GB1137916A - Improvements in or relating to crates - Google Patents

Abstract

1,137,916. Crates. INDUSTRIAL MOULDINGS (WARWICK) Ltd. 25 Feb., 1966 [7 March, 1965], No. 6160/65. Heading B8P. The base of a rectangular bottle-crate is provided with projections defining six rectangular areas 5-10, extending below the plane of the base to facilitate stacking, the external length: width ratio A : B of the crate being between 3 : 2 and 4 : 3. The rectangular areas 5-10 are arranged in two rows of three parallel to the long axis of the crate, the separation of the two rows being between four and five times the width x of a path 12 defined around the periphery of the crate between the outer edge of the crate itself and the outer edge of the areas. The rectangular areas in each row of three are separated by between three and four times the width x. The path 12 is arranged so that when two crates are stacked directly one above the other, an upper edge (4), Fig. 1 (not shown), of the lower crate engages the base of the upper crate around the path 12, lateral movement being prevented by the projections. In the preferred embodiment the ratio B : A is 69 : 100, and the projections are themselves substantially rectangular, filling the areas 5-10. The four corner projections 5, 7, 8, 10 are square in section, having dimensions t and y both of (B31/69-2x), and the length l of the centre projections 6, 9 is 0À24A. These dimensions permit inter-bonding of superposed crates in adjacent layers, particularly in the stack configuration in which each layer is of dimensions 3A by (2A + 3B), Figs. 4, 5 (not shown), adjacent layers being arranged so that there are no vertical " cleavage planes " extending through the stack to introduce instability. The stack may be arranged on a pallet of standard size. The crate, which may be formed of injection moulded plastics material, has internal partitions (15), Fig. 1 (not shown), to retain bottles, the crate height being sufficient to ensure that the projections on an upper crate do not interfere with the bottles in a lower crate. Reinforcing struts, ribs &c. may also be provided. In an alternative form the rectangular areas 5-10 may each be defined by several projections, the essential requirement being that there is a projection touching each of the sides of each rectangle, so that correct alignment of the stacked crates is achieved.