Receptacles – Sectional
Utility Patent
2000-01-14
2001-01-02
Moy, Joseph M. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Sectional
C220S345300
Utility Patent
active
06168038
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a stackable, four-sided transport container, comprising a base box and a lid, the base box having a floor plate with two side walls that are mounted at a right angle, and a rear wall mounted at a right angle, and a base strip that extends around the periphery of the floor plate and is recessed with respect to the outside edges of the plate, and whose outside dimensions correspond to the inside dimensions of the base box at its upper edge.
German patent documents DE 42 29 802 C2 and DE 93 08 410 U1 disclose transport containers comprising a floor with four side walls and a removable lid. One of the side walls has an opening, or is completely omitted; the opening or the open side can be closed by a flap. The floor has a continuous base strip that is recessed with respect to the edge of the floor plate, and therefore can be inserted snugly into a projecting frame at the upper edge of a further transport container. This prevents a lateral displacement of two vertically-stacked containers relative to one another.
In these known containers, the flap that closes the opening or the open side can be opened to allow the stacked transport containers to be filled or emptied.
In many applications, these flaps, which are fixedly mounted to the stacked transport containers, are undesirable because of their unavoidable pivoting area. Furthermore, the functioning ability of moving parts, such as flaps or the like, deteriorates rapidly under rough transport conditions, so repairing or replacing damaged transport containers of this type becomes excessively costly.
On the other hand, storage containers are known, for example from DAS 11 56 019, which have no lid, but solely comprise a floor plate with two side walls that are mounted at approximately right angles, and a rear wall mounted at approximately a right angle, while a front wall of approximately half size is mounted on the floor plate at an angle of about 120°. When stacked, these storage containers are open to the front, above the diagonally-mounted half front wall, and can therefore be filled and emptied when stacked. These storage containers can only be used as transport containers under limited conditions, however, because they cannot be closed with a lid when stacked.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,532,083 further discloses a wooden transport case that is provided for transporting fruits and vegetables by ship; these cases have a lid with an attached front wall, which can be inserted into a groove that extends at the upper edge of the side walls and the rear wall, and has an opening that is oriented toward the inside of the transport case. The inserted lid is not secured in the case by itself, but requires a peg behind the rear wall of the case to secure it. This transport case also cannot be stacked without external holding devices, because their bottom and top sides are completely smooth, so stacked cases slide immediately at the exertion of even the smallest lateral force.
It is the object of the invention to provide a stackable, four-sided transport container of the type mentioned at the outset, which can be transported in open freight traffic, filled and emptied easily and efficiently, and closed and re-opened without auxiliary devices.
In accordance with claim
1
, this object is accomplished in that
a) the lid comprises a cover plate and a front wall that is mounted to it at a right angle;
b) the cover plate can be inserted from the open front side of the base box into a continuous groove extending at the periphery in the upper edge region of the side walls and the rear wall and oriented toward the interior of the base box;
c) at its front edge, the floor plate has a support strip provided with an upward-oriented groove;
d) shortly before the closed position is reached, the lid can be raised by a small amount inside the groove, which is expanded in the region of the side walls; and
e) after the closed position has been reached and the lid has been lowered again, a projection formed onto the lower edge of the front wall engages the groove of the support strip.
The dependent claims disclose further advantageous embodiments of the invention.
The advantages that can be attained with the invention are that the stackable, four-sided transport container can be transported in open freight traffic, filled easily and efficiently when stacked, sealed with commercially-available adhesive strips, and re-opened without auxiliary devices. It can be produced inexpensively and easily used for multiple journeys. Because of its tightly-fitting connections, it can be stacked well, both in transport and in storage. The risk of damage or loss is low, because no moving or loose parts are used.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2532083 (1950-11-01), Brenner
patent: 4174034 (1979-11-01), Hoo
patent: 4401210 (1983-08-01), Anjou
patent: 5012922 (1991-05-01), Nehl
patent: 5285897 (1994-02-01), Ozaki
patent: 5480249 (1996-01-01), Kageyama et al.
patent: 5577629 (1996-11-01), Roslen
patent: 11 56 019 (1963-10-01), None
patent: 93 08 410 (1993-08-01), None
patent: 43 08 861 (1996-04-01), None
patent: 42 29 802 (1996-09-01), None
patent: 0 236 514 (1987-09-01), None
patent: 2 118 144 (1983-10-01), None
patent: 2 250 504 (1992-06-01), None
Kelemen Gabor J.
Moy Joseph M.
Venable
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