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I want to know why milk crates have two oval holes in each end. The Internet isn't revealing any answers yet

NilaJones
Quiet public

@MLE_online

They are shaped to fit the cows' teats

Alex von Kitchen
Public

@MLE_online I haven't seen that in the ones around here
Looks like an attempt to remove a stress riser, a square corner in that spot without those would be a likely location for cracks to start

Emily Velasco
Public

@Dangerous_beans why not in the corresponding upper corners then?

Alex von Kitchen
Public

@MLE_online I'm guessing those are less likely to flex open, and putting a hole there would weaken the rim? all this is just from looking at them, i don't know for sure

Mike
Public

@Dangerous_beans @MLE_online I was thinking that, like how airplane windows can't be squared off

Jonah Gibberish
Quiet public

@MLE_online any idea who manufactured this specific milk crates? these ovals seem unique to these models

Emily Velasco
Quiet public

@jonahgibberish those are from different manufacturers. the ovals seem to be common across brands

Jonah Gibberish
Quiet public

@MLE_online where? searching milk crate images in a search engine and the designs with the ovals in that spot are in the minority. have you searched for the patent for that design?

Emily Velasco
Quiet public

@jonahgibberish well, i have three different brands in my garage and all three of them have the ovals!

Jonah Gibberish
Quiet public

@MLE_online looked at some patent images from the 1960s of milk crates that included the ovals but no information as to purpose, at this point I'd guess they are just aesthetic elements courtesy of the designer but not ruling out they serve some unknown but necessary purpose that's part of how they are manufactured

Joseph Lamoree
Public

@MLE_online This design has an innie and an outie. Maybe those features were designed to keep adjacent columns of stacked crates more stable by hooking together.

Emily Velasco
Public

@jlamoree I'm not seeing how those holes would hook together

Joseph Lamoree
Public

@MLE_online Maybe there were pegs or hooks or cables used on the trucks.

Emily Velasco
Public

@jlamoree thats an interesting thought

Erica Briony.
Public

@MLE_online so when they're upside down there is a frightened face to remind you to turn them right way up

Emily Velasco
Public

@steadilyebbing there should be more pareidolic design used to manipulate us into treating inanimate objects nicely in the world

Emily Velasco
Public

@gettingcomputey It looks like the Husky-Lite brand also has the holes. I will have to further survey other brands

Michael Ossmann
Public

@MLE_online Have you tried looking up those patents?

Emily Velasco
Public

@mossmann I'm looking now. thanks for the suggestion

Michael Ossmann
Public

@MLE_online looks like the ovals did not exist in D208439 (1967) but did exist in D209865 (1968), but I don't see any explanation for them.

Emily Velasco
Public

@mossmann very mysterious!

StellaFoxxie :spinny_fox_nb:
Public

@MLE_online are they just for tying them down in a truck bed or something? it doesn't look like the height is uniform between the different crates so i dont think they're intended to connect to eachother

Emily Velasco
Public

@dr_a this is a good start!

Nicholas Saunders
Public

@MLE_online @dr_a Mastodon. Where important issues are resolved.

Radio Free Trumpistan
Public
@MLE_online [social.afront.org] @dr_a [mastodon.social] ....as I was saying. They're important to the automated handling machines.
Emily Velasco
Public

@claralistensprechen3rd @dr_a I haven't found anything in that patent that says that's what the ovals are for, but I'm still reading it

dr_a
Public

@MLE_online it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a structural feature for molding. Are all of the patent numbers readable on the top crate in the picture?

Emily Velasco
Public

@dr_a I will look tomorrow!

dr_a
Public

@MLE_online were you able to figure out what the holes were intended for?

Emily Velasco
Public

@dr_a no. I haven't followed up. I've been meaning to email the company with that original patent but I haven't done it yet

Radio Free Trumpistan
Public
@MLE_online [social.afront.org] I strongly suspect it has a lot to do with the automated packing of those crates. A piece of automated machinery has just what it takes for those accommodations to move the crates before and after the contents are put into them.
Radio Free Trumpistan
Public
@MLE_online [social.afront.org] Handles are for humans to grip. The ovals are for the machines with an eye toward where the center of gravity is when they're filled. They're more precise than human beings. I suspect also that they're not so much for lifting as they are for orientation or sorting along conveyors, although they can lift a bit too.
Emily Velasco
Public

@claralistensprechen3rd It's a very good theory, but I've gotta see something more conclusive than a theory or I'm going to have to keep researching

Emily Velasco
Public

@North @mossmann discovered that that appear in 1968, but not in 1967

Nick Poole
Public

@MLE_online @mossmann Yeah, they appear in Rehrig's related patents after that time, too, but they're not part of the patent claim.

Looks like a fun rabbit hole here concerning the Rehrig Company, the transition from wire to wire-reinforced plastic containers and the relationship between shopping carts and milk crates.

Emily Velasco
Public

@North @mossmann if only companies still had company historians

Michael Ossmann
Public

@North @MLE_online It seemed very strange to me that those holes would not be mentioned in the patents until I just realized: The holes may have been copied (for compatibilty with equipment or whatever) from a different manufacturer. We may be looking at the wrong company's patents.

Canadian Glen :mstdnca:
Public

@MLE_online barcode window

Emily Velasco
Public

@canadianglen These holes predate the widespread usage of barcodes by a few years

Canadian Glen :mstdnca:
Quiet public

@MLE_online i tried lol 🤷‍♂️

JohnS_AZ
Public

@MLE_online Total guess ... uniform holes across vendors to allow automated equipment to grip the crates through washing, loading, and/or stacking
processes?

Emily Velasco
Public

@JohnS_AZ there's been speculation about that elsewhere in the comments, but I haven't found any conclusive proof yet!

JohnS_AZ
Public

@MLE_online Damn mastodon. It didn't show me there were other replies until I reloaded.

Emily Velasco
Public

@JohnS_AZ it's almost like this site was built by amateurs

Benjohn
Public

@MLE_online I’m going to wildly speculate that they would make the crate stronger / last longer, as they’re less likely to crack than the lattice used elsewhere, and those are points where I’d imagine there might be a lot more stress and flex to endure.

Or maybe some automatic handling tool can pick them up there?

Benjohn
Public

@MLE_online if they align between brands (which it looks a bit like they do?), where other features differ, I’d be more thinking the latter?

Frances Larina
Public

@MLE_online

I had to check some in the garage from the 1980's - no ovals. I think perhaps that may have only been certain manufacturers of the crates? Or maybe a later improvement or process change that used the ovals?

ananas
Public

@MLE_online #FediThreadsThatFeelLikeReddit (but naturally more wholesome) :blobcatgiggle:

Emily Velasco
Public

@pr06lefs yeah, I don't think you could put could through the holes without stabbing the milk jugs inside

john
Public

@MLE_online maybe it lines up with something on the milk cartons that you’d want to read without pulling it out. Like the sell-by date or fat content.

🆘Bill Cole 🇺🇦
Public

@MLE_online Lash-down points. If the main pattern just continued, you’d have people running ropes/bungies to that thin lattice, which isn’t strong enough.