JP5612192B2 - Crate - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a crate for storing products such as fruits and vegetables, and more particularly to a banana crate.

  Crate for storage and transportation of goods such as fruits and vegetables is widely used in the market. Usually, such crate is light and stable, so it is suitable for delivering crops from fields to customers. In particular, in the case of tropical fruits such as bananas, generally unripe crops are harvested and packed into a crate before being shipped and transported. These fruits will ripen during transport. Prior to transport, these crate are usually stacked on top of each other and placed side by side on the pallet. Here, in many cases, a specific cross stacking method is used as in the case of a “five-down configuration”. In this five-down configuration, five crates are arranged adjacent to each other so that two crate form a row in the length direction and the other three crate form a row in the width direction. Form.

  However, such a configuration has one problem in that free and uniform air circulation between the short side (end wall) and the long side (side wall) of the adjacent crate of the prior art is not guaranteed. This is disadvantageous in that as a result of non-uniform air distribution, the fruit may not receive uniform temperature control during its transportation and storage.

  Another disadvantage of known crate is that the inner surface of the side wall is straight and very bumpy and may contain sharp and / or strong objects such as corners and edges. Accordingly, merchandise having rounded surface portions, such as bananas, apples, or oranges, can be easily damaged by such rough surfaces.

  In addition, for quality control purposes, personnel may be required to have quick and easy access to the interior of a particular crate (not the top) placed in a stack of crate. However, the well-known crate does not provide this possibility. This means that when it is necessary to look inside a particular crate, the personnel must partially disassemble and reassemble this stack. This procedure is inefficient and inconvenient and is a further disadvantage.

  Finally, a further disadvantage with the known top-opening crate is that when two crates are stacked on top of each other, a product that protrudes slightly beyond the top of the lower crate (eg, a curved portion of a banana) It can come into contact with the crate load and eventually lead to damage to the goods.

  Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a crate that can improve airflow, packaging, access during inspection, and stacking of transportable goods.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the crate includes a bottom and two opposing pairs of opposing side walls and end walls. Each side wall has a plurality of vent holes in a region A extending along the horizontal direction of the side wall, and each end wall has a grip hole. Here, the area A is separated from the corner of the crate by a distance d _A. The distance d _A is equal to the distance d _GH the grip hole is away from the same corner of the crate. Furthermore, the height h _A of the region A is substantially equal to the height h _GH grip hole. That is, these heights are set so that the region A and the grip hole at least partially overlap in the height direction.

  This ensures, for example, a ventilation path for providing an optimal air flow between adjacent crate arranged in a five-down configuration. Therefore, a high speed and particularly uniform air flow can be obtained by this ventilation path. As a result, consistent temperature control for maintaining fruit quality is obtained.

  According to the embodiment, the plurality of vent holes may have a pair of vent holes having a combined shape similar to the grip holes. The plurality of vent holes may be spaced at a smaller interval than the dimension of the grip hole. The horizontal dimension of the individual ventilation holes of the plurality of ventilation holes may be less than the dimension of the grip holes. The side wall and the end wall may be configured to be foldable with respect to the bottom so that the remaining volume of the crate is minimized in the folded state. The bottom may include two sets of ventilation openings. The width of each ventilation opening in the first set is 40 mm or more and the length is 126 mm or more, and the width of each ventilation opening in the second set is 40 mm or more and the length is 25 mm or more. Each of the plurality of vent holes may have a width of 20 mm or more and a length of 24 mm or more. Each grip hole may have a width of 30 mm or more and a length of 100 mm or more.

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to the arrangement of two crate according to embodiments of the present invention. The crate is positioned such that the end wall of the first crate is adjacent to the side wall of the second crate. The first crate is configured to be aligned along a first longitudinal axis parallel to the first crate sidewall, and the second crate is a second parallel to the second crate sidewall. Configured to be aligned along the longitudinal axis of the. The first longitudinal axis and the second longitudinal axis are perpendicular to each other. The side wall of the first crate and the end wall of the second crate are at least partially overlapped by at least one vent hole of the first crate grip hole and the plurality of vent holes of the second crate. And a second crate so that a ventilation path is provided. The plurality of crates may be configured as a five-down configuration so that a ventilation path is provided between adjacent crates.

