US3021973A - Wire bottle carrier - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 20, 1962 R. E. PALMER WIRE BOTTLE CARRIER Filed May 24, 1956 INVENTOR.

#205521- E'. PALMER BY nlw ATTORNEY 1 Claim. (Cl. 215-100) This invention relates to improvements in bottle carriers and has for its primary object the provision of a simple, novel, effective and inexpensive device adapted to be readily attached to the neck of a bottle or a similar member, in order to provide a bail by means of which it may be carried about.

A further object is to provide such a device whose bail will not only support the bottle but will also maintain itself in rigid adjusted positions when not being used to support its associated bottle.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification and claim, together with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the bottle carrier that is the subject of this invention, showing it as it appears when a bottle is supported thereby;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the unmounted ring element;

FIGURE 3 is a left end view of the same taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 3-3 of the FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the assembled unit, showing the bail in alternate positions; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the device as it appears when the bottle to which. it is attached is unsupported thereby and in an inverted position.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is seen the bottle carrier, broadly indicated by reference numeral 9, that is the subject of this invention as it appears mounted on a bottle 10. v

The bottle is of the type usually used for containing milk or other liquid foods and has a neck 12 and a neck ridge or head 11 therearound, spaced downwardly of the filling open ng 24. The bottle illustrated is the conventional glass gallon jug commonly used for the purpose, but it is to be understood that any type container having a beaded neck may be so supported.

The carrier 9 comprises a neck encircling ring 18 which is engaged by a carrying bail or handle 13. The ring 18 is fabricated from a single length of resilient wire of suitable gage to avoid distortion under the weight to be supported. The ring 18 comprises two semi-circular portions joined through a loop 19 formed integral therewith at its mid point.

Reference numerals 2t) and 22 indicate terminal loops at the open ends of the ring, as is seen most clearly in FIGURE 2. These loops are joined to the ring through offset portions 21 and 23 respectively, whereby the looped ends 26 and 22 of the ring 18 are inherently influenced to spread apart at the same time the construction influences the loops 20 and 22 to normally maintain themselves at an angle to one another, as is seen most clearly in FIGURES 2 and 3.

Reference numeral 13 indicates a wire handle of substantially U-shaped configuration having legs 14 and 16 terminating in inturned and opposed hooks and 17 respectively. The hooked ends 15 and 17 are bent upward toward the top of the handle at a slight angle, so that the supported loop elements will not slip off when assembled as hereinafter described. The distance between the inturned hooks is less than the diameter of the ring circle, so that when the handle is engaged with the loops the hook ends will lie within the ring circumference.

fine

Patented Feb. 20, 1952 theop'en'ring 18 over the neck 12t'o a point just below the bead 11'. It" m'aybe necessary to flex the ring 18 slightly to pass it" over the head 11, but this is easilyv done since theiri'ri'g i'siopen. After'th'e ring, is' in positionbelow' the' be'a'd' 11, the handle 13" is positioned over the bottle neckand'one of'it'sterminal'hooks 17 is slipped into the loop 19. Diametric pressure is then brought to bear against the ring 18 between the loop 19 and the open endloops 20 and 22. This causesthe ring to fiex until the loops 20 and 22 overlie one another in parallel planes, as seen in FIGURE 4. v The other handle hook 114 is then inserted through the two overlying loops 20 and 2-2. Upon release of the diametric compressive pressure, the inherent resilience of the so formed ring causes the loops 20 and 22 to spring apart and press against the handle leg 14.

Lateral movement of handle leg 14 is prevented by the other leg 16 which is held by the loop 19. Therefore, the handle is subjected to frictional pressure by the interaction of the several loops, and will maintain its position unless forcibly moved. The carrier is thus firmly anchored to the bottle neck by the ring 18 which is held closed around the neck 11 by the handle 13' whose end hooks 15 and 17 engage the loops 20-22 and 19 respectively.

The so attached handle 13 will hold any position to which it is intentionally set, 13a, and is not free to react to the force of gravity as are all such devices made heretofore. This is due to the outward pressure of the loops 20 and 22 exerted on the handle 13 as explained hereinabove.

As a result, the handle may be positioned upward against the bottle, when the bottle is inverted, as illustrated in FIGURE 5, and will hold such position against severe vibration. This is especially important when the bottles are returned to the bottling plant for refilling, since all returned bottles must be cleaned before being refilled. Most automatic bottle washing machines require that the bottle be inverted over a spray jet which sprays the interior with a cleansing solution which then flows out of the bottle by gravity.

Heretofore, a bottle having a carrier could not be washed in automatic machines due to the fact that the handles were freely movable and would fall over the mouth of the bottle when inverted. This would interfere with the proper action of the machine and would often result in bottle breakage or deformity of the handle. As a result, bottles having carriers would haveto be washed by hand or else the carriers would have to be removed before washing. However, with the instant device, the handle 13 will not fall over the bottle mouth and bottles having my type of carrier may be easily and safely washed in automatic machines.

It will now be clear that there is provided a device which accomplishes the objectives heretofore set forth. While the invention has been disclosed in its preferred form, it is to be understood that the specific embodiment thereof as described and illustrated herein is not to be considered in a limited sense as there may be other forms or modifications of the invention which should also be construed to come within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A bottle carrier, comprising in combination, a bottle neck engaging ring formed from a single piece of resilient wire shaped to form an open circle, offset at its ends and including first and second end loops positioned normal to the plane of the circle and lying entirely outside the circumference thereof in normally non-overlapping angu lar opposition, the ring also having an ofiset portion, diametrically opposite the two end loops, bent upon itself v 3 p a 4 to form a third loop, positioned normal to the plane of parallel positions, whereby they frictionally press against the circle and lying entirely outside the circumference the handle to hold same in adjusted positions. thereof; and a substantially U-shaped wire handle having inturned and opposed end hooks spaced apart a distance References Cited in the file of this Palmt less than the diameter of the ring, one of the handle 5 UNITED STATEs PATENTS hooks being engageable with the third ring loop and the r other of said hooks being engageable with the first and 9 ,337 Lee Nov. 17, 1908 second loops upon diametrical compression of the ring, 2,160,662 Jenkins May 30, 1939 the so-engaged handle acting to hold the first and second 2,283,357 Jenkins June 30, 1942 loops in compressed engagement therewith in overlying

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