Wrapper and carrier assembly and package comprising same

In a package for substantially identical containers, such as substantially identical bottles, a wrapper is formed from a paperboard sheet, folded, and seamed so as to have a bottom wall and two lateral walls providing expansive surfaces for labelling. Each lateral wall has a longitudinal row of container-receiving apertures, each of which is surrounded completely by portions of such lateral wall. The lateral walls are joined to each other at longitudinally extending folding lines, between the longitudinal rows of container-receiving apertures, so as to define an upper edge of the wrapper. As formed from sheet-form, resilient, polymeric material, a carrier has band segments defining container-receiving apertures in a generally rectangular array, which comprises two longitudinal rows corresponding to the longitudinal rows of container-receiving apertures of the wrapper. The carrier is disposed above the bottom wall of the wrapper, below the upper edge of the wrapper. A handle attached to the carrier extends upwardly from a longitudinal midline of the carrier, into an aperture extending along the upper edge of the wrapper, between the longitudinally extending folding lines.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention pertains to an assembly comprising a paperboard wrapper and 
a sheet-form, polymeric carrier for substantially identical containers, 
such as beverage bottles, and to a package comprising such containers and 
such an assembly. The wrapper stabilizes the containers and provides 
expansive surfaces for pricing, barcoding, and other labelling of the 
package. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Commonly, cans, bottles, or other containers for soft drinks or other 
beverages are marketed in packages comprising four, six, eight, or twelve 
containers in machine-applied carriers made from sheet-form, resilient, 
polymeric material, such as low density polyethylene. The carriers are 
made, as by die-cutting, so as to have band segments defining 
container-receiving apertures that are designed to be stretched to receive 
cans and bottles. 
Although such polymeric carriers have many advantages, particularly as 
compared to predominantly paperboard carriers, such polymeric carriers 
have some shortcomings. A major shortcoming is that such polymeric 
carriers do not provide expansive surfaces for pricing, barcoding, or 
other labelling of the packages. 
As exemplified in Poupitch U.S. Pat. No. 2,874,835 and Poupitch U.S. Pat. 
No. 3,016,136, it has been known to employ separate wire or other handles 
with such polymeric carriers. Although handles as known heretofore are 
useful with such polymeric carriers, such known handles do not provide 
suitable labelling surfaces. 
An improved carrier made from sheet-form, resilient, polymeric material, 
such as low density polyethylene, and having an upwardly extending handle 
portion made from similar polymeric material is disclosed in Broskow U.S. 
patent application Ser. No. 08/230,308 filed Apr. 20, 1994, and assigned 
commonly herewith. In the improved carrier disclosed therein, neither the 
carrier nor the handle provides suitable labelling surfaces. 
Bottle carriers of related interest can be also made from folded sheet 
material without employing resilient carriers, as exemplified in Price 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,446,161 and 2,563,065. 
This invention has resulted from efforts to provide an improved package for 
bottles or other containers for soft drinks or other beverages. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention provides a novel assembly for wrapping partially and 
carrying two longitudinal rows of substantially identical containers, such 
as substantially identical bottles for soft drinks or other beverages. The 
novel assembly comprises a wrapper formed from a paperboard sheet and a 
carrier formed from sheet-form, resilient, polymeric material. The novel 
assembly may include a handle attached to the carrier. The wrapper 
stabilizes the containers being carried and provides expansive surfaces 
for pricing, barcoding, and other labelling. The wrapper and carrier are 
designed to minimize material and to provide for easy bottle removal. 
The wrapper is formed, folded, and seamed so as to have a bottom wall and 
two lateral walls providing expansive surfaces for labelling. Each lateral 
wall has a longitudinal row of container-receiving apertures, each of 
which is surrounded completely by portions of such lateral wall. The 
lateral walls are joined to each other between the longitudinal rows of 
container-receiving apertures, so as to define an upper edge of the 
wrapper. 
The carrier is formed so as to have band segments defining 
container-receiving apertures in a generally rectangular array, which 
comprises two longitudinal rows corresponding to the longitudinal rows of 
container-receiving apertures of the wrapper. The carrier is disposed 
above the bottom wall of the wrapper, below the upper edge of the wrapper. 
If a handle is attached to the carrier, the handle extends upwardly from a 
longitudinal midline of the carrier, into an aperture extending along an 
upper edge of the wrapper. 
