GB2237559A

GB2237559A - Lined containers

Info

Publication number: GB2237559A
Application number: GB8924758A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Joseph Patrick Dempsey; Ian Leonard Price
Original assignee: Nautilus Consultants Ltd
Current assignee: Nautilus Consultants Ltd
Priority date: 1989-11-02
Filing date: 1989-11-02
Publication date: 1991-05-08
Also published as: WO1991006490A1; AU6638390A; GB8924758D0

Abstract

A flexible container liner (10) formed from welded fabric reinforced polymer sheet includes a floor (28) defined by an inflatable bag (30). The inflatable bag (30) enables the floor (28) to be given a slope enabling bulk materials to be discharged from the liner without the need for the container to be handled.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO CONTAINER LINERS.

The present invention relates to container liners which can be used in conjunction with containers for the bulk transportation of solids and liquids.

At present solid and liquid materials are transported in bulk by land, sea and air in a variety of ways. For example, both solid and liquid materials can be transported in loose form by sea in specially designed ships or alternatively the material can be bagged or otherwise contained and transported either in containers or it can be palletized. It is more convenient for the contained materials to be transported by sea within containers since the containers can easily be off-loaded and loaded onto road transport in a more convenient manner than handling palletized loads.

However all of these methods have disadvantages particularly high labour and handling costs and inflexibility in the use of the methods of transport involved. For example, a ship designed for the bulk transport of certain materials whether liquid or solid can only be used for those materials for which it is designed.

Otherwise expensive and time consuming cleansing and sterilising operations are required. Also for economic reasons only the large tonnages of the materials can be transported at any one time.

Also there is a tendency for ships and also for road transport to return empty after the transit and initial delivery of the bulk materials.

A means of enabling materials to be transported in bulk within containers has been proposed by the provision of a liner for such containers. Such an arrangement has the advantage that the bulk materials can be divided into container sized loads and after delivery the containers can be re-used either with or without a new liner or a cleansed and sterilised existing liner for a return journey or further journey carrying an economic load.

However the present liners require attachment within a container in order to give the liner some shape and the discharge of materials from containers having such liners requires special discharging apparatus. For example the container may have to be bodily lifted and tipped so that the bulk materials flow from the liner within the container into a hopper. This clearly requires further expenditure of labour and time and also the provision of special handling facilities.

In the case of the transport of liquids within such container liners it is necessary for the liquid to virtually fill the liner otherwise the anti-surge features of the liner do not function correctly. This means that part loads of liquids cannot be carried in this manner.

Also the presently available container liners are relatively difficult to cleanse and sterilise as they are flexible in nature and can be up to a size equivalent to a 20 foot or 40 foot ISO container box.

The present invention seeks to provide a container liner which enables a bulk load to be discharged from the container without the need for special handling equipment, which does not need rigging within the container and which can be readily cleansed and sterilised.

The present invention also seeks to provide a container liner which can be used and re-used for a wide range of bulk materials both in solid and liquid form without the need for the liner to be substantially completely filled.

The present invention also seeks to provide a container liner having means enabling the liner to be given a shape so that the liner can be readily fitted within and removed from a container.

According to the present invention there is provided a container liner comprising an envelope shaped to conform generally to the interior of a container, the envelope having a floor and openings enabling material to be loaded into and unloaded from the liner, and means enabling the floor to be inclined towards the unloading opening allowing material to be unloaded from the container liner.

The floor can include at least one inflatable bag so that upon inflation of the bag the floor has a slope extending towards the unloading opening.

The bag can also provide a slope from one or more sides of the envelope extending towards the unloading outlet.

The bag can be in the form of one or more sub-compartments either interconnected with one another or separate from one another.

The bag can be defined by a base of the envelope and one or more panels extending from one or more sides of the envelope terminating adjacent the unloading opening.

The container liner can be provided with means for imparting a form to the liner enabling the liner to be loaded into and removed from a container in a relatively straightforward manner.

The means for providing form to the container liner can comprise an inflatable tube at each corner of the liner and one or more edges of the liner can also be in the form of an inflatable tube.

The means for inflating the corner and edge tubes of the liner are separate from the means for inflating the bag defining the floor of the liner though common inflating means can be used if required.

The container liner can be of any shape to suit a container for which a liner is required though generally the liner will be of a rectangular cube form, though it can be of other forms to suit,for example containers for use in aircraft.

In the case of the transport of liquids within a container liner according to the present invention the liner can be provided with baffles to prevent surge of the liquids within the liner.

Preferably the liner is fabricated from fabric reinforced polymer sheet which can be welded by any high frequency plastics welding equipment If required the liner can be provided with attachment means enabling the liner to be secured within a container.

The present invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a side view of the outline of one form of container liner according to the present invention, Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the container liner shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows an end view of the container liner shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and Fig. 4 shows a further form of container liner according to the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, a container liner 10 is of a generally rectangular cubic form enabling the liner to be inserted within 20 foot ISO container. The container liner has two side walls, 12 and 14, back and front walls 16 and 18, and top and bottom walls 20 and 22. The front wall 18 is provided with an inlet 24 enabling materials to be loaded within the container and an outlet 26 enabling materials to be discharged from the container liner, the inlet and outlet both being provided with closures of any suitable type.

The container liner 10 has a floor 28 which is defined by a bag 30. The bag 30 is defined by the base 22, a centre panel 32 and two side panels 34 and 36 together with a web 38.

The container liner is made from fabric reinforced polymer sheet and the sides, front and back, top and bottom and the panels 32, 34, 36 and the web 38 are welded together using high frequency plastics welding equipment. The web 38 is provided with openings (not shown) and does not divide the bag into two separate compartments though if necessary the openings in the web 38 need not be provided so that the bag 30 is formed into two compartments.

The bag 30 is provided with air inlet means (not shown) enabling the bag to be pressurised so that the floor 28 takes the form illustrated in Figs. 1-3.

Also not shown in Figs. 1-3, the corners of the liner are provided with inflatable tubes so that the liner can be given a shape enabling the liner to be loaded into a container. If necessary one or more edges of the liner can be in the form of inflatable tubes to render the form of the liner more rigid.

In order to use a container liner illustrated in Figs.1-3 the liner will usually be provided in a collapsed and folded form.

The liner is unfolded and each of the inflatable tubes at the corners of the liner are inflated using any appropriate source of compressed air supply, for example the air supply of the brake system of a vehicle. The inflation of these corner tubes will give the liner a shape generally conforming to the interior of the container which it is intended to line. The liner need not necessarily be attached to the interior of the container though if required the liner can have attachment means enabling the liner to be secured to the container. At this stage the bag 30 need not be inflated though it can be partially or wholly inflated if required.

In order to load material into the liner the outlet 26 is closed off and the material is loaded through the inlet 24. The material can be in powdered or granular form and can be manufactured materials such as cement or plastic chips, or can be natural materials particularly for human consumption such as cereal grains. Once the liner has been filled the opening 24 is closed off.

Depending on the nature and weight of the material contained in the liner the bag 30 can be inflated, partially inflated or not inflated at all with the container fully loaded. For example if the weight of the material is so great that the bag 30 cannot be inflated against the weight of the load the bag 30 should be inflated prior to the material being loaded into the liner.

However if the material is not of such a great weight the bag can be either partially inflated or not inflated at all. However once loaded within the liner the container doors can be closed and the container can be handled in the normal manner by existing container handling equipment and transported either by ship or by road.

When the container reaches its destination the container doors can be opened and the outlet 26 can be released enabling materials to be discharged from the liner assuming that the bag 30 is fully inflated. If it is not fully inflated then the bag will have to be pressurised so that the floor takes the form shown in Figs.

1-3.

Because of the shaping of the floor that is providing a slope from the back to the front of the container and from the sides to the middle of the container the material within the container will be discharged through the outlet 26 into whatever recepticle provided. Such a recepticle may be the hold of a ship or a hopper to enable the material within the liner to be bagged for example.

It will be appreciated that due to the nature of the floor 28 the container does not have to be tipped or otherwise handled so that discharge of material from the liner in the container can take place. Therefore special handling equipment does not have to be provided.

It will also be appreciated that the liner can be cleansed and steralised relatively easily as the four corner inflatable tubes can be inflated as well as the bag 30 so as to give the liner a shape enabling access to the interior of the liner. Therefore the liner can be used and re-used for a wide range of materials. The use and provision of a liner according to the present invention enables existing transport equipment to be used more flexibly particularly return journeys of containers either by road or by sea can now be used for the transport of economic loads rather than return empty.

