Composite metal and plastic tank

A composite metal and plastic tank consisting of a metal frame assembly with a replaceable hollow plastic container mounted therein. The plastic container has downwardly inclined flow channels formed in its base to insure complete drainage of the container when desired and the bottom wall of the frame assembly is flat to enable handling of the tank with conventional fork lift equipment. A comprehensive dunnage plate is interposed in the frame assembly between the container base and the frame bottom wall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In the field of storing and transporting bulk liquid material, there has 
been a long-standing need for a composite plastic and metal tank in which: 
(1) The composite tank is constructed so that the plastic bottle therein is 
replaceable; 
(2) The plastic bottle can be fully emptied with the tank in an upright 
position; and 
(3) The bottom wall of the metal frame for the composite tank is positioned 
so that it is engageable with the tine of a conventional fork lift. 
It is the principal object of this invention, therefore, to provide an 
improved composite metal and plastic tank which accomplishes the above 
described objectives. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A composite metal and plastic tank consisting of a metal frame assembly and 
a plastic bottle supported therein. The metal frame has a substantially 
horizontal flat bottom member of rectangular shape mounted on supporting 
legs and an open metal framework extending upwardly from the bottom member 
and terminating in a top frame member that is aligned with the bottom 
member. 
The plastic bottle is supported on the metal frame assembly and is of a 
size to extend upwardly from the frame bottom member to the top frame 
member in close proximity to the open framework at positions between the 
top and bottom members. The bottle has a base provided with a discharge 
opening and a discharge spout which extends downwardly from the base in 
communication with the discharge opening and through an opening formed in 
the metal bottom member on which the plastic bottle rests. The base of the 
bottle has downwardly inclined flow channels formed in it which terminate 
at the discharge opening to insure complete drainage of the bottle, when 
desired, without requiring tipping or inversion of the tank. Importantly, 
a dunnage plate supported on the frame bottom member at a position below 
the bottle base is formed of a foam material that is cut away to 
accommodate the inclined flow channels in the bottle base in varying 
amounts thereby enabling the container to be firmly supported on the frame 
assembly in an upright position with the frame bottom member being 
substantially horizontal to enable handling of the composite tank assembly 
with conventional fork lift equipment. 
The plastic bottle can be removed from the framework and replaced when 
desired and can be fully emptied with the tank in an upright position by 
virtue of the inclined flow channels formed in the base of the bottle and 
terminating at the discharge opening. The bottom wall of the frame 
assembly is flat and horizontal to enable lifting engagement of the 
composite tank with a conventional fork lift tine.

With reference to the drawing, the composite metal and plastic tank of this 
invention, indicated generally at 10, is illustrated in FIG. 1 as 
including a metal frame assembly 12 having a substantially horizontal flat 
bottom member 14, supported on legs 16. When they are floor supported, the 
legs 16 position the bottom member 14 above the floor a distance 
sufficient to enable engagement of the bottom member 14 with conventional 
fork lift equipment. An open metal framework 18 extends upwardly from the 
bottom member 14 and terminates in a rectangular top frame member 20. 
Combination lifting lugs and leg positioners 22 are secured to the top 
frame member 20 at the corners thereof. 
A hollow plastic bottle or container 24 is supported on and positioned 
within the metal frame assembly 12 as shown in FIG. 1. The bottle 24 is 
supported on the bottom member 14 at a position within the framework 18 
and is of a size to extend upwardly from the frame bottom member to the 
top frame member 20 in close proximity to the framework 18 at positions 
therebetween. The container 34 has a base 26 (FIGS. 2 and 3) provided with 
a discharge opening 28 and a discharge spout 30 which communicates with 
the discharge opening 28 and extends downwardly therefrom. The frame 
bottom member 14 has an opening 34 through which the spout 30 extends 
downwardly. 
The base 26 has downwardly inclined flow channels 36 formed therein which 
extend below the base 26 and terminate at the discharge opening 28 to 
ensure complete drainage of the bottle 24 when in an upright position. 
A dunnage plate 38, formed of a foam material and supported on the frame 
bottom member 14 at a position below the container base 26, as shown in 
FIG. 2, is cut away to form openings 39 to accommodate the flow channels 
36 to enable support of the bottle 24 in an upright position within the 
frame 12. In other words, the downwardly inclined channels 36 will extend 
downwardly into the plate 38 to enable the inclined base 26 of the 
container 24 to be set down flat on the dunnage plate 38. The dunnage 
plate 38 thus accommodates the inclined container channels 36 with respect 
to the flat frame bottom member 14 to enable complete drainage of the 
bottle 24 without tipping, and handling of the container 10 with 
conventional fork lift equipment engaging the bottom member 14. 
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, a discharge valve assembly 40 is connected to 
the discharge spout 30 and located in the space below the bottom member 14 
to enable selective discharge of material from the bottle 24 by 
manipulation of a manually operable handle 42. 
From the above description, it is seen that this invention provides a 
composite metal and plastic tank 10 that includes a replaceable bottle 24 
that is mounted in an upright position within a frame assembly 12. The 
bottle 24 can be fully emptied by virtue of the flow channels 36 that are 
inclined downwardly and terminate at the discharge opening 28 while still 
enabling the bottom member 14 on the frame assembly 12 to be disposed in a 
horizontal position so that the composite tank can be handled with 
conventional fork lift equipment. These advantages are obtained by virtue 
of the inclusion of the foam dunnage plate 38 between the frame bottom 
member 14 and the base 26 of the bottle 24.