AU606919B2 - A case made in particular of synthetic material for taking up containers, in particular bottles - Google Patents

Description

lit.,- Nk S F Ref: 50265 FORM COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE: Class Int Class 0 w00. 0 0 0 0 Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priori tvy Related Art: cil41anid is corret fur Name and Address of Applicant: Alexander Schcoeller Coi AS 11, Route de ]a Cordemin.

CH-1680 Romont S WITZ ERLA ND 0 00 0 0 0 00 00 O 0 C 0 00 O 00 00 0 000 0 Address for Service: Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Le~el 33 St Martins Tow er, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia 0 0

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Complete Specification for the invention entitled: A Case made In particular of synt Otic r.'-terial for taking up containeros, in particular bottlec, Th- following statement is a full descriptwo;. this invention, including the test Fi thod of performing it Known to meius FIVE DOLLARS AT SUB.Cffb c J 5845/2 re 1A A case made in particular of synthetic material for taking up containers, in particular bottles The present invention relates to a case.

The invention relates in particular to a bottle case made of synthetic material which has in the interior the usual compartment divisions for taking up the bottles. Such bottle cases usually have handles formed by substantially rectangular reach-through openings in opposing narrow sides of a bottle case. These reach-through openings are disposed in such a way that there is a a transverse bar left thereabove which forms the handle of the bottle case, One handles such a case, in particular to transport, by grasping it with both hands, putting each hand through a reach-through opening and grasping the bar remaining above the reach-through opening. Such handles have certainly proved useful, which is why they are used predominantly, if not exclusively, in the bottle cases in 15 question.

Although these handles on bottle cases have been predominantly S0 a accepted up to now because their arrangement and formation are assumed to 000 o show an ergonomically favourable grasping behavior, it has been 00000 ascertained, surprisingly enough, that from ergonomic points of view the ooooo- 0 expedient carrying behaviour is in particular to grasp the bottle case by only one hand and thereby direct it downwardly on a slight slant side-ways, This allows for comfortable carrying of the bottle case with only one hand without the bottles inside falling out.

The invention is based on the problem of providing a bottle case 25 which allows for such a carrying behaviour. This is to be ensured by constructionally simple measures which involve essentially no weakening of the bottle case, allow for its manufacture by simple production technology and allows for stacking of the bottle cases.

Accordingly, there is disclosed herein a case of synthetic material to receive containers such as bottles, the case having et least one handle S formed in a s'de wall thereof, side walls of the case and internal Scorpartment divisions defining bottle receiving areas, wherein the handle comprises at least one handle strip extending at right angles to a plane of the bottom of the case, which handle strip is limited at both sides thereof by reach-through openings or recesses in the side wall of the case, the handle strip comprising a hollow Section and extending along a central axis of the side wall and wherein the handle strip forms a portion of a support profile which extends from the upper end of the case without Interruption 4\to the bottom of the case, ~zl.i

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truni of a car It is expedient in this connection if the handle Is formed substantially in the center of the side wall. Particularly preferred is the arrangement of the handle strip in the upper half of the case. The handle strip is expediently disposed above a plane containing the center of gravity of the bottle case and extending parallel to the bottom of the case. This arrangement is advantageous in that the handle strip is located above the center of gravity of the case, thereby minimizing the tilting moment of the case. If a bottle case of this design is grasped to by one hand, it can be carried comfortably with one hand in a position in which the bottle case stands off from the carrier at a slight angle, so that the bottles cannot fall out and the side wall and the bottom of the bottle case are directed away from the carrier of the case, which avoids the risk of the person carrying the case being soiled by contact with the bottle case, a 0'o0 in a particularly advantageous way, the handle strip is part of an oao uninterrupted support profile, which increases the stability of a bottle case by further stiffening it. A robust construction is also ensured by Qdoe formation of the handle strip as a hollow section.

O 'The carrying behavior can also be further improved If the handle strip passes at its upper end into a transverse bar (either on one side or on both sides of the handle strip), so that at the same time one can also carry the bottle case in the usual way by grasping a transverse bar.

This bottle case allows for both the inventively desired carrying behavor and the conventional carrying of a bottle case by grasping both 0 o «o sides of the case, oo Finally, according to an expedient development the carrying behavior o 0o is also favored by providing lamellalike ribs in particular in the area of the vertical handle strip which extend parallel to each other and are spaced close together, and/or by roughening the grasping surfaces of the handle strip, 0o k In the following, a preferred embodiment of the invention shall be ooo« describedwith reference o the drawings, in which Fig. I shows a schematic perspective partial view of an embodiment of a bottle case, Fig. 2 shows a partly cross-sectional side view of a corresponding embodiment of a bottle case, the left half of Fig, 2 showing a crosssection along line A-A in Fig, 3, Fig. 3 shows a top view of the bottle case shown in Fig. 2, the upper half on the left showing a partial cross-section along line C-C in Fig.

