JP3805796B2 - Container for transporting fruits and vegetables in particular - Google Patents

Abstract

The side walls can be locked into position when upright. Both the side walls and base contain a preferably regular arrangement of holes for ventilation of the goods inside the container. The side walls are locked into position by applying gentle finger pressure to notch profiles in the walls. Preferably the profiles have a bracket section (26), resilient section (27) and ratchet (28) and press and notch surfaces (29,30). The notch surface (30) of one notch profile is pressed against a notch surface in an adjacent side wall that does not have the same notch profile. The container has two long side walls that are folded on top of the base and two narrow side walls that are folded under the base. All the side walls are secured to the base by bolts integrally formed from the base. Film hinges may be used instead of bolts.

Description

The present invention relates to a container made of plastic, specifically designed for the transport of vegetables and fruits, and comprising a container bottom and four side walls folded on it.
Known containers of this type are those whose side walls are connected to the bottom of the container via joint hinges spaced around the bottom or via an integral hinge. In such a case, after using the container, the side walls can be folded inward toward the bottom, thereby minimizing the space required to recover and store the empty container. Compared to joint hinges, integral hinges have the advantage of being easy to clean and simple to manufacture. The joint hinge has the advantage that the side walls can be removed from the bottom and thus can be replaced in the event of failure unlike a one piece integral hinge.
The object of the present invention is to produce a container made of plastic, which makes it possible to simplify the assembly of the side wall with respect to the container bottom. In particular, the handling of the container in the process of folding or raising the side walls should be easier and the stability of the container when in the transport position and when holding the article should be ensured. Container folding should be accomplished quickly and easily without much effort.
This problem is solved by the features included in the characterizing portion of claim 1. This is distinguished from a practical further refinement of the features contained in the dependent claims.
According to the invention, the side wall is connected to the bottom via a joint hinge, the hinge is formed in the form of a lockable connector, and the hinge element formed on the lower edge of the side wall has a corresponding insertion on the bottom side It can be inserted into the opening and locked behind a latch or similar locking element. Therefore, it is practical to combine the hinge element on the side wall and the lock element to form the hinge or part of the hinge. For functional reasons, the side walls are installed vertically from above by hinge elements set in the bottom opening. By doing so, the latches, preferably located oppositely in the opening, are separated to capture the hinge pins behind, thereby firmly anchoring the side walls to the bottom. For practical reasons, it is of course possible to remove the side walls, in which case, using a tool if necessary, the latches are pushed backward separately. In order to improve the stability, it is practical that at least one latch projects laterally from the hinge pin and acts like a shoulder with a stop formed in the insertion opening. Additional mechanical protection is formed by placing the latch adjacent to the parking shoulder in the upright position. This means that the collapsible container is very stable when handled during transport. A simple hinge design and structure appears as a latch and / or a parking spring, which captures and locks the hinge pin behind, and at the same time becomes part of the hinge support.
In order to fold, it is particularly practical to provide an extended flange or raised edge at the bottom and arrange it stepwise according to the thickness of the side wall so that the side wall can be folded up and down . For practical purposes, insertion openings for taking in the hinges are located in their edge flanges or raised edges. These raised edges also serve as parking shoulders for the side walls in the open position. For this purpose, a specific area of the edge is provided with a recess, and the side walls open up against it are aligned via corresponding or complementary recesses, so that the container is stable in the upright position. Increase sex. Therefore, it is convenient to stack the protrusions in the region of the edge flanges or raised edges and on the top edge of the side walls, in particular the corners and the central part of the long side walls, and the correspondingly formed bottom In cooperation with the stacking groove, other types of frame boxes or containers can be prevented from being used during stacking, which is practical. Thus, it is functional to place / assign the parking recess in the region of these protrusions on the bottom edge flange or raised edge.
The side walls and the bottom are formed by spaced cross-section members, and the interior of the container has a flat and smooth wall surface, but the outer surface of the container has a ribbed structure. Is more advantageous.
