The present invention relates to a system for creating a container having a bottom and four lateral walls, said system comprising
Thus, such a system is used for creating a container having a parallelepipedic shape, and such a container may include other elements than said bottom, lateral walls and interlocking arrangement for example a lid.
The material of the members for forming said bottom and the lateral walls may be of any suitable type, such as plywood, plastic and metal.
A system of this type having a said arrangement in combination with said members can be used for creating a container for transport of objects therein and after that by operating said arrangement releasing said members with respect to each other for getting disposed of said members or sending them back as a substantial flat package.
It is then important to be able to easily obtain an assembled state of a container created by use of such a system while reliably define that state and allow disassembly of the container in a simple manner with a minimum of damage of the different elements (including said members) of said system.
The object of the present invention is to provide a system of the type defined in the introduction addressing the needs declared above of such a system.
This object is according to the invention obtained by providing such a system with the features:
that said arrangement is configured to enable interconnecting and disconnecting said walls with respect to said bottom member for assembly and disassembly of said container by moving said walls with respect to said bottom member, and that said arrangement comprises
that each said second section has a second part configured to allow introduction of said first section into the second section from above, assuming said bottom being placed substantially horizontally, with the corresponding wall tilted outwards from a centre of a container to be created by at least 20° from a vertical extension, to form a stop to said first section preventing lifting of said wall with respect to said bottom member in a vertical position of the former to be obtained upon said introduction by tilting the wall with respect to the bottom member, that said first part of the second section is designed to provide support for the first section so as to prevent further tilting of said wall than to said vertical position and define said assembled state, and that said sections are designed to enable disassembling of the container by tilting said walls outwards with respect to the bottom member to a position in which said second part of said second section allows lifting of said first section out of said second section.
By providing the lateral wall members with a said first section and the bottom member with a said second section so designed interconnecting and disconnecting of the walls with the bottom member may be obtained by simply moving said walls with respect to said bottom member while ensuring that the assembled state is reliably defined with respect to the mutual positions of a wall and said bottom member and thanks to said stop formed by the second section preventing lifting of the wall extending vertically with respect to the bottom. Furthermore, disassembly is easily obtainable by tilting the wall sufficiently outwards from a centre of the container and then lifting said first section out of said second section without any damage of any elements of the system.
According to an embodiment of the invention said second part of each said second section is configured to allow said introduction of said first section into said second section and lifting of the former out of the latter for a range of angles of said tilting having a width of at least 20°, 40°, 60° or 70°. A broad such range not requiring the achievement of a well defined angle facilitates and speeds up an assembly and disassembly of a container. The introduction may for instance be obtained by laying a wall substantially horizontally with the first section thereof into the corresponding second section of the bottom member and then tilting the wall upwards towards a vertical position, or the introduction may be carried out while having the wall tilted by an angle of for instance 40° with respect to a vertical extension thereof and then tilting it to the vertical position according to which is most preferred in the respective situation.
According to another embodiment of the invention said second part of each second section comprises a mid portion connecting to said first part while extending substantially perpendicularly thereto in a direction outwards from a said centre of a container to be created while resting on said bottom member and an end portion connecting to said mid portion opposite to said first part, pointing upwards when placing said bottom member substantially horizontally, making an angle with respect to said bottom member of less than 80° and configured to define said stop for said first section. The presence of said mid portion of said second part of said second section enables suitable receipt of said first section in said second section, and said stop for lifting the first section out of said second section is formed in a preferred way by a said end portion.
According to another embodiment of the invention each said first section has a first part extending along a wall surface of a said wall downwards to bear against said first part of a said second section in said assembled state as well as a second part connecting to said first part of the first section and configured to bear upon said mid portion of said second section and extend substantially horizontally in said assembled state, and said end portion of each second section is configured to keep said first section inside said second section in a vertical position of the wall by preventing said second part of the first section to be lifted with respect to the bottom member. A well defined vertical position of a wall of a disassembled container without any possibility to remove the wall from the bottom member by lifting it therefrom is so obtained.
According to another embodiment of the invention each said end portion makes an angle of 80°-40°, 80°-60° or 70°-60° with said mid portion, which results in a possibility to efficiently keep said first section irremovable from said second section in a state in which a said wall extends substantially perpendicularly or perpendicularly to a said bottom member.
According to another embodiment of the invention each said second section has a support portion configured to provide support from below to a lower edge surface of a said wall in said assembled state. This increases a possible load applied from above onto a said wall to be taken without causing any damage of any part of said interlocking arrangement and maintaining stability of the container.
According to another embodiment of the invention said support portion is formed by an end of said end portion remote to said mid portion of said second section, and that end portion is then preferably bent back towards said mid portion for increasing the strength of said end portion, which increases said further possible load to be taken without any negative influence upon said interlocking arrangement.
