US3591034A - Transport crate - Google Patents

Abstract

A crate for the transportation of goods has a prismatic shell with a side opening closable by a pliable door which can be rolled or folded about an edge of that opening and which includes a series of transversely spaced, parallel stays interconnected by a flexible sheet. The ends of the stays and/or the edges of the sheet can be engaged by a variety of detents, disposed along opposite sides of the opening, to hold the door locked.

Description

United States Patent [50] Field of Search 220/l.5, 24;

(56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,581,689 4/1926 Perin 220/l .5 X FOREIGN PATENTS 100,003 9/1959 Denmark 220/24 Primary Examiner-George T. Hall An0rneyKarl F. Ross ABSTRACT: A crate for the transportation of goods has a prismatic shell with a side opening closable by a pliable door which can be rolled or folded about an edge of that opening and which includes a series of transversely spaced, parallel stays interconnected by a flexible sheet. The ends of the stays and/or the edges of the sheet can be engaged by a variety of detents, disposed along opposite sides of the opening, to hold the door locked.

[72] Inventors Allred Lohr;

l-lelmut llemmann; Hartmut Bussewitz; Gunter Leonhardt, all of Herborn, Germany; Carl H. Schroter, Dillenburg; Helmut Lukas, Bicken, both of, Germany [2|] Appl. No. 849,417

[22] Filed Aug. 12, X969 [45} Patented July 6, 1971 [73] Assignee Burger Eisenwerke Aktiengesellschaft Herborn, Germany [32] Priority Aug. 3], 1968, Aug. 24, 1968, Feb. 24, 1969, Feb. 20, 1969 [33] Germany [3]] P 17 86 209.8. p l7 86 159.5.

P 19 09 124.8 and (i 69 06 597.

[54] TRANSPORT CRATE 16 Claims, 18 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 220/l.5, 220/24 [51] Int. Cl 565d 87/00 PATENTEU JUL e mm 3,591, 034

sum 1 or 4 Alfred L'rihr Helmuf Hemmann Harfmuf Bussewifz Gijnfer Leonhard? Carl H. Schrb'fer Helmuf Lukas INVENTORS.

Attorney mm) m sum 3591; 034

SHEU Q [If 4 INVENTORSQ Alfred Lohr Helmuf Hemmann Harfmuf Bussewifz GUmer Leonhard? Carl H. Schr'o'fer He/mu'r Lukas ma j'ittomey TRANSPORT CRATE Our present invention relates to a crate for the transportation of containerized goods, particularly (but not exclusively) via air freight.

The general object of our invention is to provide a crate adapted to be reused an indefinite number of times by being fitted with a door for loading and unloading purposes.

A more specific object, allied with the preceding one, is to provide a crate in which the door in its position of closure doubles as a structural wall to strengthen the unit against shear and compression.

These objects are realized, pursuant to our invention, by the provision of a prismatic shell of suitable structural material (e.g. wood, light metal or synthetic resin) having at least the major part of a side of the prism removed to form a generally rectangular opening. An at least partly pliable door, including several stays which are parallel to one edge of the opening and are interconnected by flexible link means such as a polymeric sheet, is secured to the shell in the vicinity of that edge so as to be swingable thereabout into a withdrawn position outside the shell shell; in an advantageous embodiment, and as more fully described hereinafter, this edge forms an upper boundary of the opening so as to enable the withdrawn door to be rolled or folded up on top of the shell. To lock the door in a position of closure obstructing the opening, certain parts thereof (such as the ends of the stays and/or the edges of the sheet) can be engaged by retaining means disposed along opposite edges of the door transverse to the first-mentioned edge, thus along the vertical boundary of the door opening in the preferred embodiment described above.

With the ends of the stays bearing upon these opposite edges in the closed position of the door, their presence prevents any crushing of the shell during transportation and handling by forces acting longitudinally of the stays, i.e. horizontally in the preferred case.

In the transverse (i.e. vertical) direction, compressive stresses can be absorbed by a pair of jambs flanking the door opening and constituting abutments for the stays, these jambs advantageously forming part of the retaining means serving to hold the door closed. A variety of detents can be used for this purpose, such as swingable or shiftable bars, strips or similar elements extending generally parallel to these jambs.

Part of the door, according to another feature of our invention, may be constituted by a rigid panel hinged to, preferably, the upper edge of the opening and adapted to be placed in a swung-out position above that opening, the pliable remaining door portion with its stays and sheet being then supported in a rolled-up state on the swung-out panel.

These and otherfeatures of our invention will be described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a crate provided with a pliable door according to our invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the crate shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing a modified door consisting of a rigid panel and a pliable portion secured thereto;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing the panel of FIG. 3 in a swung-out position with the pliable door portion supported thereon;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line V V of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view, drawn to a larger scale, of a door jamb provided with retaining means for holding the door of FIG. 1 or 3 in its position of closure;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, illustrating an alternate position of the retaining means;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line VIII VIII of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIGS. 6 and 7, illustrating a dif ferent type of retaining means;

FIG. I0 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line X -X of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is another view generally similar to FIGS. 6 and 7, illustrating another modified retaining means;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line XII -XII of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a front-elevational view, again drawn to a larger scale, of the lower left-hand comer of the crate of FIG. 1 or 3 with its flexible sheet removed;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line XIV -XIV of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 13, illustrating a modification;

FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing the pliable door in a rolled-up state; I

FIG. 17 is an enlarged sectional detail view of the portion of FIG. 16 inside circle XVII; and

FIG. 18 is a view similar to FIG. 17, showing a modified construction.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 we have shown a crate formed by a prismatic shell 1 with an open side which, in FIG. 1, is closed by a pliable door 2 hinged to the shell I at the upper edge 3] of its door opening. The lateral boundaries of this opening are formed by a pair ofjambs ll bracketing the door 2 in its position of closure. This door is formed, as best seen in FIG. 5, by a series of transversely spaced horizontal stays 9, shown as metallic tubes, which are interconnected by a sheet 8 of rubber or other flexible polymeric material cemented or otherwise secured thereto. Diagonal reinforcing straps 18, indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 1, may be imbedded in the sheet 8.

Suitable retaining means, as more fully described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 6 l5, are provided along the jambs 11 to hold the door closed. Upon deactivation of these retaining means, the door 2 can be rolled up about the edge 31 of shell 1 and stored on the roof of the shell or, as illustrated in FIG. 2, on special supports such as fingers 4 which are normally retracted (dot-dash line) and can be pulled out to engage, say, the extremities of stays 9 projecting beyond the sheet 8.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, a shell 1' may be provided with a modified door 2' including a rigid upper portion or panel 5 and a pliable lower portion 6, of the same construction as door 2 in FIGS. 1 and 2, depending from the lower edge of that panel when the door is closed. To hold the door open, panel 5 may be swung upwardly about its hinges 32 (FIG. 4) and may be held aloft by braces 7 which are pivoted to the jambs ll of shell 1 inside the door opening; as indicated in dotted line at 33, these jambs may be undercut to accommodate the panel 5 in its closed position. The pliable door portion 6 can then be rolled up on the panel 5 forming a supporting shelf therefor.

FIG. 3 also illustrates a rigid bottom strip 21 which, as more fully described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 15, includes a pair of detents 20 designed to lock the door 2' in its closed position with the aid of a handle 22.

FIGS. 6 8 show a portion of the left-hand jamb ll of FIG. 1 (also representative of the corresponding jamb 11' in FIG. 3) which, as best seen in FIG. 8, is designed as a channel rail embracing the front edge of the corresponding sidewall of crate l. Jamb 11 is formed with a series of longitudinally (i.e. vertically) spaced notches or recesses 13 which are open toward the front and which accommodate gudgeons 15 constituting reduced extremities of corresponding stays 9. A locking bar 10 is slidably held within jamb 11, with the aid of a rib 34, and is formed with a series of cutouts l2 registering with the notches 13 in the position of FIG. 6 to enable the gudgeons 15 to be withdrawn from and reintroduced into these notches. when the bar 10 is lowered, as illustrated in FIGS. 7and 8, its cutouts 12 are offset from notches 13 to lock the gudgeons in place.

An alternate locking mechanism is illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10 wherein a modified jamb lla has a single vertical recess 13a overlain by a locking bar when the latter is in its position of closure. A stud 35, fixed to jamb 11a and penetrating an inclined slot 14 in bar 10a enables that bar to be withdrawn in a downward and outward direction (arrow 50), thus generally transversely to the major dimension of the jamb, to release the gudgeons lSa of all the stays 9a received in the recess or rabbet 13a of jamb 110. When the bars 10a of the two jambs lla are moved toward each other to relock the door, grooves 36 thereof accommodate the edges of the sheet 811 which (in contradistinction to the assembly of FIG. 8) has a width slightly less than the length of each stay 9a with its extremities 1150. The bars 10a may be held in their locking position by frictional engagement with stud 35, it being understood that several such studs should be provided at different levels (together with corresponding slots 14) to ensure parallel guidance of each bar.

