US2311473A - Shipping container - Google Patents

Description

Feb- 16, 1943. scHwARTzBERG 2,311,473

SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed Dec. B, 19:57 sshee's-sheet 1 ZU I Feb- 16, 1943. scHwARTzBl-:RG 2,311,473

SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed Dec. 8, 1937 s sheets-sheet 2 I Il I Fel 15, 1943. L. scHwARTzBERG 2,311,473

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"wunumm l@ I Zoazzfg 5c Patented Feb. 16, 1943 SHIPPING CONTAINER,

Louis Schwartzberg, Chicago, Ill., assigner, by direct and mesne assignments, to Carl W. Johnson, Glencoe, Ill., as trustee Application December 8, 1937, Serial No. 178,644

2 Claims.

The invention relates to shipping containers and more particularly to packing devices for eggs and other fragile articles.

When eggs are packed in the conventional manner for shipping purposes, they are placed on their ends in a crate or container where they are arranged in tiers or layers. The crates usually contain thirty dozen eggs and are divided equally between two cubical compartments, each having ve layers of eggs with three dozen eggs in each layer. The layers are separated from each other by flats and the top and bottom layers are cushioned from the top and bottom of each compartment by elements called cushions. The eggs in each layer are partitioned off into individual cells by lattice ller and the cells of the several layers are arranged in vertical columns.

It has been the custom in the trade to save the cushions, flats and filler when unpacking a crate and return them to the shipper for repeated use. To do this they are sorted and segregated as to kind, into their respective groups, and the members of each group are turned, inverted, and otherwise adjusted until all members in each group become associated in a nested relationship. Thereafter the several nested groups may be bundled and tied for return to the shipper.

One of the objects of the present vinvention is to provide a packing element which will serve equally Well for either a cushion or a flat.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined cushion and flat which may be called a separator having offsets thereon for supporting fragile articles against lateral displacement which will nest with others like it, when any two edges coincide, no matter which side is turned towards either side of the others.

Another object of the invention is to provide a separator of the class described having matching nests upon both sides for supporting the top and bottom of fragile articles on both sides thereof and for supporting filler placed around the eggs against lateral displacement at both the top and bottom edges of the filler.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined cushion and flat separator having identical offsets upon both sides thereof serving optionally to support fragile articles thereon, or to engage with any one of the sides of a cubical egg crate compartment to support the eggs in spaced relationship with regard to that side.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined cushion and -at separator for the cubical compartments 'of egg crates, which has identical contours upon both sides thereof, whereby a plurality of the separators maybe handled without regard to particular sides or edges when packing and unpacking the crates.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reversible unitary separator of .the class described supporting the columns of eggs in an egg crate independently of each other to prevent the collapse -of the supports of other columns when one or more columns collapse either under a soaking received from a cracked egg or from the pressure exerted by several unusually large eggs being present in the same column.

Another object of the invention is to provide a plurality of separators of the class described having identical forms which may be nested eight ways to provide aeration between the separators to dry them and preserve their shape.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved packing device for the shipment of eggs or other fragile articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a packing member of the class described which is simple in construction, thoroughly effective in its use, and inexpensive to manufacture.

These being among the `objects of the inv'en tion, other and further objects will become apparent from the drawings herein, the description relating thereto and the appended claims,

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan View Iof a packing device for fragile articles illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken upon the line 2-2 of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section similar to that shown in Fig. 2 showing several of said packing devices in nested relationship;

Fig. 4 is a partially sectional illustration of thepreferred embodiment showing its use as a cushion;

Fig. 5 is a top plan of a packing device illustrating another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6 5 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a plan of the four central nests of another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 8 is a plan similar to Fig. 7 showing another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatical plan in miniature of a separator such for example as the separator of Fig. 1 illustrating certain features thereof;

Fig. 10 is a section similar to Fig. 3 showing several of the separators illustrated in Fig. 5 in nested relationship;

Fig. 11 is a partially sectional illustration of the illustration of the embodiment shown in Fig. in which said embodiment is used as a cushion;

Fig. 12 (sheet No. 1) is a tcp plan of another modification of nest structure;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged perspective View of the central four nests of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1;y and Fig. 14 is a top plan of the construction shown in Fig. 13 with the portions above and below the plane of the embodiment unshad-ed and shaded respectively.

Referring now to the drawings in further detail for a general understanding of the invention, the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a square sheet IIJ made of a paper pulp or other fibrous material by the well-known vacuum mould process with a thickness approximately uniform throughout, and provided with offset portions upon both sides of the plane thereof. The sheet IIJ is preferably of a size adapted to t into the cubicle compartments I4 of standard egg crates I6, though it is not limited to that size or purpose.

Referring also to Figs. 13 and 14 in conjunction Ywith Fig. 1, it will be observed that the offset portions just mentioned are in the form of domes I2 which are formed of converging sides terminating at-'apices IB located a predetermined distance above and below the plane of the sheet I6. Those portions II which are located above the plane 20 are unshaded in Fig. 14 and those portions I3 extending below the plane 20 are shaded, this shading expedient being employed in Fig. 14 for a `better understanding of the other views contained inthe drawings, particularly Fig. 1 where the shadow lines conventionally employed in depicting depth might be otherwise a little confusing.

The domes 'I2 on each side of the sheet are i grouped into nests of threeA domes each to provide support for eggs 24, and the nests on opposite sides of the sheet arepaired, a nest on one side being immediately opposite a nest on the opposite side of the sheet. Each Vpair of Opposite nests thus forms a'siX-dome rosette.

In accordance with the structure of Figs. 1 to 4. the article supporting portions of the domes I2 comprise surfaces `of an ovoid of such size that the small end 26 of an egg 24 will'contact the three-article supporting surfaces 25 as well as the i'lat surface 28 centrallylocated between them, but the large end 3U of an egg will Contact only the three-article supporting surfaces 25 of the domes I2 and will not quite touch the flat portion V28between them. These dimensions result in a minimum'height for a column of eggs in a crate consistent with a slight amount of yielding or cushioning between all of the superimposed eggs. The domes touching the bottom 32 and the top 34 of the crate I6 serve to cushion the entire column of eggs between them from the bottom 32 and cover 34 of the crate. The degree of inclination of the surfaces 25and their shapes or positions may be varied, as desired, to cope with the requirements involved in the support of any one of a number of various shapes of fragile articles with which the sheet may be used.

TWO of the sides'36 ofr each dome I2 in Figs. 1 to 4 have a structural relationship growing out of the fact that the six domes making up each Vpair of immediately 'opposite nests 22 arealternately positioned and spaced around their mutual center 38 so that each dome on either side is located between two domes of the nest on the other side ofthe sheet. These two sides 36 are flat and constitute uniplanar continuations, respectively, of the two adjacent sides 36 of the two domes alternate therewith upon the other side of the sheet, and the opposite two sides 36 of said two alternate domes are coplanar with each other.

In this way, with three domes to a nest, and six domes to a pair of oppositely facing nests, all of the fiat sides 36 of the domes in both nests fall within three planes. These planes intersect one another at the center 38 of the two nests and intersect the plane of the eld of the sheet I6 along three intersecting lines 40 diametral to the nests, whereby a radial rigi-dity much like v spokes in a wheel, is provided for each pair of opposite nests by the uniplanar portions of material defining the three diametral lines 40.

Moreover, the three planes of the dome sides 36 intersect the ovoid axis 42 at an angle appren ciably less than degrees, so that there is a direct, substantially edge-wise support between the article supporting surfaces 25 of the nests, and the apices of the opposite domes l2 which rest upon the bottom 32 or contact with the cover 34 of an egg crate I S.

The three ,planes ofithe dome sid-es 36 are also so inclined with respect to the plane 20 of the sheet IB that a proper nesting of the several sheets is assured, without binding or sticking together when they are being separated. Moreover, since the sides of the domes are of approximately the same thickness as the sheet, and since the several nests of the respective sheets mate in nesting relationship along inclined faces 36, the iiat body portions M of the sheet I0 are held apart an appreciable distancerproviding a space 46` throughv which air may circulate to dry the sheets. This aeration takes place while the mating portions of the nests of different sheets mutually preserve4 theirshape, so that such of those nests which-V may have become damp-or soakedrfrom cracked eggs or other causes, `will be re-formed by dry mating nests to their original s `contour and dried while held in that shape.

