EP0527745A1

EP0527745A1 - Stackable bottle case in plastic material.

Info

Publication number: EP0527745A1
Application number: EP91905274A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Hans Umiker
Original assignee: Schoeller Plast SA
Current assignee: Schoeller Arca Systems AG
Priority date: 1991-03-01
Filing date: 1991-03-01
Publication date: 1993-02-24
Anticipated expiration: 2011-03-01
Also published as: US5417343A; AU650867B2; ATE129974T1; WO1992015488A1; DE59106869D1; EP0527745B1; ES2079645T3; GR3018804T3; NZ241798A; CA2065264A1; AU7347691A; DK0527745T3; MX9200791A

Abstract

Dans un casier à bouteilles empilable en matière plastique, les parois latérales sont renforcées par des colonnes profilées creuses verticales (11, 12) qui s'étendent jusqu'au bord supérieur (14) des parois latérales du casier et qui forment avec le bord supérieur du casier un bord continu de support du poids des casiers empilés.In a stackable plastic bottle crate, the side walls are reinforced by vertical hollow profile columns (11, 12) which extend to the upper edge (14) of the side walls of the crate and which together with the upper edge of the rack a continuous edge supporting the weight of the stacked racks.

Description

Stackable plastic bottle crate

The invention relates to a stackable plastic bottle crate according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

Stackable bottle crates are known in the most varied of embodiments, a particular problem with stackable bottle crates being to make the crate so stiff that a perfect load transfer is ensured without deformation of the bottle crate. For the purpose of stiffening stackable bottle crates, it is known to form hollow profile columns in the side walls, which are arranged at a distance from one another and protrude into the interior of the crate. These hollow profile columns have the advantage that, in addition to their stiffening function, they also form holding surfaces for the bottles to be accommodated in the crate. In order to enable bottle crates to be stacked, the hollow profile columns are not drawn all the way to the upper edge of the crate. The object of the invention is to create a bottle crate which, with optimum weight minimization, has a maximum rigidity, so that load transfer in the stack is possible without the risk of damage to the bottle crate.

This object is achieved according to the invention by the features contained in the characterizing part of claim 1, expedient developments of the invention being characterized by the features contained in the subclaims.

In accordance with claim 1, the hollow profile columns are raised up to the upper edge of the box side walls, so that they form a circumferential stacking edge for load transfer. Contrary to the usual construction, in which the columns end around the immersion depth of the floor below the surrounding box edge, this embodiment ensures that the hollow profile columns also contribute to load transfer. The hollow profile columns take on a full load share in any cross-sectional shape. In this context, it is expedient that, according to claim 2, the box is reinforced at the top and bottom by a circumferential rib band, preferably from horizontal ribs, further stiffening of the box being achieved by vertical ribs between the hollow profile columns. This results in a full-load-bearing bottle crate, the side walls of which can be kept extremely thin. This wall does not normally need to be thicker than corresponding cardboard layers in paper packaging, so that the box according to the invention makes it possible to produce plastic boxes and cardboard boxes with the same external dimensions and to exchange them without problems, so that a mixed run of the two Types of packaging is possible. This facilitates a gradual changeover of the two types of packaging, which is of great advantage for the introduction of bottle crates which are intended to replace cardboard boxes. This particular design, in particular the upper circumferential box edge, enables a special floor construction that is suitable for offset and compound stacking. This is achieved by on the bottom of the box, namely on the underside of the bottom of the box, formed support ring constructions, formed from protruding downwards and ring-like around running ribs. By bulges, the dimensions of these support ring structures are enlarged, whereby the position of the extreme points of these island-like support ring structures from one another is reduced. Overall, there is a larger contact area of the box through these enlarged support ring constructions, which is essential for a vibration-free running of the boxes even on roller lenbands with large roller spacings. Furthermore, the arrangement of the island-like support ring constructions, which are arranged for each compartment, enables linear stacking and also offset stacking of the bottle crates. In addition, the ribs projecting downwards increase the friction on inclined conveyor belts. Nevertheless, these support ring constructions do not hinder the easy removal of the boxes on the underlying box layer during manual handling. This construction is also advantageous in the mess of cardboard and plastic containers. The structure of the support ring constructions also enables the erection of the preferably triangular, vertical hollow profile columns and furthermore enables the stacked boxes to be easily pulled off due to the rounded contours.

