Novel space-saving carrier for containers

A carrier for a plurality of narrow-neck, tapered containers is formed from a carrier blank comprises of a single sheet which is folded to define a rectangular tubular configuration, the dimensions of the carrier being such that it does not increase the volume occupied by the containers which it supports and such that the major portion of each container is exposed to view and so that the main body portion is substantially completely exposed to view. The carrier blank is provided with openings, each of which lockingly receive the neck of a container, the containers and the carrier cooperating with one another to retain the containers in the locked position relative to the carrier and the carrier being maintained in its fully erected condition. The dimensions and locations of the openings provided in the carton blank serve to releasably lock the carrier and containers to one another and further prevent the containers, when arranged in side-by-side pairs, from swinging freely, especially when being transported. The carrier is further provided with convenient finger grips to facilitate carrying and handling thereof. The carrier is characterized by its ease of assembly and ease of container insertion.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to carriers for containers and the like and 
more particularly to a novel, inexpensive carrier of simplified design to 
facilitate the storage, handling and carrying of narrow neck containers 
and the like without adding to the volume occupied by the containers when 
stored. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
It is typical to provide suitable carrying means for storage, handling and 
transportation of containers and the like. For example, it is advantageous 
to provide carriers to facilitate the handling and carrying of a plurality 
of individual containers and, packaging typically referred to as 
"six-packs" are utilized to facilitate the handling and carrying of 
containers from the point of view of safety and ease of handling as well 
as a means for encouraging sales of a plurality of such containers, the 
inducement to a customer being that the carrier makes it convenient to 
store, handle and carry a plurality of containers through the use of the 
carrier. 
It is, however, incumbent upon the designer to provide a carrier which is 
inexpensive, simple in design, construction and assembly, which does not 
increase the volume normally occupied by such carriers and further to 
provide an inexpensive carrier which is simple to erect and into which the 
container may be releasably mounted and yet easily removed for subsequent 
use. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The carrier of the present invention is characterized by comprising a 
single preferably die-cut blank or sheet, preferably of a corrugated 
cardboard construction which is scored in such a way as to facilitate the 
folding of the carrier blank into a generally tubular, rectangular 
configuration which is further provided with openings for releasably 
securing the necks of narrow-necked containers, the carrier blank being 
folded in such a way that it does not increase the volume occupied by the 
containers and exposes most of the container surface to facilitate better 
examination of the product by potential customers by exposing principally 
the aesthetically appealing portions of the container to plain view. The 
carrier is also provided with further openings to facilitate gripping, 
handling and transportation of the carrier and hence the multiple 
containers supported thereby. The blank is folded over to define an upper 
central portion, two side walls and an underside comprised of either two 
overlying bottom panels or flaps in the case of one preferred embodiment 
and two side-by-side underside or bottom flaps in the case of still 
another embodiment. 
In all of the preferred embodiments, the neck portions of the containers 
extend through carrier openings to retain the carrier in the fully erected 
position. The top central panel is provided with an opening for each 
container neck. The inner diameter of each opening is less than the outer 
diameter of the container neck portion and cooperates with an annular 
groove in the neck portion, which groove is of reduced diameter to 
releasably lock the container to the carrier. The annular recess or groove 
may be provided in the neck portion or may be comprised of an annular gap 
or groove between the lip of the container closure cap and an adjacent 
shoulder on the neck portion which defines an annular groove for 
cooperation with an associated opening in the carrier. 
In the carrier embodiment in which the containers are arranged in a 
plurality of side-by-side pairs, the relative positioning of the openings 
of the respective top and bottom panels urge the bottom panels to assume 
an angular orientation which enhances the structural strength of the 
carrier and further maintains the pairs of containers in engagement to 
further rigidify the package assembly and also prevents the containers 
from experiencing free swinging movement when being carried, for example. 
All of the carrier embodiments are characterized by simplicity of design, 
ease of assembly and use and affording the carrier/container assembly with 
superior rigidity and structural supporting strength and maximum exposure 
of the containers supported by the carrier.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS THEREOF 
FIGS. 2a through 2c show a combined carrier and container assembly 10 
comprised of a carrier 20 and a plurality of containers 40. FIG. 1c shows 
a detailed perspective view of a container. Each of the containers 40 is 
hollow and is preferably formed of a suitable plastic material capable of 
withstanding relatively rough handling and has a lower, main body portion 
42 of a generally rectangular shape, the containers having a width 
dimension W which is substantially greater than the thickness dimension T 
to define a pair of long sides 42a, 42a and a pair of short sides 42b, 
42b. The container has an integral, tapered, narrow-necked portion 44 with 
an open upper end provided with a threaded portion 48 for receiving a 
closure cap 46. The neck portion 44 of each container 40 is preferably 
provided with a larger diameter portion immediately adjacent the lower end 
of the threaded portion 48 to define a shoulder 50. The lip 46b of closure 
cap 46, skirt 46a and shoulder 50 cooperate to define an annular gap G 
which may be employed for interlocking the container to the carrier as 
will be more fully described. 