  According to a further embodiment, each side wall has a smooth inner surface that is convex toward the outside of the crate. This provides an inner surface for storing merchandise having a rounded surface portion and avoids damage to the merchandise. The side wall and the end wall may have a reinforcing member. The reinforcing member is provided only on the outer surface of each of the side wall and the end wall. The side walls and end walls may be made of plastic to provide a smooth inner surface (810). The convex smooth inner surface may have a lateral curvature dimension that is less than the maximum lateral dimension of the sidewall. The inner surface is substantially curved only in the sidewall region where the non-continuous reinforcement members extending along the vertical direction of the sidewall are blocked. This area is the central area.

  According to another embodiment, the at least one end wall includes a thinned portion. The thinned portion is configured to allow the user to cut the end wall to provide an inspection opening. The thinned portion of the end wall may be a groove surrounding a predetermined region of the end wall. The groove thickness is more than half of the end wall thickness. The end wall (130) may further have a plurality of holes arranged along the groove. The diameter of each hole is larger than the width of the groove. The thinned portion may be configured to provide an openable portion hinged to the end wall when a user cuts the thinned portion. The predetermined area is substantially rectangular and the groove is adjacent to at least three sides of the predetermined area. This predetermined region may exceed 1/3 of the area of the end wall. The end wall (130) may be made of plastic. The arrangement of the plurality of crate according to the embodiment of the present invention may have a plurality of crate arranged adjacent to each other so that the user can access at least one end wall including the thinned portion. .

  According to yet another embodiment, the bottom is bent in an arch toward the interior of the crate such that a space S is provided between the bottom surface of the bottom and a plane P defined by the lower end of the crate. . Thereby, two crate can be piled up mutually fundamentally, without crushing or damaging the goods which project into space S from a lower crate. The bottom may be arcuate along the direction of the end wall of the crate or along the direction of the side wall. The bottom may be corrugated along the direction of the side wall in the boundary region of the side wall. The first portion of the corrugated bottom may have a planar height, and the second portion of the corrugated portion may have a maximum lower end height of the upper portion. The bottom may include an upper portion and a lower portion that is recessed with respect to the exterior points of each wall, and the spacing between the recesses may be equal to the thickness of each wall. This allows the lower part to be engaged with the top opening of the further crate. The lower portion can have a region defined by the outer periphery of the lower portion, and the upper portion can have a region defined by the outer periphery of the upper portion. The side walls and end walls may include an inner surface and an outer surface. The inner region may be defined by an inner surface at the upper end of the crate and the outer region may be defined by an outer surface at the upper end of the crate. In this case, the region may be substantially equal to the region, and the region may be substantially equal to the region. Embodiments provide an inner region where the first and second crate are defined by an inner surface at the upper end of the first crate and a region defined by the outer periphery of the lower portion of the second crate. Define a stack of two crate of the present invention configured as follows. In this case, when the second crate is stacked on top of the first crate, the area and the area are equal so that movement between the first crate and the second crate is avoided. The bottom of the second crate may have a plurality of vent openings configured to provide a vent path between the first crate and the second crate.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of a crate. It is a top view which shows embodiment of the crate of FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the side wall of the crate embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a side view showing an end wall of the crate embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a side view showing end walls and side walls of the crate of FIG. FIG. 6 shows the dimensions of a plurality of vent holes and grip holes in a further embodiment of the crate. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a plurality of crate arrangements of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5 in a partial five-down configuration. FIG. 7b is a side view showing the end wall of the crate in the arrangement of FIGS. 7a and 7b. FIG. 7b is a side view showing the side walls of the crate in the arrangement of FIGS. 7a and 7b. FIG. 7b is a plan view showing the crate of the arrangement of FIGS. 7a and 7b. FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a plurality of crate embodiments of the embodiment of FIG. 6 in a partial five-down configuration. FIG. 9 is a side view showing the end wall of the crate in the arrangement of FIGS. 8a and 8b. 9 is a side view showing the side walls of the crate in the arrangement of FIGS. 8a and 8b. FIG. FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the crate of the arrangement of FIGS. 8a and 8b. FIG. 7 is a detailed plan view showing the sidewalls of a further embodiment of a crate having a convex smooth inner surface. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a further embodiment of a crate having an openable portion. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a further embodiment of a crate having an arcuate bottom. FIG. 11 b is a perspective view illustrating a further embodiment of the crate of FIG. 11 a. FIG. 12 shows details of the bottom of the crate embodiment of FIGS. 11a and 11b. FIG. 5 is a partial side view showing an embodiment of a stack in which two crate are stacked on top of each other. FIG. 13b is a partial side view showing a further embodiment of the stack of FIG. 13a with a space (S) between the two crate.

