US2465324A

US2465324A - Fiberboard shipping container

Info

Publication number: US2465324A
Application number: US546291A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mian Stanley B De
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1944-07-24
Filing date: 1944-07-24
Publication date: 1949-03-22
Anticipated expiration: 1966-03-22

Description

March 22, 1949. s. B. DE MlAN v FIBERBOARD SHIPPING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 24, 1944 INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 22, 1949 UNIT 151D STATES PATENT OFFICE FIBERBOARD SHIPPING CONTAINER Stanley B. De Man, Chicago, 111.

Application July 24, 1944, Serial No. 546,291

This inventionrelates to fiber-board shipping containers and more particularly to such containers with open tops or closable covers and which have a high degree of rigidity both vertically, to permit stacking, and transversely, to prevent lateral deformation.

For a number of years there has been a trend from wooden or metal shipping containers to corrugated or solid fiber shipping containers which have a number of distinct advantages. Among these advantages may be mentioned their light weight and low cost, the small storage space required for the box blanks, the facility with which they may be assembled, and the ease of printing attractive advertisements or legends thereon. n the other hand, fiber-board containers heretofore proposed have left something to be desired in the way of strength and rigidity.

There is a considerable demand for shipping containers with open tops or closable covers, suitable for use in display and inspection of the merchandise contained therein, such as apples. pears, citrus, and other fruits. In the case of wooden crates and boxes and conventional slotted and sealed fiber-board containers, the container is damaged or partially destroyed in opening and therefore cannot be reused, while it is desirable from the standpoint of economy to be able to reuse the shipping container, particularly when utilized for the shipment of bottled beverages. Furthermore, in the case of fiber-board containers with open tops or closable covers, the containers of the prior art have been particularly lacking in rigidity and, when stacked, upper containers of the tier tend to drop within the lower ones, particularly at one or more corners.

It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a new and improved fiber-board shipping container which avoids one or more of the disadvantageous characteristics of the prior art shipping containers.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved fiber-board shipping container which incorporates one or more of the following advantageous characteristics: light weight, low cost, small required storage space for the box blanks, facility of assembly, rigidity with respect to transverse loads, resisting deformation, and vertical loads, permitting stacking, and the provision of a substantial horizontal supporting area to facilitate stacking .of the containers into stable tiers.

In accordance with the invention, a fiber-board shipping container comprises'side, end and bottom wall sections and flaps extending from pre- 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-44) determined ones of the 'side and end wall sections, preferably from both side wall and end wall sections. Each of the flaps is predeformed along spaced parallel lines at the upper edge of its respective wall section and is bent along such lines and folded inwardly to form a double wall section with an upper channel-shaped cross section, providing a rim of substantial area along the upper periphery of the box. By the term "predeformed, as applied to the flaps and as used herein and in the appended claims is meant a scoring; creasing or partial cutting of the flaps to facilitate their bending along the predeformed line.

For a better understanding of the invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings while its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a completely assembled fiber-board shipping container embodying the invention and provided with a closable cover;

Fig. 2 is a plan of a fiber-board blank suitable for fabrication into the container of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail of the cover of Fig. 1 to illustrate the method of attachment to the container;

Figs. 4 and 5 are longitudinal and cross sectional views, respectively, of the fiber-board container of Fig. 1, with the closable cover in position; while Figs. 6 and 7 are cross-sectional details of the container of Figs. 4 and 5 taken along the lines 66 and 1l,.respectively of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illus trated a fiber-board shipping container embodying the invention and comprising side wall sections Ill, end wall sections II and a bottom wall section l2. The side, end and bottom wall sections may be formed from a suitable blank, preferably die-cut, and may be fabricated in any well-known conventional manner. Referring to Fig. 2, there is illustrated one form of blank from which the container of Fig. 1 may be fabricated. The side and end walls are of the same configuration as Fig. 1 and are similarly identified. The bottom section I2 is made up of side flaps Ho and end flaps I2b which, upon assembly of the box, may be secured together by gluing, stapling or the like. One of the side wall sections i0 is provided with a tab Me which, upon folding of the box, is secured to its adjacent end wall section I l by gluing,

stapling or the like. The container as thus far described is of entirely conventional construction and may be made up of either corrugated or solid fiber-board, although corrugated fiber-board, as indicated at lIIc in Fig. 2 and in the sectional views of Figs. 4 and 5, is preferred from the standpoint of structural strength and rigidity.

The container of the invention also includes a plurality of flaps extending upwardly from predetermined ones of the side and end wall sections. Preferably, these flaps extend from each of the side walls I!) and end walls II and comprise integral extensions Ia, Illa and Na, Ila of the side and end walls, respectively. Each of the flaps is predeformed, preferably scored, along spaced parallel lines at or near the upper edge of its respective wall section, for example, along the lines I'Ob, I01) and Ilb, III), as indicated in Fig. 2, the lines of deformation being substantially continuous in the container blank. Assuming for the moment that the container is to be supplied without a closable cover, after the initial fabrication described above the side wall flaps Illa are bent along their scoring lines and folded inwardly and thereafter the end wall flaps IIa are similarly bent along their scoring lines and folded inwardly to form double-wall side and end wall sections, the upper portion of each wall section having a channel-shaped cross section forming a peripheral rim I3 of substantial horizontal area completely around the top of the container. The flaps Illa, Ia and Ila, Ila are so proportioned, that is, they are of such a length, that their upper ends rest on the bottom wall section I2 when they are folded inwardly to provide vertical support for the inner edge of the rim l3.

