Bottle crate with movable bottom plate

Abstract

 The invention concerns a bottle crate (1, 21) comprising a bottom wall (2, 22) and lateral walls (3, 4 ; 23, 24) and a method for producing such bottle crate. The bottle crate comprises a separate internal bottom plate (26) having traversing holes (6), movable and guided within the lateral walls 4 between a first position for packs of bottles wherein the bottom plate is in a low position close to or in contact with the bottom wall and a second position for separate bottles wherein the bottom plate (26) is in an upright high position to form with its holes (6) dividers for the bottles. The bottle crate also comprises spring means arranged to be compressed in the first position and to automatically bring back the bottom plate (26) in its upright second position in the absence of a sufficient predetermined weight on the bottom plate.

Description

[0001] The present invention is related to a bottle crate comprising a bottom wall, lateral walls and a movable bottom plate having traversing holes guided within said bottle crate lateral walls.

[0002] It is also related to a method for producing an injection moulded bottle crate.

[0003] The invention is more particularly but not exclusively related to a bottle crate used by breweries proposing four, six and/or eight bottles packs to sell their beers to the customers.

[0004] Existing bottle crates for transporting packs present several draw backs.

[0005] One is due to the fact that the empty bottles, when returned individually cannot be transported in the same bottle crate than the one used for the packs.

[0006] It is because, if these bottles are not separated by dividers, they will touch each other and therefore can easily be broken.

[0007] But the mere existence of such dividers bars the possibility to transport packs.

[0008] It is therefore a main object of the present invention to provide an improved crate and method which authorizes the transport of different packs of bottles and which, when such bottles are returned to the brewery, can also provide the transport of such bottles without any risk of breaking.

[0009] Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle crate which authorizes the transport of several different types of packs (four, six or even eight bottle packs) in the same bottle crate.

[0010] With the crate of the invention it will therefore be possible to carry the bottles of beer when they are under the form of a pack and to carry the bottles of beer when they are one by one.

[0011] For these purposes the invention mainly proposes a bottle crate comprising a bottom wall and lateral walls, characterized in that it comprises a separate internal bottom plate having traversing holes, movable and guided within said bottle crate lateral walls between a first position for packs of bottles wherein the bottom plate is in a low position close to or in contact with the bottom wall and a second position for separate bottles wherein the bottom plate is in an upright high position to form with its holes dividers for said bottles,
and in that it comprises spring means arranged to be compressed in the first position and to automatically bring back the bottom plate in its upright second position in the absence of a sufficient predetermined weight on said bottom plate.

[0012] By sufficient predetermined weight it should be understood at least the partial weight of a pack of beers, such as a pack of four bottles of beer, i.e. for instance five hundred grams, one kilogramme or two kilogrammes.

[0013] Such disposition will authorize the crate to contain at least one pack, the weight of such pack keeping the bottom plate down.

[0014] In such position, there are no dividers, so all types of packs can be placed inside the crate.

[0015] When the packs have been taken out, the bottom plate rises up to the required level and forms the dividers for the separate empty bottles which are then placed into the holes of the divider to be safely returned to the brewery.

[0016] Advantageously, the spring means comprise at least one spring coil.

[0017] More advantageously, it comprises two or four spring coils centrally disposed in each quarter of the crate and/or in diagonal.

[0018] In another advantageous embodiment each spring coil is supported by the bottom wall top face and is maintained in its upright position by an up standing inner rod or a guide rigidly connected at its base to the bottom wall top face and slidably connected to the bottom plate through a cylinder or semi cylinder shape element, a traversing hole.

[0019] Advantageously, such rods or guides have an upper part above the top side of the bottom plate, when such plate is in the low position, to serve as fixing pins for the pack of beer which is placed inside the crate, the bottom face of the pack in paperboard, or in plastic being inserted in or beside said upper part.

[0020] In another advantageous embodiment the spring means comprise at least one leaf spring.

[0021] Advantageously the leaf spring is placed in the bottom of the crate, along one lateral wall, and the bottom plate is placed on top of the leaf spring, i.e the leaf spring is placed between the top face of the bottom wall and the lower face of the bottom plate.

[0022] Advantageously it comprises two opposed lateral leaf springs, and/or such spring means are placed in the inner space delimitated by the lateral walls of the bottle crate.

[0023] In an advantageous embodiment the bottle crate further comprises abutment(s) blocking the motion of the bottom plate caused by the spring in its high position, said abutment(s) being formed at the end of a corresponding rod or guide.

[0024] Advantageously, the bottle crate comprises an abutment blocking the motion of the bottom plate caused by the spring in its high position, said abutment being formed by a projection from an inner part of at least one of the lateral walls.

