US3490583A - Anti-skid container trays - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 20, 1970 w. H. cooK ANT I SKID CONTAINER TRAY S I Filed Nov. 5. 1967 I N VEN TOR. MAL/4M 6, 000

United States Patent US. Cl. 206-65 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and means for unitizing palletized loads of cartons or trays of glassware of the type wherein the contained bottles, jars or the like have their upper portions extending above the level of the sides of the cartons so that the bottoms of the cartons are placed directly upon the glass finishes when stacking. A thin coating of a rubber-like or latex material is sprayed, extruded, brushed, or rolled on the undersides of the cartons, and on the sides if desired, to provide a non-marring and nonskid surface which frictionally contacts the rims of the glassware and prevents sliding or relative movement between the cartons in the palletized load. The coating is also effective with closures on the glassware and may be applied in various patterns as desired providing that the areas of the uncoated portions are smaller than the areas included within the contacting surfaces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the unitizing of palletized loads and more particularly to a method and means for preventing the shifting of stacked cartons of glassware wherein the bottoms of the cartons are placed directly on the exposed upper surfaces of the glassware which extend above the carton sides.

A long standing problem in connection with the handling and shipping of palletized loads of stacked packages or cartons has been the maintenance of the composite load in a unitized condition. As the coefficient of friction between the surfaces of the cartons is generally comparatively low, the individual units or packages within the total load have a tendency to move relative to each other in response to the various accelerations to which the load may be subjected during handling and shipping. If this relative displacement becomes large enough the load may disintegrate and collapse resulting in damage to the individual packages and their contents and possible injury to bystanders.

Many diverse methods have been used in the past to maintain these palletized loads in a unitized condition. The overall loads have been tied about their peripheries with chains or straps to hold the individual cartons in place or various stakes or side pieces have been used on the pallet to prevent shifting of the cartons thereon. In addition to the many methods for containing the overall load, various attempts have been made to prevent the localized .moving of the cartons relative to each other by the application of glues and adhesives to the surfaces of the individual cartons; by taping of the cartons together: and by the application of non-skid tape strips to their surfaces. Also, sheets of non-skid material have been placed between the cartons to hold them in place.

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While these diverse methods have had varying success depending on the types of materials and loads to which they have been applied, these methods have had little success when used in connection with loads of the type comprising cartons of glassware wherein the upper portions of the bottles or jars, or the like extend above the sides of the cartons so that the bottoms of the cartons are placed directly upon the glass rims therebeneath when stacking. This glass to carton surface interface poses peculiar problems since the use of a glue or adhesive, which would adhere to the rims of the glassware, is undesirable and an abrasive material which would mar the finishes is similarly unacceptable. Any non-skid material which might be used in this application must also be chemically inert so as not to contaminate the rims or interiors of the glassware which for the most part is used to package edible products.

Prior attempts to solve this particular problem have generally consisted of constructing the undersides of the cartons with extensions or interlocking means to grip the glassware but this requires specially constructed cartons and special handling which add to the expense and time involved in the shipping operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Applicant has devised an improved and inexpensive method and means which solves the long standing problem peculiar to palletized loads of stacked cartons of exposed glassware by using a thin rubber-like coating which is sprayed, rolled or brushed on the underside of the cartons prior to stacking and which provides a surface of sufficient friction to prevent the shifting of the cartons relative to each other while avoiding any contamination or damage to the glassware therein.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and means of unitizing palletized loads of glassware.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a unitized package of cartons of glassware with improved handling and shipping capabilities.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, labor saving method of unitizing palletized loads without the need for special equipment or handling.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for rendering the individual cartons to be used in a palletized load as resistant to relative shifting with respect to adjacent cartons and capable of continuous re-use.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide such a means which may be used with standard cartons now in use without the need for any special construction.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustrating and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a palletized load of cartons containing glassware of the type to be used with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a showing of a preferred method of applying the improved non-skid coating of the present invention wherein the coating is sprayed on;

FIG. 3 shows a finished carton resulting from the method of FIG. 2 when used with an apertured mask;

FIG. 4 is a showing of another method of applying the improved non-skid coating of the present invention Wherein the coating is extruded through a suitable tool onto the underside of the carton;

FIG. 5 shows a finished carton resulting from the use of a slotted mask during the coating application; and

FIG. 6 is a partial exploded sectional view of the interface between the carton undersides and the upper surfaces of the glassware with and without a closure and including the improved coating resulting from the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION FIG. 1 shows a package 1 comprising a palletized load of stacked cartons of glassware of the type to be used with and which results from the use of the method and means of the present invention. The glassware is shown in the figure as beverage bottles 2 such as used to contain beer or soft drinks but any type of glass jar or other container might also be used in connection with the present invention. The stacked units in this palletized load are cartons or beverage trays 3 which contain a number of bottles 2 arranged in rows therein with their upper portions extending above the sides of the trays 3. As the upper portions of the glassware are exposed in normal handling, when these units are to be stacked it is necessary to place the bottoms of the trays 3 directly on the glass rims or finishes of the ware immediately beneath. Since the glassware normally has a smooth and comparatively slippery surface and is often covered with a protective lubricating coating it is particularly difficult to prevent the cartons 3 from readily moving or sliding thereon. This is a very undesirable feature in the handling and shipping of these units as it becomes more difficult to unitize, that is, maintain a compact load, when the units are stacked one upon the other on a shipping pallet such as is shown at 4.

