MXPA98009532A - Volume box to assemble the insta - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a collapsible box assembly adapted to be manually convertible from a substantially planar box precursor to a box formed, the box assembly comprising (1) a wall structure including a plurality of wall panels. wall of sheet material pivotally connected along adjacent longitudinal edges to form a closed loop, the wall panels comprise pairs of wall panels placed against each other in the box precursor and separable from each other to form a polygonal tubular structure in the formed box, by exerting opposing forces on opposite longitudinal edges, and (2) a floor structure fixed to the wall structure, the floor structure comprises a plurality of sheet material floor panels, floor comprise pairs of floor panels placed against each other, in relation usually coplana to the wall panels, in the box precursor, the pairs of floor panels are configured so that the separation of the pairs of wall panels to form the polygonal tubular structure causes a separation of the floor panel pairs and movement of the floor panels at least partially in a condition which forms box floor, the floor panels, when placed completely in the box-like condition, partially overlap each other in a multi-layered configuration to substantially completely cover one end of the tubular polygonal structure, the improvement where The wall structure is formed from a first stencil of sheet material that is not part of the floor structure, the floor structure comprises a second stencil of sheet material other than the first stencil, the floor structure comprises a pair of main floor panels articulated to each other around a longitudinal fold line, and each main floor panel is flanked by a pair of flanking floor panels hingedly connected thereto through first connecting band panels respectively.

Description

VOLU MEN CASE TO INSTALL INSTANTLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to containers formed from stencils of sheet material, for example, crumpled fiberboard. More specifically, the invention relates to volume boxes that can be manually formed instantly by the end user from a flat stackable box precursor, and templates for the same. One use of such containers is to send and store on pallets voluminous amounts of material that can flow dry (for example, approximately 453-908 kilograms of beads or plastic pellets used for injection molding). Volume boxes of the variety mentioned above are known.

An example construction is described in the Patents of E. U.A. Nos. 5,531, 374 and 5,613,694 to Gasper. The Gasper boxes can be formed in an octagonal form from a flat box precursor comprising panels that form opposite wall and floor. Manual pressure exerted inwardly at opposite vertical bent edges of the box precursor causes the opposite wall panels to separate from each other and form a tubular structure in an octagonal shape. At the same time, the floor-forming wings that are previously flat to each other rotate, unfold and bend to form a box floor structure. A "band" structure is unfolded on a longitudinal fold line thereof to form with a connecting member, a central floor region. The outer and central wings provide floor surfaces that rotate the band at the opposite box ends. Specifically, the outer flat pairs at the opposite box ends rotate and are partially folded to lie on the band on its underside, central bottom wings are placed between the outer wings at each end and connected in a hinged manner to the outer wings when connecting band panels. Bent at the beginning on themselves, these open wings are then folded partially to remain on the band on its upper side (inside the box). In a variation of the design described in the Gasper patents, Creative Tech Marketing (assignee of the Gasper patents) has offered for sale a box in which the external lower wings are fixed with a hinge to the band and the lower central wings They are free from attachment to the outer lower wings. The lower outer wings rotate in a position that is below the band when separating from the wall panels. It is then necessary to fold the lower central wings to a position that is below the pairs of external lower wings. In the typical volume box application, the box floor simply serves to provide a protective layer between the contents of the box, for example, material that can flow dry, and a pallet support surface. Since the box floor obtains its structural stress from a base pallet, and the box is not intended to be lifted, when loaded, regardless of a pallet, the floor structure need not have substantial structural effort. . On the other hand, the side walls of the volume box must have considerable effort to withstand large external forces generated by a charge that can flow, particularly at a lower part of the box, and to provide a stacking effort that Allow multiple loaded containers (and base pallets) to stack together. With respect to the latter, the side walls of volume boxes of the type described are typically configured to be capable of supporting approximately 4535-8165 kilograms in superior to inferior compression. In Gasper designs, the entire floor structure except a relatively small connecting member that secures separate panels of the strip is integrally formed as an extension of the stencil material used to form the sidewall panels. In this way, the floor layer is composed largely of the same high effort and high cost corrugation as it is used for the side walls, when it would also serve a much smaller effort and much less corrugation degree. Another box of octagonal volume designed to be assembled quickly by the end user has been offered by I nland Paperboard and Packaging, I nc. from I ndianapolis, I ndiana, as the "Quickset I I". This construction in large part is like the second design of Gasper mentioned earlier, but with the corresponding band and connected outer lower wings being integrally formed as part of a floor template separated