Mobile extra display module

A mobile extra display module for storing, transporting, and displaying a quantity of containers, includes a plastic pallet base and a plurality of alternating layers of tier sheets and containers. The tier sheets have a top surface with an array of top recesses for receiving container bottoms, and a bottom surface with an array of bottom recesses for receiving container tops. The containers in each layer are in contact with adjacent containers. For storage and transportation purposes, the display module is made as a package unit including a rigid lid and a pair of straps extending around the unit, over the lid and under the base and being under a high force of about 100 pounds for holding the display module unit in a very strong and stable arrangement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a packaging, distribution and display system for 
a quantity of containers, such as the well-known two liter plastic 
soft-drink bottles. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
In retail stores, beverage bottles are displayed for easy access by 
customers on permanent shelves. The bottles are brought into the store in 
the corrugated boxes in which they are transported in the delivery truck. 
Alternatively, the bottles are stacked in an extra display stand at one 
end of a row of shelves with a thin sheet of material placed between each 
layer of bottles. Such extra displays suffer from numerous disadvantages 
including: the amount of labor required to arrange the display, the fact 
that the display cannot be moved, the unattractive appearance of the 
display, and the structural instability of the display stack. U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,567,981 shows a mobile extra display module. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention comprises a mobile extra display system including a 
pallet base and a plurality of alternating layers of bottles and tier 
sheets. This display module is preferably automatically built in a 
bottling plant at the end of a bottling line, as a packaged display module 
unit for storage and/or transporting, and including a rigid lid and a 
plurality of straps extending vertically around the display module unit 
over the lid and under the base and tightly holding all of the bottles 
in-between the lid and the base. Such a packaged unit is preferably built 
with two such units on a square 36".times.36" wood pallet and strapped to 
the wood pallet for storage and stacking. Such units can be stacked three 
high in the warehouse. The display modules can then be transported to the 
retail store either as complete, packaged storage units, or the units can 
be disassembled at the warehouse for transporting as individual display 
modules. A first set of straps holds the packaged display module unit to 
its base, and a second, separate set of straps, perpendicular to the first 
set, is used when securing a pair of packaged display unit modules 
together on a wood pallet. In either event, after a packaged display 
module unit has been properly positioned in a retail store, the straps and 
the lid are removed. The lid, tier sheets and base are returned to the 
bottling operation for re-use. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, 
portable, attractive, safe and stable stack display system for containers. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a system 
that can be easily manufactured at the plant and that can be stacked two 
units wide and three pairs of units high in the plant. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an especially 
attractive mobile extra display module which also has improved handling, 
storage and safety features. 
It is another object to provide a display module unit that can be tilted 
without breaking open.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the drawings, the Figures show a mobile extra display 
module 10 for containers 12, such as the typical, well-known, two liter 
PET beverage bottle, according to the present invention. The display 
module 10 includes a base 14, and a plurality of alternating layers of 
containers 12 and tier sheets 18. 
The base 14 includes a flat top surface 20 (see FIG. 4) and six legs 22 
arranged so that the base 14 can be used as a pallet with a pallet jack. 
The tier sheets 18 each have a top surface 24, a bottom surface 26, and a 
circumferential skirt 27 therearound. The top surface 24 includes a 
rectangular array of top recesses 28 for receiving container bottoms. The 
bottom surface 26 includes a rectangular array of bottom recesses 30 for 
receiving container tops. The bottom surface 26 also includes a plurality 
of legs 32 around a border 29 surrounding each bottom recess 30. The legs 
32 extend below the border 29, and have a distal end that is above the 
bottom edge of the skirt 27. The purpose of the legs is for use in 
spreading the weight of the display module on the base 14, by the 
lowermost tier sheet 18. The bottom recesses 30 are concentric to the top 
recesses 28. The top recesses 28 are preferably tangential to each 
adjacent recess so that the containers 12 are in contact. It is found that 
this provides additional strength and stability to the display module 10. 
The base 14 is preferably slightly tapered along its side wall so that the 
lower edge of the bottom tier sheet fits tightly against the base to 
provide for both improved stability and appearance. 
The display module 10 is shown in FIG. 1 as it is packaged as a display 
module unit 40 for storage and transportation. The display module unit 40 
includes the display module 10 plus a lid 42 and straps 44. The lid is a 
rigid member having a top surface 46 and a bottom surface 48. The bottom 
surface 48 includes a rectangular array of bottom recesses for receiving 
container tops. The top surface 46 includes a first pair of parallel, 
strap-receiving grooves 52 extending longitudinally of the lid 42, and a 
second pair of parallel, strap-receiving grooves 54, extending 
perpendicular to the grooves 52. 
The straps for a single unit 40 are placed around the unit 40 over the lid 
42 and under the base 14, using the grooves 52. The straps are applied 
under sufficient force to hold the unit 40 as a very rigid stable 
arrangement. The straps 44 are preferably under a force of approximately 
100 pounds. The straps 44 can be applied using standing metal strapping 
techniques. The straps 44 are preferably made of polyurethane. 
For stacking the units 40 in a warehouse, two units 40 are placed on a 
single wood pallet 64 as shown in FIG. 8 and strapped thereto by straps 66 
running over the lids, through the grooves 54, and running through the 
wood pallet. The double units can be stacked three high in a warehouse. 
The double units can be moved from a warehouse to a delivery trailer and 
transported to a retail store as such a double unit. Alternatively, the 
straps that hold the double unit together can be removed at the warehouse, 
along with the wooden pallet, and the single units 40 can be transported 
to the retail store. Once at the store, the unit 40 is transported to its 
desired location in the store, such as by use of a pallet lift. The straps 
44 are then removed, along with the lid 42, leaving the attractive and 
stable display module 10. 
The lid 42 must be rigid, so that it will not bend under the high force put 
on the straps 44. To that end, the lid 42 is preferably made of separate 
top and a bottom sheets, bonded together. The sheets are preferably made 
of plastic by blow molding. For added strength, each sheet has a plurality 
of alternating, parallel, ridges and grooves 60, with the ridges and 
grooves in the bottom sheet being perpendicular to those in the top sheet. 
The display module unit 40 can be tilted, such as during handling in the 
warehouse and during transporting on a slanted trailer floor or as the 
unit may be accidentally tilted during a quick stop, without breaking 
open, due to the rigid lid and tight force of the straps. This prevents 
bending of any of the tier sheets and its consequence of bottles coming 
loose. 
The legs of the base 14 can have flat side surfaces or can have a vertical 
groove in each such side surface, for providing additional strength. The 
hollow inside of the base and its legs can be filled with a plastic foam 
for additional strength. 
While the preferred embodiment of this invention has been described above 
in detail, it is to be understood that variations and modifications can be 
made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present 
invention as set forth in the appended claims. 
For example, while the display module 10 is shown for use with 2-liter 
plastic beverage bottles, other containers can be used, such as cans, 
bottles, etc. A rectangular array of containers has been shown along with 
a rectangular tier sheet, base and lid; however, other shapes such as 
circular and square shapes, as well as irregular shapes can be used. While 
the lid and base are preferably made of two pieces bonded together, other 
numbers of pieces, such as one, three, etc., can be used. While plastic is 
preferred, other materials can be used. While two straps are shown in each 
direction, other numbers and directions can be used.