According to another embodiment of the invention each said second section is secured from above to said bottom member. This means that said second sections may be firmly attached to said bottom member by suitable means, such as screws.
According to another embodiment of the invention said first part of each said first section is secured to a said wall surface to form an inner wall surface of a container in said assembled state. A reliable definition of the assembled state is facilitated by this feature.
According to another embodiment of the invention said first and second sections are made of elongated metal plates shaped. This enables a production of said interlocking arrangement by simple means to a low cost while obtaining a reliable function thereof.
According to another embodiment of the invention the system also comprises means configured to mutually interconnect adjacent said walls, and said means comprises according to another embodiment of the invention clamps configured to reach over rectangular corners formed by adjacent said walls in the assembled state of a container. This means that said walls may by simple means reliably be kept in the mutual position with respect to the bottom member defined by said first part of each said second section.
The invention also relates to a container having a bottom and four lateral walls made from a system according to the present invention as well as a use of a system according to the present invention for producing a container.
Further advantages as well as advantageous features of the invention will appear from the following description.
With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a specific description of a system for creating a container according to an embodiment of the invention cited as an example.
In the drawings:
A system for creating a container having a bottom and four lateral walls according to the present invention will now be described while making reference to
The interlocking arrangement comprises for each wall 2 a first elongated plate-material section 4 made of an elongated metal plate shaped as shown in
The interlocking arrangement comprises in addition thereto for each outer border 9 of the bottom member 1 a second elongated plate-material section 10 made of an elongated metal plate shaped secured to the bottom member while extending along the respective said outer border 9. The second section has a first part 11 extending substantially perpendicularly to a large surface L of the bottom member 1 designed to form a bottom of a container for extending substantially vertically upwards from said surface when placing said bottom member substantially horizontally.
The second section has also a second part 12 configured to allow introduction of the first section into the second section from above, assuming said bottom being placed substantially horizontally, with the corresponding wall tilted outwards from a centre of a container to be created by at least 20° from a vertical extension, to form a stop to said first section preventing lifting of said wall with respect to said bottom member in an vertical position of the former to be obtained upon said introduction by tilting the wall with respect to the bottom member as shown in
Said second part 12 of each second section comprises a mid portion 13 connecting to said first part 11 while extending substantially perpendicularly thereto in a direction outwards from a centre of a container to be created while resting on the bottom member 1 and an end portion 14 connecting to the mid portion opposite to the first part 11, pointing upwards when placing said bottom member substantially horizontally and making an angle a with respect to said bottom member of less than 80°, here approximately 60°, and configured to define said stop for said first section. The second part 8 of the first section has for that sake an extension in the direction away from the first part of the first section being substantially equal to the corresponding extension of said mid portion 13 of the second section. Thus, the second part 8 of the first section 4 will in the assembled state bear upon said mid portion 13 of the second section and has a portion 15 bent back while allowing the head 16 of a screw 17 to be received under single-layered portions of said second part. This “double bent” of the second part of the first section results in an increased strength of the corresponding end of this section and a stable bearing of the first section 4 upon the second section 10 when introduced therein as shown in
Each second section 10 has a support portion 18 configured to provide support from below to a lower edge surface 19 of a wall 2 in the assembled state. This support portion 18 is formed by an end of the end portion 14 of the second section remote to said mid portion 13 and this end is bent back towards the mid portion for increasing the strength of this end portion.
The function of said system for assembly and disassembly of a container will now be described while making reference to
When two adjacent walls have been interconnected by one or more such clamps one further wall at the time may be added thereto by introduction of the end 20 of the corresponding first section in a said second section as shown in
The system may, but does not necessarily, comprise a lid to be arranged upon said walls and secured thereto.
Disassembly of such a container is simply to obtain by carrying out the steps just described in the opposite order. Accordingly, it is started by removing clamps interconnecting a said wall to two adjacent walls and then tilting this wall outwards with respect to the centre of the container to a position in which the end portion 14 of said second section allows lifting of the first section out of the second section. The other three walls may then be removed from the bottom member in a corresponding way.
Thus, assembly and disassembly of a container may be easily obtained while interconnecting and disconnecting the walls with respect to the bottom member by simply moving (tilting and lifting/lowering) the walls with respect to the bottom member. No operation of any screws or other tightening members is necessary for obtaining this.
The invention is of course not in any way restricted to the embodiment described above, but many possibilities to modifications thereof would be apparent to a person with ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Quite other means for mutually interconnecting adjacent walls of a container formed by assembling said bottom member and the walls than clamps of the type disclosed above are possible, such as for example a clamp shown in SE 513 684 C2 or means shown in EP 1 810 931 B1.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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12169774.2 | May 2012 | EP | regional |