CONTAINER LINER

Abstract: A container liner (40) includes an upper wall (42), a bottom wall (44), a rear wall (46), side walls (48, 50) and a front wall (52) to form a substantial hexahedron and has mounting arrangements (64, 66, 68) for mounting the line (40) to inner walls of a container. The liner (40) includes a hygroscopic waterproof member (86) provided on at least part of the outer surface of the liner (40). The waterproof member (86) absorbs water entering the container or deposited by dewing to prevent goods accommodated in the line (40) from being contaminated by the water.

Description: The invention relates to a container liner for use in transportation. Containers are widely used for transporting goods on large scale by ships and railway trains such as grain, food, raw materials for industries and industrial goods. If these goods are directly received in a container, the inside of the container is likely to be contaminated by the goods and the smell of the goods will remain in the container and detrimentally affects goods subsequently received in the container for transportation. In order to avoid such a disadvantage, goods are often received in a liner located in a container for transportation without directly accommodating the goods in the container. One example of such a linear hitherto used (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 49-105,686) will be explained hereinafter by referring to Figure 1. Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a hitherto used liner 8 for a container comprising an upper wall 10, a bottom wall 12, a rear wall 14, side walls 16 and 18 and a front wall 20 to form a substantial hexahedron. The liner further comprises hangers 22 and 24 and dump-up fixtures 26 for mounting the liner to the inside of a container. Reference numerals 28 and 30 denote charging openings and a small discharging opening, respectively. In this illustrated example, the charging openings 28 are provided on the upper wall 10 for charging the goods, and the small discharging opening 30 is provided on the front wall 20 of the liner 8 for discharging the goods therefrom. Reference numerals 32 and 34 denote a screen canvas and a skirt canvas to form the front wall 20. The liner 8 shown in Figure 1 can be hung and extended in a container by the hangers 22 and 24 and the dump-up fixtures 26 and thereafter goods can be accommodated in the liner. During transportation of goods in a liner in a container, dew can be deposited on inner walls of the container and surfaces of the liner. Moreover, rainwater or seawater may enter the container and be deposited on outer walls, particularly the upper wall of the liner as small pools or droplets and further may form a pool on a bottom wall of the container. With liners hitherto used, when the liner is tilted into a dump-up position for discharging goods accommodated therein, the water flows over the outer walls of the liner or the bottom wall of the container to the discharging opening, so that goods such as barleycorn for beer or chemical medicines discharging through the opening are splashed or soaked with water. Furthermore, water may enter the liner through sewed seams thereof to contaminate goods therein. When transporting machines or metal goods, there is a danger that the goods may rust due to water entering the liner. US Patent No. 2914377 discloses corrosion inhibiting apparatus for use in a closed chamber, comprising a backing material having secured thereto a porous material which absorbs and therefore carries a corrosion-inhibiting material. Such apparatus can be effective in preventing rusting of articles prone to corrosion, but apparently would not operate e.g. to prevent splashing of the contents of a container by water lying on the exterior of the container. According to the invention there is provided a container liner including an upper wall, a bottom wall, a rear wall, side walls and a front wall in a substantially hexahedral form and having mounting arrangements for mounting the liner to inner walls of a container, characterised in that the liner includes members each comprising a waterproof base and an hygroscopic outer part and disposed at least on the outer surfaces of the upper and bottom walls. Such a liner can prevent goods accommodated therein from being contaminated by water produced by rain or dewing. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the members are made of an unwoven fabric. The members are preferably provided on front and rear portions of the upper wall in the form of belts, and particularly a member extends from an edge between the upper wall and one side wall to an edge between the upper wall and the other side wall. In a further embodiment of the invention, the members are provided on front and rear portions of the bottom wall in the form of bolts, arid particularly a member extends from an edge between the bottom wall and one side Wall to an edge between the bottom wall and the other side wall. With the liner constructed as above described, the water absorbing material provided on part, parts or all of the outer surfaces of the liner can absorb the water when rain or sea water enters the container or dew is deposited on the outer walls of the liner thereby to prevent the water from entering the liner and thereby preventing goods in the liner from being contaminated by the water. The water absorbing material absorbs the water accumulated on the outer surfaces of the liner to prevent the goods from being contaminated by the water flowing along the outer surfaces of the liner when the goods are being discharged from the liner in a dump-up position. The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a container liner of previously proposed kind; and Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating one embodiment of a container liner according to the invention. Referring to Figure 2, a liner 40 comprises an upper wall 42, a bottom wall 44, a rear wall 46, side walls 48 and 50 and a front wall 52 to form a substantial hexahedron. Any suitable constitution of the liner is acceptable. In this embodiment, for example, the liner is provided with an opening 54 at an upper portion of the front surface 52 for charging goods and with a cover member 56 extending from a location above the opening 54 for opening and closing the opening 54. Reference numeral 58 denotes fastening members, for example, surface fasteners. In this embodiment, an extending end of the cover member 56 is anchored to a middle portion of the front surface 52 by means of the fastening members 58 to close the opening 54. If the goods accommodated in the inner bag 40 are particulate material, for example barleycorn for beer, the lower portion of the front wall 52 can be formed with an opening by slashing part of the lower portion with a knife, and the container then brought into a dump-up position to discharge the barleycorns through the opening. In discharging corn, however, discharge may be effected through the opening 54 by means of vacuum suction means. Cloth reinforcing strips 60 are provided along edges of the liner in this embodiment to reinforce the liner 40. Reference numerals 64, 66 and 68 illustrate mounting arrangements provided on the liner for mounting the liner to inner walls of a container. In this embodiment, the mounting arrangements 64 are provided at the two upper corners of the front wall 52 of the liner. The mounting arrangements 68 are located at the four corners of the rear wall 46. Any suitable construction of the mounting arrangements 64, 66 and 68 is acceptable. In this embodiment, for example, the mounting arrangements 64 may be case hanging devices previously proposed by the applicants. The mounting arrangement 64 comprises a strap 70 with one end fixed to one face of one corner of the liner and the other end anchored to a buckle 74 provided at another face of said corner of the liner, and a ring 72 provided at the corner. In the illustrated embodiment, the ring 72 is provided at the corner with the aid of a further strap 76, and the buckle 74 is provided at said face of the corner by means of the further strap 76. Part of the strap 70 between the fixed and free ends passes through the ring 72 to form a loop. The loop can be connected to an attaching portion (not shown) of an inner wall of a container by means of a C-shaped mounting ring 78. The mounting arrangement 64 can allow the loop to be changed to smaller sizes by pulling the free end of the strap 70. In hanging and extending the liner 40 in a container, the loop of the strap 70 is made smaller to tension the liner 40. The buckle 74 in this embodiment is provided with a stopper which is inoperative, that is to say does not anchor the free end of the strap, when the free end is pulled in a direction making the loop smaller, but is operative to anchor the free end when the strap is subjected to a force in a direction opposite to the direction making the loop smaller. As a result, the loop of smaller size is held in its size by the buckle 74 with the stopper, so that the liner is maintained in a tensioned condition. The mounting arrangement 66 comprises a ring 72 provided at the corner of the liner 40 and a strap 82 with one end fixed to one face of a corner of the liner and the other end anchored by a buckle 80 provided in the proximity of the face to which said one end is fixed. In this embodiment, the buckle 80 is provided at said face of the corner of the liner with the aid of a further strap 76, and the ring 72 is arranged at the side edge of the corner with the aid of a reinforcing cloth strip 60. In the mounting arrangement 66, part of a strap 82 passes through the ring 72 to form a loop in the same manner as in the mounting arrangement 64. The loop is connected to an attaching portion of an inner wall of a container with the aid of a mounting ring 78 to enable the liner 40 to be tensioned and extended. If desired the loops of the straps 70 and 82 may be directly connected to the attaching portions of the inner walls of a container. The mounting arrangement 68 in this embodiment comprises a strap 84 fixed to one face of a corner of the liner 40 and a mounting ring 78 fixed to the strap 84. In hanging and extending the liner 40, the mounting ring 78 of the mounting arrangement 68 is connected to an attaching portion on an inner wall of a container. In general, each member is a composite member comprising a base member having a waterproof property or