Stackable ribbed bottle system

Abstract

A bottle having a storage chamber defined by spaced upper and lower surfaces and planar sidewalls; a conical ceiling in said upper surface having an opening at the top thereof; a conical convex recess in said lower surface for receiving the conical ceiling of the next adjacent bottle when stacking said bottles, and means for interlocking the sides and upper and lower surfaces of the bottles when stacked. The bottle may have ribs in the conical ceiling, conical recess and sidewalls for increasing top load resistance. A plurality of bottles may be assembled into a stable bottle stack with minimal packaging material.

1 . A system of interlocking storage bottles, each bottle comprising:
 (a) a storage chamber with an upper surface, a lower surface and at least four generally planar side walls;   (b) a central conical ceiling extending upwardly from the upper surface;   (c) a cylindrical neck extending from the center of the ceiling having an opening at its top end and means for attachment thereto of a cap;   (d) a conical recess in the lower surface of a size sufficient to envelop the ceiling, neck, and a cap of another storage bottle insertable therein;   (e) vertical interlocking means for releasably connecting each side wall to the side wall of another storage bottle stackable adjacent thereto;   (f) horizontal interlocking means for releasably connecting the upper surface to the lower surface of another storage bottle disposable thereabove; and   (g) at least one indentation in each of at least two adjacent side walls to form a handle for pouring from the storage chamber.   
     
     
         2 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  wherein each storage bottle may be stacked in an upright position above, below or beside another upright storage bottle to form a stable bottle stack. 
     
     
         3 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  further comprising a recess in at least one side wall of each bottle for application thereto of a label. 
     
     
         4 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  wherein each of the storage bottles is a liquid storage bottle. 
     
     
         5 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  wherein each of the storage bottles is manufactured of a PET plastic material. 
     
     
         6 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  wherein the size of the storage bottles is selected for use with industry standard drinking water dispensers. 
     
     
         7 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  wherein the vertical interlocking means comprises at least one recess on the side wall for engaging a corresponding protrusion on the side wall of another storage bottle. 
     
     
         8 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  wherein the horizontal interlocking means of each bottle comprises at least one recess disposed in proximity to a corner of the lower surface for engaging a corresponding protrusion disposed in proximity to a corner of the upper surface of another storage bottle. 
     
     
         9 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  wherein the means for attachment of a cap to the neck of each bottle comprises protrusions. 
     
     
         10 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  wherein the bottles in the bottle stack are fillable with a consumable material. 
     
     
         11 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 2  wherein the bottles in the bottle stack further comprise ribs in the conical ceiling. 
     
     
         12 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 2  wherein the bottles in the bottle stack further comprise ribs in the conical recess. 
     
     
         13 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 2  wherein the bottles in the bottle stack further comprise ribs in at least one sidewall. 
     
     
         14 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 2  wherein the conical ceiling of each bottle has a hexadecagonal cross section. 
     
     
         15 . The system of interlocking storage bottles of  claim 1  further comprising an undercut at the bottom edge of each of the sidewalls of each bottle providing means for lifting one or more bottles in a stack of bottles. 
     
     
         16 . A consumables storage bottle having a storage chamber, a conical ceiling in an upper surface, a lower surface, and at least four generally planar side walls comprising:
 (a) a cylindrical neck extending upwardly from the center of the conical ceiling and having an opening at its top end and protrusions for attachment thereto of a cap;   (b) a conical recess extending upwardly from the lower surface of a size sufficient to envelop the ceiling, neck and a cap of another storage bottle insertable therein;   (c) vertical interlocking means for releasably connecting each side wall to the side wall of another storage bottle stackable adjacent thereto;   (d) horizontal interlocking means for releasably connecting the upper surface to the lower surface of another storage bottle disposable thereabove; and   (e) at least one indentation in each of two adjacent side walls to form a handle for pouring from the storage chamber.   
     
     
         17 . The storage bottle of  claim 16  wherein the vertical interlocking means comprises at least one recess on the side wall for engaging a corresponding protrusion on the side wall of another storage bottle. 
     
     
         18 . The storage bottle of  claim 16  wherein the horizontal interlocking means comprises at least one recess disposed in proximity to a corner of the lower surface for engaging a corresponding protrusion disposed in proximity to a corner of the upper surface of another storage bottle. 
     
     
         19 . The storage bottle of  claim 16  further comprising ribs. 
     
     
         20 . The storage bottle of  claim 16  wherein the conical ceiling has a hexadecagonal cross section. 
     
     
         21 . The storage bottle of  claim 16  wherein the ribs are located within the conical ceiling and the conical recess. 
     
     
         22 . An assembly comprising a plurality of the bottles of  claim 16 , wherein only the side walls of each bottle are adjacent each other bottle, to form a generally quadrilateral assembly. 
     
     
         23 . The assembly of  claim 22 , further comprising at least one band of a flexible wrapping material encircling the exposed side walls of the assembly. 
     
     
         24 . The assembly of  claim 22 , further comprising a flexible wrapping material enclosing the exposed top surface and exposed side walls of the assembly. 
     
     
         25 . The assembly of  claim 22 , further comprising a strap of a flexible material extending between opposed sides of the assembly, each end of the strap connected to the band to form a handle for the assembly. 
     
     
         26 . The use of the bottle of  claim 16  in combination with a dense filling material as a flood control device.