GB2301582A - Container - Google Patents

Abstract

A container formed from sheet material comprises four vertical side walls and horizontal top and bottom walls. Three of the side walls are defined by rectangular panels e.g. 1 of the sheet material, and each of the top and bottom walls is defined by four interengaged flaps e.g. 11, 12, 13, 15, with each flap being linked by a fold to a respective side wall. The fourth side wall 5 is cut and folded to define a door panel 6 that is linked to the respective top wall flap 15 such that the door panel 6 may be releasably retained in a closed position by engaging the top wall flap 15 to which it is linked with other top wall flaps 11-13 or in an open position by engaging the top wall flap 15 to which it is linked beneath the bottom wall.

Description

CONTAINER The present invention relates to a container formed from sheet material to define four vertical side walls and horizontal top and bottom walls.

Containers of the above type are widely used for the distribution of goods.

Generally such containers are fabricated from cardboard and are discarded after a single use. This is becoming less acceptable for environmental reasons, and in addition it does present a waste disposal problem in that businesses receiving large number of containers have to provide space and other resources to collect and dispose of the used containers.

In the mail order industry, it is conventional practice to store goods at a central warehouse in standard containers having tear-out panels at one end.

Workers take goods from such containers to make up orders which themselves are packed in containers of a similar form for despatch to local distributors.

Adopting such an approach is efficient but each mail order operation has to dispose of large volumes of used containers each year. One of the larger U.K.

mail order operations disposes of the order of two thirds of a million such containers per annum.

It would clearly be desirable to provide re-usable containers for use in many industries and in particular for use in the mail order industry,. Whereas most containers in current use are manufactured from cardboard which is not sufficiently robust for repeated use, it is known to produce containers from corrugated plastics materials that are far more robust. Corrugated plastics containers have not been widely used however, probably because of the problems which would be encountered in having to return containers to source for re-use.

In the case of the mail order industry this problem is not so severe as there is regular traffic between the central warehouse and distribution centres, but nevertheless corrugated plastics containers have not been used as the containers themselves must be partially destroved to give access to the container contents so that goods can be selected from any one of a large number of different containers when an individual order is being made up.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a container which obviates or mitigates the problems outlined above by providing a structure which enables ready access to the contents of the container through a re-closable door panel in the container.

According to the present invention, there is provided a container formed from sheet material comprising four vertical side walls and horizontal top and bottom walls, wherein three of the side walls are defined by unfolded rectangular panels of the sheet material, each of the top and bottom walls is defined by four interengaged flaps with each flap being linked by a fold to a respective side wall, and the fourth side wall is cut and folded to define a door panel that is linked to the respective top wall flap such that the door panel may be releasably retained in a closed position by engaging the top wall flap to which it is linked with other top wall flaps or in an open position by engaging the top wall flap to which it is linked beneath the bottom wall.

A structure in accordance with the present invention makes it possible for a container to be delivered to a distribution site full of product, for the door panel to be opened and secured in an open position by tucking the respective top wall flap beneath the container, for the container when empty to be folded flat and returned to source and refilled, and for the door panel to be secured in a closed position to protect the contents during transport. Thus in a mail order operation containers can be made from sufficiently durable material, for example corrugated plastics material, to withstand repeated use and yet the container may still be used as a storage device from which the contained products are selected.

Preferably the top wall flap linked to the door panel is engagable in slots cut in the adjacent pair of top wall flaps. The slots may be generally L-shaped such that each slot receives a corner of the door panel top wall flap.

The side wall in which the door panel is formed may be linked to three flaps along its edge adjacent the top wall, a central one of the three flaps being linked to the door panel and engagable with the top wall, and the other two of the three flaps being folded back and secured to portions of the side wall on either side of the door panel. This forms a reinforcement on either side of the door panel to improve the strength of the assembled container.

The door panel may be linked to remaining portions of the side wall of which it forms part by a horizontal fold located substantially half-way between the top and bottom walls. This ensures that the top wall flap to which the door panel is attached can be easily tucked beneath the container.

The present invention also provides a blank for a container as defined above.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank in accordance with the present invention showing one of a number of sizes; Figures 2,3 and 4 are views of walls of a container formed from the blank of Figure 1, Figure 2 showing a view of a longer side wall, Figure 3 showing a view of the bottom wall, and Figure 4 showing a view of the shorter side wall; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the assembled container with a door panel in a closed position; and Figure 6 is a view similar to that of Figure 5 but after the door panel has been opened.

Referring to Figure 1, the illustrated blank is formed by conventional processes and apparatus from a sheet of durable material, for example corrugated plastics sheet.

The blank comprises three side wall panels 1, 2 and 3 which are continuous and unfolded. The side wall panels 1 and 3 are linked by folds to the side wall panel 2, and the side wall panel 3 is linked by a fold to an end flap 4.

