EP0471918B1 - Wide-necked conical steel drum - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a wide-necked conical steel drum (10) having a large upper filling and removal opening (12) which can be sealed fluid-tightly by means of a lid (14) and clamping ring (16). During transportation of nested drums (10) of this type, they are sometimes shaken inside one another to such a great extent that later unstacking or separation of the individual drums (10) can cause great problems. In order to accomplish easy and damage-free unstacking of these steel drums (10) by only one operator, provision is made according to the invention for each steel drum (10) to have at least one bung-hole opening (26) in the bottom (24), which opening can be sealed fluid-tightly by means of a lid. By means of an unstacking device, inserted in the bung hole (26), nested drums (10) can be separated easily. Furthermore, the bottom bung hole (26) is advantageous in the reconditioning or rinsing of the drums (10) for multiple use. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a conical wide-necked steel drum with a large upper filling or emptying opening which can be closed in a liquid-tight manner by means of a lid and clamping ring, the wall of which in the vicinity of the upper filling opening has a circumferential, outwardly directed bead (outer bead) which, when stacked together, has at least one two or more such empty steel drums in the upper steel drum stacked on the inside serves as an outer support edge on the inner edge of the upward-opening fill opening of the stacked second steel drum.

Such barrels or comparable large-volume buckets are generally known.
Conical wide-necked containers have the advantage that they can be stacked one inside the other as empties and this results in low storage costs and in particular low transport costs for these bulk articles.

When transporting stacked barrels, they are sometimes shaken into each other so much that later unstacking or dismantling of the individual barrels causes great problems and at least two people are required for this. Often, auxiliary measures such as hammer blows on the flanged edge of the flange or the lid support edge of the stacked barrel are necessary to separate two wedged barrels from one another. With such time-consuming and personnel-intensive efforts, however, damage to the barrel body or edge of the filling opening can easily occur, which favors a later barrel leakage.

From the publication FR-A-2 431 962 a wide neck steel barrel is known, the upper 2 thirds of the barrel body are cylindrical, and the lower third tapers conically towards the bottom of the barrel. The conical lower third of the barrel has an upper slight taper and further below a stronger taper. In the area of the upper cylindrical 2 thirds of the barrel body 2 mutually spaced, outwardly shaped roller rings are arranged. When stacking such a barrel, only the lower conical third can be stacked in a similar barrel, so that the conical barrel wall of the top stacked barrel just below the crease line / transition line from the conical barrel area to the cylindrical barrel area located above it at the upper inner edge of the roller shelf or the barrel opening of the stacked barrel comes to rest. Such conical barrels without a pronounced support edge can wedge very strongly into one another, as described above, and unstacking or disassembling a stack of barrels is therefore extremely difficult. In addition, given the poorer stability of such drums that has to be accepted, the volume saving when transporting empty stacked barrels of only approx. 30% is much too small due to the reduced footprint.

Based on this, it is an object of the present invention to provide a configuration for conical wide-necked steel drums, in particular for large-volume and thus also heavy-weight steel drums, which enables easy and damage-free de-stacking of these steel drums by only one operator.

This object is achieved in that the barrel wall above the bead up to the flange of the upper filler opening cylindrical and the barrel wall below the Bead is slightly conical up to almost the bottom of the barrel, the steel barrel in the underbody has at least one bunghole opening that can be closed in a liquid-tight manner by means of a cover (bung plug). This now gives you the option of inserting an aid, such as a puller or a rotating spindle through the bottom bung or the bunghole opening provided there under the stacked barrel and pushing out the fixed inner barrel without damage, with little effort by a single operator.
The closable bunghole opening is expediently designed as a small bung with a diameter of approximately 19 mm (3/4 "bung) and arranged centrally in the sub-floor. This ensures that the barrels can be destacked without being tilted. In principle, however, it would also be conceivable To provide, for example, two diametrically opposed or a plurality of symmetrically arranged closable bung holes in the bottom of the barrel in order to be able to apply a uniform canting-free force action of a corresponding unstacking device through these bung holes.

With the additional bunghole opening arranged centrally in the underbody there is the great advantage that the reconditioning of the drums, which are intended and particularly suitable for multiple use, considerably simplifies the cleaning process. A slightly convex design of the underbody ensures that no washing liquid remains in the barrel, but runs out completely through the bung. The large upper filling opening ensures good accessibility for cleaning devices such as rotating brushes or steam jet devices are guaranteed and the washing liquid can run out completely without the drums having to be tilted over Kopt or specially handled.

For the steel drums according to the invention, it is expedient if the conicity of the drum wall is between 5.5% and 11%, preferably about 7%. This will improve stability and space saving achieved with filled and closed lid drums.

The conical steel drums according to the invention are, in particular with a capacity of 200 l, for use in the food sector, e.g. intended for the transport of tomato extract, oils, fats or fruit concentrate. But also in the chemical industry for the transport of chemical products, the large-volume conical wide-necked steel drum is particularly suitable for solid and liquid dangerous goods.

A very special area of application for the steel drum according to the invention as a so-called "honeytainer" is in the transport of honey from distant export countries. The good stackability results in an enormous saving of space during transport and in the storage of empty lid drums with comparatively significantly lower costs, so that, for example, long overseas transports of such conical steel drums become economically viable or possible. With a large container or a truck with a size of 100 m³ transport volume For example, only 292 conventional (not stackable) lid drums, but 936 stacked conical lid drums are delivered; this saves around 70% in transport costs.

The following problems arise when transporting honey in large-volume barrels: The honey is usually in the form of a solid block, which is normally very difficult to remove from the barrel. The following advantageous process variant is available when using lid drums according to the invention:
The conical steel barrel is briefly heated from the outside, for example with steam or hot water, so that the honey melts on the inside of the barrel as a thin film and becomes thin. In addition, a gas pressure hose can be connected to the bung hole in the underbody of the wide-neck steel barrel and the solid honey block can be pressed out of the barrel in the overhead position with the help of the gas pressure.

Figur 1

ein erfindungsgemäßes konisches Weithals-Stahlfaß mit Deckel und Spannring in Seitenansicht mit Teilschnitt-Darstellung,

Figur 2a

in Längsschnitt-Teildarstellung einen vergrösserten Abschnitt der oberen Faßwandung mit Deckel und Spannring,

Figur 2b

in Längsschnitt-Teildarstellung einen vergrösserten Abschnitt der unteren Faßwandung mit Verbindungsbereich zum Unterboden,

Figur 2c

einen zentralmittig im Unterboden angeordneten Bodenspund,

Figur 2d

eine Teilansicht eines Spannringes mit innenliegender Verschlußmechanik,

Figur 3

eine perspektivische Ansicht eines konischen Deckelfasses mit aufgesetztem Deckel und Spannring und

Figur 4

eine perspektivische Ansicht von zwei ineinandergestapelten Stahlfässern mit davor positioniertem Deckel und Spannring.

However, the use of gas or liquid pressure (e.g. water or compressed air) through the bung hole in the bottom of the barrel can also be used in the same way, for example, for destacking stacked barrels or for releasing wedged barrels from one another.
The invention is explained and described in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings.
Show it:

Figure 1

an inventive conical wide-necked steel barrel with lid and clamping ring in side view with partial section,

Figure 2a

in longitudinal section partial representation with an enlarged portion of the upper barrel wall Cover and tension ring,

Figure 2b

a partial longitudinal section of an enlarged portion of the lower barrel wall with a connection area to the underbody,

Figure 2c

a floor bung arranged centrally in the underbody,

Figure 2d

a partial view of a clamping ring with internal locking mechanism,

Figure 3

a perspective view of a conical lid barrel with attached lid and clamping ring and

Figure 4

a perspective view of two nested steel barrels with the lid and clamping ring positioned in front of it.

In FIG. 1 , reference numeral 10 denotes a 200 l wide-neck conical steel barrel according to the invention, which is designed as a so-called "honeytainer".
The steel drum 10 has a large upper filling or emptying opening 12 which is closed in a liquid-tight manner by means of the cover 14 and the clamping ring 16. In the vicinity of the upper fill opening 12, the barrel wall 18, 28 has a circumferential, outwardly directed bead 20 (outer bead).
The barrel wall 28 is cylindrical above the bead 20 up to the flanged edge 22 of the upper filling opening 12 and the barrel wall 18 below the bead 20 is slightly conical up to almost the barrel bottom 24. The taper of the barrel wall 18 is between 5.5% and 11%, preferably about 7%.
The flanged edge 22 at the upper fill opening 12 of the steel barrel 10 serves as a support for the lid edge and as a counter bearing for the clamping ring 16.