In order to transport the container in the folded state, a locking element is provided on at least two opposing side walls. These elements can be unlocked by a simple pushing action, especially located in the two corner areas at the top of the short side wall, where the locking position captures the corresponding locking shoulder on the other side wall, Is released, the side wall that is folded inward at the same time is arranged / formed to be folded inward. Thereby, only one action is required to unlock and fold the side wall inward. For functional purposes, these locking elements are formed in the form of handle elements with hook-shaped lock ledges, which are hinged at two points to the side wall for practical reasons, thereby When the handle element is pushed, these connecting points are tilted and the unlocking is guaranteed. When the handle element is pushed, the corresponding side wall is also folded towards the container bottom at the same time as the lock is released.
Embodiments of the invention are described below for purposes of illustration. These illustrate the following:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of the bottom, the left half is a plan view seen from above, and the right half is a plan view seen from below.
Fig. 4 Container in the folded position Fig. 5 Detailed enlarged view of the long side wall for explaining the cross-sectional structure Fig. 6 Detailed view of the long side wall according to the front and plan views Fig. 7 Longitudinal sectional view in the cut plane shown in Fig. 6 FIG. 8 Partial view of the bottom FIG. 9 Side view of the bottom FIG. 10 Detailed enlarged view of the hinge groove of FIG. 11 Cut side view of the bottom 12 FIG. 12 Details of the bottom and side walls for explaining the enlarged view of the hinge FIG. 13 Side view of the bottom FIG. 14 Detailed view of the short side wall folding mechanism FIG. 15 Cross section through the raised edge on the bottom side to illustrate the insertion opening for the hinge element 16 Long side wall acceptance FIG. 17 is a detailed view of the side of the container to show the folded position of the long and short side walls. FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of some of the side walls in the folded position. FIG. 20 is the same as FIG. 18 in the fully folded position. FIG. 20 is a detailed view of the upper region of the short side wall. FIG. 21 is a sectional view according to the BB plane of FIG. Longitudinal sectional view The plastic container shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 has two short side walls 1 and two long side walls 2. These side walls can be manufactured separately from the bottom 3 and can be attached to the container bottom 3 by means of a lockable instant connector. The joint hinge is formed by assembling, and the side walls 1 and 2 can be folded toward the container bottom 3 around the joint hinge. This folded position is shown in FIG. In this figure, two short side walls 1 are first folded over the bottom, and then the long side walls 2 are folded. As shown in FIG. 4, the long side walls 2 overlap each other.
The side walls 1 and 2 of the container are provided with protrusions 4 whose upper edges are shoulder-like at the corners of the container. Corresponding protrusions or shoulders 5 are also provided in the central part of the two long side walls 2. This shoulder 5 is shown clearly in FIG. The lower surface of the bottom 3 is provided with corresponding stacking grooves extending in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction and longitudinal stacking grooves 7 so that the foldable containers can be stacked alternately, It is shown in FIGS. In the meantime, a stacking groove 6 extending parallel to the two short side walls is formed over its entire length, and the stacking groove 7 extending parallel to both long side walls and formed in the center is in particular the bottom part. As shown in the right half of FIG. 3 showing the view from below, it is only partially formed. The troughs of the stacking groove 7 can be seen in the edge and center regions 7a, 7b, and when the containers are stacked alternately, the protrusions 4 and 5 at the upper edge of the side walls are stacked in the stacking container Enter 6 and 7 along with these. The design of the stacking groove 7 as a partial stacking groove has the advantage that it is only necessary to reduce the thickness of certain parts of the bottom and side wall rib structures (described in detail below). This is advantageous in terms of container stability. The illustrated stacking grooves 6 and 7 are formed upwards by receiving parts provided at the bottom, so that the bottom surface of the bottom remains straight. This is advantageous when stacking and transporting containers without problems on a conveyor belt.
