Patent Publication Number: US-2023159221-A1

Title: Stackable liquid vessel and multi-vessel arrangement

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/282,376, filed on Nov. 23, 2021. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Existing liquid containers utilize excessive amounts of packaging, such as corrugated cardboard. Further, existing containers may be damaged or compromised during shipping, handling, and/or storage. Finally, consumers may not be able to easily access the containers from a multi-unit arrangement. 
     Therefore, there exists a need for a liquid vessel that reduces use of packaging or other materials, is structurally sound during shipping and handling, and provides access for consumers. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       The novel features of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. However, for purpose of explanation, several embodiments are illustrated in the following drawings. 
         FIG.  1    illustrates a front elevation view of a stackable liquid vessel of one or more embodiments described herein; 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a rear elevation view of the stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  3    illustrates a left elevation view of the stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4    illustrates a right elevation view of the stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  5    illustrates a top plan view of the stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  6    illustrates a bottom plan view of the stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  7    illustrates a front elevation view of a stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  8    illustrates a front section view of the stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  9    illustrates a top section view of a stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  10    illustrates a top, rear perspective view of the stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  11    illustrates a bottom, rear perspective view of the stackable liquid vessel of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  12    illustrates a front elevation view of an example storage configuration of one or more embodiments described herein; 
         FIG.  13    illustrates a top plan view of a structural support element included in the example storage configuration of  FIG.  12   ; and 
         FIG.  14    illustrates a top plan view of the example storage configuration of  FIG.  12   . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description describes currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of some embodiments, as the scope of the disclosure is best defined by the appended claims. 
     Various features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features. Broadly, some embodiments generally provide a stackable liquid vessel. The stackable liquid vessel may be able to receive, store, and dispense various liquids or fluids, such as beverages, cooking oil or vinegar, motor oil, and/or other appropriate materials or substances. Each stackable liquid vessel may be able to at least partially couple to at least one other stackable liquid vessel. An arrangement of stackable liquid vessels may utilize perforated slipsheets to reduce material usage when packing, shipping, storing, and/or displaying multiple stackable liquid vessels (e.g., a pallet of stackable vessels). The stackable liquid vessel may alternatively be referred to as a “container”, “bottle”, “package”, and/or other similar terms with or without various adjectives (e.g., “vessel”, “stackable vessel”, “nested bottle”, “nested beverage container”, etc.) throughout this disclosure. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates a front elevation view of a stackable liquid vessel  100  of one or more embodiments described herein. As shown, the stackable liquid vessel  100  may include a neck finish and mouth  110 , a transfer bead  120 , a neck  130 , a shoulder extension  140 , a shoulder support  150 , a heel  160 , and various structural support elements  170 - 190 . 
       FIG.  2    illustrates a rear elevation view of the stackable liquid vessel  100 . As shown, stackable liquid vessel  100  may include a shoulder portion  210 , a sidewall or body portion  220 , a base portion  230 , and a handle portion  240 . 
       FIG.  3    illustrates a left elevation view of the stackable liquid vessel  100 . As shown, stackable liquid vessel  100  may include an integrated handle  310 . 
       FIG.  4    illustrates a right elevation view of the stackable liquid vessel  100 . 
       FIG.  5    illustrates a top plan view of the stackable liquid vessel  100 . As shown, stackable liquid vessel may have a rounded square shape relative to vertical axis  710  and may include four vertical “corners”  510  or inflection points that may run parallel to the vertical axis  130  along at least portions of sidewalls  220 , base  230 , handle portion  240 , and/or shoulder  0210 . The areas between vertical corners  510  may be referred to as the “sides” or “vertical sides” of vessel  100 . 
       FIG.  6    illustrates a bottom plan view of the stackable liquid vessel  100 . As shown, stackable liquid vessel  100  may include a base  610 , a stacking receptacle  620 , and various receptacle supports  630 . 
       FIG.  7    illustrates a front elevation view of a stackable liquid vessel  100 . This example includes a vertical axis or reference line  710  and a horizontal axis or reference line  720 . 
       FIG.  8    illustrates a front section view of the stackable liquid vessel  100 . 
       FIG.  9    illustrates a top section view of the stackable liquid vessel  100 . As shown, the stackable liquid vessel  100  may include grip regions  1410  disposed about handle  310 . 
       FIG.  10    illustrates a top, rear perspective view of the stackable liquid vessel  100 . 
       FIG.  11    illustrates a bottom, rear perspective view of the stackable liquid vessel  100 . 
     The stackable liquid vessel  100  may be formed of rigid or semi-rigid materials such as plastic (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate (PET)) using molding processes such as injection molding or blow molding. The materials may be suitable for the transportation and human consumption of beverages such as drinking water. 
     Neck finish and mouth  110  may have a cylindrical or annular shape and may be symmetrical about vertical axis  710 . Neck finish and mouth  110  may include a threaded exterior, as shown and may be associated with elements such as a top seal, cap, etc. 
     Transfer bead  120  may be utilized when transferring vessel  100  to or from some manufacturing element or device (e.g., a molding machine, a blower, etc.). Transfer bead  120  may be retain a transfer ring of a tamper evident cap (not shown). Transfer bead  120  may be a sub-element of neck finish  110 . 
     Neck  130  may have a cylindrical or annular shape and extend out from shoulder extension  140  to the transfer bead  120  or neck finish and mouth  110 . 
     Shoulder extension  140  may have a spherical segment shape as shown. As another example, in some embodiments, shoulder extension  140  may have a conical segment shape (e.g., with straight rather than rounded sides from an elevation view). 
     Shoulder support  150  may include a flat, smooth surface that may be complementary to at least a portion of base  610 . 
     Heel  160  may have a spherical segment shape as shown. Heel  160  may extend from sidewalls  220  to base  610 . 
     Structural support elements  170 - 190  may include, for example, “ribs”  170 , impressions  180 , “coins”  190 , and/or other appropriate elements. Ribs  170  may have a generally concave shape with convex returns, as shown. 
     In this example, a set of ribs  170  is arranged in a nested zig-zag or serrated pattern along the front of vessel  100 , as shown. Further, in this example a number of ribs have horizontal linear portions that are parallel to horizontal axis  720  (also perpendicular to vertical axis  710 ) that may run through the handle  310 , grip regions  910 , and/or the front of vessel  100 . In addition, in this example, some ribs have arcing or curved sections, such as those along portions of the rear of vessel  100 . Such curved sections may provide additional structural support for elements such as handle portion  240 . Structural support elements  170 - 190  may provide improved grip for users in addition to structural reinforcement of the vessel  100 . 
     Shoulder portion  210  may include should extension  140 , shoulder support  150 , and a sloped portion of vessel  100  leading to sidewall or body portion  220 . 
     Sidewall or body portion  220  may extend between shoulder portion  210  and base portion  230 . Sidewall portion  220  may have a rounded rectangular cuboid shape as shown. The sidewalls  220  may provide a relatively square profile which provides load bearing edges for vertically arranged like containers  100 . 
     Structural support “coins”  190  are provided at the shoulder corners for loadbearing strength, and multiple stiffening ribs  170  and/or other structural support elements  180  may be provided along the body of the container as shown. In this example, structural support elements  180  have a rhombus-shaped outline and support coins  190  have a rounded triangle shape as shown. 
     Grip regions  910  may allow a consumer or other user to grasp the container  100  with a single hand to remove a container  100  from the stacked configuration  1200  and/or to otherwise manipulate a container  100 . Details may be included around the grip region  910  to provide strength to the region  1410 . In this example, vessel  100  includes a set of grip regions  910  including a pair of such grip regions  910 . Different embodiments may have different numbers of grip regions. 
     The dimensions of the female coupling  620  are such that neck finish  110 , neck  130 , and shoulder extension  140  form a complementary male coupling received therein. Thus, the female coupling  620  on the bottom surface or base  610  of an upper container  100  may receive the neck finish  110 , neck  130 , and shoulder extension  140  of a below container  100  (if any). Moreover, the weight of the above container  100  may be supported by the sidewalls  220 . In particular, the bottom edges or base  610  of the sidewalls  220  of the above container(s) may align with and rest on the shoulder supports  150  at the top edges of the sidewalls  220  of the respective below container  100 . In this manner the containers  100  may be vertically stacked and nested to each other to provide support for the vertical weight forces of the stacked configuration  1200  of containers  100 . 
     Base portion  230  may include heel  160 , base  610 , and recess  620 . 
     Handle portion (or “area” or “region”)  240  may include handle  310 , grip regions  910 , and portions of sidewalls  220 . 
