EP3439985B1 - Pallet container - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a pallet container (IBC) for the storage and transport of particularly dangerous liquid or flowable products with a thin-walled rigid inner container made of thermoplastic material, with a plastic inner container as a support jacket tightly enclosing tube grid frame of welded together horizontal and vertical tube rods, and with a bottom pallet, on which the plastic container rests and with which the tubular grid frame is firmly connected, the bottom pallet in composite or as a frame pallet with corner and middle feet of plastic, steel or wood and underlying circulating base steel tube (bottom -Rohrgestänge) is formed, wherein for a stacking of similar pallet container bottom side along the outer edges of all four side walls of the bottom pallet in the corner and middle feet a recess is provided which is formed so that at Üb stacking of two pallet containers in a coordinated manner, the topmost circumferential horizontal tube rod of the tubular lattice frame of a stacked pallet container engages with a precise fit in the recess or "nest".

problem:

Such, particularly frequently used in the chemical industry pallet container with a capacity of about 1000 liters have standardized dimensions. The pallet containers considered here have a length of approx. 1200 mm, a width of approx. 1000 mm and a height of approx. 1151 mm and may only be transported as a 2-fold stack (an IBC below and a stacked IBC) when filled , For long-distance transport by train or truck or by ship overseas usually closed 20-foot or 40-foot ISO containers are used. These ISO containers (eg Maersk) also have standardized dimensions (20-foot containers: length about 6058 mm, width about 2500 mm, height about 2591 mm, the 40 "container is otherwise the same Dimensions are exactly twice as long) and are loaded and unloaded through a tailgate For the loading of ISO containers, this also applies for both sizes (Hapag Lloyd), on the one hand the width of about 2343 mm and on the other hand the height of about 2292 mm of the door opening is of great importance. Unfortunately, a 2-fold stack of filled pallet containers in the standard design gives a stack height of about 2290 mm to consider. The purely computational double height of two pallet containers would be 2 x 1151 mm = 2302 mm. The lower value of approx. 2290 mm results from the fact that the stacked pallet container with its bottom-surrounding base steel tube dips into this lattice frame by a small piece of approx. 15.5 mm within the uppermost horizontally circulating tube rod of the lattice frame or "nesting" until the outside over the base steel tube protruding corner and center feet come from above on top of the top horizontal rotating tube rod to rest. In this case, the uppermost horizontally encircling tube rod of the lattice frame engages outside on the base steel tube in a free space formed therein or in a recess at the lower outer edge of the corner and middle feet, thereby providing security against slipping of the stacked pallet container by transporter vibrations given is.

Narrow limits are specified in the structural design of the IBCs, with the "approx. Specifications" for the length dimensions in the present dimension all encompassing a range of plus / minus 2 mm. The usual nesting depth is about 15.5 mm, so the actual height of a stack of two IBCs (2 x 1151 - 15.5) = about 2286.5 mm. Due to the tolerances of plus / minus 2 mm each, the stack height to be considered is taken into account with 2290 mm for safety reasons.

State of the art:

A similar pallet container with wooden pallet is in the publication EP 1 375 382 B2 (vL) described as "Intermediate bulk containers of low height". Here, on the one hand, the lowest circumferential horizontal tube ring of the lattice frame is not simply placed as usual on the upper plank floor as the plastic inner container, but surrounds the plank floor on the periphery and sits on a deeper peripheral outer shoulder. On the other hand it is proposed to reduce the entry height of the lateral rectangular pallet recesses for the engagement of the forks of a forklift truck by a lower height of the corner and middle feet. This results in a reduction in the total height of the individual pallet container in both cases. This is disadvantageous because pallet containers as standardized containers with predetermined Dimensions represent only one link in the logistics chain of the chemical industry. Any deviations from standard dimensions can lead to significant disruptions in the manufacturing process of bulk chemicals, so that the customers of large chemicals no longer request such containers. Pallet containers with reduced overall height can z. B. in fully automatic filling systems lead to interruptions and pallet container with reduced entry height can then be handled only with forklifts with relatively thin tines. Standard pallet trucks can not be picked up and transported by standard roller pallet trucks.

Furthermore, a generic pallet container in the publication DE 103 01 517 B3 described. For a stacking of similar pallet container of the top circumferential horizontal pipe bar surrounds the bottom pipe linkage of a stacked pallet container on the outside.

Task:

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the existing disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a pallet container (= IBC) whose overall height compared to a standard pallet container remains the same, but are loaded twice stacked by forklift truck through the rear door of an ISO container can.

Solution:

This object is achieved with the special features of claim 1. The features in the subclaims describe further advantageous design possibilities of the pallet container according to the invention. The proposed technical teaching opens up improved use of IBCs with frame pallets for transport in ISO containers. This is effectively effected in that in the bottom pallet of the pallet container, the recess on the outside of the base steel pipe (floor pipe string) at the lower outer edge of the corner and center feet is formed lower in the vertical direction than in the horizontal or radial direction, and although up to twice as deep (or high) as in the horizontal or radial direction. As a result, the upper patch pallet container significantly lower, ie, for example, twice as deep as in the prior art or sink even deeper into the lower pallet container, ie "einnesten", so that the total height of the stack of 2 is reduced by one piece and this enough free space is sufficient to transport and load a stack of 2 on the forks of a forklift truck through the height-limited tailgate into the ISO container. The remains Total height of each individual pallet container equal to the standard height, so that no problems can occur at bottling plants.

In concrete terms, it is provided that the recess at the lower outer edge of the corner and middle feet in the horizontal or radial direction is 20 mm - 25 mm plus / minus 2 mm deep and 40 mm plus / minus 2 mm deep in the vertical direction. By this simple measure incidentally, a material saving on the corner and middle feet is achieved without having to take a loss of strength in purchasing. In this case, when stacking two pallet containers, the uppermost circumferential horizontal tube rod of the tubular lattice frame of the stacked pallet container engaging in the recess comprises the lower outer edge of the bottom pallet of the stacked pallet container up to a height of about 40 mm.

In the solution according to the invention, therefore, a reduced height of 2250 mm - 2270 mm of a two-stacked "tower" corresponding to the 20 mm - 40 mm plus / minus 2 mm deeper embedding of the stacked pallet container realized. That's enough for a 2-stack, d. H. Transporting two pallet containers simultaneously on the forks of a forklift truck through the tailgate into a 20-foot or 40-foot ISO container and storing them in stacks of two in the inner cargo hold. As a result, a 20-foot ISO container can be loaded with 20 pieces of the pallet container according to the invention in half the time compared to a single load with 18 standard pallet containers in half the time and of course be unloaded later again. It can now be stored in the last row four IBCs due to the sufficient distance to the upper door frame; previously that was only possible for two IBCs.

Advantageously, the entry height for the forks of a forklift truck or a roller truck with still 100 mm is not changed in the pallet container version with greater nesting depth and the overall height of the individual pallet container remains the same. This is very important for a trouble-free functioning of the automatic filling devices of large industrial customers.

In an embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the uppermost circumferential horizontal tube rod of the tubular lattice frame is stiffened with two cross members, which at two opposite Outer sides of the horizontal tube rod are fastened by means of a respective horizontal tube rod cross-U-shaped tube end with two legs screwed against each other of the U-shaped tube ends, being screwed for screwing the pipe ends-legs each flat-headed furniture screws. When stacking two pallet containers with greater Nestungstiefe come in the composite pallet below the plastic corner and - center feet encircling base steel pipe directly on the two cross members and the inner legs of the U-shaped pipe ends to a lower and lateral supporting system.

Figur 1

in Frontansicht einen Stapel von zwei erfindungsgemäßen IBCs,

Figur 2

in perspektivischer Teilschnitt-Ansicht einen 20-Fuß-ISO-Container mit 18 eingelagerten Standard-IBCs,

Figur 3

einen Längsschnitt durch einen 20-Fuß-ISO-Container beim Beladevorgang mittels eines Gabelstaplerfahrzeugs,

Figur 4

einen Längsschnitt durch den 20-Fuß-ISO-Container mit jeweils einem 2er-Stapel von Standard-IBCs und erfindungsgemäßen IBCs,

Figur 5

eine Teilschnitt-Ansicht durch den Außenrand der Bodenpalette eines aufgestapelten IBCs und den oberen Bereich des Rohr-Gitterrahmens eines untergestapelten IBCs,

Figur 6

eine schematische Teilansicht zu dem Bereich Außenrand der Bodenpalette eines aufgestapelten IBCs und den oberen Bereich des Rohr-Gitterrahmens eines untergestapelten IBCs,

Figur 7

eine perspektivische Teilansicht auf den oberen Randbereich eines untergestapelten IBCs,

Figur 8

eine perspektivische Ansicht auf drei Satz Möbelschrauben für die erfindungsgemäßen IBCs,

The invention will be explained and described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings. Show it:

FIG. 1

front view of a stack of two IBCs according to the invention,

FIG. 2

in a perspective partial section view a 20-foot ISO container with 18 embedded standard IBCs,

FIG. 3

a longitudinal section through a 20-foot ISO container during the loading process by means of a forklift vehicle,

FIG. 4

a longitudinal section through the 20-foot ISO container, each with a 2-stack of standard IBCs and IBCs according to the invention,

FIG. 5

a partial sectional view through the outer edge of the bottom pallet of a stacked IBCs and the upper portion of the tube grid frame of a stacked IBCs,

FIG. 6

1 is a schematic partial view of the area outside edge of the bottom pallet of a stacked IBC and the upper area of the tube lattice frame of a stacked IBC,

FIG. 7

a partial perspective view of the upper edge region of a stacked IBCs,

FIG. 8

3 is a perspective view of three sets of furniture screws for the IBCs according to the invention,

In FIG. 1 is a 2-fold stack of two stacked pallet containers according to the invention for the storage and transport of particular dangerous liquid or flowable products shown, each numbered by the reference numeral 10. The pallet containers 10 each have a filling volume of approx. 1000 l and standardized dimensions of length approx. 1200 mm, width B approx. 1000 mm and height H approx. 1151 mm. These approximate indications in the present dimension should all encompass a range of plus / minus 2 mm, because the constructive design of the IBCs sets narrow limits. The main elements of the pallet container 10 consist of a thin-walled rigid inner container 12 made of thermoplastic material, a plastic inner container 12 as a support jacket tightly enclosing tube grid frame 14 and a bottom pallet 16 on which the inner container 12 rests and with which the tubular grid frame 14 fixed connected is. The tubular grid frame 14 (outer container) consists of welded together horizontal and vertical tube rods 18, 20. In order to obtain a closed outer container, the annular circumferential horizontal tube rods 18 are each firmly connected at a junction. The bottom pallet 16 is in the illustrated embodiment as a composite pallet with an upper support plate made of sheet steel for supporting the plastic inner container 12, with an underlying steel tube support frame, manufactured using injection molding of thermoplastic corner feet 22 and middle feet 24 and one below the Corner and middle feet 22, 24 encircling floor pipe linkage 26 formed of tubular steel. Alternatively, however, the pallet could also be designed, for example, as a steel pallet. On the illustrated front side of the IBC 10, a labeling board 28 made of thin sheet metal for the identification of the respective liquid filling material is fixed in the middle height of the pipe grid frame 14. In the middle of the bottom of the plastic inner container 12, a removal fitting 30 is connected to remove the liquid contents.

For a stacking of similar pallet container 10, a recess 32 is provided on the bottom side along the outer edges of all four side walls of the bottom pallet 16 in the corner 22 and middle feet 24, in which in stacking the top circumferential horizontal pipe bar 20 of the tubular lattice frame 14 of a stacked pallet container 10th snugly interlocking or nesting. On all four sides of the bottom pallet 16 between the corner feet 22 and middle feet 24 corresponding recesses 34 for engagement of forks of a forklift vehicle 36th or roller lift truck provided. Due to the measures according to the invention results in a height H2e of the 2-stack of inventive IBCs of 2250 mm - 2270 mm.

FIG. 2 shows a loaded with 18 standard IBCs 20-foot ISO container 38, according to the prior art. The loading of the ISO container 38 by means of a forklift vehicle 36, each with a forked pallet container 10, because two recorded in the stack pallet container 10 due to the limited height of the door opening HT of 2292 mm do not fit one above the other through the tailgate. In addition, the IBCs must be stacked alternately once in the longitudinal direction and once in the transverse direction next to each other in a row in order to obtain the best space utilization. This is in FIG. 2 can be seen very well at the two transversely extending across the upper bottom of the plastic inner container 12 cross members 40. The upper two IBCs in the penultimate row and the two IBCs in the last row in front of the rear door must also be fixed by means of appropriate transport securing measures such as tension straps 42 and holding plates 44 for transport. The fact that the two upper IBCs in the last row can no longer be stacked leaves 10% of the cargo space unused.

In FIG. 3 a 20-foot ISO container 38 is shown in the same way, in which two standard IBCs are stored stacked on the back wall. The 2-piece stack has a height H2S of 2290 mm. With an inside height in the ISO container (Hapag LLoyd) of 2385 mm, this results in a free space FS for the upper standard IBC of 95 mm (with an embedment of 15.5 mm). To lift the upper standard IBC, the forklift must first raise the IBC vertically over the nest by at least 25 mm, then move it out of the ISO container 38 horizontally in a remaining space of 70 mm can. In front of the rear door, the IBC must then be lowered once more so that it can pass under the upper edge of the tailgate.

