Foldable container, and elastic rotating apparatus for foldable container

A foldable container includes a pair of lateral plates foldably formed between a top plate and a bottom plate, where the lateral plates include an upper lateral plate and a lower lateral plate which are inwardly foldable by a hinge. The upper and lower lateral plates of the lateral plates respectively include upper molds and lower molds at corners on both sides thereof, and the upper and lower molds are mutually locked or unlocked by means of movement of a locking means. Accordingly, it is possible to allow a user to simply lock or unlock the folding of the container by controlling the locking means in the process of folding the container, and enabling the upper and lower molds to be automatically unfolded.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a U.S. National Phase entry from International Application No. PCT/KR2016/003532, filed Apr. 5, 2016, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0077775, filed Jun. 2, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a foldable container and an elastic pivoting device for the foldable container, and more particularly, to a foldable container, which includes a pair of side plates between an upper plate and a lower plate, in which the upper plate is formed to allow an upper side plate and a lower side plate to be folded inward using a hinge portion, the upper and lower side plates include upper and lower molds provided at corners of both sides thereof, and a locking means moves such that the upper and lower molds are mutually locked or unlocked, and an elastic pivoting device for the foldable container, which is provided to hinge-pivot due to an elastic force such that an horizontally folded upper mold or lower mold is vertically unfolded.

2. Description of Related Art

Recently, as trade between nations is extensively conducted, effects of export and import on national economies are greatly increased. Particularly, in addition to development of aeronautical technology, trade using airplanes, which is different from conventional trade using ships, has been gradually increased.

Trade using airplanes has a technical advantage of quickly transporting cargo. Due to this, 25% of the entire export amount depends on airplanes.

Meanwhile, to transport cargo by airplane, a container for air cargo is used. The container for air cargo may have a form and a shape which differ according to an internal structure of an airplane or type of cargo being handled.

The container for air cargo prevents cargo from encountering dangerous situation such as being separated by vibrations or shocks caused by air currents generated during a flight, and a vacant container is collected again after use or stored in an airport to be used later.

A conventional container for air cargo had a limitation in being collected again due to problems caused by its volume and was uneconomic because it was difficult to efficiently utilize space due to a volume thereof while being stored in an airport.

Also, containers for air cargo do not continuously circulate depending on characteristics of exporting and importing nations. An oversupply phenomenon occurred in nations which import more and a shortage phenomenon occurred in nations which export more such that there was a vicious circle of wasting resources to continuously produce containers.

To solve this, there is an invention for disassembling and storing containers after use or reducing volumes of containers through folding.

However, disassembling and storing containers consumed a lot of manpower and time, in which there was a phenomenon in which a loss or a forgetful loss of components forming a container occurs which degrades durability during a process thereof.

Also, although there was a foldable folding container, there was a disadvantage of having to manually manipulate the container or having to unfold the container by using the force of a forklift.

As shown inFIG. 1, there is published Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1387393, titled “Auto folding air container” (registered on Apr. 15, 2014, hereinafter, referred to as “prior art document”)

The prior art document had advantages of being configured to be foldable to reduce volume and be automatically foldable. However, an air inlet was provided at an air cylinder for folding side plates and it was necessary to supply air to the air inlet or to discharge air.

This caused difficulty in manufacturing, and providing the air cylinder and air inlet caused members of the container to become complicated. Also, since it was necessary to continuously supply and discharge air to and from the air inlet during a folding process, there was a problem of inconvenient operation.

In addition, since front and rear surfaces were opened in order to make the container foldable, it was necessary to additionally configure separate covering means. Even when an additional covering means was provided, there was a problem in which cargo became separated from the container by strong vibrations.

Meanwhile, the present invention is not limited to a container for air cargo and is applicable to prefabricated houses, containers for transporting vehicles, containers for ships, and the like, which are capable of being manufactured by using foldable containers.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present invention provides a foldable container in which it is possible to reduce a volume thereof by simply, without a separate driving force means, folding side plates, mutually locking or unlocking upper and lower molds by using a locking means, allowing a pair of side plates to be automatically unfolded, allowing simple folding using manpower, allowing front and rear surfaces, even when folding the side plates to reduce the volume, to be covered, and forming an open portion at a side surface to allow easy loading of cargo.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foldable container configured to allow a pair of side plates300to be foldable between an upper plate100and a lower plate200, in which the side plate300is configured to allow an upper side plate310and a lower side plate320to be folded inward using a hinge portion330, the upper and lower side plates310and320of the side plate300include upper and lower molds311and321at corners of both sides thereof, respectively, and a locking means600moves such that the upper and lower molds311and321are mutually locked or unlocked.

An elastic pivoting device400may be provided to hinge-pivot due to an elastic force between the upper plate100and the upper mold311of the upper side plate310or between the lower plate200and the lower mold321of the lower side plate320such that the horizontally folded upper mold311or lower mold321is vertically unfolded.

The elastic pivoting device400may include a pivoting rod410which slides in the upper mold311or the lower mold321and a pivoting guider420to surround the pivoting rod410and may include an elastic body430provided in the pivoting guider420to surround the pivoting rod410such that the elastic body430may pressurize the pivoting guider420and the elastic pivoting device400may hinge-pivot as a whole.

The pivoting rod410may include a support411formed thereon and the pivoting guider420may include a cylindrical pressurizer421which surrounds the pivoting rod410in a guider body422while both ends of the elastic body430are supported by the support411and the pressurizer421and pressurize the pressurizer421of the pivoting guider420.

The elastic pivoting device400may include a hinge body440which includes a rod hinge441and a guider hinge442and may be coupled to the upper plate100or the lower plate200such that one end of the pivoting rod410pivots due to the rod hinge441and the guider body422of the pivoting guider420pivots due to the guider hinge442.

A space portion110may be formed in the upper plate100, and a front panel120and a rear panel130may be provided therein and slide outward from the upper plate100to cover a front surface and a rear surface of the foldable container FC.

Front and rear molds121and131may be provided at corners of both sides of the front panel120and the rear panel130, respectively, and a locking means140may move such that the side plate300and the front and rear molds121and131of the front and rear panels120and130may be mutually locked or unlocked.

Coupling pieces125and135may be formed at bottom ends of the front panel120and the rear panel130, respectively, and may be inserted into and fixed to coupling grooves210and220of the lower plate200, respectively.

One side plate300of the pair of side plates300may be formed to partially correspond to the other side plate300and may include an open portion OP formed on a side surface thereof.

An independent frame500may be formed at the open portion OP to allow an upper frame510and a lower frame520to be folded inward using a frame hinge portion530.

The locking means600may include guide rails610and620at the upper and lower molds311and321, respectively, and may include a coupling rail630with one end coupled to any one of the guide rails610and620to pivot due to a rail hinge640and another end on which a sliding member631slides along the coupling rail630to be pressurized outward by an elastic member633such that the sliding member631may be inserted into and coupled to any one of the guide rails610and620.

The sliding member631may include a rail holder632and the guide rails610and620may include holding grooves650such that the rail holder632is held by and fixed to the holding groove650.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elastic pivoting device400for unfolding panels with a mold at at least one corner of a foldable container FC so that the panels are mutually vertical. The elastic pivoting device400includes a pivoting rod410which slides in the mold of the panel and a pivoting guider420to surround the pivoting rod410and includes an elastic body430provided in the pivoting guider420to surround the pivoting rod410such that the elastic body430pressurizes the pivoting guider420and the elastic pivoting device400hinge-pivots as a whole.

The pivoting rod410may include a support411formed thereon and the pivoting guider420may include a cylindrical pressurizer421which surrounds the pivoting rod410in a guider body422while both ends of the elastic body430may be supported by the support411and the pressurizer421and may pressurize the pressurizer421of the pivoting guider420.

The elastic pivoting device400may include a hinge body440which includes a rod hinge441and a guider hinge442and is coupled to the upper plate100or the lower plate200such that one end of the pivoting rod410may pivot due to the rod hinge441and the guider body422of the pivoting guider420may pivot due to the guider hinge442.

A rod arm450may be coupled to one end of the pivoting rod410to pivot due to an arm hinge451such that one end of the rod arm450is coupled to pivot due to a rod hinge441.

The rod arm450may have a shape curved in an opposite pivoting direction around a central shaft in a longitudinal direction.

Advantageous Effects

As described above, the present invention has a technical effect of allowing simple locking or unlocking a container through manipulation on a locking means by a user during a process of folding the container.

Also, there is a technical effect in which an elastic pivoting device is provided between an upper plate or a lower plate and an upper or lower mold of an upper or lower side plate to hinge-pivot due to an elastic force to allow the horizontally folded upper and lower molds to be automatically unfolded.

Hereby, even when the container does not include a separate driving force means, the container for air cargo may be simply folded by using the forklift.

In addition, since it is possible to pressurize in a direction opposite to the elastic force by only using manpower during a folding process, there is an advantage of being able to simply fold the container.

Also, since a space portion is formed in an upper plate, and a front panel and a rear panel are provided therein and slide outward from the upper plate, there is an effect of being able to cover a front surface and a rear surface of the container for air cargo.

Hereby, there is an additional advantage of being able to effectively load air cargo by extending an open portion by selectively opening and closing the front panel and the rear panel.

Also, there is a technical effect of being able to stably cover front and rear surfaces as necessary while reducing a volume of the container.

In addition, there are technical effects of being able to easily load cargo by forming an open portion at a side surface and to effectively fold the container in a safe manner by forming an independent frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1is a cross-sectional photo of an airplane on which a general container for air cargo is loaded. As shown inFIG. 1, it is very uneconomic to collect and store the general container for air cargo after use due to limitations caused by a volume thereof. Accordingly, there have been folding containers manufactured to be foldable. However, there was a problem in which front and rear surfaces were open. There was an additional problem in which cargo deviated due to vibration and the like even when additional covering means were provided.

As shown inFIG. 2, a foldable container FC according to one embodiment of the present invention is configured to allow a pair of side plates300to be foldable between an upper plate100and a lower plate200.

A variety of methods of folding the pair of side plates300may be variously designed, but it is most advantageous in an aspect of space utilization that the upper and lower side plates310and320are formed to be folded inward.

As shown inFIG. 3, the upper and lower side plates310and320of the side plates300include upper and lower molds311and321at both corners thereof.

When the upper and lower molds311and321are provided at both corners of the upper and lower side plates310and320, the hinge portion330may be provided only between the molds such that simplicity in manufacturing and ease of folding may be provided.

Also, the molds are provided to surround the side plates such that structural safety and durability of the side plates300may be provided.

Here, locking means600moves to allow the upper and lower molds311and321to be mutually locked or unlocked. Hereby, there is a technical effect of being able to simply lock or unlock the container by only moving the locking means600.

Meanwhile, an elastic pivoting device400may be provided to be hinge-pivotable due to an elastic force between the upper plate100and the upper mold311of the upper side plate310or between the lower plate200and the lower mold321of the lower side plate320.

That is, due to the elastic force of the elastic pivoting device400, the upper mold311pivots downward and the lower mold321pivots upward such that the horizontally folded upper mold311or lower mold321may be vertically unfolded.

Hereby, as shown inFIGS. 11 and 12, the foldable container FC according to one embodiment of the present invention may have a technical effect of automatically unfolding the upper plate100or the lower plate200and the upper and lower side plates310and320.

Also, the elastic pivoting device400may be provided at only the upper plate100or the lower plate200. In this case, a hinge is provided between the upper and lower plates100and200and the upper and lower molds311and321at which the elastic pivoting device400is not provided such that the container may be naturally unfolded by a restoration force of the elastic pivoting device400.

On the other hand, since it is possible to pressurize in a direction opposite to the elastic force by only using manpower during a folding process, the container may be simply folded.

In detail, as shown inFIG. 4, the elastic pivoting device400may include a pivoting rod410which slides in the upper mold311or the lower mold321and a pivoting guider420to surround the pivoting rod410.

Here, an elastic body430is provided in the pivoting guider420to surround the pivoting rod410and pressurizes the pivoting guider420such that the elastic pivoting device400may be hinge-pivotable as a whole.

Although a coil spring is shown as an example of the elastic body430, it may be replaced by a variety of other means capable of applying a pressure such as a rubber material, a plate spring, and the like.

That is, as shown in (a) and (b) ofFIG. 5, when the elastic body430provided between the pivoting rod410and the pivoting guider420pressurizes the pivoting guider420with an elastic force, the pivoting guider420hinge-pivots and the pivoting rod410provided in the pivoting guider420also pivots such that the pivoting rod410, which slides in the upper and lower molds311and321, allows the upper and lower molds311and321to pivot as a whole and allows the upper and lower side plates310and320to be unfolded with the hinge portion330as the center thereof.

Meanwhile, the pivoting rod410includes a support411formed thereon and the pivoting guider420includes a cylindrical pressurizer421which surrounds the pivoting rod410in a guider body422while both ends of the elastic body430may be supported by the support411and the pressurizer421and may pressurize the pressurizer421of the pivoting guider420.

Accordingly, the elastic body430pressurizes the pressurizer421of the pivoting guider420through a restoration force, and the pivoting guider420which receives the applied pressure allows the elastic pivoting device400to pivot as a whole.

In more detail, the pressurizer421includes a lip portion421athereinside and the elastic body430is provided between the pivoting rod410and the pressurizer421such that one end of the elastic body430may be supported by the lip portion421a.

Also, the elastic body430may be fixed to the pivoting rod410not only by the support411but also by a variety of methods such as a fixing hole and the like.

The upper and lower molds311and321of the upper and lower side plates310and320which form the side plates300may be inserted into and coupled to the guider body422.

Meanwhile, in the elastic pivoting device400, a hinge body440including a rod hinge441and a guider hinge442may be coupled to the upper plate100or the lower plate200.

The rod hinge441and the guider hinge442may be directly provided at the upper plate100or the lower plate200. However, for efficiency of manufacturing, the hinge body440including the rod hinge441and the guider hinge442may preferably be coupled to the upper plate100or the lower plate200.

One end of the pivoting rod410may be provided to pivot due to the rod hinge441, and the guider body422of the pivoting guider420may be provided to pivot due to the guider hinge442.

Here, the rod hinge441and the guider hinge442may be arranged to be uneven and not coaxially formed.

In detail, the elastic body430applies a pressure along a central shaft of the provided pivoting rod410but a central shaft of the guider body422is formed in a direction opposite to a pivoting direction of the pivoting rod410such that a center of gravity may be formed in an opposite pivoting direction of the rod hinge441and accordingly more effective pivoting may be performed.

Meanwhile, a rod arm450is coupled to the one end of the pivoting rod410to pivot due to an arm hinge451, and one end of the rod arm450may be coupled to pivot due to the rod hinge441.

Since the arm hinge451and the rod hinge441are provided at both ends of the rod arm450, a pivoting radius of the pivoting rod410is decreased such that efficient pivoting is possible. Since the pivoting rod410pivots due to two hinges, a technical effect of easily pivoting with elasticity is provided.

Here, the rod arm450may have a shape curved in a direction opposite to a pivoting around a central shaft in a longitudinal direction.

Hereby, since the center of gravity is naturally formed in an opposite pivoting direction, the pivoting guider420and the pivoting rod410may more easily pivot due to the restoration force of the elastic body430than the pivoting direction.

Even when the rod arm450is not present, a curved portion is formed at an end of the rod hinge441side of the pivoting rod410to provide the same effect. The curved shape does not matter and the same effect may be provided by designing the center of gravity to be formed in the opposite pivoting direction.

As shown inFIG. 2, a space portion110is formed in the upper plate100, and a front panel120and a rear panel130are provided therein and slide outward from the upper plate100to cover a front surface and a rear surface of the foldable container FC.

Since it is difficult to embody both of the side plates and front and rear plates to be folded at the same time due to a limitation in space between the upper plate and the lower plate, the front panel120and the rear panel130slide outward to cover the front surface and the rear surface while the foldable container FC is unfolded such that there is a technical effect of easily performing a folding process and stably covering the front and rear surfaces as necessary while reducing a volume of the foldable container FC.

Here, a front cover111and a rear cover112are provided on front and rear sides of the upper plate100and may cover the front and rear of the space portion110at which the front panel120and the rear panel130are provided.

Meanwhile, as shown in (a) and (b) ofFIG. 6, front and rear molds121and131are provided at both corners of the front panel120and the rear panel130while a locking means140is provided at the front and rear molds121and131such that the side plates300and the front panel120or the rear panel130may be mutually locked or unlocked by moving the locking means140upward and downward.

Although embodied in a variety of methods, the locking means140may be configured, as an example, as shown inFIG. 7, to include a locking piece141having ashaped cross section, a grip portion142on one side of the locking piece141and a holding hole143which prevents a holding head144from being separated while being inserted, on the other side thereof such that the holding hole143of the locking piece141vertically moves by a vertical movement of the grip portion142so as to be held or released by the holding head144.

Here, the holding head144may be provided at the pair of side plates300and preferably may be provided at the upper and lower molds311and321.

Accordingly, there is a technical effect in which the side plate300and the front and rear molds121and131of the front and rear panels120and130may be simply locked by a user manipulating the locking means and may be simply unlocked to be folded when being disassembled.

Also, as shown in (a) and (b) ofFIG. 8, coupling pieces125and135may be formed at bottom ends of the front panel120and the rear panel130, respectively, and may be inserted into and fixed to coupling grooves210and220of the lower plate200, respectively.

In more detail, the coupling pieces125and135are formed along corners of the bottom ends of the front panel120and the rear panel130in a longitudinal direction while being bent outward to be inserted into and simultaneously held and coupled to the coupling grooves210and220such that separation is prevented. The coupling pieces125and135are inserted into the coupling grooves210and220and then the locking means140is manipulated such that assembling of the front panel120and the rear panel130is completed and disassembling thereof is performed in a reverse order.

Meanwhile, as shown inFIG. 9, the locking means600is provided such that the upper and lower molds311and321may be mutually locked or unlocked by moving the locking means600upward or downward.

Although the locking means600may be embodied in a variety of methods, as an example, the locking means600may include guide rails610and620at the upper and lower molds311and321while one end of a coupling rail630is coupled to any one of the guide rails610and620to pivot due to a rail hinge640.

Here, a sliding member631slides at the other end of the coupling rail630along the coupling rail630while being pressurized outward by an elastic member633such that the sliding member631may be inserted into and coupled to any one of the guide rails610and620.

The sliding member631may include a rail holder632such that coupling may be released by moving the sliding member631opposite to a pressurizing direction of the elastic member633while gripping the elastic member633, and the rail holder632, in order to be folded, may be held by and fixed to holding grooves650formed at the guide rail610and620.

Meanwhile, in the lower side plate320of the pair of side plates300, the lower mold321on one side may have an inclined portion321ato face each other.

An objective of the inclined portion321ais to efficiently utilize a space by using a standardized shape of the container for air cargo.

Meanwhile, the inclined portion321ahas an unfavorable structure for folding of the automatically foldable container FC for air cargo according to one embodiment of the present invention and particularly has a great limitation in forming the front panel120.

Hereupon, as shown inFIG. 3, an upper front panel122and a lower front panel123of the front panel120are formed to be folded inward using a front hinge portion124such that the lower front panel123may cover the inclined portion321a.

Hereby, a technical effect of effectively covering the inclined portion321awhile forming the front panel120is provided.

Meanwhile, upper and lower front molds121aand121bare provided at corners of both sides of the upper and lower front panels122and123and may be folded by a central front hinge124a.

Here, since the upper and lower front panels122and123are configured to be surrounded by the molds, the front hinge portion124is provided only between the molds such that simplicity in manufacturing and ease folding may be provided.

The front hinge portion124may include the central front hinge124abetween the upper and lower front molds121aand121band may include an upper front hinge124bbetween the upper plate100and the upper front mold121a.

Also, as shown inFIG. 10(a), a rear hinge portion132of the rear panel130may be provided between the upper plate100and the rear mold131.

Meanwhile, as shown inFIG. 10(b), one side plate300of the pair of side plates300is formed to partially correspond to the other side plate300such that an open portion OP may be formed on a side surface thereof.

The open portion OP functions to allow easy loading of air cargo and is open along with the front panel120and the rear panel130for loading of the air cargo and then may cover the front surface and the rear surface.

Also, the upper and lower molds311and321provided at a side portion of the open portion OP include net holders311band321bto fasten a cover net which prevents cargo from being exposed.

Here, an independent frame500may be formed at the open portion OP to allow an upper frame510and a lower frame520to be folded inward using a frame hinge portion530.

The independent frame500may be provided to face the upper and lower molds311and321on one side of the side plate300and may be folded by the frame hinge portion530such that the open portion OP has structural safety.

Here, the independent frame500may also include the locking means600such that the upper frame510and the lower frame520may be mutually locked or unlocked by vertically moving the locking means600.

Also, the elastic pivoting device400is provided to hinge-pivot due to an elastic force between the upper plate100and the upper frame510or between the lower plate200and the lower frame520such that the horizontally folded upper frame510or lower frame520may be vertically unfolded.

Meanwhile, the foldable container FC according to one embodiment of the present invention may be embodied to be manually unfolded without the elastic pivoting device400. Here, as shown inFIG. 13, clamp holes may be formed at both sides of the upper plate100, and fork holders700are fixed to the clamp holes150and forks F of a forklift are inserted into and coupled to the fork holders700and move upward and downward such that the foldable container FC according to one embodiment of the present invention may be easily folded.

Hereby, even when the foldable container FC does not include a separate driving force means, the container may be simply folded by using the forklift.

Also, when the elastic pivoting device400is not provided, an upper hinge may be provided between the upper plate100and the upper side plate310and a lower hinge may be provided between the lower plate200and the lower side plate320.

That is, the hinge portion330may be embodied to be folded inward using a central hinge provided between the upper side plate310and the lower side plate320and the upper and lower hinges.

It should be understood that the foldable container FC and the elastic pivoting device400for the foldable container according to one embodiment of the present invention, described above, are not limited to the above embodiments and a variety of modifications made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the essential of the present invention are included in the scope of the claims of the present invention.