(Description of Embodiment of the Invention)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of a crate 100. The crate 100 has a bottom portion 110 and two side walls 120 and end walls 130 that face each other in pairs. Referring to FIG. 1, the side wall 120 has a larger extent than the end wall 130. Both the side wall 120 and the end wall 130 can be folded with respect to the bottom part 110. In more detail, the side wall 120 and the end wall 130 are attached to the bottom part 110 so that it can be folded on the bottom part 110 in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. In the folded state, the residual volume of the crate 100 is minimal. This has the advantage that when folded, the crate 100 occupies only a low height. Therefore, a large number of empty crate can be stacked and transported on the pallet.

  In embodiments, the crate 100 is made of plastic to provide light weight and high stability for storage and / or transportation.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each side wall 120 has a plurality of vent holes 125, and each end wall 130 has a grip hole 135. The plurality of vent holes 125 are basically disposed in a region A extending along the horizontal direction 101 of the side wall 120. Here, the horizontal direction is defined as a direction along the long side of each side wall. Further, the region A is basically defined as a region surrounded by two continuous reinforcing members 121 and 122 near the upper end of the crate 100 where the plurality of non-continuous reinforcing members 123 are not blocked. It can also be seen in FIG. 1 that the side wall 120 and the end wall 130 may be secured to each other with fasteners 140 when the crate 100 is not folded.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating an embodiment of the crate 100 of FIG. More particularly, the bottom 110 may have two pairs of ventilation openings 210 and 220 and is symmetrically disposed about an axis 205 parallel to the end wall 130 along the central longitudinal axis 201. May be. Specifically, the width 212 of each ventilation opening of the first pair 210 is 40 mm or more, the length 214 is 126 mm or more, the width 222 of the ventilation opening of the second pair 220 is 40 mm or more, and the length 224. Is 25 mm or more. Here, the width is defined as a dimension parallel to the end wall 130, and the length is defined as a dimension parallel to the side wall 120. The dimensions of the two pairs of ventilation openings 210 and 220 must be large enough to provide adequate ventilation through the bottom 110. However, dimensions that are so large that a particular item falls from the crate 100 will not be selected. As can already be seen in FIG. 2, the inner surface 121 of the sidewall 120 is configured to curve toward the outside of the crate 100. This will be described in detail later.

  FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating the sidewall 120 of the embodiment of the crate 100 of FIG. In FIG. 3, a plurality of vent holes 125 are clearly shown. More specifically, the plurality of vent holes 125 may have a pair of vent holes 310. These vent holes may have a combined shape similar to the grip holes 135 (see FIG. 1). This is advantageous because by applying a combined shape, the pair of vent holes 310 and the grip holes 135 can be optimally overlapped, for example when two crate are arranged in a five-down configuration. . With reference to FIG. 3, the width 312 of each vent of the plurality of vents 125 may be 20 mm or greater and the length 314 may be 24 mm or greater. Here, the width is defined as a dimension in the vertical direction 301 of the side wall 120, and the length is defined as a dimension in the horizontal direction 101 of the side wall 120. Furthermore, continuous reinforcing members 121 and 122 extending in the vertical direction 101 of the side wall 120 and a plurality of non-continuous reinforcing members 123 are clearly seen in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating the end wall 130 of the embodiment of the crate 100 of FIG. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the grip hole 135 is centered with respect to the two ends 131 and 132 of the crate 100. In addition, the grip hole 135 is recessed at a distance 133 of about 30 mm with respect to the upper end of the crate 100. More specifically, a gripping hole 135 may be coupled to the thickened upper frame portion 134 of the end wall 130 to provide a strong grip for carrying the loaded crate 100. Referring to FIG. 4, the width 137 of the grip hole 135 may be 30 mm or more, and the length 139 may be 100 mm or more. Here, the width is defined as a dimension in the vertical direction 402 of the end wall 130, and the length is defined as a dimension in the horizontal direction 401 of the end wall 130. It can also be seen that the grip hole 135 tapers from a maximum horizontal extent at the upper point 136 to a minimum horizontal extent at the lower point 138, thereby providing an ergonomic grip. The fastener 140 can also be clearly seen in FIG. A fastener 140 may be attached to the end wall 130 so that it can engage a recess 128 provided in the portion 126 of the sidewall 120. Here, this fastening mechanism can function on the basis that the replacement element 142 of the fastener 140 can be replaced against the force of the spring element. Also, as already shown in FIG. 4, the end wall 130 may have a thinned portion 410 that essentially surrounds the central portion of the end wall 130 that includes a portion of the grip hole 135. The purpose and further details of the thinned portion 410 will be described later. A further characteristic characteristic of the end wall 130 is that a plurality of reinforcing members 420 may be provided near the boundary region of the end wall 130. This improves the ability to support the fastening mechanism described above.

Arrangement of ventilation holes (first aspect)
The first aspect of the present invention addresses the disadvantage that in a five-down configuration, for example, a uniform air flow is not provided between adjacent crate of the prior art.

FIG. 5 shows the end wall 130 and the side wall 120 of the crate 100 imaginarily widened at the same corner 505 of the crate 100. Alternatively, FIG. 5 may show the end wall 512 of the first crate 510 adjacent to the side wall 522 of the second crate 520. First crate 510 is corner 505 and aligned with second crate 520. As shown, the side wall 120 of the crate 100, or alternatively the side wall 522 of the second crate 520, has a plurality of vent holes 125 in region A. Region A is indicated in FIG. In an embodiment, region A is a distance d _A away from corner 505 and has a height h _A. Further, the end wall 130, or alternatively the end wall 512 of the first crate 510, has a grip hole 135. In an embodiment, the grip holes 135 are a distance d _GH away from the same corner 505 and have a height h _GH . It can be seen in the embodiment of FIG. 5 that the distance d _A is approximately equal to the distance d _GH and the height h _A is approximately equal to the height h _GH . Thus, particularly in a five-down configuration (see FIGS. 7a, 7b, 8a, and 8b), the grip hole 135 of the first crate 510 and at least one vent hole (eg, vent hole) of the second crate 520 515) may at least partially overlap, resulting in a vent path between the two crates 510 and 520.

FIG. 6 shows the dimensions of a plurality of vent holes 615 and grip holes 135 of a further embodiment of the crate 100. The plurality of vent holes 615 shown in FIG. 6 may correspond to the plurality of vent holes 125 shown in FIG. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the plurality of vent holes 615 are separated by a distance s _VH along the horizontal direction 101 of the side wall 120. In addition, each vent hole has the same extent and can be rectangular. The distance s _VH may be selected so as to be less than the dimension 1 _GH of the grip hole 135. The dimension _lGH may correspond to a maximum horizontal spread 139 as shown in FIG. In addition, the horizontal dimension l _VH of the vent hole may be selected to be less than the dimension l _GH of the grip hole 135. Further, the vertical dimension of the vent hole along the vertical direction 301 may be less than the vertical extension of the grip hole 135. Accordingly, the characteristic dimension of the plurality of vent holes 615 is generally less than the dimension of the grip hole 135 such that at least one vent hole 515 overlaps the grip hole 135, such as in a five-down configuration. Composed.