[0025] In an advantageous embodiment, the bottom face is formed by a bottom tray, both bottom tray and bottom plate having a section of a rectangular shape, the bottom tray being subdivided in a number of compartments corresponding to related holes in the bottom plate.

[0026] Advantageously the distance between the low position and the high position of the bottom plate is comprised between 5 cm and 20 cm, for instance 12 cm.

[0027] Advantageously the spring stiffness is arranged to be sufficiently strong to push the plate back in position, but not too much to be easily compressed when a pack of bottles is placed on it, for instance depending of the bottles weight, it can be comprised between 300 g and 3 kg for instance 500 g or 1 kg.

[0028] In an advantageous embodiment the compartments are formed by interconnected ribs.

[0029] Advantageously compartments have a height less than 3 cm, and are arranged to be inserted within the bottom side of the bottom plate when such bottom plate is in its first position.

[0030] In an advantageous embodiment the bottle crate is in plastic made by injection moulding.

[0031] The invention further proposes a method for producing an injection moulded bottle crate, comprising the steps of:

• injecting a first thermoplastic material in an injection mould for forming a first injected crate having a bottom wall and lateral walls connected to the bottom and to one another,
• injecting a second material in a second injection mould to form a bottom plate having traversing holes in order to obtain a movable and guided bottom plate,
• positioning spring means, having a lower part and an upper part, on the bottom wall of said first injected crate, said lower part being affixed or in contact with said bottom wall and the upper part being uncompressed (or substantially uncompressed i.e more than 95% uncompressed) in its extended position at a distance to the bottom wall,
• assembling the bottom plate in the first injected crate on said spring means in order to obtain a movable and guided bottom plate within said bottle crate lateral walls between a first position for packs of bottles wherein the bottom plate is in contact with, or close to, the bottom wall when a sufficient weight is exercised on bottom plate and a second position for separate bottles wherein the bottom plate is in a high upright position to form with its holes dividers for said bottles, when pushed by the spring means uncompressed by any weight on the bottom plate.

[0032] The present invention will be better understood from reading the following description of the particular embodiments given by way of non limitating examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein :

Figure 1 is a schematic axonometric view of a bottle crate according to a first embodiment of the invention, with the bottom plate in its upright high position.

Figure 2 shows schematically the bottle crate of figure 1 with the bottom plate in its low position.

Figures 3 and 4 show in perspective the bottom wall and the bottom plate of a second embodiment of the invention with the bottle plate respectively in its high and low positions.

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a bottle crate according to an other embodiment of the invention, comprising two packs of six bottles with the bottle plate in a low position.

Figure 6 shows an upper view of the inside of the bottle crate of figure 5 with the bottle plate in the low position.

Figure 7 and 8 are perspective lateral views of the bottle crate of figures 5 and 6 with the bottom plate respectively in its low position and in its high position.

Figure 9 is a view from above of the bottle crate of figure 8 in its high position.

Figure 10 is the bottle crate of figure 9 with bottles inside the holes of the bottom plate in its high position.

Figure 11 is a flow chart of the method according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0033] Figure 1 shows schematically a bottle crate 1 comprising a bottom wall 2 and four rectangular lateral walls 3 and 4, i.e. two opposite small rectangular walls 3 between two large rectangular opposite walls 4 built by injecting moulding in a way known per se by the man skilled in the art.

[0034] According to the embodiment more particularly described here of the invention, the bottle crate 1 comprises a bottom plate 5 having traversing holes 6, said bottom plate being movable and guided between the lateral walls 3 and 4, between a first position (see figure 2) for packs of bottles where the bottom plate 5 is in a low position (plane 7), said low position putting the rectangular bottom plate 5 close to/or in contact with the bottom wall 2 and a second position (see figure 1) for separate bottles to be inserted within the hole 6, where the bottom plate 5 is in a high position (plane 8) to form with its holes, dividers for said bottles, and spring means 9 arranged to be compressed (see figure 2) in the first position 7 and to automatically bring back the bottom plate 5 in a upper second position (plane 8) in the absence of a sufficient predetermined weight (see arrow 10 on the bottom plate 5).

[0035] In the embodiment of figure 1 and 2, the spring means are spring coils 11, each spring coil being supported by the top face 12 of the bottom wall 2 and being maintained in it's upper position by an upstanding inner rod 13 (see figure 2), for example a cylinder of 2 cm of diameter, said inner rod 13 being connected at its base 14 to the bottom wall top face 12 and slidably connected to the bottom plate 5 through a traversing hole 15, the rod 13 comprising an abutment 16, blocking the motion of the bottom plate 5 caused by the spring 11 in its high position, said abutment being formed by a tronconical projection at the end of said rod.

