GB2219788A

GB2219788A - Containers for flowable materials

Info

Publication number: GB2219788A
Application number: GB8814106A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Reginald Russam
Original assignee: Lancaster Russam & Co Lim
Current assignee: Lancaster Russam & Co Lim
Priority date: 1988-06-14
Filing date: 1988-06-14
Publication date: 1989-12-20
Also published as: GB8814106D0

Abstract

A double shell container has an outer shell 10 of a mesh construction with at least two of its corner edges chamfered to increase rigidity. The chamfer comprises vertically spaced horizontal elements 14 which themselves form extensions of horizontal elements in the side walls, and at least one vertical element bridging some or all of the angled chamfer-forming elements 14. <IMAGE>

Description

"Containers for flowable materials." The present invention relates to containers for the storage and transportation of flowable materials, and more particularly, to containers which can be readily accommodated in a shipping container or on a pallet or stacking flat. Such containers are generally used to carry liquids and are sometimes referred to as bulk liquid containers, but it is to be understood that a container in accordance-with the invention could be used to carry any kind of flowable material, including liquids, gases and powders.

A known type of bulk liquid container comprises an outer shell of generally prismatic shape, and an inner shell which contains the liquid. The inner shell is designed primarily to contain the liquid, but the outer shell is designed to protect the inner shell, and it is the outer shell which defines the external shape of the container. A double shell container of the known type is described for example in the specification of United Kingdom Patent No: 2 156 770B.

It is useful if at least part of the outer shell can be made of a mesh construction: this is because, for a given degree of rigidity, a mesh construction can be cheaper to produce than a solid wall construction and because it is possible to see the level of material (e.g. liquid) in the inner shell through a mesh constructed outer shell - the inner shell is frequently made of translucent material.

It is also desirable that the outer shell shall be rectangular in plan and it is the object of the invention to provide a double shell container for flowable material, in which at least part of the outer shell is of mesh construction, but which has an adequate rigidity.

According to this invention, a double shell container for flowable materials has an outer shell at least part of the walls of which are made of a mesh construction, the outer shell being substantially rectangular in plan view, but having at least two of its corners chamfered to increase the rigidity of the rectangular shape, each chamfer comprising a series of vertically spaced horizontal elements forming extensions of horizontal elements in the rectangular side walls of the outer shell but angled with respect to those horizontal side wall elements to provide the chamfered arrangement, and at least one vertical element bridging some or all of the angled chamfer-forming, elements.

The term "chamfered" has been used to describe an angled formation at the corner of the outer shell which ensures that the outer shell does not have side walls joined by a right-angled corner but rather divides the right-angle between two adjacent side walls into two obtuse angles with a short angled "wall" at the corner between these two obtuse angles. The overall shape obtained by this construction is the same as a solid rectangular block which has had its corners pared off to produce chamfered corners. Hence the term "chamfered" seems appropriate to describe the corners used in the construction according to the invention.

It has been found, that a container having an outer shell of this construction is more rigid than one in which the outer shell is simply rectangular in plan view. It is preferred to use a complete mesh construction for the walls of the outer shell.

It is further preferred that all four corners of the outer shell are chamfered.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the outer shell is provided with a lid of substantially the same shape in plan as the outer shell, the lid having a downturned lip along each of its four sides for engagement on the outside of the upper marginal portion of the corresponding side wall of the outer shell. It is preferred that the lid has a downturned lip all round its periphery, including angled lips for engagement on the upper marginal portions of the chamfered corners on the outer shell.

According to another preferred feature of the invention at least the upper part of each side wall of the outer shell is of mesh construction, there being an angled formation at one end of each side wall, each of which angled formations is adapted to form a complete chamfer at the junction of two side walls. This construction is relatively easy to manufacture, because a flat sheet of mesh construction only requires one obtuse angle to be formed in it to produce one of the sides and one of the chamfered corners of the outer shell.

It is preferred that the mesh construction comprises steel wires welded together.

According to another preferred feature of the invention a slot is formed in a corner lip of the lid and the lid is secured to the outer shell by a loop passed through this slot and around at least one of the horizontal elements of the chamfered corner of the outer shell. The loop may comprise a length of steel banding the loop being secured in the closed condition by crimping overlapping ends of the banding to each other.

One construction of a bulk liquid container in accordance with the invention, will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a liquid bulk container mounted on a pallet, Figure 2 is a detail side elevation of one side wall of the outer shell of the container illustrated in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a detail plan view of the side wall shown in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is a plan view of one corner of the outer container.

The particular container which is illustrated in Figure 1 is intended for the transport of liquids, and more particularly, for the transport of liquids on platforms or in containers, such as the I.S.O.

containers used for international transportation purposes.

Although a container of the kind shown in the drawings could be used for the storage and/or transport of virtually any kind of liquid, it is thought that the most likely use is for transportation of non-dangerous liquids, since dangerous liquids may require containers of somewhat more substantial construction. On the other hand, a container in accordance with the present invention can be used to transport liquids of relatively high specific gravity, for example up to 1.4. Indeed, the container can also be used for transporting semi-liquids, grannular materials and powdered materials which will have even higher specific gravities.

Essentially, the container is a double shell construction, and to that extent it resembles a known type of container used in the transportation of nondangerous liquids1 which has rigid inner and outer shells. The invention is only concerned with the construction of the outer shell, and in the drawings, only the outer shell is visible. However, it will be appreciated that an inner shell, which may in fact be blow-moulded in plastics material, and which acts as the liquid container is located within the outer shell.

