GB2316936A

GB2316936A - Crate

Info

Publication number: GB2316936A
Application number: GB9618710A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Lester Gibbins; Donald William Crane
Original assignee: CROSSLAND Ltd
Current assignee: CROSSLAND Ltd
Priority date: 1996-09-07
Filing date: 1996-09-07
Publication date: 1998-03-11
Also published as: GB9618710D0

Abstract

A crate 1 comprises a base 2, a plurality of upright members 5, and a plurality of rails 6,7, wherein the upright members 5 rest upon the base 2 around the perimeter thereof, and adjacent upright members 5 are connected by at least one rail 6,7. The base 2 preferably comprises a pallet, a box or carton may be provided within the crate and a sheet or mesh material may be extend between adjacent upright members 5.

Description

Improved Crate Field of the Invention This invention relates to crates, and in particular to crates which can be stacked one on top of another.

Background to the Invention In the food industry, vegetables such as brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, etc., need to be stored under chilled or freezing conditions.

Such vegetables are too delicate to be stockpiled in the manner potatoes or grain crops are often stored. These vegetables must be stored in crates.

A commonly used crate comprises a standard pallet, upon which a cardboard box is placed. The base of the cardboard box is essentially the same size as the pallet. In order that the cardboard box does not collapse, horizontal slits are is cut in the cardboard box at each corner thereof, the corners of the box between the horizontal slits then being pushed inwards to form retaining means to retain wooden posts. A wooden post is inserted vertically into the retaining means at each corner of the box, and the box the rests on the pallet. To brace the cardboard box, wire bands are wrapped around the cardboard box, with wooden laths being inserted between the wire bands and the cardboard box to provide rigidity for the whole structure. The whole structure is held in place by the weight of the product placed inside the cardboard box.

The assembly of this type of structure requires more than one man, and is time consuming. Also, the filled boxes are often stacked five or six high. This is dangerous, since there is nothing to hold the crate rigid. In fact, it is only the contents of the box, and adjacent boxes in the stack which hold the boxes in a stable state. During the stacking and unstacking procedure there is a great deal of instability, both in individual boxes and in the stack. This is accentuated when the cardboard deteriorates during storage.

In many industries products are stored on pallets. To stack laden pallets, pallet racking is normally required. Such pallet racking is expensive, and occupies a considerable amount of space, which at times may be required for other purposes.

There are occasions when it is necessary to store loose products, but that to keep a supply of crates for this purpose would use much scarce space.

When assembling products, such as vehicles, large batches of components are often brought from a store to an assembly area. The crates in which these components are held are often referred to as "picking bins".

Picking bins need to be moved around the factory and are therefore often placed upon pallets. This means that both the picking bins and the pallets need to be stored, and that the picking bins must be safely secured to the pallets.

It would therefore be desirable to provide a crate which overcomes these disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention According to the invention, there is provided a crate comprising a base, a plurality of upright members, and a plurality of rails, wherein the upright members rest upon the base around the perimeter thereof, and adjacent upright members are connected by at least one rail.

The crate may be made from any suitable material, such as wood, metal, plastics, a composite material, etc.

The rails may be releasably connectable to the upright members, or alternatively they may be fixedly connectable to the upright members.

Where the rails are releasably connectable to the upright members, suitable connection means are provided and such means may include hook and clevis, or bolt and bracket arrangements. Where the rails are fixedly connected to the upright members, fixing means may be nails, bolts, adhesive, glue, or any other joining technique which is well known to those skilled in the art.

Advantageously, means to locate the uprights in the desired position on the base are provided. Such means may comprise a raised portion on the surface of the base. Preferably the raised portion forms a step which limits inward movement of the said upright members, and more preferably, the depth of the step corresponds to the depth of the upright members.

Adjacent upright members may be connected by a plurality of rails.

Preferably, the upper surface of at least one rail is flush with upper ends of the upright members to which it is attached.

Advantageously, the rail or rails provided between adjacent upright members are so dimensioned as to substantially fill the space between the said upright members, thereby forming a substantially continuous surface.

In one embodiment of the invention, the base is substantially rectangular and may be a pallet. The pallet may be a two way or a four way entry pallet. The upright members may be "L" shaped. Where the upright members are essentially "L" shaped, they may be formed from a number of component parts. Preferably, a removable side of the crate is formed by fixedly connecting two upright members one to another. The crate may comprise two such removable sides, the upright members being spaced apart so that the length of the side substantially corresponds to the length of one side of the base. The removable sides are preferably releasably connected by further rails so as to form an enclosure.

In another embodiment of the invention a box or carton, which may be made from any suitable material, such as cardboard, plastics materials, fibre board, a synthetic material, etc. is provided within the crate. Preferably, the external dimensions of the box or carton essentially correspond to the internal dimensions of the assembled crate. This arrangement is particularly advantages where the crate is to be used for storing small items, such as brussel sprouts, nuts and bolts, etc.

It may be desirable to provide a substantially uniform surface between adjacent uprights, and this may be accomplished by attaching a sheet or mesh material between adjacent upright members. Retaining means may be provided on the upright members and/or the rails to retain the said sheet or mesh material. The said sheet or mesh material may be substantially flexible, e.g. paper, fabric, or a plastics material, or wire mesh etc., or substantially rigid, e.g. cardboard, wood, metal, plastics material, fibre boards, etc.. The retaining means may comprise clips attached to, or grooves formed in the upright members and/or rails.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, partitions are provided, and the rails and/or upright members comprise means to retain the said partitions. Such means may comprise clips attached to, or grooves formed in the rails and/or upright members. The partitions may be formed from any suitable material, such as wood, plastics materials, metals, etc. This embodiment is particularly useful where the crate is to be used to store a number of different products, e.g. as a picking bin where a number of workers carrying out different tasks may work around the same crate.

The invention provides a particularly advantageous crate, the base of which may be a standard pallet. When not required, the crate can be disassembled and stored in a much smaller space than would be the case for other crates. The crate can be used numerous times, is quick and easy to assemble, and requires the labour of only one man. The crate is substantially rigid when assembled which provides for safe and easy filling and stacking thereof.

The invention also provides a crate which can remove the need for pallet racking, which is not only expensive to erect, but also occupies valuable space.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings, which illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a crate according to the invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the crate shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a front view of the crate shown in Figure 1.

Detailed Description of the Illustrated Embodiments In Figure 1, there is shown a crate 1 comprising a rectangular base 2, on the upper surface of which upright members 5 sit. Upright members 5 are substantially "L" shaped. This is so that when sitting on the upper surface of the base at the corners thereof, the surfaces of the "L" shaped upright members facing outward from the base are essentially flush with the sides 3 of the base 2.

The depth 9 of upright members 5 essentially corresponds to the depth of step 4, and thereby inward movement of the upright members with respect to the base 2 is limited.

Rails 6 and 7 hold the crate 1 in its assembled form. To each upright member 5 are attached rails 6 and 7. Upper and lower rails are shown in the figures, but the number of rails may be varied according to the desired use of the crate.

With reference to Figures 2 and 3, it can be seen that rails 6 are fixedly attached to upright members 5 by suitable fixing means 10, e.g.

nails or screws, whilst rails 7 are releasably attached to upright members 5 by attachment means. The attachment means comprise a hook 12 which is attached by nails or screws to rail 7, and co-operates with a clevis 11.

It can be seen form the figures that each pair of uprights 5 which are joined by rails 6 forms a side 15. This enables the crate to be assembled and disassembled by one person.

In one procedure for assembling the crate 1, the base 2 is placed on a substantially flat surface, a side 15 is placed upon the upper surface of base 2, along the perimeter thereof so that the uprights 5 rest on the corners of the base 2. One end of a rail 7 is then attached to one of the uprights 5 already resting on the base 2. The second side 15 is then placed on the base 2, and held with one hand, whilst the assembler brings the free end of the rail 7 which is already attached to first side 15 into attachment with the said second side 15. The two sides 15 and rail 7 form a "U" shaped enclosure which is essentially stable. The opening of the "U" shaped enclosure can be closed by attaching a rail 7 to each of the upright members 5 of the units 15 at the open end of the said "U" shaped enclosure. Where attachment means are provided for additional rails 7, the additional rails can be attached to the respective upright members.

