US1997455A - Packing box construction - Google Patents

Description

April 3 r G. DAVIDSON 1,997,455

PACKING BOX CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 19, 1952 lo 1 r "HM" m d/ e a INVENTOR.

56 6 5767/71 Jay/260 p 3 m 9d ATTORNEY,

Patented Apr. 9,

UNITED STATES, PA ENT OFF C 1 r 1 PACKING BOX ooNs'rRUo'noN Glenn Davidson, Bloomington, 5111.

Application 7 This invention relates to certain improvements inthe construction of cleatedp'anelpacking boxes.

A cleated panel box is one the ends, sides, top and bottom ofwhich are made'of sheets or panels of plywood, fibre-board or equivalent material, with cleatsor strips attached at theedges of at least a portion of the panels, thesecleats serving as reinforcing members in holding the panels 10 :the cleats extendaround theentire peripheryof iall the panels. When such a box is assembled,

the cleats of adjoining panels are ordinarily nailed together, such nailing being the means of holding the individualpanels together in the assembled box. Thus we have a box of which :the ends, sides, top-and bottom are panels boundedby'cleats, the cleats bounding adjacent panels being nailed togetherin pairs and so form the edges of the boxextending intermediate the corners. V

When such a cleated panel box,loaded with a shifting load such as textiles, fish, meat and the like, is dropped .on acorner, the impactresults in a shock wave which exhibits an expansive effect and the tendencyis to disrupt one or more ofthe edges of .the box byspreading apart the pair of cleats-of which the'edgeis formed. This separation of the cleats forming the edge of the box takes place in two stages; First, due to the fact that the cleats are more'securely anchored at the corners of the ,box than'at intermediate points, the naturaltendency of the cleats tobend permits a considerable separation at points intermediate the corners of thebox. This willhappen regardless ofthercare used in nailing and even if rosin coated or cement covered nails-areused.

At the end of the first stage of the. separation, the pair of cleats forming the rupturing edge of the box resemble in formtwo archery bowsplaced string to string. l i

The endof the firststage of the separationis reached at or near the deflection limit of the cleats. 'Thesecond stage may take either of two forms, Either the cleats will tear themselves free from their anchorage toother cleats at their upper end and from their respective panels and separate wide apart at, their upper ends, or the cleats will break at the point of their greatest,

separation; Only the edgesradia-ting from the corner of the box sustaining the impact ordinarily suffer rupture. The remaining edges remain in 'tact,

.It is obvious that thesecond stage'of the rupture' described above could not have occurred 55 had it'not been preceded by the first stage. Nevof the edge of the box, sure ineffective.

together in the form of a box. In most cases,

panel boxes which has come into general use'is that oftplacing one or more bands of metal tape .and time-Waste'by the final packer.

'tion takes account of the first stage of the, rupg certain illustrative embodiments of the inven- October-e19, 1932, serial No. 638,464 e Claims. (Cl. 2 7-12) ertheless the fact that the greatest apparent damage occurs: during thesecond stage has induced may users of cleated panel boxes to place some kind of ;:tie at the corners of the box. Be-

cause ties placed at the corners of the box do 5 not protect against the firstistage of the rupture they are ina large mea- The only other method of reinforcing cleated entirely aroundthe box. This, however, is wasteful of; material, andrequires excessive handling 'In accordance with my invention} funda- 15 mentally important advantages over both these methods of reinforcmgcleated panel boxes may be had. As compared to the construction based on a tie placed at the corner of the box, myinventure of the edge of. the box which the tie at the corner does not. As comparedto the construction employing bands of metallicjtape completely encircling the box,'my invention far more economical of metal andtime, and further, if 5 i the form of my invention described in detail hereinafter whereinthe tie is nailed or otherwise fastenedto the remote edge'of the cleat, is used, the danger of splitting thecleat is much less than in the case where the nail, is driven into the face of the cleat as is necessarily the case with bands completely, encircling the box. 1 Furthermore, in a cleated panel box the panels themselves have'great tensile strength. Accordingly, in casei of itheyband completely encircling "the, box," the,35 relativelylong sections f :the band interme diate the-edges serverlittle' or no useful purpose, and Ihavefound that only relatively short sections which serve to bind the two cleats together to form th'ejedge ofthe box are really eifectiveiin 4,0

preventing the rupture of the edge of the box.

Accordingly, the present invention has among its objectsthe provision of packing'box construc tion which is resistive against disruption and yet without appreciable increase in weight. Another object is a construction which harmonizes. with existing manufacturing methods. and standards. Gtherobjects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds.

