EP3575238B1 - Pallet container - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a pallet container (IBC) for the storage and transport of particularly dangerous liquid or flowable filling goods with a thin-walled rigid inner container made of thermoplastic material, with a tubular lattice frame that tightly encloses the plastic inner container as a support jacket made of horizontal and vertical tubular rods welded together, and with a floor pallet on which the plastic container rests and with which the tubular lattice frame is firmly connected, the floor pallet being designed in a composite design or as a frame pallet with corner and center feet made of plastic, steel or wood and floor pipe rods running underneath , whereby a recess is provided for stacking similar pallet containers on the bottom side along the outer edges of all four side walls of the bottom pallet in the corner and middle feet, which is designed so that when two pallet containers are stacked one on top of the other in a coordinated manner, the uppermost circumferential horizontal tubular rod of the tubular lattice frame of a pallet container stacked beneath it engages or "nests" in the recess with an exact fit.

Problem:

Such pallet containers, which are used particularly frequently in the chemical industry and have a filling volume of approx. 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, when filled, may only be transported as a double stack (an IBC below and a stacked IBC) . For long-distance transports by rail or truck or by ship overseas, closed 20-foot or 40-foot ISO containers are generally used. These ISO containers (e.g. Maersk) also have standardized dimensions (20-foot container: length approx. 6058 mm, width approx. 2500 mm, height approx. 2591 mm, the 40 "container is otherwise the same Dimensions exactly twice as long) and are loaded and unloaded through a rear door. For loading the ISO container, this also applies to both sizes (Hapag Lloyd), on the one hand the width is approx. 2343 mm and on the other hand in particular the height with about 2292 mm of the door opening of great importance.Unfortunately, a double stack of filled Pallet containers in the standard version have a stacking height of approx. 2290 mm. The purely mathematical double the 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 floor tubular rods around the bottom dips into this tubular frame by a small piece of approx. 15.5 mm within the top horizontal tubular rod of the tubular space frame or "nests" until the corner and middle feet protruding from the outside of the floor pipe rod come to rest from above on the topmost horizontal pipe rod. The uppermost horizontally circumferential tubular rod of the tubular space frame engages on the outside past the floor tubular rods into a free space formed there or into a recess on the lower outer edge of the corner and center feet, so that there is a security against slipping of the stacked pallet container due to transport vibrations given is.

There are narrow limits to the design of the IBCs, whereby the "approximate information" for the length dimensions in the present dimension should all encompass a range of plus / minus 2 mm. The usual nesting depth is approx. 15.5 mm, so the actual height of a stack of two IBCs (2 x 1151 - 15.5) would be approx. 2286.5 mm. Due to the tolerances of plus / minus 2 mm in each case, the stack height to be considered is considered to be 2290 mm for safety reasons.

State of the art:

A similar pallet container with a wooden pallet is in the publication EP 1 375 382 B2 (vL) described as "Intermediate bulk container of low height". On the one hand, the lowest circumferential horizontal tube ring of the tubular space frame is not simply placed on the upper plank floor as usual, like the plastic inner container, but encompasses the plank floor circumferentially and sits on a lower circumferential 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 vehicle by lowering the height of the corner and center feet. In both cases, this results in a reduction in the overall height of the individual pallet container. This is disadvantageous insofar as pallet containers, as standardized containers with predetermined dimensions, represent only one link in the logistics chain in the chemical industry. Any deviations from standard dimensions can lead to considerable disruptions in the manufacturing process of chemical bulk goods, so that customers in the chemical industry no longer request such containers. Pallet containers with a reduced overall height can e.g. B. in fully automatic filling systems lead to interruptions and pallet containers with reduced entry height can then only be handled with forklifts with relatively thin prongs. From standard roller pallet trucks such pallet containers can then no longer be picked up and transported. DE 103 01517 B3 discloses a generic pallet container.

Task:

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

Solution:

This object is achieved with the special features of claim 1. The features in the subclaims describe further advantageous design options for the pallet container according to the invention. The proposed technical teaching opens up an improved use of IBC with frame pallet for transport in ISO containers. This is effectively achieved by the fact that the recess on the outside of the floor pipe rod on the lower outer edge of the corner and middle feet is formed deeper in the vertical direction than in the horizontal or radial direction, namely up to twice as much deep (or high) as in the horizontal or radial direction. As a result, the upper pallet container can be placed much deeper, i. H. z. B. sink twice as deep as in the prior art or even deeper into the lower pallet container, d. H. "Nests" so that the total height of the stack of 2 is reduced by one piece and this small space is sufficient to transport a stack of 2 on the forks of a forklift through the rear door, which is limited in height, into the ISO container and to invite. The total height of each individual pallet container remains the same as the standard height, so that no problems can arise on filling systems.

