Crate for carrying bottles

Claim 1

In combination a conveyor for transporting crates containing bottles toward a bottle gripping machine, each crate having a bottom wall to be received on the conveyor, peripheral walls upstanding from the bottom wall with spaced first and second walls generally parallel to each other and joined with spaced third and fourth wall extending generally transversely to the first and second walls, first partition walls within the container and extending generally parallel to the first and second walls and between the third and fourth walls, these partition walls intersecting second partition walls extending generally transversely to and between the first and second walls, the partition walls defining section in which individual bottles are received with their bottom resting on the bottom wall and their head portions at the upper open end of the crate, the boTtle gripping machine being disposed in spaced relation to the conveyor and over the open ends of the crates passing on the conveyor, this machine adapted to receive the head portions of the bottles and remove the bottles from the crate, the improvement which comprises means defining openings in the lower portions of said first and second peripheral walls, means defining openings in the lower portions of the first partition walls lying respectively between said third and fourth walls and said second partition walls and adjacent pairs of said second partition walls, and still further means defining openings in said bottom wall of the crate that extends between said first and second walls and aligned with the openings on said first and second walls and with the openings on said first partition walls, and ramp means fixedly disposed with respect to the conveyor to lie in longitudinal alignment within the path of movement of the openings in said bottom wall of the crate whereby as a crate passes over said ramp means this means moves through the aligned openings in the crate to contact the bottoms of the bottles in the respective sections and lift these bottles upwardly to a position where the top portions of the bottles project beyond the crate and can be operatively received in the bottle gripping machine.