EP0208020B2 - Bottle racks - Google Patents

Abstract

Depending on their type (high-wall crates which are stackable in columns or offset at a ratio of 3:4 or 3:2; low-wall crates), bottle crates are optimised differently in respect of their bottle crate function, e.g. dimensioning, statics and material consumption, and also in respect of their appearance. In this case, the construction of, in particular, gripping edge 22 and side wall 14, of the crate bottom 2 in the case of high-wall crates is matched to the construction of the crate corners and of stacking rib/stacking groove mating. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a high-side bottle crate according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

With bottle crates, a distinction is made primarily between high and low side boxes. In low side boxes, the bottles protrude from the top of the box, so that when stacked full side boxes are stacked one on top of the other the box bottom of the upper box comes to rest on the bottle heads of the bottles arranged in the lower box. The actual load-bearing function in the stack, apart from the bottles, is carried out by the crate bottoms. It is common for the bottom of the box to have rings, each with a bottle head, e.g. B. the bottle caps, of bottles that are used in the stack of boxes in one or more low side boxes or low side boxes of the next lower position, so that the bottles of the lower box are kept centered in the rings. In the case of high side boxes, on the other hand, the bottles are recovered within the bottle box in such a way that when bottle boxes are stacked one on top of the other, an upper bottle box rests directly on the walls of the position of the bottle boxes underneath.

But also one should basically distinguish between high side boxes in three groups, depending on the type of stackability.

The first group concerns the high side boxes with stackability in columns. This means that in a bottle crate stack a higher bottle crate is supported on exactly one bottle crate below it. The entire stack of bottle crates can therefore be subdivided into two-dimensional rows of independent vertical bottle crate columns.

The main distinguishing feature of the other two groups is that the bottle crates, which are stacked in different layers one above the other, are arranged offset from one another. Such high side boxes then again fall into two groups, namely the second and third group mentioned, according to the criterion whether the vertical lines of force through the corners of the bottle boxes of a layer next to (second group) or through (third group) handle openings of staggered high side boxes a layer above or below it. The third group is particularly characterized by displaceability in the ratio 3: 2, the second group relates to the other displacement ratios, in particular the frequent displacement ratio 3: 4.

In a known bottle crate made of plastic (US-PS 28 30 729), the outer surfaces are largely smooth and flat, whereby a minimally jagged surface of a bottle crate is achieved, which is characterized by characterized by a lower sensitivity to soiling and better washability in automatic bottle washing lines. The grip openings in the two opposite narrow sides of the bottle crate are delimited at the top by a grip edge which has an L-shaped cross section, the L web protruding inwards from the crate side wall. Since the load-bearing capacity of such a bottle crate is limited, special measures must be taken if such a bottle crate is used in a stack, that is to say it has to absorb the loads from filled or empty bottle crates arranged above it and remove them downwards. In such bottle crates, horizontally or vertically extending ribs are used, in particular protruding outwards (cf. DE-GM 78 30 137), but this results in an undesirable jagged surface appearance on the outside of a bottle crate.

In contrast, the object of the invention is to provide a stackable box with a minimally jagged outer surface, which is simple, stable and robust and allows good load absorption and load transfer in the stack.

This object is achieved by the features contained in the characterizing part of patent claim 1, expedient developments of the invention being characterized by the features contained in the subclaims.

According to the invention, an optimization of the external appearance of the bottle crate is achieved by a minimally jagged outer surface in that the load-bearing and load-carrying capacity required for the stackability of bottle crates is achieved by the special design of the crate corners by the double-walled crate corners. In addition, the box side walls are stiffened in the immediate area of the handle openings by providing support webs on both sides of the handle openings. Furthermore, a circumferential bead on the upper edge of the box, which protrudes outwards, and in addition to the desired stiffening, enables an ergonomically favorable gripping of the grip edge provided above the grip opening, thus improving the wearing behavior. According to the invention, the statically load-bearing formations are only provided where they are really needed, as a result of which material depletion is achieved while at the same time ensuring full static functions. As a result of the outwardly displaced side walls forming the advertising space, one initially accepts the disadvantage in a manner known per se that one has to take into account an undercut design of the inside of the bottle crate when demolding, but this training in conjunction with the other features contributes to this Achieve a minimally jagged Surface. The outer surface of the handle edge or handle is strictly aligned with the advertising surface.