In Figure 1, the outer shell 10 is of generally rectangular construction, and is in the form of a 1 metre cube, since this is a standard size of bulk liquid container, used for transportation in containers and on stacking flats. The outer shell 10 is illustrated in Figure 1 mounted on a conventional timber pallet 20 for storage and/or transportation purposes.

As is apparent from Figures 1 and 2, the walls of the outer shell are made of steel wire mesh comprising vertical wires 12 and horizontal wires 14 welded together at their intersections. The shell 10 is made from four walls one of which is shown in Figures 1 and 2, and each of these walls comprises a flat main portion and a corner portion 16 bent with respect to the main portion to form an obtuse included angle of 135". When the four side walls are joined together the end of each corner portion 16 is joined to the opposite end of the main portion of an adjoining side wall - see particularly Figure 4. As a result, a narrow corner "wall" is formed between two obtuse angle bends at each corner of the shell, and thjs angled wall joining two sides of the outer shell which are at right angles to each other is referred to as a chamfered corner.

It has been found, that by forming these chamfered corners on the outer shell 10, that the shell is much more rigid, than would be the case, if it were simply of square shape in plan view, that is to say, with 900 bends in its corners. Also the provision of the chamfered corners 16, enables small angled feet 22 to be welded to the outsides of the chamfers 16 - see Figure 4 - for the purpose of securing the outer shell 10 on a platform, such as the pallet 20 illustrated in Figure 1. Two vertical wires 30 and 32 are welded to the insides of the chamfered portion 16 of the horizontal wires 26, the vertical wire 30 occupying a position spaced outwards of the bend and the vertical wire 32 lying at the extremities of the horizontal wires 12 in the corner portion 16.The vertical wires 30 and 32 greatly strengthen the construction at the chamfered corner 16, and it has been found in practice that this gives an adequate rigidity to the corner, whilst allowing the outer shell 10 to be made in wire mesh construction.

An advantage of the wire mesh construction is that the inner shell (not shown) can be made in a translucent material, such as blow-moulded polyethylene, and the liquid contents of the inner shell can be viewed through the spaces in the wire mesh of the outer shell.

Hence, it is possible to see the level of the liquid in the inner shell.

The wire mesh side wall shown in Figure 2 has an opening 24 in its lower part; this is provided to give access to an outlet pipe 26 provided on the inner shell. It will be appreciated that the opening 24 is only required on one side wall of the outer shell 10.

The outer shell is completed by the lid 18, which is simply formed of sheet steel and which in plan view has the same shape as the outer shell 10. A downturned lip 32 is formed all round the periphery of the lid 18, and this downturned lip follows the shape of the outer shell 10, that is to say, it has side walls at 900 to each other, and chamfered corners corresponding to the chamfers formed on the outer shell. The lid 18 can be placed over the top marginal portion of the outer shell, and it is advantageous if one of the horizontal wires of the outer shell is at the upper ends of the vertical wires as illustrated in Figure 2, because this top wire then provides a top edge for the outer shell on which the inside of the lid 18 can rest.

A slot 40 is formed in each of the chamfered corners of the lid. This provides a ready means for connecting the lid securely on the wire mesh outer shell. As illustrated in Figure 1, a short loop 42 of steel banding is formed through the slot 40 and around the top horizontal wire which is visible below the lip of the lid. The ends of the steel banding are secured together by crimping in order to consolidate the loop. It will be appreciated, that it is then only possible to release the lid, by cutting each of the loops 42, and withdrawing it from engagement with the slot 40 and/or the top wire.

It will be appreciated that the invention can be realised in many forms besides that illustrated in the drawings. For instance, instead of constructing the outer shell completely in wire mesh it could be made with a solid steel lower portion and a wire mesh upper portion, and the lid could be constructed as a wire mesh lid.

Claims

Claims:

1. A double shell container for flowable materials having an outer shell at least part of the walls of which are made of a mesh construction, the outer shell being substantially rectangular in plan view, but having at least two of its corners chamfered to increase the rigidity of the rectangular shape, each chamfer comprising a series of vertically spaced horizontal elements forming extensions of horizontal elements in the rectangular side walls of the outer shell but angled with respect to those horizontal side wall elements to provide the chamfered arrangement, and at least one vertical element bridging some or all of the angled chamfer-forming elements.

2. A double shell container as claimed in Claim 1, in which the walls of the outer shell are of complete mesh construction.

3. A double shell container as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which all four corners of the outer shell are chamfered.

4. A double shell container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, in which the outer shell is provided with a lid of substantially the same shape in plan as the outer shell, the lid having a downturned lip along each of its four sides for engagement on the outside of the upper marginal portion of the corresponding side wall of the outer shell.

5. A double shell container as claimed in Claim 4, in which the lid has a downturned lip all round its periphery, including angled lips for engagement on the upper marginal portions of the chamfered corners on the outer shell.

6. A double shell container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, in which at least the upper part of each side wall of the outer shell is of mesh construction, there being an angled formation at one end of each side wall, each of which angled formations is adapted to form a complete chamfer at the junction of two side walls.

7. A double shell container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6, in which the mesh construction comprises steel wires welded together.

8. A double shell container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, in which a slot is formed in a corner lip of the lid and the lid is secured to the outer shell by a loop passed through this slot and around at least one of the horizontal elements of the chamfered corner of the outer shell.

9. A double shell container as claimed in Claim 8, in which the loop comprises a length of steel banding the loop being secured in the closed condition by crimping overlapping ends of the banding to each other.

10. A double shell container for flowable materials constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to the accompnaying drawings.