In FIGS. 11 and 12 we have shown a retaining element in the form of clamping bar 16 hinged at 37 to a jamb Mb. The pliable door portion, in this case, includes stays 9b without terminal gudgeons and a sheet 8b extending laterally beyond these stays, the projecting edges of the sheet 8b being clamped between respective bars 116 and ribs 38 of jamb 11b. To lock each bar 16 in its clamping position, a hook 17 on a slider 10b engages a mating profile 39 on bar 16 from which it can be released by a vertical motion of the slider to align the hook 17 with a cutout 40 (FIG. ill) in profile 39. It will be understood that the sliders l0, llila, 10b of FIGS. 6 -l2 may be accessible from the top of the shell to control their displacement.

Instead of being imbedded in the sheet 8, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the straps 18 may also be laminated or otherwise secured to the rear surface thereof. In either case, the upper and lower ends of the strap will preferably be led away from the sheet, with the upper ends anchored to the top of the shell either directly (FIG. ll) or through the intermediary of panel (FIG. 3) and the lower ends secured to the bottom stay 9' (FIG. 13) or to the aforementioned bottom strip 21 (FIG. 15). As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the slider may be provided at its lower end 19 with an undercut 12' to accommodate the gudgeon of stay 9', this gudgeon being withdrawable through a cutout 13 in jamb ll upon upward withdrawal of slider 10 to release the other stays. With the two sliders l0 bearing down by their enlarged portions 11 upon the respec tive gudgeons 15', straps 11B are tensioned to stretch the pliable door portion and to improve the seal along its edges.

In FIG. ll5, the rigid bottom strip 21 replaces the stay 9 of the preceding embodiment and accommodates the locking rods which are receivable in bores 40 of the respective door jambs (Ill or ill). The handle 22 controlling the two locking rods or detents (see also FIG. 3) may be designed as a rotatable knob which, on turning through a certain angle, drives the two rods apart as is well known per se.

In FIGS. 16 and 17 we have shown a mounting plate 23 which overlies the upper edge of sheet 2 and (e.g. by riveting or with adhesive bonding) helps secure that sheet to the top of shell 1. In order to prevent chafing of the sheet when the same is rolled up, we prefer to provide an overhanging edge of plate 23 with a protective formation which may take the form of a cylinder 24 of rubber or the like (or a row of such cylinders) slipped over that edge. According to FIG. 18, a modified mounting plate 23' terminates in a curled edge portion 25 having the same protective effect as rubber cylinder 24 of FIG. 17.

Naturally, features illustrated in front embodiments may be combined with one another to the extent of their compatibili ty.

Although, for the sake of clarity, the ends of the stays 9 have been shown somewhat separated from the jamb 11 (FIG. 8), it will be understood that in actual construction the arrangement can be made so compact that, in this as in all other embodiments, the stays of the closed door bear almost without spacing upon these jambs to rigidify the structure. Thus, the jambs and stays will form a stress-resisting framework allowing our improved crates to be stacked, transported and otherwise handled in various positions without objectionable deformation of the shell or its contents.

We claim:

ll. A crate for transportin goods, comprising: a prismatic shell with at east the ma or part of a side of the prism removed to form a generally rectangular opening;

an at least partly pliable door secured to said shell adjacent one edge of said opening, said door including a plurality of stays parallel to said one edge and flexible link means interconnecting said stays while enabling same to be swung about said one edge into a withdrawn position outside said shell; and

retaining means along opposite edges of said opening transverse to said one edge engageable with respective parts of said door for locking same in a position of closure obstructing said opening, with said stays bearing upon said opposite edges to stiffen said shell.

2. A crate as defined in claim 1 wherein said stays are transversely spaced, said link means comprising a flexible sheet.

3. A crate as defined in claim 2 wherein said shell forms a pair of jambs bounding said opening along said opposite edges, said retaining means being secured to said jambs.

4. A crate as defined in claim 3 wherein said sheet has edge portions projecting beyond the ends of said stays and partly overlying said jambs, said retaining means being engageable with said edge portions.

5. A crate as defined in claim 4 wherein said retaining means comprises a pair of clamping elements swingably secured to said jambs.

6. A crate as defined in claim 3 wherein said jambs are provided with outwardly open recesses adapted to receive the extremities of respective stays, said retaining means including a pair of locking elements movably secured to said jambs for selectively blocking and unblocking saidrecesses.

7. A crate as defined in claim 6 wherein said recesses form longitudinally spaced notches along said jambs and said locking elements are bars shiftable longitudinally of said jambs and provided with cutouts registering with said notches in an unblocking position.

8. A crate as defined in claim 6 wherein said locking elements are bars slidable generally transversely to said jambs toward each other into a blocking position.

9. A crate as defined in claim 2 wherein said door is further provided with diagonal reinforcing straps.

10. A crate as defined in claim 9 wherein said straps are at least partly imbedded in said sheet.

H. A crate as'defined in claim 9 wherein said straps have first ends anchored to said shell in the region of said one edge and second ends anchored to a rigid portion of said door remote from said one edge, said retaining means being engageable with said rigid portion for holding said straps under tension.

12. A crate as defined in claim 2 wherein said door includes a rigid panel hingedly secured to said shell at said one edge for obstructing an adjoining portion of said opening, said stays and sheet being disposed to obstruct the remainder of said opening.

113. A crate as defined in claim 12 wherein said panel is provided with brace means for holding same in a swung-out position above said opening, said stays and sheet being supportable in a rolled-up state on the swung-out panel.

14. A crate as defined in claim 2 wherein said shell is provided with a mounting plate above said opening engaging said sheet, said stays being horizontally disposed for allowing said sheet to be rolled up about a projecting edge of said mounting plate.

15. A crate as defined in claim 14 wherein said projecting edge is provided with a protective cylindrical formation bearing upon said sheet in its rolled-up position.

16. A crate as defined in claim it wherein said one edge lies at the top of said opening and said shell is provided with retractable supporting means for holding said door in its withdrawn position atop said shell.

Claims (16)

1. A crate for transporting goods, comprising: a prismatic shell with at least the major part of a side of the prism removed to form a generally rectangular opening; an at least partly pliable door secured to said shell adjacent one edge of said opening, said door including a plurality of stays parallel to said one edge and flexible link means interconnecting said stays while enabling same to be swung about said one edge into a withdrawn position outside said shell; and retaining means along opposite edges of said opening transverse to said one edge engageable with respective parts of said door for locking same in a position of closure obstructing said opening, with said stays bearing upon said opposite edges to stiffen said shell.

2. A crate as defined in claim 1 wherein said stays are transversely spaced, said link means comprising a flexible sheet.

3. A crate as defined in claim 2 wherein said shell forms a pair of jambs bounding said opening along said opposite edges, said retaining means being secured to said jambs.

4. A crate as defined in claim 3 wherein said sheet has edge portions projecting beyond the ends of said stays and partly overlying said jambs, said retaining means being engageable with said edge portions.

5. A crate as defined in claim 4 wherein said retaining means comprises a pair of clamping elements swingably secured to said jambs.

6. A crate as defined in claim 3 wherein said jambs are provided with outwardly open recesses adapted to receive the extremities of respective stays, said retaining means including a pair of locking elements movably secured to said jambs for selectively blocking and unblocking said recesses.

7. A crate as defined in claim 6 wherein said recesses form longitudinally spaced notches along said jambs and said locking elements are bars shiftable longitudinally of said jambs and provided with cutouts registering with said notches in an unblocking position.

8. A crate as defined in claim 6 wherein said locking elements are bars slidable generally transversely to said jambs toward each other into a blocking position.

9. A crate as defined in claim 2 wherein said door is further provided with diagonal reinforcing straps.

10. A crate as defined in claim 9 wherein said straps are at least partly imbedded in said sheet.

11. A crate as defined in claim 9 wherein said straps have first ends anchored To said shell in the region of said one edge and second ends anchored to a rigid portion of said door remote from said one edge, said retaining means being engageable with said rigid portion for holding said straps under tension.

12. A crate as defined in claim 2 wherein said door includes a rigid panel hingedly secured to said shell at said one edge for obstructing an adjoining portion of said opening, said stays and sheet being disposed to obstruct the remainder of said opening.

13. A crate as defined in claim 12 wherein said panel is provided with brace means for holding same in a swung-out position above said opening, said stays and sheet being supportable in a rolled-up state on the swung-out panel.

14. A crate as defined in claim 2 wherein said shell is provided with a mounting plate above said opening engaging said sheet, said stays being horizontally disposed for allowing said sheet to be rolled up about a projecting edge of said mounting plate.

15. A crate as defined in claim 14 wherein said projecting edge is provided with a protective cylindrical formation bearing upon said sheet in its rolled-up position.

16. A crate as defined in claim 1 wherein said one edge lies at the top of said opening and said shell is provided with retractable supporting means for holding said door in its withdrawn position atop said shell.

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