Appropriate lifting of bottle bottoms in relation to load-bearing edge areas or corresponding lifting of corner areas or elevations of upper pillar areas on the bottle crate ensures that the desired flow of force remains in the only load-bearing areas even in the event of deflections and loads.

The bottle crates according to the invention not only show the technical advantages discussed, such as weight saving, stability and space requirement optimization. They are also more consumer-friendly, for example due to their handle design, show better washability due to their surface design, for example in automatic car washes, and are also more appealing due to their smooth outer appearance. The latter also offers advantages for lettering and advertising effectiveness. This also ensures that the space above the lower edge can be used as advertising space, if this is desired.

• Fig. 1a eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Hochbordkastens, der säulenstapelbar ist;
• Fig. 1b eine Ansicht desselben Kastens perspektivisch von unten;
• Fig. 1f eine teilweise geschnittene teilweise Draufsicht, teilweise Unteransicht (linker unterer und rechter oberer Quadrant), mit zwei unterschiedlichen Ausführungsformen in der linken und in der rechten Zeichnungshälfte, mit Darstellung einer bevorzugten Ausbildung des Kastenbodens;
• Fig. 2a ein Stapelschema von Flaschenkästen mit Versetzstapelung des Versetzungstyps 3 : 4;
• Fig. 2b eine perspektivische Ansicht eines solchen Hochbordkastens;

   Alle Flaschenkästen weisen einen Kastenboden 2 mit einer darüber befindlichen Facheinteilung 4 konventioneller Art auf, die mit geringerer Höhe innerhalb der vier Kastenwände 6 angeordnet ist.Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the drawing. In it show:

• Fig. 1a is a perspective view of a high side box that is stackable;
• 1b is a perspective view of the same box from below;
• Fig. 1f is a partially sectioned partial top view, partial bottom view (left lower and right upper quadrant), with two different embodiments in the left and right half of the drawing, showing a preferred embodiment of the box bottom;
• 2a shows a stacking scheme of bottle crates with displacement stacking of the displacement type 3: 4;
• 2b is a perspective view of such a high girder box;

All bottle crates have a crate bottom 2 with a compartment division 4 of conventional type located above it, which is arranged at a lower height within the four crate walls 6.

The box corners are also where two box walls adjoin each other, double-walled with an outer wall 8 and an inner wall 10. Each bottle crate shown has two long and two short sides and generally describes a corresponding box that is open at the top.

The box walls 6 have, outside the column-like box corners 12, side walls 14, which offer advertising surfaces 16 on their flat outside. The advertising surfaces 16 providing outer surfaces of the side walls 14 are set back somewhat from the outer walls 8 of the box corners and thus approximately aligned protrusions 18 of the box bottoms.

Elongated handle openings 20 are also formed at least on the end faces of all bottle crates. Corresponding handle openings are also provided on the long sides of the bottle crates in the embodiments of FIG. 1, while these are designed to be closed in the embodiments of FIG. 2.

The transitions of the outer sides of the side walls 14 forming the advertising surfaces 16 into the box corners 12 and the protrusions 18 are not, as in known cases, approximately rectangular, but are rounded to a large extent in such a way that dirt corners are avoided as far as possible. The same applies appropriately to other corners of the bottle crate, possibly also the inner crate design. Above the grip openings 20, the grip edge or handle 22 runs horizontally in the horizontal direction with the bottle crate standing normally. In all embodiments, it has a profile in which an upright flange 24 is vertically aligned with the respective side wall 14.

The grip edge 22 has an L-like profile, the transverse flange 26 of which, as the upper limit of the grip opening 20, points inwards and forms on its underside the grip surface under which the hand of a person lifting the bottle crate grips. At the upper edge of the box, a bead 30 is provided all the way round so that the bead 30 runs along the advertising surface of the series walls 14, which is somewhat set back from the outer walls of the box corners, and merges into the outer walls 8 of the box corners in alignment.

The inner sides of the grip edges are further inward and therefore form an undercut with respect to the side walls 14, which are offset from them in relation to the outside and thus create the possibility of obtaining a maximally unclear external wall shape of all bottle crates while at the same time gaining space in the crate interior. The side walls 14 adjoin the box corners 12 at approximately the medium thickness of the box corner space described on the one hand by the outer walls 8 and on the other hand by the inner walls 10.

1 and 2 are furthermore provided on the underside of the respective box bottom with a stacking rib 32 projecting downwards, which is interrupted in the stacking arrangement according to FIG. 2a in the region of support lines of stacked offset bottle boxes and in the upper ones open cross-section engages in the area of the upper bottle crate edge in order to adjust stacked bottle crates relative to each other. Individual bottle crates are placed on the floor via this stacking rib 32. In the stack itself, however, it has no supporting function. Rather, this is achieved in all high side boxes by supporting surfaces on the edge of the box or on the corner of the box, which come to rest on the upper edge of the bottle box located in the stack below.

In the case of column stacking according to FIGS. 1a, 1b and 1f, the load is only transferred in the stack via the double-walled box corners 12. In order to relieve the load-bearing function of the side walls 14 forming the entire remaining box walls 6, the box corners are either according to FIGS. 1a and 1b slightly protruding below (so-called underlaid corners 34) and / or slightly elevated above, in each case related to the respective side wall 14 between the box corners.

As the stacking diagram according to FIG. 2a shows, with staggered stackability the condition of column stacking is no longer fulfilled that box corners of bottle crates arranged one above the other in different layers are also arranged one above the other. Rather, the box walls also have to perform a supporting function. On the other hand, the load-bearing function of the box walls is to be functionally decoupled as far as possible in the case of high-sided boxes from the function of the respective box bottom which is not load-bearing in the stack but only the bottle-bearing function. Thus, it is shown in FIG. 2b that the bottom of the box 2 is raised with its lowermost surfaces 38 with respect to the edge 40 carrying the bottle crate above it (raised in relation to the normal orientation with the upper one reversed, as shown in FIG. 2b) Bottle crate cross-section and bottle crate bottom).

The lowermost surface 38 extends all the way up to the box corners 12, without this having to be strictly the case because of the force introduction that is only selective in the offset grid.

In bottle crates of the type described, but also in all other bottle crates, it has also become common to provide groups of stacking ribs and stacking grooves on the outer surfaces of the bottle crate, which are presented here by the outer walls 8 of the crate corners 12 and are used in one Stack position in both horizontal directions to achieve alignment of adjacent bottle crates relative to one another by engagement of the stacking ribs in the complementary stack grooves.

Claims (5)

1. A high-sided plastic bottle case comprising a case bottom (2), case corners (12) and side walls (14) extending between the case corners (12) and forming advertising surfaces (16), and having divided compartments (4) located within the case and handle openings (20) formed in the side walls, the upper handle edge (22) being constructed as an L-shaped profile with an inwardly directed transverse flange (26), whereby the side wall (14) is outwardly offset from the inner side of the handle edge (22), characterised in that, in order to provide a stackable and stable case with a minimally jointed outer surface, the case has pillar-like corners (12) in the form of double-walled corner formations (8, 10) and a bead (30) is provided running around the upper edge of the case in such a way that the bead (30) extends along the advertising surface (16) on the side walls (14), said surface being somewhat inset in relation to the outer walls (8) of the corners of the case, and merges flush into the outer walls (8) of the corners, and that the handle edges (22) are limited laterally by vertical support webs (28) which are directed towards the interior of the case.
2. The bottle case of claim 1, characterised in that the corners (12) of the case are underlaid at the bottom (34) and or superelevated at the top.
3. The bottle case of claim 1 or 2 capable of being stacked at a staggering ratio other than two to three, for example three to four, characterised in that the bottom (2) of the case is higher than supporting edge and/or corner areas of the underside of the case.
4. The bottle case of any of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the outwardly placed side wall (14) meets in the area of the middle thickness of the double-walled corners of the case.
5. The bottle case of any of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that on the outside of the case the side walls (14) pass with a large radius into the outer walls (8) of the corners of the case and projections (18) flush therewith on the bottom of the case.

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