     Handle or “grip”  310  may be disposed along a vertical corner  510  of the rounded square shape container  100 . Such a location may provide a more stable and structurally sound bottle  100  and also allows for improved performance, by causing liquid to flow along an opposite vertical corner  510 . 
     Base  610  may be, or include, a flat, smooth surface that is parallel to horizontal axis  720 . Base  610  may include receptacle  620 . 
     Stacking receptacle, or “recess”, or “seat”, or “female coupling”  620  may house or accept a portion of another stackable vessel  100 . For instance, receptacle  620  may receive the neck finish  110 , neck  130 , and shoulder extension  140  of another stackable vessel  100 . The receptacle or cavity  620  may allow the weight of stacked vessels  100  to be distributed through the sidewalls  220  rather than the neck finish  110 , neck  130 , or other more vulnerable portions of vessel  100 . Stacking receptacle  620  may be sized to be slightly larger than the complementary male portion of vessel  100  such that there is a gap or clearance between the receptacle  620  and associated male coupling. 
     Receptacle supports  630  may be similar to structural supports  170  described above. Receptacle supports  630  may extend radially outward from center vertical axis  710 , as shown. 
     Vertical axis or reference line  710  may be aligned with a center of vessel  100  when viewed from above or below. Vessel  100  may be symmetrical about vertical axis  710  when viewed from the front, rear, top, or bottom. 
     Horizontal axis or reference line  720  may be perpendicular to vertical axis  710 . Horizontal axis  720  runs through a portion of handle area  240 . 
     Each grip region (or grip “portion”)  910  may include a cavity or recess along the handle portion  240  of vessel  100 . Such grip regions  910  may be sized to accept a thumb and multiple fingers of a user. 
       FIG.  12    illustrates a front elevation view of an example storage configuration  1200  of one or more embodiments described herein. As shown, storage configuration  1200  may include multiple stackable liquid vessels  100 , a pallet or other support  1210 , and one or more structural support elements  1220 . 
     Pallet or other support  1210  may be made from rigid or semi-rigid materials such as wood, metal, plastic, etc. Pallets  1210  may have rectangular shapes of various standard dimensions (e.g., forty-eight inches by forty inches, thirty-six inches by thirty-six inches, forty-eight inches by forty-eight inches, etc.). 
     Stackable liquid vessels  100  may be arranged in tiers  1230 . Each tier  1230  may include multiple vessels  100  arranged in multiple columns and multiple rows, where each vessel  100  may be arranged or oriented such that the vertical sides are aligned with vertical sides of adjacent vessels  100  to maximize contact of sidewalls  220  between, and among, adjacent vessels  100 . 
       FIG.  13    illustrates a top plan view of a structural support element  1220  included in the example storage configuration  1200 . In this example, the structural support element  1220  may be a perforated slip sheet that includes multiple perforated areas  1310  and associated perforations  1320 . 
     Each structural support element  1220  may include materials such as plastic, corrugated packaging or corrugate, cardboard, wood, and/or other appropriate materials. Structural support element  1220  may have a rectangular shape as shown, and may have an appropriate thickness to provide structural rigidity for the tier of vessels  100 . Each perforated area  1310  may be, or include, a complementary section to at least a portion of the male coupling of vessel  100 , such that a portion of vessel  100  is able to pass through and/or otherwise engage or couple to structural support element  1220 . In this example, each perforated area  1310  has a circular shape that is complementary to a portion of the shoulder area  210 . Perforations  1320  may allow the structural support element  1220  to be coupled to, and/or decoupled from, a tier  1230  of vessels  100 . Structural support element  1220  may keep the vessels  100  aligned along each tier  1230  and ensure that weight is dispersed via the sidewalls  220  rather than the neck finish  110 , neck  130 , and/or other more vulnerable portions of vessel  100 . 
       FIG.  14    illustrates a top plan view of the example storage configuration  1200 . As shown, the rounded rectangular cuboid shape of the vessels  100  maximizes bottle-to-bottle contact along the vertical side portions of sidewalls  220  (and/or other portions of vessel  100 ) such that weight is evenly, and contiguously, distributed across a pallet  1210  or other support and eliminating secondary packaging required by more rounded shapes. 