The neck portion 44 may also be provided with one or more annular recesses 
44a for interlocking use with the carrier in a manner similar to annular 
gap G, as will be more fully described. 
Carrier blank 20 shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b is formed of a stiff material, 
preferably corrugated cardboard. In one preferred embodiment, the carrier 
may be constructed of 200 pounds B-flute (42 pounds Kraft paper 
interliner, 26 Media and 42 pounds Crest White) corrugated. 
The carrier blank is constructed from a substantially flat sheet shown in 
FIG. 1 which is preferably die cut and is scored to provide score lines 
arranged at a right angle relative to the running direction of the 
corrugations C shown by a few representative dotted lines in FIG. 1a. 
The score lines 20a through 20d facilitate folding over of the sheet to 
form four corners 20e-20h, respectively. The corners, together with the 
solid side panels 20j-201 enhance the structural strength that is dynamic 
to the design of the present invention. 
The bends or corners 20e-20h serve to define a top center panel 20k, two 
side panels 20j, 201 and bottom panels 20i, 20m. 
Panel 20i is provided with a linear array of circular openings 22a-22c. 
Panel 20m is provided with a linear array of circular openings 24a-24c. 
Panel 20k is provided with a first linear array of circular openings 
26a-26c which cooperate with openings 22a-22c respectively in a manner to 
be more fully described. Similarly, a second linear array of openings 
28a-28c in panel 20k cooperate with openings 24a-24c in a similar manner. 
Openings 29a and 29b serve as means for holding and transporting the 
assembled carrier in a manner to be more fully described. Each linear 
array of openings has the centers of the array of openings lying along an 
imaginary straight line. The openings in each array are of substantially 
uniform diameter. 
Openings 26a-26c are each provided with a plurality of equi-angularly 
spaced, radially aligned slits 30a-30c to facilitate insertion of a 
container neck 44 and interlocking of the carrier and container in a 
manner to be more fully described. Openings 28a-28c are similarly each 
provided with a plurality of equi-angularly spaced, radially aligned slits 
32a-32c respectively. 
The die cut sheet 20 is divided into five panels by the four scores 
20a-20d. The sheet is bent to form the folds at 20e-20h to define a 
four-sided rectangular tubular structure shown, for example, in FIG. 1b. 
The unique characteristic of carrier 20 is that it dimensionally does not 
increase the cubic inch or perimeter boundary of the products to be 
supported by the carrier, thus enabling the product to be packed in the 
same reshipper carton (not shown) used for bulk distribution. This feature 
also eliminates the handling of each individual product which is grouped 
in the carrier. The rigidity of the carrier, as well as the stability of 
the product supported by the carrier, is achieved by the size and center 
line locations of the die cut holes provided in the carrier for receiving 
the necks of the containers. More specifically, the holes 22a-22c and 
24a-24c are positioned relative to the associated holes 26a-26c and 
28a-28c so that the center lines of the cooperating arrays of holes, which 
center lines are perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1a, are offset 
relative to one another. More particularly, center lines CL1 of openings 
26a-26c are displaced from the center lines CL2 of operating openings 
22a-22c by a finite distance d. The displacement distance d causes an 
interference between openings 22a-22c and the necks of the associated 
containers along the interior 180.degree. of the adjacent bottom panels 
20i, 20m. This interference fit draws the panels 20i and 20m inwardly so 
that their free edges 20m and 20p are in engagement and further urges the 
panels 20i and 20m into an angular orientation such that they are 
nonparallel with upper panel 20j, as shown best in FIG. 1b. The diameter 
of openings 22a-22c and 24a-24c is greater than the outer diameter of the 
portion of the container necks surrounded by these openings by an amount 
sufficient to enable the bottom panels 20i, 20m to assume the inverted 
V-shaped orientation shown in FIG. 1b. The result is that the carrier 
forces the long sides 42a (or at least the lower ends) of associated 
containers of the linear arrays into engagement. For example, considering 
FIG. 2a, the long sides 42a' 42a" (or at least the lower ends) of 
containers 42', 42" are urged into engagement with one another as opposed 
to being in a pendulous, or free swinging, state thereby providing the 
assembly comprised of the carrier and the containers with greater 
stability for storage, handling and transportation. The interference 
created between openings 22a-22c, 24a-24c and the necks 44 of the 
containers also acts as a secondary product load bearing feature and 
further provides additional supporting strength due to the non-parallel 
orientation of the panels 20i and 20m relative to the panel 20j. 
Holes 26a-26c and 28a-28c comprise the primary load bearing points of 
carrier 20. The interference fit between the corrugated carrier sheet 20 
and each container 40 is achieved by the inner diameter of the holes being 
preferably of the order of 8 to 12 percent and more preferably 10 percent 
smaller than the outer diameter of the container neck portion which it 
surrounds. The radially aligned slits, such as 30a-30c, for example, 
facilitate the ease of insertion of each container neck into associated 
openings 26a-26c, 28a-28c and allows the corrugations to lock in the gap G 
to prevent the container from dropping from the carrier device. As another 
alternative, the openings 26a-26c and 28a-28c may be arranged within one 
of the grooves 44a provided on the neck 44 of the container, preferably in 
the region of the gap G. 
The openings 29a-29b serve to receive the fingers of a person's hand to 
facilitate gripping and transportation of the carrier. For example, if the 
carrier of FIG. 3a is reduced to a two container carrier by cutting along 
line L1, the "half circle" openings 29c and the upper half of 29a serve to 
receive the fingers of the user's hand. 
FIGS. 2a-2c show the carrier 20 fully loaded with six containers. The 
containers in each linear array LA1, for example (see FIGS. 2b and 2c), 
are aligned so that the short sides of the center container 42"' engage 
the adjacent short sides of containers 42" and 42"". The containers in 
linear array LA2 are orientated in a similar fashion. The outer, long 
sides of each linear array, generally lie in a common plane which planes 
are substantially parallel to the side panels. The base portions of the 
containers occupy a volumetric region whose length L.sub.1 and width 
W.sub.1 is greater than the length L and width W of carrier 20 (see FIGS. 
1 and 2a-2c). As can best be seen from FIG. 2a, the bottom of adjacent 
long sides of the containers in the linear array LA1 and LA2 are urged 
into engagement due to the unique arrangement and geometry of the carrier 
20 and specifically the openings provided therein for receiving the necks 
44 of each container. 
Although the carrier embodiment of FIGS. 1a through 2c is designed with the 
capacity for supporting six containers, it should be understood that the 
identical results can be obtained with substantially the same carrier 
design when accommodating pairs of containers such as two, four, six, or 
eight containers in number, the only difference in these modifications 
being the length dimension of the carrier and the number of holes provided 
for the containers. For example, the carrier of FIG. 1a may easily be 
modified to accommodate four containers simply by reducing the length L of 
the carrier blank, thus eliminating the holes 22a, 26a, 28a, and 24a. In 
addition, it is also appropriate and in fact, preferred, to relocate the 
gripping holes 29a and 29b so that they are centered relative to the 
carrier geometry. Similarly, to modify the carrier to accommodate eight 
containers, the carrier length L may be increased to provide another row 
of holes such as 22a, 26a, 28a and 24a, with appropriate relocation (i.e. 
centering) of the gripping openings 29a and 29b. The advantages described 
herein are obtained by any of the above modifications. 
The carrier 20, although concealing a portion of the neck of each 
container, exposes a major portion of the container to full view. Since 
the base portion of the container is exposed to view, the aesthetically 
appealing label L2, shown in dotted fashion in FIG. 1c of the container is 
fully exposed to view enhancing the appearance of the overall assembly to 
the potential customer. Thus, the carrier need not be provided with 
printed matter which is the same as that carried by the container and the 
carrier may carry a totally different message which adds to the message on 
the container, rather than replacing the message on the container which is 
required of carriers which substantially enclose and/or envelope the 
container. 
Still another embodiment of the present invention adapted for carrying a 
single row of containers is shown in FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d. The 
containers 40 shown in FIGS. 3b-3d have cylindrical-shaped base portions 
42. If desired, the carrier of FIGS. 3a-3d may accommodate containers of 
the shape shown in FIGS. 2a-2g. The carrier blank 20' shown in FIG. 3a has 
a number of physical features similar to that shown in FIG. 1a and as a 
result, like features have been designated by like numerals in FIGS. 1a 
and 3a. The major distinction of the embodiment of FIG. 3a is the 
reduction in width of panel 20k and the elimination of one row of 
interlocking openings while the remaining row of interlocking openings are 
aligned with their centers lying along the longitudinal axis of the 
carrier. The gripping openings 29a and 29b are interspersed between the 
interlocking openings 26a through 26c as shown. 
