AU656828B2 - Improved collapsible storage container - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PATENT OF ADDITION

ORIGINAL

656828 *e a. 6 6* a' a 6* 6 Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: REES OPERATIONS PTY LTD JAMES DEANE COOGAN R K MADDERN ASSOCIATES, 345 King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention title: "IMPROVED COLLAPSIBLE ST 6 RAGE CONTAINER" Details of Associated Provisional Application No: PL 0092 dated 18th December 1991 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us.

1 This invention relates to an improved collapsible storage container suitable for the storage of goods, and is particularly concerned with collapsible storage containers of the type having a rectangular pallet base having a horizontal floor, front and rear panels which can either be hinged with respect to the base for folding inwardly thereonto or removably mounted with respect to the base so as to allow the panels to be detached therefrom by bodily lifting same upwardly, a pair of opposed side panels hinged with respect to the base for folding inwardly thereonto and, optionally, a lid or top panel arranged to be supported on the upper edges of the front and rear gates and side panels when the container is erected so as to close off the top end of the container, the container, when erected, being of substantially parallelepiped box shaped form (hereinafter "contaiziersof the kind as defined herein").

In the applicant's earlier filed Australian Patient Application No 614133, there is described a collapsible storage container of the abovementioned type which is provided with three upwardly projecting skirting walls extending around three sides of the pallet base, each being a different height above the floor of the pallet and each having a horizontal upper edge surface on which rests a respective said panel or gate, when erect. The pallet base is preferably constructed as a square and the panels, when the container is collapsed, overlie one another, each panel having an area which is greater than half the area of the floor of the pallet base. When in its collapsed condition, the container is able to be folded down into a neat flat package for stowage.

The applicant has now recognised that certain modifications to the container construction described and claimed'in its aforesaid Australian Patent Application No 614133 are required in order to satisfy various customer requirements. These modifications avoid the need to utilise three skirting walls of different height.

2- According to one form of the present invention therefor, there is provided an improved collapsible storage container of the kind as hereinbefore defined- wherein said support base comprises: a stub corner post of angle section fixed vertically at each of its four corners, each said corner post having a height such that when said panels are in their collapsed conditions, the upper ends of the corner posts project above the level of the uppermost folded down horizontal panel; a pair of upwardly projecting side skirting walls extending along opposite sides of the support base, each said skirting wall extending between a respective pair of said stub corner posts, each said skirting wall having a horizontal upper edge surface on which is supported a respective said side panel when in its erected condition; a rear skirting wall extending along its rear edge and having a horizontal upper edge surface on which is supported said rear panel when in its erected condition; and wherein each said panel comprises substantially non-load bearing pivot pins projecting laterally from opposite sides of the panel adjacent the lower corners thereof for pivotally mounting the panel between a respective pair of said corner posts, characterised in that: the support base is dimensioned so that its length is at least one and a half times its width; the height of each of the/,aide skirting walls above the "23" floor is the same, i-d S" the height of the rear skirting wall above the floor is greater than the individual height of the side skirting walls.

Preferably, the front panel has its bottom edge resting on the floor of the support base adjacent the front edge thereof.

f ferably, the front panel is removably pivotally mounted with respect,to the pallet base by means of pivot pins projecting laterally from opposite sides of the panel adjacent the lower corners thereof, said pins engaging in U-shaped pin receiving saddles or bracket members secured to said side skirting walls, the upper edge of each said saddle or bracket member being 3 below the upper edge of its associated said side skirting wall.

With this arrangement the front panel can be bodily removed from the support base by lifting the panel a short vertical di <dnce so as to disengage the pins from their brackets.

Thereafter the front panel can be either laid flat on the floor of the pallet base or stored in a remote location.

Preferably, each of the side panels has its pivot pins engaging within respective U-shaped saddles secured to the upper edge of the associated side skirting wall, one adjacent each end thereof. Preferably, one of the saddles is inverted to form a closed loop, so as to reduce the likelihood of the panel being accidently dislodged.

As is disclosed in the 'applicants aforesaid Australian Patent Application No 614133 there is provided latching means for releasably latching together adjacent panels at the upper 99 *e 0 corners of the container when in an erected condition.

According to another form of this invention, the side skirting walls which extend alorg opposite sides of the pallet support base are of different height so that the left and right side panels (which are dimensioned so as to have an area greater than approximately half the area of the base) are hingedly supported at different'distances above the floor, which in turn S allows said side panels to be folded inwardly approximately flat one on top of the other, said front and rear panels having S their lower or bottom edges respectively resting on and supported along front and rear marginal portions of the floor of the pallet base, at least said front panel being removably mounted with respect to the pallet base. Preferably each of' Sthe front and)rear panels is formed in ,wo halves which are hinged together by hinge means to enable each of the halves to swing about a horizontal axis relative to the other half so that when in its collapsed form, one half lies approximately flat alongside of the other half. In this condition, the panels can then be laid flat on top of the floor of the pallet 4 base in spaced apart relationship, with their uppermost surfaces lying below the upper edge of the lower one of said side skirting walls. With the front and rear panels thus laid on the pallet base, the left and right side panels can then be successively folded inwardly to lie flat on top of one another.

Preferably, each of the front and rear panels is provided with a pair of locating pins projecting laterally from its. opposite sides adjacent their lower corners, the pins being arranged to removably locate in support mountings secured to the inner faces of said side skirting walls, each said mounting having walls defining a vertical slot-like opening having an open .upper end, whereby each of the panels can be removed from the pallet base by bodily lifting same a short vertical distance.

In order to further explain the invention herein, several embodiments are described hereinafter with reference to and as illustrated in''the accompanying drawings wherein: *FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of collapsible storage container according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, partly cut-away, perspective view of the circled corner portion of the support base shown in FIG.

1; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of part of a pallet base (floor removed) according to a second embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a collapsible S" storage container according to a third embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the container, shown in FIG. 4, in a partly collapsed condition.

5 In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown a collap ible storage pallet container 10 having a rectangular pallet base 11, the length of which is approximately one and a half times its width, the base being provided at each of its four corners with angle section stub corner posts 12. The base 11 has a horizontal floor 13 supported by an upper deck 14 which in turn is supported by a lower deck 16 by'"short length vertical uprights 17, in addition to the stub corner posts 12.

The base 11 is also provided with three upwardly projecting skirting walls 20, 21, 22, each of roll-formed metal profile, extending along two sides and the rear of the base 11 respectively, the height of the two side skirting members 21 being the same, but slightly lower than that of the rear skirting member 22. In this embodiment the front of the base 11 is left open.

The container 10 is provided with folding front and rear panels 23, 25 respectively and a pair of folding side panels 27, 29, oo.

each of the panels comprising a peripheral metal frame of either angle or tubular section frame members to which are secured a solid timber ply, plastics or sheet metal infill panel located on the inside of the metal frame members. In this embodiment each of the panels is a one-piece panel of rigid construction. The length of the front and rear panels is approximately one and a half times the length of the side panels.

A top or lid panel 30 is supported by the top edges of the vertical side and end panels so as to close off the open upper end of the container when in its erected condition.

Each of the side panels 27, 29 and the rear panel 25 are hingedly connected with respedt to the pallet base by means of laterally projecting horizontally aligfrld pivot pins 35 which engage in holes 36 formed in the flanges of the corner posts 12.

6 The front panel 23 is hingedly supported with respect to the base by means of pivot pins 37 which removably engage in Ushaped pin receiving saddles or brackets 38 secured to respective skir Sw embers 20, 21 adjacent the forward ends thereof. This permits the front panel 23 to pivot inwardly to lay flat on top of the floor 13 of the base 11, but also allows the panel 23 to be bodily lifted from its pivot support mountings and removed from the pallet base and stored at a remote location.

In this embodiment, the hinge axis for the front panel 23 is slightly below the hinge axis of each of the side panels 27, 29 which in turn are slightly below the hinge axis for the rear panel 25. The panels are arranged so that the front panel 23 can be firstly folded inwardly so as to lie flat on the floor 13 of the base 11, followed by the side panels 27, 29 so as to lie approximately flat on the folded down front panel 23, the side panels 27, 29, when thus folded being approximately coplanar and having their inner edges horizontally spaced apart by a small distance, followed finally by the rear panel which lies flat on top of the folded-down side panels 27, 29.

In this folded down condition the upper surface of the folded down rear panel 25 lies in a plane which is below the upper ends of the corner posts 12. The lid 30 can then be supported *23a at its four corners by the upper end of the corner posts 12, by means of corner angle members 40 fixed to the corners of the lid 30 and projecting from the upper surface thereof so as to form locating plates to enable another folded down container S to be simply and securely stacked on top thereof, with the load being transmitted through the corner posts 12.

With the side panels 27, 29 and the rear panel 25 in their erected positions, their bottom edge surfaces rest on or are contiguous with theupper edge surfaces of the corresponding skirting member 2Ci, 21, 22 whereby any load applied to the panels is transmitted directly to the base via the skirting members and virtually no load is borne by the pivot pins 35 of 7

A

the panels. The front panel 23, when erect, has its lower edge resting on the floor 13 of the base so that any load thereto is transmitted to the decking which supports the floor of the base, the pivot pins 37 being essentially non-load bearing.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, where similar items have been given the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1, the side panels 27, 29 and the rear gate 25 are hingedly mounted by means of U-shaped saddles 39, 39' secured, eg by welding, to the upper edge surfaces of the skirting walls 20, 22. One of the saddles 39' is inverted so as to form a closed loop. The pin 35 is inserted in the closed loop with the panel 27 in a \tilted condition, whereafter it is lowered so that its other pin 35 locates in the saddle 39. This arrangement prevents the side panels from being inadvertently dislodged when in use. In cases where it is desirable to fixedly retain the rear panel to the pallet base, there is provided a locking pin 41 which S: passes through the limbs of the upright saddle 39 and restrains the pin 35 against any appreciable vertical motion. The use of 3' saddles in lieu of holes formed in the flanges of the corner posts, greatly facilitates the manufacturing assembly of the S• pallet base.

In the embodiment shown in FIGZ. 4-5 of the drawings, the *0 pallet base 11 is of square form and is provided with side skirting members 20, 21 only, the front and rear of the pallet base being left open. The heights of the side skirting members 21 are different to one another so that their respective hinge axes lie in different horizontal planes. In this embodiment, both the front and rear panels 42, 43 are divided horiz6ntally into two halves which are hinged together to permit the t'"o halves to hinge relative to one another, whilst each of the side panels 44, 45 is a one-piece panel.

Both the front and rear panels 42, 43 have their bottom edges resting on or contiguous with respective front and rear marginal portions of the floor, each of the front and rear 8 panels being removably mounted with respect to the pallet base by mountings 38 which permit the panel to be disengaged therefrom by lifting the panel vertically upwards a small distance. Normally, the front and rear panels 42, 43 are folded so that the two halves lie flat against one another, with the panel still assembled on the base. The panel thus folded, is then removed from the base and laid flat on top of the floor of the pallet base (the folded panels 42, 43 being laid so that they extend between the front and rear edges of the pallet base refer FIG. With the front and rear panels 42, 43 thus laid on the pallet base 11, the side panels 44, 45 are successively folded down to lay flat on top thereof, the side panels when collapsed, being in overlapping relationship. When in the collapsed condition, all of the panels are stored within the confines of the base and assume a stacked height which is less than the corner post height, ie the corner post height above the base floor will be greater °o o S• than four times the thickness of the panels.

It will of course be appreciated that the side panels 44, can be hingedly mounted on the support base by means of pivot pins engaging in either holes formed in the flanges of the corner posts or saddle mountings of the kind shown in FIG. 3, secured to the side skirting walls adjacent the upper corners 2 thereof.

Latching mechanisms for securing together adjacent pairs of S panels at the upper corners of the container for ensuring that S" the whole assembly is held securely when it its erected condition, are substantially in accord with that described in the aforesaid Australian Patent Application No 614133.

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Claims (2)

1. 2. An improved collapsible storage container according to claim 1 wherein said front panel has its bottom edge resting on the floor of the support base adjacent the front edge thereof. 10
2. 3. An improved collapsible storage container according to either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein at least some of said panels have their pivot pins engaging in holes formed in the flanges of said corner posts. DATED this llth day of November, 1994 REES OPERATIONS PTY LTD By its Patent Attorneys SK MADDERN ASSOCIATES *o* S. oo 0 11 ABSTRACT A collapsible storage container (10) of the type having a rectangular pallet base (11) having a floor front and rear folding panels (23, 25), a pair of opposed folding side panels (27, 29), stub corner posts (12) fixed vertically at each corner of the rectangular base side skirting walls (20, 21) extending along opposite sides of the support base and each having an upper edge surface for supporting a respective side o e S panel when erected, a rear skirting wall (22) extending along the rear edge of the base (11) and having an upper edge surface for 4 S supporting the rear panel (25) when in its erected condition, the rear panel (25) being hinged about an axis which lies at a different level above the floor to that of the side panels, each panel comprising substantially non-load bearing pivot pinJ 37) projecting laterally from opposite sides of the panel 15 adjacent the lower corners thereof for pivotally mounting the panel between a respective pair of corner posts(12). 9 9*