FR2751618A1 - Dismantlable rack for the storage and transport of bottles - Google Patents

Abstract

The rack comprises a rectangular bottom (1) and four side walls (2a-2d). Two of its parallel walls (2a,2b) are hinged on the bottom so that they can be folded down on each other. The other two walls are removable. The walls comprise side uprights (7,8) with complementary locks. Adjacent uprights are connected by the locks when all the walls extend perpendicular to the bottom. The webs of the U sections constituting the side uprights of one of the hinged walls are turned toward the webs of the other hinged wall. The side uprights of the removable walls are tubular with a transverse section of the same dimensions as the transverse section of the U's. The complementary locks comprise hooks and projecting parts carried by the tubular sections.

Description

"Removable locker for transport and / or storage of various objects, including bottles"
The present invention relates to a rack for the transport and / or storage of various objects, in particular bottles, comprising a bottom, the sides of which delimit a rectangular quadrilateral and four side walls parallel in pairs, resting on the bottom, perpendicular to that -this.

 The racks of this type can have very large dimensions since some of them are designed to be able to contain up to 720 bottles.

 These lockers are generally assembled by welding and cannot be dismantled easily. However, to transport them empty, it is advisable to use the same means of transport as those necessary to transport them full, which involves significant costs.

 The present invention proposes to more particularly solve the problem of transporting empty lockers and, to do this, it relates to a locker having the structure indicated above and which is characterized in that two of its parallel side walls are articulated on the bottom so as to be foldable one on the other against the latter, while its two other parallel side walls are removable.

 The locker according to the invention can occupy a much smaller volume when it is empty than when it is full. Indeed, when its articulated side walls are folded down on its bottom and its removable side walls are laid flat on its articulated side walls, its volume is considerably reduced.

 Its transport, when empty, can therefore be carried out very easily and for limited costs, which is not the case with current lockers whose volume cannot be reduced without carrying out dismantling operations long and tedious.

 According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the articulated walls and the removable walls comprise lateral uprights provided with complementary locking means, the adjacent lateral uprights being connected by their complementary locking means when the articulated walls and the removable walls s 'extend perpendicular to the bottom.

 Preferably, the lateral uprights of the articulated walls are formed by U-shaped profiles, the wings of the profiles constituting the lateral uprights of one of the articulated walls being turned towards the wings of the profiles constituting the lateral uprights of the other articulated wall.

 As for the lateral uprights of the removable walls, they are preferably constituted by tubular profiles whose cross section has substantially the same dimensions as those of the cross section of the U-shaped profiles.

 Advantageously, the locking means provided on the articulated walls are constituted by bars connecting the wings of the U-shaped profiles while the locking means provided on the removable walls are constituted by hooks and projecting members carried by the tubular profiles, the hooks passing behind the bars while the projecting members extend without or practically without play in the U-profiles.

 Thanks to these two types of locking means, the attachment and disengagement of the four side walls can be carried out easily and quickly by a single person, which saves time and manpower.

 According to a preferred embodiment, at least one of the removable walls consists of two superimposed elements, the lower element carrying the corresponding locking means while the upper element carries lateral tabs housed without or practically without play in the U-shaped profiles constituting the lateral uprights of the articulated walls.

 It is therefore sufficient to vertically move the upper element to put it in place or to remove it.

 It will be noted here that it is easier to access the lower part of the rack to introduce or remove objects there when the upper element is removed. Staff will therefore often have an interest in removing this item to fill or empty the locker.

 It is moreover desirable that the articulated walls and the removable walls comprise an openwork frame coated with a mesh.

 This arrangement makes it possible in fact to make the rack with a relatively low weight and to leave the objects visible.

 So that the crate can be moved using a conventional handling machine, its bottom can advantageously have on each of its lateral faces recesses capable of allowing the passage of a fork of handling machine.

 Furthermore, the articulated walls are preferably provided at their upper corners with receiving means for retaining another rack.