  7a and 7b are perspective views showing a plurality of crate arrangements 700 of the embodiment described with respect to FIGS. 1-5 in a partial five-down configuration. In this context, “partial” means that only three are shown instead of five crate 100 in a five-down configuration. With reference to FIGS. 7 a and 7 b, the two particular crate 510 and 520 are arranged such that the end wall 512 of the first crate 510 is adjacent to the side wall 522 of the second crate 520. Here, the first crate 510 is aligned along the first longitudinal axis 701 and the second crate 520 is aligned along the second longitudinal axis 702. As can be seen in FIGS. 7a and 7b, the first longitudinal axis 701 and the second longitudinal axis 702 are perpendicular to each other. Further, the side wall 720 of the first crate 510 that can correspond to the side wall 120 of FIG. 3 and the end wall 730 of the second crate 520 that can correspond to the end wall 130 of FIG. 4 are the same in this partially five-down configuration. Aligned to be a plane. Correspondingly, the grip hole 125 of the first crate 510 and at least one vent hole of the plurality of vent holes 125 of the second crate 520 may at least partially overlap. The ventilation path 710 thus obtained, indicated by the dark arrow, indicates the ventilation path of the air flow. This ensures proper ventilation within each of the crate 510 and 520.

  FIGS. 7c, 7d, and 7e show different side views of end wall 512, side wall 522, and crate 510, respectively. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, ventilation regions 705, 706, and 709 may be further variously formed in the lower portion of the crate 510, resulting in improved ventilation.

  8a and 8b are perspective views showing a multiple crate arrangement 700 of the embodiment described with respect to FIG. 6 in a partial five-down configuration. In this context, “partial” means that only three are shown instead of five crate 100 in a five-down configuration. With reference to FIGS. 8 a and 8 b, the two particular crate 510 and 520 are arranged such that the end wall 512 of the first crate 510 is adjacent to the side wall 522 of the second crate 520. Here, the first crate 510 is aligned along the first longitudinal axis 751 and the second crate 520 is aligned along the second longitudinal axis 752. As can be seen in FIGS. 8a and 8b, the first longitudinal axis 751 and the second longitudinal axis 752 are perpendicular to each other. Further, the side wall 770 of the first crate 510 and the end wall 780 of the second crate 520 are aligned to be coplanar in the partial five down configuration. Correspondingly, the grip hole 135 of the first crate 510 and the at least one vent hole 515 of the plurality of vent holes 615 of the second crate 520 can at least partially overlap. The overlapping area 765 is indicated by a dark mark. The resulting ventilation path 760, indicated by the arrows, represents the ventilation path for the air flow, which ensures proper ventilation within each of the crate 510 and 520.

  Figures 8c, 8d and 8e show different side views of end wall 512, side wall 522 and crate 510, respectively. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, ventilation regions 755, 756, and 759 may be further variously formed near the lower portion of crate 510 and / or the corner of crate 510 (region 757), As a result, ventilation is improved.

Inner surface of the crate (second aspect)
The second aspect of the present invention addresses the further disadvantage that the inner surface of the well-known crate sidewall is straight, sharp and / or rigid.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the side wall 120 of the crate 100 in detail. It can be seen in FIG. 9 that the sidewall 120 has a reinforcing member 815 that includes the reinforcing members 121 and 122, also shown in FIG. The sidewall 120 may have a smooth inner surface 810 that is convex toward the outside of the crate 100. In addition, the reinforcing member 815 may be provided only on the outer surface of the side wall 120. In order to provide a smooth inner surface 810, the crate 100 or at least the sidewalls 120 can be made of plastic. It can be seen in FIG. 9 that the lateral curvature dimension l _c of the convex smooth inner surface 810 is less than the maximum lateral dimension d _SW of the sidewall 120. Here, the lateral dimension is defined as a dimension in the lateral direction 801 that is perpendicular to the side wall 120. Inner surface 810 is substantially curved only in region B of sidewall 120. With reference to FIG. 3, this region B is defined as a region where the non-continuous reinforcing member 123 extending along the vertical direction 301 is blocked. Therefore, the region B is a central region that is not close to the corner 805 of the crate 100 and basically has the continuous reinforcing members 121 and 122 as a boundary. An advantage of using a convex inner surface 810, on the other hand, is that the crate 100 is particularly suitable for storing items having a rounded surface portion. On the other hand, because the inner surface 810 is made very smooth, i.e., has no sharp edges or corners, the risk of damaging or crushing transportable goods during transport can be minimized.

Quick access to the inside of the crate (third mode)
The third aspect of the present invention addresses the further disadvantage of not being able to quickly and easily access the interior of a particular crate, for example when the crate is stacked in columns on a pallet.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a further embodiment of a crate 100 having an openable portion. In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the end wall 130 has a thinned portion 910 that can correspond to the thinned portion 410 shown in FIG. This thinned portion 910 may be configured as a groove. This groove 910 is made in the end wall 130 and surrounds at least three sides of the predetermined region 905. As can be seen in the embodiment of FIG. 10, this predetermined area 905 is substantially rectangular. The enlarged view shows that the thickness l _GR of the groove 910 in the direction perpendicular to the end wall 130 exceeds half the thickness l _EW of the end wall 130. Due to the feature of the groove 910, the groove 910 can be easily cut. Further, a plurality of holes 915 may be disposed along the groove 910. Each hole may have a diameter 917 that is greater than the width 912 of the groove 910. The width 912 may normally be 6 mm or more (see also FIG. 4). Accordingly, the dimensions of the holes 915 are set such that a knife commonly used by personnel can be easily introduced into these holes and then cut along the grooves 910. By cutting the groove 910, an openable portion 920 that is basically attached to the end wall 130 may be provided. The openable portion 920 can be opened as indicated by the arrow. The purpose of providing such an openable part is to allow the user to see the interior of the crate 100 for the user to inspect the stored product. For example, it can be checked whether fruits such as bananas being transported are ripe to a certain extent. Similarly, the end wall 130 may be made of plastic so that personnel can use a regular knife. The embodiment of FIG. 10 also shows that the predetermined region 905 may exceed one third of the area of the end wall 130 to provide a sufficiently large opening for inspection. . In an embodiment, when two or more crate 100 are stacked adjacent to each other, such as the five-down configuration partially shown in FIGS. 7a, 7b, 8a, and 8b, the user can at least The crate must be positioned so that it can access the groove 910 of one end wall 130.

Arched crate bottom (fourth aspect)
The fourth aspect of the present invention addresses the further disadvantage that the product protruding from the lower crate can be damaged by the load of the upper crate when the upper crate is stacked on top of the lower crate.

FIGS. 11 a and 11 b are perspective views showing further embodiments of the crate 100. Specifically, the bottom 110 is bent in an arch shape toward the inside of the crate 100. The bottom 110 may be bent along the direction 1001 of the end wall 130 (see FIG. 11a) or along the direction 1002 of the sidewall 120 (see FIG. 11b). In both designs, an additional space S is provided between the lower surface of the bottom 110 and the plane P, as can be clearly seen in FIGS. 11a and 11b. Here, each of the planes P is defined by the lower end of the crate 100.
It should be noted that in the present context, the embodiment of FIG. 11b related to the aspect that the bottom may be curved along the direction of the side walls does not actually form part of the present invention. .

