AU672015B2 - A hinge - Google Patents

Description

1 672015

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant(s): Address for Service: S. *5 4 I 0* 5 *55

S

o S Cr "5.r 0*55 5* 56 VISCOUNT PLASTICS PTY LTD CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, Qld. 4000, Australia.

Invention Title: A HINGE Details of Associated Provisional Applications: No. PL 4271 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: a a =C)I I II Is 2 THIS INVENTION relates to a hinge and particularly to a hinge for use in collapsible containers.

Hinges typically comprise two parts which are hingedly connected to each other through a pivot or hinge pin.

The pivot or hinge pin is usually made from metal. In many instances, the remaining parts of the hinge are also made from metal.

However, there is now a tendency to provide hinges o made of plastic. An advantage of this is the ease and the simplicity in injection moulding the various components of the plastic hinge. Furthermore, in the case of collapsible containers, such as plastic containers, the hinge components can be moulded into the container walls. However, in the past, it has still been necessary to provide a metal hinge pin. This has resulted in increased wear and tear with rubbing of metal to plastic. A further disadvantage with such an arrangement is that the plastic containers are not easily re-cycled as it is initially necessary to remove the metal pins from the remaining plastic body. This adds to time and cost in the re-cycling phase.

A further consideration for collapsible containers is that when in the erect position, there must be sufficient wall strength to allow the containers to be stacked. If the wall is formed of two longitudinal panels which are hinged together, there is a tendency for the panel to buckle. This may be overcome by inserting or providing vertical reinforcement struts. However, this again adds to the cost of manufacture.

A further consideration with hinges is the ability of the hinge parts to be separated. Thus, for re-cycling containers or other members which have parts or panels which are hinged together, it would be advantageous if the hinge parts could be readily separated from each other to assist in the re-cycling process. As well, there are advantages if the hinge configuration is such that should a panel be damaged and need replacement, it would be a relatively simple task to do so.

It is an object of the invention to provide a hinge which may overcome some of the above disadvantages or provide a useful or commercial choice.

A hinge for a container having side walls in which at least one side wall is hinged together by said hinge, said hinge having a first part and a second part, each said part having a body and a connecting portion for hinged connection with the connecting portion of said other part, the connecting portion of one said part including a channel and the connecting portion of said other part including a male member retained by the 20 channel, whereby the hinge is movable between a folded position and a position in which the parts are in a substantially planer configuration, and when the parts are in the planar configuration, at least a portion of the body of one said part abuts the body of the other 25 said part such that when a load is applied to the hinge, the force is at least partially borne by said bodies.

The pai. of spaced walls of the female member may have free ends defining a slot. The slot spacing may be smaller than the spacing within the channel.

30 The head portion may have a configuration to be larger than the slot spacing but able to be accommodated within the channel thereby preventing the head portion from being unintentionally removed from the female member.

I" ILI I 4 Suitably, the male and female members can be pressfitted together. In this arrangement, one or both walls of the female member may be resiliently deformable so as to allow the head portion to be press-fitted into the channel.

One or both of the walls of the female member may include an opening or cut-out to accommodate the body portion of the male member. In this manner, the male member may be prevented from being removed from the channel by longitudinal movement when the hinge is in predetermined positions.

The male member may have a substantially shaped configuration defining the head portion and a body portion.

Each part of the hinge may include male and female members. Suitably, each part is provided with alternating male and female members and preferably has equal numbers of alternating male and female members. In this manner, the parts of the hinge can be made identically which may reduce manufacturing and assembly costs.

The first and second parts of the hinge may be S configured such that they abut together when in a substantially planar configuration. In this manner, the abutment can provide the hinge with the ability to withstand high load forces. The abutment may be between a wall of the female and a wall of the corresponding other part of the hinge.

It is preferred that the hinge is integrally formed from plastic, thereby doing away with the requirement of a metal pin. Furthermore, it is preferred that the hinge is integrally formed with a panel and the panel may from part of a collapsible container.

I~ An embodiment of the invention will be illustrated with reference to the following drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hinge according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a plan inside view of one of the hinge components; Figures 3 and 4 are other views of the component of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a close up view (partly cut away) of, a female member; Figure 6 illustrates an alternative attachment arrangement; Figure 7 illustrates a container including the hinge.

Referring to the drawings, and especially Figure 1, there is shown a hinge comprising two parts being arbitrarily identified as a first part 10 and a second part 11. If the hinge is integrally formed along an edge of two panels to allow the panels to be hingedly coupled together, then the respective panels form parts 10 and 11.

