DK3009366T3

DK3009366T3 - transport container

Info

Publication number: DK3009366T3
Application number: DK15182682.3T
Authority: DK
Inventors: Ralf Theune
Original assignee: Delbrouck Gmbh
Priority date: 2014-10-16
Filing date: 2015-08-27
Publication date: 2017-10-16
Also published as: EP3009366A1; PL3009366T3; EP3009366B1; DE202014104940U1

Description

Transport container

The invention concerns a transport container for bottles, glasses or similar objects, having a bottom from which corner columns extend, which are connected to one another by side walls, where side walls form the end sides, and side walls form the longitudinal sides, and the end facing away from the bottom has a top edge, and the bottom is divided into compartments.

Transport container of the type described above in accordance with the generic term of claim 1 are known in the form of bottle crates (compare for instance DE 1 259 770 A). Their purpose is to store bottles safely and allow them to be transported without damage. At the same time, the transport containers should be sturdy enough to permit stacking when the bottles are full.

To ensure damage-free transport of the bottles or glasses in the containers, whether in the filled or empty state, compartments are provided on the bottom of the container. As a rule, these compartments are webs corresponding to the cross-section of the bottles or glasses and allowing these to be inserted. As an alternative to the compartments, sleeves can be provided which have the same effect. The sleeves are columns projecting vertically from the floor and which reproduce only in parts the cross-section of the bottles or glasses being inserted into the container.

In transport logistics, especially with systems using returnable bottles or glasses, the problem exists that more empty bottles or glasses accumulate at the collection points than filled bottles or glasses are sold. The consequence of this is that fewer transport containers are available at the collection point than are required for the return transport of the empty bottles or glasses. This makes it necessary to transport empty transport containers to collection points in order to ensure the undamaged return of the empty bottles or glasses. In principle this does not pose a problem. Thus, the number of containers which can be transported is limited by their transport volume. Thus, the vehicle in question can transport only the maximum number of containers regardless of whether the containers are full or empty. This is disadvantageous because the weight of a load of empty transport containers is far below the maximum carrying capacity of the vehicle in question.

To avoid this disadvantage, a transport container is known from DE 20 2013 101 031 U1 where rectangular recesses are provided in the side walls forming the longitudinal sides of the container and which interrupt the top edge of the side walls. The recesses allow the containers to be stacked in the manner of an interlocking unit. The crosswise arrangement of the transport containers in the empty state means that two containers arranged to interlock on top of one another are equivalent in height to only one conventional transport container. As a result, the height of the empty containers in transport is reduced by half, thus also reducing the transport volume of the empty containers by half.

The known transport container fulfils the requirements concerning the reduction of the transport volume of empty containers. However, one disadvantage of this arrangement is that when the container is full, the goods being transported, bottles, glasses etc. in the vicinity of the recesses are substantially unprotected, thereby increasing the risk of damage to the goods. Besides this, the space available for advertising is considerably reduced by the recesses on the longitudinal sides of the container.

The purpose of the invention is to remedy this disadvantage. The invention aims to provide a transport container for bottles, glasses or similar objects, which permits a space-saving arrangement in the empty state while providing adequate protection for the goods being transported and which is similar to containers whose longitudinal sides have no recesses. According to the invention this purpose is fulfilled by the fact that vertically extending rectangular slots are formed in each of the second side walls, which interrupt the top edge of the side walls, and that the slots are arranged adjacent to the corner columns and are of a depth which corresponds essentially to half the height of the container.

The invention provides for a transport container for bottles, glasses or similar objects, which fulfils the normal requirements of stability and manageabilty for transport containers. At the same time, the container in accordance with the invention offers the possibility of stacking several empty containers with a very low volume. Nevertheless, the container provides a maximum of protection for the goods transported, unlike the space-saving stackable containers already familiar from the state of the art. This is attributable to the design of the longitudinal sides of the transport container, which, with the exception of the slots, are closed.

Other developments and embodiments of the invention are set out in the remaining subclaims. One example embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and is described in detail in the following. The following are shown in the drawings:

Figure 1 front-side view of a transport container in accordance with the invention in the form of a bottle crate;

Figure 2 side view from the left of the transport container shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 plan view of the transport container shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 4 three-dimensional view of the transport container shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 5 a view of three empty transport containers stacked on top of and nesting into one another;

Figure 6 side view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 5;

Figure 7 plan view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 5; and

Figure 8 three-dimensional view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 5.

The transport container chosen as example embodiments of the invention is a bottle crate. It has a bottom 1 from which corner columns 2 extend vertically. The corner columns 2 are connected to one another by side walls 3, 4, where the side walls 3 form the front sides and the side walls 4 form the longitudinal sides of the bottle crate. The bottle crate is provided with a top edge 5 at the end facing away from the bottom 1. In the area of the side walls 3, the top edge 5 joins the corner columns 2 together at their end facing away from the bottom 1. An opening 6 is formed in each of the two front side walls 3 to serve as a grip.

In the area of the bottom 1, a positioning and stacking aid 7 is formed on the bottle crate. In the example embodiment, the positioning and stacking aid 7 is located only at the corners on the bottom 1 and has the approximate shape of a quarter circle. As a modification of the example embodiment, the possibility exists of connecting two adjacent positioning and stacking aids 7 beneath the front side walls 3.

Compartments 8 are provided on the floor 1 of the bottle crate. The compartments 8 comprise compartment walls 9 which extend vertically from the bottom. In order to save material and reduce weight, the compartment walls 9 are formed in the manner of a web and support the bottles located therein during transport. The height of the compartment walls 9 is equivalent to approximately half the height of the bottle crate. The compartment walls 9 are arranged relative to one another so that, in the plan view, they form spaces to hold the bottles.

Slots 10 are formed in the side walls 4 forming the longitudinal sides of the bottle crate, which, in the example embodiment, are rectangular in shape. Each of the slots 10 is arranged adjacent to the corner columns 2 and extends vertically in the side walls 4. In the example embodiment each of the side walls 4 has two slots 10. Because of the slots 10, the top edge 5 in the side walls 4 is interrupted. Each of the slots 10 ends in a slot base 11. Their depth is roughly equivalent to half the height of the bottle crate. Each of the slot bases 11 is therefore situated at roughly the same level as the free ends of the compartment walls 9. The slots 10 are bounded at the sides by cheeks 12.

On the side facing away from the bottom 1, recesses 13 are provided between the slots 10 in the side walls 4 forming the longitudinal sides of the bottle crate. In the example embodiment, three recesses 13 are provided in each case. Like the slots 10, the recesses 13 form an interruption in the top edge 5.

The transport container in accordance with the invention in the form of a bottle crate can be used and therefore stacked similarly to known transport containers both in the full and the empty state. In the normally stacked state, the positioning and stacking aid 7 of the upper bottle crate slides into the bottle crate beneath in the area of the top edge 5. In spite of the slots 10 in the side walls 4, the transport container is sufficiently strong to allow several containers to be stacked on top of one another, even when filled.

In accordance with the invention, the transport container also permits space-saving stacking in the empty state. To this end, all that is required is to place a container on the ground, turn a second container upside down, rotate it by 90° and place it on top of the first container. This alignment of two containers on top of one another causes the slots 10 provided on both containers to engage into one another. In this way, the transport containers slide into one another as is shown in Figs. 5 to 8. In this state, the containers support one another by the slot base 11 of each slot 10. At the same time, each of the cheeks 12 of the containers thus stacked is positioned in the close vicinity of another cheek, in such a way that only a slight clearance exists between the containers.

As can be seen in Figs. 5 to 8, the transport containers thus reversed and rotated relative to one another form an interlocking group. In this way, the stability of the stacked containers is further increased. This is also the case because, by virtue of the dimensions of the slots on both of its sides, the top edge 5 of the upper (reversed) transport container rests on a base e.g. on a europallet. At the same time, the design of the container in accordance with the invention permits another transport container to be stacked in the normal way on the containers forming the interlocking group (see Figs. 5 to 8). This is also arranged on the lower transport container in such a way as to save space because the circular webs forming the bottom 1 and corresponding to the shape of the compartments 8 partially penetrate the recesses 13 thereby further reducing the height of the stacked containers by the depth of the recesses 13. Another reversed and rotated transport container can then be arranged in the top container. In this way, the transport containers designed in accordance with the invention allow twice the number of containers to be stacked to the same height as would be the case with standard transport containers.

And even taking into account the increased area required for the transport containers thus stacked in a group, through the substantial improvement in height utilisation, the transport capacity for empty transport containers is increased by approximately one third. The provision of slots only, in contrast to the current state of the art, allows the side walls 4 forming the longitudinal sides to receive a design which is virtually closed, as is the case with conventional containers. On the one hand, this means that the goods being transported in the container are just as well protected against damage as in completely closed containers. On the other hand, the virtually closed design of the longitudinal sides makes space available for advertising which is particularly advantageous when in use as a bottle crate. Furthermore, the container in accordance with the invention can be handled just as easily as the known type of closed container. This has the further advantage that it can be cleaned, transported, emptied and filled by automated systems in the same way as conventional, i.e. closed, containers.

Claims

PAT E N T K RAV

A bottle, glass or similar transport container with a bottom (1) from which corner columns (2) extend interconnected by side walls (3, 4), the first side walls (3) forming the end sides, and second side walls (4) forming the longitudinal sides, which at the end facing away from the bottom (1) is provided with a finishing edge (5) and chambers (8) are provided on the bottom, characterized in that in each of the other side walls (4) are formed of two vertically extending and rectangularly shaped slots (10) which interrupt the terminating edge (5) of the side walls (4) and that the slots (10) are adjacent to the corner columns (2) and have a depth which essentially equal to half the height of the container.

Transport container according to claim 1, characterized in that the slots (10) each end in a slot bottom (11).

Transport container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slots (10) are laterally limited by the rails (12).

Transport container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that recesses (13) are provided on the side (4) facing away from the bottom (1) between the side walls (4).