EP1918215A1

EP1918215A1 - Container for transport and storage of electrical or electronic appliances intended for demolition

Info

Publication number: EP1918215A1
Application number: EP07021062A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Sergio Baschieri
Original assignee: Refri Srl
Current assignee: Refri Srl
Priority date: 2006-11-06
Filing date: 2007-10-27
Publication date: 2008-05-07
Anticipated expiration: 2027-10-27
Also published as: DE602007004276D1; ATE455046T1; EP1918215B1; ITMO20060356A1

Abstract

A container (1) for transport and storage of electrical or electronic appliances intended for demolition, including at least one deck (16) with sideboards; support shoes (17, 18) on the floor designed to allow stacking containers one over the other; the container has a rectangular plan, with a length that is twice the width; two adjacent fixed sideboards (2, 3) in an erect position while the remaining two adjacent sideboards (4, 5) are moveable opening up to the foot support level and moveable towards the inside of the container overlapping the above-mentioned deck; a closure mechanism (12, 13) between the sides on each of the three corners of the container with at least one moveable sideboard.

Description

Field of application

This invention concerns a container for transport and storage of electrical or electronic appliances intended for demolition. In other words, a container intended for collecting and storing electrical appliances such as refrigerators or other large appliances, or even old electronic products such as computers, printers, video monitors, photocopiers and other similar products thus facilitating storage in collection sites, transport to processing sites and storage in demolition sites for proper separation of recyclable and/or polluting material to be forwarded to the subsequent processing stages.

Prior art

In the current state of the art, there are various types of containers used to collect, store and transport products to the collection sites or to the waste disposal sites. Some of these containers are cumbersome, that is quite hefty and large, while others are specifically made for special products such as paper, cardboard, plastic material, glass and metal products. Furthermore, large containers are made to suit volumes transportable by trucks and thus they are heavy, cumbersome and very expensive both in terms of costs of manufacture and in case of partial filling below their maximum capacity. On the other hand, specific containers are smaller in size but, as they are mainly designed for open collection on the roads, each one of them is made in a way to restrict their use to small amounts of product. Additionally, these containers are made for fixed positioning at the designated place of collection and thus not easily transportable.
From what has been stated above, developments in the electrical and electronic industry have outpaced the larger share of materials such as the CRT video monitor, old-style computers, photocopiers, old television sets alongside refrigerators, domestic washing machines and other appliances used until a few years ago. Since said appliances are widely used, they are also a source of large quantities of material to be collected, demolished and separated according to polluting and/or recyclable material.
Therefore, the type of containers known to date, including the ones integrated with containers or pallets equipped with a wire or mesh (even flexible) containment wall - like the containers used for large-scale distribution of products or for specific low density products (but not bulky products such as wool, yarns, textiles or semi-finished and other similar textile products) - did not prove suitable for solving the problem of facilitating the gathering, transporting from the collection sites to the processing sites, separating and storing of the above-mentioned electrical or electronic materials intended for scrapping or awaiting separation.
As a matter of fact, collection and disposal of the above-mentioned electrical and electronic appliances requires special solutions regarding storage of products such as CRT video monitors given the high amount of glass the screen is made of, the dimensional difference between the large appliances gathered and the small parts, often gathered in bulk, thus excluding the use of coarse-mesh containment nets of the equipped pallets mentioned above.
Lastly, the equipped containers or pallets known and described above are not suitable for stacked storage required to reduce the space occupied by the materials at the processing site. Actually, stacked storage would allow more flexible management of the movement of the electrical or electronic material to be demolished on the premises.
Such prior art is subject to considerable improvements especially regarding the possibility of making a container with the aim of facilitating gathering of electrical/electronic products, thus allowing easier transport both loaded and unloaded alongside facilitating handling within the scrapping site both when loaded and unloaded.
Hence, according to the observations above, a technical solution is required in order to find a container for transport and storage of electrical or electronic appliances intended for demolition, thus facilitating product loading operations using both common warehouse trolleys, or by hand in case of small products.
As a matter of fact, when loading electrical and electronic products, one of the technical problems regards making a container that does not require manoeuvring at elevated heights, thus avoiding exposing the loading operators to any kind of accident risk or unnecessary strain. Consequently, this means making containers easy to load without any physical risks.
Another technical problem regards making an easy to handle and practical container in terms of movement and transport, when loaded and suitable for holding various sizes of materials, including the above-mentioned electronic materials alongside other larger cumbersome materials such as refrigerators.
An additional problem to be addressed when designing a transport and storage container for electrical or electronic material is to make a container allowing an easy and practical storage at the processing premises for the demolition of the gathered material.
A further, but not ultimate problem to be tackled when using a container for transport and storage purposes regards allowing easy traceability of the products gathered for demolition and disposal, both when it comes to storage at the processing premises and during the actual demolition, thus distinguishing the material received from a single client throughout the entire collection, transport, storage and processing stages.

