WO1997020742A1

WO1997020742A1 - Collapsible load carrier

Info

Publication number: WO1997020742A1
Application number: PCT/SE1996/001519
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean Michel Provot
Original assignee: Perstorp Ab
Priority date: 1995-12-04
Filing date: 1996-11-22
Publication date: 1997-06-12
Also published as: SE9504321D0; SE504219C2; AU1044897A; SE9504321L

Abstract

Load carrier with collapsible sides for transport and storage. Two opposite side members (1) are movably assembled with a load carrier body (2) through guiding grooves or the like (4) arranged on two opposite sides of the carrier body (2). The guiding grooves or the like (4) interact with corresponding guiding pegs or the like (3) arranged on the inside of the two short sides of the side members (1) whereby the movability of the side members (1) are guided so that a load surface (L) is substantially as accessible when the side members (1) are in both upright and down-folded position. The width and length of the load carrier are substantially the same when the side members (1) are in upright and down-folded position. The load carrier can be utilised when the side members (1) are in either of the two positions. The side members (1) can also be manoeuvred between its two end positions without removing the load.

Description

Collapsible load carrier

The present invention relates to a load carrier with collapsible sides for transport and storage.

Load carriers can be made of different materials such as wood, metal, plastic etc. One problem with load carriers is that their demand for transport volume is partly decided by the volume of the contents . This means t hat load carrier will demand a return-to-source transport volume equal to the delivery transport volume.

An alternative to return transport is a so-called one-way package, which will be disposed of when it has served its purpose

Another solution to this problem is to provide the load carrier with a so called nesting function This means t hat empty load carriers are partly placed in one-another by providing them wit h sloped sides

Yet another way to solve the problem is to disassemble or fold the sides of the load carriers . The most well known side disassembly is the pallet and pallet collar combination. An example of commonly used foldable load carriers is the collapsible pallet container The sides are here made collapsible by being attached to the bottom member via a hinge part On these types of containers the sides are almost without exception folded inwards, since this wi ll make the handling of the container in the collapsed state much easier. Similar types of containers exist also in smaller size with essentially the same function. One disadvantage with these containers are that the accessibility is quite poor when loading and unloading since it will be limited by the side walls. The problem could have been solved if one ore more side walls would have been folded down during the loading or unloading. This will however cause new problems since the side walls are folded down on to the bottom surface of the container. An alternative could be to completely remove one or more side walls during loading or, to fold them outwards This would however cause fu rther problems in cases where the container passes different stations during loading, since certain parts of the container will be protruding, or that the container must be completed with additional part s after the completion of the loadin What all these load carriers got in common is that the collapsibility is only used for reducing empty transport volume.

In cases where products with different heights are to be stored, processed or transported, and the products from various reasons cannot be stacked on one-another in the same load carrier, this problem has so far been solved by using several load carriers of different heights This will cause a more complicated logistics. In cases where a load carrier is used as a product cradle in an assembly line where the product becomes larger and larger as more details are added to it , the load carrier has to be switched before the product can be delivered The alternative is to use a too large load carrier from the beginning, which of cause will limit the accessibility during the assembly

According to the present invention a concept for foldable load carriers has been achieved where the sides walls do not interfere with the load surface The invention relates to a load carrier with collapsible sides tor transport and storage The invention is characterised in that two side members placed on two opposite sides of a carrier body, are movably assembled with the load carrier body The carrier body is on two opposite sides provided with guiding groves or the like These interact with corresponding guiding pegs or the like arranged on the inside of the two short sides of the side members, whereby the movability of the side members is guided The moving pattern of the side members w ill herebv be guided which facilitates the manoeuvring of the same Furthermore the number of undesired positions of the side members will be limited A load surface is substantially as accessible when the side members are in upright and down-folded position The width and length of the load carrier are substantially the same when the side members are in upright or downward position whereby the load carrier can be utilised when the side members are in either of the two positions Moreover the side members can be manoeuvred between its tw o end positions without remo\ ιng the load It will hereby be possible to utilise the load carrier with different utility heights

The load carrier can hereby be utilised as a carrier in an assembly line A base unit can, while held by the load carrier be provided with details at different assembly stations when the side members are down folded When the product is fully assembled the side members can be folded to their upright position and the product will be protected This can be done without any annoying reloading, which also facilitates an automatic handling

The load carrier can advantageously also be used as a cultivating tray The load carrier can then be handled with the side members i n down folded position while the cultivating is prepared and while the plants grow The side members can then be raised to their upright position when the plants are ready for delivery so that they will be protected during transport T he handling during the cultiv ation will hereby be kept to a minimum

The load surface can also be partitioned into compartments so that every detail will get a compartment of its own This can be an advantage when cultiv ating plants, since flower pots will be superfluous

A load carrier of this type can suitably be manufactured from a polymeric material from the group, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, polystyrene, acry c-butadiene-styrene, polyalkylene-teraphtalate or the like A suitable process for the manufacturing is injection moulding, compression moulding or the like

The load carrier body is suitably provided with guiding ribs or the like on the two opposite sides The guiding nbs are intended to interact with guiding rods or the like arranged on the inner sides of the two short sides of the side members

The side members are suitably placed substantially on the sides and the bottom side of the load carrier body when in down-folded position The side members or the carrier body can be provided with functional parts such as openings or pockets These can then serve as pick and place surfaces for a robot when the load carrier is handled automatically

The top sides of the side members can advantageouslv be prowded with pins, nbs, recesses or the like These can interact with corresponding recesses, ribs pins or the like, arranged on the bottom sides of the side members Herebv a stabile stacking of a number of load carriers with raised side members can be achieved when storing or transporting The bottom side of the carrier bodv can suitably be provided with a design that matches the upper side of the carrier body so that load carriers with down-folded side members can also be secureK stacked Stacking means can also be placed on the part of the side members that is directed downwards when the side members are in their down folded position in the preferred embodiment

