Article Carrier

Abstract

An article carrier of the basket style comprises medial handle structure, riser panels secured to the ends of the handle structure, end walls secured medially thereof to the riser panels, side walls foldably joined at their end edges to the corresponding end edges of the end walls, at least one partition element interconnecting each side wall and the handle structure to form a plurality of article receiving cells on each side of the handle structure, bottom panels foldably joined to the bottom edges of the side walls respectively and arranged to be interconnected to form a composite bottom panel, the dimensions of the cells on each side of the handle structure in a direction longitudinally of the carrier being less than the diameters of the packaged articles so that the sum of the diameters of the articles packaged and of the partition elements in each row of cells is greater than the length of the handle structure and of each side wall. The carton is formed completely except for the composite bottom panel and is lowered from above into enveloping relationship relative to a group of articles to be packaged, the articles having upwardly tapered upper portions to facilitate loading and preferably the partition elements being extensible whereby relative movement in a direction which is transverse to the carrier handle is accommodated between the side walls and the handle structure to facilitate manual access to a hand gripping opening formed in the handle structure.

Description

Known article carriers of the basket style are constructed and specially adapted for machine drop loading wherein the articles to be loaded into the carrier are automatically dropped from above the carrier into the respective article receiving cells thereof. Of course the cells in such a carrier must exceed in size in any transverse direction the corresponding transverse dimension of the articles to be packaged in order to insure effective loading.

It is also known that basket style article carriers may be constructed with undersized cells whereby the resultant package is in effect a tight unitary article enveloping structure which permits little if any relative movement between the packaged articles. Such tight packages are not feasible for use in conjunction with automatic droploading operations for obvious reasons and hence have not met with substantial practical acceptance.

It has also been suggested that certain advantages may attend loading basket style carriers by introducing the articles from an open bottom or conversely by lowering a basket style carrier on to an assembled group of articles from above, the carrier bottom being open during such loading operations and then being closed following envelopment of the articles. Such known procedures have not been employed in conjunction with tight packages in so far as is known.

According to this invention a basket style carrier is completely formed except for its bottom structure and the transverse dimensional relationship between the cells of the carrier and the diameter of the articles to be packaged is such that the carrier cells when filled are tightly disposed about the articles, the tight finished carton being effective to prevent jostling of the articles and being made possible due to the fact that the packaged articles have upwardly tapered upper portions which facilitate guiding the carton into article enveloping relationship even though the cells are undersized. Of course a tight package can be constructed of material such as paperboard which is substantially lighter in weight than would otherwise be required. In accordance with a feature of the invention, the partition elements are extensible so as to facilitate manual grasping of the carrier handle and carrying of the carrier by affording hand gripping space immediately adjacent the handle structure.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a completely set up but unloaded carton formed according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the carton of FIG. 1 is formed; FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 depict sequential gluing and folding operations through which the blank of FIG. 2 is manipulated to form the completed and collapsed carrier as shown in FIG. 5, the bottom wall being left open as shown in FIG. 5; FIG. 6 is a side view showing a step in the loading of the carrier whereby the carrier of FIG. 5 is first set up and then lowered downwardly from above into enveloping relationship relative to a group of articles to be packaged; and in which FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line designated 7--7 in FIG. 6.

In the drawings the numeral 1 designates a side wall of the carrier to the bottom edge 2 of which a bottom panel 3 is foldably joined. A plurality of locking tabs 4 are formed along one edge of bottom panel 3. End wall panel 5 is foldably joined to side wall 1 along fold line 6 while end wall 7 is foldably joined to side wall 1 along fold line 8.

For the purpose of rendering the carton corners readily conformable with the packaged articles, a pair of weakened lines 9 and 10 are formed in side wall 1 near the end edges 6 and 8 thereof and weakened lines 11 and 12 are formed in end wall panels 5 and 7 respectively. In like fashion weakened lines 13 and 14 are formed in end wall panels 5 and 7 near the opposite edges thereof.

For interconnecting the tray portion of the carrier with its handle structure, a pair of riser panels 15 and 16 are foldably joined along fold lines 17 and 18 to the inner edges of end wall panels 5 and 7 respectively.

