Plastic carrier for fluid containers

In a stackable carrier for fluid containers, which carrier is of plastic and includes a bottom having a rectangular form and composed of a plurality of ribs defining a rectilinear open grid whose borders coincide with borders of the rectangle defining the bottom, a top frame defined by a closed strip of predetermined thickness in a horizontal direction, the frame defining the upper end of the carrier, a plurality of columns extending between, and connecting, the bottom and the top frame, a plurality of stacking projections extending downwardly from the bottom, and means for dividing the interior of the carrier into a plurality of compartments each for holding a respective container in an upright position, the external height of the carrier being greater than that of the containers which it is to hold, the improvement wherein:

• there is a respective one of said stacking projections associated with each of said compartments;
• each of said stacking projections includes a part which projects laterally beyond the borders of the rectangle defining said bottom to present a surface for supporting a bottle whose lower portion extends laterally beyond the borders of such rectangle;
• each of said stacking projections is dimensioned and positioned for causing the minimum distance between each said projection and a vertical plane passing through the outer edge of said top frame to be at least equal to the predetermined thickness of said closed strip defining said frame, and for causing the minimum distance between each adjacent pair of stacking projections to be at least twice said predetermined thickness;
• at least first ones of said columns are located between said laterally projecting parts of respective adjacent pairs of said stacking projections and are connected to ribs at the borders of said open grid so that the locations of the connections of said first ones of said columns to said ribs are located on the sides of the rectangle defining said bottom;
• second ones of said columns extend from said stacking projections at the corners of said carrier and merge into said frame;
• and
• said means for dividing the interior of the carrier comprise hollow dome-shaped members located to define compartment boundaries, said members extending upwardly from said bottom, being upwardly tapered, and having a constant wall thickness, along their entire length.