Abstract:
A glued three piece folding basket carrier which has two partitions for dividing the carrier into six cells with each partition being constructed of a different material than used to construct the outside basket carrier. Each partition is glued to a handle panel and a divider flap on the end of the basket carrier and a to a side wall to form a bottle cell with walls that are perpendicular to the divider between the two sides of the carrier and which are also formed as part of the partition.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/246,604 filed Sep. 18, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,756 issued Sep. 6, 2005 which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to basket carriers formed from three pieces of board and glued together on a straight-line gluer. The outside portion of the basket carrier, which may be called the box, can be made from a single blank, preferably of coated paperboard. The partitions which are needed to carry bottles can be made from a less expensive material, such as uncoated paperboard. Alignment slots or apertures may be provided in both partitions so that the partition can be properly aligned with the outside basket carrier in proper position for gluing. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Basket carriers for bottles have been around for many years. These have normally had to be glued on right-angle gluers in order to ensure that all of the panels and flaps that were being glued were in proper position for alignment when glued. Gluing on a right-angle gluer facilitated the folding and gluing of these multi-piece carriers, but it was a relatively expensive process. 
     Basket carriers have typically been made from a single blank of material, usually coated paperboard so that product identity and any advertisement could be printed on the carrier. It is obvious that coated paperboard is not needed for producing the interior of the carton (i.e., partitions) as printing is not normally placed there. Consequently, it would be desirable to make these partitions out of a less expensive material, such as uncoated paperboard, or recycled board, which would significantly lower the cost of the carrier. In the past, there has been no good manufacturing method for producing three piece carrier on a straight-line gluer. 
     PRIOR ART 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,273, issued Sep. 7, 1999 (Dalrymple, et al.) discloses a basket carrier in which the primary blank forms the outside of the carrier that is printed. The secondary blank is used to make the internal divider walls. The secondary blank is designed to be tipped into the primary blank on a straight-line gluer. Properly aligned partitions are not likely to be obtained with this carrier on the gluer as there is no method for aligning the two blanks together as the partition is basically tipped into the primary blank (col. 3, lines 45–49). 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,729 (Eckermann, et al.) discloses a carrier where the outer portion of which is constructed from one material and the wall with cell dividers is constructed from another material, it is basically, a two piece carrier. No method is disclosed in this patent for accurately aligning the two pieces together. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a basket carrier in which the outside walls, or the box, can be made out of material that can be printed upon, such as coated paperboard and the interior partitions can be made out of a cheaper material, such as uncoated paperboard or recycled board. It is a further object of this invention to produce this basket carrier on a straight-line gluer in order to achieve high production efficiencies. 
     The objects of this invention have been achieved in which the basket carrier&#39;s outside panels, or box, are constructed of a different material than the partitions. The outside of the basket carrier, or box, can be constructed out of a material that can be printed, such as coated paperboard. It is highly desirable to print the name of the product contained and advertising material on the outside portion of the basket carrier, or box. The partitions inside the box do not need to be printed and consequently can be constructed from a cheaper material and possibly of a lower caliber than the coated paperboard used to construct the outside portion, or box, of the carrier. As the partitions are constructed of a different material than the outside of the basket carrier, the partitions need to be cut from a different material, such as uncoated paperboard. The outside of the basket carrier is constructed of one material and formed into a single blank while the partitions are constructed from a different type of material and formed into two pieces, which basically provides a three-piece basket carrier. In order to properly align the partitions for gluing to the outside portion of the basket carrier, or box, on a straight-line gluer, it is necessary to provide the handle panels with alignment slots and to have corresponding alignment slots in the partitions. A pin locator on the gluer can align the alignment slots in the partition with those in the handle panel. Each partition has two ends, each of which is glued to a side panel. Each partition also has two divider extensions that are glued to each other and to a divider flap on an adjacent end of the basket carrier. 
     These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of a blank for forming the outside of the basket carrier of this invention. 
         FIG. 2A  is a plan view of one style of blank for the partition for the basket carrier of this invention. 