The handle structure of the carton is of a composite construction and includes a handle panel 19 foldably joined along fold line 18 to riser panel 16 together with a handle panel 20 foldably joined to handle panel 19 along a medial fold line 21. Hand gripping apertures 22 and 23 are formed in handle panels 19 and 20 respectively.

The handle structure of the carton is reinforced by reinforcing panels 24 and 25 which are foldably joined to handle panels 19 and 20 along fold lines 26 and 27 respectively. Handle panels 24 and 25 are interconnected with each other along medial fold line 28 and hand gripping apertures 29 and 30 are formed in handle panels 24 and 25 respectively.

For the purpose of subdividing the carrier on one side of the handle into cells, one or more partition elements are provided. Such elements are designated in the drawings by the numerals 31 and 32. Partition element 31 is foldably joined to side wall 1 along fold line 33 and to handle panel 19 along fold line 34. Similarly partition element 32 is foldably joined to side wall 1 along fold line 35 and to handle panel 19 along fold line 36.

The opposite side of the carrier is of generally similar construction and comprises a riser panel 37 which is foldably joined to riser panel 15 along medial fold line 38 together with riser panel 39 which is foldably joined to handle panel 20 along fold line 40. End wall 41 is foldably joined to riser panel 37 along fold line 42 while end wall 43 is foldably joined to riser panel 39 along fold line 44. Side wall 45 is foldably joined along fold line 46 to end wall panel 41 and along fold line 47 to end wall panel 43.

For the purpose of rendering the corners of the carton yieldable, weakened fold lines 48 and 49 are formed in side wall 45 and similar weakened lines 50 and 51 are formed in end wall panel 41 while weakened lines 52 and 53 are formed in end wall panel 43.

The bottom panel 54 is foldably joined along fold line 55 to the bottom edge of side wall 45. A plurality of retaining tabs 57 are formed in bottom wall panel 54 and define openings for receiving the locking tabs 4 as is obvious.

For dividing one side of the carton into a plurality of cells, a partition element 58 is foldably joined to side wall 45 along fold line 59 and to handle panel 20 along fold line 60. Similarly a partition element 61 is foldably joined to side wall 45 along fold line 62 and to handle panel 20 along fold line 63.

In order to form the carrier, an application of glue is first made to the blank of FIG. 2 as indicated by stippling in that figure. Thereafter reinforcing panels 24 and 25 are elevated and folded toward the right along fold lines 26 and 27 to occupy the positions depicted in FIG. 3.

An application of glue is then made to the blank as shown in FIG. 3 and as indicated by stippling in that figure. Thereafter end wall panels 5 and 41 and the structure associated therewith are elevated and folded toward the right along the fold lines 6 and 46 to occupy the positions depicted in FIG. 4. This action causes the riser panels 15 and 37 to become adhered to the inner surfaces of handle panels 19 and 20 and of reinforcing panels 24 and 25. Simultaneously riser panels 16 and 39 are elevated and folded toward the left along fold lines 18 and 40 to occupy positions indicated in FIG. 4. This action of course causes the riser panels 16 and 39 to adhere at the upper ends thereof to the inner surfaces of handle panels 19 and 20. The carrier then appears as depicted in FIG. 4.

In order to complete the folding and gluing operations, an application of glue is made to the carrier as indicated by stippling in FIG. 4 after which side wall 1 and portions associated therewith which are disposed above the fold lines 21, 28 and 38 are elevated and folded forwardly to occupy the positions depicted in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows the carrier collapsed following completion of manufacture by a carton manufacturer after which it is shipped to a user such as a bottler.

The particular handle structure is shown as an example only. Of course the invention is not limited to any particular handle arrangement and handle structures other than that shown may be used in practicing the invention.

