Patent Application
20090020527
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a modular container, more particularly to a modular container having a plurality of wall plates.
2. Description of the Related Art
A container, such as a garbage container, a book or newspaper container, etc., has a tubular body that is sometimes made into a one-piece body, and at other times that is made by rolling a stainless steel plate to form a circular body, after which the ends thereof are joined together. Because the technique of making the one-piece container is rather difficult, the defective rate of the container during production is high. As to the method of rolling the metal plate and connecting the ends thereof, the appearance of the product is affected because the connection of the ends is exposed.
The applicant has developed a modular container that is capable of resolving the aforementioned drawbacks, its disclosed by the applicant in Taiwanese Publication No. 500112, referring to
During assembly of the modular container 1, each fixing plate 22 interconnects two adjacent plate sections 211 of the wall plates 21 by sliding the corresponding fixing plate 22 along the curled engaging edges 213 of the two adjacent plate sections 211 through engagement between the curled engaging edges 213 and the grooves 221. Afterwards, the base seat 11 and the top frame 12 are fitted respectively to top and bottom ends of the assembled wall plates 21 and fixing plates 22.
Although the aforementioned modular container 1 can resolve the drawbacks associated in making the tubular body of the container, that is, the non-modular container described above, the curled engaging edges 213 of the plate sections 211 of the wall plates 21 are not only troublesome to process, but also must be formed with precision. If the curled engaging edges 213 are not formed with precision, the engagement between the curled engaging edges 213 and the respective grooves 221 may be either too tight, making it difficult to slide the curled engaging edges 213 downwardly along the grooves 221, or too loose, in which case connections between the wall plates 21 and the fixing plates 22 ere not strong. Since the modular container 1 requires high precision in the processing of its components, manufacture and assembly of the same are very inconvenient.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a modular container that can be easily and conveniently processed and assembled.
According to this invention, a modular container comprises a tubular body and a base seat. The tubular body includes a plurality of wall plates, and a plurality of pillars each interconnecting two adjacent ones of the wall plates. Each of the pillars has two wing plates projecting outwardly therefrom. Each of the wing plates has at least two vertically spaced-apart slots. Each of the wall plates has a plurality of spaced-apart side tabs engaged respectively to the slots in a corresponding one of the wing plates. The base seat is connected to and covers a bottom end of the tubular body.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the prefer red embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should foe noted that the seems reference numerals have been used to denote like elements throughout the specification.
Referring to
The base seat 3 has a substantially rectangular base wall 31, an upstanding flange 32 extending from a periphery of the base wall 31, and a plurality of spaced-apart bottom insert holes 311 formed in the bass wall 31 adjacent to the upstanding flange 32 and equally spaced apart from each other.
The tubular body 4 is connected to she base seat 3 with the upstanding flange 32 surrounding a bottom end thereof. The tubular body 4 has a plurality of corners, a plurality of wall plates 41, and a plurality of pillars 42. In this embodiment, the tubular body 4 has four corners, four wall plates 41, and four pillars 42. The wall plates 41 and the pillars 42 cooperatively define a receiving space 40. Each wall plate 41 is made by stamping a metal plate, and has a plurality of spaced-apart, side tabs 412 provided on two opposite lateral sides 411 thereof, and a plurality of spaced-apart bottom, tabs 413 provided on a bottom side thereof to engage respectively the bottom insert holes 311.
The pillars 42 are provided respectively at the corners of the tubular body 4. Each pillar 42 interconnects two adjacent ones of the wall, plates 41 which are perpendicular to each other, and has two inner faces 423 that form an angle therebetween, and an outer face 425 connected between two outer ends of the inner faces 423. Two wing plates 422 project outwardly and respectively from the inner faces 423 of each pillar 42, and are parallel respectively to the two adjacent ones of the wall plates 41. Each wing plate 422 has a plurality of vertically spaced-apart slots 424 formed adjacent to the respective inner face 423 to engage respectively the side tabs 412 on the lateral side 411 of the corresponding wall plate 11.
The top frame 5 is fixed to a top end of the tubular body 4, and includes a top ring member 51 surrounding the top end of the tubular body 4, tour top corner pieces 52 projecting inwardly from the top ring member 51, and four screws 53 to fix the top corner pieces 52 to the pillars 42, respectively.
To assemble the modular container of the first preferred embodiment, the side tabs 412 on one lateral side 411 of each of the wall plates 41 are inserted through the respective slots 424 in the corresponding wing plate 422 of one of the pillars 42, after which, through the use of a tool, the side tabs 412 are bent inwardly, as shown in
After the tubular body 4 is assembled, the bottom tabs 413 on each wall plate 41 are inserted respectively into the bottom insert holes 311 in the base wall 31 of the base seat 3, and, through the use of a tool, the bottom tabs 413 are boot inwardly, as best shown in
Since each wall plate 41 of the modular container of the present invention is made by stamping a metal plate, since the pillars 42, the base seat 3, and the top frame 5 may be formed integrally, and since the assembly of the aforementioned components are accomplished through engagement of the side and bottom tabs 412, 413 with the slots 424 and the bottom insert holes 311, respectively, the components of the modular container of the present invention can foe interconnected firmly without requiring precise matching of the components, hence, the production and assembly of the modular container of the present invention are easier than with the aforementioned conventional modular container 1 (see
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
From, the aforementioned description of the preferred embodiments, the modular container of the present invention has a rectangular cross section, and the number of the wall plates 41 used is four. Alternatively, the modular container of the present invention may have a triangular cross section, polygonal cross section, or any other geometrical shape, in which case the number of the wall plates 41 is adjusted accordingly. Each of the wall plates 41 may also have a U-shapes cross section similar to that of the wall plate 21 shown in
While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.
