GB2077231A - Tamperproof packing cases - Google Patents

Abstract

A packing case 10 is constructed from four side walls 12a and 12b and two end walls 13 each comprising battens nailed to planks. The nails 16 pass through the plank and into the batten in each instance, so that in the assembled packing case the heads of the nails are inside and inaccessible. The end of each side wall plank 14 abuts an end wall batten 17a or 17b. It is not possible to detach a side wall plank 14 from its associated battens 15a or 15b and then slide the plank 14 out of position and the packing case 10 is therefore substantially tamper-proof. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to packing cases This invention relates to packing cases.

It is known to construct packing cases from six rectangular and substantially planar wall panels, each wall panel being made up of planks and battens of sawn wood. The planks and battens are fixed to one another by means of nails, and the six panels are assembled to form the four side walls and two end walls of the packing case, with these walls being held together by means of nails.

Packing cases of this known type are used to contain and to protect all sorts of goods being sent from one part of the world to another. Since the packing cases are held together by means of nails, for reasons of economy, it is a simple matter for some dishonest person who has access to the packing case whilst in transit to use relatively simple tools to disassemble partially the packing case as will be described hereinafter. Some of all of the goods within the packing case can then be removed and the case can be reassembled easily and sent on its way.Since this known type of packing case is constructed from rough materials and is subject during transit to rough handling, the exterior of such a packing case is frequently damaged to some extent by the time the case arrives at its destination and thus it is difficult for the recipient to detect whether the case has been tampered with during transit. The theft of the goods will therefore become apparent only when the recipient opens up the packing case and, once he has done this, it is usually impossible to prove to an insurance company that the theft occurred during transit. It is to be noted that when goods are shipped in packing cases, if a case shows signs of damage or tampering when delivered, the person receiving the goods may refuse delivery, and then the case can be opened in the presence of an insurance assessor, and any loss will be rectified.However, if the case does not show any prominent signs of damage and the person accepts delivery, and if the case is found to be empty or partially empty when opened, then the person receiving the goods has no redress on the shipper.

In an attempt to make packing cases of this type less susceptible to this form of tampering, it is known to provide a sealed thin metal hand under tension around the four side walls of the packing case. The provision of this band makes it more difficult for someone to gain unauthorised access to the goods within the packing case since none of the four side walls can be removed without cutting the band, and any substitute band applied subsequently would lack the characteristic seal. However, the band is not totally effective at preventing access to the goods through the side walls, as will be described hereinafter with reference to the drawings.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a packing case which is less susceptible to tampering than the above described known packing cases.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a packing case comprising a plurality of panels constructed from planks and battens, the battens being exterior to the planks and being secured to the planks by means of nails or the like, at least some of the nails being located with the head end thereof adjacent the interior of the packing case and the pointed end thereof substantially adjacent to the exterior of the packing case.

Preferably, the packing case comprises four side wall panels and two end wall panels, each end wall panel having battens secured thereto by nails which have the heads located on the inner surface of said panel, the battens being located so that the end of any plank in an adjacent side wall panel abuts a batten of the said end wall.

Conveniently, the end wall panels each comprise a rectangular assembly of planks lying side by side in a common plane and four battens, each batten having a long edge thereof aligned with an edge of the said rectangular assembly, there being a rebate defined between the planks and battens of the end wall around each side of the end wall.

Suitably, each end wall panel is so located that a long edge of each batten is flush with the exterior face of the planks of an adjacent side wall panel.

Advantageously each side wall panel comprises rectangular planks lying side by side in a common plane and two battens extending transversely to the said planks, each said batten being spaced from a respective end of the side wall panel by a distance equal to approximately one third of the length of the said planks of the side wall panel.

According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a method of constructing a packing case from four side wall panels and two end wall panels, each panel comprising planks and battens, the method comprising the steps of: making each side wall panel by placing two battens, spaced apart and parallel, on a surface, placing planks on top of the battens, the planks lying side by side in a common plane and transverse to the battens, and driving nails downwards through the planks into the battens; making each end wall by placing four battens on a surface to define a first open rectangle, placing coaligned planks on top of the battens, the exterior periphery of the co-aligned panels forming a second rectangle, the arrangement being such that each edge of the first rectangle is parallel with a corresponding edge of the second rectangle, and driving nail downwards through planks into the battens; and assembling all six wall panels to form a cuboid packing case in which each end of each side wall plank abuts an end wall batten.

Preferably the method comprises the additional step of providing a tensioned metal band around the case.

