CONTAINER FOR TRANSPORTING AND/OR STORING A PLURALITY OF GLASS SHEETS

Abstract

The invention relates to a container (30) for transporting and/or storing a plurality of glass sheets of a maximum length substantially parallel to each other, the container (30) comprising a frame (31) having a floor (32) and fastening uprights provided with holes (40, 41). The container (30) further 5 includes movable supporting and/or fastening means (42, 43, 44, 45) secured to the frame (31) by movable attachment means (46) received in the holes (40, 41) such that the location of the movable supporting and/or fastening means (42, 43, 44, 45) can be tuned to the glass sheet dimensions. The supporting and/or fastening means (42, 43, 44, 45) may also be 10 arranged so that they are disposed within the container (30) such that the faces of the glass sheets are disposed parallel to a main longitudinal direction of the frame (31).

Claims

1. A container configured for transporting and/or storing a plurality of glass sheets of a maximum length substantially parallel to each other, the container comprising a frame having a supporting floor and a plurality of fastening uprights, wherein the floor and the uprights are provided with holes and the container further comprises movable supports and/or fasteners configured for supporting and/or fastening the glass sheets, the supports and/or fasteners being secured to the frame by a plurality of movable attachments received in the holes such that the location of the movable supports and/or fasteners can be tuned to the glass sheet dimensions.

2. A container configured for transporting and/or storing a plurality of glass sheets of a maximum length substantially parallel to each other, the container comprising: a frame having a supporting floor and a plurality of fastening uprights, the frame having a substantially parallelepipedal shape with a main longitudinal direction and the container further comprises supports and/or fasteners configured for supporting and/or fastening the glass sheets, wherein the supports and/or fasteners are arranged for supporting and/or fastening the glass sheets so that they are disposed within the container such that the faces of the glass sheets are disposed parallel to the main longitudinal direction of the frame and the container is arranged for the glass sheets to be loaded therein following a direction substantially orthogonal to the main longitudinal direction of the frame.

3. The container according to claim 1, wherein the movable attachments are removable.

4. The container according to claim 3, wherein the floor of the frame comprises a matrix of lines and columns of holes.

5. The container according to claim 1, wherein the frame comprises at least one supporting pad made of resilient material adapted for supporting at least one edge of the glass sheets.

6. The container according to claim 1, wherein the movable supports and/or fasteners comprise at least one movable separating pad made of resilient material adapted for separating the glass sheets substantially parallel to each other.

7. The container according to claim 6, wherein the movable separating pad comprises an indentation with a plurality of recesses and protrusions configured for the glass sheets to be positioned and separated.

8. The container according to claim 5, wherein the supporting pad is made of ethylene propylene diene monomer.

9. The container according to claim 5, wherein the supporting pad is made of polyurethane.

10. The container according to claim 6, wherein the separating pad is made of ethylene propylene diene monomer.

11. The container according to claim 6, wherein the separating pad is made of polyurethane.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Other advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0026] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art container;

[0027] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a frame of a first embodiment of the container of the present invention;

[0028] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the container of FIG. 2;

[0029] FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are two enlarged views of an indentation of the container of FIG. 2;

[0030] FIG. 6 is a schematic top view representing a layout of containers of FIG. 2 within a trailer; and

[0031] FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of the layout of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0032] As shown on the drawings, rectangular sheets of glass have been considered. However, the scope of the instant application should not be limited thereto.

[0033] The container 30 comprises a frame 31 with a substantially parallelepipedal shape. This frame 31 comprises a supporting floor 32 with an upper part 32a and a lower part 32b. The upper and lower parts 32a, 32b are connected to each other by central upright supports 32c, 32d such that a plurality of apertures 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d are formed between the central upright supports 32c, 32d and the upper and lower parts 32a, 32b of the floor 32. These apertures 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d enable the use of a forklift truck for transporting the container 30. The frame 31 further comprises four fastening corner uprights 34, 35, 36, 37 connected to the floor 32, this resulting in the substantially parallelepipedal shape of the frame 31. The parallelepipedal frame 31 formed thereby is defined by a height H, a width W and a length L. The four fastening corner uprights 34, 35, 36, 37 are distributed into a first pair of fastening corner uprights 34, 35 and a second pair of fastening corner uprights 36, 37, the pairs 34, 35; 36, 37 being spaced apart by the length L of the parallelepipedal frame 31. The fastening corner uprights 34, 35, 36, 37 of each pair are rigidly connected by connection members 38, 39 for ensuring the rigidity of the frame 31.

[0034] The floor 32 and the uprights 34, 35, 36, 37 are provided with a plurality of holes 40, 41. These holes 40, 41 are located on the whole surface of the upper part 32a of the floor 32, but also along the four fastening corner uprights 34, 35, 36, 37. Preferably, the upper part 32a of the floor 32 includes a matrix of lines and columns of holes 40.

