GB2213798A

GB2213798A - Collapsible containers

Info

Publication number: GB2213798A
Application number: GB8900497A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Lawrence Dixon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-01-15
Filing date: 1989-01-10
Publication date: 1989-08-23
Anticipated expiration: 2009-01-10
Also published as: GB8900497D0; GB2213798B; GB8800947D0

Abstract

A collapsible container comprises a base (11) with slots (14, 15, 16, 17,) therethrough, two opposing side walls (18, 19,) presenting elements (22, 23,) engagable in the slots (14, 15, 16, 17,) to interlock the side walls (18, 19,) against vertical displacement relative to the base (11) and two end walls (26, 30,) which present elements (26a, 35,), engagable in openings (27, 36,) in the base (11) and which lock the end walls with the base. Elements (28, 37,) engage with elements (24, 25,) presented by the side walls (26, 30,) with the side walls (18, 19). One of said end walls (30) preferably includes a hinged panel (32) to assist discharge of the container contents. <IMAGE>

Description

"IMPROVEMENES IN OR RELATING TO CONTAINERS" This invention relates to containers and, more specifically, to to so-called "intermediate bulk" containers which generally have a volume between half a cubic metre and ten cubic metres.

Intermediate bulk containers are well knoem in the art and may be constructed of flexible or rigid materials. The present invention is not concerned with containers made fron flexible materials, nor is the present invention concerned with containers made for "one-off" usage.

A feature of intermediate bulk containers of rigid material is that the containers, when loaded, are to heavy to be displaced manually and the containers must therefore be capable of being displaced by mechanical means, such as by an elevatable platform trolley, a fork lift truck, and/or an overhead lifting means and most preferably such a container should be capable of being displaced by all three of the above recited methods for displacement.

Most conventional re-usable intermediate bulk containers of rigid material are rigidly constructed, generally of wood or welded metal sheets.

A serious disadvantage of conventional rigid intermediate bulk containers resides in the fact that, with the exception of such structures where the side walls and end walls slope inwardly from the upper open end towards the base which allows the lower regions of one container to be entered into another container and whereby a plurality of such containers can be stored in nesting, stacked relationship, such containers occupy the same storage space when unloaded as they do loaded.

It has been proposed in the past that an intermediate bulk container of rigid materials can be rendered "collapsible" by hinging the side and end walls relative to the base so that said side walls and end walls can be hingedly collapsed inwardly towards the base but, because of the thickness of the walls, such a construction cannot allow all the said walls to be hinged to the base and collapsed to lie in planes substantially parallel with the base. Further such constructions as have been proposed are, by their hinged construction, relatively flimsy and as such do not offer safe displacement by the three means for displacing recited above and, in particular because of the hinged construction such containers cannot be safely displaced by overhead lifting means.

The present invention seeks to provide a collapsible, re-usable, intermediate bulk container of rigid material.

According to the present invention there is provided a collapsible intermediate bulk container comprising a base, two detachable side walls, two detachable end walls, means for interlocking said two side walls to said base and means for interlocking said end walls to said base and to said side walls.

Preferably said base has spaced apart rails, beams or feet secure to its undersurface which, in use, elevate the base above the supporting floor area to allow an elevatable platform truck, or the forks or a fork lift truck, to enter beneath the base, thus affording two means for displacement of the container.

Preferably said means for interlocking said side walls to said base comprise elements engaged in slots.

Preferably each said element comprises a projecting neck-part having an enlarged head on its free end and each said slot comprises a neck part and an enlarged part, the enlarged part of an element being insertable into and through the enlarged part of a slot and the neck part of each element being displaceable along the neck part of said slot.

Preferably said elements comprise T-shaped elements and said slots comprise T-shaped slots.

Preferably said elements are presented by said side walls and said slots are formed in said base.

Preferably each side wall comprises a rigid supporting frame and a rigid, or semi-rigid, liner panel.

Preferably said rigid frame includes means for connecting said frame to overhead lifting means.

Preferably said means for interlocking said end walls to said base comprise elements and element-receiving apertures.

Preferably said elements are presented by said end walls and said apertures are formed in said base.

Preferably said means for interlocking said end walls to said side walls comprise elements and element receiving means, located remote from the base in the assembled container and intended to lock the upper regions of said end walls against substantial displacement at right angles to the planes of said end walls.

Preferably said end and side wall interlocking elements are presented by said end walls and said element receiving means are presented by said side walls.

Preferably said end and side wall interlocking elements comprise elongate pin members and said element receiving means comprise apertures for receiving said elongate pin members, said pin members and said apertures having their respective axes substantially parallel to the plane of their respective end wall and substantially perpendicular to the base when the end walls are assembled with the base.

Preferably each end wall enters between the two side walls when the container is assembled.

