Disclosure of Invention
In the summary, a series of concepts in simplified form are introduced, which will be further described in detail in the detailed description. The summary of the invention is not intended to define the key features and essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
To at least partially solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a lock for connecting an end wall and a side wall of a pallet container, one of the end wall and the side wall being provided with a wall lock hole, the lock comprising: the lock seat is a casting piece or a forging piece and is used for fixedly connecting the end face of the top beam of the other one of the side wall and the end wall in the length direction, and comprises a body and a first lock hole arranged on the body, wherein the first lock hole and the wall lock hole are correspondingly arranged; the locking rod is arranged in the first lock hole in a penetrating mode, the locking rod is movably arranged between a locking position and an unlocking position, and the first end of the locking rod located at the locking position extends out of the body so that the first end can extend into the wall lock hole.
According to the lock, the lock seat is a casting piece or a forging piece, so that the lock seat is large in thickness dimension and high in strength, can be used for a tray container with smaller end wall thickness or smaller side wall thickness, and is large in strength, and a frame is formed by a body of the lock seat, a top beam, a stand column and a bottom beam of the end wall or the side wall.
Optionally, the lock lever is provided with a handle extending radially outwards, and the body is provided with a limiting protrusion protruding outwards, and the limiting protrusion is used for abutting the handle of the lock lever at the locking position so as to limit the movement of the lock lever towards the releasing position.
Optionally, the lock further comprises a compression spring, the compression spring is sleeved on the lock rod, the compression spring is located between the handle and the first lock hole in the axial direction of the lock rod, and the lock rod located at the locking position compresses the compression spring.
Optionally, a rotation stop is provided at an end of the limit projection remote from the body of the lock base, the rotation stop being spaced from the body for at least partially receiving the lock lever in the locked position and limiting rotation of the lock lever.
Optionally, the lock base is provided with an accommodating portion spaced apart from the limit projection in an axial direction of the lock lever for at least partially accommodating the handle of the lock lever in the release position so that the handle does not protrude from an outer end surface of the body in a thickness direction of the body.
Optionally, the lock further comprises a pin, the pin is arranged on the lock rod in a penetrating mode, an included angle is formed between the axis of the pin and the axis of the lock rod, the body is provided with a limiting part corresponding to the position of the pin, and the limiting part limits the rotation of the lock rod by limiting the rotation of the pin.
Optionally, a second lock hole is arranged on the body, the second lock hole and the first lock hole are coaxially arranged, the second end of the lock rod is arranged through the second lock hole, and in the axial direction of the first lock hole, the maximum dimension C between the end faces of the handle and the second end is smaller than the minimum distance D between the first lock hole and the second lock hole, and/or
In the axial direction of the first lock hole, the maximum dimension E between the connecting part of the handle and the rod body of the lock rod and the end face of the first end is smaller than the minimum distance D between the first lock hole and the second lock hole.
Optionally, a second lock hole is arranged on the body, the second lock hole and the first lock hole are coaxially arranged, the second end of the lock rod penetrates through the second lock hole, and the maximum distance F between the pin and the end face of the first end is larger than the minimum distance D between the first lock hole and the second lock hole.
The invention also provides a pallet container, which comprises side walls, end walls and the lockset, wherein the lockset is used for connecting the end walls and the side walls, and one of the end walls and the side walls is provided with a wall lock hole.
Optionally, the body is provided with a boss, and when the end wall and the side wall are mutually perpendicular, the boss extends into the connecting hole on one of the side wall and the end wall.
According to the pallet container disclosed by the invention, the pallet container comprises the lock, and the lock seat is a casting piece or a forging piece, so that the thickness dimension of the lock seat is large, the strength is high, the lock seat can be used for pallet containers with smaller end wall thickness or smaller side wall thickness, and the body of the lock seat, the top beam of the end wall or the side wall, the upright post and the bottom beam form a frame, so that the strength of the end wall or the side wall is large.
Detailed Description
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without one or more of these details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments of the invention.
In the following description, a detailed structure will be presented for a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without limitation to the specific details that are set forth by those skilled in the art. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, however, the present invention may have other embodiments in addition to these detailed descriptions.
It is noted that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exemplary embodiments according to the present invention. As used herein, the singular is intended to include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, it will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Exemplary embodiments according to the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. These exemplary embodiments may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. It should be appreciated that these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of these exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, thicknesses of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity, and the same reference numerals are used to denote the same elements, so that descriptions thereof will be omitted.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a lock. As shown in fig. 1-4, the lock is used to connect end wall 110 and side wall 120 of a pallet container. The pallet container includes end walls 110, side walls 120 and a chassis. The lower end of end wall 110 is pivotally connected to the end of the chassis. The lower ends of the side walls 120 are pivotally connected to the sides of the chassis. Thus, the pallet container has a collapsed state and an assembled state. When the pallet container is in the collapsed condition, end walls 110 and side walls 120 overlap over the chassis. When the pallet container is in the erected condition, both end wall 110 and side wall 120 are generally perpendicular to the chassis. End wall 110 and side wall 120 may now be connected by a lock to secure the pallet container in an assembled condition.
Referring to fig. 1 to 8, the lock includes a lock base 130, a lock lever 140, and a compression spring 150. The lock base 130 may be a cast or forged piece. In this way, the thickness of the portion of the lock base 130 (e.g., the portion restricting the first lock hole 131, the portion restricting the second lock hole 132, the portion restricting the restricting projection 133, or the portion restricting the boss 137, which will be described later) may be set to a large size with respect to the lock base 130 made of a sheet metal member, to increase the strength.
Two lock bases 130 are provided on each end wall 110. The lock base 130 includes a body. The body may be of generally rectangular configuration. The body and end wall 110 are fixedly (welded) connected. As shown in fig. 1 to 4, the longitudinal direction of the body and the width direction of the pallet container (the left-right direction in fig. 4) are substantially parallel. One end of the body in the longitudinal direction (right end of the body in fig. 2) is welded to the end face of the top beam of the end wall 110 in the longitudinal direction, and the other end of the body in the longitudinal direction (left end of the body in fig. 2) is located above the column of the end wall 110 and welded to the end face of the column in the longitudinal direction. The width direction of the body and the height direction of the pallet container (up and down direction of fig. 4) are substantially parallel. The body of lock base 130, top beam, upright and bottom beam of end wall 110 form the frame of end wall 110. When the pallet container is in the assembled state, the body does not protrude from the outer side surface of the top beam of the end wall 110 (the surface of the top beam facing the outside of the pallet container) in the thickness direction of the body, for example, the outer side surface of the body (the end surface of the body facing the outside of the pallet container) and the outer side surface of the top beam of the end wall 110 are substantially flush. Or the outer end surface of the body is located inside the outer side surface of the top beam of end wall 110 (the side of the outer side surface facing the pallet container). It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the body may also protrude beyond the outer side of the top beam of end wall 110. In the present embodiment, the thickness direction of the body and the longitudinal direction of the pallet container (the longitudinal direction of the pallet container and the paper surface direction of fig. 4 are substantially perpendicular) are substantially parallel.
The body is provided with a recess at a substantially middle portion thereof. The upper end of the body is provided with a first locking hole 131 and a second locking hole 132. The first locking hole 131 and the second locking hole 132 each extend in the width direction of the pallet container. The first locking hole 131 and the second locking hole 132 are coaxially disposed. The first locking hole 131 and the second locking hole 132 are through holes so as to penetrate through the portion of the body surrounding the groove.
The lock lever 140 includes a lever body and a handle 141. The rod body is of a cylindrical structure. The substantially middle portion of the rod body is connected (welded) with a handle 141 extending radially outwardly thereof. The first end of the rod body is inserted into the first lock hole 131. The second end of the rod body is inserted into the second lock hole 132. So that the lever body can be moved in the width direction of the pallet container to move between a locking position (the position of the locking lever in fig. 2) and an unlocking position (the position of the locking lever in fig. 6). When the lock lever 140 is in the locking position, the first end of the lever body extends out of the body and then into a wall lock hole. When the lock lever 140 is in the released position, the lever is positioned within the body to be away from the side wall 120. The lock lever 140 can also rotate around its axis, thereby driving the handle 141 to rotate.
The top corner piece of the side wall 120 is provided with a wall locking hole 121. The wall locking hole 121 and the first locking hole 131 are disposed correspondingly, so that the wall locking hole 121 and the first locking hole 131 are substantially coaxial when the pallet container is in the assembled state. Thus, the locking bar 140 is moved to the locking position in the width direction of the container, and the first end of the bar extends out of the body and then into the wall locking hole 121, thereby connecting the end wall 110 and the side wall 120.
A portion of the bottom surface of the recess of the body extends toward the outside of the pallet container (the outside when the pallet container is in the assembled state) to constitute a stopper projection 133. The limit projection 133 is located at a substantially middle position of the body in the width direction of the pallet container. The compression spring 150 is sleeved on the rod body. The compression spring 150 is located between the end surface of the first locking hole 131 facing the second locking hole 132 and the handle 141. When the first end of the rod body extends into the wall lock hole 121, the compression spring 150 is compressed. At this time, the lock lever 140 is rotated, so that the portion of the handle 141 is rotated to the position of the limiting protrusion 133, and the limiting protrusion 133 can block the handle 141, so as to prevent the lock lever 140 from moving towards the release position due to the acting force of the compression spring 150 on the handle 141, and further enable the first end of the lever body to leave the wall lock hole 121.
The lock lever 140 is rotated to move the handle 141 away from the limit projection 133, and the compression spring 150 can move the lock lever 140 toward the release position to move the first end of the lever away from the wall lock hole 121, so that the pallet container can be moved from the assembled state to the folded state.
One end of the stopper projection 133 facing the outside of the pallet container extends in the width direction of the pallet container to form a rotation stopper 134. The rotation stop 134 is spaced from the bottom surface of the recess of the body. When the lock lever 140 is in the locking position, a portion of the handle 141 corresponding to the limit projection 133 is located in the space. This may limit the rotation of the handle 141 and thus the rotation of the locking lever 140. In this way, the lock lever 140 is prevented from rotating away from the limit projection 133 during movement or transportation of the pallet container, and is moved from the locked position to the unlocked position.
In this embodiment, the groove is provided with a receiving portion 135. The position of the receiving portion 135 corresponds to the position of the handle 141 when the locking lever 140 is in the release position. When the locking lever 140 is in the released position, the handle 141 may be located within the receiving portion 135. Thus, when stacking a plurality of pallet containers in a folded state, the handle 141 is positioned in the groove, and the handle 141 is not tilted so that the end wall and the side wall of the pallet container are not folded flat, and the pallet container is not damaged.
The rod body of the lock rod 140 is provided with a mounting hole. The lock also includes a pin 160. The pin 160 is fixedly inserted into the mounting hole. The portion of the body surrounding the recess is provided with a limit portion 136. The limiting portion 136 is located at the upper end of the body near the second locking hole 132. The position of the stopper 136 corresponds to the position of the pin 160 in the width direction of the pallet container. The angle between the axis of the pin 160 and the extension direction of the handle 141 is less than 90 degrees. Thus, when the handle 141 is located in the accommodating portion 135, when the handle 141 rotates to a preset angle (the preset angle is smaller than 90 degrees, and an included angle is formed between the axis of the pin 160 and the plane of the end wall 110 at this time), the pin 160 contacts the limiting portion 136, and the limiting portion 136 limits the pin 160 to continue to rotate, so as to limit the lock lever 140 to continue to rotate. The angle between the plane of handle 141 and the plane of end wall 110 is thus always less than 90. Thus, in the process of transporting the pallet container (no matter the pallet container is in the assembled state or the folded state), when the handle 141 which rotates (jumps) due to the external force is separated from the groove of the body, the handle 141 can automatically rotate back into the groove under the action of gravity of the handle 141, and the handle can not tilt. Therefore, the handle 141 can be prevented from being sprung up due to impact in the process of folding the pallet container, and then turned over to the upper beam of the end wall 110 to be supported by the upper beam of the end wall 110, so that the damage to the end wall 110 and the side wall 120 folded on the handle 141 can be prevented, and the influence of uneven folding of the pallet container on the stacking of a plurality of pallet containers in a folded state can be avoided.
In the present embodiment, a maximum dimension C between the handle 141 and the end surface of the second end of the rod body is smaller than a minimum distance D between the first locking hole 131 and the second locking hole 132 in the width direction of the pallet container. This facilitates the installation of the locking lever 140 to the first locking hole 131 and the second locking hole 132.
