IE46555B1 - A container or sack for bulk materials - Google Patents

Description

OF CLARA COUNTY OFFALY, IRELAND.

Price 9 Op 6 3 55 This invention relates to containers for bulk materials and in particular to containers of a flexible material for use in the storage/transportation of bulk materials, for example, materials such as food, chemicals, plastics, feed5 stuffs, fertilizer, grain and like granular products.

Containers of a flexible material, such as woven polypropylene, are known and in the known constructions which are commerically available, lifting loops usually of a strong nylon webbing material are provided, usually double stitched into pockets formed at the open mouth end or top end of the polypropylene container.

The containers are obliged to hold and transport large quantities of material and it is accepted that a safety 5 factor of 4:1 is respected and the container designed accord15 ingly. A most important factor in the container design is the strength of the lifting loops.

The present invention provides a container for bulk materials comprising panel members of a woven material which are sewn together to form a container with an open top and having a front panel, a rear panel, two side panels and a botton panel, wherein the abutting peripheral edge portions of the front panel, the rear panel and the two side panels d 6 5 55 - 3 are firstly each twice folded upon themselves to form on each of said panels three layer peripheral edge portions and a lifting loop of a webbing material is fixedly secured at each corner of the container to the three layer edge portions of the relevant panels forming that corner of the container.

The container is preferably constructed from a woven polypropylene fabric with woven synthetic material e.g., nylon, lifting loops. The sewing twine used is preferably cotton, nylon or a treated polypropylene twine.

The container may include a closure for the open top or bottom discharge facilities where required.

The invention will be understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a folded panel member; Figure 2 is a front view of the panel member; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a formed container; and Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of a corner of the formed container with a lifting loop secured thereto.

Referring to the accompanying drawings four panel members 1 and a bottom panel member (not shown) are cut to the required shape from a sheet of woven polypropylene. A typical container is one having a capacity of one cubic metre and finished dimensions for such a container are 89 cm x 89 cm x 130 cms. The dimensions of the cut panel members 1 which form the front, rear and sides of the container are 46355 - 4 such as to allow 7.5 cm folds at the relevant peripheral portions (those which will later be sewn together) - a width reduction of 30 cms - and still give the required finished dimensions.

The cut panel members 1 are folded and sewn in a folded position as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. The fold stitch lines are indicated at 2.

The folded panel members 1 and the bottom panel are then sewn together to form a container 20 as illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawings. The stitch lines are shown at 11 and the twine used is a u.v. stabilised polypropylene twine. Each corner of the container will then have pockets 13 formed from the folded peripheral edge portions of the front, rear and side panels. A length of nylon webbing 12 - say 1 metre to 1.5 metres long - is inserted into the fold pockets 13 to an approximate depth of 25 cms and then sewn at 15 into the fold pockets to form a lifting loop 14 as shown in Figure 4 of the drawings. The length of nylon webbing 12 may, in each case, be inserted into either one of the two fold pockets 13, at each edge portion of panel 1. Further the length of nylon webbing may as an alternative be secured on the interior or on the exterior face of the relevant corner edge portions of the container 20 to form the lifting loop 14.

It will be understood that when a 5.08cm (2 inch) wide length of webbing is sewn to a three ply area of fabric the total area of cloth in use supporting the load is 381 2 cm (60 sq. inch). On a load of 1 tonne, it is envisaged that the safety factor will be in excess of 6:1, which 465GS - 5 is of course greater than the required safety factor of 4:1.

The container according to the present invention may include any of the known types of top closures or bottom discharge facilities. Xt is also possible to incorporate a polyethylene liner in the construction of the container to facilitate the handling of hydroscopic material.

Claims (4)

1. CLAIM S:1. A container for bulk materials comprising panel members of a woven material which are sewn together to form a container with an open top and having a front panel, a 5 rear panel, two side panels and a bottom panel, wherein the abutting peripheral edge portions of the front panel, the rear panel and the two side panels are firstly each twice folded upon themselves to form on each of said panels three layer peripheral edge portions, and a lifting loop of 10 a webbing material fixedly secured at each corner of the container to the three layer edge portions of the relevant panels forming that corner of the container.

2. A container as claimed in Claim 1 wherein each lifting loop is secured to the three layer edge portions of 15 the relevant panels by inserting respective ones of the two free ends of the loop between two of the three layers of the respective edge portion and then sewing the said free ends in their inserted position.

3. A container as claimed in Claim 1 in which each 20 of the three layer edge portions is first sewn into its folded three layer position prior to the panels being sewn together to form the container.

4. A container for bulk materials substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.