FR2640937A1 - Chest/pallet - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a chest/pallet which will find its application in particular in the field of packaging. The chest/pallet 1 is formed of a rigid plate 2 of rectangular shape mounted on runners 3. A container 4 is added onto the plate 2 and, according to the invention, this container 4 is formed by independent cardboard sides fixed onto the rigid plate 2 and juxtaposed at the periphery of the said plate 2 so that their joining edges are connected by assembly means 11 and 12 in the form of cardboard corner pieces. The invention relates principally to cardboard packaging.

Description

 The invention relates to a pallet box. It will find its application in particular in the field of packaging.

 With the decentralization of production sites vis-à-vis assembly sites, the packaging industry has undergone a profound transformation. The quality requirements demanded by customers as well as economic imperatives served as a guide for the development of new products such as, for example, the pallet box.

 However, with the development of forklift trucks. the palette has experienced considerable effort. It generally consists of a raised platform with pads which allow the easy introduction of forks under load. In addition, the pallet box is made up of a pallet as a basic element on which a perfectly adapted box is fixed, that is to say comprising the same perimeter. The box. in particular made of cardboard generally double or triple groove, is rigid and makes it possible to guarantee the product placed inside.

 The limited height of the pallet boxes means that for economic reasons. it is imperative to be able to stack them during transport and storage. This operation is particularly delicate because the load supported by the lower pallet can be considerable. There are different techniques for strengthening the rigidity of pallet boxes. The most common is to place wooden candles inside the box at the corners.

This solution is hardly satisfactory because, on the one hand, there is a loss of space, then it is necessary to install the candles, which represents an additional manual operation and finally these candles cause an additional cost of 1 package.

 In addition, to save space, the pallet box manufacturer delivers a folded product to its customer, that is to say that the box is placed flat on the pallet, and instructs the customer to deploy the box to assemble it.

 The adoption of a folding for the box was laborious due to the many constraints encountered. First of all, the bottom of the original box must be fixed on the pallet tray.

The customer cannot take care of this operation, since the fixing must be rigid and requires specialized equipment such as stapler. nailing machine or whatever. Thus, the American box type folding can therefore not be retained and it is an accordion folding technique of the side walls of the box which has been developed.

 This implementation however gives rise to numerous drawbacks. First of all, there is a large number of folding edges on the edges of the box, or the folding edges are weak points which reduce the rigidity of the box. Then, the cardboard flank necessary for the constitution of the box is very large. It requires a powerful material largely dimensioned and 1 tool of necessary cuts is expensive.

 There is also a discontinuity between the walls of the box and the bottom which can be annoying for small parts that can escape.

 To give rigidity to the body, especially at the walls. so that they do not bend under the stress of the internal load. the orientation of the corrugated cardboard is oriented so that the corrugations are oriented horizontally.

However, the thickness of the cardboard should be oversized. by a triple groove for example.

 The development of a sophisticated and expensive pallet box can sometimes be justified if it has to be used repeatedly. It should however be emphasized that to economically justify rotations. it is necessary to start from a very high initial cost of 1 package, which is generally not the case. Indeed. the customer after receiving the goods must empty the box. fold it up, store it, keep returns accounting and send the case back to the sender, hence transport, invoicing and management costs. The resulting complexity means that many customers currently prefer to consider the pallet box as a lost package.

 The main object of the present invention is to present a pallet box which is particularly efficient on the technical and economic level. thus authorizing a single use. Delivered to the customer folded to occupy a minimum of space, the box is assembled very quickly without any material being necessary.

 The pallet box of the invention has a very high stacking resistance force despite a thinner wall thickness than the traditional triple groove for example.

 Despite the large box dimensions, their manufacture poses no problem and requires relatively small cutting press dimensions. This makes it possible to interest many cardboard manufacturers including the manufacture of the pallet box of the invention which, until now, was limited by their material.

One of the aims of the present invention is to propose a pallet box having a complete flat bottom increasing the squareness and resistance of the box avoiding the use in certain cases of so-called peripheral pallets "
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear during the description which follows which is however given only for information and which is not intended to limit it.

 According to the invention, the pallet box, which will find its application in the field of packaging, formed of a rigid plate of polygonal shape, in particular rectangular, mounted on pads or studs, on which a container is attached, possibly closed by a lid. , is characterized by the fact that the container is formed from independent cardboard sides fixed on the rigid plate and juxtaposed at the periphery of the plate, the contiguous sides of said sides being connected by at least one assembly element.