The maximum dimension E between the junction of the handle 141 and the rod body and the end face of the first end of the rod body is smaller than the minimum distance D between the first locking hole 131 and the second locking hole 132 in the width direction of the pallet container. Thereby facilitating the installation of the compression spring 150.
The maximum distance F between the pin 160 and the end surface of the first end of the rod body is greater than the minimum distance D between the first locking hole 131 and the second locking hole 132 in the width direction of the pallet container. Thereby, the lock lever 140 is prevented from coming out of the first locking hole 131.
The top corner member of the sidewall 120 is provided with a connection hole 122. The connection hole 122 opens to the side of the side wall 120, in other words, the connection hole 122 opens to the end wall 110 of the pallet container in the assembled state. A portion of the body of the lock housing 130 extends toward the outside of the pallet container to form a boss 137. The position of the boss 137 corresponds to the position of the connection hole 122. The shape of the boss 137 corresponds to the shape of the connection hole 122. Thus, end wall 110 and side wall 120 are moved such that boss 137 extends into connecting aperture 122 to locate the relative position between side wall 120 and end wall 110 as the pallet container is moved from the collapsed condition to the assembled condition.
In other embodiments, the body of the lock base may also be disposed on the side wall, where the attachment hole and the wall locking hole are both disposed on the end wall. The length of the body is substantially parallel to the length direction of the pallet container. One end of the body in the length direction is welded with the end face of the top cross beam in the length direction of the side wall, and the other end of the body in the length direction is positioned above the stand column of the side wall and is welded with the end face in the length direction of the stand column. The width direction of the body and the height direction of the pallet container are approximately parallel. The thickness direction of the body and the width direction of the pallet container are substantially parallel. The body of the lock seat, the top cross beam, the upright post and the bottom cross beam of the side wall form a frame of the side wall, and the side wall has high strength.
As shown in fig. 7, the front end of the body is provided with a mounting groove 138. The mounting groove 138 communicates with the first locking hole 131. The diameter size of the first locking hole 131 and the diameter size of the rod body of the locking rod 140 are smaller than the size of the mounting groove 138. Thus, when the rod body is obliquely inserted into the first lock hole 131 to mount the lock rod 140, the first lock hole 131 interferes with the rod body of the lock rod 140, and the mounting of the lock rod 140 is prevented from being affected.
In this embodiment, since the lock base 130 is a cast or forged piece, the lock base 130 has a large thickness and high strength, and can be used for a pallet container having a smaller thickness of the end wall 110, and the lock base 130 has a body, a top beam, a column, and a bottom beam of the end wall 110, which constitute a frame of the end wall 110, and the end wall has a large strength.
In this embodiment, since the lock base 130 adopts the casting or forging with larger strength, the diameters of the first lock hole and the second lock hole can be larger, the corresponding diameter of the lock rod 140 can be thicker, the lock strength is larger, and when the lock is locked, the handle 141 is propped against the limiting protrusion 133 by the compression spring 150, which is safe and reliable.
In this embodiment, since the lock base 130 adopts a casting or forging, the boss 137 can be directly formed without additionally providing a hook plate, so that the structure is simplified and the appearance is attractive.
The body of lock base 130 is welded with top beams and posts to form the frame of end wall 110, and then the frame of end wall 110 is hot galvanized. The lock lever 140 is galvanized after being welded with the handle 141, and the lock lever 140 is installed after being galvanized. Therefore, the problems that the galvanized layer is damaged due to welding after galvanization, and the appearance and the corrosion resistance are affected by spraying repair paint and the like are avoided, and the corrosion resistance is good and attractive.
