Patent Application
20110253590
Objects to be transported were traditionally arranged on loose load pallets, without any sidewalls having typical sizes of 80×120 cm2 (depth/length). Such loaded pallets have to be moved slowly to avoid objects from falling off the pallet. Furthermore there is no protection against side impacts and loaded pallets are not stackable without risks of slipping pallets and/or damaged objects due to the weight pressure of above stacked pallets. Wrapping the objects were in order to lower the risk of losing object during transport would require additional time consuming effort. To avoid the above mentioned disadvantages, closed metal cages were fixed to a pallet. Such pallets with metal cages define typically a container volume of 80×120×190 cm3 (depth/length/height). However, such containers were not stackable, difficult to repair in case of damage and not able to collapse when unloaded resulting in a significant required amount of storage space even in an unloaded status.
Document DE 102006022196 discloses a foldable and stackable box comprising a bottom and a top plate sandwiching a closed one-piece sidewall defining a container volume. One disadvantage of this container is the difficult loading and de-loading. The absence of any opening within the sidewall, it is not possible to load the container by lateral movements of objects into the box. Each object has to be carefully lifted across the lower closed sidewall and afterwards carefully deposited down to the bottom of the box. This loading procedure is time consuming and eventually threatening the health of workers in case of loading the box by hand. The disclosed box is only moveable with a fork lift, if two additional pallets are arranged below the bottom plate and above the top plate. The disadvantage of this arrangement is the use of additional components: a double bottom (bottom plate and bottom pallet) for fork lift transports and a double top (top plate and top pallet) to stabilize the box during transport. A further disadvantage is the use of closed one-piece sidewalls, which have to be replaced in total even if a damage is present only at one side of the sidewall.
The subject innovation relates to a loadable container able to be collapsed in case of no load comprising a closable sidewall. The subject innovation further relates to corresponding sidewalls and pallets and to a method to collapse the container in case of no load.
The subject innovation may provide a loadable container able to be easily collapsed in case of no load, where the number of required components to build the container is reduced while simultaneously improving the ease of loading and de-loading.
Additionally, the subject innovation may relate to a container loadable with at least one object comprising a pallet with a loadable upper side and first fastening means arranged apart from the edges of the pallet and a closable sidewall with second fastening means suitable to fit into the first fastening means of the pallet comprising at least a first side, a second side, a third side and a fourth side, where the fourth side is suitable to be opened to load the container, wherein the sidewall and the pallet fastened together with the first and second fastening means define a loadable volume which is able to be collapsed in case of no loaded objects by moving the sidewall towards the upper side of the pallet, for at least two of the first to fourth sides along the first fastening means. This container is easily loadable, because the opened fourth side enables the loading stuff to place objects directly into the container without lifting and afterwards carefully putting down the objects. In case of large containers, the containers may be loaded directly from a forklift or other loading machines and/or loading techniques. The risk of health hazards to the loading stuff carrying too heavy objects is therefore reduced. Furthermore, the possibility to collapse the sidewall saves space in transport vehicles during the transport of empty containers. Collapsed (or shrunken) containers can be stacked on top of each other. Assuming typical sizes of pallets, and sidewalls, a stack of several collapsed containers only consume the space of one non-collapsed container. This reduces the overall transportation costs of container according to the subject innovation. The closed sidewall of loaded containers provides protection of the loaded objects against side impacts and other events capable to damage the objects, especially when the sidewall and/or the pallet is made of impact resilient materials. The first and second fastening means further improve said protection and provide a secure locking structure of the container against events from the outside. Also the stacked objects inside the container are secured against slipping. The presence of a pallet as part of the container enables the use of forklifts during loading processes and pallet trucks during transportation. The possibility to detach the sidewall from the pallet, especially the parts of the sidewall, the first side, the second side, the third side and the fourth side from each other, enables a separate and effortlessly replacement of such elements in case of damage without replacing the complete sidewall. The sidewall has an open base to minimize the required parts to build a closed sidewall. Additionally, a base is not required because the pallet form the base of the container. The required time for replacements is below 1 minute. Also damaged pallets can be replaced without replacing the whole container. The use of the term loading should be understood to relate also to the inverted process of de-loading. Arguments valid for loading are almost valid for de-loading. The term “pallet” denotes all kind of pallets, especially pallets suitable to be moved and/or transported with forklifts. This could be standard pallets, any loadable container base plates and/or base plates/pallets with mounted wheels suitable to be transported with a forklift.
The arrangement of the fastening means apart from the edges of the pallet avoids damage of said fastening means during transport or stacking of containers, because the highest risk of collisions with other containers, edges, walls etc is present at the edges of a pallet.