The invention will be better understood on reading the following description, accompanied by attached drawings, among which:
- Figure I shows schematically the pallet box of 1 invention in the folded position,
FIG. 2 diagrammatically shows the pallet box of the invention in the assembled position,
FIG. 3 represents a top view of the positioning of the various cardboard sides intended to form the walls of the pallet box,
FIG. 4 shows a top view of the walls once assembled,
FIG. 5 represents a front view of the pallet box,
FIG. 6 shows in detail the folding of the cardboard sides,
- Figure 7 shows the establishment of the folding edges when the pallet box is mounted.

 - Figure 8 shows schematically- a detail of the body structure facilitating its assembly and deployment.

 The present invention relates to a pallet box which will find its application in particular in the field of packaging. It mainly concerns the cardboard industry.

 The development of mechanical handling means, in particular forklifts, has pushed manufacturers to use compatible packaging. In this area, the pallet formed by a raised tray is typical.

However, it does not provide any lateral protection of the load and its stacking is dependent on it.

 On the other hand, the cardboard box is generally stackable, it offers a guarantee for the content but it is less convenient for handling. Thus, the pallet box makes it possible to combine the advantages of cardboard and the pallet and to eliminate their disadvantages.

 Making the box in one piece requires very powerful cutting tools from the cardboard maker. This has direct repercussions on the cost price and the traditional pallet box can sometimes be considered as an expensive packaging.

 The design of the pallet box of the present invention makes it possible to obtain a very efficient product in particular having an excellent resistance to stacking with a very significantly lowered manufacturing cost and great convenience of use.

 Figure 1 shows the pallet box I of the invention in the folded position as it is delivered to the user. It is formed of a rigid plate 2 which can be of polygonal shape but most often its geometry is rectangular.

 The plate does not have to be necessarily full, it essentially serves for fixing the body and for setting up elevation means to allow the introduction of forks under the plate 2.

 The elevation is generally ensured by pads 3 or studs. The main thing is that a passage is left between the elevation means to precisely allow the introduction of the forks of a handling machine.

 The container i, in particular of the box type, is entirely folded flat against the surface of the plate 2 to occupy a minimum of space. optionally, a cover can be placed on the folded box 4 as is sometimes encountered.

 The volume occupied by the pallet box when it is folded is quite comparable to that traditionally encountered. the walls being flat on the tray.

 Once deployed, the pallet box of the invention takes on the appearance, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The plate 2 is raised on its periphery by side walls 5, 6, 7, 8 which form the box 4 and whose interior volume can be filled with material which constitutes the loading of the pallet box 1.

 The pallet box of the invention is essentially distinguished by its construction. According to the invention, the container 4 is formed from independent cardboard sides 5, 6, 7 and 8 ′ as illustrated in FIG. 3. The example chosen corresponds to a rectangular pallet box 1, however, other polygonal shapes could also have been adapted, in which case the container 5 would be formed of as many cardboard sides as there were sides to the polygon.

 The cardboard sides 5, 6, 7, and 8 are independent and this is very important for manufacturing because the cutting tools are simple. It is no longer necessary to produce cutting tools corresponding to the format of the deployed box but only to the format of each side of the edge 4.

 The cardboard sides 5, 6, 7, and 8 are fixed at least partially on the rigid plate 2 of the pallet and are juxtaposed at the periphery of said plate 2. In the rectangular example chosen, the sides 6 and 8 corresponding to the small side of the box are placed on the plate 2, while the cardboard sides 5 and 7 corresponding to the long side of the box are arranged above the sides 6 and 8. The fixing of the sides 5, 6, 7 and 8 on the plate 2 can for example be done by stapling in which case the staples pass through a double thickness of cardboard sides.

 The cardboard sides 5 and 7 are arranged contiguously to form the bottom of the box, in this way, the bottom is flat and increases the squareness of the box and its resistance.

 The cardboard sides 6 and 8 could also be joined, which would have the effect of completing the reinforcement of the bottom of the box. However, in practice, tests have shown that this was not necessary and therefore a saving of material may be made there.

 The body, and in particular its side walls i, is formed by straightening the cardboard sides 5, 6, 7 and 8, as illustrated in FIG. 4 so that their lateral sides become substantially contiguous. The lateral walls are fixed in this position by means of assembly elements 9, 10, 11 and 12 which definitively connect the lateral sides of the cardboard sides 5, 6, 7 and 8.

 It should be noted that, according to the invention; said assembly elements constitute means for reinforcing said container, and in particular its side walls, thus allowing stacking of pallet boxes.

 In practice, the lateral sides of the sides 5, 6, 7 and 8 are not strictly contiguous, an interval corresponding substantially to the thickness of a cardboard side is left between them to take account of the initial folding of the box when that -this is empty.

 The recommended assembly element is an angle iron arranged over the entire height of the container i as illustrated in FIG. 5. The angle iron 9, 10, it or 12 is preferably made of corrugated triple fluted cardboard, the flutes being arranged in the vertical direction. It is glued to the cardboard sides 5, 6, 7 and ss using an adhesive. For more convenience, the customer is supplied with an angle in a cardboard triple groove pre-glued with a hot-melt adhesive material covered with a non-stick paper.

 When mounting the pallet box, the user straightens the sides and fixes them by applying the angles on which the protective paper has been removed. The installation is fast and the final fixation.

 The angles 9, 10, 11, and 12 should preferably rest at their lower part on the plate 2 of the pallet. Indeed, in this case, the angles not only play an assembly role but also serve to reinforce cardboard sides 5, 6, 7 and 8 during stacking. The gain in rigidity obtained is such that one can, for example, be satisfied with cardboard sides with double grooves for making the sides 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the body.

 The orientation of the grooves for the formation of the side walls is preferably vertical for maximum rigidity of the sides of the body.

 To facilitate the flat folding of the box, before it is mounted, the cardboard sides 5, 6, 7 and 8 have double folding edges 13 and 14 as illustrated in FIG. 6. The short sides corresponding to the sides 6 and 8 are first folded against the bottom of the box then the long sides corresponding to the sides 5 and 7 are folded over.

 Generally, the pallet boxes are of low height so the short sides do not overlap while it is possible to have to superimpose the long sides. The internal folding edges 13 and 1 (are separated by a distance corresponding to the thickness of a cardboard side.

 The parts of the cardboard sides fixed on the trays are positioned with a certain setback 15. as illustrated in FIG. 6. with respect to the periphery of the tray 2. This is essential so that once the box has been deployed, the sides 5 - 8 will be placed directly above the plate 2 and their edges can be supported on it as illustrated in FIG. 7.

 It is precisely this offset which separates the lateral sides of the sides 5, 6, 7, and 8 after assembly. The outer folding edges 13 and 14 rest on the plate 2 when the box is mounted.

 Furthermore, these folding edges bringing a shift of the contiguous sides of the side walls 5 - 8 of the container, provision will advantageously be made for means of positioning the side sides before fixing the assembly elements to facilitate their installation.

 These so-called means could for example be formed by zones in the form of ears or of legs 16, 17, provided in particular at the upper level of certain flanks 5 - 8 as illustrated in FIG. 8. In addition, the legs will be coated adhesive material to allow the sides to be joined together before the final fixing phase by the angles 9 - 12.

 Other implementations of the present invention, within the reach of those skilled in the art could also have been envisaged without departing from the scope thereof.

Claims (9)

 1. Pallet box which will find its application in the field of packaging formed by a rigid plate (2) of polygonal shape, in particular rectangular, mounted on pads (31 or studs on which a container (4) is attached, possibly closed by a cover, characterized by the fact that the container (4) is formed of independent cardboard sides (5, 6, 7 and 8), fixed on the plate (2> rigid, and juxtaposed at the periphery of said plate (2), the contiguous sides of said sides being connected by at least one assembly element (9, 10, 11 or 12).  2. Pallet box according to claim 1, characterized in that the assembly elements (9, 10, it or 12) constitute means for reinforcing said container.  3. Pallet box according to claim 1, characterized in that the connecting element is an angle (9, 10, 11, or 12) disposed over the entire height of the container (4).  4. Pallet box according to claim 3, characterized in that the angle iron (9. 10, 11 or 121 is supported, at its lower level, on the plate (2).  5. Pallet box according to claim 4, characterized in that the angle iron (9, 10, it or 12) is made of triple-fluted cardboard glued to the cardboard sides (5, 6, 7 and 8).  6. Pallet box according to claim 1, characterized in that the cardboard sides (5, 6, 7 and 8) have double folding edges (13, 14).  Y. Pallet box according to claim 6, characterized in that the internal folding edges (13, 14) are separated by a distance corresponding to the thickness of a cardboard side (5, 6, 7 or 8).  8. Pallet box according to claim 7, characterized in that the flank parts fixed on the plate (2) are positioned with a certain withdrawal (15) relative to the periphery of said plate (2).  9. Pallet box according to claim 8, characterized in that the outer folding edges (13, 1;) of the cardboard sides (5, 6, 7, and 8) rest on the plate (2).  10. Pallet box according to claim 1, characterized in that the sides (5 and 7) forming es long sides of the box are contiguous edges to form the bottom of said box.