 Thanks to these reception means, it is therefore possible to stack several lockers in accordance with the invention.

 On the other hand, to avoid that the staff is forced to bend down many times when they are joining or detaching the side walls, it is desirable that the articulated walls include stops to limit their pivoting movement towards outside.

 For reasons of simplicity, the stops are preferably formed by the lower ends of the lateral uprights of the articulated walls.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a locker according to the invention;
- Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of the rack, the two articulated side walls are folded over one another
- Figure 3 is a partial schematic view showing one of the articulated side walls and the lower element of one of the removable side walls, the joining of the articulated wall and the lower element being in progress
- Figure 4 is a schematic sectional view showing the complementary locking means of one of the articulated side walls and of the lower element of the adjacent removable side wall; and
- Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing how the upper element of the removable side wall is immobilized relative to the articulated side wall.

 The locker that can be seen in Figure 1 was developed to transport and / or store bottles of champagne, but it goes without saying that it could be used for the transport and / or storage of other objects.

 It comprises a bottom 1 whose sides delimit a rectangular quadrilateral, two parallel side walls 2a, 2b resting on the bottom 1, along two opposite sides thereof, and two parallel side walls 2c, 2d also resting on the bottom 1, along its other two sides.

 In the embodiment shown, the upper face of the bottom 1 is rectangular, but it could possibly be square. It rests on a base 3, the four vertical faces of which are provided with recesses 4.5 arranged so as to allow the passage of a forklift of handling machine, the base 3 forming part of the base 1 and giving it the necessary resistance. so that it can support all the bottles likely to be introduced into the rack.

 The side walls 2a, 2b are articulated along two of the sides of the bottom 1 so that they can be folded against each other on the latter, as shown in FIG. 2.

 As for the other side walls 2c, 2d, they are removable and can be separated from the side walls 2a and 2b and from the bottom 1, as will be explained below.

 The articulated side walls 2a, 2b are connected to the bottom 1 by means of three coaxial hinges 6 and each comprise two lateral uprights 7 constituted by U-shaped profiles.

 It will be specified here that the wings of the U-shaped profiles constituting the uprights 7 of the side walls 2a and 2b are turned towards each other.

 As for the removable side walls 2c, 2d, they each comprise two lateral uprights 8 (visible only in FIGS. 3 to 5) constituted by tubular profiles whose cross section has substantially the same dimensions as those of the cross section of the U profiles constituting the amounts 7.

 The uprights 7 are provided with locking means 9 while the uprights 8 are provided with locking means 10 complementary to the means 9.

The adjacent uprights 7 and 8 are connected by their complementary locking means 9, 10 when the four side walls of the rack are perpendicular to the bottom 1, as shown in FIG. 1.

 With particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, it will be noted that the locking means 9 are constituted by bars 9a connecting the wings of the U-shaped sections constituting the uprights 7 while the locking means 10 are constituted by hooks 10a and projecting members 10b carried by tubular profiles constituting the upright 8.

 When the complementary locking means 9, 10 are engaged and connect the side walls of the rack to each other, the hooks 10a pass behind the bars 9a while the projecting members 10b extend in the U-profiles without or practically without play, as shown in figure 4.

 In order to have easier access to the lower part of the locker, the removable wall 2d consists of two superimposed elements 2dl, 2d2.

 As can be seen in Figures 4 and 5, the lower element 2d1 carries the corresponding locking means 10 while the upper element 2d2 carries lateral tabs 11 housed in the U-shaped profiles constituting the lateral uprights 7 of the lateral walls articulated 2b.

 The upper element 2d2 can be placed on the lower element 2d1 or be very easily removed from it since it suffices to move it vertically by sliding its lateral tabs 11 in the U-shaped profiles.

 It goes without saying that the removable wall 2c could also consist of two superimposed elements.

 In the embodiment shown, the four side walls of the rack each have a frame made up of uprights and crosspieces and coated with a mesh.

