AU643087B2

AU643087B2 - An improved catch for a collapsible container

Info

Publication number: AU643087B2
Application number: AU87708/91A
Authority: AU
Inventors: James Dean Coogan
Original assignee: Rees Operations Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Rees Operations Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1990-11-09
Filing date: 1991-11-11
Publication date: 1993-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 2011-11-11
Also published as: AU8770891A

Description

o4ASRAL 7 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

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Name of Applicant: REES OPERATIONS PTY LTD

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Actual Inventor,: JAMES DEAN COOGAN Address for Service: R K MADDERN ASSOCIATES, 345 King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention title: AN IMPROVED CATCH FOR A COLLAPSIBLE

CONTAINER

Details of Associated Provisional Application No: PK 3267 dated 9th November, 1990 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us.

This invention is directed to improvements in and to a collapsible container, more specifically to improved catch means for releasably retaining in an upright condition a panel or gate of a collapsible container of the type comprising a base, a pair of opposed end panels hinged with respect to the base for folding inwardly thereonto, and a pair of opposed side panels hinged also with respect to the base for folding inwardly thereonto, the container when in an erected position, being of substantially parallelepiped box shaped form, whilst when in its collapsed position, the side and end panels lie in an approximately flat condition on top of the .iase.

Collapsible storage containers comprising front, rear and side panels (or gates) which are either permanently or releasably hinged to the pallet base so that they can fold down to a collapsed condition or removed from the pallet base and stacked for transport of the container in a folded down condition, are well known in the industry. It is dosirable 20 for collapsible containers to allow one or more operators to easily and quickly access their interior. For example, when loading an empty container with goods, it is sometimes desirable that one or both of the front and rear gates of the container be bodily removed from the pallet base whilst the pair of side panels remain upright. Such an arrangement enables one or more operators to readily access the container from both the front and rear thereof and facilitate the loading operation (as well as the unloading thereof). With the front and rear gates removed or folded down, there is the danger of one or both of the side panels automatically collapsing inwardly under their own weight onto an operator when positioned in the interior of the container. It is desirable therefore that the side panels remain upright during loading or unloading operations and do not accidentally or inadvertently collapse inwardly under their own weight onto the base.

It is the main object of the present invention to provide improvements to a collapsible storage container of the type hereinbefore defined which will allow the front and rear gates or panels to be collapsed inwardly to lie flat on top of the pallet base or be bodily removed from the base with the side panels being releasably retained and remaining in an upright condition.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a catch device for releasably retaining one or both side panels of a collapsible storage container in their erected condition, which is of simple sturdy construction, relatively inexpensive and which requires no manual operation when fitted.

According to this invention therefore, an improved collapsible storage container comprises a rectangular base having stub corner posts at each of its four corners, a pair of opposed end panels or gates (hereinafter referred to as the front and rear gates) hinged with respect to the base for folding inwardly from an upright or erect condition to a 0e 20 collapised condition on top of the base, and a pair of opposed side panels hinged with respect to the base for inward folding movement from an upright or erect condition to a see. collapsed condition on top of the base, the improvement wherein each of the side panels is provided with releasable catch means for releasably retaining the side panel in its upright condition, said catch means comprising a catch fixedly carried by a respective said side panel adjacent a g lower corner thereof and catch engaging means on a respective said stub corner post, constructed and arranged so that with 0o the front and rear gates removed from the base or folded inwardly to their collapsed condition on top of the base, and the catch engaged with said catching engaging means, the side panel is restrained against inward folding movement under its •0 ovn weight, said catch, upon an inward force being applied to the panel, automatically disengaging from its engaged position with the catch engaging means, whereupon the side panel can fold inwardly to its said collapsed condition.

Preferably, said catch comprises a spring loaded detent element projecting from a vertical side margin of the side panel, the element being located above the pivot axis of the panel and releasably engageable in a hole or recess formed in a flange of a respective said stub corner post. With this arrangement, an inward force is required to be applied to the panel by the operator in order to dit;engage the spring loaded detent element from its engaged position. No manual operation of the catch by the operator is required.

Preferably, each 'side panel is provided with a pair of catch means adjacent its bottom corners, the detent elements being horizontally aligned and engageable in respective holes formed in the flanges of the associated stub corner posts.

Preferably, adjustment means is provided to adjust the spring pressure on the detent element.

Preferably, each detent element is a steel ball bearing.

Preferably, each'of the side panels is hingedly connected with respect to the base by means of a pair of laterally projecting aligned pivot pins or bolts which engage in apertures formed in corresponding flanges of a pair of stub corner posts, the hinge axis of one of the side panels being slightly below the axis of the other side panel but above the hinge axes of the front and rear gates.

