WO2008085023A1

WO2008085023A1 - Container with improved profile at inner surface

Info

Publication number: WO2008085023A1
Application number: PCT/NL2007/050011
Authority: WO
Inventors: Edward Winston Kegge
Original assignee: Koninklijke Tnt Post B.V.
Priority date: 2007-01-11
Filing date: 2007-01-11
Publication date: 2008-07-17
Also published as: EP2114774A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a container (1), for instance for postal items. The container comprises a bottom wall (2) and a surrounding sidewall (3). At least part of an inner surface of the container is provided with a profile for holding the items in erect position. The profile comprises a plurality of studlike protrusions (6), which are spaced and staggered with respect to one another so as to form a plurality of grooves (61, 62) there between, extending in at least two directions. The grooves may for instance extend transverse, longitudinal and/or diagonally across the bottom wall. Grooves of different width may be formed. The protrusions may be resilient. The protrusions may be arranged on a separate insert, to be positioned in a container.

Description

Title: CONTAINER WITH IMPROVED PROFILE AT INNER SURFACE

The invention relates to a container, in particular a container for postal items.

Such containers are known. They are used to handle postal or similar items of various types and shapes, such as letters, flat packages, magazines, news papers, cards, etc. To prevent the items from sliding away and becoming disarranged, the bottom of the container may be profiled, with a pattern of ribs, extending across the bottom and forming grooves there between in which the respective items may be received. This helps to maintain the items in erect position, thereby allowing a good viewing angle on their postal addresses.

A problem with this known container is that the items need to be positioned quite accurately, in alignment with the grooves. In practice this may not always be possible, due to for instance the shape of an item (which may feature a wedge- shape or local thickness variations) or the speed with which the items are handled. Consequently, these items will end up resting on the ribs instead of in the grooves, and as such may readily slip away and become disarranged. Also, when one item is misplaced, this almost automatically will cause the subsequent items to become misaligned as well.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a container of the aforementioned type in which the disadvantages of the known containers are overcome or at least reduced.

To that end, a container according to the invention is characterized in that at least part of the inner surface of the container is provided with a profile comprising a plurality of studlike protrusions, which are spaced and staggered in such way with respect to one another that a plurality of grooves is formed there between, extending in at least two directions.

Thanks to such profile, the container will be more easy to use, because the items no longer need to be positioned carefully. If an item is misaligned with respect to one groove, it may still be received in another groove of which the direction matches that of the item.

In this description the term 'studlike protrusions' denotes protrusions of which the cross section is relatively small as compared to the dimensions of the surface that is covered by said protrusions, i.e. the main dimension of said cross sections may be a fraction of the length or width of said surface.

According to one aspect of the invention the protrusions may be provided at the bottom wall of the container. This offers the advantage that postal or similar items of varying width can be readily positioned in the container, in erect condition, by simply pressing an edge of the item in one of the grooves formed at the bottom wall.

In further elaboration, at least part of the grooves formed between the protrusions may extend diagonally across the bottom wall, preferably intersecting each other under various angles, that may range from about 1° up to and including 90°. With such configuration it will be almost impossible to misplace an item, because no matter under which angle the item is placed in the container, there will always be a groove that is closely aligned and thus apt to receive a bottom edge of the item, to thereby steadily hold the item in erect position.

According to another aspect of the invention the protrusions are arranged such that at least part of the grooves extend in transverse direction and part of the grooves extend in longitudinal direction of the bottom wall.

Such container may be conveniently used in two ways, i.e. in case of relatively small items, the stacking direction may be lengthwise, whereas for relatively large items the direction may be breadthwise.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, the grooves formed between the protrusions have a width that corresponds to an average thickness of the items to be received in the container. With such width, most items will properly fit in the grooves and as such can be steadily hold in erect position. Items with a smaller thickness may have some play, but will be prevented from slipping away and/or tipping over by neighbouring item(s), held steadily in the neighbouring groove(s). Items with a larger thickness may not fit in the groove and in such case may stand on top of the protrusions. Again, such items will be prevented from tipping over by neighbouring items, securely held erect in their respective grooves.

According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the protrusions may be resilient. In such case, the protrusions can bend outward so as to allow items that are slightly thicker than the groove width to be received in the groove.