In order to apply the carrier to a group of bottles, the carrier is first partially set up by drawing the side walls apart and by applying a force to the right hand edge of the carrier as shown in FIG. 5 while holding the side walls 1 and 45 against sidewise displacement. This action causes the walls to occupy the positions depicted in FIG. 6 where the carrier is shown immediately above a group of bottles "B" whose upper portions or necks "N" are upwardly tapered. In FIG. 6 the carton is shown in the process of being lowered downwardly into enveloping relationship with respect to a group of bottles "B". After the side walls 1 and 45 reach their lowermost positions, bottom wall panel 54 is folded inwardly underneath the bottles "B" followed by inward folding of bottom wall panel 3 to cause the locking tabs 4 to become aligned with retaining tabs 57. Thereafter the locking tabs 4 are driven through the openings defined by the retaining tabs 57 and the carrier is then complete. Ordinarily the bottles rest upon a conventional sword or the like and move continuously throughout the packaging operation during the lowering and locking operations.

While the carrier of this invention may be loaded by hand or by any suitable apparatus, the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,294 granted July 24, 1973 is well adapted for use in loading the carrier of this invention.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to cartons having locking tabs and that other means such as glue may be used to adjoin the panels 3 and 54.

As has been explained and as is apparent from FIG. 7, the transverse dimensions or nominal diameters such as "D" of the bottles plus the thickness "T" of the partition elements such as 58 and 61 when added together constitute an appreciably greater overall longitudinal distance than is the length of the handle structure "S" or the length of either side wall 1 or 45. Thus the cells are undersize and conformance of the corners of the cells is necessary. Furthermore, the loading of the carrier is feasible with the undersized cells due to the guiding action of the upwardly tapered neck portions "N" of the bottles "B". It is also apparent that the weakened lines such as 10, 12 and 14 facilitate conformance of the corners of the carrier with the adjacent bottles. Since the articles are gripped by the tension force of the side and end walls and of the handle structure and partition elements, very little load is applied to the bottom wall directly. Furthermore from FIG. 7 it is apparent that the partition straps 58, 61, 31 and 32 bow outwardly to accommodate the oversized middle bottle on each side of the handle structure "S". It is also apparent that the resulting package is well adapted to be formed on automatic high speed machinery and that when completely finished, the tightness of the various carton panels insures that the packaged bottles "B" are held immovable with respect to each other and hence are protected against breakage due to jostling. In addition, the tightness of the wrapper is possible due to the novel method by which the package is formed and can be achieved with minimum thickness of material such as paperboard.

The term "diameter" is sometimes used herein to denote the the dimension "D" of the articles "B" and is an apt term where the articles are circular in cross-section. The term is also used in denote articles of different cross sectional configuration such as hexagonal, octagonal and the like. If the number of faces is increased sufficiently the article approaches a circular cross sectional configuration.

To facilitate carrying and to provide hand room adjacent handle structure "S", the partition elements such as 31, 32, 58 and 61 are extensible. Toward this end, curved slits 64 and 65 are formed in side wall 1 and in handle panel 19 near the fold lines 33 and 34 respectively as is best shown in FIG. 1. Similar slits are formed near the ends of partition elements 32, 58 and 61 and serve to accommodate relative transverse movement of the side walls and handle structure.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A package comprising a plurality of articles arranged in side-by-side rectilinear relation and each having an upwardly tapered upper portion and a lower portion of greater transverse dimension than the upper portion and carrier structure including a handle, riser panels connected to the ends of said handle and extending downwardly therefrom, end walls secured medially thereof to said riser panels at each end of the carrier, a pair of side walls foldably joined at their end edges to corresponding end edges of said end walls, at least one partition element interconnecting each side wall and said handle structure to form a plurality of article receiving cells on each side of said handle structure, said partition elements being adjoined at at least one end through a carton panel having an adjacent curved slit to render said partition elements extensible thereby to accommodate outward movement of said side walls relative to said handle structure, the length of said handle structure and of said side walls and the width of said end walls being such that the cells are oversized relative to the upper portion of the articles and undersized relative to the lower portions of the articles to such an extent that a gripping force is applied to the lower portions of the articles when loaded into the carrier due to tension stress in said handle structure, said side walls and in said end walls, an initially open bottom panel foldably joined to the bottom edge of each of said side walls, and locking tabs and locking apertures formed respectively in said bottom panels and interconnecting said bottom panels after the articles are loaded into the carrier through the open bottom thereof.