2 and the lower half on the :eft showing a partial cross-section along Sline D-D in Fig. 2. and Fig, 4 shows a side view of a narrow side of the bottle case shown, the left half showing a cross-section along line B-B in Fig, 3, Fig. 1 schematically shows a perspective view of part of a bottle case, referred to as 1, from its narrow side, whereby usual parts of a bottle case such as in particular the compartment divisions have been omitted to simplify the representation. A handle 3 formed in narrow side wall 2 has a vertically extending handle strip 4 limited on both sides by reach-through openings 5a and 5b, Both handle strip 4 and reachthrough openings 5a and 5b are dimensioned in terms of their length and width in such a way that one can put one's hand through openings 5a and and grasp handle strip 4, Handle strip 4, which is preferably disposed on one or both narrow sides of the bottle case, but if required also on the longitudinal sides of the bottle case, is disposed in the center in the embodimen t shown, i,e, along the central axis referred to as M in side wall 2, o Reach-through openings 5a and 5b can have any suitable shape, in 0o particular be of semicircular or semielliptic design. In the embodiment sh'wn, reach-through openings 5a and 5b have an L-shaped plan view, This o is because, in the embodiment shown, handle strip 4 passes at its upper sO end into a transverse bar of the bottle case, referred to as 6, which 0o o constitutes the upper part of the bottle case. In the embodiment shown, this transverse bar 6 expediently has a height which allows for the hand to grasp bar 6 comfortably, so that the bottle case can also be grasped In the usual way along a horizontally extending handle strip formed here by transverse bar 6. In addition to vertical handle strip 4, one or more o 04 o, handles of the usual design can be provided in particular on the side 0 walls free from vertical handle strip 4, said handles being formed, for o o example, by substantially rectangular reach-through openings, so that the transverse bar remaining at the upper end of the case can serve as a S handle, In particular Fig, 3 indicates that handle strip 4 is formed as a o o 6 hollow section. In the present embodiment, handle strip 4 is a portion O 0 0 of a support profile 7 which is more evident in Fig, 2 and extends from the upper end of the case to the bottom of the case at 8, This support profile 7 serves to stabilize, in particular stiffen, bottle case 1. As indicated in Fig. 2 by the dot-dash line at the top on the left, this support profile 7 may have a projection 9 which protrudes beyond the upper end of the case and serves as a stacking aid. A corresponding depression is provided on the bottom of the case, although not shown in the drawing, for the bottle case stacked to fit into with its projection 9, This results in a stabilization of a stack of bottle cases, As indicated In particular by Fig. 3 at the bottom on the right and by Fig. 4 at the top on the left, transverse bar 6 is provided with lamellalike ribs 10 extending parallel to each other and spaced close together, which improve the grasping behavior of a handle. These lamellae or lamellalike ribs 10 are also provided on the handle strip, in particular on the part of handle strip 4 facing the interior of the case. In order to simplify the representation, the lamellae of the handle strip are not shown in the drawing. These lamellae expediently extend vcprtlcally or horizontally, According to a further embodiment, o0 the grasping surfaces of handle strip 4 are roughened, which likewise improves the grasping behavior. Finally, Fig. 2, right half, shows an additional handle 11 which limits at the top a transverse bar 12 similar to transverse bar 6 and also serves as a handle.

According to further embodiments not shown in the drawings, the reachthrough openings on each side of the handle strip are not self-contained a.s in the views of Fig,. 1 to 4, but open toward the top, i.e. are oo formed by recesses, so that the handle strip protrudes upwardly with a free end beyond the lower side wall area.

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Claims (9)

1. A case of synthetic material to receive containers such as bottles, the case having at least one handle formed in a side wall thereof, side walls of the case and internal compartment divisions defining bottle receiving areas, wherein the handle comprises at least one handle strip extending at right angles to a plane of the bottom of the case, which handle strip is limited at both sides thereof by reach-through openings or recesses in the side wall of the case, the handle strip comprising a hollow section and extending along a central axis of the side wall and wherein the handle strip forms a portion of a support prof'Ile which extends from the upper end of the case without interruption to the bottom of the case. i

2. A case according to claim 1 wherein one of said handle strips is disposed in each narrow side of the case. o

3. A case according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the handle strip oo extends substantially in an upper half of the case. o a

4. A case according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the *ooo handle strip is disposed above a plane containing the centre of gravity of C 0 0 1 the bottle case and extending parallel to the bottom of the case. 0

5. A case according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the 0oooo support profile protrudes beyond the upper end of the case.

6. A case according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the handle strip passes at its upper end into transverse strips which form handles. 0o0

7. A case according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the o o handle strips are provided at least in part with elongate lamellalike ribs a extending parallel and spaced close to each other.

8. A case according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the handle strip has roughened grasping surfaces.

9. A case of synthetic material to receive containers, the case being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this SIXTEENTH day of NOVEMBER 1990 Alexander Schoeller Co Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON FERGUSON