According to the invention it is provided that the recess on the lower outer edge of the corner and center feet is 20 mm - 25 mm plus / minus 2 mm deep in the horizontal or radial direction and 25 mm - 40 mm plus / minus 2 mm deep in the vertical direction. This measure, which is simple in itself, also saves material on the corner and middle feet without having to accept a loss of strength. When two pallet containers are stacked on top of one another, the uppermost circumferential horizontal tubular bar of the tubular lattice frame of the pallet container stacked below encompasses engaging in the recess the lower outer edge of the floor pallet of the stacked pallet container to a height of about 40 mm.

In the solution according to the invention, a reduced height of 2250 mm - 2270 mm of a double stacked "tower" is realized corresponding to the nesting of the stacked pallet container which is 20 mm - 40 mm plus / minus 2 mm deeper. This is now sufficient to make a stack of 2, i.e. H. to transport two pallet containers at the same time on the forks of a forklift vehicle through the rear door into a 20-foot or 40-foot ISO container and to store them in stacks of 2 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 pieces of standard pallet containers and, of course, can also be unloaded again later. Due to the sufficient distance to the upper door frame, four IBCs can now also be stored in the last row; previously this was only possible for two IBCs.

Advantageously, in the case of the pallet container version with a greater nesting depth, the entry height for the forks of a forklift truck or a roller lift truck is still 100 mm and the total height of the individual pallet container remains the same. This is very important for the trouble-free functioning of the automatic filling systems of major industrial customers.

In an embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the uppermost circumferential horizontal tubular rod of the tubular lattice frame is stiffened with two cross members, which are attached to two opposite outer sides of the horizontal tubular rod by means of a U-shaped tube end with two mutually screwed legs of the U that crosses the horizontal tubular rod -shaped pipe ends are attached, each flat-headed furniture screws are screwed for the screwing of the pipe end legs. When two pallet containers are stacked one on top of the other with a greater nesting depth, the composite pallet has the bottom tubular rods running underneath the plastic corner and center feet directly on the two cross members and the inner legs of the U-shaped tube ends to a lower and lateral support 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 is explained and described in more detail below with reference to preferred exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings. Show it:

Figure 1

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

Figure 2

a perspective partial section view of a 20-foot ISO container with 18 stored standard IBCs,

Figure 3

a longitudinal section through a 20-foot ISO container during the loading process using a forklift truck,

Figure 4

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

Figure 5

a partial sectional view through the outer edge of the floor pallet of a stacked IBC and the upper area of the tubular lattice frame of a stacked IBC,

Figure 6

a schematic partial view of the area of the outer edge of the floor pallet of a stacked IBC and the upper area of the tubular lattice frame of a stacked IBC,

Figure 7

a perspective partial view of the upper edge area of a stacked IBC,

Figure 8

a perspective view of three sets of furniture screws for the IBCs according to the invention.

In Figure 1 a double stack of two stacked pallet containers according to the invention for the storage and transport of particularly dangerous liquid or flowable filling goods is shown, each of which is numbered with the reference number 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 figures should all encompass a range of plus / minus 2 mm in the present dimension, because the design of the IBCs defines narrow limits. The main elements of the pallet container 10 consist of a thin-walled rigid inner container 12 made of thermoplastic material, a tubular lattice frame 14 that tightly encloses the inner container 12 as a support jacket and a floor pallet 16 on which the inner container 12 rests and to which the tubular lattice frame 14 is firmly connected . The tubular lattice frame 14 (outer container) consists of horizontal and vertical tubular rods 18, 20 welded together. In order to obtain a closed outer container, the annular circumferential horizontal tubular rods 18 are each firmly connected to one another at a connection point. The bottom pallet 16 is in the Embodiment shown as a composite pallet with an upper support plate made of sheet steel to support the inner container 12, with a tubular steel support frame arranged below, with corner feet 22 and center feet 24 produced by injection molding from thermoplastic as well as one encircling below the corner and center feet 22, 24 Floor pipe rod 26 formed from steel pipe. Alternatively, however, the pallet could also be designed as a steel pallet, for example. On the illustrated front side of the IBC 10, in the middle of the tubular lattice frame 14, an inscription board 28 made of thin sheet metal for identifying the respective liquid filling material is attached. In the middle of the bottom of the inner container 12, a withdrawal fitting 30 is connected for withdrawing the liquid filling material.

