Basket-style carrier for concessions

Abstract

A basket-style concession carrier includes four receiving cells for receiving tapered beverage containers, the receiving cells being positioned two each on the front and rear side of a composite handle, and further includes a first pair of spacer strips that extend from the handle to a front panel and a second pair of spacer strips that extend from the handle to a rear panel. Each pair of spacer strips defines a purposeful void that separates and cushions adjacent containers positioned at a different relative elevation and spaced apart from a side panel at a different distance, so that one of the receiving cells on each side of the handle is larger than the other, and both receiving cells are larger than the void. The carrier further includes two base supports each defined as an invertible strip extending along an opposing corner to further restrict lateral movement of the container.

1 . A carrier, comprising
 a front panel;   a pair of opposed side panels;   a handle extending at least partially between the side panels;   an upper front spacer strip extending between the handle and the front panel; and   a lower front spacer strip extending between the handle and the front panel, the lower front spacer strip being spaced apart from and positioned lower than the upper front spacer strip to define a front void between the upper and lower front spacer strips.   
     
     
         2 . The carrier of  claim 1 , wherein the upper front spacer strip and the lower front spacer strip are substantially parallel to one another. 
     
     
         3 . The carrier of  claim 1 , wherein the upper front spacer strip and the lower front spacer strip are both spaced apart from each of the side panels. 
     
     
         4 . The carrier of  claim 1 , further comprising a base support defined by pair of substantially parallel severance lines that extend across a portion of a first one of the side panels and an adjacent portion of the front panel, the pair of severance lines defining a strip for restraining lateral movement of the base of a container. 
     
     
         5 . The carrier of  claim 1 , wherein;
 a first receiving cell is defined between the upper front spacer strip and a first one of the side panels;   a second receiving cell is defined between the lower front spacer strip and a second one of the side panels; and   the first receiving cell has a width that is greater than the width of the second receiving cell, as measured along the front panel.   
     
     
         6 . The carrier of  claim 5 , wherein the width of each of the first receiving cell and the second receiving cell is greater than the width of the void, as measured along the front panel. 
     
     
         7 . The carrier of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a rear panel disposed substantially parallel to the front panel with the handle disposed between the front and rear panels;   an upper rear spacer strip extending between the handle and the rear panel; and   a lower rear spacer strip extending between the handle and the rear panel, the lower rear spacer strip being spaced apart from and positioned lower than the upper rear spacer strip to define a rear void between the upper and lower spacer strips;   and wherein:
 a third receiving cell is defined between the upper rear spacer strip and the second one of the side panels; 
 a fourth receiving cell is defined between the lower rear spacer strip and the first one of the side panels; and 
 the third receiving cell has a width that is greater than the width of the fourth receiving cell, as measured along the rear panel. 
   
     
     
         8 . The carrier of  claim 7 , wherein the width of each of the third receiving cell and the fourth receiving cell is greater than the width of the rear void, as measured along the rear panel. 
     
     
         9 . The carrier of  claim 1 , wherein;
 a first receiving cell is defined between the upper front spacer strip and a first one of the side panels;   a second receiving cell is defined between the lower front spacer strip and a second one of the side panels; and   the upper and lower front spacer strips together form a single partition between the first and second receiving cells.   
     
     
         10 . A blank for forming a carrier for receiving a plurality of containers, the blank comprising:
 a front panel having first and second opposed side edges;   a pair of first and second side panels hingedly connected to the first and second side edges of the front panel respectively; and   a handle panel disposed adjacent to both the front panel and the second side panel, handle panel being hingedly connected to the second side panel along one of opposed side edges of the handle panel and to the front panel through a pair of upper and lower substantially parallel front spacer strips, the upper front spacer strip having first and second opposed end edges and being hingedly connected to the front panel along the first end edge of the upper front spacer strip and to the second side panel along the second end edge of the upper front spacer strip, the lower front spacer strip having first and second opposed end edges and being hingedly connected to the front panel along the first end edge of the lower front spacer strip and to the second side panel along the second end edge of the lower front spacer strip,   wherein the opposed side edges of the front panel are substantially parallel to the one side edge of the handle panel as well as to the first and second end edges of the upper and lower front spacer strips,   wherein the first side edge of the front panel is disposed at a first distance from the first end edge of the upper front spacer strip,   wherein the second side edge of the front panel is disposed at a second distance from the first end edge of the lower front spacer strip, and   wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance.   
     
     
         11 . The blank of  claim 10 , wherein each of the first and second distance is greater than the distance between the first end edges of the upper and lower front spacer strips. 
     
     
         12 . The blank of  claim 10 , wherein the distance between the second side edge of the front panel and the one side edge of the handle panel is generally equal to the distance between the first and second end edges of each of the upper and lower front spacer strips. 
     
     
         13 . The blank of  claim 10 , wherein the distance between the first side edge of the front panel and the first end edge of the lower front spacer strip is greater than the first distance, the distance between the first side edge of the front panel and the second end edge of the upper front spacer strip is greater than the distance between the first side edge of the front panel and the first end edge of the lower front spacer strip, the distance between the first side edge of the front panel and the second end edge of the lower front spacer strip is greater than the distance between the first side edge of the front panel and the second end edge of the upper front spacer strip, and the distance between the first side edge of the front panel and the one side edge of the handle panel is greater than the distance between the front side edge of the front panel and the second end edge of the lower front spacer strip.