EP1437306B1 - Locking mechanism of a container - Google Patents

Abstract

The closing mechanism locks the folding side walls (3, 4, 5, 6) in the upright position. It includes a locking bar fitted in one side wall which engages in a recess in the adjacent side wall. The lock (7), which can be pushed against a spring, includes a displacement element which incorporates or operates the locking bar.

Description

The present invention relates to a transport container preferably made of plastic for vegetables and fruit in particular according to the preamble of claim 1.

Collapsible transport container preferably made of plastic are used for a variety of transportation purposes, since they are both very stable and on the other hand very light and require only a small footprint due to the folding function in empty transport.

In addition, it is disadvantageous in the current folding transport containers that the side walls, which are mutually secured by locking elements in the upright position, can collapse already under pressure on the side walls. While this is advantageous on the one hand for quick and easy handling, on the other hand it has the disadvantage that, in the case of improper handling, as frequently occurs during heavy use in practice, the side walls are not properly locked in the upright position, which can subsequently lead to a collapse of the side walls during loading and stacking and thus damage to the goods received therein. In addition, the locking and securing elements currently used are often difficult to use and difficult to arrange on the containers. In addition, there is often here the problem that the latching or securing elements can be damaged if used improperly.

US-A 5,161,709 describes a hinged container whose upstanding pivotal side members are held in the upright position by an overlapping corner construction by means of pins engaging in grooves of a bottom plate. In this case, two of the side parts on a locking device, which hold the upright side panels together.

With the present invention, a mutual backup of the hinged side walls in the erected state to be created, which is easy to use, so it is to open and close, and is insensitive to pressure or impact stress. In particular, an easy handling should be given in such a way that a user can solve the security of the side walls or close, without having to change his position or the position of the transport container.

This object is achieved by a transport container with the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.

According to the invention, the transport container has a preferably rectangular base plate. Preferably, four side walls are foldably arranged on the bottom plate, which can be pivoted between a folded position in which they lie on the bottom plate and an erect position in which they protrude substantially perpendicularly from the bottom plate upwards.

The hinged transport container has a locking of the hinged side walls in the erected position, which is provided by a shutter mechanism on adjacent side walls. The closure mechanism comprises a closure with a locking latch, which is provided on the one side wall, and a latching recess on the adjacent side wall, in which the closure latch can engage. The closure is in this case formed by a displaceable against the spring force of an elastic element sliding element which comprises the closure bolt or actuated and is received in the side wall substantially. By receiving the closure in a side wall of this is protected in an advantageous manner against damage from external forces. Preferably, it is ensured by a bias of the displacement element by an elastic element or by the force required to move the displacement element, that an unintentional actuation of the closure mechanism can be excluded by a pure pressure or force on the side wall

Advantageously, the displacement element in the side wall is arranged so that it can be actuated both from the outside of the side wall and from the inside. This is achieved in particular by the fact that the displacement element and thus the closure is inserted in a closure recess in the side wall, so that the closure by arranged on both sides of the displacement element recessed grips or a continuous handle opening can be operated from both sides of the side wall. The two-sided operability of the closure has the advantage that neither the operator must change his location, nor the transport container must be rotated in order to fold all the side walls can.

In addition, the possibility that the closure can be inserted into a recess in a side wall, the manufacturing advantage that the closure can be made in one piece from plastic and then simply clipped into the recess in the side wall.

The closure is in this case preferably in the form of locking elements, the. Projections, webs or the like are formed, held in the closure recess of the side wall and / or guided. Since the displacement element of the closure must be moved in the side wall for actuating the closure bolt, the closure recess must be selected to be large, so that a displacement of the displacement element is possible. In order to cause the bias of the closure bar or the associated displacement element in a position by the elastic spring element, the displacement element in the side wall is arranged so that it is connected via the elastic element with the side wall.

This may preferably be done by a holding plate which is part of the closure and which is fixedly secured in the side wall. Alternatively, however, the elastic element may be arranged directly on the side wall.

By the connection of the displacement element via the elastic element with the side wall, the displacement element is held in the position in which the elastic spring element is relaxed. This is preferably the closure position, in which therefore engages the locking latch in the recess of the adjacent side wall. By this default in the closed position unintentional folding of the transport container is effectively avoided.

In a preferred embodiment of the closure, a substantially cuboid frame body is provided as a displacement element, which has on both sides circular gripping recesses or a continuous handle opening at one end. The width of the frame body or the displacement element is adapted to the thickness of the side wall, so that the closure is substantially flush with the inside and / or outside of the side wall. Preferably, within the frame body, the elastic element is arranged, which is advantageously substantially formed as an S-shaped spring and on the one hand on the opposite side of the gripping recess of the frame body and on the other side fixed to the side wall or the retaining plate of the closure, preferably as a continuation the side wall is in the Verschlußaüssparung. This is a particularly space-saving embodiment, in which the spring element is sufficiently protected by the surrounding frame body. Due to the S-shaped design of the spring a particularly long travel is achieved, which requires only a small amount of force.

At the recessed grip or the grip opening opposite side of the frame body, the closure latch is arranged directly on the displacement element in a preferred embodiment, so that directly with the displacement of the displacement element and the locking latch is moved.

To open the shutter, so to release the locking of the adjacent side walls, the sliding element must be moved by the user via the engagement in the recessed grip or handle opening against the spring force of the elastic member, so that the locking latch out of engagement with the recess of adjacent side wall triggers. Since preferably a double-sided recessed grip or a continuous handle opening is provided on the displacement element, the retaining plate, which is preferably arranged parallel to the surface of the side wall and the displacement of the sliding element, extends only over a portion of the displacement element, preferably about two-thirds, so as to Do not cover the area of the recessed grip or handle opening.

Fig. 1

eine perspektivische Ansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Transportbehälters;

Fig. 2

eine teilweise perspektivische Ansicht einer Seitenwand, in die der Verschluß eingesetzt werden kann.

Fig. 3

eine teilweise Seitenansicht des Transportbehälters mit einem erfindungsgemäßen Verschlußmechanismus;

Fig. 4 a) und b)

jeweils eine perspektivische Ansicht des Verschlusses in der Verschlußstellung (a) und der zurückgezogenen Stellung (b) zum Umklappen der Seitenwände; und in

Further advantages, characteristics and features of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the attached Drawings clearly. The drawings show all in a purely schematic manner in

Fig. 1

a perspective view of a transport container according to the invention;

Fig. 2

a partial perspective view of a side wall into which the closure can be inserted.

Fig. 3

a partial side view of the transport container with a closure mechanism according to the invention;

4 a) and b)

each a perspective view of the closure in the closed position (a) and the retracted position (b) for folding the side walls; and in

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a transport container 1, in which the side walls 3 to 6 are arranged on the bottom plate 2, that they can be folded in the direction of the arrows on the bottom plate 2. In order to secure the position of the side walls 3 to 6 in an upright position, closures 7 are provided in the embodiment shown on the side walls 3 and 5, the locking of adjacent side walls 3 and 4 or 3 and 6 or 5 and 4 or 5 and 6 allow. On the presentation of the hinge elements, which allow the pivoting of the side walls 3 to 6 relative to the bottom plate 2, has been omitted for reasons of simplicity, since all known solutions can be provided here.

Fig. 3 shows a partial side view of the side walls 3 and 4 of the transport container of Fig. 1 in an erect position, which are firmly locked by the shutter mechanism 7, 24. 9, the closure mechanism 7, 24 comprises a closure 7 with a closure latch 15 on the one side wall 3, wherein the closure latch 15 engages in a latching recess 24 of the adjacent side wall 4. The closure bar 15 is preset via an elastic spring element 14 which is S-shaped in the exemplary embodiment shown, in the closed position. Contrary to the spring force of the elastic spring element 14, the locking latch 15 can be removed from the locking position, ie from the latching recess 24 of the adjacent side wall 4, when the displacement element 16 of the closure 7, on which the locking latch 15 is arranged, in the closure recess 18 in the side wall 3 is moved. For this purpose, the displacement element 16 on both the inside and on the outside of the side wall 3 has an engagement recess 13, in which the user can engage with a finger.

The displacement element 16, which is slidably received in the closure recess 18 of the side wall 3, is held in the side wall 3 via a holding plate 19, which in turn is connected via the spring support 17 with the elastic spring element 14.

As better shown in Figs. 4 a) and b) can be seen, however, show only the shutter alone without side wall, the support plate 19 is fastened via locking elements 20 in the closure recess 18 of the side wall 3. Alternatively, however, it would also be conceivable that the holding plate 19 is formed integrally with the side wall 3, and the displacement element 16 via the spring support 17 is connected for example by a plug connection directly to the side wall 3.

