Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D11/00—Containers having bodies formed by interconnecting or uniting two or more rigid, or substantially rigid, components made wholly or mainly of plastics material
  • B65D11/18—Containers having bodies formed by interconnecting or uniting two or more rigid, or substantially rigid, components made wholly or mainly of plastics material collapsible, i.e. with walls hinged together or detachably connected
  • B65D11/1833—Containers having bodies formed by interconnecting or uniting two or more rigid, or substantially rigid, components made wholly or mainly of plastics material collapsible, i.e. with walls hinged together or detachably connected whereby all side walls are hingedly connected to the base panel
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/18—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for wearing apparel, headwear or footwear

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a collapsible box, comprising a bottom, two long-side walls and two short-side walls, wherein all walls are inwardly foldably attached to the bottom and each short-side wall has two end flaps, which serve for releasable connection to the respective long-side walls and are foldably connected to its short- side wall by a hinge substantially perpendicular to the attachment to the bottom.
• a better solution is in many instances to employ plastic boxes, which may be used several times.
• An advantageous volume utilization is obtained if the boxes when empty and returned for new loading or when stored are collapsed, i e that the walls are folded down against the bottom and each other. It is desired to fold down and stack the walls as effectively as possible for obtaining a collapsed box with a minimum height.
• This problem is according to the invention solved in that the hinge is positioned in the short-side wall a short distance from the end flap and in that the end flap has a very short flap portion, which is substantially perpendicular thereto and forms a part of the short-side wall, when the end flap is in the folded-up position.
• the width of the short-side wall will be decreased by the width of the flap portions, so that the short-side wall may easily be folded down inside and under the long-side walls.
• the flap portions will on the other hand add somewhat to the height of the box in collapsed condition.
• the hinge has preferably the form of a longitudinal notch in the common material of the short-side wall and its end flap.
• the long-side walls and the short-side walls are attached to the bottom by snap-locking means.
• the long-side walls and the short-side walls are provided at their lower edges with tongue-shaped protrusions with conical extensions for snap- locking cooperation with corresponding openings in beads around the periphery of the bottom.
• Means may preferably be provided for preventing the walls from folding-up substantially over 90° in relation to the bottom. This may in a practical case be attained in that each wall has a shoulder for cooperation with an outer shoulder of the bead.
• Fig 1 is a perspective, exploded view of different members forming a collapsible box according to the invention
• Fig 2 is a perspective view of one of the members belonging to the collapsible box as shown in Fig 1 but with a portion folded
• Fig 3 is a perspective view of a box according to the invention in an early stage of being collapsed
• Fig 4 is a perspective view of a box according to the invention in a later stage of being collapsed and with a cover to be put on the collapsed box,
• Fig 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a collapsed box with cover
• Fig 6 is a detail view of a hinge portion of a member of the box.
• Fig 7 is a perspective view from within of a corner portion of a folded-up box according to the invention. Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment
• a collapsible box according to the invention comprises a number of members, namely a bottom 1, two long- side walls 2, and two short-side walls 3.
• the box may also comprise a cover 4. All these members are manufactured, preferably by injection moulding, from a suitable plastic material, preferably polypropylene.
• the long-side walls 2 and the short-side walls 3 may initially be snap-locked to the edge areas of the bottom 1 (and are not intended normally to be dismantled again during the use of the box) by being provided with protrusions at their lower ends for snap-locking engagement with corresponding openings in the bottom 1 in a way to be further described under reference to Fig 5.
• Each short-side wall 3 is provided with two end flaps 3' for connection to the respective long-side wall 2 by suitable, releasable connection means 5 to be described below, most clearly with reference to Fig 7.
• the short-side wall end flaps 3' are positioned inwardly of the long-side walls 2.
• the short-side walls 3 may be provided with handle openings 6.
• the long-side walls 2 could be provided with such openings .
