Nestable beverage case

A nestable mid-depth beverage case for holding containers of beverage, said case comprising:

• a bottom wall with an outer periphery, and upstanding vertically oriented sidewalls and end walls around the periphery of the bottom wall, said sidewalls and end walls each comprising an upper wall section and a lower wall section, each said wall section extending over about one-half the height of the case, and said lower wall section being inset relative to said upper wall section so that one case can nest into another case up to about one-half its height, wherein:
• said upper wall section comprises a continuous band extending around the periphery of the case in upwardly spaced relation to the bottom wall and having vertical inner and outer surfaces;
• said lower wall section comprises a plurality of spaced apart columns connected between said band and the periphery of said bottom wall;
• hollow buttresses extend upwardly from upper ends of the columns in outwardly offset relationship thereto and across the inner surface of the band, said buttresses having a shape complemental to the shape of the columns and dimensioned to nest within the columns when two cases are nested together;
• two columns and associated buttresses are in each end wall, spaced equidistantly from opposite sides of the case;
• upper inner side edges of said two columns and confronting side edges of said associated buttresses are cut away;
• and
• a bottom portion of the band extending between said two columns is cut away to form a handle bar extending across an upper midportion of each end wall between said two columns, said cut away portion of the band and the cut away side edges of said columns and associated buttresses forming an enlarged opening beneath the bar for easy hand access.

A nestable case for bottles, comprising:

• a floor having a top surface, a bottom surface, and an outer perimeter, said top surface having a plurality of bottle seating areas formed thereon, and said bottom surface having a plurality of recessed closure receiving areas formed thereon for receiving bottle closures in a subjacent case;
• a wall extending around the perimeter of the floor, said wall comprising opposed sidewalls and opposed end walls, each of said sidewalls and end walls comprising an upper wall section and a lower wall section, said lower wall section comprising a plurality of spaced apart columns in the sidewalls and end walls, said columns having angularly disposed surfaces facing toward adjacent seating areas, and said upper wall section comprising a band having a top edge and a bottom edge, and inwardly projecting nesting buttresses extending upwardly along an inner surface of the band in axial alignment with associated columns;
• and
• recessed areas in the bottom edge of the band at a midportion of each end wall and in adjacent side edges of a pair of adjacent columns and associated nesting buttresses in the end walls, forming a handle bar at the top of each end wall and an enlarged opening extending between the handle bar and the floor and between said pair of adjacent columns.