IE44676B1 - Containers for bulk materials - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to containers for bulk materials and in particular to containers or sacks of a flexible material for use in the storage/transportation of bulk materials, for example, materials such as food, chemicals, plastics, feedstuffs, fertilizer, grain and the like granular products.

Containers or sacks of a flexible material, such as woven polypropylene, are known and in the known constructions of sacks which are available, lifting loops - usually of a strong nylon webbing material - are double stitched into pockets formed at the open mouth end or top end of the polypropylene sack. A second construction of sack which is available has the open mouth of the sack turned back to enclose a reinforcing band of strong nylon webbing material, spaced apart lifting loops, also of strong nylon webbing material being secured by double stitching between the polypropylene sack material and the reinforcing band of strong nylon webbing material.

It will be readily appreciated that the strength of the lifting loops is determined by the strength of the stitching·which holds the lifting loops in position. Further, with such sacks the load is not evenly distributed over the entire sack.

The present invention is directed towards providing an improved construction of container or sack for bulk materials, (hereinafter referred to as a container).

In accordance with the invention there is provided a container for bulk materials, said container being formed from an elongate panel member of woven material and two side wall panels also of woven material, the ends of the elongate panel member being of tapered shape and being connected together to form the top of the container, and that portion of the elongate panel member situated between the tapered ends forming the front, rear and bottom walls of the container, and the two side wall panels being securely jointed to the elongate panel member to form the side walls of the container.

If the container is to be reused, it should preferably have a safety factor of 5:1. In these circumstances, the panel member of the container will be provided with integral reinforcing elements. For example, the panel member may be provided with a reinforcing band of material formed intermediate its width by the folding of a portion of said panel member upon itself along its length. By twice folding a central portion of said panel member upon itself a three-ply reinforcing band is formed at the centre of said one-ply panel member. Alternatively, the panel member may have woven therein a plurality of spaced apart reinforcing bands. Said reinforcing bands may be, for example, of polypropylene, terylene, cotton or nylon.

The panel member may have its tapered ends securely joined together by overlapping said ends and double stitching them. Alternatively, the ends may be secured together by clipping means, for example, clips sold under the registered Trade Mark Signode. The side wall panels are securely jointed to the panel member by stitching said side wall panels into place. #4.6’6 Preferably, the ends of the panel member are tapered by folding the edges of said ends towards the centre of said panel member at its inner surface and folding back the edges upon themselves and securing said folded portions by stitching so as to give tailored ends.

The invention will be understood from the following description' of fembodiments thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Pig. 1 is a perspective view of the container of the present invention attached to a lifting hook; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the panel member of· the container shown in Pig. 1; Pig. 3 is a front view of portion of a sheet for forming another construction of a panel member of a container according to the invention; . ...

Pig. 4 is a perspective view from above of the portion of the panel member formed from the sheet’shown in Fig. 3 illustrating in detail a formed three-ply reinforcing b^nd; and, Pig. 5 is a diagrammatic front view of a folded or tailored end of the panel member of Pig. 4.

Referring to Pigs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, the container of the present invention is assembled from an elongate panel member 10 of woven polypropylene which has woven therein three spaced apart reinforcing bands 11 also of woven polypropylene.

The tapered ends 12 of the panel member 10 are overlapped for at least 0.75 and then double stitched to form from said panel member 10, a front wall 13, a rearwall 14, a bottom wall 15 and a top cover 16 for the container.

Side wall panels 17, also of woven polypropylene, are double stitched along stitch lines at 18, 19 and 20 to complete the assembly of the container .

The tapered ends 12 which form the top cover 16 of the container also form a lifting loop for a crane hook 21 or the lifting forks of a fork lift truck.

It is envisaged that a strong plastics sleeve (not shown) may to advantage be slipped over the double stitched overlapping ends 12 of the panel member 10 to protect said double stitched material from the abrasive action of a crane hook 21 or a lifting fork of a fork lift truck.

It will be readily appreciated that the use of wcven-in reinforcing bands which extend completely around the container, greatly improves the strength of the container and improves the overall load distribution throughout the container during a lifting operation.

This latter factor enhances the safety factor of such containers.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings, there is provided a sheet 22 which may be used to form another construction of a panel member io' of a further container according to the invention. The sheet 22 has three marked, centrally located, fold areas 23, 24 and 25. In forming the panel member 10', said fold areas 23, 24 and 25 are folded upon each other, as illustrated in Fig. of the accompanying drawings, to form the panel member 101 having a reinforcing three-ply band 111. The fold areas 23, 24 and 25 are held securely together by rows of stitching 26 and 27. The sheet 22 as woven is 48 inches in width and each fold area 23, 24 and 25 is 6 inches in width. Accordingly, the formed one-ply panel member 10' is 36 inches wide, the three-ply reinforcing band 11' - S 44676 being 6 inches in width.

As shown in Fig. 5, the panel member 10' has tapered ends 12' and these ends are overlapped for at least 0.75 and then secured in position by means of conventional clips, for example, clips sold under the name Signode which is a registered Trade Mark. The panel member 10'· thereby forms the front wall, rear wall, bottom wall and: the top of the container. Side wall panels are double stitched into position between said front, rear and bottom walls to complete the container as in the case of the previous embodiment.

In order to form the tapered ends 121 of the panelmember 10', the ends of said panel member 10' are tailored as follows. Referring to Fig. 5, the outer portions 28 and 29 of the panel member 10' flanking the reinforced band 11' are folded at an angle towards the inner surface 30 of the panel member 10', the said portions 28 and 29 are then folded back on·themselves and double stitched.

The ends of the panel 10' are folded so that the width of the overlapped tapered ends 12' is approximately equal to the width of’the reinforced band 11'. A strong and robust lifting loop is accordingly provided.

It is also envisaged that to provide a very strong lifting loop, a steel rod is stitched into each one of the two tapered end portions 12 or 12 '· of the panel member 10: or 10' and a chain linked be'tween the two steel rods. The lifting loop for the container is then the · chain and this facilitates engagement with the lifting hook of a crane or the like lifting equipment.

In order to facilitate the emptying of the container according to the invention, the bottom wall 15 may incorporate a conventional delivery chute. It is also 44<7β - 7 envisaged that a polythene liner may he incorporated in the container when the container is for use with hygroscopic materials. A weather resistant cover and/or a cover resistant to ultra-violet light may be provided to allow use of the container for outdoor storage purposes.

It is further envisaged that a side wall panel 17 may incorporate a pocket (not shown) to facilitate carrying of shipping/transport/customs documents and the like papers.

Claims (1)

1. CLAIMS;- . 1. A container for bulk materials, said container being formed from an elongate panel member of woven material and two side wall panels also of woven material, 2. A container according to claim 1 wherein the panel member and the side wall panels are comprised of polypropylene material. 15 3. A container according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the panel meiriber has one or more integral reinforcing elements. · ., 4. A container according to claim 3 wherein the panel member is provided with -a reinforcing band of 20 material formed intermediate its width by the folding of a portion of said panel meiriber upon itself along its length. 5. 7 wherein the tapered ends of the panel member are joined together by clipping means. 10. A container according to any preceding claim wherein the side wal] panels are securely joined to the panel member by stitching. 5. A container according to claim 4 wherein a three-ply reinforcing band is formed at the centre of 25 said panel member by twice folding a central portion of said panel member upon itself. 5 the ends of the elongate panel meiriber being of tapered shape and being connected together to form the top of the container, and that portion of the elongate panel member situated between the tapered ends forming the front, rear and bottom walls of the container, and the two side wall 10 panels being securely jointed to the elongate panel member to form the side walls of the container. 6. A container according to claim 3 wherein the panel member has woven therein a plurality of spaced ·. apart reinforcing bands. · 30 7. A container according to claim 5 Wherein said .woven reinforcing bands are comprised of polypropylene, 'terylene, cotton or nylon. ‘ 5 - 9 8. A container according to any preceding claim wherein the tapered ends of the panel member are joined together by double stitching. 9. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 10 11. , A container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. F. R. KELLY & CO.