According to another aspect of the invention, the protrusions may have different heights and may be arranged to form grooves with different widths. This can be achieved by arranging the higher protrusions further apart, and by arranging the shorter protrusions in between. Thus, the higher protrusions will form wider grooves and the shorter protrusions will form smaller grooves. Such configuration will enhance the versatility of the container. It may be conveniently used for handling items, such as postal items, varying widely in shape and/or dimensions, especially thickness.

According to a further aspect of the invention the protrusions may be designed to facilitate insertion of the items into the respective grooves. To that end, the protrusions may for instance be provided with a rounded end or a tapered end, which may help to guide an edge of an item into a groove.

According to another aspect of the invention the protrusions may be provided on a separate insert, which can be positioned in the container, so as to cover at least part of an inner surface thereof. With such insert, conventional containers (including the prior art containers) can be readily converted to a container according to the present invention, adapted to stably hold postal items or the like items such as cards.

The invention furthermore relates to a kit of parts including at least one container and a series of inserts, featuring different profiles with different groove widths and/or directions. Thanks to such inserts, it is not necessary to have a great number of different containers, each adapted for a particular type of items. Instead, it suffices to have one or two types of containers (e.g. for small and large items) and a series of inserts. These containers may be readily adapted to hold items of varying shape and/or thickness, by simply equipping these containers with the appropriate insert. The inserts can also be used to upgrade existing, conventional containers. They can be manufactured at low cost, and take little space to store.

Further advantageous embodiments of a container according to the present invention are set forth in the dependent claims.

To explain the invention, exemplary embodiments thereof will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a container according to the invention, in perspective view;

Fig. 2 shows the container of Figure 1, in top plan view;

Fig. 3A,B show the profile of the container of Figure 1 and 2, in cross section and in top plan view, respectively; and

Fig. 4A,B show an alternative embodiment of a profile according to the invention, in cross section and in top plan view, respectively.

Figure 1 illustrates a container 1 according to the invention, for holding postal items, such as for instance letters, packages, newspapers, magazines, brochures or other printed matter. The container 1 comprises a bottom wall 2 and a surrounding sidewall 3. The bottom wall 2 may have a substantially rectangular shape, with a length L and a width W, in which case the sidewall 3 may comprise two longitudinal walls 4, extending in lengthwise direction along the bottom wall 2 and two end walls 5, extending in transverse direction along the bottom wall 2. The longitudinal walls 4 and end walls 5 may be provided with coupling means 6,7 for coupling the container 1 to a support or vehicle, and may furthermore be provided with openings 8, to serve as handles. The container 1 can for instance be manufactured from plastic and may be provided with stiffness enhancing profiles 9, such as ribs, as shown in Figure 1.

In the illustrated embodiment the inner surface of the sidewall 3 is substantially smooth, but the inner surface of the bottom wall 2 is provided with a large number of protrusions 10, in particular studlike or pinlike protrusions, as best seen in Figures 2 and 3. These protrusions 10 are arranged in a regular pattern, in particular rows ri and columns Ci, so as to delimit first grooves Gi which extend substantially parallel to the end walls 5, second grooves G2 which extend substantially parallel to the sidewalls 4, and third, fourth and further grooves G3,4,5,6 which extend diagonally across the bottom wall 2, at different angles with respect to the first and second grooves Gi,2 In the illustrated example, the first grooves Gi have a smaller width than the second grooves G2. Likewise, the diagonal grooves G3,4,5,6 have a smaller width than the first grooves Gi,2 Of course, in alternative embodiments this can be varied.

In use, postal items can be stacked in the container 1, in lengthwise or transverse direction, depending on the width of the items. In either case, the items may stably stand in erect position, thanks to their bottom edges being held in first, respectively second grooves Gi, G2. If for some reason an item is misplaced, for instance is placed at an angle with respect to the previous items, its edge will be caught in one of the diagonal grooves G3,4,.. 1, which will help to hold the item in erect position, just like the other items. The subsequent items can either be placed parallel to the misplaced item, in the corresponding diagonal grooves G3,4,.. ,1 or be placed in parallel with the earlier items, i.e. in the first, respectively grooves Gi, G2, thereby restoring the initial stacking direction.

Depending on the type, design and/or dimensions of the postal items, the pattern of the protrusions 10, their mutual distance and/or their height may differ. Also, the protrusions 10 may have different shapes. They may for instance be shaped as pins, studs, ridges, etc. Their cross sections may be circular, oval, square, rectangular, plus shaped, star shaped, etc.

