EP4683858A1

EP4683858A1 - Container and method for producing a container

Info

Publication number: EP4683858A1
Application number: EP24775295.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Peter Nilsson
Original assignee: Elfa International AB
Current assignee: Elfa International AB
Priority date: 2023-03-23
Filing date: 2024-03-18
Publication date: 2026-01-28
Also published as: TW202440413A; SE2350331A1; WO2024196300A1; SE546436C2; AU2024238620A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a mesh container (43, 45) in mesh material (1), comprising expanded sheet metal, the container having a first and a second set of opposing side panels (42, 44), a bottom panel (46), and a flange (48) directed out- wards from the upper edges of the side panels (42, 44). The container is formed in a method including perforating and expanding a web (10) of sheet metal along an expansion direction (3) to form the mesh material (1 ), cutting, from rectangular pieces of the web, at least a first and a second leading precursor (A, C) from the leading part of the web, exiting the perforating and expanding step first, and a first and a second trailing precursor (B, D) from a trailing part of the web, wherein the leading and trailing edges of the rectangular piece are configured each to form an upper edge of a container; and forming a container including either leading precursors of two rectangular pieces or the trailing precursors of two rectangular pieces.

Description

CONTAINER AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A CONTAINER

Technical field

The present disclosure relates to a method for producing containers in mesh material comprising expanded sheet metal. The disclosure also relates to mesh material containers. The containers have a first and a second set of opposing side panels, a bottom panel, and a flange directed outwards from the upper edges of the side panels to form a rim. A web of sheet metal is perforated and expanded along an expansion direction to form the mesh material, and pieces making up the side panels and the bottom panel are formed from this expanded web.

Background

Such a container is described WO-2021/262070-A1 , which for instance shows the forming of two precursors from a rectangular web piece, each precursor making up two side panels and a portion of the bottom panel. This allows forming a container from a rectangular piece of mesh material where relatively little material is wasted. However, the appearance may be somewhat patched and not entirely aesthetically pleasing.

Summary

One object of the present disclosure is therefore to provide a production method with retained efficiency allowing forming a container with an improved visual appearance. This object is achieved by means of a method as defined in claim 1 . More specifically in a method for producing a container in mesh material of the initially mentioned kind, cutting takes place, from rectangular pieces of the web, of at least a first and a second leading precursor from a leading part of the web, exiting the perforating and expanding step first, and a first and a second trailing precursor from parts of the web trailing the respective leading precursors. The leading and trailing edges of the rectangular piece are configured each to form an upper edge portion of a container. A container is formed, including either leading precursors of two rectangular pieces or the trailing precursors of two rectangular pieces.

With this method, each formed container will have a uniform mesh appearance along its periphery, which provides a more aesthetically pleasing container. Each of the leading and the trailing precursor may include a side panel in the first set of side panels and a side panel in the second set of side panels, and a portion of the bottom panel. This allows a compact layout of the precursors, giving very little waste from the web.

The flanges may be formed by folding the leading and trailing edges of the web out of the plane of the web, and leading and trailing edges may be folded in opposite directions. This means that the visual appearance of the mesh material will be uniform also in between the containers.

Each flange may be formed in a double layer or a single layer of mesh material. A circumferential frame may be attached to the flange to form the finished rim.

The present disclosure also considers a mesh container formed by means of the method.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig 1 A and 1 B illustrate a mesh material.

Fig 2 illustrates a stretched web of sheet metal from which two containers are to be formed.

Figs 3 and 4 outline the precursor pieces to be cut from the web of fig 2.

Fig 5 illustrates forming circumferential flanges for rims in the precursor pieces.

Fig 6 illustrates folding and pairing of the precursor pieces.

Figs 7 and 8 show the assembled containers.

Detailed description

The present disclosure relates to a method for producing containers in mesh materials and to containers made in mesh materials.

By a mesh material 1 , an example of which is shown in fig 1A, is meant sheet metal being provided with openings and expanded to widen those openings. Typically, the sheet metal may be pierced with short line-shaped openings and stretched or expanded along a stretch direction 3 to form e.g. rhomboid or diamond-shaped openings 5 in the sheet metal, as illustrated in fig 1A. Typically, cutting and stretching take place in a single step where the tool cutting the line shaped opening also widens that opening to its final shape. When this process takes place, the sheet metal is not deformed entirely symmetric across the cut. Typically, one side of the diamond-shaped opening moves downwards, with the tool carrying out the cut, while the opposing side moves slightly in the opposite direction.

This means that, as illustrated in the side view of fig 1 B, the appearance of the mesh material may be quite different when viewed in an oblique direction 7 from the leading edge 9 of the sheet metal web 1 , as compared to when viewed in a correspondingly oblique direction 11 from the trailing edge 13. Typically, in one direction 7 one views more or less straight into the diamond shaped openings, while in the other 11 , more of the surface of metal net forming the mesh is visible, giving a different, less transparent visual appearance. The terms ‘leading’ and ‘trailing’ may refer to the order in which the sheet metal is rolled of a roll 10 of sheet metal but may also refer to in which order parts of the sheet metal web 1 is expanded. In principle those orders could be reversed, even if expanding the web as it leaves a roll would appear an efficient solution.

In the present disclosure, this feature with different appearances in the mesh producing concept is taken into account to form a more aesthetically pleasing container. Fig 2 illustrates a stretched web 1 of sheet metal from which two containers are to be formed, and which has a leading 9 and a trailing 13 edge in the stretch direction 3.

Figs 3 and 4 outline the precursor pieces A-D to be cut from the web 1 . The expanded sheet metal web may be produced continuously from a roll of sheet metal, typically steel although other metals or alloys could be considered. It is also possible to carry out the expanding on a pre-cut web. Illustrated in fig 3 is a rectangular web piece that will be used to form two containers. The web piece 1 has a leading edge 9 and a trailing edge 13 defined based on the how the web piece was expanded, the leading edge coming first out of the cutting-Zexpansion tool. The entirety of the web piece 1 may be uniformly expanded.

Fig 4 shows how four precursor pieces A-D may be cut from the web piece 1 of fig 3. The web may be cut using a mechanical cutting tool or laser cutting to form the precursor pieces. Each precursor piece includes, as illustrated with the example of the precursor piece A and with reference again to fig 3, a first portion 15 intended to make up one side panel in a first pair of opposing panels and a part of a bottom panel, a second portion 17 intended to make up one side panel in a second pair of opposing panels. Further, along the leading edge 9, the precursor piece A comprises an edge portion 19 that may form the container’s upper flange along the two side panels mentioned above, as well as a narrow section of both those side panels.

A different precursor piece configuration is possible within the framework of the present disclosure. For instance, both portions 15, 17 could form a part of the bottom panel.

As shown in fig 4, compared to the leading precursor piece A, the second precursor piece B is mirrored both along and across the expansion direction such that precursor pieces A and B fit snugly in a first rectangular piece or area 22. Substantially, only a small portion 21 (cf. fig 3) in the middle is removed for recycling. Therefore the yield is very high. As illustrated, the subsequent two precursor pieces C and D may be arranged in a subsequent second rectangular area 24, identically as A and B. The trailing edge of the first area and the leading edge of the second area are formed where they meet and are cut 20. Each rectangular area 22, 24 thus comprises a leading and a trailing precursor portion.

In fig 5, circumferential flanges 25 are formed in the cut out precursor pieces A-D. This may be done by bending the edge portions 19, cf. fig 3, about 90 degrees once or twice depending on whether a single or double layer flange is desired. In the illustrated case, the edge portions are bent twice, forming a double layer flange 25 where the edge of the precursor piece is tucked into the corner formed by the flange 25 and the panel 15, thus keeping any burrs away from the user.

As illustrated in fig 5, the edge portions may optionally be bent alternatingly in different directions. Thus the flange 25 of precursor pieces A and C are bent downwards from the plane of the paper, while the corresponding flanges of precursor pieces B and D are bent upwards. This means that the downside of A and C and the upside of B and D will form the outer mesh areas of the finished containers.

