STACKABLE PALLET CONTAINER FITTED WITH A TOP REINFORCEMENT FRAME

Abstract

A stackable pallet container (1) for transportation and/or storage of substances has at least an inner parallelepiped-shaped pouch (20) fit with a tap and a filling opening closed by a cap. A peripheral protective cage (30) surrounds the internal pouch (20) to reinforce the container (1). The protective cage (30) takes the form of a wire mesh. The container (1) also has a pallet (10) on which the internal pouch (20) rests and a top reinforcement frame (40) connecting the sides (35) of the peripheral cage (30) at the top to rigidify the container (1). The reinforcement frame (40) has a substantially flat hoop made of steel tubes and has a general polygon shape. The reinforcement frame (40) is connected removably to the peripheral cage (30) by removable fixing brackets (50) attached to the mesh and to the steel tubes.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a stackable pallet container.

2. Description of the Related Art

There are currently numerous types of stackable pallet containers for the transportation and/or storage of hazardous substances, chemical or food products or powdered solids. Examples can be found in patents FR2763044 or FR2728238.

Typically, these pallet containers comprise an internal pouch fit with a tap and a filling opening closed by a cap. A peripheral protective cage surrounding the internal pouch to reinforce the container. The protective cage taking the form of a wire mesh with vertical and horizontal bars welded together at their respective points of intersection, and a bottom pallet made of wood, a plastics material or metal on which the internal pouch rests.

These solutions are not entirely satisfactory, however, because the rigidity of the assembly is not optimised and it is difficult to stack such containers.

A solution to this problem has been proposed particularly in patents FR2596360 and EP2623435, which describe containers similar to those previously described but in which an upper reinforcement structure (stacking crosspiece) is present specifically to allow the containers to be stacked.

Despite this, these reinforcement devices are unsatisfactory as regards enabling a good load distribution when stacking.

An aim of this invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem with a solution that is simple to manufacture, cheap, easy to use and optimised in terms of effectiveness.

SUMMARY

The invention relates to a stackable pallet container for the transportation and/or storage of hazardous substances, chemical or food products or powdered solids. The container has at least an inner parallelepiped-shaped high-density polyethylene pouch fitted at the bottom with a tap and comprising at the top a filling opening closed by a cap. A peripheral protective cage surrounding the said internal pouch in order to reinforce the container. The protective cage takes the form of a wire mesh with vertical and horizontal bars welded together at their respective points of intersection. The container further has a bottom pallet made of wood, plastics material or metal, on which the internal pouch rests. A top reinforcement frame connects the side of the peripheral cage at the top thereof to rigidify the container. The reinforcement frame comprises a substantially flat hoop made of steel tubes and has a general polygon shape. The reinforcement frame is connected removably to the peripheral cage by removable fixing brackets attached to the mesh on one hand and the steel tubes on the other.

The container according to the present invention may have at least one of the following characteristics:

• • the reinforcement frame has the shape of a continuous and regular quadrilateral, such as a lozenge, a square or a rectangle, and comprises four large sections forming the sides and four small sections forming the tops of said quadrilateral, each of the said small sections being connected to a wall of the cage with the aid of at least one removable fixing bracket;
  • the small sections of the reinforcement frame connect the middle of the walls of the peripheral cage so that the frame takes the form of a square or lozenge;
  • two first small opposing sections of the reinforcement frame are fit respectively with one removable fixing bracket, while the other two small opposing sections of the reinforcement frame are fit with two removable fixing brackets that are spaced apart;
  • each fixing bracket has a general inverted ‘U’ shape straddling the upper edge of the mesh and comprises a first portion attached to the outside of the peripheral cage and a second portion attached to the inside of the reinforcement frame;
  • the first portion of the fixing bracket is attached to at least two vertical bars of the mesh positioned one above the other, while the second portion has a rounded profile matching the shape of the corresponding tube forming the reinforcement frame;
  • the portions of each fixing bracket are connected together with the aid of at least one through-screw designed to draw the portions together to form a clamping jaw so as to secure the reinforcement frame firmly to the peripheral cage;
  • the screw rests against the end of a resiliently deformable curved tab extending the second portion towards the inside of the peripheral cage so as to draw the portions closer together;
  • the internal pouch has at its top a recess in which the reinforcement frame is housed;
  • the recess is of a depth such that the reinforcement frame does not extend beyond the top of the internal pouch, or is flush with it.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the particular embodiments given purely by way of example and shown in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the container shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the container shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective top view of a detail of the top of the container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the container shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a reinforcement frame of the container shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an internal pouch of the container shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a top view of FIG. 7.

FIGS. 9 to 11 are detailed views of FIG. 1 showing the attachment elements of the reinforcement structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a container 1 according to the invention that can be used for transportation and/or storage of hazardous substances (acids for example), chemical or food products or powdered solids.

This container 1 basically comprises a bottom pallet 10 on which rests an internal high-density polyethylene parallelepiped-shaped pouch 20 fitted at the bottom 21 with a draining tap 22 and comprising at its top 23 a filling opening closed by a cap 24.

The pallet 10 is for example made of a plastics material and has various openings 11 and 12 that intersect for the forks of a handling truck to pass through.

The internal pouch 20 is surrounded by a protective peripheral cage 30 to reinforce the container 1. The protective cage 30 takes the form of a wire mesh 31 with vertical 32 and horizontal 33 bars welded together at their respective points of intersection 34.

The top of the container 1 has an upper reinforcement frame 40 made of steel tubes connecting the walls 35 of the cage 30 to rigidify the container.

