US2775364A - Shipping container - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 25, 1956 E. INDEN SHIPPING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 29, 1951 INVENTOR. Eduard Jzdezz Y AGT C, u z 1 r United States Patent SHIPPING CONTAINER Eduard Inden, Dortmund, Germany Application September 29, 1951, Serial No. 248,917 Claims priority, application Germany January 17, 1951 Claims. (Cl. 220-97) This invention relates to a shipping container for the transportation of goods of all kinds, especially bottles.

The primary object of my invention is to generally improve such containers. tainers which can be safely and easily secured to each other when piled upon each other, and which at the same time permit that a container can be readily removed from the container underneath.

One known kind of the containers or cases referred to comprises a top frame made from angle irons, whereby the angle irons are arranged so that the bottom of a container when placed upon an identical container fits into the frame of the lower container, with the weight of the upper container resting on the horizontal legs of the angle irons of the lower container, and with the position of the upper container being laterally secured by the upright legs of the angle irons of said lower container. The stability of a stack of such containers, however, is not sufficient to permit loading of the superimposed containers on a means of transportation by tilting the stack without causing same to collapse. The containers of this kind have the further disadvantage that the frames become easily bent or deformed in any other way under the stresses applied in normal shipping practice. Stacking in the desired fashion then becomes difficult or entirely impossible.

An important object of my invention is to provide a shipping container which due to its novel construction is free from the shortcomings outlined above.

. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and other objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the shipping container elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accomplished by drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the shipping container according to my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken in the plane of the line 22 of Fig. 1, but illustrating two superimposed identical containers;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 33 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified container construction according to the invention;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken in the plane of the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is explanatory of the action preventing the collapse of stacked containers upon tilting, as ensured in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 7 is a section through a modified frame, drawn to enlargedseale;

Fig. 8 illustrates another modified frame; and

Fig. 9 shows another modification of a frame.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and initially to Figs. 1 to 3, the shipping container comprises upper and lower tubular frames 10, 12 which are fastened to each other by sheet metal corner columns 14 at a dis-' One object is to provide con- Patented Dec. 25, 1956 tance which corresponds to the height of the container. The dimensions of the upper frame 10 are smaller so as to be surrounded by the lower frame 12 of another container of identical construction when the latter is placed upon the first mentioned container. It will be seen from Fig. 2 that the lower frame 12 is at least partly inwardly of the columns 14, whereas the upper frame 10 is at least partiy outwardly of the columns 14. There are wires 16 tied around the columns, and the bottom 20 of the container is secured to the columns by welding.

For the stacking of containers one on top of the other, I provide projections 18 on the columns 14, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which projections serve to support the lower frame 12 of a superimposed container. The projections are provided so as to ensure that the lower frame, with the container stacked upon a companion container, freely receives the upper frame of the companion or lower container and that the median plane of the lower frame of the upper container extends below the median plane of the upper frame of the lower container. This relationship permits a, portion of the lower frame of the upper container, upon a lateral displacement of the superposed container, to slide at least partly under the upper frame of the lower container.

It is also possible to provide that the bottom 20' of an upper container (see Figs. 5 and 6) comes to rest on the upper frame it) of a lower container. When the bottom 26' reaches its resting position, the two adjacent frames 10 and 12. are positioned so that the median plane of the lower frame 12" of the upper container will extend below the median plane of the upper frame of the lower container. The lower frame is arranged down- Wardly of the bottom of the same container.

From Fig. 6 it can be clearly seen that the lower frame of the upper container, upon a lateral displacement of the upper container, for instance, by tilting, becomes caught under the upper frame of the lower container, which prevents the upper frame from sliding any farther. One of the prerequisites for this action is that the upper boundary plane of the lower frame of the upper container extends between the median plane and the lower boundary plane of the upper frame of the lower container.

Instead of frames of circular cross section, I may use frames of an elliptic, rectangular or polygonal section as well (see Figs. 7, 8 and 9), but the frames must always I be dimensioned and arranged so that they meet the referred to requirements when containers are piled upon each other. Any displacement of superimposed containers relative to each other must cause the lower frame of an upper container to slide under the upper frame of the lower container.

It is believed that the construction and use of my shipping container, as well as the many advantages thereof, will be understood from the foregoing detailed description thereof. To explain my invention and its application further, my container comprises an upper and a lower tubular frame which both are fixed in their spaced relationship by means of upright sheet metal columns designed to resist twisting and torsional stresses. To permit stacking of containers one on top of the other, the length and width of the upper frame are smaller than the respective dimensions of the lower frame by such amounts that the lower frame of an upper container will fit around the upper frame of the container underneath, whereby the bottom of the upper container may rest on the upper frame of the lower container. Thus it is made possible that the support of the upper container is distributed over a relatively large area.

As has been shown, in one embodiment of the invention it is not the bottom of the upper container, that rests on the upper frame of the lower container, but the lower frame of the upper container which rests on the lower container. In this embodiment the proper relative position of the frames is maintained by providing projections on the upright columns of the container, on which projections the upper container comes to rest with its lower frame. 1

- To give a pile of containers additional stability as required when a great number of containers are piled upon each other and when such a pile is to be tilted for transportation to permit a means of transportation to he slid under the bottom of the pile for convenient loading, the frames of the containers are arranged so that the upper boundary plane of the lower frame of an upper container will extend between the median plane and the lower boundary plane of the upper frame of a lower container.

The advantages of the container according to my invention will become clea'r when a stack of cases is to be tilted for loading and the frames tend to move relative to each other. In this case the lower frame of each upper case will shift into a position Where it interlocks with the upper frame of the lower case and cannot slide out of engagement. Since the hollow frames of my container are extremely resistant to shock and other stresses, the container of my invention can be securely stacked even after long service.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in a. few forms only, many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the following claims.

I claim:

-1. Shipping container including wall elements, a bottom, a top frame, and a bottom frame, said frames being horizontally supported by the wall elements and being of round cross section, the lower frame being arranged downwardly of the bottom and at least partly inwardly of the wall elements, the upper frame being arranged at least partly outwardly of the wall elements, the lower frame, with the container stacked upon a companion container, freely receiving the upper frame of the companion or lower container, the median plane of the lower frame of the upper container extending below the median plane of the upper frame of the lower container, the frames permitting the lower frame of the upper container, upon a lateral displacement of the superposed container, to slide at least partly under the upper frame of the lower container.

2. In the container according to claim 1, the bottom being set inwardly so as to permit the median plane of the lower frame .of the upper container to extend below the median plane of the-upper frame of the lower container.

3. In the container according to claim 1, said elements, near their upper end, being olfsetinwardly and forming a supporting shoulder for the lower frame of a superposed companion container.

4. In the container according to claim 1, both the upper and lower frame being symmetrically arranged with respect to the wall elements.

5. Shipping container including wall elements, a bottom, a top frame, and a bottom frame, said frames being horizontally supported by the wall elements and being of round cross section, the lower frame being arranged downwardly of the bottom and at least partly inwardly of the wall elements, the upper frame being arranged at least partly outwardly of the wall elements, the circumference of the lower frame permitting, with the container stacked upon a companion container, that the lower frame freely receivesthe upper frame of the companion or lower frame, the upper boundary plane of the lower frame of the upper container extending between the median plane and the lower boundary plane of the upper frame of the lower container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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