For stacking similar pallet containers 10 on top of one another, a recess 32 is provided on the bottom along the outer edges of all four side walls of the floor pallet 16 in the corner 22 and center feet 24, into which, when stacked, the uppermost circumferential horizontal tubular bar 18 of the tubular lattice frame 14 of a pallet container 10 stacked below Engages or nests with a precisely fitting form fit. Corresponding recesses 34 are provided on all four sides of the floor pallet 16 between the corner feet 22 and center feet 24 for the engagement of forks of a forklift truck 36 or roller lift truck. Due to the measures according to the invention, the height H2e of the stack of 2 IBCs according to the invention results from 2250 mm to 2270 mm.

Figure 2 shows a 20-foot ISO container 38 loaded with 18 pieces of standard IBCs, according to the prior art. The ISO container 38 is loaded by means of a forklift truck 36, each with a forked pallet container 10, because two pallet containers 10 held in the stack do not fit one above the other through the rear door due to the restricted height of the door opening HT of 2292 mm. The IBCs must also be stacked in a row, alternately lengthways and crossways, in a row in order to make the best possible use of space. This is in Figure 2 can be seen very clearly on the two cross members 40 each running across the top of the inner container 12. The two upper IBCs in the penultimate row and the two IBCs in the last row in front of the rear door must also be fixed for transport using appropriate transport safety measures such as tension belts 42 and retaining plates 44. Because the two upper IBCs can no longer be stacked in the last row, 10% of the cargo space remains unused.

In Figure 3 a 20-foot ISO container 38 is shown in the same way, in which two standard IBCs are stacked on the rear wall. The stack of 2 has a height H2S of 2290 mm. With an internal height in the ISO container (Hapag LLoyd) of 2385 mm gives a free space FS for the upper standard IBC of 95 mm (with a nesting of 15.5 mm). To lift the upper standard IBC, the forklift must first lift the IBC by at least 25 mm in the vertical direction beyond the nests, in order to then lift it out of the ISO container 38 in a horizontal direction with a remaining space of 70 mm upwards. to be able to drive. The IBC must then be lowered again in front of the rear door so that it can pass under the upper edge of the rear door.

The in Figure 4 ISO container 38 shown, a stack of two conventional standard IBCs with a stack height H2S of 2290 mm can be seen in a comparative manner on the left, while on the right a stack of two IBCs according to the invention with deeper nesting (plus 20 mm - 40 mm) with a Stack height H2e of 2250 mm - 2270 mm is shown. From this it becomes clear that the right stack with both IBCs in the stack can be unloaded through the rear door in one go, while the left stack must first be unstacked and the IBCs, first the upper one and then the lower one, have to be conveyed out individually.

The structural design of a support element is specifically shown in Figure 5 shown in perspective view. The partially circular section shows a lower right corner of a metatarsus made of plastic by injection molding.Approximately in the middle of the bottom surface of the plastic metatarsus 24 - in a cross-sectional view - the horizontally encircling floor pipe rods 26, firmly screwed on by means of a countersunk head screw 46, can be seen. To the right of the floor tubular rod 26, a recess 32 is formed towards the lower outer edge of the metatarsus 24, into which the uppermost circumferential horizontal tubular rod 18 of the tubular lattice frame 14 engages. The uppermost circumferential horizontal tubular rod 18 is welded to the upper flattened end 48 of all vertical tubular rods 20. In the solution according to the invention, the recess 32 - in cross-section - has been enlarged by an additional approx radial direction. The recessed recess 50 comprises or contains the previous recess 32 and is 20 mm-25 mm plus / minus 2 mm deep in the horizontal or radial direction and 25 mm-40 mm, plus / minus 2 mm deep in the vertical direction.

The fact that when two IBCs according to the invention are stacked on top of one another with a recessed recess 50 (when viewed in cross-section), the uppermost circumferential horizontal tubular bar 18 of the tubular lattice frame 14 of the pallet container stacked underneath engages the lower outer edge of the floor pallet 16 of the pallet container from below into the recessed recess 50 stacked pallet container 10 up to a height of about 40 mm plus / minus 2 mm, on the one hand the overall height of the IBC stack is reduced by - plus / minus 2 mm - 20 mm - 40 mm, which means that 2 IBCs can be transported on top of each other ( a stack) on the forks of a forklift truck through the rear door of an ISO container and, on the other hand, advantageously provides increased security against slipping of the stacked IBC in the event of transport vibrations and excessive cornering of the transport vehicle.

