IL47283A - Transport container - Google Patents

Description

Transport container TILLOTSONS CORRUGATED CASES LIMITED 0/ 45082 This invention relates to an improved transport container for example of the kind employed to transport materials (e¾. powder or particulate materials) in bulk. The invention has par ticular application to transport containers of a carrying capaci of between 20 and 70 cubic feet and of loads up to 2500 lbs.

The invention has particular, but not exclusive, applicatio to transport containers fabricated from corrugated fibre board.

According to the present invention an empty transport container comprises a body portion of polygonal cross-section forme from inner and oute ■? skins disposed one within the other whereby at any corner of the said cross-section of the body portion, the angle included by the sides of the inner skin is smaller than th angle included by the sides of the outer skin at that corner, th sides of the inner skin, from the vertex of that corner, thereby diverging from the adjacent sides of the outer skin meeting at that corner, to define a gap along each side of the body portion at least one strut extending from top to bottom of the body port located in each gap and at least one turn-lock fastener (as here after defined) attached to each strut, the appropriate locking opening for each fastener being formed in the outer skin of the body in the positions required to hold the struts in the correct disposition between the skins.

Throughout this specification the term "turn-lock 'fastener" will be used to describe a combination of fastener and locking opening which allows free passage of the fastener through the opening in one relative disposition of the fastener and the open ing but which prevents such passage following rotation of the fastener through a certain angle in the opening.

Conveniently two turn-lock fasteners are provided on each strut, one in the upper half of the length of the strut and the other in the lower half of the length of the strut. The openings formed in the outer skin are conveniently non-circular, being longer in one direction than in a direction normal thereto.

The fastener may be of any convenient material but fasteners moulded from a plastics material are preferred. Suitably the struts are of timber with one strut located in the centre of each side of the body portion, the struts extending parallel to the corners of the said cross-section of the body portion.

Conveniently both the inner and the outer skins are constructed from corrugated fibre board, the corrugations thereof conveniently extending in the direction from top to bottom of the container.

Suitably the outer skin is of approximately square cross-section, the inner skin then having a cross-sectional shape of an eight-sided star.

The container may be secured to a pallet to permit easy movement by means of a fork-lift vehicle. Preferably the pallet is fabricated from timber and includes a load-bearing member disposed below each strut.

The accompanying drawing illustrates, by way of example, one embodiment of transport container in accordance with this inventio In the drawings:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a filled container with the struts (not shown) locked in position, Figure 2 is a section, on an enlarged scale, of a part of the container, taken on the line II - II of Figure 1, and shows the condition of the container when empty on the right and when full on the left, - Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the circled region of Figure 2, and ■ Figure 4 is a front elevation in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 2, showing a turn-lock fastener in its lo¾ed condition.

The transport container comprises an outer skin 1 and an inner skin 2, both of corrugated double-faced card. A flexible bag (not shown) is located within the inner skin and is filled with a granular product 4. In the empty condition (see the right of Figure 2) the outer skin is of approximately square cross-section while the inner skin 2 has a cross-sectional shape of an eight-sided star. AJr, each corner of the cross-section of the con tainer the angle included by the sides of the inner skin is small than the angle included by the sides of the outer skin at that corner. Four struts 5 are located one centrally along each side of the outer skin 1, the struts extending from top to bottom of the container, being located in the gap formed by the diverging skins, and serving to space apart central regions of the skins on each side of the container.

The central location of each strut along each side of the container is ensured by two turn-lock fasteners associated with each strut. Each fastener comprises a plastics member 6, rotat-ably secured to the strut by a nail 7, and an elongated locking opening 8 formed in the outer skin 1. The shape of the members 6 can be seen from Figures 2, 3 and 4 and it will be noted that the member 6 can pass through its associated locking opening if the elongate dimensions of the member and opening are aligned, but that the member 6 can be locked in the opening 8 if the elongate dimensions are normal to one another. From Figure 3 it will be noted that the dimension of the tapered clearance formed between the member 6 and the strut 5 approximates to that of the thicknes of the material from which the outer skin 1 is formed, so that on rotating the member 6 about the nail 7 in the opening 8, a wedging action takes place which serves to frictionally retain the member 6 in its "locked position" relative to the opening 8.

It will be appreciated that a wide variety of alternative types of turn-lock fastener could be used in place of the one illustrated and the invention embraces all such which operate within the scope of the foregoing definition.

One embodiment of transport container in accordance with the invention was 40 inches by 40 inches in cross-section and 66 inches high. It was loaded with 2100 lbs of granular material and subjected to a test on a bulk unit load vibrator which was equivalent to a journey of several hundred miles over rough roads The container under test employed four 4 inch by 2 inch timber struts to strengthen the sides and at the completion of the test was unaffected by the extensive vibration to which it had been subjected.

The component parts from which a container in accordance with the invention is constructed constitute a further feature of the present invention. In the case of a container as shown in Figure 1 there would be a pre-cut and creased outer skin 1, a pre-cut and creased inner skin 2, pre-cut struts 5 (with turn lock fastener members 6), a pallet and tubular material for the flexible bag.

It is a highly desirable feature of a transport container as described herein that the container can be supplied to a user in a disassembled condition and can easily be erected into the condition required for use, by the user, prior to being filled by the user. Once filled, there is no tendency for the struts 5 to move between the skins 1 and 2 of the body but without the turn-lock fasteners such a tendency would exist in an erected, but un- filled, container. If a container should be filled with the struts wrongly positioned between the skins, the utility of the container may be seriously impaired and the wrong disposition cannot normally be corrected without at least partially removing the contents filling the container.

Claims (9)

1. What we claim is:- 1. An empty transport container comprising a body portion of polygonal cross-section formed from inner and outer skins disposed one within the other whereby at any corner of the said cross section of the body portion, the angle included by the sides of the inner skin is smaller than the angle included by the sides of the outer skin at that corner, the sides of the inner skin, from the vertex of that corner, thereby diverging from the adjacent sides of the outer skin meeting at that corner, to define a gap along each side of the body portion, at least one strut extending from top to bottom of the body portion located in each gap and at least one turn-lock fastener (as hereinbefore defined) attached to each strut, the appropriate locking opening for each fastener being formed in the outer skin of the body in the positions required to hold the struts in the correct disposition between the skins.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1, in which the struts are of timber with one strut located in the centre of each side of -the body portion, the struts extending parallel to the corners of the said cross-section of the body portion.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which both the inner and the outer skins are constructed from corrugated fibre board, the corrugations thereof extending in the direction from top to bottom of the container.

4. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the outer skin is of approximately square cross-section, the inner skin then having a cross-sectional shape of an eight-sided star.

5. A container as claimed in; any preceding claim, in which a pallet is secured to the bottom of the body portion and includes a load-bearing member disposed below each strut.

6. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, in ^ which two turn-lock fasteners are provided on each strut.

7. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the opening formed in the outer skin for each turn-lock fastener is longer in one direction than in a direction normal thereto.

8. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the turn-lock fasteners comprise members of plastics materi al,

9. A transport container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawing.