GB2324997A

GB2324997A - Pallet container

Info

Publication number: GB2324997A
Application number: GB9809589A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dietmar Przytulla; Michael Lagier
Original assignee: Mauser Werke GmbH
Current assignee: Mauser Werke GmbH
Priority date: 1997-05-06
Filing date: 1998-05-05
Publication date: 1998-11-11
Also published as: ES2153276A1; DE19818651A1; ITMI980940A1; IT1303051B1; GB9809589D0; ES2153276B1; FR2763044A1; DE29708032U1

Abstract

A pallet container for the storage and transportation of liquid and other flowable material comprises a thin-walled inner container, a supporting jacket made of wire-lattice or tubular bars closely surrounding the inner container, and a base pallet which is adapted to be mountable on a fork-lift truck and fixedly connected to the supporting jacket. The upper edge of the supporting jacket is provided with horizontally extending reinforcing members which comprise integral wire-lattice ortubular bar portions (C-D) of the supporting jacket which initially extend upwards and which are bent inwards through at least 90‹ over the upper surface of the inner container and are fixed laterally to one another.

Description

2324997 Pallet Container The invention relates to a pallet container for

the storage and transportation of liquid and other flowabie material, comprising a thinwailed inner container made of thermoplastics or sheet metal for holding the filling, a supporting jacket made of \Wire-lattice or tubular bars closely surrounding the inner container, and a base pallet adapted to a fork-lift truck and fixedly connected to the supporting jacket, wherein the inner container has a filling opening in the upper surface and, optionally, a tapping valve at the base, and wherein the upper edge of the supporting jacket is provided with reinforcing members extending horizontally over the upper surface of the inner container.

A pallet container of this type is known e.g. from US design patent no. 297,619. As in most pallet containers, two horizontal cross struts are provided which extend flat over the upper surface of the inner container. For further strengthening of the upper edge of the wirelattice supporting jacket, a circumferential angle section is additionally attached. Without reinforcing members, the supporting jacket for a lightweight pallet container of this type is comparatively unstable. The purpose of the reinforcing members is firstly to hold the inner container in position during the internal-pressure test, and secondly to ensure that the upper edge of the supporting jacket has sufficient strength for the triple stacking of filled pallet containers. In other known pallet containers, for example, four struts extending diagonally across the comers are used to strengthen the upper edge of the supporting jacket. One-piece cover plates comprising injection-moulded plastics, wire-lattice material or 2 metal sheets are also known. However, for structures of this type, additional, separate reinforcing components, which increase production costs during final assembly, are always necessary.

The object of the present invention is to provide a pallet container which comprises as few components as possible and is inexpensive to manufacture. According to the invention, in a lightweight pallet container with a supporting jacket comprising intersecting tubular or lattice bars without solid corner-frame support, this object is achieved in that the reinforcing members comprise integral wire-lattice or tubular bar portions of the supporting jacket which initially extend upwards and which are bent inwards through at least 9011 over the upper surface of the inner container. The reinforcing members for the upper edge of the supporting jacket therefore comprise the lattice material of the supporting jacket itself and are integrally connected thereto. Separate fixing of the reinforcing members to the supporting jacket is consequently unnecessary. The complete pallet container now no longer comprises four, but instead only three main components (base pallet, inner container and supporting jacket) which have to be mechanically connected during assembly. In this way, the upper edge region of the supporting jacket is substantially more resistant to pointwise radial stresses with the possible consequence of lateral deformation. The overall stability of the lightweight pallet container is improved and the number of components with the associated fixing requirement is reduced. Owing to the fact that the bent lattice material of the supporting jacket covers at least the edge region of the inner container by a certain amount, the inner container is also better protected from above, the upper edge of the supporting jacket is securely fixed in the 3 plane of the upper surface of the inner container, and yielding or expansion in the horizontal or radial direction is prevented.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the wire-lattice or tubular bar portions are arranged as reinforcing members on at least two opposing sides, preferably on all four sides of the upper edge of the supporting jacket and are substantially in the form of strips. The reinforcing portions can extend over the entire lateral length of the supporting jacket, but, in alternative embodiments, they can also be shorter. In all cases, the wire-lattice or tubular bar portion comprises a plurality of extended, vertical wire bars or tubular bars bent through 900 and at least one horizontally extending wire-lattice or tubular bar forming the inner edge of the bent portion. Advantageously, the lateral edge regions of the wire-lattice or tubular bar portions are fixedly welded to the uppermost, horizontally extending lattice bar or tubular bar of the supporting jacket or to the respective edge region of the adjacent portion. The welding points of the portions are arranged on a line extending parallel with or at right angles to the upper edge of the supporting jacket.

