TRANSPORTATION CONTAINER

Abstract

A transportation container with a stacked arrangement of containers formed from plastic, in which the containers are formed with a container bottom and a peripheral container wall, wherein the container bottom is configured so as to cover a total area of a transportation pallet or a section thereof, the peripheral container walls are formed with an upright wall and reinforcements disposed thereon, the containers are releasably assembled from container components which have two lateral container components, wherein container components disposed adjacent to each other are connected together in an interlocking and/or force-fitting manner.

Claims

1. A transportation container comprising: a stacked arrangement of containers formed from plastic, wherein the containers are formed with a container bottom and peripheral container walls, wherein the container bottom is configured to cover a total area of a transportation pallet or a section thereof; the peripheral container walls are formed with an upright wall and reinforcements disposed thereon; the containers are releasably assembled from container components which have two lateral container components, wherein the container components disposed adjacent to each other are connected together in an interlocking or force-fitting manner in a region of the container walls and the container bottom; the containers are disposed directly above one another in the stacked arrangement of containers, wherein the containers are articulated together along a long side of the containers in a manner such that an upper container is moved between an initial position and a swung up position; the initial position comprising the upper container being disposed in a manner such as to close an upper container opening of a lower container disposed directly beneath the upper container; and the swung up position comprises the upper container being pivoted about a swivel axis of an articulated connection connecting the upper container and lower container, such that the upper container opening of the lower container, disposed directly beneath the upper container, is opened.

2. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper container is locked in the swung up position by a locking means.

3. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper container is secured against swinging up by means of a closing device when the upper container is disposed on the lower container disposed directly below the upper container in the initial position.

4. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the container bottom includes openings in at least a section of a bottom surface of the container bottom.

5. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one central container component is disposed between the two lateral container components.

6. The transportation container as claimed in claim 5, wherein the two lateral container components are configured as crate components which are open on one side and the at least one central container component is configured as a crate component which is open on two sides.

7. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein connections between the container components are tongue and groove connections.

8. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein connections between the container components are interlocked connections in which projections engage in an interlocked manner in associated recesses.

9. The transportation container as claimed in claim 5, wherein flutes are disposed on sections of one or both surfaces which come into releasable contact upon releasable assembly of the container components and the at least one central container component.

10. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reinforcements comprise reinforcing ribs projecting outwardly or inwardly from the upright wall of the container wall.

11. The transportation container as claimed in claim 10, wherein the inwardly projecting reinforcing ribs form push-in seats for storage components which are releasably disposed in the container.

12. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper container of the stacked arrangement of containers, a top container opening of the upper container is at least partially closed off with a lid.

13. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower container arranged in the stacked arrangement of containers is disposed on one or more transportation pallets, wherein the container bottom of the lower container completely overlies a loading area of the transportation pallets.

14. The transportation container as claimed in claim 1, wherein a sealing element is disposed on opposite surfaces of the container components.

15. The transport container as claimed in claim 1, wherein a total area of the container bottom covers a plurality of transportation pallets, wherein the transportation pallets are connected together by pallet connectors.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] FIGS. 1 and 2 show diagrammatic perspective views of a transport container 1, in which an upper container 2 and a lower container 3 are disposed directly above and below each other. The lower container 3 is disposed on two pallets 4a, 4b and releasably secured to it by means of a securing means 5. A loading surface 6 which is formed by the two pallets 4a, 4b together, completely overlies a bottom surface 7 of the lower container 3. In addition, a bottom surface 8 of the upper container 2 is of the same size.

[0042] A container bottom 9 is formed as a grid floor 10 which has a grid structure which extends over the entire bottom surface 8. The grid floor 10 is formed by webs 10a and openings 10b surrounded by the webs 10a. Projections 11 and associated recesses 12 (see also FIG. 3) are integrated into the grid floor 10. The projections 11 are disposed in the associated recesses 12 when the upper and lower containers 2, 3 are releasably assembled from container components. In this regard, FIGS. 3 and 4 show perspective views of a lateral container component 30 as well as a central container component 40.

