IL32642A - Collapsible containers for the transport of goods in bulk - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to collapsible containers suitable for the storage and transport of solid and liquid goods and is in particular intended to be applicable for use in bulk storage and transport.

In recent years increasing attentio has been paid to the use of large bulk goods containers due to the economical advantage of such containers over the use of bags, barrels, or other small containers. However, the storage capacit of the known bulk containers is limited by the pressure exerted by the goods on the internal surfaces of the container, and in order to resist such pressures, the container walls must be sufficientl thick and therefore the container tends to become so rigid and heavy as to defeat the original objec of the container system .

An object of the present invention, is to provide a bulk storage container system which will obviate the above menioned end other disadvantages* For this purpose, according to the invention, a collapsible container has walls of a thin flexible or collapsible material, one of the walls having an inlet opening, a closure member adapted to fit into airtight sealed relationship with said opening, a conduit effecting communication between the interior and the atmosphere external to the container, and a valve interconnected i said conduit so as to permit the evacuation of air from the interior of the container. When such a container is filled with, for example, a particulate material, and evacuated, the effect of the external atmospherical pressure in combination with the friction developed between individual particles of the material will be to give the whole assembly properties similar to those of solid body and therefore the filled container is able to withstand considerable externa] and internal stress.

The thickness of the container walls can thus be relatively small, and may for example take the form of a thin membrane, the main duty of the walls being merely to sustain the air pres ure difference between the interior of the container and the external atmosphere, and the walls being themselves supported by the material in the container instead of the walls having to support the material as in the known forms of bulk storage containers.

In order to permit the container to be handled by normal loading equipment, suitable parts of the wall surfaces may be reinforced and one or more external rings may be secured at suitable locations which can be used for attachment to the loading hook of a crane when it is desired to transfer the loaded container from one location to another. Instead of, or in addition to, reinforcing portions of walls, the load of the contained material can be transferred by means of the ambien atmospheric pressure, and the internal friction created by it to one or more suitable baffle sheets inside the container, which sheets transfer the load to attachment rings.

In the case of liquids, a similar principle can be applied by positioning the liquid in an inner container which is then tightly closed and placed inside an outer container and a number of such inner containers can be positioned within a single outer container. The oute container is also of collapsible or flexible material and is evacuated. The inner containers may be strengthened or rendered rigid by suitable wall reinforcement ■ and/or diagonal space ties, and/or diagonal baffle wells, or may be shaped in such a manner as to increase their rigidity, e.g. tetrahedrally.

A similar method may be used to immobilise objects which might e damaged by impact against each other, e.g. delicate machine parts, fruit, etc.

By way of example various forme of embodiment of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which r» Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal median sectional view of one form of container* Figure 2 is a diagrammatic cross- sectional view of this form.

Figure 3 is a detail view.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic, external perspective iew from above of another form of container .

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic longitudinal diagonal sectional view of this form.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic, partly external, partly sectiona view of a third form .

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view of the casing forming part of a fourth form.

In Figure 1 and 2, a container 1 is formed by a prismaticall shaped bag, the walls of which are of sheets of suitable material, e.g. rubber, plastic, impregnated fabric, paper or sheet metal, or any combination of such materials. Inlet openings 2 provided in one of the walls, and a lid or cap 3 (Fig. 3) having a resilient gasket 4 can fit into air tight sealing relationship with the inlet opening 2. A pipe 5 passi through an end wall of the container 1 is in communication at one end with the interior of the container and at the other end with the atmosphere and is also connected to a valve 6 so that the interio of the container can be evacuated .

At a suitable location, e.g. at one corner of the container, reinforcement may be provided in the form of additional layers of material which may be the tame as or different from the materia! of the container itself and may be reinforced by fibres, strands, fabric or the like, and a ring 9 may be attached to such location so that the container can be suspended from th loading hook of a crane. thQ pipe 5 may extend as a straight pipe 8 within, the container 1 or it may have a number of branches 10 to enable air at atmospheric pressure or compressed air to enter freely into the container 1 when the valve 6 is opened and thus loosen the material in the container .

The container 1 may be provided with one or more baffles or partitions 11 (Figs, 1, 2, 5) suitably located within the container. These baffles ma be arranged diagonally or in any other desired direction and position and may be shaped according to funicular or other tra|ectoral curves or surfaces. Such baffles serve primarily to transfer the weight of the granular material, which is pressed against them , to the load ring or rings by means of the friction between the surfaces of said baffles and said granular material. In order to increase the friction the baffles may be provided with holes fl2) ribs (13), embossments, or with a suitable high-friction cladding such as hessian canvas . In orde to ensure the safe transfer of the forces the baffles may be reinforced by high~strength fibres, strands (14), wires, ropes, fabrics, or the like. An additional task of the baffles is to increase the igidity of the containers, and it is therefore advantageous to arrange one or more of them diagonally. The continuous baffles may be replaced by nets or ropes, and these are preferably arranged in funicular or similar trajectorlal curves converging on the ring or rings.