According to another embodiment, the edge regions of the portions are bevelled, and the welding points of these portions then lie on a line extending diagonally across the corners of the supporting jacket or on a line extending at an angle of approximately 300 to 6011 to the upper edge of the supporting jacket.

In a preferred embodiment, the supporting jacket comprises a latticebar mat, the vertically extending lattice bars being of dual construction and being arranged at a certain distance apart, and the horizontally 4 extending lattice bars each being formed so as to extend between the two vertical lattice bars (= twin bars). In this case, the inner vertical twin bar ends at the upper edge of the supporting jacket and only the outer twin bar is bent inwards through 90". This simplifies the bending of the lattice mat from the point of view of production.

The assembly of the individual components of the pallet container according to the invention also differs from the prior art in an advantageous manner whereas, in the known structure, the lattice jacket first had to be fixed to the base pallet, the inner container then inserted and finally the cross struts or cover plate fastened thereover, in the present case the inner container is first mounted on the base pallet and then the supporting jacket with the inwardly bent portions (= lattice cage) is placed over the inner container and fixedly connected to the base pallet, preferably by means of a new type of snap-locking connection. By means of this particular variant, adequate encasing of the inner container and high stability of the overall structure is advantageously achieved with only one fixing or fastening means between the supporting jacket and the base pallet.

The invention will be further explained and described in the following with reference to embodiments schematically shown in the dravVings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a front view of a pallet container according to the invention., Figure 2 shows a plan view of the pallet container according to Fig. 1; Figures 3 to 8 each show a plan view of further embodiments of pallet containers according to the invention; Figures 9 to 14 each show a partial view of the upper edge of the lattice supporting jacket in crosssection.

In Figure 1, a pallet container 10 comprises a thin-walled inner container 12 made of thermoplastics or sheet steel, and a supporting jacket 14 made of intersected wire-lattice or tubular bars closely surrounding the inner container 12. The supporting jacket 14 is fixedly connected at the bottom to a base pallet 16, which is adapted to be mountable on a fork-lift truck. For economic purposes, the base pallet 16 is made of wood. However, for special applications it can also comprise a sheetsteel tubular frame or be made of plastics, preferably reprocessed recycled plastics material.

In the pallet container 10 according to the invention, the supporting jacket 14 comprises a single sheet of intersecting lattice bars bent through 901' in each of its four corner regions and the connecting line or weld of which is arranged in the centre of a sidewall, e.g. vertically above the tapping valve 22 at the base. The inner container 12 has a filling opening 20 sunk into the upper surface 18 and a tapping valve 22 at the base for drawing off the liquid filling. A large-area metal plate is clinched onto the lattice jacket above the tapping valve 22 as an inscription surface.

As is clear from Figure 2, the lattice sheet of the supporting jacket 14 is bent inwards through 90' on all four sides over the upper surface 18 of the inner container 12. The inwardly bent, strip-type portions A, B are fixedly interconnected in the corner regions at the welding points 30. In 6 the most advantageous case, as is also shown in Figure 3, four welding points 30 are sufficient for mutually fixing the inwardly bent portions A, B which, in the present case, are the width of the bent lattice strip of a lattice grid division of the supporting jacket. The portion A, B comprises only one horizontally extending lattice or tubular bar inwardly terminating the portion. In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the width of the bent portions C, D comprises a lattice strip with two horizontally extending lattice bars, the length of the portions C, D amounting to approAmately only 2/3 of the lateral length of the supporting jacket so that corresponding spaces are left in the corner regions. This advantageous embodiment is possible because the corner regions of the supporting jacket are in themselves comparatively stable, and reinforcement of the upper edge of the lattice jacket is essentially required in the centre regions.

The embodiment shown in Figure 5 has a width of four lattice divisions of the supporting jacket for the portions E, F, i.e. four horizontally extending lattice bars are provided in each case, the two innermost lattice bars being welded to the corresponding lattice bars of the two adjacent portions F, E, resulting in a total of eight welding points 30. In this case, the welding points lie on a diagonal connecting line between the corners of the supporting jacket. The length of the lattice strips is only approArnately 1/2 the lateral length of the lattice jacket, and the spaces in the corner regions are consequently rectangular in shape with the width of three lattice divisions.

Figure 6 shows a further embodiment, wherein only three welding points 30 are required in each corner region by cutting the portions G, H to size accordingly. However, it goes without saying that the lattice strip G or 7 the lattice strip H could also be the same length as the respective lateral length of the lattice jacket 14, although then four welding points per corner region would be necessary.