In one exemplary embodiment of the container, the first side, the second side and the third side, preferably also the fourth side, are connected to each other via connection means comprising clips, flaps, pins, bolts anchors, clamps, clips, mounting links and hooks to provide a closed sidewall. Depending on the process how to open the container the fourth side is connected to the first side and the third side via the connection means. Here, the fourth side is not considered as a door, but as a replaceable element to open the container. To load the container, the fourth side is detached front the remaining sides of the sidewall (first side, second side, third side). After loading, the fourth side is connected again to the first and third side in order to provide a closed sidewall for the following transportation.
In another exemplary embodiment, the fourth side is provided as a door, preferably a double wing door, connected to the vertical edge of the first side and/or third side facing towards the fourth side via at least one opening mean suitable to provide an opening angle of the door (or double wing door) of 90°, preferably 180°, more preferred 270°. When the container should be loaded the door will be opened along the vertical edge of one side, first side or third side, in case of a single wing door. In case of a double wing door, both wings will be opened along the vertical edges of the first and third side to provide easy access to the whole loadable volume of the container. The opening angle provided by the opening means allows different handling procedures. At least 90° are required to enable direct loading of the whole loadable volume of the container. Several container placed beside each other can be loaded simultaneously. 180° enables to load objects into the container also from loading directions not parallel to the first and third sides of the sidewall. The loading can be executed more variable, but containers cannot be placed side by side for simultaneous loading. An opening angle of 270° prevents damaging of the door (or both door wings in case of a double wing door) during loading. Here, several containers placed beside each other with previously opened doors can be loaded simultaneously but the doors cannot be closed directly after loading. Hinge, flexible joint, angle, clip, or flap or combinations thereof are suitable examples of opening means. People skilled in the art may also consider other opening means.
In another exemplary embodiment, the door further comprises closing means to fasten the door, such as door lockers, bars or other closing means known by people skilled in the art. Closing means provide a secure locking structure to protect the loaded objects to achieve a closed sidewall.
The pallet may have any size, e.g. a standard size of 80×120 cm2. However, in another exemplary embodiment, the pallet and the sidewall define a customized loadable volume of the container, preferably a volume of 120×120×120 cm3, where the pallet size is 120×120 cm2. A customized loadable volume adapted to the available storage space, e.g. in trucks, ships, trains or air planes will save transportation costs due to the more effective use of available storage space. In a preferred embodiment, the volume of 120×120×120 cm3 is optimized to the available standard trailer volume (Nordic pool size) of approximately 240×260×1200 cm3. If the thickness of the sidewall is large enough, another container is stackable on top of a first container. In an exemplary embodiment the container comprises further means in order to be stackable, preferably additional supporting posts preferably located in the corners of the pallet or a cover for the sidewall to improve the stiffness of the sidewall (further strengthen the sidewall). The supporting posts may be made of any material, e.g. metal, fiberglass or hard plastic, which is sufficiently resilient to be stackable with another loaded container. The possibility to stack containers according to the subject innovation will lead to a further more effective use of available storage space. In said standard trailer 40 containers according to the preferred embodiment can be stored if stacked as units of two containers each and loaded in two lines into the trailer increasing the trailer load of at least 25% compared to state of the art containers with common sizes of 120×80 cm2 and heights of approximately 190 cm. Compared to stacked loose load pallets the use of our stackable container with volume of 120×120×120 cm3 will improve the trailer load by 33%.
In another exemplary embodiment, the sidewall of the container is essentially made of at least one a material selected from the group of materials comprising cardboard, treated cardboard and plastic, preferably water resistant and/or recyclable. The use of the above listed materials provide an environmental sustainable solution and will decrease the production costs of sidewalls compared to expensive materials such as metal sidewalls or the like. Wrecked material can be recycled and turned back to functional sidewalls or part of the sidewall (first side, third side etc.). These materials still provide a secure locking structure. It is known to skilled people, that the listed materials are water resistant (plastic) or can be made water-resistant in case of cardboard or treated cardboard. Furthermore, these materials are RFID (radio frequency identification) compatible in contrast to metal containers or other containers acting as a Faraday cage, where the RFID signal of objects equipped with RFID tags inside the container cannot be detected. Containers made of the claimed materials are furthermore easy to recognize and global implementable. Such containers still have a light weight and still a load capacity of 300-400 kg. Furthermore, the material is corrosion free, which avoids expensive maintenance procedures.
To further improve (lower) the weight of the container at least one of the first side, second side, third side and fourth side comprises at least one opening in order to reduce the weight of the sidewall. The opening may have any shape. Instead of one opening there may be a regular of irregular pattern of openings of the same or different shapes. In one exemplary embodiment, the sidewall has a regular pattern of hexagonally shaped openings covering between 30%-50% of the sidewall area. The reduced weight corresponds to the weight of the sidewall area equal to the total area of openings.
