IE43425B1 - Collapsible plastic crate - Google Patents

Abstract

Improved folding box, preferably of plastic material, of the type comprising a bottom to which two opposite side walls are articulated, joined between them by braces that constitute the other two walls, characterized by the fact that the vertical edges of the two side walls articulated with the bottom are generally bent into a channel to constitute rigid vertical pillars that serve as a guide and for fixing the braces that constitute the other two walls.

Description

The present invention relates to a collapsible crate made of plastics material suitable for the transport and the storage of goods, particularly bottles.

Conventional plastics crates are bulky to ship because their size is constant, whether they may be empty or full of goods.

The object of the present invention is to overcome this drawback by providing a collapsible plastics crate.

According to the present invention there is provided a collapsible crate of a plastics material comprising a central panel forming the bottom of the crate and two opposing side panels hinged to the central panel and forming two opposing side walls of the crate, these two side walls having side edges each forming a pillar at a corner of the crate and between pairs of said pillars at least one crossbrace can be slid into and retained in a position across each of the other two sides of the crate thereby to hold releasably the crate in an erected state.

Preferably, there are a pair of crossbraces on each of the other two side walls of the crate, one of the pair being slidable along opposing pillars of the two first mentioned side walls and the other of the pair being capable of nesting within said one crossbrace of the pair.

Preferably also the central panel has a recess of substantially U-shaped section within which the crossbrace or 3 4 2 5 - 3 nesting crossbraces can be accomodated to allow collapse of the crate.

It will be seen that when the crate is set up, and the crossbraces are held in place at the top of the crate, there are two opposing open sides through which the user may remove the contents of the crate.

Indeed, in each of the two open sides formed when the two opposite side-panels are raised vertically, a pair of crossbraces is advantageously provided which may move vertically along the rigid vertical pillars formed at the edges of the panels.

In particular, each pair of crossbraces comprises an upper member of heavy section, capable of locking the top ends of the vertical pillars and preventing the separation of the side-panels, and a lower crossbrace of smaller section which can slide along the said pillars and lock into the upper brace.

Also provided to advantage, along each of the two free edges of the part making up the bottom of the crate, is a housing of roughly U section inside which the upper brace may be slid, the lower brace being slid into the upper.

Preferably, the upper brace of larger section is held in place in the U housing by a clip-device.

When the crate is empty and not in use, the crossbraces can be slid to nest with each other and thence slid into the U shaped recess after which the two side-panels are folded down to lie in the same plane as the centre panel. The crate, thus folded out flat, takes up a minimum of space and, at the same time, carries the crossbraces required to set it up when the crate is to be re-erected. - 4 43435 The invention, will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:Figure 1 is a perspective view showing several crates according to the invention stacked in a flat unerected condition; Figure 2 is a perspective view of one crate with two side-panels partially folded on opposite sides of the crate; Figure 3 is a perspective view showing an erected crate with crossbraces, different positions of the crossbraces being shown in dashed lines; Figure 4 is a perspective view showing an erected crate ready for use; Figure 5 is a detailed cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of two co-operating crossbraces fitted into a side of the crate.

The crate comprises a collapsible mainpiece, designated generally by 2, moulded from a plastics material and shown in the fully collapsed flat position in Figure 1 (where several of these main-pieces 2 are stacked) and in a partially collapsed position in Figure 2.

The main-piece consists of three sections: a central panel 3 designed to form the bottom of the erected crate and two adjacent panels 4 which make up the two opposing side-walls of the erected crate. To erect the crate, the panels 4 are rotated in the direction of arrows 5 (Fig. 2) with respect to the central panel 3. This rotation can be effected as areas of lesser thickness 6 join the central panels 3 to the two side-panels 4. These areas 6 are produced by moulding and form hinges for the rotating movement mentioned.

The central panel 3 is a lattice and has reinforced areas 7 which are designed to carry goods, for example, bottles (not shown) arranged vertically inside the crate.

