IT9045715A1 - SUPPORT FOR CARDBOARD CONTAINERS FOR TRANSPORT WITH FORK TROLLEYS - Google Patents

Description

"SUPPORT FOR CARDBOARD CONTAINERS FOR TRANSPORT WITH FORK TROLLEYS

SUMMARY

The present invention relates to a method for the construction of pallets used as supports for handling and transporting containers of particularly large and heavy goods.

These pallets are able to be returned to the sender and to be reused taking advantage of their modest size, since they consist of a plurality of separate support elements (15,16,17) substantially identical and parallel, arranged at substantially equal intervals, and equipped with upper strikers (8) for the removable locking of the lower flaps (11) of the container to be transported (2).

DESCRIPTION

The most common technique of injecting into containers and / or palletized boxes is the use of sufficiently strong preformed rigid cardboard containers, formed in the place of use by adequately folding the walls that form the bottom of the container.

The envelope thus obtained is sufficiently consolidated by taping, stitching or other technique so as to stabilize it in the predetermined shape; it is then placed on a pallet normally made of wood, plastic or variously reinforced cardboard which is adequately filled according to the needs of the goods to be transported and then closed in the upper part. Said container and the. pallets on which it rests are then definitively associated and blocked by wrapping them with tape and / or strapping so as to form a single integral and rigid body, ready for transport.

The characteristics of the pallet, universally known and on which no attention is paid, makes this type of packaging particularly suitable for handling with fork trucks and in any case with mechanical lifting and transport means.

This type of packaging offers ample guarantees of resistance and transport, however it has some drawbacks that make its use often complicated from a production and costly point of view.

First of all, this type of packaging is considered to be disposable, since its volume cannot be reduced after having been emptied of the enclosed goods; the high return transport costs of the pallet depending on the volume occupied jeopardize its reuse, at least by the same user.

Secondly, but not in the background, since each container must be associated with a pallet having dimensions required by the dimensions of the relative container, and since containers of the most varied dimensions are normally used, it logically follows that the organizer of said types of packaging it must procure a multiplicity of types of pallets, bearing an easily understandable management burden and production complication.

Variations to this type of packaging construction are known which tend to overcome the drawbacks described.

For example, it is known practice to replace the pallet of defined and unchangeable dimensions with a plurality of hollow and prolonged parallelepiped bases, preferably in cardboard, stably applied with known means, eg. gluing or stitching, with one of its faces to the lower wall of the container.

This application is carried out by leaving an appropriate interval between a base and the adjacent one for the insertion of the forks of the handling means, thus creating a geometric configuration that is completely similar to normal pallets. Said bases are then filled with reinforcing material, for example polystyrene, to give them the desired resistance to loading and bending.

The application of said plinths optimally replaces traditional wooden pallets, and also solves the problem of the standardization of the lower supports with respect to the non-uniformity of the size of the containers since said plinths can naturally be applied in such a number and at intervals such as to allow both the necessary openings for normal handling with lifting, and the correct support of the container on the area required by the type of load.

However, this solution, although acceptable from the point of view of the standardization of the components for the packaging, does not solve the major problem, namely the reuse of the same pallet by the original user because even said packaging is disposable given its structure and characteristics. dimensions after its formation.

It would therefore be desirable, and it is an aim of the present patent, to provide a process for a type of packaging that can be transported with mechanical lifting means which minimizes the variety of components of which it is made and which allows a convenient recovery and reuse of said components. components after transport and unloading of the transported goods at their destination. This and other purposes are achieved with a method for the type of packaging described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached figures in which:

- fig. 1 represents a perspective view of one of the supporting elements constituting said type of package;

- fig. 2 schematically represents the method of coupling a container to one of said types of packaging;

- fig. 3 shows a complete package after the union of a container with the corresponding plurality of support elements used as pallets.

The characteristics of the invention are specified in the following claims.

With reference to the figures we observe the following elements:

1) external wall of the upper containment shoulders of a constituent element of the type of packaging;

2) box-shaped container equipped with lower closing flaps; 3) internal walls of the upper lateral shoulders;

4) support surface of the container on the support element;

5) support bases of the element on the ground;

6) hooking spines protruding from the internal walls of the element;

7) locking teeth protruding from the support surface of the element;

8) symmetrical abutment applied on the median line of the supporting surface 4;

9) niches of engagement obtained between the stop 0 and the surface 4;

10) upper face of the striker 8.

.11) lower flaps of the container 2;

12) lower edges of the flaps 11;

13) side containment shoulders;

14) final locking tapes or straps;

15,16,17) supporting elements already consolidated in a single package 11 found is based on the construction of a supporting structure of the container 2 made by applying a multiplicity of elements (fig. 1) in an integral but removable way on the lower wall (constituted from the flaps 11) of said container.