The carton blank 20' is folded along the score lines 20a-20d to form a 
substantially rectangular shaped tubular configuration, as shown best in 
FIG. 3d and wherein bottom panel 20m overlies bottom panel 20i. the score 
line 20d is preferably spaced a greater distance d2 from its adjacent edge 
20p than the spacing between score line 20a and its adjacent edge 20n. 
Also, the distance d5 between score lines 20c and 20d is greater than the 
distance d4 between score lines 20a and 20b, to assure proper alignment of 
the openings 22, 24 and 26. The openings 22a-22c and 24a-24c have their 
centers lying along imaginary lines which each spaced an equal distance 
inwardly from their adjacent edges 20n and 20p, respectively. In one 
preferred embodiment, score line 20d is spaced 2 inches from edge 20p, 
while score line 20a is spaced 1.875 inches from adjacent edge 20n. The 
openings 22a-22c and 24a-24c preferably have 1.125 inch diameters and have 
their center lines spaced inwardly one (1) inch from adjacent edges 20n 
and 20p, respectively. 
The carrier embodiment of FIGS. 3a-3d retains the unique advantages of the 
carrier shown in FIGS. 1a-2c in that the carrier does not dimensionally 
increase the cubic inch or perimeter boundary of the containers supported 
by the carrier and can similarly be packed in the same reshipper carton 
used for bulk distribution, again eliminating the handling of each 
individual container. The rigidity of the carriers, as well as the 
stability of the containers supported thereby, is attained by the size of 
the die cut holes, and the slitted openings 26a-26c serving as the primary 
load bearing points for the containers. An excellent interference fit 
between the corrugated sheet and the containers is achieved by judicious 
selection of the inner diameter of the primary load bearing holes 26a-26c 
which are of the order of 7-13% and preferably of the order of 9% smaller 
than the outer diameter of the container neck which it retains. The 
radially aligned slits 30a-30c contribute to the ease of insertion of the 
neck portions into openings 26a-26c while permitting the corrugated sheet 
to lock in the gap G beneath the lip of skirt 46 of the containers to 
prevent the containers from dropping from the carrier. 
The embodiment of FIGS. 3a-3d may be modified in a manner similar to the 
embodiment of FIGS. 1a-2d in that the carrier may be either shortened or 
lengthened to accommodate a lesser or greater number of containers 
arranged in a single row, without relinquishing any of the unique 
advantages achieved by the desing of the carrier. 
A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the 
foregoing disclosure, and in some instances, some features of the 
invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. 
For example, in order to achieve the advantages of the present invention 
it is not necessary that the containers 40 have a substantially 
rectangular parallelipiped-shaped base portion 42. The only requirement is 
that the base portion of the container 40 have mutually perpendicular 
outer dimensions which are greater than the mutually perpendicular outer 
dimension of the neck portions. Noting the top plan views of FIGS. 4a-4g, 
FIG. 4a shows a container 40 having a base portion with convex long sides 
42a, 42a and convex short sides 42b, 42b. FIG. 4b shows a container with a 
base portion having planar long sides 42a, 42a and convex short sides 42b, 
42b. FIG. 4c shows a container with a base portion having convex long 
sides 42a, 42a and planar short sides 42b, 42b. FIG. 4 d shows a container 
having a base portion of elliptical shape. FIG. 4e shows a container 
having a base portion with a circular shape. FIG. 4f shows a container 
with a regular polygonal shape (i.e. six sides). Any of the above 
container configurations may be employed for use with the carrier of the 
present invention so long as the neck portion mutually perpendicular outer 
dimensions are less than the mutually perpendicular outer dimensions of 
the container base portion. As one example, noting FIG. 4b, the mutually 
perpendicular dimensions W and T are both greater than the mutually 
perpendicular dimensions D1 and D2 of neck portion 4b, D1 being equal to 
D1 since the neck portion has a circular shaped cross-section. 
The neck portion is preferably circular in cross-section but may be any 
regular polygonal shape such as square, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal, 
etc. so long as its outer dimensions, which is the diameter of an 
imaginary circular circumscribing the polygonal shape is less than the 
outer dimensions of the container base portion. Note FIG. 4g in which the 
diameter D of an imaginary circle C circumscribing the six-sided neck 
portion 44 is less than the length L and thickness T of the base portion 
42a. If desired, the openings in the carrier receiving the neck portions 
may be polygonal-shaped. 
Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed 
broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the 
invention herein.