EP1343703A1

EP1343703A1 - Pallet container

Info

Publication number: EP1343703A1
Application number: EP01997444A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Dietmar Przytulla
Original assignee: Mauser Werke GmbH
Current assignee: Mauser Werke GmbH
Priority date: 2000-11-23
Filing date: 2001-11-23
Publication date: 2003-09-17
Anticipated expiration: 2021-11-23
Also published as: JP4248235B2; ATE367981T1; NO20032260L; IL156061A; US20030015529A1; CZ20031539A3; US20060272970A1; NO20032260D0; CA2429637A1; BR0115561A; JP2004514606A; WO2002042178A1; AU2188502A; US20040154943A1; IL156061A0; MXPA03004536A; DE50112772D1; BR0115561B1; US7648040B2; HUP0302662A2

Abstract

The invention relates to a pallet container (10), comprising a thin-walled, rigid inner container (12) consisting of a thermoplastic, for storing and transporting liquid or flowable materials; a tubular lattice frame (14) which tightly encloses said plastic inner container (12) and acts as a support casing; and a base pallet (16), on which the inner plastic container lies (12) and to which the support casing is solidly connected. Corresponding elements (positive fit/friction fit elements) which - seen in the direction of the horizontal plane - considerably increase the slip resistance between the outer surface of the inner container underfloor pointing downwards and the surface of the base pallet(16) pointing upwards, or the intermediate panel, are provided within the bearing surface of the plastic inner container (12), on the surface of the base pallet (16) or on the surface of an intermediate panel. According to a preferred form of embodiment, the underfloor of the inner container (12) is fixed to the base pallet (16) by means of positive-fit elements (18, 26, 30, 36).

Description

PALETTE CONTAINER

The invention relates to a pallet container with a thin-walled rigid inner container made of thermoplastic material for the storage and transport of liquid or flowable filling goods, with a space frame which tightly encloses the plastic container as a supporting jacket and with a floor pallet on which the plastic container rests and with which the supporting jacket is fixed connected is.

State of the art :

Such pallet containers with wire mesh or trellis support jacket are generally known, for. B. US 4,676,373 (Schn./W).

The lattice jacket is fastened to the floor pallet, which can be designed as a flat pallet made of plastic, wood or tubular steel frame, by means of fastening means reaching over or through the lower, horizontally circulating frame tube, such as, for. B. screws, clips, clamps or claws. The fasteners are on the upper deck or the upper outer edge of the pallet z. B. nailed, donated, screwed or welded to sheet steel pallets. In the case of a trellis support jacket, the trellis tubes can be designed as an open or closed profile with a round or rectangular cross section.

For industrial use of the pallet containers, they have to go through an official approval sample and thereby meet certain quality criteria. For example, Internal pressure tests and drop tests with filled pallet containers from certain drop heights, among others also carried out at extremely low temperatures (- 20 ° C). The worst case is a diagonal fall on the lower end of the pallet on which the bottom outlet valve of the inner plastic container is arranged.

Such drop tests have shown that the inner container tries to move relative to the floor pallet in the event of a ground impact. In this case, in particular on the impact face and in adjacent lateral circumferential areas, the fastening points of the lattice jacket are overloaded and partially torn off from the base pallet. The attachment of the lower edge of the support jacket to the pallet represents an important problem here. Since the lattice jacket is only fixed in a few places, the lattice jacket is deformed and warped very unevenly, particularly in the case of a tubular lattice; here the lower Tear out the fastening points on the floor pallet and the thin-walled plastic container can be damaged by torn-off grid parts.

Problem: Pallet containers or combination IBCs (IBC = Intermediate Bulk Containers) of the type mentioned here are used for the transport of liquids (such as dangerous chemicals). They are designed as pallet containers, preferably have a filling volume of 1000 liters and consist of a pallet, grid jacket and plastic inner container (PE-HD). The inner container, which is closely enclosed by the lattice jacket, is usually provided with an upper filling opening and with a lower outlet fitting.

