A container having horizontally removable side members

Abstract: A container comprising a bottom section (3) having one or more horizontally removable side members (2) which have oblong locking parts (6) extending transversely to the plane of the side member, said bottom section having complementarily shaped locking parts (4). To transport goods of a stable as well as an unstable nature, inde­ pendent upon stabling accuracy and goods displacements, the locking part of the bottom section is constructed as a pipe means (4) which is arranged as an integrated part of the side profile of the bottom section, and the locking parts (6) of the side members are constructed as guide means (7) which are adapted to be inserted into the bottom section pipe means (4) for tight reception and fixing in it.

Description: The invention concerns a container comprising a bottom having one or more horizontally removable side members which have oblong locking parts extending transversely to the plane of the side member, said bottom section having holes for receiving the locking parts for tight reception and releaseable fixing, and the locking part being constructed as a pipe means arranged as an integrated part of the side profile of the bottom section. Such container types are known e.g. from DE-A-2253151. Another circumstance, which has manifested itself in the pallet and container field especially for some time past, is that in connection with rational operations more and more retail shops, such as supermarket associations and the like, are supplied with goods which are moved into the actual shop floor or are moved into the shop floor via the store room by direct passage to commodity display arrangements arranged for the purpose. In this manner, the pallet so to say "follows" the article, which is not removed from the pallet until picked up by the consumer. For this purpose, the retail shops have increasingly been provided with the said display arrangements, which have specified standard or modular measures adapted to a plurality of juxtaposed pallets, where the available space in the height does not always permit vertically removable side members to be removed. In the above-mentioned known container it is a prerequisite that all four side members are directly connected with one another, and this container does not lend itself for use in commodity display arrangements where at least one of the side members is removed so that the customers have access to the commodities. US-A-2,833,550 discloses a mobile carrier with removable sides. The mobile carrier has a load-carrying pipe structure on which wheels and shelves in the form of plate elements are secured. The pipe structure is assembled in that the pipes incorporated in the structure have different diameters, so that they can be telescoped into each other and be fixed by means of bolts and nuts. US-A-3,277,848 discloses a container having laterally removable side members. These side members have U-shaped locking rails which are moved inwardly over the edge area of the bottom pallet when the side members are mounted. The position of the side members is locked by a hingably mounted catch, which engages a stop disposed internally of the loading platform of the bottom pallet. FI-A-52 057 discloses a container type having laterally removable side members. However, this structure is vitiated by the drawback that the locking rails of the side members are here merely moved inwardly over the edge area of the bottom pallet so that part of the locking rail protrudes over the actual loading surface. Moreover, the side members themselves likewise protrude over the loading surface in their width. It will be appreciated that this container type involves inexpedient mounting of the side members when the container is loaded with commodities, it being difficult to mount the side members because in many cases the locking rails of the side members will have to be pressed inwardly below goods disposed at the side edges of the pallet so that the goods will easily be damaged or directly prevent correct mounting. The object of the invention is to provide a container structure where the sides of the container are easy to mount and remove, no matter whether goods are present on the bottom section so that they can individually support the goods. This object is achieved by providing a container which is characterized by the features defined in the characterizing portion of claim 1. Such a container where the side members can be mounted and removed via oblong locking parts, which in pairs are complementarily formed on the side members and the container, respectively, thus provides a simple structure of stable shape. It will consequently be appreciated that the container of the invention will be ideal in situations with restricted space in lateral direction since even locking parts having relatively short longitudinal extents provide great sturdiness. When using part of the bottom profiles of the container as locking parts, the cooperating coupling parts of the side members and the container are disposed in a plane below the loading surface, so that the actual side members when mounted are not disposed on the side edges of the container. This permits full utilization of the container area as a loading surface. The guide means preferably comprises a U-shaped profile bracket whose outermost portion with respect to the level of the side members is provided with a contraction, which therefore does not tightly engange the pipe means in this area. This contraction of the U-profile forms an internal slot which is used for journalling a vertically movable locking fitting, a so-called latch fitting, which is adapted for locking engagement when the side member is inserted on the container part. The contracted