Stackable, thin-walled containers

Details Stackable, thin-walled containers Stackable, thin-walled containers

1999-12-23

2003-07-15

Luong, Shian (Department: 3728)

Special receptacle or package

For plural beverage-type receptacles

Four-sided wrapper

C206S497000, C215S237000, C220S023600

Reexamination Certificate

active

06591986

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to receptacles and container structures. Specifically, the invention relates to molded, thin-walled containers that are capable of being stacked upon one another for storage and shipping purposes. For the purpose of clarification, caseless shipping is the ability to deliver products in a shipping container which requires no returnable, disposable, or replaceable cases.
To develop the concept of thin-walled containers an exemplary container will be used to reference thin-walled containers and establish a working definition that can be described, for example, as a ratio of the amount of plastic resin required to make a container relative to the amount of product capable of being transported in the container. To illustrate the concept, an industry standard gallon milk container should be used as the reference container for the development of the concept. Typical bottle weights for this container range from 90 grams (at the time the bottle was first introduced back in 1952) to 56 to 60 grams (as manufacturing technology progressed to today's standards).
In the field of art relating to the shipping and storage of bulk food products including milk and beverages, plastic molded containers are used to contain the products for transport, distribution, and ultimately for dispensing by consumers.
Known containers usually take the form of blow-molded, one-piece plastic containers.
The pour opening defines the uppermost wall or surface of the container and is generally located at the center of the container. A tapering region extends downwardly from the pour spout merging with four sidewalls that are disposed in substantially perpendicular relation relative to one another. A handle is integrally molded in the container and has a generally inverted L-shape. A first leg of the handle extends generally horizontally from the tapering region and a second leg of the handle extends generally vertically, merging with a sidewall junction of the container just above a base.
These containers are typically stored and shipped in some form of shipping case; consequently, these containers have been designed with little regard to the structural loading, stackability, and efficient packaging during transport. Unitized cases contain between four to six containers and take several different forms such as wire or plastic cases, corrugated boxes, or corrugated materials which provide structural support to the individual containers during shipping. These unitized cases are shown in
FIGS. 1A
(corrugated boxes) and
1
B (plastic cases).
FIGS. 2A-2C
illustrate several delivery mechanisms which are capable of shipping a large number of full containers which may or may not be unitized in cases. A brief description of the above shipping mechanisms will assist in further defining the principle of thin-walled, caseless shipping. Pallets (
FIG. 2A
) that support stackable cases are the most widespread form of shipping product for the retail or food service industry and the cases are the only returnable, reusable shipping mechanism considered by the industry. Bossies (
FIG. 2B
) and dollies (
FIG. 2C
) are primarily utilized by the dairy industry and are considered large, mechanical cases. There is a large cost associated with bossies and dollies since they have to be returned, cleaned, and reused in a similar fashion as the pallet cases.
For further discussion, the caseless concept will be defined on the pallet shipping mechanism as described below.
Cases can be stacked on pallets in several different configurations based on the pallet footprint. Typical pallets will have approximately two-hundred to twohundred-fifty containers shipped on them and will be stacked from four to six cases high depending on the pallet size. The forces associated with these cases is evident from a consideration of the weight of a three liter milk container that is approximately six to seven pounds (or approximately eight and one-half pounds per gallon). The structure and strength of these cases make them ideal for stacking thin-walled containers that carry a dense product, however, their use has been problematic. The actual case costs are relatively inexpensive and are intended to be reused with a typical life of two years; however, the cases are often misappropriated by vandals or thieves for use in other applications, i.e., as storage containers for different articles. The cost associated with cases really occurs at the manufacturing facility and during distribution.
To understand the impact of caseless shipping in manufacturing facilities using cases, it is important that an appreciation of the current method for casing product be attained. The majority of the dairy industry uses plastic cases to some significant measure if they do not use them exclusively. The basic cycle of a case is as follows:
Cases are purchased for a price of approximately $2.00 (sixteen quart case) and are entered into the already large inventory of cases on an as needed basis. Even in the best operations, this replenishment process is driven by damage, new business, theft, customer accumulation, etc. In some instances, this replacement initiative is quite extensive and demands a significant portion of management time in order to maintain control of the case supply.
During a typical production day, cases must be continually fed to the facility as product is produced. This requires several people dedicated to move and unload trailers of empty cases as they return from the routes and one person dedicated to ensure that a continual supply of cases are maintained during production hours. In addition, large, covered areas are needed to house empty cases which requires maintenance and upkeep. Inventory costs associated with these cases need to be considered and can be rather extensive based on the size of the dairy.
FIGS. 3 and 4
illustrate some of the space requirements associated with cases.
After the cases are unloaded and start through the production process, the cases must be destacked in the proper orientation to be prepped for container filling.
FIGS. 5A and 5B
illustrate a typical destacker system. The maintenance fees for this system have a percentage impact on the cost of goods. Continual supervision is required to ensure the destacker does not jam or prevent cases from flowing to the next pre-production stage.
Cases are then moved to the case cleaning system in which extremely caustic cleansers wash and clean the cases prior to container filling. The cleansers affect cost to the system by increasing sewer bills, replacement and maintenance of the equipment and expensive cleansers.
FIG. 6
illustrates typical case washing equipment.
The cases are then conveyed to the filling process. The cases are loaded through automatic casing equipment and combined into stacks of five or six case heights. These stacks are conveyed into refrigerated areas where they are placed into storage positions for later retrieval as illustrated in
FIGS. 7A-7C
.
Distribution costs also impact on the costs associated with shipping these containers. Hooking, track shipping, or automated material handling systems are several methods for storing and retrieving filled cases. These methods are illustrated in
FIGS. 8A-8D
such as using hooks to pull cases (FIG.
8
A), track shipping (FIG.
8
B), using a pallet jack (FIG.
8
C), and it should be noted that the automated material handling systems (
FIG. 9
) require large superstructures to house the cased product and are very capital intensive.
The containers are then shipped by various means in these cases. Depending on the system, the customer, and the demand, the containers will be pulled from various storage systems by the techniques illustrated above and loaded onto a distribution vehicle for delivery to a customer.
Depending on the type of distribution business considered, distribution expense may range from being very important to the most important issue in succeeding in a business. For a distributor, food service, or wholesaler who manufactures no product

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Stackable, thin-walled containers does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Stackable, thin-walled containers, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Stackable, thin-walled containers will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3104589