The receiving part 8 is shown on the right side of FIG. 3, which will be described in detail below. A joint hinge on the side wall is inserted into the receiving portion 8 from the upper surface of the bottom portion. These receptacles are spaced apart from each other, and in the embodiment shown in the figure, each of the long side walls 2 is provided with six hinge receptacles 8 provided at the bottom. These hinge receptacles 8 are shown engaged with the corresponding hinge elements on the side walls, as can be seen from the left side of FIGS.
In the embodiment shown in the figures, the side walls 1 and 2 and the bottom are formed in a cross-sectional structure, and the inner wall and the bottom are flat and smooth. Therefore, there are no ribs inside the container. This is advantageous when carefully placing and transporting articles such as fruits and vegetables in a folding container. This cross-sectional structure is shown in more detail in FIG. 2, with a long side wall 2 on the left. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view for explaining a cross-sectional structure of the surface of the side wall and the bottom. It can be seen that the side walls and the bottom are arranged with a minimal gap between them and are formed here as S-shaped or L-shaped rib sections 9. The thickness of the wall or bottom is formed by a flat cross member 9a, the outer surface is formed by a bowl-shaped curved cross member 9b, and the inner wall and the bottom surface are formed by straight cross member regions 9c. The gap between adjacent S-shaped sections is indicated by 10. This gap is specially calculated to allow the items in the container to be vented, especially when the container is stacked on a pallet, while preventing the items transported in the container from falling or being removed. Has been. The outer surface of the side wall and the lower surface of the bottom portion 3 are defined by a rib-shaped cross member region 9b, and the wider cross member region 9c defines the side wall inner surface and the bottom surface. This cross-sectional structure reduces weight, but the bottom and sidewall surface structures are surprisingly stable. Since the stack groove 6 provided as a whole extends by the length of the S-shaped rib section 9 and the stack groove 7 is only partially formed, the S-shaped rib section 9 is formed to form the stack groove. Only the thickness of the section 9, especially the section 9 in the central and edge regions, should be reduced, and thus the container structure with increased stability is weakened by the arrangement of the stacking grooves 6 and 7 described above. It is not something that can be done. Thus, the cross-sectional structure of the bottom and the stacked valleys provide advantages by complementing each other.
FIG. 6 shows in detail the long side wall 2 shown in the right lateral front view, and a plan view of this side wall is shown below for reference. The bottom of the side wall 2 is provided with an edge hinge element 11 which can be connected to the bottom 3 and, in the embodiment shown, a total of six spaced apart along the lower edge of the long side wall. A hinge element 11 is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the hinge element 11 comprises two cross members 12 projecting downward and a hinge pin 13 extending in the cross direction and integrally formed therewith. The hinge pin 13 is provided with two hinge shoulders or protrusions 14 in the lateral direction. The hinge element 11 serves to engage with a corresponding hinge receiving part of the bottom 3. This will be described in detail later. FIG. 7 shows various cross-sectional views of FIG. 6 to illustrate long sidewalls.
Also shown in FIG. 6 is a grip 15 formed through a trough on the long side wall.
Furthermore, in the figure which shows the side wall of FIG. 6, recessed part 4 'and 5' are shown by the lower edge part outer surface of the side wall 2. FIG. The shape of these recesses basically corresponds to the shape of the protrusions 4 and 5, and is in particular complementary to the protrusions 4 "and 5" of the container bottom 3 (Fig. 9). The protrusions 4 "and 5" are aligned with the side wall protrusions 4 and 5 and, together with the stacking grooves 6 and 7, also serve to stack alternately with the side walls folded. As shown on the right side of FIG. 1, the side wall recesses 4 ′ and 5 ′ basically serve to engage the protrusions 4 ″ and 5 ″ of the bottom 3 with the long side walls standing vertically.
