US2137142A

US2137142A - Container for sheet materials

Info

Publication number: US2137142A
Application number: US110394A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr John M Nelson; Watson Edgar
Original assignee: NELSON CORP
Current assignee: NELSON Corp
Priority date: 1936-11-11
Filing date: 1936-11-11
Publication date: 1938-11-15
Anticipated expiration: 1955-11-15

Description

Nov. 15, 1938. JR.. ET AL CONTAINER FOR SHEET MATERIALS I J. M. NELSON,

Filed Nov. 11, 1935 Patented Nov, 15, 1938 CONTAINER John M. Nels0n,-'Jr., Baltimoraiand Edgar Wat son,-T0ws'on, Md'., assignorsto The Nelson Corporation, fBaltirnore, Md., a corporation [of Maryland ApplicationjNorember 11,1936, Serial No.,110,394 '2 Claims, (01. 206-) i'l'hiszinventionzrelates toimprovements in con-r transportation and storage oftainers for the sheet materials, and is particularly of value in the handling of sheet materialsuwhich :mustxbe ZDIQtECtGd against atmospheric.conditions, and :againstthe rubbing of zone sheet upon'anothenk differ considerably in lgage (Jr-thickness, certain itolerances niust be provided; and 'hence'an en tirely rigid structure must be consti uctedwith walls of sufficient strength to supporta heavy.

superimposed load, even un'der the conditions of acceleration effects sucl1-asoccur-during-ship-g ment bysea, I p H Since thecustomary manner of shippin'g such products is to employ a structure which is discarded at the point at which th'e'fpackagefi's opened and the sheets distributed, 11; s essential that the cost shall be 10W. Further, since the shipments are often made -under 'lcohditions-a't which "a" moist atmosphere is e'ncountered, -a'nd sometimes the packages' -are exposed to-the-raiii,

it is essentialinthe designof the pa'ckageto'provide an adequate prOtecti n' 'igainst soilingfor iotherdeterioration-ofthesheets. T

"of means for enclosing 'a stack of -such sheet *material, and providing therewith an adequately closed and protected Zpackage which is capable of sustaininga heavy superimposedload,

-An illustrative form of practicing" the inven 'tion is set out onthe accompanying drawing, :in

-WhiChI the superposition oi the. packages. o Figure 2 is a perspective view showing: the assembly of parts in-a single package. Figure 3 is a perspective view--ofthe platform --p0rtion-of the structure.

-Figure {l is a similar cover portion. V v Figure 5 is an upright longitudinal section, on a large scale. 7 T 5 Figure -6;is a perspective viewshowing thearrangement and position of the-parts duri'ngzthe filling of the container. r

perspective View of the In the drawing, Fig; 1 illustratesthe packages :A, B superimposed upon one sanotheni-parts of these packages being brokenaway toshow-that skids.

' as [indicated .in Fig.1,

Figure 1 is a View on afsinallyscale'gindicatingl twentyf-eightinches'.

f form,lribs 13 are lprovided5alorig the ilongerfedges l "of the bottom member and: are fixedly secured thereto} with :their inner rmargi'ns in, spaced relation to-the adjacent redges-oifthe false :bottom '.member 12. Atthe ends,-;rib:pieces liaisepm: vided in rigidly-secured relation-butterminatingxshortcf contact with 7the;.ribsl3: these pieces the pile of sheets Silh each container rests solidly upon :the :fioor structure .F of this container, and

that the weight .is itransmitted 1ar gely: at :the ends of eachipackage, being transferred'from'thekskids ofianioverlying packageztothe cover of the-adjacent underlying one, and then directly toqthe pilecflsheets S; andjfi 'om'this in tu'rntoithe fioor of this lower package; and=' thus.'to the lower ince :with many sheet 'materials'rand normal tin platein particular)r:the operations'of trimming the sheets results :in the forming of, a

" curlxat the edge; itiis customary that theistack of sheets is higheratiits ends than at its middle,

Hence the floors t-he *skidsand the covers Zof'the packages-operate 'to'-' Q gether in transferring ithei'central load toward the. ends, so that'thecloading. at centralportions .ci the containers zis (relatively. low, and there i is substantially 5T1!) :bending of the .-'c0ver structures nor considerable loads. upon theside wails.