Preferably one of said side walls or said end walls comprises a frame with a panel hingedly attached thereto and latch means for retaining said hinged panel with the frame to define a closed position f6r said panel, and wherein said hinged panel can displace outwardly with respect to the container when said latch means are disconnected.

It will thus be seen that with the construction proposed by the present invention the intermediate bulk container comprises five independent parts and, when removed from the base, the side walls and end walls can be placed on the base, to lie in planes parallel to the base. Thus, when collapsed, each container occupies a volume many times less than when in its assembled condition and a plurality of such dis-assembled containers can be stacked one upon another affording a substantial saving in storage floor space.

The invention will now be described further by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which the sole figure shows an exploded view of an intermediate bulk container in accordance with the invention.

In the illustrated embodiment a base 11 is supported on two parallel rails 12 and 13, the rails 12 and 13 being so spaced apart and supporting the base 11 at such height above the supporting floor area as to allow an elevatable trolley or the prongs of a fork-lift truck to enter between rails 12 and 13. The base, which is made from a rigid material such as a metal plate or a metal reinforced timber, presents four "T" slots 14, 15, 16 and 17, the "T" slots 14 and 15 being adjacent a side edge ila of the base 11 and the "T" slot 16 and 17 being adjacent side edge llb, parallel to the side ila.

Each said "T" slot 14, 15, 16 and 17 comprises a head part 14a, 15a, 16a and 17a respectively spaced from, but parallel to, its respective side edge ila or 11b of the platform 11 and the "limb" of each "T" slot 14b, 15b, 16b and 17b extends from its respective head 14a, 15a, 16a or 17a towards its respective side edge ila or lib but terminates short of said respective side edge 11a or lib.

The container further includes two side walls 18 and 19.

The side wall 18 comprises a rigid U-shaped frame 20, conveniently of metal construction, with the free ends turned outwardly as at 20a and 20b, and a rigid lining panel 21, conveniently a rigid panel of plastics material, is attached to the frame 20. The panel 21 has its lower edge substantially in the same plane, or slightly above, the plane of the undersurface of the bridge part 20c of the U- shaped member 20 and the upper edge of the panel 21 terminates below the upper surface of the U shaped member 20 to allow apertures 20d in the upper regions of each limb of the U- shaped member 20 to be accessible from both sides, thereby to allow connection means from an overhead lifting means, such as a crane, to be attached to the U-shaped member 20.

The bridge part 20c of the U-shaped member presents two inverted T-shaped elements 22 and 23, the elements 22 and 23 are spaced apart to match the spaced-apart slots 14 and 15, and are so dimensioned that when the side wall 18 is presented to the base 11, perpendicular to the plane of the base 11 and in a plane substantially parallel with the side edge gila, the heads of the elements 22 and 23 can be entered into the heads 14a and 15a of the slots 14 and 15 until said heads of elements 22 and 23 are below the plane of the undersurface of the base 11 when the side wall 18 can be horizontally displaced to locate the limbs of the elements 22 and 23 in the respective limbs 14b and 15b of the slots 14 and 15 thus to inter-lock the wall 18 with the base 11.

Thus, with the side wall 18 assembled with the base 11 as described above, the T-shaped elements 22 and 23 lock the side wall 18 against vertical displacement relative to the base 11.

The extreme ends of the outwardly turned free ends 20a and 20b of the frame 20 include brackets 24 and 25, intended to be inwardly directed when the side wall is assembled with the base, the upper surface of each bracket 24 and 25 is below the upper surface of the ends 20a and 20b and each bracket 24 and 25 has a vertical bore therethrough. The purpose of the brackets 24 and 25 will become apparent hereinafter.

The side wall 19 is a mirror image of the side wall 18 when the two side walls are assembled with the base and no further description is therefore necessary with respect to the side wall 19.

The container includes an end wall 26 comprising a panel of a rigid material and a projection 26a from the lower edge of the panel is arranged for engagement in a slot 27 in the base 11. The end wall 26 has a width which allows it to enter between the adjacent side edge regions of the side walls 18 and 19 and said end wall 26 presents two projecting pins 28 and 29 engageable in the bores of the brackets 24 and which thereby interlock the side walls 18 and 19 with the end wall 26.

The container further includes an end wall 30 comprising a rigid upper frame member 31 and a panel 32 hingedly depending from the frame member 31. The panel 32 presents two brackets 33 and 34, each of which has a bore therethrough and the said bores are aligned to slidably receive a bolt element 35 therethrough. When the end wall is assembled with the container the bolt 35 is substantially vertical and is engageable in an aperture 36 in the base 11.

The end wall 30 has a width which allows it to enter between the adjacent side edge regions of the side walls 18 and 19 and the frame member presents projecting pins 37 engageable in the bores of the adjacent brackets 25.

