Stackable low depth bottle case

In a cross-stacking case for retaining and transporting bottles comprising outer side walls forming an outer shell having a longitudinal axis and a horizontal axis;

• a case bottom disposed substantially within said outer shell;
• a plurality of support means for supporting outer surfaces of bottles and generally disposed within said outer shell, said bottle support means defining in combination with said outer shell and said case bottom a plurality of bottle retaining pockets;
• said improvement comprising:
• first receiving means, generally disposed within said outer shell, extending above the height of a top surface of one of said side walls and having at least a first horizontal recess, for receiving a side wall of an upper identical case when said lower cross-stacking case is empty;
• at least two of said outer side walls including a handle structure permitting grasping an upper edge thereof and pulling said case with the palm of the user facing upwards and permitting grasping a lower bar thereof and pulling said case with the palm of the user facing downwards;
• and
• at least one of said support means being inset from an upper edge of said side wall in order to accommodate said handle structure when an upper identical case is cross-stacked on top of said case.

A low depth case for retaining and transporting bottles comprising:

• four outer side walls forming a rectangular outer shell having the ratio of the length to the width of said outer shell being substantially equal to the number of bottles said case holds in the lengthwise direction to the number of bottles said case holds in the widthwise direction and having a center line of the length of the case extending through the center of the longer pair of side walls of the case and a center line of the width of the case extending through the center of the shorter pair of side walls of the case;
• a case bottom disposed substantially within said outer shell;
• a plurality of support means for supporting outer surfaces of bottles generally disposed within said outer shell, said bottle support means defining in combination with said outer shell and said case bottom bottle retaining pockets with at least one bottle support means associated with each pocket, adjacent said bottles pockets disposed about the centerline of the length of the case being spaced a greater distance apart than adjacent said bottle pockets disposed about the centerline of the width of the case such that said bottle retaining pockets form two identical quadrants on each side of the center line of the length of the case;
• wherein a first of said plurality of bottle support means is disposed about the center line of the width of the case and includes a portion extending above the height of a top surface of a first of said side walls, said portion above the height of said first side wall including a recess which extends along the center line of the width of the case and a recess which extends along the center line of the length of the case.