DE29705636U1 - Stackable support plate for sensitive objects - Google Patents

Description

PATENT ATTORNEYS f "····! . \ \\.\. . ''~\ ·/

DR. ULRICH OSTERTAG DR. REINHÄRD'OSTERTAG " '

EIBENWEG IO D-70597 STUTTGART TEL.+49-711-766845 FAX +49-711-7655701

Stackable support plate for sensitive objects

Applicant: . Otmar Fahrion
Dürerstr. 9

70806 Kornwestheim
Attorney file: 5404.6

5404.6 - 1 - ·..*...* &oacgr;&.*04·. 199*7 *

Stackable support plate for sensitive objects

05

The invention relates to a stackable support plate for sensitive objects according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such a stackable support plate is described in WO-A-96/29250. There, the individual holders are of such a height that they can completely accommodate the individual objects. For some applications, especially for yoghurt cups, it is desirable to have visual contact with the objects from the outside, e.g. to be able to see which type of fruit yoghurt is contained in the support plate. This is particularly important if the same support plates are to be used interchangeably by different manufacturers for 0 fruit yoghurt.

The present invention therefore aims to develop a support plate according to the preamble of claim 1 in such a way that, on the one hand, it ensures good visual contact with the objects located in the receptacles, but on the other hand, it continues to ensure reliable force transmission within a stack of filled support plates stacked on top of one another without the risk of damaging the sensitive objects.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a support plate having the features specified in claim 1.

Advantageous developments of the invention are described in Un-

AUN.222-025 - 2 -

5404.6 - 2 - ·..*.·* 02*. 04*. 199*7

claims.

The development of the invention according to claim 2 is advantageous with regard to good stability, in particular torsional strength of the individual support plate.

The development of the invention according to claim 3 facilitates the handling of the individual support plates, in particular the removal from a stack.

The development of the invention according to claim 4 facilitates the rough visual alignment of a stackable support plate on an underlying support plate, both when the support plates are loaded and when the support plates are placed closely together for return transport.

The further development of the invention according to claim 5 is also advantageous with regard to easy handling of the support plates.

With the development of the invention according to claim 6, an improvement in the dimensional stability of the support plates is also achieved, whereby the section of the angle profile that runs diagonally inwards and downwards does not lead to a loss of usable space if the sensitive objects are conical or truncated pyramid-shaped (standard yogurt pot) or spherical (apple, pear).

With the development of the invention according to claim 7, additional vertical force transmission paths are obtained in a stack of support plates, which do not reduce the capacity of a support plate to accommodate sensitive objects.

5404.6 - 3 - ·..*··· 02.04*. 199*7

Support plates as specified in claim 8 are particularly well suited to absorbing loads such as those that occur in everyday transport of support plates on trucks. The support plates are arranged in several fields next to each other and one above the other on Euro pallets and the structure of a pallet formed by the various stacks is held together by a shrink-fit film. If a truck loaded with such pallets and associated structures brakes sharply, the sections of the individual support plates that are at the front in the direction of travel are subjected to strong vertical loads. These loads are absorbed particularly well by the form-locking means adjacent to the edge, so that compared to commercially available support plates that do not have such form-locking means between the mounts and adjacent to the edge, lower transport losses are achieved.

The development of the invention according to claim 9 is advantageous with regard to compact stacking of the support plates. In a first relative orientation of support plates lying one above the other, the various positive locking means can engage with one another, so that the support plates can be stacked closely spaced for return transport. In a second relative orientation, however, the positive locking means of a lower support plate come into contact with sections of an overlying support plate that do not match them, so that the support plates are spaced apart by a predetermined greater distance. In this way, objects that have larger dimensions in the vertical direction than the receptacles can be accommodated in the receptacles, while still ensuring that no forces are transmitted in the vertical direction in the stack via the objects.

·

5404.6 - 4 - 0*2.04*. 1997

The development of the invention according to claim 10 is advantageous with regard to good mechanical stability of the support plates.

The development of the invention according to claim 11 makes it possible to ensure the spacing of superimposed support plates by a predetermined greater distance in a manner in which the form-locking means and the counter-form-locking means extend approximately equally from the
wall sections of the support plate lying on a common plane, which correspond to the plane of a flat blank from which the support plate is made. This is advantageous in terms of favorable manufacturing conditions, but also in terms of good mechanical strength (small buckling length) of the form-locking means.

Support plates as defined in claim 12,
are particularly suitable for the storage of objects that are exposed to a controlled ambient atmosphere (e.g. cooling, heating, chemical treatment), since the support plates are permeable in the vertical direction to fluids such as cold or warm air.

In addition, according to claim 13, circulation openings can also be provided in the area of the receptacles.

According to claim 14, access to the
The openings provided in the bottom walls of the holders are still guaranteed even if the objects inserted into the holders have a flat underside.

The openings mentioned in claims 12 to 14 are also advantageous when cleaning the bearing plates, since cleaning fluid can drip through them.

:*Y'I ^S

5404.6 - 5 - ·..·.··* 0*2.04*.199*7

The development of the invention according to claim 15 is advantageous with regard to simple and inexpensive mass production of the bearing plates. 05

The invention is explained in more detail below using exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawing. In this drawing:

Figure 1: a perspective view of a stackable support plate for yoghurt cups;

Figure 2: a perspective view of the support plate according to Figure 1, which is now shown equipped with yoghurt cups;

Figure 3: a perspective view of two such support plates with yoghurt cups placed on top of each other;
20

Figure 4: a perspective view of two such perspective support plates, which are empty and placed one above the other to save space;

Figure 5: a perspective view of a first corner section of the stackable support plate;

Figure 6: a perspective view of a second corner section of a support plate, which corresponds to that of Figure 6 with respect to a transverse

the median plane of the support plate is symmetrical, seen from the inside of the support plate;

Figure 7: a plan view of the outside of the corner section according to Figure 6;

5404.6 - 6 - ·· ·" ?. 04*. 199*7

Figure 8: an enlarged perspective view

a spacer arrangement provided in the interior of the support plate; 05

Figure 9: a plan view of the support plate, with wall areas located in three different levels distinguished by the symbols »+«, »o«, »-«;
10

Figure 10: a section through the support plate shown in Figure 9 along the section line A-A there;

Figure 11: a side view of a tightly packed stack of empty support plates according to Figures 9 and 10;

Figure 12: a side view of a stack of support plates filled with yoghurt pots

according to Figures 1 to 11; and

Figure 13: a similar plan view to Figure 9, showing a modified support plate.

In Figures 1 to 8, a one-piece support plate for yoghurt cups 8, produced by deep-drawing a plastic plate, is designated as a whole by 10. The support plate has a rectangular shape when viewed from above and is symmetrical to its transverse center plane. Twenty upwardly open receptacles 12 are provided in the support plate, each of which can accommodate a yoghurt cup. The receptacles 12 each have a slim, frustoconical peripheral wall 14 that widens upwards and a base wall 16.

5404.6 - 7 - 0*2*. 04*. 1997

An opening 18 is provided in each of the base walls 16, and the peripheral walls 14 each have two diametrically opposed groove-shaped indentations 19 running along the surface lines and receding outwards. In this way, cold air can flow in a cooling chamber along the peripheral walls of the yoghurt cups 8 and downwards through the openings 18.

The upper ends of the receptacles 12 are connected by wall sections 20. These are wall sections remaining in the starting plane of the plastic plate from which the support plate 10 was made by deep drawing. Central openings 22 are provided in the wall sections 20. These, like the openings 18, serve to circulate cold air in a direction perpendicular to the planes of stacked support plates 10 when stacks of support plates are located in a cooling chamber.

In the edge-side receptacles 12, the receptacles are not completely closed, but rather open towards the edge of the support plate. Corresponding vertical wall sections 24 are again inclined in accordance with the inclination of the peripheral walls 14.

Opposite the wall sections 24 are further vertically inclined wall sections 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d, which together with frame corner parts 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d form a support plate frame designated overall with 3 0.

In the wall sections 20 adjacent to the corners of the support plate 10, there is a spacer element 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d raised upwards from their plane and a spacer element 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d raised downwards to the plane of the base wall 16.

5404.6 - 8 - 0*2.04*. 1997

element 34a, 34b, 34c, 34d.

As can be seen from the drawing, the arrangement of the spacer elements 32, 34 is such that the spacer elements are each "antisymmetrical" with respect to the transverse center plane of the support plate: the spacer elements 32 on the half of the support plate 10 located to the left of the transverse center plane in the drawing correspond, when viewed from above, to the spacer elements 34 on the right-hand half of the plate, and the spacer elements 32 of the right-hand half of the plate are located at a location that is symmetrical to the location of the spacer elements 34 of the left-hand half of the plate. In this way, the spacer elements 32 and the spacer elements 34 of superimposed support plates can engage with one another if the support plates are stacked on top of one another in the same orientation. This results in a very compact stack of support plates. If, on the other hand, the superimposed support plates are alternately rotated by 180 around the vertical axis, the upper end faces of the spacer elements 32a come into contact with the lower end faces of the spacer elements 34c. Analogously, the spacer elements 32b come into contact with the underside of the spacer elements 34d of the support plate 10' above, etc. In this way, the differently oriented nested support plates 10, 10' are spaced apart by a greater distance, which in practice is 100 mm for yoghurt cups.

The frame corner parts 28 each have an angled positioning wall 36a, 36b, 36c and 36d as well as further spacer elements 38a, 38b, 38c and 38d that project inwards from this. The positioning walls 36 are again designed like a truncated pyramid, so that the underside of a support plate in the above-mentioned relative position rotated against one another is

5404.6 - 9 - *·.···· 0*2. 04*. 1997

flat upper end faces of the spacer elements 38 of an underlying support plate. In the other orientation, however, the frame corner parts 28 also allow empty support plates to be stacked closely on top of one another.

As can be seen in particular from Figures 5 and 6, the spacer elements 38 have a horizontal end wall 40, which has a supporting function in the rotated relative position of superimposed support plates, and two side surfaces 42 which enclose an angle of approximately 120 with one another, so that the spacer elements 38 have a substantially triangular transverse cross-section, the long side of the triangle being curved according to the curvature of the positioning wall 36.

As can be seen from Figure 7, the underside of the spacer elements 38 provides an outwardly open recess with a shoulder on top, which can also serve as a gripping aid and, when support plates are placed close together, receives the corresponding spacer element 38 of the support plate underneath that is oriented in the same way.

Preferably, the inclinations of the various non-horizontal walls of the support plate are all 5 the same size, and the position and thickness of the end walls 40 of the spacer elements 38 (or other small walls of the support plate) are matched to this inclination so that when the support plates 10 are stacked tightly as shown in Figure 11, the inclined walls 0 are still somewhat spaced apart, so that the support plates can also be easily removed from the stack.

As can be seen from Figure 8, the spacer elements 32 each have an end wall 44 which, in the relative position of the support plates lying one above the other, is rotated relative to one another.

- 10 -

5404.6 - 10 - *..·...· \ 0*2.04.1^71

has a supporting function, and sloping side walls 46. The spacer elements 34 that are returned to the floor surface have a lower end wall 48 (only visible in Figure 9), which in the rotated relative position of superimposed support plates cooperates with the end wall 44 of the underlying spacer element 32, and sloping side walls 50.

The overall cross-sectional shape of the spacer elements 32 and 34 follows the edge contour of the wall section 20 supporting them, as can be clearly seen in particular from Figure 9.

A gripping strip 52 directed horizontally outwards is formed on each of the wall sections 26. This does not protrude beyond the clear outer contour of the support plate defined by the corner parts 28, but makes use of it.

Figures 9 to 12 are line drawings of the perspective views shown in Figures 1 to 8.

Figure 11 clearly shows a compact stack of similarly oriented support plates 10, as returned by a retailer for reuse after the yoghurt cups have been sold.

Figure 12 shows a stack of spaced-apart, alternately differently oriented support plates 10 and 10■, which are filled with yoghurt cups 8.

In order to be able to quickly identify the respective orientation of a support plate 10, three-dimensional marker towers 56a, 56b are raised from some edge wall sections 20. In the embodiment shown, these have

- 11 -

5404.6 - 11 - *.·*...· *·&Ogr;*2 .84 .19*97·

triangular cross-section that remains constant in the longitudinal direction. This means that the marker towers of a support plate cannot be inserted into the underside of the marker towers of a support plate above it, so that the marker towers determine the plate spacing in a compact transport stack, as shown in Figure 11. Support plates lying on top of one another therefore do not wedge themselves with slanted plate sections, so that the support plates can be easily removed from a transport stack.

In the modified support plate 10 according to Figure 13, four radial spacer ribs 54 are formed in the base walls 16. This means that there is a flow connection to the openings 18 even when the yoghurt cups 8 have a smooth, continuous underside.

The support plates described above can be easily manufactured from plastic material by deep drawing or injection molding. They have high mechanical strength and, because the internal spacer elements 32 and 34 are also provided near the edge, they can also easily absorb strong vertical loads within a stack, such as those that occur when a vehicle brakes sharply.

Since at least the wall sections 26a and 26c of the support plates running in the longitudinal direction have only a small height, there is good visual contact with the yoghurt cups or other objects such as fruit and the like arranged in the support plates 10.

The support plates 10 described above are one-piece injection-molded or deep-drawn parts made of plastic or - if a very long service life is required - also made of metal (sheet steel).

- 12 -

5404.6 - 12 - T)2.04.15*97·

They have an attractive appearance and are easy and reliable to clean, so they are suitable for frequent reuse in circulation, similar to beer crates. 05

Note: The cross-hatching shown in the drawing only serves to highlight the front surfaces of the spacer elements, and does not show any cutting surface. These hatchings would not be present if the drawing were done in accordance with the standard.

Claims (15)

5404.6 - 1 - "..·...· ' \JJ2.p4.ia97: Claims 05 1. Stackable support plate for sensitive objects such as yoghurt pots, fruit, glasses, small motors or the like, with a bottom wall (16), with receptacles (12) formed on the bottom wall (16) with a conical or truncated pyramid-shaped peripheral wall (14) for one object each and with form-locking means (32 to 38) for spacing and positioning adjacent further support plates of the same geometry, characterized in that the receptacles (12) have a lower height in the direction perpendicular to the bottom wall than the distance between adjacent support plates predetermined by the form-locking means (32 to 38). 2. Support plate according to claim 1, characterized in that edge sections of the support plate are designed as angle profiles (16, 26) and together with frame corner parts (28) form a load-bearing frame (30). 3. Support plate according to claim 2, characterized in that the angle profiles (16, 26) at least partially have a gripping strip (52). 4. Support plate according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a first part (36, 38) of the form-locking means (32 to 38) is provided at the corners of the support plate (10). 5. Support plate according to claim 4, characterized in that at least a part of the form-locking means (38) located at the corners of the support plate (10) has a AUN.222-026 - 2 - 5404.6 - 2 - "02.&Oacgr;4.1^97* provides an open gripping recess on the outside. 6. Support plate according to one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that a section (26) of the angle profiles (16, 26) runs obliquely inwards and downwards. 7. Support plate according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a second part (32, 34) of the form-locking means is arranged between receptacles (12), wherein the edge contour thereof preferably follows that of the wall sections (2 0) located between the receptacles (12). 8. Support plate according to claim 7, characterized in that the second part (32 to 34) of the form-locking means (32 to 38) is located next to edge-side receptacles (12). 9. Support plate according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that among the form-locking means (32 to 38) there are form-locking means of the first type (32a, 32d; 38a, 38d) and form-locking means of the second type (32b, 32c; 38b, 38c), the top and bottom sides of which are selected such that the form-locking means can each be inserted from below into a form-locking means of the same type, but not into a form-locking means of the other type, and that the form-locking means of the first type and the form-locking means of the second type are arranged asymmetrically with respect to an axis of symmetry of the support plate (10). 0 10. Support plate according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the upper ends of the receptacles (12) are connected by wall sections (20) lying in a common plane. 11. Support plate according to claim 10 in conjunction with 5404.6 - 3 - *..*...* *.&thgr;'2.04.19·97 ^: Claim 9, characterized in that for at least some of the form-locking means of the first and second type, form-locking means (34) are provided in the wall sections (20) lying in a common plane at points symmetrical to a center of these wall sections, leading back to the base wall. 12. Support plate according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it is provided with openings (22) in areas (20) lying between the receptacles (12). 13. Support plate according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it is provided with openings (18) in walls of the receptacles (12), preferably in their bottom walls (16). 14. Support plate according to claim 13, characterized by the openings (18) provided in the base walls (16) adjacent to spacer ribs (54) projecting upwards from the base walls and/or by indentations (19) extending along the peripheral walls (14) of the receptacles (12). 15. Support plate according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that it is injection-molded from a plastic material or is produced by deep-drawing a plastic plate.