The container described above can be assembled manually, with the minimum of training and without tools, by simply placing each side wall 18 and 19 on the base 11, locating the T-elements 22,23.14, 15, 16 and 17, of each side wall 18 and 19 in their respective slots and, with the heads of the Telements below the plane of the lower surface of the base 11, displacing the side walls 18 and 19 outwardly to lock the side walls 18 and 19 with the base 11.

The end wall 26 is then assembled with the side walls 18 and 19 by entering the end wall 26 between the adjacent side edge region of side walls 18 and 19, locating the free ends of the pins 28 in the upper regions of the bores in the brackets 24 and then lowering the end wall 26 to lower the projection 26a into the slot 27 in base 11 and the pins 28 fully into the bores of the brackets 24.

The end wall 30 is then assembled to complete the container by locating the end wall 30 between the adjacent side edge regions of the side walls 18 and 19, inserting the pins 37 in the bores of the brackets 25 and engaging the bolt element 35 in the aperture 36 in the base 11.

The container can be simply collapsed by reversing the above defined steps for assembly.

When assembled as described above the container is substantially stable, the side walls are inter-locked against vertical displacement relative to the base and the end walls, entered between the side walls, prevent inward displacement of the side walls relative to the base (as may lead to disconnection of a side wall from the base) whereby the container can be safely elevated by overhead lifting means, such as a crane,connected to the apertures 20d in the frames 20 and the container can be readily displaced by an elevatable trolley or a fork-lift truck without any difficulty.

Further, because the level to which the container can be filled is determined by the upper edges of the liners 21 and the frame members 20 project upwardly above said liner edges a plurality of assembled containers can be vertically stacked with the rails 12 and 13 entered between the frames 20 and the base 11 of each elevated container resting safely on the frame members 20 of the container beneath it.

When a charged container is to be discharged such discharge can be assisted by elevating the bolt 35 to release the hinged panel 32.

Whilst the present invention has been described by way of example with reference to specific embodiments the invention is not restricted thereto and many modifications and variations will be apparemt to persons skilled in the art. By way of one such modification the end wall 30 may be constructed as a rigid rectangular frame with the hinged panel within the said frame, thus to provide additional support for the side walls and to ensure freedom for the hinged panel to open.

Claims

CLklMS

1. A collapsible, intermediate bulk container comprising a base, two detachable side walls, two detachable end walls, means for interlocking said side walls to said base and means for interlocking said end walls to said base and to said side walls.

2 A collapsible container as claimed in claim 1 wherein said base has spaced apart rails, beams or feet secure to its undersurface.

3 A collapsible container as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which said means for interlocking said side walls to said base comprise elements engaged in slots.

4. A collapsible container as claimed in claim 3 in which each said element comprises a projecting neck-part having an enlarged head on its free end and each said slot comprises a neck part and an enlarged part, the enlarged part of an element being insertable into and through the enlarged part of a slot and the neck part of each element being displaceable along the neck part of said slot.

5 A collapsible container as claimed in claim 5 in which said elements comprise T-shaped elements and said slots comprise T-shaped slots.

6 A collapsible container as claimed in claim 3, 4 or 5 in which said elements are presented by said side walls and said slots are formed in said base.

7 A collapsible bulk container as claimed in any preceding claim in which each side wall comprises a rigid supporting frame and a rigid or semi-rigid liner panel.

8 A collapsible container as claimed in claim 7 in which said rigid frame includes means for connecting said frame to lifting means.

9 A collapsible container as claimed in any preceding claim in which said means for interlocking said end walls to said base comprise elements and element receiving slots.

10. A collapsible container as claimed in claim 9 in'which said elements are presented by said end walls and said slots are formed in said base.

11 A collapsible bulk container as claimed in any preceding claim in which said means for interlocking said end walls to said side walls comprise element and element receiving means located remote from the base in the assembled container and intended to lock the upper regions of said end walls against substantial displacement at right angles to the planes of said end walls.

12 A collapsible container as claimed in claim 10 in which said elements are presented by said end walls and said element receiving means are presented by said side walls.

13 A collapsible container as claimed in claim 11 or 12 in which said elements comprise elongate pin members and said element receiving means comprise apertures for receiving said elongate pin members, said pin members and said apertures having their respective axes substantially parallel to the plane of their respective end wall and substantially perpendicular to the base engaging surface of said end walls when the end walls are assembled with the base.

14 A collapsible container as claimed in any preceding claim in which each end wall enters between the two side walls 15 A collapsible bulk container as claimed in any preceding claim in which one of said side walls or said end walls comprises a frame with a panel hingedly attached to said frame and latch means for retaining said hinged panel with the frame to define a closed position for said panel, and wherein said hinged panel can displace outwardly with respect to the container when said latch means are disconnected.

16 A collapsible intermediate container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.