     Containers, such as stackable liquid vessel  100  may typically be positioned on a pallet  110  for movement (e.g., by a hand truck, forklift, etc.) about a retail establishment and may often be located in an open area between or at the end of shopping aisles. Displays may include several tiers  1230  of nested beverage containers  100  such as large plastic bottles. For previous stackable containers, the weight of an upper container of a stack may weaken the neck portion of a lower container of the stack, causing damaged, deformed, broken, or otherwise compromised containers. Such damage makes for an unappealing consumer merchandising experience and, in certain instances, can cause leakage of content from the containers. A reason for such drawbacks is that the neck of the bottle below functions as a stabilizing factor in the merchandising display. As the rows of containers increase, the weight applied to the lower containers increase, thus causing damage in transit and/or during merchandising in the store. 
     In addition to the above drawbacks, each pallet requires a fair amount of secondary packaging to provide integrity to the package during transit. The need for secondary packaging does not answer the demand of the retailer to remove almost all or all of the secondary packaging, which clutters the store and creates an unsightly and potentially unsafe condition for consumers as well as store staff. The secondary packaging may include boxes, extra corrugate stabilizers, plastic stabilizers and hard edges, which were required to hold the containers together on the pallets from a stability standpoint in logistics/shipment as well as on the floor of the retailer. When a consumer attempts to open such packaging to remove containers from the stack, the extra packaging may be moved around by the consumer, discarded on the floor, and over the period of the day where the pallet is shopped, the mess of corrugate and plastic in the rack or aisle becomes clutter. Store staff are then needed to merchandise (clean up, remove layers, open new layers, remove shipping materials, etc.) the product to continually be shopped by the consumer. 
     According to an example embodiment, a large beverage container  100 , such as a one-gallon size container, may be provided in a stackable bottle configuration with minimal secondary packaging required when such bottles  100  are palletized. The stackable bottles  100  may be arranged in a nested and stacked storage configuration  1200  on a base such as a pallet  1210  for merchandising in a retail establishment. Thus container  100  addresses a need of retailers wanting the removal of secondary packaging from the pallet  1210 . 
     According to the present invention, substantially all secondary packaging is not required in the finished pallet  1210 . In some embodiments, perforated slip sheets  1220  are disposed between layers of the stack of containers  100  on the pallet  1210 . The slip sheets  1220 , in conjunction with the bottle design, provide stability to a bottle stack. The pallet  1210  may be dropped in place by the retailer, plastic stretch film cut off the pallet  1210  and removed to provide access to the containers/bottles  100 , the top slip sheet  1220  removed, and the consumer can then shop the pallet  1210 , without having to navigate any secondary packaging. When a tier  1230  of the stacked configuration  1200  is empty, the next slip sheet  1220  may be removed to allow access to the next tier  1230  and so on. Once the pallet  1210  is shopped down to the remaining bottle  100 , all that remains are the slip sheets  1220  and the pallet  1210 . There is no requirement of store staff to merchandise the pallet  1210 , as there is no mess to maintain, packages to open or materials to remove and the consumer has absolute access to the product without any hindrance. 
     From a retailer perspective, particularly on the logistics, transportation and warehousing side, the challenge of, for example, June to November in many climates of the United States where humidity is extremely high and temperatures are high, the corrugate and secondary packaging of the previous designs become very weak due to the humidity. This causes pallet failure and/or requires rewrapping of pallets  1210  in warehouses. For customers with large distribution centers with sometimes hundreds of pallets  1210  moving per day, the havoc created by such failure and required rewrapping is both massively frustrating, expensive and potentially dangerous. As a one gallon bottle of water weighs approximately eight-and-one-half pounds, having close to two hundred fifty on a pallet  1210  that is fairly or extremely weakened due to the corrugate being impacted by the liquid (e.g., humidity, precipitation, etc.) is an enormous challenge. With the stackable liquid vessel  100 , and the elimination of all secondary packaging, other than rigid, thick corrugate slip sheets  1220 , there is no chance of pallets  1210  “bowing” or weakening as there is no secondary packaging in the product to become weak or fail. Secondarily, the removal of the need to merchandise the pallet  1210  in the retail store is a major time and expense saver. Thirdly, the risk or potential of risk with the secondary packaging being ripped open, plastic and cardboard strewn about the aisle and under the racks was and is a potentially liability for the retailer. Having the containers  100  freely accessible, and also stable, removes a significant potential for risk by eliminating excess materials and preventing containers  100  falling out of weakened boxes or support materials, such as with previous designs or product offerings. 
     In some embodiments, container  100  may be a bottle for a relatively large volume of water as is typically used by consumers with a bottle cooler and/or dispenser. Stackable liquid vessel  100  may have a volume or capacity of three thousand eight hundred milliliter (or three and eight-tenths liter) bottle in some embodiments. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that stackable liquid vessel  100  may be provided in various appropriate sizes that may be larger or smaller than the example container  100  (e.g., two liter, one gallon, two gallons, etc.). 
     Storage configuration  1200  may include multiple stacks of containers  100  arranged on a pallet  1210 . The containers  100  may be organized in multiple tiers  1230  (four such tiers are shown by way of example). In some embodiments, a standard wood pallet may support five tiers  1230  of container  100  with each tier  1230  including eight rows and seven columns for a total container count of two hundred eighty containers  100  per pallet  1210 . A slip sheet  1220  may be positioned at the tops of each tier of containers  100 . The slip sheets  1220  may include holes  1310  to receive the neck finish  110  of each container  100  in the particular tier  1230 . Each slip sheet  1220  may be made of rigid material or materials such as corrugate paper of a sufficient thickness to provide support to the neck finishes and mouths  110  of each container  100  in a tier  1230 . 
     In use, a stacked storage configuration  1200  may typically be shipped with a plastic wrapping around the periphery of the stacked configuration  1200  (not shown) and the pallet  1210  may be moved to a desired position within a shopping environment and/or other environments (e.g., a warehouse, a shipping container or, a vehicle, etc.). Once in place at a retailer, the plastic wrapping and the top slip sheet  1220  may be removed and discarded, thereby providing consumers with access to the containers  100 . Once a tier  1230  of containers  100  is emptied, the next slip sheet  1220  may be removed and discarded, whereupon the next tier  1230  of containers  100  may be shopped, and so on. When the stacked configuration  1200  is depleted of containers  100 , all that remains is a single pallet  1210  which may then be easily removed and replaced by another stacked configuration  1200 . 
     As one specific example embodiment, a three and eight-tenths liter bottle  100  may have a total height  730  of two hundred ninety seven millimeters, within appropriate tolerances (e.g., plus or minus one-half percent, one percent, two percent, five percent, etc.). Continuing the specific example, the three and eight-tenths liter bottle  100  may have a width  920  of one hundred forty-one and six tenths millimeters, within appropriate tolerances. Further continuing this specific example, the height to transfer bead  120  may be two hundred seventy-eight and four tenths millimeters, within appropriate tolerances. Further continuing this specific example, the inner handle width  930  may be sixty-eight and three tenths millimeters, within appropriate tolerances. Further continuing this specific example, the outer handle width  940  may be eighty-four and three tenths millimeters, within appropriate tolerances. Further continuing this specific example, vessel  100  may have an inner mouth diameter of thirty-four and five tenths millimeters, within appropriate tolerances. Further continuing this specific example, vessel  100  may have a transfer bead outer diameter of forty-one and eight tenths millimeters, within appropriate tolerances. Further continuing this specific example, vessel  100  may have a receptacle  620  with a height of forty-nine and one tenth millimeters along axis  710  and an outer radius of one hundred seven and one tenth millimeters along an axis parallel to line  720 , within appropriate tolerances. Further continuing this specific example, the material weight of such a three and eight-tenths liter bottle  100  may be between sixty-two and sixty-six grams, within appropriate tolerances. 
     One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that different embodiments may have different capacities, dimensions, and/or other different attributes (e.g., rib placement or shape) than those discussed in reference to the examples described herein. 
     No element, act, or instruction used in the present application should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. An instance of the use of the term “and,” as used herein, does not necessarily preclude the interpretation that the phrase “and/or” was intended in that instance. Similarly, an instance of the use of the term “or,” as used herein, does not necessarily preclude the interpretation that the phrase “and/or” was intended in that instance. Also, as used herein, the article “a” is intended to include one or more items and may be used interchangeably with the phrase “one or more.” Where only one item is intended, the terms “one,” “single,” “only,” or similar language is used. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. 
     The foregoing relates to illustrative details of exemplary embodiments and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Even though particular combinations of features are recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the possible implementations of the disclosure. In fact, many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification. For instance, although each dependent claim listed below may directly depend on only one other claim, the disclosure of the possible implementations includes each dependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set.