Bottle Crate
AssigneeOrbis Canada Limited
InventorEdward L. Stahl
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bottle crate (10) is provided that is configured to hold a plurality of bottles in a generally upright orientation, and is particularly designed to hold bottles having a variable diameter. The bottle crate can include at least one tray and a plurality of fingers (601) elastically arranged on the tray, such that the fingers are configured to move in response to insertion or removal of a bottle.
Claims21
1-14. (canceled)
A plastic bottle crate comprising:
- a bottom;
- a peripheral wall surrounding the bottom;
- a plurality of bottle receiving pockets formed in the interior of the crate;
- a plurality of interior columns extending upward from the bottom, each column having a wall with at least one finger formed by vertical cuts through the wall, the finger moveable from a first non-flexed position to a second flexed position radially outward of the first position.
The plastic bottle crate of clam 15 wherein each wall includes a plurality of fingers formed by vertical cuts through the wall.
The plastic bottle crate of claim 35 wherein the surface facing away from the center of the bottle receiving pocket is at an angle of approximately 3 degrees with respect to a vertical line.
A plastic bottle crate for Securing bottles having a bottom portion with a cross-sectional diameter greater than a cross-sectional diameter of an upper portion, the crate comprising:
- a generally rectangular bottom having a peripheral wall extending along a periphery of the bottom, the peripheral wall forming a first side wall, a second side wall, a first end wall and a second end wall;
- a plurality of internal columns extending upward from the bottom and a plurality of half columns extending upward from the bottom along the peripheral wall;
- wherein an interior of the crate is divided into a plurality of bottle receiving pockets and each of the interior columns and half columns includes at least one wall facing one of the plurality of bottle receiving pockets, and wherein each at least one wall includes at least a first finger formed by a first vertical cut through the wall on a first side of the first finger and a second vertical cut through the wall on a second side of the first finger and the first finger having a first lower portion and a second upper portion, the first lower portion positioned closer to a center of the bottle receiving pocket than the second upper portion.
The plastic bottle crate of claim 9 wherein each of the at least one wall of each of the plurality of interior columns includes a second finger formed from the vertical cut through the wall on a first side of the second finger and a third vertical cut through the wall on a second side of the finger, and a third finger formed from the third vertical cut through the wall on a first side of the third finger and a fourth cut through the vertical wall on a second side of the third finger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.