Abstract:
A modular parts container including multiple upstanding side panels registerable to a platform having a generally flat supporting surface with perimeter panel engaging recesses to receive elongated tabs extending from the side panels. The panels have interlocking end fittings slideably disposed within one another for progressive selective interengagement. The platform has multiple support legs in staggered spaced side by side relationship. Panels can be stocked one on another and selectively removed for container access and tear down.

Description:
This is a CIP patent application of Ser. No. 08/715,874, filed Sep. 19, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,508. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     This invention relates to knock down containers used in manufacturing facilities to store and transport materials. The invention is directed to a modular container that is stackable upon one another in fixed relation thereto. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     Prior art devices of this type have relied on a variety of construction configurations to address the problem of supplying components to manufacturing plants and removal of finished goods. A number of containers have been developed such as single use containers, made of wood or reinforced compressed paper that are disposable after a single use. More durable containers have been developed that can be taken apart for reshipment to a supplier or for storage. Such containers typically have metal or composite walls with latches or hinged pivot pins to allow quick disassembly to generally flat components, such examples can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,775,360, 4,785,957, 4,809,851, 4,917,255, 5,161,709 and 5,413,236. 
     In the U.S. Pat. No. 2,775,360 a material handling container can be seen having a base with corner posts therebetween which are mounted on multiple side plates. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,957 is directed to a collapsible shipping container having a plurality of retainer weld elements forming upper and lower pocket means therein positioned on a base. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,851 discloses a collapsible container having a support base with multiple upstanding wall panels extending therefrom. The panels are slideably secured to one another and the base by tenons. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,255 a collapsible container is illustrated having multiple interlocking side and walls by a flange and locking tab construction. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,709 is directed towards a collapsible container having a flat base with pairs of engageable upstanding panels extending therefrom. The panels are secured to one another by catches having multiple bolts, interengaging the respective panels. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,236 is a modular shipping container having a base, multiple corner posts and inter-disposed panels therebetween. The top is registerable over the post and can be interlocked to adjacent containers by a plurality of interlocking tabs disposed around its perimeter edge. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention provides a container formed of multiple interengaging side panels extending from a platform element. The panels are secured to one another by interengaging tabs and slots. The platform has multiple feet that can be interengaged to an opposing inverted platform element to provide multiple stacked containers of varying heights. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the collapsible container of the invention with portions broken away; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial perspective view of panels with interengaging tabs and slots thereon; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of the interengaging side panels and platform with portions broken away; 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged top plan view of the interengaging tabs and slots of the panels with portions broken away; 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial cross-section of a wall panel of the invention; 
     FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial cross-section of an alternate wall panel of the invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of an assembled container of the invention in stacked relationship with the wall panel shown in broken lines for clarity; 
     FIG. 8 is a bottom perspective view of the support platform illustrating the interlocking feet thereon; 
     FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial perspective view of an alternate panel configuration having interlocking tabs; and 
     FIG. 10 is an enlarged top plan view of the interlocking tabs of the panels illustrated in FIG. 9 of the drawings. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings a collapsible container 10 can be seen having a main support platform 11 with upstanding interconnected wall panels 12 extending therefrom. 
     The support platform 11 is generally square having a flat upper floor surface 13 with an upstanding perimeter edge lip 13A extending therefrom and multiple spaced parallel support rib feet assemblies 14 extending from a bottom surface 15. 
     Each of the rib feet assemblies 14 have rows of longitudinally spaced feet 16 and 17 extending therefrom with respective recessed areas 18 therebetween. The adjacent feet rows define alternate wave patterns therebetween that are out of phase so that the respective feet 16, for example, extend next to a corresponding recessed area 18 in the adjacent row. The staggered arrangement of the hereinbefore described rib feet assembly 14 provides for interengagement of the support platform 11 to another by inverting a registering platform as a top 11A to the container, as best seen in FIG. 7 of the drawings. 
     The upper surface 13 of the platform 11 has oppositely disposed pairs of channel recesses 19 and 20 inwardly of its perimeter edge lip for registration with the upstanding identical wall panels 12 which have corresponding elongated tenons 21 extending from a bottom edge 22 for registration within the respective channel recesses 19 and 20, best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings. 
     Each of the wall panels 12 have a corresponding channel recess 23 in a top edge 24 that is aligned with the hereinbefore described tenons 21 to allow multiple panels to be stacked directly on top of one another to extend the effect of height of the collapsible container 10. The panels 12 are secured to one another at their respective adjacent ends 25 and 26 by alternating tabs and slotted lug fittings 27 and 28 best seen in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings. The tabs 27 have an outstanding support arm 27A that is co-planar with the panel&#39;s respective outer side 12A. An engagement inner face 27B extends inwardly therefrom with a tapered oppositely disposed sides 27C. The corresponding slotted lug fitting 28 has a pair of outstanding engagement arms 28A and 28B with a tapered registration slot 29 formed therebetween. The positioning of the alternating tabs and slotted lug fittings 27 and 28 are critical to the scope and nature of the invention as described herein. The tabs and slotted lug fittings 27 and 28 extend along the panel end 26 beginning at the bottom edge 22 with a lug 28 progressively therealong in alternating fashion to terminate with a tab fitting 27 adjacent the top edge 24 of the panel 12, best seen in FIG. 3 of the drawings. 
     Correspondingly, the tabs and slotted lug fittings 27 and 28 along the panel&#39;s opposite end 25 begin at the bottom edge 22 with a tab 27 so as to be registerable with an adjacent panel end lug 28 to form an interlocking connection between respective panel ends defining a walled enclosure on the support platform 11 as seen in FIG. 1 of the drawings. 
     To provide ease of assembly, the relative vertical dimension of the tabs and slotted lug fittings 27 and 28 vary along the respective panel edges 25 and 26 with the largest dimensional fitting always adjacent the bottom edge 22 of the panel 12 and progressively diminishing to the smallest dimension adjacent the top edge 24 of the panel 12. 
     Additionally, to facilitate the insertion of the tabs in progressive relation into the slotted lugs the leading upper edges of the fittings 27 and 28 are tapered at 30 or alternately fittings 28 are tapered on the upper and lower edges at 30A defining a &#34;lead in&#34; for the respective corresponding tabs or lugs of the adjacent panel ends during insertion as best seen in FIG. 2 of the drawings. Accordingly, the registration of like size tabs and lugs will also occur with the insertion or removal of any panel within the assembly possible due to the progressive engagement of the respective tabs and slotted lugs on each of the panel configurations. 
     To afford assembly or removal, the panels 12 each have a pair of recessed hand holds 31 and 32 spaced inwardly from said top edge 24 in spaced longitudinal aligned relation in its respective outer surface 12A. 
     Referring now to FIG. 5 of the drawings, a cross-section of the preferred panel 12 construction can be seen of a molded synthetic resin material having a hollow configuration with a plurality of spacing and reinforcing elements 33 molded in the outer surface 12A. The reinforcing elements are of a fusto-conical shape imparting structural rigidity between the opposing wall surfaces of the panel. 
     Referring to FIG. 6 of the drawings, an alternate panel construction 34 can be seen having a solid synthetic resin expanded foam core 35 with an outer skin 36 having a dense smooth surface typical of a molded solid core molding process well known to those skilled in the art. Such alternate solid core panel requires no additional interior support and is self-supporting in nature. 
     Referring back now to FIGS. 1, 2, and 4 of the drawings it will be seen that as joined the respective tabs 27 are inserted progressively in the slotted lugs 28 overlapping the respective lug arms 28A and 28B defining a continuous corner joint surface co-planar with the respective adjoining panel outer surfaces 12A. Given the progressive size differential of the fittings 27 and 28, the relative spacing therebetween is variable which allows for the initial positioning of the opposing fittings 27 and 28 to be joined therein as illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawings. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10 of the drawings, alternate panels 40 can be seen that are secured to one another at the respective adjacent ends 41 and 42 by a plurality of alternating overlapping tab fittings 43 and 44 extending the panels respective adjacent ends 41 and 42. It will be apparent from the above description that the tabs 43 and 44 alternate in directional alignment in oppositely disposed relation on each of the panels 40&#39;s ends 41 and 42 wherein alternate tabs 44 define registering slots 45 for the alternate tab 43 to be engaged. Thus, the alternating tabs 43 will register within respective tabs 44 when adjacent panel ends 41 and 42 are engaged as that of the hereinbefore described wall panel 12 of the preferred form of the invention. 
     Each of the tab fittings 43 and 44 respectively have rounded perimeter corners 46, 47, 48 and 49 and aid in the interengagement of the tab fittings 43 into the hereinbefore described slots 45 in the tab fittings 44. 
     The overlapping interlocking registration of the tabs 43 and 44 are best seen in FIG. 10 of the drawings. This alternate panel 40 configuration maintains all of the hereinbefore described structural features and advantages of the panels 12 while providing an improved and somewhat simplified tab on tab registration sequence. 
     Once assembled, the collapsible containers can be stacked vertically upon themselves by inverting a support platform 11A over the free top edges 24 of the panels 12 &amp; 40 forming a closure thereon as best seen in FIG. 7 of the drawings. Accordingly, another collapsible container can be registerably positioned thereon by interference of the previously described rib feet assembly 16 where alternating feet interlock to opposing feet in the staggered wave configuration. To assist with the interlock of the opposing rib feet assemblies 14, the feet rows have affronting tapers 36 along their respective inner edges, as seen in FIG. 3 of the drawings providing a &#34;lead in&#34; for registration thereof. 
     It will thus be seen that a new and novel modular collapsible container has been illustrated and described and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore I claim: