July 2, 1968 3,390,808 MILK CRATE

INVENTORS HOUSION REHRG y RICHARD F GLDART

WBse 12 2-5s 4, 4,4/6ely ATTORNEYS. 3,390,808 United States Patent Office Patented July 2, 1968 1. 2 ency of articles being dropped into the crate from hang 3,390,808 ing on the hand-hold provided in the side panels of the MLK CRATE Houston Rehrig, Pasadena, and Richard F. Gildart, Cate. Montebello, Calif., assignors to Rehrig Pacific In the attainment of the foregoing and other objects, Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of an important feature of the invention resides in providing California a molded plastic crate in which the upper segment of the Filed Sept. 2, 1966, Ser. No. 576,957 side panels of the crate are formed as an open grid, with 5 Claims. (C. 220-73) the thickness of the grid segment in the direction normal to the panel being substantially greater than the transverse 10 dimension of the individual grid elements to provide a ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE relatively rigid lightweight panel having great resistance A molded plastic milk crate having side panels the to buckling. A generally triangular shaped hand-hold is tupper portion of which are formed as an integrally molded provided in the grid section of the side panel, with one open grid providing substantial rigidity in a direction side of the triangle being substantially parallel to the top normal to the side panels while permitting differential of the crate and spaced adjacent to and below the con shrinkage within the plane of the side panels to minimize ventional metallic reinforcing ring. The remaining two buckling of the panels upon removal of the crate from the sides of the hand-hold are inclined downwardly at a rela forming mold. The crate is provided with substantially tively large angle so that these lower sides of the hand triangular shaped hand-holds having substantially hori hold will act as a cam to deflect falling cartons of milk 20 inwardly when the bottom portion of the handle has zontal upper edges and having lower edges inclined down buckled inwardly. wardly to act as a cam and thereby prevent articles in Other objects and advantages of the invention will serted in the crate from engaging and hanging on the become apparent from the following specification taken lower edge of the hand-hold. from the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a molded plastic milk This invention relates to material handling crates, and crate embodying the present invention; and more particularly to crates molded from a synthetic resin FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on line material and suitable for handling milk bottles, cartons, 2-2 of FIG. 1, with a milk carton, shown in phantom, or the like. being dropped into the crate. Milk crates which are injection molded from a synthetic 30 Referring now to the drawings, a molded plastic milk resin material, hereinafter referred to broadly as plastic, crate embodying the invention is illustrated generally by have many advantages over the conventional wire frame the reference numeral 1, and includes a generally rec or wooden milk crates, and are rapidly replacing these tangular bottom panel 2 and side panels 3 extending prior art milk crates in many geographical areas. Among upwardly from the side edges of the bottom panel 2. the advantages of the plastic crates is their light weight, Side panels 2 are all identical and therefore only one has the ease with which they may be cleaned, and their neat been shown or will be described. A pair of vertically and attractive appearance which is not materially altered spaced flanges 4, 5 are integrally molded around the top with age. However, some difficulty has been experienced of the crate and project outwardly therefrom to define a with the molded plastic crates due, primarily, to the channel for receiving an endless metallic reinforcing ring tendency of the plastic material of newly molded crates 40 6. A pair of coined lugs 7 extend upwardly from the to shrink and become distorted or warped after the crate metallic reinforcing ring and project into the uppermost is removed from the forming mold. While this problem flange 4 to firmly secure the upward edge of the side panel has been reduced by employing a relatively heavy section 3 to the reinforcing ring. of material and/or other reinforcing at the junction be The side panel 3 of the crate 1 includes a relatively tween the bottom and side walls of the crate, and by thin, substantially planar lower segment or panel 10 and employing a relatively heavy metal reinforcing element an integrally molded open grid upper panel segment 11. around the top periphery of the crates, it has been found As is best seen in FIG. 2, the upper panel segment 11 is that the relatively large, thin-walled side panels still have relatively thick, as compared to the lower panel 10, in a tendency to buckle slightly, even when reinforcing ribs the direction normal to the side panel 3, with this thick or fins are provided on the outer surface of the side panels. 50 ness ratio being at least 3 to 1 and preferably approxi This buckling is not only unsightly, but also frequently imately 4 to 1. Thus while the panel segment 11 is rela causes difficulty in filling the crates, particularly with tively thick and therefore rigid in the direction normal to paper or plastic cartons of milk which have relatively the side panel 3, it is nevertheless relatively light weight, sharp corners between their bottom and side panels. with the transverse thickness of the individual grid seg Buckling of the crate side panels frequently causes the ments 12 being substantially equal to the thickness of lower edge of the conventional hand-holds to project the panel 10 to thereby provide for relatively uniform inwardly beyond the portion of the crate above the hand cooling of the side panel upon removal from the injection hold, which is normally held rigid by the metallic rein mold. forcing ring, so that cartons of milk being dropped into While the panel segment 11 is relatively rigid in a the crate frequently hang on this inwardly projecting 60 direction normal thereto, the open grid readily accommo ledge rather than to drop freely to the bottom of the dates any differential shrinking or contraction of the mate crate. This is a serious difficulty, particularly with high rial forming the crate. Therefore, any tendency of the speed automatic crate loading apparatus commonly en side panel to buckle within this area of the open grid ployed in modern dairies, as any delay in a carton drop due to shrinkage of the plastic is materially reduced or ping to the bottom of the crate may result in the carton entirely eliminated. becoming damaged or the loading equipment fouled. To facilitate handling of milk crates of this general Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention type, an elongated, laterally extending, hand-hold is nor to provide a molded plastic milk crate having means for mally provided adjacent the top edge of each of the side reducing the buckling of the side panels of the crate. panels of the crate to thereby provide a handle. In the Another object of the invention is to provide a molded 70 improved crate according to this invention, the hand-hold plastic milk crate having means for eliminating the tend 15 is generally triangular in shape, as illustrated in FIG. 8,890,808 3 ..: ' ' ... . 4. . . . . 1, with one side 16 of the triangle extending substantially and said side panels being completely unsupported inter parallel to and spaced below flange 5, and with the re mediate the side edges thereof and intermediate said bot maining two sides 17, 18 extending downwardly and tom panel and said reinforcing ring, the dimension of said inwardly to intersect at a point spaced a substantial dis upper segment in a direction normal thereto being sub tance from the top of the crate and located along the 5 stantially greater than the thickness of said planar vertical center plane of the crate. Sides 17 and 18 are segment, and a generally triangular hand-hold formed inclined at a relatively large angle with respect to side in the grid segment to provide, in cooperation with said 16, this angle being at least 30 degrees, and in the illus reinforcing ring, a carrying handle adjacent the top of each trated embodiment the angle is approximately 45 degrees. said panel having a hand-hold formed therein, said hand This relatively large angle is necessary to provide the hold having one side extending substantially parallel to camming action, described below, to prevent "square bot O and spaced from the top edge of the associated side panel, tom' milk cartons from hanging on the lower edge of with the remaining two sides of the respective hand-hold the handle in the event that the side panel is either de being inclined downwardly toward one another and form flected or buckled inwardly in this area. ing a part of said open grid structure. Referring specifically to FIG. 2, it is seen that any 2. The milk crate, defined in claim 1 wherein each of inward deflection of the side panel 3 in the area of the said side panels includes said grid segment and said tri intersection of sides 17 and 18 (the bottom of the hand angular shaped hand-hold to provide a carrying handle hold 15) will result in sides 17 and 18 being inclined adjacent the top of each side panel of said crate, said grid inwardly from side 16 so that a carton being dropped into structure including a plurality of elongated grid segments the milk crate will engage one or both of the sides 17, ; each extending generally parallel to one of said remaining 18 at a point spaced substantially, above this bottom por two sides, said grid segments cooperating to define a plu tion of the hand-hold. As the carton continues to drop, rality of generally rectangular openings in said upper it will be cammed inwardly so that, as the carton reaches Segment of said side walls. the bottom of the hand-hold, it is not caught thereon but 3. The milk crate defined in claim 2 wherein said grid rather drops freely to the bottom of the crate. 2 5 structure includes a plurality of elongated grid segments While we have disclosed and described a preferred em each extending generally parallel to one of said remaining bodiment of our invention, we wish it understood that we two sides of said hand-hold. do not intend to be limited solely thereto, but that we 4. The milk crate defined in claim 1 wherein the in do intend to cover all embodiments thereof which would cluded angle between said one triangular side and said be obvious to one skilled in the art and which come 30 other two triangular sides is at least thirty degrees. within the spirit and scope of our invention. We claim: 5. The milk crate defined in claim 4 wherein the thick 1. In a milk crate having a generally rectangular bot ness of said side panel within said grid segment is at least tom panel and integrally molded plastic side panels three times the thickness of said planar segment. References Cited extending upwardly from said bottom panel, and an end 3 5 less reinforcing ring extending around the outer periphery. UNITED STATES PATENTS of said crate and attached to said side panels adjacent the 2,530,481 11/1950 Rawn. top edge thereof, the improvement wherein at least two 2,743,030, 4/1956. Read. opposing side panels each comprise a substantially planar 2,970,715 2/1961. Kappel et al. lower segment and an integrally molded open grid struc 40 ture defining an upper segment, the inner surface of said THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. lower and upper segments being substantially co-planar J. B. MARBERT, Assistant Examiner.