Patent ID: 7909380

Claim:
Skip for transporting, storing or handling granular material, comprising a base and lateral walls, one of said lateral walls being openable, and the skip being constructed and arranged to be carried by a vehicle and to be tiltable upwardly with respect to the vehicle to enable removal of the granular material by gravity through the openable lateral wall, wherein at least a portion of the base comprises a sheet impressed with at least one raised pattern on a single face thereof, the at least one pattern having a length of between 0.5 and 15 cm, said sheet being arranged so that during the transport or during the unloading of the granular material, said pattern is in contact with said granular material, wherein the at least one pattern retains a layer of stationary granular material in contact therewith during removal of the granular material by gravity, and wherein the at least one raised pattern is at least one of: a) a pattern selected from the group consisting of patterns known by standard designations of Check 2, Check 5, Barley Corn, Diamond, Almond, and Rice Grain, b) a pattern comprising elongated lines, which lines are oriented at approximately 45° in relation to direction of flow of the granular material while being unloaded from the skip via tilting of the skip and sliding of the granular material through an opening provided in the base, and, c) a pattern comprising elongated lines, which lines are oriented at approximately 45° in relation to direction of flow of the granular material while being unloaded from the skip via tilting of the skip and sliding of the granular material through an opening provided in one of the lateral walls.