GB2201399A

GB2201399A - Improvements in or relating to containers

Info

Publication number: GB2201399A
Application number: GB08803830A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steve Loftus
Original assignee: MCKECHNIE CONSUMER PROD
Current assignee: MCKECHNIE CONSUMER PROD
Priority date: 1987-02-26
Filing date: 1988-02-18
Publication date: 1988-09-01
Anticipated expiration: 2008-02-18
Also published as: GB8704535D0; GB2201399B; GB8803830D0

Abstract

A container, which may be stacking/nesting container has a flap 22 pivotally mounted to a side 12 of the container at or near the top edge of the side whereby with the flap pivotted away from the side and the container arranged with that side lowermost, the side is inclined downwardly towards the container base 10 with the container resting on the free edge of the flap and the bottom edge of the side. An internal flap 22' may be provided e.g. to carry a label, as may a lid 40 comprising two relatively hinged portions. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in or Relating to Containers The present invention concerns improvements in or relating to containers, especially but not exclusively containers which can be used for the display and dispensing of their contents as well as for the transportation and storage thereof.

According to the present invention there is provided a container having a: rectangular base and four sides upstanding from the base, at least one of the sides being provided with a member pivotally mounted to its outer surface and moveable from a storage position, in which it lies alongside the said side to a projecting position outstanding from the side whereby the container can be positioned with said side lowermost and inclined relative to the surface on which it is positioned.

Preferably the member is pivoted about an axis parallel to the top of the container at or near the top of the container. The member may extend along only part of the length of the container.

Preferably stop means are provided for limiting the extent of pivotal movement of the member and holding it in said projecting position. Preferably said stop means may prevent the member from pivoting beyond the position which is at or near perpendicular to the side. Preferably the member is a flap.

Preferably said one container side is provided with at least one rib parallel to said pivotal axis, the rib having a height which is substantially equal to the height of the free edge of the flap when it is in its storage position and being arranged alongside said free edge when the flap is in said storage position.

The rib may be provided with at least one resilient protrusion adapted to engage the flap and temporarily maintain it in said storage position.

Preferably the stop means for limiting the pivotal movement of the flap comprises a further rib parallel to said first rib and arrange at or near the edge of the flap about which it is pivoted.

Preferably the sides of the container diverge away from the base such that the container can be nested within another similar container.

Preferably the container is provided with a removable lid. The lid may comprise a substantially planar top having downwardly depending flanges at its edges adapted to overlap the upper regions of the container sides. The lid may be hinged about 8 line parallel to one of its edges. A pair of opposed flanges of the lid may be provided with inwardly directed projections on those sections of flanges to one side of the hinge and the container top may be provided with corresponding channels on opposed sides thereof to acommodate these projections whereby the lid may be fitted to the box,in an initially folded condition by sliding it onto the top of the box from one side so that the projections engage the channels and, once the lid is in position, hinging down the other section to cover the remainder of the box.

The upper surface of the lid may be provided with upstanding location lugs whereby a similar container maybe supported and located against lateral movement on the top of the lid.

In a modification the invention provides a container having a rectangular base and four sidesupstanding from the base, support means operable in conjunction with one of said sides and moveable from a storage position, in which it-lies alongside the said side-to a projecting position outstanding from the side whereby the container can be positioned with said side lowermost and inclined relative to the surface on whi-ch it is posit-ioned.

Preferably the support means are legs slidably mounted on the sides of the container adjacent to the said one side.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a container; Fig. 2 shows a partial cross-section of the container at its top; and Fig. 3 shows a container in a dispensing position with the lid partially removed.

A container, which is conveniently manufactured from plastics material by injection moulding, comprises a rectangular base 10 and two pairs of opposed sides or walls 12 and 14, sides 12 being longer than the sides 14. Each pair of sides- diverges- in a direction away from the base so that a similar container can be stacked within the container when it is empty or partly empty.

At their upper ends the sides 14 are provided with strengthing ribs 16 and handle holes 18. An outwardly directed flange 20 surrounds the open top of the container.

One of the longer sides 12 of the container has a flap 22 hingedly mounted thereon about an axis 24 which is parallel but spaced a short distance below'the top of the container. The flap is centrally located and extends over approximately two thirds of the length of the container top. It may be pivotally mounted to the container by any suitable means, for example by metal pins (not shown) passing through knuckles 26 moulded with the flap and engaging in lugs formed on the container side 12. The flap is located below an upper rib 28 spaced just below the flange 20 and extending parallel thereto, and a lower rib 30, arranged below the flap (when it lies alongside the side of the container) and parallel to the flange 20.

