JP2008024344A - Folding type pallet container - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pallet container which can be manufactured at a low cost and can be simply disassembled and assembled. <P>SOLUTION: This pallet container is a plan view quadrangle, and two sheets of hinged side plates 9 are fitted so as to be freely folded on a pallet 1 using hinges 5 and 10 against two opposing sides of the pallet 1 made of a resin on the front and back or the front and back and left and right of which fork inserting openings 2 and 2a are formed. In addition, vertical channels 14 are formed on both ends of the hinged side plates 9, and free side plates 15 can be freely inserted into these vertical channels 14. The hinged side plates 9 and the free side plates 15 are locked by locking mechanisms 13 using locking pins 13a. A top plate 20 is covered on a box formed by the hinged side plates 9 and the free side plates 15, and this top plate 20 is fixed by hooking a fixing tool 22 on a pin 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention has a pallet at the bottom so that a forklift can be used for loading and unloading, and after the transportation of preforms and the like on the four side plates and the top plate on the periphery, the pallet is placed on the pallet. The present invention relates to a foldable pallet container that can be folded and collected at a shipping source or stored.

In the case of a pallet container for transporting preforms, etc., it is common to collect the luggage and deliver it to the destination, then collect it and reuse it. Ingenuity has been made.
Regarding such a folding pallet container, there are various folding methods, and typical ones are listed below.

[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2005-53500 In this known example, four side plates are connected to a pallet via a hinge member, and the four side plates are folded on the pallet by the action of the hinge member. It is configured to be able to.
However, when folding the four side plates on the pallet so as to overlap, it is necessary to provide a step at the hinge member in accordance with the thickness of the side plate. The structure becomes complicated.
As a result, it takes a lot of time to manufacture and incurs high costs, and when the side plates are erected, each side plate is only in contact at each corner, so the connection strength is weak and the corners inevitably. There is a defect that a gap is generated in the portion, and dust or the like enters the inside from here.
In addition, the side plate itself is very easy to fold or assemble, but it is necessary to connect the raised side plate at each corner of its upper edge, but if this connection means is not strong, Since there is a possibility that the side plates may be disconnected from each other, it is necessary to make this connection structure firmly. In this respect as well, the manufacturing cost is high.

For this reason, there is a proposal in which the side plate is not connected to the pallet with the hinge member, but both sides of the lower end of the opposing side plate can be connected to the pallet using a detachable pin and metal fitting [Patent Document 2]. It is published in Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2000-159227.
In the case of the assembly-type pallet container described in Patent Document 2, when assembling, the lower ends of the two opposing side plates are connected to the metal fittings on the pallet side, and the two side plates are erected thereon. The other two side plates need to be inserted between the upright side plates and assembled into a box shape, and this assembly takes time.
Further, it is necessary to weld the corner fittings for connecting the side plates to the four corner portions of the pallet by welding as described above, which requires labor and cost for production.
In the case of this known example, after assembling the four side plates, the four side plates are connected to each other at the upper edge corners using L-shaped connecting brackets. Since the structure of the connecting bracket is complicated and the operation is complicated, it takes time to assemble and disassemble.

Next, unlike the method of connecting the four side plates described in Patent Document 1 with a hinge member and the method of connecting the two side plates on the pallet using metal fittings and pins of Patent Document 2, [Patent Document 3] (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-81382) discloses a container in which only two side plates facing each other are connected using a hinge member.
In the case of this known example, since the four side plates are not connected to the pallet using a hinge member, the above-mentioned disadvantages of Patent Document 1 are alleviated to some extent, and the side plates can be folded easily and structurally. In a certain point, the defect of the above-mentioned patent document 2 is eased.
However, in the case of the container of this known example, as is apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5, the side plates are connected to each other with pins, bolts, and nuts at the upper, middle, and lower portions at the four corner portions. Therefore, it takes time to assemble and disassemble.

