IE50562B1 - Corner supports for forming right-angles between adjacent panels - Google Patents

Abstract

A corner joint to form a right angle between a pair of adjacent panels (10, 11) has a base (13) and two depending integral walls (16, 17) lying at right angles to each other the inner sides of which are intended to receive the two panels. The walls have large apertures (18, 19) behind which there are resilient tongues (20, 21) also depending from the base and inclined towards the respective walls (16, 17) to press the panels (10, 11) against the walls. The apertures in the walls permit access to the tongues (20, 21) through the walls (16, 17) to enable the tongues (20, 21) to be pressed away from the walls (16, 17) when assembling the joint at a corner of a box.

Description

Thi:; invention relates to corner supports for forming right, .ingles between pairs of panels and is particularly al’hough not exclusively applicable to corner joints for forming right angles between adjacent side wails ri a container or box formed from a blank sheet or sheets.

A r-omer joint has been proposed in which a base to ~eat on a corner of a container has two mutually perpendicular walls to lie against the inner Iq sides of a corner of the container and two resilient trngues in tne outer sides of the walls to bear on the the outer sides of the container corner and hold the walls of the joint against the sides of the corner.

With that arrangement however it is difficult, particularly single handed, to separate the tongues from the walls when assembling the joint on the corner.

This invention provides a corner support for f .ruling right, angle between a pair of panels at a c.rner of a container comprising a case having two edges extending at right angles Lo each other, two walls depending fr. m the base at right angles to each other and aligned parallel with andoffset inwardly from the right angled edges of the base and two resilient tongue;· dep·'’.ding from the base adjacent the opposite sides of said walls to the right angled edges of the base to face the two walls lespectively and to support the two panels at the corner of the container against said walls, the two walls being formed with·· finger apertures disposed opposite the resilient tongues to provide access for fingers of a hand through the walls to the tongues to enable the tongues to be flexed away from the walls when locating the support on a corner of a container.

Preferably the resilient tongues are inclined with respect to the base towards the respective walls such that, in their relaxed condition, the lower ends of Ute tongues are closely adjacent the walls of said planes. Π '.'he edge of the base disposed opposite said right angled apex may be formed with a recess to provide a thumb location for holding the base whilst finger pressure is applied to the resilient tongues .hrough the anertures in the walls when locating the support on a pair of panels.

In any of the above arrangements the sides of the tongues adjacent the walls may be formed with raised projections for engaging the container panels. The projections may be disposed centrally on the 2i resilient tongues.

Again in any of the above arrangements lugs may be provided on the underside of the base adjacent the inner sides of the dependent walls for engaging in notches in the upper edges of the container panels. Each lug may be chamfered at the end remote from the base to assist in locating the lug in the notch in the panels.

The base may be formed with upstanding flanges along said two edges thereof to receive and hold a corner of an upper container on the base and, further, the upstanding flanges may meet at the said apex of the base between and may be formed integrally with one another.

In any of the above arrangements the two dependent walls may converge to an apex and may be formed integrally with one another.

In any one arrangement each wall may be U-shaped to provide two legs connected to the base and an aperture between the legs provides access to the resilient tongues behind each wall.

The following is a description of some specific embodiments of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an inner 5 corner of a box having side walls connected by a corner support in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective outer view of the corner as shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the corner support; Figure 4 is a side view of the support; Figure 5 is a view on the arrow 5 on Figure 3; Figure 6 is a section on the line 6-6 on Figure 4; and Figures 7 to 9 show further embodiments of the invention.

Simple open topped boxes which are required to be filled and then packed one on top of each other are frequently supplied in a very large number in flat condition and are intended to be assembled as and when required. For example boxes for food and in particular fruit and vegetables are frequently used in this manner.

A simple form of box of this type comprises a cardboard Clank having a r.'c? angular base and tour side walls which are folds·? up al ong line:?, which may I >: pre-creased and locked together when the box is required for use. Alternatively the box may be formed in hardboard in which the flat clank comprises a base with the four side walls hinged tc the edges of the base. This invention is particularly concerned with a corner support for forming a ight angle between pairs of side walls or panels at tl.' - corner ol the box together and for permitting 10 on» box to ne stacked on another. big' ires 1 and 2 of the drawings show two side panels lo.ll cl a cardboard or hardboard box which have be’-n folded up from a base as previously described to 1..rm a right ingle between them and are held together by a corner jo.nt indicated at 12.

