Back to results
US 8,720,688 B2Granted
Stacking crates
AssigneeRehrig Pacific Company
InventorsJon P. Hassell, William P. Apps, Gerald R. Koefelda
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stacking crate for bottles has a plurality of tapered pylons extending upward from a periphery of a floor. A rib extends downwardly in the interior of a cavity in each pylon. Each pylon further includes a slot in an upper surface of the pylon substantially aligned with the rib. When similar crates are nested, the ribs in the pylons of one crate will rest in the slots in the upper surface of the pylons of the lower crate, thus permitting the crates to be nested.
Claims26
A crate for containers comprising:
- a floor;
- a lower wall portion extending upward from the floor;
- a plurality of tapered pylons about a periphery of the floor and extending upward from the floor beyond an upper surface of the lower wall portion, each pylon defining a cavity between an inner wall and an outer wall, each pylon including a rib transverse to the inner wall and the outer wall in the cavity, a lowermost edge of the rib spaced above a plane defined by the upper surface of the lower wall portion, each pylon further including a slot in an upper surface of the pylon through the inner wall and the outer wall, the slot defined by a bottom surface and opposed side walls connecting the inner wall to the outer wall, the slot substantially aligned with the rib;
- and
- at least one handle extending generally parallel to the floor, each of the at least one handle including an upper surface generally the same height as the bottom surface of each slot.
2 more elements
A crate for containers comprising:
- a floor;
- a lower wall portion extending upward from the floor;
- a plurality of tapered pylons about a periphery of the floor and extending upward from the floor beyond an upper surface of the lower wall portion, each pylon defining a cavity between an inner wall and an outer wall, each pylon including a rib transverse to the inner wall and the outer wall in the cavity, a lowermost edge of the rib spaced above a plane defined by the upper surface of the lower wall portion, each pylon further including a slot in an upper surface of the pylon through the inner wall and the outer wall, the slot defined by a bottom surface and opposed side walls connecting the inner wall to the outer wall, the slot substantially aligned with the rib;
- and
- at least one handle extending between two of the plurality of pylons, wherein the at least one handle includes an upper surface that is located below the upper surface of the pylons, the pylons include a first pylon and a second pylon, and the at least one handle extends between an inner surface of the first pylon and an opposing inner surface of the second pylon that faces the inner surface of the first pylon.
2 more elements
A crate for containers comprising:
- a floor;
- a lower wall portion extending upward from the floor;
- a plurality of tapered pylons about a periphery of the floor and extending upward from the floor beyond an upper surface of the lower wall portion, each pylon defining a cavity between an inner wall and an outer wall, each pylon including a rib transverse to the inner wall and the outer wall in the cavity, a lowermost edge of the rib spaced above a plane defined by the upper surface of the lower wall portion, each pylon further including a slot in an upper surface of the pylon through the inner wall and the outer wall, the slot defined by a bottom surface and opposed side walls connecting the inner wall to the outer wall, the slot substantially aligned with the rib;
- and
- at least one handle extending between two of the plurality of pylons, wherein the at least one handle extends generally parallel to the floor, and each of the at least one handle includes an upper surface generally the same height as the bottom surface of each slot.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.