More precisely, the reinforcement frame 40 is connected to the reinforcement peripheral cage 30 in a removable manner by means of removable fixing brackets 50 attached to the mesh 31 on the one hand and to the steel tubes of the reinforcement frame 40 on the other.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the reinforcement frame 40 takes the form of a substantially flat hoop and has a general polygon shape, for example a regular and continuous quadrilateral, such as a lozenge.

The frame 40 comprises four large sections forming the sides 41 of the lozenge and four small sections 42 forming the tops of the lozenge. Each of the said small sections 42 is connected to a wall 35 of the cage 30 by at least one removable fixing bracket 50.

Advantageously, the small sections 42 of the reinforcement frame 40 connect the middle of the walls 35 of the peripheral cage 30, two first small opposing sections of the reinforcement frame 40 being fitted respectively with one removable fixing bracket 50, while the other two small opposing sections 42 are fitted with two removable fixing brackets 50 that are spaced apart.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, each fixing bracket 50 has a general inverted ‘U’ shape straddling the top edge 36 of the mesh 31 and comprises a first portion 51 attached to the outside of the reinforcement peripheral cage and a second section 52 attached to the inside of the reinforcement frame.

More precisely, the first portion 51 of the fixing bracket 50 is attached to the edge 36 of the mesh as well as to at least one adjacent horizontal bar 33, while the second portion 52 has a rounded profile matching the shape of the corresponding tube forming the reinforcement frame 40.

Furthermore, portions 51 and 52 of each fixing bracket 50 are connected together with the aid of at least one through-screw 55 to draw the portions together to form a clamping jaw so as to secure the reinforcement frame 40 firmly to the peripheral cage 30.

Advantageously, the screw 55 rests against the end 56 of a resiliently deformable curved tab 57 extending the second portion 52 towards the inside of the peripheral cage 30 so as to draw the portions closer together to improve the grip.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the internal pouch 20 has at its top 23 a recess 26 in which the reinforcement frame 40 is housed.

More precisely, the recess 26 is of a depth such that the reinforcement frame does not extend beyond the top of the pouch 20, or is flush with it.

The container 1 thus made has good rigidity enabling it to withstand impacts and be stackable. Moreover, the reinforcement frame 40 being removable makes it possible, if necessary, to remove the internal pouch 20 to replace or repair it.

Clearly, the detailed description of the subject-matter of the invention, given purely by way of example, in no way constitutes a limitation, equivalent techniques also being included in the scope of the present invention.

Thus, the pallet can be made of wood or a plastics material.

The shape of the reinforcement frame 40 can also be a square or a rectangle, depending on the cross-section of the container 1 (pouch 20 and cage 30) and the place where it is fixed onto the mesh.

Claims

1. A stackable pallet container (1) for transportation and/or storage of hazardous substances, chemical or food products or powdered solids, comprising: an inner parallelepiped-shaped high-density polyethylene pouch (20) fit at the bottom with a tap and comprising at the top a filling opening closed by a cap,a peripheral protective cage (30) surrounding the internal pouch (20) to reinforce the container (1), the protective cage (30) taking the form of a wire mesh (31) with vertical (32) and horizontal (33) bars welded together at their respective points of intersection (34),a bottom pallet (10) made of wood, plastics material or metal, on which the internal pouch (20) rests,a top reinforcement frame (40) removably connecting the sides (35) of the peripheral cage (30) at the top thereof by means of removable fixing brackets (50) attached to the mesh and to the steel tubes, the reinforcement frame (40) including a substantially flat hoop made of steel tubes and having a general polygon shape,wherein the reinforcement frame (40) has the shape of a continuous and regular quadrilateral, a lozenge, a square or a rectangle, and comprises four large sections (41) forming the sides and four small sections (42) forming tops of the quadrilateral, each of the small sections (42) being connected to a wall (35) of the peripheral cage (30) by the at least one removable fixing bracket (50).

2. The container (1) of claim 1, wherein the small sections (42) of the reinforcement frame (40) connect the middle of the walls (35) of the peripheral cage (30) so that the said frame (40) takes the form of a square or lozenge.

3. The container (1) of claim 2, wherein two of the first small opposing sections (42) of the reinforcement frame (40) are fit respectively with one of the removable fixing bracket (50), while the other two small opposing sections (42) of the reinforcement frame (40) are fit with two of the removable fixing brackets (50) that are spaced apart.

4. The container (1) of claim 1, wherein each of the fixing brackets (50) has a generally inverted ‘U’ shape straddling the upper edge (36) of the mesh and comprises a first portion (51) attached to the outside of the peripheral cage (30) and a second portion (52) attached to the reinforcement frame (40).

5. The container (1) of claim 4, wherein the first portion (51) of the fixing bracket (50) is attached to at least two horizontal bars (36, 33) of the mesh positioned one above the other, while the second portion (52) has a rounded profile (53) matching a shape of the corresponding tube forming the reinforcement frame (40).

6. The container (1) of claim 4, wherein the portions (51, 52) of each of the fixing brackets (50) are connected together by at least one through-screw (55) configured to bring the portions (51, 52) together to form a clamping jaw so as to secure the reinforcement frame (40) firmly to the peripheral cage (30).

7. The container (1) of claim 6, wherein the screw (55) rests against an end (56) of a resiliently deformable curved tab (57) extending the second portion (57) towards the inside of the peripheral cage (30) so as to draw the portions closer together.

8. The container (1) of claim 1, wherein the internal pouch (20) has at its top (23) a recess (26) in which the reinforcement frame (40) is housed.

9. The container (1) of claim 8, wherein the recess (26) has depth so that the reinforcement frame (40) does not extend beyond the top (23) of the internal pouch (20), or is flush with it.