Receptacles – Sectional – Folding
Patent
1994-04-18
1996-03-26
Moy, Joseph M.
Receptacles
Sectional
Folding
B65D 540
Patent
active
055013546
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a collapsible container and particularly, although not exclusively, a container for the shipping of perishable goods such as fish. A container according to this invention is formed from a single moulding of a plastics material such as polyethylene to form a box or transport case which comprises a bottom panel and first and second pairs of like wall panels hingedly connected to the bottom panel. A lid or cover may be provided preferably as a separate item to close the open top of the box. Containers according to the invention may also be stacked one upon the other so that it is often unnecessary to provide a lid for each container.
Non-collapsible cases with insulating properties for shipping fish and formed from expanded or foamed polystyrene are known but these known cases are not returnable and have become regarded by virtue of their composition, as being environmentally unacceptable.
Such containers do have the advantage of low cost. A collapsible, returnable and reusable container is desirable for the shipping of fresh (chilled) or frozen fish. A unitary knockdown foamed polystyrene shipping container is know from U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,808 but is not robust enough for repeated return (round-trip) journeys. Moreover, the foamed material, at least to some extent, absorbs fluids and would on this count alone be unsuitable as a reusable fish box. U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,346 discloses a lightweight collapsible shipping container having a unitary moulded construction in which a bottom panel is integrally hinged to four peripheral side panels and a top panel is hinged to one of the side panels. However, this container is also intended to be formed from a foamed plastics material and is unsuitable for use as a reusable fish box for the reasons given above.
Collapsible containers having a more robust and acceptable composition are known from e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,795 which discloses a container formed from a unitary blank of polypropylene in which side panels are integrally hinged to a bottom panel. There are provisions to lock together with side and end panels when they are brought into an upright position comprising stud and socket connections. However, the particular arrangement disclosed is insufficiently secure in view of the anticipated static and impact loading imposed upon a container according to the present invention utilized as a shipping container for fish. U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,808 discloses a collapsible box in which the side and end panels are secured together by means of a dovetail type tongue and recess.
The present invention seeks to achieve a robust but relatively low cost collapsible, returnable and reusable shipping container which for return shipment, can be put into nested superposed relationship with like containers, when collapsed so that the height and space occupied by a stack of collapsed containers is minimized.
The present invention provides a collapsible container for use in the shipping of goods, including perishable goods, and comprises a single moulding of a plastics material to form an open-topped box which comprises a bottom panel and first and second pairs of like wall panels hingedly connected to said bottom panel and wherein each wall panel and said bottom panel are integrally hinged together so that the walls can be erected from a collapsed position to an upright position and vice versa, wherein complementary locking means are provided at adjacent edges of said first and second pairs of wall panels so that said side and end panels are mutually lockable, when the corners of the container are formed by putting the wall panels into an upright attitude, wherein said container is adapted to nest in superposed relationship with respect to another like container when said containers are in collapsed condition so that the height of a stack of collapsed containers is minimized.
According to a feature of the invention, said panels may include features which protrude beyond the medial planes of said panels, said features being formed and positioned so as to perm
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patent: 5114034 (1992-05-01), Miller et al.
patent: 5125509 (1992-06-01), Takei et al.
patent: 5195644 (1993-03-01), Schmid
Doerr Erwin
Moy Joseph M.
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