Packaging Structure

Abstract

A packaging structure for bottles is provided including a reusable bottle carrying tray and a disposable thin cardboard sleeve closing the open top of the tray and engaging the outer walls of the tray.

Description

This invention relates to a packaging structure, mainly for bottles, more particularly to a packaging structure for beverage bottles.

Cases and open top trays for the transportation and storage of beverage bottles of many types and designs have been suggested. A variety of materials have been used in the construction of such cases, depending on the bottles concerned, such as, cardboard, wood, metal and synthetic polymeric materials.

The present invention is primarily concerned with a packaging structure for beer bottles, although the structure may be used with other beverage bottles or items.

The term "beer" is used in a broad sense of this specification to refer to alcoholic liquors obtained by the fermentation of malt or other saccharine substance and flavored by hops or other bittering agents, and hence includes lagers, ales, stouts and porters.

Beer is packaged for sale to the consumer in many ways, usually in cases containing six, 12 or 24 bottles. In some areas, such as, the Province of Ontario, Canada, such cases commonly are constructed of light cardboard and the empty bottles are returned by the consumer to the sale outlet in the cases. The returned bottles are refilled, but the cases are discarded.

In other sales areas, such as, the Province of Quebec, Canada, the case is constructed of heavy cardboard and is reutilized many times. However, the outer brand identifying material becomes dirty and possibly defaced as the cases are recycled, and as such give rise to sales resistance.

Another problem which is encountered in the reuse of beer cases is that many manufacturers market a variety of brands. Hence, upon return of the used cases to the manufacture, it is necessary to sort out the cases, either manually or automatically, into the various brand identifications for subsequent re-filling with beer bottles of the appropriate brand. Such sorting operations are time consuming and costly.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a packaging structure comprising a bottle carrying tray having upright side walls and end walls, a bottom wall and an open top, and a disposable sleeve of cardboard material closing the top of the tray and surrounding said side and end walls.

The sleeve is provided with opening means so that the consumer may gain access to the interior of the case. Any convenient opening means, such as perforations or a "zip" top may be provided. Usually coinciding openings are provided in the end walls of the tray and the sleeve to assist in the transporation of the structure.

By providing a disposable sleeve in combination with a tray which may be utilized a plurality of times, brand identifying material, and any other desired information may be printed on the sleeve, and a new sleeve is employed each time the tray is utilized. The structure therefore has a pleasing external appearance to the consumer, when the case is sold.

When the case is opened, the sleeve may be retained with the tray until the used package is returned with the empty bottles to the consumer outlet and the sleeve is discarded during the recycle of the tray for further use. The sleeve in this way acts as a protective outer covering for the tray and assists in reducing damage of various sorts to the tray and hence the number of times the tray may be reutilized may be extended. The waste disposal problem caused by the discarding of the sleeves thereby is considerably reduced as compared to the one-trip cardboard cases mentioned above.

The tray, without the discarded sleeve, is refilled with bottles and a new sleeve is added in any convenient manner to complete the structure.

Alternatively, after opening of the case, the sleeve may be discarded by the consumer and the tray returned with the empty bottles. In this instance, the tray again is reused many times.

The tray may be constructed of any convenient durable material, for example, any of the materials mentioned above, namely, heavy-duty cardboard, wood, metal and synthetic polymeric materials.

Since polymeric materials have an excellent combination of useful properties, such as, strength and wear resistance and hence have long life; washability and lightness, it is preferred to employ such materials in the construction of the trays for use in the structure of the present invention.

As used herein, the term "synthetic polymeric material" is utilized to refer to those synthetic polymeric materials which are capable of extrusion or molding to a formed article and does not include those polymeric substances which are incapable of or are otherwise unsuitable for the production of formed articles, such as cellulose nitrate. Synthetic polymeric materials are commonly referred to as "plastics" and the latter term will be used in this specification in that sense.

The plastic trays utilized preferably are of the type described and claimed in copending application Ser. No. 260,815 filed June 8, 1972, although any desired form of plastic tray may be employed. Generally such plastic trays include side walls, end walls, a bottom wall and an open top. Dividers are provided within the container to provide a plurality of individual compartments for receiving bottles. Preferably, the side and end walls extend upwardly from the bottom wall to substantially the height of the bottles to be stored in the case.

Usually plastic trays may be utilized considerably more times than cardboard trays. Additionally, a plastic tray may be constructed rigidly so that deformation of the structure during carrying is reduced.

This structure therefore represents a considerable advance in the packaging and sale of beer. The structure is superior to the one-trip cardboard container since the bulk of the case in the present invention is reusable many times, and has advantages over the heavy cardboard reusable case mentioned above. Thus, by using a disposable outer sleeve, for each trip that the tray makes a fresh sleeve is used, thereby avoiding the soiling problem mentioned above. Additionally, since a new sleeve, with suitable brand identifying material, is used for each use of the tray, upon return of the used trays to the manufacturer, with or without the used cardboard sleeve, it is not necessary to sort out the trays into the various brands, as is necessary as mentioned above, with the heavy cardboard reusable case. Hence, manual or automatic brand sorting is eliminated and the economy of the operation thereby is improved.

The invention is described further by way of illustration with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a beer case structure in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled structure of FIG. 1.

In the drawings, a beer bottle packaging structure 10 includes a plastic tray 12 or other convenient material tray in which are positioned beer bottles 13. The tray 12 may have any convenient construction, and includes side walls 14 and end walls 16 extending upwardly from a bottom wall (not shown). The tray 12 has an open top allowing access to the interior of the tray 12. Dividers 20 are provided within the tray to provide individual bottle-receiving compartments in the tray 12. The external faces of the side and end walls 14 and 16 are generally smooth, but any convenient construction may be provided. Hand holes 22 are provided in the end walls 16 of the tray 12 to aid in carrying the structure.

In the tray 12, the side walls 14 and the end walls 16 extend upwardly from the bottom wall a distance substantially equal to the height of a beer bottle 13, or other item, to be positioned in the case. This construction is preferred and as indicated above any other desired form of tray 12 may be employed.

An outer sleeve 24 completes the structure and closes the open top of the tray 12. The sleeve 24 includes a top panel 26 which is coextensive with the open top of the tray 12. Side panels 28 extend downwardly from the top panel 26 any desired distance, generally coextensive with the height of the side walls 14 of the tray 12. Additionally end panels 30 extend downwardly from the top panel 26, usually the same distance as the side panels 28, preferably coextensive with the height of the end walls 16 of the tray 12. By providing side and end panels 28 and 30 which are coextensive with the side and end walls 14 and 16 of the tray 12 there is provided a packaging structure with a pleasing external appearance, and substantially the whole of the external surface of the tray 12, with the exception of the bottom wall, is enclosed and protected by the outer sleeve 24.

The side panels 28 and the end panels 30 are attached to the top panel 26 in any convenient manner. Usually the sleeve 24 is formed from a single piece of thin cardboard which is folded around the tray 12 and hence the panels 28 and 30 in this structure are integrally joined to the top panel 26 for fold lines.

The side panels 28 and the end panels 30 also are joined to each other in any convenient manner, preferably so that the sleeve 24 tightly engages the outer walls of the tray 12 and may not readily be removed therefrom.

Brand identification material, and any other desired information, usually is printed on the exterior surface of the sleeve 24.

To assist in the carrying of the structure 10, in the end panels 30 are provided openings 32 (only one of which is shown) complimentary with the hand holes 22 in the end walls 16 of the tray 12. By providing the openings 32 in the sleeve 24, access to the hand holes 22 in the tray 12 by the carrier is readily achieved.

A tape or zip opener 34 is provided extending the length of the top panel 26 to allow access to the interior of the structure 10. It is not essential that the top opener 34 extend the whole length of the top panel 26, and any other convenient means of gaining access to the interior of the structure 10 through the top panel 26 of the sleeve 24 may be provided.

Once the sleeve 24 is opened and access to the interior of the structure is achieved, the sleeve may be discarded. The sleeve 24 may be constructed so that upon opening it falls away or is readily removable, from the tray 12, and hence is discarded by the consumer. Alternatively, the sleeve 24 may be formed so that the packaging structure 10 is temporarily reclosable.

After consumption of the beer, the bottles may be returned to the plastic tray 12 and the tray may be returned with the empty bottles to the retail outlet. Where the sleeve 24 is of a form allowing reclosure of the structure 10, usually the sleeve and tray both are returned, although the sleeve subsequently is discarded. However, where the sleeve 24 is of the form which is readily removable from the tray, only the tray 12 is returned.

In this way the plastic tray 12 may be reused many times for the sale of beer bottles before it is necessary to discard the same, and in each reuse a new sleeve 24 is provided. While the present invention has been described particularly with reference to the packaging of beer bottles, the invention clearly may be utilized in the packaging of other beverage bottles.

The manner of formation of the packaging structure 10 is not critical and any convenient manner may be adopted. Generally, the operation involves the positioning of a blank of the sleeve 24 on the open top of the tray 12 and the folding around of the side and end panels 28 and 30 and securing of the side and end panels 28 and 30 to each other.

Modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.

Claims

What I claim is:

1. A packaging structure comprising a substantially rigid tray including a bottom wall, side walls and end walls extending upwardly from said bottom wall and terminating in an open top, a disposable sleeve constructed of light cardboard closing said open top, said sleeve including a top panel extending coextensively with the open top of the tray, side panels extending downwardly in gripping frictional engagement with the outer surface of the side walls of said tray, end panels extending downwardly in gripping frictional engagement with the outer surface of the end walls of said tray, said side and end panels extending downwardly from said top panel a distance substantially equal to the height of said side and end walls, and sleeve opening means positioned in said top panel for opening said sleeve to join across to said tray through its open top while retaining said side and end panels of said sleeve in said gripping frictional engagement with said side and end walls of said tray.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said tray is constructed of synthetic polymeric material.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said sleeve has printed thereon content-identifiying material.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said structure has beer bottles contained therein.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein said tray includes divider means within said case dividing the space into a plurality of beverage bottle containing compartments, and wherein said side walls and end walls extend upwardly a distance substantially equal to the height of said bottles and said top panel of said sleeve engages the tops of said bottles.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein each of said side walls and end walls has a smooth outer face.

7. The structure of claim 5 wherein each of said side and end walls has a smooth outer face and said side panels and end panels grip said side walls and end walls.

8. The structure of claim 1 wherein complimentary openings are provided in each of said end walls and end panels to assist in the carrying of said structure.

9. The structure of claim 1 wherein said side and end panels of said sleeve are integral with said top panel.