The corner joint, which is illustrated in greater detail in tigur'-s 4 to 6, comprise a base 13 haing two .ide edg’d 14, 15 extending at right angles to each other.

Two integral walls 16, 17 lying at right angles to each other ?epend from the lower face of the base.

The upper ends of the walls lie along but are spaced slightly inwardly of the sides 14,15 of the base. Each wall 16,17 has a large aperture 18, 19 therein so that the walls are generally 5-shaped with two adjacent limbs 16a, 17a, of the 'J forming ari integral apex and two limbs 16b, 17o, spaced from the apex.

The upper corner portions of the panels 10,11 lie adjacent the inner sides of the walls 16, 17 and the panels are held against the walls by resilient tongues 20, 21 depending from the base 13 adjacent the inner sides of the walls opposite the apertures 18, 19 therein. In their natural or relaxed condition as manufactured, the resilient tongues are inclined towards the walls 16, 17 so that the free ends of the tongues lie adjacent the apertures in the walls 16, 17. The free ends of the tongues may lie just short of the 'apertures or in the apertures or may even project slightly through the apertures.

Each tongue has a raised projection 22, 23 on the side thereof adjacent the respective side wall 16, 17 to engage in a hole 24, 25 formed in the respective panel 10, 11 to assist in holding the joint on the panels of the box. The lower side of each projection 22, 23 is formed with a chamber 22a, 23a, to provide a ramp for guiding the upper edge of the respective panel 10, 11 outwardly past the projection as the corner joint is pressed into the panels. Also downwardly extending lugs 26, 27 are formed between the base and the inner sides of the limbs 16b, 17b. The lower ends of the lugs 26; 27 have chamfers formed thereon. The upper edges of the panels 10, 11 are formed with notches 28, 29 in which the lugs engage to assist in locking the panels 10, 11 into the corner joint and prevent them from moving 563 outwardly of the apex of the joint.

The joint can conveniently be assembled on a corner of a box or container by holding the joint between the thumb in the recess 13 or in the base 13 and two fingers extending the apertures 18, 19 and bearing on the resilient tongues 20, 21. As the joint is brought into engagement with the comer of the container, pressure is applied to the resilient tongues by die fingers to deflect the tongues inwardly sufficiently to enable the container panels to be received between the tongues 20, 21 and the walls 16, 17 of the joint.

The joint is then pressed downwardly until the base 13 engages the top edges of the container panels as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The projections 22, 23 snap into the apertures 24, 25 in the container panels automatically on reaching the apertures and the lugs 26, 27 engage in the notches 28, 29 in the top edges of the panels.

Four such corner joints are provided for the four respective corners of the box to lock the pairs of panels at each corner together.

The base 13 at each corner of the box is intended to receive the bottom corner of a further box to be stacked on top. To assist in locating the bottom corner of the further box, the base is formed with an up-standing flange 30 along the sides 14, of the base. Depending on the strength of the material used for the boxes and the weight of goods contained therein, a number of such boxes can be stacked one upon the other.

Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings shows a joint generally similar to the joint described and illustrated above and like parts have been allotted the same reference numerals. .The only difference is that the integral walls 16, 17 are further extended downardly as indicated at 16a and 17a and are formed with further cut-outs 32, 33 to reduce the amount of material required for the extension. The length of the downwardly extending integral walls from the base to the bottom edge 34 of the walls is equivalent to the depth of the container on which the joint is to be used so that when the joint is assembled on the container, the bottom edge 34 lies generally flush with the bottom face of the container. Thus when a stack of containers is formed, the bottom faces 34 of the joints of one container rest on the bases 13 of the joints below. The loads in the stack are therefore transmitted through the superimposed corner joints rather than through the containers.