In the underbody 24 there is a bunghole opening which can be closed in a liquid-tight manner by means of a cover (for example a screw cover) 26 provided. The bunghole opening is expedient, depending on the barrel size, with a bung with a diameter of approx. 19 mm (3 / 4und-bung), or a bung with a diameter of approx. 51 mm (2˝-bung) with internal thread for screwing in a bung plug fitted. By installing the bung opening in the drum underbody, the use of a suitable unstacking device is possible. The bottom bung opening also facilitates the cleaning process during reconstitution.

The technical brief description for a 200 l wide neck steel drum is as follows:
Conical jacket, longitudinal seam welded, with flat bead (or round bead), rebated bottom, removable cover and clamping ring, inside raw or stove-enamelled, outside painted, if desired with polyethylene inliner PE, e.g. 0.3 mm thick.
Dimensions : Upper outside diameter (measured via clamping ring): 610 mm; lower outer diameter: 516 mm; upper inner diameter: 571.5 mm; Internal height: 870 mm; External height: 880 mm; Diameter measured over fold: 582 mm; Flat bead width: 44 mm; Unit weight depending on the sheet thickness (between 1.5 to 0.7 mm) from approx. 21.2 kg to 13 kg; Lid weight approx.3.7 kg and ring weight approx.1.0 kg.

The outwardly shaped stacking bead 20 can, however, also be narrower (e.g. only about 25 mm wide) or as a conventional circular skirt.

The barrel body 18, 28 of the steel barrel is preferably made from a cylindrical blank, which is expanded by means of a stretching process or by expansion from a smaller diameter (for example approximately 514 mm) to the conically expanding barrel shape with larger diameters (up to a maximum of 572 mm) has been. A second but inwardly directed bead 30 (bead) can be provided in the lower region of the conical barrel wall 18.

Due to the second inwardly drawn corrugation - only indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 1 - the barrels not only hang in the upper corrugation, but can also stand on the lower inner corrugation when stacked one inside the other.

The individual features of the steel barrel 10 according to the invention are shown enlarged in partial view in FIGS. 2a to 2c .
According to FIG. 2a, a lid seal 48 is arranged in the lid rim 52 of the barrel lid 14, which seals the barrel 10 in a gas-tight and liquid-tight manner against the flanged rim 22 of the upper filler opening when the lid 14 and the clamping ring 16 are open. In the case of a 200 l drum, the lower edge of the flat bead 20 is spaced approx. 130 mm from the flanged edge.
If two barrels are stacked one inside the other, the upper barrel protrudes from the stacked barrel by this amount. The upper edge of the flanged edge 22⁻ of the stacked drum 10⁻ comes to rest against the lower edge of the stacking bead 20 of the drum 10 stacked at the top.

From Fig. 2b it can be seen that the barrel wall 18 in the vicinity of the outward connecting bead 32 (triple fold) between the underbody 24 and the barrel wall 18 is additionally tapered or reduced in diameter, the connecting bead 32 between the underbody 24 and the barrel wall 18 lies within an imaginary extension of the conical barrel wall 18. The inclination of the conical barrel wall 18 to the barrel longitudinal axis is approximately 1.5 ° and the slope of the short, lowermost wall area 50 in front of the bottom fold 32 to the barrel longitudinal axis is approximately 15 °.
The barrel bottom 24 is inserted in the connection area with the barrel wall 50 at a certain distance from the bottom rebate 32, so that when the sheet cap is screwed into the central bottom bung hole 26 and in particular when the barrel bottom is slightly convex (slightly convex), there is no pressure on the bottom bung lid is exercised.

The bung opening 26 shown in Fig. 2c (eg small bung with approximately 19 mm diameter (3/4 "bung)) in the barrel bottom 24 or the corresponding bung plug is preferably provided with a temperature-resistant S-seal, since the steel drums for a Multiple use (e.g. five to ten times) or a reusable use are provided and temperatures of up to 200 ° C can easily occur when cleaning the drums with e.g. steam jet devices.

In Fig. 2d a clamping ring 16 is shown with an internal locking mechanism 38. The internal locking mechanism 38 used to improve the rolling properties of the barrels here consists of a tensioning screw 40 acting between two flange attachments 42, 44.
However, the locking mechanism could also be designed as a conventional tension lever lock, as with external tension rings.

3 shows a perspective view of a 200 liter honey barrel 10 with a lid 14 and a tension ring 16 with an external tension lever lock 46. The stacking bead 20 between the upper cylindrical barrel wall 28 and the lower conical barrel wall 18 is designed here as a narrow flat bead.

In the perspective view of Figure 4 , two barrels 10,10 'are stacked. The barrels 10, 10 'are provided with a conventional circular bead 20, 20' as a stack bead.
In the upper barrel 10, a thin-walled inliner 54, for example made of polyethylene (PE), is used, which facilitates and accelerates the reconditioning of the barrels for certain strongly adhering contents.

The associated clamping ring 16 is provided with overlapping clamping ring ends and a strong clamping lever lock 46, thus avoiding a leak even when the barrels are falling.
In a preferred embodiment, the lid is provided with at least one closable bung hole for easy sampling of the barrel contents. In the present case shown, two opposing cover piles of different sizes are provided, for example a large bung 34 with a diameter of approximately 51 mm (2˝ bung) and a small bung 36 with a diameter of approximately 19 mm (3/4 / -Spund). In a simple embodiment, however, only a bung arranged centrally in the middle - then preferably a large bung with a diameter of approximately 51 mm (2˝ bung) - could also be provided in the cover 14.

From the above description, the advantageous design and economic importance of the wide-necked steel barrel according to the invention with a central floor bung in the barrel underbody and the possibility thus given for attaching a corresponding unstacking device for problem-free, simple and damage-free disassembly (unstacking) of such conical barrels stacked one inside the other for inexpensive transport purposes becomes clear, especially if the barrels already show signs of wear such as slight dents or the like after multiple use.

Claims (9)

1. A wide-necked conical steel drum (10) having a large upper feed or discharge opening (12) which is closeable in a liquid-tight manner by means of a cover (14) and a clamping ring (16), the drum wall (18) having in the vicinity of the upper feed opening (12) a circumferential, outwardly directed bead (20) which serves, in the case of the upper stacked steel drum (10) when at least two empty steel drums (10) of this type are stacked inside each other, as an outer supporting edge on the inner edge of the upward-facing feed opening (12) of the second steel drum (10) stacked underneath, characterised in that the drum wall (28) above the bead (20) is cylindrically formed as far as the flanged edge (22) of the upper feed opening (12) and the drum wall (18) below the bead (20) is slightly conically formed almost as far as the drum base (24), the steel drum (10) having in the base (24) at least one bunghole opening (26) which is closeable in a liquid-tight manner by means of a cover or bung.
2. A steel drum according to claim 1, characterised in that at least one closeable bunghole opening (26) is centrally arranged in the base (24).
3. A steel drum according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the conicity of the drum wall (18) is between 5.5% and 11%, preferably approximately 7%.
4. A steel drum according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in that the base (24) is slightly curved outwards.
5. A steel drum according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterised in that the drum body (18, 28) of the steel drum (10) comprises a cylindrical blank which is widened to form the conically expanding drum shape by means of a stretching process or through expansion from a smaller diameter.
6. A steel drum according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, characterised in that a second, inwardly directed bead (30) is formed in the lower region of the conical drum wall (18).
7. A steel drum according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the drum wall (18) is additionally tapered or reduced in diameter in the vicinity of the outwardly directed folded edge or connecting bead (32) between the base (24) and the drum wall (18), the connecting bead (32) between the base (24) and the drum wall (18) lying within an imaginary extension of the conical drum wall (18).
8. A steel drum according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the drum cover (14) has at least one closeable bunghole (34, 36), e.g. for sampling the contents of the drum.
9. A steel drum according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the clamping ring (16) has a closing mechanism (38) inside thereof or arranged on the surface of the drum cover (14).

Images