Article carrier with cushioned panel

An article carrier containing a plurality of beverage cans the bottom ends of which include a circumferential rim extending below the portion of the can bottom enclosed by the rim, the carrier being substantially rectilinear in transverse cross-section and comprising:

• a panel contacted by the circumferential rims of the cans;
• said panel being comprised of a plurality of sheets of paperboard in face-to-face engagement, including an inner sheet and an outer sheet;
• the inner sheet of said panel being connected along a fold line to an edge of a first panel extending at substantially right angles to said inner sheet, and the outer sheet being connected along a fold line to an edge of a second panel extending at substantially right angles to said outer sheet, the first and second panels comprising opposite panels of the carrier and said fold lines being parallel;
• the inner sheet having an interior face comprised of a planar portion and a plurality of spaced raised embossed portions extending from the planar portion and projecting into the interior of the carrier, the embossed portions being of such size and being present in such numbers that the adjacent circumferential rims of the cans abut a sufficient number of said raised embossed portions so as to maintain the rims out of contact with the planar portion of the inner sheet;
• and
• the greatest dimension of the raised embossed portions being substantially less than the diameter of the circumferential rim of an adjacent can.