US3506180A

US3506180A - Storage and transport containers

Info

Publication number: US3506180A
Application number: US679444A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ian Robert Forrest
Original assignee: Universal Container UK Ltd
Current assignee: Universal Container UK Ltd
Priority date: 1967-10-31
Filing date: 1967-10-31
Publication date: 1970-04-14
Anticipated expiration: 1987-04-14

Description

April 14, 1970 R. FORREST 3,506,180

STORAGE AND TRANSPORT CONTAINERS Filed Oct. 51. 19s? 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 //V l/E N TOR [an Zoberz? Forresfi ATTORNEYS April 14, 1970 I. R. FORREST STORAGE AND TRANSPORT CONTAINERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 31, 1967 n fl m m n g m n m M" h u n U L i U m 2 m 4 w|||||||||| n L 4m 2 3 u H w b m 5 a 5 3 F m i an u U .N. U -1 H a Q U z 4 2 a\ c n a m m 3 3 6 U l h n 1 I I 5 WM ll 4 FIGS.

w 6 m m m 1 n a ATTORNEYS April 1970 l. R. FORREST 3,506,180

7 STORAGE AND TRANSPORT CONTAINERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed. Oct. s1, 1967 FIGQ.

MW r V& Z

BY mp2, 13126 W 6) ATTORXNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. 229-14 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container for liquids and substances in granular or paste condition which comprises an outer receptacle, a liner slidably fitting within the outer receptacle, and a bag of flexible sheet material secured to the inner surface of the walls of said liner.

Reference is made to British patent application No. 18,849/6'7 of Apr. 24, 1967, and 48,816/66 dated Nov. 1, 1966, Ian Robert Forrest from which priority is claimed.

This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to storage and transport containers and is particularly concerned with such containers for storing and transporting liquids and substances such as in granular, powered or paste form.

More, specifically, the type of container with which the the invention is concerned consists of an outer receptacle of collapsible form constructed of hard cardboard or like material and a preformed bag contained within the outer receptacle, the bag being of plastics material, paper or metal foil and having an opening whereby the bag may be filled or the contents emptied therefrom. Containers of this type are already well known and in some cases, the bag is secured to the interior surfaces of the walls of the outer receptacle, while in others it is secured to end flaps of the outer receptacle. It is also known to have the bag loose within the outer receptacle and only secured thereto by means of a pouring neck or closure member which is attached to a wall or flap of the outer receptacle.

However, in all such constructions the ability of the container to withstand shock, puncture and the stresses to which such containers are normally subjected is wholly dependent on the qualities and properties of the material of the outer receptacle. If to reinforce the container the outer container is formed of a thicker material than is usual, not only will the cost of production of the container increase, but also the weight and bulk thereof will render it more unwieldy than containers of which the receptacles are of thin material. In addition, there is still the possibility that with the receptacle of thicker material puncture of or damage to the container will still occur, so rendering it unusable if the damage is extensive.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel container which overcomes as much as is possible the disadvantages attendant to damage thereof and which provides other advantages set forth hereinafter.

Accordingly the present invention provides a container for liquids and substances in granular or paste condition which comprises an outer receptacle, a liner slidably fit ting within the outer receptacle, and a bag of flexible sheet material secured to the inner surface of the walls of said liner. The liner is preferably of substantially square cross-section formed of rigid or semi-rigid material such as cardboard, chipboard or plastics and processed material. The bag may be secured to the liner on at least two opposite side Walls of the latter either over the whole surface of these side walls or at specific locations thereon so that the liner which is of collapsible construction erects the bag as it is erected. Furthermore the bag ice extends beyond the confines of the liner at each end. Preferably the bag is in its flat form constructed as a rhombus.

The provision of the liner for a container provides a stronger and more rigid construction than hitherto since effectively with the liner inside the outer receptacle, the thickness of the protective packing for the bag is increased. This advantage can be expressed in a number of ways: impact against a side wall of the outer receptacle, which could pierce the wall or at the least damage the wall will be resisted by the liner so that the bag within is not punctured, stress or strain on the receptacle will not readily result in the collapse of the container structure and if the outer receptacle should be damaged in any way, the liner and bag can be removed from the receptacle and re-placed in another receptacle without having to empty the contents thereof into another bag as is done at present when a container of the known construction described above is damaged.

