Abstract:
A crate or container, such as for transporting egg cartons or other items includes a base, opposed side walls and a rear wall extending upward from the base. A front wall opposite the rear wall includes an upper section and a lower section having a pair of rails extending upward therefrom. The upper section is selectably slidable on the rails between an upper, closed position and a lower, retracted, open position. In the retracted position, access to the interior of the crate is provided through the front of the crate.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/373,139, filed Aug. 12, 2010. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to containers and more particularly to a crate that is particularly useful for transporting egg cartons or other items to a store. 
         [0003]    Currently, egg cartons are shipped to stores in metal crates. The crates must be unloaded onto shelves for the customers to select and purchase. This requires labor for handling the egg cartons in the store. The metal crates are expensive and are damaged easily. They are also subject to rust and are not recyclable. They are also not easily repairable. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The present invention provides a crate or container, such as for transporting egg cartons or other items. The crate includes a base, opposed side walls and a rear wall extending upward from the base. A front wall opposite the rear wall includes an upper section and a lower section having rails extending upwardly therefrom. The upper section is selectably slidable on the rails between an upper, closed position and a lower, retracted, open position. In the retracted position, access to the interior of the crate is provided through the front of the crate. 
         [0005]    In use, egg cartons (or other items) would be shipped to a store in the crate with the upper section of the front wall closed. At the store, the upper section of the front wall would be retracted to provide access to the egg cartons in the interior of the crate by customers or by store workers. The empty crate can then be returned to be reused in shipping additional egg cartons. 
         [0006]    These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a crate according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged view of the front of the crate of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  shows the upper portion of the front of the crate of  FIG. 1  with the latches in a released position. 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the upper portion of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  shows one of the latches of the upper portion of  FIG. 4  with the upper section of the wall removed. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of one end of the upper section of the wall, with the latch removed. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  shows the upper portion of  FIG. 3  with the upper section of the wall moved to a first step for sliding the upper section down. 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  shows the upper portion of  FIG. 7  in a second step for sliding the upper section down. 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  shows the crate of  FIG. 1  with the upper section of the front wall in the retracted position. 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  shows the crate of  FIG. 9  with the front wall pivoting toward a collapsed position. 
           [0017]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a crate according to a second embodiment, with an alternative upper section of the front wall. 
           [0018]      FIG. 12  is an enlarged side perspective view of the front wall of the crate of  FIG. 11 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 13  shows the crate of  FIG. 11  with the upper section of the front wall in the retracted position. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0020]    A crate  10 , such as for transporting egg cartons or other items, according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 . The crate  10  includes a base  12  having integrally molded upstanding portions  13  to which are hingably connected side walls  14 . A rear wall  16  is also hingably connected to the base  12  and latched to the side walls  14 . 
         [0021]    The front wall  18  includes an upper section  20  having a pair of downwardly extending arms  21  and a lower section  22  having a pair of upwardly extending arms  23 . The arms  21  of the upper section  20  are supported on and interlocked with arms  23  of the lower section  22 . Between the arms  21  of the upper section  20  is an upper opening  24 , which is also defined by a contoured lower edge of the upper section  20 . Between the arms  23  of the lower section  22  is a lower opening  26 , which is also defined by a contoured upper edge of the lower section  22 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view of the front of the crate  10 . The upper section  20  is slidably received between rails  28  extending upwardly from opposite sides of the lower section  22 . A pair of latches  30  are slidably mounted in sleeves  32  in the upper section  20  and are spring-biased outward toward a latched position interlocked with the rails  28 . The side walls  14  each include latches  34  adjacent latch plates  35  on the rails  28  and the lower section  22 . The side walls  14  each include a pair of flanges  36  protruding over the exterior of the rails  28 , upper section  20  and lower section  22 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 3  shows the latches  30  moved toward one another (against the spring-bias) to the released position, in which the upper section  20  can slide relative to the lower section  22  and relative to the rails  28 . In the released position, the latches  30  are not latched to the side walls  14  or the rails  28 . 
         [0024]    In  FIG. 4 , the latches  30  are shown in the released position, but are aligned with upper openings  38  through the rails  28  and upper openings  40  in the side walls  14 . In the latched position, the ends of the latches  30  would be received in the upper openings  38  in the rails  28  and the upper openings  40  in the side walls  14 , thereby latching the upper sections  20 , rails  28  and side walls  14  together. 
         [0025]      FIG. 5  shows the crate  10  with the upper section  20  removed and with one of the latches  30  in place. The rails  28  each include the upper openings  38  and a similar lower opening  42 . The rails  28  each further include an elongated vertical slot  44  in which the upper section  20  ( FIG. 4 ) slides. The upper edge  46  of each arm  23  of the lower section  22  includes an outer rib  48  a recess  50  and an inner rib  52  for interlocking with the lower end of the arms  21  ( FIG. 1 ) of the upper section  20 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 6  shows one end of the upper portion of the upper section  20 . A pin  54  protrudes outwardly from each end of the upper section  20 . The pin  54  is slidably received in the vertical slot  44  ( FIG. 5 ) of the rail  28 . 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , in order to retract the upper section  20 , the latches  30  are moved inwardly (against the spring-bias) to release the latches  30  from the rails  28  and side walls  14 . The upper section  20  is then slid upwardly slightly higher (in this example, slightly higher than the side walls  14 ) with the pin  54  sliding in the slot  44  ( FIGS. 6 and 5 , respectively) until the lower ends of the arms  21  of the upper section  20  are removed from the recesses  50  in the arms  23  of the lower section  22 . The lower end of the upper section  20  is then free to pivot outwardly, as shown in  FIG. 8 , until the lower end of the upper section  20  is clear of the lower section  22 . Flanges  36  extending inwardly from the rails  28  outward of the upper section  20  trap the lower end of the upper section  20  slidably between the flanges  36  and the lower section  22 . 
         [0028]    The upper section  20  can then be slid down to the retracted position shown in  FIG. 9 , with the upper section  20  outward of the lower section  22 . The latches  30  are then biased into the lower openings  42  in the rails  28  ( FIG. 5 ) to hold the upper section  20  in position. This provides access to the interior of the crate  10 . 
         [0029]    As shown in  FIG. 10 , the front wall  18  can be pivoted onto the base  12  to a collapsed position (with the upper section  20  in the retracted position, as shown, or with the upper section  20  in the closed position). The other walls can be collapsed onto the base  12  as well, in a known manner. 
         [0030]    In use, egg cartons (or other items) would be shipped to a store in the crate  10  with the front wall  18  closed ( FIG. 1 ). The latches  34  are secured to the latch plates  35  on the lower section  22  and rails  28  to maintain the front wall  18  closed. At the store, the upper section  20  of the front wall  18  would be retracted ( FIG. 9 ) to provide access to the egg cartons in the interior of the crate  10  by customers or by store workers, while the latches  34  and latch plates  35  still maintain the front wall  18  in the closed position. When empty, the latches  34  are released and the front wall  18  (upper section  20  retracted or not), the side walls  14  and rear wall  16  are collapsed onto the base  12  so that the crates  10  occupy less volume and can be efficiently returned to be reused in shipping additional egg cartons (or other items). 
         [0031]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a crate  110  according to a second embodiment, with an alternative upper section  120  of the front wall  118 . The base  12 , side walls  14 , rear wall  16 , lower section  22  and rails  28  are the same as in the first embodiment. The upper section  120  includes a pair of arms  121  extending upwardly defining an opening  124  therebetween. The lower end of the upper section  120  is supported on and interlocked with the outer rib  48  and recess  50  at the upper end of the lower section  22 , as shown more clearly in  FIG. 12 . 
         [0032]      FIG. 13  shows the crate of  FIG. 11  with the upper section  120  of the front wall in the retracted position (the upper section  120  is moved to the retracted position the same way the upper section  20  of the first embodiment is moved to the retracted position). In the retracted position, the opening  124  of the upper section  120  aligns with the opening  126  of the lower section  122 . The upper section  120  and lower section  122  are both U-shaped and oriented the same direction, such that when the upper section  120  is slid down, the openings in the U-shaped sections  120 ,  122  align, providing increased access to the crate  110 . 
         [0033]    In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes and jurisprudence, exemplary configurations described above are considered to represent a preferred embodiment of the invention. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope. Alphanumeric identifiers on method steps are for convenient reference in dependent claims and do not signify a required sequence of performance unless otherwise indicated in the claims.