EP0924137A1

EP0924137A1 - Container with rigid plastic end walls

Info

Publication number: EP0924137A1
Application number: EP97500217A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Edgardt Compagnon Ahumada
Original assignee: Compagnon Bernabe y Cia Ltda
Current assignee: Compagnon Bernabe y Cia Ltda
Priority date: 1997-12-17
Filing date: 1997-12-17
Publication date: 1999-06-23

Abstract

This application refers to a box end, developed as from a body with oblong-octagonal characteristics of little thickness, shaping a box of the type to be used for the export of fruit or similar products, being basically manufactured of plastic material, such as polypropylene or similar, hence permitting the reuse of recycling of the mentioned ends.

The plastic end has in its upper edge, equidistant from each other and occupying the entire thickness, a pair of protruding locks (13) forming an integral part of the box end body, which in an elevation plane is similar to a letter "T", being established between them a curved concave depression (14) of the upper edge. In the lower edge of the end and just beneath the protruding adjustment locks, it has a pair of voids or depressions (12) occupying most of the thickness, said depressions having the same geometric shape as the locks, hence permitting a fastening between the ends when the boxes are piled.

Description

This application for a Utility Model refers to a box head, developed as from a body with oblong-octagonal characteristics of little thickness, shaping a box of the type to be used for the export of fruit or similar products, being basically manufactured of plastic material, such as polypropylene or similar, hence permitting the reuse or recycling of the mentioned heads.
The main innovative characteristics of the plastic heads basically consist in that they are structured on the basis of a body having an octagonal shape of low thickness, whose lower and upper edges are longer, while its side edges are shorter, the long and short edges being joined at the vertices through an oblique or beveled segment of a short length.
The plastic head has in its upper edge, equidistant from each other and occupying the entire thickness, a pair of protruding adjustment locks forming an integral part of the head body, which in an elevation plane is similar to a grotesque letter "T", being established between them a curved concave depression of the upper edge. In the lower edge of the head and just beneath the protruding adjustment locks, it has a pair of adjustment voids or depressions occupying most of the thickness, said depressions having the same geometric shape as the locks, hence permitting a fastening between the heads when the boxes are piled.
The box itself is shaped as from these heads located in each one of its front ends, its entire body being structured on the basis of a plastic or cardboard panel, such that when the box has been used, the cardboard or plastic can be recycled and the heads reused or also recycled.
For the packing and transport of fruit or similar products, exported to international markets, it is necessary to count with suitable containers or boxes having a good appearance, protection and ventilation of the exported products, conditions which are mainly offered by boxes structured in wood, since said material counts with a basic and necessary characteristic, that is, material rigidity, hence offering good resistance against possible blows or pressure.
Moreover, recently, developed countries both those in Europe and North America have introduced all types of demands referring to ecology in the packages for their imports, that is, these countries do not accept packing which tends to contaminate or contaminate when they decompose.
Although wooden boxes have the basic and necessary characteristics indicated above, they have several fundamental disadvantages making such a box obsolete because of problems with transfer, storage and piling when empty, since due to their structural shape for use, they occupy a volumetric space much greater than a box which can be folded or dismantled, as in the case of the one offered in this Utility Model.
Another problem that wooden boxes, which are currently almost obsolete, have is that when they arrive at their destination and the consumer has removed the fruit or product from said boxes, they are left empty and useless, since due to their handling and transport physical defects are produced, changing the true structural shape of each box, hence preventing a reuse. The latter results in the unnecessary blockage and occupation of space in the place where they have been deposited implying that they be removed by burning them.
Now then, before such a problem, there are cardboard boxes which, due to their functional characteristics, can be easily folded, hence automatically solving the disadvantage of their storage, transport and recycling when unused.
Moreover, there are boxes of some anisotropic material, such as corrugated cardboard, having a high material/resistance performance, that is, with a minimum cost of material for their manufacture high resistance is offered before possible blows or atmospheric conditions not recommended for such containers. One of these boxes is that described in the application for the Chilean utility model number 683-93.
However, and as is already known, cardboard boxes have a single use character regarding the packing of fruit or similar products, since if said containers are faced with possible problems of humidity, wetting or rotting of their contents, the material of which the box is made loses its resistance characteristic. Even though cardboard is very isotropic, it is mainly composed of cellulose, which has a low resistance before such conditions.
Yet another condition demanded by the fruit market, in relation to international transactions, is that the packing or containers for these products, whether wood, cardboard or another material, are vulnerable to continuous handling related to inspection of the products inside, an operation which consists of removing the cover of the box and checking that the contents satisfy the conditions offered by the seller and those demanded by the buyer or phytosanitary conditions that may be demanded by the buying country.
Besides the above, in the handling of fruit or other similar products, plastic boxes are used, generally constituted by a rigid single piece body, permitting piling, both when empty or loaded, which is basically defined by a basal surface, two brackets and two front ends, each one of them having on their external face rigidizing ribs and holes or ventilation grooves, such boxes being suitable to protect the products inside them.
The basic problem shown by these plastic boxes is similar to that of wooden boxes, namely the fact that their volumetric occupation is exactly the same whether the box is being used or not, involving high costs in relation to storage and transport when empty.
An obvious solution to this problem was to give the plastic boxes a foldable structure, but until now, the adopted solutions were defective regarding the structural rigidity of the box, limiting their use to products that were not as delicate as fruit.
From the above, it is necessary to have a box that can be recycled and whose physical and geometrical shape permits a good packing for fruit or other similar products to be exported, and offering improvements for all the disadvantages that all the other containers described above have.
This utility model offers a head to shape a box, of the type to be used in the export of fruits or similar products, mainly structured on the basis of a single piece body of a plastic material, basically composed of a geometric oblong-octagonal characteristic, where its interior is reinforced by ribs or reinforcement columns to offer a front end or rigid head, whose perimetric shape can be defined preferably in two sectors, the upper one having two protruding locks with specific characteristics permitting an adjustment and cohesion with the upper box and a lower sector having two voids or depressions, just below the upper locks which permit the upper locks of the lower box to be introduced in it, hence shaping a solid pile with respect to vertical movements.
The advantages of this utility model are derived from the overall structure of a box, since when the latter is not being used, it only consists of two small heads which are easy to pile; another favourable condition is that they can be stored in large amounts without occupying much space, it being possible to use them due to the specific conditions of the material plus an adequate cleanliness. Moreover, when in use and with products in their interior they can be piled very well, in turn offering a good appearance and resistance against blows and conditions unsuitable for other materials like cardboard and wood, and lastly they offer a basic condition regarding the ecological impact, since their overall structure is totally recyclable.
For a better explanation and in turn, understanding of the utility model, which is very simple but having results that are superior to those of other solutions, a detailed description will be made of a preferable embodiment of the head or front end, but not limiting in relation to the figures below, where:
Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the head, showing the inside face of the body.
Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the head, showing the outside face of the body.
Figure 3 shows an elevation view of the outside face of the head or front end.
Figure 4 shows the cut A-A of figure 3.
Figure 5 shows an elevation view of the inside face of the head or front end.
Figure 6 shows the cut A-A of figure 5.
Figure 7 shows an upper plane view of the head.
Figure 8 shows a lower plane view of the head.
Figure 9 shows a side view of the head.
Figure 10 shows a perspective of an example of a box formed according to the head or front end.
Figure 11 shows an elevation view of the adjustment system between heads to be piled.
This utility model consists of a head or front end of the type to shape a box for the export of fruit or a similar product, which is described initially referring to the figures preceding this description, where there is a monoblock component 1, which is structured on the basis of an oblong body of little thickness, where its perimeter is shaped on the basis of 8 faces, hence constituting an octagonal body having an external surface 10, and an internal surface 11.
The faces 2 and 6 of the octagonal body perimeter correspond to the side surfaces of the head or front end, said faces 2 and 6 being structured on the basis of a rectangular area, where its length corresponds to the height of head 1 and its width to the thickness of head 1.
The faces 3, 5, 7 and 9 of the octagonal body perimeter correspond to the surfaces situated in the vertices of the front end, said faces being structured on the basis of a small rectangular area, where the length is defined by the cant edges joining the faces 2 and 6 with the faces 4 and 8 and their width by the head thickness.
Face 4 of the octagonal body perimeter corresponds to the lower horizontal surface of the front end, which is shaped by a rectangular area surface where the length of said surface four corresponds to the width of the front end 1 and the width of the surface 4 corresponds to the thickness of head 1.
This surface 4 has two depressions or voids 12, with trapezoidal characteristics, which are situated equidistantly from each other and with respect to the vertices where faces 3 and 5 are located, the latter being the upper base of the trapezoidal void 12, that of less length and leaving in its vertical bottom a laminar wall of little thickness.
Face 8 of the octagonal body perimeter corresponds to the upper horizontal surface of the front end, shaped by a surface of rectangular area where the length of said surface 8 corresponds to the width of the front end 1, and the width of surface 8 corresponds to the thickness of head 1.
This surface 8 has two protruding locks 13, whose geometry is similar to that of a grotesque letter "T", where the horizontal part of the letter "T" has trapezoidal characteristics. These protruding locks 13 are located equidistantly to each other and with respect to the vertices where the faces 7 and 9 are situated, as a result remaining longitudinally just above the depressions 12, in a way that on piling the boxes, the protruding locks 13 of the lower box are interlocked in the trapezoidal voids 12 of the upper box, as is shown in figure 10.
The centre part 14 of the surface 8 and which corresponds to that located between the protruding locks 13 is curved concave, hence permitting that when the boxes are piled as shown in figure 10, that is when surface 4 is above surface 8, the handler can introduce his hand through the centre part 14, to pull the upper box and not damage its contents.
Now then, along the interior side of the front end, that is, along surface 11, and through all the internal perimeter, there are several ribs and rigidizing walls, which are defined in two positions, one with respect to the height of the head, namely, through the inside of the faces 2 and 6, being structured by a small trapezoidal oblong part 15 and having several circular holes 16, reaching surface 11 in depth.
The second ribs or rigidizing walls of the head are always located inside the head and beneath faces 4 and 8, in a way that beneath the first of them and perimetrically, a quadrangular rib 17 is located having some circular holes 18 and also some small quadrangular holes 19 in its central area. Beneath face 8, there is a small wall 20, parallel to face 8 and coinciding with the concavity of the central surface 14, this small wall 20 being internally joined to wall 8 through small vertical lines 21, two of which are located just below the protruding locks 13.
The use of this head 1 to shape a box is conditioned to that its position is vertical, so that surface eight and locks 13 remain upwards, in the same way that surface 10 remains outwards; once the head has been located in this way, a cardboard or plastic panel has to be added which extends across the entire octagonal perimeter, in a way that it is hooked in each one of the perimetric faces of the front end or head, as shown in figure 11.

Claims

A head or front end to shape a box of the type used to pack fruit or other similar products, CHARACTERIZED in that it is developed as from an oblong-octagonal monoblock body of little thickness, where of two of its sides, the upper and lower horizontal ones, define the width of the head and another two of its sides, the lateral vertical ones define the height of the head and the other four oblique sides located in the vertices of the head join the lateral sides with the upper and lower side of the front end, having on its upper external side two protruding locks, equidistant to each other and forming part of the monoblock, so that between them a curved concave rectangular surface is produced, moreover having in its lower external side two voids longitudinally coinciding with the protruding locks; all the internal edge of the monoblock head is reinforced with ribs and rigidizing walls.
A head or front end to shape a box of the type used for packing fruit or other similar products, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the protruding locks of the upper face have a geometric shape similar to a grotesque letter "T".
A head or front end to shape a box of the type to pack fruit or other similar products, according to claim 2, CHARACTERIZED in that the horizontal parts of the locks similar to a grotesque letter "T", have trapezoidal characteristics.
A head or front end to shape a box of the type to pack fruit or other similar product, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the voids in the lower face of the front end have trapezoidal characteristics.