The prior methods described above for maintaining a compact load such as placing chains or straps about the periphery of the load require a great deal of equipment and in addition are fairly time consuming in assembly and disassembly. Also, the special trays that have been designed having extensions and interlocking arrangements on the undersides to fit over and grip the upper surfaces of the glassware again require the expense of specially constructing the trays or cartons.

Applicant has found that by applying a thin, rubberlike coating 5 to the underside of the cartons 3 a sufiicient unitizing effect is achieved which prevents relative shifting of the units in the load under normal handling and shipping conditions.

A particular rubber-like friction material which has been found to be suitable in this application is a solution containing a synthetic latex. This coating which before application is an aqueous solution of a synthetic latex containing between 39 to 41% of solids and having a viscosity of 8/ 10,000 centipoise, has been found to dry after application within twenty seconds. It is obtainable commercially from Rubber Latex Company of America of Clifton, New Jersey, under the trade name Sta-Put L-ll2.

FIG. 2 shows this latex material 10 being applied to the underside of a glassware carton 3 by the use of a sprayer 6 but it may be applied equally well by extruding, brushing, or rolling the liquid solution on to the surface of the carton material. The application by an extruding tool 8 is shown in FIG. 4. If desired it may also be ap- .4 plied to the sides of the cartons as at 9 in FIG. 2 to help prevent relative movement between adjacent cartons.

The coating is preferably applied in a fine spray forming a thin continuous film layer over the underside of the carton. However, it is within the purview of the present invention to utilize various patterns of the coating on the carton surface. A mask 11 containing holes 12 in a circular pattern or the like may be placed over the surface before spraying and upon removal thereafter leaves the coating pattern shown in FIG. 3 with the dotted lines 1 3 indicating where the rims of the glassware contact the carton surface. A lined surface 18 or a strip pattern 14 might also be used as respectively shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. When applied in this manner to the underside of the cartons the areas of the uncoated portions should be less than the area comprehended by one of the rims of the glassware to be used in connection therewith. This will insure against any slippage which might occur by having the rims of the glassware contacting nothing but the uncoated surface of the cartons. The lines in FIG. 4 may be fiat or form ridges or may be spread after application to form a continuous surface.

The cartons 3 may be of any suitable material used in the construction of such items, for example, paperboard or wood to which the rubber-like film 5 will adhere and the thickness of the film or coating will generally be dependent upon the particular requirements of the load to which it is being applied. Ordinarily a relatively thin layer is desirable and will sufiice.

FIG. 6 shows the improved rubber-like friction coating 5 of the present invention acting in the interface between a paperboard carton bottom 15 and the upper portions of beverage bottles 2 on which the carton has been placed. The bottle 2 on the left is provided with a closure 16 while the one on the right has its finish in direct contact with the coating 5. It will be seen that a non-skid surface has been created on the bottom 15 of the carton 3 which will not mar or contaminate the glass while providing sufficient friction to prevent relative movement between the carton 3 and the glassware 2.

Tests of palletized loads of this type embodying the present invention have been quite successful even with the presence of protective coatings such as monostearate and polyethylene on the glass finishes. No significant latex or carton fibre residue was detected on the bottle finishes and the friction coating has been found to be effective with filled bottles as well.

It will thus be seen that a simple and inexpensive method and means is provided by the applicants use of a thin, rubber-like coating on the underside of glassware cartons that are to be stacked in a palletized load on the upper rims of the glassware contained beneath, which produces an improved unitized package without requiring complicated and expensive equipment and time consuming assembling and disassembling of the load.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts and in the steps of the method herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a palletized load of glassware-containing trays in which the bottoms of the trays are placed upon the tops of the gla sware the improvement comprising a non-skid rubber-like material adhered to the outer surface of the undersides of the cartons, the rubber-like material comprising an aqueous solution of synthetic latex containing between 39 to 41% of solids and having a viscosity of %0,000 centipoise, said material being applied in a discontinuous pattern with the uncoated portions being of such dimensions as to contact only a portion of each of the glassware tops.

2. The palletized load as claimed in claim 1 in which said material is adhered in the form of generally circular spots.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Bomberger 20665 CuflE et a1. 206-2 Borgstrorn.

Hotchner 19041 Salzenbrodt 22069 10 Martin 20665 Jones et a1. 206--62 Scholl 11710 Levine 220-21 5 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, J 11., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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