GB2216882A

GB2216882A - Demountable structures and containers

Info

Publication number: GB2216882A
Application number: GB8907278A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Geoffrey John Elliman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-04-08
Filing date: 1989-03-31
Publication date: 1989-10-18
Also published as: GB8907278D0; GB8808207D0

Abstract

A box-like container, particularly in the form of a tea-chest, has four side panels (11) and a base panel (12), each panel being detachable from its neighbouring panel by a toggle clip (23) or the like. Each panel is made of a thin sheet of material (13) mounted on battens. The adjacent battens (14) of the side panels are triangular in section, while the lower battens are L-shaped in section to receive external battens of the base panel. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: Demountable Structures and Containers Field of the invention This invention relates to demountable structures and containers, and concerns in particuiar containers of the tea-chest type that are collapsible and demountable buildings.

Background of the invention For many purposes - for example, for packing fragile or delicdte items for transport - it is desirable to employ relatively strong and rigid containers generally of the tea-chest type. However, such containers necessarily occupy a significant volume, and it would be desirable to be able to break them down - to dismantle them - into components that can be stacked to take up less space for storage purposes.

The invention proposes just such a collapsible tea-chestlike, or box-like, container; wherein the five major surfaces - the four sides and the base - are detachably secured to each other, so that when erected they form a strong, rigid container but when dismantled they are merely five flat "panels" that can be stacked away in the minimum space.

Summary of the invention In one aspect, therefore, the invention provides a boxlike container having five panel-like surfaces forming four sides and a base, wherein each panel-like surface is detachably securable to its neighbours so that it may repeatably and easily be erected to form the desired boxlike container and thereafter dismantled into its component panels.

The panels may be of any suitable material (such as wood, metal or a plastics substance, or a combination of two or more of these), and of any appropriate shape (though the generally rectangular shapes required to mak conventional tea-chest container are preferred).

Each panel is preferably a thin skin on a frame of suitably-shaped battens. The four "side" panels have their battens on the interior surf-ace. They conveniently use triangular section battens along those edges that will in use form the side edges of the container, so that a triangular batten on one matches and abuts the relevant triangular batten on the neighbouring panel. The upper batten of each "side" panel is conveniently an ordinary rectangular-section batten. However, the batten on the lower edge is preferably channelled (or is L-shaped, so as to form with the panel skin a channel) in order to receive the "floor" or "base" panel battens therein.

The "bass" panel's battens are conveniently secured to the exterior surface, and are of rectangular section, fitting into the "channel" battens at the four side panels' lower edges.

The five panels may be detachably secured in any way, but toggle clips (described further hereinafter) are very satisfactory. Moreover, conveniently each panel is guided into position on its neighbours by locating lugs projecting from one edge (or batten) corresponding with matching recesses, or sockets, in the other.

The formed container may, of course, be provided with a lid - a sixth panel-like surface - if required.

The invention also lies in a system of joining two panel members together in which the two adjoining edges of the panels are provided with upstanding lips with incined external faces which interengage when the panels are fitted edge to edge to form a desired angle and are secured in edge to edge relation by locking mean extending across from one lip to the other, to maintain the interengagement and therefore the angle between the panels.

The interengagement may be effected by means of a tongue or by pins protruding from one inclined face and a groove or series of holes in the other face to accommodate the tongue or pins.

A continuous tongue and groove interengagement is to be preferred if the lengths of edge-lip are to be extruded as from plastics or metal or by machining timber in long lengths.

Although described with reference to a relatively small demountable container (such as a tea-chest or storage chest) into which things can be put, the invention may equally be applied to the construction of portable buildings for use in agriculture or in the third world, and is of particular application to the provision of selfassembly structures for use in relief.operations, such as following earthquakes or storms.

Brief description of the drawings An embodiment of the invention is now described, though only by way of illustration, with reference to the accompanying drawings (which are not to scale) in whici:- Figure 1 shows a perspective view from above and one side of an erected container of the invention; Figure 2 shows a side elevation of a side panel of the container of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a part sectional view of the adjoining edges of two neighbouring panels of the container of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a part side elevation of a side panel of the container of Figure 1; and Figure 5 shows an underneath perspective view of the base panel of the container of Figure 1.

Detailed description Figure 1 shows an erected tea-chest container of the invention. It has five panel-like surfaces - four sides (as 11) and a base 12 (see Figure 5).

As best seen from Figures 2 and 5, each panel is a sheet of material 13 mounted on (or supported by) battens. Each side panel 11 has two triangular-section side battens, or half posts 141, r, a rectangular-section top batten 15, and an L-shaped bottom batten 15 (see also Figure 4).

Referring also to Figure 3, the side panels 11 are guided into position by locating lugs 21 and sockets 22 in the appropriate side battens 141 and 14r, and are secured together by conventional toggle clips each of which has a squared metal loop 231 on one panel's side batten 141 Lh engages and locates over a metal hook 23h on the neighbouring panel's batten 14r. The loop 231 is pulied back by a lever, to engage tightly over the hook 23h, and can thus hold together the two adjacent battens, and thc panels mounted thereon.

The base panel 12 has four battens 51 on its exterior surface, and these are shaped and cut away to fit into the channel formed by the L-section bottom battens 16 on the side panels 11.

Where the panels 11 are made from hardboard instead of plywood, for example, the outer corners between battens 141 and 14r may tend to open out when the container has been assembled. In order to overcome this tendency, the abutting faces of these battens are shaped so that, before being clamped together by the toggle clips, they taper apart towards the inside, as shown dotted at 30 in Figure 3.

To further assist in a tight closure of the outer corners of the battens, in a modification of the container shown in Figure 3 an angle piece 32 is secured by a screw 34 through a panel and into a batten, such as batten i41, so that the end position 33 of the angle piece extends around the panel edge of the adjacent batten 14r.

The angle piece 32, which may be made of metal or of plastics material, also provides greater stability to the container both during and after assembly.

Claims

1. A box-like container or structure having five panels forming four sides and a base, wherein each panel is detachably securable to its neighbours so that it may repeatably and easily be erected to form the desired boxlike container and thereafter dismantled into its component panels.

2. A container according to claim 1 in which the panels are made of wood, metal or a plastics substance; or e combination thereof, and are of a generally rectangular shape.

3. A container according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which each panel is a thin skin on a frame of suitably-shaped battens, the four side panels having their battens on the interior surface.

4. A container according to claim 3 in which the battens are of triangular section along those edges that in use form the side corners of the container, so that a triangular batten on one matches and abuts the relevant triangular batten on the neighbouring panel.

5. A container according to claim 3 or claim 4 in which the upper batten of each side panel is a rectangularsection batten.

6. A container according to any one of claims 3 to 5 in which each batten on the lower edge is generally L-shaped so as to form with the panel skin a channel, in order to receive the base panel battens therein.

7. A container according to claim 6 in which the base panel battens are secured to the exterior surface, and are of rectangular section, fitting into the channel battens at the lower edges of the four side panels.

8. A container according to any one preceding claim in which the five panels are detachably secured toqether by toggle clips.

9. A container according to any of claims 3 to 8 in which each pane] is guided into position with its neic3hbou'r by a locating lug projecting from one batten into a corresponding recess in the adjacent batten.

10. A container according to any one preceding claim and having a sixth panel-like surface to form a lid

11. A container according to any one preceding claim in which an angle piece is secured to an edge of each side panel so that it extends around the corner to the adjacent side panel.

12. A container according to any one of claims 4 to 10 in which the abutting faces of the battens are initially shaped so that said faces taper apart in a direction towards the inside of the container before being secured together.

j

13. A box-like container or structure substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.