Claims
- 1. A sleeve pack to be used with a pallet base and cover to form a container for shipping bulk goods, the sleeve pack comprising:
- four vertical wails configured in a rectangular configuration such that each wall orthogonal to an adjacent wall and parallel to an opposing wall, each wall having a top edge and a bottom edge defining a height, each wall being made of double face plastic having multiple partitions separated by channels sandwiched between two face plies, all of the partitions and channels being vertically oriented and said partitions having a top edge; said sleeve pack having four corners;
- at least one vertically oriented flute rod inserted between the two faces of plastic and within one channel of at least one wall between and spaced from said corners of said sleeve pack in order to strengthen said at least one wall, each flute rod having only one leg extending throughout said height and upholding means for supporting said flute rod on the top edge of at least one partition preventing said flute rod from passing downwardly through said at least one wall of said sleeve pack; and
- a channel shaped retainer covering a top edge of said at least one wall to hold said at least one flute rod in place, said retainer being secured to said at least one wall by a securement.
- 2. The sleeve pack of claim 1 wherein said at least one vertically oriented flute rod is a steel rod.
- 3. The sleeve pack of claim 1 wherein each of said at least one vertically oriented flute rod is generally in the shape of a nail, said nail comprising a flat head of a first diameter and a rod body of a second smaller diameter extending downwardly from said head.
- 4. The sleeve pack of claim 3 wherein the upholding means of each flute rod is said flat head of said nail shaped flute rod.
- 5. The sleeve pack of claim 1 wherein each of said flute rods is generally in the shape of a "J" with a downwardly extending short leg and a downwardly extending long leg, said legs being connected by a bend.
- 6. The sleeve pack of claim 1 wherein each of said at least one flute rod extends from proximate a top edge of said at least one wall of the sleeve pack to proximate a bottom edge of said at least one wall of the sleeve pack.
- 7. The sleeve pack of claim 1 wherein said at least one flute rod extends approximately the height of said at least one wall.
- 8. The sleeve pack of claim 1 wherein the upholding means is a hook having a downwardly extending short leg inserted between the two faces of plastic and into a second channel.
- 9. The sleeve pack of claim 1 wherein said upholding means of each said flute rod rests between the two faces of plastic on a partition of a lesser height than adjacent partitions.
- 10. The sleeve pack of claim 9 wherein said flute rod does not extend above the top edge of at least one wall.
- 11. The sleeve pack of claim 1 wherein said securement is an adhesive.
- 12. The sleeve pack of claim 1 wherein said securement is at least one rivet.
- 13. A sleeve pack to be used with a pallet base and a cover to form a container for shipping bulk goods, the sleeve pack comprising:
- four connected vertical wails oriented in a rectangular configuration, each wall being of double face plastic having vertically oriented partitions and channels defined between the two faces of plastic, each wall having a height defined between a top edge and a bottom edge and a length, said sleeve pack having four corners;
- a plurality of "J" shaped flute rods, each flute rod having a short leg and a long leg connected by a bend, said short leg and said long leg extending downwardly from opposite ends of said bend, each of said flute rods being inserted into a wall between the two faces of plastic with the long leg of each flute rod located within one channel of a wall and the short leg of the rod located within a second channel of said wall, said long and short legs being separated by one partition which prevents said at least one flute rod from moving downwardly in said channels, said flute rods being located along the lengths of said walls spaced from said corners.
- 14. The sleeve pack of claim 13 wherein said plurality of flute rods are made of steel.
- 15. The sleeve pack of claim 13 wherein the long leg of each flute rod is inserted between a first and second adjacent partition of said wall and the short leg of the flute rod is inserted between said second partition and a third partition of said wall adjacent said second partition.
- 16. The sleeve pack of claim 15 wherein the long leg of each flute rod extends throughout approximately the height of one of the sleeve pack walls.
- 17. The sleeve pack of claim 13 wherein the bend of each flute rod rests in a cut-out area of one wall so that the bend does not protrude above a top edge of the sleeve pack wall.
- 18. A sleeve pack to be used with a pallet base and a cover to form a container for shipping bulk goods, the sleeve pack comprising:
- four vertical sidewalls arranged in a rectangular configuration, each sidewall being attached to two adjacent sidewalls at a corner, each sidewall being made of double face plastic having vertically-oriented partitions and channels;
- at least one flute rod having a support at one end, said support abutting a top edge of at least one of said vertically-oriented partitions, said at least one flute rod being inserted between two faces and between adjacent vertically-oriented partitions of at least one sidewall between and spaced from said corners, said at least one flute rod functioning to strengthen said at least one sidewall; and
- a retainer covering a top edge of said at least one sidewall to hold said at least one flute rod in place, said retainer being permanently attached to said at least one sidewall.
- 19. The sleeve pack of claim 18 wherein said at least one flute rod is made of steel.
- 20. The sleeve pack of claim 18 wherein said retainer is secured to said at least one sidewall by an adhesive.
- 21. The sleeve pack of claim 18 wherein said retainer is secured to said at least one sidewall by at least one rivet.
- 22. The sleeve pack of claim 18 wherein said retainer is a U-shaped channel.
- 23. The sleeve pack of claim 18 wherein each of the flute rods has a long leg and a short leg connected by a bend, said long and short legs extending downwardly within adjacent channels from a top portion of said at least one sidewall, said long and short legs being separated by one partition which prevents said at least one flute rod from moving downwardly in said channels.
- 24. A method of strengthening at least one wall of a corrugated plastic sleeve pack to be used with a pallet base and cover to form a container for shipping bulk goods comprising the steps of:
- inserting at least one flute rod between two adjacent partitions and between two opposing faces of plastic of at least one wall of said sleeve pack between and spaced from the ends of said at least one wall, supporting each flute rod from a top edge of a partition, each flute rod having a length of approximately the height of one wall;
- covering an upper portion of said at least one wall with a U-shaped retainer; and
- securing said U-shaped retainer to said upper portion of said at least one wall to prevent the at least one flute rod from falling out of said at least one wall.
- 25. The method of strengthening at least one wall of a sleeve pack as in claim 24 wherein said retainer is adhered to said upper portion of said at least one wall.
- 26. The method of strengthening at least one wall of a sleeve pack as in claim 24 wherein said retainer is riveted to said upper portion of said at least one wall.
- 27. The method of strengthening at least one wall of a sleeve pack as in claim 24 wherein at least one flute rod is inserted between the opposing faces of plastic in each of the walls of the sleeve pack.
- 28. A sleeve pack to be used with a pallet base and a cover to form a container for shipping bulk goods, the sleeve pack comprising:
- four vertical sidewalls arranged in a rectangular configuration, each sidewall being attached to two adjacent sidewalls, each sidewall being made of double face plastic having vertically-oriented partitions and channels;
- at least one flute rod having a long leg and a short leg connected by a bend, said long and short legs extending downwardly within adjacent channels from a top portion of said at least one sidewall, said long and short legs being separated by one partition which prevents said at least one flute rod from moving downwardly in said channels, said at least one flute rod being inserted between two faces and between adjacent vertically-oriented partitions of the same sidewall; and
- a retainer covering a top edge of said at least one sidewall to hold said at least one flute rod in place, said retainer being permanently attached to said at least one sidewall.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/501,613, filed Jul. 12, 1995, entitled Damage Resistant Container and Sleeve Pack Assembly and assigned to the assignee of this application.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0006993 |
Mar 1975 |
JPX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
501613 |
Jul 1995 |
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