Granted Patent B2

US 12,643,726 · App. 18/429,063 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Inventor: Mark Doherty (Aliso Viejo, CA)

Assignee: Niagara Bottling, LLC

B65D71/70

Abstract

Claims (27)

1 . A clip assembly for holding a bottle in a bottle pack, the clip assembly comprising:

a first sheet defining a first plurality of apertures, each aperture of the first plurality of apertures having a larger diameter portion and a smaller diameter portion;

a second sheet defining a second plurality of apertures, each aperture of the second plurality of apertures having a larger diameter portion and a smaller diameter portion; and

an adhesive positioned between a top surface of the first sheet and a bottom surface of the second sheet, the adhesive to secure the first sheet to the second sheet,

wherein the clip assembly is configured such that when the top surface of the first sheet and the bottom surface of the second sheet are adjacent and the smaller diameter portion of an aperture of the first plurality of apertures aligns with the smaller diameter portion of an aperture of the second plurality of apertures, the larger diameter portion of the aperture of the first plurality of apertures and the larger diameter portion of the aperture of the second plurality of apertures are on opposing sides of the aligned smaller diameter portions.

2 . The clip assembly of claim 1 , wherein the second sheet is identical to the first sheet.

3 . The clip assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first sheet and the second sheet are made of one of cardboard or fiberboard.

4 . The clip assembly of claim 1 , wherein the larger diameter portions of the apertures of the first plurality of apertures and of the second plurality of apertures are circular, and wherein the smaller diameter portions of the apertures of the first plurality of apertures and of the second plurality of apertures are circular.

5 . The clip assembly of claim 1 , wherein

the first plurality of apertures is arranged in a plurality of first rows,

the second plurality of apertures is arranged in a plurality of second rows,

adjacent first rows of the plurality of first rows are offset from each other, and

adjacent second rows of the plurality of second rows are offset from each other.

6 . The clip assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second sheets includes strengthening features in the form of ridges to improve rigidity of the first and second sheets.

7 . The clip assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a band configured to wrap around the plurality of bottles.

8 . The clip assembly of claim 5 , wherein:

a side of the first sheet includes a plurality of extended portions and a plurality of recessed portions, the extended portions and the recessed portions alternating along a length of the side of the first sheet,

a side of the second sheet includes a plurality of extended portions and a plurality of recessed portions, the extended portions and the recessed portions alternating along a length of the side of the second sheet,

the plurality of first rows are correspondingly aligned with the plurality of extended portions and the plurality of recessed portions of the first sheet, and

the plurality of second rows are correspondingly aligned with the plurality of extended portions and the plurality of recessed portions of the second sheet.

9 . The clip assembly of claim 8 , wherein

each extended portion of the first sheet is aligned with a corresponding extended portion of the second sheet, and

each recessed portion of the first sheet is aligned with a corresponding recessed portion of the second sheet.

10 . The bottle pack of claim 7 , wherein the clip assembly and the band are made of a same material.

11 . A bottle pack comprising:

a plurality of bottles, each bottle including a neck defining a first diameter, a bell defining a second diameter, and a support ring defining a third diameter, the first diameter being smaller than the second diameter and the third diameter; and

a clip assembly according to claim 1 wherein a bottle of the plurality of bottles extends through the smaller diameter portion of an aperture of the first plurality of apertures of the first sheet and the smaller diameter portion of an aperture of the second plurality of apertures of the second sheet and is captured between the first sheet and the second sheet, and wherein the clip assembly is configured to hold each bottle of the plurality of bottles.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (35)