4In the modification shownin Fig. 12 the domes 50 are made narrower than in Figs. 1 to 4 so that wedge-shaped portions 52 lying in the-plane of the sheet 54 separate Athe side walls 56 of the domes ofthe opposite sides of the cushion. This arrangement provides less rigidity than in the cushions in which the sidewalls of adjacent domes on opposite sides 36 of the sheet are coplanar.`

It will be observed that two nests will mate in nesting relationship in as many relative positionsras there are diametral lines 40, such as those described for the nests having three domes apiece. In the case of the nests having three domes, by way of example, each dome of a nest on one sheet will mate between two domes of a nest on the other sheet in a nested relationship in three different relative positions as determined by the projected coincidence of corresponding diametrallines 40 of both nests. This is further explained by the fact that each pair of opposite nests upon a given sheet are reversely symmetrical on each side of their diametral lines 40.

With the nesting characteristics of the individual nests in mind, it will be well to turn at this time to the grouping of the nests on the sheet I6 wherein the nests 22 are grouped and distributed over the face of both sides of the sheet I0 according to a predetermined pattern about the system of fixed rectilineal coordinate axes of the sheet. The grouping is identical for both sides of the sheet and the description of one side will suffice for an understanding of the structural characteristics of both. it being remembered that the nests upon both sides are reversely symmetrical about their diametral lines 40 with the nests immediately opposite on the other side.

Referring now tothe illustrative diagram of Fig. 9 in this connection, it will be noted that a square sheet 60 is divided by its coordinate axes, namely, the diagonals B2 and apothems 64 into eight equally similar parts, four shaded 66 and four unshaded 68. The parts in each of the two sets are identical with the other parts in that set and the parts in one set are symmetrically opposed to the parts in :the other set upon opposite sides of each of the coordinate axes. In addition to this, the eight parts may be paired in two dierent ways to form two sets of identical quadrants, namely, square and triangular ones '.13 and 'l2 respectively. Adjacent Vsquare quadrants 'I0 are symmetrically opposed about the apothems 64 and the adjacent triangular quadrants T2 are symmetrically opposedabout the diagonals 62.

Consequently, whichever way the sheet 6! is turned, whether side for side, edge for edge, or corner for corner, the sheet assumes, for all practical purposes, identical appearances for all positions and would be identical with, or match with, any other like sheet superimposed thereon with any two edges coinciding.

It is important that one of the diametral lines 40 of all nests lying on the diagonals 62 of the square sheet shall be coincident with such diagonal so that the whole sheet may be turned over on either diagonal 62 or any apothem 64 Without disturbing registration and nesting with the sheet below.

If any of the nests fall on any of the apothems 64 of the square sheet 6U or I0, it is important that the diametral lines 40 of such nests shall coincide with such apothem so that the whole sheet may be turned over on any apothem at an axis without disturbing registration and nesting with the sheet below.

All nests lying between diagonals and apothems must have all of :their domes reversely symmetrically located with respect to the corresponding nests on the other sides of such diagonals and apothems in order that all of the nests of a sheet will properly register with all of the nests of the sheet below in any one of the eight ways in which two square sheets may be placed together with their edges coincident.

Separators constructed according to the invention may be thrown into a heterogeneous pile and later picked up in great numbers, bounced on their edges until any two edges coincide. Thereupon they are located in nesting coincidence and when pressed together and tied in a bundle, :they will be held in a nesting relationship within the intents and purposes of the invention without further attention or care.

In use, it has already been pointed out that the separators support the eggs in columns with the eggs directly above each other. In addition to this, the several nests distributed over both sides of the sheet provide space 14 between them upon both sides of the sheet for the reception of the edges of the walls of the lattice filler 16 therebetween and against the uniplanar portions of the sheet. Since the nests are arranged along sets of parallel lines intersecting each other at right angles, it will be appreciated that the spaces T4 between adjacent nests afford two sets of intersecting rectilinear portions for the reception oftthe conventional'iller upon both sides of and in contact with the uniplanar surfaces of each sheet.

Moreover, the domes i2 being identical upon both sides of the sheet, the ller It is held in place both top and bottom, so that there will be no slithering of layers and the resultant damage to the contents when a packing crate is jarred or bumped by severe or repeated blows such as it receives from time t0 time in handling and chipping operations.

Referring now to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, 10 and 11, a sheet Eil is shown with identical oiTset portions 82 somewhat conical in shape and identically arranged upon opposite sides thereof. However, in this embodiment there is only one oilset for each cell of the ller 'i6 and the onset cooperates with the iiller in conjunction with other offsets upon both sides to hold the filler walls in place both top and bottom. In this particular embodiment the eggs rest upon the flat portions 86 of the sheet and each sheet has an eight-way universal nesting relationship with others like it. It will ce observed that the offsets are distributed and arranged for this universal nesting along the coordinate axes of the sheet in a manner similar to sheet lil illustrated in Fig. l. This particular embodiment illustrates the possible use of one oiset in each compartment for holding the filler in shape, both top and bottom, without attention being given to the support of the articles in each compartment of the filler beyond holding the ller in correct position so that the article supported therein will be held in place by the filler itself. The sheet will be held away from both the bottom 32 and top 34 of an egg crate I6 by the offsets on the under side of the lower sheet and those on the upper side of the top sheet.

A nest construction having four domes 83 to a nest is illustrated in Fig. 8 and o-ne having two domes 90 to a nest is illustrated in Fig. '7. It will be observed that these nests, like the preferred three-dome` nests, are reversely symmetrical about diametral lines i0 of reversed symmetry and are reversely symmetrical with others like them which are either quarter-turned or halfturned around their axes, whereby these modifications may also be employed with a sheet serving either as a at or as a cushion in the cubicle compartments of egg crates and for supporting other fragile articles.

The particular domes illustrated in the two and four-dome nests are formed with differently shaped outer faces 92 thereof and it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any suitable contour for the domes may be employed, provided it has sufficient internal rigidity for the purposes intended and is identical for all domes employed on any particular sheet.

Consequently, it will be appreciated that the invention provides an improved packing device for the shipment of eggs or other fragile articles which will serve equally Well for a cushion or at to support the columns of eggs in an egg crate independently of each other and hold the rlller in place around the eggs both at the top and bottom thereof. Moreover, the invention provides a separator having an eight-way universal nesting relationship with others like it to facilitate the packing and unpacking of egg crates, the aeration and drying of the several separators in nested relationship and a separator which is simple in construction, thoroughly effective in its use and inexpensive to manufacture.

In using the phrase eight-way universal nesting, I have used the term universal in its practical applied sense, rather than in its absolute sense. In practice there are only eight different positions in which one square sheet can be arranged relative to a like underlying sheet in a square stack of such sheets: four angular positions with one side up and four angular positions with the other side up. My sheets will internest in any of these eight relationships. Thus they provide an eight-way universal nesting.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various and further uses, modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and substance of the invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What is claimed, is:

l. In a cushion for an egg crate, a member having groups o-f domes extending downwardly and upwardly, each group of ydomes being within the confines of the downward projection of the compartment allotted one egg and independent of other groups of downwardly extending domes, the downwardly extending domes resting upon the bottom of the crate and the upwardly extending domes positioning an egg centrally above said downwardly extending `domes, a central part within each group of domes lying in the plane of said member, each dome having a wall sloping toward and integrally connecting with the central part, and each dome having two substantially flat walls, each in common with one wall of each of two domes on the opposite side of said member, said downwardly `extending domes being positioned radially around the center of the projection of said compartment, said downwardly extending domes spreading-radially under downward pressure whereby said vegg is yieldingly supported and cushioned in said crate independently of latterly adjacent eggs.

2. A generally square sheet 'for'use as either an interlayer separator or an end cushion in multilayer shipping of fragile articles, such as eggs, the sheet having a multiplicity of longitudinally and laterally spaced rosettes formed therein, each rosette being formed by a set of portions 0f the sheet offset both above and below the eld of the sheet, which portions, when the sheet is used as a separator, engage articles on the respective sides of the sheet and engage and position inter-separator fillers on the respective sides of the sheet, and which portions, when the sheet is used as an end cushion, thus engage the articles and fillers on one side and serve as feet on the other side,v the rosettes themselves being of form internesting either side up, and the rosettes being so placed upon the sheet that the sheet will internest with a like sheet in any of the eight possible positions relative to the like sheet in a square stack of like sheets.

LOUIS SCHWARTZBERG.

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