[0036] Other embodiments can be provided to assure such blocking i.e. for instance a projection from the inner lateral walls (not shown on the figures).

[0037] On the embodiment of figure 1 the bottom wall 2 is formed by a bottom tray T of a slightly broader rectangular shape section than the shape of the bottom plate, said bottom tray being subdivided in a number of compartments 17 corresponding to the related hole 6 in the bottom plate 5 for the bases of the bottles.

[0038] Such compartments are for instance of a square section with small lateral rectangular walls 18 of 1 mm of thickness.

[0039] In the following description of the text the same or similar elements will be designated by the same numbers of reference.

[0040] Figure 3 and 4 show schematically a bottom plate 5 and a bottom tray T separated by spring means formed by a spring leaf 19, such spring leaf being for instance a metallic spring which is bent with an elasticity between an extended position (see figure 3) and a compressed position (see figure 4).

[0041] Such spring is disposed within the inner space 20 of a lateral wall 4 of the bottle crate in order to be correctly connected to the upper face of the bottom wall and sufficiently guided for movement between its high position and its low position as seen on the figures. Advantageously the height of the compartment partitions is of between 2 and 5 mm and can be inserted in a space or recess arranged in the bottom face of the bottom plate 5.

[0042] Another embodiment of the invention will now be described in reference to figures 5 to 10.

[0043] These figures show a bottle crate 21 having a bottom wall 22 and two sets of opposite lateral walls 23 and 24, for instance with handles 25 which authorize the lifting of the box by a user. According to this embodiment of the invention, the bottle crate, when the bottom plate 26 is in its low position (see figure 5, 6 and 7), authorizes the storage of packs 27 and for instance four packs 27 of six bottles 28.

[0044] In this embodiment four spring coils 29 are provided, which are guided within guide tubes 30 which go through the bottom plate 26 through related holes 31 (see more particularly figures 6 and 7). Such guide tube 30 are for instance not complete and are formed by a portion of a cylinder in plastic injected while manufacturing the first crate.

[0045] Each spring coil 29 comprises an upper part which is for instance formed by a finger 32 which is fixed at the upper part 33 of the spring coil and which is guided within the guide tube 30 with the coils and which is extending above the top face of the plate when the bottom plate is in his high position (see figure 8).

[0046] Such guiding tube 30 is arranged to be inserted within the bottom part of the pack therefore authorizing a fixation of a pack within the bottle crate without being for instance to put obligatorily four packs within the crate to avoid their movement during transport.

[0047] This also authorizes the possibility of placing, in the same bottle crate, packs of either 4, 6, 8 or even 12 bottles, as such guiding tubes will play the role of fixing pins of the packs within the bottle crate.

[0048] When the packs are removed, the bottom plate is pushed in its high position by the spring coils as shown on figure 8 therefore liberating the tray T, and advancing the holes of the bottom plate which can be used for placing the bottles 28 as shown on figure 10.

[0049] The transport of the bottles can then be insured without any risk of breaking by shocks between the bottles.

[0050] The compartments in the bottom tray such as the ones described in reference to figures 1-4, further ameliorate the fixation of the bottles within the corresponding holes of the bottom plate.

[0051] It will now be described the method of producing such an injection moulded bottle crate in reference to figure 1. This method comprises a first step of injection (block 35) of a first thermoplastic material in an injection mould corresponding to the precise shape of the crate as request in order to form a first injected crate, in a way known per se, having a bottom wall and lateral walls connected to the bottom and to one another.

[0052] Then a second step 36 of injection is performed, consisting of injecting a second material in a second injection mould to form the bottom plate 5 or 26, having traversing holes.

[0053] In order to obtain a movable and guided bottom plate step 37 is then provided, i.e. positioning spring means on the bottom wall of said first crate within their guide or on their tube or in the lateral walls, the lower part of such spring means being affixed or in contact with the bottom wall and the upper part being uncompressed at a distance of the bottom wall.

[0054] Then step 38 consisting of assembling the bottom plate in the first injected crate on the spring means in order to obtain the movable and guided bottom plate is undertaken.

[0055] A final step 39, of testing the functioning of the bottle crate is then performed.

[0056] It will now be described the functioning of a bottle crate according to the invention.

[0057] When a user wants to provide to his customers packs of bottles of beers he puts directly such packs (at least one of them) within the bottle crate.

[0058] The weight of such pack will compress the bottom plate, who goes down until reaching his low position.

[0059] The transport can then be provided towards the customer facility.

[0060] The customer can then remove the packs from the bottle crates and sell them to his clients.

[0061] When the last pack is removed from the crate, the bottom plate will adopt automatically its high position, as shown on figure 8 for instance due to the pushing effort of the spring means towards the sky.

[0062] This will render the bottle crate ready to receive the empty bottles which can be filed progressively.

[0063] When the crate is completely filed by empty bottles it can then be returned to the brewery through convenient transportation means.

[0064] Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to the man skilled in the art. The present invention in his further respect is not limited to the specific details, representative device and illustrated examples shown and described here above.

[0065] For instance it also includes the use of two different types of thermoplastic for the first crate and the bottom plate, as well as the use of different shape of spring means, which can also, for instance not be limitated to spring leaf or coil spring, but any other elastic material arranged to push the bottom plate between one position and the other.

Claims

1. A bottle crate (1, 21) comprising a bottom wall (2, 22) and lateral walls (3, 4 ; 23, 24), characterized in that it comprises a separate internal bottom plate (5, 26) having traversing holes (6), movable and guided within said bottle crate lateral walls (3, 4; 23, 24) between a first position for packs (27) of bottles wherein the bottom plate is in a low position (7) close to or in contact with the bottom wall (2, 22) and a second position for separate bottles (28) wherein the bottom plate (5, 26) is in an upright high position (8) to form with its holes (6) dividers for said bottles,
and in that it comprises spring means (9, 19, 29) arranged to be compressed in the first position (7) and to automatically bring back the bottom plate (5, 26) in its upright second position (8) in the absence of a sufficient predetermined weight (10) on said bottom plate.

2. A bottle crate according to claim 1, characterised in that the spring means (9) comprise at least one spring coil (11).

3. A bottle crate according to claim 2, characterised in that it comprises four spring coils (29) centrally disposed in each quarter of the crate.

4. A bottle crate according to claim 2 and 3, characterised in that each spring coil (11, 29) is supported by the bottom wall top face (12) and is maintained in its upright position by an upstanding inner rod (13) or a guide (30, 31) rigidly connected at its base to the bottom wall top face (12) and slidably connected to the bottom plate.

5. A bottle crate according to claim 1, characterised in that the spring means (29) comprise at least one leaf spring.

6. A bottle crate according to claim 5, characterised in that the leaf spring is placed in the bottom of the crate, along one lateral wall, and the bottom plate is placed on top of the leaf spring, such leaf spring staying between the top face of the bottom wall (12) and the lower face of the bottom plate.

7. A bottle crate according to any of the claims 2 to 4, characterised in that, the bottle crate further comprises an abutment (16) blocking the motion of the bottom plate caused by the spring in its high position, said abutment being formed at the end of a corresponding rod or guide.

8. A bottle crate according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that the bottle crate comprises an abutment blocking the motion of the bottom plate (5, 26) caused by the spring in its high position, said abutment being formed by a projection from an inner part of at least one of the lateral walls.

9. Bottle crate according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the spring means are comprised in the inner space of the lateral walls of the bottle crate.

10. A bottle crate according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bottom face (2, 22) is formed by a bottom tray (T), in that both bottom tray (T) and bottom plate (9, 19) have a section of a rectangular shape and in that the bottom tray (T) is subdivided in a number of compartments (17) corresponding to related holes in the bottom plate.

11. Bottle crate according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the spring stiffness is comprised between 300 g and 1 kg.

12. Bottle crate according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that the compartments are formed by interconnected ribs (18).

13. Bottle crate according to claim 11 characterised in that, the compartments have a height less than 2 cm, and are arranged to be inserted within the bottom side of the bottom plate when such bottom plate is in its first position (7).

14. Bottle crate according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bottle crate (1, 21) is in plastic made by injection moulding.

15. A method for producing an injection moulded bottle crate (1, 21), comprising the steps of:

- injecting a first thermoplastic material in an injection mould for forming a first injected crate having a bottom wall (2) and lateral walls (3, 4) connected to the bottom and to one another,

- injecting a second material in a second injection mould to form a bottom plate (5, 26) having traversing holes (6) in order to obtain a movable and guided bottom plate,

- positioning spring means (9, 19, 29), having a lower part and an upper part, on the bottom wall (2) of said first injected crate section, said lower part being affixed or in contact with said bottom wall (2) and the upper part being uncompressed in its extended position at a distance to the bottom wall,

- assembling the bottom plate (5, 26) in the first injected crate on said spring means (9, 19, 29) in order to obtain a movable and guided bottom plate (5, 26) within said bottle crate lateral walls between a first position (7) for packs (27) of bottles wherein the bottom plate is in contact with, or close to, the bottom wall when a sufficient weight is exercised on said bottom plate and a second position (8) for separate bottles (28) wherein the bottom plate is in an high upright position to form with its holes (6) dividers for said bottles, when pushed by the spring means (9, 19, 29) uncompressed by any weight on the bottom plate (5, 26).

Drawing