CONTAINER FOR THE TRANSPORT OF BOXES AND PALLET COMPRISING SAID CONTAINERS

Abstract

A plastic container is provided that contains one or more boxes therein. The container includes walls and a base that delimit a space for the location of the boxes; wherein the container includes a first ventilation means located in a first pair of opposite walls and a second ventilation means located in a second pair of opposite walls. A pallet including the containers is also provided.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is oriented to the technical field of plastic containers. In particular, to containers arranging smaller boxes inside, in order to provide said boxes with greater protection during transport and safety during handling.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the packaging and transport industry, especially in that oriented to the handling of horticultural products it is possible to find out various types of containers or boxes. For example, for the storage and transport of cherries for export it is common to use cardboard boxes that are already labeled and therefore, they correspond to the final format in which the product will be marketed, for example, in supermarket shelves.

Said cardboard boxes in marketing format have the sole purpose of packing the product in a suitable medium for its sale to the final consumer and, therefore, it does not have a sufficiently robust structure or suitable means for its stacking on transport pallets. It is for this reason that these boxes are usually arranged, for example, in pairs inside a larger container which does have an adequate structure and means to ensure the integrity of the boxes during transport. This type of container is known by the name of master because it is the master container that contains the smallest boxes with the products inside. An example of this type of container is illustrated in FIG. 1 of the present Application.

Some examples of similar containers are also disclosed in the Patents literature, such as that described in document U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,069. Said container is formed by a support tray in which a plurality of receptacles are formed to receive boxes inside. The container includes a peripheral frame component that provides an interlocking arrangement between boxes when placed in a stacked fashion. The interlocking arrangement further includes a box holding means, whereby the boxes are always ensured as long as the peripheral frame component is mounted around the support tray.

Likewise, document US 2012/0285951 A1 discloses a container with folding walls for storing plastic boxes whose base includes multiple box support areas each defined by a rectangular perimeter formed by vents.

In general, the containers of the Patents literature provide relatively acceptable solutions in structural and material terms compared to cardboard containers or masters, which are susceptible to deterioration and failure in humid environments produced by the refrigeration conditions required by the fruit to arrive in good condition at its destination. However, these solutions are not entirely efficient in terms of requiring a lot of material and therefore, being heavy containers or that they do not have or use complex elements to secure the boxes inside the container or that they do not provide a good ventilation of the exterior and/or interior of the container or adequate visibility of the advertising design that the boxes have inside.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an optimized container that ensures a good compromise between high resistance, low weight, compact design, zero relative movement between boxes and high ventilation flow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention consists of a plastic container to accommodate one or more boxes inside, said container being made up of walls and a base that delimit a space for the location of said boxes which according to a first embodiment are arranged in direct contact with the container walls. The latter comprises first ventilation means located on a first pair of opposite walls and second ventilation means located on a second pair of opposite walls.

Preferably, the first ventilation means consist of at least one recess in the first pair of opposite walls while the second ventilation means consist of at least one recess in the second pair of opposite walls.

More preferably, the at least one recess of the first pair of opposite walls is located in the upper part of the walls preferably in the upper portion of a wall frame and it has a horizontal trapezoidal shape.

For its part, the at least one recess of the second pair of opposite walls is located in vertical pillars of said walls and has a vertical trapezoidal shape.

Advantageously, the ventilation means provide good cooling of the main faces of the container when it is in a stacked condition on a pallet, because the recesses form ventilation channels between adjacent containers that allow air to flow in a direction parallel to the walls and simultaneously parallel to the base.

According to a preferred embodiment, the walls are made up of a wall frame that circumscribes wall reinforcement elements inside it, such as vertical pillars and cross-shaped profiles. Likewise, the base is made up of a base frame that comprises at least one central support element for boxes, preferably having the shape of crossed bars. Advantageously, this configuration provides good structural resistance to the container and, at the same time, free surfaces to clearly visualize the boxes arranged inside and favor ventilation.

