CONTAINER HAVING A SUPPORT PLATE WHICH HAS PROJECTIONS

Abstract

A container includes a base; side walls extending upwards from an upper face of the base; and at least one support plate which is spaced apart from a lower face of the base and is connected to the lower face of the base by ribs extending transversely to the base and transversely to the at least one support plate. At least two laterally protruding projections are formed at least on an edge portion of the support plate extending along one of the side walls. At least two support recesses for receiving at least two projections of a support plate of an identical container stacked thereon are formed in the upper edge portion of the at least one side wall.

Claims

1. A container, comprising: a bottom, side walls extending upwards from an upper side of the bottom, and at least one support plate spaced from a lower side of the bottom, which is connected to the lower side of the bottom via ribs extending transversely to the bottom and transversely to the at least one support plate, wherein at least two projections project laterally from at least one edge portion of the at least one support plate extending along one of the side walls, and at least two support indentations are formed in the upper edge portion of the at least one side wall for receiving at least two projections of a support plate of an identically constructed container stacked thereon.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least two projections is connected to the lower side of the bottom via at least one rib extending transversely to said bottom and transversely to said at least one support plate.

3. The container according to claim 2, wherein the at least one rib connecting the bottom to one of the at least two projections and/or the at least two projections have a respective wall thickness which is less than an average wall thickness of the container.

4. The container according to claim 1, wherein: at least two laterally projecting projections are also formed on an edge portion of the at least one support plate, wherein the edge portion is opposite the edge portion of the at least one support plate provided with the at least two projections, and that side wall which is opposite the side wall provided with the at least two support indentations likewise has at least two support indentations in the upper edge portion for receiving at least two projections of a support plate of an identically constructed container stacked thereon.

5. The container according to claim 4, wherein at least one handle is formed on the side walls provided with at least two support indentations in each case in the edge portion facing away from the bottom on an outer side of the respective side wall between the corresponding at least two support indentations.

6. The container according to claim 5, wherein a bulge extending outwards is formed on each of the side walls provided with at least two support indentations in the region of each support indentation on the outer side of the corresponding side wall, and the at least two handles are each formed as a rib extending between the at least two bulges of a corresponding side wall transversely to the corresponding side wall.

7. The container according to claim 4, wherein: lower sides of the at least four projections of the at least one support plate extend in a common plane, lower surfaces of the at least four support indentations extend in a common plane, and a distance between the common plane of the lower sides of the at least four projections of the at least one support plate and the lower side of the bottom is smaller than or equal to a distance between the common plane of the lower surfaces of the at least four support indentations and an upper border of the container.

8. The container according to claim 4, wherein: at edge portions of the bottom, which extend along edge portions of the at least one support plate provided with at least two projections in each case, at least one column is formed which extends transversely downwards to the bottom, wherein the at least one column projects downwards from the container by less than the at least one support plate and projects outwards from the container by less than the at least four projections on the at least one support plate, and the edge portions of the side walls, facing away from the bottom, which are provided with at least two support indentations in each case and corresponding support indentations are coordinated with the projections on the support plate and the columns in such a way that, in a state in which the container is stacked on an identically constructed container, a lateral displacement of the container is prevented, a lateral displacement of the container in relation to the identically constructed container is limited and/or prevented by cooperation of the columns with an inner side of side walls of the identically constructed container, and the projections of the at least one support plate of the container do not touch inner surfaces of corresponding support indentations of the identically constructed container.

9. The container according to claim 1, wherein the ribs connecting the at least one support plate to the lower side of the bottom have apertures.

10. The container according to claim 9, wherein the apertures are not arranged mirror-symmetrically to each other.

11. The container according to claim 1, wherein the projections are coated with or made of a material which is softer than a material or materials of remaining parts of the container.

12. The container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom, the side walls, the at least one support plate and the ribs connecting the bottom and the at least one support plate are formed in one piece.

13. The container according to claim 1, wherein the container is made of plastic.

14. The container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one support plate has at least one aperture.

15. The container according to claim 1, wherein: the bottom has a substantially rectangular outline, the side walls comprise two opposite, long side walls arranged at long edges of the bottom and two opposite, short side walls arranged at short edges of the bottom, and projections are formed only on edge portions of the at least one support plate extending along the long side walls.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0035] The present invention is described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of preferred configuration examples, in which:

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a container from an oblique top view;

[0037] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the container shown in FIG. 1 from an oblique bottom view;

[0038] FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of the container shown in FIG. 1; and

[0039] FIG. 4 shows the bottom view shown in FIG. 3 with schematically indicated rollers of a roller conveyor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] FIG. 1 shows a container 2 according to the invention in a perspective view from an oblique top view. FIG. 2 shows the container 2 according to the invention in a perspective view from an oblique bottom.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the container 2 has a bottom 4 with a substantially rectangular outline from whose long edges, two opposite long side walls 6 and 8 extend upwards and from whose short edges, two opposite short side walls 10 and 12 extend upwards. Each side wall 6, 8, 10 and 12 has a substantially rectangular outline.

