A CONTAINER SIDE

Abstract: A container side for mounting on a pallet which includes a plurality of parallel top battens with gaps therebetween; the container side comprises a panel (1) with a first edge and an adjacent first (inner) face, spacer means (21) positioned below the first edge of the panel and inset from the first face of the panel, mounting members (10) on the panel spaced apart so as to pass through the gaps between battens, each mounting member (10) includes a leg (13) with a lug (14) spaced from the spacer means by an amount at least equal to the thickness of a pallet top batten.

Description: A CONTAINER SIDE This invention relates to an enclosure for mounting on a pallet to form a container. In the US patent number 4053079 disclosure is made of an enclosure comprised of two assemblies each including two hingedly connected panels each comprised of a frame with mesh infill. The assemblies were coupled together on a pallet to provide a cage-like container. The manner of mounting this first form of sub-assembly on the pallet was through mounting members each comprised of a leg with a lug and two such mounting members were included on a fixing panel of each assembly. Because of the size and spacing of the mounting means and the orientation of lugs of the mounting means the manner of mounting the fixing panel on the pallet is to place the fixing panel at an angle to a side of the pallet, pass the mounting means through gaps between pallet battens and then rotate the fixing panel through an arc to align it with a side of the pallet. In so doing the lugs on the mounting means lock under battens of the pallet. This arrangement was later developed to allow small articles (which would normally pass through the mesh of the known panels) to be carried in the container. This involved replacing the panel mesh with plywood or like sheet material on the inner face of the panel frame. At the same time a floor sheet came into use to prevent the escape of articles between the pallet battens or to support a plastic liner bag use to carry particulate meterial. However, because of the manner of mounting the first form of sub-assembly the floor sheet had to be fitted after the sub-assemblies were mounted on the pallet and the floor sheet had to be smaller in length and breadth than the internal dimensions of the enclosure formed by the sub-assemblies. In a later development the mounting means were modified to provide a second form of sub-assembly which could be used with mesh or sheet covered panels. In this form the orientation of the lugs was changed allowing the mounting of a fixing panel by passing the mounting means through gaps between battens whilst parallel to the edge of the pallet and then linearly moving the panel to engage the lugs under the battens. With such an arrangement the floor sheet could be mounted over the pallet before the sub-assemblies were fixed to the pallet and it could be sized to extend part way under the bottom edges of the panels of the sub-assemblies. This has advantages as it prevented cuts ^n the plastic bags used to hold goods or product. The cuts in the liner bag were caused by the nipping of the plastic bag between the edges of the floor sheet and the bottoms of the sub-assembly panels in a container using the first sub-assembly form. The present invention provides means whereby the first form of sub-assembly can be used with a floor sheet that extends under the bottom edges of the sub-assembly panels. This has advantages as a security means because the first sub-assembly form cannot be removed from a pallet when goods are in the container because the goods prevent the arcuate movement required to remove the fixing panels. Whereas, with the second form of the sub-assembly the fixing panels can be removed at any time and this can lead to problems with security or removal of the panels prematurely allowing goods within the container to spill. Broadly, the invention can be said to comprise a container side for mounting on a four sided pallet which includes a plurality of parallel top battens with gaps therebetwee ; said container side comprises a generally rectangular panel with a first edge which has an inner face and an outer face, a plurality of mounting members on the panel, said mounting members each including a leg extending away from the first panel edge in a direction generally parallel to the plane of the panel with t e spacing of the legs corresponding with the spacing of the gaps between selected pallet top battens, a lug on each leg extending away from its associated leg in a direction generally parallel to the first edge of the panel, spacer means positioned below the first edge of the panel body with a working face on the spacer means to sit on the top battens of a pallet and a Working edge which lies intermediate the inner and outer faces of said first panel edge, and a spacing between the working face of said spacer means and said lugs which is at least equal to the thickness of pallet top battens. Presently preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig.l is a is a perspective view of a sub-assembly of a first known form, Fig.2 is a perspective view of a sub-assembly of a second known form, Fig.3 is a plan view illustrating the procedure for mounting a sub-assembly of the first form on a pallet, Fig.4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a corner portion of a fixing panel as illustrated in Fig.l modified to incorporate the present invention and showing its relationship to a pallet and, Fig.5 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the members shown in Fig. . The sub-assembly shown in Fig.l comprises panels 1 and 2 provided with upper rails 3 and lower 1 rails 4 with uprights 5 and 6 joining the upper and lower rails. The uprights 5 and 6 of the panel I are provided with feet 20 to bear upon the battens of a pallet. The uprights 6 are "connected by hinges 7. On the uprights 5 there are complementary parts of a locking means comprised of sleeves 8 and slide bolts 9. The members 8 and 9 allow two sub-assemblies to be connected together to form a four sided enclosure. The panel 1 is a fixing panel and is provided with mounting means in the form of cleats 10 each having a body part 12 coupled to the bottom rail 4 by bolts indicated generally 11, although the cleats can be fixed permanently to the panel 1 if desired. The cleats include a leg part 13 with a lug part 14. Referring to Fig.2, it will be seen that the difference is that the lugs 14 are pointing in the same direction whereas in Fig.l they are pointing in opposite directions. Referring Fig.3, there is shown a pallet comprised of bearers 15,16 and 17 with upper end battens 18 and intermediate battens 19 fixed to the bearers in parallel array. The spacing apart of the cleats 10 is such that when the panel sub-assembly is positioned at an angle to an edge of the pallet (as shown at the left hand side of Fig.3) the cleat parts 13-14 can pass respectively between the battens 18 and the adjacent battens 19. By then moving the sub-assembly through an arc (as indicated by the arrow) the Hugs 14 will pass under the battens 18 and the panel 1 can be aligned with the edge of the pallet, as shown at the right hand side of Fig.3. The panels 1 cannot be removed from the pallet unless the reverse procedure is followed. Referring now to Fig. , the cleat 10 has been modified from the cleat shown in Figs.l and 2 in that it is adapted to couple to panel frames made of square tubing in place of the round tubing shown in Figs.l and 2 and includes a greater crank to allow the panel 1 to align with the outer edge of the pallet. The square tube frame is that used for the sub-assemblies clad with sheet material (e.g. plywood) as indicated 25. The innovation of the invention resides in the provision of the spacer bar 21 fixed to the cleat leg 13, although the spacer may be otherwise mounted. It will be noted that the lower face of the spacer bar 21 bears on the tops of the pallet battens and the panel foot 20 bears on the upper face of the spacer bar. It is also to be noted that the inner edge 22 of the spacer bar 21 is inset from the inner face of the bottom rail 4 to provide a recess 23. It,is in this recess 23, and the corresponding recess resulting from the mounting of the other fixing panel on the pallet, that the opposed edges of a floor sheet indicated as 24 are housed. The length of the floor sheet is such that when the door panels 2 are closed the bottom rails 4 thereof overlie the ends of the floor sheet. In this way all four sides of the floor sheet are covered with minimal gap between the bottom edges of the plywood sheets 24 on the inner faces of the panels 1 and 2 and the upper surface of the floor sheet 24.. In modifications of the foregoing, the panels 1 and 2 may be other than mesh or plywood sheet clad, for example the panels may not be fabricated from metal tube but may be solid panels of ply timber. The cleats may be permanemtly fixed to the underface of the bottom rails 4. The spacers 21 may be other than in the bar form illustrated.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A container side for mounting on a four sided pallet which includes a plurality of parallel top battens with gaps therebetween; said container side comprises a generally rectangular panel with a first edge which has an inner face and an outer face, a plurality of mounting members on the panel, said mounting members each including a leg extending away from the first panel edge in a direction generally parallel to the plane of the panel with the spacing of the legs corresponding with the spacing of the gaps between selected pallet top battens, a lug on each leg extending away from its associated leg in a direction generally parallel to the first edge of the panel, spacer means positioned below the first edge of the panel body with a working face on the spacer means to sit on the top battens of a pallet and a working edge which lies intermediate the inner and outer faces of said first panel edge, and a spacing between the working face of said spacer means and said lugs which is at least equal to the thickness of pallet top battens. 2. A container side as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said spacing means is fixed to each mounting member. 3. A container side as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said mounting- members are demountable f om said panel , 4. A container side as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 3 wherein said lugs extend in the same direction away from their associated legs and the combined length of each lug and the width of its associated leg is less than the width of the gap between adjacent pallet battens. 5. A container sides as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 3 wherein there are two mounting means on said panel and said lugs extend in opposite directions away from their associated legs with the combined length of each lug and the width of its associated leg exceeding the width of the gap between adjacent pallet battens. 6. A container side as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 5 wherein said panel comprises a rectangular frame clad with sheet material. 7. A container side as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 5 wherein said panel comprises a rectangular frame with an infill of mesh. 8. A container side as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 wherein the frame comprises a top-rail and a bottom rail and two end bars joining the top and bottom rails and the end bars project below the bottom rail and bear on said spacer means . 9. A container side as claimed in anyone one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the panel has a top edge and two end edges and there is a door member hingedly connected to one end edge to provide a panel/door sub-assembly, and said other end edge of said panel and said door are provided with co-operating locking means whereby said panel and door can be coupled respectively to a door and panel of a second panel/door sub-assembly to provide a four sided enclosure for mounting on a pallet by engagement of the mounting members of the two panels with the battens of the pallet.

Inventors: KARPISEK LADISLAV STEPHAN, KARPISEK, LADISLAV, STEPHAN
Applicants: KARPISEK LADISLAV STEPHAN, KARPISEK, LADISLAV, STEPHAN
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B65D19
IPC codes: B65D19