US3081871A - Interlocking elongate articles and bundles thereof - Google Patents

Description

March 9, 3 1 J. c. FISHER ETAL I 3,081,371

INTERLOCKING ELONGATE ARTICLES AND BUNDLES THEREOF Filed Ndv. 8. 1960 INVENTORS JAMES c. FISHER /0 JOHN E CLARK /4 FRANK H. LEE

zf Jw .ZZ ATTORN EY United States Patent 3,081,871 INTERLOQKING ELONGATE ARTICLES AND BUNDLES THEREOF James C. Fisher, New Kensington, John F. Clark, Bethel Park, and Frank H. Lee, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignors to Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pin, a

corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Nov. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 67,969 2 Qlairns. (Cl. 2ll66) This invention relates to individual similar elongate articles which are exteriorly configurated in such a manner that they can be oriented with each other to provide an interlocking coplanar layer of the same, and from which tiered stacks comprising a plurality of such similar layers, as shipping bundles, can be provided. The invention is particularly adapted to provide an elongate metal ingot capable of interlocking assembly with an adjacent similar ingot in minimal space-occupying relationship to constitute a coplanar layer of two or more ingots, as well as stacked tiers of such similar coplanar layers.

The invention hereinafter described and illustrated has found particular adaptation in the metal ingot field, where it has been conventional practice to provide elongate cast ingots of various cross-sectional configuration to conventional or desired predetermined individual weight requirements. While the invention has been found to be of special utility in connection with such ingot practice, it will be manifest that it is equally applicable to other elongate articles, and it is therefore not the intention to confine or limit the present invention, in its broader aspects, to any specific article of commerce or manufacture.

ingots of varying individual weights are in regular commercial demand from the standpoint that they can be manually handled and their individual weights represent convenient single and multiple additions in formulating metallurgical alloy compositions. However, the weight and size of such conventional individual ingots often introduces time-consuming and excessive labor costs in their bulk handling with conventional material-handling equip ment, such as provided by crane service and lift-trucks capable of handling and transporting many times the weight of each individual ingot, without first providing bundles of a number of the individual ingots tied together by surrounding wires or bands, the bundles themselves being otherwise well within the capacity of the aforesaid conventional mechanical handling equipment.

Considerable difliculty, however, is still being experienced in presently employed bundled ingot practices particularly because of an inherent tendency of the individual ingots to slip endwise in respect of their parallel longitudinal axes in a bound bundle thereof, and even when some provision has been made for interengagement between adjacent individual ingots in stacked and/or bound bundles in an effort to prevent or alleviate their endwise axial movement, anything but an efficient ratio of transverse cross-sectional area of the ingots to the voids therebetween prevails, thereby resulting in inefficient volumetric space occupied by such bundles and stacks of ingots.

Substantially static bundles of individual articles, such as elongate ingots, in compact and efficient space-saving association of the individual articles in the bundles thereof, is essential to transportation, shipping and handling of the same to gain any advantage over bulk handlingof the "ice individual articles. For example, capacity ratings, dimensions and clearance tolerances of conventional carriers regulate the height to which a product or load can be built above the platform bed of the carrier, and a pay load can be greatly reduced by an inefficient volumetric ratio of product to voids within a bundle made up from individual product articles. Instability of the bundles is also disadvantageous and can be disastrous if and when the individual articles of the bundle, or unitary bundles of the articles, are capable of shifting relative to themselves into an unbalanced condition and/ or inefiicient occupation of space assigned thereto.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an elongate article, such as a metal ingot, configurated in respect of its transverse cross-section and exterior surfaces to permit coplanar side-by-side assembly with an adjacent similarly configurated article in interlocked surface contacting assembly therewith against substantial relative axial or endwise movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide an elongate article, such as an ingot, capable of surface contacting assembly with an adjacent substantially identical article in minimal space-occupying relationship.

An object of the invention is to also provide an elongate ingot of generally quadrilateral transverse cross-section defined by two opposite substantially parallel sides and the remaining two sides oppositely but equally inclined to the first two parallel sides, and having an outwardly projecting lug on one of the inclined sides and a recess in the opposite inclined side thereof, the lug and recess being located intermediate the axial length of the ingot, and the lug being interengageably receivable within the recess of an adjacent longitudinally inverted similar ingot in inclined surface contacting relationship therewith.

A further object of the invention is to provide an elongate ingot having two oppositely disposed substantially parallel top and bottom surfaces, respectively, and two similarly but oppositely inclined side surfaces, and having a projecting lug on one of the inclined side surfaces and a recess in the opposite inclined side surface, the lug and the recess each preferably extending the full depth of the ingot in respect to its top and bottom substantially parallel surfaces, and the lug of one ingot being receivable within the recess of a similar longitudinally inverted ingot when both ingots are supported on a surface coplanar with the top surface of one and bottom surface of the other ingot with adjacently disposed inclined side surfaces of the two ingots in surface contact in a common inclined plane to provide a side-by-side layer of two similar ingots.

A still further object of the invention is to provide laterally surface-contacting and interengaged coplanar layers of articles or ingots in tiered stacked arrangement thereof bound and secured in substantially static bundles thereof.

Other objects and advantages Will be understood by those versed in the art to which the invention appertains on consideration of the following description, and illustrations, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an elongate article or ingot of the invention in bottom plan view;

FIG. 2 illustrates the article of FIG. 1 in inverted side elevational View;

FIG. 3 illustrates a transverse section taken on the plane 33 of FIG. 2 in spaced coplanar juxtaposition to 3 a longitudinally inverted similar ingot illustrated in end elevation;

FIG. 4 illustrates an end elevation of a plurality of elongate articles of the invention in side-by-side inclined side surface contacting and interengaged assembly to produce a coplanar layer of the same;

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a tiered bound stack or bundle of the elongate articles of the invention in perspective view; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a fragmentary elevational view of the lower portion of the tiered bound stack of FIG. 5-.

It will be observed from reference to the illustrations of the invention that an elongate article or ingot has been provided of generally quadrilateral transverse cross-section having a substantially fiat top surface lit, a bottom substantially parallel surface 12, and equally and oppositely inclined lateral side surfaces 14 and 16 converging downwardly from the wider top surface to its narrower bottom surface 12. Opposite and equally inclined end surfaces 18 and as complete the enclosing surfaces or walls of the solid body of the elongate article or ingot, except as hereinafter described.

An outwardly projecting generally wedge-shaped lug 22 is provided in the form of an integral and contiguous surface configuration of the lateral or side surface 14 of the elongate article substantially midway of its axial length, the lug preferably blending with the upper longitudinal edge of the ingot in the plane of the top surface in and presenting an outwardly facing rectangular plane surface inclined or tapered downwardly to the bottom surface 12 intersecting the plane thereof in a lower lug edge 28 parallel to the lower bottom longitudinal edge formed by the bottom plane surface 12. Triangular end walls 24 and 26 complete the exposed surface-defining configuration of the lug 22, with its lower edge 28 terminating inwardly of the parallel upper edge formed by the intersection of inclined side surface 14 and upper surface 10.

A recess 30 is provided in the opposite side surface 16 of the elongate article or ingot in substantial axial registry with the aforesaid lug 22. The recess is formed by a flat rectangular surface preferably originating in the longitudinal edge formed by the intersection of the bottom plane surface 12 and inclined side plane surface 16, and

diverges outwardly and upwardly therefrom to provide an upper terminating edge 32 in the plane of the top surface 12 parallel to and inwardly disposed in respect to the top longitudinal edge of the elongate article or ingot formed by the intersection of the plane top surface 10 and inclined plane side surface 16. The end walls 34 and 36 of the recess 3% are triangular in shape as in the case of the lug 22.

From an inspection of the illustration in FIG. 3, it will be observed that two identical elongate articles or ingots have been shown in coplanar slightly separated disposition in respect of .their inclined side walls 14 and 1 6, which has necessitated inversion of one of the articles about its longitudinal axis. This disposition of the two elognate articles presents the lug 22 of one in registry with the recess so of the other, thereby permitting lateral side-by-side assembly of the two articles in inclined surface-contacting relationship over the axial length of their side walls 14 and 16 on entry of the lug 22 into the recess 3b, as best illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6.

The outwardly facing inclined rectangular plane surface of a lug 22 preferably coincides with and abuts the inwardly facing or depressed inclined rectangular plane surface of a recess 39 in longitudinal inverted interlocking coplanar disposition of a pair of the elongate articles of the invention, the overall longitudinal aixal width of a lug 22 and triangular end walls 24 and 26 being slightly less than the overall longitudinal axial width of the recess 3% and its triangular end walls 34 and 36 to insure facile and ready interlocking coplanar assembly of the paired adjacent inverted articles. in this regard, the inclined and tapered disposition of the triangular end walls 24 and 26 of a lug cooperate with the similarly inclined and tapered triangular end walls 34 and 36 of a recess an to pilot a lug 22 of one ingot into the recess 30 of an adjacent ingot in coplanar axially inverted side-by-side lateral contacting disposition therewith.

The elongate article or ingot of the invention is preferably further configurated to provide axially extending end flanges as and 42, of substantially less thickness than the depth or height of the article, with upper surfaces thereof coplanar with the top plane surface 10 of the article, the flanges providing conventional manual gripping, fork-lift and sling-handling surfaces therefor. The flanges 4t and 4 2 are also provided with medially disposed notches 44 as well as depressed transversely disposed grooves or notches 46 in the bottom plane surface 12 of the article, for receiving conventional banding strips or wires (FIG. 5), as will be hereinafter described in more detail.

Since an ingot is representative of an elongate article responding to the configurated'product thus far described, and because of the further fact that the term ingot normally implies its fabrication by casting, it will be observed that all of the exposed lateral surfaces of the illustrated article, angularly disposed in respect of the substantially parallel flat plane surfaces It: and 12 defining the top and bottom surfaces of the article, converge or slope downwardly towards the substantially flat parallel narrower or transversely shorter bottom surface '12, and thus provide draft in respect to the Walls of a mold or matrix defining such inclined surfaces to thereby permit facile and ready removal of the article from the mold producing the same. The same draft conditions obtain in respect of the triangular end walls 24 and 26 of the lug 22 and the triangular end walls 34 and 36 of the recess 30, the base chords or lines defining these triangular walls, locating respectively the outwardly projecting thickened edge 28 of the lug 22 and inwardly depressed edge 32 of the recess 30, providing immediate draft clearance for the outwardly facing rectangular flat inclined surface of the lug 22, and its triangularend walls 24- and 26, and similar draft clearance for the inwardly depressed rectangular flat inclined surface of the recess 30, and its triangular end walls 34 and 36. Similar downwardly inclined converging draft surfaces have been incorporated in the transverse sloping walls of the bottom transverse grooves 46, the depth-defining exterior walls of the end flanges 40 land 42, as well as the walls defining the medially disposed notches 'or grooves 44 in the end flanges 40 and 42 and inclined end walls 18 and 20. It will, however, be manifest that other fabricating processes, such as forging, or combined forging and casting techniques, could be employed to produce similar elongate articles in accordance with the scope of the invention, while obtaining the advantages thereof.

It will be observed that :a coplanar layer composed of any selected number of the individual elongate articles may be assembled, as illustrated in FIG. 4, to provide a side-by-side longitudinal surface contacting arrangement or bundle thereof in lug-within-recess interlocking relationship between alternating upright and lon gitudinally inverted articles. An assembled coplanar layer (FIG. 4) can also be transversely bound to provide a unitary one layer static bundle of the articles by banding strips or wires in exterior-surface article-embracing relationship aligned within the transverse grooves 46 in the exposed bottom surfaces 1210f the articles in registry with the banding members, in accordance with conventional banding practices.

The coplanar layer of FIG. 4 is typical and representative of an increment layer or row of the articles or ingots of the invention in providing multilayer tiered stacks or bound bundles thereof, and in this connection superposed coplanar layers similar to that illustrated in FIG. 4 have been stacked or tiered, preferably in alternately inverted layer arrangement, with the longitudinal axes of the articles disposed in parallel arrangement and in substantial vertical alignment in the tiered rows or layers thereof. Stacked in this parallel and vertically aligned manner, two-directional banding has been employed by embracing the exterior surfaces of the articles or ingots with conventional banding members in alignment with the outwardly directed transverse bottom surface grooves 46 and longitudinally axially disposed end flange slots 44, in accordance with conventional banding practices.

Preferential selection of the transverse width and length dimensions of an individual elongate article or ingot of the invention has also resulted in expanded utility and economy of the invention. For example, the overall maximum transverse width of the five similar articles forming the coplanar layer of FIG. 4 is substantially equal to the overall axial length of each individual elongate article or ingot in the coplanar layer measured in terms of the extremities of the axially projecting end surfaces of the end flanges 40 and 42 (FIG. 2). This substantially dimensional equality also prevails in respect to the maximum transverse width of the bottom coplanar layer of the tiered stack of ingots illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. Therein the bottom coplanar layer is composed of four identical elongate articles of the invention in upright longitudinal upper or top edge contacting arrangement, with the aligned end flanges 40 and 42 thereof elevated above the common base surface of the bottom surfaces 12 of the individual articles, thus providing a pallet and permitting lateral entry therebelow of the spaced prongs or blades of a conventional fork-truck, or similar handling device, including the conventional sling of a hoist or crane.

