WO2016207919A1

WO2016207919A1 - Foldable packaging containers

Info

Publication number: WO2016207919A1
Application number: PCT/IN2016/050203
Authority: WO
Inventors: Arun Modgil
Original assignee: Arun Modgil
Priority date: 2015-06-26
Filing date: 2016-06-26
Publication date: 2016-12-29

Abstract

A foldable packaging container comprising of container bottom comprising of a rectangular panel, said panel being raised above the ground level by a series of elongated metal beams that are extended transversely of the bottom, the said elongated beams being hollow; container bottom comprising edge channels which extends throughout the length of each of the four edges of the container bottom and having a width slightly greater than the width of the bottom edge; sidewalls the sidewalls being detachably connected to the container bottom through the edge channels which extends to the length of each of four edges of the sidewalls such that these bottom edges are snugly received in the channel; elongated edge frame member provided along the top edges of each side wall to impart the rigidity to the sidewalls; a top cover which can be snugly fit into the edge frame member provided along the top of each sidewall; the bottom edge of the side wall and the container bottom being attached using suitable bolts and nuts.

Description

FOLDABLE PACKAGING CONTAINERS

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention generally relates to the field of transportation or shipping industry, and, more particularly to a transportation container which can be folded and stacked

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of containers for the transportation of goods by rail, road, ship etc. is well known in the industry. The containers for shipping/ transportation are generally having a cuboidal structure having dimensions generally based on the ISO (International Standards Organization) specifications. A typical example of the size of the container can be 3400mm x 2260mm x 1420mm. The goods to be shipped or transported may be simply packed inside such shipping containers during a shipping process. The other possibility is that the goods may be packaged in a separate packaging container and thereafter such packaging containers are packed in the shipping containers.

Sine these packaging containers are generally having fixed dimensions, therefore in certain instances such packaging containers do not result in effective and optimum use of space and resources during shipping process. The problem is even more when shipping empty packaging containers. The resources are simply wasted in transporting the empty packaging containers. Hence there has always been a need for optimizing the resources while shipping / transporting to and fro the packaging containers. A lot of research is being done in this field and there are many such collapsible packaging containers available in the industry but some how do not meet the ideal solution required for an effective packaging container. For example, US patent number 4214669 A discloses a collapsible cargo container which includes flat, horizontal, rigid unitary top and bottom walls and opposite normally vertical sectional side walls with upper and lower panel sections hingedly connected together and to related edges on the top and bottom walls whereby the upper and lower panels can pivot laterally inwardly relative to the top and bottom walls to lower the top wall relative to the bottom wall to a collapsed position where the top wall, panels and bottom wall occur in close parallel relationship with each other. However, such construction of the collapsible packaging container requires lot of efforts and technical inputs to make such containers. Such technical inputs and efforts add to the cost and hence the resources for the container.

In yet another example, US Patent number 5918744A discloses a shipping container system and method of construction, which includes a container with an integrated pallet assembly. The system includes an inner shell, an outer shell, a cover assembly, and a pallet assembly. Again, such construction of the packaging containers will result in incurring extra resources for the containers.

Therefore, to overcome such problems faced by the earlier inventions and provide an effective solution for the shipping / transporting industry, the present invention provides for a new and simple, inventive packaging containers.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide for shipping/ transportation industry, a packaging container which can be either used alone or in conjunction with a shipping container during a shipping process. The folding feature of the container enables achieving a substantial volume saving when the empty container is to be transported in a fully collapsed configuration. Further, the container enables effective utilization of the space during a shipping/ transportation process when being shipped packaged with intended goods/products/articles. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides for a foldable packaging container which can either be used alone or in conjunction with a shipping container during a shipping process. The instant invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a foldable packaging container which is simple to use and construct. The foldable packaging container enables achieving a substantial volume- saving when an empty container is transported in a fully collapsed configuration.

The present invention further provides a foldable packaging container wherein the panels are removably attached to each other and can be stacked after being removed from each other. This packaging container includes a container bottom, side walls adapted to extend upwardly from the bottom and adapted for connecting to respective side edges of the bottom, and a top cover for attachment to the side walls.

The above mentioned aspects and other aspects of the disclosed foldable packaging container and other connecting devices for use with the foldable packaging container will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description along with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is the perspective view of the packaging container in expanded position in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is the front view of the packaging container in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 3 is the side view of the packaging container in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 4 is the top view of the packaging container in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 5 is the perspective view of the corner bracket holding the panels in place in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 6 is the perspective view of the container showing the locking of top lid in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 7 is the detailed view of the profile of the top lid and mechanism of locking of the top lid in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 8 is the perspective view of the container showing half of the top lid open.

Fig. 9 is the perspective view of the container showing the triangular board for fastening the panels together. Fig. 10 is the perspective view of the container having all the fastenings removed.

Fig. 11 is the detailed view of the front panels being locked by the U profiles.

Fig. 12 is the detailed view of the mechanism showing the locking of front panels.

Fig. 13 is the perspective view of the container showing the front and back panel removed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 14 is the perspective view of the container having all the front, back and side panels removed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 15 is the perspective view of the container with all the panels removed and the dunnage folded

Fig. 16 is the perspective view of the container in the folded and stacked position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the detailed description which follows, various exemplary embodiments of the foldable packaging container have been described. However, the particularly disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative and are described to illustrate the disclosed subject matter, not to limit its scope, which is defined by the claims. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a number of equivalent variations of the various features provided in the description that follows.

Fig. 1 shows the perspective view of the foldable packaging container 1 for transporting the products such as automobiles and various other components. The said foldable packaging container comprises of (i) bottom of the container 17, (ii) sidewalls of the container 10,11,12 and 13 and (iii) top or lid of the container 14, 14'. All these components are connected to each other to form a robust container which can be used for transporting and shipping purposes. The bottom of the container 17, is generally of the rectangular shape and is made up of strong steel sheet which can either be corrugated or can be galvanized if required. The steel panel or panels 22, can be made up of series of parallel corrugations as shown in Fig. 13, for added rigidity and strength and the side walls 10-13 can also be made in same manner for added rigidity and strength. Thus, the panels 22 can be formed with flat-topped ridges 24 separated by channels or elongate recesses 26. Further the panels 22 of the bottom can be raised above the ground level by means of several elongated metal beams 18.

These beams 18 can be secured to the base panel by process such as welding or it can be securely connected to the base with the help of nuts and bolts. The beams 18 can extend transversely of the base, that is, perpendicular to the length of the base as shown in FIGS. 1 and they can be hollow to minimize their weight and they can have a square or rectangular transverse cross-section.

The sidewalls 10, 11, 12 and 13 are detachably attached to the bottom of the container 17. However, the sidewalls can also be hingedly connected to the bottom of the container. As shown in the figure 13, the bottom of the container is formed with edge channels at 30 which extend the length of each of the four edges of the bottom and which have a width slightly greater than the width of the bottom edges of the side walls so that these bottom edges will be snugly received in the channels. There is provided an elongated edge frame members 15 which is provided along the top and bottom edges of each of the sidewalls 10 to 13 and these help to add rigidity to the sidewalls as well as protect the top and bottom edges of corrugated panels that are used to form the sidewalls. The bottom frame members of the sidewalls are adapted for connection to respective side edges of the bottom of the container. Bottom edges of the side walls and the bottom of the container can be attached using the suitable bolts and nuts. The nuts can be welded into the desired position so that they do not stray while the bolts are being released or tightened.

The foldable container 1 is also provided with a top cover 14, the upper surface of which can be a flat, rectangular panel as shown in FIG. 1. In order to provide more strength and rigidity to the top cover, this cover can optionally be corrugated

The upper corners of the sidewalls 10 to 13 are connected to one another and to the top cover by means of corner brackets 16, details of which can be seen from FIGS. 1 to 5. The foldable packaging container 1 is provided with four of these corner brackets, one at each of the four top corners. Each bracket is constructed from three metal plates or plate sections, including a first plate 42 which extends vertically, a second plate 44 which extends vertically and perpendicular to the plate 42 and a third plate 46. The first plate 42 can be connected to a respective one of the sidewalls, for example, sidewall 10 by means of two bolts such as M8 bolts extending through holes 48, 54 formed in the plate. These bolts are threaded into nuts that are welded onto the sidewall 10 . Similarly, the second plate 44 is detachably connected to its respective sidewall 11 by means of two bolts that extend through holes 50, 52. These bolts are threaded into aligned nuts welded to the sidewall 10 adjacent the corner thereof (not shown). The third plate 46 extends over the corner of the top cover which has been mounted on the top edges of the four side walls and thus holds the top cover in place. As can be seen from the figure of the bracket, Fig. 5, in the third plate, there is an extended portion formed in the top surface of the plate 46. The four extended portions of the corner plates help in holding or lowering the container. Each of the first and second plates 42, 44 as shown is formed with a hook or locking device 60 which is located next to a rectangular opening 62 in the plate. These hooks are used to mount each corner bracket in a corner of the container bottom 17 when the container has been folded. A vertical portion 64 of each hook is inserted in the edge channel, which extends along a respective edge of the container bottom.

As shown in the figures, each of the holes in the corner bracket is formed in a protective recess, including recesses 64, 66 adjacent the bottom edges of the plates and recesses 68, 70 formed near the top of the corner bracket. By means of these recesses, the heads of the bolts used to secure the corner bracket in place are protected as they will not protrude from the adjacent flat side of the plate 42 or 44. The use of these recesses prevents damage to the bolts during loading, transportation and unloading of the container.

FIG. 9 shows the details of construction that can be used to interlock the vertical edges of the sidewalls of the shipping case. This figure shows, as an example, end sections of two sidewalls 11, 12 which meet along vertical side edges. Mounted on the vertical side edge of sidewall 11 is a locking channel member 184 having an attachment flange 185 that can be rigidly and permanently connected to the inner surface of the wall. A similar, slightly smaller channel member 186 is attached to the vertical edge 188 of the sidewall 12. This channel member also has a connecting flange 190 for connecting the channel member to an inner surface of the wall 12. The

U-shaped portion of the member 186 is sized to fit snugly within the U-shaped portion of the channel member 184. It will also be understood that the two channel members extend substantially the length of each sidewall and thus these channel members effectively close this vertically extending joint of the container. Also shown in FIG. 9 are two slots 192 formed in the upper edge of each sidewall at each end.

These slots, if provided, can be used in conjunction with a triangular connector 200 shown in FIG. 9 A.

The connector 200 can be used to temporarily hold the sidewalls in their correct relative position where they meet at the top corners and prior to attachment of the top cover 14'. The connector has a triangular, planar main section 202 having a right angle corner at 204. Downwardly extending edge flanges are provided at 206 to 209 and the edge flanges 207 and 208 can be joined along the vertical edge where they meet. These edge flanges extend substantially perpendicular to the main section 202. A locking tab or tongue 210 is provided between the flanges 206 and 207 and a further locking tab or tongue 212 is provided between the flanges 208 and 209. The plane of each of these tabs is spaced a short distance from the plane of the adjacent flanges as shown. The tabs extend perpendicular to the main portion 202 and downwardly there from. It will be understood that a connector 200 can be placed on top of each corner where two sidewalls meet and can then be used to more securely connect the adjacent sidewalls together at their top corner. This is accomplished by inserting the tabs 210, 212 in their respective slots 192. When these tabs are inserted, the flanges 206 to 209 extend snugly along the outside surfaces of their respective sidewalls. As can be seen from the Fig.l, the front wall 11 and the back wall 13 of the container are divided into two portions wherein the first portion is a bit larger than the second portion. The front and the back wall are divided at 100 which represent a hollow square section having U shaped flanges at the opposite sides to accommodate the edges of the shorter and longer front and back walls in a manner that they are snugly fit lengthwise. To lock these two portions of the front and the back walls, a U shaped channel 101 (Fig. 11) is slidably moved over the said joint. To remove the walls, the U shaped channel 101, is slidably removed from over the joint and then the joint is removed thus removing the front and back walls.

Further going to Fig.l, the top sheet or the lid of the container is divided into two parts 14 and 14'. The two half of the container lid are connected to each other through a U- shaped profile wherein the edge of one of the lid having L-shaped profile snugly fits into the recess of the other U-shaped profile. As can be seen from Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, one half of the lid of the container has a U-shaped profile, 201 and the other half of the lid has a L-shaped profile, 202. While closing the lid, the L-shaped profile snugly fits into the U-shaped profile forming a joint 203. In the collapsed formation, Fig. 15, Fig 16, and Fig. 17, all the front, back and side walls are removed leaving behind the bottom of the container with the dunnages which help in protecting and supporting the cargo within the container. The dunnages are also hingedly connected to the bottom of the container and thus can be folded over the bottom of the container leaving behind a flat bottom of the container over which the other components of the container can be easily stacked.

The present invention further provides a method (M) for manufacturing the said foldable packaging container, by providing bottom of the container 17, and raising the bottom of container above the ground level by means of several elongated metal beams 18 in stage i.e. Step:Ml; In step M2, sidewalls of the container are provided, wherein the sidewalls 10, 11, 12 and 13 are detachably attached to the bottom of the container 17; Further, in Step M3, top or lid of the container 14, 14', is provided, the upper surface of which can be a flat, rectangular panel; thereafter, in Step M4, the side walls are detachably connected to the bottom of the container with help of hinges; and in Step M5, the upper corners of the side walls are connected with each other and to the top cover by means of corner bracket; In Step M6, the vertical edges of the side walls are interlocked; and finally in Step M7, the vertical edges are fixed with nuts and bolts to make a secured and robust container.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in various exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the details shown herein. Since it will be appreciated that several of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Various embodiments modifications presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may subsequently be made by those skilled in the art, which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

The principles associated with the various embodiment defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. Therefore, in no way, the examples or the description is intended to be limited to the embodiments shown along with the accompanying drawings but is to be provided broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel and invention features describe/disclosed or suggested herein. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements etc. within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall all be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A foldable packaging container (1) comprising of: a. container bottom (17) comprising of a rectangular panel (22), said panel(22) being raised above the ground level by a series of elongated metal beams (18) that are extended transversely of the bottom (17), the said elongated beams being hollow; b. container bottom (17) comprising edge channels (30) which extends throughout the length of each of the four edges of the container bottom and having a width slightly greater than the width of the bottom edge; c. sidewalls (10,11,12, 13) the sidewalls being detachably connected to the container bottom (17) through the edge channels (30) which extends to the length of each of four edges of the sidewalls such that these bottom edges are snugly received in the channel (30); d. elongated edge frame member (15) provided along the top edges of each side wall (10-13) to impart the rigidity to the sidewalls; e. a top cover (14)which can be snugly fit into the edge frame member (15) provided along the top of each sidewall; f. the bottom edge of the side wall (10-13) and the container bottom being attached using suitable bolts and nuts.

2. A foldable packaging container as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the panel (22) can be made up of steel sheet, which can either be corrugated or galvanized.

3. A foldable packaging container as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the beams (18) can be of a square or rectangular cross-section.

4. A foldable packaging container as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the sidewalls can be hingdely connected to the container bottom (17).

5. A foldable packaging container as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein, the vertical edges of the sidewalls (11, 12), which meet along vertical side edges are interlocked through a locking channel member (184) having an attachment flange

(185) that can be rigidly and permanently connected to the inner surface of the wall; a smaller channel member (186) is attached to the vertical edge (188) of the sidewall (12) wherein the channel member has a connecting flange (190) for connecting the channel member to an inner surface of the wall (12) wherein the U-shaped portion of the member

(186) is sized to fit snugly within the U-shaped portion of the channel member (184).

6. A foldable packaging container as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the upper edges of each sidewall has slots (192) wherein the slots can be covered by the triangular connector (200).

7. A foldable packaging container as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the top cover (14) can be corrugated or galvanized.

8. A foldable packaging container as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the upper corner of the sidewalls (10-13) are connected to each other and to the top cover

(14) by means of a corner bracket (16).

9. A foldable packaging container as claimed in claim 6, wherein the corner bracket ( 16) is constructed from three metal plates or plate sections, including a. a first plate (42) which extends vertically, a second plate (44) which extends vertically and perpendicular to the plate (42) and a third plate (46), wherein the first plate (42) can be connected to a respective one of the sidewalls, by means bolts extending through holes (48, 54) formed in the plate; b. the second plate (44) detachably connected to its respective sidewall (11) by means of two bolts that extend through holes (50, 52); the said bolts are threaded into aligned nuts welded to the sidewall ( 10) adjacent the corner thereof; c. the third plate (46) extends over the corner of the top cover thus holding the top cover in place; wherein the third plate has an extended portion formed in the top surface wherein the extended portions of the corner plates help in holding or lowering the container.

10. A foldable packaging container as claimed in claims 6 or 7, wherein each of the first and second plates (42, 44) is formed with a hook or locking device (60) wherein the hooks are used to mount each corner bracket in a corner of the container bottom 17 when the container has been folded.

11. A method for manufacturing the foldable packaging container, wherein the method comprises: a. Providing bottom of the container 17, and raising the bottom of container above the ground level by means of several elongated metal beams 18 ;

Providing sidewalls of the container wherein the sidewalls 10, 11,12 and detachably attached to the bottom of the container 17;

Providing top or lid of the container 14, 14', the upper surface of which be a flat, rectangular panel; d. Detachably connecting the side walls to the bottom of the container with help of hinges;

Connecting the upper corners of the side walls with each other and to the cover by means of corner bracket; f. Inter-locking the vertical edges of the side walls; g. Fixing the vertical edges with nuts and bolts to make a secured and robust container.