the lowest rib, groups of lugs and recesses of an elliptical shape, which can cooperate with recesses and lugs provided on superposed bottle racks, the various vertical and slanting ribs joining the two above-mentioned horizontal ribs being hollowed, in order to allow the eventual passage of said lugs when a bottle rack is disengaged in a vertical position, from two piles of adjoining bottle racks.

These lugs and recesses allow the vertical alignment of the bottle racks stored in an horizontal position.

A further new feature of the present invention consists in the fact that the vertical walls of the said bottle rack are in fact slightly slanting in order to form a pyramid with a rectangular base tending to send the empty bottles towards the bottom of said bottle racks, when the latter are stacked in an horizontal position one above the other.

It is to be noted that due to this slight obliquity the bottles which are stored in these bottle racks are more and more inclined towards the bottom of the various bottle racks, as one progresses higher in each pile of superposed bottle racks.

However, owing to the above mentioned lugs and recesses and to the slight obliquity provided, the superposed bottle racks cannot slide, one in respect to the other, and remain vertically aligned in a horizontal position.

The features of the present invention will be better understood when reading the under mentioned description of a type of embodiment of bottle rack, in conformity with the invention; this embodiment must be understood not in a limiting sense, but as illustrative according to the attached drawing on which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the new bottle rack; FIG. 2 is a partial section according to II--II of FIG. 5 showing the nesting between two superposed bottle racks.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing the partitioned bottom of said bottle rack;

FIG. 4 is a section view at the level of the lugs and recesses provided for the storage in a horizontal position, according to IV--IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial section according to V--V of FIG. 2, showing also the said nesting;

FIG. 6 is an elevation view of the bottle rack shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a section view according to VII--VII of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a partitioning cell pertaining to the perforated bottom of the bottle rack corresponding to the cell referenced by VIII of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view of a bottle rack according to the invention, showing the manner in which it may be lifted, particularly when empty, and

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic view comparable with FIG. 9, showing the position of the storekeeper's fingers along two slanting slides of two parallel trapezoidal windows or openings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a bottle rack 1 including at its lower part eight perforations, four of which can be seen under reference 2 on FIG. 1.

Four ports 3, intended for allowing the passage of an elevator fork, used for handling a stack of superposed bottle racks, or the passage of two arms provided for this purpose on a trolley, provided near the upper part of the bottle rack.

Besides the four ports 3, the bottle rack includes, at its upper part, four trapezoidal openings 4, with undulated edges without sharp angles, the latter openings, as said above, facilitating the handling, on the one hand, due to the increased contact surface existing between the storekeeper's fingers and the bottle rack, and on the other hand, due to the inclination of the slanting sides of the said trapezoidal openings, as it will be particularly seen by examining FIG. 10.

The bottle rack includes, slightly above its median part, an horizontal reinforcement rib 5, also facilitating the disengagement of the bottle racks placed side-by-side, when they are pressed one against the other.

In effect, the corners 6 of the bottle rack are rounded, which enables the easy location of the hands, on both sides of the bottle rack, under said rib 5, even when it is pressed between two adjoining bottle racks, in order to ensure its disengagement by longitudinal sliding.

The rounded angles 6 of the bottle rack are provided with reinforcement vertical ribs 7, 8 and 9, located on the longitudinal sides as regards ribs 7, on the lateral sides as regards ribs 9, and in the middle of the rounded part itself as regards ribs 8.

The various ribs 7 and 8 depressed approximately between two horizontal ribs 10 and 11 provided at the upper part of the bottle racks, in order to allow the passage of lugs 12, 13, 14 and 15, the utility of which will be explained later on, during the longitudinal displacement of a bottle rack between two stacks of adjoining bottle racks.

Two recesses 15a and 14a are provided above the lugs 12 and 13, while recesses 13a and 12a are provided under the lugs 14 and 15.

On the backwall of the bottle rack shown on FIG. 1, there are also lugs 12, 13, 14 and 15, similar to those of the front wall, and recesses 12a, 13a, 14a, and 15a provided for cooperating with the lugs 12, 13, 14 and 15 of an adjoining bottle rack.

It is easy to understand that the arrangement adopted for the above mentioned lugs and recesses, enables one to choose at will, the backwall and the front wall of each bottle rack when stacking same, the arrangement of the lugs in relation to the recesses not depending upon this choice.

Besides, the ribs 8 show at their median part 8a a reduced thickness compared to the thickness of the ribs 7 and 9 and to the upper and lower parts of the rib 8.

Furthermore, at the level of this part 8a, these ribs end in a rounded thickened edge facilitating the location of the storekeeper's fingers.

This arrangement allows one, on the one hand, to grip the part 8a of the rib 8 at the level of the said thickened edge, and on the other hand to insert the hand above the said horizontal rib 5, between the said thickened edge and the external part of said horizontal rib angle, in order to lift one bottle rack in relation to a lower bottle rack.

The sliding of an upper bottle rack in relation to a lower bottle rack is facilitated by the shape of the lugs 16 provided at the level of the angles 6, at the upper part of said bottle racks.

These lugs 16, which can be seen on a larger scale on FIG. 2 and 5, are provided for cooperating with the elongated recesses 16a made in the base of the bottle rack and which open in 17 at the periphery of the base 18 of the bottle rack 1.

The manner in which the lugs 16 and the recesses 16a cooperate is easily understood by examining FIGS. 2 and 5.

The lugs 16, in the shape of the frustums of a pyramid, include in the longitudinal direction, two slopes of different inclination, i.e. a slope showing a slight inclination 19 and a substantially vertical slope 20.

For disengaging a bottle rack, one lifts its base above the upper plane 21 of the bottle rack lugs on which it is nested, on the side towards the storekeeper, and let it slide on these planes, the lugs 16 at the other end of said bottle rack sliding without any difficulty into the corresponding recesses 16a.

Besides, one can see on FIG. 1 and 3, at the level of the bottle rack bottom, elements 22 in the shape of a star, on which the bottles bottoms are expected to rest, or, as it will be seen further on, regarding FIG. 7, the spouts on the empty bottles which are to be drained.

Finally, one can see inside the bottle rack, at its lower part, walls 23 in the shape of a Y, the vertical median part of the said walls being provided with reinforcement ribs 24, which can particularly be seen on FIG. 8.

In the angles of the cells formed by the said walls, are provided gussets 25 ensuring the rigidity of the said walls; these gussets can be seen on FIGS. 3 and 8.

On FIG. 1, one can also note that all the elements 22 are integral with the sidewalls on the bottle rack 1, thanks to a checkered arrangement of the crossmembers 26 which can also be seen on FIGS. 3 and 8.

By referring now to FIGS. 3 and 7, the shape of the star elements 22 is described. These star shaped elements include a bowl 22a comprising a central recess 22b, showing an opening 22c bored in its center, allowing the dripping of an empty bottle turned upside down 27.

In the normal position of the full bottles, the bottom of these bottles rests on four flanges 22d widened at their free end, these flanges having a certain flexibility, granting to the element 22 the nature of a star-shaped suspension spring.

It is to be noted that the gussets 25 do not exist on the periphery of the bottle rack 1 and that, on the contrary, the walls 23 are not perforated on the side of the lateral walls of the bottle rack, with which they are integral on their whole length, the distance and the location of the ribs 24 being then a little different.

It will also be noted that the checkered arrangement shown by the crossmembers 26 stops in the angles and is replaced by slanting crossmembers 28 making this checkered arrangement integral with the angles walls of the bottle rack.

One finds again on FIG. 6 the ports 3 allowing the passage of a lifting fork which can be seen in 3a, and also one of the openings 4 and the lower perforations 2, as well as the reinforcement ribs 7 and 8 and the various horizontal ribs.

FIG. 8 illustrates four walls 23 in the shape of a Y provided, on their two faces, with reinforcement ribs 24.

The cells angles, existing on both sides of the central bars of the said Y-shaped walls, are perforated at their lower part, as seen on reference 29, FIG. 8, on which are also seen the gussets 25 ensuring the rigidity of the various walls, as a whole.

As said above, the perforations 29 are suppressed near the walls of the bottle rack, and the solid central bar 23a of the walls then runs on its whole height, up to the sidewalls of said bottle rack.

For the sake of simplification, neither the undulations facilitating the gripping of the bottle racks, nor the trapezoidal openings on the small sides of the bottle rack, have been illustrated on FIG. 9 and 10.

According to FIG. 10, one can see that the part of the bottle rack on the side towards the storekeeper is lifted first, in order to release the lugs from the corresponding recesses in the lower bottle rack, and that afterwards, one let it slide before collecting it for delivery for example to a user or for storing it in another place.

It is well understood that various alternations can be brought to the above described embodiment, as well as improvements or additions, or replacement of certain elements by equivalent elements, without changing the general economy of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. Bottle rack made of a plastic material in the shape of a parallelepiped having four vertical sides, and a trapezoidal opening near the top of each side adapted to admit a human hand;

a pair of lugs extending upwardly from the upper edges of two opposed vertical sides, each lug having four upwardly extending surfaces including a first surface transverse to the side which carries it and a second transverse surface opposite the first, said first transverse surface sloping upwardly more gently than any other of said upwardly extending surfaces,

the bottoms of said two opposed sides defining recesses aligned with said lugs and dimensioned to receive corresponding lugs on another rack when stacked thereon:

whereby the engagement of the lugs of one rack in the recesses of another rack inhibits horizontal movement of said one rack relative to the other but provides less resistance to movement in a horizontal direction transverse to said gently sloping surfaces than in any other horizontal direction.

2. Bottle rack as claimed in claim 1 in which the gently sloping surfaces on each of said pairs of lugs are on the sides of those lugs most remote from each other, and said recesses of each pair being open at the ends thereof remote from each other.

3. Bottle rack as claimed in claim 1 comprising rounded vertical ribs at its four vertical corners, the central portion of each rib being depressed with respect to the remainder of that rib and thickened along its outer edge to form an abutment which facilitates hooking of a person's fingers over said thickened edge.

4. Bottle rack as claimed in claim 1 comprising a pair of horizontal lugs projecting outwardly from each of two opposed sides of said rack, said lugs being spaced horizontally by a distance at least equal to the length of each lug and vertically by a minimal clearance, whereby two racks may be placed side-by-side with each lug on one side of one rack lapping a lug on the adjacent side on the other rack, to inhibit relative vertical motion between said racks.

5. Bottle rack as claimed in claim 4 comprising two of said pairs of horizontal lugs on each of said opposed sides of said rack.

6. Bottle rack as claimed in claim 1 having a bottom comprising a plurality of individual bottle supports connected by transverse crossbars, each individual support consisting of an annular member defining a central aperture surrounded by a rim which curves outwardly and upwardly, together with four arms which radiate outwardly from said rim and are supported only at the ends thereof attached to said rim.

7. Bottle rack as claimed in claim 6 comprising perforated vertical walls separating the spaces above each individual support from each other, the lower parts of said walls integral with said crossbars.

8. Bottle rack as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said opposed vertical sides defines a pair of horizontally spaced apertures, dimensioned to receive the arms of a forklift, each aperture being positioned in the upper part of the side in which it is located, near one end of that side.