In order that the invention and its advantages may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, a known packing case and a packing case according to the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a known packing case; Figure 2 is an enlarged view, partly cut-away and partly in phantom illustration, of a corner of the packing case shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a packing case in accordance with the invention; and Figure 4 is an enlarged view, partly cut-away and partly in phantom illustration, of a corner of the packing case shown in Figure 3.

Figure 1 shows a known packing case constructed from four side walls, two of which 2a and 2b, are shown in the drawing, and two end walls 3 to form a cuboid enclosure.

The side wall 2a is formed from three rectangular planks 4a which are placed side by side on a flat surface with their long sides aligned, the three planks 4a then being secured to one another by means of two rectangular battens 5a located on top of the planks 4a and nailed to the planks 4a with nails 6 driven downwardly through the battens 5a into the planks 4a. The battens 5a extend transversely to the planks 4a and are spaced along the length of the planks 4a. The remaining three sidewalis are constructed similarly.The battens 5a on each of a first pair of side walls, one of which is shown at 2a, (which are to oppose each other in the assembled case), are of such a length that the end of each batten 5a is aligned with, and does not protrude beyond, the long edge of the assembly formed by the three planks 4a of that side wall 2a.The battens 5b on each of a second pair of side walls, one of which is shown at 2b, (which are also to oppose each other in the assembled case) are of such a length that they extend for some distance beyond each long edge of the assembly formed by the three planks 4b of that side wall 2b, the said distance being equivalent to the sum of (a) the thickness of one of the planks 4a used to form the first pair of side walls 2a and (b) the thickness of one of the battens 5a used to from the first pair of side walls 4a. The planks 4b of the second pair of side walls 2b are longer than the planks 4a of the first pair of side walls 2a by a distance equal to twice the thickness of an end wall batten 7.

Each of the two end walls 3 of the packing case 1 is a square wall constructed by locating three rectangular planks 8 side by side on a flat surface and then locating two battens 7 on top of the planks and extending tranversely to the planks, with the outer opposed long edges of the battens 7 aligned with the ends of the planks 8. Nails 6 are then driven downwardly through the battens 7 into the planks 8.

The battens 7 of the end walls 3 protrude beyond the side edges of the outer planks 8 by a distance equal to the thickness of the planks 4a used for forming the first side walls 2a.

In constructing the packing case, the four side walls of the packing case 1 are then assembled with said pairs being opposed as mentioned above, the battens being on the exterior of the assembly. The inner faces of the first pair of walls 2a abut the long side edges of the outer planks 4b forming the second pair of said walls 2b and the side edges of the first wails 2b abut the protruding batten Sb portions of the second walls 2b. Goods to be transported are located within the case during the construction thereof.

A substantially square space is thereby defined at the opposed ends of the partially assembled packing case. The end walls 3 are then located in the partly assembled packing case with the battens on the exterior of the assembly so that the side edges of the end walls defined by the planks 8 abut the inner faces of the four side walls and so that the outer faces of the planks 8 of each end wall are co-planar with the ends of the said first pair of opposing side walls 2a. The outer faces of the battens 7 of each end wall are co-planar with the ends of the second pair of opposing side walls 2b.

In the assembled packing case, each of the protruding end of the end wall battens 7 abuts the end of planks 4a forming the first pair of side walls 2a. The outer side edges of the battens 7 abut the inner faces of the second pair of side walls 2b.

Figure 2 shows the abutting arrangements at one corner in more detail.

Nails are then driven into the assembly to secure a number of the abutting corner joints of the assembled packing case. Some of these nails, for example, extend perpendicularly to the planks. of the second pair of opposing side walls and into the long edge of an end wall batten, and others extend perpendicularly to the planks of the first set of opposing side walls and into the long edges of an end wall plank.

The final step in the construction of the packing case is to provide a thin sealed tensioned metal band 9 around the packing case so that the band 9 is in contact with the planks of all four side walls of the packing case. It is necessary to cut and then remove the band 9 if any one of the side walls is to be removed, and thus if a packing case of this known type is to be broken into by removing an entire side wall, a new band must subsequently be applied to the packing case, and any such new band will not be appropriately sealed, thus showing that the case has been tampered with.

It is, however, possible to gain entry to the contents of a packing case as described above without removing an entire side wall, and without having to remove the metal band 9, and then to disguise the fact that the packing case has been broken into. This is done by removing all of the nails 6 associated with the middle plank of any one of the four side walls. Since the heads of all the nails 6 are exposed this is a relatively straightforward task. Thus, taking for example one of the first pair of side walls 2a, the nails 6 which attach the middle plank 4a to the two battens 5a of the side wall 2a and also the nails 6, positioned adjacent each end of the middle plank 4a, which secure the said plank 4a to the planks 8 and/or the battens 7 of the adjoining end walls 3 are removed.By tapping an end of the now unattached centre plank 4a with, for example, a hammer, the centre plank 4a can then be slidden out in a direction parallel to its long edges and thus small items within the packing case can be removed through the gap between the remaining two planks 4a of the said side wall 2a.

The centre plank 4a may then be returned to its original position and the nails 6 may be replaced.

Although the operation of removing the nails 6 entails inflicting a certain amount of damage to the packing case, packing cases are normally constructed from relatively rough materials and are subjected to rough handling during transit and thus it is difficult subsequently to detect whether a packing case has been tampered with in the manner described above, and it is only when the case is opened that the theft is discovered.

Figure 3 shows a packing case 10 constructed in accordance with the invention from four side walls 12, two of which, 1 2a and 1 2b, are shown in the drawing, and two end walls 13.

Taking one side wall 1 2a as a representative example, it is formed from three rectangular planks 14 and two battens 15a, and the side wall 1 2a is constructed by placing the two battens 1 5a spaced apart and parallel to one another on a flat surface and then placing the three rectangular planks 14, lying side by side with their long sides aligned, on top of and transversely to the two battens 1 spa. Nails 6 are then driven downwards through the planks 14 and into the battens 1 spa, the pivoted end of the nail 1 6 emerging through the batten 1 spa and being bent to lie flush with the surface of the batten 1 5a. The remaining three side walls are constructed similarly.The resulting rectangular side wall 1 2a or 1 2b is thus similar to a side wall 2a or 2b of the known packing case 1 described above, the chief difference being that in the packing case 10 in accordance with the invention the heads of the nails 1 6 used to secure the planks to the battens are adjacent a face of a side wall plank 14 instead of a face of a side wall batten 5a or Sb.

All twelve planks 14 used to construct the four side walls 1 2a or 1 2b are of the same length. In two side walls, one of which is shown at 1 2a, which are to oppose one another in the assembled packing case, the two battens 1 5a of each wall are each longer than the combined width of the planks 14 of that wall 1 2a, and extend beyond the planks 14 on each long side of the side wall 1 2a by an amount corresponding to the sum of the thickness of a side wall batten 1 5a or 1 Sb and thickness of a side wall plank 14. In the other two walls, one of which is shown at 1 2b, the battens 1 Sb are each as long as the combined width of the planks 14 of that wall 1 2b.

Each end wall 13 of the packing case 10 in accordance with the invention comprises four battens 1 7a and 1 7b and three rectangular planks 1 8. Two of the end wall battens 1 7a are each as long as the sum of (a) the combined width of the planks 1 8 of the end wall 13 and (b) twice the thickness of a side wall plank 14. The other two battens 1 7b are the same length as one another and each is shorter than the length of the first battens 1 7a. The four battens are placed on a flat surface to define a square, with each end of each short batten 1 7b abutting a long edge of a long batten 1 7a and with a long edge of each short batten 1 7b being aligned with the ends of the adjacent long battens 1 7a.The three end wall planks 1 8 are then placed side by side with their long edges aligned, on top of the four battens 1 7a and 1 7b and with the planks 18 lying parallel to the short battens 1 7b. The assembly of the three planks 1 8 lying side by side defines a square and the length of a side dfthis square is shorter than the length of a side of the square defined by the four battens 1 7a and 1 7b by an amount corresponding to twice the thickness of a side wall plank 14. Since the centre of the square defined by the planks 1 8 coincides with the centre of the square defined by the battens 1 7a and 1 7b, a rebate is created which extends along each side of the end wall 13.Nails 1 6 are driven through the planks 1 8 and into the battens 1 7a or 1 7b, with the pointed ends of the nails 16 again emerging and being flattened. Thus once again the orientation of the nails 1 6 with respect to the battens 1 7a or 1 7b and planks 1 8 is the reverse of the orientation of the nails 6 in the known packing case described before.

The packing case 10 is constructed in a similar fashion to the case described above, with the four side walls 1 2a and 1 2b being brought together to define a square space at the top and the bottom.

The ends of the battens 1 5a on the first pair of opposed side walls 1 2a each abut a face of a batten 1 sub on the second pair of opposed side walls 1 2b. The end walls 1 3 are then placed in position with the planks 1 8 lying within the square space defined by the side walls, so that the ends of each of the planks 1 8 and the outside long edge of the two outside planks 1 8 abut the inside face of a side wall plank 14. In addition, it can be seen that the end of each side wall plank 14 abuts a face of an end wall batten 1 7a or 1 7b.

Figure 4 shows the abutting arrangements at one corner in more detaii.

All six walls of the packing case 10 in accordance with the invention are secured to one another with nails driven in from the outside of the packing case 1 0. A tensioned metal band 1 9 is then provided around the packing case as described above.

It will be appreciated that, because of the described method of constructing the side walls and end walls of the packing case 10 in accordance with the invention, the heads of the nails which are used to secure the planks of each side wall to the battens of the respective sidewalls do not lie at the outside of the packing case and thus cannot be gripped by a nail-removing tool, and thus it is very difficult for someone to gain unauthorised access to the contents of the packing case and subsequently to disguise the fact that the packing case has been broken into. If the pointed end of a nail is levered upwards out of the batten and gripped by a suitable tool, it is virtually impossible to withdraw the nail in an outward direction since the head of the nail cannot pass through the plank and the batten.It is possible, instead, to lever up the pointed end of the nail and then to hit the pointed end of the nail in an attempt to drive the nail back into the packing case. However, even if this is done the nail cannot subsequently be returned to its original position since such a course of action would entail striking the head of the nail, which head is inside the packing case and thus is inaccessible. Thus the flattened pointed end of the nail would not be visible and the person receiving the case would realize that it had been tampered with. In any event, even if the packing case is tampered with so that the centre plank of a side wall is no longer secured to the battens of that side wall, the centre plank cannot be slidden out of position because, as described above, an end wall batten extends across the ends of all of the side wall planks. The end wall battens cannot be removed easily because they too are secured in place by the reversed nail technique. The metai band, of course, as in the case of the known packing case, prevents the removal of a side wall plank in a direction perpendicular to the side wall in question.

Thus it is virtually impossible to gain access to the contents of the packing case without damaging the packing case in such a way that the recipient can immediately detect that the packing case has been tampered with.

It will be understood that a packing case in accordance with the invention may be of any convenient dimensions.

Claims (10)

1. A packing case comprising a plurality of panels constructed from planks and battens, the battens being exterior to the planks and being secured to the planks by means of nails or the like, at least some of the. nails being located with the head end thereof adjacent the interior of the packing case and the pointed end thereof substantially adjacent the exterior of the packing case.

2. A packing case according to claim 1 comprising four side wall panels and two end wall panels, each end wall panel having battens secured thereto by nails which have the heads located on the inner face of said panel, the battens being located so that the end of any plank in an adjacent side wall panel abuts a batten of the said end wall.

3. A packing case according to claim 2 wherein the end wall panels each comprise a rectangular assembly of planks lying side by side in a common plane and four battens, each batten having a lohg edge thereof aligned with an edge of the said rectangular assembly, there being a rebate defined between the planks and battens of the end wall around each side of the end wall.

4. A packing case according to claim 2 or claim 3 wherein each end wall panel is so located that a long edge of each batten is flush with the exterior face of the planks of an adjacent side wall panel.

5. A packing case according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein each side wall panel comprises rectangular planks lying side by side in a common plane and two battens extending transversely to the said planks, each said batten being spaced from a respective end of the side wall panel by a distance equal to approximately one third of the length of the said planks of the side wall panel.

6. A method of constructing a packing case from four side wail panels and two end wall panels, each panel comprising the steps of: making each side wall panel by placing two battens, spaced apart and parallel, on a surface, placing planks on top of the battens, the planks lying side by side in a common plane and transverse to the battens, and driving nails downwards through the planks into the battens; making each end wall by placing four battens on a surface to define a first open rectangle, placing coaiigned planks on top of the battens, the exterior periphery of the co-aligned planks forming a second rectangle, the arrangement being such that each edge of the first rectangle is parallel with a corresponding edge of the second rectangle, and driving nails downwards through the planks into the battens; and assembling all six wall panels to form a cuboid packing case in which each end of each side wall plank abuts an end wall batten.

7. A method according to claim 6 including the additional step of providing a tensioned metal band around the case.

8. A packing case substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

9. A method of constructing a packing case substantially as herein described with reference to, and illustrated by, Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

10. Any novel feature or combination of features described herein.