Support for jars

A support of a folded sheet for supporting two rows of jars. The support has a row of openings intermediate its ends and one row of the jars project through the openings. At each side of the row of openings is a respective pair of fold lines. The fold lines have respective slots along them for receiving therein the edges of supported jars. The slots in the fold lines closer to the openings receive the edges of the jars projecting through the openings. The slots in the fold lines further from the openings receive the edges of jars which are disposed in the space inside the folded support above the first-mentioned jars. A tab-in-slot connection holds the support folded.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a support for jars. Individual jars, 
particularly ones containing a single portion of a food, are of great 
convenience in use and afford a high degree of hygiene protection for the 
product. This has led to considerable expansion in the use of such jars. 
However, they have the drawback that it is necessary to handle a large 
number of jars in order to transport a given quantity of product, which 
would not be the case if a single container of larger size were used. This 
results in inconvenience for the user, particularly for transportation of 
the product from the place of purchase to the place of consumption. 
It is therefore convenient to use devices which make it possible to handle 
several jars effectively in a single package. These devices, however, 
should not be of great weight nor of a complexity which would unfavorably 
affect the total cost of the product. The devices must also provide 
perfect visibility of the jars which they contain, since this is important 
from the standpoint of the sale thereof on racks and display counters. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is the object of the present invention to meet all the above-mentioned 
requirements. 
The support of the invention comprises a sheet of cardboard, plastic or 
similar material, which is folded and bent on itself in order to secure 
several jars, and particularly two row of jars within it. Its cost of 
manufacture is very low, especially because it consists of a single piece 
and the operations of placing the jars within it are simple and can easily 
be performed automatically. Furthermore, the support permits perfect 
visibility of the jars. 
As noted above, the support is comprised of a single foldable sheet. The 
sheet has opposite first end sections which are intended to be brought 
together as the sheet is folded. Appropriate securing means hold the sheet 
with its first end sections brought together. There is at least one and 
more usually two openings in a row extending across the sheet between its 
second ends, which join the first end sections. A jar may project through 
each opening, and its edge would be just above the opening. 
At the opposite sides of the opening or row of openings, a respective pair 
of fold lines are defined in the sheet, at which the sheet may be folded. 
The fold lines also extend between the second ends of the sheet. In each 
fold line, there is a respective slot, and each slot is adapted to support 
the edge of a supported jar. The first slots in the first fold lines, 
which are the fold lines close to the openings, are generally positioned 
with respect to the opening so that they can hold the edge of a jar 
located in the opening. The second slots in the second fold lines, which 
are the fold lines further from the openings, preferably are aligned along 
their fold lines with the slots in the first fold lines, although this is 
not required. The second slots also hold the edges of jars. When the 
support is folded along the first and second fold lines, a first jar is 
held by first slots in the first fold lines and projects through a 
respective opening in the sheet. A second jar is supported in the space 
defined in the support between the first and second fold lines and the 
edge of the second jar is held in the second slots in the second fold 
line. In this way, the support carries a stack of two jars or two stacked 
rows of jars.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The support is formed from a sheet of cardboard, plastic or any material 
capable of being folded along a few fold lines. The sheet is shown in a 
developed, unfolded view in FIG. 1. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the support comprises a rectangular sheet having first 
end sections at its top and bottom. The top end section carries a 
projecting tab 5. The bottom end section, in contrast, has a cutout slot 6 
adapted to receive the tab 5 when the sheet is folded over to define the 
support. The sheet has second side edges which join the first sections. 
Generally midway between the first end sections, there is a row of openings 
3 through the sheet, each for holding a respective jar. 
At both sides of the row of openings, there is a respective pair of fold 
lines, at which the sheet is folded to create the support. The fold lines 
each extend across the board, are parallel and are grouped in two pairs, 
symmetrically located and spaced from opposite sides of the row of jar 
openings 3. The first fold lines 1 which are nearer the opening each 
include a respective pair of slots 2 therein which are shaped and 
positioned so that the upper edge of a jar 7 will project through the 
opening 3 and be received in the respective slots 2 at that opening 3, 
while the jar extends beneath the support through the opening. 
Each of the second, more outward fold lines 1 includes respective slots 4 
which also receive the edges of jars 7. The pair of fold lines at each 
side of the row of openings 3 are spaced apart about the height of a jar 
7, so that a jar 7, which is seated atop another jar in an opening 3, will 
have the upper edge thereof at the outermost fold lines 1 and the upper 
edge of such jars will be received in the slots 4 in the outermost fold 
lines. As a result, two separate rows of jars may be supported, one row 
above the other, in the single support. The shapes of the slots 2 and 4 
are rounded, notched, etc., for providing effective engagement with the 
edges of the supported jars. The slots are spaced in from the opposite 
second edges of the sheet to rigidify the sheet around the slots so that 
the sheet will support the jars. The support is formed by folding the 
sheet along four dashed lines 1. 
Once the edges of all four jaws have been secured in the corresponding 
slots 2 and 4, the sheet is folded along the lines 1 until the tab 5 is 
introduced into the slot 6 (in the direction indicated by the arrow). The 
width of the end of the tab 5 is slightly greater than the width of the 
slot 6 so as to prevent the tab from disengaging itself. 
FIGS. 2 and 3 show a front and side elevation respectively of the assembled 
support. 
The jars 7 which are secured in the slots 2 project down through the 
openings 3. The other two jars remaining within the support are seated 
atop the first two jars. 
Although the present invention has been described in connection with a 
preferred embodiment thereof, many variations and modifications will now 
become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, 
that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure 
herein, but only by the appended claims.