Mechanism for joining collapsible walls of a plastic container

Abstract

An attachment mechanism between folding walls of a plastic container facilitates the assembly and disassembly of said walls and at the same time provides a strong attachment capable of resisting the stresses to which the container is subjected. The attachment mechanism includes a pair of male active closure means, a pair of male passive closure means, a pair of female active closure means and a pair of female passive closure means.

Claims

1. A plastic collapsible container having folding walls and comprising an attachment mechanism between two adjacent folding walls thereof, said attachment mechanism comprising four male projections located at one end of a first folding wall of the container and arranged in a vertical direction, and four female channels located at one end of a second folding wall adjacent to the first folding wall of the container and arranged in a vertical direction, wherein said male projections comprise a pair of flexible male active projections and a pair of rigid male passive projections, and said female channels comprise a pair of female active channels configured to receive the pair of flexible male active projections and a pair of female passive channels configured to receive the pair of rigid male passive projections, wherein one of the pair of flexible male active projections is arranged above one of the pair of rigid male passive projections, and wherein the other one of the pair of flexible male active projections is arranged under the other of the pair of rigid male passive projections, wherein each one of the pair of rigid male passive projections comprises a respective inclined lower face, and wherein each one of the pair of flexible male active projections comprises a respective protrusion at its end, the respective protrusions being oriented opposite each other and each being configured to slide inside a respective one of the pair of female active channels.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein one of said protrusions has the shape of a hook-type lock.

3. The container according to claim 2, wherein one of said pair of flexible male active projections comprises an additional support element.

4. The container according to claim 3, wherein the additional support element comprises a projection located under the one of said protrusions.

5. The container according to claim 1, wherein each of the pair of rigid male passive projections comprises a respective grooved projection.

6. The container according to claim 1, wherein each of the four female channels comprises an upper edge and a lower edge.

7. The container according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the pair of female active channels comprises a stop configured inside it.

8. The container according to claim 1, wherein the four female channels are separated into two parts, namely an upper part and a lower part.

9. The container according to claim 1, wherein a first set of the four female channels is attached to a hollow column located at an end of one of the folding walls of the container; and a second set of the four female channels is attached to a hollow column located at an end of another of the folding walls of the container.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 illustrates an attachment mechanism of folding walls of the state of the art.

(2) FIG. 2 illustrates the attachment mechanism of the present invention in the deactivated mode.

(3) FIG. 3 illustrates the attachment mechanism of the present invention in the activated mode.

(4) FIG. 4 illustrates a sectional view of the attachment mechanism of the present invention in the activated mode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(5) For reference purposes, FIG. 1 illustrates an attachment mechanism disclosed in the state of the art and discussed in the background section of the invention, which is located at the ends of the folding walls of a container 1. The attachment mechanism consists of active closure means, in particular a female active closure means 10 that engages with a male active closure means 20 and with passive closure means, in particular with a pair of female passive closure means 30 that respectively engage in a pair of male passive closure means 40.

(6) The connection operation of the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 1 therefore consists of inserting the male passive closure means 20 into the female passive closure means 10 and inserting the sliding the male active closure means 40 into the female active closure means 300 until the rear face of the flange that has the first one engages with the rear edge of the second one.

(7) According to FIG. 2, an improved attachment mechanism is proposed in which there are two vertically contiguous male passive closure means 20 arising from the end of a container wall 1. Above the upper male passive closure means 20 and under the lower male passive closure means 20 a male active closure means 40 is respectively provided.

(8) On the other hand, at the end of the opposite wall of the container there is at least one female closure means which in the illustrated embodiment comprises two parts, an upper part and a lower part, each one comprising a female passive closure means 10 and a female active closure means 30 shaped like channels and configured to connect with a respective male passive closure means 20 and a male active closure means 40. According to alternative embodiments, the female closure means may be a single piece comprising the four female closure means (active and passive).

(9) According to the illustrated preferred embodiment, the female closure means are located at the end of a container wall preferably adhered to a hollow column located at said end of the wall. The fact that the female closure means are at the end of the wall and not inserted in the structure of the wall or column, advantageously prevents it from being weakened by axial loads, for example, those caused by the stacking of containers where these loads must be absorbed to a large extent by the columns of the containers walls for proper operation.

(10) FIG. 3 illustrates the embodiment of the attachment mechanism in its assembled mode where it is possible to appreciate that the male passive closure means 20 are completely inserted in the female passive closure means 10. In this way, a very robust connection is provided to the shear forces (SF) that are generated on the joint when the products inside the container exert pressure on the wall that has the male passive closure means 20. That is why preferably said wall corresponds to the longest wall of the container, that is, the one that is subject to greater pressure from said products.

(11) On the other hand, the male active closure means 40 remain firmly attached to the female active closure means 30, resisting the traction forces (TF) exerted by the products of the container on the shorter walls of the container which are those preferably comprising the female closure means (10, 30).

(12) FIG. 4 illustrates in more detail the shape of the male closure means in where it is appreciated that the male passive closure means 20 consist of grooved projections whose lower face is slightly inclined. This inclination helps to guide and favor the connection with the female passive closure means 10.

(13) On the other hand, the male active closure means 40 consist of thinner projections that have a protrusion 41 at their end in the form of a hook-like lock, that is, it allows the body to pass through the channel of the female active closure means 30 but in its final position it prevents the natural return through said channel because its rear face has an opening that engages in one of the edges of the female active closure means 30. According to the illustrated preferred embodiment, the protuberance 41 of the upper male active closure means 40 engages the upper edge of the upper female active closure means 30 while the protrusion 41 of the lower male active closure means 40 engages the lower edge of the lower female active closure means 30.

(14) Additionally and according to the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the upper male active closure means 40 comprises an additional support element 42 configured to engage in a stop 31 configured inside the upper female active closure means 30. Said additional support element 42 preferably consists of a projection located under the protuberance 41.

(15) In this way, the method of disassembling the proposed attachment mechanism consists of pressing together the protrusions 41 of both male active closure means 40 causing their insertion into the channel of the respective female passive closure means 30 and at the same time causing displacement of the additional support element 42 with respect to the stop 31 thus being able to slide the male closure means (40, 20) through the female closure means (30, 10).