GB2069461A - Open fronted container - Google Patents

Abstract

An open fronted container has a base 1 and two opposed side walls 2 between which is located the open front 5. Each side wall has an upwardly extending slot 10 with inverted U-shaped slot extensions 11 and 12. Extending across the front of the container are two rods 13 and 14, the ends of which are retained in engagement with the slots 10 in the respective side walls. The rods 13 and 14 are displaceable from a lower position 16 slidably along the slots 10 and into the extensions 11 and 12 where they extend across the open front of the container to retain the contents thereof. In their lowered position 16 the rods 13 and 14 are located behind a facia panel 7 to permit unobtruded access to the container. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A container This invention reiates to a container.

More particularly the invention concerns an open fronted container in which two opposed and laterally spaced side walls extend upwardly from a base to form therewith an open front. Open fronted containers are well known in the art, generally being injection moulded in plastics material and intended for the transport and display of packaged goods. During the transport or handling of goods packaged in such a container there may be a tendency for them to fall through the open front and it has hitherto been proposed to alleviate this by providing on the container a bar which is locatable across the open front to retain the goods and is removable from the open front for display purposes and to facilitate access to the goods. An example of one form or removable bar is disclosed in United Kingdom Patent No.

1,150,673 in which a front wall of the container has an aperture which constitutes the open front and which aperture is partly defined by convergent side edges between which the bar can be wedged when required to retain the packaged goods and removed to facilitate access to such goods. With this known construction the necessary convergent side edges have the disadvantage that they may permit limited access to the container but more importantly the wedged-in bar is easily dislodgeable and easily mislaid or lost. In a futher prior proposal in United Kingdom Patent No.

1,497,496, the bar is formed with partition walls as a vertically displaceable unit which unit has a lowered condition for retaining bottles between the partition walls and bar so that the latter prevents the bottles from falling through the front opening and a raised condition in which the bar and partition walls are clear of the lower part of the bottles and access can be achieved to the bottles to permit their withdrawal through the front opening; this latter proposal for a bar which is slidably displaceable with partition walls provides a relatively expensive container.

Furthermore there is the disadvantage that the permissible vertical displacement of the bar is restricted to the displacement of the partition walls which can be accommodated within the container and that even in its raised condition the bar impedes, to a certain extent, access through the front opening. It is an object of the present invention to provide an open fronted container which alleviates the disadvantages of the aforementioned prior proposals.

According to the present invention there is provided an open fronted container comprising a base; two opposed and laterally spaced side walls extending upwardly from the base and between which side walls is located the open front; a bar element extending laterally at or adjacent to the open front, the respective ends of the bar element engaging one with each side wall to be displaceable upwardly and downwardly with respect to the base whilst maintaining said engagement, the displacement of the bar element being from a lower position in which access to the container through the open front is substantially un-impeded by the bar element to a raised position in which the bar element extends across the open front and wherein the side walls are provided with locating means whereby the bar element can be optionally retained in the raised position.

Preferably the ends of the bar element engage in upwardly extending tracks on the respective side walls so that the element is slidably displaceable upwardly and downwardly between the lowered and raised portions. With this arrangement the locating means may comprise extensions of the tracks into which the bar is further displaceable to retain it in its raised position. By this arrangement the locating means and tracks can be formed as an integral part of the container which is convenient for manufacture of the container body part as a one piece plastics injection moulding.The aforementioned track extensions may be non-rectiliear (for example "U" shape) form and blind ended so that the bar element can be displaced from the upwardly extending tracks and into the track extensions over a top dead centre region of the track to cooperate with the blind ended extensions and be retained in its raised position. Conveniently, the tracks and the track extensions are slots in the side walls through which the ends of the bar element respectively extend and are slidably retained.The displacement of the bar element into engagement with the locating means, particularly when the latter are in the form of the aforementioned track extensions, can be to any desired extent; this may be useful to determine the extent to which the bar element is located within the container -- usually it will be desirable for the bar element in its raised position to provide maximum storage capacity within the container although it may be desirable when packages of predetermined shape and size are intended to be contained that the bar is displaceable to a raised position where it is retained at a location which assists in holding the packages firmly within the container (for example, by abutment therewith).

The front opening of the container may be wholly or partly defined by a facia panel; this panel may have a portion adjacent to the base so that when the bar element is in its lowest position it is located unobtrusively behind the said lower portion whilst retaining its engagement with the side walls.

If required, two or more bar elements can be provided which are displaceable upwardly and downwardly whilst maintaining engagement with the opposed side walls and in such an arrangement the locating means will usually provide the facility whereby the bar elements can be retained at different raised positions above the base.

It will be appreciated that the upward and downward displacement of the bar element or elements is not necessarily in a direction which is perpendicular to the base but can be obliquely or acutely with respect thereto depending upon the extent to which the capacity of the container is intended to be effectively changed by the bar element or elements in their respective raised positions.

One embodiment of an open fronted container constructed in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the container, and Figure 2 is a scrap section of the container illustrating the manner in which bar elements are displaceably arranged in engagement with opposed side walls of the container.

The container illustrated is predominantly formed as a one piece injection moulding in plastics material such as polypropylene and has a base 1 extending upwardly from which are two opposed and laterally spaced side walls 2 and 3 and a rear wall 4. The container has an open front 5 which is located between the side walls 2 and 3 and is defined by a facia panel 6, a lower portion 7 of which underlies the open front adjacent to the base 1.

Located one in each of the side walls 2 and 3 are a pair of laterally opposed tracks in the form of slots 8 and 9. These slots 8 and 9 are of similar shape and size and each comprises a main part 10 (see Figure 2) which is located adjacent to the front opening 5 and extends upwardly in the side wall with respect to the base 1 and two extension parts 11 and 12 each of which communicates with the slot part 10 and forms an inverted U-shape therewith. As shown in Figure 2 the slot extensions 11 and 12 are vertically spaced at different heights with respect to the base 1.

The bar elements in the form of plastic or metal rods 13 and 14 are provided, these extend laterally over the front of the container so that their respective ends extend through the slotted tracks 8 and 9 in the side walls 2 and 3. The rods 1 3 and 14 are retained in engagement with the slots by star washers and caps (indicated generally at 1 5) which are applied to their respective ends.

The rods 13 and 14 are slidably displaceable along the slot parts 10 from a lowered position indicated at 1 6 to either of two raised positions indicated at 17 and 18. From Figure 2 it will be seen that in their lowered position 1 6 the rods shown at 13' and 14' are substantially located unobtrusively behind the lower portion 7 of the facia panel 6 to permit unobtruded access to the container through the open front 5. When required, the rods 1 3 and 14 are displaceable from their lowered position 1 6 upwardly along the slot parts 10 whilst maintaining engagement therewith and into the respective slot extensions 11 and 12.It will be apparent from Figure 2 that during this latter movement the rods are displaced over top dead centre regions 1 a and 1 2a of the U-shaped slot extensions to rest in the blind end of those extensions as indicated at the raised positions 17 and 1 8 in Figure 2; in this way the slot extensions 11 and 12 form locating means by which the rods are retained in their respective raised positions for retaining packages (such as yogurt pots 19) within the container. Clearly the extent to which the rods 13 and 14 are displaced inwardly over the base 1 in moving into their respective raised positions 1 7 and 1 8 is determined by the slotted extensions 11 and 12 and if required these extensions can be arranged to provide varying locations for the rods, for example if it is desirable that the rods can be located at raised positions where they abut the contents of the container.

Claims (9)

1. An open fronted container comprising a base; two opposed and laterally spaced side walls extending upwardly from the base and between which side walls is located the open front; a bar element extending laterally at or adjacent to the open front, the respective ends of the bar element engaging one with each side wall to be displaceable upwardly and downwardly with respect to the base whilst maintaining said engagement, the displacement of the bar element being from a lower position in which access to the container through the open front is substantially unimpeded by the bar element to a raised position in which the bar element extends across the open front and wherein the side walls are provided with locating means whereby the bar element can be optionally retained in the raised position.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 in which the ends of the bar element engage in upwardly extending tracks on the respective side walls so that the element is slidably displaceable upwardly and downwardly between the raised and lowered positions.

3. A container as claimed in claim 2 in which the locating means comprise extensions of the tracks into which the bar is displaceable to retain it in its raised position.

4. A container as claimed in claim 3 in which the track extensions are of non-rectilinear form communicating with the upwardly extending track parts and are blind ended so that the bar element is displaceable from the upwardly extending track parts and into the track extensions over top dead centre regions of the tracks to co-operate with the blind ended extensions and be retained in its raised position.

5. A container as claimed in claim 4 in which; the track extensions comprise substantially inverted "U" formations.

6. A container as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 5 in which the tracks are slots in the side walls through which the ends of the bar element respectively extend and are slidably retained.

7. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the front opening of the container is at least partially defined by a facia panel having a portion adjacent to the base so that when the bar element is in its lowered position it is located substantially unobtrusively behind the said lower portion.

8. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and having at least two bar elements which are displaceable upwardly and downwardly whilst maintaining engagement with the opposed side walls and which bar elements can co-operate with the locating means to be retained at different raised positions above the base.

9. An open fronted container substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings.