Nestable and stackable six-bottle carrier
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The persistent need exists for more convenient, economical and efficient bottle carriers in the soft drink industry. In particular, there is a need for improved carriers for the one liter, thin wall, resilient bottles now coming into wide usage. The present invention seeks in particular to satisfy this latter need. 
     Among the significant improvement features embodied in the invention are compactness and minimum bulk and weight in a strong and durable molded plastics unit which can be nested and stacked in two orthogonal directions. A further feature resides in individual separated and tapered bottle cells depending from a sturdy top frame having a center handle bar flush with the top edge of the frame and forming the anchor for the two inner rows of legs or struts forming the cells. 
     Other important features include bottle centering bases for the cells carried by the depending struts and cell dividers which are curved to assist in bottle centering by a cam-like action. Opposite end paired stacking projections at the bottom of the carrier allow easy longitudinal stacking, while bottom channel recesses facilitate cross stacking and interlocking with like carriers. The carrier is also constructed for ease of separation without binding when nested. 
     Other features of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description. 
     Many types of bottle carriers made from various materials exist in the prior art but none of these possesses the above-noted features of the present invention and none has the flexibility of use possessed by the invention. Nestable and stackable carriers are also known in the prior art but not in terms of a bottle carrier having the other noted features and functional capabilities of this invention. 
     The below-listed prior United States patents of some general interest are made of record herein under 37 C.F.R. 1.56: 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,889,072, 3,191,796, 3,319,799, 3,420,402, 3,587,915, 3,991,879, 4,040,517. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a six-bottle carrier according to the invention in stacked relation with an identical carrier. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same two bottle carriers in nested relationship. 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the two carriers showing a tilting procedure in the process of nesting the carriers. 
     FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the bottle carrier. 
     FIG. 5 is an elevational view, partly broken away and partly in cross section, showing the cross stacking capability of the bottle carrier. 
     FIG. 6 is a horizontal section taken on line 6--6 of FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 7 is a similar section taken on line 7--7 of FIG. 2. 
     FIG. 8 is a transverse vertical section taken on line 8--8 in FIG. 4. 
     FIG 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end stacking projection and associated parts. 
     FIG. 10 is a similar view of a modified form of stacking projection or support. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals designate like parts, a unitary six cell bottle carrier preferably molded from durable high density polyethylene includes a top substantially rectangular frame 20 of good rigidity and strength and having united vertical side and end walls 21 and 22, the end walls having pairs of clearance notches 23 formed in their lower edges, for a purpose to be described. A longitudinal handle bar 24 for the bottle carrier is disposed at the transverse center thereof in parallel relationship to the frame side walls 21 and having its opposite ends joined to the end walls 22. As clearly shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the handle bar 24 is of deep inverted channel formation for the sake of strength and rigidity. 
     The bottle carrier further comprises in the illustrated embodiment six discrete bottle receptor cells arranged in two longitudinal rows of three cells each on opposite sides of the handle bar 24 and between the handle bar and the two side walls 21 of upper frame 20. Each bottle cell comprises a horizontal flat bottom wall or base 25 which is disc-like including a straight longitudinal interior edge 26 and a circularly curved exterior edge or margin, as clearly shown in FIG. 4. The interior straight edges 26 are aligned longitudinally of the carrier and are spaced laterally equidistantly from a vertical plane through the carrying handle bar 24. The construction imparts clear separation and lateral spacing of the lower ends of the bottle cells in the two longitudinal rows, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, such lower ends being defined by the disc-like bases 25. 
     Each cell of the bottle carrier comprises four legs or struts 27 of outwardly opening channel cross section including an interior side longitudinal stiffening rib 28. The center or intermediate bottle cell in the two longitudinal rows share the interior legs or struts 27 of the end or outermost cells of the two rows for the sake of simplicity and reduction of material utilized in the bottle carrier. As viewed from the side, FIG. 3, the several cell struts 27 are parallel and vertical but they are downwardly converging in the two discrete rows of cells to facilitate nesting of the carriers, as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 8. 
     The top ends of the interior struts 27 in the rows are integrally joined with opposite sides of the handle bar 24 as at 29 while the top ends of the exterior struts in the rows are similarly joined at 30 to the interior faces of frame side walls 21 near the bottom edge of the frame. Thus, the interior and exterior legs or struts 27 for the two rows of cells are of unequal lengths, FIG. 8, with the exterior struts being shorter than the interior struts. 
     Partial vertical cell divider webs 31 having circularly curved top edges 32 are formed intergrally with the ribs 28 in the vertical planes of the ribs. When cylindrical bottles are placed in the cells, the curved edges 32 exert a camming action on the bases of the bottles to assist in centering the bottles in the cells. For a similar purpose, shallow rising circularly curved flanges 33 at the outer margins of the cell bases 25 and partial or segmental curved flanges 34 at the ends of the straight edges 26 of the bases cooperate in centering the bottoms of the bottles or other containers in the discrete cells of the carrier. 
     It should be noted that the disc-like bases 25 of the several bottle cells lie in a common horizontal plane spaced a proper distance from and parallel to another horizontal plane defining the top edge of the carrier frame 20. The legs or struts 27 serve to suspend the bases 25 rigidly from the frame 20 which is the primary support and strength component of the carrier. However, all parts of the carrier are integrated in a manner which imparts maximum strength to the carrier with a minimum use of material. 
     An important feature of the carrier resides in the provision on each end thereof and at the bottom of the carrier as defined by the cell bases 25 of laterally spaced pairs of stacking projections or supports 35, one such projection being shown in detail in FIG. 9. Each stacking projection 35 comprises a horizontal wall 36 extending at right angles outwardly from the adjacent divider web 31. Each projection 35 has side rising flanges 37 integrally joined to the adjacent struts 27 and being smoothly rounded at 38 adjacent to the outer end of the projection to facilitate withdrawal or separation of nested carriers. More particulary, the rounded corners 38 of the stacking projections 35 resist catching or &#34;hanging up&#34; in the clearance notches 23 at the ends of the frame 20 when the carrier is cocked or tilted in the nesting or de-nesting procedure shown in FIG. 3. If the corners 38 were square, such difficulties in the withdrawal procedure are much more likely to occur. Each stacking projection 35 also includes a short downturned lip 39 at its outer end parallel to the frame end wall 22 and projecting slightly beyond the same as shown in FIG. 4. 
     When the bottle carriers are stacked along their longitudinal axes, FIG. 1, the projections 35 rest solidly on the top edges of end walls 22 and the downturned lips 39 resist relative movement longitudinally of the stacked carriers. Any reasonable number of carriers can be stacked in this manner. 
     FIG. 10 shows a modification of the stacking projection or support indicated by the numeral 40. The projection 40 has a horizontal wall 41 and a downturned lip 42, for the purposes already described. For additional rigidity, the projection 40 is ribbed as at 43 between the wall 41 and vertical divider web 31 with the outer ends of the ribs rounded as at 44 for the purpose already described in connection with the rounded corners 38 of stacking projections 35. In each projection 40, the two side walls 45 are compound rounded both at their outer corners and laterally, as depicted in FIG. 10. The purpose of this lateral rounding of the sides or shoulders of the stacking projections 40 is to assist in separating nested bottle carriers without frictional binding between the stacking projections and the adjacent struts 27 of the next outermost nested carrier. FIG. 7 depicts the relationship of the struts 27 of adjacent nested carriers, as in FIG. 2. The rib 28 of one strut is received nestingly in the channel passage of the opposing strut. 
     As previously noted, in the process of nesting bottle carriers, FIG. 3, each uppermost carrier is cocked or tilted longitudinally and at its lowered end the stacking projections 35 are inserted downwardly inside of frame end wall 22 and into the clearance notches 23 thereof whereby the opposite end projections 35 can be swung downwardly and through the top marginal frame 20 to complete the nesting operation. When two bottle carriers are fully nested, FIG. 2, the paired projections 35 at each end are in level superposed relationship, as shown. When de-nesting the carriers, a reverse procedure is carried out. 
     With reference to FIG. 5, as previously noted, the bottle carriers can also be cross stacked with stability with their longitudinal axes in right angular relationship. To facilitate this, the bottom face of each bottle carrier at the lower ends of the struts 27 and between the disc-like cell bases 25 is cross grooved and recessed at 46 so that one recess 46 can receive and interlock with the top of handle bar 24 and another recess can receive the interlock with one edge of the frame 20. In the cross stacking, the uppermost bottle carrier has two positions of seating on the lower carrier, one such position being shown in FIG. 5 with the upper carrier overhanging one side of the lower carrier. It is also possible for the upper carrier to be shifted so that it will overhang the opposite side of the lower carrier in the cross stacked array. 
     With particular reference to FIG. 2, when the bottle carriers are fully nested, the lower horizontal edges of each carrier frame 20 are solidly engaged with and supported by the top edges of the underlying bottle carrier frame 20, and this solid engagement prevents the possibility of wedging the struts 27 and associated parts so thightly that it would be difficult to separate the nested carriers. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, relatively large open spaces exist at the bottom of the bottle carrier around and between the disc-like bases 25 for the purpose of saving material and to reduce the weight of the carrier. 
     The many novel features of the bottle carrier having been described, the advantages thereof over the known prior art should now be apparent to those skilled in the art. While the bottle carrier has been described in terms of a six-bottle carrier particularly for the new one liter polyethylene soft drink bottles, it should be understood that the invention is not limited as to the size of the bottle cells and the number of cells in the two rows, which numbers can be increased or decreased as need dictates. 
     It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.