Summary of the invention

This invention solves the technical problem mentioned above, using a transport and storage container in accordance with claim 1.
The dependent claims outline preferred and particularly advantageous embodiments of the container according to the invention.

Short description of the drawings

The drawings herein enclosed show, solely for illustrative purposes, one of the invention implementation methods wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a transport and storage container for electrical or electronic appliances intended for demolition, according to this invention, empty and with the sideboards closed;
Figure 2 illustrates an enlarged view of the opening and closing mechanism of the sideboards, in this case between of a moveable and fixed sideboard;
Figure 3 illustrates a perspective view of the container according to the present invention, during electrical or electronic material loading operations, that is with the moveable sideboards open;
Figure 4 illustrates a perspective view of the container still during loading operations, but with only one sideboard lowered for reasons of space requirement or the completion of loading operations;
Figure 5 illustrates a perspective view of the empty container, being prepared for the return trip to the loading site, that is with the sideboard on the longer side already closed towards the interior of the container;
Figure 6 illustrates a perspective view of the empty container ready for transport back to the loading site with both moveable sideboards closed. The sideboard on the shorter side is on top of the sideboard on the longer side already lowered as illustrated in Figure 5 above;
Figure 7 illustrates a perspective view of two empty containers stacked to reduce space occupied during transport and storage;
Figure 8 illustrates a perspective view of two containers stacked with the sideboards closed, illustrated unloaded in this case, but they could also be fully loaded;
Figure 9 illustrates a perspective view of four containers cross-stacked in groups of two, that is placing the upper containers transversely on the lower ones;
Figure 10 illustrates a perspective view of two stacked containers, illustrated unloaded in this case, but with the lower container equipped with extension posts to support the upper container and hold in a vertical position the refrigerators intended for demolition, as such refrigerators are known to have a narrow base but a considerable height, reaching almost 2 meters;
Figure 11 illustrates an enlarged perspective view of the joint area, indicated by XI in Figure 9, between two containers placed side by side;
Figure 12 illustrates a perspective view of an angle post for hoisting the upper container as shown in figure 10;
Figure 13 illustrates an enlarged perspective view of the upper end of the angle post illustrated in Figure 12;
Figure 14 illustrates an enlarged perspective view of the joint area between the base of the angle post and the deck of the lower container, indicated by XIV in figure 10; and lastly,
Figure 15 illustrates a perspective view of four stacked containers with the lower containers equipped with extension posts for supporting the upper containers and holding in a vertical position the refrigerators intended for demolition. The upper containers are advantageously positioned transversely to the lower containers.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

Figure 1 illustrates a container 1 intended for transport and storage of electrical and electronic appliances to be demolished according to the present invention.
Container 1 has fixed longitudinal 2 and transverse 3 sideboards in an upright position and adjacent moveable longitudinal 4 and transverse 5 sideboards. In the example, the sideboards are made of a framework of metal sections, preferably made of tubes arranged in a lattice structure. In particular, longitudinal sideboards have upper beams 6, two end posts 8 as well as intermediate posts 7. Likewise, the transverse sideboards have upper beams 9, two end posts 11 as well as intermediate posts 10.
The fixed sideboards, indicated by 2 and 3, are sealed with a metal sheet externally, while the moveable sideboards, indicated by 4 and 5 are sealed internally. There is a closure mechanism, indicated by 12, regarding posts and upper beams of the closing angle between a fixed sideboard and the adjacent moveable sideboard. There is an identical closure mechanism, indicated by 13, regarding the closing angle between the two moveable sideboards. In addition, for its displacement, the container 1 has four slots 14 for fitting hoisting cables, not illustrated in this case, positioned symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal centre line of the container and close to the joint between the intermediate posts 7 mentioned beforehand and the upper beam 6 of each respective fixed 2 and moveable 4 longitudinal sideboard. Said slots 14 are outlined by joint bracings 15, joining the post in question and the beam. The container 1 has a rectangular deck 16 whose length is preferably twice its width. The container 1 deck 16 has corner shoes 17 and intermediate shoes 18 on the longitudinal side. In turn, said shoes have a transition part 19 inclined inwards near the shoe rest area. In addition, these shoes are joined by a base section 20 between the intermediate and corner shoe towards and on each of the transverse sides. Likewise, an angle section 21 externally separates the shoe between the tilted segment 19 and the upper vertical segment.
The closure mechanism is clearly visible in Figure 2, which illustrates the mechanism indicated by 12, regarding the union between a fixed 3 and a moveable 4 sideboard. However, the same mechanism could be similarly applied to two moveable sideboards 4 and 5. Said mechanism 12 is equipped with a moveable stopper 22, aligned with a corner post. Furthermore, said mechanism has a vertical closing motion, indicated by arrow O, performed through movement A of a lever 23, preferably a toggle lever. Said stopper 22 engages with a hole, located above the same stopper with the sideboard 4 closed C and is located on a slider 24 upon removal E from the beam 6 in which it is concealed when not in use.
In addition, Figure 3 illustrates the rotation hinges 25 and 26 of the longitudinal 4, and transverse 5 moveable sideboards, positioned at different heights to allow laying the longitudinal sideboard 4 directly against the deck 16 as illustrated by Figure 5, and for laying the transverse sideboard 5 on top of it as illustrated by Figure 6. Furthermore, Figure 7 illustrates two closed containers ready for transport stacked one into the other. Stacked in this manner the containers can be hoisted by a fork-lift truck with the forks positioned under the deck 16 of the lower container in the gap 27 between the intermediate shoes 18, thus hoisting the container 1 from a point very close to its centre of gravity.
Once loaded to within the maximum height of the sideboards, the container for transport and storage of electrical or electronic appliances intended for demolition can be stacked one on the other as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. They can be aligned, that is one container over the other, Figure 8, or they can crossed, Figure 9, offering greater stability due to the transverse positioning between the containers. Stacking the containers transversely allows reaching several levels of height, with the only constraint being provided by the performance/capacity of the means used to move the containers in the stacks. When stacked, the shoes 17, 18 of the containers 1 fit between the sideboards of the container below, helped in this by the centring effect of the lower segment 19 tilted towards the interior and provided on each shoe. The angle section 21, joining shoes 17 and 18 of one of the transverse sideboards of the container, acts as support on the upper beam 6, 9 both on the moveable sideboards 4 and 5 and the fixed sideboards 2 and 3. Additionally, the containers 1 have a centre line reference pin 28 on each of the respective upper beams of the fixed 2 and moveable 4 longitudinal sideboards.
The container 1 illustrated in Figure 10 is stacked on an identical container 1 equipped with angle posts 29 which support the container above. Said columns 29 comprise a body 30, preferably made of angle sections equipped with a pin 32 on the lower end 31, meant to engage with a corresponding hole in the deck 16 of the container below. The angle posts have an angle bracket 33 for support in the joint between the longitudinal sideboards, 2 or 4, and transverse sideboards, 3 or 5. Said bracket has flaps 34 meant to clasp the upper beams 6 and 9 of the container below at the angle between the two sideboards. At the upper end 35 of the post 29, there is an interlocking support 36 used to hold the lower part of the shoe 17 of each corner shoe. The inclined transition part 19 facilitates fitting the shoe of the upper container 1 into the interlocking support. The interlocking support 36, better illustrated in Figure 13, is made up of a bracket with a hook 37 and angled shoulders 38, fixed onto the upper end 35 to guide the shoe 17 of the upper container through the transition part 19 during positioning operations. The hook 37 avoids disengagement due to impacts or vibrations between the support shoe and the upper end of the post.
Lastly, Figure 15 illustrates two containers 1 cross-stacked on other two containers 1, positioned transversely and equipped with angle posts 29 and intermediate posts 39. The latter are used to support the upper containers at the internal end of their transverse side. These intermediate posts are advantageously made of a tubular section provided with a bracket 40, for holding the opposite sideboards of the lower containers onto the upper beam 6 centre line. Said bracket has a hole into which a pin 28, found on each upper beam 6, is fitted. In addition, it also has a flap 41, securing the bracket to said upper beam 6. Furthermore, on the upper end 42, the intermediate post 39 has a longitudinal shoulder 43, guiding the shoes 17 of the upper containers, through the transition part 19, during positioning operations. Though not illustrated, said end 42 has hooks used to hold the corresponding shoe. Such hooks are positioned similarly to the angle post 29 hooks 37, such that the intermediate post functions as if equipped with a double support, as described earlier in the case of the angle post. Again though not illustrated, on the lower end of said tubular section there is a pin, similar to the pin 32 on the lower end of the angle post. Said pin is fitted into a hole of the deck 16, not illustrated either but provided for the purpose, thus guaranteeing vertical position when positioning the containers 1 above.
The container described previously is used as illustrated in the arrangement shown in Figures 3 or 4, that is with one or two moveable sideboards open, including also only the transverse sideboard 5, not illustrated lowered. Thus the operator can transport heavy electronic appliances such as video monitors, photocopiers, washing machines or even other large and tall appliances such as refrigerators using a warehouse trolley. Access is facilitated in that the sideboard(s) form(s) a ramp so that the trolley can easily enter with the appropriate manoeuvres. The operator can also collect smaller materials such as circuit boards, telephones, small printers or laptop computers by tipping them directly from above with the sideboards closed, as illustrated in Figure 1. The objects remain inside the container during transportation because the fixed sideboards 2, 3 and the moveable sideboards 4, 5 are sealed and there are no significant gaps between them and the deck 16.
When full, the container 1 can be moved by hoisting it using common fork-lift truck forks fitted into the gap 27, or into the adjacent gaps or those on the side. Alternatively, the container 1 can be hoisted using ropes or cables simultaneously fitted into the slots 14, located below the upper beams 6 of the longitudinal fixed and moveable sideboards.
Thus, if made with longitudinal overall dimensions below the standardised 2.5 metres of the truck deck, the container may be even loaded transversely on a truck deck. Furthermore, given the beneficial possibility to stack the containers, by cross-stacking the upper containers on the lower ones the overall transverse dimension shall be half the overall longitudinal dimension. Additionally, each container can be marked permanently or bar coded on one or more sideboards so as to allow retracing the same containers and, even better, the container's contents both during collection, transport and storage of the gathered material in the demolition or disposal premises.
Hence transport and movement of the electric or electronic appliances intended for demolition shall be much easier in that the electronic appliances can be transported without protruding from the sideboards. The fact that several containers can be stacked allows loading a truck equipped with a deck whose length is more than twice the width (that is more than 5 m) with as many as eight containers stacked in groups of 4 as illustrated in Figure 9. This kind of layout can also be used in warehouses for storage prior to processing for demolition. Otherwise, instead of being loaded with electronic material, the upper stacked containers can be loaded with refrigerators protruding above the sideboards but remaining within the overall dimensions of road transport loading limits.
On the other hand, storage in warehouses can be carried out not only stacking the containers as illustrated in Figure 9 but also as illustrated in Figures 10 and 15, that is raising the upper containers using angle posts 29 or intermediate posts 39.
Lastly, according to the present invention, movement using the containers within the processing premises is considerably facilitated by the possibility to move the containers quite easily as explained earlier, thus optimising the management of the equipment intended for demolition and/or disposal. This also implies easier management of the processing lines in which the processing plant is organised.
The advantages achieved by this invention are: waste material loaded into the containers allows maximising the load level of the means of transport, thus saving a lot in terms of collection costs. In addition, by using these containers, storage management at the processing and scrapping site is considerably facilitated, reducing the number of operations required to move the containers within the premises drastically. Not only are these containers particularly efficient for electrical or electronic material, as seen earlier, but they are also suitable for holding post-demolition material. The structure of the containers with moveable sideboards allows the loading or unloading operators to work under ergonomic conditions. Furthermore, by lowering the moveable sideboards externally, a smooth sliding and loading deck, without hindrances and obstacles, is obtained, while the fixed walls with a smooth surface on the outer side ensure that the empty containers are perfectly secured to each other during stacking.
Another advantage is due to the fact that the bar code fixed on the container or on a part of the container allows identifying the container also by its contents. This implies complete traceability of the waste material from the collection site through to the processing lines. Furthermore, given that the sideboards are completely sealed, even the demolition material can be traced due to the fact that even smaller sized materials can be transported in bulk.
By using a 2:1 ratio for the rectangular base and by using posts 29 and 39, the containers can be stacked even when handling cumbersome material, thus leading to drastic reduction of the area occupied within the processing premises for demolition, at an equivalent storage volume.
Practically, the materials, dimensions and performance details may vary from the ones illustrated, but they are technically equivalent provided that the use of the containers is restricted to the scope of protection of this invention. Therefore, though less advantageously, the container may be made using non-ferrous material, fibreglass or any other composite material, wholly or partially, provided that it is made in compliance with the structural features in terms of practical use, outlined by the features provided for by the following claims.

