EP0068576B1

EP0068576B1 - A tray-shaped container

Info

Publication number: EP0068576B1
Application number: EP82200770A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Coenraad Johannes B. M. Benraad
Original assignee: Wavin BV
Current assignee: Wavin BV
Priority date: 1981-06-23
Filing date: 1982-06-21
Publication date: 1985-10-23
Also published as: NL8103027A; DE3267003D1; ATE16164T1; EP0068576A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a container, more particularly a crate made from a single plastic moulded body having upright side walls 1 and portions enclosing said side walls which a.o. consist or a reinforced upper edge 2, reinforced corner columns 3 and a bottom 4 provided with openings. As a.o. the portions enclosing the side walls are in the form of case-shaped profile parts which are open towards the underside of the box, a create can be produced in a very light construction from a relatively thin material, by injection-moulding.

Description

The invention relates to a container, comprising an integrally moulded plastic body having upright side walls and portions enclosing said side walls including a reinforced upper edge having an outwardly directed part and a skirt hanging therefrom, reinforced corner columns and a bottom provided with openings, said portions being in the form of box shaped profile parts which are open towards the underside of the crate, each shaped reinforced corner column being confined on the inside of the container by two straight side-wall parts enclosing a single corner and on the outer side by a wall formed around said single corner and disposed at distance from said side wall portions and the wall formed about the corner is connected thereto with a part directed towards the outside of a side wall.
Such a container made from a integrally moulded plastic body having upright side-walls and portions enclosing said side-walls including a reinforced upper edge, said upper edge having an outwardly directed part and skirt hanging therefrom, reinforced corner columns being confined on the inside of the container by two straight side-wall parts enclosing a single corner and on the outer side by a wall formed around said single corner and disposed at distance from said side-walls portion, the wall being connected to the side-walls by ribs and a bottom provided with openings wherein the portions enclosing the side-walls are in the form of hollow profile parts open towards the underside of the container, is known from US-A-3.314.568.
The main disadvantage of such containers, particularly if these containers do not comprise a wall partition, is that the corner columns of the different containers forming a stack are not exactly located below each other so that the loads of the different containers of a stack of containers are not transferred exactly to the bottom supporting the stack of containers. This holds the more so as a rib depending from the bottom and not the lower sides of the corner columns of the lowest container will bear the stack. When these containers have been moulded as very thin walled containers, it will be obvious that transfer of loads through parts not belonging to the corner columns leads to a very important deformation of some containers of the stack and thus the stack will become very unstable.
It is now the aim of the invention to overcome this problem by providing a discardable thin walled container comprising means ensuring an exact position of a corner column of a first container on the corner column of another container accommodated below said first container so that in a stack of containers loads are substantially transferred through the reinforced corner columns.
This aim is attained in that in the location of the reinforced corner column in the outwardly directed part of the reinforced upper edge there is provided a recessed rebate adjoining the inner walls enclosing a corner, said rebate comprising a bottom being the closed end of the corner column and below the bottom extends a vertical partition wall entending from the inner corner to the outer corner of corner column and a container placed on supporting surface is supported by the lower sides of a corner column, engaging said bottom of the rebate.
As the horizontal part of the upper edge has been lowered in the region of the corner column the outer edge of the rebate ends above the upper side of the corner column and thus the bottom part of another corner column can be accommodated in said rebate so that the bottom of the corner column engages the bottom of the rebate.
In this way the stacked containers cannot slide with respect to each other and as the outer wall of the rebate is located outside the corner column outer wall, whilst the rebate comprises a bottom and the corner column is provided with a vertical partition below said bottom, loads executed upon a corner column are mainly transferred through the corner column of another container accommodated below said container. These loads are then transferred to the bottom supporting the lowest container as said bottom supports the lower sides of the corner column. This avoids deformation of the walls of the corner columns.
A recessed rebate in the outwardly directed part of the upper edge at a corner of a container is known per se from US-A-3 303 965 but loads of such a crate are transferred through the walls of a container to a supporting surface supporting the lower side of a corner wall parts. This container presents the disadvantage that in case of thin walled containers these corner wall parts will be easily deformed even if these corner wall parts are corrugated.
The container according to the invention is particularly suitable for conveying fruits, such as cherries, strawberries, mushrooms and the like being packed in small sized packages which are accommodated in such a container.
As all the parts enclosing the side walls are designed as box-shaped profiles which are open towards the underside of the crate, it is possible to make a bottom provided with holes in the form of a grate, the bars of which grate having a U-shape cross section whose open side lies at the underside of the crate.
The invention is illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container or crate according to the invention as viewed from the lower side;
Figure 2 is a view of the top portion of a corner as viewed from the inner side of the container or crate of fig. 1;
Figure 3 is a sectional view in a plane through line III-III in fig. 1;
Figure 4 is a sectional view in a plane through line IV-IV in fig. 1;
Figure 5 is a sectional view in a plane through line V-V in fig. 1; and
Figure 6 is a bottom view of a point of intersection of bars of the grate-shaped bottom with a cross-sectional view of one of the bars being shown therein.