The two opposing side-panels 4 are folded perpendicular to the panel 3 in the erected crate, as shown in Figures 3 4, and are held in this position by means of a pair of crossbraces 8 and 9 arranged in each of the planes of the opposing open sides of the crate. These braces comprise an upper brace of large section and a lower brace 9 of smaller section.

The crate is designed to accommodate pairs of crossbraces 8 and 9, but in a more simple method of erecting the crate a single brace placed across the middle of each opposing side is still sufficient to maintain the side-panels 4 in position.

The vertical side edges of the panels 4 form rigid pillars 10 to which the cross-braces 8 and 9 are fastened during erection of the crate.

The ends of the upper braces 8 are formed into bifurcate clips 12 and are able to slide freely along the outside edges of the pillars 10. The clips 12 also grip by their own natural resilience, a region 13 of greater width provided at the top of each pillar 10. The crossbraces 8 can be thus maintained at the top of the crate i.e. in a position furthest from panel 3, by their natural resilience providing a locking action, or by a clip-device (not shown).

When the crate is erected and the two side-panels 4 are folded perpendicular to panel 3, the ends of each of the sliding crossbraces 9 engage in grooves 14 provided in the pillars 10. These grooves 14 run along the lower part of the pillars and terminate at a given level thus determining the position of the crossbraces furthest from the panel 3. The crossbraces can be held in this position by a narrowing Of the groove. - 6 It is thus possible for a user to remove the contents of the crate laterally, for example a bottle, through one of the opposite sides provided with crossbraces 8 and 9, the brace 8 being held at the top of the crate and locked thereat in the region 13 of the pillars 10 to prevent the side-panels from moving apart, while the brace 9 is moved towards the panel 3 at the bottom of the crate. Further, as is shown in Figure 5, the sliding brace 9 of smaller section may fit inside the larger section crossbrace 8. In addition, along each of the two free edges of the central panel 3 forming the bottom of the crate, a recess 15 of substantially U shaped section is provided into which the upper crossbrace 8 can slide the crossbrace 8 can already contain the lower crossbrace 9, as is shown also in Fig. 5. The upper crossbrace 8 is held in position in this recess 15 by a clip-device.

Thus, when the crate is empty, it is possible to bring down both crossbraces 8 and 9 towards the bottom of the crate and to fit them into each other and house them in the recess 15, and then to fold down the two side-panels 4 into the plane of panel 3. The crate is thus folded out flat, taking up a minimum of space and, at the same time, carries the crossbraces 8 and 9 required to set it up when the crate is again required for use.

Claims (7)

1. CLAIMS:1. A collapsible crate of a plastics material comprising a central panel forming the bottom of the crate and two opposing side panels hinged to the central panel and forming two opposing side walls of the crate, these two side walls having side edges each forming a pillar at a corner of the crate and between pairs of said pillars at least one crossbrace can be slid into and retained in a position across each of the other two sides of the crate thereby to hold releasably the crate in an erected state.

2. A crate as claimed in Claim 1 in which there are a pair of crossbraces on each of the other two side walls of the crate, one of the pair being slidable along opposing pillars of the two first mentioned side walls and the other of the pair being capable of nesting within said one crossbrace of the pair.

3. A crate as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which the ' central panel has a recess of substantially U-shaped section * within which the crossbrace or nesting crossbraces can be accommodated to allow collapse of the crate.

4. A crate as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3, in which at least one of the crossbraces is held in position in the erected crate by a clip.

5. A crate as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4, in which the ends of at least two crossbraces are formed into bifurcate clips which slide freely along opposing pillars of the two first mentioned side walls and grip thickened portions of these pillars by their natural resilience to retain the crossbraces in position in the erected crate.

6. A crate as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 5, in 43 42 5 - 8 which at least two crossbraces have ends which slide in grooves provided in the pillars of the two side walls.

7. A collapsible crate of a plastics material substan tially as hereinbefore described with reference to the 5 accompanying drawings.