made waterproof, and an hygroscopic outer member. In Figure 2, combined hygroscopic and waterproof members 86 are shown provided on part or parts or all over the outer surfaces of the liner 40. The members 86 are made from unwoven fabric or materials other than unwoven fabric, for example, various kinds of papers, woven fabrics or spongy foam materials. Moreover, the members may comprise a bag member and an hygroscopic solid, powdery or granular material accommodated in the bag member. In this case, part of the bag member may be made of a waterproof material. Furthermore, all the bag member may be made of a waterproof material and the bag member may be formed with apertures or openings having sizes permitting water to enter therethrough but not permitting the hygroscopic material accommodated therein to escape from the bag member. In the embodiment shown, members 86 are made of an unwoven fabric and partially provided at suitable locations of front and rear portions of the upper wall 42 in the form of belts. The members 86 provided on the upper wall are indicated by hatching in Figure 2. The respective members 86 preferably extend over the upper wall 42 from the edge between the upper wall 42 and one side wall 48 to the edge between the upper wall 42 and the other side wall 50. As a result, water will be absorbed by the water absorbing members 86 and will be prevented from staying on slack portions of the upper wall of the liner hung and extended in a container. This will prevent the water from entering the liner 40 through the upper wall 42 and prevent water on the upper wall 42 from flowing into the goods along the liner 40 when the goods are being discharged from the liner in the dump-up position. More preferably, water absorbing members 86 are partially provided at suitable locations of front and rear portions of the lower wall 44. In this case, the waterproof members 86 preferably extend on the lower surface 44 from the edge between the lower wall 44 and one side wall 48 to the edge between the lower wall 44 and the other side wall 50. As a result, water will be absorbed by the water absorbing members 86 to prevent free water from accumulating on the bottom wall of the container and therefore prevent the water from entering the liner 40 through the bottom wall 44 and prevent water on the bottom wall of the container from flowing into the goods along the liner 40 when the goods are being discharged from the liner in the dump-up position. In designing the water absorbing members 86, sizes, shapes, areas and other designing conditions may be suitably selected at will. This invention is not limited to the embodiment as above described and may be modified in various manner depending upon design conditions. Moreover, the water absorbing members may be provided, in addition to being on the outer surfaces of the upper and bottom walls, at any further suitable locations on the liner according to design requirements. For example, the water absorbing members may be distributed all over the upper wall of the line in any preferable positional relations. The water absorbing members may cover all the upper wall of the liner. The water absorbing members may be provided on the side walls, the front wall or the rear wall in addition to the upper and lower walls. Moreover, the water absorbing members may be provided on the liner so as to completely cover all the outer surfaces of the liner. This invention may be applied to various kinds of hitherto proposed containers liners. The water absorbing members may be provided on part, parts or all of the outer surfaces of the liners hitherto proposed.

Claims: A container liner including an upper wall (42), a bottom wall (44), a rear wall (46), side walls (48 and 50) and a front wall (52) in a substantially hexahedral form and having mounting arrangements for mounting the liner to inner walls of a container, characterised in that the liner includes members (86) each comprising a waterproof base and an hygroscopic outer part and disposed at least on the outer surfaces of the upper and bottom walls. A container liner according to claim 1, wherein the hygroscopic outer parts of the members (86) are made of an unwoven fabric. A container liner according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the members (86) are provided on front and rear portions of the upper wall (42) in the form of belts. A container liner according to any preceding claim, wherein a member (86) extends from an edge between the upper wall (42) and one side wall (48) to an edge between the upper wall (42) and the other side wall (50). A container according to any preceding claim, wherein the members (86) are provided on front and rear portions of the bottom wall (44) in the form of belts. A container according to any preceding claim, wherein a member (86) extends from an edge between the bottom wall (44) and one side wall (48) to an edge between the bottom wall (44) and the other side wall (50).

Inventors: HAMADA, HIROSHI C/O KAWASAKI KISEN KAISHA, SUZUKI, MITIHARU C/O KAWASAKI KISEN KAISHA, WATANABE, TAKAMITSU C/O KAWASAKI KISEN KAISHA
Applicants: KAWASAKI KISEN KAISHA
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B65D90
IPC codes: B65D81, B65D88, B65D90