In the diagonal drop test on the lower critical face of the pallet (where the outlet fitting of the inner container is located), the inner container with the liquid filling material endeavors to slip sideways and to move towards the front or lower grid wall. The surge forces of the filling material and the thrust force of the inner container must essentially be absorbed by the front grille wall. The ground impact of a filled pallet container leads to very considerable elastic and plastic, i.e. H. permanent deformations and inadequate strength of the lattice jacket and pallet to devastating deformations and damage to the inner container. The area around the outlet fitting is most at risk.

The test conditions for the drop test consist on the one hand that the inner container remains absolutely leak-proof and no filling material emerges from the outlet fitting or overstressed expansion areas of the plastic inner container, and that the pallet container can still be manipulated, ie. H. must be receivable and transportable with a forklift. These are essential prerequisites for obtaining official approval of the pallet container for use with dangerous liquid goods.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a pallet container with increased strength against mechanical stress (high drop resistance), in which, with simple constructional means, a reduction in the lateral forces occurring in the event of a diagonal fall on the wall of the tubular frame is reduced, and thereby a corresponding official approval of the pallet container for the use or for an application for liquid filling goods of the upper hazard class is made possible. Solution:

In the case of the pallet container according to the invention, this object is achieved in that corresponding means are provided within the contact surface of the plastic inner container on the surface of the base pallet or on the surface of an intermediate plate are provided, which - viewed in the horizontal plane direction - cause an increase in the sliding resistance between the downward-facing outer surface of the underbody of the inner container and the upward-facing surface of the base pallet or the intermediate plate.

Based on the knowledge that the comparatively smooth underbody of the plastic inner container on the comparatively smooth surface of the base pallet or an intermediate plate, if necessary, arranged in between (e.g. as a damping element or as a support plate made of sheet metal or plastic, e.g. polystyrene on a metal frame - Pallet) when the pallet container is inclined and especially in a diagonal case has no significant slip resistance and the filled inner container can slide to the side without any appreciable frictional resistance At least some of the kinetic energy inherent in plastic inner containers is consumed by these means, and not all of the energy has to be absorbed by the lower grid basket wall.

This largely prevents the inner container from shifting relative to the pallet during the drop test and relieves the load on the front or lower support frame. As a result, the lattice frame is less deformed in a pallet container designed according to the invention and is therefore suitable for dangerous liquid or flowable filling goods up to class 6 (highest approval quality).

In an embodiment of the invention it is provided that projections pointing outwards (below) are formed within the bottom wall of the plastic inner container and corresponding inwards (below) recesses are formed in the surface of the intermediate plate and / or in the surface of the base pallet interlock positively.

In the case of the pallet container known from the above-mentioned US Pat. No. 4,676,373, a collecting channel formed in the middle of the bottom wall of the inner container and running towards the outlet valve is recessed between two pallet boards of a wooden pallet, but this recessed collecting channel is not limited within the support surface of the inner container / base pallet, but extends to the front edge of the floor pallet; since it is not designed to run transversely, it does not protect the outlet valve, since the inner container can slide down towards the front edge of the pallet without being braked. An interlocking connection effective in the sense of the present invention (transverse to the direction of the front edge of the pallet to protect the outlet valve) is not formed or excited thereby. In a preferred other embodiment of the invention, it is provided that inwardly (top) molded portions are formed within the bottom wall of the plastic inner container and corresponding outwardly (top) projections are formed in the surface of the intermediate plate and / or in the surface of the base pallet are interlocking and form a positive connection. In order to develop a sufficient effect as a "slip brake", the interlocking form-locking elements (anti slip elements) should have an engagement height of approximately 5 mm to 50 mm, preferably approximately 20 mm.

The interlocking elements can advantageously be equipped with side bevels to allow the inner container to slide off in extreme load cases and thus prevent tearing of the plastic bottom wall. The beveling of the form-locking elements should have an angle between approximately 45 ° and 85 °, preferably approximately 80 °.