Moreover, in the case of the present pallet container including the said patent documents 1-3, the pallet is shape | molded with resin, and in order to raise intensity | strength, this resin-made pallet has a rib for reinforcement inside and down horizontally. Since the strength is ensured by forming or increasing the thickness, the weight is inevitably increased. And since the increase in the weight of this pallet causes the increase in transportation cost, the weight reduction is a subject.
For this reason, to reduce the weight, it is necessary to reduce the amount of resin, but if the amount of resin is reduced, the problem of insufficient strength occurs. Therefore, the pallet is designed while maintaining this balance. Currently.

  Therefore, the present inventors have found that the most important part of the strength required for the pallet can withstand the vertical load even if the resin amount of the current pallet is reduced to some extent. The weak point is the strength around the pallet fork insertion slot. In the case of the vicinity of the pallet fork insertion port, the toe of the fork does not enter the insertion port at one time due to the skill level of the operator, individual differences, or work conditions, etc. You may end up with. In this case, since the toe of the fork is formed quite sharply, the side wall of the pallet may be scratched and cracked, or if the impact is large, it may be damaged and cracked or have a hole.

The present invention is provided in view of such a point, and the first object is to provide a folding device that is easy to assemble and fold but has sufficient strength and can be manufactured at low cost. It is to provide a formula pallet container.
The second purpose is to reduce the amount of resin in order to reduce weight and cost, and to reduce the amount of resin and reduce the thickness of the side wall of the pallet and the thickness of the internal reinforcing rib. It is to provide a resin pallet that does not crack or break.
A third object is to provide a pallet container having a structure that can reliably hold the folded state when folded.

To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the foldable pallet container, it is a square in a plan view and is opposed to the resin pallet formed by forming fork insertion ports in the front and rear, front and rear, right and left. Two hinge side plates were attached to the two sides to be foldable on the pallet using a hinge mechanism,
A free side plate for forming a box on a rectangular pallet in plan view is provided by forming a vertical groove inside both ends of the hinge side plate and inserting both sides from above into the vertical groove in a detachable manner. ,
Lock holes provided on the side walls of the vertical groove at both end positions near the upper end of the frame of the hinge side plate, horizontally outward and through a through hole provided in the frame of the free side plate inserted into the vertical groove Provided with a lock pin that enters the inside and connects the hinge side plate and the free side plate in the vertical groove,
Providing a top plate that covers a box formed of the hinge side plate and the free side plate;
It is characterized by.

Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 2, in the foldable pallet container according to claim 1, the lock pin is covered with a coil spring, and is advanced by the force of the coil spring when no load is applied. When the tip of the lock pin enters the lock hole via the through hole of the free side plate and the lock pin is pulled back against the spring of the coil spring, the tip side of the lock pin is inserted into the lock hole and the through hole. And the connection between the hinge side plate and the free side plate is released.
According to this invention, the lock pin can ensure the connection state of side plates reliably.

Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 3, in the foldable pallet container according to claim 1, a fork guard plate is attached to the peripheral wall of the pallet at a position where the fork insertion port has escaped. , Is characterized by.
According to this invention, even if the fork toe hits a part of the side wall of the pallet, the fork guard plate guards, so that the side wall of the pallet is not cracked or damaged.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 4, in the foldable pallet container according to claim 3, the fork guard plate is formed of a stainless steel plate, an iron plate or a reinforced plastic plate. It is.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 5, in the foldable pallet container according to claim 1, corners are respectively raised at the four corners of the pallet, and the hinge side plate and the free side plate are arranged on the pallet. Folded in the corner, and the top plate is placed so as to cover the corner, and the top plate is fixed to the pallet by using a fixing means to keep the folded container flat. It is configured to be convenient for transportation and storage.

  Furthermore, in the invention described in claim 6, in the foldable pallet container according to claim 1, when the metal plate is riveted to the inner surface of the square frame constituting each side plate and the top plate, A frame cover is attached so as to cover a gap formed in the joint of the metal plates.

