GB2298191A

GB2298191A - Reusable crate

Info

Publication number: GB2298191A
Application number: GB9603644A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham Roland West
Original assignee: BELGRADE INSULATIONS Ltd
Current assignee: BELGRADE INSULATIONS Ltd
Priority date: 1995-02-21
Filing date: 1996-02-21
Publication date: 1996-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 2016-02-21
Also published as: GB9603644D0; GB9503374D0; GB2298191B

Abstract

A re-useable crate, e.g. for bottles, comprises a generally rectangular base (1), side walls (2,3,4 and 5) and a lid. The side walls (2-5) may be formed integrally with the base or separately therefrom, but in any event are connected to the base by appropriate hinge connections. The crate is erected using an appropriate frame and, after loading, the lid is positioned to hold the walls in the assembled condition. Suitable banding material may be applied to prevent accidental removal of the lid and to prevent pilfering.

Description

REUSABLE CRATE This invention relates to a reusable crate, and more particularly to a reusable crate which may be collapsed into a substantially flat configuration for storage and transport and which may readily be erected into a use configuration when required.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a reusable crate comprising a generally rectangular base; a side wall hingedly connected to each side of the base and movable from a storage configuration in which each side wall lies substantially in the plane of the base to a use configuration in which the side walls extend substantially perpendicular to the base to form with the base a container; and a lid which may be engaged over the edges of the side walls remote from the base when the side walls are in their use configuration to close the container and maintain the side walls in their use configuration.

Preferably, the lid forms a snap-fit engagement with each side wall, and once snap-fitted into position requires a significant force to remove it.

Preferably, the base and the lid are shaped to provide positive location respectively of the base and the top end of product contained within the crate. Such a crate is particularly useful for transport of bottles since the locating means on the base and the lid are effective to hold the bottles spaced from each other without the need for auxiliary packing located between the bottles.

Preferably, means are provided for securing the lid in position such that accidental removal of the lid is not possible. Such means may, for example, comprise one or more clips provided on the lid which are adapted to be snap-fitted into apertures provided in two or more of the side walls. Alternatively, plastics banding or the like may be passed around the crate to secure the lid in position and to provide a security fastening which must be broken in order to gain access to the crate.

In particularly preferred embodiments of the invention the base and side walls are formed integrally as a plastics moulding and the lid is formed as a separate plastics moulding. If the lid is formed as a separate moulding it may be secured to one of the side walls by a suitable hinge arrangement. In the alternative, the lid may be formed integrally with one of the side walls and connected thereto by an integral hinge. As a further alternative, the lid may be constituted by a number of sections which, in the assembled crate, co-operate to form a complete lid, each section being either formed separately from its adjacent wall and connected thereto by a hinge, or moulded integrally with the adjacent wall and connected thereto by an integral hinge.

In an alternative embodiment one or more of the side walls may be formed as a separate piece from the base and secured thereto by any suitable connection - e.g. by welding, stapling, or mechanical interconnection. In this case the lid or lid sections may be secured to or formed integrally with the side walls as described above.

The plastics mouldings may be formed by any suitable process, for example by suitable pressing of a flat sheet of plastics material to form any particular desired cross-sectional profile for the various components of the crate. Preferably, the side walls of the crate are profiled in a generally corrugated form to add strength to the crate. Such corrugations may be designed to assist in locating product held within the crate. Preferably, when in a substantially flat configuration the base/side wall mouldings nest with identical mouldings to facilitate storage and transport of a large number of crates within a relatively small volume.

Preferably the side walls are formed with a profile that assists in protecting packaged product by spacing the product from at least parts of the side wall by means of suitable moulded projections. With such an arrangement, if two identical crates are accidentally struck against each other the contents of both crates will be protected from the impact.

The invention will be better understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of the base and side walls of a crate according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a lid of an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a section on the line A-A of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a cross-section on the line B-B of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the lid of Figure 2 positioned on the crate in the use configuration of the components; Figure 6 is a detailed view illustrating a possible clipping arrangement for connecting the lid to the side walls; and Figure 7 illustrates schematically a method of erecting the crate into its use configuration.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 and Figure 2 the crate comprises a base 1, side walls 2,3,4 and 5 and a lid 6.