If the liner is required for use in the transport of liquids for example wine, internal baffles can be provided in the liner to act against the surge of liquid within the liner. These baffles though not shown do not sub-divide the liner into separate enclosed compartments but are of sufficient size and space relationship to enable access to the whole of the interior of the liner. Also the baffles can be provided with through openings.

Referring to Fig. 3 which shows a modified form of liner according to the present invention in which features common to the embodiment shown in Figs.1-3 have been given identical reference numbers.

In this embodiment inflatable tubes 40 are shown at each corner of the liner and instead of the web 38 extending from the centre of the panel 32 to the floor 22 separate panels 42 and 44 extend from the junctions between the central panel 32 and the two side panels 34 and 38 to the floor 22.

It will be appreciated that the bag can take a variety of forms depending upon the shape of the liner in order to give a slope to the floor 28 thereby enabling material to be rapidly and readily discharged through the outlet 26.

For example the outlet 26 could be provided towards or at one corner of the liner in which case the floor would only need to slope from the back of the container towards the outlet and from one side of the container towards the outlet. Also the floor could be of a curvilinear dish shape to provide a slope towards the outlet 26.

If necessary the floor can have any number of webs of the type 38 extending internally of the bag either sub-dividing the bag into a number of independent compartments or compartments which are interconnected one with another. If the bag comprises a number of independent compartments this could be advantageous as each compartment can be separately pressurised.

Tubes 40 and the bag 38 or the individual compartments of the bag 38 can be provided with any suitable form of connectors and valves enabling the tubes and bag to be inflated. If necessary the bag can be provided with a portable compressor enabling the tubes and bag to be inflated in the absence of any on-site compressor equipment.

Claims

1 A container liner comprising an envelope shaped to conform generally to the interior of a container, the envelope having a floor and opening enabling material to be loaded into and unloaded from the liner, and means enabling the floor to be inclined towards the unloading opening allowing material to be discharged from the container liner.

2 A container liner as claimed in claim 1 in which the floor includes at least one inflatable bag.

3 A container liner as claimed in claim 2 in which the bag provides a slope extending from one end of the liner to the unloading opening and a slope from at least one side of the liner towards the discharge opening.

4 A container liner as claimed in claim 3 in which the bag provides a slope from one end of the liner to the unloading opening and from both sides of the container to the unloading opening.

5 A container liner as claimed in any one of claims 2-4 in which the bag is subdivided into compartments.

6 A container liner as claimed in claim 5 in which the compartments are interconnected.

7 A container liner as claimed in claim 5 in which the compartments are separated.

8 A container liner as claimed in any one of the preceeding claims including a structure enabling a form to be given to the liner.

9 A container liner as claimed in claim 8 in which the said structure comprises an inflatable tube located at or adjacent to the corners of the liner.

10 A container liner as claimed in claim 8 in which one or more edges of the liner include inflatable tubes.

11 A container liner as claimed in any one of the preceeding claims formed from fabric reinforced polymer sheet.

12 A container liner constructed and arranged for use in operation substantially as herein described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12 A container liner as claimed in any one of the preceeding claims constructed by the high frequency welding of fabric reinforced polymer sheet.

13 A container liner constructed and arranged for use in operation substantially as herein described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1A container liner comprising an envelope shaped to conform generally to the interior of a container, the envelope having a floor and openings enabling material to be loaded into and unloaded from the liner, and means enabling the floor to be inclined towards the unloading opening allowing material to be discharged from the container liner, and a structure enabling a form to be given to the liner.

2 A container liner as claimed in claim 1 in which the said structure comprises an inflatable tube located at or adjacent to the corners of the liner.

3 A container liner as claimed in claim 1 in which one or more edges of the liner include inflatable tubes.

4 A container liner as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the floor of the liner includes at least one inflatable bag.

5 A container liner as claimed in claim 4 in which the bag provides a slope extending from one end of the liner to the unloading opening and a slope from at least one side of the liner towards the discharge opening.

7 A container liner as claimed in any one of claims 4-6 in which the bag is subdivided into compartments.

8 A container liner as claimed in claim 7 in which the compartments are interconnected.

9 A container liner as claimed in claim 7 in which the compartments are separated.

10 A container liner as claimed in any one of the preceding claims formed from fabric reinforced polymer sheet 11 A container liner as claimed in any one of the preceding claims construced by the high frequency welding of fabric reinforced polymer sheet.