EP0579158A1 - Stackable and nestable packing crate with skeleton-construction sidewall - Google Patents

Abstract

The see-through packaging crate has a parallelepiped form which is slightly tapered and defines a base (1), side walls (2,4) and end walls (3,5). The crate has a rigid frame defined by two lower peripheral strips and two upper peripheral strips (6a) connected by four angle sections (7-10) forming spacers. It has two filling panels formed by spaced lattice surfaces.

Description

The present invention relates to the transport of goods and relates more particularly to a packaging case for the transport and storage of fruit and vegetables.

In general, the transport of packing cases sent from the place of dispatch to the place of reception, whatever their geographical locations, poses no problem insofar as the volumes developed by said cases are filled with fruit or vegetables. However, the transport of said boxes redirected from the place of reception to the place of shipment, poses many problems when said boxes are empty. Considering that the volume occupied by the empty case is the same as that of the full case, the cost of re-routing said cases from the place of reception to the place of shipment is often as high as the cost of delivery. Indeed, starting from the fact that the cost of transport by road, rail or sea transport (the most used for the transport of agricultural products) is inherent to the volume occupied by the loads, the transport of said cases therefore has very little impact on the cost price of transport, whether the boxes are empty or the boxes are full.

Also, to lower the cost of repatriation of empty boxes, it was imagined to arrange these same boxes of stacking and nesting means so that the volume developed by empty boxes nested one in the other is significantly less than the volume generated by full stacked boxes.

• dans un premier cas, ils sont constitués par des bossages et des cavités façonnés dans les parois latérales en vis-à-vis desdites caisses de manière à autoriser le gerbage des caisses placées dans une position identique, et leur emboîtement dans une position décalée à 180° de telle sorte que les bossages s'enfoncent dans les cavités, et vice versa;
• dans un second cas, ces moyens de gerbage et d'emboîtage sont constitués par deux volets articulés sur les bords latéraux de la susdite caisse de manière à pouvoir se rabattre soit vers l'intérieur parallèlement au fond de la caisse pour autoriser le gerbage d'une caisse, soit vers l'extérieur pour autoriser l'emboîtage d'une caisse.

To date, there are two known types of stacking and nesting means:

• in a first case, they are formed by bosses and cavities shaped in the side walls facing said boxes so as to allow stacking of boxes placed in an identical position, and their nesting in a position offset to 180 ° so that the bosses sink into the cavities, and vice versa;
• in a second case, these stacking and nesting means are constituted by two flaps articulated on the lateral edges of the above box so as to be able to fold either inwardly parallel to the bottom of the box to allow stacking of a box, or outwards to authorize the fitting of a box.

Numerous improvements aimed at establishing a fair balance between the required qualities of rigidity necessary for stacking full cases with a low cost price, have been made to this type of cases manufactured according to known techniques of injected thermoplastic. In addition, the shape of the boxes at the stacking and nesting means (bosses, cavities, flaps) has been studied in order to improve the nesting capacity of the empty boxes one inside the other.

According to the same objectives, the applicant imagined a packing case specially designed for the transport and storage of light vegetables. These vegetables are bulky, low cost and inexpensive, which has a primary impact on their cost of transport and storage which must be reduced. Also, the applicant has carried out research which has led to the development of a packaging case the requisite stiffness qualities of which have been studied with a view to packaging light products and the nesting capacity of which is maximum relative to at the height of the box to facilitate their repatriation in numbers. To do this, the box of the invention for transport and storage, of the type adopting the shape of a slightly tapered rectangular parallelepiped open upwards and comprising five walls delimiting the five other faces of the parallelepiped and defining the bottom and the four lateral and longitudinal walls of the body is remarkable in that it is constituted by the association of a rigid frame delimited by two low and high peripheral belts connected, by four corner pillars forming spacers, to panels filling formed by spaced blades of the skeleton type, of less rigidity than that of the elements of said framework.

Thus, the rigid frame of the box of the invention has the role of ensuring the indeformability of the container while the filling walls have the role of ensuring only the retention of the content. The distinction of these two roles (non-deformability and retention) allows to play on the quantities of materials used, in particular for the realization of these filling walls. In addition, considering that the thickness of the walls of the boxes delimits the nesting height, thinner walls considerably improve their nesting capacity.

