DE3871993T2 - FOLDABLE CONTAINER. - Google Patents

Description

Technical field

The invention relates to containers for packaging and transporting bulk goods, whereby these containers can be folded up and stacked on top of one another to reduce space and for return transport.

State of the art

Permanent collapsible containers are already being used by packaging and transport companies. One such container is shown, for example, in US Pat. No. 4,591,065 by Dennis H. Foy. This collapsible container has a molded plastic base plate from the edges of which four side walls extend vertically upwards. These walls are arranged offset in the vertical direction so that one side wall can be folded over the base plate while another side wall is folded over the first-mentioned side wall, so that in this way a vertically overlapping arrangement is created. On two of these side walls the hinges provided are provided with a corresponding intermediate element and slots so that the respective side wall can be moved vertically with respect to the base plate in order to be able to lock and unlock the side walls against each other. The upper edges of the side walls are provided with projections which cooperate with feet provided on the base plate in order to To be able to position containers on top of each other and stack them on top of each other.

A certain disadvantage of such containers is that the base plate only has feet which extend downwards and outwards, with no means being provided for inserting the projecting pins of forklift trucks into the base plate in order to be able to lift or set down the respective container. The upper edges of the side walls are also provided with separate projections which engage with the feet in order to be able to place further containers on the upper edges of the side walls.

DE-A-3 500 427 shows a collapsible container, which is designed according to the features of the preamble of claim 1. Such an arrangement requires manual locking of the flap provided in one of the side walls of the container.

Finally, EP-A-0 211 116 shows a collapsible container which is also provided with manually operable latches which can be operated in a similar manner to DE-A-3 500 427.

Characterization and advantages of the invention

It is the object of the present invention to create an improved collapsible container in which the opening of the container walls is made easier in all practical applications.

The invention results from a collapsible container according to the features of claim 1. Advantageous further developments of the invention result from the subclaims 2 to 8.

Figures of the drawing

Further advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. They show:

Fig 1 A perspective view of the container with the side walls arranged in a vertical locked position.

Fig. 2 A perspective view in which the flap provided in the first side wall is unlocked and folded forward.

Fig. 3 A perspective view of the folded container, shown from substantially the same angle as in Figure 2.

Fig. 4 An enlarged sectional view of the wall locking elements with which adjacent side walls are locked against each other in the vertical position.

Fig. 5 An enlarged top view of the wall locking elements in the locked position.

Fig. 6 A perspective view of the underside of the base plate, which is designed for stacking the containers.

Fig. 7 An enlarged exploded view of the hinge elements to illustrate the hinge consisting of tongues and recesses.

Fig. 8-10 Sectional views along lines 8-8, 9-9 and 10-10 of Figure 7 and

Fig. 11 enlarged plan views of the flap locking elements showing the flap locked in the vertical closed position.

Description of an advantageous embodiment

Figure 1 shows a collapsible container 10. This container 10 has a base plate 12 and a plurality of side walls 14-20 which extend upwards from the edges of the base plate 12. According to Figure 1, the upper edges 22 of the side walls 14-20 lie in a horizontal plane. The container 10 has hinge joints 24 with which the side walls 14-20 are hinged to the base plate 12. The hinge joint 24 of the first side wall 14 is offset in the vertical direction from the hinge joint 24 of the side wall 16, so that the first side wall 14 and the second side wall 16 overlap each other when folded onto the base plate 12.

According to Figure 7, the hinge joints consist of a number of tongues and recesses which are provided along the bottom edges of the side walls 14-20 and the upper edges of the base plate 12, whereby the tongues of the side walls 14-20 engage in the corresponding recesses of the base plate 12 and vice versa. The hinge joints 24 also have a series of transverse bores 26 which are provided along the bottom edges of the side walls 14-20 and the upper edges of the base plate 12 in the region of the tongues and recesses. Within these transverse bores 26 of the side walls 14-20 and the base plate 12, hinge pins 28 are inserted. Locking disks 30 are inserted at the ends of these hinge pins 28, so that in this way the tongues come to lie in the corresponding recesses and a pivoting movement of the side walls 14-20 relative to the base plate 20 can be carried out. The hinge pins 28 are each inserted in a plurality of transverse bores along the bottom edges of the side walls 14-20 and the upper edges of the base plate 12 in order to enable a pivoting of the base plates 14-20 in relation to the base plate 12. The hinge pins 28 can consist of extruded fiberglass which is provided with a resin-enriched surface. This resin-enriched surface of the hinge pins 28 reduces wear and thus extends the service life. The hinge pins 28 are essentially unbreakable and can allow significant deformation. When inserted into the respective hinge joint 24, the respective hinge pin 28 resists deformation because the loads occur in the area of the tongues and recesses. The individual tongues can only transmit external and internal forces to a small cross-sectional area of the hinge pin 28. The hinge pin 28 resists such loads over a small cross-sectional area and is essentially rigid within the hinge joint 24. This increases the strength of the joint. The various tongues and recesses of the hinge joint 24 are also designed such that the thickness of the hinge joint 24 in the area of the base plate 12 is greater than the thickness of the hinge joint 24 in the area of the side walls 14-20. The tongues and recesses of the base plate 12 can be more than twice as thick as the tongues and recesses of the side walls 14-20. This results in much stronger hinge joints than those used in the previously known foldable containers. Figures 8 to 10 show the relationship between the hinge holes 26 of the base plate 12 and the hinge pin 28 at different points of the hinge joint 24 consisting of tongues and recesses.

