Abstract:
A storage and transportation tote which is used to store and transport food items like honey. The tote saves space and is easy to manipulate because of its shape. Generally the device is a stainless steel box with feet that are shaped to allow easy stacking with the top of the structure. The device has a removable top surface with a cylindrical access feature in that top surface. It additionally is easily movable by a forklift or pallet jack because of the specially shaped tubular feet of rectangular cross-section joined to the lower surface of the tote container.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     Cross Reference to Co-Pending Provisional Application This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/574,472, filed May 25, 2004, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in this application.  
         [0002]     I. Field of the Invention:  
         [0003]     This invention relates to storage containers, and more particularly to a storage and transportation tote that can efficiently store sizable quantities of food or other material.  
         [0004]     II. Discussion of the Prior Art:  
         [0005]     Currently there are many storage containers and devices for keeping food items fresh and movable. Fifty five gallon steel drums are frequently used to store bulk foods like honey, for example. However, there are some problems with such drum or barrel storage. Because cylindrical shapes do not closely match surfaces with other cylindrical shapes a great potential for lost storage space exists when multiple drums are placed next to one another. Also, these drums often can only be safely stacked to a limited height.  
         [0006]     In general, drums and barrels are somewhat difficult to manipulate with a fork lift and usually require some manual labor to put in a desired location. A great amount of time and energy is wasted on filling, dumping, moving, and handling them as well. Also, many storage containers are not sanitary or readily suitable for maintaining high quality food because they are susceptible to chipped paint, rust or other contaminating elements.  
         [0007]     Also, other existing containers for bulk foods consist of a plastic tank with a metal cage supporting the tank. These are primarily used by farm chemical manufacturers and are generally not designed to be rotated. Further, these designs are not suitable for storage and preparation of products like honey as the plastic tanks can not handle the heat of the ovens commonly used to liquefy or render honey less viscous.  
         [0008]     Thus, a container is needed which efficiently fits with other containers to save space, that is readily stackable, that provides easy access for fork lift tines and pallet jacks, that saves time and manual labor when filling, emptying, moving and handling containers, and is made from stainless steel or other sanitary material that can withstand high temperatures.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     A storage and transportation tote is used to store and move food materials like honey, for example, is generally a box shaped stainless steel structure with four sidewalls, a top surface, and a bottom surface. The box is raised slightly off the ground by short tubular feet of rectangular cross-section along the two opposed sides proximate the bottom of the tote. The tote structure has a removable top that contains a raised cylindrical collar surrounding an opening for access to the inside of the tote. Also, there is a removable lid which cooperates with the cylindrical collar to seal the container. The cylindrical collar also uses its shape to align and stabilize additional stacked totes. A stacked tote has its movement constrained by the raised collar of the tote below it. The collar falls between the tubular feet of the stacked tote to inhibit lateral movement of a stacked tote. In this way a stable, safe, and structurally sound stack of storage units can be achieved. The tubular feet are dimensioned and spaced to allow the forks of a fork lift or pallet jack to fit into or between adjacent feet.  
       OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     It is an object of the invention to provide a space saving food storage container.  
         [0011]     It is than an object of the invention to provide a food storage container which has an increased capacity for stacking.  
         [0012]     It is a further object of the invention to provide a food storage container which has four way access for a fork lift and two way access for a pallet jack.  
         [0013]     It is yet another object of the invention to provide a food storage container that results in savings by improved filling, emptying, moving, and handling capability with a minimum of manual labor.  
         [0014]     It is still another object of the invention to provide a food storage container which is sanitary and is not susceptible to rust or paint contamination.  
         [0015]     It is a still further object of the invention to provide a food storage container that can withstand elevated temperatures.  
         [0016]     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the storage and transportation tote;  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a bottom view of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the present invention; and  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the attachment of the top and front surfaces of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0021]     The present invention represents broadly applicable improvements for storage and transportation totes. The embodiments described herein are intended to be taken as representative of those in which the invention may be incorporated and are not intended to be limiting.  
         [0022]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of the food storage and transportation tote. The system generally comprises a box shaped stainless steel structure  10 . Without limitation, the approximate outside dimensions may be about are 35 inches high by 30 inches wide by 48 inches long. With these dimensions, the tote has an approximate capacity 166 US gallons, weighs about 240 lbs when empty and is made of food grade type SUS 304 stainless steel.  
         [0023]     This type of tote design is especially well-suited for storage of honey. These dimensions allow 2000 pounds of honey to be stored in a single tote. This is the same amount of honey as would have to be stored in three 55 gallon steel drums, but the tote of the present invention only requires the space needed for two of such drums.  
         [0024]     The box  10  does not sit on its bottom surface  12  of the box, but rather is raised slightly off the ground by relatively short tubular feet  14 . These feet  14  are rectangular in cross-section and are welded or otherwise attached to the lower surface  12  of the tote generally along the lower edges of the two sides  18  and  22  and extend from corner to corner.  