In a further embodiment of the invention it is provided that the positive locking elements within the support surface plastic inner container on the floor pallet have an outwardly limited areal extension and z. B. are designed as a circular, triangular or polygonal form-locking element. In another embodiment variant, the positive locking elements can have a linear extension and z. B. as at least to one side (to enable residual emptying) open circular, triangular, polygonal or cross-shaped positive-locking element.

The form-fitting elements consist of ridges on the pallet surface and corresponding depressions in the support surface of the inner container bottom or ridges, d. H. Projections in the contact surface of the inner container bottom and corresponding recesses (= depressions) in the pallet surface. Both variants could also be implemented side by side. Sliding of the inner container in all possible directions is effectively prevented or reduced with the form-locking elements according to the invention, which are arranged inside the support surface and are limited to the outside.

A positive locking element can, for. B. consist of a flat metal, plastic or wooden disc with a pin projecting downwards (e.g. diameter approx. 200 mm, height approx. 30 mm, pin diameter approx. 25 mm, pin height approx. 40 mm). In the pallet surface are z. B. four places corresponding recesses (here holes), into which the pins of the positive-locking elements are inserted. In the contact area of the inner container underbody then have to the indentations or depressions may be provided in corresponding places. In this simple way, any existing floor pallet made of wood, plastic or steel can be retrofitted for such pallet containers if, for. B. When a used pallet container is reconditioned, a new inner container provided with corresponding indentations in the underbody is used.

In a preferred embodiment, it is provided that at least one outwardly (below) protruding pin projection is formed on the bottom of the inner container along the centrally running pinch seam, which engages in a corresponding recess or a slot in the top of the base pallet or the intermediate plate arranged in between and z. B. is attached by means of a transversely inserted pin from the bottom of the pallet deck. In this way, it is also prevented that the underbody of the inner container pulls upwards in the usual disadvantageous manner due to shrinkage stresses in the thicker squeeze seam and prevents complete residual emptying from the inner container.

The invention is explained and described in more detail below on the basis of exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings. Show it :

FIG. 1 is a side view of a pallet container according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section through a plastic floor pallet,

FIG. 3 shows a schematic section of the inner container base pallet,

FIG. 4 shows a top view of a floor pallet according to the invention,

Figure 5 shows a partial cross section through the floor pallet. Fig. 4,

FIG. 6 shows a partial view of the inner container base pallet with a form-locking element,

FIG. 7 shows a partial view of the inner container base pallet with a form-locking element,

FIG. 8 shows a partial view of the inner container base pallet with a form-locking element,

FIG. 9 shows a front view of an inner container with form-fitting elements,

FIG. 10 shows a side view of the inner container with positive locking elements,

Figure 11 is a partial view of the inner container bottom pallet with form-locking element and

FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional view of the form-locking element from FIG. 11

The pallet container 10 shown in Figure 1 consists of a thin-walled rigid inner container 12 made of thermoplastic material for the storage and transport of liquid or flowable filling goods, from a tubular tubular frame 14 which tightly surrounds the plastic inner container 12 as a supporting jacket and from a bottom pallet 16 on which the plastic inner container 12 rests and with which the space frame 1 4 is firmly connected. The circles drawn in the underbody area of the interior container and top of the bottom pallet 16 are intended to illustrate the application of the form-fitting elements 18 of the present invention. In the event that an additional intermediate plate, for. B. made of sheet steel or plastic to cover an open tubular frame pallet or of styrofoam as a damping element, the inventive measures such. B. several positive locking elements are provided between these three parts, in any case they are in direct operative contact with the underbody of the inner container.

In Figure 2, the form-locking means 18 are also marked by circles drawn there. In a schematic illustration, an interlocking connection according to the invention is realized in FIG. 3 by an indentation 22 in the underbody of the inner container 12 and a corresponding elevation or a projection 20 on the upper bottom of the bottom pallet 16. The bulge or the protrusion 20 on the pallet top floor can also be realized by means of separate push-on or insert elements, possibly with a predetermined breaking point (see FIGS. 6 and 7).