The side walls 2-5 are formed integrally with the base 1 and are connected thereto by respective hinge connections 7. The hinge connections allow the base and side walls to assume the configuration illustrated in Figure 1 in which the side walls are substantially coplanar with the base. The hinge connections allow manipulation of the side walls relative to the base to raise the side walls to a use position in which they extend substantially perpendicular to the base. The side walls themselves are substantially rectangular and when in the use configuration adjacent edges 8,9,10 and 11 abut.

With the side walls in their use configuration the lid 6 may be snap-fitted over the top edges 12 of the side walls to hold the side walls in the use configuration.

To this end, the lid 6 is preferably formed with a depending skirt 13 which is profiled as shown in Figure 6 to provide a shoulder 14 which snap-fits under a corresponding shoulder 15 provided on the corresponding side wall when the lid is pushed home. A cam surface 16 is provided for engaging the uppermost edge of the corresponding side wall to cam the side wall in and the skirt 13 out as the lid is pushed home to enable the shoulders 14,15 to snap-fit into engagement with each other. The cam surface 15 also ensures that the lowest edge 17 of the skirt 13 is flared outwardly relative to the adjacent portions of the side wall in order to provide a finger grip which will enable the crate to be lifted.

Referring now particularly to Figures 1 and 2 it will be noted that the base is formed with a profile providing registration recesses 18. In the illustrated embodiment registration recesses 18 are provided for six circular cylindrical items. It will, however, be appreciated that other registration arrangements may be provided - for example, for a larger number of items or items of different shape. The illustrated embodiment of the invention is particularly adapted to transport six bottles and accordingly the recesses 18 are profiled to receive snugly the bases of six bottles.

Similarly, referring to Figure 2 and Figure 3 the lid is profiled to provide registration recesses 19 for the upper ends of the bottles 20, the lower ends of which are in register with the recesses 18 in the base. Similarly to the base, the profiling of the lid may be of any form desired in light of the product to be held in the crate.

If loose product is to be held in the crate the profile of the base and lid is not critical and the profile can either be selected in light of other possible uses for the crate (e.g. for the transport of bottles) or can be of a profile which optimises the strength of the crate. In the case of a crate as illustrated intended for bottles it will be noted that the effect of the recesses in the base and the lid is to provide positive registration of the top and bottom ends of each bottle whereby the bottles cannot, in use, contact each other and accordingly the need for the conventional inter-bottle packaging which is used in cardboard cases is removed.

If desired, handle openings may be formed in the side walls. In the preferred embodiment of the invention handle openings are provided near the upper end of each of the narrower side walls 3,5 to facilitate grasping and lifting of the crate. If desired, the lid may be formed with clips which may be snap-fitted into engagement with the upper edge of the handle openings to provide for positive retention of the lid. Such an arrangement may be desirable if the crate is to carry heavy loads since it will prevent accidental removal of the lid if the crate is grasped by the lid rather than by the handles.

If desired, security banding may be passed around the entire crate, or through the opposed handle openings and over the lid of the crate in order to ensure that product is not pilfered from the crate.

After use, the lid may be removed from the crate and the side walls moved back to the storage configuration illustrated in Figure 1. In this configuration the moulding forming the base and side walls will, to an extent, nest with identical mouldings thereby enabling numerous mouldings to be stacked in a relatively dense heap for transport.

Suitable clips or cut outs, for example inter-engaging male and female members may be provided at the edges 8, 9, 10 and 11 to allow the in-use configuration to be maintained or achieved without using the frame 21.

Alternatively, a suitable sleeve may be fitted around the crate to maintain the in-use configuration. The sleeve can be formed in situ be use of appropriate wrapping film material or may be preformed, e.g. of polythene and sized to fit round the crate walls. A sleeve, if used, can carry appropriate product information, trade marks or promotional material.

It will be appreciated that the above described crate is particularly useful for transporting heavy and somewhat delicate items, such as bottles of wine, from a warehouse location to a retail location. The crates may be made robust and durable and provide excellent protection for the product. At the retail location the bottles may be removed from the crate and the crates flattened for stacking prior to return to the distribution depot. By appropriate choice of materials and design of the hinge arrangements the crate may be reused many times.

The base, side walls and lids may be made by any suitable manufacturing process and from any suitable material. Preferably, however, the components are made by moulding flat sheet plastics material by a pressing or vacuum moulding process. Such a system facilitates stacking of the components and enables the cross-sections of the components to be optimized in relation to the function they are to perform. For example, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention the side walls each have a generally corrugated formation which improves their rigidity. However, the corrugations are formed to mate with the sides of the bottles contained within the crate thereby improving the location of the bottles and reducing the size of the crate to the minimum consistent with holding the specific load for which it is intended.

Referring to Figure 7, at the filling location a jig 21 is preferably provided to assist in filling the crates. The jig comprises an open frame work having a flared upper end whereby an operative may take a base/side wall moulding, raise the side walls slightly by hand, and then press the assembly into the jig in order to locate the side walls in their use configuration. The crate can then be filled and the lid placed in position prior to removal of the filled crate from the jig. A simple jig of the form illustrated in Figure 7 facilitates hand filling of the crates. A series of such jigs may be formed into a filling line which, with suitable auxiliary handling equipment, can automate both the erection and the filling of the crates.

It will be appreciated that whilst the above described embodiment of the present invention is particularly adapted to the transport of bottles, the illustrated embodiment may be used for other purposes and other embodiments of the invention may be produced which are either specific to particular products to be transported or may be used for the general transport of bulk goods.

Although in the preferred embodiment the side walls and base are formed as a single moulding it is possible to form the crate by manufacturing a base and one opposed pair of side walls as one moulding and a base and the other opposed pair of side walls as a separate moulding. The two base mouldings are then united either by stacking, interlocking, bonding or welding to form a composite crate. Such a crate offers the advantage that the base can be formed to twice the thickness of the side walls, thereby providing additional strength and wear resistance in the region of the base as compared with the side walls.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A reusable crate comprising: a generally rectangular base; a side wall hingedly connected to each side of the base and movable from a storage configuration in which each side wall lies substantially in the plane of the base to a use configuration in which the side walls extend substantially perpendicular to the base to form with the base a container; and a lid which may be engaged over the edges of the side walls remote from the base when the side walls are in their use configuration to close the container and maintain the side walls in their use configuration.

2. A reusable crate according to Claim 1 wherein the lid forms a snap-fit engagement with at least two of the side walls and preferably with each side wall, such that once snap-fitted into position it requires a significant force to remove it.

3. A reusable crate according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the base and the lid are shaped to provide positive location respectively of the base and the top end of product contained within the crate.

4. A reusable crate according to any preceding claim including means for securing the lid in position such that accidental removal of the lid is not possible.

5. A reusable crate according to Claim 4 wherein the securing means comprise one or more clips provided on the lid which are adapted to be snap-fitted into apertures provided in two or more of the side walls.

6. A reusable crate according to any preceding claim wherein the base and side walls are formed integrally as a plastics moulding and the lid is preferably formed as a separate plastics moulding.

7. A reusable crate according to any of Claims 1 to 5 wherein the lid is formed integrally with one of the side walls and connected thereto by an integral hinge.

8. A reusable crate according to any of Claims 1 to 5 wherein the lid is constituted by a number of sections which, in the assembled crate, co-operate to form a complete lid, each section being either formed separately from its adjacent wall and connected thereto by a hinge, or moulded integrally with the adjacent wall and connected thereto by an integral hinge.

9. A reusable crate according to any of Claims 1 to 5 or Claim 7 or Claim 8 wherein one or more of the side walls is formed as a separate piece from the base and secured thereto by any suitable connection - e.g. by welding, stapling, or mechanical interconnection.

10. A reusable crate according to any preceding claim wherein the side walls of the crate are profiled in a generally corrugated form to add strength to the crate.

11. A reusable crate according to any preceding claim wherein, when in a substantially flat configuration, the base and side wall mouldings nest with identical mouldings to facilitate storage and transport of a large number of crates within a relatively small volume.