The hinge joints 24 of the first side wall 14 and the second side wall 16 are vertically offset in horizontal planes, while the hinge joints 24 of the third side wall 18 and the fourth side wall 20 are in the same horizontal plane above the horizontal plane of the hinge joint 24 of the side wall 16. The third side wall 18 and the fourth side wall 20 extend from the hinge joints 24 in the direction of the upper edges 22 over a distance which is less than half the distance between the hinge joints 24 of the third and fourth side walls 18 and 20, respectively. When folded down, the opposite side walls 18 and 20 therefore do not overlap, but lie flat on the folded down side walls 14 and 16, as shown in Figure 3.

The container 10 is provided with connecting elements 32 with which the side edges of the side walls 14-20 can be connected to one another in the folded-up state. According to Figure 2, these connecting elements 32 consist of a plurality of vertically offset projections 34 which are arranged along one edge of a side wall, while recesses 36 are also provided along the corresponding edge of the adjacent side wall, into which a projection 34 engages. In use, the side walls 18 and 20 are folded into the vertical position, whereupon one of the two side walls 14 or 16 of the hinge joint 24 is also pivoted upwards so that the corresponding recesses 36 in the projections 34 now engage. The side walls 14-20 can therefore be folded from the folded-down position by the distance defined by the hinge pins 28. formed axes can be swiveled vertically up and down again.

The side walls 14-20 are provided with flat inner surfaces 38 on the inside, while ribs 40 are provided on the outside, which are arranged at appropriate distances from one another. In order to reinforce the side walls 14-20, these ribs 40 are arranged at closer distances in the area of the upper edges 22 of the side walls 14-20 and in the area of the base plate 12. These ribs 40 consist of horizontal ribs 41 and vertical ribs 43. In the area of the upper edges 22 and near the base plate 12, these horizontal ribs 41 are arranged closer together in the vertical direction, while in the middle area of the side walls 14-20 they are at a greater distance from one another. In the area of the upper edges 22 and near the base plate 12, the vertical ribs 43 are arranged closer together in the horizontal direction, while in the middle area of the side walls 14-20 they are further apart. The side walls 14-20 can additionally have diagonally running ribs 45 in order to increase the load-bearing capacity of the upper edges 22 of the side walls 14-20 and near the base plate 12 of the container 10 and to ensure the structural integrity of the container under a wide variety of loads.

The container 10 additionally has locking devices 42, with which the lateral edges of the side walls 14-20 can be locked against the lateral edges of adjacent side walls when folded up. According to Figures 4 and 5, these locking devices 42 each consist of a latch 44, which is fastened to at least one lateral edge of the side walls 14-20 by means of fastening elements 45, for example rivets. These latches 44 each have an outwardly projecting Latch projection 46. The side walls 14 and 16 are preferably each provided with a latch 44 on both sides. The locking devices 42 further comprise longitudinal grooves 48, which are each provided along the side edge of the adjacent side wall opposite the latch projections 46 of the latch 44. These longitudinal grooves 48 are preferably provided along the two side edges of the side walls 18 and 20. Finally, the latches 44 are each provided with a hollow space 50. Elastic elements 52 are inserted within the respective hollow spaces 50, with which the latch projections 46 of the latches 44 can be brought into engagement with or out of engagement with the corresponding longitudinal grooves 48. These elastic elements 52 are compression springs. The latch 44 finally has a flange 54 projecting to the side, which serves as a handle to manually operate the latch 44. In use, the respective latch 44 is moved by gripping the flange 54 so that the latches 44 present in the side walls 14 and 16 are displaced in planes running parallel to these side walls, whereby the respective latch lugs 46 come into or out of engagement with the longitudinal grooves 48 of the adjacent side walls 18 and 20.

The container 10 additionally has a flap 58 which is arranged within an opening 60 of at least one of the side walls 14-20. With the help of this flap 58, the respective opening 60 can be opened and closed in order to gain access to the interior of the container 10 when the side walls 14-20 are folded up. If individual containers 10 are stacked on top of one another, the flaps 58 located in the openings 60 of the side walls 14-20 can be opened in order to gain access to the interior of the individual containers 10 when the side walls 14-20 are folded up. The respective flap 58 consists of the actual Flap element 62, which is arranged within the opening 60 of the side walls 14-20, and a flap hinge 64, which is preferably attached to the lower edge of the flap element 62 and the corresponding lower edge of the opening 60, in order to ensure that the flap element 62 folds down in relation to the respective side wall 14-20. The flap hinge 64 has a flexible C-shaped element 66, with which the respective flap element 62 can be pivoted outwards in relation to the respective side wall 14-20, as shown in Figure 2. One flange of this flexible C-shaped element 66 is connected to the lower edge of the opening 60, while the other flange is connected to the lower edge of the flap element 62, so that in this way the flap element 62 can be pivoted outwardly from a closed position relative to the side wall 14-20 into an open position of the container 10. When the flap element 62 is in the fully open position, it extends downwards in a vertical plane, this vertical plane running parallel to and near the respective side wall 14-20.

Finally, the container 10 has a flap lock 68, with which the flap element 62 engages with the side walls 14-20 in order to prevent an undesired pivoting of the flap element 62 in relation to the respective side wall 14-20. When unlocked, however, the flap element 62 can be released from the side wall 14-20 in order to carry out a pivoting movement of the flap element 62 in relation to the respective side wall 14-20. According to Figure 11, this flap lock 68 is designed similarly to the side wall lock 42. The flap lock 68 therefore has a latch 70 fastened in the side flap 62, which is provided with a corresponding latch projection 72, which fits into a groove 74 of the recess 60 comes into engagement. The locking lugs 72 are pressed outwards into the corresponding groove 74 with the aid of a spring element 73, for example a compression spring. The spring element 73 is arranged between the flap element 62 and the latch 70 and exerts a force on the latter so that the respective locking lug 72 is pressed outwards. The locking lug 72 has an inclined surface 75 on the side facing the inside of the container 10, while a straight surface 77 is provided parallel to the side wall of the groove 74. Both surfaces 75 and 77 are provided opposite one another at the distal end of the locking lug 72. When the flap element 62 is pivoted upwards into the closed position, the flap element 62 can only be opened by manually releasing the lock 68. For this purpose, the latch 70 is pushed back against the force of the compression spring 73 until the latch projection 72 comes out of the groove 74, whereupon the flap element 62 can be opened. When closing the flap element 62, however, it only has to be pressed with sufficient force to push the latch projection 72 back as soon as the inclined surface 75 of the latch projection 72 comes into contact with the recess 60. The flap lock 68 is therefore self-snapping when closing the flap element 62, but not when opening the flap element 62. The inclined surface 75 facilitates the automatic pushing back of the latch projection 72 when closing the flap element 62, without manual actuation of the latch 70 being necessary. After the latch 72 has been retracted and the flap element 62 has been brought into the fully upward, closed position, the latch projection 72 comes into engagement with the groove 74 under the influence of the compression spring 73. Preferably, latches 70 are provided on each side of the flap element 62, while corresponding grooves 74 are provided on both sides of the recess 60. The arrangement of latches 70 on both Sides of the flap element 62 allow an operator to open the respective flap element 62 without letting go. If the latches 70 were arranged in the area of the side walls 14-20 and the corresponding grooves 74 were arranged within the flap elements 62, then there would be a risk that when the respective flap element 62 was opened, it would fall freely outwards and injure the operator. In this case, the operator can exert less influence on the flap element 62 because the operator's hands would grip the latches 70 which are provided within the side walls 14-20. However, within the scope of the present invention, this situation can be prevented. The activation of the flap lock 68 takes place in a similar way to the side wall lock 42. The recess 60 additionally has a flange 76, which acts as a stop to prevent the flap element 62 from pivoting past the side walls 14-20 into the interior of the container 10.