To facilitate the description of said elements, which in any case can be clearly understood from fig. 1, it will suffice to say that they are similar to a limited section of a traditional pallet, plus small lateral containment shoulders 13, a central abutment 0 and further small protrusions which will be described below.

Said elements have on the supporting surface 4 a symmetrical abutment 8 in the shape of an open V, applied in the center line of said surface.

Two symmetrical niches 9 are thus obtained between said abutment 8 and surface 4.

The same surface 4 has. preferably near the internal walls 3 of the shoulders 13, some teeth 7 protruding upwards, and the aforementioned internal walls 3 show some hooking spines 6 curved and protruding downwards. The construction of the complete packaging according to the present invention is carried out according to the following procedure:

some (n) supporting elements parallel and spaced 1 / (n-1) of the length of the container 2 to be transported are arranged on the ground and the cardboard container 2 is formed without using adhesive tape or other in such a way that the flaps 11 are inclined downwards by approximately 45β.

The flaps 11 are then made to slide on the surface 4 of the element, lowering the container 2 at the same time, until the edges 12 of the flaps 11 retracting are inserted into the niches 9 of the striker 8 closing the bottom of the same container.

At the same time, due to the lowering of this, it is inserted with its lateral sides against the internal walls 3 of the shoulders 13 arranged on the sides of the support element.

To facilitate this insertion operation, the internal walls 3 can be advantageously inclined inwards in order to improve the locking of the container on the support surface 4 without affecting its initial inlet within the shoulders 13.

To further strengthen said locking action, the spikes 6 penetrate the container for the entire thickness of its wall and therefore do not allow said container to be further raised and separated from the support element, while it is definitively blocked against transverse movements with respect to said container. element both from the fact that the flaps 11 during their closing movement, by pressing against the surface 4, engage with the teeth 7, especially at the Catto that the edges 12 of the flaps 11 engage for a large part of their width within the niches 9 of the striker 8.

In particular, the mutual engagement between the edges 12 and the abutments 8 present on all said elements confers the desired solidity and sturdiness to the whole assembly consisting of the container 2 and the elements themselves.

The construction of the packaging is completed by definitively binding the elements described above by means of straps or tapes 11 which are wound around said elements in a known way, as shown in fig. 3.

After this operation, a four-way palletized container is obtained that can be transported with fork trucks which, in addition to the advantages described above, allows further significant advantages represented by:

- lightness

- easy handling

- absence of nails and screws

- less stacking space in the warehouse

- lower cost for return transport (the volume of each support is only a fraction of the volume of a current pallet) - reduced manufacturing cost

After reaching its destination and being unloaded, said support elements can be easily detached from the relative container (which in fact, being empty, becomes very easily overturned and manipulated), also because at this point the container is no longer made to adhere strictly to the supporting elements. support from the weight of the load.

These elements are then detached without difficulty and sent back for subsequent reuse, occupying a total space that is very small compared to traditional pallets.

Claims (6)

CLAIMS 1) Procedure for the construction of means for the transport and handling of boxed cardboard containers, said means having lateral openings within which the forks of lifting means can engage, and being loaded on substantially all of their surface by said containers, characterized in that said means consist of a plurality of separate supporting elements (15,16,17) substantially identical and parallel, arranged at substantially equal intervals, and equipped with upper strikers (8) for the removable locking of the lower flaps ( 11) of the container to be transported (2). 2) Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said abutments (8) are symmetrical, in the shape of an enlarged V and positioned on the center line of said separate support elements (15,16,17). 3) Process as in claim 2, characterized in that said abutment (0) determines with the upper surface (4) of said element a pair of equal and substantially symmetrical niches (9) within which two lower flaps (11) of said container (2). 4) Process as one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said elements (.15,16, 17) have on their upper surface (4) some teeth (7) projecting upwards for coupling with the lower flaps ( 11) and then with the container (2) thereafter, its deposit on said elements (15,16,17). 5) Process as one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said elements (15,16,17) have at their extreme sides a pair of symmetrical shoulders (13) extending vertically upwards. 6) Process as in the previous claim, characterized by the fact that the vertical internal walls (3) of said shoulders (13) are slightly inclined towards the inside of the supporting element, 7) Process as claimed in claim 5 or 6, characterized by the fact that in correspondence with the internal walls (3) of the side shoulders (13) there are some stings (6) projecting downwards suitable for coupling with the side walls of the container ( 2) after its deposit on said support elements (15,16,17).