SUPPORT HANDLE FOR SUPPORTING THE SUSPENDING CROSSBAR IN BOXES FOR TRANSPORTING ARTICLES OF CLOTHING

Abstract: A support handle for the suspension crossbar in boxes for transporting articles of clothing, characterised by comprising a U-piece (1) to be applied, close to the upper edge of the box, to an aperture formed in a vertical wall thereof, the two branches (2, 2'; 102, 102'; 202, 202') of the U-piece being connected together by an outwardly open tubular portion (4, 104, 204) which rests on the lower edge of said aperture and forms a handgrip for lifting the box, said U-piece (1) being provided with a member (5, 105, 205) for supporting said suspension crossbar (6, 106, 206), which cooperates with the suspension member of another support handle fitted to the opposing sidewall.

Description: Support handle for supporting the suspending crossbar in boxes for transporting articles of clothing This invention relates to - support handle for supporting the suspending crossbar in b ?? for transporting ar icles of clothing. Support handles for applying to the two facing vertical walls of a generally cardboard box are known for support ing a metal or plastics crossbar from which ^r» i--le of -lo iing are suspended on relative clothes un e -;. One of these known support H n les comprises an essentially U-shaped plate which r le? the upper °dge of 10 the box after folding its upper closure flap outwards. To the inner branch of the U-shaped plate there is applied a tubular element to which one end of the crossbar for supporting th α clothes hangers is secured. This nown ype involves 3 certain complexity in its fitting, which firstly requires the 15 crossbar to be fixed to the two tubular, elements, after which the whole unit is fitted to the o> • T fitting also requires the upper closure flaps n the hi-.-.- to be previously folded outwards and downwards, result in in an often unacceptable increase in the overal l size of the box. - - Finally, the articles of clothing, which str ss the crossbar, could result in a lateral yielding ot t e box wall , with the consequent possibility of the cr^- '- b - v escaping from the tubular elements and the articles of clothing falling onto the bottom of the bo - A support is also known comprising a plastics plate provided on its outer surface with a raised portion for fixing to the box wall and supporting -> handle, and provided - on i .? inner surface with a sleeve int z> which the crossbar is inserted- To fit it, an aperture complementary to the raised portion of the support is formed in two opposing walls of the box, after which, having fixed the crossbar tn the two supports, these are secured from the inside to the Q corresponding walls of the box- Compared with the preceding, ' his type reduces the overall sire of the box but has all the other stated drawbacks thereof. According to the invention, a particularly effective solution is achieved by a support- handle for the suspension crossbar in boxes for transporting articles of clothing, characterised by comprising a U-piece to be applied-, close to the upper edge of the box, to an aperture formed in a vertical wall thereof, the two braricher; of he U-piece b»ing 20 connected together by an outwardly open tubular portion which rests on the lower edge of said aperture and forms a handgrip for lifting the box, said U-piece being provided with •• member for supporting said suspensi r n crossbar. which cooperates with the suspension member of another- support handle fitted to the opposing side wall . Two preferred embodiments and tiπ modific ion if t present invention are described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of support according ' o he invention fitted to the side wall of - box; Figure 2 is a v/ertical section therethrough on the line I I- I I of figure 1 ; Figure 3 shows a different embodiment in the same view as fi ure 1 ; Figure 4 is a v/ertical sec ion her through on the line IV-IV of figure 3; Figure 5 shows a modification ther of in the same view as fi ure i ; and Figure 6 is a vertical section therethrough on the li e VI-VI of figure 5 • As can be seen from the figures, the support handle accoi'ding to the invention, which i ?- preferably of plastics construction, comprises subst ntial l a u-piece 1 - with two lateral branches 2,2' and an upper connection branch 3. The two branches 2,2' are al o connected together by a tubular portion 4, fixed abuttingly agains the inner branch 2' and open at its other end, where i is fixed to the outer branch 2. To the outer branch 2 there is also fixed a tubular sleeve 5, which passes through the inner branch ?. ' and projects beyond this towards the interior- of the bo - The end of a tubular crossbar -■ for supporting a plurality of clothes hangers (not shown.' can be inserted into the tubular sleeve 5. To fit the support to the correspondi gs side wall 7 of the container, an aperture 8 is firstly formed in said side wall, to comprise a slot provided wher^ the upper closure flap 9 is hinged to the upper edge of s i wall 7 and having a length equal to the length of the U-piece 1 , and an underlying opening of length equal to the horizontal dimension of the tubular portion 4 end a height equal to he distance between the lower edge of this latter and the upper branch 3 of the U-piece 1 - The aperture 8 can be formed by punching, either during the actual formation stage of the cardboard box, or later- To fit the two handles to the box, each of them is inserted from above with the outer branch 2 through the upper slot of the aperture 8 and then slid downwards until the tubular portion rests on the bottom of said aperture and the branch 3 of the U-piece 1 rests against its upper edge- The tubular element <- is then inserted into the two opposing sleeves 5 of the two handles, after forcing i lie two side walls 7 slightly outwards. From the aforegoing it is apparent that the support handle of the invention has numerous advantages, and in part icul : - it produces practically no incr ase in the lateral extension of the box; - it can be easily and quickly fitted, even by the user; " Λ- - enables the two handles to be fitted separately from the crossbar; - it presents a large exposed surface, which can be used for publicity, trademarks or commercial information in general; - it has a large bearing area against the side walls of the box, so reducing the specific loading of these walls by the articles of clothing- In this particular case a greater- strength can be obtained if the lower portion of the aperture 8 is folded downwards instead of being removed. In the embodiment shown in figures 3 and 4, in which corresponding parts are indicated by the same reference numerals plus Iϋϋ , the U-piece 101 is of lesser height than the preceding, the outer branch 102 then extending beyond the tubular portion 104 by means of a portion for retaining the sleeve 105 holding the crossbar l0 , this portion then bending horizontally at the upper edge, to form a resting branch 103. In this case, the aperture to be formed in the two side walls 107 comprises three different portions, ie a lower portion 108 for passage of the U-piece 101 and for housing just the tubular portion 104, an intermediate portion '08 ' for passage of the tubular sleeve 105, and an upper slot 108" for housing the horizontal branch 103- In this case, the support handle according o the invention is fitted to the correspondi g .^.ide wall 107 of the box from the outsid - Compared with the preceding embodiment, this second embodiment has a greater resistence to downward tangential withdrawal of the box during its lifting and transport tion. In both these described embodimen s, the tubular sleeve 5, 105 which receives the crossbar 6, 106 can be replaced by a tubular support 205 in which the crossbar 206 lowerly and laterally rests- In this case, the support 205 can be provided with two opposing appendices 210, with which two corresponding diametrical notches 21 provided at the two ends of the crossbar can engage. In this case, said crossbar i - inserted from above through an aperture 212 provided in the branch 7, 103- Compared with the preceding, this modified embodiment has the further advantages of not requiring even slight lateral deformation of the box for mounting th? crossbar, and in addi ion allows the crossbar to act as a tie bar tυ prevent any deformation of the box, even under load.

Claims: C L A I M S 1. A support handle for the suspension crossbar in boxes for transporting articles of clothing, characterised by comprising a U-piece (1) to be applied, close to the upper - edge of the box, to an aperture formed in a vertical wall thereof, the two branches (2 , 2 ' ; 102 , 1 ' ; 202 , 202 ' ) of the U- piece being connected together by an outwardly open tubular portion (4, 104,204) which rests on the lower edge of said aperture and forms a handgrip for lif ing the box, said U- 10 piece (1) being provided with a member (5, 105,205) for supporting said suspension crossbar (6,100,200), which cooperated with the suspension member of another support handle fitted to the opposing side wall. 2- A handle as claimed in claim 1. characterised in that 15 the outer branch (102) extends beyond the tubular portion (104) by means of a retention portion for the sleeve (105), said portion bending at its top to form a resting branch (103) - 3- A handle as claimed in claim " , characterised in that 20 both branches (2,2) extend beyond the tubular portion (4) and are connected together at their top by a resting branch (3) - 4. A handle as claimed in claims 1 and 3, characterised in that the two branches (2,2' ) are co ect e together by the support member (5). 5. A handle as claimed in claim 1 , charac rised in thai the support member consists of a tubular sleeve (5, 105). 6 - A handle as claimed in claim 1 , characterised in that the support member consists of a tubular support C -U5). 7. A handle as claimed in claim 6, <-haracterised in that the tubular support (205) is provided with opposing appendices (210) for engaging corresponding diametrical notches (211 ) provided in the crossbar (206).

Inventors: MAINETTI MARIO, MAINETTI, MARIO
Applicants: MAINETTI SPA, MAINETTI S.P.A.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B65D85
IPC codes: A47B61, B65D85