The base plate 12 of the container 10 is convex in relation to a flat support surface. The support plate 12 is therefore not completely flat or parallel to the flat support surface. The support plate 12 has a rigid upper plate 80 from which support supports 82 lead downwards. This forms channels 84 through which the lifting pins of a lifting device, for example a forklift, can be inserted. These support supports 82 of the base plate 12 are also designed such that the containers 10 can be stacked vertically one on top of the other. The support supports 82 consist of corner supports 86 arranged in the area of the four corners of the top plate 80, peripheral supports 88 arranged approximately in the middle of the outer circumference and a central support 90 provided in the area of the middle of the top plate 80. The supports 86, 88 and 90 extend downwards from the top plate 80 in the manner of feet, so that the latter is held at a certain distance from the support surface. The support supports 82 correspond to spacer elements 92 with which the corner supports 86, the peripheral supports 88 and the central support 90 are held relative to a base plate designed corresponding to the top plate 80. The base plate 12 is therefore designed similarly to a pallet. The spacers 92 reinforce the supports 86, 88 and 90 and form this base plate. Spacers 92 connect the corner supports 86 to the peripheral supports 88 on the one hand and the central support 90 to the peripheral supports 88 on the other hand, so that in this way a base plate is formed which is designed essentially the same as the top plate 80. The spacers 92 each have strip elements 94 which form a plate. The strip elements 94 have essentially the same width as the supports 86, 88 and 90, whereby four rectangular openings are formed in the base plate. Both the top plate 80 and the strip elements 94 have longitudinal slots 96. The strip element 94 has an edge strip 98 along its outer edge which extends downward and outward from the strip element 94. This edge strip 98 abuts the inner edge of the side walls 14-20 when they are folded up for stacking individual containers on top of each other. The edge strip 98 of the strip element 94 forms a perimeter which is similar to the opening which is created when the side walls 14-20 are pivoted up. The edge strip 98 comes to lie inside the opening in order to prevent movement of the container 10 when it is stacked on top of each other. In this way, it is possible for any combination of folded and unfolded containers to be stacked on top of each other.

The corner supports 86 and the peripheral supports 88 form a pair of channels 84 into which the lifting lugs of a forklift truck can be inserted in order to lift containers 10 The corner supports 86 and the perimeter supports 88 have flat outer surfaces 100 which run along the perimeter of the top panel 80. They also have inner surfaces 102 which extend diagonally from the outer surfaces 100 so that the lifting lugs of the forklift are guided into the channels 84. The skirt 98 includes a sloped surface 104 to guide the lifting lugs of the forklift into the channels 84. However, when the flap member 62 is folded outwardly, it partially blocks the channels 84, thus preventing the container 10 from being moved in the flap-open condition. Accordingly, any combination of folded and unfolded containers can be stacked on top of one another.

The invention has been described in the form of an embodiment. It should be understood, however, that the terminology used is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply any limitation on the scope of the patent application.

Taking the above statements into account, the most varied modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the present invention. However, within the scope of the appended claims, in which the reference numerals serve only for explanation, the present invention can also be used in a modified manner.

Claims (8)

1. A collapsible container arrangement (10) comprising a base part (12) with a plurality of side edges from which side walls (14, 16, 18, 20) extend upwards, said side walls being connected to the base part by means of hinge elements (24), and at least one side wall having an opening (60) within which a door (62) is arranged, with which the opening in question can be opened and closed in order to gain access to the container arrangement (10) through the side walls in the vertical position thereof, and a door lock (68) is provided on the door, which in the locked position results in a releasable engagement of the door with respect to the side wall in order to prevent pivoting of the door with respect to the side wall, and which in the unlocked position releases the door with respect to the side wall in order to allow pivoting movement of the door with respect to the side wall, and said door lock has a latch (70) which is fastened to the door and has a projection (72) which extends outwards from the side wall, while at the same time a groove (73) is provided in the opening opposite the projection, into which the projection (72) slidably engages in the closed and locked position of the door, characterized in that the projection (72) has an inclined surface (75) at its distal end, and that this projection of the latch engages in the closed position of the door by means of a spring element with the channel, so that the door can be folded from the open position into the closed position and locked into place there due to the spring element and the inclined surface of the latch, without the latch of the door lock having to be operated manually. 2. Container arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the distal end of the extension has a straight surface (77) opposite the beveled edge, and that the beveled surface present at the distal end of the extension is provided on the inside of the arrangement. 3. Container arrangement according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a spring (73) is provided between the door and the latch. 4. Container arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that additional locking elements are provided in order to lock the side edges of the side walls in the vertical position relative to the side edges of the adjacent side wall. 5. Container arrangement according to claim 4, characterized in that the further lock elements each have a bolt (44) which is attached close to one edge of one side wall and has a projection (46) which extends outwards from one side, while a longitudinal groove (48) is provided along the edge of the adjacent side wall, into which the projection slidably engages. 6. Container arrangement according to claim 5, characterized in that the lugs (46) are held in the corresponding grooves (48) by means of spring elements (52). 7. Container arrangement according to claim 6, characterized in that the spring elements (52) are designed as springs. 8. Container arrangement according to claim 7, characterized in that the latches (44) each have a flange (54) with which the respective latch can be actuated.