GB1583324A

GB1583324A - Container

Info

Publication number: GB1583324A
Application number: GB9816/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: MACPHERSON IND COATINGS Ltd
Current assignee: MACPHERSON IND COATINGS Ltd
Priority date: 1978-05-31
Filing date: 1978-05-31
Publication date: 1981-01-28

Description

(54) CONTAINER (71) We, MACPHERSON INDUSTRIAL COATINGS LIMITED, a British Company, of Three Quays, Tower Hill, London, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement : This invention relates to containers and in particular to insulated containers for transporting produce over relatively long distances and maintaining the produce at controlled temperatures.

Invariably a major proportion of the world's fruit, vegatables, meat, fish and other food is produced in one part of the world and has to be transported over long distances to consumers in other parts of the world. In particular, large quantities of produce are transported each year from southern Europe to northern Europe and in the past there has been considerable wastage due to the produce deteriorating, resulting from undesirable changes of temperature. It has been estimated, for example, that something like 7% of all the produce transported from southern to northern Europe is either wasted or has to be down-graded as a result of its journey.This is extremely wasteful and costly and it is an object of the present invention to provide containers in which produce can be transported over long distances under controlled temperature conditions to reduce this wastage, and to provide a method of transporting produce from one place to another.

Over the last few years it has been customary to transport produce over long distances in refrigerated containers but these are extremely expensive, and very bulky, and the cost of using such containers is prohibitive unless they can also be used on the return journey.

Containers in accordance with the present invention, however, are relatively cheap to produce and can be used for only one trip, although it is envisaged that they could be collapsed after use, returned in a lay-flat state and used several more times.

According to one aspect of the present invention, we provide a container for transporting produce or other goods, the container comprising a single laminate sheet of material formed with lines of weakness which provide hinges between adjacent walls of the container, the laminate comprising at least a structural insulating layer in which the lines of weakness are formed and a flexible external surface layer which provides the hinge at each of the lines of weakness, said structural layer preferably comprising a rigid or semi rigid synthethic plastic material and said lines of weakness extending through or substantially through the entire thickness of said structural layer, all the walls including the top and bottom walls of the container being integrally formed out of the same sheet.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, we provide a pre-formed blank or laminated material for erection into a container as described above, the laminate having an internal structural layer of insulating material which comprises a substantially rigid resinous foam material or semi-rigid resin empregnated fibreglass or the like and which blank is provided with lines of weakness, which extend through or substantially through said structural layer, e.g. said structural layer is grooved over at least a major proportion of its depth and a flexible external layer which provides hinges at said lines of weakness, said hinges foldably interconnecting wall panels of said blank disposed on either side of the respective lines of weakness.

In a simple form a blank has lines of weakness comprised by three parallel spaced 90" V-shaped grooves defining four side wall panels for a rectangular container, the free edges of each panel being provided with a 45 chamfer, and two identical rectangular top and bottom panels integral with the blank and defined by similar V-shaped grooves formed in the structural layer.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the external surface or hinge layer is provided by a corrugated fibreboard with the flutings parallel to a majority of the lines of weakness or fold lines.

The resinous foam of the structural layer is preferably polyurethane foam, polystyrene foam or polyethylene foam.

The flexible surface layer could be any web-like material, e.g. a woven or synthetic fabric, such as hessian or a film of material such as polythene or the like.

While it is preferred that all the lines of weakness and the joins between adjacent (nonfoldably connected) walls are provided by 90" V-shaped grooves or 45" chamfers, respectively, it will be appreciated that different constructions of grooves or different angled chamfers would be possible. Of course, the V-shaped grooves would not be 90" if the container was a hexagonal container. Normally the thickness of the laminate material would be about 30mm and in a particular construction the laminate is comprised of a commercially available polyurethane foam material known as "Purleboard" having an outer layer of single fluted corrugated fibreboard, at least the inner surface of the "Purleboard" having a further lamina or laminate thereon.This further laminate can be an aluminium laminate giving a wipe-clean and otherwise durable surface to the interior of the container. Other interior laminates are also envisaged, e.g. of wax or plastics materials. Also the external face of the external surface layer of the laminate may comprise a waterproof coating, e.g. a wax or polythene layer.

Furthermore, if desired a separate waterproof linear e.g. in the form of a closable polythene bag or vessel may be used inside a container according to the invention for holding liquids or flowable solid materials.

In this case of the above-mentioned type of laminate which comprises a structural layer of polyurethane foam with an aluminium laminate on either side and an outer layer of single fluted corrugated fibreboard, and having a thickness of the order of 30 mm, the resulting container could have a structural strength corresponding to compression failure (force applied from top to base) of the order of 4000 libs. The time constant i.e. the time taken for the temperature inside the container to change by 63% of the temperature differential between the interior and exterior of the container, could be of the order of from 30 to 45 hours and the U values of the container could be of the order of 0.5 wlm2.0K.

