Collapsible hand carrier for bottles

Abstract

A collapsible hand carrier for bottles of standard size. When fully erected, the carrier has a box-like form and an internal array of cells to accommodate the bottles. The structure of the carrier is formed of flexible panel material and is defined by a pair of side panels provided with complementary handle extensions, a pair of end panels hingedly joined to the end edges of the side panels, and a bottom panel hingedly joined to the bottom edges of the side panels and disconnected from the end panels. The end and bottom panels each include a center fold to create a gusset whereby the carrier may readily be collapsed into the flat state for storage or shipment, or expanded into the erected state for use as a carrier. Cut into each corner of the carrier formed at the junctions of the side and end panels is a pair of parallel slots. These are spaced from the top and bottom edges of the panels and extend horizontally from the center fold on the related end panel and a vertical fold line on the related side panel to create a snap-in corner section. When pressed in at its corner junction, the section reverses itself to set up within the carrier interior a cell adapted to accommodate a single bottle. The central region between the four corner cells functions as a compartment to receive an additional bottle or other items.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.