As described above, the present invention allows only two side plates to be connected to the pallet via hinges and can be folded. Therefore, compared to the case where four side plates are connected via a hinge mechanism. Thus, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the folding and assembling are simpler than when the four side plates are separated.
Further, according to the present invention, at the corner portions where the upper edges of the side plates are in contact with each other at the time of assembly and folding, the connection is performed using the lock pins with coil springs. Release is easy.
In addition, the present invention provides a pallet that reduces the amount of resin and reduces the weight by attaching a fork guard plate so that the fork toes can be struck even on both sides of the fork insertion port of the pallet. The strength against fork can be secured.
Further, the present invention is such that when each side plate is folded on the pallet, the side plate is held by the corners provided at the four corners of the pallet, and the top plate is attached and fixed so as to cover the corner. Since the folded state is reliably maintained, there is no need to worry about unraveling during transportation.

The above-described embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pallet container in which a preform is accommodated and used for transportation, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a state where a pallet and a top plate are disassembled, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a container bottom plate, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a hinge portion formed on the bottom plate, FIG. 6 is a front view of the hinge side plate, FIG. 7 is a side view of the hinge side plate, FIG. 8 is a plan view of the hinge side plate, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a front view of the free side plate, FIG. 11 is a plan view of the free side plate, FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of the frame cover, FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of assembling the side plates, and FIG. FIG. 15 is an explanatory view of the lock pin, FIG. 16 is a front view of the locked state, FIG. 17 is an explanatory view of the folded state, and FIG. 18 is an explanatory view at the end of the folding.

In each of the above drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a resin pallet. The pallet 1 is provided with fork insertion ports 2 and 2a on the peripheral side wall 1a, which is a so-called four-way insertion type. is there. However, in the present invention, the pallet 1 may be a two-way type.
Reference numeral 3 denotes a stainless steel fork guard plate bonded to the peripheral side wall 1a of the pallet 1 except for the fork insertion ports 2 and 2a. In this embodiment, each of the fork guard plates is screwed, but a strong adhesive is used. Alternatively, it may be fixed by using a combination of an adhesive and a screw. In this embodiment, the stainless steel plate is used in consideration of the generation and strength of rust, but other iron plates or aluminum plates may be used as long as they have the same performance as this stainless steel. . Moreover, a reinforced plastic, an FRP board, etc. can also be used.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a metal bottom plate frame attached to the upper surface of the pallet 1. Two hinges 5 are attached to two opposite sides of the square of the bottom plate frame 4, and corners are provided at the four corners. 6 has been launched. A top plate fixing pin 7 is provided at the center of the two sides where the hinge 5 is not provided.
8 is a metal bottom plate laid in the bottom plate frame 4, and 9 is a hinge side plate with a hinge 10 connected to the hinge 5 attached to the lower side, as shown in FIGS. The hinge side plate 9 has a metal plate 12 attached to the inner surface of a rectangular frame 11, a lock mechanism 13 described later is provided at the upper end of both sides of the frame 11, and a vertical groove 14 is formed on the inner side of both sides. It is the formed structure.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a free side plate assembled between the hinge side plates 9, and both edges 15a of the free side plate 15 are inserted into the longitudinal grooves 14 of the hinge side plate 9 by sliding from above as shown in FIG. Thus, a box is formed, and the free side plates 15 are connected by a lock mechanism 13 as shown in FIGS.
This connection will be described in detail. The frame 11 of the hinge side plate 9 is provided with a hole 13b through which the lock pin 13a of the lock mechanism 13 passes, and the frame 16 on the free side plate 15 side is provided with a through hole 18. Further, outside this, a lock hole 19 is provided in the frame 11 of the hinge side plate 9, and the lock pin 13a is projected by the coil spring 13c when no load is applied, as shown in FIGS. Thus, both edges 15a of the free side plate 15 are fixed in the longitudinal grooves 14 on the hinge side plate 9 side.

At the time of disassembly, when the finger is put on the ring 13d of the lock pin 13a and the lock pin 13a is pulled out against the coil spring 13c, the free side plate 15 becomes free and can be pulled upward as shown in FIG. . 14 to 16, reference numeral 17 denotes a mounting plate for the lock pin 13a.
The locking mechanism 13 having the same structure as shown in FIGS. 14 to 16 is formed on both sides of the hinge side plate 9, and locks and connects the upper end sides of both sides of the free side plate 15, It has a structure that can be released.