A hinge receiving portion 8 for receiving the hinge element 11 is incorporated in a lateral edge flange formed integrally with the bottom portion. In this regard, see FIG. 11 which shows the bottom of the container in various cross-sectional views. As can be seen from the right side of FIG. 3, both lateral edge flanges which serve to accommodate two long side walls are indicated by reference numerals 15 and 16 and have an upper hinge receptacle 8. This upper hinge receiving portion 8 is also open to the bottom for molding with a tool. The edge flanges 15 and 16 are formed at different heights so that two opposing long side walls can be folded one above the other as in the state shown in FIG. The height of the edge flange 15 is calculated so that the long side wall that snaps into the folded position reaches the short side wall that is not shown in FIG. The height of the flange 16 is calculated to be slightly higher than the length of the long side wall so that when the side wall is folded, the long side wall on the right side rests on the long side wall on the left side. This is because the height of the edge flanges 15 and 16 can be reduced so that the height of the container can be as low as possible when the container is folded for recovery or storage in an empty state. This means that it can be adjusted in stages according to the thickness of the film. Further, on the right side of FIG. 11, a hinge groove 8 for accommodating a short side wall is shown. As shown in FIG. 11, three hinge grooves 8 are provided on both sides for receiving short side walls. Each lower edge of the short side wall is provided with a suitable hinge element 11 similar to that of the long side wall shown in FIG. 6, this hinge element 11 projecting downward across the lower edge, Snap fit into the hinge groove 8.
FIG. 12 shows the assembled state, in which the hinge element 11 is engaged in a suitable groove 8 in the bottom of the container and is associated with the short side wall 1. FIG. 13 shows a side view of the bottom, the details of which are shown in FIG.
The assembly of the attachable side walls is described in detail in FIGS. 14 to 16, and enlarged cross-sectional views are shown in FIGS. FIGS. 14 and 16 show the edge flanges of the bottom 3 for receiving the long side walls that rest in the folded position. The right view of FIG. 14 shows the assembly position in which the hinge pin 13 of the long side wall 1 in the vertical position is pushed into the hinge groove 8 from above. From the two figures on the right side of FIG. 14, it can be seen that the hinge pin 13 is provided with a lateral protrusion 17 that functions as a parking part. FIG. 12 shows that the hinge receiving part 8 is provided with two latches or parking springs 19 which are arranged opposite to each other and project inward. The spring 19 is formed integrally with the bottom 3 for practical reasons. When the long side wall is pushed in from above via the hinge pin 13, that is, the lateral protrusion 14, the parking spring 19 is pushed in and holds the wall so that it does not come off at the engagement position of the long side wall. The position in FIG. 12 shows the hinge element 11 fixed to the fixed part 20 at the bottom by a latch, to which the joint pin 13 is attached. See also FIG. 15 in this regard. The hinge pin 13 snap-engaged with the parking spring 19 and the corresponding parts 20 and 22 and the back of the parking spring forms part of the joint hinge, by which the side wall can be folded towards the bottom or directed to the vertical position. Can be opened upward.
The center figure of FIG. 14 shows the folding position when empty containers are collected at a reduced height. The right figure shows a state in which the container is opened to convey the article.
With the long side wall 1 open, the latch 17 rotates 90 degrees to engage the parking shoulder 18 formed on the raised edge 16 as shown in the right figure. The parking shoulder 18 cooperates with the latch 17 to function as a mechanical block that holds the long side wall 1 open and upright and prevents further pivoting outward. Since the parking spring 19 is provided, the side wall is not pulled out from the hinge groove 8 when the container is handled. The side walls can be separated only when the latch 19 is folded separately rearward. Accordingly, the long side wall is held by the mechanical block using the parking shoulder 18 and the parking protrusion 17 described above in the open and standing position, as shown in the right side of FIG. The parking shoulder is further assisted by movement by an angle α. This provides a firm lock so that the long side wall rests firmly against the bottom in an open and upright position. Therefore, there is no “shaking feel” when handling containers. In this regard, a mechanical block with a latch connection cooperates with a parking spring.
