Patent ID: 7921608

Claim:
Variable volume container comprising: a basic unit having a bottom panel and a roof panel; at least one hinged side panel operatively connected with the basic unit and rotatable about a horizontal axis so as to be raised; at least one expansion element arranged to be telescoped out of the basic unit and having a bottom panel, a side open toward a front of the basic unit and a front panel opposite the open side, whereby the at least one expansion element is open toward its top and, in a raised state, the at least one hinged side panel is adjacent the roof panel and covers the at least one expansion element of the basic unit; and at least one hoisting device operatively associated with each of the at least one expansion element with which the expansion element can be lowered so that, after the at least one expansion element is telescoped out of the basic unit, the bottom panels of the at least one expansion element and of the basic unit are at the same height and with which the at least one expansion element can be raised in order to insert the at least one expansion element back into the basic unit after being lowered, wherein the hoisting device is configured to cooperate with the hinged side panel to lower and raise the at least one expansion element, guide rails are arranged on the at least one hinged side panel such that the at least one expansion element is guided in the guide rails when being telescoped out of or retracted into the basic container, the at least one expansion element is guided in the guide rails on the at least one hinged side panel at only one point of each guide rail and is rotatable thereat around a horizontal axis, and the at least one expansion element has a plurality of upper and multiple lower sliding or rolling elements on an interior end thereof, and the basic unit has a plurality of guide elements operatively associated with the upper sliding or rolling elements and comprised of ramps sloping downward toward the at least one expansion element on an end thereof neighboring the at least one expansion element, and a plurality of lower stops operatively associated with the lower sliding or rolling elements, on an end thereof neighboring the at least one expansion element such that, when the at least one expansion element is completely telescoped out of the basic container, the at least one expansion element is in a statically fixed starting position in which the lower sliding or rolling elements stop on a lower stop and the upper sliding or rolling elements lie on a guide element ramp.