[0035] The container 30 also comprises supporting and/or fastening means 42, 43, 44, 45 (FIG. 3). These supporting and/or fastening means 42, 43, 44, 45 are fixed here on the frame 31 by means of a plurality of attachment means 46, preferably removable attachment means.

[0036] With respect to the holes and the corresponding attachment means, some remarks should be put forward. The holes can be blind holes or through holes. The holes can be threaded. As far as the attachments means are concerned, it could be bolts, pins, screws, etc. . . . As attachment means, could be also provided straps, bands, braces, clips, etc. . . .

[0037] The supporting and/or fastening means 42, 43, 44, 45 are for supporting and/or fastening the glass sheets substantially parallel to each other. The supporting and/or fastening means 42, 43, 44, 45 comprise a plurality of rails 47, 48 with respective indentations 49, 50, 51, 52 formed thereon, the indentations 49, 50, 51, 52 providing a plurality of recesses 53 and protrusions 54 such that the glass sheets can be positioned within the recesses 53 and be maintained separated from each other by the protrusions 54. These indentations 49, 50, 51, 52 are firmly connected to the rails 47, 48 by again attachments means 46, as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0038] The rails are here provided with sides or longitudinal legs, apart from the indentations, through which the attachment means are extending.

[0039] The plurality of rails 47, 48 are disposed on several locations within the frame 31. Horizontal indentations 50, 51 are disposed substantially horizontally above the floor 32, in the lateral direction, longitudinally spaced apart by a predetermined distance. They are disposed for supporting the weight of the glass sheets. A rail 48 and respective indentation 49 are also disposed substantially horizontally and the lateral direction on an upper part of the frame, for fastening laterally the glass sheets. This rail 48 and corresponding indentation 49 are arranged such that they connect two fastening corner uprights 34, 35 of a same pair. Finally, an upper indentation 52 is provided for a further fastening of the sheets. This upper indentation 52 is disposed substantially horizontally, in the lateral direction and is arranged to be movable in the elevation direction thanks to a pivot link 55. This movable upper indentation 52 connects two fastening corner uprights 36, 37 of a same pair.

[0040] With this special configuration, the frame 31 has a substantially parallelepipedal shape with a main longitudinal direction and the glass sheets are maintained separated from each other by the plurality of indentations 49, 50, 51, 52 such that the faces of the glass sheets are disposed parallel to the main longitudinal direction of the frame. The plurality of indentations enable to secure the glass sheets and to avoid breakages during transport. The glass sheets can be positioned within the recesses 53 and be maintained separated from each other by the protrusions 54. The width of the recesses 53 should be selected to be slightly greater than the thickness of the glass sheets, for instance between 3 and 6 mm. The container 30 is arranged for the glass sheets to be loaded therein following a direction substantially orthogonal to the main longitudinal direction of the frame 31.

[0041] The frame 31 comprises at least one supporting pad 56 for supporting at least one edge of the glass sheet. Movable indentations are formed within a movable separating pad 57 for separating the glass sheets substantially parallel to each other. Both pads 56 and 57 can be made of resilient materials. The choice of the appropriate resilient material should preferably take into account the fact that the container can be exposed to rather strong shocks and should guarantee no risk of glass breakage. A hardness of 85+/5 ShA is preferred. Appropriate material may be for instance polyurethane (PU) or ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM).

[0042] The loading and unloading processes can be performed as follows. During loading of the glass sheets within the container 30, the upper indentation 52 is maintained at the maximum height. The glass sheets are loaded into the container following a direction substantially orthogonal to the main longitudinal direction of the frame 31. Then, the vertical position of the upper indentation 52 is adjusted to the height of the glass sheets. The unloading is simply the reverse process. When changing the contents of the container, i.e. when loading a new bundle of glass sheets with different dimensions, the operator has simply to remove the attachment means 46, change their positions and fix them again at other place. The higher the number of holes 40, 41, the higher the number of possible configurations and the lighter the final container 30. The number of holes 40, 41 should be thus high, at least higher than the number of attachment means 46, but the load-bearing properties should be also taken into account when determining, for instance, the density of holes 40 in the upper floor 32a.

[0043] In order to maximize the space occupation of the containers of the present invention within a truck, and more particularly within a standard Mega Truck trailer, applicant decided to preferably adjust the dimensions of the container 30 more appropriately.

[0044] The dimensions of a typical truck trailer 100, according to the Mega Truck standard, are 13.62.473 m.sup.3. By choosing the dimensions of the container according to the present invention to be 1.20.81 m.sup.3, a space occupation of 95% can be obtained within a Mega Truck trailer.

[0045] Three layers of 33 containers can be loaded within the Mega Truck trailer.