US3711145A

US3711145A - Container carrier package

Info

Publication number: US3711145A
Application number: US00161264A
Authority: US
Inventors: G Rapata
Original assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc
Current assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc
Priority date: 1971-07-09
Filing date: 1971-07-09
Publication date: 1973-01-16
Anticipated expiration: 1990-01-16

Abstract

A container package including one or more containers or the like in a plastic sheet carrier device having a corresponding number of constrictive apertures provided therein for receiving and gripping containers to form a multipackage unit, the plastic sheet carrier device including features of the one or more several embodiments disclosed which enhance the tensile strength of each of the constrictive apertures of the carrier device as well as the carrier device itself.

Description

United States Patent 1 Rapata 5 Earn. 16, 1973 [54] CONTAINER CARRIER PACKAGE [75] Inventor: George M. Rapata, Park Ridge, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc., Chicago,

Ill.

[22] Filed: July 9, 1971 [21] Appl. N0.: 161,264

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 777,441, Nov. 20, 1968,

abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl. ..294/87.2, 206/65 C [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 71/00 [58] Field of Search ..D7/178; 206/65 C; 220/315; 294/872 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,487,109 11/1949 Deichert ..294/87.2 2,936,070

5/1960 Poupitch 294/872 X 3,038,602 6/1962 Rapata 3,200,944 8/1965 Rapata 3,232,422 2/1966 Whyte 3,317,234 5/1967 Burford..... 3,432,202 3/1969 1 Ebelhardt ..294/87.2

Primary ExaminerRichard E. Aegerter Assistant Examiner-W. Scott Carson Attorney-Robert W. Beart, Michael Kovac, Barry L. Clark and Jack R. Halvorsen [57] ABSTRACT A container package including one or more containers or the like in a plastic sheet carrier device having a corresponding number of constrictive apertures provided therein for receiving and gripping containers to form a multipackage unit, the plastic sheet carrier device including features of the one or more several embodiments disclosed which enhance the tensile strength of each of the constrictive apertures of the carrier device as well as the carrier device itself.

8 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJAN 16 1975 3, 71 l. 145

sum 1 0F 2 l4c 28c 30c 26c INVENTOR. George M. Rape/a 85 BY a f 26d L9 7% PATENTEDJAH 16 ms 3.71 l. 145

SHEET 2 OF 2 I N VENTOR. George M. Rapafa 13v CONTAINER CARRIER PACKAGE The instant application is a streamlined continuation of application Ser. No. 777,441, filed Nov. 20, 1968, now abandoned.

Multipackaging of containers, such as canned food products, has received substantial impetus from the development of plastic sheet carrier devices of the type disclosed and claimed in US. Pat. No. 2,874,835 issued to O. J. Poupitch. The many advantages of such plastic sheet carrier devices over competitive paperboard products, such as relative simplicity, adaptability to high speed application techniques, ease of removal, economic feasibility, and numerous other advantages well known to those skilled in the art, has resulted in the enthusiastic commercial acceptance of such plastic sheet carrier devices for a wide variety of container products of diverse sizes.

In a typical container package of the type described, a plurality of containers, inmultiples of two, are secured together as a unit by the plastic sheet carrier device having constrictive apertures provided therein which are designed to resiliently grip and engage the containers beneath an enlarged bead or rim on each container to prevent container withdrawal. Due to limitations regarding elasticity, the material adjacent each aperture is designed to be stretched within predetermined limits to avoid deformation which would interfere with the resilient and elastic gripping characteristics of each constrictive aperture. As a result, it is necessary to provide several carrier devices having different constrictive aperture diameters for accepting and carrying containers of different diameters.

Within existing and known parameters it has not been possible to achieve-increased tensile strength of the material surrounding each constrictive aperture without increasing the width of the band such as by elongation or by providing more material which has the attendant disadvantages that the material or fabrication cost'as well as application techniques and consumer preferences will be affected thereby.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plastic sheet carrierdevice of the type described which includes features which will enhance the tensile strength of the carrier without increasing material cost and/or fabrication techniques, and which additionally may provide a carrier device which utilizes less material than that currently achievable in known and existing plastic sheet carrier devices.

' Another object of the present invention is to provide a plastic sheet carrier device which can be made relatively adaptable to accommodate various container sizes.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a plastic sheet carrier device which can also provide controlled bending at selected locations without jeopardizing or impeding the gripping and carrying function of the carrier.

It is another object of the present invention to pro vide a carrier device which, in addition to the aforementioned objects, is compatible with existing carrier fabrication and application techniques as well as consumer preferences for the current commercially available carrier devices.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are attained, in a container package having at least one container or the like, a plastic sheet carrier device including handle means wherein the carrier device is made from a resilient, elastic and deformable material and is provided with at least one container receiving aperture, the material adjacent each such aperture having a cross sectional configuration whereby upon the insertion of a container axially through each such aperture, the surrounding material is stretched for gripping and resiliently engaging the container to resist container withdrawal, and groove means impressed in the plastic sheet carrier adjacent each such aperture at least to an extent which increases the tensile strength of the material adjacent each such aperture.

Reference is now made to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container package showing a plurality of containers which are secured together as a unit by a plastic sheet carrier device incorporating features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the plastic sheet carrier device prior to its application to a plurality of containers as illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the plastic sheet carrier device as viewed along lines 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partially in section, which'illustrates the manner in which the plastic sheet carrier device shown in section resiliently grips and engages containers arranged in the manner shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5a is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a modified carrier device within the purview of the present invention;

FIG. 5b is a fragmentary side elevational view, partially in section, depicting the carrier device of FIG. 5a

assembled to and resiliently gripping and engaging the illustrated container;

FIGS. 6a 6b are views similar to FIGS. 5a 5b and illustrate in pre-assembly and assembled form a modified carrier device also within the scope of the present invention;

FIGS. 7a 7b are views also similar to FIGS. 5a 5b and depicting a further modified form of carrier device shown prior to and after assembly to a container;

FIGS. 8a 8b are views also similar to FIGS. 5a 5b and depicting and additional modified form of carrier device prior to and after assembly to a container;

FIGS. 9 15 are fragmentary top plan views of various modified forms of plastic sheet carrier devices, all of which incorporate the features of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a modified carrier device coming within the scope o the present invention.

The container package 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings includes six beverage containers arranged in a cluster and held together by a plastic sheet carrier device 14 of the general type disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,874,835 previously mentioned. As is well known to consumers, the multipackage unit or container package 10 forms the six pack which is generally available in various food stores. It will be appreciated that while the present invention will be generally described in terms of this type of multipackaging unit, it has adaptability for container packages comprising one or more container units. I

Each of the containers 12 of the container package areof the type which includes a cylindrical side wall 16, the opposite ends of which are joined to top and bottom covers or ends 18, respectively in a conventional manner to provide rolled, enlarged peripheral beads or

rims

22, 24 respectively at the upper and lower ends of the containers 12. The containers 12 are thus of the three-piece metal beverage can variety which are commonly used for a variety of food products. It will be appreciated and understood, however, that other types of containers of various shapes and sizes such as bottles, rectangularly shaped containers, and the like may also be used in conjunction with the appropriately configured carrier devices incorporating the features of the present invention,

The plastic sheet carrier device 14, as previously indicated, is of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,874,835 which comprises a flat sheet of plastic material in which there are provided a plurality of spaced apertures for receiving containers, Each aperture of the carrier device is somewhat smaller than the diameter of the container with which the carrier is to be assembled since the carrier device is made from a resilient, elastic and deformable plastic material, such as polyethylene, to permit the surrounding material portions adjacent each of the apertures to stretch and deform when the containers are inserted in the carrier apertures. When finally assembled, the material adjacent each of the apertures is deflected upwardly into axially extending, embracing portions which resiliently and aggressively grip the containers, preferably beneath the enlarged bead or rim thereof at the upper end of the container, as at 22, to hold a plurality of containers together as a unit and prevent container withdrawal.

With the material which is being used today, such as polyethylene, it has been found that containers of different sizes and capacities, and thus generally of different diameters have required different carrier devices where the container receiving apertures thereof are varied proportionately relative to the diameter of the containers. There has thus been limited versatility-in using the specific carrier device for containers of different diameters. Further, raw material and carrier fabrication cost, whether because of cost increases or as the result of different carrier device manufacture, have and will continue to play a part in the ultimate adoption of plastic sheet carrier devices for the myriad of container sizes which require carrier devices.

down the side wall below the upper bead or rim of the container than is desired by the distributor of the canned products who print identifying indicia such as trademarks and the like on the container side wall.