The guiding grooves or the like arranged on the sides of the load carrier body are preferably at one of its ends provided with a locking device These can by interaction with the guiding pegs or the like arranged on the inside of the side members allow the side members to be fixed in their dow n-folded position The risk that the side members unintentionally take an

ourable position will hereby be minimised

The side members can preferably be fixed in their upright position This is achieved through slots, recesses or the like arranged at the upper end of the guiding ribs These engage with the guiding rods arranged on the insides of the side members Through interaction with the guiding groove^ and the guiding pegs a stabilising co-operation is achieved when the side members are in their upright position, so that they don't turn over when side forces are applied

The invention will be explained further together with the enclosed figures that show one embodiment of the invention wherein, -Figure 1 shows in perspective a load carrier with raised side members

-Figure 2 shows the same embodiment as figure 1 , the side members are however down-folded

-Figure 3 shows a part of the load carrier with a side member in down-folded position The side member is shown in a translucent manner with broken lines to facilitate the understanding of the invention

-Figure 4 corresponds to figure 3 , the side member i s however in its raised position

-Figure 5 1 - * 4 shows from the side a procedure where the side members arc raised to their upright position

Figure 1 shows a load carrier with foldable sides for transport and storage with two side members 1 movably arranged on opposite sides of a carrier body 2 The top sides of the side members are provided with recesses 9 which interacts with ribs 1 0 arranged on the bottom sides of the side members 1

Figure 2 shows that a load surface L is substantially as accessible when the side members 1 are in upright and down-folded position The load carrier can hereby be utilised when the side members are in either of their two end positions The side members 1 can further be manoeuvred between their two positions without removing the contents carried by the load carrier

Figure 3 shows a part of the load carrier with the side member 1 in down-folded position The side member 1 is shown in a translucent manner in broken line to show the function The carrier body 2 is on two opposite sides provided with guiding groves 4 and guiding ribs 8 These interact with corresponding guiding pegs 3 and guiding rods arranged on the inside of the tw o short sides of the side members 1 The guiding groves 4 placed on the sides of the carrier body 2 are in one of their ends provided with a locking device 7 The locking device 7 interacts with the guiding pegs 3 This allows the side members 1 to be locked in their down-folded position

Figure 4 shows a part of a load carrier with the side member 1 in its upright position The side member 1 is shown in a translucent manner in broken line to show the function The guiding ribs 8 arranged on the sides of the carrier body 2, are at their upper end provided with a recess 6 These recesses 6 interact with the guiding rods 5 arranged on the insides of the side members 1 , and give a stabilising co-operation by interaction with the guiding groves 4 and the guiding pegs 3 when the side members are in their upright position

Figure 5 1 - 5 4 shows from the side a procedure where the side members 1 are raised to their upright position The movement of the side members 1 is guided by the, in the figures not shown guiding pegs 3 (figure 4) interacting with the guiding groves 4

The invention is of cause not limited by the embodiment show n since this can be varied in different ways within the scope of the invention The side members 1 can for example be locked in upright position by utilising a snap-lock function arranged between the side members -and the carrier body 2

Claims

CLAIMS 1 Load carrier with collapsible sides for transport and storage, characterised in that two, on opposite sides placed, side members ( 1 ) are movably assembled with a carrier body (2) by means of guiding groves or the like (4) arranged on two opposite sides of the carrier body (2), which guiding groves or the like (4) interacts with corresponding guiding pegs or the like (3 ) arranged on the inside of the two short sides of the side members ( 1 ) whereby the movabi ty of the side members ( 1 ) is guided so that a load surface (L) is substantially as accessible when the side members ( 1 ) are in both upright and down-folded position, and that the width and length of the load carrier are substantially the same when the side members ( 1 ) are in upright and down-folded position, wherein the load carrier can be utilised when the side members ( 1 ) are in either of the two positions and that the side members ( 1 ) can be manoeu\ red between its two end positions without remov ing the load 2 Load carrier according to claim 1 characterised in that the load carrier body (2) on the two opposite sides is provided with guiding ribs or the like (8) intended to interact with guiding rods or the like ( 5 ) arranged on the inner sides of the two short sides of the side members ( 1 ) 3 Load carrier according to claim 1 or 2 characterised in that the side members

( 1 ) in down-folded position are placed substantially on the sides and the bottom side of the carrier body (2 )

4 Load carrier according to any of the claims 1 - 3 characterised in that the top sides of the side members ( 1 ) are provided w ith pins ribs recesses or the like (9), which interact with, corresponding recesses, ribs pins or the like ( 1 0) placed on the bottom sides of the side members so that a stabile stacking can be achieved

5 Load carrier according to any of the claims 1 - 4 characterised in that the guiding grooves or the like (4 ) arranged on the sides of the load carrier body

(2) are at one of its ends provided with a locking device (7 ) which interacts with the guiding pegs or the like ( 3 ) arranged on the inside of the side members ( 1 ), so that the side members ( 1 ) can be fixed in its dow n-folded position by means of a snap-in function Load carrier according to any of the claims 1 - 4 characterised in t hat the side members ( 1 ) are fixed in their upright position through slots, recesses or the like (6) at the upper end of the guiding ribs (8 ) which engage with the guiding rods (5) on the insides of the side members ( 1 ) and through interaction with the guiding grooves (4 ) and the guiding pegs (3 ) whereby a stabilising co-operation is achieved when the side members ( 1 ) are in their upright position, so that they don't turn over when side forces are applied