Figures 4a) and b) illustrate the situation of the closure in the closed position (Figure 4a)) and in the unlocked position (Figure 4b). In the closed position shown in Figure 4a), the spring force is applied of the elastic spring element 14, the displacement element 16, which consists of a substantially cuboid frame body with a rounding on one side, aligned so that the side in which the locking latch 15 is arranged, substantially flush with the front of the holding plate 19. In this state, the elastic spring element 14 is thus in a relieved or almost unloaded state. In order to release the closure position, in which the closure bolt 15 engages in the latching recess 24 of the adjacent side wall, the displacement element 16 is displaced against the spring force of the elastic spring element 14 in the direction of the arrow, which is indicated in FIG. 4b). In this way, the elastic spring element 14 is compressed and is in a stretched state. The actuation of the displacement element 16 can be effected by the user in that he engages in the Griffinulde 13.

If the closure 7 is now in the side wall 3 or in the closure recess 18 of the side wall 3, as shown in Fig. 11, so the locking latch 15 protrudes through the latch recess 22 in the side wall 3. By the operation of the displacement element 16, as has been described above, the locking bar 15 is pulled through the latch recess 22, so that the locking latch 15 no longer protrudes through the latch recess 22. Thus, the side wall 3 can be moved in a simple manner relative to the side wall 4 and the side wall 6.

With reference to FIG. 1, the transport container 1 can thus be combined with the simultaneous operation of the closures 7 on the side wall 3 or 5 and then on the other side wall 5 or 3 so that first the side walls 3 and 5 are folded inwards and then the side walls 4 and 6. Since the closures 7 according to the invention are accessible both on the inside and on the outside, For folding the transport container 1, the operator neither has to change his stand nor turn the transport container 1. This simplifies the operation considerably.

Since the locking bar 15 is wedge-shaped with a contact surface 25 and an inclined surface 26, a secure abutment of the locking bolt 15 is ensured in the closed position 15 to the locking recess 24, while the inclined surface 26 allows unhindered erection of the side walls.

Claims (13)

1. A transport container, with a floorboard (2) and several collapsible side walls (3, 4, 5, 6) that are arranged circumferentially on the floorboard (2) and can be folded down onto it, wherein for mutual fixing of the collapsible side walls (3, 4, 5, 6) in the upright position, a closure mechanism (7, 24) is provided on adjacent side walls (3, 4; 3, 6; 5, 4; 5, 6) in which a locking latch (15) of the closure mechanism (7, 24) at the one side wall (3, 5) engages a catch recess (24) in the adjacent side wall (4, 6), wherein the closure mechanism (7, 24) comprises a displacement element (16) essentially received in the side wall (3, 5) and displaceable against the elastic force of an elastic spring element (14), characterised in that the elastic spring element (14) is comprised in the displacement element (16).
2. The transport container according to claim 1, characterised in that said displacement element (16) has an engagement cavity (13) on both sides or a through-hole engagement cavity, so that said displacement element (16) can be actuated from both the outside and the inside of said side wall (3, 5).
3. The transport container according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that a closure (7) is set in a recess (18) of said side wall (3, 5).
4. The transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that said locking latch (15) is biased in the locked position by the elastic force of said elastic spring element (14).
5. The transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that said elastic spring element (14) is arranged at said displacement element (16), wherein said displacement element (16) is connected to the side wall (3, 5) via the elastic spring element (14).
6. The transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that said closure (7) further comprises a retaining plate (19) fixed in said side wall (3, 5), wherein said retaining plate (19) is connected to said displacement element (16) via said elastic spring element (14).
7. The transport container according to claim 6, characterised in that said retaining plate (19) only extends over part of said displacement element (16), preferably over an area of two thirds of said displacement element (16).
8. The transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that said closure (7) is essentially flush with the inside and/or the outside of the side wall (3, 5).
9. The transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that said locking latch (15) has a bearing surface (25) and an inclined surface (26), wherein the bearing surface (25) rests securely against the catch recess (24) in the closure position, so that releasing of the side walls (3, 4, 5, 6) is not possible without actuating said displacement element (16), while the inclined surface (26) enables the locking latch (15) to slide on the adjacent side wall (3, 4, 5, 6).
10. The transport container according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterised in that said closure (7) is secured in said recess (18) via catch elements (20).
11. The transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterised in that said elastic spring element (14) is formed by an essentially S-shaped spring.
12. The transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterised in that said displacement element (16) consists of an essentially rectangular frame body preferably rounded on one side, its width corresponding to the width of the side wall (3, 5) accommodating the displacement element (16).
13. The transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterised in that said closure (7) is integrally formed of plastic material.

Images