To achieve the above desired objectives, there is provided, as an important feature of the present invention, groove means which is impressed in theplastic sheet carrier adjacent each container receiving aperture at least to an extent which increases the tensile strength of the material adjacent each aperture. By providing such a groove means in a plastic sheet carrier of the type described, the molecules of the material willbecome oriented, and this provides'a substantial increase in the tensile strength of the material. There are various embodiments of such groove means in several of the figures of the drawing, the particular use of which in a given set of parameters depending upon the objectives sought to be accomplished as will become apparent from the discussion that is to follow. V

Referring first to FIGS. 1-4 of the drawing, it will be seen that there is provided in the band of material 26 Plastic sheet carrier devices made from a resilient,

deformable and elastic material such as polyethylene yield specific characteristics which can be determined by comparing the size of the container receiving aperture in'relation to the can diameter and the width of the material band which surrounds and resiliently grips the container. At the present state of material development, it has not been possible to increase the tensile strength of the material band surrounding each container receiving aperture without either elongating the band by stretching or by providing'more material in the band. Both of these approaches will result in increased raw material cost and/or carrier fabrication cost, and further the carrier application techniques might require modification in applying such a modified carrier device to containers. Additionally, the band or sash of material surrounding each container may extend further surrounding each container receiving aperture 28 of the carrier device 14 a groove means 30. Each of the groove means 30 comprises a circumferentially continuous groove or channel which is impressed in the upper surface of the carrier device 14 to such an extent that it orients the molecules of the material from which the carrier'device is made and thus increases the tensile strength of the band of material 26 around each container receiving aperture 28. The grooves or channels 30 may be impressed in the web of thermoplastic material from which the carriers are made either before, during or after the formation of the carrier devices as may be desired.

By increasing the tensile strength, the resistance to lengthwise stress is increased, and thus the band of material 26 around each container receiving aperture 28 will be strengthened when applied and thereafter assembled to the containers 12 as illustrated in FlGS. 1-4 of the drawings. In addition to the tensile strength, the coined or impressed groove 30 adjacent each aperture 28 of the carrier will provide controlled bending of that portion of the material band '26 within the groove 30, and this feature can be taken advantage of in providing additional versatility or flexibility'in carrier application techniques such as, for example, where different can diameters are involved.

The coined orimpressed groove feature in plastic sheet carrier devices of the type described can be varied in size, location, number, circumferential arrangement, et cetera to promote or achieve various purposes. For example, the coined or impressed groove feature can be important from the standpoint of versatility in the use of less carrier devices for awider range of container sizes than is presently available; it

- could be used to enable the use of less material in the Reference is now made to the other embodiments as shown throughout the various figures of the drawings. To provide correspondence between the various figures,the same reference numeral will be used to designate the like parts with an alphabetical sequence being employed to designate different embodiments as described in consecutive fashion in the discussion that is to follow.

FIGS. 5a 5b through 8a 8b depict various locations of the coined or impressed groove both with respect to the upper or lower surface of the carrier as well as the degree of spacing from the inner or outer margins of the band of material surrounding each container receiving aperture. It will be appreciated that each material band may assume the shape of axially directed neck portions as indicated, for example, in FIG. 5b of the drawings.

In FIGS. 5a 5b, the carrier device 14a includes the groove 30a which is located on the lower surface ofthe carrier device 14a and has a diameter corresponding to Y the external diameter of the rim or bead 22a and the open upper end of the container 12a.

The carrier device 14b shown in FIG. 6a includes a groove 30b which is provided in the upper surface of the carrier device 1412 and is spaced a substantial distance from the air margins of the band of material 26b which surrounds each aperture. Thus, the groove 30b has a diametrical relationship with respect to the container 12b such that the groove 30b has a greater diametrical extent than any portion of the container 12b as will be seen in comparing the carrier device prior to assembly as seen in FIG. 6a and after assembly as viewed in 6b.

The embodiment of the carrier device 14c illustrated in FIGS. 7a 7b portrays the groove 300 as being provided in the upper surface of the carrier device 140 with this location in close proximity to the inner margin of the band of material 260 such that the groove 300 has a smaller diametrical extent than the smallest or minimum diameter of the container 12c. This is readily apparent in comparing FIGS. 7a 7b.

In addition to the possibility that the groove means may be provided in the upper and lower surface of the container, it is also conceivable that the inner and/or outer margins of the band of material may be utilized in achieving desired objectives. This is illustrated in FIGS.

8a 8b of the drawings wherein the groove 30d is impressed within the inner margin of the band of material 26d of the carrier 14d.

In addition to the location of the groove means, its type of style, including its cross sectional configuration, may be varied to suit the parameters required. This is illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 9 11 of the drawings where carrier devices l4e through 14g depict various interrupted styles of groove means 30e through 30g. In FIG. 9 of the drawings, the interrupted style of groove means 30a provides groove means in each of the four quadrants of the band of material 26e which surrounds the container receiving aperture 28e. FIG. illustrates groove means 30f in opposing quadrants of the band of material 26f which surrounds the container receiving aperture 28f. In FIG. 11, the interrupted style of groove means provide generally equal segments 30g which are spacedly arranged in equidistant fashion about each container receiving aperture 28g. The interrupted style of groove means will provide increased strength areas at desired locations, such as the points of maximum stress encountered in the assembly of the carrier devices by carrier application equipment. Additionally, the interrupted style can be utilized in various embodi ments to facilitate'removal of containers from the carrier while at the same time providing greater tensile stress than has heretofore been available with the same type of carrier device absent the groove means illustrated.