from the main plane used to form the side walls of the container. The floor template includes glue tabs for fixing that template around the inner bottom edge of the main template. As a separate piece, the floor template can be made from a lighter corrugation gage. However, the design still requires that the lower central wings be formed as integral extensions of the main template used to form the wall panels, so that the wings are constructed of superior effort and higher cost material than is necessary . In addition, the production of the two departing central wings requires die cutting of the template from a rectangular piece of creased material having an additional overall width gn to provide for the material to form the central wings. This results in a high cost of material and to manufacture, and a substantial amount of heavy material that can not be used for each template that is produced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE NONDION In view of the foregoing, a main object of the present invention is to provide a volume box construction to arm the investor that allows savings in cost and significant materials over previous designs. Another object of the invention is to provide a volume box construction for instant arming with improved stress, in particular against the large forces generated by loads that can flow over the lower perimeter of the side walls of the box. These and other objects are achieved in accordance with the present invention by a collapsible box assembly adapted to be manually convertible from a substantially flat box precursor to a formed box. The box assembly comprises a wall structure that includes a plurality of sheet material box panels pivotally connected over adjacent longitudinal edges to form a closed loop. The wall panels comprise pairs of wall panels placed against each other in the box precursor and separable from each other to form a polygonal tubular structure in the formed box, by exerting opposing forces on opposite ends of said longitudinal edges. A floor structure is fixed to the wall structure. The floor structure comprises a plurality of floor panels of sheet material. The floor panels comprise pairs of floor panels that can be placed against each other, in relation to the wall panels, in the box precursor. The pairs of paired panels being configured so that the separation of the wall panel pairs form the polygonal tubular structure causes a separation of the floor panel pairs and movement of the floor panels at least partially in a condition that form box floor. The floor panels, when placed completely in said box-like condition, are partially covered with each other to substantially completely cover one end of the polygonal tubular structure. The wall structure is formed from a first sheet material template that forms no part of the floor structure. The floor structure comprises a second sheet material template different from the first template. Preferably, the first sheet material template comprises crumpled fiberboard of a first weight, and the second template comprises creped fiberboard of a second smaller weight than said first weight. It is further preferred that the floor structure is formed completely from the second sheet material template, and that the floor structure comprises a plurality of tabs that fix the floor structure to the wall structure substantially around the entire structure. perimeter of the closed loop. The above objects and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view showing (up side floor in its formed state) a two-piece construction of a volume box for instantly octagonal arming in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing a precursor assembly of the box of Figure 1, folded flat with opposite floor and wall panels placed against each other. Figure 3 is a plan view of a main template for forming opposite side walls of the box of Figure 1. Figure 4 is a plan view of a floor template for forming the entire floor structure of the box of Figure 1. Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the box precursor of Figure 2, in the initial stages of being unfolded. Figure 6 is a bottom side perspective view of the box precursor of Figure 2, in the slightly unfolded condition shown in Figure 5. Figure 7 is a bottom side perspective view like that shown in Figure 6, showing the box precursor in a more advanced partially formed state. Figure 8 is a bottom side perspective view showing the fully formed box resulting from the unfolding operation of Figures 5-7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES The construction of two pieces of the box assembly of the present invention is clearly seen in Figures 1-4. The assembly includes a wall structure and a floor structure. The wall structure includes a plurality of wall panels of sheet material (e.g., crumpled fiberboard, wrinkled plastic, and cardboard) pivotally connected over adjacent longitudinal edges to form a closed loop. Specifically, in the preferred embodiment for forming an octagonal box, the wall structure includes wall panels arranged such that in a formed state, there is symmetry about a longitudinal axis of the box. For convenience and ease of understanding, panels located on one side of the symmetry line will include the letter "A" in their reference number. The panels on the other side of the line of symmetry will be marked by inclusion of the letter "B" in their reference numbers. The wall structure of the example embodiment includes first and second side wall panels 1 A, 1 B, and end wall panels 3A, 3B, 5A, 5B. The respective end wall panel pairs are connected over respective supplemental fold lines 7, 8. In addition, the wall structure includes a first pair of diagonal wall panels 9A, 9B and a second pair of diagonal wall panels 1 1 A , 1 1 B. To form a closed loop, a wall tab 13 extends over the end wall panel 5A to secure (eg, stick, staple, or adhere) to the interior (or exterior) of the wall panel