US3849967A - Method for packing and handling material - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and means is provided for handling material from a source for the material to a point of use by employing stackable, open top, bulk bins, having a false bottom, for packing the material at the source so that stacked groups of the packed bins can be delivered to the point of use and utilized separately there to present the packed material for removal and use, while manipulating the false bottom to maintain remaining packed material continually available at a top bin level.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Angermeier et a1.

[ Nov. 26, 1974 METHOD FOR PACKING AND HANDLING MATERIAL [76] Inventors: William R. Angermeier; Benjamin Gary Wofford, c/o Industrial Design, Inc., 5018 Park Rd., Charlotte, NC. 28209 [22] Filed: Oct. 30, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 301,824

[52] US. Cl. 53/35, 214/152 [51] Int. Cl B65b 1/00, B65b 69/00 [58] Field of Search 53/26, 35, 162, 163;

2,506,661 5/1950 Busse 53/163 X 2,796,179 6/1957 3,120,249 2/1964 Keene 53/163 X 3,509,688 5/1970 Hartbauer et al 53/163 Primary Examiner-Robert L. Spruill Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Richards, Shefte & Pinckney [5 7 ABSTRACT A method and means is provided for handling material from a source for the material to a point of use by employing stackable, open top, bulk bins, having a false bottom, for packing the material at the source so that stacked groups of the packed bins can be delivered to the point of use and utilized separately there to present the packed material for removal and use, while manipulating the false bottom to maintain remaining packed material continually available at a top bin level.

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures WWW SHEEI 10F 3 MJA ilJLllL Fig-$ AW L/L/l UM UM L/L/ L/L/A WWL/L/A METHOD FOR PACKING AND HANDLING MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Whenever material must be delivered from a source to a point of use, it is desirable that the delivery be effected with the least possible manual handling of the material and that the delivered material be made available for use with the least possible need to rearrange it for that purpose. But because the delivery often requires shipment for considerable distances and may also require intermediate warehousing, and because a the material involved may be perishable or fragile or both, or may be intended for supplying a converting operation so as to be delivered best in bulk form, the matter of minimizing manual handling and eliminating burdensome rehandling in such situations is a persistent problem that has generated a number of prior art proposals of special systems for expediting materials handling. An example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,184. Also, a good deal of effort has been devoted to the development of stackable and nestable container designs adapted for various material handling and storage purposes, as illustrated by US. Pat. Nos. 2,939,607, 3,270,913 and 3,326,410.

The present invention provides a materials handling system that utilizes such stackable containers to move materials from source to point of use without any direct handling of the materials between packing at the source and removal at the point of use, and thereby substantially reduces handling costs while allowing delivery and use ofthe materials in a particularly effective and advantageous manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally characterized, the materials handling system of the present invention employs a method comprising the steps of packing. the material involved at the source thereof in stackable, open top, bulk containers or bins, having a false bottom, stacking the packed bins and delivering the same in stacked groups to the point of use, and employing the delivered bins separately thereat to present the packed material for removal and use while periodically raising the false bin bottom to maintain the remaining packed material continually available at a top bin level.

The stackable bins used have a unit pack capacity greater than wlll reasonably permit a packed bin to be handled manually, and they are accordingly formed specially for mechanical handling during stacking, delivery, and employment at point of use. The mechanical handling at point of use is done on a mobile base incorporating jack means selectively operable for raising the false bottom with which the bins are equipped as noted above.

The system thus provided is well suited, for example, to handle fresh produce from packer to point of retail sale, as the stackable bins employed are adapted for displaying produce packed therein for sale without any rehandling of the produce whatever. Similarly, any other merchandise that is packed for sale at retail can be handled advantageously in the same way. Also, there are a variety of instances where a converting operation is to be supplied, as where garment pieces are to be transferred from a cutting plant to a sewing room,

in which the system of the present invention can be used to lessen the handling burden materially.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial side elevation of a truck or truck trailer carrying a stacked load of packed bulk bins and illustrating a method of unloading (or loading) the same;

FIG. 2 is a similar side elevation showing the un loaded bulk bins being stacked for warehousing or the like;