Preferably, in the wrapper, the lateral walls are joined along at least one 
longitudinally extending folding line in the wrapper so as to define the 
upper edge of the wrapper. More preferably, the lateral walls are joined 
along two longitudinally extending, longitudinally spaced folding lines in 
the wrapper so as to define the upper edge of the wrapper, and the wrapper 
has a longitudinally extending aperture between the longitudinally spaced 
folding lines. If a handle is attached to the carrier, the handle may 
extend into this aperture. Portions of the lateral walls may be adhesively 
secured so as to provide a double thickness of the paperboard sheet along 
the upper edge of the wrapper. 
In one contemplated embodiment, the wrapper is formed, folded, and seamed 
so as to have two end flaps joined to each lateral wall at the opposite 
ends of such lateral wall, the end flaps being secured adhesively to each 
other at each of the opposite ends of the lateral walls. In another 
contemplated embodiment, the wrapper is formed, folded, and seamed so as 
to have gussets at the opposite ends of each lateral wall where such 
lateral wall is joined to the bottom wall. 
Preferably, the containers are gripped loosely by the band segments 
defining the container-receiving apertures to facilitate removal of each 
container from the package, whereas the bottom wall of the wrapper is 
disposed to prevent the containers from dropping through the carrier. 
In a package combining the wrapper and carrier assembly described above 
with substantially identical containers in a number equal to the number of 
container-receiving apertures of the wrapper, each container being 
received by one of the container-receiving aperture and each container 
having a midpoint between an upper end of said container and a lower end 
of said container, it is preferable for each container-receiving aperture 
to be oblong with an upper edge substantially above the midpoint of the 
container received by said container-receiving aperture and with a lower 
edge substantially below the midpoint of the container received by said 
container-receiving aperture. Moreover, it is preferable for the carrier 
to be disposed between the upper and lower edges of the 
container-receiving apertures. 
The carrier and wrapper combination described herein creates a stable 
package and provides for easy removal of each container without disturbing 
the stability of the remaining containers. 
These and other objects, features, and advantages of this invention are 
evident from the following description of presently contemplated 
embodiments of this invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS 
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, a package 10 comprising eight substantially 
identical containers 12, a paperboard wrapper 14, a polymeric carrier 16, 
and a polymeric handle 18 constitutes a first embodiment of this 
invention. As shown, the containers 12 are bottles, which may contain soft 
drinks or other beverages. Alternatively, the containers 12 may be 
beverage cans (not shown) or other containers. The containers 12 are 
arranged in a generally rectangular array, which comprises two 
longitudinal rows and four transverse ranks, namely two endmost ranks and 
two intermediate ranks. The wrapper 14, the carrier 16, and the handle 18 
provide an assembly for wrapping partially and carrying the containers 12. 
The wrapper 14 stabilizes the containers 12 being carried and provides 
expansive surfaces for pricing, barcoding, and other labelling. 
The wrapper 14 is formed from a paperboard sheet, as by die-cutting, so as 
to form a paperboard blank 16. As shown in FIG. 4, the paperboard blank 16 
has various folding lines, which may be scored. The wrapper 14 is formed, 
folded, and seamed so as to have a bottom wall 20 comprising two separate 
panels 22 joined at a longitudinally extending, overlapped seam 24 
utilizing a suitable adhesive, two similar, lateral walls 30 providing 
expansive labelling surfaces 32 and joined to the bottom wall 20 at 
longitudinally extending folding lines 34, and two end walls 36. Each 
lateral wall 30 has two end flaps 40, each of which is joined to such 
lateral wall 30 at an upwardly and inwardly inclined folding line 42. At 
each of the opposite ends of the lateral walls 30, the end flaps 40 of the 
respective walls 30 are joined to each other at a vertically extending 
seam 38, so as to form one of the end walls 36. 
Each lateral wall 30 has a longitudinal row of container-receiving 
apertures 44, each of which is surrounded completely by portions of such 
lateral wall 30. At each aperture 44, such portions include two 
longitudinally opposed lips 46, which are intended to be downwardly bent 
when a container 12 is received by such aperture so as to provide a 
wedging force on the container 12 received thereby. The lips 46 may be 
partly cut away from adjacent portions of the lateral walls 30, along 
curved lines 48 shown in FIG. 4, so as to permit the lips 46 to be 
downwardly bent without tearing. 
The apertures 44 are generally oblong such that each aperture 44 is 
elongated vertically in the finished package 10, and such that each 
aperture 44 includes a curved upper edge 44a that is spaced from a curved 
lower edge 44b in the finished package 10. Each container 12 has a 
midpoint spaced equally from the upper end of such container 12 and its 
lower end. The upper edges 44a of the apertures 44 are positioned 
substantially above the midpoints of the containers 12 and the lower edges 
44b of the apertures 44 are positioned substantially below the midpoints 
of the containers 12. The apertures 44 are designed to cooperate with the 
carrier 16 so that the edges of the apertures 44 contain and contact the 
containers 12 at and between two levels of the containers 12. The lower 
edges 44b cooperate with the folding lines 34 to create relatively low 
height portions of the walls 30, which portions contribute to the 
stability of the package 10 and permit some advertising and labelling 
space on the surfaces 32, while minimizing the material used in the 
package 10. 
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the lateral walls 30 are joined to each 
other, along two longitudinally extending, longitudinally spaced folding 
lines 50, so as to define an upper edge of the wrapper 14. The wrapper 14 
has a longitudinally extending aperture 52 between the longitudinally 
extending folding lines 50. As shown in FIG. 3, the end walls 36 have 
upper edges 54, which are spaced below the folding lines 40 so as to 
define generally triangular openings 56 above the end walls 36. Moreover, 
the lateral walls 30 are planar and extend linearly from the upper edge 
defined by the folding lines 50, outwardly and downwardly toward the 
bottom wall 20. 
The carrier 16 is formed from sheet-form, resilient, polymeric material, 
such as low density polyethylene, so as to have band segments 60 defining 
container-receiving apertures 62 in a generally rectangular array, which 
corresponds to the generally rectangular array of the containers 12. The 
carrier 16 has a longitudinal midline between the longitudinal rows of 
container receiving apertures 62. Each container 12 is received by one 
such aperture 62 so that the band segments 60 defining the same aperture 
62 grip the side wall 64 of such container 12. The handle 18 is formed 
from similar polymeric material and is attached to the carrier 16, at a 
thermoplastic seam (not shown) extending along the longitudinal midline of 
the carrier 16, so as to extend upwardly from such midline, above the 
containers 12. An upper portion of the handle 18 has an elongate aperture 
66, which can accommodate two or three fingers of one hand of a user, so 
as to facilitate lifting the package via the handle 18. As shown, the 
carrier 16 is disposed below the folding lines 50 at the upper edge of the 
wrapper 14. Moreover, the upper portion of the handle 18 extends upwardly 
into the aperture 52 at the upper edge of the wrapper 14. 
Preferably, the carrier 16 and the handle 18 are similar to the previously 
noted, improved carrier, which has a handle portion, as disclosed in U.S. 
patent application Ser. No. 08/230,308, supra, the disclosure of which is 
incorporated herein by reference. 
Preferably, the containers 12 are gripped loosely by the band segments 60 
defining the container-receiving apertures 62, so as to permit the 
containers 12 to be easily removed from the package 10. Typical band-type 
carriers are stretched 25% to 35%, but the carrier 16 is similar to the 
carrier illustrated and described in Van Erden U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,289 in 
being stretched less than 10%. However, the bottom wall 20 of the wrapper 
14 is disposed wholly beneath the containers 12, so as to prevent the 
containers 12 from dropping through the carrier 16. Moreover, because of 
the tightness created by the overall package 10, the carrier 16 remains 
with wrapper 14 as the containers 112 are removed. 
The edges of the container-receiving apertures 44 contribute to the 
stability of the package 10 by engaging the containers 12 and by 
preventing the containers 12 from tipping inwardly. Moreover, the 
apertures are located so as to separate the containers 12 in each 
longitudinal row from the containers 12 in the other longitudinal row, 
thereby to exert a slight stretching force on the resilient carrier 16. 
This stretching force contributes greatly to the stability, unitization, 
and feel of the package 10. 
As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, a package 110 comprising eight substantially 
identical containers 112, a paperboard wrapper 114, a polymeric carrier 
116, and a polymeric handle 118 constitutes a second embodiment of this 
invention. The package 110 is similar to the package 10, except that the 
paperboard wrapper 114 differs from the paperboard wrapper 14 in some 
respects, as described below. 
The wrapper 114 is formed from a paperboard sheet, as by die-cutting, so as 
to form a paperboard blank 116. As shown in FIG. 8, the paperboard blank 
116 has various folding lines, which may be scored. The wrapper 114 is 
formed, folded, and seamed so as to have a bottom wall 120 comprising two 
separate panels 122 joined at a longitudinally extending, overlapped seam 
122 utilizing a suitable adhesive, two similar, lateral walls 130 
providing expansive labelling surfaces 132 and joined to the bottom panels 
122 at longitudinally extending folding lines 134, and gussets 136 at the 
opposite ends of each lateral wall 130 where such lateral wall 130 meets 
the bottom panel 122 joined to such lateral wall 130. 
Each gusset 136 is formed by a small panel 142, which is joined to an 
adjacent one of the bottom panels 122 at a folding line 144 defining an 
acute angle relative to the nearer folding line 134, and by a small panel 
146, which is joined to an adjacent one of the lateral walls 130 at a 
folding line 148 defining a right angle relative to the nearer folding 
line 134, and which is joined to the panel 142 of such gusset 136 at a 
folding line 150 defining an obtuse angle relative to the folding line 144 
of such gusset 136 and defining an acute angle relative to the folding 
line 148 of such gusset 136. Each gusset 136 has an elongate aperture 160 
extending from and aligned with the folding line 146 so as to facilitate 
folding of such gusset 136. 
Each gusset 136 is folded along the folding lines 144, 148, 150, so that 
the panel 146 is folded inwardly against the adjacent one of the lateral 
walls 130, so that the panel 142 extends upwardly and inwardly from the 
adjacent one of the bottom panels 122, and so that a portion of the panel 
142 is disposed against the panel 146. The panel 142 may be adhesively 
secured to the panel 146 where a portion of the panel 142 is disposed 
against the panel 146. 
Each lateral wall 130 has a longitudinal row of container-receiving 
apertures 154, each of which is surrounded completely by portions of such 
lateral wall 130. At each aperture 154, such portions include two 
longitudinally opposed lips 156, which are intended to be downwardly bent 
when a container 112 is received by such aperture so as to provide a 
wedging force on the container 112 received thereby. The lips 156 may be 
partly cut away from adjacent portions of the lateral walls 130, along 
curved lines 158 shown in FIG. 8, so as to permit the lips 156 to be 
downwardly bent without tearing. 
The apertures 154 are generally oblong such that each aperture 154 is 
elongated vertically in the finished package 110, and such that each 
aperture 154 includes a straight upper edge 154a that is spaced from a 
curved lower edge 154b in the finished package 110. Each container 112 has 
a midpoint spaced equally from the upper end of such container 112 and its 
lower end. The upper edges 154a of the apertures 154 are positioned 
substantially above the midpoints of the containers 112 and the lower 
edges 154b of the apertures 154 are positioned substantially below the 
midpoints of the containers 112. The apertures 154 are designed to 
cooperate with the carrier 116 so that the edges of the apertures 154 
contain and contact the containers 112 at and between two levels of the 
containers 112. The lower edges 154b cooperate with the folding lines 34 
to create relatively low height portions of the walls 30, which portions 
contribute to the stability of the package 110 and permit some advertising 
and labelling space on the surfaces 32, while minimizing the material used 
in the package 110. 
As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, the lateral walls 130 are joined to each 
other, along two longitudinally extending, longitudinally spaced folding 
lines 160, so as to define an upper edge of the wrapper 114. The wrapper 
114 has a longitudinally extending aperture 162 between the longitudinally 
extending folding lines 160. The lateral walls 130 are folded along 
longitudinally extending folding lines 164 bordering the 
container-receiving apertures 154 and being aligned with the straight 
upper edges 154a, so as to form double thicknesses of the paperboard 
material of the wrapper 114 between the folding lines 160 and the folding 
lines 164. At such double thicknesses, except below the longitudinally 
extending aperture 162, the lateral walls 130 are adhesively secured to 
each other so as to form a beam structure 166. Below such double 
thicknesses, as shown in FIG. 7, the lateral walls 130 are bowed so as to 
be slightly convex and extend curvilinearly but downwardly and outwardly 
toward the bottom wall 120. 
As shown, the carrier 116 is disposed below the folding lines 164 bordering 
the container-receiving apertures 154, and the upper portion of the handle 
118 extends upwardly through the aperture 162 at the upper edge of the 
wrapper 114. Because of the beam structure 166, and because of the 
tightness created by the overall package 110, the carrier 116 remains with 
wrapper 114 as the containers 112 are removed. 
In each embodiment, as described above, the containers of a given number 
(e.g., eight, as shown) are supported individually in an equal number of 
container-receiving apertures of the paperboard wrapper. Moreover, in each 
embodiment, the paperboard wrapper and the polymeric carrier are combined 
advantageously to minimize the amount of paperboard material used and also 
to minimize the amount of polymeric material used. Each embodiment is 
designed so that the polymeric carrier remains with the paperboard 
wrapper, as the containers are removed, so that disposition of the 
polymeric and paperboard materials is facilitated. 
Various modifications may be made in the preferred embodiment described 
above without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.