COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER

Abstract

The invention relates to a collapsible container (1) consisting of a bottom (2) and longitudinal and transverse side walls (3, 4) rising up from this bottom (2) and being designed so as to be foldable in the direction of the bottom (2), wherein at least one of the side walls (3, 4) can additionally be folded outwards in such a way that its inner side wall surface, which lies at the top in this position, and the surface of the bottom form a common plane.

Claims

1: A collapsible container (1) comprising a bottom (2) and longitudinal and transverse side walls (3, 4) rising up from this bottom (2) and being designed to be foldable in the direction of the bottom (2), wherein at least one of the side walls (3, 4) can additionally be folded outwards in such a way that its inner side wall surface, which lies at the top in this position, and the surface of the bottom form a common plane.

2: The collapsible container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one outwardly foldable side wall (3, 4) is connected to the bottom (2) by means of hinges (10, 11, 12) which enable a folding angle of 180 to be moved through.

3: The collapsible container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one outwardly foldable side wall (3, 4) in its vertically upright position can be connected to the two adjacent side walls (4, 3) by means of pins (19) which are resiliently prestressed and engaging into corresponding receptacles located in the two adjacent side walls (4, 3).

4: The collapsible container according to claim 3, wherein the pins (19) constitute the ends of a shaped part that comprises two webs (17) in alignment with each other and movable in guides in the side wall (3, 4) and a handle part (18) connecting the webs (17) and movable in the direction perpendicular to the extension of the webs (17).

5: The collapsible container according to claim 1, wherein the side walls (4, 3) adjacent to the outwardly foldable side wall (3, 4) comprise two parts, in such a way that an upper side wall part (7) can be folded down onto the bottom (2) by means of hinges (13) located on a lower side wall part (5), with the height of the lower side wall part (5) being appropriately sized to enable the upper side wall parts (7) to come to rest on top of the outwardly foldable side walls (3, 4) when these are hinged down onto the bottom (2).

6: The collapsible container according to claim 1, wherein either a longitudinal side wall (4) and/or a transverse side wall (3) is designed so as to be foldable outwards.

7: The collapsible container according to claim 1, wherein in each case two opposite side walls (3) are designed so as to be outwardly foldable.

8: The collapsible container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom edge, which points downwards and serves as a base, and the upper edge area of the side walls (3, 4) are complementary to one another in such a way that at least two containers (1) can be stacked on top of each other.

9: The collapsible container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one outwardly foldable side wall (3, 4) has a plurality of outwardly projecting engagement elements (8) which are arranged vertically one above the other on its side edges directed towards the adjacent side walls (4, 3) and which, in the vertical position of the at least one outwardly foldable side wall (3, 4), are accommodated in correspondingly complementary recesses (9) arranged on the end faces of the adjacent side walls (4, 3).

10: The collapsible container according to claim 1, wherein at the lower edge of the outwardly foldable side wall (3, 4) a stepped molding (15) is arranged which interacts with a stop element (16) integrally molded on the bottom edge in such a way that in its outwardly folded state the side wall (3, 4) forms a common plane with the bottom (2).

Description

[0020] The present invention is elucidated in sufficient detail and depicted by way of the following figures, where

[0021] FIG. 1: shows the collapsible container in upright position;

[0022] FIG. 2: shows the collapsible container with inwardly folded transverse side wall;

[0023] FIG. 3: depicts the collapsible container with outwardly folded transverse side wall;

[0024] FIG. 4: shows the collapsible container in collapsed state;

[0025] FIG. 5: is a partial side view of the collapsible container with side wall folded outwards;

[0026] FIG. 6: is a partial side view of the collapsible container just before the outwardly foldable side wall has reached its vertical position;

[0027] FIG. 7: is a detailed view of the hinge area of the outwardly foldable side wall;

[0028] FIG. 8: shows a detailed view of the locking and unlocking device of the outwardly foldable side wall;

[0029] FIG. 9: shows the outwardly foldable side wall in perspective representation;

[0030] FIG. 10: shows a stacking option of several folding containers placed on top of each other on a non-collapsible container.

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a collapsible container in upright position for which the reference numeral 1 is used in general. The collapsible container 1 consists of a bottom part 2, two transverse side walls 3 and two longitudinal side walls 4. The transverse side walls 3 are made in one piece, while the longitudinal side walls 4 consist of an area 5 fixed to the bottom 2 and an area 7 that can be folded around hinges 6.

[0032] As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, at least one of the side walls, in the present case side wall 3, can be folded both inwards onto the bottom 2 and outwards into a position in which the inner surface of this side wall 3 together with the bottom 2 span over a common plane. FIG. 4 illustrates how the collapsible container 1 can be brought into its collapsed position. For this purpose, as can be seen from FIG. 2, the side wall 3 is folded inwards onto the bottom, followed by the opposite transverse side wall 3, whereupon the longitudinal side wall areas 7 are folded around the hinges 6 onto the previously folded down transverse side walls 3. In the lateral partial view according to FIG. 5, the side wall 3 is folded outwards by 90 from the vertical. As can be seen more clearly from FIG. 9, T-shaped elements 8 are integrally formed on their side edges pointing towards the adjacent longitudinal side walls 4, said elements interact with elements 9 arranged in a comb-like fashion on the end faces of the longitudinal side walls 4, such that when the side wall 3 is folded down from the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to pass through the vertical position without problems, but in the vertical position a stable connection is achieved between the individual side walls 3 and 4 as a result of the interaction of elements 8 and 9.

[0033] FIG. 6 shows the situation in which side wall 3 with elements 8 is about to be immersed in the arrangement of elements 9.

[0034] In FIG. 7 a section of the hinge area is illustrated in which the bottom 2 is hinged to the side wall 3. The hinge consists of a hinge part 10 arranged on the side wall 3 and a hinge part 11 arranged on the bottom 2, with both hinge parts being movably connected to each other by means of a pin 12.

[0035] As can additionally be seen from this FIG. 7, the hinges of the side walls 4 are designed in such a way that the hinge part 13 is mounted on the foldable region 7 in a recess 14 in the lower fixed region 5 of the side wall 4 in such a way that an upper position is reached in the upright position of the side wall region 7 (as shown in FIG. 7). When folding down the upper side wall area 7, the hinge part 13 in the recess 14 is moved downwards so that the upper side wall area 7 comes to rest flush on the previously folded down side walls 3.

[0036] To make sure that the outwardly foldable side wall 3 cannot be folded down beyond the 90 position, cross sectionally step-like extensions 15 are provided in certain areas at the lower edge of the side wall 3, said extensions interacting with correspondingly shaped stop elements 16 arranged at the bottom end.

[0037] In FIG. 8 the upper area of the side wall 3 is illustrated in which there is a locking unit 16 which comprises webs 17 movable in guides and a resiliently mounted handle unit 18 capable of moving these webs in the horizontal direction. At the ends of the webs 17 there are pin-like projections 19 which, when the side wall 3 is in its vertical upright position, engage into corresponding receptacles arranged in the adjacent longitudinal side walls 4. When the handle unit 18 is actuated, the pin-like ends 19 are moved out of the receptacles so that the side wall 3 can either be folded inwards or outwards.

[0038] FIG. 10 shows a stack of containers, with the lower one being a rigid container 20, onto which is placed in the upright position a container 1 proposed by the present invention, and onto which is placed another inventive container 1 in the collapsed state.

[0039] By actuating the handle arrangement 18, the side wall 3 in this stack can be folded outwards so that it reaches the position in which its inner side creates a common plane with the bottom 2 and is thus accessible from the outside.