In order to increase the rigidity of the container, particularly with respect to diagonal strains, and to facilitate the fabrication, the flaps Illa, Illa and I la, IIa are cut away at their edges in the region of the spaced scoring lines, as in dicated by the notches I01), I01; and III), III) of Fig. 2, to miter the corners of the rim I3, as indicated in Fig. 1.

Each of the flaps Illa, Ifla and Ila, I'la has a configuration such that, when it is folded inwardly, engagement is effected with at least one other of the inwardly folded flaps for retaining the flaps in their folded positions. Specifically, one pair of opposed flaps, preferably the end flaps Ila, has a width slightly in excess of the corresponding inner dimensions of the container with the side flaps Illa folded inwardly so that the end flaps Ila resiliently and frictionally engage the side flaps Illa and all of the flaps are retained in their inwardly folded positions. In order to obtain a snug fit of the inwardly folded flaps Illa, Illa and Ila. ll'a, the notches "Id and I Id in the blank of Fig. 2 may be formed with tapered extensions. As a result, as indicated in Fig. 6, the end flaps Ila press the lower portions of the side flaps Illa snugly against their respective wall sections I0, while the upper portions of the flaps IOa follow the tapered configuration of the notches IOd. thus providing an extremely rigid structure. This is also indicated in Fig. '7, which is a horizontal cross-sectional detail through one corner of the container. A similar result may be procured by forming the edges of the side flaps Illa, Illa and end flaps IIa, Ila with interlocking tabs and notches.

In order to permit the closing of the container when desired, there is provided a closable cover member I4, preferably hinged at one side or one 4 end of the container. To this end the rim forming flap are provided with spaced slots for receiving similarly disposed tabs on the edges of the cover member I4. Specifically, each of the flaps Illa, Illa is formed with a pair of slots I0! between its two parallel scoring lines lb and the cover member I4 is provided with a pair of tabs Ila (Figs. 3 and 4) each having a pair of ears Ilb foldable against the tab to permit insertion in its respective slot Illf. The tabs Ilb are inserted in the slots I0 before the flaps Illa are folded inwardly. As soon as the tabs I'la are thus inserted the ears Ilb resiliently move outward to engage the under side of flap Illa and to secure the cover in position. The flap IDa is then folded inwardly, retaining the outwardly extending ears Ilb between the double walls of the wall section, thus locking the cover I4 in.

position. The tabs Ila are preferably scored or otherwise deformed along their base lines so that they serve as a lockable hinge for the closable cover II. The cover I4 is also provided with a pair of tabs Ilc disposed to engage the slots ID] in the opposite rim of the container to assist in positioning the cover I4 with respect to the container. The cover may also be provided with a hole I id to facilitate lifting the cover. sired, the cover It may be formed in two parts hinged at either side or either end of the container.

In order to facilitate lifting and handling the container, a slot He is punched in each of the two opposed end wall sections II but the material from the slot is not punched out completely but is struck inwardly in the form of a tab Ilf, while the corresponding end flaps Ila are formed with handle apertures IIg which, when the flaps are folded inwardly, register with the handle openings He and engage the tabs II to form a solid grip or handle for the container.

While in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the flaps Illa, Illa and Ila, II'a are shown as integral extensions of the side and end wall sections, respectively, it will be apparent that these flaps may be formed separately and rigidly secured to the side and end wall sections by gluing, stapling or the like. Similarly, while the invention has been illustrated as embodied in a container having double-wall construction in both its side and end wall sections, it will be apparent that for certain applications it may be suflicient to form only the end wall sections or the side wall sections with the double-wall construction described.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the container of the invention is one of high degree of structural strength and rigidity both against side, end, and diagonal thrusts and against vertical loads and that the substantial horizontal area of the rim I3 facilitates the stacking of the containers into stable tiers. At the same time, the container of the invention may be conveniently used either with or without the removable cover I4. It will be apparent that, while the container of the invention is of the general application for shipping various manufactured commodities. it is of particular advantage in the shipment of fruits and vegetables, providin a reusable container which at the same time facilitates opening for inspection and display purposes. The container of the invention is also particularly suitable for shipping beverages in bottles or paper containers and for shipping other packaged or wrapped food products.

If de-' t While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a fiber-board shipping container the combination comprising a walled body and a preformed pivoted cover member hingedly supported on said walled body, said walled body including a plurality of wall sections each of which has a rim along the upper edge thereof and with at least one of said wall sections having a plurality of longitudinal slots in the rim thereof, and said preformed cover member including a plurality of tab-hinges corresponding in number to the rim slots of a wall section with each tab-hinge including a foldable ear initially folded for contracting the size of the entire tab-hinge for insertion in a corresponding rim slot and openable after insertion to provide a tab-hinge length greater than the-length of the rim slot into which it was inserted, with each tab-hinge retained on the wall section solely by its connection with the rim at the rim slot edge, and said tab-hinges in open position preventing removal of the cover member but permitting the cover member to be pivotally moved to open and to closed position.

2. A container as defined by claim 1 and in' which the wall section having the rim with the longitudinal slots is formed with an integral flap which is deformed along spaced transverse parallel lines and folded inwardly to provide said rim.

3. A container as defined by claim 1 and in which the wall section having the rim with the longitudinal slots is formed with an integral flap which is deformed along spaced parallel lines one of which is located at the upper edge of the wall section proper and said flap is folded inwardly to provide said rim with a substantial horizontal area.

STANLEY B. DE MIAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 317,997 Hollett May 19, 1885 2,044,301 Hill June 16, 1936 2,044,701 Junkin June 16, 1936 2,077,173 Holy Apr. 13, 1937 2,151,472 Hubbard Mar. 21, 1939 2,214,813 Guyer Sept. 17, 1940 2,306,328 Bib-erthaler Dec. 22, 1942 2,358,943 Smith Sept. 26, 1944