The bound tiered stack or bundle of superposed layers of elongate articles or ingots of the invention, illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, represents an embodiment which has met with successful commercial acceptance. Therein the bottom row of four upright articles or ingots serves as a pallet for eight coplanar layers of five ingots each (FIG. 4) in superposed alternating 90 disposition of the adjacent coplanar layers on the upper substantially flat plane surface presented by the top surfaces of the bottom upright row or layer of ingots. Banding strips 50 have been employed to encompass and bind the tiered stack of 90 alternatingly disposed tiered coplanar layers as a separate bundle, the bands or strips 50 being received within the depressed transverse grooves 46 in the lowermost coplanar layer and Within the slots 44 in the articles of the uppermost layer in closest vertical registry with the grooves 46. The banding strips 52, in turn, have been employed to secure the bottom row of upright pallet providing articles or ingots in unitary attachment to the separately bound superposed layers (FIGS. 4, 5 and 6) supported thereon by encompassing the exterior surfaces of the unitary bundle thus formed, the banding strips '52 being received within the depressed transverse grooves 46 in the bottom surfaces 12 of the bottom upright row or layer of ingots, as Well as within the bottom grooves 4-6 in the outboard inverted ingots or articles of the uppermost coplanar layer of the same. It will be understood and appreciated that the sequence or order of applying the banding strips 50 and 52 may be reversed from that previously described, or be performed simultaneously, conventional banding equipment permitting such varying practices.

The unitary tiered or stacked bundle of FIGS. 5 and 6 has been modified in the commercial practice of the invention to dispose the individual ingots or articles in the coplanar rows or layers exemplified by FIG, 4, as well as in the bottom row or layer of upright articles serving as the pallet therefor, in parallel longitudinal axial arrangement of the ingots or articles. By this modification of the bundle of FIGS. 5 and 6, it has been possible to increase or decrease the number of articles or ingots in each coplanar layer (FIG. 4) of a tiered stack or bound bundle of such coplanar layers and select the number of articles or ingots in the bottom upright pallet layer supporting the same to accommodate the dimension of a final bundle so produced in the horizontal direction normal to the uniform axial length of the longitudinally axially parallel ingots or articles in the upright pallet layer and superposed coplanar layers supported thereon.

It will be manifest that the coplanar layer stacking and bundling systems hereinabove described permit flexible selection of bundle and stack sizes to meet Weight requirements in a wide variety of single coplanar layer and tiered coplanar layer bundles or stacks of the individual ingots or articles of the invention, in terms of efiicient use of available space.

It is to be understood that the invention described hereinabove is not to be limited in any way other than as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A vertically tiered and bound stack of horizontal coplanar uniform height layers of similar articles, such as ingots, longitudinally interlocked in parallel axial arrangement in each coplanar layer against substantial relative longitudinal movement, each coplanar layer consisting of alternately upright and longitudinally inverted similar articles each having a wide top and a narrower bottom surface defined by substantially flat parallel surfaces and equally and oppositely inclined enclosing plane side surfaces, a longitudinally centrally located lug carried by one inclined side surface of each article and a depression in the opposite inclined side surface thereof in longitudinal registry with the lug, adjacent articles in each alternately upright and longitudinally inverted coplanar layer of the articles having a side surface lug on one article disposed entirely within a side surface depression of an adjacent article in axially restraining relationship therebetween and the adjacent inclined side surfaces of the articles otherwise coincident in side surface coplanar abutment, the said coplanar layers each having a similar number of articles and vertically tiered similar coplanar layers being in substantially vertical registry with the longitudinal axes of the individual articles in parallel disposition, a coplanar bottom pallet layer of the articles in upright disposition below and in supporting contact with the superposed tiered alternately upright and longitudinally inverted coplanar layers, said bottom pallet layer having its articles in top upper adjacent contacting longitudinal edge-contacting relationship with the longitudinal axes of the articles in parallel with the same axes of the articles in the coplanar layers thereabove, and at least one banding and securing member encompassing the tiered stack in the plane transverse to the longitudinal parallel axes of all of the articles.

