Shipping frame

Abstract

An improved shipping frame for use with storage and/or transporting goods includes four corner posts and a top surface and a bottom surface. The corner posts comprise of telescoping leg sections whereby the smaller dimensioned section fits within the larger dimensioned section and can be locked at a particular height. A spacer is positioned between the gap of the different dimensioned leg sections so as to reduce and preferably eliminate any angular displacement of the leg sections.

Claims

1. An adjustable shipping frame for the protection of goods, said adjustable shipping frame comprising: (A) four corner posts coupling a top section to a bottom section said four corner posts comprising: (i) an upper inner leg comprising: (a) a first inner portion; (b) a second inner portion; (c) a plurality of position holes, and (d) a first button hole near a bottom of said upper inner leg, wherein said upper inner leg has a first dimension; and (ii) a lower outer leg comprising: (a) a first outer portion; (b) a second outer portion; and (c) a pin hole, wherein said lower outer leg has a second dimension; wherein said first dimension is smaller than said second dimension and is sized that provides a gap to allow said upper inner leg to telescope in and out of said lower outer leg; wherein said first outer portion and said second outer portion are u-shaped channels and combined such that said first outer portion fits inside said second outer portion to form said lower outer leg, wherein said lower outer leg is rectangular in cross section, (B) a locking assembly configured to locks said upper inner leg at a position within said lower outer leg via a pin placed through said pin hole and one of said plurality of position holes.

2. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 1 further including a spacer positioned within said gap to stabilize said upper inner leg when in a locked position.

3. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 1 wherein said upper inner leg and said lower outer leg are generally rectangular in cross-section.

4. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 2 wherein said spacer is a first button.

5. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 4 wherein said first button is configured to go in said first button hole in said upper inner leg.

6. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 5 further comprising a second button configured to go in a second button hole in said upper inner leg, wherein said second button hole is located on a different side of said upper inner leg than said first button hole.

7. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 5 wherein said first button has an angled hole engaging portion.

8. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 1 wherein said first inner portion, said second inner portion are u-channel beams.

9. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 1 wherein said adjustable shipping frame is configured to be stacked on a second adjustable shipping frame.

10. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 1 wherein said upper inner leg is made of sheet metal.

11. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 5 further comprising: a second button configured to go in a second button hole in said upper inner leg; a third button configured to go in a third button hole in said upper inner leg; and a fourth button configured to go in a fourth button hole in said upper inner leg.

12. The adjustable shipping frame of claim 4 wherein said first button is made of plastic.

13. A shipping system comprising: (A) the adjustable shipping frame of claim 1; (B) a second adjustable shipping frame stacked on top of said adjustable shipping frame; (B) a pallet; and (C) a plurality of corrugated cartons located on said pallet.

14. An adjustable shipping frame for the protection of goods, said adjustable shipping frame comprising: (A) four corner posts coupling a top section to a bottom section, said four corner posts comprising: (i) an upper inner leg comprising: (a) a first inner portion; (b) a second inner portion; (c) a plurality of position holes; (d) a first button hole near a bottom of said upper inner leg; and (e) a second button hole near said bottom of said upper inner leg, wherein said upper inner leg has a first dimension; and (ii) a lower outer leg comprising: (a) a first outer portion; (b) a second outer portion; and (c) a pin hole, wherein said lower outer leg has a second dimension; wherein said first dimension is smaller than said second dimension and is sized that provides a gap to allow said upper inner leg to telescope in and out of said lower outer leg; wherein said first outer portion and said second outer portion are u-shaped channels and combined such that said first outer portion fits inside said second outer portion to form said lower outer leg, wherein said lower outer leg is rectangular in cross section, (B) a locking assembly configured to locks said upper inner leg at a position within said lower outer leg via a pin placed through said pin hole and one of said plurality of position holes; and (C) a first button positioned within said gap to stabilize said upper inner leg when in a locked position, wherein said first button is configured to go in said first button hole, wherein said upper inner leg and said lower outer leg are generally rectangular in cross-section, wherein said first button has an angled hole engaging portion, and wherein said first inner portion, said second inner portion are u-channel beams.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present disclosure will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the views and in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view from above a corner of an exemplar shipping frame which can be improved according to the principles of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

(3) FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevated cross-sectional side view of a leg of the shipping frame of FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional top plan view of a leg of the shipping frame of FIG. 1.

(5) FIG. 4 comprises multiple views of the upper leg portion of a shipping frame according to the principles of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

(6) FIG. 5 comprises multiple views of the lower leg portion of a shipping frame according to the principles of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

(7) FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of an upper leg portion of a shipping frame according to the principles of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

(8) FIG. 7 is a frontal view of the upper leg portion of FIG. 6.

(9) FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the upper leg portion of FIGS. 6 and 7.

(10) FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the spacer of a shipping frame according to the principles of the present disclosure.

(11) FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the spacer of FIG. 9.

(12) FIG. 11 is an enlarged side view of the spacer of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(13) One or more embodiments of the subject disclosure will now be described with the aid of numerous drawings. Unless otherwise indicated, use of specific terms will be understood to include multiple versions and forms thereof.