FIG. 12 shows a frame cover 24 attached so as to cover the gap formed when the metal plate 12 is riveted to the frames 11 and 16 of the hinge side plate 9, the free side plate 15, and the frame 21 of the top plate 20. The frame cover 24 is attached to the entire circumference of the metal plate 12 and the frames 11, 16, and 21 that are riveted, so that insects can enter through the gap between the metal plate 12 and the frames 11, 16, and 21. , Has the role of preventing dust from entering. The metal plate 12 is made of stainless steel, aluminum alloy plate, or the like.
A spring-type fixture 22 as a fixing means is attached to the center of the rectangular frame 21 of the top plate 20, and when the container is assembled, as shown in FIG. When it is hooked on 23 and folded, it can be hooked on the pin 7 as shown in FIG.

  The container described above is assembled as shown in FIG. 1, and a preform or the like is accommodated therein. On the other hand, when folding, the top plate 19 is removed, the free side plate 15 is lifted as shown in FIG. 13, and the two hinge side plates 9 are folded on the bottom plate 8 by the action of the hinges 5 and 10, and free on this. The side plate 15 is overlapped, and finally the top plate 20 is put on the corner 6 to cover the free side plate 15 and the fixture 22 is hung on the pin 7 to fix the folded state as shown in FIG. To do. The container is collected and transported and stored in this state.

The perspective view of the state which assembled the pallet container based on this invention Illustration of the container part separated from the pallet Illustration of bottom frame Side view of bottom frame Illustration of hinge Front view of hinge side plate Side view of hinge side plate Top view of hinge side plate Illustration of hinge on hinge side plate Front view of free side plate Top view of free side plate Illustration of frame cover Explanatory drawing of the state where the hinge side plate is raised and the free side plate is pulled up Illustration of lock mechanism Illustration of lock mechanism Illustration of lock mechanism Explanatory drawing of the folded container Explanatory drawing of the state where the container is folded and fixed on the pallet

Explanation of symbols

1 Pallet 3 Fork guard plate 5 Hinge 9 Hinge side plate 10 Hinge 12 Metal plate 13 Lock mechanism 15 Free side plate 20 Top plate

Claims (6)

Two hinges that are quadrangular in a plan view and can be folded on the pallet using a hinge mechanism with respect to two opposing sides on a resin pallet formed by forming fork insertion ports in the front and rear or front and rear and right and left Attached side plates,
A free side plate for forming a box on a rectangular pallet in plan view is provided by forming a vertical groove inside both ends of the hinge side plate and inserting both sides from above into the vertical groove in a detachable manner. ,
Lock holes provided on the side walls of the vertical groove at both end positions near the upper end of the frame of the hinge side plate, horizontally outward and through a through hole provided in the frame of the free side plate inserted into the vertical groove Provided with a lock pin that enters the inside and connects the hinge side plate and the free side plate in the vertical groove,
Providing a top plate that covers a box formed of the hinge side plate and the free side plate;
Foldable pallet container characterized by.   The lock pin is covered with a coil spring. When no load is applied, the coil spring advances by the force of the coil spring, and the tip of the lock pin enters the lock hole via the through hole of the free side plate. When the lock pin is pulled back against the spring of the spring, the tip side of the lock pin escapes from the lock hole and the through hole, and the connection between the hinge side plate and the free side plate is released. The foldable pallet container according to claim 1.   The folding pallet container according to claim 1, wherein a fork guard plate is attached to a peripheral wall of the pallet at a position where the fork insertion port is escaped.   The foldable pallet container according to claim 3, wherein the fork guard plate is formed of a stainless plate, an iron plate, or a reinforced plastic plate.   Corners are raised at the four corners of the pallet, the hinge side plate and the free side plate are folded in the corner on the pallet, and the top plate is placed so as to cover the corner, and 2. The folding device according to claim 1, wherein the top plate is configured to be convenient for transportation and storage by maintaining the folded container flat by being fixed to the pallet by using a fixing means. Formula pallet container. When the metal plate is riveted to the inner surface of the rectangular frame constituting each side plate and the top plate, the frame cover is attached so as to cover the gap formed at the joint between the frame and the metal plate. The foldable pallet container according to claim 1.

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