In Figure 7, the embodiment according to Fig. 3 is provided with a further two additional lattice strips 38 extending transversely over the upper surface of the inner container. In this case, the additionally welded in crosspieces comprise the same lattice material as the supporting jacket. Lastly, in the embodiment shown in Figure 8, two conventional flat irons 42 or tubular members are welded in as crosspieces between the inwardly bent portions A-A.

Figure 9 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of the upper region of the supporting jacket according to the invention in the form of intersected lattice bars. In this preferred embodiment, the vertically extending lattice bars 32, 34 are of dual construction and are arranged at a certain distance apart, the horizontally extending lattice bars each extending between the two vertical lattice bars 32,34 (= twin bars). In this case, the inner vertical twin bar 32 ends at the upper edge of the supporting jacket 14 and only the outer twin bar 34 is bent inwards through 90" over the uppermost, horizontally extending lattice bar 24 of the supporting jacket 14. The bent wire-lattice portion A therefore comprises a plurality of bent vertical wire bars 34 and a horizontally extending wire-laftice bar 28 terminating the inner edge of the portion A. Figure 10 shows the wider bent portion C comprising two grid divisions, or two (originally) horizontally extending lattice bars.

It can be seen from Figures 11 to 14 that the vertical lattice or tubular bars 26, bent inwards through 900, are bent or angled downwards 8 through a further 90" at a certain distance from the upper edge of the supporting jacket 14 so as to form a stop edge 36 extending parallel to the plane of the supporting jacket 14 and acting as a centering means for a second pallet container stacked thereon, the base pallet of the second stacked pallet container having corresponding stop projections engaging positively behind the stop edge 36 or coming to rest thereagainst. Thus in Fig. 12, the vertical lattice bars 36 of the portion B are bent through 90 twice so that the end of each lattice bar 36 points downwards again, while in Fig. 11, the vertical lattice bars 26 are bent through 900 a third time so that the end pieces of the lattice bars 26 once more extend at right angles (horizontally) to the supporting jacket 14 and preferably have at least two horizontally and transversely extending lattice bars, the inner lattice bar 28 constituting a smooth, continuous inner edge of the angled portion A-H. The stop edge 36 is at a distance of around 20 mm to 100 mm, preferably approximately 50 mm from the upper edge of the supporting jacket or the uppermost, horizontally extending lattice bar 24. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 13, the vertically extending lattice bars 34 are bent inwards through 900 three times in total so that the end of each lattice bar 34, aft er forming the vertical stop edge 36, is bent in again so as to extend horizontally towards f he supporting jacket.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 14, a circumferential hollow tube 40 of rectangular cross-section is provided directly below the inwardly bent portion A and rests against the inside of the supporting jacket 14 or the inner lattice bar 32.

Basically, the portions A-H can be bent inwards as an extension of the supporting jacket 14, but can also be bent into a rounded shape or be 9 formed as a rolled edge (flanged edge). The hollow tube 40 in Fig. 14 could therefore have a round cross-section and be rolled into the portion A in a normal manner as an extended lattice jacket and be welded to the lattice bars at a plurality of points.

Pallet containers for the highest requirements and special conditions of admission, e.g. for dangerous liquid goods or for use with crane hooks, can be reinforced by additional measures (acc. to Figs. 7, 8, 14) if necessary. The structure of the pallet container according to the invention, with inwardly bent, integral portions of the supporting jacket, also provides a considerable improvement in resistance to internal pressure (static internal-pressure test at 1 bar for 5 minutes). As internal pressure builds up, the inner container endeavours to take on a balloon shape with considerable bulging of the upper surface. If containers are stacked on top of one another, for example, this can lead to instability and danger during transportation (containers failing). This disadvantage is also eliminated by the increased overall stability of the pallet container according to the invention.

The upper, inwardly bent portions of the lattice jacket which are fixed, preferably welded laterally to one another or to the upper edge of the lattice jacket, thus constitute a stable, upper, circumferential terminating part for the supporting jacket and serve to distribute the load uniformly when pallet containers of this type are stacked on top of one another.

The various measures demonstrated for reinforcing the upper edge of a supporting jacket for pallet containers in an inexpensive simplified assembly can easily be combined or interchanged at random.