If desired, the edges of adjacent walls of the container may be adhesively secured together to give the container increased rigidity but it is preferred that they are held together just by the external hinge layer so that after use the container can be knocked down into a lay-flat state and returned for re-use. In the case of thicker laminates it may be necessary to break one or more of the external hinges to achieve this.

It is an advantage if the laminate material, as well as being weatherproof, is flameproof.

Containers in accordance with the present invention are normally supplied to the user in a lay-flat state, usually corresponding to the pre-formed blank of the invention, and the user erects the containers when desired, tapes or otherwise secures together the desired unjoined edges and then fills the container with produce or other goods. This produce or goods may, if desired, be inserted into a large polythene bag and if it is desired to maintain the contents of the container at a low temperature, a small volume of the container can be filled with a cooling medium, such as dry ice. Alternatively, a suitable bottled gas such as nitrogen can be injected into the container, or it is even envisaged that each container could be provided with an inlet port so that its temperature can be controlled from a central cooling system.The container is then sealed and, being formed of an insulating material, the temperature of its content will remain largely constant for many days.

Because the structural layer is substantially rigid, the container will be entirely self-supporting and capable of transport over considerable distances. It is envisaged that the containers could be of various sizes depending on the nature of the goods to be carried and could, for example, be of a size suitable to take up to a ton of goods, e.g. about 1 metre square, and if desired, the container can be fitted to pallets or even formed integral with pallet decks or legs suitable for use with conventional pallet handling equipment.

Also according to the present invention, we provide a method of transporting perishable produce or other goods, comprising forming a container from a single sheet of laminate material, the laminate material comprising a structural insulating layer and being provided with lines of weakness extending through or substantially through said structural layer to define walls of the container and a flexible external surface layer which provides a hinge at each of the lines of weakness, said structural layer comprising a rigid resinous form material or semi-rigid resin impregnated fibreglass or like synthetic plastics material, all the walls including top and bottom walls of the container being integrally formed out of the same sheet, inserting the produce or other goods into the container, closing and sealing the container and optionally adjusting the temperature of the interior of the container and/or of the produce or other goods to a desired value where the latter differs from that of the ambient conditions.

The invention is now described by way of example with reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank for a container; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the blank, and Figure 3 is a section through a portion of the blank to an enlarged scale.

Referring to the drawings, a blank for a container for produce is made up of four side wall panels 1, 3, 5 and 7 with parallel spaced V-shaped grooves 9, 11 and 13 between them.

Each of the wall panels is square and a base panel 15 is joined to the side wall panel 3 wheras a top panel 17 is joined to the side wall panel 5, the two panels 15 and 17 being separated from the respective side wall panels 3 and 5 by further V-shaped grooves 19 and 21 normal to the previously-mentioned grooves.

Each of the grooves is a 90 groove and each of the remaining edges of the side, tog and bottom wall panels are defined by 45 chamfers as indicated at 23.

As can be seen from Figures 2 ans 3, the Vshaped grooves do not pass completely through the material of the blank which is of laminated construction. They do, however, pass completely through a structural layer 25 or, alternatively, substantially through this layer. To the outer face of the structural layer is bonded an external surface layer 27 which, in the vicinity of the grooves, provides hinges as shown at 29.

It will thus be appreciated that the blank shown in Figures 1 and 2 can be folded up into a carton which is in the form of a cube.

Initially the base panel 15 will be folded at right angles to the side wall panel 3, whereupon the side wall panels 1,5 and 7 can be folded inwardly and the edge of the panel 1 can be taped to the edge of the panel 7 and other edges of the panels 1, 5 and 7 can be taped to the edges of the panel 15. The container can then be filled with produce, a suitable source of refrigerant can then be inserted into the container and it can then be closed off by folding down the panel 17 and taping it in position.

The laminate shown in detail in Figure 3 is made up of a rigid polyurethane foam material 31 having a single fluted sheet of corrugated fibreboard 33 which provides the surface layer 27. On the inner face of the foam 31 there is a paper sheet 35 on the exposed surface of which is a further aluminium sheet 37. Likewise, a composite paper/aluminium sheet 39 can be provided between the foam 31 and the corrugated material 33.

It will be appreciated that the laminate can have many. different constructions provided that it has an internal structural layer as des cribed hereinbefore which is grooved where folding is to occur or otherwise provided with lines of weakness and which has an external surface layer which can provide a hinge at each line of weakness.

Although the invention has been described above primarily with reference to the transportation of vegatable and fruit produce at substantially constant temperatures which are generally below the ambient temperature, it will be appreciated that the invention can equally well be applied to the transportation of other goods at temperatures above the ambient temperature. Thus, for example, a container of the invention can be used for the transportation of goods in high-flying cargo aircraft in which the temperature in the cargo hold can fall many degrees below zero. In this case the container can be used to maintain the temperature of the goods substantially at the ambient temperature at ground level during the flight.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A container for transporting produce or other goods, the container comprising a single laminate sheet of material formed with lines of weakness which provide hinges between adjacent walls of the container, the laminate comprising at least a structural insulating layer in which the lines of weakness are formed and a flexible external surface layer which provides the hinge at each of the lines of weakness, said structural layer comprising a rigid or semi-rigid synthetic plastic material and said lines of weakness extending through or substantially through the entire thickness of said structural layer, wherein all the walls including top and bottom walls of the container are integrally formed out of the same sheet.

