US-20260125192-A1 - MULTIPLE BOTTLE CARRIER

US20260125192A1US 20260125192 A1US20260125192 A1US 20260125192A1US-20260125192-A1

Abstract

A multiple bottle carrier of cardboard or the like cellulosic material has a center portion and two lateral portions which are orthogonally arranged with respect to the center portion and originate from a basis of the center portion. Each lateral portion has one or more holes, each of which is surrounded by a crown of adjacent separate tabs, whose folding upwards permits insertion of a neck of a respective bottle that is prevented from coming out of the hole. Each lateral portion has a longitudinal folding line which is intermediate between the basis of the center portion and a distal side of the lateral portion. A median aperture has an upper portion extending through the center portion and lower portions extending through a proximal part of each lateral portion. The upper portion of the median aperture allows insertion of hand fingers of a user.

Inventors

Wim Wouters
Peter Pieraets
Carlos Diaz
Ádám Horváth

Assignees

DS SMITH PACKAGING LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20231005
Priority Date: 20221006

Claims (17)

1 . A multiple bottle carrier of cardboard or the like cellulosic material, comprising a center portion and two lateral portions which are substantially orthogonally arranged with respect to the center portion and originate from a basis of the center portion, wherein each lateral portion comprises at least one hole, which is surrounded by a crown of adjacent separate tabs, whose folding upwards permits insertion of a neck of a respective bottle and prevents the bottle from coming out of said hole, wherein a median aperture has an upper portion extending through said center portion and lower portions extending through a proximal part of each lateral portion, wherein the upper portion allows insertion of hand fingers of a user, and wherein each lateral portion comprises a longitudinal folding line which is intermediate between the basis of the center portion and a distal side of the lateral portion.
2 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 1 , wherein said center portion and each lateral portion are rectangular.
3 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 2 , wherein said center portion and each lateral portion have recessed rounded top corners and recessed rounded distal corners, respectively.
4 . The multiple bottle carrier of any one of claim 1 , wherein the distal side of each lateral portion has at least one transversal cut directed towards said at least one hole.
5 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 1 , wherein said at least one hole is circular and the tabs of the respective crown have bases collectively forming a circumference concentric to the respective hole, so that each tab is shaped as a sector of said crown.
6 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim wherein said at least one hole is oval or elliptical and the tabs of the respective crown have bases collectively forming an oval or ellipse concentric to the respective hole, so that each tab is shaped as a sector of said crown.
7 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 5 , wherein each lateral portion comprises two or three holes whose centers are arranged along a line parallel to said distal side and said longitudinal folding line.
8 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 5 , wherein said longitudinal folding line is tangent to said circumference.
9 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 1 , wherein at least one reinforcing wing protrudes within said upper portion of the median aperture and is foldable towards a surface area of said center portion above said upper portion of the median aperture.
10 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 8 , wherein two first reinforcing wings facing to each other and two second reinforcing wings facing to each other protrude within said upper portion of the median aperture and are aligned along a median longitudinal axis.
11 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 1 , wherein the multiple bottle carrier is obtainable by folding a single blank and attaching together two upper panels of the single blank, so that the center portion, whose thickness is twice a thickness of each lateral portion is formed.
12 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 1 , wherein the multiple bottle carrier is obtainable by attaching together two half-blanks, in each of which a lateral portion and an upper panel are defined, and wherein the upper panels of the two half-blanks are attached together forming said center portion.
13 . A package comprising the multiple bottle carrier of claim 1 , wherein the neck of a respective bottle is inserted through the at least one hole.
14 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 6 , wherein each lateral portion comprises two or three holes, whose centers are arranged along a line parallel to said distal side and said longitudinal folding line.
15 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 6 , wherein said longitudinal folding line is tangent to said oval or ellipse.
16 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 11 , wherein the multiple bottle carrier is obtainable by folding the single blank and gluing together the two upper panels of the single blank.
17 . The multiple bottle carrier of claim 12 , wherein the upper panels of the two half-blanks are glued together.

Description

The present invention relates to a multiple bottle carrier of cardboard or the like cellulosic material, having a center portion and two lateral portions which are substantially orthogonally arranged with respect to the center portion. Conventionally, each lateral portion has a plurality of holes, each of which is surrounded by a crown of adjacent separate tabs, whose folding upwards permits insertion of a neck of the respective bottle and prevents the bottle from coming out of the hole due to its own weight. Additionally, the center portion has an aperture allowing the insertion of the fingers of a hand of a user who can thus comfortably grip the carrier in which the bottles have been inserted. Usually, packages formed by such a carrier and four or six bottles inserted therein are produced in a plant and successively transported to the points of sale, wherein the customer can grip the center portion of the carrier through the aperture and carry away the package. EP 2 284 094 discloses a multiple bottle carrier having the above-captioned general features. Additionally, the center portion thereof is provided of fold lines in a region close to its top edge. Such fold lines allow the folding downwards of the top edge region of the carrier that, otherwise, would typically protrude beyond the horizontal plan defined by the top surfaces of the bottles inserted therein. Hence, a plurality of these packages can be easily and safely stacked on each other during transportation from production plant to the points of sales, and the successive storage therein until sale. Nevertheless, the center portion, which is the most stressed part when gripped by the user during the carrying, is weakened by the presence of the fold lines and may be susceptible to ruptures. An object of the present invention is the provision of a multiple bottle carrier which overcomes the above drawback of the prior art. According to the present invention, this object is achieved by a multiple bottle carrier of cardboard or the like cellulosic material, having a center portion and two lateral portions which are substantially orthogonally arranged with respect to the center portion and originate from a basis of the central portion, wherein each lateral portion has at least one hole, which is surrounded by a crown of adjacent separate tabs, whose folding upwards permits insertion of a neck of the respective bottle and prevents the bottle from coming out of said hole,wherein a median aperture has an upper portion extending through said center portion and lower portions extending through a proximal part of each lateral portion, wherein the upper portion allows the insertion of hand fingers of a user, andwherein each lateral portion has a longitudinal folding line which is intermediate between the basis of the central portion and a distal side of the lateral portion. Preferred embodiments of the bottle carrier of the present invention are disclosed in the claims dependent on claim 1. In a particularly preferred embodiment, at least one reinforcing wing protrudes within said upper portion of the aperture and is foldable towards a surface area of said center portion above said upper portion of the aperture. A further subject-matter of the present invention is constituted by a package comprising a multiple bottle carrier as above-disclosed and wherein the neck of a respective bottle is inserted through each hole of the side portions of the carrier. The extension of the gripping aperture also in the proximal parts of the lateral portions together with the presence of longitudinal folding lines in these latter lateral portions renders the structure of the carrier of the invention suitably flexible during stacking, without compromising its resistance when gripped by a customer or user. In particular, when two packages of the present invention are stacked on each other, the center portion of the bottle carrier of the lower package translates vertically downwards, due to the weight of the bottles of the upper package, the extension of the aperture also in the lateral portions and the presence therein of the respective folding line. Hence, the center portion does not protrude any more upwards and does not hinder the stacking of the upper package. On the other hand, once the superposed packages are unstacked, the center portion of the carrier of the lower package returns into its original protruding configuration without having been damaged, so that the aperture can be gripped by the user in the usual way, when necessary. According to a preferred feature of the present invention, when a user inserts his hand fingers within the aperture in order to grip the package, the fingers bring about the folding of one or more wings protruding within the aperture towards a surface area of the center portion above the aperture. Such folding meaningfully strengthens this latter part of the center portion which is the most stressed, once the package is raised by the user. Furth