A tray-shaped container

Abstract

 The invention concerns a container, more particularly a crate made from a single plastic moulded body having upright side walls 1 and portions enclosing said side walls which a.o. consist of a reinforced upper edge 2. reinforced corner columns 3 and a bottom 4 provided with openings.
As a.o. the portions enclosing the side walls are in the form of case-shaped profile parts which are open towards the underside of the box, a create can be produced in a very light construction from a relatively thin material, by injection-moulding.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a container, more particularly a crate made from a single plastic moulded body having upright side walls and portions enclosing said side walls among which there are a reinforced upper edge, reinforced corner columns and a bottom provided with openings.

[0002] In the horticultural and fruit-growing industries, relatively large, sturdy and stackable containers or crates are used for packing the products, which containers or crates are quite suitable for products, such as a.o. lettuce, spinach or cauliflower.

[0003] However, there are certain products, such as cherries, strawberries, mushrooms and the like, which require the use of a much smaller crate with small-sized packing contained therein and which are wrapped in small cardboard or vacuum-formed plastic trays which are grouped within a larger crate. So far, chip baskets have been used for this purpose which are provided with wooden columns in the corners so as to secure a sufficiently strong structure in the corners and to enhance the stackability of the baskets. This makes it necessary to provide the trays to be placed in said chip baskets either with strong roundings on the corners of with bevelled corners, or alternatively, to make the trays in sizes smaller to such an extent that they can be placed jointly between the corner columns. As all the inner trays should be identical within the package around them, they cause a large unused space within each package within the range of all the possibilities available.

[0004] Efforts have been made to eliminate the drawback of wooden crates by either using thicker wood or another material, such as a metal or plastic. Several types of plastic crates have been proposed for this market range based on the principle that the crate, when empty, has to be returned to the grower. However, these crates were unnecessarily heavy and required the use of relatively much plastic, while returning the boxes empty also required fitting the trays within each other in empty condition. This resulted in rendering the stacking too unstable, while also leading to a relatively great loss in volume of packing space available.

[0005] It is an object of the invention to provide a very light stackable crate of plastic which is sufficiently sturdy and yet contains so little plastic material that it is possible to write off said crate after having been utilized only once.

[0006] This object is attained according to the invention in that a container or crate of the type described at the beginning is used which, according to the invention, is characterized in that the portions enclosing the side walls are in the form of case-shaped profile portions which are open towards the underside of the crate.

[0007] In order to save material, the side walls may then be provided with openings.

[0008] The container or crate is then, in the usual manner, provided on the side walls with a reinforced upper edge having an outwardly directed part and a skirt hanging therefrom.

[0009] In a practical embodiment, the container according to the invention is characterized in tha each case-shaped reinforced corner column is confined on the inside of the container or crate by two straight side wall portions enclosing a single corner and, on the outer side, by a wall formed around said single corner and disposed at a distance from said side wall portions. Thus, rectangular corners are formed within the container or crate enabling small trays to be placed directly in said corners, without the outer dimensions of the crate being increased because of the reinforced corner columns still being located within the outer circumference formed by the reinforced upper edge.

[0010] A good stackability is thus also afforded, because in the location of the reinforced corner column in the outwardly directed part of the reinforced upper edge, there is provided a recessed rebate adjoining the inner side of the container or crate.

[0011] As all the parts enclosing the side walls are designed as case-shaped profiles which are open towards the underside of the crate, it is possible to make a bottom provided with holes in the form of a grate, the bars of which grate having a U-shape cross section whose open side lies at the underside of the crate.

[0012] The invention is illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container or crate according to the invention as viewed from the lower side;

Figure 2 is a view of the top portion of a corner as viewed from the inner side of the container or crate of fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view in a plane through line III-III in fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view in a plane through line IV-IV in fig. 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view in a plane through line V-V in fig. 1 and

Figure 6 is a bottom view of a point of intersection of bars of the grate-shaped bottom with a cross-sectional view of one of the bars being shown therein.

[0013] The container according.to the invention, in particular a crate made from a single plastic moulded body as illustrated in fig. 1, is provided with upright side walls 1 and portions enclosing said side walls 1, among which there are a reinforced upper edge 2, reinforced corner columns 3 and a bottom 4 provided with openings.

[0014] In such a case it is possible to form said container or crate in a very light construction from relatively thin material which is shot into an injection mould defining the form of the container or crate in that the portions 2, 3, and 4 enclosing the side walls 1 are designed as case-shaped profile portions which are open towards the under,side of the crate, as will be explained hereinafter.

[0015] The side walls 1, which are provided with a reinforced upper edge 2, have, in a known manner, an outwardly directed part 5-and a skirt 6 hanging therefrom, as can be clearly seen in figs. 2 and 4. It is generally known to use such hanging skirts 6 in the case of crates made of plastics.

[0016] According to the invention, the corner columns are case-shaped, and each case-shaped, reinforced column 3 is confined, on the inner side of the container or crate, by two straight side-wall parts 1 enclosing a single corner 7, and on the outer side by a wall 8 formed around said single corner 7 and disposed at distance from said side-wall portions. The wall 8 formed about the corner is connected thereto with a part 9 directed towards the outside of a side wall 1. In the location of the reinforced corner column 3, there is provided in the outwardly directed part 5 of the reinforced upper edge 2, a recessed rebate 10 adjoining the inner side of the container, as is evident from fig. 2. The rebate 10 can also be seen in the sectional view of fig. 3. The outer wall 11 of the rebate merges into the hanging skirt 6 of two side walls i enclosing a corner. The bottom 12 of the rebate 10 is the closed end of a case-shaped corner column 3 having the form of a sheath. In the case-shaped corner column there is provided a partition wall 13 running from the inner corner to the outer corner of the crate.

[0017] In this manner, a firm construction is obtained, the end of the reinforced column 3 in the vicinity of the bottom fitting into the rebate 10 at the top end of a column of a second crate placed underneath the first one. Thus, a proper stackability is obtained without increasing the dimensions on the outside of the container or crate and without sacrificing space on the inside cfthe crate in the area of the corner 7.

[0018] In order to further reinforce the crate, the transition of the side walls 1 to the bottom 4 may be provided with a step 14, the bottom 4 being in the form of a grate, the bars 15 of said grate having a U-shape cross section. Thus a properly supporting bottom 4 is obtained while a minimum of material need be used.

[0019] The U-shape cross section of the bars 15 of the grate-shaped bottom 4 has been depicted in fig. 6. At the intersection of the bars there is furthermore provided a reinforcing cross 16 in the cavity of the U-shape cross section of the bars 15. In addition, fig. 6 also shows a cross-sectional line VI-VI, so that in the intersection, in a section parallel to the diagonal, there is an m-shape cross-section.

[0020] To save additional material the walls 1 may be provided with relatively large holes 17. Said holes 17 may be relatively large because the portions 2, 3 and 4 enclosing the side walls with the steps 14 are in the form of case-shaped profile parts which are open towards the underside of the box.

[0021] Evidently the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) as described and shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0022] It is observed that the reference numerals in the claims are not intended to restrict the scope thereof, but are only denoted for clarification.

Claims

1. A container, more particularly a crate made from a single plastic moulded body having upright side walls and portions enclosing said side walls among which there are a reinforced upper edge, reinforced corner columns and a bottom provided with openings, characterized in that the portions (2, 3, 4) enclosing the side walls (1) are in the form of case-shaped profile parts which are open towards the underside of the crate.

2. A container according to claim 1, having side walls provided with a reinforced upper edge having an outwardly directed part and a skirt hanging therefrom, characterized in that each case-shaped reinforced corner column (3) is confined on the inside of the container or crate by two straight side-wall parts (1) enclosing a single corner (7) and on the outer side by a wall (8) formed around said single corner (7) and disposed at distance from said side wall portions -(1).

3. A container according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the wall (8) formed about the corner is connected thereto with a part (9) directed towards the outside of a side wall (1).

4. A container according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that in the location of the reinforced corner column (3) in the outwardly directed part(5) of the reinforced upper edge (2) there is provided a recessed rebate (10) adjoining the inner side of the container, more particularly a crate.

5. A container according to claims 1-4, characterized in that the outer wall (11) of the rebate (10) merges into the hanging skirt (6) of two side walls (1) enclosing a corner.

6. A container according to claim 1-5, characterized in that the bottom (12) of the rebate (10) is the closed end of a case-shaped corner column(3) having the form of a

.

7. A container according to claims 1-6, characterized in that in the case-shaped corner column (3) there is provided a partition wall (13) running from the inner corner to the outer corner of the container, more particularly a crate.

8. A container according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottom (4) provided with holes is in the form of a grate, the bars (15) of said grate having a U-shape cross-section.

9. A container according to claim 8, characterized in that in the points of intersection of the U-shape cross-section of the bars (15) there is provided a reinforcing cross (16) and in that in the intersection in a section parallel to the diagonal there is an m-shape cross-section.

Drawing