Claims

Container (1) for transport and storage of electrical or electronic appliances intended for demolition, including: at least a deck (16) with sideboards; support shoes (17, 18) on the floor designed to allow stacking containers one over the other, characterised in that it is provided with a rectangular plan; two adjacent fixed sideboards (2, 3) in an erect position while the remaining two adjacent sideboards are moveable (4, 5) opening up to the support shoes level and moveable towards the interior of the container overlapping each other and said deck; a closure mechanism (12, 13) is provided between the sideboards on each of the three corners of the container with at least one moveable sideboard.
Container according to claim 1 wherein said support shoes (17, 18) include at least two intermediate shoes (18) along the length of the deck and corner shoes (17) positioned on the four corners; these feet are made with the lower end inclined (19) inwards.
Container according to claim 1 or 2 wherein between the intermediate shoes (18) and the corresponding corner shoes (17) - and also between the same corner shoes - there is a support angle section (21) for support on the upper edges of the sideboards of the container below.
Container according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the longitudinal sideboards (2, 4) of the container have slots (14) for fitting the container hoisting cables.
Container according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the moveable sideboards (4, 5) are moveable due to hinges (25, 26) positioned at different heights, compared to the deck (16), thus allowing a closed and overlapped position of the sideboards on the deck.
Container according to anyone of the previous claims wherein the closure mechanisms (12, 13) between the sideboards include a moveable stopper (22) operated through a lever (23), preferably a toggle lever, positioned on an end post (8, 11).
Container according to claim 6 wherein the closure mechanism between the sideboards includes a slider (24) concealed in the sideboard and with a hole for holding the stopper (22) when closed.
Container according to anyone of the previous claims wherein there are posts (29, 39) supporting a container stacked at a height exceeding the one of the sideboards (2, 4, 3, 5) equipped with support means on the sideboards (33, 34; 40, 41), support means on the deck (31, 32) and means for gripping (37, 38; 43) the shoes of the upper container.
Container according to claim 8, wherein said support means on the deck (16) include a pin (32), located at the lower end (31) of said posts, meant to engage with a corresponding hole in the deck (16) of the lower container.
Container according to claim 8, wherein said support means on the sideboards (33, 34; 40, 41) include a bracket (33; 40) for resting on the sideboards, said bracket having flaps (34; 41) for clasping the upper edges of the sideboards.
Container according to claim 8, wherein said gripping devices (37, 38; 43) include an interlocking support (36) made of a bracket with a hook (37) and shoulders (38; 43), fixed onto the upper end (35; 42) of the posts, to guide and secure the shoes of the upper container during its support.
Container according to anyone of the previous claims wherein the structure of the container has a longitudinal length twice as long as the transverse length.
Container according to any of the previous claims, wherein the sideboards have a smooth sealing wall, facing inwards in the case of the moveable sideboards.