GB2255769A

GB2255769A - A nestable and stackable box

Info

Publication number: GB2255769A
Application number: GB9210161A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Maria Dalmases Viladrosa Jose
Original assignee: OAK SA
Current assignee: OAK SA
Priority date: 1991-05-14
Filing date: 1992-05-12
Publication date: 1992-11-18
Anticipated expiration: 2012-05-12
Also published as: GB9210161D0; FR2679204A1; ES2043495B1; ES2043495A1; FR2679204B1; IT1254888B; ITMI920944A0; ITMI920944A1; PT8905T; PT8905U; GB2255769B; DE4215024A1

Description

2 _) 5 76.P 1 An alternatively nestable and stackable box The present

invention relates to an improved nesting stackable box.

There are in existence nesting stackable boxes of a right rectangular parallelepiped type with a peripheral step in their central portion, which are provided in the upper half of their sides with sockets and in the lower half of said sides with projections/supports which are operatively disposed among themselves so as to allow the stacking of full boxes on other boxes and to allow them to nest inside one another after a turn through 180.

An improvement to this type of box is similarly known, which allows the upper box to slide over the lower box so as to perform the role of stacking and/or to perform the role of nesting, for which purpose the two projections/supports of the lower half of each of the sides have a different width, the wider projection being located closer to one end of the side and the narrower projection being located at a greater distance from the opposite side.

As a result of this arrangement, which allows stacking and/or nesting by the sliding of one box over the lower one, the projection/support of smaller width which is therefore the weaker will be the one which is located at a greater distance from the end of the side and will therefore be the one supporting the greater load.

And so we find that, of the two supporting projections located in the lower half of each side, the weaker one is the one which supports the greater load.

2 The object of this invention is to overcome these disadvantages and to provide a box which, while allowing the stacking and/or nesting by sliding over the lower one, also allows the stronger projection/support to be the one which supports the greater load.

To achieve this object, the invention provides an alternatively nestable and stackable box of rectangular parallelepiped shape with a peripheral step in all its side walls dividing it into a wider and longer upper portion and a narrower and shorter lower portion, opposed walls of the upper portion each having two sockets of different width and the corresponding walls of the lower portion having projections/supports also of different width, each socket being at the opposite end of the box to its corresponding projection/support, the projections/supports being cooperable with the corresponding sockets of another such box to provide nesting, the wider of the projections/supports being furth6-r removed from the respective end of the box than the narrower ones and being each divided longitudinally into two portions of different width by a cavity or fissure, and the wider of the sockets of the upper portion of the box each being similarly divided longitudinally into two portions of different width by a partition, the wider portion of each of the wider projections/supports being closer than the narrower portion to the adjacent end of the box and the wider portion of the corresponding socket similarly being the one located closer to the opposite end of the box.

With the box forming the subject of the present invention the projection/support of smaller width slides, during the operating phase of stacking while full by sliding, over the partition dividing the socket of greater width, without penetrating said socket, with 3 the result that the upper box is correctly stacked on the lower one.

(- 1 In the operating phase of nesting while empty, by sliding, the divided portion of greater width of each wider projection/support slides over the partition dividing the socket of greater width, the upper box nesting correctly inside the lower one.

To assist understanding of the invention, the present description is accompanied by drawings illustrating an embodiment given as a nonlimiting example, in which drawings:-

Figure 1 is a plan view of the box from above; Figure 2 is a schematic view, in a side elevation, of two superimposed boxes at a moment in the process of nesting by the sliding of one box over the other; and Figure 3 is a schematic view of two superimposed boxes at a moment in the process of stacking by the sliding of one box over the other.

The drawings show a rectangular box 1 whose width and length are both increased stepwise at mid-height so as to allow one to be nested in another, with its middle step then resting on the upper edge of that other box. The box is symmetrical about Its longitudinal vertical middle plane, as shown in Fig. 1, and has projections/supports 2 (near one end of the lower portions of the longitudinal walls) and recesses/sockets 7 (near the opposite end of the upper portions of the longitudinal walls). The projections/supports of one box are cooperable with the corresponding recesses/sockets of another such box, to provide 4 nesting. At the opposite end of each of the lower portions there is a narrower projection/support 3 and a narrower recess/socket 11 at the opposite end of each of the upper portions.

Each of the wider projections/supports 2 is divided into two portions 4 and 5 of different width by a fissure-like cavity 6.

Each wider socket 7 is correspondingly divided into two portions, one of greater width 8 and the other of smaller width 9, the division being achieved by means of a vertically-extending partition 10 (which need not be continuous, as shown in broken lines).

The portion 4 of greater width of each projection/support 2 is the one closer to the adjacent end of the longitudinal side wall and the portion 8 of greater width of each socket 7 is similarly located closer to the corresponding end of the opposite longitudinal side wall. Advantageously, it is these portions which bear the greater load in use when stacking.

With the opposite longitudinal orientation of superimposed boxes, as shown in Figure 2, the wider 2 and narrower 3 projections are capable of sliding into register with, and then sliding down into, the corresponding recesses 7 and 11 respectively, to achieve 50% nesting. Turned through 180 relative to one another, as shown in Figure 3, the upper box is still constrained transversely by upper walls of the lower box, due to the termination of the projections 2, 3 short of the base of the upper box, but entry of the projections 2, 3 into the recesses 7, 11 is not possible. The wider portions 4 of the wider projections 2 are narrower than the narrower projections 3, as shown in Fig. 3, and the wider portions 8 of the wider sockets/recesses 7 are narrower than the narrower sockets 11, so that each narrower projection 3 can be supported by the partition 10 and either edge of a corresponding wider socket 7. Thus the upper edge of the lower box, including the partitions 10, supports the projections 2, 3 of the upper box, providing secure stacking.

The essence of the invention can be put into practice in other embodiments which differ in detail from the one given as an example in the description and which also receive the claimed protection. It can be constructed in any form and size with the most suitable materials providing that it all remains within the scope of the claims. For example, the step change in width and length need not occur at mid-height, provided some degree of nesting is still possible. Also, the projections and recesses could be made in the shorter (side) walls rather than the longitudinal walls.

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Claims

Claims

G 1. An alternatively nestable and stackable box of rectangular parallelepiped shape with a peripheral step in all its side walls dividing it into a wider.and longer upper portion and a narrower and shorter lower portion, opposed walls of the upper portion each having two sockets of different width and the corresponding walls of the lower portion having projections/supports also of different width each socket being at the opposite end of the box to its corresponding projection/support, the projections/supports being cooperable with the corresponding sockets of another such box to provide nesting, the wider of the projections/supports being further removed from the respective end of the box than the narrower ones and being each divided longitudinally into two portions of different width by a cavity or fissure, and the wider of the sockets of the upper portion of the box each being similarly divided longitudinally into two portions of different width by a partition, the wider portion of each of the wider projections/supports being closer than the narrower portion to the adjacent end of the box and the wider portion of the corresponding socket similarly being the one located closer to the opposite end of the box.
2. A box according to Claim 1, in which each narrower socket is wider than the wider portion of the divided wider socket and each narr(,wer projection/support is wider than the divided wiuej --.--ojection/suport.
3. A box according to Claim 1 or 2, in which each narrower socket and each narrower projection/support is at a respective end of the box, while each wider socket and each wider projection/support is near to, but spaced from, a respective end of the box.

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4. An alternatively nestable and stackable box substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.