Envelopes – wrappers – and paperboard boxes – Paperboard box – With inner flexible or flaccid bag liner
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-09
2003-02-18
Elkins, Gary E. (Department: 3727)
Envelopes, wrappers, and paperboard boxes
Paperboard box
With inner flexible or flaccid bag liner
C383S109000, C383S113000, C383S119000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06520403
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to containers for storing and/or transporting materials. More particularly, the present invention relates to collapsible containers that may be employed to transport bulk materials including, but not limited to, hazardous materials. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to collapsible storage containers and protective covers therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Metal containers are generally used to store and transport bulk materials, particularly hazardous materials. These metal containers are expensive to purchase or, more often, to rent. They are fairly large and therefore require a considerable amount of space to maintain on site. That required space could be considerable, dependent upon the amount of material that must be stored and/or transported. Alternatively, bag containers have been employed. Such bags take up much less space when not in use. However, such bags are of insufficient physical characteristics for transport purposes. That is, they are generally not tough enough to stand up to the rigors of movement by mechanical devices such as forklifts, accidental drops into cargo holds, stacking, and the like.
In order to overcome the limitations associated with flexible bags and rigid metal boxes, a collapsible container has been developed. The best of the collapsible containers suitable for the storage and/or transport of bulk materials including hazardous materials is one offered by U.F. Strainrite, Inc. of Lewiston, Me., the assignee of the present invention. The Strainrite collapsible storage container is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,604, issued Dec. 14, 1999, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,922, issued Jun. 28, 1994. The contents of both of those patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The collapsible container offered by Strainrite is based upon a multi-walled box of the type shown in FIG.
1
. In the commercial configuration shown in that drawing, the container
10
includes a base
20
and coupled to walls
12
,
14
,
16
, and
18
. Each wall is formed of a sandwich of tough woven flexible material encasing a rigid member, such as a corrugated board. The two outer woven materials are coupled together to retain the rigid member therebetween. Opposing walls
12
and
18
each includes an integral flap
26
made of the flexible material and preferably omitting the rigid member. Wall
14
includes a short integral flap
24
and wall
16
includes integral covering flap
22
. As indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,604, flap
22
is designed to act as a single complete covering that ensures material within the container
10
will not escape under expected transport conditions. A supplemental retaining bag
32
may also form part of the container
10
, particularly when the material
50
to be retained therein is relatively fluid.
The walls
12
,
14
,
16
, and
18
of the prior container
10
are coupled together and arranged so that they may be collapsed adjacent to one another while remaining coupled together in a substantially flat configuration when nothing is retained therein. This combination of elements ensures an easily stored container that takes up much less space than the metal containers. The inclusion of the captured rigid members forming part of the walls of the container
10
ensure that when in use, the container
10
is sufficiently rigid to stand up to the rigors of expected operation of this type of container. Such containers are also substantially less expensive than the conventional metal containers.
While the collapsible container described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,604 is a great improvement over the storage/transport containers of the prior art, there are two ways in which the container described in that patent can be improved. First, the retaining bag
32
is suggested as a suitable means for retaining wet materials. It is indicated that the bag may be fabricated of a variety of any of the non-metallic materials woven polypropylene, waterproofed woven polypropylene, polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, nylon, or combinations thereof. Unfortunately, those materials specifically suggested fail to enable use of the container
10
for the purpose of holding relatively hot materials including, but not limited to, spent catalysts.
In the field of chemical processing, a fairly standard technique for accelerating and/or facilitating chemical reactions includes the introduction of catalysts and perhaps the application of heat. The catalysts provide sites for reactions to occur. However, they generally have limited useful lives and must therefore be replaced to ensure optimal efficiency in the chemical reaction process. The process of removing the catalyst generally involves a dumping from a reactor into a container. That container must be fabricated of a material sufficient to withstand the temperatures ordinarily used in such reactions. Those temperatures can be as much as 750° F. The materials suggested for the bag
32
as well as the walls
12
,
14
,
16
, and
18
of container
10
could only reasonably be expected to safely retain materials at temperatures of about 200° F. Given the quantity of catalyst to be removed, it can take several weeks for cool-down to a temperature suitable for introduction into container
10
. As a result, the container user would be required to store the spent catalyst for that period of time before then placing it in the container. That is not a desirable situation. Instead, it would be preferable to have a collapsible container capable of retaining materials including, but not limited to catalysts, at elevated temperatures. Such a container would save its user considerable cost by allowing that user to employ the container when convenient, rather than waiting for weeks for material cool down. Given the considerable rental fees associated with metal containers, a less-expensive collapsible container could be employed when desired.
Relatedly, it is important that when catalyst in particular is to be retained in the container, the possibility of further chemical reactions occurring be substantially minimized. Although catalysts are typically removed from reactors when the reaction efficiency declines, there nevertheless remains some reactivity. Such reactivity can be enhanced under a variety of atmospheric conditions. One of those conditions is the availability of reactive gases such as oxygen. The availability of oxygen to the catalyst can cause continuing reactions that can produce hazardous offgassing as well as increased temperatures within the container. Increased temperatures can cause an acceleration of the reaction, causing a greater increase in temperature, and so on. For that reason, it is important that the container used to retain reaction catalysts in particular be substantially impervious to reactive gases such as oxygen. U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,604 fails to disclose such a requirement as part of the design of the container
10
.
A second limitation of the collapsible container
10
of the prior art is the cover design. Although cover
22
provides an effective seal to prevent the bulk material within from escaping the container
10
, it may be inadequate to block weather conditions from entering from the outside. In particular, bulk material containers are often left in open storage locations. They therefore experience precipitation such as rain, sleet, snow, and the like. The design of container
10
as shown particularly in FIG. 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,604 renders the container
10
susceptible to water seepage into the container, particularly at the upper corners of the container
10
. Such seepage may potentially cause damage to the rigid member forming the structural member of the walls of the container. Moreover, the water seepage may potentially have an adverse effect on the bulk material stored therein, dependent upon the characteristics of that material.
Therefore, what is needed is a collapsible container for the storage and transport of bulk materials suitable for retaining materials a
Atwood Pierce
Elkins Gary E.
Lapoint Industries, Inc.
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