Multi-use bottle shipping assembly with resilient elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11753231-B2
Application number	US-202117508145-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 22, 2021
Priority date	Oct 23, 2020
Publication date	Sep 12, 2023
Grant date	Sep 12, 2023

Abstract

A packing tray (10) for packaging glass bottles (B), such as a glass wine bottle, the packing tray comprising:a plastic foam or molded fiber sheet (12) comprising a top wall (14) and an array (20) of recessed cell pockets (22) extending from the top wall;the top wall having a peripheral surface (18) surrounding the array of cell pockets and defining a top reference plane TRP;each cell pocket (22) comprising an open ring-shaped recess (24) having an elongated longitudinal axis LA transverse to the TRP and configured to be substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of a glass bottle disposed upright in the recess;the ring-shaped recess (24) including an upper cell portion (26) of a first diameter (FD) larger than a body diameter (BD) of the glass bottle, and lower ring portion (28) having resilient elements (30) radially disposed and spaced apart about a circumference (C) of the ring-shaped recess (24) and that extend radially inwardly from the first diameter (FD) and configured to engage the body diameter (BD) of the glass bottle and bend under lateral stress (LS) such that the resilient elements provide repeatable shock absorption;the peripheral surface (18) of the packing tray being sized to engage inner walls (42) of an outer shipping carton (40) in which the packing tray and glass bottles in the array of cell pockets are disposed for shipping.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A packing tray ( 10 ) for packaging glass bottles (B), the packing tray comprising:
a plastic foam or molded fiber sheet ( 12 ) comprising a top wall ( 14 ) and an array ( 20 ) of recessed cell pockets ( 22 ) extending from the top wall ( 14 );
the top wall ( 14 ) having a peripheral surface ( 18 ) surrounding the array of cell pockets and the top wall ( 14 ) defining a top reference plane (TRP) in a top surface of the sheet ( 12 ), and the sheet ( 12 ) having a bottom surface ( 15 ) opposing the top surface, wherein the packing tray ( 10 ) has a thickness (t) in a direction along an elongated longitudinal axis (LA) transverse to the top reference plane (TRP) and extending between the top surface and the opposing bottom surface ( 15 ), and wherein the recessed cell pockets ( 22 ) extend between the top and bottom surfaces and are open at opposite top and bottom ends of the recessed cell pockets ( 22 );
each recessed cell pocket ( 22 ) comprising an open ring-shaped recess ( 24 ) including an upper wall portion ( 26 ) forming an upper part of the recess ( 24 ) and a lower wall forming a lower ring portion ( 28 ) of the recess ( 24 ),
wherein the recess ( 24 ) is aligned with the elongated longitudinal axis (LA) transverse to the top reference plane (TRP) and is configured to be substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of a glass bottle disposed upright in the recess ( 240 ),
wherein the upper wall portion ( 26 ) extends downwardly in the direction of the elongated longitudinal axis (LA) transverse to the top reference plane (TRP) and the upper wall portion ( 26 ) has a first diameter (FD) which is configured to receive a glass bottle disposed upright in the recess;
wherein the lower ring portion ( 28 ) has an inner circumference (C) having a second diameter which is smaller than the first diameter, wherein the lower wall includes resilient elements ( 30 ) radially disposed and spaced apart about the inner circumference (C) of the lower ring portion ( 28 ), wherein the resilient elements extend radially inwardly from the inner circumference (C) of the lower ring portion ( 28 ) and are flexible and configured to engage the body diameter (BD) of the glass bottle and flexibly and resiliently bend under lateral stress (LS) such that the resilient elements provide repeatable shock absorption;
the peripheral surface ( 18 ) of the packing tray being sized to engage inner walls ( 42 ) of an outer shipping carton ( 40 ) in which the packing tray and glass bottles in the array of cell pockets are disposed for shipping.

