Packaging for a bottle

Abstract

A packaging of a bottle ( 1 ) is provided by a re-useable thermoformed sheet (S) folded around the bottle ( 1 ) to totally enclose and contain the bottle within four mutually-hinged longitudinal wall-sections ( 11 - 14 ). The bottle ( 1 ) nests conformably in recesses ( 21 ) of each wall-section ( 11 - 14 ) for its shock protection, each recess ( 21 ) incorporating cavities ( 22,23 ) of tiered form that decrease in cross-section with depth to establish cushioning buffers ( 24, 25 ). The ends of each wall-sections ( 11 - 14 ) are moulded with an upstanding flange ( 16 - 19 ) configured with a pattern of ridges with intervening grooves that nests with the patterns of ridges with intervening grooves of each other flange ( 18 - 19 ) at that end. Ridges ( 27 - 29 ) project transversely upwards within the recesses ( 21 ) to provide resilience for cushioning the bottle ( 1 ), and the thermoformed sheet (S) when laid flat and open can receive four bottles ( 41 ) side-by-side for storage.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . The package for the bottle according to  claim 11  wherein the thermoformed sheet in the folded condition is folded into four mutually-hinged sections of a four-sided rectangular case for enclosing the bottle wrapped round circumferentially by the thermoformed sheet,
 the four mutually-hinged sections being individual sections of the thermoformed sheet spaced from one another that form walls of the case comprising, respectively, a base-wall, first and second side-walls opposite one another, and a top-wall of the case when erected. 
 
     
     
         3 . The package for the bottle according to  claim 2  wherein folding of the thermoformed sheet to form the case is about three hinges that are molded integrally with the walls of the case to enable folding on the hinges of the first and second side-walls from the base-wall and the top-wall from the first of the side-walls to close on the second side-wall in erection of the case. 
     
     
         4 . The package for the bottle according to  claim 2  wherein the walls are molded in the thermoformed sheet to have respective pairs of flanges with the two flanges of each pair upstanding at opposite ends of the respective wall. 
     
     
         5 . The package for the bottle according to  claim 4  wherein the flanges are each configured with a pattern of ridges with intervening grooves, and the pattern of ridges with intervening grooves of each flange nests ridge-within-groove with the pattern of ridges with intervening grooves of each other flange when the case is erected. 
     
     
         6 . The package for the bottle according to  claim 11  wherein ridges are molded to project upwardly within the recesses to provide resilience for cushioning the bottle. 
     
     
         7 . The package for the bottle according to  claim 11  wherein each of the recesses incorporates a cavity of tiered form that decreases in cross-sectional dimensions with depth to form a buffer on the outer surface of the thermoformed sheet. 
     
     
         8 . The package for the bottle according to  claim 7  wherein the buffer has a cylindrically-concave bottom-face extending lengthwise of the respective wall. 
     
     
         9 . The package for the bottle according to  claim 11  when laid flat in the unfolded condition with the recesses open upwardly, and including a multiplicity of bottles loaded on the inner surface of the thermoformed sheet with individual bottles located conformably side by side, and wherein an additional thermoformed sheet lies on top of the loaded bottles with the buffers supporting the additional thermoformed sheet on the loaded bottles. 
     
     
         10 . The package for the bottle according to  claim 9  wherein the buffers of the additional thermoformed sheet engage the loaded bottle conformably. 
     
     
         11 . A packaging for a bottle wherein the packaging comprises a bottle and a thermoformed sheet, and the thermoformed sheet having an inner surface and an outer surface,
 the thermoformed sheet has selectively a folded condition in which if is wrapped circumferentially round the bottle with the inner surface of the thermoformed sheet in abutment with the bottle, and an unfolded condition in which the thermoformed sheet is adapted to be laid-out flat with the inner surface uppermost,   the thermoformed sheet is configured with a series of recesses of its inner surface which in the folded condition of the thermoformed sheet are spaced from one another circumferentially round the bottle,   in the folded condition of the thermoformed sheet the bottle is wrapped round by the thermoformed sheet with parts of the bottle that are spaced from one another circumferentially round the bottle nesting conformably in respective ones of the recesses of the thermoformed sheet, and   in the unfolded condition of the thermoformed sheet the bottle lies supported on the thermoformed sheet with one of the parts of the bottle nesting conformably in one of the series of recesses.