In a subsequent step, each precursor piece A-D is bent to define the orientation between side and bottom panels and to prepare the precursor piece for being assembled into a container. As illustrated with the example of the precursor piece B in fig 5, it is bent 90 degrees across a line 29 between the first and second portions (15, 17, cf. fig 3) and in such a direction that the flange 25 extends out of the corner that is formed. The first portion 15 is bent 90 degrees or less along the line 31 , the angle depending on how much the container should taper towards it bottom. Thereby, the bottom panel is defined in relation to the side panels. A small, folded portion may also be provided by bending the end of the second portion 17 along a line 33 in order to create an overlap with an adjoining panel when the container is assembled. The order in which these bending steps are carried out is not important.

By bending all precursor pieces in this way the four container-half pieces 35, 37, 39, 41 of fig 6 are formed. In each precursor piece, as illustrated with the precursor piece 35, the adjoining sides of the first and second portions 15, 17 can be joined with a small overlap and be welded together, both between the side panels formed by the first and second portions 15, 17 and between the side panel formed by the second portion 17 and the bottom panel formed by the first portion 15.

When the complete containers are assembled, they are formed either from precursor pieces leading in a pair of pieces or pieces trailing in a pair. Thus, in the illustrated case, precursor pieces A and C, forming container half-pieces 35 and 39 are paired together to form container 43 of fig 7. Those need not come from immediately subsequent rectangular areas.

Generally, the container has a first and a second set of opposing side panels 42, 44, a bottom panel 46, and a circumferential flange 48 extending from the top edge of the side panels. The container is formed by welding overlapping pieces of adjoining panels of the half-pieces 35, 39.

In the same way, container half-pieces 37 and 41 are paired together to form container 45 of fig 8.

Thanks to the container in fig 7 being formed by two leading precursor pieces A, C, cf. fig 5, the container will have a visually uniform pattern as seen from the outside, along the side panel periphery 47 illustrated in fig 7 which is appreciated for aesthetical reasons. The same of course applies to the container in fig 8 formed by two trailing precursor pieces B, D.

Optionally, as illustrated in fig 8, a sheet metal frame 49 may be fitted on and attached to the mesh material flanges 48 in order to make the container stronger and form the rim, although the flanges 48 themselves may be sufficiently strong in many applications. The frame may consist of a single or a plurality of sheet metal strips that are folded and press fitted on and/or welded to the flange 48 (25 of. fig 5) formed by the folded mesh material to form the final container rim. It is also possible to attach a plastic frame to the flange by gluing or melting.

The mesh container may be powder-coated. Thanks to the flanges 25 of the leading and trailing pieces being formed by bending in opposite directions as illustrated in fig 5, the visual appearance will also be uniform along the side panel peripheries between the containers 43, 45 formed by leading and trailing precursor pieces.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above examples and may be varied and altered in different ways within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for producing a container (43; 45) in a mesh material (1), comprising expanded sheet metal, the container having a first (42) and a second (44) set of opposing side panels, a bottom panel (46), and a rim (48) directed outwards from the upper edges of the side panels (42, 44), the method comprising:

-perforating and expanding a web (10) of sheet metal along an expansion direction (3) to form said mesh material (1), and, characterized by:

-cutting, from rectangular areas (22, 24) of the web, at least a first and a second leading precursor (A, C) from leading web parts, exiting first the perforating and expanding step, and a first and a second trailing precursor (B, D) from trailing web parts, wherein the leading and trailing edges of the rectangular areas are configured each to form an upper edge and rim of a container; and

-forming a container (43; 45) including either leading precursors (A, C) of two rectangular areas (22, 24) or trailing precursors (B, D) of two rectangular areas (22, 24).

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein each of the leading and the trailing precursor includes a side panel in the first set (42) of side panels and a side panel in the second set (44) of side panels, and a portion of the bottom panel (46).

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rims (48) are formed by folding flanges (25) from the leading and trailing edges of the web out of the plane of the web, and leading and trailing edges are folded in opposite directions.

4. Method according to claim 3, wherein each flange is formed in a double layer of mesh material.

5 Method according to claim 3, wherein each flange is formed in a single layer of mesh material.

6. Method according to any of claims 4 or 5, wherein a circumferential frame (49) is attached to the flange (48) to form the finished rim.

7. A mesh container formed by means of the method according to any of claims 1-6.