GB2227232A

GB2227232A - Stackable/nestable container

Info

Publication number: GB2227232A
Application number: GB9001197A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gerald Ivor Robinson
Original assignee: DOLPHIN PACKAGING MATERIALS
Current assignee: DOLPHIN PACKAGING MATERIALS
Priority date: 1989-01-19
Filing date: 1990-01-18
Publication date: 1990-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 2010-01-18
Also published as: IE900194L; GB8901124D0; GB9001197D0; NL9000120A; GB2227232B

Abstract

A container for vegetables and the like has a base structure 4 and upstanding side walls with ribs 14B, 16A on the side walls which provide support surfaces 22 for the base structure 4 of an identical container. Each support surface 22 has an upwardly extending projection 24 which cooperates with the base structure 4 of another container to prevent the base structure from falling off the support surfaces 22. The containers can either be nested within each other when superimposed in the same orientation or stacked when superimposed 180 DEG out of phase. <IMAGE>

Description

A CONTAINER This invention relates to open-topped containers of plastics material for containing soft fruit, mushrooms, beans and the like, and is particularly concerned with containers of this type which can be arranged either nesting one within another similar cantainer or, alternatively, arranged as a stack of containers one above the other.

Such containers are particularly used for packaging soft fruit and the like where empty containers are arranged for transportation and in preparation for use in a nested condition and are then filled and stored and transported in a stack one above another. It has been found that, in the latter condition, if the weight of filled containers is substantial, there is a tendendcy for the sides of the container to bulge outwardly to such an extent that an upper container sinks into the interior of one below it with a damaging effect on the foodstuffs contained therein.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved container of the type set forth which, when filled and arranged in stacks, resists the tendency to damage the foodstuffs contained therein.

According to the present invention, an opentopped container of plastics material, for soft fruit, vegetables and the like comprises a generally rectangular base structure; walls upstanding from the edges of the base structure; each wall having at least one hollow rib extending from the edge of the base structure towards the open top of the container which serves to strengthen the wall and provide a generally flat support surface; each support surface having a projection extending therefrom towards the open top of the container; and means on the underside of the base structure which co-operate with said projections on a substantially identical container; the position of the support surfaces and said means on the underside of the base structure being such that, in one relative position of two substantially identical containers, one container can nest within the other and, with one of the containers displaced through 1800, the base structure of the upper container rests on the support surfaces of the other container to form a stack with the projections co-operating with the means on the underside of the base structure to locate the base structure in position on the support surfaces.

The means on the underside of the base structure may comprise feet projecting from the-base structure in the opposite direction to the side walls.

Alternatively, the means on the underside of the base structure may comprise recesses.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, it will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a container according to the invention having part broken away to reveal a section on the line I-I of Figure 2; Figure 2 is a plan view; Figure 3 is a scrap view in section of a number of nested containers; Figure 4 is a scrap view in section of a number of containers stacked in column formation; Figure 5 is a view of parts seen in Figure 4, but to a larger scale; Figure 6 is a section view on the line VI-VI of Figure 2; Figure 7 is a section view on the line VII VII of Figure 2; Figure 8 is a section view on the line VIII VIII of Figure 2; Figure 9 is a perspective view; and Figure 10 is a diagrammatic view of the base structure showing an alternative arrangement.

As shown in the drawings, a container 2 according to the invention has a generally rectangular base structure 4, longitudinal upstanding walls 6A, 6B, and lateral upstanding walls 8A, 8B. Each wall tapers slightly outwardly from the base structure and the uppermost part of the upstanding walls is formed as a downwardly facing channel-shaped rim 10. As seen in Figure 2, the base 4 is formed with perforations 12 for drainage, lightness and economy in manufacture and parts of the walls may be similarly formed, if desired.

In order that a container will bear the load of one or more filled containers stacked on top of it, the walls are formed with inwardly extending hollow ribs which form upwardly tapered columns designated as follows: the wall 6A has columns 14A, 14B; wall 6B has columns 16A, 16B; wall 8A has a column 18; and wall 8B has columns 20A, 20B. The top part of each of the columns is formed with a generally flat support platform 22 and an upstanding projection 24 is positioned on the inward side of each platform away from the wall.

Formed on the base of the container in the side opposite to the open top are a number of small feet which, during stacked condition, are supported on the platforms 22. Thus, located adjacent wall 6A are feet 26A, 26B; adjacent wall 6B are feet 28A, 28B; adjacent wall 8A are feet 30A, 30B; and adjacent wall 8B is a foot 32.

The containers shown and described in the above example are conveniently formed by a plastics injection moulding process and have comparatively thin wall section thickness.

When stored or transported in their nested, empty, condition, the tapered walls of the containers allow the containers to be placed one inside the other, as illustrated in Figure 3, the feet 32 of those containers being substantially vertically aligned.

When the containers are stacked in their filled condition, as seen in Figure 4, each vertically alternate container is orientated at 1800 in the horizontal plane to that below it. Thus, when stacked, feet 26B are supported on the platforms 22 which are formed on columns 16but feet 26A on platforms 22 formed on columns 16A; feet 28A on platforms 22 formed on columns 14A; feet 28B on platformsd 22 formed on columns 14B; feet 30A on platforms 22 formed on columns 20A; feet 30B on platforms 22 formed on columns 20B; and feet 32 on platforms 22 formed on columns 18.

Even though the containers are full, and a stack of them constitute a substantial weight, it is found that the weight of the upper containers and their contents is transmitted through the columns and feet of each downwardly succeeding container to the lowermost feet. This allows the side walls to be perforated as shown with respect to the base, for the sake of lightness of construction, without loss of supporting strength. Even if the side walls of the lowermost containers in the stack tend to bulge to the weight of the containers above them, the projections 24 on the support surfaces prevent the feet 32 from moving off the support surfaces, as shown in Figure 5.

In an alternative arrangement shown in Figure 10, the feet 32 of the previously described arrangement are replaced by recesses 40 located on the underside of the base structure. When a pair of containers are arranged in a stack, the projections 24 on the lower container extend into the recesses 40 on the base structure of the container above it. This means that the base structure of the upper container cannot fall off" the support surfaces provided on the lower container. A particular advantage of this construction is that the absence of feet on the underside of the base structure allow the container to be moved along a mesh-type conveyor with the danger of the feet becoming caught in the mesh.

Claims

Claims:

1. An open-topped container of plastics material, for soft fruit, vegetables and the like comprising a generally rectangular base structure; walls upstanding from the edges of the base structure; each wall having at least one hollow rib extending from the edge of the base structure towards the open top of the container which serves to strengthen the wall and provide a generally flat support surface; each support surface having a projection extending therefrom towards the open top of the container; and means on the underside of the base structure which co-operate with said projections on a substantially identical container; the position of the support surfaces and said means on the underside of the base structure being such that, in one relative position of two substantially identical containers, one container can nest within the other and, with one of the containers displaced through 1800, the base structure of the upper container rests on the support surfaces of the other container to form a stack with the projections cooperating with the means on the underside of the base structure to locate the base structure in position on the support surfaces.

2. An open-topped container as claimed in claim 1, in which said means on the underside of the base structure comprise feet projecting from the base structure in the opposite direction to said walls, the number of feet being the same as the number of support surfaces.

3. An open-topped container as claimed in claim 2, in which the projection on each support surface is spaced horizontally from the wall of the container to define a region on the support surface which accommodates a foot.

4. An open-topped container as claimed in claim 1, in which the means on the underside of the base structure comprise recesses equal in number to the number of projections, each recess being capable of accommodating a projection.

5. An open-topped container as claimed in any preceding claim, in which there are a pair of longitudinally extending walls and a pair of laterally extending walls having the same number of ribs thereon and one of said laterally extending walls having one more rib thereon than the other laterally extending wall.

6. An open-topped container substantially as hereinefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.