US2360849A - Nesting can - Google Patents

Description

.Oct 24, 1944- v D. T. cLEMl-:NTs ETAL v2,360,849

NESTING CAN Filed July 13, 1942 i 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct; 24, 1944 ton, Va., and John M,l ,Kenderdine, United States Army, Silver Spring, Md.

Applicaton .July '13,

la Claim.

1942, senat-N0. 450,780

Vv(Granted under the act of'Mar'ch A3, 1883, as

amended -April 30,

The invention .described herein, if patented, -'may be manufactured and '.used'byor for the .Government-l forgovernmental purposes, AWithout t'ne payment to us of any royalty-.thereon.

lThe present invention relatesftolportable con. ,tainers for .liquids fand refers more` specifically tosheet metal gasoline or vWater =cans Y' of the generali class of containers utilized to-refuelmotor vehicles and-tovcarry'supplies of drinking .Water by the military forces of the-United States and of other'nations.

Before-.describing the' details of the structure `comprising the -preferred 'embodiment of the f present` invention, it maybe pointed out that in .modern -military operations it has "been found Aentirely unsatisfactory to f attempt -to reefuel 4mechanized equipment by means 'of large "fuel A-tanksor tankfcarsrsincethese provide "an obviousl target 4for enemygunre, and in allroperations inv the zone of combat it is?` the'preferred '..practice to supply fuel-to thelvariousvehiclesl by ,.-means of large numbers offrelativelyrsmall sheet metal cans, usually in'thecapa-city "ofapproxilLmately five gallonsv each. `This mannerzo'fi'revfuelingvmotor vehiclesnecessarily requires many thousands of fuel containers, and these'vmust,.of

course, beshipped-.from .thepoint of `fmanufacture-fto the area ofcombat before beingfput into use. Heretofore the shipping ofthese-convvtainers has presented:'considerable'.diicultysince -the assembledcontainers are :very "bulky 'and vrequire cubic space'greatlyin excess-oi the space `whichwould be: required "by 'an' equivalent weight vofmore compact equipment.

Inview of thissituationitisfproposed toprovide a containerzof novel and-improved design Aso constructed 'and arranged that zit may Vbe shipped to some pointl close to fthe'. area'of com- V.bat ,in a disassembledcondition, the container being so designed and v'constructed that-.it vmay berassembled easily and Withoutithe.use-of'any heavy types of 1machinery;'suc'hi.aszlargeapresses that are required to manufacture the unassembled containers.

Before describing indetail the structure illustrated in the drawings of this application, it may be pertinent to point out that the present applicant makes no claim to the general idea of shipping containers in knock-down form and assembling them adjacent to the area in which they are required. On the contrary the subject matter of the present application is limited to the specific details of construction of a container of this type that is Wellv adapted to this plan of operation by reason of certain novel elements ofits design and construction.` To appreciate .these points *ofi novelty it may Y be Avwell .to mention that the containers of the class with-Which the, present .applicationdeals are of quite large 'a5 4rsize and lof relatively th-in metal .construction,

ordinarily having dimensions A. of :approximately -18 inches in height,-l4 inchesuin length,.and 6 :inches inwidth; andf being lformed of .thin sheet f steel, for r' example, number 20 -USS gauge.

."From the foregoing it-will be'apparent to those skilled-in'theart,that'it is notfeasible to draw 'containerfblanks having vthe-top, bottom, or end Walls atright-anglesto the fsidesysince blanks of such formation cannot bemested-in telescop- 15 ing relationshipfwithin each other. -On the other fhan-d; if. the containers are formed Iwith. tapering ftop and bottom 'wal-ls, -thecontainers ywill not Y stand* properly 'on a level: surface,l norstack satisfactorlyuponeach other and -will loe-impractiazo-fcal for therpurpose desired.

It is, therefore, the principal `object of the present invention to provide asportable container Y for -liquids1 of vnovel L and desirableA formation so `designed and v'constructed that the individual v bla'nks lfrom -which :each ycontainer' is formed .',may-'be'nested inv telescopic relationwith each :otherfor shipping, butxare so formed asto stand l in vertical positionvon a' flat horizontal surface.

- Referring'now more particularly to drawings iin f'which fthe t present ;preferredembodiment of this 'invention has :been illustrated,

'Figil is -a'side elevationalview'of a portable :container for vliquids constructed in `accordance l'with the4 teaching of thisdisclosure.

Fig. `2 lis a vertical sectional Vfview Vtaken sub- 4."stantially onthe plane of the-lineZ-Zin Fig.f1.

fFig.f3 isla fpla'nfsectional viewtaken substan- "tiallyiontheplane ofthe line 3-3in"Fig. `1.

v`F'igeilis -a side` elevational view of acontainer V40 blank, and

Fig. 5 isa: diagrammatic@y sectionalviewfof two containerblanks in nested'fposition; oneiblank ACfbe'ing l'telescope'cl within 'the other.

"'fThe container comprises, kin Ygeneral, an -open --siueu blank Vwhichforms the-main-.body ofthe container and is closed by a side plate. A lling opening and handle complete the structure, as will appear hereinafter.

The container blank consists of a single integral sheet metal stamping having a large substantially flat main portion or base lll'. The blank is positioned with the base l0 in vertical position to constitute the side of the container and, if desired, the base Ill may be provided with reinforcing ribs Il of any desired conguration to give rigidity to the side of the container. The blank is formed when assembled as a container to include a rear end portion I2, and a front end portion I3, each of which is ared outwardly from the base Il toward the open portion of the blank. The angular relationship of the flared ends' I2 and I3 with respect to the base Ill may vary within limits, but an angle of 98 degrees between Y may be telescoped within another, but it is not feasible to flare the bottom portion of thecontainer, since, if this is done, the container when the parts are assembled will not stand in vertical position and will be subject to accidental tipping which will make it impractical for military use. It is accordingly proposed that the bottom portion I4 when the parts are assembled as a container will lie at a right angle (exactly 90 degrees) with respect to the base portion I of the blank, but the portion of the blank that forms the top portion I5 of the container is flared sufficiently so that the individual blanks may be easily nested inside of one another. The angle of flare of theV top I5 is variable, but an angle of 100 degrees with respect to thel base IIJ has been found to give satisfactory results.`

From anv examination of the drawings it will be seen that this structure permits the container to stand solidly on any horizontal flat surface, since the bottom portion I4 is relatively broad and entirely nat and extends the entire distance between the ends I2 and I3, and completely across the bottom of the container from the base III to the opposite open side of the container blank.

The open side of the container blank is closed by a relatively fiat side plate I1, which includes a marginal flange I8 arranged to fit against the open side of the container blank, and the side plate I'I may also be provided with strengthening ribs I9` similar to the ribs II on the base I0. The side plate II is separately formed, but is ar-Y ranged to t into the open end of the container blank so that these parts may be separately manufactured and shipped, and so that the container structure may be completed by simply inserting the side plate on the open side of the blank and welding around the edge of the plate. This may be done in shops having very little equipment since it does not require the heavy tainer. In the form of the invention illustrated, the handle is of Vnovel and utilitarian formation, comprising a pair of mounting plates 22 and 23 at the opposite ends of the plurality of tubular gripportions 24, 25 and 25. The mounting plate 22 is 'secured in face to 'face' relationship against the top I5 of the container, and the tubular grip portions are progressively offset above the top of 'the mounting bracket, the grip 25 being offset ywith respect to the grip 24, and the grip 26 being offset with respect to the grip 25 so that when the plate is positioned in the angular relationship illustrated in the drawings, the several grip portions of the handle will lie in a common horizontal plane. With this arrangement one of the assembled containers may be stacked on top oi another container, since the broad bottom surface I4 may rest firmly on the tops of the grip portionsof .the container. Thus it is entirely feasible to stand an individual container in vertical position on a at surface, to stack the containers one on'top of another, or to ship the container blanks in disassembled condition with the individual container blanks nested in telescopic relationship with each other. (See Fig. 5.)

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present invention makes possible more efficient useof avaliable shipping facilities and thus offers an important contribution to the war effort by freeing a large amount of cargo capacity for the transportation of yother essential War goods. Further, this is accomplished by a novel and improved structure that is of simple mechanical design and well adapted to mass production methods of manufacture. It is believed, however, that while the present invention has been designed Aspecifically to meet present military requirements and has been adopted by the United States Army as the most satisfactory structure presses used in the formation of the blank or i side plate, and it is thus entirely practicable to manufacture the blanks and side plates in localities remote from the area of combat, and to assemble the containers closely behind the lines.

designed for the purpose, yet its utility is not necessarily limited to military uses but may eX- tend to commercial adaptations as well, and it is accordingly requested that the scope of the invention be regarded as limited only by the scope of the language'of the appended claim in View of the prior art.

Having thus described my invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

As an article of manufacture, a hollow blank consisting of a single integral substantially rectangular sheet metal stamping having a substantially flat base and an Vintegral wall ange formed on said rectangular base and extending from each edge of said rectangular stamping completely around its marginal edges defining four integral panels arranged at substantially right angles to one another; the blank being characterized by the specic formation of said wall flange wherein one of said panels is arranged at right angles to the base and the other of said panels lie at an angle not less than from said base.

DAVID T. CLElVIENTS. JOHN M. KENDERDINE.

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