FIGS. 12a and 12b show a more detailed view of the bottom 110 of a further embodiment of the crate 100 of FIGS. 11a and 11b. More specifically, FIG. 12a is a partial cross-sectional view along line L ₁ -L ₁ in FIG. 11a, and FIG. 12b is a partial cross-sectional view along line L ₂ -L ₂ in FIG. 11a. In both FIGS. 12 a and 12 b, the bottom 110 has an upper portion 1110 and a lower portion 1120. Lower portion 1120 may be recessed with respect to external points 1101 of each wall of crate 100. As can be clearly seen in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 12 a, the lower portion 1120 of the bottom 110 may be curved upward along the direction 1001 so that a bulge 1125 is obtained. FIG. 12a shows a state in which the cross-sectional area of the additional space S to be created gradually increases toward the right.

The partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 12 b shows that the bottom 110 may be undulating along the direction 1002 in the vicinity of the sidewall 120. L ₂ -L ₂ is the boundary region of the crate 100 as shown in FIG. 11a. More specifically, due to the wavy shape of the bottom 110, the bulge 1125 will be disposed along the direction 1002, ie, along the end wall 120, which makes the bottom 110 very rigid.

  In a further embodiment, the curved surface of the bulge 1125 may gradually become more prominent from the central longitudinal axis of the crate 100 toward the direction 1001 (ie, the direction approaching the sidewall 120).

  In a further embodiment, the first portion of the corrugated bottom 110 is at the height of the plane P, and the second portion of the corrugated bottom 110 is at most the height of the lower end of the top portion 1110 corresponding to the maximum extent of the wavy shape. That's it.

Figures 13a and 13b are side views showing further embodiments. For example, two crates 1210 and 1220 are stacked together. In both the embodiments of FIGS. 12 and 13, the indentation distance d _R may be selected to be equal to the thickness l _{W of} each wall. In this way, the lower portion 1120 of the second crate 1220 and the top opening of the first crate 1210 are engaged so as to avoid lateral movement in the direction 1201 shown in FIG. 13a. Also good.

In a further embodiment, the lower portion 1120 has an area A _LP defined by the outer periphery of the lower portion 1120 and the upper portion 1110 has an area A _UP defined by the outer periphery of the upper portion 1110. Furthermore, the inner area A _IS, defined by an inner surface of each wall at the upper end of the crate 100, the outer region A _OS may be defined by the outer surface of each wall at the upper end of the crate 100. More specifically, region A _LP is approximately equal to region A _IS, and region A _UP is approximately equal to region A _OS .

In a further embodiment, when the second crate 1220 is stacked on top of the first crate 1210, the inner side at the upper end of the first crate 1210 is such that the first crate 1210 and the second crate 1220 exactly match. The inner area _{AIS, 1} defined by the surface may be equal to the area _{ALP, 2} defined by the outer periphery of the lower portion 1120 of the second crate 1220.

  In a further embodiment, the bottom 110 of the second crate 1220 may further include a plurality of vent openings to provide a vent path between the first crate 1210 and the second crate 1220. .

  Referring to FIG. 13b, the advantage of providing the additional space S is that the crate below the pillar, such as the curved portion of the banana protruding from the plane P, is actually the case when two or more crate are stacked on each other in a pillar shape on the pallet. The product 1205 extending beyond the top end of 1210 can be efficiently protected from being crushed by the heavy load of the crate 1220 above the column.

  In summary, embodiments of the present invention provide a crate, such as a banana crate. The crate vent design allows the crate to be stacked (e.g., a five-down configuration) even when stacking the crate so that two crates are positioned so that the end wall of one crate is adjacent to the side wall of another crate. Proper ventilation inside is possible. Specifically, by providing a vent path, uniform air distribution and thus consistent temperature management to preserve fruit quality can be achieved with such a design.

  Here, the vent holes are arranged in the side walls so that at least one vent hole is provided in the side walls at a certain distance from each corner. This distance is equal to the distance that the end wall grip holes are separated from the same corner. Therefore, when stacking a plurality of crate as described above, the grip hole and at least one vent hole at least partially overlap. According to further embodiments, a pair of vent holes may be provided that when combined can have a shape similar to a grip hole. Moreover, you may provide the some ventilation hole spaced apart at equal intervals smaller than the dimension of a grip hole.