The corners of the container comprise upper stacking means and lower stacking means which interlock to provide secure stacking of identical containers on a pallet.

According to a second embodiment, the container comprises inside at least one housing for boxes which is separated from the walls by spacer elements. Advantageously, said box positioning means make it possible to automatically guide and center a box in the container housing, ensuring its correct position and preventing movement with respect to the container.

The spacer elements comprise box positioning means, wherein the box positioning means consists of an inclination of an upper edge of the spacer element, which causes the box to slide on it.

In this embodiment, the spacer elements consist of vertical tabs attached to the wall and to the base which, once the box is correctly positioned in the housings of the container, separate the box from the walls of the latter. In this way, a kind of refrigeration duct is advantageously formed which is suitable for air circulation around the box and ventilation of the products stored inside it.

According to an alternative embodiment, the spacer elements consist of a chamfered edge that runs through each housing for boxes and arranged on a base frame on which the boxes rest, said chamfered edge being inclined towards the inside of the container. Said chamfered edge allows a box to be guided and centered in its respective housing, in turn allowing to maintain the distance between it and the walls to form the refrigeration duct.

The container may comprise a separator element between two housings for boxes, the function of which is to separate two adjacent boxes and to form between them a suitable channel for air circulation analogous to that formed between the walls of the container and the box by means of the vertical tabs. Preferably, the separator element is a projection attached to two opposite walls of the container.

Preferably, the container comprises ventilation openings in its walls. More preferably, the ventilation openings may be located both in the corners of the container, in the frame of the walls, as well as in the vertical pillars thereof. In certain embodiments, said positions coincide with the ventilation ducts that are formed between boxes and/or between a box and the walls of the container, so that the air generated by the ventilation flow enters said channels through the ventilation openings, advantageously offering adequate refrigeration conditions for the products inside the boxes even when the containers are stacked on a pallet.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the container is of the monoblock type with fixed walls, however, according to an alternative embodiment, it may be of the collapsible type with folding walls that include wall connectors at their corners. In addition, it may include a system of tensioning tie rods made up of tie rods and connecting tie rods to stiffen the structure of the container in its collapsible mode.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a container pallet is proposed as the one described above which comprises a platform on which the containers are arranged in a stacked configuration formed by rows of containers with boxes inside. The pallet comprises ventilation channels formed by first ventilation means and second ventilation means of the containers, wherein the first ventilation means are located in a first pair of opposite walls of the containers, while the second ventilation means are located in a second pair of opposite walls of the containers.

Preferably, the pallet comprises rows of 8 containers each, wherein the containers in each row are arranged in a 4×2 arrangement. Furthermore and preferably, the pallet comprises 24 rows of stacked containers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As part of the Application, the following representative Figures of the invention are exhibited which show preferred configurations thereof and, therefore, should not be considered as limiting the definition of the claimed subject matter.

FIG. 1 illustrates a cardboard container of the state of the art.

FIG. 2 illustrates a first perspective view the container of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a second perspective view of the container of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the container of the present invention including boxes inside.

FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate a side view and a perspective view, respectively, of structural details of the container of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a configuration of containers of the present invention arranged on a pallet.

FIGS. 7a and 7b illustrate perspective views of a portion of structural details of the container of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of a container according to a second embodiment of present invention.

FIGS. 9a and 9b illustrate a perspective view of interior details of the container according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 10a and 10b illustrate flow diagrams and air circulation means through the container according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates a plan view of details of the top of the container of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates a perspective view of the container of the present invention according to a second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to FIG. 1, a cardboard container 10 of the state of the art is illustrated, which is made up of a rectangular base and four walls (11, 12). The illustrated container is configured to accommodate two cardboard boxes 1 for horticultural products, such as cherries, which are arranged side by side and against the walls of the container 10. Both the container and the box have vent holes 2 aligned to allow entry of an air flow and horticultural products cooling.

However, this solution does not turn out to be efficient to properly refrigerate horticultural products, first of all because when the containers are stacked on a pallet, the only place through which the air can circulate is through the ventilation holes, however, in the interior of the container boxes the fruit occupies practically the entire interior volume and is often placed inside bags, so that they prevent air from circulating through the multiple aligned perforations. In practice, what happens is that when the airflow tries to enter through the pallet, it runs into a large cardboard wall and can only go around it, with the boxes that are in the center of the pallet being the most affected by the lack of refrigeration.

According to FIGS. 2 and 3, the improved container of the present invention consists of a plastic material structure preferably obtained by the plastic injection method. The container is provided with four walls, preferably two larger walls 11 and two smaller walls 12 attached to a base 20. Unlike the container in FIG. 1, the structure of both the walls and the base is fully ventilated.

The walls are preferably formed by a wall frame 13 that circumscribes wall reinforcement elements inside. According to the illustrated embodiment, the wall reinforcement elements consist of vertical pillars 14 and cross-shaped profiles 15. For its part, the base is made up of a base frame 21 which comprises at least one central support element 22 and that, according to the illustrated embodiment, said at least one central support element 22 consists of a crossbar structure.

In the upper part of its corners 16 the container has upper stacking means 17 in the form of projections configured to be inserted into lower stacking means 18 in the form of openings when two or more identical containers are stacked. Furthermore, the container may comprise handles 23 located in the lower part of its smaller walls 12.

FIG. 4 shows the container 10 with two boxes 1 located inside it which are in direct contact with the internal surface of the container 10 and in turn with each other at the center of it, being arranged tightly inside said container 10. Although two square cardboard boxes 1 are illustrated in said Figure, in other embodiments the container could receive a different number of boxes, such as one, three, four, etc., these can also have any shape and be made of any material.

According to FIGS. 5a and 5b, the container is shaped in such a way that it allows the circulation of air around it. In the first place and according to FIG. 5a, it comprises a recess in the upper portion of the wall frame 13 of the smaller walls, which according to the illustrated embodiment has a trapezoidal shape made up of two inclined upper portions i that converge in a horizontal upper portion h at the upper edge of said wall frame 13.

Secondly, and according to FIG. 5b the vertical pillars 14 located on the larger walls comprise a recess on their outer edge which according to the illustrated embodiment has a trapezoidal shape made up of an upper and lower portion inclined i′ that converge in a vertical portion v of said vertical pillars 14.

As shown in FIG. 6, the recesses in the upper edge of the smaller walls and in the vertical pillars create ventilation channels between containers 10 stacked and arranged on a pallet, such as horizontal channels CH that allow air circulation between the top and bottom face of adjacent containers 10 in the vertical direction and vertical channels CV between the side faces of adjacent containers 10 in the horizontal direction.

According to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7a and 7b, one or more horizontal ribs 16′ from the corners of the container protrude from the container by a distance preferably less than 1 mm. Said protruding ribs are preferably located at diagonally opposite corners of the container and may point either perpendicular or parallel to any wall of the box. These ribs 16′ are configured to be inserted into one or more recesses 16″ in the corners of an adjacent container, said recesses 16″ being located in diagonally opposite corners of the container and opposite to those containing the ribs 16′ that protrude from the container.

FIG. 8 shows an alternative embodiment of the container of the invention which comprises housings for boxes 30 separated by a separator element 31. In the example, a container with two housings is illustrated but in alternative embodiments it may be only one or more of two. Each housing comprises spacers 32 in the area of the container walls. In this way, the housings are configured to receive a box which rests on the base frame 21 and the central support element 21 being distanced from a box located in the adjacent housing by the separator element 31 and at the same time distanced from the walls of the container by means of spacers 32.

As shown in more detail in FIG. 9a, the separator element 31 consists of an elongated projection whose ends are attached to two opposite walls of the container, preferably to a vertical pillar 14 located on each of them. Likewise, the spacers 32 consist of vertical tabs attached on one side to one of the walls and on the other to the base frame. FIG. 9b shows the spacer 32 in more detail in which it can be seen that its upper edge 33 is inclined to allow the box to be placed inside the container to slide on it and remain correctly positioned in the housing. A similar inclination may also have the spacer element 31 to provide the same effect.

As shown in FIG. 10a, the separator element and the spacers form a separation between boxes and between the box and each wall of the container which allows the circulation of air inside the container (represented by arrows) and therefore, the ventilation of the four walls of the box 1.

According to FIG. 10b, the air circulation flow into the container and between the boxes, enters through ventilation openings 19 preferably located in the corners of the container and in the vertical pillars 14 joined by the separator element 31.

As shown in FIG. 11, the top face of the container may comprise marks 34 to indicate box orientations. In the illustrated example, said marks consist of arrow-shaped reliefs pointing towards one of the larger walls of the box.

According to FIG. 12, a third embodiment of the container of the present invention is observed, which consists of a collapsible container with collapsible walls comprising wall connectors 40 at its corners to detachably join two adjacent walls. In addition, the container may comprise in the upper part a system of tensioning tie rods made up of tie rods 50 that are connected to at least two walls of the container and that are hooked with each other by means of connecting tie rods. 51.

Claims

1. A plastic container to contain one or more boxes inside, the container comprising: walls and a base that delimit a space for the location of the boxes;wherein the container comprises a first ventilation means located in a first pair of opposite walls; and a second ventilation means located in a second pair of opposite walls; andwherein the first ventilation means include at least one recess in the first pair of opposite walls.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one recess is located in an upper part of the walls.

3. (canceled)

4. The container according to claim 1, wherein the second ventilation means includes at least one recess in the second pair of opposite walls.

5. The container according to claim 4, wherein the at least one recess is disposed in vertical pillars of the walls.

6. The container according to claim 1, wherein the walls are formed by a wall frame circumscribing inside wall reinforcement elements.

7. The container according to claim 6, wherein the wall reinforcement elements are selected from vertical pillars and cross shaped profiles.

8. The container according to claim 1, wherein the base is formed by a base frame comprising at least one central support element.

9. The container according to claim 8, wherein the at least one central support element includes a crossbar structure.

10. The container according to claim 1, wherein corners of the container comprise upper stacking means and lower stacking means.

11. The container according to claim 1, further comprising inside at least one housing for boxes which is separated from the walls by spacer elements.

12. The container according to claim 1, further comprising a separator element between two housings for boxes.

13. The container according to claim 12, wherein the separator element is a projection attached to two opposite walls of the container.

14. The container according to claim 1, further comprising ventilation openings in the walls.

15. The container according to claim 8, wherein the ventilation openings are disposed in at least one of corners of the container and vertical pillars of its walls.

16. The container according to claim 1, further comprising horizontal ribs at one or more of the corners wherein one or more of said ribs protrude from the container.

17. The container according claim 1, further comprising one or more recesses at one or more of corners.

18. The container according to claim 1, further comprising one or more marks on an upper face.

19. The container according to claim 1, wherein the walls are collapsible and comprise wall connectors at corners.

20. The container according to claim 1, further comprising a tensioning tie rod system made up of tie-rods and tie-rod connectors.

21. A pallet of plastic containers, according to claim 1, comprising: a platform on which the containers are arranged in a stacked configuration formed by rows of containers with boxes inside; andventilation channels formed by first ventilation means and second ventilation means of the containers;wherein the first ventilation means is disposed in a first pair of opposite walls of the containers and includes at least one recess in the first pair of opposite walls; andwherein the second ventilation means is disposed in a second pair of opposite walls of the containers.

22. The pallet according to claim 21, which comprises rows of 8 containers each.

23. The pallet according to claim 22, wherein the containers in each row are arranged in a 4×2 arrangement.

24. The pallet according to claim 21, further comprising 24 rows of stacked containers.