Bottle tray and storage station

A storage station for storing a plurality of empty and/or loaded bottle trays comprising an upright circumferentially extending side wall with an upper tray opening, a tray bottom fixedly connected to the side wall, wherein the bottle tray is configured for receiving a bottle layer, a loosely inserted, movable lifting bottom that lies in the loaded state of the bottle tray on the tray bottom, the bottom having a plurality of passage openings for a lifting device for generating a relative lift between the side wall and the lifting bottom, wherein the tray bottom has a perforated plate or a plurality of struts, which are located at spaced locations from one another and enclose the passage openings, said perforated plate or a plurality of struts being fastened to the side wall, and a bottom centering element acting between the tray bottom and the lifting bottom, the storage station comprising:

• one or more tray storage units with an integrated loading area for loading and/or unloading the bottle tray;
• a loading device comprising a movable layer pusher configured to push a bottle layer, wherein the loading device is arranged at the tray storage unit;
• and
• a lifting device configured to provide a relative lifting movement between the side wall and the movable lifting bottom of the bottle tray, wherein the lifting device is arranged at the loading area.

A process for storing a plurality of empty and/or loaded bottle trays in a storage station, the process comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of empty and/or loaded bottle trays comprising an upright circumferentially extending side wall with an upper tray opening, a tray bottom fixedly connected to the side wall, wherein the bottle tray is configured for receiving a bottle layer, a loosely inserted, movable lifting bottom that lies in the loaded state of the bottle tray on the tray bottom, the bottom having a plurality of passage openings for a lifting device for generating a relative lift between the side wall and the lifting bottom, wherein the tray bottom has a perforated plate or a plurality of struts, which are located at spaced locations from one another and enclose the passage openings, said perforated plate or a plurality of struts being fastened to the side wall, and a bottom centering element acting between the tray bottom and the lifting bottom;
• providing the storage station with one or more tray storage units, an integrated loading area, at which the bottle trays are loaded and/or unloaded with a bottle layer, a loading device with a movable layer pusher and a lifting device arranged at the tray storage unit;
• providing the storage station so as to comprise one or more tray storage units with an integrated loading area for loading and/or unloading the bottle tray, a loading device comprising a movable layer pusher configured to push a bottle layer, wherein the loading device is arranged at the tray storage unit, and a lifting device configured to provide a relative lifting movement between the side wall and the movable lifting bottom of the bottle tray, wherein the lifting device is arranged at the loading area;
• lifting and lowering lifting bottom relative to the side wall with the lifting device arranged at the loading area;
• and
• pushing a bottle layer onto the lifting bottom or pushing a bottle layer off from the lifting bottom with the layer pusher.

A bottle tray comprising:

• an upright circumferentially extending side wall with an upper tray opening;
• a tray bottom fixedly connected to the side wall, wherein the bottle tray is configured for receiving a bottle layer;
• a loosely inserted, movable lifting bottom that lies in a loaded state of the bottle tray on the tray bottom, the bottom having a plurality of passage openings for a lifting device for generating a relative lift between the side wall and the lifting bottom, wherein the tray bottom has a perforated plate or a plurality of struts, which are located at spaced locations from one another and enclose the passage openings, the perforated plate or a plurality of struts being fastened to the side wall;
• and
• a bottom centering element acting between the tray bottom and the lifting bottom, wherein the bottom centering device comprises centering units arranged obliquely in corner areas of the tray bottom and the lifting bottom.