Another feature which can be advantageously utilized is the relieving of the inner margin of the band of material which surrounds the container receiving aperture, in conjunction with groove means, to permit easy application and removal of the carrier from containers. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 12 of the drawings, the carrier device 14h includes a groove means 30h as in the previous embodiments, and additionally, is provided with a convoluted or undulated surface 32 extending from the inner margin ,of the band of material 26h towards the groove means 30h. In addition to the convoluted or undulated portion 32, other means may be provided for relieving the inner margin or portion of the material located within the confines of the groove means 30h.

While the groove means are preferably of the type which extend in a circumferential manner about the container receiving aperture of a carrier device, it is contemplated that radial impressions 34 may be impressed or coined in a carrier device 141' as illustrated in FIG. 13 of the drawings to achieve the same or similar purpose as a circumferentially arranged groove means. In connection therewith, the radial impressions 34 may be associated with a circumferentially extending groove means 301' as, for example, shown in FIG. 13 of the drawings.

The number of groove means may be varied, including the provision of groove means on the same or up,- posite sides of the carrier device. This is illustrated in FIGS. 14 15 of the drawings. In FIG. 14, there is provided two concentric groove means 30j on the upper surface of the carrier device. In FIG. 15, a single groove means 30k is provided on the upper surface of the carrier device 14k while a single concentric groove means 30k is provided on the lower surface of the carrier. FIG.

16 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrat ing that it is possible to vary the width of the groove means 301 across the width of the material band 261. In this way, a marked difference in the stretchability of the material within and without the groove means30l will be provided as may be desired in particular instances. Additionally, coaxial groove means, instead of concentric groove means, may be useful in achieving particular results in certain instances.

From the above, it will be appreciated that the present invention contemplates many various embodiments which may be usable by themselves or in connection with one another to achieve the purposes heretofore mentioned.-

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a plastic carrier member having bands defining a plurality of apertures for receiving and retaining articles therein, each aperture having an uninterrupted margin to which stretching stresses are applied when an article is inserted into said aperture, said bands having portions disposed between adjacent apertures and portions extending outwardly therefrom, said plastic carrier member being formed of a plastic material capable of sustaining molecular orientation, and means for con trolling the effects of stretching stresses applied to the margin of each aperture in said member comprising elongated indentation means arranged about the margin of each aperture, at least a portion of the indentation means'being disposed in the outwardly extending portions of said bands, said indentation means impressing the plastic material to an extent sufficient to orient the molecules in the material to resist rupture by stretching stresses applied thereto.

2. A plastic carrier member as defined in claim 1, wherein said elongated indentation means is arcuately shaped to conform to the configuration of the margins of the associated apertures.

3. A plastic carrier member as defined in claim 1, wherein said elongated indentation means comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced sections arranged about the margins of the associatedape rtures.

4. A plastic carrier member as defined in claim 1, wherein said elongated indentation means comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced sections arcuately shaped to conform to the configuration of the margins of the associated apertures.

5. A plastic carrier member as defined in claim I, wherein said elongated indentation means comprises a plurality of continuous indentations arranged respectively around each aperture.

6 A plastic carrier member as defined in claim 5,

wherein said indentations are longitudinally arcuately

Claims

1. An article of manufacture comprising a plastic carrier member having bands defining a plurality of apertures for receiving and retaining articles therein, each aperture having an uninterrupted margin to which stretching stresses are applied when an article is inserted into said aperture, said bands having portions disposed between adjacent apertures and portions extending outwardly therefrom, said plastic carrier member being formed of a plastic material capable of sustaining molecular orientation, and means for controlling the effects of stretching stresses applied to the margin of each aperture in said member comprising elongated indentation means arranged about the margin of each aperture, at least a portion of the indentation means being disposed in the outwardly extending portions of said bands, said indentation means impressing the plastic material to an extent sufficient to orient the molecules in the material to resist rupture by stretching stresses applied thereto.

3. A plastic carrier member as defined in claim 1, wherein said elongated indentation means comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced sections arranged about the margins of the associated apertures.

5. A plastic carrier member as defined in claim 1, wherein said elongated indentation means comprises a plurality of continuous indentations arranged respectively around each aperture.

6. A plastic carrier member as defined in claim 5, wherein said indentations are longitudinally arcuately shaped.

7. A plastic carrier member as defined in claim 1, wherein said carrier member is provided with handle means disposed between said bands.

8. A plastic carrier member as defined in claim 7, wherein said handle means is comprised of spaced apertures in the plastic carrier member.