Finally, reference is once more made to the fact that the method of manufacturing a pallet container according to the invention, comprising a thin-walled inner container 12 made of thermoplastics or sheet steel, a supporting jacket 14 made of wire-lattice or tubular bars closely surrounding the inner container 12, and a base pallet 16 which is adapted to be a mountable fork-lift truck, is characterised in that, in order to assemble the components, first the inner container 12 is mounted on the base pallet 16 and then the supporting jacket 14 with the integral, inwardly bent reinforcing members (= lattice cage) is placed over the inner container 12 and fixedly connected to the base pallet 16. The connection between the supporting jacket and the base pallet is preferably a new type of snap-Jocking connection. In this way, the cost of assembling the reduced number of components is advantageously minimised and thereby provides the possibility of assembling the components on an automatic, mechanical production line.

11

Claims

Claims

1.

A pallet container for the storage and transportation of liquid goods and flowable material, comprising a thin-walled inner container made of thermoplastics or sheet steel, a supporting jacket made of wire-lattice or tubular bars closely surrounding the inner container, and a base pallet mountable on a forklift truck and fixedly connected to the supporting jacket, wherein the inner container has a ffiling opening in the upper surface, the upper edge of the supporting jacket is provided with reinforcing members extending horizontally over the upper surface of the inner container and the reinforcing members comprise integral wirelattice or tubular bar portions of the supporting jacket which initially extend upwards and which are bent inwards through at)east 900 over the upper surface of the inner container.

2. A pallet container according to claim 1, wherein the wire-Jattice or tubular bar portions are arranged on two opposing sides of the upper edge of the supporting jacket and are substantially in the form of strips.

3. A pallet container according to claim 1, wherein the wire-lattice or tubular bar portions are arranged on all four sides of the upper edge of the supporting jacket and are substantially in the form of strips.

A pallet container according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the wirelattice or tubular bar portions are shorter than the respective length of the upper edge of the supporting jacket.

12 5. A pallet container according to claim 1, 2,3 or 4, wherein a wirelattice or tubular bar portion comprises a plurality of extended, vertical wire bars or tubular bars bent through 90 and at least one horizontally extending wire-lattice bar or tubular bar forming the inner edge of the bent portion.

6. A pallet container according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the lateral edge regions of the wire-lattice or tubular bar portions are fixedly welded to the uppermost, horizontally extending lattice bar of the supporting jacket or to the respective edge region of the adjacent portion.

7. A pallet container according to claim 6, wherein the welding points of the portions are arranged on a line extending parallel With or at right angles to the upper edge of the supporting jacket.

8. A pallet container according to claim 6, wherein the edge regions of the portions are bevelled, and the welding points of the portions are arranged on a line extending diagonally across the comers of the supporting jacket or on a line extending at an angle of approximately 30 to 60" to the upper edge of the supporting jacket.

9. A pallet container according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 8, wherein the supporting jacket comprises a lattice-bar mat, the vertically extending lattice bars being of dual construction and being arranged at a certain distance apart, and the horizontally 13 extending lattice bars each being formed so as to extend between the two vertical lattice bars.

A pallet container according to claim 9, wherein the inner vertical twin bar ends at the upper edge of the supporting jacket and only the outer twin bar is bent inwards through 9T.

11. A pallet container according to any one of the preceding claims I to 10, wherein the vertical lattice or tubular bars, bent inwards through 90", are bent or angled downwards through a further 90" at a certain distance from the upper edge of the supporting jacket so as to form a stop edge extending parallel to the edge of the supporting jacket and acting as a centering means for a second pallet container stacked thereon, the base pallet of the second stacked pallet container having corresponding stop projections engaging positively behind the stop edge.

12. A pallet container according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 11, wherein two crosspieces are provided which extend laterally to the upper filling opening of the inner container and the outer ends of which are fixedly connected to the two bent opposing portions of the supporting jacket.

13. A pallet container according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 12, wherein a circumferential hollow tube is provided directly below the inwardly bent portions and rests against the inside of the supporting jacket.

14 14. A pallet container according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 13, wherein the portions of the upwardly extended supporting jacket are bent into a rounded shape or formed as a rolled edge.

15. A pallet container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inner container has a tapping opening at the base.

16. A pallet container substantially as herein described wit h reference to any of the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

17. A method of manufacturing a pallet container comprising a thinwalled inner container made of thermoplastics or sheet steel, a supporting jacket made of wire-iattice or tubular bars closely surrounding the inner container, and a base pallet which is adapted to be mountable on a forklift truck, wherein in order to assemble the components, first the inner container is mounted on the base pallet and then the supporting jacket with the integral, inwardly bent reinforcing members is placed over the inner container and fixedly connected to the base pallet.