FIG. 3 is a further side elevation showing one of the bulk bins being placed on a mobile base for presenting the packed contents therein at a point of use;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a group of the packed bulk bins arranged at a point of use;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the type of bulk bin employed according to the present invention, which is partially sectioned to illustrate better the stacking socket structure at 55 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view corresponding to FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an end view as seen from the left in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a suitable form of mobile base for the bulk bins; and

FIG. 9 is a side elevation corresponding to FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The drawings illustrate a representative use of the present invention to provide a system for distributing fresh produce from packer to point of retail sale. Thus, in FIG. 1 a load of stacked bulk bins 10 arranged in a truck or truck trailer 12 is indicated, with a fork lift unit 14 being employed to unload or load the same as the case may be. The bulk bins 10 are ofthe stackable and nestable type, as will be noted in greater detail further below, and they are proportioned to hold a unit pack of suitable size for direct retail display. The unit pack capacity is consequently greater than will reasonably permit a packed bin to be handled manually, and the bins 10 are accordingly formed with skid legs, as will appear more fully presently, so that they may be me chanically handled with a fork lift unit 14 or the like.

The FIG. 1 illustration is intended to indicate the handling of a delivery at a supermarket or other point of retail sale, where a loading dock is often not available. When this is so the fork lift unit 14 is brought to the back of the truck 12 at ground level and used to remove the stacked bins 10 at the tail end of the truck directly, while a mule is employed to shift the other bins 10 in the load successively to the back of the truck for similar removal. As the bins 10 are removed from the truck 12, any that are not to be put on display immediately may be stacked in the refrigeratorroom or other storage area of the supermarket until ready for use, as indicated in FIG. 2. A bin 10 that is to be placed on display, either from storage or from the load delivered by truck 12, is handled as shown in FIG. 3 by the fork lift unit 14 to lower it onto a mobilebase 16 for arrangement in the selling area either alone or, in a suitable grouping such as is illustrated in FIG. 4.

The fork lift unit 14 is preferably a power lift fitted with an adequate wheel suspension for manual pushing and capable of sufficient height extension for truck unloading from a normal height allowing it to be manipu lated readily in the selling area whenever desired. For example, it may be desirable to bring the packed bins into the selling area on the fork lift unit 14 for placing on the mobile bases 16, rather than wheeling the latter to the unloading or storage areas for this purpose. In any event, the system is much more flexible if provi sion is made for either possibility.

If the FIG. 1 supermarket delivery is made from a ,local warehouse, the truck 12 will normally be of the intracity transfer type, while a shipment received direct from the packer or at the warehouse is apt to come in an over-the-road trailer type carrier. Any supermarket or warehouse designed to receive over-the-road shipments is pretty certain to have a loading dock, and in such instances the fork lift unit 14 may be used directly at the level of the truck or trailer bed to remove the stacked bins 10 without requiring the bin-shifting assistance of a mule." The same sort of fork lift unit 14 may be used at the warehouse for both unloading and reloading for local distribution, although a motorized unit is apt to be needed at a warehouse or a packing plant at which the bins 10 are packed and shipped initially. In any case, the system illustrated allows the produce to be packed and shipped initially in form for effective delivery and display at the point of sale without any rehandling of the packed produce other than in the unit pack lots contained by the bins 10.

The type of bulk bin 10 employed in practicing the present invention is detailed in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings. As shown, the bins 10 have pairs of opposed side walls 18 and 20 and opposed end walls 22 and 24, all of which slope inwardly from top to bottom. In each bin wall, and to each side of the bin center lines (see FIG. 6), outwardly formed vertical sections 26-40 are provided that taper in lateral extent from top to bottom of the walls 18-24. These vertical sections 26-40 present inwardly facing, downwardly tapering channels at the bin interior, and have gusset-braced, horizontal lip portions 42 extending integrally therebetween and from the top of the bin walls 18-24 to complete a rectangular peripheral configuration at the open top of bin The bin walls 18-24 also depend below a bin bottom wall 44 sufficiently to provide skid legs that are formed by discontinuous, gusset-braced wall portions 46-60 that remain after notching the bin walls below bottom wall 44, as at 62 (see FIGS. 5 and 7), to accommodate fork lift arms. The notching 62 is arranged in relation to the outwardly formed wall sections 26-40 so that the remaining skid leg portions 46-60 each include at least one 90 bend about a vertical axis. In addition, the horizontal lip portions 42 at the,open top periphery of bin 10 have stacking sockets formed therein by grooves 46-60' that likewise bend 90 for receiving and horizontally interlocking with portions of the skid legs 46-60 when the bins 10 are stacked. Stacking of the bins 10 is effected by turning the bin 10 that is to be stacked 180 with respect to the bin 10 on which it is to be supported and setting the skid leg 46 of the stacked bin 10 in the stacking socket 46' of the supporting bin 10 while likewise placing the remaining skid formed therein for a purpose that will appear presently, and that the bottom wall face at the bin interior has a raised grid of ribbing 64 formed thereat to strengthen it about the openings 44. Also, as will likewise appear more fully below, the bins 10 are provided with a false bottom that is substantially coextensive with the bottom wall 44 and is not attempted to be shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, although it should be noticed in FIG. 6 that apertures 66 formed in each corner lip portion 42 at the bin top are paired with like apertures 66' at the corners of bottom wall 44 to serve as anchoring points for slack wire retaining means (not shown) by which the false bottom is held against separation from the bin 10.

As mentioned earlier, the bins 10 are fitted with a false bottom so that it may be raised selectively as the bin contents are removed to maintain the remaining bin contents continually available at a top bin level. To provide for such raising of the false bottom, the mobile bases 16 on which the bins 10 are arranged for display are equipped with jack means as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, in which the bases 16 are seen to be enclosed at the sides by a surrounding skirt 68 havinga recessed platform portion 70 adjacent its top edge for supporting a bin 10 placed thereat as indicated in broken lines. Below this platform portion 70, mounting ribs 72 extend vertically at the inner faces of skirt 68 for installing it on the base frame structure which comprises a pair of longitudinal, angle-shaped, stringers 74 carried in spaced relation at the central portion of transverse channels 76 located adjacent the ends of base 16 and on which casters 78 are mounted to render the base mobile.

Preferably the casters 78 are of theswivel type and incorporate side locks that may be set to prevent shifting once the display arrangement of a supporting bin has been selected. The skirt mounting ribs 72 are spaced in alignment with both the stringers 74 and the transverse channels 76, those ribs 72 aligned at the ends of stringers 74 being secured to the upstanding flanges thereof by bolts, as at 72, while the remaining ribs 72 simply bear at their lower ends on the transverse channels 74 to brace the skirt 68 further against the load of a supported bin.

The previously mentioned jack means incorporated in the bases 16 is arranged between the spaced stringers 74 and is powered, in the illustrated embodiment, by an hydraulic jack unit 80 of the sort often employed for automotive vehicles. For any application in which the bins 10 would be employed adjacent a source of compressed air the jacking could obviously be powered from this source instead. The jack unit 80 is fixed in place at its base on a bracket 82 that is secured at the lower faces of the stringers 74 to position the jack ram in bearing relation at a roll member 84 having extending stub ends 86 that ride in elongated horizontal slots 88 formed in the upstanding flanges of stringers 74. In addition, these stub ends 86 carry spacing washers 90 immediately inside the stringers 74, serve adjacently as the end pivot point for links 92 of an extensible scissors linkage, and further engage one end of a pull bar 94.

The spacing washers 90 position the links 92 for arrangement in crossing relation at a central pivot 96 with second links 98 having their remote lower ends carried at fixed pivots 100 on the stringers 74. The scissors linkage is completed by a further set of links 102 and 104 pivoted at the upper ends of links 92 and 98 and crossing at a central pivot 106, with the links 102 extending to carry a supporting roll at 108 beneath a jacking plate 110 that has the other links 104 assembled therewith in spaced supporting relation at fixed pivots 112. The pull bar 94 extends to a second exactly corresponding scissor linkage incorporating counterpart elements designated by the reference numerals 84'-1l2 so as to cause simultaneous actuation of the same from the jack unit 80.

The controls for the jack unit 80 consist of an actuator arm 114 and a release rod 116. A slotted bracket 118 is arranged at the bottom of one of the frame stringers 74 so that the actuator arm 114 extends therethrough to have its operating throw between the full and broken line positions in FIG. 8 determined by the length of the bracket slot. Operation of the actuator arm 114 between these positions results in a pumping action within the hydraulic system of thejack unit 80 causing extension of the jack ram to force roll 84, as well as roll 84' through pull bar 94, to the right in FIGS. 8 and 9 with consequent elevation of the jacking plates 110 and 110 by thus required motion of the respective scissors linkages as representatively illustrated by dotted lines in FIG. 9. The release rod 116 is provided for alternative operation to open a check valve in the'jack unit hydraulic system'that relieves the jacking pressure so that the scissors linkages are allowed to collapse and return the jacking plates 110 and 110 to their normal lowered position by gravity.

The jacking plates 110 and 110 are proportioned horizontally for elevation through openings 70 in the platform portion 70 of base skirt 68, which correspond in size with the openings 44 provided in the bin bottom wall 44 and register substantially therewith when a bin 10 is set in place on a base 16. Accordingly, upon continued elevation of jacking plates 110 and 110, after they have passed through the base platform openings 70', they will likewise pass through the bottom wall openings 44' of a supported bin 10 to raise the previously mentioned false bottom therein, as indicated in broken lines at 120 in FIG. 9, for the earlier noted pur-.

pose of maintaining the bin contents readily available at a top bin level.

It will be recognized that when a packed bin 10 supported on a base 16 is arranged for retail display or other use the arrangement should be such as to provide access to the base 16 at the side to which the jack unit actuator arm 114 and release rod 116 extend, but 0th erwise the arrangement may be selected to suit particular conditions with great flexibility and the jacking means is easily used to maintain the bin contents at a top level. In the latter connection it is also notable that when fresh produce is being handled a slight initial jacking can be employed to raise the bin false bottom just enough to project the produce above the bin top for an appearance of attractive fullness as is generally indicated in FIG. 4.

As the bins 10 are nestable, as well as stackable, they are readily collected when empty and returned for reuse, so that once the system of the present invention is installed with enough bins for cycling between source and point of use, handling of the material involved is greatly expedited at lowered handling costs.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise to exclude any variation or equivalent arrangement that would be apparent from, or reasonably suggested by, the foregoing disclosure to the skill of the art.

We claim:

1. The method of handling material from a source for the material to a point of use, which method comprises the steps of packing said material at said source in stackable, open top, bulk bins, having a false bottom incorporated in a bottom structure allowing access for mechanical handling of said bins as a stacked group or individually in adding them to or removing them from a stacked group, stacking the packed bins at said source for shipment, delivering the stacked bins to said point of use, and employing the delivered bins separately at said point of use on display stands incorporating ajacking mechanism to present the packed material for removal and use while periodically raising said false bottom by said display stand jacking mechanism to maintain remaining packed material available at a top a bin level, said bins being separately handled mechani

Claims (2)

1. The method of handling material from a source for the material to a point of use, which method comprises the steps of packing said material at said source in stackable, open top, bulk bins, having a false bottom incorporated in a bottom structure allowing access for mechanical handling of said bins as a stacked group or individually in adding them to or removing them from a stacked group, stacking the packed bins at said source for shipment, delivering the stacked bins to said point of use, and employing the delivered bins separately at said point of use on display stands incorporating a jacking mechanism to present the packed material for removal and use while periodically raising said false bottom by said display stand jacking mechanism to maintain remaining packed material available at a top bin level, said bins being separately handled mechanically for stacking at said source and employment at said point of use while being handled mechanically as a stacked group between said source and point of use whereby manual handling of the packed material is required only during packing thereof at said source.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said material is fresh produce, said source for the material is a packing plant, and said point of use is a retail sales outlet.

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