The free end of the protrusions 10 may be designed to help guiding items into the respective groove. To that end, the free end may for instance be rounded, thereby preventing an item to rest on said end. Alternatively or additionally, the free end may be tapered, as illustrated in Figure 3A, showing the bottom wall 2 in cross section taken along line III-III in Figure 2. Such sawtooth like design not only facilitates insertion of the items in the respective grooves G, but will also cause the items to slightly tilt in one direction. This may help to correctly position the subsequent items in said same direction. Furthermore, the protrusions may be resilient, so as to give way when an item is slightly too thick, locally or over its entire width.

For illustrative purposes only, the height h of the protrusions 10 shown in Figure 3A may for instance be around 0. 8 mm, the width s of the grooves Gi may for instance be around 3 mm and the radius of curvature of the rounded edges and free end of the protrusion 10 may for instance be about 0.2 mm. Of course, depending on the items to be received in the container 1, the dimensions can vary. The given dimensions should therefore in no way be construed as limiting. Figures 4A and 4B show a profile with three types of protrusions

110, 111, 112. The first protrusions 110 have the smallest height and cross section, the second protrusions 111 have a larger height and cross section and the third protrusions are largest in height and cross section. All protrusions 110, 111, 112 are arranged in a regular grid of rows and columns, but the second protrusions 111 are spaced apart at three times the interval between the first protrusions 110, and the third protrusions 112 are spaced apart at six times the interval between the first protrusions 110. Consequently, grooves are formed between the rows with three different widths W₁, W2, W3. The same is true for the grooves formed between the columns, and for the diagonal grooves formed between the rows and columns. Such pattern can for instance advantageously be used when the postal items to be carried in the container 1 are expected to feature a considerable spread in thickness. The thinnest items may then be stably positioned in the grooves between the first protrusions 110. The thicker items may be positioned in the grooves between the second protrusions 111, wherein they will rest on top of the first protrusions 110. The thickest items may be positioned in the grooves between the third protrusions 112, supported by the top surfaces of the second protrusions 111. The difference in height between the smallest and largest protrusions 110, 112 is preferably limited so as to allow easy compression and/or displacement of the items towards each other (towards one end of the container 1) for easy take out of a stack of items. Accordingly, the highest protrusion 112 may for instance be maximally three times, and preferably maximally two times higher than the lowest protrusion 110.

To increase the flexibility of the containers, the profiles according to the inventions may be applied to separate inserts. A container can then readily be adjusted for a special type of postal items, by equipping the container with the appropriate insert.

The invention is not in any way limited to the exemplary embodiments presented in the description and drawing. All combinations (of parts) of the embodiments shown and described are explicitly understood to be incorporated within this description and are explicitly understood to fall within the scope of the invention. Moreover, many variations are possible within the scope of the invention, as outlined by the claims.

Claims

1. Container for relatively flat, thin items, such as postal items, cards or the like, the container comprising a bottom wall and a surrounding sidewall, wherein at least part of an inner surface of the container is provided with a profile for holding the postal items in erect position, characterized in that the profile comprises a plurality of studlike protrusions, spaced and staggered with respect to one another so as to form a plurality of grooves there between, extending in at least two directions.

2. Container according to claim 1, wherein the grooves intersect.

3. Container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protrusions are at least provided at the bottom wall of the container.

4. Container according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein at least part of the grooves extend diagonally across the bottom wall.

5. Container according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the grooves intersect each other under various angles, ranging from about 1° up to and including 90°.

6. Container according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein at least part of the grooves extend in transverse direction of the bottom wall and at least part of the grooves extend in longitudinal direction of the bottom wall.

7. Container according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the protrusions are arranged in a matrix, with the protrusions in adjacent rows and/or in adjacent columns being aligned.

8. Container according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the grooves formed between the protrusions have a width that corresponds to an average thickness of the items to be received in the container.

9. Container according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the protrusions are resilient.

10. Container according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the protrusions have different heights and are arranged to form grooves with different widths, wherein the highest protrusions form the widest grooves and the lowest protrusions form the smallest grooves.

11. Container according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the protrusions are designed to facilitate insertion of items into the respective grooves, for instance by having an at least partly rounded or tapered end.

12. Container according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the profile as described in anyone of the preceding claims is provided on a separate insert, which can be positioned in the container, so as to cover at least part of an inner surface thereof.

13. Kit of parts including at least one container and a series of inserts as described in claim 12, wherein the inserts are provided with different profiles, featuring different groove widths and/or directions, for items of different type, shape and/or dimensions.