The top view in FIG. 4 shows the floor pallet 16 with four round form-fitting elements 20 in the corner areas. The inner container must then have the indentations molded upwards at the appropriate points in the underbody. Furthermore, two Velcro strips 48 and two adhesive pads 50 are shown in addition or as an alternative solution. The adhesive pads can e.g. B. can be realized by a double-sided adhesive film or by applying adhesive areas. The Velcro strips are also glued to the bottom pallet and to the bottom of the inner container. These frictional / adhesive closure elements can advantageously also be used retrospectively for any existing pallet container.

The surface of the base pallet 16, like the underside of the inner container 12, is designed to be inclined very slightly or flatly in a funnel shape to the central channel 52 leading to the outlet fitting. A plurality of slots 38 are formed within this central channel 52, into which corresponding peg-like projections 30 on the underbody of the inner container 12 engage in a form-fitting manner when the inner container 12 is attached.

Figure 5 shows a partial section through the lower right interlocking element 20 (marked by a dashed circle).

A form-locking element 18 can, as shown in Figure 6, for. B. consist of a flat metal, plastic or wooden disc with a downwardly projecting pin 26 (z. B. diameter about 200 mm, height about 30 mm, pin diameter about 25 mm, pin height about 40 mm). In the pallet surface are z. B. Four places corresponding recesses are formed here as holes 24 in which the pin 26 of the form-fitting elements 18 are inserted. In the underbody of the inner container 12, the indentations 22 or depressions must then be provided at the corresponding points. The pins 26 can be provided with a predetermined breaking point, which tears off when overloaded, so that the underbody of the inner container cannot be damaged.

A somewhat different solution is shown in FIG. 7. Here, a z. B. round form-locking element 18 at the same time upwards into the indentation 22 of the inner container 12 and downwards into a corresponding indentation 28 in the bearing surface of the base pallet 16 and establishes an effective form-locking connection in the horizontal plane direction.

FIG. 8 shows a detail of a piece of the underbody of the plastic inner container 12 with two peg-like projections 30, which engage in a form-fitting manner in corresponding indentations 28 or slots 38 in the surface of the base pallet 16. The projections 30 can be round or narrowly elongated; they are formed during the blow molding process as an integral piece in the pinch seam from the lower piece of the inner container 12 and can also be provided with a corresponding predetermined breaking point 44. In FIG. 9, these projections 30 formed along the pinch seam on the underbody of the inner container 12 are illustrated in a front view and in FIG. 10 in a side view. The projections 30 engage in a form-fitting manner in the corresponding slots 38 in the base pallet 16 (cf. FIG. 4). The partial sectional view in FIG. 11 shows a special embodiment with a pin projection 36 along the pinch seam 34 on the bottom of the inner container 12. The pin 36 is inserted into a slot 36 in the upper deck of the base pallet 16 and is inserted through a correspondingly provided bore 40 Locking pin 42 firmly fixed against the pallet upper deck from below. The pin 36 is illustrated in a side view in FIG. 12 and also provided with predetermined breaking points 44 or / and 46. The predetermined breaking points 44, 46 are intended to preclude overstressing the inner container underbody with certainty in the event of an extreme load.

It is particularly important for the form-fitting, friction-locking and adhesive elements that they reduce or prevent the inner container from slipping on the pallet surface in any direction and in particular towards the front edge of the pallet, where the outlet fitting of the inner container is located noticeably reduce the thrust forces acting on the front grille wall of the inner container and are effective due to their special "holding effect".

With the measures shown, any existing pallet made of wood, plastic or steel can be retrofitted for all pallet containers according to the present invention. Bezuqszifferniiste

pallet container

inner container

Spaceframe

bottom pallet

Form-fitting elements

Projection (16)

Molded (12)

Bore (16)

Cone (18)

Molded (16)

Pin projection (12)

outlet opening

pinch seam

Pin projection (12/34)

Slot (16)

Bore (36)

safety pin

Breaking point

Velcro strips

Adhesive pads

Central channel (16)

Claims

claims

1. Pallet container (10) with a thin-walled rigid inner container (12) made of thermoplastic material for the storage and transport of liquid or flowable filling materials, with a tubular tubular frame (14) tightly enclosing the plastic inner container (12) as a supporting jacket and with a base pallet (16), on which the plastic inner container (12) rests and with which the support jacket is firmly connected, characterized in that within the bearing surface of the plastic inner container (12) on the surface of the base pallet (16) or on the surface of a Corresponding means (18) are provided between the intermediate plate, which - viewed in the horizontal plane direction - cause an increase in the sliding resistance between the downward-facing outer surface of the underbody of the inner container (12) and the upward-facing surface of the base pallet (16) or the intermediate plate.

2.) Pallet container according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for increasing the sliding resistance are designed as frictional engagement elements and / or adhesive closure elements (= adhesive elements).

3. Pallet container according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for increasing the sliding resistance are designed as positive locking elements (18).

4. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 or 3, characterized in that suitable means (18) are provided in the bottom wall of the plastic inner container (12) and in the surface of the bottom pallet (16) or in an intermediate plate arranged therebetween, which - viewed in the horizontal plane direction - interlock positively.

5. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 4, characterized in that inside the bottom wall of the plastic inner container (12) outwardly (below) facing material projections (30, 36) are provided and in the surface of the intermediate plate or / and in the surface of the base pallet (16) there are corresponding inward (bottom) facing recesses or slots (38) which interlock positively.

6. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, characterized in that within the bottom wall of the plastic inner container (12) inward (top) facing indentations (22) are provided and in the surface of the intermediate plate and / or in the surface the base pallet (16) corresponding outward (top) projections or attachments (18) are provided, which interlock positively and form a positive connection.

7. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 6, characterized in that within the bottom wall of the plastic inner container (12) inward (top) facing indentations (22) are provided and also in the surface of the intermediate plate and / or in the surface of the floor pallet is provided with inward (28) facing indentations (28), in which a positive locking element (18) is inserted into the indentations (22, 28), which engages in both corresponding indentations (22, 28) and such a positive connection is shown.

8. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the engaging positive locking elements (18) have an engaging height of about 5 mm to 50 mm, preferably about 20 mm.

9. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the positive locking elements (18) have a lateral bevel with an angle between 45 ° and 85 °, preferably about 80 °.

10. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the form-locking elements (18) are arranged within the bearing surface inner container / bottom pallet to the outside, and have a flat extension, that is z. B. are designed as a circular, triangular or polygonal form-locking element.

11. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the positive locking elements (18) are arranged within the bearing surface inner container / bottom pallet limited to the outside, and have a substantially linear extension, that is z. B. are formed as at least open to one side annular, triangular, polygonal or cross-shaped form-locking element.

12. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 11, characterized in that between the surface of the bottom pallet (16) and / and an intermediate plate arranged thereon and the underbody of the inner container (12) friction locking elements or adhesive closure elements (= adhesive elements) are provided, preferably Place adhesive pads (48), adhesive strips, Velcro elements (50) or adhesive; which have a very strong adhesive effect in the horizontal plane direction, but which are easily removable in the vertical direction (for easy replacement of the inner container).

13. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 12, characterized in that at least one outwardly (bottom) projecting pin projection (36) is formed on the bottom of the inner container (12) along the centrally running pinch seam (34), which in a corresponding Recess or a slot (38) engages in the top floor of the base pallet (16) or the intermediate plate arranged between them and is fastened therein.

14. Pallet container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the projecting or engaging positive locking elements (18, 26, 30, 36) are provided with at least one predetermined breaking point (44, 46).