GB2108932A - Devices for retaining loose products in containers - Google Patents

Abstract

An arrangement for retaining granular or other loose material in a container comprises elements (2-4) formed from rectangular sheets of a semi-rigid material each folded at right angles about a line parallel to two opposite sides of the rectangle so as to form two unequal flaps (2a, 2b) etc. Three of these elements associated together (2, 3 and 4) form a shifting board assembly for retaining the material loaded into the container, the material pressing against the flaps (2b, 3b, 4b) to hold them in position, while the flap 4b may be fixed to the container floor 13 by nails or staples 15. Additional reinforcement may be provided by straps or the like located between the assembly and door panels 11, 12 of the container. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Shifting board elements, a shifting board formed from such elements and application thereof equipping a container The present invention relates to shifting board elements as well as to shifting boards formed from these elements, these shifting boards or retaining walls being more especially intended for transforming standard containers provided for transporting packed products into containers capable of receiving loose products, such as grains, granular materials, powdery materials, bulky materials or other natural or artificial products and also allowing convenient loading and unloading of these containers without risk.

The standard containers of which it is a question comprise a rear loading and unloading panel formed from two equal leaves hinged about their vertical axis and which, when they are open, free entirely the rear of the container. These containers have generally a wooden floor, their other walls being wooden, metal, plywood, plastic or similar.

Different devices have already been proposed for transforming such containers into containers for loose products. One of these devices, not very easy to handle, consists of two sides laid against the front and rear panels of the container and connected together by a tubular plastic material envelope, the volume thus defined receiving the loose product. Such a device is expensive.

In another arrangement, one of the leaves of the rear panel is temporarily left in the closed position, and over the width and at least a part of the height of the panel, a shifting board or dividing wall is formed, adapted to retain the loose material, the opening of the second leaf giving access to openings provided in the dividing wall; this shifting board is formed from plywood or wooden panels which are not very economic materials, it must be adjusted to the width of the container and requires, for example for a standardized container of 2.40 to 2.50 m in width and about 2.30 m in height, the work of two men for 2.5 hours; such setting up is a relatively long and costly operation limiting the use of the containers for loose products.

The present invention has as its object the provision of a particularly enconomic shifting board-dividing wall very easy to set up. To this end it proposes shifting board elements which are very simple and inexpensive and which may be standard.

A shifting board element in accordance with the invention, intended to be associated with other similar elements to form a shifting board, is characterized in that it is formed by a rectangular sheet 1 of a semi-rigid material, which is bent at right angles about a line Ic parallel to two opposite sides of the rectangle so as to form two unequal flaps la and 1 b.

The semi-rigid material is preferably cardboard, more especially corrugated board with double grooving, but other simple, cheap and robust materials may be suitable, having the flexibility, adaptability and strength of cardboard, for example felts or plastic materials.

The shifting board element of the invention is easily cut out, in particular from commercially available cardboard in rolls of 2 m in width, for example. The cut out element is advantageously a square 2m by 2m, which is bent so that it has a wide flap and a narrow flap, for example 1.50 m by 2 m and 0.5 m by 2 m respectively.

From these elements, the invention proposes forming a shifting board intended for lining the rear panel of a standard container, comprising two leaves pivoting about vertical axes, one of these leaves being temporarily left in the closed position where as the other may be open, this shifting board being characterized in that it comprises three said shifting board elements, two of them being disposed upright one against the other on the floor of the container so that their wide flaps are laid against the closed leaf and their narrow flaps are applied respectively against the side walls of said container adjacent said leaves, whereas the third element is disposed vertically between the other two bv its wide flaD and adjacent the side wall to which the opening leaf is hinged and so that its narrow flap is applied to the floor of the container.

Such a shifting board is particularly inexpensive, the element which compose it being formed from a cheap material, more especially from standardized sheets or rolls of ordinary cardboard, and the construction of this shifting wall is very easy and may be carried out by staff not having any special professional qualifications.

Cardboard is three to four times cheaper than wood and the shifting board elements considered can be carried by a single man and are adaptable without modification to all the usual types of container. In a quarter of an hour, a single many may set up in a container the shifting board of the invention formed from three removable elements.

The resistance of these elements to thrust forces is increased by crossing and superimposing them in the final shifting board and by the pressure of the loose product of the narrow flaps applied against the side walls of the container. It is further increased, when double grooving cardboard is used, when the narrow flap of the third element inserted between the first two is fixed to the floor of the container, by any suitable means such as staples, nails or similar and when reinforcement elements, disposed horizontally or diagonally between the shifting board and the rear panel of the container are added to said elements.These means may be, among others, straps, cables, chains, wires or similar, fixed to anchorage points on the container, which are provided on the internal face of the side walls thereof adjacent the leaves, or else a few planks slid between vertical grooves formed on the internal face of said walls, also adjacent the leaves; said anchorage points may be in the form of bars or rings. The reinforcement means maintain the load in position, avoiding rounding of the shifting boards. During unloading of a container placed on a pivoting chassis and containing twenty tons of loose product, the shifting board withstands a considerable slope of the container whose two doors are then open.

For loading and unloading, flaps may be readily cut out in the shifting board, at appropriate levels, which may be closed again by means of an adhesive strip. The shifting board may serve only once, considering its low cost price, but it may also be used again.