[0042] Below the bottom 4, a support plate 14 extending at least substantially parallel to the bottom 4 is provided, which is connected to a lower side of the bottom 4 via ribs 16.

[0043] The support plate 14 has the outline of a substantially rectangular ring and is dimensioned such that outer edges of the support plate 14 extend parallel to the edges of the bottom 4.

[0044] The ribs 16 extend perpendicularly to the bottom 4 or perpendicularly to the support plate 14. Furthermore, the ribs 16 extend not only between the support plate 14 and the bottom 4 but also reinforce the bottom 4 in an area within the annular support plate 14.

[0045] Projections 18 are formed on the outer edges of the support plate 14, which extend along the long side walls 6 and 8. Each of the two corresponding outer edges has two respective projections 18. Each of the projections 18 has the shape of a plate with a trapezoidal outline. The projections 18 are each connected by their long base or base side to the support plate 14 in such a way that they each extend the support plate locally. This means that the support plate 14 and the projections 18 lie in a common plane. Furthermore, the projections 18 have a chamfer on a lower side at their short base.

[0046] The projections 18 are each connected to the lower side of the bottom 4 via two ribs 20. The ribs 20 run perpendicularly to the lower side of the bottom 4 and perpendicularly to the respective projection 18.

[0047] The outer edges of the support plate 14, which extend along the short side walls 10 and 12, each have a chamfer on the lower side of the container 2. The chamfer on the outer edges of the support plate 14 along the short side walls 10 and 12 corresponds in its shape to the chamfer on the short bases of the plate-shaped projections 18. The ribs 16 and the ribs 18 are designed in such a way that several ribs are lined up parallel to each other along the outer edges of the bottom 4 in such a way that they form pockets 22 open to the outside between them and together with the lower side of the bottom 4 and an upper side of the support plate 14 or an upper side of the projections 18.

[0048] The ribs 12 are also formed in such a way that one of the ribs 12 connects an inner edge of the annular support plate 14 to the lower side of the bottom 4. The pockets 22 are bounded inwards by this circumferential rib. As also shown in FIG. 3, apertures 24 are provided in the circumferential rib, which are arranged rotationally symmetrically with respect to a central axis M running perpendicularly to the bottom 4. Within the inner edge of the annular support plate 14, the ribs 12 are arranged in the manner of trusses.

[0049] A respective column 26, hereinafter referred to as corner column 26, is formed at the corners of the bottom 4. The four corner columns 26 each connect a long side wall 6 or 8 with a short side wall 10 or 12.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 3, the outer edges of the support plate 14 and the short bases of the projections 18 are offset inwards with respect to the side walls 6, 8, 10 and 12. When the container 2 is stacked on an identically constructed container, an outer edge portion 28 of the bottom 4 rests on an upper edge portion 30 of the side walls 6, 8, 10 and 12. To ensure that the projections 18 do not prevent such resting, two support indentations 32 are formed on the upper edge portion 30 of the side walls 6, 8, 10 and 12 for each side wall. The support indentations 32 are each formed in such a way that a distance D from an upper edge of the container 2 to a lower surface of the respective support indentation is greater than a distance d between the lower sides of the projections 18 and the lower side of the bottom 4. When the container 2 is stacked on the identically constructed container, the projections 18 are received in the support indentations 32. The projections 18 do not touch the inner side surfaces of the support indentations 32. This is ensured by the fact that a clearance between outer surfaces of the corner columns 26 and an inner surface of the side walls of the identically constructed container is smaller than a clearance between the short bases of the projections 18 and a respective outer inner surface of a corresponding support indentation of the identically constructed container.

[0051] The support indentations 32 are implemented by bulges of the long side walls 6 and 8. This means that the long side walls 6 and 8 each have a bulge 34 on their respective outer side in the area of a respective support indentation 32. Between the two bulges 34 of a respective long side wall 6 or 8, a rib running perpendicularly to the corresponding long side wall 6 or 8 is provided, which forms a handle 36.

[0052] FIG. 4 shows a bottom view of the container 2 together with schematically illustrated rollers R of a roller conveyor. If a container 2 is transported on the roller conveyor with the long side wall 6 running in front, the short bases of the projections 18 first hit a corresponding roller before the remaining parts roll, slide or move rollingly over the same roller. Since not only the short bases of the projections 18 but also the legs of the projections 18 are free ends at least in sections, the projections 18 are easily deformable and dampen the impact of the container 2 on the corresponding roller R.