In an alternative form shown in Fig. 7, a foldable outer casing of a more rigid material may be provided to accommodate and support a thin-walled container held within it, specif* icaUy during filling and emptying. In order to facilitate emptying operations It is advantageous to line the casing with a porous padding which permits to support the flexible container walls by means of a vacuum applied from the outside, even when the container is inverted as may occu during discharge of the contents.

For the storage of liquids, a system similar to that described above may be used, but in this case the liquid is contained in a tightly stoppered inner container which may or may not be pressurised, and a number of such containers 15, Fig. 6, may be themselves held in an outer container which is evacuated. Both the inner and outer containers may have the construction described above so far as the pipe and valve are concerned but in this case only the outer container may be provided with one or more loading rings slice it will not in this case be necessary for the individual containers to be loaded and unloaded separately.

In the case where more than one smaller inner container is enclosed in a large outer container, the contact surfaces of the Y - 6 - inner containers may have a rough finish to provide a high degree of friction or may have recesses and/or projections so as to be capable of interlocking with other similarly shaped contact faces, or may be coated by suitable pressure-resistant or other adhesives, . or they may be interconnected by flexible or rigid hinges, joints or straps in order to increase the resistance to sliding between adjacent individual inner containers during handling of the outer container.

To reduce the risk of leakage due to accidental puncture, the outer walls of the container may be formed of two or more spatially separated sheets, and between two adjacent sheets there may be provided a filling of a visco-elastic substance having self-sealing properties.

The pressure within the container may be monitored during transport and storage in order to indicate possible leakage. For this purpose each container may have a pressure gauge, which may be of a dispensable type, and in case of leakage, a vacuum can readily be re-established by means of a vacuum pump.

In case the goods transported emit vapours which may gradually reduce the initial vacuum, the containers may be fitted with perforated receptacles containing material capable of chemically binding, absorbing, or superficially adsorbing such vapours with an energy sufficient to restore and maintain a pressure differential capable of guaranteeing the desired mechanical rigidity of the assembly.

One or more of the walls of a container of this invention may be reinforced by a thickened portion and/or reinforcing fibres, strands, wires, ribs, or the like.

Claims (23)

32642/2 - 7 - CLAIMS; -

1. A collapsible container comprising walls of a thin, flexib material and having an inlet opening, a closure member adapted fit into said opening in airtight sealed relationship, a condui leading into the container and a valve in said conduit whereby may be evacuated from within the container, a reinforcing parti or baffle, and means attached to said baffle from which the con may be suspended.

2. A collapsible container comprising walls of a thin, flexib material and having an inlet opening, a closure member fitting said opening in airtight sealed relationship, a conduit leading the container and provided with a valve for evacuating air fro container, and a reinforcing partition or baffle in the contai which contains a charge of goods or material on opposite sides said partition or baffle and from which the air has been evacu

3. A container according to claim 1 or 2 wherein a wall comp two or more spatially separated sheets.

4. A container according to claim 3, wherein the space betwe sheets is filled with a visco-elastic self sealing substance.

5. A container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more of the walls is reinforced by a thickened and/or reinforcing fibres, strands, wires, ribs or the like.

6. A container according to any preceding claim in which the or partition is reinforced.

7. A container according to any preceding claim, in which th or partition is perforated. 32642/2 - 8 -

8. A container according to any of claims 1 to 6, In which the baffle or partition is ribbed or covered with canvas to increase friction.

9. A container according to any one of the preceding claims and an outer foldable casing adapted to accommodate and support the container.

10. A container according to any one of the preceding claims including a pressure gauge.

11. A container according to claim 1 or 2 containing a plurality of smaller subcontainers.

12. A container according to claim 11, in which the subcontainers are rigidi ied by diagonal baffles and/or ties.

13. A container according to claim 11, in which the subcontainers are connected by flexible or rigid joints.

14. A container according to claim 11, in which the subcontaineEss are connected by interlocking but severable connections.

15. A container according to claim 11, in which relative movement of the subcontainers is reduced or prevented by friction due to their having rough surfaces.

16. A container according to claim 11, in which relative movement of subcontainers is prevented by pressure-sensitive adheslves.

17. A container according to claim 11, in which the subcontainers are shaped In such a way as to interlock.

18. A container according to claim 11, in which the subcontainers have an essentially tetrahedral shape. 32642/2 y - 9 -

19. Δ container according to any preceding claim fitted with a receptacle filled with chemically active material capable of binding, absorbing, or adsorbing vapours emanating from the goods transported. 2Θ.

A collapsible container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

21. A collapsible container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

22. A collapsible container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Pigure 6 of the accompanying drawings.

23. Δ collapsible container as claimed in claim 20, 21 or 22 and a casing substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings. Dr. Herbert Bernstein Director, Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd.