TRANSPORT CONTAINER ASSEMBLY

Abstract: A pallet container which comprises a pallet and a container secured to the top side thereof, especially intended for transporting and storing bulk materials. The pallet (1) has an upturning circular neck or collar (8), and a shell (5) of several plies of sheet material, especially paper, is secured to the exterior of the neck or collar. The shell (5) may consist of wound, one-sided corrugated cardboard (10, 19, 20) with the corrugated side facing inwardly. Inside the container, which thus consists of the shell (5) and pallet (1), a watertight bag or sacks (13), preferably of plastic, may be glued. The pallet container is produced in that a finished, produced pallet having a circular neck on the top surface thereof is secured with its top side to the end of a winding mandrel having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the neck. One-sided corrugated cardboard to which glue has been applied is wound in several plies onto the mandrel and the neck of the pallet, so that the plies become glued to each other and to the neck. A watertight sack (13), for example of plastic, may be drawn down over the mandrel (14) before the pallet (1) is secured to the end of the mandrel. The wound shell will then become glued to the sack.

Description: TRANSPORT CONTAINER ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to a transport container assembly / a so-called pallet container, comprising a pallet and an associated container secured to the top side thereof, especially intended for the transportation and storage of bulk material, such as plastic pellets and the like. Containers of the above-defined type are utilized as disposable containers, i.e., they are not returned and reused. It is therefore obvious that such containers should be as inexpensive as possible to manufacture, yet should be rugged enough not to become damaged under the stresses to which they are subjected during use. It should be noted that the stresses are relatively great, since such containers often are utilized to contain 1000 kg real weight. The pallet utilized in such pallet containers is normally a four-way pallet, i.e., the pallet has openings on four sides for convenient access from all sides for the fork of a fork truck. Hitherto, so-called Europallets have most often been utilized, i.e., pallets composed of two wooden plat orms with intermediate spacer blocks. The container or drum part of the pallet container has usually been made of double-sided corrugated cardboard. This-is a relatively inexpensive and strong material, but has definite limitations in regard to the shape of container possible. Double-sided corrugated cardboard cannot be shaped along a curved line, but must be bent and broken along straight lines. The containers which have been used up to now have therefore been many-sided, e.g., in the form of octahedrons, so-called "octabins". Such polygonal containers, however, are not the most desirable either from the point of view of production or use. Double- sided corrugated cardboard must be stored as flat, rigid sheets, then cut to the correct format, and thereafter bent and fastened together by stapling to form a polygonal container. There are also difficulties in making a bottom and lid for such containers, as well as in securing such containers to the pallet. In addition, when such large containers are filled, for instance with plastic pellets, radial forces of not-inconsiderable magnitude are produced which will tend to press against and straighten out the walls of the polygonal container. The object of the present invention is to provide a pallet container wherein the above drawbacks are avoided, obtaining a pallet container which is inexpensive to produce, efficient and practical in use, which has a desirable shape from the point of view of force distribution, and which is more moisture-resistant than the previously used pallet containers of this type. This is obtained according to the invention with a pallet container of the type defined introductorily, which is characterized in that the pallet has an upturning, circular neck or collar, and a body shell made of a plurality of adhered plies of sheet-formed material, especially paper, is secured to the exterior of the neck or collar. In a preferred embodiment the shell consists of wound, one-sided corrugated cardboard with the corrugated side facing inwardly. For obtaining a completely watertight container, a preferred embodiment is characterized in that inside the con¬ tainer, which consists of the shell and pallet, a watertight bag or sack, preferably made of plastic, is permanently glued. To obtain the best possible joining of shell to pallet, a practical embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the periphery of the neck is toothed or corrugated, adapted to the corrugated side of the one-sided corrugated cardboard. In an embodiment which is inexpensive to produce and practical in use, the pallet consists of expanded plastic, e.g., expanded polystyrene, and forms a sealed surface. A method of producing pallet containers, comprising a pallet and a container secured to the top side of the pallet, especially intended for the transportation and storage of bulk materials, is characterized in that the top side of a pallet is secured to the end of a winding mandrel having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the neck, and one-sided corrugated cardboard to which glue has been applied is wound in several plies around the mandrel and neck of the pallet so that the plies become glued to each other and to the neck. A further development of the method of the invention is characterized in that a watertight sack of a suitable material, e.g., plastic, is drawn over the mandrel before the pallet is attached to the end of the mandrel and that the wound shell is glued to the sack. The pallet container in accordance with the invention is inexpensive to produce, since a very simple winding tool can be used and the container shell is produced by simple winding of, e.g., one-sided corrugated cardboard to which glue has been applied, the plies of cardboard then becoming glued to each other and to the neck of the pallet. The use of piece-goods material is thereby avoided, which necessarily results in discontinuous production, as is the case in the manufacture of polygonal containers using double-sided corrugated cardboard. By making the pallet with a sealed surface of expanded poly¬ styrene, one obtains a watertight pallet which effectively protects the pallet from penetration of moisture through the bottom if such a container is simply stored on the ground out¬ doors. With a container shell of circular configuration, the least possible quantity of material may be utilized for enclosing a specific cross-sectional area. The circular shape will not become deformed by pressure from the cargo inside it, and also withstands external stresses better than polygonal containers. When stacked one on top of the other, the containers of circular, tubular shape have optimum breaking strength. The invention will be explained in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a pallet container in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 is a cross section along the line II-II in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a cross section along the line III-III in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is a schematic drawing showing the production sequence for a pallet container in accordance wi-th the invention. The pallet container of the invention consists of a pallet 1 which preferably is molded of expanded polystyrene. The pallet consists of a solid plate 2 with legs extending downwardly from the bottom surface thereof, in the illustrated example nine legs 3, arranged so that two openings 4 are pro¬ vided on each side for inserting the fork of a conventional fork truck. To avoid unnecessary moments of force, the corners of the pallet are bevelled off. Secured to the top side of the pallet is a circular shell 5 made of windings of sheet-formed material. The top opening of the container is closed by a lid 6. In the cutaway portion of Figure 1, it may be seen that the container is filled with bulk goods 7, e.g., 1000 kg of plastic granules. A practical embodiment of the pallet container may be seen more clearly in Figures 2 and 3. On the top side of the plate-formed part 2 of the pallet, an upturning circular neck 8 is provided, to which the shell 5 is secured. The shell consist of several plies of one-sided corrugated cardboard (seen best in Figure 3} . The neck 8 has a corrugated periphery 9 corres¬ ponding to the corrugations 10 on the inner corrugated ply 11 of the shell. Optimum joining of the shell 5 to the neck 8 is thereby obtained. To allow water to run off so that the lower end of the shell 5 will not become wet, the top surface of the pallet may have a sloping edge 12. Inside the container, a bag or sack 13 of plastic may be glued. Figure 4 shows how the pallet container of the inven¬ tion is produced. The sack 13 is drawn over the winding mandrel 14 on a winding machine 15. The outer end of the mandrel is provided with a pin 16 which fits snugly inside a hole 17 in the top surface of the pallet 1. The mandrel 14 has the same diameter as the neck 8 of the pallet 1. When the pallet has been secured in this manner to the mandrel, a roll 18 of winding material, e.g., in the form of one-sided corrugated cardboard, is wound off the roll and placed on the mandrel, which is then made to rotate. Disposed between the winding mandrel 14 and the roll 18 is a glue applicator 19 for applying glue to the sheet material 20 on the inner surface of the material facing toward the mandrel. The one-sided corrugated cardboard is wound with the corrugated side facing inwardly toward the mandrel. In this manner one obtains a " smooth and strong exterior surf ce on the finished shell 5, and as men¬ tioned above, one also obtains a very good bond between the shell 5 and neck 8 since the periphery of the neck is given a ridged configuration in accordance with the corrugations of the winding material. If the sack 13 of plastic is inserted onto the mandrel prior to commencement of the winding operation, glue may be applied to all of the winding material on the side facing toward the mandrel, and the first ply of corrugated cardboard will then become glued to the sack. If for some reason one does not wish to include the sack, the first ply of the shell 5 must be without glue on the initial portion thereof which will be in contact with the mandrel, being pro¬ vided with glue only on the portion thereof which lies around the neck 8. To facilitate removal of the shell 5 from the mandrel 14, the mandrel can either be made to be collapsible, or one can introduce air into the mandrel which penetrates through small jet openings in the mandrel to pass out between the mandrel and the wound shell. By placing a plastic sack inside the container already at the production stage, one obtains more efficient production in comparison with previous production procedures, since the insertion of a large sack of this kind in a finished container is a time-consuming job.

Claims: Patent Claims 1. A transport container assembly, a so-called pallet container, comprising a pallet and a container secured to the top side thereof, especially intended for the transportation and storage of bulk materials such as plastic pellets and the like, character!zed in that the pallet (11 has an upturning, circular neck or collar (81 , and that a shell (51 of several adhered plies of sheet material, especially paper, is secured to the exterior of the neck or collar. 2. An assembly according to claim 1, character!zed in that the shell (51 consists of wound, one-sided corrugated cardboard (10,19,20} with the corrugated side (10) facing inwardly. 3. An assembly according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that inside the container, which consists of the shell. (5). and pallet (1} , a sealed bag or sack (131 preferably of plastic is permanently glued. 4. An assembly according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the periphery of the neck (8) is toothed or corrugated, adapted to the corrugated side (10) of the one-sided corrugated cardboard (11) . 5. An assembly according to one or more of the preceding claims, character!zed in that the top side of the pallet (11 and the end of the mandrel (141 are formed as a mating pin /hole connection (16,17) . 6. An assembly according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pallet (1} consists of expanded plastic, e.g., expanded polystyrene, and that it forms a sealed surface (2) . 7. A method of producing pallet containers in accordance with one or more of the preceding claims, comprising a pallet and a container secured to the top side thereof, especially intended for the transportation and storage of bulk materials such as plastic pellets or the like, characterized in that a finished, produced pallet having a circular neck on the top surface thereof is secured with its top side to the end of a winding mandrel having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the neck, and one-sided corrugated cardboard to which glue has been applied is wound in several plies on the mandrel and neck of the pallet, so that the plies become glued to each other and to the neck. 8. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that a watertight sack (131 of suitable material, preferably plastic, is drawn over the mandrel (14} before the pallet (1} is secured to the end of the mandrel, and that the wound shell is glued to the sack.

Inventors: HAUGAN OLAV M
Applicants: HAUGAN OLAV M, NORPAPP IND AS
Application year: 1982
Main classification: B65D19
IPC codes: B65D77