Each part is formed with a number of alternating female members 12 and male members 13 and in the embodiment as shown in Figure 1, each part is formed with two female members and two male members which are spaced in an alternating fashion.

Each female member 12 comprises a pair of spaced walls 14, 15 (more clearly shown with reference to Figure which are spaced apart and define a channel 16 extending therebetween. Each of walls 14, 15 have free ends which I II -CI 6 define a slot 17 and the slot spacing 17 being smaller than the width of channel 16 and this is achieved by having walls 14 and 15 curved towards each other as shown in Figure 5. The end faces of walls 14 and 15 may include a tapered surface 18, 19 (see Figure 5) to facilitate the insertion of the male member.

Walls 14 and 15 are formed from resiliently deformable plastic such that they will spread apart upon insertion of the male member through slot 17 and thereafter i will resume their original position to trap the male member within channel 16.

o0. ~Male member 13 is formed with a head portion (more clearly shown in Figure 2) which extends at right-angles S and from each side of a body portion 21. Body portion 21 is attached to the respective part 11, 10 and terminates with head portion 20. Head portion 20 is cylindrical in design and is dimensioned to be larger than slot spacing 17 but smaller than channel width 16. In this manner, head portion 20 can be S press-fitted into channel 16 by initially deforming wall members 14 and A positioning member 22 (see Figure 5) can be placed within channel 16 to limited over-insertion of head portion into channel 16, To prevent longitudinal displacement of head member 20 in channel 16, one or both of the walls of the female member (14, 15) are provided with a cut-out 23 into which body por'ion 21 can locate. Thus, once head member 20 is within channel 16 and body portion 21 is within recess 23, the hinge part 10 and 11 can be rotated relative to each other but can I ~L l -L _II IL_ 7 not be separated by relative longitudinal movement.

The hinge, when in a substantially planar configuration as shown in Figure 1, is prevented from further rotation by abutment of the two parts 10, 11 together. The abutment can be achieved by wall flanges 25, 26 and/or abutment of walls 14 and 15 with a portion of the other part of the hinge.

This arrangement allows wall panels which are hinged together to accommodate high compressive loads without buckling.

Figure 6 shows a slight alternative arrangement which shows head member 20 locating within a pair of adjacent female members as opposed to within one female member as shown in Figure 1.

Re Figure 7 shows a collapsible container having side panels which comprise a pair of panels hingedly connected by a hinge according to the invention.

The advantages of the hinge according to the invention are many. The hinge is simple in construction, can be snap-fitted together, has a high strength and can be completely re-cycled as there is no need for a metal pin.

Container panels having the hinge arrangement can be removed if damaged and replaced with new panels.

Various other changes and modifications can be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as herein defined in the following claims.

Claims (11)

1. 2. The hinge of claim 1 wherein each of said bodies has a wall and when said hinge is in the planar configuration each of said walls abut. 20 3. The hinge of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the male member comprises a head portion and a web extending from the head to the body.
2. 4. The hinge of claim 3 wherein the channel is defined by a pair of spaced walls, the spaced walls :i *25 having free ends defining a slot having a spacing smaller than the spacing within the channel.
3. 5. The hinge of claim 4 wherein the head portion of the male member has a configuration larger than the slot but is able to be accommodated within the channel 30 thereby preventing the head portion from being unintentionally removed from the channel.
4. 6. The hinge of claim 5 wherein one or both walls of channel are resiliently deformable to allow the head portion to be press fitted through the slot and into the channel.
5. 7. The hinge of any one of claims 4 to 6 wherein one or both walls of the channel have an opening through which the web of the male member may pasA. I I C_~bPLr
6. 8. The hinge as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the first and the second parts each have at least one channel and at least one male member.
7. 9. The hinge as claimed in claim 8 wherein the first and the second parts are substantially identical. A hinge substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 6.
8. 11. A container having side walls, at least one side wall comprising two panels hinged together by a hinge as claimed in any one of claims 1 to
9. 12. The container of claim 11 wherein a pair of opposing side walls are as claimed in claim 11.
10. 13. The container as claimer in claim 11 or claim 12 comprising a box.
11. 14. A container substantially as hereinbefore defined with reference to Figure 7. DATED THIS 31ST DAY OF JULY 1996 i VISCOUNT PLASTICS PTY LTD By their Patent Attorneys 20 CULLEN CO o 0*00 00*0 0o L LL~L-e- I~l~-lJs ABSTRACT S• A hinge comprising two parts 10, 11 press fitted together, each part having male and female portions. The hinge can be used on boxes to allow the boxes to collapse into S a flat configuration when not in use