To reinforce the undeformability of the body, the upper peripheral belt will take the form of a rim overlapping with overhang the four corner pillars.

Preferably, the blades spaced from the above filling walls are arranged vertically, so as not to hinder the manipulation of fitting and removing.

On the other hand, the necessary frustoconical shape of the boxes leaves a vacuum between the boxes juxtaposed at their lower part, which causes a certain play between them when they are subjected to vibrations, in particular during their transport in number. The effect of this clearance is to favor the overlapping of the edges of the upper peripheral belts of said boxes, overlapping which destabilizes the entire stack, or even its collapse, risking the content.

To eliminate this risk of overlapping, the applicant has also imagined equipping his body with a wedging device produced from at least one lug in the form of a flat which, grafted onto the outer wall of the edge of the peripheral belt upper, extends parallel to the bottom of the box and at a level slightly lower than that of the end of said rim so as to allow it to wedge below the rim of the adjoining box. In this way, this lug prohibits the overlapping of the edge of the box to which it is attached, on the edge of the adjoining box. Preferably, provision is made to fit two pins only one of the longitudinal edges of the upper peripheral belt to avoid a longitudinal movement of the body thus wedged. It is important to remember that each stack of boxes can be positioned between four other stacks of boxes, each box will be at least held by another box wedged thanks to its lug. The two pins will be judiciously positioned asymmetrically relative to the center of said longitudinal edge to avoid an unfortunate vis-à-vis, since two juxtaposed longitudinal edges will be fitted with the wedging device of the invention.

In the box of the invention according to the first embodiment, the above stacking and nesting means allowing their stacking in identical positions and their nesting in positions offset by 180 °, will be preformed by the four corner pillars forming spacers between the low peripheral belt and the high peripheral belt.

In the box of the invention according to the second embodiment, the above stacking and nesting means constituted by two flaps articulated on the lateral edges of the box, the above corner pillars forming spacers will be preformed to allow that the 'fitting one box into the other.

• La figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'une caisse selon le premier cas.
• Les figures 1a et 1b sont des vues en perspective agrandies de deux détails du dessin de la figure 1.
• La figure 2 est une vue de côté illustrant le gerbage de deux caisses selon le premier cas.
• La figure 3 est une vue de profil illustrant la juxtaposition des deux caisses selon le premier cas.
• La figure 3a est une vue agrandie d'un détail du dessin de la figure 3.
• La figure 4 est une vue en perspective d'une caisse selon le deuxième cas.
• Les figures 4a, 4b, 4c sont des vues agrandies de trois détails du dessin de la figure 4.
• La figure 5 est une vue en perspective illustrant trois caisses selon le deuxième cas, en position de gerbage et d'emboîtage.
• La figure 5a est une vue agrandie d'un tel détail du dessin de la figure 5.
• La figure 6 est une vue en perspective illustrant le gerbage de deux petites caisses sur une grande caisse du deuxième cas.

The invention having just been mentioned above in its most basic form, other characteristics and other advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly on reading the description which follows, giving by way of example not limiting and with reference to the appended drawings, various embodiments of a packaging case respecting these fundamental concepts. In these drawings:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a box according to the first case.
• Figures 1a and 1b are enlarged perspective views of two details of the drawing in Figure 1.
• Figure 2 is a side view illustrating the stacking of two boxes according to the first case.
• Figure 3 is a side view illustrating the juxtaposition of the two boxes according to the first case.
• FIG. 3a is an enlarged view of a detail of the drawing in FIG. 3.
• Figure 4 is a perspective view of a box according to the second case.
• Figures 4a, 4b, 4c are enlarged views of three details of the drawing of Figure 4.
• Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating three boxes according to the second case, in stacking and nesting position.
• FIG. 5a is an enlarged view of such a detail of the drawing in FIG. 5.
• Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating the stacking of two small boxes on a large box of the second case.

As illustrated in the drawings of Figures 1 and 6, the boxes referenced I, II as a whole, are intended for the transport and storage of light vegetables. Each of these boxes takes the form of a slightly tapered rectangular parallelepiped, open upwards to fill and empty said boxes. It includes five perforated panels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 delimiting five sides of the parallelepiped and defining the first (referenced 1) the bottom of the body and the next four the side walls (2 and 4) and longitudinal (3 and 5 ) of the latter.