  A further aspect of the embodiment is a smooth inner surface that is convex toward the outside. Accordingly, by providing a convex or curved inner surface, a product having a rounded surface such as a banana can be more easily stored in the side portion of the crate. This can be true for both sidewalls and end walls. According to a further embodiment, reinforcing members such as ribs are provided only on the outside of the crate.

  Yet another characteristic of the embodiment is to provide a thinned portion on the end wall. Thereby, the thinned portion can be cut and an opening can be provided, and the user of the crate can see the inside of the crate. This is important in determining whether a product inside the crate, such as a banana, is ripe to a desired degree in a complete batch processing of the crate.

  The fourth characteristic relates to the arched bottom. This does not directly affect the products inside the crate, but it does affect when multiple crates are stacked on top of each other. As a result, an additional space is provided in the lower crate, and it is possible to avoid damage to the product slightly protruding beyond the upper end of the lower crate. The arcuate shape and the corrugated bottom make it possible to store such products that protrude slightly in the lower crate.

The above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention. It will be understood that variations and modifications to the arrangements and details described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims and not the specific details represented by the description and description of the embodiments described herein.

Claims (6)

A crate (100) having a bottom (110), two respective pairs of opposing side walls (120), and an end wall (130),
The bottom portion (110) is provided with a space (S) between a lower surface of the bottom portion (110) and a plane (P) defined by a lower end of the crate (100). ) Curved inward toward the inside ,
The bottom (110) is arched along the direction (1001) of the end wall (130) of the crate (100), and the arched bottom (110) is between the opposing side walls (120). Extending to
The bottom (110) has a plurality of rectangular vent openings (210, 220), the rectangular vent openings (210, 220) having a central longitudinal axis (201) parallel to the sidewall (120). )
The crate, wherein the plurality of rectangular vent openings (210, 220) extend into a central region of the bottom (110) . The bottom (110) is corrugated along the direction (1002) of the side wall (120) in the boundary region of the side wall (120);
The first portion of the corrugated bottom (110) is the height of the plane (P);
Crate according to claim 1, characterized in that the second part of the corrugated part (110) is at most the height of the lower end of the upper part (1110). The bottom (110) has an upper portion (1110) and a lower portion (1120) recessed with respect to the external point (1101) of each wall,
The distance (d _R ) of the recess is equal to the thickness (l _w ) of each wall, allowing the lower part (1120) to be engaged with the top opening of a further crate. The crate according to claim 1 or 2 . The lower portion (1120) has an area (A _LP ) defined by an outer periphery of the lower portion (1120);
The upper portion (1110) has an area (A _UP ) defined by the outer periphery of the upper portion (1110), and the side wall (120) and the end wall (130) have an inner surface and an outer surface. And
An inner region (A _IS ) is defined by the inner surface at the upper end of the crate (100);
An outer region (A _OS ) is defined by the outer surface at the upper end of the crate (100);
It said region _{(A LP)} is approximately equal to the area _{(A IS),} the area _{(A UP)} is characterized in that approximately equal to the area _{(A OS),} to any one of claims 1 to 3 The crate described. The first crate (1210) and the second crate (1220) include an inner area (A _{IS, 1} ) defined by the inner surface at the upper end of the first crate (1210) and the second crate. An area (A _{LP, 2} ) defined by the outer periphery of the lower portion (1120) of (1220);
The region (A _{IS, 1} ) and the region (A _{LP, 2} ) are formed when the second crate (1220) is stacked on the first crate (1210). ) And the second crate (1220), the stack of two crates according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , characterized in that they are equalized. The bottom (110) of the second crate (1220) is configured to provide a ventilation path between the first crate (1210) and the second crate (1220). 6. A stack according to claim 5 , characterized in that it has a vent opening.