Patent Publication Number: US-7896184-B2

Title: Crate with collapsible wall

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     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. 
     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 
     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. The upper section is selectably pivotable between a closed position and a retracted, open position. In the retracted position, access to the interior of the crate is provided. The upper section and the lower section each include edges adjacent one another. At least one of the adjacent edges is contoured away from the other edge when the upper section is in the closed position. The contoured edge provides improved access to the interior of the container when the upper section is in the retracted position. 
     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. 
     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 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a crate according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged view of the front of the crate of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of the front of the crate of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  shows the crate of  FIG. 1  with the front wall being retracted. 
         FIG. 5  shows the crate of  FIG. 4  with the front wall retracted. 
         FIG. 6  is a side perspective of the front of the crate of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the crate of  FIG. 1  with the front and rear walls collapsed. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the crate of  FIG. 1  in a collapsed position. 
         FIG. 9  is a front view of the crate of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 10  is a rear view of the crate of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 11  is a top view of the crate of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 12  is a bottom view of the crate of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 13  is a side view of the crate of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 14  is a perspective view of an alternate front wall of an alternate crate according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     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 . 
     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 connected to arms  23  of the lower section  22  by hinges  26 . Between the arms  21  of the upper section  20  is an upper opening  28 , 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  30 , which is also defined by a contoured upper edge of the lower section  22 . 
       FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view of the front of the crate  10 . The side walls  14  each include upper latches  34  adjacent latch plates  35  on the upper section  20 . The side walls  14  further each include lower latches  36  adjacent the lower section  22 . The upper section  20  includes a plurality of protrusions, such as protrusions  38  and protrusions  42  that correspond to recesses  40  and recesses  44  on the lower section  22 . The upper section  20  includes a pair of latch plates  46  below the latch plates  35 . While the latch plates  35  are positioned toward the interior surface of the upper section  20 , the latch plates  46  are positioned toward the exterior surface of the upper section  20 . Stops  47  protruding inwardly from the side walls  14  prevent the lower section  22  from pivoting forward (or outward). 
       FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of the crate  10 . The rear surface of the upper section  20  includes a label surface  48  on which logos can be applied by labels or could be molded into the upper section  20 . The latches  36  selectively prevent the lower section  22  from pivoting into the interior of the crate  10 . 
       FIG. 4  is a front view of the crate  10 , with the upper section  20  being pivoted forward relative to the lower section  22  and relative to the side walls  14 . After releasing the upper latches  34 , the upper section  20  is pivoted forward (or outward of the crate  10 ) on the hinges  26 . As shown, the protrusions  38 ,  42  of the upper section  20  are aligned with the recesses  40 ,  44  of the lower section  22  about the axis of hinges  26 . Further, the latch plates  46  are generally aligned with the lower latches  36  about the axis of the hinges  26 . 
     When the upper section  20  is pivoted down to a position abutting the lower section  22 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , the protrusions  38 ,  42  of the upper section  20  are received in the recesses  40 ,  44  of the lower section  22 . Optionally, the latch plates  46  of the upper section  20  could be latched behind the latches  36  on the lower section  22 , or behind a portion of the latches  36  on the lower section  22 . The latches  36  also continue to prevent the lower section  22  from pivoting into the crate  10 . With the front wall  18  in the retracted position, the label surface  48  is displayed on the exterior of the crate  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the partial nesting of the upper section  20  into the lower section  22  provides a substantially non-protruding front wall  18  when the front wall  18  is in the retracted position, with the upper section  20  positioned adjacent the lower section  22 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the front wall  10  can be collapsed onto the base  12  from the retracted position ( FIG. 6 ), by releasing the latches  36  ( FIG. 5 ). The side walls  14  are then pivoted onto the front and rear walls  18 ,  16  as shown in  FIG. 8 . In the collapsed position, many empty crates  10  can be shipped in a reduced volume. 
       FIG. 9  is a front view of the crate  10 .  FIG. 10  is a rear view of the crate  10 .  FIG. 11  is a top view of the crate  10 .  FIG. 12  is a bottom view of the crate  10 .  FIG. 13  is a side view of the crate  10 . 
     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 ). At the store, the front wall  18  would be collapsed ( FIG. 5 ) to provide access to the egg cartons in the interior of the crate  10  by customers or by store workers. When empty, the front wall  18 , the side walls  14  and rear wall  16  are collapsed onto the base  12  as shown in  FIG. 8  so that the crates  10  occupy less volume and can be efficiently returned to be reused in shipping additional egg cartons (or other items). In the example design illustrated and described above, the upper latches  34  prevent the upper section  20  from pivoting into the crate  10 . Thus, the front wall  18  cannot collapse onto the base  12  unless the front wall  18  is retracted, with the upper section  20  in front of the lower section  22 . If desired, an alternate upper latch  34  could be provided to permit the front wall  18  to collapse when the upper section  20  is in the closed position. 
       FIG. 14  is a largely schematic perspective view of an alternate front wall  118  of an alternate crate  110  according to the present invention. The front wall  118  includes an upper section  120  pivotably connected to a lower section  122  (latches and other details as in the first embodiment would be included, but are not shown for simplicity). The only difference in the second embodiment is the addition of a sliding door  150  that is slidably mounted in the lower section  122 . The sliding door  150  can be closed (as illustrated) during shipping to increase the protection of the egg crates (or other items) inside the crate  110 . The sliding door  150  would be slid into the lower section  122  for access to the interior of the crate  110 , either before or after the upper section  120  is pivoted downward to the retracted position. The sliding door  150  could be incorporated into the crate  10  of  FIGS. 1-13 . 
     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.