The sixth open face (referenced 6) of the parallelepiped whose contours are delimited by a high peripheral belt 6a delimits an opening allowing the filling of vegetables on the upper face of the bottom panel 1, the internal faces of the panels forming walls 2, 3, 4 and 5 then ensuring the retention of the vegetables over the height of said box. The panels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 providing only a retention role are considerably lightened and produced for this purpose in spaced vertical slats of the skeleton type.

According to the main provisions of the invention common to each type of body, the rigid frame ensuring the undeformability of the body is formed by a low peripheral belt 1a delimiting the contours of the bottom panels 1, by the high peripheral belt 6a and by four corner pillars 7, 8, 9 and 10 forming spacers. For to reinforce the undeformability of the body, the aforesaid high peripheral belt 6a will take the form of a rim overlapping with overhang the four corner pillars 7,8 9 and 10.

According to a particularly advantageous characteristic of the invention, illustrated in more detail in the drawings of Figures 3 and 3a, the boxes of the invention are fitted with a wedging device made from two lugs in the form of flats 11a and 11b which are grafted onto the outer wall of one of the longitudinal edges of the upper peripheral belt 6a. These lugs, which extend parallel to the bottom 1 of the box are positioned at a level slightly lower than that of the end of said rim so as to allow it to be wedged below the rim of the adjoining box. Preferably, these two pins, 11a and 11b will be positioned asymmetrically with respect to the center of said longitudinal edge to avoid an unfortunate vis-à-vis when the two juxtaposed longitudinal edges are equipped with the wedging device of the invention. In addition, the presence of these lugs also has a role of stop, preventing the straps, which are used to moor the boxes, to slide along these.

Box I, of the type of the first case, and as illustrated in the drawings of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, is distinguished by its stacking and nesting means constituted by bosses and cavities preformed in the four pillars d 'angle 7, 8, 9 and 10. To do this, the corner pillars 7 and 8 are preformed in their wings extending towards the side panel 2, cavities 7a and 8a opening towards the inside of the body, and the pillars 9 and 10 are preformed in their wings extending towards the side panel 4, located opposite the side panel 2, of bosses 9a and 10a standing towards the inside of the body, so that when two boxes I arranged one above the other are in an identical position (as shown in the drawing in Figure 2), they stack one above the other. Conversely, when the same two boxes I are inverted at an offset of 180 °, the bosses 9a and 10a of the two boxes penetrate into the cavities 7a and 8a opposite, thus authorizing the nesting of the upper box in the lower box.

The upper peripheral belt 6a is furnished with pins 6b projecting in the vicinity of the corner pillars 7, 8, 9 and 10 and intended to penetrate into corresponding slots 1b (cf. FIG. 3) formed in the low peripheral belt 1a ( also in the vicinity of the pillars), which they pass right through to receive the nipples 6b of the upper body, regardless of the height of said nipples. Shoulders, 7b, 8b, 9b, 10b are judiciously shaped on the aforesaid high peripheral belt 6a in the extension of the abovementioned pillars of angles 7, 8, 9 and 10 and around the aforesaid nipples 6b. These shoulders which take the form of two brackets 7b, 8b in the vicinity of the cavities 7a and 8a and the shape of two U 9b and 10b, in the vicinity of the bosses 9a and 10a are of a height more important than that of the above nipples 6b. As can be seen in detail in the drawings of FIGS. 1a and 1b, the internal walls of the angled shoulders 7b, 8b on the one hand and of the U-shaped shoulders, 9b, 10b on the other hand, have sides inclined towards the the above nipples 6b, so that they allow the penetration of the nipples into the aforementioned slots 1b of the upper body, penetration which is guided by the positioning of the lower parts of the corner pillars, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the body coming to engage (cf. FIG. 2), firstly inside the square shoulders 7b and 8b, and secondly, inside the U-shaped shoulders, 9b and 10b. The upper faces of these shoulders 7b, 8b, 9b and 10b therefore define a much larger bearing surface than that of the points of the aforesaid nipples 6b, making it possible to safely support other boxes (made of cardboard) which do not engage not on said nipples.