diagonal 9A. From a manufacturing point of view, it may be preferred to locate the tongue 13 on the diagonal wall panel 9A, whereby the wall tongue would be fixed to the wall panel 5A to form a closed loop. As best seen in Figure 2, the pairs of wall panels of the wall structure meet against each other when the assembly assumes a substantially flat box precursor condition. The wall panel pairs can be separated from each other to form the polygonal tubular structure of the formed box observed in Figure 1, by exerting opposing forces at the edges formed by intermediate fold lines 7, 8. The floor structure of the assembly The collapsible box is formed from a template completely separate from the template used to form the wall structure. In this way, it can, and preferably is formed from, sheet material (eg, crumpled fiberboard) of lesser weight than that used in the template for the wall structure. As noted in the Background section, since the box floor will get its structural effort from a base pallet, shipping platform or similar, and the box is not meant to be lifted, when it is loaded, regardless of a pallet, it is not necessary that the floor structure have substantial structural effort. On the other hand, the side walls of the volume box must have considerable effort to (1) resist the large external forces generated by a charge that can flow, particularly in a lower third of the box, and (2) provide a stacking effort that allows multiple loaded containers (and base pallets) to stack with each other. Unless otherwise indicated, the term "template" as used herein broadly encompasses one-piece templates as well as mixed-body template structures comprising a plurality of separately formed templates subsequently secured (eg, laminated). each other to form a multi-layered or multi-piece unit. The floor structure comprises a plurality of floor panels of sheet material. A pair of main floor panels 15A, 15B, are hingedly coupled to each other on a longitudinal fold line 16. Main floor panels 15A15B are doubled by respective pairs of internal and external fold floor panels. The main floor panel 15A is bent by a pair of internal fold floor panels 17A, 19A. The main floor panel 15B is bent by a pair of internal fold floor panels 17B, 19B. The internal fold floor panels 17A, 19A are hingedly connected to the main floor panel 15A through respective first connection band panels 25A, 27A. Also, the internal fold floor panels 17B, 19B are hingedly connected to the main floor panel 15B through respective first connection band panels 25B, 27B. Each internal fold floor panel 17A, 19A, 17B, 19B is hingedly connected to a respective external fold floor panel 21A, 23A, 21B, 23B through respective second connection band panels 29A, 30A, 29B, 30B which are smaller than the first connection band panels. First triangular cuts facilitating relatively large bending 31A, 33A, 31B, 33B are formed between respective pairs of the main floor panels 15A, 15B and the internal fold floor panels 17A, 19A, 17B, 19B, adjacent to first panels of relatively large connection strips 25A, 27A, 25B, 27B. Second triangular cuts that facilitate the smaller fold 35A, 37A, 35B, 37B are formed between respective pairs of internal fold floor panels 17A, 19A, 17B, 19B and external fold floor panels 21 A, 23A, 21 B, 23B, adjacent to the second (smaller) connection band panels 29A, 30A, 29B, 30B. As best seen in Figure 2, the pairs of the floor panels are against each other, generally in relation to the wall panels of the wall structure, when the box assembly is in the condition of precursor of box. The pairs of floor panels are configured so that the spacing of the wall panel pairs to form an octagonal tubular shape causes a separation of the floor panels and movement of the floor panels at least partially in a condition that forms box floor. This movement (i.e., unfolding, rotation and bending) is illustrated in sequence in Figures 5-7. The condition shown in Figure 7, with the floor panels partially placed in a box flooring condition can be achieved simply by manual pressure exerted inwardly against the supplemental fold lines 7, 8. The box can be moved in a box formed condition completely, by pressing down on fold line 16 with the box in the inverted position shown in figure 7, or by flipping the box over a vertical use orientation and placing it on a support pallet or floor surface, so that the weight of the crushable box assembly provides a pressing force against the supporting surface that serves to complete the formation of the floor. As seen in Figure 8, in this finished state, the floor panels partially overlap each other to substantially cover the end of the octagonal tubular structure. To avoid the formation of a space between the respective pairs of fold floor panels 21 A, 21 B, 23 A, 23 B, one panel of each pair (21 B, 23 A) increases slightly in width to overlap with the other respective panel (21 A, 23B). The floor structure is preferably secured to the wall structure by a plurality of connecting wings extending substantially over the entire perimeter of the closed loop formed by the wall structure. In particular, the connecting wings include, as can be seen more clearly in FIG. 4, lateral wall connection wings 39A, 39B, diagonal wall connection wings 41 A, 41 B, 43A, 43B, and flanges end wall connection 45A, 45B, 47a, 47B. In this way, each wall panel has associated with it a connection wing of the floor structure that is stuck or otherwise secured to it. The layer of additional material provided by the connecting wings fixed on the lower perimeter of the wall panels gives greater effort to resist the substantial external forces caused by large masses of solids that can flow. By contrast, in the design of Inland Paperboard and Packaging, Inc. described in the Background section, the connecting wings of the floor part do not extend over the end wall panels, thus allowing the end walls to be more susceptible to buckling (elephant foot).

It is further preferred that the connecting wings of the floor structure be secured on the exteriors of the wall panels, unlike the interior ones as in the Inland design. This makes the volume box of the invention less susceptible to delamination within the material of the wall panel, and detachment or separation of the floor structure, due to the tearing of the wings of the wall panels under the buckling forces generated by a large load that can flow. By fixing the wings on the outer sides of the wall panels, the forces tending to separate the connecting wings from the wall are aligned in a direction of shear stress parallel to the wall panels. In contrast, in the design of Inland Paperboard and Packaging, I nc. , where the floor jig is fixed to the interior of the side wall jig, the buckling forces translate into tearing forces that can result in separation / delamination of the side wall jig causing container failure. The present invention has been described in terms of exemplary and preferred embodiments thereof. Many other modalities, modifications and variations within the scope and spirit of the appended claims will occur to those skilled in the art upon a revision of this description.

Claims (14)

1. REIVIN DICACIONES 1 .- In a collapsible box assembly adapted to be manually convertible from a substantially planar box precursor to a formed box, said box assembly comprises (1) a wall structure including a plurality of wall panels of material of sheet pivoted on adjacent longitudinal edges to form a closed loop, said wall panels comprising pairs of wall panels placed against each other in said box precursor and separable from each other to form a polygonal tubular structure in said box formed , by exerting opposing forces on some opposites of said longitudinal edges; and (2) a floor structure attached to said wall structure, said floor structure comprising a plurality of floor panels placed against each other, generally coplana to said wall panels, in said box precursor , said pairs of floor panels being configured so that the separation of said pairs of wall panels to form said polygonal tubular structure causes a separation of said floor panel pairs and movement of said floor panels at least partially in a box box forming condition, said floor panels, when placed completely in said box-like condition, partially overlap each other in a multi-layered configuration to substantially completely cover one end of said polygonal tubular structure, the improvement where: said wall structure is formed from a first sheet material template that forms no part of said structure floor, said floor structure comprising a second template sheet material other than said first template.
2. 2. The improvement according to claim 1, wherein said first sheet material template comprises crumpled fiberboard of a first weight, and said second template comprises creped fiberboard of a second smaller weight than said first weight.
3. 3. The best according to claim 1, wherein said floor structure is formed completely from said second sheet material template.
4. 4. The improvement according to claim 1, wherein said floor structure comprises a plurality of wings that fix the floor structure to the wall structure on substantially a perimeter of said closed loop.
5. 5. The improvement according to claim 1, wherein said floor structure comprises a plurality of wings that fix the floor structure to a plurality of lower external surfaces of said wall panels.
6. 6. The improvement according to claim 1, wherein said wall structure forms an octagonal tubular structure in said formed box.
7. 7. - The improvement according to claim 1, wherein said wall structure forming in said box formed a polygonal tubular shape that is symmetrical about a central and longitudinal axis.
8. 8. The improvement according to claim 1, wherein said floor structure comprises a pair of main floor panels coupled with hinge to each other on a longitudinal fold line.
9. 9. The improvement according to claim 8, wherein each main floor panel is bent by a pair of internal fold floor panels connected in a hinged manner thereto through respective first connection band panels.
10. 10. The improvement according to claim 9, wherein each internal bending floor panel is hingedly connected to an external bending floor panel through a respective second connection band panel. 1.
11. The improvement according to claim 10, wherein the first connection band panels are larger than said second connection band panels.
12. 12. The improvement according to claim 10, wherein first cuts are formed between said main floor panels and said internal fold floor panels, adjacent to said connection band panels.
13. 13. The improvement according to claim 12, wherein second cuts are formed between said internal fold floor panels and said external fold floor panels, adjacent to said second connection band panels.
14. 14. - The improvement according to claim 10, wherein said main floor panels partially overlap in said condition forming floor with respect to those of said internal and external fold floor panels. SUMMARY An octagonal volume box well suited for use in storage and transport in pallet of large quantities of solids that can flow has a construction that allows the box to be manually formed instantly by the end user. A box precursor that can be formed from a sub-substantially flat condition to form the box is formed of a main template that provides the side wall panels of the box and a floor template from which all the floor structure of the box. By forming the entire floor from a floor template separated from the main template, it is possible to reduce waste and material waste, since the entire floor template can be constructed of fiberboard in less effort and cost than that required for the side walls. The floor template is fixed to the main template by connecting wings extending over substantially the entire lower perimeter of the walls of the box, on an exterior thereof. This configuration serves to reinforce the smaller perimeter of the side walls of the box against the large external buckling forces generated by loads that can flow, in particular in the lower third of the case.