(14) FIG. 1 illustrates an adjustable height shipping frame 10 having four telescoping leg members 12 each having a lower outer leg 14 and a smaller dimensioned upper inner leg 16. A locking pin assembly 18 or the like positions and locks the height of the upper leg 16 relative the lower leg 14 via use of positioning holes, see FIG. 2. Here, in FIG. 2, the leg is in the fully extended position with the pin 22 in the bottom most hole. Since the legs are made of sheet metal or square tubing, there is a sizable gap 24 needed to allow the legs to adjust by sliding the upper leg 16 into the lower leg 14, as well as to allow for manufacturing tolerances.

(15) However, this gap 24 allows the leg to pivot on the locking pin 22 until the outside 26 of the upper leg 16 contacts the inside 28 of the lower leg 14, typically near the top 30 of the lower leg 14, thereby creating the aforementioned instability and so-called wobbling effect. This gap 24 is best shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3. In particular, the lower base leg 14 has a cross-sectional length 32 and height 34, while the upper top leg 16 has a cross-sectional length 36 and height 38. It is the clearance between the difference of the lengths and heights of the two leg sections that create this gap 24. In particular, the difference between the lengths (32 and 36) create the front gap 40, and the difference between the heights (34 and 38) create the side gap 42.

(16) Placing a spacer (or button or the like) 44 near the bottom 46 of the upper leg 16 reduces the gap 24 between the upper 16 and lower 14 legs which reduces the angular displacement and so-called wobble. The spacer may take the form of a button that engages a hole in the upper leg 16, or it may frictionally engage the gap between the upper and lower leg, or any other coupling/engagement can be used so long as the spacer 44 fills some or all of the gap. This spacer allows the legs to function smoothly and decreases, and in some cases eliminates, the upper leg wobble.

(17) The construction of the legs of this embodiment is best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, wherein FIG. 4 shows multiple views of the upper leg 16 and FIG. 5 shows multiple views of the lower leg 14. In particular, both the upper 16 and lower 14 legs are each made of inner (48, 50) and outer (52, 54) portions, respectively, that come together to form the legs. The upper leg is shown with multiple positioning holes 20 to change the height of the telescoping legs before locking them in place using the pin hole 56 of the lower leg. However, it will be understood that the legs may have cross-sectional shapes in forms other than square. For example, the legs may have circular cross-sections. However the legs may be shaped, it is the telescoping design of one dimensioned smaller than the other that enables the telescoping feature during height adjustment.

(18) The enlarged upper leg views of FIGS. 6-8 show the positioning of the spacers 44 in relation to the side (FIG. 6), front (FIG. 7) and perspective (FIG. 8) view of the upper leg 16. In this embodiment, and referring first to FIG. 6, multiple positioning holes 20 are located along the length 58 of the upper leg to enable adjustment of the height of the legs, and thus the frame, when locked into the pin 22 of the locking pin assembly 18 engages the pin hole 56 of the lower leg 14. Near the bottom 46 of the upper leg 16 is a hole 60 for the spacer 44 to engage. FIGS. 7 and 8 also depict the locations of these holes (20 and 60) along the upper leg 16.

(19) The button 44 of this embodiment is best shown in FIGS. 9-11. FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the button illustrating a top surface 62 of the button 44. FIG. 10 is a bottom perspective view illustrating the underside 64 of the button and the lower leg button hole 60 engaging portion 66 thereof. While FIG. 11 is a side view illustrating the dimensions of the button 44. In particular, the top surface has a diameter 68 and a height 70. It is this height 70 that fills some or all of the gaps (24, 40 and 42) created by the clearance between the dimensions of the inner and outer legs. By way of example, if four buttons 44 are used on each leg (one on each side of the square leg embodiment), then the height 70 of the button would be approximately ½ of the front gap 40 as well as ½ of the side gap and would generally fill the gap 24. The hole engaging portion 66 of the button 44 also has a diameter 72 and a height 74. The hole engaging portion is shown angled 76 so as to frictionally engage the lower leg button hole 60.

(20) The embodiment as shown includes a small (plastic) button 44 placed on each side of the square bottom of the upper leg 16. This small material allows the legs to translate without locking up. Indeed, if the spacer were to be used throughout the entire length of the gap, the surfaces would rub and be prone to jam and possibly locking because, due to manufacturing tolerances, neither the upper leg 16 nor the lower leg 14 are perfectly straight. It will be appreciated however, that the spacer of the present disclosure is not limited to such a button 44 and button hole 60 design. As previously discussed, it will also be appreciated that the telescoping legs are not limited to a square configuration. They may be tubular or otherwise. So long as the spacer fills some of the gap formed between the upper and lower leg and decreases and/or eliminates the angular displacement thereof it can be of multiple embodiments and/or design alternatives.

(21) It has already been found that the principles as taught in the present disclosure have indeed produced successful results during the transport of goods. Indeed, and referring back to FIG. 1, multiple shipping frames 10 have been adjusted to stack on top of one another within a tracker trailer during over the road transport. Specifically, when the bottom section 78 of a first frame is positioned on the top section of a second frame, the spacers 44 within the telescoping legs provide the necessary stability to the legs which is then translated to the stacked frames thereby keeping the goods contained within safe and undamaged.

(22) The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom. Accordingly, while one or more particular embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention if its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure.