DE29803631U1 - Bottle crate - Google Patents

Description

Bottle crate

The invention relates to a bottle crate made of plastic and in particular to a crate for beer bottles, with vertical compartments arranged in rows.

The usual beer crates are one-piece plastic crates, which contain the beer bottles in four rows of 5 bottles each in individual compartments. The compartments are rectangular and the compartments of adjacent rows or lines are not offset from each other. Therefore, the use of space in such beer crates is relatively unfavourable.

The invention is based on the object of creating a one-piece bottle crate made of plastic, which enables better use of space and has a high stacking strength.

Telephone: (0221) 916520 ■ Fax: (02 21) 13 42 97 · Fax: (G ET) (02 21) 91 2030 ■ eMail: mail@dompatent.de

This object is achieved according to the invention with the features specified in claim 1.

In the bottle crate according to the invention, the compartments of two adjacent rows are arranged with a gap between each other and they overlap each other in the direction of the row. This means that you cannot draw a straight line between the bottles of two adjacent rows. The bottles are therefore nested within each other, so that the empty volume between the bottles is reduced. With such a nested arrangement of the compartments, it results that with an even number of rows of compartments, two diagonally opposite compartments extend into the corners of the crate, while unused spaces arise at the other two diagonally opposite corners of the crate. According to the invention, first crate corners are provided which have angle bars protruding into the interior of the crate, and second crate corners which only have corner bars which are part of a corner compartment as bottle guide elements. This ensures that the crate corners which are not filled with a compartment have strong angle bars protruding inwards, which provide very high strength and reinforcement for these crate corners. In contrast, the second box corners are each provided with corner beams that protrude less strongly inwards, which are designed, for example, as valley beams and which also serve to directly delimit a corner compartment.

The spars can be designed as hollow columns of the one-piece box structure, i.e. as column-like projections directed towards the inside of the box. However, it is also possible to design the spars as full

ribs or groups of ribs. In any case, the beams arranged in the first two corners not filled by the bottles are angle beams with angle legs at right angles to each other, while the second box corners are reinforced by corner beams in the form of simple bevels or in the form of concave grooves.

In order to avoid the box having different strengths at different points, according to a preferred development of the invention, an auxiliary beam is arranged on a longitudinal wall adjacent to each corner beam. This auxiliary beam can be arranged between two adjacent compartments that border this longitudinal wall. The auxiliary beam has the function of supporting the adjacent corner beam. The stacking force is thus not concentrated on beams that are arranged in the corners of the box, but is also distributed to auxiliary beams that protrude inwards on the side walls of the box. The auxiliary beams each protrude into a cavity between two adjacent bottles in a row and thus fit into the bottle grid. In this way, a high stacking strength of the box can be achieved without the supporting structures of the corner areas taking up too much usable space.

Preferably, the compartments are honeycomb compartments, which are formed by thin compartment walls with a wall thickness of less than 1 mm. However, it is also possible to design the compartments as round compartments, although the minimum distance between the bottles is somewhat larger.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the bars in the first or in the

second box corners extend to the upper stacking edge of the box, that the lower stacking edge provided in the underside has corresponding widenings at these corners and that the bars provided in the other box corners end at a distance below the upper stacking edge. In a box with an even number of rows, in which the first box corners are diagonally opposite each other and the second box corners are diagonally opposite each other, the boxes can be stacked on top of each other in the usual way, with two orientations (rotated by 180°) of a box being possible. On the other hand, however, it is prevented that the bottle box can be stacked with other bottle boxes that do not belong to the box type, so that confusion between the box types is avoided.

The bottle crate according to the invention is particularly suitable for so-called Steinie bottles. These are bottles in the shape of a standard 1/3 liter bottle, but with a volume of 0.5 liter. These bottles are wider than the standard 0.5 liter beer bottles, but are lower in height. Consequently, the beer crate for the 0.5 liter Steinie bottles is also lower in height than a beer crate for standard half-liter bottles. 16 Steinie bottles can be accommodated in a bottle crate according to the invention for 0.5 liter Steinie bottles with the same base area as the standard bottle crates. One advantage of such a bottle crate is that it can be filled with the standard packing machines, with only the packing head having to be adapted to the changed bottle arrangement.

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In the following, an embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Show it:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the bottle crate,

Fig. 2 a plan view of the bottle crate, partially cut,

Fig. 3 a section along the line III-III of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 a view of the bottle crate from below.

The bottle crate consists of a one-piece plastic crate of elongated rectangular shape. It has longitudinal side walls 10, 11 and transverse side walls 11, 12, which are essentially flat on the outside, but can have a relief or ornamental structure. Windows 14 are cut out in the side walls, each of which forms a handle opening and is limited at the top by a handle strip 15.

The box bottom is formed by a grid network 16 of upright ribs, which include annular ribs 17 and straight ribs 18. The straight ribs 18 extend radially between two adjacent annular ribs 17 (Figures 2 and 4).

The box is provided with a lower stacking edge 19, which has an inward-facing step in the

The lower stacking edge is designed in such a way that it can be inserted into the surrounding upper stacking edge 20 (Fig. 3), so that identical boxes can be stacked on top of one another.

Above the box bottom 16 there is a compartment structure made up of vertical compartments arranged in rows, which are generally designated 21. The bottom of each compartment 21 is formed by an annular strip 17 and six straight strips 18 radiating from it. Each annular strip 17 contains a relatively thin diametrical web 22.

Compartment walls 23 protrude from the box base 16 consisting of the strips 17, 18. Six compartment walls 23 enclose a compartment 21. Each compartment wall 23 stands vertically on a straight strip 18, with which it is integrally connected and which it intersects at right angles. Since the ring-shaped strip 17 is located in the center of a compartment 21, in a normal compartment 21 six compartment walls enclose a ring-shaped strip 17. The compartment walls 23 have a wall thickness of less than 1 mm. This wall thickness is less than that of the strips 17 and 18. As can be seen from Fig. 3, the compartment walls 23 are only connected to one another at their upper ends to form a hexagonal ring structure. Below this there are vertical slots 24 below the corners, so that each compartment wall 23 in the lower area consists only of a strip which stands on a strip 18 and is connected to it.

The compartments 21 are arranged in rows 25,26,27,28 (Fig. 2), each row containing four compartments. In two adjacent rows, the compartments 21 are arranged longitudinally

direction, i.e. they are arranged "with a gap", with two adjacent compartments in different rows sharing the same compartment wall 23. The honeycomb structure consisting of hexagonal honeycomb compartments allows the compartments of two adjacent rows to overlap. Since the bottles that can be inserted into the compartments have a round cross-section, this also results in an overlapping or nested arrangement of the bottles, which enables the box to be filled to a high density.

Due to the even number of rows 25 to 28, the box has two diagonally opposite, essentially identical first box corners El and E2, and also diagonally opposite, identical second box corners E2. At the first box corners El, the adjacent compartment 21a is larger than a normal honeycomb compartment because the compartment walls 23a, 23b do not follow the honeycomb structure, but are guided at right angles to the respective side wall 10, 11, 12, 13 in the area outside the honeycomb field. This means that the compartments 21a are larger than a normal compartment 21, but the bottle standing in them has no additional room to move.

At the second corners E2, the respective compartment 21b is a corner compartment, whereby the compartment walls also meet at right angles on the side walls of the box, by which this compartment 21b is limited. The compartment 21b is located in the second corner E2 in such a way that this corner E2 limits the compartment 21b or the bottle in question is positioned by the corner E2. In contrast,

the compartment 21a, the space accommodating the bottle, arranged at a distance from the corner El.

In order to give the box the necessary stacking strength, spars are provided in the corner areas. An angle bar 3 0 is formed in each of the first corners El. This consists on its outer sides of the respective side walls of the box and it has an angular projection 31 directed towards the inside of the box. This gives the angle bar 3 0 the shape of an L-shaped hollow profile that extends over the entire height of the box, with the exception of the lower stacking edge 19. The angle area of the wall 31 is reinforced with ribs 32 (Fig. 4) that protrude into the interior of the hollow corner bar 30. The angle bar 3 0 is open on its underside. At its upper end it closes with an end wall that is arranged flush with the upper edge of the side walls. Each angle beam 3 0 has in the lower area, which is occupied by the compartment 21, a projection 45 directed into the interior of the box, which follows the angle shape.

An angle beam 30, the legs of which extend into the interior of the box, has no space in the second corners E2, where the respective compartment is pushed into the corner. Therefore, in every second corner of the box E2, a corner beam 33 is provided, which is closed off towards the interior of the box with a sloping wall 34 and whose leg length is smaller than the radius of a compartment. In the present case, the corner beam 33 is designed as a fillet beam, the inner wall 34 of which forms a hollow groove and acts as a bottle guide element for positioning the bottle in the compartment 21b. The inner wall 34

runs in a circular arc around the centre of the annular rib 17 of this compartment 21b.

Since the dimensions of the corner beam 33 towards the inside of the box are very limited, the corner beam 33 has a lower load-bearing capacity than the angle beam 30. To support the corner beam 33, an auxiliary beam 34 is formed in the same longitudinal side wall 10 or 11, which is delimited by the side wall 10 or 11 and a wall 35 bulging out into the inside of the box. The auxiliary beam 35 forms a cylindrical boundary wall for the bottle in the compartment 21b and another cylindrical boundary wall for the bottle in the adjacent compartment 21c.

The compartments 21c are compartments that also have a mutilated hexagonal configuration, in that the compartment walls that run in the transverse direction of the box are extended to the side walls 10,11 and are connected to them.

The corner beams 33 and the auxiliary beams 36 that go "around the corner" are also hollow and open at their lower ends. At their upper ends they only reach up to the upper end of the (inner) upper stack edge 20. There they are closed off with inclined surfaces 37 and 38 respectively.

Drainage openings 39 are provided at the upper ends of all bars through which water can drain when the box is being rinsed and held with the bottom facing upwards. ,.

As can be seen from Fig. 4, the walls 31 and 34 of the beams on the underside of the box form components

of the downwardly projecting lower stacking edge 19, so that when stacked on top of each other they dip into the box below. The ribs 32 are, however, shorter, so that they stand on the upper wall of the angle beam 30 of the lower box.

In addition to the compartments 21, 21a, 21b and 21c described so far, there are two other types of compartments. The compartments 21d and 21e are located next to each other on the transverse side walls 12 and 13, respectively, and their compartment walls 23 are separated by connecting walls 23c, which meet the side walls 12, 13 at right angles. While the compartment 21d is directly adjacent to the transverse side wall 12 or 13, the compartment 21e is at a greater distance from this side wall.

The handles 15, which extend above the windows 14, are designed as meander handles, i.e. provided with corresponding finger recesses. These handles are blown hollow. For this purpose, there is a blow hole 40 in the wall of the handle, through which gas is blown into the injection mold in order to create a hollow space in the handle.

The bottles for which the bottle crate is intended are Steinie bottles 41 (Fig. 3). These are half-liter bottles, of which the crate can hold 4x4 = 16. The Steinie bottles have a smaller diameter than the usual slim beer bottles and a lower height. The bottle crate has the same dimensions as a normal bottle crate for slim half-liter bottles when viewed from above, namely 4 0 cm x 3 0 cm. However, the height is only 23 cm

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and is therefore much smaller than the usual bottle crate.

The same basic dimensions are used to enable the bottle crate to be transported on standardized Euro pallets. On the other hand, bottle crates of different types should be prevented from being stacked on top of one another. For this purpose, a bulge 42 (Fig. 4) is provided on the lower stacking edge, which prevents the bottle crate from being inserted into the upper stacking edge of a standard bottle crate. A corresponding recess 43, into which the bulge 42 fits, is provided in the upper stacking edge.

The bottle crate according to the invention has a high packing density and is simultaneously stackable with high stacking strength.

Claims (10)

12 - CLAIMS 1. Bottle crate made of plastic, with a grid base (16) and upstanding side walls (10,11,12,13) which are connected at the corners of the crate and reinforced by vertical beams, and with a compartment structure made of vertical compartments (21) arranged in rows, whereby the compartments of two adjacent rows (25,26,27,28) are arranged with a gap to each other and overlap in the direction of the rows, characterized ,
that two diagonally opposite first box corners (&Xgr;1) are provided with angle bars (30) which protrude further into the box interior than the side walls (10-13) and that the other two second box corners (E2) are provided with corner bars (33) which, as bottle guide elements, are part of a corner compartment (21b). 2. Bottle crate according to claim 1, characterized in that an auxiliary beam (35) is arranged adjacent to each corner beam (33) on a longitudinal side wall (10, 11). 3. Bottle crate according to claim 2, characterized in that the auxiliary beam (35) delimits two adjacent compartments (21b, 21c). 4. Bottle crate according to one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the compartments (21) are honeycomb compartments. - 13 - 5. Bottle crate according to one of claims 1-4, characterized in that two compartments (21b, 21d) adjoin each transverse side wall (12, 13), one of which (21b) is arranged in a second crate corner (E2) and the other (2Id) belongs to the next line and that these two honeycomb compartments by perpendicular to the transverse side wall (12,13) is limited by abutting compartment walls (23c). 6. Bottle crate according to one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the angle bars (30) have a projection (45) directed into the interior of the crate in the lower region. 7. Bottle crate according to one of claims 1-6, characterized in that at least some bars (30,33,35) are designed as hollow bars which are open towards the bottom of the crate. 8. Bottle crate according to one of claims 1-7, characterized in that at least some of the bars are designed as solid ribs. 9. Bottle crate according to one of claims 1-8, characterized in that the bars (30,33,35) in the first (El) or in the second crate corners (E2) extend up to the upper stacking edge (20), that at these corners the lower stacking edge (19) provided in the underside has corresponding recesses (at 31 and 36) and that the bars provided in the other crate corners are below the upper stacking edge (20) end. ·
&phgr; φ* φφ ·Φ ·· •&phgr;&phgr; » ϕ ϕ ϕ " ^{ϕ r} ' * · ** 14 - 10. Bottle crate according to one of claims 1-9, characterized in that windows (14) are provided on the side walls (10-13), which are limited at the top by handles (15) and that each handle (15) is designed as a hollow-blown meander handle.