Box II of the type of the second case, and as illustrated in the drawings of FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, is distinguished by its aforesaid stacking and nesting means, constituted in turn by two flaps 20 and 30 mounted articulated (as shown by arrow A in FIG. 4a) on the lateral edges of the upper peripheral belt 6a, so that they can be folded down either inwards parallel to the bottom 1 of the box to allow stacking d 'an upper box IIa (as shown in the drawing of Figure 5), either towards the outside according to an angular expansion of 90 ° in the extension of the side walls, in the opposite direction to the arrow A, to allow the fitting from box II to a lower box IIb. The position of these flaps on the two side walls therefore allows the stacking or fitting of the next box, whatever its presentation.

According to the invention, and as shown in more detail in the drawing of FIG. 4a illustrating the flap 20 and its articulation, the fold line obtained by molding to form the hinge necessary for the articulation movement A, is shaped in the extension of the internal face of the flap 20 on the one hand, and in the extension of the internal face of the side wall 2 on the other hand, in order to limit when the flap 20 is folded outwards (as shown in solid lines in the drawing of Figure 4a), an overflow of the flap out of said box. Indeed, in the deployed position (see Figure 4), the flaps 20 and 30 are maintained in the extension of the side wall (20 or 30) to which they are attached. Thus, the perimeter of the upper belt of a nested crate is the same as that of a stacked crate, making it possible to associate, without disadvantage, stacks of stacked crates with stacks of nested crates. The flaps 20 and 30, erected vertically, penetrate inside the peripheral rim 6a of an upper box II which is stacked on a box IIb as illustrated in the drawing in FIG. 5. Conversely, when the flaps 20 and 30 are folded down (arrow A) in a horizontal position, as is the case for box II illustrated in the drawing in FIG. 5, these flaps 20 and 30 kept retained in this position by the corner pillars 7, 8, 9 and 10, define a bearing surface at the bottom 1 of the box IIa coming to stack on it. Referring to the drawing in FIG. 4, it will be noted that the upper face of the upper peripheral belt 6a at the level of the side walls 2 and 4 on which the flaps 20 and 30 are articulated, is at a level lower than the upper face. at the two other longitudinal walls 3 and 5, according to a height difference equal to the thickness of the flaps 20 and 30, so that said flaps in the folded inward position (see Figure 4a) do not overhang opening 6 of the box. Advantageously, so that the flaps 20 and 30 can be folded inwards by bearing, in part or entirely of their width, on the ends of the longitudinal edges of the peripheral belt 6a, the upper face of the latter, is uneven at its ends to be in the same plane as the upper face of the side walls 2 and 4. In this way, each flap in the inwardly folded position will rest on four support points, two at the pillars and two delimited by the parts set back from the longitudinal walls 3 and 5.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the external face of the flaps 20 and 30 is provided with a longitudinal groove 21 and 31 in which a longitudinal shoulder 1a ′ is wedged (cf. FIG. 4b) preformed at the level of the belt lower device 1a of the bottom 1 of the body, which shoulder is shaped in the extension of the side walls 2 and 4. As can be seen in the drawing in FIG. 5a, the grooves 21 and 31 formed in the flaps 20 and 30 are wider than the shoulder 1a 'and adopt in cross section an upward flared shape to guide said shoulder. By being wider than the shoulder 1a ′, the groove (21 or 31) makes it possible to wedge said shoulder either against its internal slope or against its external slope, thereby offering a play making it possible to make up for the different offsets of the shoulder according to the different heights of boxes. Thus, while keeping the same taper angle, it will be possible to stack boxes of different heights.

According to a particularly advantageous characteristic of the invention, the aforesaid longitudinal groove 21 or 31 preformed in the flaps 20 or 30 is bent at its ends so as to form returns at right angles, respectively 21a and 31a, so that when the flaps 20 and 30 are in the inwardly folded position, the two grooves 21 and 31, seen from above, draw two Cs facing each other. The object of these returns 21a and 31a is to receive in part the shoulder 1a ′ of the low peripheral belt, the preformed also at the longitudinal edges, offering a wedging of the stacked boxes, both longitudinal and lateral.

As illustrated in the drawing of FIG. 6, the particular configuration in C of these grooves 21, 31 of the flaps 20 and 30 have an important role for large boxes IIc whose width is equal to the length of small boxes IIa or IIb and whose length is equal to twice the width of the same small boxes IIa and IIb.

Thus, when the flaps 20 and 30 are in the inwardly folded position for the large box IIc, two small boxes IIa and IIb can then be stacked side by side on the large box IIc. The shoulders 1a ′ of the low peripheral belt 1a of the small boxes IIa and IIb penetrate at their longitudinal edges into the longitudinal grooves 21 and 31 of the large box IIc and at the side edges in the returns (21a and 31a) of these same grooves. To control this stacking operation of two small boxes IIa and IIb on a large box IIc, the latter is provided in its longitudinal walls 3 and 5 with two central pillars 40 and 50 formed on their upper face, with two L-shaped grooves, 41 and 42 (appearing in the drawing only for the pillar 40) so that the two branches of the L are one and the other, parallel to the longitudinal groove 21 or 31 and to its returns 21a or 31a.

It is understood that the packaging cases, which have just been described and shown above, have been for the purpose of disclosure rather than limitation. Of course, various arrangements, modifications and improvements could be made to the above examples, without departing from the scope of the invention taken in its broadest aspects and spirit.

I

Caisses du premier cas

II, IIa, IIb , IIc

Caisses du deuxième cas

1

Panneau de fond

1a

Ceinture périphérique basse

1a'

Epaulement de la ceinture périphérique basse.

1b

Lumières

2, 4

Panneaux formant parois latérales

3, 5

Panneaux formant parois longitudinales

6

Face ouverte de la caisse

6a

Ceinture périphérique haute

6b

Tétons

7, 8, 9, 10

Piliers d'angle

7a, 8a

Cavités

7b, 8b

Epaulements en équerre

9a, 10a

Bossages

9b, 10b

Epaulements en U

11a, 11b

Ergots de calage

20, 30

Volets articulés

21, 31

Rainures

21a, 31a

Retours des rainures 21, 31

40, 50

Piliers centraux

41, 42

Rainures préformées dans le pilier central 40.

Flèche A

Mouvement de basculement des volets 20 et 30 vers l'intérieur de la caisse.

In order to allow a better understanding of the drawings, a list of references with their legends is listed below.

I

Crates of the first case

II, IIa, IIb, IIc

Crates of the second case

1

Back panel

1a

Low peripheral belt

1a '

Shoulder of the lower peripheral belt.

1b

Lights

2, 4

Side wall panels

3, 5

Longitudinal wall panels

6

Open side of the body

6a

High peripheral belt

6b

Nipples

7, 8, 9, 10

Corner pillars

7a, 8a

Cavities

7b, 8b

Angled shoulders

9a, 10a

Bosses

9b, 10b

U-shaped shoulders

11a, 11b

Wedging pins

20, 30

Articulated shutters

21, 31

Grooves

21a, 31a

Returns of grooves 21, 31

40, 50

Central pillars

41, 42

Preformed grooves in the central pillar 40.

Arrow A

Tilting movement of flaps 20 and 30 towards the inside of the body.

Claims (14)