The installation process of the lockset of the embodiment is as follows:
First, the first end of the lock lever 140 is obliquely inserted into the first lock hole 131;
aligning the second end of the locking lever 140 with the second locking hole 132 and inserting the second locking hole 132;
The locking lever 140 is moved toward the rear end of the body (right end of the body in fig. 5) such that the first end of the locking lever 140 moves out of the first locking hole 131 and into the recess. Sleeving the compression spring 150 on the lock rod 140 from the first end of the lock rod 140, aligning the first end of the lock rod 140 with the first lock hole 131 again, and inserting the first lock hole 131;
the lock lever 140 is moved toward the front end of the body so that the handle 141 is moved to the side of the limit projection 133 toward the front end of the body, at which time the compression spring 150 is compressed, and the handle 141 is rotated so that the handle 141 enters the interval between the rotation stop portion and the bottom surface of the groove. At this time, the compression spring 150 pushes the handle 141 against the limit projection 133;
Part of the pin 160 extends into the mounting hole of the lock lever 140, and the end of the pin 160 extends out of the lever body of the lock lever 140 by a preset length to be able to cooperate with the limiting part 136, thereby limiting the rotation angle of the lock lever 140.
Moving the lock lever 140 toward the front end of the body and rotating the handle 141 upward such that the handle 141 is disengaged from the space between the rotation stopper 134 and the bottom surface of the groove;
the lock lever 140 is moved toward the rear end of the body, at which time the compression spring 150 pushes the handle 141 until the compression spring 150 is completely released to a free state, at which time the position of the handle 141 is opposite to the position of the receiving portion 135 on the lock base 130, and the lock installation is completed.
In this embodiment, the pallet container is moved from the folded state to the assembled state as follows:
the side walls 120 are raised so that the side walls 120 are substantially perpendicular to the chassis;
raising end wall 110 while straightening side wall 120;
the boss 137 of the lock housing 130 is inserted into the coupling hole 122 of the side wall 120 to couple the end wall 110 and the side wall 120 together;
Lifting the handle 141 to move the lock lever 140 toward the front end of the body, and inserting the first end of the lock lever 140 into the wall locking hole 121 of the side wall 120 to hold the connection of the end wall 110 and the side wall 120, thereby fixing the connection of the end wall 110 and the side wall 120; at this time, the lock lever 140 is positioned at the locking position, and the handle 141 is rotated so that the handle 141 enters the interval between the rotation stopping portion 134 and the bottom surface of the groove, and the handle is released, and the compression spring 150 pushes the handle 141 against the limiting boss 133, thereby completing the locking of the lockset.
In this embodiment, the process of opening the lock to fold end wall 110 and side wall 120 is as follows:
moving the locking lever 140 toward the front end of the body, and then rotating the handle 141 upward to disengage the handle 141 from the space between the rotation stopper 134 and the bottom surface of the groove;
The lock lever 140 is moved to the rear end of the body, at this time, the compression spring 150 pushes the handle 141 until the compression spring 150 is completely released to be in a free state, the handle 141 naturally sags under the action of self gravity, at this time, the handle 141 is positioned at the accommodating part 135 on the lock base 130, and the lock lever 140 is positioned at the released position;
Pushing end wall 110 into the pallet container, causing boss 137 of lock base 130 to disengage from connecting hole 122 of side wall 120, continuing pushing end wall 110 to fold end wall 110 onto the chassis, folding end walls 110, and folding side wall 120 onto the chassis.
The invention also provides a pallet container. The pallet container comprises the lock.
In this embodiment, the pallet container includes the lock, and since the lock base 130 is a cast or forged piece, the lock base 130 has a large thickness and high strength, and can be used for a pallet container with a smaller thickness of the end wall 110, and the lock base 130, the top beam of the end wall 110, the frame of the end wall 110 formed by the upright posts and the bottom beam, and the end wall has a large strength.
The present invention has been illustrated by the above-described embodiments, but it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are for purposes of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments described. In addition, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and that many variations and modifications are possible in light of the teachings of the invention, which variations and modifications are within the scope of the invention as claimed. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
Unless defined otherwise, technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular implementations only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Terms such as "component" as used herein may refer to either a single part or a combination of parts. Terms such as "mounted," "disposed," and the like as used herein may refer to one component being directly attached to another component or to one component being attached to another component through an intermediary. Features described herein in one embodiment may be applied to another embodiment alone or in combination with other features unless the features are not applicable or otherwise indicated in the other embodiment.
The present invention has been described in terms of the above embodiments, but it should be understood that the above embodiments are for purposes of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments described. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations and modifications are possible in light of the teachings of the invention, which variations and modifications are within the scope of the invention as claimed.