A nestable mid-depth beverage case for holding containers of beverage, said case having a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis, and comprising:
- a bottom wall with an outer periphery, an upper surface, a bottom surface, and a plurality of spaced apart container seating areas on said upper surface and a plurality of beverage container closure receiving recesses are formed in the bottom surface of the bottom wall of the case beneath respective seating areas for receiving the closures of beverage containers in a subjacent case when cases are stacked on top of one another, wherein:
- said closure receiving recesses are each greater in diameter than the diameter of a closure, whereby each recess is incapable by itself of aligning a closure, and said recesses are offset progressively greater distances from a centerline of the associated seating area as the distance of each recess from the lateral and longitudinal axes of the case increases, and a side edge of each recess is adapted to engage a side of a closure when a case is rested on top of another case loaded with beverage containers, whereby all the recesses acting together function to align the closures of containers in a subjacent case with respect to the seating areas of an upper case;
- upstanding vertically oriented sidewalls and end walls around the periphery of the bottom wall, said sidewalls and end walls each comprising an upper wall section and a lower wall section, each said wall section extending about one-half the height of the case, and said lower wall section being inset relative to said upper wall section so that one case can rest into another case up to about one-half its height, wherein:
- said upper wall section comprises a continuous band extending around the periphery of the case in upwardly spaced relation to the bottom wall and having vertical inner and outer surfaces;
- said lower wall section comprises a plurality of spaced apart columns connected between said band and the periphery of said bottom wall, said columns having a V-shape in transverse cross-section, with a pair of angularly divergent flat vertical surfaces facing inwardly toward respective adjacent seating areas, and an open concave outer surface;
- hollow buttresses extend upwardly from upper ends of the columns in outwardly offset relationship thereto and across the inner surface of the band, said buttresses having a shape complemental to the shape of the columns and dimensioned to nest within the open concave outer surface of the columns when two cases are nested together;
- and
- a narrow, flat, generally vertical, slightly outwardly inclined ramp formed at each side of each buttress extending from the upper ends of the columns along each side of each buttress, defining a rest or guide for opposite side edges of the V-shaped columns when two cases are nested together.