From FIG. 12, there is a gap in the lateral direction between the joint protrusion 14 and the wall 21 of the hinge receiving portion of the bottom plate, and in order to equalize the gap, the deflection hinge element that restricts the gap is hinged. It can be seen that it can be inserted into the part. Details of the latch 19 are also shown in FIG. This figure also shows that the hinge receiving portion 8 is open to the bottom. This is purely for tool forming in the manufacture of containers or bottom plates. The latch 19 is basically clear from FIG. In FIG. 15, the joint pin support portion is limited by the upper edges of the two parking hooks 19 and the two cross members 22. This means that when the long side wall is folded, in the hinge pin 13 inserted into the hinge receiving portion, the support portion is maintained by the parking hook 19 and the upper edge portion of the cross member wall 22.
FIG. 16 shows the receiving part of the short side wall 1 provided in the corresponding hinge groove 8. The side wall is held in a vertical position, and the hinge pin is engaged with a parking spring. The two central drawings in FIG. 16 show a long side wall in a vertically open position, and in the right figure only the hinge receptacle 8 formed on the lateral edge flange 23 of the bottom plate 3 is shown.
FIG. 17 shows the short side wall 1 in the folded state and the long side wall folded on top of it. The height of the transfer container when the side wall is in the folded position is the thickness of the bottom, the thickness of one short side wall 1 (this will be locked together as will be explained in detail below) And the thickness of the two long sidewalls superimposed on it.
FIG. 18 is various drawings showing two side walls in a position where they are mutually locked up and down in the folded position, and FIG. 19 is the same cross-sectional view showing the side walls in a position folded up and down.
Therefore, the upper edges of the side walls, here the upper edges of the short side walls 1, are overlapped by the receiving parts 24 and the projections 25 so that these side walls 1 are fully interlocked up and down in the folded position, As can be seen from the folded state shown in FIG. 19, the height of the two folded side walls is illustrated as the thickness of only one side wall. Thus, when the side wall is in the folded position, the container height can be surprisingly reduced. In this case, the length and height of the side walls are such that, for example, as shown in FIG. 19, only the short side walls are locked together, or the two long side walls are locked together, and the long side wall 2 and the short side wall 1 Can be calculated so that both lock together.
FIG. 20 is a view showing in detail the upper corner of the short side wall, and shows a locking mechanism for locking and unlocking the side wall that is opened and raised, that is, the short side wall and the long side wall. Cross-sectional views corresponding to the cross-section B and the cross-section C are shown in FIGS.
Here, the grip element is indicated by 30, and this element 30 is provided in the upper part on both sides of the short side wall, which corresponds to the view shown in FIG. The grip element 30 has a hook-shaped lock ledge 31 and is hinged to some extent with respect to the side wall 1 as shown by 32 in the corresponding FIGS. 20 and 21 so as to correspond to FIG. The wall thickness can be formed to form a joint-like connection by correspondingly reducing the wall thickness of the sidewall, or otherwise to form a pivot joint. For ease of explanation, the corresponding opposing member of the adjacent long side wall is indicated by 33 and in FIG. 22 this is indicated by a dotted line. When the short and long side walls are opened and raised, the lock ledge 31 hangs behind the corresponding long side wall lock portion 33. To release this, that is, to fold the short side wall 1 inward, the grip element 30 is pushed with the thumb and the lock ledge 31 pivots about two pivot points 32 as indicated by the arrow D in FIG. Pivot in the direction shown and thus away from the long side wall lock portion 33 so that the short side wall can be folded inward toward the bottom. To improve the neck of the side wall in the upright position, a tongue 34 (shown in FIG. 20) on the short side wall (shown in FIG. 2) is placed between the corresponding long side wall projection 35. Intervene. This engagement point is not shown in FIG. 20, but the tongue 34 interacts with the corresponding long sidewall engagement portion in the open and upright position. The lock can be released by simply pressing the grip element 30 with both thumbs on both sides of the short side wall, and at the same time the short side wall can be folded inward. The grip element may be arranged on the short side wall or on the long side wall depending on the shape of the container.

Claims (11)

In particular, a container for transporting fruits and vegetables, which has a container bottom and four side walls, the side walls (1, 2) are connected to the container bottom (3) via joint hinges (11). Removably hinged , and can be folded toward the container bottom (3) from a vertical position opened upward with respect to the container bottom (3) about the joint hinge (11),
The joint hinge (11),
Formed as a lockable connector located on the lower edge of the side wall (1,2),
Locked to the back of the parking element (19) extending substantially oppositely into the opening (8) by inserting vertically into the corresponding opening (8) of the container bottom (3) from above Hold the side wall so that it does not come off the bottom,
By pressing the parking element (19) separately backwards, it can be removed from the element (19),
The joint hinge (11) comprises a hinge pin (13),
The hinge pin (13) has at least one protruding latch (17) provided in a direction crossing the axial direction of the hinge pin (13).
The protruding latch (17) interacts with one of the parking shoulders (18) formed in the opening (8) for the joint hinge in the upright position, 18) A container that engages with and forms a mechanical lock for the upstanding side wall. The parking element (19) is a parking spring, the opening (8) of the container bottom (3) is arranged around the container bottom, and the joint hinge (11) is a pin type. and characterized in that, the container of claim 1. Each joint hinge (11) is provided with two cross members (12), and the hinge pin (13) is attached to the two cross members (12) in the cross direction, the lateral direction of the hinge pin (13) The projecting part (14) protruding to the bottom is captured by the back of the parking element (19), and the hinge pin (13) is brought into close contact with the container part (20) fixed to the bottom part. The container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a hinge receiving part for receiving a hinge pin substantially is formed. The edge of the container bottom (3), raised edge which is adjusted stepwise in accordance with the thickness of the side wall (15, 16) is provided, on該隆Okoshien portion, an opening for the joint hinge (11) Container according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , characterized in that the part (8) is arranged. The side walls (1, 2) have a protrusion (4) in the corner region of the upper side edge, and at least one protrusion (5) is provided at the center of the long side wall; Substantially corresponding protrusions (4 ″, 5 ″) are provided on the raised edges (15, 16), and when the side walls (1, 2) are in the open and raised position, the protrusions (4 ″) , 5 ") is, the side walls (1,2) recesses (4 formed to correspond to the lower edge of the ', 5', characterized in that interacting with) a container according to claim 4. Stacking grooves (6, 7) is provided in the container bottom surface as the trough provided in the container bottom (3), for practical reasons, the two stacked groove in the transverse direction (6) for long side wall, short A stacking groove (7) partially formed in the cross direction with respect to the side wall, that is, not extending over the entire length, is provided , and the partially formed stacking groove (7) includes: The container according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , characterized in that stacking grooves (7a, 7b) aligned with the protrusions (4, 5) when the containers are stacked alternately are provided. The container bottom (3) and the side walls (1, 2) are formed in the form of a cross member and are defined by cross-section cross members (9a, 9b) spaced apart between the openings (10), the inner surface of the container The container according to claim 1 , wherein the container is defined by a flat wall side surface and the outer surface of the container is defined by a ribbed structure. 8. Container according to claim 7 , characterized in that the stacking groove (6) is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the cross-section crossing member (9) in a direction intersecting the long side wall. 9. The opposite side wall according to claim 1 , characterized in that the opposite side wall has a receiving part (24) and a shoulder part (25), whereby the side walls can be interlocked straight in the folded position. The container according to item. When the side walls are locked to each other in the upright position and the release grip element (30) is released by simply pressing the release grip element (30) with a finger, a lock element (31) is provided on the side wall that is folded inward first. In the locked position, the element (31) engages with a corresponding locking element on the adjacent side wall, so that releasing the grip element (30) releases the side wall that is folded inward first and simultaneously folds inward. The container according to claim 1 , wherein the container is arranged or formed. A locking element is provided in the upper region and side edge of the side wall (1) which is folded inward first, in the form of a grip element (30), so that the grip element can be moved by applying pressure. When the grip element is pushed so that the side wall can be folded inward, the locking ledge (31) is hinged to the corresponding side wall so that it moves and pivots away from the locking element in the opposite position. The container according to claim 10 , wherein the container is placed.

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