2. A container as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the external surface layer projects beyond the boundary of the structural layer at least along one free edge of one wall panel so that it overlaps with part of the surface layer of an adjacent wall and is secured thereto.

3. A container as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the overlapping external surface is secured adhesively.

4. A container as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the overlapping external surface is secured by means of staples.

5. A container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the resinous foam material is polyurethane, polystyrene or polyethylene foam.

6. A container as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the inner surface of the foam material layer is coated with a further lamina or laminate.

7. A container as claimed in Claim 6 wherein the further laminate is an aluminium laminate.

8. A container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7 in which the lower wall includes means and/or is formed for co-operation with pallet handling equipment.

9. A container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8 in which the external surface layer comprises a corrugated fibreboard with

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank for a container; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the blank, and Figure 3 is a section through a portion of the blank to an enlarged scale. Referring to the drawings, a blank for a container for produce is made up of four side wall panels 1, 3, 5 and 7 with parallel spaced V-shaped grooves 9, 11 and 13 between them. Each of the wall panels is square and a base panel 15 is joined to the side wall panel 3 wheras a top panel 17 is joined to the side wall panel 5, the two panels 15 and 17 being separated from the respective side wall panels 3 and 5 by further V-shaped grooves 19 and 21 normal to the previously-mentioned grooves. Each of the grooves is a 90 groove and each of the remaining edges of the side, tog and bottom wall panels are defined by 45 chamfers as indicated at 23. As can be seen from Figures 2 ans 3, the Vshaped grooves do not pass completely through the material of the blank which is of laminated construction. They do, however, pass completely through a structural layer 25 or, alternatively, substantially through this layer. To the outer face of the structural layer is bonded an external surface layer 27 which, in the vicinity of the grooves, provides hinges as shown at 29. It will thus be appreciated that the blank shown in Figures 1 and 2 can be folded up into a carton which is in the form of a cube. Initially the base panel 15 will be folded at right angles to the side wall panel 3, whereupon the side wall panels 1,5 and 7 can be folded inwardly and the edge of the panel

1 can be taped to the edge of the panel 7 and other edges of the panels 1, 5 and 7 can be taped to the edges of the panel 15. The container can then be filled with produce, a suitable source of refrigerant can then be inserted into the container and it can then be closed off by folding down the panel 17 and taping it in position.

the flutings parallel to a majority of the lines of weakness.

10. A container according to Claim 1 substantially as described hereinbefore with particular reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification.

11. A pre-formed blank of laminated material for erection into a container as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 10, the laminate having an internal structural layer of insulating material which comprises a substantially rigid resinous foam material or semi-rigid resin impregnated fibreglass or the like and which blank is provided with lines of weakness extending through or substantially through said structural layer, e.g. said structural layer is grooved over at least a major proportion of its depth, and a flexible external layer which provides hinges at said lines of weakness said hinges foldably interconnecting wall panels of said blank disposed on either side of the respective lines of weakness.

12. A blank as claimed in Claim 11 wherein the external surface layer projects beyond the boundary of the structural layer at least along one free edge of one wall panel so that it can be overlapped with part of the surface layer of an adjacent wall panel and secured thereto on assembly of the blank into a container.

13. Ablank as claimed in Claim 10 or Claim 11 in which the resinous foam material is polyurethane, polystyrene or polyethylene.

14. Ablank as claimed in Claim 13 wherein the inner surface of the foam material layer is coated with a further lamina or laminate.

15. A blank as claimed in Claim 14 wherein the further laminate is an aluminium laminate.

16. A blank as claimed in any one of Claims 12 to 15 in which the external surface layer comprises a corrugated fibreboard with the flutings parallel to a majority of the lines of weakness.

17. A blank as claimed in any one of Claims 12 to 16 which is for a rectangular container, in which blank lines of weakness are in the form of 90" V-shaped grooves.

18. A blank as claimed in Claim 17 wherein the free edges of each wall are provided with a 45 chamfer.

19. A blank as claimed in Claim 18 which has lines of weakness comprised by three parallel spaced 90" V-shaped grooves defining four side wall panels.

20. A blank according to Claim 11 substantially as described hereinbefore with particular reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification.

21. A method of transporting perishable produce or other goods comprising forming a container from a single sheet of laminate material, the laminate material comprising a structural insulating layer and being provided with lines of weakness extending through or substantially through said structural layer, to define walls of the container and a flexible external surface layer which provides a hinge at each of the lines of weakness, said structural layer comprising a rigid resinous foam material or semi-rigid resin impregnated fibreglass or like synthetic plastics material, all the walls including top and bottom walls of the container being integrally formed out of the same sheet, inserting the produce or other goods into the container, closing and sealing the container and optionally adjusting the temperature of the interior of the container and/or of the produce or other goods to a desired value where the latter differs from that of the ambient conditions.