The container according to the invention, in particular a crate made from a single plastic moulded body as illustrated in fig. 1, is provided with upright side walls 1 and portions enclosing said side walls 1, among which there are a reinforced upper edge 2, reinforced corner columns 3 and a bottom 4 provided with openings.
In such a case it is possible to form said container or crate in a very light construction from relatively thin material which is shot into an injection mould defining the form of the container or crate in that the portions 2, 3 and 4 enclosing the side walls 1 are designed as box-shaped profile portions which are open towards the under-side of the crate, as will be explained hereinafter. The side walls 1, which are provided with a reinforced upper edge 2, have, in a known manner, an outwardly directed part 5 and a skirt 6 hanging therefrom, as can be clearly seen in figs. 2 and 4. It is generally known to use such hanging skirts 6 in the case of crates made of plastics.
According to the invention, the corner columns are box-shaped, and each box-shaped, reinforced column 3 -is confined, on the inner side of the container or crate, by two straight side-wall parts 1 enclosing a single corner 7, and on the outer side by a wall 8 formed around said single corner 7 and disposed at distance from said side-wall portions. The wall 8 formed about the corner is connected thereto with a part 9 directed towards the outside of a side wall 1. In the location of the reinforced corner column 3, there is provided in the outwardly directed part 5 of the reinforced upper edge 2, a recessed rebate 10 adjoining the inner side of the container, as is evident from fig.
2. The rebate 10 can also be seen in the sectional view of fig. 3. The outer wall 11 of the rebate merges into the hanging skirt 6 of two side walls 1 enclosing a corner. The bottom 12 of the rebate 10 is the closed end of a box-shaped corner column 3 having the form of a sheath. In the box-shaped corner column there is provided a partition wall 13 running from the inner corner to the outer corner of the crate.
In this manner, a firm construction is obtained, the end of the reinforced column 3 in the vicinity of the bottom fitting into the rebate 10 at the top end of a column of a second crate placed underneath the first one. Thus, a proper stackability is obtained without increasing the dimensions on the outside of the container or crate and without sacrificing space on the inside of the crate in the area of the corner 7.
In order to further reinforce the crate, the transition of the side walls 1 to the bottom 4 may be provided with a step 14, the bottom 4 being in the form of a grate, the bars 15 of said grate having a U-shape cross section. Thus a properly supporting bottom 4 is obtained while a minimum of material need be used.
The U-shape cross section of the bars 15 of the grate-shaped bottom 4 has been depicted in fig. 6. At the intersection of the bars there is furthermore provided a reinforcing cross 16 in the cavity of the U-shape cross section of the bars 15. In addition, fig. 6 also shows a cross-sectional line VI-VI, so that in the intersection, in a section parallel to the diagonal, there is an m-shape cross-section.
To save additional material the walls 1 may be provided with relatively large holes 17. Said holes 17 may be relatively large because the portions 2, 3 and 4 enclosing the side walls with the steps 14 are in the form of box-shaped profile parts which are open towards the underside of the box.
Evidently the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) as described and shown in the accompanying drawings.

Claims

1. A container, comprising an integrally moulded plastic body having upright side walls (1) and portions enclosing said side walls including a reinforced upper edge (2) having an outwardly directed part (5) and a skirt (6) hanging therefrom, reinforced corner columns (3) and a bottom provided with openings, said portions (2, 3, 4) being in the form of box shaped profile parts which are open towards the underside of the crate each shaped reinforced corner column (3) being confined on the inside of the container by two straight side-wall parts (1) enclosing a single corner (7) and on the outer side by a wall (8) formed around said single corner (7) and disposed at distance from said side wall portions (1), and the wall (8) formed about the corner is connected thereto with a part (9) directed towards the outside of a side wall (1), characterized in that in the location of the reinforced corner column (3) in the outwardly directed part (5) of the reinforced upper edge (2) there is provided a recessed rebate (10) adjoining the inner side of the container and the outer wall (11) of the rebate (10) merges into the hanging skirt (6) of two side walls (1) enclosing a corner, said rebate (10) comprising a bottom (12) being the closed end of the corner column (3) and below the bottom (12) extends a vertical partition wall (13) extending from the inner corner to the outer corner of corner column (3) such that a container placed on a supporting surface is supported by the lower sides of a corner column, engaging said bottom (12) of the rebate (10).

2. A container according to claim 1 characterized in that the bottom (4) provided with holes is in the form of a grate, the bars (15) of said grate having a U-shape cross-section.

3. A container according to claim 2, characterized in that at the points of intersection of the U-shape cross-section of the bars (15) there is provided a reinforcing cross (16) and in that in the intersection in a section parallel to the diagonal there is an m-shape cross-section.