Where it is desired to enclose a carton, or box within the crate, the carton or box can either be inserted into the crate 1 when it has been assembled, or the crate 1 can be assembled around a carton or box which is placed on the base 2.

Claims

1. A crate comprising a base, a plurality of upright members, and a plurality of rails, wherein the upright members rest upon the base around the perimeter thereof, and adjacent upright members are connected by at least one rail.

2. A crate according to Claim 1, wherein the at least one rail connecting adjacent upright members rails is releasably or fixedly connectable thereto.

3. A crate according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein where the at least one rail is releasably connectable to adjacent upright members, suitable connection means are provided.

4. A crate according to Claim 3, wherein the said connection means include hook and clevis, or bolt and bracket arrangements.

5. A crate according to any of Claims 2 to 4, wherein at least one rail is fixedly connected to the upright members, and suitable fixing means are provided.

6. A crate according to Claim 5, wherein fixing means nails, bolts, adhesive, glue.

7. A crate according to any preceding claim, wherein the said crate is made from wood, metal, plastics, or a composite material.

8. A crate according to any preceding claim, wherein means to locate the uprights in a desired position on the base are provided.

9. A crate according to Claim 8, wherein said means to locate the uprights in the desired position on the base comprise a raised portion on the surface of the base.

10. A crate according to Claim 9, wherein the raised portion forms a step which limits inward movement of the said upright members.

11. A crate according to Claim 10, wherein the depth of the step corresponds to the depth of the upright members.

12.A crate according to any preceding claim, wherein adjacent upright members are connected by a plurality of rails.

13. A crate according to any preceding claim, wherein the upper surface of at least one rail is flush with upper ends of the upright members to which it is attached.

14.A crate according to any preceding claim, wherein the rail or rails provided between adjacent upright members are so dimensioned as to substantially fill the space between the said upright members.

15. A crate according to any preceding claim, wherein the base is substantially rectangular.

16.A crate according to any preceding claim, wherein the base is a pallet.

17.A crate according to Claim 16, wherein the pallet is a two way or a four way entry pallet.

18. A crate according to any preceding claim, wherein the upright members are essentially "L" shaped.

19.A crate according to Claim 18, wherein the essentially "L" shaped upright members are formed from a number of component parts.

20.A crate according to any preceding claim comprising a removable side, said removable side being formed by fixedly connecting two upright members one to another.

21.A crate according to Claim 20 comprising two such removable sides, the upright members being spaced apart so that the length of the side substantially corresponds to the length of one side of the base.

22. A crate according to Claim 20 or 21, wherein the removable sides are releasably connected by further rails so as to form an enclosure.

23.A crate according to any preceding claim, wherein a box or carton, is provided within the crate.

24. A crate according to Claim 23, wherein the external dimensions of the box or carton essentially correspond to the internal dimensions of the assembled crate.

25. A crate according to Claim 23 or 24, wherein the box or carton is formed from cardboard, a plastics material, fibre board, or a synthetic material.

26. A crate according to any of Claims 1 to 22, wherein a substantially uniform surface is provided between adjacent uprights.

27. A crate according to Claim 26, wherein the said substantially uniform surface comprises a sheet or mesh material attached to and extending between adjacent upright members.

28. A crate according to Claim 27, wherein retaining means are provided on the upright members and/or the rails to retain the said sheet or mesh material.

29. A crate according to Claim 28, wherein the retaining means comprise clips attached to, or grooves formed in, the upright members and/or rails.

30.A crate according to Claim 28 or 29, wherein the said sheet or mesh material is substantially flexible or substantially rigid.

31. A crate according to Claim 29, wherein the said sheet or mesh is paper, fabric, or a plastics material, or wire mesh, cardboard, wood, metal, plastics material, fibre board.

32. A crate according to any preceding claim, further comprising partitions, the rails and/or upright members comprise means to retain the said partitions.

33.A crate according to Claim 32, wherein the means to retain the said partitions comprise clips attached to, or grooves formed in, the rails and/or upright members.

34.A crate substantially as described with reference to, or as described in, the drawings.