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In order to more fully explain the present invention, an embodiment is described hereunder in some further detail with reference to and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which B Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view (part fragmentary) of a collapsible container according to a preferred embodiment of this invention, Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, perspective view of an end panel and side panel in their erected positions, showing a catch device at one of the bottom corners of the side panel, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken through the catch device shown in Fig. 2.

In this embodiment, a collapsible storage pallet container comprises a rectangular pallet base 11 which is provided at each of its four. corners with metal stub corner posts 12 of angle section, the pallet base 11 having an horizontal floor 13 e.g. of sheet metal, supported by an upper deck 14 which in turn is supported by a lower deck 15 by short length vertical uprights 16, in addition to the stub corner posts 12. The upper deck 14 comprises four peripheral tubular metal frame members 14' each of which extends between a pair of adjacent stub corner posts 12. The container 10 also comprises a solid front folding gate 18, a solid rear folding gate 19 and a pair of folding side panels 20, 21, each of the panels 20, 21 comprising a peripheral tubular metal frame to 20 which is secured metal mesh infill. In this embodiment, both the front and rear gates 18, 19 have their lower edges resting on the floor 13 of the base 11 and are divided horizontally into two halves (one only being shown) which are hinged together to permit the upper half to hinge downwardly so as lie flat against the outer face of the lower half, whilst each of the side panels 20, 21 is a ons piece panel.

i**e Each of the side panels 20, 21 is hingedly connected with respect to the pallet base 11 by means of a pair of laterally extending horizontally aligned pivot pins or bolts 24 which engage in apertures 25 formed in the stub corner posts 12, each of the side panels 20, 21 being hingedly mounted for inward swinging movement about an axis which is at right angles to the hinge axis of the front and rear gates 18, 19, the hinge axis of side panel 21 being slightly below the hinge axis of side panel 20. In this embodiment the hinge axes for the front and rear gates 18, 19 lie in the same horizontal plane below each of the hinge axes of the side panels 20, 21 which are supported along their lov'. edges by respective fixed skirting walls 26, 27, e.g. of sheet metal, which extend along opposite sides of the floor 13 between pairs of corner posts 12.

In this embodiment, each of the front and rear gates 18, 19 is removably supported on the pallet base 11 and, hinged for inward folding movement by axles 28, 29 respectively, the ends of each of which vertically locate in horizontally aligned T-shaped pivot support brackets 30 secured, e.g. by welding, adjacent the ends of the skirting members 26, 27.

The bottom corner of each gate 18, 19 has a cut-out section 31 to permit the axle ends to engage in the slotted openings defined by the legs of the brackets With the axles 28, 29 journalled in the brackets 30, the gates 18, 19 can undergo pivotal inwards and outwards movement about their hinge axes, but can be removed from the base 11 by an operator applying an upward lifting force to the gates so as to lift their ailes 28, 29 from their 20 supports ea Lugs 32 on opposite sides of each side panel 20, 21 are e designed to prevent outward bowing movement of gates 18, 19 when erect and also to hold the gates and panels securely together when the container is fully loaded.

In order to avol' inadvertent collapsing of the side panels 20, 21, catches 34 are secured on opposite side frame members of each of the panels 20, 21 adjacent their lower corners, and which co-operate with catch engaging means on each of the stub corner posts 12 for releasably holding the side panels 21 in an upright condition. In this embodiment each of the catches 34 comprises a spring-loaded ball element captively supported in a hollow cylindrical housing 36 so as to project from one end thereof, the ball 35 co-operating with a compression spring 37 housed within the housing 36 so as to urge the ball 35 axially outwards.

Each of the ball elements 35 is arranged tc releasably engage in a seating hole 39 formed in one of the flanges of the corner stub post 12. With this arrangement when the side panels 20, 21 are folded upwardly to their upright position, the spring loaded balls 35 automatically locate in respective seating holes 39 and releasably retain the panels in their erect position. Each panel 20, 21 is thereby restrained against inward folding movement until such time as the spring loaded ball elements 35 are disengaged from their holes 39 which can only be effected by an iniward pushing or pulling force applied e.g. by an operator, to the panel. No manual operation of the catches 34 is required in order to disengage the balls 35 from their seats 39. The balls 35 axially retract against the force of the spring 37 when the panel 21 is swung inwardly from its erect position.