If the outer receptacle is formed of laminated cardboard wherein at least one of the laminations is corrugated, then the liner may also be formed of the same material, the fluting of the corrugations of each wall of the liner being orthogonal to those of the adjacent wall of the outer receptacle. This provides greater resilience of the assembled container and also enables it to withstand weight of other containers when it is stacked on its side.

Additionally containers of the type according to the invention are more able to withstand weight of other containers when these are stacked one upon the other, due to the reinforcement of the outer receptacle by the liner and also due to the walls of the outer receptacle and the liner bearing equally the weight of other containers stacked thereon. It will be completely understood by a man skilled in the art that the liner provided as an important feature of the invention is for the dual purpose of protecting the flexible bag and also for giving extra strength and support to the outer receptacle. It will be appreciated that the liner per so can not be used as an outer receptacle by itself and it is not intended that the liner should be used or even considered as an outer receptacle since it can not provide the requirements of an outer receptacle, has no end closure flaps and is completely collapsible when not within an outer receptacle.

The above invention provides a container for liquids and substances in granular, pulverulent or paste form which comprises an outer rigid container of metal, rigid plastics material or the like and having a liner slidably fitting therein with a bag of flexible sheet material ad hered to the inner surface of the walls of the liner.

The liner is so formed as to fit within the outer container and may be of any desired cross-section such as to fit inside the outer container with a slidable fit.

Having set forth some of the principal features and advantages of the invention, it will now be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a container according to the invention showing the liner in the outer receptacle with the bag removed. tacle with the bag removed,

FIGURE 2 is a similar view of FIGURE 1 but showing the bag in situ and the bottom flaps closed,

FIGURE 3 shows a blank from which the outer receptacle is formed,

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a container as is FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 5 is a front view thereof,

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of a flat bag,

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a closure device for the bag,

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view of a closure device secured to a flap of the outer receptacle,

FIGURE 9 is an alternative part for the closure device.

In FIGURES 1 to 5,'the outer receptacle is generally indicated at 1, and consists of four side walls 1a, 1b, 1c, 10, four

upper closure flaps

2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and four

lower closure flaps

3a, 3b, 3c, 3d. Within the outer receptacle 1, there is a liner 4, the dimensions of which are substantially equal to those of the receptacle interior. The liner 4 comprises four

side walls

4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, formed from a rectangular blank 5 shown in dotted outline in FIGURE 3 super-imposed on the blank 6 from which the outer receptacle 1 is formed. The four

side walls

4a, 4b, 4c, 4d are formed by three parallel crease lines, scores or

folds

7, 8, 9 equidistantly spaced from one another. The two parallel end edges 10 and 11 of the liner are then brought together and joined by adhesive tape, or any other suitable means. For example, the blank 5 may have a lateral strip at one end thereof which is formed by making a lateral fold line adjacent that edge, the liner then being folded round so that this strip lies adjacent the other end of the block. Alternatively, instead of the strip, two or more tongues formed integrally with the blank may provide the means for securing the two edges thereof together, the bond between the one edge of the blank and the lateral strip or tongues being adhesive or by stapling the adjacent parts together. The height of the liner is slightly less than the height of the walls 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d of the outer receptacle.

The outer receptacle 1 is formed from a blank 6 (FIG- URE 3) which is scored, creased or folded horizontally and vertically. The height of the side walls or panels 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d is determined by the distance between the two

parallel fold lines

12 and 13 which extend over the length of the blank 6. The width of the side walls or panels is determined by the distance apart of adjacent pairs of parallel equidistantly spaced

fold lines

14, 15, 16 and the

edges

17 and 18 of the blank 6. Each of the

fold lines

14, 15, 16 is continued above the horizontal fold line 12 as a cut, 19, 20, 21, and similarly below the fold line 13 as

cuts

22, 23, 24 respectively. The

fold lines

12, 13 and the cut 19 to 24 delineate the upper and lower closure flaps of the outer receptacle, and since the formed receptacle is of substantially square cross-section the height h of each flap should be equal to slightly less than its width w as is well known. In the form of blank shown in FIG- URE 3, a flap 25 is provided at one end of the blank in which case the edge 18 previously referred to will be a fold line. In the former instance the two

edges

17 and 18 would be joined by adhesive tape or the like whereas with the flap 25, the latter would lie against the wall or panel 1a adjacent the edge 17 and be secured thereto by gluing, stapling or some such means. When this has been completed, the bottom flaps 3a to 3d will then be folded to close the receptacle bottom as is shown in FIGURE 4 and secured in position by the application of glue or the like to the outer faces of the flaps 3a, and/ or to the inner faces of

flaps

3b, 3d.

Turning now to FIGURE 6, a specific form of the bag is generally indicated by reference numeral 26. The bag is formed from two flat sheets of plastics material, paper or metal foil, which are rhombus-shaped, the two flat sheets of material 'being placed together so that their corresponding edges are adjacent, the edges then being heat sealed as at 27. When the bag has been formed it is secured to the lining by adhesive in such a manner that when the lining is erected the bag is also erected. The side corners of the bag are folded over as indicated by the dotted

lines

28 and 29 in FIGURE 6. The bag is not enclosed by the liner 4 and extends for some way beyond the lower edges thereof. When the bag and liner are secured together, both are then placed in the outer receptacle 1, as is shown in FIGURE 2. The upper and lower portions of the bag may then be folded over.

The bag is provided with a closure device, of the type shown in FIGURES 7, 8 and 9, the closure device being preferably secured to one of the flaps 2a, to 2d of the outer receptacle (flap 2d in FIGURE 2). For this purpose a circular aperture would be formed in the flap ring 30, having a fiangeportion 3-1 and an externally threaded portion 32 of lesser diameter than the flange 31 is inserted through the aperture of the flap 2d. The fiange 31 abuts against the outer surface of the flap and the screw threaded portion 32 projects through the aperture, the second ring 33 being screwed on to this threaded portion to provide a tight fitting neck for a stopper 34. Interiorally the ring 30 is screw threaded as at 35 and the stopper 34 is correspondingly screw threaded at 36 to fit within the ring 30. In FIGURE 9 a further form of the ring 33 is shown at 330. This ring is provided with a number of outwardly adjacent tri-angular teeth 37. It has been found that with a smooth surface, such as that of cardboard, the ring 33 of the screw threaded ring 30 will slip and in order to overcome this the teeth 37 are provided to embed themselves into the cardboard to prevent slipping of the

rings

30 and 33. As a further alternative (not shown) the ring 30 is not interiorly screw threaded and the stopper 34 is similarly not screw threaded. In this case the stopper will simply form a tight fit within the ring 30.

Although only one form of container has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be readily understood that other forms of the invention are possible.

What I claim is:

1. A container capable of containing a liquid or granulated paste comprising a hexahedronal outer receptacle, a liner having a rectangular cross-section slidably fitted within said outer receptacle, a bag secured to said liner and extending beyond top and bottom portions thereof, and said bag having a rhomboidal configuration when laid fiat, said rhomboidal configuration facilitating said bag neatly folding upon itself at said top and bottom portions of said liner thereby assuming a hexahedronal configuration conforming to said outer receptacle.

2. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said bag is formed from two flat rhombus-shaped sheets of flexible material positioned in overlying juxtaposition to one another, and said sheets being suitably secured to each other along the corresponding edge portions thereof.

3. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said bag includes an opening sealed by a suitable closure device.

4. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said bag is folded at opposite corners thereof to facilitate insertion in said liner.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,446,308 8/ 1948 Smith. 2,565,939 8/1951 Wriston 220--63 2,946,494 7/ 1960 Kuss. 2,973,119 2/1961 Parker. 3,014,631 12/1961 Fischer et al. 3,143,249 8/ 1964 Merrill et al. 3,194,471 7/ 1965 Murphy. 3,226,002 12/1965 Walker.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,090,432 10/1954 France. 1,237,455 7/1960 France.

98,370 7/1961 Norway.

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 22063