2. A vertically tiered and bound stack or bundle of similar elongate articles, such as ingots, each article being of transverse quadrilateral cross-section having a wide top and a narrower bottom surface defined by substantially parallel plane surfaces and equally and oppositely inclined enclosing plane side surfaces, a longitudinally centrally located lug projecting outwardly from the inclined plane of one side surface of each article in longitudinal registry with a recess depressed in the opposite inclined side surface thereof, the recess being inverted in respect to the lug and the lug and recess extending over the entire depth of the inclined side surfaces, horizontal coplanar uniform height layers of the articles in alternately upright sidebyside relationship with a lug received entirely within a recess in inclined coplanar coextensive side surface-contacting assembly of adjacent articles being relatively restrained through longitudinal engagement of the lugs within the recesses, a bottom coplanar pallet layer of upright articles in top upper marginal edge contacting relationship having a maximum transverse width substantially equal to the maximum transverse width of each alternately upright coplanar layer of the articles tiered thereabove, the said maximum transverse widths of both coplanar layers being substantially equal to the axial length of each similar article, said alternately upright coplanar layers being superposed in substantially vertical registry and alter- 5 nately offset 90 to each other upon and in substantially vertical registry with the upper plane surface of the bottom upright coplanar pallet layer of articles, and at least one banding strip extending and secured around the tiered stack in the transverse plane of the bottom upright co- 1Q planar pallet layer of articles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Frear Oct. 22,

Wilson Oct. 18,

Gill Apr; 15,

Mendel Jan. 5,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Apr. 2,

Claims (1)

1. A VERTICALLY TIERED AND BOUND STACK OF HORIZONTAL COPLANAR UNIFORM HEIGHT LAYERS OF SIMILAR ARTICLES, SUCH AS INGOTS, LONGITUDINALLY INTERLOCKED IN PARALLEL AXIAL ARRANGEMENT IN EACH COPLANAR LAYER AGAINST SUBSTANTIAL RELATIVE LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT, EACH COPLANAR LAYER CONSISTING OF ALTERNATELY UPRIGHT AND LONGITUDINALLY INVERTED SIMILAR ARTICLES EACH HAVING A WIDE TOP AND A NARROWER BOTTOM SURFACE DEFINED BY SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT PARALLEL SURFACES AND EQUALLY AND OPPOSITELY INCLINED ENCLOSING PLANE SIDE SURFACES, A LONGITUDINALLY CENTRALLY LOCATED LUG CARRIED BY ONE INCLINED SIDE SURFACE OF EACH ARTICLE AND A DEPRESSION IN THE OPPOSITE INCLINED SIDE SURFACE THEREOF IN LONGITUDINAL REGISTRY WITH THE LUG, ADJACENT ARTICLES IN EACH ALTERNATELY UPRIGHT AND LONGITUDINALLY INVERTED COPLANAR LAYER OF THE ARTICLES HAVING A SIDE SURFACE LUG ON ONE ARTICLE DISPOSED ENTIRELY WITHIN A SIDE SURFACE DEPRESSION OF AN ADJACENT ARTICLE IN AXIALLY RESTRAINING RELATIONSHIP THEREBETWEEN AND THE ADJACENT INCLINED SIDE SURFACES OF THE ARTICLES OTHERWISE COINCIDENT IN SIDE SURFACE COPLANAR ABUTMENT, THE SAID COPLANAR LAYERS EACH HAVING A SIMILAR NUMBER OF ARTICLES AND VERTICALLY TIERED SIMILAR COPLANAR LAYERS BEING IN SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL REGISTRY WITH THE LONGITUDINAL AXES OF THE INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES IN PARALLEL DISPOSITION, A COPLANAR BOTTOM PALLET LAYER OF THE ARTICLES IN UPRIGHT DISPOSITION BELOW AND IN SUPPORTING CONTACT WITH THE SUPERPOSED TIERED ALTERNATELY UPRIGHT AND LONGITUDINALLY INVERTED COPLANAR LAYERS, SAID BOTTOM PALLET LAYER HAVING ITS ARTICLES IN TOP UPPER ADJACENT CONTACTING LONGITUDINAL EDGE-CONTACTING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LONGITUDINAL AXES OF THE ARTICLES IN PARALLEL WITH THE SAME AXES OF THE ARTICLES IN THE COPLANAR LAYERS THEREABOVE, AND AT LEAST ONE BANDING AND SECURING MEMBER ENCOMPASSING THE TIERED STACK IN THE PLANE TRANSVERSE TO THE LONGITUDINAL PARALLEL AXES OF ALL OF THE ARTICLES.

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