Finally, after further training, the sic crossing partition walls are stiffened in the crossing points, namely by spanning and connecting segment walls spanning and connecting partition walls, which complement each other to form a roof for each crossing point, stabilize the truss and allow a higher lateral load on the boxes.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawing. Show in it 1 is a side view of a bottle crate, the left half of the crate is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of part of the bottle crate, the upper left quarter is a sectional view along the line CC of Fig. 1, the upper right quarter is a bottom view of the box and the lower left fourth is a view of the box from above ,

3 is a side view of the narrow side of the bottle crate, the left half being a sectional view along line B-B of FIG. 2,

4 shows the detail A of FIG. 1,

5 shows the detail B of FIG. 1,

6 shows a section along the line D-D of FIG. 2,

7 shows a section along the line E-E of FIG. 2,

8 shows the detail X of FIG. 3,

FIG. 9 shows the detail Y from FIG. 2 (upper right quarter) and FIG. 10 shows a plan view of a pallet to illustrate various stacking possibilities of the box.

The plastic bottle crate shown in the figures has two opposite longitudinal side walls 1 and two opposite narrow side walls 2 and is used to hold a total of 12 bottles in receiving compartments 4 formed by intersecting partition walls 3. Of course, more or fewer compartments can also be in the bottle crate be provided so that the information given here is to be regarded as exemplary. At the upper and lower edge of the box, the box has a circumferential rib belt 5 and 6, the upper rib belt 5 in FIG. 4 and the lower rib belt 6 being shown in more detail in FIG. 5. The ribbed belts are offset outwards relative to the corresponding vertical side wall surface 7 or 8, or the corresponding vertical side wall surface 7, 8 is offset slightly inwards relative to the ribbed belts 5 and 6. The ribbed belts 5 and 6 are each formed by horizontal ribs 9 which run around the box and are formed on the outside of the ribbed belts 5 and 6, whereas the inner surface of the ribbed belts 5 and 6 facing the inside of the box is largely flat. In the illustrated embodiment, each ribbed belt 5 and 6 contains four ribs 9.

The vertical side wall surfaces 7 and 8 are framed by the upper and lower ribbed ribbons 5 and 6 and by the vertical corner edges of the box, the transition from the ribbed ribbon and the corner edges to the vertical side wall surface 7 and 8 being effected by rounded surfaces 10. These slightly retracted side wall surfaces 7 and 8 provide optimum protection for the advertising surfaces - and also make it possible for the bottles accommodated in the box to stand directly on the relatively thin, vertical side wall.

The side walls 1 and 2 are stiffened by hollow profile columns 11 and 12 arranged on the inner surface, in the illustrated embodiment three hollow profile columns 11 arranged on a gap to the compartments and two hollow profile columns 12 arranged on the narrow side of the bottle. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the hollow profile columns 12 correspond in their triangular cross section to the hollow profile columns 11 up to approximately the height of the handle opening denoted by 13 and from then on run as a half profile and from the upper edge of the handle opening again as a complete profile like the hollow profile columns 11. That is, the handle opening 13 in the The side wall of the box is delimited on both sides by hollow profile columns 12, as a result of which there is no need for edge formations which make it difficult to grip the box and are an obstacle to gripping. This simplifies handling of the box due to the absence of a sharp edge. It is essential that the vertical hollow profile columns 11 and 12 are raised up to the upper edge 14 of the box, so that they form a circumferential stacking edge with the upper edge of the ribbed belt 5. This ensures that the hollow profile columns, which can have any cross-sectional shape, assume a full load. As a result, the bottle crate is designed to carry full load, with maximum stiffness combined with low compression values being guaranteed while minimizing weight.

Furthermore, vertical ribs 15, 16 and 17 are integrally formed on the inner surface of the side walls 1 and 2 on the side walls between the hollow profile columns 11 and 12. The ribs 17 are arranged in the four corner areas of the box and extend essentially over the entire box height. They serve to stiffen the corner area of the box. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the ribs 15 and 16 extend essentially over the height of the upper rib band 5 and their most inner edge runs flush with the inner wall of the vertical side wall flat 7 and 8, as can be seen from the top left of FIG. 1 .

Comparable ribs 18 are arranged in the area of the lower rib band 6. The ribs 15 of the upper ribbed belt 5 extend up to the upper circumferential stack edge 14, whereas the vertical ribs 16 end at a slight distance below the stacked rim. These ribs reinforce the upper and lower circumferential rib band and, in conjunction with the circumferential ribs 9, help prevent bulging of the upper and lower box edge in all directions. The box bottom is formed by special support ring structures 19 which are designed or arranged in an island-like manner, ie for each compartment. This support ring structures extend from the bottom surface down, so they are attached to the bottom of the bottom. Each support ring construction has an outer circumferential ring-like rib 20 and an inner circumferential ring-like rib 21. These outer and inner ribs 20 and 21 protrude downward. The outer rib 20 delimits an annular bottom surface 22 with the inner rib 21, whereas a circular bottom surface 23 is formed inside the inner rib 21, which is at a higher level than the bottom surface 22. In the ring surface 22 are profile openings, which forms approximately banana-shaped and are identified by the reference numeral 24, seen before. Within the bottom surface 23 are Kreissegmentför shaped openings 25 are provided. These openings allow waste water to run off and the cleaning water accumulating during the cleaning of the boxes and at the same time prevent the bottle caps from sticking due to their shape and dimensions.

The island-like support ring constructions 19 are arranged in the area of the axes formed by the intersecting compartment walls with a spacing from one another, as indicated by the letter F in the top left in FIG. This results in so-called pulling grooves between the island-like support ring constructions.

It is also important that expansion 26 are provided in the area of the outer ribs, which are shown in more detail in FIG. 9. This results in enlargements of the dimensions of the support ring constructions 19, which allow a reduction of the island distances and thus a rattle-free running on roller belts, even on roller belts with large roller distances. In the intersection points of the compartment walls 3, adjacent compartment walls spanning and serving as stiffening segment walls 27a, 27b, 27c and 27d are arranged per intersection point, which complement each other to form a roof, in the exemplary embodiment shown a roof-shaped square and stabilize the framework and therefore ensure a higher lateral load on the box.

As can be seen from FIG. 10, the bottle crates allow stacking in a composite and offset stacking manner.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. Stackable plastic bottle crate with four side walls, a box bottom and, if necessary, i compartment walls arranged inside the box to delimit receiving compartments for the bottles, in which the side walls are stiffened by vertical hollow profile columns that protrude from the inner surface of the side walls into the box interior, thereby characterized in that the hollow profile columns (11, 12) are led up to the upper edge (14 of the side walls of the box (1, 2)) and form a circumferential stack edge with the upper edge for load transfer.

2. Bottle crate according to claim 1, characterized in that at the upper and / or lower edge of the crate a circumferential of the ribbed belt (5,6) is provided with one or more, preferably four circumferential horizontal ribs (9) on the side wall outer surface.

3. Bottle crate according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the vertical side wall surfaces (7, 8 between the upper and lower ribbed belt (5, 6) and between the vertical corner edges of the box opposite ribbed belt and vertical box corners are slightly offset inside and that the transition between the vertical side wall surfaces (7, 8) and the ribs bands (5, 6) or corner edges of the box is preferably formed by inclined surfaces or rounded surfaces (10).

4. Bottle crate according to one of claims 1 to 3 mi handle openings (13) in one or more box side walls, characterized in that each handle opening opening (13) is delimited on both sides by hollow profile columns (12).

5. Bottle crate according to one of claims 1 to 4, da¬ characterized in that the box side walls (1, 2) are reinforced on their inside between the hollow profile columns (11, 12) by vertical ribs (15 - 18), which are preferably each Extend continuously over the entire height of the box over the height of the upper and / or lower ribbed belt (5, 6) and in the corner areas.

6. Bottle crate according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bottom of the crate is island-like, i.e. has supporting ring constructions (19) arranged for each receiving compartment, which are formed by ribs (20, 21) which protrude downward and surround in the manner of a ring.

7. Bottle crate according to claim 6, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that each support ring structure (19) from an outer rib (20) and an inner rib (21) is formed.

8. Bottle crate according to claim 6 or 7, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that each island-like arranged and trained support ring construction (19) has the width dimension of the construction locally enlarging bulges (26) of the outer rib (20), which are preferably formed ge opposite .

9. Bottle crate according to one of claims 6 to 8, da¬ characterized in that the support ring structures (18) in the axes defined by the compartment walls (3) are spaced apart.

10. Bottle crate according to one of claims 6 to 9, da¬ characterized in that in the bottom surface between _- _-

The outer and inner ribs (20, 21) and inside the inner rib (21) are provided with profile openings (24, 25), the shape and / or dimensions of which prevent bottle crown caps from becoming fixed.

11. Bottle crate according to claim 10, characterized in that the profile openings between the outer and inner ribs (20, 21) through ring segment-shaped or banana-shaped openings (24) and the profile openings in the bottom surface within the inner ribs (21st ) are formed by circular segment-like openings (25).

12. Bottle crate according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at the crossing points

^' Compartment walls (3) segment walls (27a-27d) connecting adjoining compartment walls are arranged, which preferably complement one another to form a roof-shaped square at the crossing point.