The side wall panel 1 is linked by a fold to a fourth side wall panel 5 a portion 6 of which defines a door panel. Flaps 7, 8, 9 and 10 are linked by folds to respective side wall panels so as to enable by suitable interengagement the formation of a container bottom wall. Flaps 11, 12 and 13 are linked respectively to the side wall panels 1, 2 and 3 and together define in the assembled container a top wall. The edge of the side wall 5 which will be adjacent to the top wall is linked to three flaps 14, 15 and 16, the flap 15 being linked by a fold to the door panel 6 and the flaps 14 and 16 being linked by folds to the main body of the panel 5. L-shaped slots 17, 18, 19 and 20 are formed in the top wall flaps 11 and 13 to engage with tongues defined on the top wall flaps 12 and 15.

Referring to Figures 5 and 6, the blank is assembled into a container by firstly securing the flap 4 to the edge of the side wall panel 5 from which the flap 14 extends. The flap 14 is then folded down over the flap 4 and secured in position. The flap 16 is also folded down against the adjacent portion of the side wall 5 and secured in position. Any convenient securing method may be used but as shown in Figures 5 and 6 assuming the container is made from a plastics corrugated sheet material the flaps may be interconnected to the adjacent components by a series of heat or pressure welds 21. As the flap 4 extends for the full height of the container the welds 21 extend for the full height of the container on the side of the side wall 5 to which the flap 4 is connected. In contrast, as the flap 16 extends only for the height of the door panel 6 the welds 21 only extend for half the height of the container on the edge of the side wall 5 to which the flap 16 is attached. Once the flap 4 has been connected to the side wall 5, the flaps 7 to 10 are folded and interengaged to form the bottom wall, the flaps 11 and 13 are folded inwards, and the flap 12 is folded over the flaps 11 and 13 to engage in the slots 18 and 19.

The door panel 6 is connected to the side wall 5 b) a horizontal foldline 22 which is approximately mid-way between the upper and lower edges of the container side walls. As a result the door panel can be moved from a first position in which it extends vertically upwards from the foldline 22 as shown in Figure 5 to a second position in which it extends substantially vertically downwards from the foldline 22 as shown in Figure 6. In the configuration shown in Figure 5, the flap 15 is retained in the slots 17 and 20 in the top wall flap. In the configuration shown in Figure 6, the flap 15 which has an extra crease in it is tucked beneath the container and thus the door panel is retained in an open position. The contents of the container can thus be removed simply by inserting a hand through the opening defined above the foldline 22.It will be noted however that even when the door panel 6 is in the open position as shown in Figure 6 the top wall flaps 11 and 13 provide protection to the full plan area of the container. With this in mind it is advantageous if the top wall flaps 11 and 13 overlap slightly such that if any dirt does drop on to the top of a container it cannot contaminate the contents.

It will be appreciated that alternative formulations to the simple L-shaped slots 17 to 20 could be provided to ensure secure but releasable interengagement between the top wall flaps.

It will be appreciated that providing a door panel in one side wall of the container will reduce the ability of the container to support a load as compared with a structure having four side walls none of which has been cut or folded. It is of course important to he able to stack a number of containers one upon another in a warehouse. With the illustrated container however the reinforcement formed by the flaps 4, 14 and 16 ensures that a relatively large load can be supported, particularly if a relatively strong sheet material such as corrugated plastics sheet is used.

Although not shown in the drawings, one or more of the panels of the container may be cut to form slots to receive a label so that a container could be relabelled each time it is used. For example, the door panel 6 could have four Lshaped slots cut in it. This would enable a label card to be secured to the container. The label could be positioned so as to be usable when the container is closed as shown in Figure 5, and then repositioned on the other side of the door panel so as to be usable when the container is open as shown in Figure 6.

Although not shown in the drawings, the flaps 11 and 13 may overlap by for example half an inch so as to protect the contents of the container against ingress of dust or other extraneous matter.

Claims (8)

1. A container formed from sheet material comprising four vertical side walls and horizontal top and bottom walls, wherein three of the side walls are defined by unfolded rectangular panels of the sheet material, each of the top and bottom walls is defined by four interengaged flaps with each flap being linked by a fold to a respective side wall, and the fourth side wall is cut and folded to define a door panel that is linked to the respective top wall flap such that the door panel may be releasably retained in a closed position by engaging the top wall flap to which it is linked with other top wall flaps or in an open position by engaging the top wall flap to which it is linked beneath the bottom wall.

2. A container according to Claim 1, wherein the top wall flap linked to the door panel is engagable in slots cut in the adjacent pair of top wall flaps.

3. A container according to Claim 2, wherein the slots are substantially Lshaped.

4. A container according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the side wall in which the door panel is formed is linked to three flaps along its edge adjacent the top wall, a central one of the three flaps being linked to the door panel and engagable with the top wall and the other two of the three flaps being folded back and secured to portions of the side wall on either side of the door panel.

5. A container according to any preceding Claim, wherein the door panel is linked to remaining portions of the side wall of which it forms part by a horizontal fold located substantially half-way between the top and bottom walls.

6. A blank for a container in accordance with any preceding Claim.

7. A container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. A blank for a container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.