US2919045A - Tote boxes - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 29, 1959 WAUGH ET AL 2,919,045

TOTE BOXES Filed Dec. 29, 1955 JNVENTOR Rainier E. WAUGH GEORGE J Yuragx' ATTORNEY5 TOTE BOXES Robert E. Waugh and George J. Yurek, Baltimore, Md, assignors to The Englander Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md, a corporation of Delaware Application December 29, 1955, Serial No. 556,230

Claims. (Cl. 220-4) This invention relates to tote boxes and more particularly relates to collapsible tote boxes capable of handling heavy and bulky loads.

The shipping of heavy bulky loads of various types of materials or equipment has posed a considerable problem in that not only must freight be paid to ship the load to its intended designation, but freight must also be paid to return the heavy structural metal shipping container back to its point of origin. Most such tote boxes have been of a heavy structural metal construction which not only makes such freight charges substantial from a weight standpoint but also requires just as much shipping space empty as when filled.

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a collapsible tote box made from relatively light weight material which is capable of handling extremely heavy and bulky loads.

' It is another object of the invention to provide a collapsible tote box made primarily of reinforced plastic which is fastened together in such a manner as to be capable of handling loads ranging as high as several tons.

It is another object of the invention to provide a collapsible tote box which is easily assembled and disassembled from a minimum number of parts.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a collapsible tote box having removable side panels which permit the bottom of the tote box to be conveniently loaded from trucks or other lifting implements in the manner of a conventional freight pallet.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reference to the following specification and claims and appended drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tote box constructed according to the invention and partially disassembled;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of an insert plug from a bottom corner insert assembly;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a top corner insert;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a hinge;

Figure 5 is a perspective View of a hinge tube sleeve;

Figure 6 is a partial vertical elevation showing the top of one corner of the tote box with portions thereof broken away; and

Figure 7 is a vertical section showing the bottom of a corner of the tote box.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1 of the drawing there is shown a tote box 10 consisting of a bottom panel 12 and four side panels 14 which are preferably formed of a reinforced plastic such as fiber glass reinforced sheets. The bottom panel 12 is provided with rolled over edges 16 which receive bottom stiffening tubes 18 which are preferably of reinforced plastic. Four short, seamless steel tubes 20 are vertically disposed at the four corners of the bottom panel 12 and have apertures therein for receiving the ends of the stiffener tube 18. The tubes 20 have tapered upper ends 22 and have plugs 24 fastened in their lower ends. The plugs 24 have reduced diameter portions 26 and centrally located threaded holes 27. The plugs are secured to the tubes 20 in any 2,919,045 Patented Dec. 29, 1959 suitable manner such as by force fitting the reduced diameter portions 26 thereinto. The lower corner joint structure is shown best in Figure 7. The bottom panel 12 is provided with four feet 30 which are preferably of hard wood such as hard maple and which are fastened thereto by means of a plurality of screws 32.

The side panels 14 are provided with rolled over top edges 34 which receive top stiffener tubes 36 of reinforced plastic. The vertical edges of the side panels are provided with a plurality of hinges 37 which may be secured thereto by means of a plastic bonding material preferably a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin and self tapping screws 38. The hinges 37 may be formed of reinforced plastic and may comprise single sheets of plastic folded over to form a loop 40 as shown in Figure 4. The end of each rolled over edge 34 of the side panels 14 is fitted with a top corner insert 42 which consists of a stainless steel plug 44 having a stainless steel ring 46 integrally secured thereto in any suitable manner. The top corner inserts may all be identical, with the ring 46 occupying one-half of the edge of the plug 44, and half of the corner inserts are inserted with the ring 46 in the lower position as shown at 47 in Figure 6, while the other half are inserted with the ring in an inverted or upper position, as shown at 49 in Figure 6, in order that adjoining rings may mate with one another.