         FIG. 2B  is a plan view of another style of blank for the partition for the basket carrier of this invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a plan view of the blank of  FIG. 1  with the partitions of  FIG. 2A  glued in proper position. 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of the blank of  FIG. 1  with the partitions glued in place that has been folded along the center line with the partitions glued together and the bottom of the carton glued. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the basket carrier made from the blank of  FIG. 1  and filled with bottles. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The present invention is intended primarily as a basket carrier for carrying a plurality of bottles, in particular glass bottles. The outside of the basket carrier can be formed from a single piece of foldable material, such a blank cut out of coated paperboard. The blank for the outside of the carrier is basically rectangular to economize the amount of coated paperboard used. The carrier is a three piece carrier having two partitions that can be made from a different type of material, such as uncoated paperboard or recycled board. These partition panels can be cut from a sheet of such material. 
     In one embodiment of this invention, the carrier is characterized by having alignment slots in the partitions and in the handle panels for aligning the partitions inside the outside portion of the basket, or box, for gluing. A second embodiment of this invention has two alignment apertures in each partition for aligning the partitions in proper position prior to gluing. 
     The outside portion of the basket, or box, is shown in the blank  10  which has a glue flap on the bottom  12  which is attached to side panel  14  by fold line  16 . Side panel  14  in turn is attached to end panel  18  by fold line  20 , and said end panel  18  is attached to the divider flap  22  by fold line  24 . Side panel  14  is attached to end panel  26  by fold line  28  which in turn is attached to divider flap  30  by fold line  32 . Divider flap  22  may have a bottom holding hook  34  which will be discussed infra. Turning to the other side of the carrier, there is a bottom panel  36 , which may have a fold line  38 . The bottom panel  36  in turn is attached to side panel  40  by fold line  42  and side panel  40  in turn is attached to end panel  44  is by fold line  46 . End panel  44  is attached to divider flap  48  by fold line  50 . In this similar fashion, end panel  52  is attached to side panel  40  by fold line  54  and end panel  52  is attached to divider flap  56  by fold line  58 . Divider flap  56  has a bottom holding hook  60 . 
     This carrier has a 4-ply handle with outside handle panel  62  which has a handle  64  and an alignment slot  66 . There is a corresponding outside panel  68  which has a handle  70  and an alignment slot  72 . Outside handle panels  62 ,  68  are connected by fold line  74 . Handle panel  62  is attached to divider flap  48  by fold line  50 . Similarly, outside handle panel  68  is attached to divider flap  30  by fold line  32 . Inside handle panel  76  has a handle  78  and a partition cut-out  80 . On the other side of the carrier, is located inside handle panel  82  which has a handle  84  and a partition cut-out  86 . Inside handle panels  76 ,  82  are attached together by fold line  88 . Inside handle panel  76 ,  82  may have a cut-out  90 . Handles  64 ,  70  may have cushioning flaps  92  to ease the strain on the hand of the person carrying the carrier. Inside handle panel  76 ,  82  are folded inside of outside handle panels  62 ,  68  to produce a four-ply handle structure. Outside handle panels  62 ,  68  have edges  94  and inside handle panels  76 ,  82  have edges  96 . Inside handle panels  76 ,  82  are attached to divider flaps  22 ,  56  by fold lines  81 ,  83  respectively. 
     The outside basket carrier, or box, described above is preferably constructed out of coated paperboard to allow printing. 
     Two different types of blanks for partitions are disclosed below in  FIGS. 2A and 2B . The blanks for the partitions shown in  FIG. 2A  are identical to each other while the blanks for the partitions shown in  FIG. 2B  are identical to each other. The partition shown in  FIG. 2A  will be discussed first. The partitions are cut from a single sheet of board in a nested fashion. The blank for the partition  110  illustrated in  FIG. 2A  has a glue flap  112  attached to partition panel  114  by fold line  116  which is attached to divider panel  118  by fold line  120  and in turn attached to partition panel  122  by fold line  124 . Partition panel  122  is attached to glue flap  126  by fold line  128 . Divider panel  118  has a divider panel extensions  130  and  132  and glue flaps  134  and  136 . Divider panel  118  may have an alignment slot  138  for aligning the partition panel blanks  110  with the outside basket carrier  10 . Divider panel  118  may have a bottom support  140 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2A , both partitions are identical. One is labeled a and the other b as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . This basket carrier can be produced on a straight-line gluer that has an inserter to insert the two partitions a and b into the carrier. The inserter basically places apertures  138  and  72  in alignment. 
