Crate for containers

Abstract

A crate includes a bottom wall including a plurality of dividers defining a plurality of container pockets and a peripheral wall extending upward from a periphery of the bottom wall. The bottom wall and peripheral wall are thermoformed from a single sheet of plastic, such as recycled PET bottles.

1 . A method including the steps of:
 heating a plastic sheet;   forming the plastic sheet to create a crate comprising a plurality of container pockets having bottom walls and a plurality of upper side walls extending upwardly from the plurality of bottom walls, the upper side walls defining a peripheral wall extending about an outer periphery of the crate; and   placing a plurality of bottles within the crate such that every bottle within the crate is in direct contact with a portion of the peripheral wall, and such that every bottle within the crate is in direct contact with at least two others of the plurality of bottles.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each one of the plurality of bottles is received within a respective one of the plurality of container pockets. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein a lip is formed to protrude outwardly from an upper edge of the peripheral wall. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  further including the step of forming at least one divider such that the divider is contiguous with the bottom walls and further defines the container pockets. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the at least one divider includes a pair of spaced apart walls, each spaced apart wall defining a portion of a respective container pocket. 
   
   
       6 . A method including the steps of:
 (a) heating a sheet of recycled plastic;   (b) forming the recycled plastic sheet to create a crate including a plurality of walls defining the outer periphery of the crate; and   (c) placing a plurality of bottles within the crate at a first location such that each one of the plurality of bottles is in direct contact with a portion of one of the plurality of walls, and such that each one of the plurality of bottles is in direct contact with at least two others of the plurality of bottles.   
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein after said step (c):
 (d) transporting bottles and crate from a first location to a second location; and   (e) removing the bottles from the crate at the second location.   
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein after said step (e):
 (f) recycling the crate.   
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 7  wherein after said step (e):
 (g) repeating said steps (c)-(e) a desired number of times.   
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 6  wherein said step (a) includes that the sheet of recycled plastic is formed from a plurality of recycled PET bottles.