The features and advantages of the invention will be clear from the following description, given solely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shifting board element in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a shifting board, formed from elements such as shown in figure 1 this shifting board being fitted to a container whose partial contour is shown with dot-dash lines; Figure 3 shows schematically a container equipped with the shifting board of the invention, with associated reinforcement means.

A shifting board element in accordance with the invention, such as shown in figure 1, is formed from a square 1 of a semi-rigid material, advantageously double grooved cardboard known per se, comprising two sheets of corrugated cardboard between two sheets of smooth cardboard. This square sheet is folded at right angles about a line Ic parallel to two sides of the square, so as to form two unequal flaps, a wide flap 1 a and a narrow flap 1 b.

In the preferred embodiment, the large flap measures 2 m by 1.50 m and the small flap 2 m by 0.5 m; in other words, the original square measures 2 mx2 m and the fold is at 0.50 m from one sidle of this square.

To form the shifting board of the invention for use in a standard container 10, one rear panel leaf of which is is temporarily left unused in the closed position and the other 12 of which may be open, three elements are used such as shown in figure 1. Firstly, an element 2 with its unequal flaps 2a and 2b, defined by a folding line, which may be preformed, and a similar element 3 with its unequal flaps 3a and 3b are disposed upright on the floor 13 of the container so that their wide flaps 2a, 3a are applied against each other, in contact with the leaves 11 and 12 when they are closed and so that their narrow flaps 2b and 3b are respectively in contact with the side walls of the container.A third similar element 4, with its unequal flaps 4a and 4b is inserted between the two previous ones so that the narrow flap 4b is in contact with the floor of the container, said element 4 being pushed back until it contacts the side wall of the container adjacent the opening leaf 12. Flap 4a is inserted between flaps 2a and 3a. So that the assembly of elements 2, 3 and 4 is better held in place, flap 4b of element 4 is advantageously fixed to the floor 13 of the container by means of staples or nails 1 5, for example through a wooden lath resting on said flap. The internal grooves of 4a are crossed with respect to those of 2a and 3a.

For loading and unloading the loose product, openings are advantageously provided which may be pre-cut out, forming closable flaps such as 16, formed in the shifting board. These flaps are cut out in the top part of the shifting board for loading and in its low part for unloading.

It will be readily understood that the pressure exerted by the loose product, placed in the container, on the flaps of the elements contributes, by pressing these latter against each other, and also against the walls of the container, in ensuring cohesion of the assembly.

Such a shifting board, particularly light, very rapidly set up and adaptable to all types of container, is obviously more economical and more practical than the traditional shifting boards.

To further reinforce it, reinforcing means such as straps, for example made from a plastic material, a plastic coated woven material or similar may be stretched, in accordance with the invention, between the side walls of the container and in contact with the elements of the shifting board, externally thereof, these straps being for example disposed transversely between the side walls of the container to which they are fixed, either parallel to the floor 13 (straps 17), or in the form of a cross between said side walls (straps 18).

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described and shown but is suceptible of numerous variations; it is possible more especially to bond or staple the three shifting board elements together so as to increase the cohesion of the shifting board thus formed.

Claims (11)

Claims

1. A shifting board element for associating with other similar elements so as to form a shifting board, characterized in that it is formed from a rectangular sheet ( 1 ) of a semi-rigid material which is folded at right angles about a line (1 c) parallel to two opposite sides of the rectangle so as to form two unequal flaps (1 a and 1 b).

2. The element according to claim 1, characterized in that the sheet is square, the folding line dividing this sheet into two flaps whose surfaces are in the ratio of 1 to 3.

3. The element according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the sheet is made from cardboard.

4. The element according to claim 3, characterized in that it is made from double groove corrugated cardboard.

5. A shifting board formed from elements according to any one of claims 1 to 4, intended to line the rear wall of a standard container, comprising two leaves pivoting about vertical axes, one of these leaves being temporarily held in the closed position while the other may be open, characterized in that it comprises three of these elements (2, 3 and 4), two of them (2, 3) being disposed upright one against the other on the floor (13) of the container, so that their wide flaps (2a and 3a) are applied against the closed leaf and their narrow flaps (2b and 3b) are applied respectively against the side walls of said container, adjacent said leaves, whereas the third element (4) is disposed vertically between the two preceding ones by its wide flap and adjacent the side wall to which the opening leaf is hinged and so that its narrow flap (4b) is applied to the floor of the container.

6. The shifting board according to claim 5, characterized in that the narrow flap (4b) of the third element is fixed to the floor (13) of the container.

7. The shifting board according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that reinforcement means (17, 18) are added thereto, which are stretched between the side walls of the container and are in contact with the shifting board elements, externally thereof, these means being fixed to said side walls.

8. The shifting board according to claim 7, characterized in that said reinforcement means (17) are disposed parallel to the floor (13) of the container.

9. The shifting board according to claim 7, characterized in that said reinforcement means (18) are disposed in the form of a cross.

1 0. The shifting board according to claim 7, characterized in that said reinforcement means are straps, cables chains, wires, planks or similar.

11. Application of the shifting board according to any one of claims 5 to 10 to equipping a container.

ffi q