• Fig 2 illustrates that the end flaps 3' may be folded-in to a position in parallel with the short-side wall 3.
• Fig 3 illustrates that when not connected to the long-side walls 2 by the connection means 5, the short-side walls 3 (with the end flaps 3' folded-in) can be folded down to the bottom, whereupon - as illustrated in Fig 4 - the long-side walls 2 can be folded down on the short-side walls 3.
• the cover 4 may be put on top of the long-side walls 2, which are the uppermost members of the folded-down or collapsed box.
• Fig 5 is a transverse cross-section through an end region of a fully collapsed box, i e the cross-section shows a long-side edge of the bottom. Visible in full lines in Fig 5 are the bottom 1, a short-side wall 3 with a folded-in end flap 3', a long side-wall 2, attached to the bottom 1 and provided with a connecting member 7, and the cover 4.
• the cover 4 preferably consists of a flat member having a length and width generally corresponding to the length and width of the bottom 1 and provided with a transverse, circumferential brim 4'.
• the height of this brim 4 ' shall preferably not be much greater than the total thickness of the bottom 1 and the walls 2 and 3 in the collapsed condition, so that the cover 4 does not unnecessarily add to the total thickness or height of the collapsed box.
• each side wall 2 and 3 is at its lower edge provided with protrusions 8 for snap- locking engagement with corresponding openings in a circumferential bead 9 around the bottom 1.
• Each tongue- shaped protrusion 8 is provided with a lower, conical extension to be snap-lockingly engaged with a lower bead shoulder below the bead opening.
• the protrusions 8 and the openings in the beads 9 may together be called snap-locking means .
• the bead 9 around the bottom 1 has an outer shoulder 9A at a somewhat greater height than an inner shoulder 9B.
• the long-side wall 2 is folded down over the lower inner shoulder 9B, as is shown in full lines in Fig 5.
• the long- side wall 2 is provided with a shoulder 2A for supporting engagement with the outer bead shoulder 9A, when the long- side wall 2 is in folded-up position, as is shown in dashed lines in Fig 5.
• the outer surface of the long- side wall 2 may preferably be substantially in line with the external side surface of the bottom bead 9, as is shown in Fig 5.
• the usable dimensions of the box shall be as large as possible, and the end flaps 3' of the short-side walls 3 shall be flush with the long-side walls 2.
• the following design is used.
• a hinge 10 between the short-side wall 3 and its respective end flap 3' is comprised of a notch in the wall material, so that these two members are integral with each other. This hinge is positioned not exactly at the junction line between these two members, but the end flap 3' has a very short flap portion 3A substantially perpendicular to the flap 3', so that the hinge 10 is actually positioned in the short-side wall 3 a short distance from the flap 3'.
• connection means 5 between a long-side wall 2 and an end flap 3' can have the following practical design. As earlier said, each long-side wall 2 is towards each end provided with a connecting member 7, which is punched out and permanently pressed out from the wall material to a certain extent. A corresponding opening 11 is punched out of each end flap 3 ' at a location for cooperating with the connecting member 7.
• the connection means 5 is best shown in Fig 7.
• the connecting member 7 can be introduced in the opening 11, and a tongue 12 of the connecting member 7 can spring up and lockingly come to rest against a locking edge 13 of the opening 11. After manually pushing down the tongue 12 from engagement with the locking edge 13, the connecting member 7 can be pulled out of the opening 11 for removing the connection between a long-side wall 2 and an end flap 3'. As shown in Fig 7, a head 14 may be attached to the bead 9 for keeping the lower portion of each end flap 3' against the long-side wall 2 in the assembled condition.
• the connection means 5 are first disconnected.
• the box can have a bottom dimension of for example 800x600 mm or 600x400 mm. If it is desired to obtain an optimal height in collapsed condition without any overlapping of the long-side walls 2, the height of the box can be 290 mm in the first case and 190 mm in the second case.

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=38048917

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (6)

Citations (8)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2005
  • 2005-11-21 SE SE0502537A patent/SE529476C2/sv unknown
• 2006
  • 2006-11-16 WO PCT/SE2006/050481 patent/WO2007058613A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2006-11-16 DE DE602006021455T patent/DE602006021455D1/de active Active
  • 2006-11-16 AT AT06824550T patent/ATE506268T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2006-11-16 EP EP06824550A patent/EP1951582B1/en not_active Not-in-force

Patent Citations (8)

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