The hinges 37 and top corner inserts 42 are fastened together by means of hinge tubes 48 of reinforced plastic having shouldered sleeves 56 mounted in the top ends thereof. These sleeves comprise bearing portions 51 and reduced diameter portions 53 which are received in the upper ends of the hinge tubes 48, as seen in Figure 6. The shouldered sleeves Si) are apertured at 52, as shown in Figure 5, to receive the tie rods 28 which have loops 54 at their upper ends. The tie rods 28 are threaded at their lowermost ends at 29 and engage the threaded apertures in insert plugs 24 when the hinge tubes 48 are slid downwardly through the hinges 37 over the insert tubes 20 as shown in Figures 6 and 7. The bearing portions 51 of sleeves 50 are sufficiently long to form bearing surfaces for the rings 46 as seen in Figure 6.

The entire tote box other than the tie rods, insert tubes and inserts may be made of reinforced plastic thereby greatly reducing the weight necessary to handle heavy loads. The bottom panel may be placed upon a floor and the side panels removed in the manner shown in Figure 1 so that the bottom panel may be loaded by vehicles in the same manner as an ordinary freight pallet. The side panels may then be assembled to the tote box and a sling passed through the loops 54 at the tops of the tie rods 28 in order to lift the box. After the box reaches its destination the hinge tubes may be removed and the side panels laid flat upon the bottom panel so as to provide a compact relatively light weight unit for reshipping to its point of origin.

It will be noted that while the tote box is constructed almost entirely of reinforced plastic it is provided with metal elements for transmitting both vertical and lateral loads to the plastic panels. The vertical metal tubes 20 at the corners of the bottom panel transmit the lifting force to the bottom panel through the stiffener tubes 18 and the lifting force is transmitted to these tubes by the metal tie rods 28 and metal insert plugs 24. Lateral load at the top of the box is resisted by insert plugs 44 which transmit this load through rings 46 to the metal sleeves 50 mounted on the metal tie rods and shouldered in the hinge tubes.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. V

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A collapsible tote box comprising a reinforced plastic bottom panel having metal fastening members at the corners thereof, reinforced plastic side panels hinged together by tubular reinforced plastic hinge pins, metal sleeves attached to the tops of said hinge pins and having portions extending thereinto, metal rings attached to the upper corners of said side panels and encircling said sleeves, and metal tie rods passing concentrically through said sleeves and hinge pins and being releasably connected to said metal fastening members to fasten said side panels to said bottom panel.

2. A collapsible tote box comprising a bottom panel having rolled edges, stiffening tubes in said rolled edges, upstanding members at the corners of said bottom panel, each of said upstanding members being attached to the ends of two of said stiffening tubes which are subtentially perpendicular to one another, side panels having rolled upper edges, stiffener members in said edges, hinge members attached to the vertical edges of said side panels, and hinge pins passing through said hinge members and having their lower ends fastened to said upstanding members to secure said side panels to one another and to transmit a lifting force direct to all of the stiffening tubes in said bottom panel.

3. A collapsible tote box as set out in claim 2 wherein said hinge pins comprise hollow tubes having lower ends which receive said upstanding members, and tie rods passing through said tubes and secured to said upstanding members.

4. A collapsible tote box as set out in claim 2 wherein said hinge pins are hollow, metal bearing members attached to the upper ends of said hinge pins, rod like inserts in the ends of the stiffener members in said side panels, and rings attached to said inserts and encircling and engaging said metal bearing members, two rings encircling and engaging each bearing member.

5. A collapsible tote box as set out in claim 4 wherein said hinge pins comprise hollow tubes having lower ends which receive said upstanding members, and tie rods passing through said bearing members and tubes and having their lower ends screw threadedly engaged with said upstanding members, said tie rods having hooks at their upper ends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 941,013 Doble et a1. -2 Nov. 23, 1909 1,441,343 Hartshorn Jan. 9, 1923 1,920,312 Klinka Aug. 1, 1933 2,024,075 Swaim Dec. 10, 1935 2,494,275 Abbott Jan. 10, 1950 2,526,716 Wales Oct. 24, 1950 2,729,386 Haddad Jan. 3, 1956

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