     If desired, the partitions can be cut by a die cutter, such as a rotary die cutter prior to entering the inserter. The basket carrier blank  10  can be held on the gluer by a vacuum. It is very important that partitions a and b are located precisely with the basket carrier blank  10  so that the cells for the bottles are of the proper size and configuration. This can be accomplished by the use of locator pins that line up the alignment slots  138  on the blank for partition  110  with the alignment slots  66  and  72  on the blank  10  for the basket carrier. Guides on the gluer may assist in obtaining the proper alignment of the partition blank  110  with the blank for the basket carrier  10 . 
     Alternatively, apertures  144  may be placed in the divider panel extensions  130  and  132  to facilitate locating the blank for the partition  141  in the proper location within the basket carrier as shown in  FIG. 2B . Locator pins can be inserted in these apertures  144  to locate partitions in the proper location for gluing. Partition  141  does not need alignment slots  138 ,  66  and  72 . 
     In respect to partitions  110 , glue flaps  112  from partitions a and b are glued to the appropriate side panel  14 ,  40 . Glue flaps  126  on partitions a and b are folded over and likewise glued to the appropriate side panels  14 ,  40 , thus producing three bottle cells on each side of the basket carrier. Glue flaps  142  on partitions a and b are glued on the reverse side to outside handle panels  62 ,  68  so that alignment slots  66 ,  72  are in alignment with alignment slot  138  on the appropriate partition a or b. End panels  18 ,  52  along with the attached divider flaps  22 ,  56  are folded along fold lines  20 ,  54  with inside handle panels  76 ,  82  brought into proper position in alignment with outside handle panels  62 ,  68  will thus be seen. Partition cutouts  80 ,  86  are designed not to interfere with the location of the locator pin with the appropriate alignment slots  66 ,  72  in blank  10  with alignment slots  138  on partitions a and b. Glue tabs  134  on partitions a and b are glued to the adjacent divider flap  22  or  56 . In a similar fashion, glue tabs  136  on partitions a and b are glued to the inside surface of adjacent divider flap  30 ,  48 . The blank for the basket carrier  10  with partitions a and b glued in place is then folded along fold line  74  with glue flap  12  glued to bottom panel  36  which concludes the production of the folded basket carrier. 
     Partition blanks  141  shown in  2 B are placed in the basket blank  10  in a similar fashion except that locator pins are used to locate the blank through apertures  144 . 
     The basket carrier is then ready for delivery to a bottling plant where the basket carrier is erected and filled with bottles. Bottom holding hooks  34 ,  60  are engaged with bottom panel  36  to hold it in proper position and prevent it from sagging with the weight of the bottles. Bottom support  140  on partitions a and b also help to keep the bottom panel in proper position along with bottom portion of the partition panels  114  on partitions a and b. 
     UNIQUE FEATURES OF THIS INVENTION 
     The three piece basket carrier is unique in that the outside basket carrier, or box, is made of one material and the two partition inserts may be made of a different and less expensive material. Preferably, the outside basket carrier, or box, is made of coated paperboard, while the inside partition can be made of uncoated board or recycled board. This basket carrier is also unique in that it has means for precisely locating the partition within the outside basket carrier, or box. This can be done by the provision of alignment slots or alignment apertures. The alignment slots are between the partition and the handle panel, while alignment apertures may be placed in the body of the partition, so that a locator pin and other guides can keep the partition in proper position for gluing. If the locator apertures are placed in the divider panel extension  130 ,  132 , it must be placed in both locations in order to hold the partition in proper location for gluing as shown in  FIG. 2B . 
     It should be realized that the use of a cheaper material for the partitions results in substantial savings as the partitions constitute 25–40% of the total square inches of material used to make the basket carrier with the partition panels. 
     While this invention has been disclosed in its preferred forms, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications, additions, and deletions can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the following claims.