         [0025]     The tote structure  10  has a top cover  16  and mutually perpendicular surrounding side walls  18 ,  20 ,  22 , and  24 . The top cover  16  is removable from these surrounding walls as its four edges are turned down to fit over the top edges of the walls  18 ,  20 ,  22 , and  24  in a fashion similar to the cover of a shoebox. There are a number of locations around the perimeter of top surface  16  which allow it to be held in place with fasteners  25 , such as bolts, screws, etc. For example, such fasteners may be screws which are tightened against spring loaded nuts located in pockets within the top perimeter of the tote walls. The ability to remove the top cover  16  is useful for loading and unloading the container&#39;s contents when necessary. Located near one end of this surface  16  is a raised cylindrical collar  26  that surrounds a circular opening through which access to the inside of the container can be accomplished without having to totally remove the top surface  16  from the tote. The cylindrical collar  26  flares out to form an upper flange  28  extending around the top of the cylindrical collar  26 . There is a removable cap  30  which fits within the cylindrical lip  28  and is capable of providing a water-tight seal similar to that of a conventional paint can to the inside of the container. Fasteners  32  additionally connect between the cap  30  and upper lip  28  of the collar  26  to aid in the sealing process.  FIG. 3  provides a more detailed view of this top surface  16  and its features.  
         [0026]     The cylindrical collar  26  protrudes from the plane of top surface  16  such that its features aid in the stacking of similar totes. A tote stacked upon another tote generally is aligned and has its lateral movement constrained by the raised cylindrical collar  26  of the lower tote residing between the confines of the feet  14  of the upper tote. In this way a stable, safe, and structurally sound stack of storage units can be achieved. The totes may be stacked  5  units high when full and to a much greater height when empty. This is estimated to provide a 20% space savings over use of 55 gallon drums and can greatly exceed the maximum empty barrel height of about five barrels tall.  
         [0027]     The walls  18 ,  20 ,  22 , and  24 , the top surface  16 , and the bottom surface  12  of the containers are preferably made of integrally formed panels of stainless steel using a stamping and bending operation. These surfaces additionally contain a series of slightly recessed, aligned, rectangular panels  39  to provide extra rigidity and strength.  
         [0028]     The tubular feet  14  provide fork pockets  38  located below the bottom  12  of the tote. These fork pockets  38  run the length of the tote and have side openings  40  below end walls  20  and  24 . The fork pockets  38  are intended to hold the tote on the forks of a rotating head fork lift, allowing inversion and suspension of the tote by a fork lift vehicle. The tote is designed to be rotated from 0 to 180 degrees, i.e. from upright to upside down, to dump or empty the tote&#39;s contents. Because of the tote&#39;s integrated stainless steel design totes may be placed upside down in ovens as well.  
         [0029]     Now referring to  FIG. 2 , a bottom view of the present invention is disclosed.  FIG. 2  is not to the same scale as  FIG. 1 . The feet  14 , used to elevate the tote from the ground, are seen extending along the sides of the tote. These hollow rectangular members  14  have openings at their ends, known as fork pockets  38 , but each additionally have two openings, as at  40 , which split the feet  14  into three sections. These openings  40  are found at equivalent distances from the center of the short feet  14 . These openings  40  provide fork lift access for entry from the side of the tote. Inside these openings  40  are found fork “J” pockets  44  which are joined to the bottom surface  20  of the tote and extend between the feet  14  on the sides of the tote. The pockets  44  have a cross-section shaped like an inverted “J”, where one side of these members extends lower than the other side. The passageway provided by these pockets is useful for raising the tote with a fork lift or pallet jack.  
         [0030]     Also seen in  FIG. 2  are two reinforcement pipes  46 . These pipes  46  are extend transversely across the ends  20  and  24  of the tote between the feet  14 . These pipes are designed to provide further support and structural stability to the feet  14  and overall tote design.  
         [0031]     The tote design is particularly easy to move and transport. It has four way access for fork lifts and two way access for a pallet jack. This eliminates the need for a manual barrel cart that would be required for barrel storage. Overall, it is estimated that the tote provides a 66% savings over typical barrel storage in filling, dumping, moving and handling with no manual labor involved.  
         [0032]      FIG. 4  discloses a detailed cross-sectional view of the interconnection and attachment of the side and top surfaces of the present invention. Top surface  16  is seen with a 90 degree angle forming a downward projecting lip  47 . Inside this lip is a reinforcing angle  48 . This angle bar is also bent forming a 90 degree angle and is used for structural stability in this and similar joined surfaces throughout the tote of the present invention. Inside the bar  48  is the stainless steel wall  20 . Last, within the inside surface of wall  20  is a stainless steel stiffener bar  50  which projects inward from the wall  20  until it reaches the edge of the reinforcement bar  48 , just below the top surface  16 . The stiffener bar providing further support and stability of the upper perimeter of the tote walls.  
         [0033]     The operation of the storage and transportation tote is as follows. First, an operator loads the product, e.g., honey, into the tote container through the opening beneath the cap  30  in the raised cylindrical structure. Once filled, the cap  30  is fitted over the circular opening and is secured with fasteners  32 . The tote is then ready to be shipped to a processing plant/final customer. Upon arrival at a processing plant, totes are removed from trucks with a standard fork lift, or pallet jack. The totes are then stacked and stored or taken directly to ovens. Next, a tote is moved from storage to an oven, the lid is removed, and a fork lift with the ability to rotate objects 180 degrees inserts its forks into fork pockets of the tote. The tote is then lifted, inverted and placed in the oven. If the product (ex. honey) is in granulated form, it melts and releases from the sides and bottom of the tote to drop and slide out of the tote in block form. Alternatively, if the product was in liquid form, the top surface would be retained on the tote, the cover  30  removed and tote inverted to pour the contents in a desired location.  
         [0034]     There are wide ranging fields of technology in which an effective an efficient container of this design could be used. Although this design is particularly well-suited for storage of honey or other food items, its use is not limited to storage of only these materials.  
         [0035]     Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.  
         [0036]     This invention has been defined herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the Patent Statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices, and that various modifications, both as to the equipment details and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.