Impact and vibration resistant article carrier

Abstract

A collapsible, aesthetically pleasing, impact-protective sleeve for fragile articles having as a primary structural component molded foam panels having integrally molded pillars on an exterior surface of the sleeve, on an interior surface of the sleeve, or on both the exterior and interior surfaces of the sleeve. The sleeve may comprise one or more molded foam body panels, arranged in the shape of a cylinder, or other shape. Molded foam top and bottom panels may include features that are configured to interact with top and bottom portions of a fragile article for additional protection.

1 . A protective bottle carrier comprising molded foam panels having pillars integrally molded thereon, said molded foam panels comprising open cell microcellular polyurethane foam molded to and between layers of thin polymer film, wherein the molded foam pillars are present on an exterior-facing surface of the molded foam panels, on an interior-facing surface of the molded foam panels, or on both the exterior-facing and interior-facing surfaces of the molded foam panels. 
     
     
         2 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said polymer films bears printing applied prior to molding. 
     
     
         3 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 1 , comprising four molded foam body panels, including two upper body panels, and two lower body panels, collectively arranged in the shape of a cylinder. 
     
     
         4 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 3 , further comprising a molded foam bottom panel. 
     
     
         5 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 4 , further comprising a molded foam hub portion on the interior surface of said bottom panel adapted to fit into a concave portion of a wine bottle bottom. 
     
     
         6 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 1 , further comprising a molded foam top panel. 
     
     
         7 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 6 , further comprising an annular-shaped cup portion on the interior surface of said top panel adapted to receive a narrower neck portion at the top of a wine bottle. 
     
     
         8 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 3 , wherein each upper body panel is connected to an adjacent lower body panel via one or more intervening lengths of fabric and wherein each connected set of upper and lower body panels together form a side body panel, and where each side body panel is connected to the other side body panel by one or more intervening lengths of fabric. 
     
     
         9 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 1 , further comprising a layer of fabric covering all or a portion of the exterior surface and/or the interior surface of the molded foam panels. 
     
     
         10 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 1  comprising a single molded foam body panel and a circular bottom panel, where opposite longitudinal sides of the single molded foam body panel are attached to one-another to form the body of the protective article, having a cross-section generally in the shape of a circle, oval or teardrop. 
     
     
         11 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 1 , wherein one longitudinal side of the single molded foam body panel may overlap the other longitudinal side of during attachment. 
     
     
         12 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 4 , wherein the molded foam bottom panel is in the shape of an oval or a teardrop. 
     
     
         13 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 1 , comprising a single molded foam front body panel and single molded foam rear body panel, and a molded foam bottom panel, wherein longitudinal sides of the front and rear body panels are connected to one-another to form a sleeve having a generally circular or oval cross-section, and the bottom edges of the front and rear body panels are connected to opposite sides of a molded foam bottom panel. 
     
     
         14 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 13 , wherein the molded foam bottom panel is circular. 
     
     
         15 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 13 , wherein the molded foam bottom panel is in the shape of a circle with rectangular flanking extensions. 
     
     
         16 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 13  having an open top. 
     
     
         17 . A protective bottle carrier according to  claim 1  comprising a molded foam bottom panel having a geometric shape of a predetermined number of sides, each side attached to a bottom edge of a molded foam side body panel, wherein the number of molded foam side body panels equals the number of sides on the geometric shape of the bottom panel.