With "deeper nesting", the upper IBC sinks deeper into the lower IBC - as in Figure 5 is indicated schematically - so that the uppermost circumferential horizontal tubular rod 18 is now positioned in the upper half of the recessed recess 50 and the bottom-side horizontally circumferential floor tubular rod 26 is moved according to the shift arrow 52 into a deep "nesting position" 54.

In Figure 6 This "deeper nesting" is illustrated schematically on a tubular cross member 40, the tubular cross member 40 being flattened at its two outer ends (only the right side is shown here) and to a U-shaped pipe end 56 with an outer leg 60 and an inner one Leg 58 is shaped in such a way that it is placed precisely onto the uppermost circumferential horizontal tubular rod 18. The two legs 58, 60 of the U-shaped pipe ends 56 are screwed together below the circumferential horizontal pipe rod 18 by means of flat-headed furniture screws 62. Of a stacked IBC, only the circumferential floor tubular rod 26 (in cross section) is shown here as the upper circle. So far, the bottom pipe rod 26 has dipped approximately up to halfway on the inside behind the uppermost circumferential horizontal pipe rod 18. The shift arrow 52 shows the ground pipe rod 26, as it is shifted into the advantageous deep "nesting position" 54 according to the present invention.

After all, in Figure 7 Another illustration is shown in which only a short piece of the deeply nested floor pipe rod 26 of a stacked IBC can be seen. Here it becomes clear that when two IBCs with a greater nesting depth are stacked on the composite pallet, the floor pipe rods 26 surrounding the plastic corner and center feet are placed directly on the flattened ends of the two cross members 40 and the inner legs 58 of the U- shaped pipe ends 56 comes to a lower and lateral supporting system.

The present inventive solution provides the advantage that two stacked pallet containers with a unit height of 1151 mm each by lowering the upper pallet container into the lower pallet container (= nesting) in total only have a total stack height H2e of approx. 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 approx. 2292 mm can be passed through and stacked.

Conclusion : It is clear from the previous description and the representations of the figures that the technical teaching of the present invention can easily eliminate a major disadvantage of the prior art and achieve a great effect with a small design change.

Reference number list

10 Pallet container 46 Countersunk screw 12th Plastic inner container 48 flattened end (20) 14th Tube lattice frame 50 deepened recess 16 Floor pallet 52 Move Arrow (26) 18th horizontal tubular bars (14) 54 "Nesting position" (26) 20th vertical tubular bars (14) 56 U-shaped pipe end (40) 22nd Plastic corner leg (16) 58 inner thigh (56) 24 Plastic metatarsus (16) 60 outer leg (56) 26th Ground pipe rod (16) 62 Furniture screw 28 Lettering board 64 Pan Head Screw (62) 30th Withdrawal fitting 66 Flat Head Sleeve Nut (62) 32 Recess (22, 24) B. Width (10) 34 Recesses (16) H Height (10) 36 Forklift truck H2e Height of two-in-one stack (10) 38 20-foot ISO container HT Door opening height (38) 40 Cross member (14) H2S Height of two-stack standard IBC 42 Lashing strap FS Free space for two-tier standard IBCs 44 Retaining plates VN Magnification (32)

Claims (4)

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 inner container (12), and having a base pallet (16) on which the 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 an encircling base tubular bar structure (26) therebelow, characterized in that, for stacking pallet containers (10) of identical types on top of one another, 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) being configured such that, when stacking two pallet containers (10) on top of one another, the uppermost encircling horizontal bar (18) of the tubular lattice frame (14) of a pallet container (10) stacked therebelow engages in a mutually adapted and form-fitting manner in an exact fit in the clearance (32), wherein the clearance (32) is configured so as to be deeper, specifically up to double the depth, in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction, wherein the clearance (32) on the lower external periphery of the corner feet (22) and central feet (24) in the horizontal direction is configured so as to be 20 mm - 25 mm +/- 2 mm deep, and in the vertical direction so as to be 25 mm - 40 mm +/-2 mm deep.
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 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 one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, when stacking two pallet containers (10) on top of one another having in each case a unit height H of 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 - 2270 mm results.

Images