 Furthermore, the articulated side walls 2a, 2b are provided at their upper corners with receiving means 12 intended to retain another rack, these means consisting of two plates, the lower parts of which are respectively fixed on the free faces of the profiles. U-shaped and whose upper parts are directed upwards and outwards, as shown in FIG. 1.

 Finally, it will be noted that the articulated walls 2a, 2b have stops 13 intended to limit their pivoting movement towards the outside. Referring more particularly to FIG. 3, it will be seen that in the embodiment shown, these stops are formed by the lower ends of the lateral uprights 7 of the articulated walls 2a and 2b.

 The locker according to the invention can be quickly disassembled for transport when it is empty.

 1l suffices in fact to lift the upper element 2d2 vertically from the removable wall 2d in order to release it from the articulated walls 2a, 2b, to slightly raise the lower element 2d, and the side wall 2c to release the hooks 10a from the bars 9a, to pivot outwards one of the articulated walls 2a, 2b until the lower end of its uprights 7 abuts against the bottom 1, to remove the lower element 2d, and the wall lateral 2c, to fold the hinged wall 2a against the bottom 1 and to fold the hinged wall 2b on the wall 2a.

 To transport the locker, the removable walls 2c, 2d can also be fixed flat on the wall 2a, for example using straps or twine.

 It is of course sufficient to carry out the operations which have just been described in reverse order to reassemble the locker.

Claims (11)

 1. Locker for the transport and / or storage of various objects, in particular bottles, comprising a bottom (1) whose sides delimit a rectangular quadrilateral and four side walls (2a-2d) parallel two by two, resting on the bottom, perpendicular thereto, characterized in that two of its parallel side walls (2a, 2b) are articulated on the bottom (1) so as to be foldable one on the other against the latter, while its two other parallel side walls (2c, 2d) are removable.  2. Locker according to claim 1, characterized in that the articulated walls (2a, 2b) and the removable walls (2c, 2d) comprise lateral uprights (7,8) provided with complementary locking means (9,10), the adjacent lateral uprights being connected by their complementary locking means when the articulated walls and the removable walls extend perpendicular to the bottom (1).  3. Locker according to claim 2, characterized in that the lateral uprights (7) of the articulated walls (2a, 2b) are formed by U-shaped profiles, the wings of the profiles constituting the lateral uprights of one of the articulated walls being turned towards the wings of the profiles constituting the lateral uprights of the other articulated wall.  4. Locker according to claim 3, characterized in that the lateral uprights (8) of the removable walls (2c, 2d) are constituted by tubular profiles whose cross section has substantially the same dimensions as those of the cross section of the profiles U.  5. Locker according to claim 4, characterized in that the locking means (9) provided on the articulated walls (2a, 2b) are formed by bars (9a) connecting the wings of the U-shaped profiles while the locking means (10) provided on the removable walls (2c, 2d) consist of hooks (10a) and projecting members (10b) carried by the tubular profiles, the hooks passing behind the bars while the projecting members extend without or practically free of play in U-profiles  6. Locker according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that at least one of the removable walls (2c, 2d) consists of two superimposed elements (2d "2d), the lower element (2d, ) carrying the corresponding locking means (10) while the upper element (2d) carries lateral tabs (11) housed without or practically without play in the U-shaped profiles constituting the lateral uprights (7) of the articulated walls (2a, 2b).  7. Locker according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the articulated walls (2a, 2b) and the removable walls (2c, 2d) comprise an openwork frame coated with a grid.  8. Locker according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bottom (1) has on each of its lateral faces recesses (4,5) capable of allowing the passage of a forklift of handling equipment.  9. Locker according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the articulated walls (2a, 2b) are provided at their upper corners with receiving means (12) for retaining another locker.  10. Locker according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the articulated walls (2a, 2b) have stops (13) to limit their pivoting movement towards the outside.  11. Locker according to claim 10, characterized in that the stops (13) are constituted by the lower ends of the lateral uprights (7) of the articulated walls (2a, 2b).