To the. accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, 1 then, comprises the features hereinafter fully describedand particularly pointedout in the claims, the;fo1lowing description and annexed drawing settingfforth tail section taken on a 'tion, these being indicative however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be applied.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged deplane substantially indicated by the line II-II, Fig. 1: Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a detail; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cleats 3 at the edges between'corn'er's', e'ach edge presenting a pair of adjacent cleats,each cleat being secured to its corresponding panel, the latter being made for instance of plywood, cellu lose board, etc." having suitable strength and lightness. The particular manner of joining the ends of the cleats with the abutting panel portions may vary somewhat in accordance with con- -ditions, but with all constructions where two ad- .jacent reenforcements or, cleats form the boxedge, the advantages of the invention may be had. Joining the adjacent cleats at some point intermediary of thecorners is an inter-cleat tie 4, and one or more of these may be located along the cleat-pair if desired. Such inter-cleat tie may take the form of a metallic strip or tape,

which may be. anchored to the remote edge of each cleat 3- by suitable means, for instance a nail 5, Fig. 2. Conveniently, such inter-cleat ties may lee-shaped up in preformed condition as il-- lustrated in Fig. 3,being angularly bent to .dimen:

sion, and-provided with nail-holes 6 at the ends. In'some cases, the fastening holes 6 may be appliedas a final stage after assembling on the cleats, a suitable burring tool setting the hole and indenting or embedding the metal into the wood sufficiently to anchor it even without application further of a nail. However anchored finally, the inter-cleat ties 4 are placed in position on the edges ofthe box suitably. assembled, and as positioned at points intermediary of the corners are capable'of firmly'holding the cleats together irrespective of customary stresses incurred in the handling of shipping boxes'under ordinarycon- 'ditionsi As a further means of facilitating construction, I may preliminarily apply the inter-cleat strip 40, Fig. 4, to the panel piece 2a, the panel piece being of any suitable material, plywood, cellulose or composition board, etc., and the metallic strip 4a anchored in convenient handling position with one end 5 adjacent the edge of the panel piece in.

such position that "the cleat 3 when overlaid in its proper relation as indicated in the dotted line position in Fig. 4, will be in position to allow the strip ta to be loosened at its end 8 and be bent up around the cleats 3. If desired further, a nail may be driven through the strip or tie into the edge of the cleat 3.- Such nail position would come relatively at a point suchas indicated by the dotted opening 9. It will be understood that for the temporary positioningfofthe strip 4a in such preliminary manner, the metal may be simply burred into or embedded into the wood by a burring tool at the points l0, l l', a perforation being formed in the metal and tongues being forced down into the wood.

Instead of preliminarily carrying the metallic strips on the side-elements for the boxes, in some cases it is preferred to preliminarily provide them on the cleat-elements. As shown in Fig. 5, such metallic strip 41) may be preliminarily held to the cleat 3b by being tacked or burred at its ends 12, l3,,and when the cleats areassembled with the rest of the box, the strip 41) may be loosened and swung around, as in dotted line position,

and be nailed at the endl 2 and again at the other end I3 as finally positioned about of the associated pair. I 7 If the metallic cleat-elements b'e initially in the other cleat the form of a ribbon or tape of indefinite length, r

as strips or for instance a roll R, Fig. 6, divided into sections of proper length by lines of partial severance as indicated by the dotted lines s, as-

sembly is greatly facilitated. Pre-formed holes 7 p to, we, may be arranged at consistent spacing,

ready forfthe fastenings. Severance of each tielength requires no heavy duty cutting tool.

As thus seen, in whatever embodiment, my invention makes possible a box construction of particular strength at otherwise weak points, facilitating efficient, yet light construction wherever packing boxes are required with edge-cleats,

of the. .boxes without requiring any essential change in manufacturing schedules.

Other modes of applying the principle'of imy invention may be employed instead of .the one explained, change'being made as regards the details herein disclosed, provided the features.

stated by any of the following. claims, or the equivalent of such, beemployed. r ".I therefore particularly point tinctly claim as my invention;-

1. In a construction of the character described, preformed sides and top and bottom having cleats, said cleats being arranged in pairs out and disat the edges between corners when said sides,

top and bottom are assembled, and bendable metallic ties connecting adjacent cleats at a point intermediary, s'aid'ties being secured to the remote edges of said cleats, said edges being substantially perpendicular to the part to which said cleat is secured. t

2. In a construction of the' characte'r described, preformed sides and top and bottom having cleats, said cleats beingarrangedin pairs at the edges between corners when said sides, top and bottom are assembled, and bendable metallic ties having angularly' disposed arms and further bent attachingterminals each fastened to -a remote edge ofia cleat'of an adjacent pair at 'apoint 'intermediary.

3. In apermanent box construction, sidesand top and bottom, cleats in pairs at the edges between corners and bendable metallic ties permanently connected to remote edges of adjacent cleats at a point intermediary, said edges being substantially perpendicular to the part to whichsaid cleatis secured.

4. In a permanent box construction, sides and top and bottom, cleats in pairs at the edges between corners and bendable metallic ties of one piece construction permanently connected to remote edges of adjacent cleats'at a point intermediary, said edges being substantially perpendicular to the part of which said'cleat'is secured.

at a substantially intermediate point, and a cleat secured to said side adjacent said edge and over- 7 lying said portion of said tie, whereby said tie is firmly anchored and may be bent over said cleat to be secured to a cleat of another side.

6. In a construction of the character described,

a box panel havinga cleat secured thereto, one edge of said cleat rising substantially parallel to said panel and a bendable cleat tie rotatably secured to said edge at a substantially intermediate point of said cleat, whereby a series of such panels may be readily assembled into a box.

' GLENN DAVIDSON.

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