Receptacles – Sectional – Knockdown
Patent
1992-08-26
1993-11-02
Moy, Joseph Man-Fu
Receptacles
Sectional
Knockdown
220 6, 206597, B65D 512
Patent
active
052577074
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a collapsible parallelepipedic container. Such containers are known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,924. This known container has faces which are hingedly interconnected. In order to allow the processes of folding up or opening out of this known container to be carried out, its walls should consist of a flexible material. This is caused by the fact that during these processes the in-plane geometry of the walls is changing.
The necessity of having flexible walls makes that these containers are only suitable for relatively light and small packages. For larger packages and heavier loads the walls should be stiff enough to prevent bulging out. However, in that case the container would no longer be collapsible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a container of the type mentioned in the introduction which is also suitable for larger packages and heavier loads. This is achieved by a parallelepipedic container having a bottom panel (1) which is hingedly connected to one of three hingedly interconnected side faces (4-6) which are collapsible onto said bottom panel (1), each of said three hingedly interconnected side faces being composed of face halves (7, 8) which are hingedly interconnected along a diagonal hinge (9, 24, 25) in such a way that said side faces (4-6) are foldable with respect to said diagonal hinges (9, 24, 25), whereby the diagonal hinge lines of any two neighbouring faces (4-6) do not meet at their respective end, and having a fourth rigid side face (3) which is hingedly connected (11) to one of said three side faces (4-6) and which at its opposite edge is detachably connected (27) to the corresponding free opposite edge of another of said faces.
Once opened out, the container according to the invention affords a stable unit which is suitable for carrying heavy loads. Furthermore, the three interconnected faces open out as soon as one of them is erected. The advantage of this is that the stable unit, which can be handled without further aid by one person, is immediately obtained.
In order to improve the stability of the container, and in particular of the opened-out faces, provision can be made for one or more of the three faces to be provided on the inside with a stop which is provided on one face part and projects relative to the appropriate diagonal, and which in the position of the face halves in which they form one plane rests against the other face half. In the case of this embodiment it is easily possible to make the faces of corrugated cardboard. The stop prevents the corrugated cardboard faces from bulging outwards.
In particular the container should provide a reliable and stable support for a plastic bag filled with liquid or powdered materials. In this connection the detachable connections of the faces to each other constitute a risk factor. Once one of those connections comes off, the support for the plastic bag is in fact partially lost, in such a way that said bag could tear.
In this connection, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fourth rigid face at its opposite edge is provided with a fixing strip (27) extending along the free edge of said face (3), said fixing strip being fixable to the said corresponding side face of said opposite side faces (4-6).
This fourth face can now be connected in the opened-out position to the opposite face, so that an outer which is closed all the way round is obtained. As already mentioned, only one connecting action need be carried out here, which favourably affects the reliability of the opened-out container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the container, opened out.
FIG. 2 shows a view of this container in the collapsed position.
FIG. 3 shows cross-section III--III of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4a shows the first phase of opening out the container.
FIG. 4b shows the second phase of opening out the container.
FIG. 4c shows the third phase of opening out the container.
FIG. 4d shows the fourth phase of op
REFERENCES:
patent: 3130850 (1964-04-01), Oakey et al.
patent: 3354924 (1967-11-01), Birrell et al.
patent: 4014292 (1977-03-01), Coughlin et al.
patent: 4585159 (1986-04-01), Travis
patent: 4694986 (1987-09-01), Chou
patent: 4878682 (1989-11-01), Lee
Koninklijke Emballage Industrie Van Leer B.V.
Man-Fu Moy Joseph
LandOfFree
Collapsible container does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Collapsible container, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Collapsible container will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1752638