Protrusions are formed from the free edge of the flap and/or from the upper surface of the lower rib 30 whereby the flap 22 can be temporarily snap fitted against the side of the container, that is in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If the flap is snapped out of engagement with the rib 30 then it can- be pivoted to the position shown in Fig. 3 and by dotted lines in Fig. 2, that is the position in which it is substantially perpendicular to the wall 12.

Pivotal movement beyond this position is prevented by the rib 28 which serves as a stop when it is contacted by the outer face of the flap 22.

The flap 22 is provided with a label holder (not shown) on its outer surface.

A lid 40 is provided for the container. The lid has two hingedly interconnected halves and a downwardly directed flange 42 at each edge thereof. Locating lugs 44 protrude from the upper surface of the lid 40 in the region of its corners and are adapted to engage with the base of the container so that when a similar container is stacked on a lidded container it is located against lateral movement.

The container is used in the normal manner for transportation and storage, for example, with one filled- and lidded container located on top of another or on top of a stack of similar lidded containers.

When it is desired to dispense'the contents of a container it would normally be necessary to remove the container from the stack, open or remove the lid and upwardly remove the contents. With the present invention the flap 22 is hinged away from its stored position alongside the container into a position where lies substantially perpendicular to the wall 12. It then can be used as a support leg for the container positioned with its flap carrying side 12 lowermost.

As shown in Fig. 3 this results in the side 12, which now effectively becomes the base of the open container, being inclined downwardly towards the base. This enables the contents of the container to be removed when the lid is opened or removed but at the same time urges the contents of the container, under the action of gravity, towards the base 10 to tend to maintain the contents in the container. This is especially significant if the goods are packaged in a packaging material having a low co-efficient of friction, for example articles of clothing packaged in film wrapping material. In view of the lack of frictional.forces between neighbouring wrapped articles they are very difficult to form into a vertical stack without lateral support. In view of the inclination of the side 12 when the container occupies the position shown in Fig.

3 packages of this nature tend to slip in the direction of the base 10 of the container and consequently are satisfactorily retained therein.

Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, for example the container can take any convenient shape and it can be provided with flaps on more than one of its walls, for example each of the longer walls 12 can be provided with a flap. The lid can take any modified form and in one such modification inwardly directed projections are provided at the lower edges of the flanges 42 adapted to lie alongside the walls 12 on one of the hinged sections only of the lid. The projections are adapted to be engaged within a channel, which may be the channel formed between the flange 20 and the upper rib 28, when the lid is positioned on top of the container by sliding it onto the container when it is in its open position from one end 14.When the lid is fully engaged it can be fully closed by pivoting down the remaining section, the flanges of which have no projections thus enabling the lid to close completely.

In a further modification the lid may be provided with locking means or tamperproof means.

It should be realised that the container can be so designed that it is adapted to nest with ad stack on a similar container even if it does not have a lid.

There are many arrangements and configurations of containers which allow this stacking/nesting configuration, for example the container can be provided with bail arms which can be swung from an inoperative position outside the box and which allow nesting of containers, to an operative position lying across the top of the box which permits stacking of containers. Additionally containers may be so shaped that the rotation of one relative to the other permits nesting and stacking, depending on the relative orientation of the containers.

Further detailed modifications may be carried out, for example additioning or less strengthingribs may be provided, different carrying handles may be provided, and any number of suitable means may be provided for hingedly attaching the flap tp the side of the container. It will be realised also that the stop means for restricting the pivotal movement of the flap can take any suitable form and may come into operation when the flap is at any angle. If the flap is to be held against the stop means by gravitational forces the stop should hold the flap at any angle from 900 to an angle sufficiently less than 1800 to the plane of the side 12 to ensure that in the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing the side 12 is inclined downwardly from the opening in the container relative to the surface on which the container is rested.

In a further modification the flap could take alternative forms, for example it could be a metal rod having a cross-bar and two posts at its ends, that is forming the outline of the illustrated flap 22, the posts being pivotally mounted at their free ends on the container.

The flap could be replaced by two legs slidably mounted on the sides 14 and moveable from a storage position' in which their free ends lie alongside or behind the side 12 to a projection position where the free ends are spaced outwardly from the side 12 to act as props when the container is placed with 'its side 12 downwar-ds.

In addition to the external flap 22, in a further modification, a similar internal flap can be pivotally mounted from the wall 12 opposite to that carrying the flap 22. In use this flap 22 which is shown in Fig. 1 by the chain lines can be pivotted away from the wall when the container lies on its side, supported by flap 22 and can carry a sales ticket or label indicating the contents, costs etc. of the products in the container.

The internal flap is mounted in a manner similar to the flap 22 that is, as described in the paragraph bridging pages 5 and 6 of this Specification.

In a modification the flap 22 need not be provided so that only the internal ticket carrying flap is present in the container.

This modification results in a further aspect of the present invention which provides a container having a rectangular base and four sides upstanding from the base, at least one of the sides being provided with a member pivotally mounted to its inner surface and moveable from a storage position in which it lies alongside the said side, to a projecting position outstanding from the said side whereby the container can be positioned with the side opposite said side lowermost and the member projecting into the container so that any information carried thereon can be readily observed.

Claims

1. A container having a rectangular' 'base and four sides upstanding from the base, at least one of the sides being provided with a member pivotally mounted to its outer surface and moveable from a storage position, in which it lies alongside the said side, to a projecting position outstanding from the side whereby the container 'can be positioned with said side lowermost and inclined relative to the surface on which it is positioned.

2. A container as claimed in Claim 1, in which the member is pivoted about an axis parallel to the top-o,f the container at or near the top of the container.

3. A container as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2,- in which the member extends along only part of the length of the container.

4. A container as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3, in which stop means are provided for limiting the extent of pivotal movement of the member and holding it in said projecting position.

5. A container as claimed in Claim 4, in which said stop means prevent the member from pivoting beyond the position which is at or near perpendicular to the side.

6. A container as claimed in any one of the preceeding Claims, in which the member is a flap.

7. A container as claimed in any one of the preceeding Claims, in which said one container side is provided with at least one rib parallel to said pivotal axis, the rib having a height which is substantially equal to the height of the free edge of the flap when it is in its storage position and being arranged alongside said free edge when the flap is in said storage position.

8. A container as claimed in Claim 7, in which the rib is provided with at least one resilient protrusion adapted to engage the flap and temporarily maintain it in said storage position.

9. A container as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8, in which the stop means for limiting the pivotal movement of the flap comprises a further rib parallel to said first rib and arranged at or near the edge of the flap about which it is pivoted.

10. A container as claimed in any one of the preceeding Claims, in which the sides of the container diverge away from the base such that the container can be nested within another similar container.

11. A container as claimed in any one of the preceeding Claims, provided with a removable lid.

12. A container as claimed in Claim 11, in which the lid comprises a substantially planar top having downwardly depending flanges at its edges adapted to overlap the upper regions of the container sides.

13. A container as claimed in Claim 11 or Claim 12, in which the lid is hinged about a line parallel to one of its edges.

14. A container as claimed in any of Claims 11 to 13, in which a pair of opposed flanges of the lid are provided with inwardly directed projections on those sections of flanges to one side of the hinge and the container top is provided with corresponding channels on opposed sides thereof to accommodate these projections whereby the lid may be fitted to the box in an initially folded condition by sliding it onto the top of the box from one side so that the projections engage the channels and, once the lid is in position, hinging down the other section to cover the remainder of the box.

15. A container as claimed in any of Claims 11 to 14, in which the upper surface of the lid is provided with upstanding location lugs whereby a similar container may be supported and located against lateral movement on the top of the lid.

16. A container having a rectangular base and four sides upstanding from the base, support means'operable in conjunction with one of said sides and moveable from a storage position, in which it lies alongside the said side to a projecting position outstanding from the side whereby the container can be positioned with said side lowermost and inclined relative to the surface on which it is positioned.

17. A container as claimed in Claim 16, in which the support means are legs slidably mounted on the sides of the container adjacent to the said one side.

18. A container as claimed in any one of the preceeding Claims, in which a further member is pivotally mounted to the inner surface of the side opposite the said side, said member being moveable from a storage position in which it lies alongside the said side, to a projecting position outstanding from the said side whereby the container can be positioned with the side opposite said side lowermost and the member projecting into the container so that any information carried thereon can be readily observed.

19. A container having a rectangular base and four sides upstanding from the base, at least one of the sides being provided with a member pivotally mounted to its inner surface and moveable from a storage position in which it lies alongside the said side, to a projecting position outstanding from the said side whereby the container can be positioned with the side opposite said side lowermost and the member projecting into the container so that any information carried thereon can be readily observed.

20. A container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying Drawings.

21. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject ma-tter disclosed in the foregoing Specification or Claims and/or shown in the Drawings, whether or not within the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceeding Claims.