Figures 8 and 9 show an alternative construction in which the side walls 16, 17 are somewhat narrower and are reinforced by a rib 14 extending down the outer apex between the two walls from the base and tapering to ίο nothing at the bottom edges of the walls. The resilient tongues 20, 21 arc spaced to one side of the walls 16, 17 and located inwardly of the walls to provide access to the tongues to deflect the tongues inwardly when assembling the joint on a corner of a container as previously described. In addition the joint has two further downwardly extending walls 36 which are located on the opposite sides of the tongues to the first walls 16, 17 and are spaced still further inwardly of the side edges of the base 13 than the tongues 20 and walls 16, 17. The lower ends of the walls 36, 37 merge together in a downwardly extending angle section leg 38 which is spaced generally inwardly of the walls 16, 17 as best seen in the underplan view of Figure 9. The leg 38 is intended to lie down the inner side of the corner between the two panels on the container to which the joint is to be attached and the length of the leg 38 is such that the bottom face of the leg bears on the bottom of the container. Thus when a stack of containers is built up, the weight of 2o one container is transmitted through the legs of the corner joints of the container to the corner joints of the container below so that the weight of the stack is taken through the corner joints. The resilient tongues may be provided with pips to engage holes in the panels of the container as previously described and, likewise, lugs may be provided on the underside of the base adjacent the walls 16, 17 to engage notches in the upper edges of the panels of the container again as previously described.

The corner joints described above are conveniently manufactured as one-piece injection mouldings from a hard plastics such as polypropylene or 5 nylon. It will be appreciated that many modifications may be made to the above described embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention. For example the projections 22, 23 on the resilient tongues may be omitted along with the holes in the panels of the box not then required as may be the lugs 26, 27 on the base and the corresponding notches in the panels of the box. 50563 CLAIMS :-

Claims (5)

1. CLAIMS :1. A corner support for forming a right angle between a pair of panels at a corner of a container comprising a base having two edges extending at right angles to each other, two 5 walls depending from the base at right angles to each other and aligned parallel with and offset inwardly from the right angled edge of the base and two resilient tongues depending from the base adjacent the opposite sides of said walls to the right angled edges of the base to face the two walls 10 respectively and to support the two panels at the corner of the container against said walls, the two walls being formed with finger apertures disposed opposite the resilient tongues to provide access for fingers of a hand through the walls to the tongues to enable the tongues to be flexed away from the 15 walls when locating the support on a corner of a container.

2. A corner support as claimed in claim 1 wherein the resilient tongues are inclined towards the respective walls at their free ends spaced from the base. 50508

3. A corner support as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the edge of the base disposed opposite said apex between said right-angled edges of the base is formed with a recess to provide a thumb location for holding the base whilst finger pressure is applied to the resilient tongues through the apertures in the walls when locating the support on a pair of panels.

4. , A corner support as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sides of the tongues adjacent the walls are formed with raised projections for engaging the container panels. 5. A corner support as claimed in claim 4,wherein the projections are disposed centrally on the resilient tongues. 6. A corner support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein lugs are provided on the underside of the base adjacent the inner sides of the dependent walls for engaging in notches in the upper edges of the container panels. 7. A corner support as claimed in claim 6, wherein each lug is chamfered at the end remote from the base to assist in locating the lug in the notch in the panels. 50582 8. A corner support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the base is formed with upstanding flanges along said two edges thereof to receive and hold a corner of ar. upper container on the base. 5 9. A corner support as claimed in claim 8, wherein the upstanding flanges meet at the right angled corner of the base between and are formed integrally with one another. 10. A corner support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the two dependent walls converge to an apex 10 and are formed integrally with one another. 11. A corner support as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein each wall is U-shaped to provide two legs connected to the base and the space between the legs providing said aperture for access to the resilient tongue behind the wall. 12. Corner supports as claimed in claim 11 and fitted to corners of a container wherein the length of the depending walls is equivalent to the external depth of the container so that a number of similar containers can be stacked one above 2o the other with the lowermost ends of the support walls on the 25 corners of one container resting on the bases of the support of the container below. 13. Corner supports as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10 and fitted to corners of a container, wherein the base of each support is formed with a downwardly extending leg joined to the base at locations disposed on the inner sides of said 5 walls, the length of the leg being equivalent to the inside depth of the containei’ so that the lowermost ends of the legs bear on the bottom of the container when the support is located on the container. 14. A corner support for two adjacent panels of a container Iq substantially as described with refernece to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 6. 15. A corner support substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings. 15 16. A corner support substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 of the accompanying drawings. F.R. KELLY & CO., AGENTS FOR THE APPLICANTS. METAL CLOSURES THERMOPLASTICS LIMITED

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