2. A packing assembly comprising the packing tray of claim 1 combined with a bottom tray ( 50 ) and a top tray ( 60 ), wherein:
the bottom tray ( 50 ) having an array ( 51 ) of bottom tray recesses ( 52 ) aligned along the LA direction with the ring-shaped recesses ( 24 ) of the packing tray ( 10 ), each bottom tray recess ( 52 ) having an open top end ( 53 ) configured to receive a lower body portion (LBP) of the glass bottle and a closed bottom end ( 54 ) configured to engage a closed bottom end (CBE) of the glass bottle;
the top tray ( 60 ) having an array ( 61 ) of top tray recesses ( 62 ) aligned along the LA direction with the ring-shaped recesses ( 24 ) of the packing tray ( 10 ), each top tray recess ( 62 ) having an open bottom end ( 63 ) configured to receive an upper neck portion (UNP) of the glass bottle and an upper portion ( 64 ) configured to engage and support the upper neck portion (UNP) of the glass bottle.

3. The packing assembly of claim 2 , wherein the packing tray ( 10 ) and the bottom tray ( 50 ) have complementary peripheral support members ( 14 F, 55 F) configured to support the packing tray above the bottom tray.

4. The packing assembly of claim 2 , wherein the upper cell portion ( 26 ) of the packing tray ( 10 ) extends downwardly from the top wall ( 14 ) in the elongated longitudinal axis (LA) direction and includes one or more gaps ( 108 G) extending between adjacent recesses ( 24 ) of the packing tray.

5. The packing assembly of claim 4 , wherein the packing tray has one or more recessed support posts ( 118 ) that extend downwardly from the top wall ( 14 ) in the LA disposed between adjacent recesses ( 24 ) of the packing tray.

6. The packing assembly of claim 4 , wherein the packing tray includes raised support posts ( 418 ) extending upwardly from the top wall ( 414 ) in the LA direction and disposed between adjacent recesses ( 424 ) of the packing tray.

7. The packing assembly of claim 6 , wherein the raised support posts ( 418 ) of the packing tray engage the top tray ( 460 ).

8. The packing assembly of claim 2 , wherein the top tray recesses ( 662 ) define a primary height (PH) of the top tray aligned in the LA direction, and the top tray has a plurality of top tray posts ( 618 ) disposed between the top tray recesses ( 662 ) that define a secondary height (SH) aligned in the LA direction that is less than the primary height (PH), and the top tray recesses ( 662 ) and top tray posts ( 618 ) together define a ring-shaped cavity ( 619 ) to support the bottle neck (BN) of the glass bottle.

9. The packing assembly of claim 2 , wherein the assembled packing tray ( 10 ) and top tray ( 60 ) define a gap (G) aligned in the LA direction for receiving a central body portion (CBP) of the glass bottle extending through the gap.

10. The packing assembly of claim 2 , wherein the bottom tray ( 650 ) has divider walls ( 658 ) and posts ( 657 ) disposed between adjacent bottom tray recesses ( 652 ).

11. The packing assembly of claim 2 , wherein the closed bottom ends ( 654 ) of the bottom tray recesses ( 652 ) have deformable elements ( 680 ) to absorb vertical stress in the LA direction.

12. The packing assembly of claim 2 , wherein one or more of the aligned recesses ( 24 , 52 , 62 ) of the packing tray ( 10 ), bottom tray ( 50 ) and top tray ( 60 ) are configured to accommodate glass bottles of different body diameters.

13. The packing tray ( 10 ) of claim 1 , for packaging glass wine bottles.

14. The packing assembly of claim 2 , for packaging glass wine bottles.

Assignees

• Tekni Plex Inc

Inventors

• Ronning James
• Burroughs Jeff

Classifications

• B65D85/305 Primary

  Bottle-crates (formed in one piece B65D1/243) · CPC title

• B65D81/133 Primary

  of a shape specially adapted to accommodate contents, e.g. trays {(B65D81/053 takes precedence; thermally insulated trays B65D81/3816, B65D81/3827)} · CPC title

• B65D5/509

  Foam plastic elements · CPC title

• B65D5/5059

  Paper panels presenting one or more openings or recesses in wich at least a part of the contents are located (B65D5/5038, B65D5/5052, B65D5/5057 and B65D5/5286 take precedence) · CPC title

• B65D81/113

  of a shape specially adapted to accommodate contents {(B65D81/053 takes precedence)} · CPC title