U-profile is additionally expedient in that the contracted, outermost portion of the guide means serves as control means so that correct coupling of locking parts is ensured rapidly and easily. However, the innermost portion tightly engages the internal faces of the pipe means for effective fixing. The contraction of the guide means may advantageously be provided in the U-profile so as to create a gap between the outermost face of the guide means and the adjoining side face. Hereby it is prevented in a simple manner that the locking parts of the side member, in particular at the coupling area, will be severely damaged by rough handling of the container, as may happen by edge collisions and the like. The side members of the container may advantageously be constructed as stated in claim 2, which provides a certain tolerance which may serve as an additional loading surface because of horizontal goods displacements during loading and transport. This is particularly advantageous in connection with articles such as module boxes, packets, cartons and the like which may be relatively stiff so that compression of the articles is difficult. The above-mentioned locking engagement is provided in that the locking fitting is provided with a locking means, which, as stated in claim 3, can be formed with a slide face which forms a relatively acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the pipe means in the locking position of the locking fitting. The other face of the locking means is moreover shaped to form an acute angle with vertical plane through a longitudinal axis of the guide means. In the vicinity of the plane of the side member the locking fitting is likewise provided with a projection, such as a foot or finger grip for releasing the locking engagement. The invention will be explained more fully below with reference to the drawing, in which fig. 1 shows a container structure according to the invention assembled in a position of use, fig. 2 is a side view of a section of a side member for the container illustrated in fig. 1, and fig. 3 is a top view of the side member section illustrated in fig. 2. Fig. 1 shows a container 1 according to the invention, the container being shown here in a preferred embodiment with two mounted, opposed side members 2 which are attached at their lower ends to a bottom section 3, which, like the side members 2, has a structure which is known in principle. When the container is present in a completely or partially loaded state, the opposed side members of the container are adapted to be connected and thus mutually braced additionally with bracing means (not shown), such as rubber straps or the like. The predominant part of the bracing effect is obtained by coupling with the bottom section. This coupling mechanism represents the special feature of the container and its use, which is described below. Fig. 2 shows a partial section of the container, illustrated in a vertical sectional view through one of the side profiles 4 of the bottom section 3 and a bottom profile 5 for an adjoining side member. The side profile 4 constitutes a first locking part for the coupling mechanism, the unit received in it constituting the second or side member locking part 6, and the locking parts are illustrated in a mutual engagement in the figure. As appears, the side members are shaped in their preferred embodiment so as to form an additional loading surface between the outer edge of the bottom section and the internal side face of the side member in assembled state, so that unobstructed mounting of the side members is ensured even though minor goods displacements should occur during loading (this appears from fig. 1). While the first-mentioned locking part 4 is thus advantageously and simply formed by an open, tubular object, the locking part 6 of the side member comprises the actual mechanical properties. It appears that the locking part 6 has an oblong guide means 7 which protrudes into and is attached to the bottom profile 5 of the side member 2, and so that in relation to the plane of the side member it protrudes substantially horizontally from it. The guide means 7 is moreover provided with a height dimension which substantially corresponds to the internal height of the pipe means so as to provide a relatively close fit when inserted and in coupled state. To retain the side member on the bottom section 3 of the container 1 in case of loads transversely to the plane of the side member, the locking parts provided at each corner portion of the side member are in a preferred embodiment provided with latch fittings 8, which are disposed and journalled in the guide means 7, this being provided in the form of a U-shaped bracket, which appears most clearly from fig. 3. The latch fitting is shown Journalled in the vicinity of its one end whereby it can assume a locking position by its own weight, the latch fitting being shown with a spring means 9 in the shown embodiment so as to better ensure the mechanical function. When the side member is inserted on the bottom section it will thus be appreciated that the latch fitting 8 will be present in the position shown in fig. 2, this angular position being ensured precisely via the stop boss 10 provided at the extremity of the latch fitting close to the bearing 13, said stop boss being adapted for engagement with the guide means 7 via a vertical slot 11 provided in said means. When the guide means is subsequently pushed in to the pipe means 4, the latch fitting, when contacting a vertically downwardly protruding locking means 12, contacts the lower, internal face of the pipe means, and then a guide face 14 on the locking means forces it to move upwardly via rotation around the journal. Additional insertion of the guide means causes the locking means 12, immediately before the inner face on the bottom profile 5 of the side member engages the adjoining face on the bottom section, to be moved down into a slot 15 provided in the bottom of the pipe means for cooperation with the locking means. In this position the side members of the container are thus fixed and locked to the bottom section, and the side member may be removed by means of a release projection 16 which is provided on the latch opposite the journal end and protrudes down through a slot opening 17 downwardly in the bottom profile 5. It likewise appears from fig. 2 that the locking means 12 has a slide face 14 which forms a relatively acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pipe means. This face is provided in this manner since in case of collision with the bottom profile 5 of the side member the latch fitting can slide up the innermost slot edge 18, thereby avoiding destructiuon of the engagement of the locking means with the slot 15 or even destruction of the entire guide mechanism. This additional movement of the guide means in the pipe means 4 will be a consequence of the manufacturing and fitting tolerances which are present in such products. The other face 19 of the locking means is seen to form a likewise relatively acute angle with respect to vertical, and this is to be seen as a feature to ensure effective release of locking engagement with the slot, since the face 19, if it had a substantially vertical orientation in the locking position of the latch, would grip the rearmost edge 20 of the slot owing to the pivotal movement provided via the journal of the latch fitting. Release would therefore require certain clearance by pressure impact on the bottom profile 5 when the locking engagement is to be released. Of course, this is undesirable since it would entail insufficiently tight coupling. This drawback may be prevented by forming the other slide face 19 of the locking means with an angle which with respect to vertical plane corresponds to the angular rotation to which the latch fitting 8 is subjected by movement from engagement poisition to released position. With this solution, the elbow transition of the locking means 12 between the face 19 and the rearwardly disposed face part will have contact with the slot edge 20 of the pipe means 4. The partial corner portion section described above is shown in top view in fig. 3, from which it appears that the guide means 7 is provided as a U-shaped profile object which is provided with an outermost contraction in the lateral direction, so that the cross section of the guide means only partially engages the side walls of the pipe means. This structure of the guide means entails that the side members can be guided relatively "loosely" without great positioning requirements in a simple and effective manner by initial insertion, and this structure of the U-profile additionally entails that the locking parts can be coupled and released one at a time in a simple and advantageous manner since the side member can be rotated or "twisted" in a horizontal plane. When the pipe means contact the wide cross section of the guide means or the U-profile 7 upon additional insertion of the side members, the guide means are received relatively tightly in the pipe means 4 both in height and lateral direction so that correct fixing of the side member is achieved. In addition, the contraction area 21 of the guide means entails that the established gap between the legs of the U-profile may be used for journalling and thus sidewise control of the locking fitting or latch 8 without using additionally journalling devices. Moreover, in this preferred construction of the guide means and in the coupled state with the pipe means 4 there is formed a gap between the guide means between its external face and the adjoining, outer wall of the pipe means. This gap is advantageously utilized for clearance so that the guide means, in particular at the coupling area, will be protected to some degree if the bottom section at said points are subjected to collisions or other strong impacts.

Claims: A container comprising a bottom (3) with one or more horizontally removable side members (2) having oblong locking parts which extend transversely to the plane of the side member (2), said bottom section (3) having holes to receive the locking parts for tight reception and releasable fixing, and the locking part of the bottom section (3) being constructed as a pipe means arranged as an integrated part of the side profile (4) of the bottom section (3), characterized in that the locking part of the side member (2) is constructed as a substantially U-shaped profile bracket which has a contraction in the outermost portion (21) thereof, and in that the legs of the profile bracket in the contraction area (21) form an internal slot in which a movable locking fitting (8) having locking means (12) and release projection (16) is journalled. A container according to claim 1, characterized in that the side members (2) have a bottom profile (5) protruding in transverse direction somewhat from the vertical inner face of the side member so as to form a free, substantially horizontal edge face which, when the side members engage the bottom section (3) in mounted state, are substantially flush with the loading surface of the bottom section (3). A container according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the locking means (12) has a first slide face (14) which forms an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the pipe means, and a second face (19) forming a likewise acute angle with a vertical plane.

Inventors: SORENSEN JENS, SORENSEN, JENS
Applicants: RD IMPEX APS, R.D. IMPEX APS
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B65D19
IPC codes: B65D19