In another exemplary embodiment, the first and second fastening means comprise at least one element of the group of elements comprising hinges, clips, flaps, pins, bolts, clamps, clips, mounting links, angle, hooks, local ledges or local edges, or combinations thereof. There may be one or more second fastening means on each first side, second side and/or third side. If the fourth side is not provided as a door, there may be also second fastening means at the fourth side. According to the second fastening means, there are corresponding first fastening means at the pallet. In a preferred embodiment, neither the fourth side of the sidewall nor the corresponding side of the pallet comprises second or first fastening means in order allow an easy loading without any fastening means eventually blocking or damaging objects loaded through the fourth side. In case of a door as the fourth side, the door is connected to the first side and/or third side and therefore is fastened to the pallet via the fastening means of the first side and/or third side.
In another exemplary embodiment, the second side of the sidewall comprises a foldable line arranged parallel to the edge of the second side facing towards the pallet in distance of at least the cumulative thickness of first side, third side and fourth side for folding the backside on top of the collapsed first side, third side and fourth side. In this arrangement, the container can be collapsed without detaching the second side from the pallet. This will decrease the time required for collapsing the container and simultaneously improving the stability of the collapsed container during transport. The risk of damaging collapsed container during stacking is reduced, when each collapsed container has an improved stability.
In another exemplary embodiment, the container further comprises at least two telescope elements arranged in least two of the corners of the sidewall and each telescope element comprises a telescoping part and a guiding part to guide the telescoping part, with at least one telescope sidewall mounted to the telescoping parts of the at least two telescope elements in order to vary the height of the container. Here, the loadable volume can be easily varied depending on the amount of loaded objects. Furthermore, the telescope elements improve the stiffness (resilience) of the sidewall against side impacts. The presence of a telescope sidewall behind the sidewall further improves this property. The telescoping part is commonly inside the guiding part to enable the guiding part to guide the telescoping part. Skilled people may choose other arrangements between telescoping and guiding parts within the scope of the subject innovation. The telescope sidewall may be made from the same material as the sidewall. In alternative exemplary embodiments, the telescope sidewall and/or at least one of the sides of the sidewall may be arranged as a net or as a frame with mounted net. The telescope elements in a non-telescoped status (minimum length of the telescope element) may have any length within the scope of the subject innovation, for example smaller or larger than the height of the sidewall. The preferred length of the non-telescoped status is essentially identical to the height of the sidewall. Here, containers are stackable directly on top of the telescope elements without any further handling. In case of telescope elements smaller than the height of the sidewall, the telescope part has to be move upwards to adapt the height of the telescope element identical to the height of the sidewall in order to provide a stackable container. If the non-telescoped status has a length larger than the height of the sidewall, a further container is stackable on top of the telescope elements with a gap between sidewall and pallet of the container stacked on top. The telescope elements on top of the pallet should be sufficiently resilient in order to enable the container to be stackable, even in a loaded status. In order to support stacking of the container, the telescope elements have to be placed either directly on top of the pallet or indirectly via suitable means between telescope elements and pallet. In order to be sufficiently resilient, the telescope element may be made of a resilient material such as fiberglass, metal, or hard plastics. Skilled people may choose other suitable materials within the scope of the subject innovation. The resilience of the telescope element may further be improved by a suitable cross section of the telescope element and/or thickness and/or diameter of the telescope element. The highest resilience is achieved by a telescope element made of a suitable material with optimized cross section (preferred rectangular, more preferred triangular, even more preferred pentagonal or hexagonal cross sections) and an adapted wall thickness and/or diameter of the telescope element. Preferably the telescope elements further comprises at least one fixation mean in order to fix the telescope part to the guiding part in a selected position.
In another exemplary embodiment, the container further comprises at least one shelf suitable to be loaded with objects and at least one side of the sidewall is suitable to be opened in order to load the upper side of the pallet and the shelf randomly. The present shelf can be loaded through the opened side enabling a fast access of the loadable volume of the pallet and the shelf simultaneously. Furthermore, small and/or light and/or fragile objects can be placed onto the shelf, while placing the large and/or heavy and/or non-fragile objects onto the loadable upper side of the pallet. Subsequently, the risk of damaging the objects on top of the shelves by slippage of the objects loaded on top of the pallet is at least reduced. Furthermore, heavy objects are loaded on top of the pallet and therefore cannot damage the objects on top of the shelves due to their weight. The simultaneous access to the loadable volume on top of the shelves as well as to the remaining volume on top of the pallet avoids any required sorting of objects before loading. Each object can be loaded independently from its weight or fragility directly to the container, either on top of the shelves or on top of the pallet. By maintaining a secure transport of objects with different properties (volume, weight, fragility), the required loading time is not extended in contrast to containers without shelves. A random and fast loading process can still be applied to a container according to the subject innovation. The shelves may be made from the same materials as the sidewall. In alternative exemplary embodiments, the shelf may be a net, a frame with a net fastened to the frame or made of cotton. People skilled in the art may choose alternative materials for the shelves within the scope of the subject innovation. The shelves may be placed on top of the pallet or may be mounted to at least one of the sides of the sidewall by suitable mounting means.
The subject innovation further relates to a method of collapsing a container in case of no load, comprising the steps
The required time to collapse the container is about a few minutes or less. If the container further comprises a cover, e.g. to secure the loaded objects or to strengthen the sidewall in order to achieve a stackable container (if the stiffness of the sidewall itself is not sufficient to provide a stackable loaded container), the cover may be placed on top of the second side. The cover alternatively may be placed separate from the collapsed container. In a preferred exemplary embodiment, folding is used as fast procedure to collapse the second side which reduces the required collapsing time.
In another exemplary embodiment, where the fourth side is a door, preferably a double wing door, the method further comprises the steps
The subject innovation further relates to a closable sidewall comprising a first side, a second side, a third side and a fourth side and second fastening means suitable to be used in a container.
The subject innovation further relates to a pallet with a loadable upper side and first fastening means arranged apart from the edges of the pallet suitable to be used in a container.
The above discussed embodiments are only examples. Skilled people may consider modifications of said embodiments within the scope of the subject innovation. More details of the subject innovation are shown in the following figures and the detailed description of exemplary embodiments.
The fourth side 34 in
The size of pallet 2 and sidewall 31, 32, 33, 34 can be customized and may have any desired length, depth and height. However, containers (pallet+sidewall) adapted to available storage spaces in trucks, trailers, trains, ships and air planes are advantageous, because the effective use of the available space to transport objects decreases the transportation costs and time.
The container 1 comprises a pallet 2, a sidewall with a first side 31, a second side 32, a third side 33 and a fourth side 34, which can be a door or a double wing door 351, 352 as shown in
The connection means to connect the parts of the sidewall, the first side 31, the second side 32, the third side 33, the fourth side 34 or the door 351 and 352, together in order to build a closed sidewall enclosing the loaded objects of the container are not shown in details in
The square pallet 2 comprises edges 22. The square shape of the pallet 2 is only one example of any possible shapes. However, a square shape with adapted sizes may be advantageous for certain available storage spaces in transporting vehicles such as trucks, trailers, trains, ships, air planes etc. The pallet 2 comprises first fastening means 21 arranged at three sides of the pallet in order to fit into the corresponding second fastening means 311, 321, 331 of the first side 31, second side 32 and third side 33 in order to fasten the sidewall 31, 32, 33, 351 and 352 (=34) on the pallet 2. The pallet shown in
The openings 9 shown in
The second side 32 further comprises a foldable line 322 in order to move the second side 32 towards the upper side of the pallet 23 as the last step of the collapsing procedure for the container. A second side with such foldable line 322 can be kept fastened to the pallet also in the collapsed status of the container.
Therefore second sides 32 with foldable lines 322 may have different second fastening means 321 to fit into the first fastening means 21 of the pallet at the side corresponding to the second site of the sidewall. In alternative embodiments the first fastening means 21 of the pallet at the this side could be different to the first fastening means at the sides of the pallet corresponding to the first and third sides of the sidewall.
One further example to improve the stiffness of the container is shown in
As an example for the improved loading capability
To collapse the container, the connection means of the sidewall have to be opened. In one embodiment, all connection means are opened first before starting to collapse the container. In an alternative embodiment, only the connection means of the part of the sidewall to be collapsed are opened. Then the part of the sidewall will be collapsed and the next connection means of the next part of the sidewall are opened in order to be able to collapse the next part of the sidewall and so on. The
The shown embodiments must not be considered as limitation of the subject innovation. The discussed embodiments are only examples of the subject innovation. People skilled in the art may consider alternative embodiments of the subject innovation as set forth herein still falling into the scope of the subject innovation, as set forth in the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08022489.2 | Dec 2008 | EP | regional |
Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §371, this application is the United States National Stage Application of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2009/009019, filed on Dec. 16, 2009, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein, which claims priority to European (EP) Patent Application No. 08 022 489.2, filed Dec. 29, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP09/09019 | 12/16/2009 | WO | 00 | 6/22/2011 |