At the in FIG. 4 shown ISO container 38 is comparatively left a 2-stack of conventional standard IBCs with a stack height of 2290 mm H2S visible, while right a 2-stack of erfindungsbemäßen IBCs with deeper Nesting (plus 20 mm - 40 mm) with a Stack height H2e from 2250 mm - 2270 mm is shown. From this it is clear that the right stack with both IBCs in the stack can be unloaded in one go through the back door, while the left stack must first be unstacked and the IBCs, first the top one and then the bottom one must be fed out separately.

The structural design of a support element is concrete in FIG. 5 shown in perspective view. The part-circular cutout shows a lower right corner of a plastic injection-molded metatarsus 24. Approximately in the middle of the bottom surface of the plastic midfoot 24 is - in cross-sectional view - by means of a countersunk screw 46 firmly screwed, horizontally encircling bottom tube linkage 26 can be seen. To the right of the bottom pipe string 26, a recess 32 is formed toward the lower outer edge of the middle foot 24, in which the uppermost horizontally encircling pipe rod 18 of the pipe lattice frame 14 engages. The uppermost horizontally circulating tube bar 18 is welded to the upper flattened end 48 of all vertical tube bars 20. In the solution according to the invention, the recess 32 has been enlarged - in cross-sectional view - by an additional approx. 20 mm - 40 mm to a recessed recess 50 which is deeper in the vertical direction and up to twice as deep or high as in the horizontal or vertical direction radial direction. The recessed recess 50 includes the existing recess 32 and is formed in the horizontal or radial direction 20 mm - 25 mm plus / minus 2 mm deep and in the vertical direction 25 mm - 40 mm, plus / minus 2 mm, deep.

Characterized in that when stacking two IBCs according to the invention with (in cross-sectional view) recessed recess 50 of the upper circumferential horizontal tube rod 18 of the tubular lattice frame 14 of the stacked pallet container from below into the recessed recess 50 engaging the lower outer edge of the bottom pallet 16 of the stacked pallet container 10 to a height of about 40 mm plus / minus 2 mm, on the one hand results in an - plus / minus 2 mm - 20 mm - reduced 40 mm overall height of the IBC stack, which is a transport of 2 IBCs on top of each other (one stack ) on the forks of a forklift vehicle through the rear door of an ISO container and on the other hand advantageously provides increased security against slippage of the stacked IBCs during transport vibrations and excessive cornering of the transport vehicle.

In the "deeper nesting" the upper IBC sinks deeper into the lower IBC - as in FIG. 5 is schematically indicated - so that the uppermost circumferential horizontal tube rod 18 is now positioned in the upper half of the recessed recess 50 and the bottom horizontally encircling bottom pipe string 26 is moved according to the shift arrow 52 in a low-lying "nesting position" 54.

In FIG. 6 this "deeper nest" on a tubular cross member 40 schematically illustrates, the tubular cross member 40 at its two outer ends (here only the right side shown) flattened and a U-shaped tube end 56 with an outer leg 60 and an inner Leg 58 is shaped so that it is fitted snugly on the uppermost circumferential horizontal tube rod 18. The two legs 58, 60 of the U-shaped tube ends 56 are screwed below the rotating horizontal tube bar 18 by means of flat-headed furniture screws 62 against each other. From a stacked IBC here only the revolving floor pipe string 26 (in cross section) is shown as an upper circle. So far, the bottom pipe string 26 dipped about halfway behind the topmost circumferential horizontal pipe bar 18 about halfway. The shift arrow 52 shows the bottom pipe string 26, as shifted according to the present invention in the advantageous low-lying "nesting position" 54. Finally, in FIG. 7 nor a representation shown in which of a stacked IBC only a short piece of deeply eingeneten floor pipe string 26 can be seen. Here it becomes clear that when stacking two IBCs with greater depth of nesting in the composite pallet, the bottom pipe string 26 revolving below the plastic corner and center feet directs directly onto the flattened ends of the two cross members 40 and the inner legs 58 of the U-bolts. shaped pipe ends 56 comes to a lower and lateral supporting system.

The present inventive solution provides the advantage that two pallet containers stacked one above the other with a unit height of 1151 mm by sinking the upper pallet container in the lower pallet container (= embedding) total only a total stack height H2e of about 2250 mm - 2270 mm and thus by means of a forklift vehicle in a stack of 2, ie in the stacked state through the rear door of a 4 "ISO container with an opening height HT of the rear door of about 2292 mm are made passable and stackable.

Conclusion: From the previous description and the figures representations it is clear that the technical teaching of the present invention, a major drawback of the prior art can be easily remedied and with a small structural change, a large impact can be achieved. <B><u> list of reference numerals </ u></b> 10 pallet container 46 countersunk 12 Plastic inner container 48 flattened end (20) 14 Tube space frame 50 recessed recess 16 bottom pallet 52 Shift arrow (26) 18 horizontal pipe bars (14) 54 "Nesting position" (26) 20 vertical pipe bars (14) 56 U-shaped tube end (40) 22 Plastic corner foot (16) 58 inner thigh (56) 24 Plastic metatarsus (16) 60 outer thigh (56) 26 Floor pipe rods (16) 62 furniture screw 28 label panel 64 Flat head screw (62) 30 removal fitting 66 Flat Head Sleeve Nut (62) 32 Recess (22, 24) B Width (10) 34 Recesses (16) H Height (10) 36 forklift vehicle h2e Height of two stacks (10) 38 20-foot ISO container HT Height door opening (38) 40 Cross member (14) H2S Height two-stack standard IBC 42 strap FS Free space two-stack standard IBC 44 holding plates VN Magnification (32)

Claims (5)

1. Pallet container (10) for storing and for transporting in particular hazardous liquid or free-flowing filling materials, having a thin-walled rigid inner container (12) from a thermoplastic plastics material, having a tubular lattice frame (14) of horizontal and vertical tubular bars (18, 20) which are welded to one another, said tubular lattice frame (14) as a supporting jacket tightly enclosing the plastics-material inner container 12, and having a base pallet (16) on which the plastics-material inner container (12) bears and to which the tubular lattice frame (14) is fixedly connected, wherein the base pallet (16) is configured as a composite embodiment or as a frame pallet having corner feet (22) and central feet (24) from plastics material, steel, or timber, and encircling base tubular bar structure (26) therebelow, wherein for stacking pallet containers (10) of identical types on top of one another the uppermost encircling horizontal tubular bar (18) engages in a mutually adapted manner at the outside around the base tubular bar structure (26) of a pallet container (10) stacked on top,
   characterized in that
   a clearance (32) in the corner feet (22) and the central feet (24) is provided on the base along the external edges of all four sidewalls of the base pallet (16), said clearance (32), implemented as a recessed clearance (50), being configured so as to be deeper, specifically up to double the depth, in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction, wherein the recessed clearance (50) in the horizontal direction is configured so as to be 20 mm to 25 mm plus/minus 2 mm deep, and in the vertical direction so as to be 40 mm plus/minus 2 mm deep, and wherein the uppermost encircling horizontal tubular bar (18) of the tubular lattice frame (14) of a pallet container (10) stacked below, engaging in a form-fitting manner in an exact fit into the recessed clearance (50), encompasses the lower external periphery of the base pallet (16) of a pallet container (10) stacked on top up to a height of approximately 40 mm.
2. Pallet container according to Claim 1,
   characterized in that
   the uppermost encircling horizontal tubular bar (18) of the tubular lattice frame (14) is reinforced by two transverse supports (40) which are fastened at two opposite external sides of the horizontal tubular bar (18), by means of in each case one U-shaped tubular end (56) having two mutually screw-fitted legs (58, 60) of the U-shaped tubular ends (56) that engages across the horizontal tubular bar (18), wherein flathead furniture screws (62) are in each case screwed in for screw-fitting the tubular end legs (58, 60).
3. Pallet container according to Claim 2,
   characterized in that
   when stacking two pallet containers (10) on top of one another, in the case of an embodiment having a composite base pallet (16), the encircling base tubular bar structure (26) of the upper pallet container (10) below the corner feet (22) and the central feet (24) from plastics material comes to bear directly on the two transverse supports (40) and the inner legs (58) of the U-shaped tubular ends (56) of the lower pallet container (10) .
4. Pallet container according to Claim 1, 2 or 3,
   characterized in that
   when stacking two pallet containers (10) on top of one another, the lower external periphery of the base pallet (16) of the upper pallet container (10) up to the end face of the recessed clearance (50) across a height of 40 mm plus/minus 2 mm is configured so as to engage on the internal side along the uppermost encircling horizontal tubular bar (18) of the tubular lattice frame (14) of the pallet container (10) stacked below.
5. Pallet container according to one of preceding Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that
   when stacking two pallet containers (10) on top of one another having a unit height H of in each case approx. 1151 mm by sinking the upper pallet container into the lower pallet container in total an overall stack height H2e of only approx. 2250 mm to 2270 mm results.

Images