Carrier with means for partially blocking a bar code

摘要

A carrier (22) packages a group of items (20), such as cans or bottles which hold beverages or foods and is made of a plastic material having an opaque strip (36) of material printed on its surface. The opaque strip (36) can be a solid, opaque line (38) or a series of opaque dots (40). Each item (20) includes an individual machine readable bar code (32) thereon which is at least partially covered by the opaque strip (36). The package (48) has a machine readable bar code (50) thereon which is not covered by the opaque strip (36) on the carrier (22). The opaque strip (36) prevents the individual bar codes (32) on the items (20) from being read by a typical bar code reader beam. The bar code (50) on the package can be read since it is not covered by the opaque strip (36).