ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,668,409, issued on June 30, was assigned to Illinois Tool Works Inc. (Glenview, Ill.).
"Container carrier" was invented by Kayla E. Barreto (Huntley, Ill.), Christopher J. Samaras (Tinley Park, Ill.), George P. Moreland (Greer, S.C.), Jimmy D. Whitten (Westminster, S.C.) and Michael C. Czarnecki Jr. (Bensenville, Ill.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A container carrier forming a package of unitized containers includes a network of molded ribs forming a plurality of container receiving openings formed in a plane. An arrangement of inwardly extending tabs are formed in each container receiving opening toward a center of each container recei...