Patent ID: 7984806

Claim:
A kit of parts for stacking articles having cylindrical bodies, said kit comprising: at least two self supporting stacking units, each said stacking unit comprising a strip of sheet material having opposite lateral edges, opposite ends and opposite top and underneath sides between said opposite ends, said strip being formed on said top side between said opposite ends with at least three part cylindrical article-holding cavities extending transversely across said strip in side-by-side relation and from one of said lateral edges to the opposite lateral edge, said part cylindrical article-holding cavities having part-circular cross sections of substantially the same radius and having opposite ends that are open at the lateral edges of the strip, whereby said part-cylindrical article-holding cavities are adapted to hold said articles side-by-side in a row, said opposite ends of the strip terminating in free side walls of the part cylindrical article-holding cavities at said opposite ends, said free side walls being continuations of the respective part-cylindrical article-holding cavities with the same radius as said part-cylindrical cross section and being of sufficient rigidity to retain a first row of said articles in place in the stacking unit under the weight of a second row of articles stacked on said first row of said articles held in said stacking unit, and ridges extending transversely across said strip and integrally joining adjacent said part cylindrical article-holding cavities on said one side of the strip, said ridges having a configuration such that said articles that have a radius that is substantially equal to the radius of said part-circular cross-section and that are held in mutually adjacent said part-cylindrical article-holding cavities, are in contact, said ridges being disposed substantially in a plane spaced above bottoms of the part cylindrical article-holding cavities by a height less than said radius of said part-circular cross section, said free side walls being configured to project above said plane, and said part cylindrical article-holding cavities defining convex wall portions on said underneath side of said strip, whereby a first one of said stacking units is adapted to be placed on a horizontal surface, with said convex wall portions thereof in contact with said horizontal surface, for filling with said first row of the articles, and a second one of said stacking units can be seated on said first row of the articles with said convex wall portions of said second stacking unit disposed between and in contact with mutually adjacent articles of said first row and can be filled with said second row of the articles, and so on when comprising more than two of said stacking units.