Patent GB-1254842-A (GB)
Title: A goods container
Inventor: WALKER ROY DIXON
IPC: B65D6/16
Filed: 1967-11-17
Abstract: 1,254,842. Collapsible containers. VICKERS Ltd. 15 Nov., 1968 [17 Nov., 1967], No. 52531/67. Heading B8P. [Also in Division E2]  A goods container has sides 8 thereof connected to a base frame 1 thereof so as to be pivotable inwardly towards and outwardly away from said base frame and ends pivotally connected to one of the sides 8 so as to be turnable about respective vertical axes and towards and away from the inside of said side 8, the arrangement permitting the container to be collapsed and erected alternately, the plan outline of said container when erected being of substantially the same size as the plan outline when collapsed and said base frame including locking means whereby with the container and an identical container both collapsed and placed one upon the other the two containers can be locked together to form a unit liftable by lifting the upper of the two collapsed containers. In the construction shown the base frame comprises eight ISO corner fittings 2, two at each corner of its oblong rectangular shape, and at each corner there is a short-pillar 3 integral with and rigidly interconnecting the two fittings 2 at the corner; the four bottom corner fittings 2 are interconnected by rectangular section tubing 4 of the frame 1. The two sides 8 each consist of two corner fittings 2<SP>1</SP> at the ends of its top edge and rectangular box section framework with wire mesh filling; end uprights 14 of each side 8 bear on the upper four fittings 2 and are pivotable about pins 15 at the lower ends of the uprights 14 which are journalled in the pillars 3; intermediate uprights 16 of each side 8 are pivotable about pins 17 at the lower ends of the uprights 16, the pins being journalled in uprights which form part of the base frame. Each of the uprights 14 is held upright by a twist lock; each twist lock comprises a pin 22 having an upper portion 23 of oblong cross-section which can pass through an oblong aperture in the lower end of the upright 14 and which when rotated through 90 degrees fastens the upright 14 to the base frame. The pin also comprises a lower portion 24 of oblong cross-section which is joined by a portion 25 of circular cross-section to the portion 23; the pin is completely retractable into the corner post consisting of the pillar 3 and the two corner fittings and for moving the pin it is provided with a radial bar 26 which protrudes through an L-shaped slot in the part 21 and has mounted on its free end under the load of compression spring 27, a cup 28 with vertical finger posts 29. The L-shaped slot has three positions P, Q and R which are widened to receive the cup and to move the pin, the cup must be pulled out of the slot, moved over the slot and then released in the desired position. The four pins 22 have their head portions 23 engaged with the corresponding corner fittings 2 of the identical container when placed on top to lock the two containers together. When the sides 8 are erected the uprights 16 can be connected to the base frame by pins 18 inserted in lugs 19 fixed to the uprights 16 and lugs 20 fixed to the base frame. Each of the ends is made in two parts, a part 7 hinged to the said one side 8 and a part 5 hinged to the part 7 by hinges 6, the arrangement being such that the part 5 can be folded upwardly against the inside of the part 7 before the part 7 is folded flat against the side 8. In a modification each twist lock instead of being provided with a cup 28 is provided with a hand lever (68) which is pivoted to the radial bar and which urges a collar (67) inwardly of the bar against the bias of a spring (66), the collar has a width corresponding to the width of the slot at the positions P, Q and R and when the hand lever is vertical the collar is disposed in one of the widened positions. Moving the hand lever to the horizontal position cams the collar inwardly so that the bar 26 can be moved to the desired position in the slot. The pin 22 can have a tube (60) attached to it, the tube engaging over vertical studs 62 clamped at its lower end in a web (64) to the pillar 3 so that the stud guides the movement of the pin 22. Instead of the upright 16 being connected to the base frame by hinge pins 17 the lower end of each upright can have a partcylindrical extremity which slides in a partcylindrical housing (41). A further modification is provided at the lower end of each upright 16 with a tongue 15 instead of a hinge pin which when the upright 16 is in its vertical position projects downwardly and outwardly into a hole (51) formed through an insert in a cut-away of the base frame tubing 4; the tongue takes some of the lifting force applied to the container. The top horizontal of one of the sides 8 can have connected thereto one or more horizontal struts which can be connected to the other side 8 and which are swingable between a position aligned with the top member of the side 8 to which it is connected and a position perpendicular thereto.