Carrier and method

Abstract

The carrier has beverage cup-holding receptacles on opposite sides of a vertical support panel, and a third much larger receptacle formed from the same blank. The carrier is stored flat and is unfolded for use at a usage location such as a motion picture theater concession stand, where it can be used to carry beverage cups in the smaller receptacles and popcorn in the large receptacle. An auxiliary tray can be mounted on an upright handle structure through a slot in the bottom, and can be used to carry other food item such as candy, hot dogs, etc. The carrier can be used to carry out fast foods such as fried chicken, french fries and beverages. Solid, bulky foods such as popcorn and fried chicken can be carried in the larger receptacle directly, without the use of a bucket or other separate container.

1 . A carrier comprising 
 a vertical support panel structure having a hand-hold structure,    first, second and third receptacle structures secured to said vertical support panel structure and unfoldable to form first, second and third receptacles, said first and second receptacles being located on opposite sides of said panel structure,    said first and second receptacles comprising a pair of compartments having side-walls including a portion of said support panel structure and extending outwardly from said support panel structure in a first direction,    said third receptacle extending laterally away from said first and second receptacles in a direction transverse to said first direction,    each of said receptacles having a bottom wall,    said third receptacle being substantially larger in volume than either of said first and second receptacles and having side-walls substantially taller than said side-walls of said first and second receptacles,    a divider wall separating said third receptacle from said first and second receptacles, said divider wall including a first divider panel in each of said first and second receptacles, attached to a vertical edge of said vertical support panel structure along a fold line and being dimensioned to span the distance between and to be attached to one of said side-walls.    
     
     
         2 . A carrier as in  claim 1  in which said first divider panel has a lower edge spaced upwardly from said bottom wall of said receptacle, said divider wall including a second divider panel in each of said first and second receptacles, said second divider panel being secured to the upper edge of said first divider panel along a fold line, said second divider panel being foldable downwardly and dimensioned to cover the space between said first panel and said bottom wall.  
     
     
         3 . A carrier as in  claim 2  including means for securing said first divider panel to said one side-wall, and said second divider panel to said bottom wall.  
     
     
         4 . A carrier as in  claim 1  including an upper divider panel for each of said first and second receptacles, said upper divider panel being formed from a panel forming a side-wall of said receptacle, said upper panel being folded along a vertical line at the location of said divider wall, said upper panels having means for securing them together to form the upper portion of said divider wall.  
     
     
         5 . A carrier comprising 
 a pair of side-wall structures, each having a series of at least four side-wall panels connected together along fold lines, each of said structures including two large side-wall panels which are substantially longer than the others in said series,    one of said long side-wall panels in one of said side-wall structures being secured to one of said long side-wall panels in the other of said side-wall structures to form a vertical support panel structure,    a portion of each of said one wall of each of said side-wall structures being removed and folded away from said one wall, said portions forming divider walls to separate said two receptacles into one large receptacle and two smaller receptacles, one of said smaller receptacles being located on each side of said vertical support structure, and    a plurality of flanges, each extending from the lower edge of one of said side wall panels and connected together to form a bottom wall for each of said receptacles.    
     
     
         6 . A carrier as in  claim 5   in which said side-wall structures in the portions forming said large receptacle are of a first height, and in the other portions forming said smaller receptacles is of a substantially smaller height,    the upper areas of said other side-wall portions being folded to form upper portions of said divider walls.    
     
     
         7 . A carrier as in  claim 5  in which said side-wall structures in the portions forming said large receptacle are of a first height, and in the other portions forming said smaller receptacles is of a substantially smaller height, in which each of said divider walls has a lower edge spaced upwardly from said bottom wall to form an opening, and in which the upper area of each of said removed portions is folded over downwardly onto one of said divider walls and is dimensioned to cover said opening.  
     
     
         8 . A carrier as in  claim 5  in which said flanges forming each of said bottom walls are interconnected so as to unfold automatically when said carrier is unfolded.  
     
     
         9 . A carrier as in  claim 8  in which flanges at opposite corners of said bottom wall are secured to an adjacent flange along a diagonal fold line.  
     
     
         10 . A carrier as in  claim 6  said upper areas bearing locking structures to lock said areas together to form an upper divider wall.  
     
     
         11 . A carrier as in  claim 5  in which said side-wall structures in the portions forming said large receptacle are of a first height, and in the other portions forming said smaller receptacles is of a substantially smaller height, the upper areas of said other side-wall portions being folded to form upper portions of said divider walls.  
     
     
         12 . A carrier as in  claim 5  in which said vertical support panel structure is closely adjacent at least one side-wall of one of said receptacles, and including an auxiliary tray having side-walls and a bottom wall with an offset slot ending adjacent one of said side-walls, said slot being dimensioned to allow said vertical support panel structure to pass through it.