Skeleton packing box for the transport and storage of light vegetables, adopting the shape of a slightly tapered rectangular parallelepiped open upwards and comprising five walls delimiting the five other faces of the parallelepiped and defining the bottom (1) and the four lateral (2 and 4) and longitudinal (3 and 5) walls of the box, and provided with stacking and nesting means, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT it is constituted by the association of a rigid frame delimited by two low (1a) and high (6a) peripheral belts connected by four corner pillars (7, 8, 9, 10) forming spacers, to filling panels formed by spaced blades of the stiffness skeleton type less than that of the elements constituting the said framework. Box according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the said high peripheral belt (6a) takes the form of a rim overlapping with overhang the four corner pillars (7, 8, 9 and 10) forming spacers. Box according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the above-mentioned blades of the side and longitudinal panels (2, 3, 4, 5) are arranged vertically parallel to the corner pillars (7, 8, 9, 10). Box according to claims 1 and 2, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT that it comprises a wedging device constituted by at least one lug in the form of a flat (11a or 11b) which, grafted onto the external wall of one of the longitudinal edges of the upper peripheral belt (6a), extends parallel to the bottom (1) of the body and at a level slightly lower than that of the end of said rim so as to allow it to be wedged below the rim (6a) of the adjoining body. Box according to claims 1 to 4 taken together, in which the aforementioned stacking and nesting means are constituted by bosses and cavities allowing their stacking in an identical position and their nesting in a position offset by 180 °, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the aforementioned pillars (7, 8, 9 and 10) define the above stacking and nesting means and are preformed so that the wings of two corner pillars (7 and 8) extending towards the same side panel (2) draw cavities (7a and 8a) opening towards the inside of the body and the wings of the two other pillars (9 and 10) extending towards the same side panel (4) located opposite opposite the first (2), draw bosses (9a and 10a) rising towards the inside of the body. Box according to claim 5, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the aforesaid high peripheral belt is furnished with pins (6b) projecting in the vicinity of the corner pillars (7, 8, 9 and 10) to enter the lights (1b ) in correspondence formed in the low peripheral belt (1a) of an upper body, AND BY THE FACT THAT shoulders (7b, 8b, 9b, 10b) are shaped on the above high peripheral belt (6a) in the vicinity of the pillars d 'angle (7, 8, 9 and 10) around the aforesaid nipples (6b) at a height equal to or greater than that of the latter, so that they allow the penetration of the nipples (6b) of a box in the the above lights (1b) of an upper box. Box according to claims 5 and 6, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the abovementioned shoulders adopt the shape of two brackets (7b, 8b) in the vicinity of the cavities (7a, 8a) of the corner pillars (7 and 8) and the shape of two U's (9b and 10b) in the vicinity of the bosses (9a and 10a) of the corner pillars (9 and 10), AND BY THE FACT THAT the internal walls of the square shoulders (4b and 8b) on the one hand, and U-shaped shoulders (9b and 10b) on the other hand, have sides inclined towards the aforesaid nipples (6b). Box according to claims 1 to 4 taken together, in which the above stacking and nesting means consist of two flaps (20 and 30) articulated (arrow A) on the lateral edges (2 and 4) of the above box so as to be able to fold down (arrow A) either inwards parallel to the bottom (1) of the box to authorize the stacking of a box or outwards to authorize the nesting of a box, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the above-mentioned flaps (20 and 30) are mounted articulated on the lateral edges of the upper peripheral belt (6a) so that the fold line obtained by molding to form the articulation hinge (arrow A) is shaped in the extension of the internal face of the flaps (20 and 30) on the one hand, and in the extension of the internal face of the side walls (2 and 4) equipped with said flaps on the other hand, in order to limit during the folding of the flaps towards outside, an overflow of said fund. Box according to claim 8, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the upper faces of the lateral edges of the upper peripheral belt (6a) of the said box on which said flaps (20 and 30) are articulated are shaped at a lower level than those of longitudinal edges and this, according to a height difference at least equal to the thickness of said flaps (20 and 30), so that said flaps in the inwardly folded position do not overhang the opening (6) of the checkout. Box according to claim 8, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the external faces of the above-mentioned flaps (20 and 30) are provided with a longitudinal groove (21 and 31) in which is wedged a shoulder (1a ') preformed in the bottom ( 1) from the cash register higher at the level of the lower peripheral belt (1a) in the extension of the side walls (2 and 4). Box according to claims 8 and 9, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the ends of the upper faces of the longitudinal edges of the upper peripheral belt (6a) are at the same level as the upper faces of the lateral edges on which the above-mentioned flaps are articulated (20 and 30) to release a recessed portion so that said flaps (20 and 30) can be folded down (arrow A) inwards by bearing, in part or entirely of their width, on said longitudinal edges. Box according to claims 8 and 10, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the above grooves (21 and 31) formed in the above flaps (20 and 30) are wider than the shoulder (1a ') preformed in correspondence in the bottom (1 ) of the body and adopt in section a flared shape upwards. Box according to claims 8, 10 and 11, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the said longitudinal groove (21 or 31) is curved at its ends so as to form returns at right angles (21a or 31a), to receive in part, the 'shoulder (1a') also preformed at the longitudinal walls (3 and 5). Box according to all of claims 8 to 13, allowing stacking on a large box (IIc) two small boxes (IIa and IIb) adopting a length equal to the width of the large and a width equal to half the length of the large one and vice versa, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT each of the above longitudinal walls (3 and 5) of the large box (IIc) is arranged in its center, of two pillars (40 and 50) projecting inwards the body and preformed each on its upper face with two L-shaped grooves (41 and 42) so that the two branches of the L are both parallel to the longitudinal grooves (21 or 31) of the flaps (20 and 30) for one and returns (21a and 31a) for the other.

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