The catch 34 is also provided with1 an adjustment bolt member 40 for adjusting the spring tension exerted by the spring 37 on the ball element 35 so that the degree of force needed to "10 effect disengagement of the ball 35 from its hole can be varied. In some cases it may be required to ensure that the catch is locked tightly in position so that the ball cannot be easily disengaged, whilst in other situations, the tension on the ball element may have to be lightened so that the panel 20, 21 can be released from its latched upright a Al position with minimal force.

t6 ae Adjustment of the spring pressure can also be achieved by an 6* adjustable internal nut 42 against which the inner end of the 0 spring 37 abuts. A fixed internal nut 43 threadably engages and supports the shank of the bolt f Latching means (not shown) are provided adjacent each upper corner of the erected contains: for releasably connecting together pairs of adjacent panels, such latching means being of the kind described and illustrated in the applicant's earlier filed Australian Patent Application 34800/89. This allows the upper panel portions of the front and rear gates to be quickly and easily unlocked and folded downwardly so as to lie adjacent its associated lower panel half, thereby providing easier access from both the front and rear to the interior of the semi-erected container. When in this semierected condition, each of the front and rear gates can be readily bodily removed by an operator grasping the intermediate rail of the folded down gate and applying an upward lifting force whereupon the axles 28, 29 are lifted clear of their brackets 30. The gate can then be removed from the pallet base.

A brief consideration of the abovedescribed embodiment will indicate that the invention provides a very simple and inexpensive catch for releasably holding the side panels in their erect condition and which is designed to prevent the side panels collapsing inwardly under their own weight once the front and rear gates have been folded inwardly onto the @0 top of the base or removed from the base completely.

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Claims

1. In a collapsible storage container of the type comprising a rectangular base having stub corner posts at each of its four corners, a pair of opposed end panels or gates (hereinafter referred to as the front and rear gates) hinged with respect to the base for folding inwardly from an upright or erect condition to a collapsed condition on top of the base, and a pair of opposed side panels hinged with respect to the base for inward folding movement from an upright or erect condition to a collapsed condition on top of the base, the improvement comprising releasable catch means for releasably retaining each of the side panels in its upright condition, said catch means comprising a catch fixedly carried by a respective said side panel adjacent a lower corner thereof and catch engaging means on a respective 00 said stub corner post, constructed and arranged so that with 0[,0.0 the front and rear gates removed from the base or folded inwardly to their collapsed condition on top of the base, and the catch engaged with said catch engaging means, the side panel is restrained against inward folding movement under its ;'000: own weight, said catch, upon an inward force being applied to the panel, automatically disengaging from its engaged S. position with the catch engaging means, whereupon the side panel can fold inwardly to its said collapsed condition.

2. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein said catch comprises a spring-loaded detent element, and said catch engaging means comprises a hole or recess formed in said stub corner post intermediate its ends thereof.

3. The improvement according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein each said side panel is provided with a pair of said catches, one adjacent each of its bottom corners.

4. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein said catch cqmpries a tubular housing, a detent element captively supported by said housing and projecting from one end thereof, a compression spring housed within the housing so as to make pressure contact against said detent element, said detent element being movable axially of the housing, and an adjustment member for adjusting the tension of the spring.

The improvement according to any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein said detent element is a steel ball bearing.

6. The improvement according to claim wherein the adjustment member comprises a threaded bolt threadably engaging and supported by a fixed threaded nut contained in said housing. *15

7. The improvement according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each said stub corner post is of angle section, said catch engaging means comprising a hole formed in a flange of a respective said stub corner post, said hole being located above the hinge axis of the associated said "0 side panel.

8. The improvement according to claim 1, wherein each of the side panels is hingedly connected with respect to the base by means of a pair of laterally projecting aligned pivot pins or bolts which engage in holes or apertures formed in corresponding flanges of a pair of said stub corner posts, the hinge axis of one of the side panels being slightly below the hinge axis of the other side panel but above the hinge axes of the front and rear gates.

9. The improvement according to claim 8 wherein each of the front and rear gates is removably supported on the pallet base and hinged for inward folding movement by horizontal pivots which vertically locate in horizontally aligned U-shaped pivot support brackets secured with respect to the corner posts, whereby each said gate can be bodily removed by applying an upward lifting force thereto so as to disengage said horizontal pivots from their brackets.

The improvement according to claim 9 wherein the brackets for each of the front and rear gates are secured adjacent the opposite ends of respective skirting members extending between the stub corner posts.

11. An improved collapsible storage container substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated this 4th day of August 1993 REES OPERATIONS PTY LTD By its Patent Attorneys R K MADDERN ASSOCIATES *go* Goo *9 9 9 ABSTRACT The invention relates to improved catch means for releasably retaining a panel or gate (20) of a collapsible storage container in an upright condition so that it is unable to accidentally or inadvertently collapse inwardly under its own weight onto the base of the container, the catch means comprising a catch (34) secured to the panel adjacent a lower corner thereof and catch engaging means (39) on the base of the container adjecent a corner thereof, arranged so that with the catch (34) engaged with said catch engaging means the panel (20) is restrained against inward folding movement under its own waight but being automatically disengageable upon an inward force being applied to the panel