' lEachpackage vcomprises theiccont ents and the enclosing st-ructure'rforniing a "container. Each container .is illustrated=as ,havingfithe three skids lid-which extendiin the directionof them-minimum dimension'of the rectangular'sheet, in ithisrillus -trative.-fonn, and are spaced .zsufiiciently iapar't so that {the :usual arms of the handling truck "can be introduced thereunder :iori'liftingth'e pa ole age and transportingj it 'as desiredrandare also serviceable' for permitting rthe' ea sy release of i V V :sling chainswhen the devicesareliftediby acrane Thepresent invention-comprisesthe proyisionfl.for like structure. On top oi these' skids is proyided abotto'm member H which-is largerithan the size of the sheetto "be -contained, and is rectangular' when the sheetislrectan gular. j. pon

this bottom member ll' rests a ialselbottomimember'fiZf-which is-substantially identical in size the false'b ottom l2 of the order of one s'ixteenth of aninch for a sheetwhichis "abouteighteen' by ='In*the particular illustrated M likewise are spaced away from the adjacer-lt edges of the false bottom member 4 2.]

the bottom member ll.

the rib pieces I4,'while the lower edge of the end walls [5 are received in the grooves between the pieces l4 and the false bottom member l2. A rear wall I! is provided, with its longitudinal dimension substantially equal to the length of The front wall i8 is preferably identical with the rear wall ll. 7

The cover comprises the upper closing member l9 which is provided at its lower surface with the rib or skirt pieces which provide a downwardly extending flange along the periphery of the entire structure, the inner walls of this flange closely conforming with the position occupied by the outer surfaces of the front, end and. rear walls. In addition, this cover member contains the pressure battens 2| which are of substantially the same length as the horizontal dimension. of the adjacent end wall, and are so located as to provide a groove at the end wall for. the reception of the top edge thereof.

Normally, the bottom structure of Fig. 3 and the top structure of Fig. 4 are manufactured independently, in association with the independent manufacture of the parts constituting the front, end and side walls, and may be shipped in this condition to the packaging plant. It is, however, possible to assemble the two end walls with the back wall to provide an open U-shaped structure prior to shipment.

In any event, when the parts are brought into the shipping room, the preferred manner of pro cedure is to mount such a U-shaped member in position on the floor structure 3, with the lower edges of the end walls and of the rear wall in the grooves provided just inside of the rear rib l3 and of the rib pieces [4. The material is then introduced into the opened structurev thus provided (as shown in Fig. 6). In the shipment of tin. plate, the customary procedure is to manufacture the plate and-then clip or cut it to the desired size. It is then given a final inspection immediately before packaging. For this purpose, a pile of the sheets is positioned in front of, a worker, who takes the sheets one at a time and inspects the upper and lower surfaces thereof. Experienced workers perform thisoperation very rapidly. The sheetis then introduced into the assembly of Fig. 6, and is caused to abut against the walls, so that the sheet falls correctly into position upon the bottom, or upon the next preceding sheet. Owing to the clearances between the walls, this results in the quick formation of an accurate stack of material. It is often advantageous to slightly raise the open or front side of the container by means of a block (Fig. 6), which sometimes assists in assuring that the front edges of the sheets will be at a. uniform position. Usually, the inspector, has two such containers at hand, and delivers grade A sheets into one of them, while grade B sheets are placed in another.

The containers are designed on the basis of the gage ofthe material and the number of sheets which are to be placed therein. When tin plate is being shipped, it is customary to have the height from, say, eleven to fourteen inches, de-

pending upon the area of the particular sheets.

This means that a package will be of very great weight, such as one or two tons.

When the inspector has filled the container to the desired height, which is somewhat less than the height of the vertical walls, a shipping clerk utilizes a truck to remove the filled container, and its position is then taken by an empty container. The withdrawn container then receives the front wall l8, which is slipped into the front groove on the bottom structure. The cover is then applied, its peripheral flange portions 20 coming outside of the Vertical walls (Fig. 5); while the weight-transmitting battens 2| come down upon the pile of sheets within the container. In the design and packaging, the sheets come to such an elevation with respect to the upper margins of the side walls that the space 26 is left thereat,

. in order that theweight of the cover I9 may not come against the upper edge of the walls l5, l1, l8.

Bolts 30 are then passed through apertures providedin the bottom member I l and the member l9, and with'the use of proper washers, these bolts are drawn tight. Since these bolts may be formed by threading each end of round steel stock of the proper length, they are very inexpensive. They are preferably located close to the angles provided by the battens l6 and. the walls 15, whereby they are protected against mechanical damage. The operation of drawing these bolts down assures a tight engagement of the weight-transmitting battens 2| with the stack of sheets, at the ends of these sheets where the thickness of the pile or stack is greatest: while still leaving a space 26.

The packages thus closed may be moved onto cars, or transported or stored otherwise. The

superposition of these packages gives no difiiculty, and the superimposed packages accurately transmit their weight through the floors, skids and top walls, so that the weight is supported within each container by the pile of sheets therein: the space 26 being-maintained even under extremely heavy loads. I

The closed and bolted package has the upper and lower edges of the vertical walls sealed by the close-fitting engagement of the margins of these vertical walls in the grooves provided at the bottom and top structures of Figs. 3 and 4, and it will be noted thatthe stack of sheet material has its lower surface well above the lower edges'of these vertical walls, so, that leakage does not .run directly tothe lowermost sheets; while the general arrangement prevents the penetra tion of the driving rain into the interior of the package.

It is preferred to manufacture the parts of wood, for thereason that wood has a certain supporting and cushioning efiect without damage to the edge of the sheets, andv prevents damage by the action of a sling chain or the like along In manufacturing the container of wood, the various parts may be made edges of the package.

of simple shapes, each of the partsbeing essentially' a rectangular parallelo'pipedom'so that the container may be manufactured with the least wastage and scrap. The skids are properly located, the bottom member"! I placed thereon, and the false bottom positioned: these parts are then nailed tightly together. Similarly, the ribs and rib pieces are positioned and nailed. The forming of the holes for the bolts 30 may be effected prior to the assembly of these parts, or after the bottom structure has been completed, as may be the more convenient and expedient. Similarly, the top structure and the end walls are assembled by nailing. I

As pointed out above, it is preferred to join two end walls and the rear wall I! before the start of packaging. For this purpose, the nails may be driven adjacent the vertical edges of the rear wall I1 into the battens "land into the adjacent end of the end wall l5.

After fitting the front wall l8 in position, it is preferred likewise to nail it to the adjacent batten l6 and to the adjacent ends of the end wall l5, as shown by the nail heads in Fig. 2.

One of the features of the present arrangement is that the ribs, flanges and bolts operate to support the vertical walls, even against considerable impacts of the contained material,

whereby itis unnecessary to secure either the upper or lower edges of these vertical walls, and hence the operations of removing the sheets from the container are easy;

The sheets may be readily rendered accessible for withdrawal, by unscrewing the nuts from the bolts 30, and lifting off the cover structure of Fig. 7 4. This exposes the stack of sheets, and also permits the withdrawal of the four side walls, either individually or as a group, without disturbing the stack ofsheets. After the vertical walls are removed, it is possible to inspect the cut edges of each and every sheet in the stack, and to remove It will be understood generally that the illustrative form is not the only one in which the invention may be practiced, but that many modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A container for sheet materials, comprising a, bottom member providing a floor upon which the stack of sheets may rest, vertical walls secured to said bottom member and supported against lateral movement with respect thereto, compression members engaging the stack of sheets within said vertical walls and extending above the upper edges of the said vertical walls, and av cover member resting on saidcompression members and maintained thereby spaced above thesaid upper edges of the vertical walls whereby to relieve the said vertical walls from any superimposed load and to transmit the load through the stack of sheets to said bottom member.

2. A container for sheet materials, comprising a bottom member providing a floor upon which the stack of I sheets may rest, vertical walls secure-d to said bottom member and supported against lateral movement with respect thereto, compression members engaging the stack of sheets within said vertical walls and extending above the upper edges of the said'vertical walls, a cover member resting on said compression members and maintained thereby spaced above the said upper edges of the vertical walls whereby to relieve the said vertical walls from any superimposed load and to transmit the load through the stack of sheets to said bottom member, and skids depending from said bottom member and adapted to transmit a superimposed load therethrough to the cover member of another container located thereunder.

JOHN. M. NELSON, JR. EDGAR WATSON.