[0043] The upper container 2 and the lower container 3 are articulated along a long side of the container 13 by means of a hinged articulation 14, as can be seen more clearly in FIGS. 5 and 6. A locking means 15 is provided with a guide component 15a as well as an associated guided guide pin 15b which is guided between the swung up position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and the initial position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 when swung upwards and downwards in an elongate recess 15c of the guide component 15a. In the swung up position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the upper container 2 is locked by means of the locking means 15. To swing it down, the locking means 15 is released.

[0044] In the embodiments shown, two containers are stacked one above the other and disposed on the pallets 4a, 4b. Alternatively, more than two containers of this type may be stacked one on top of the other.

[0045] The upper and lower containers 2, 3 are each assembled from two lateral container components 30 which are shown in FIG. 3, as well as a central container component 40 which can be seen in FIG. 4. Alternatively, a plurality of central container components 40 may be disposed between the two lateral container components 30, for example three at most. In addition, the central container component 40 may be dispensed with entirely.

[0046] In addition to the connections by means of the projections 11 and the associated recesses 12 in the region of the container bottom, tongue and groove connections 16 are additionally provided in the region of the upright lateral walls 17 of the containers 2, 3. Alternatively, both the projections 11 and the tongue and groove connections 16 may be dispensed with, whereupon the container components 30, 40 may be screwed together.

[0047] Reinforcing ribs 18 protrude inwardly and outwardly from the container walls 17. As can be seen in FIG. 3, with the reinforcing ribs 18, push-in seats 20 may be formed on an inside 19 into which, for example, foam components can be pushed in order to locate them within the respective container 2, 3. In one embodiment, foam components of this type (not shown) may accommodate items or components to be transported, for example in an interlocking manner. The items to be transported may in this manner be localized and secured within the respective container.

[0048] As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a lid 21 is hinged on the upper container 2 so that the upper container 2 can be opened for loading or unloading. FIG. 8 shows a diagrammatic view of a central lid portion 21b (see also FIG. 9 below) of the lid 21 from above, which is formed by adjacent lid portion elements 22, 23.

[0049] FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of one of the pallets 4a, 4b. A pallet loading surface 26 is formed on pallet feet 24, 25, which in the embodiment shown has a closed bottom 27 with a reinforcement 27a disposed thereon with webs 27b. The webs 27b form compartments 28 into which objects can fall which drop through the grid floor 10 of the container 2, 3. The bottom 27 of the pallets 4a, 4b may cover the entire bottom area of the containers 2, 3.

[0050] The upper container 2 is secured on the lower container 3 by means of a closing means 29, several of which are shown, and which in the embodiment shown is provided with a closing lug 29a (cf. FIG. 1). The closing means 29 prevents the upper container 2 from swinging upwards when closed.

[0051] FIGS. 9 and 10 show diagrammatic perspective views of a further transport container 1 before and after assembly; in contrast to FIG. 9, FIG. 10 shows a transport container with upper and lower containers 2, 3. The same reference numerals as those used in the preceding figures are employed for the same features here.

[0052] Lid parts 21a, 21b, 21c are provided which are associated with the central container component 40 and the lateral container components 30.

[0053] To form the container bottom 9, pallets 4a, 4b are fixed together with the aid of pallet connectors 50a, 50b which, for example, are formed as metal profiles, in particular aluminium. In this regard, the pallet connectors 50a, 50b are pushed into associated recesses in the pallets 4a, 4b when the pallets 4a, 4b are moved towards each other. Spacers 51 are disposed between the pallets 4a, 4b.

[0054] FIG. 11 shows views of a container in which transportation securing means 60 are disposed which, in the embodiment shown, are configured as foam strips or sheets. In the embodiment shown, the transportation securing means 60 are evenly spaced. The transportation securing means 60 are inserted at the wall into associated push-in seats 19.

[0055] FIG. 12 shows a diagrammatic perspective view of a section with a sealing element 70 which in the embodiment shown is configured as a sealing strip formed from an elastic material, for example rubber. The sealing element 70 may be placed on the associated surface 71, optionally secured by a bonding agent or alternatively positioned in a groove provided on the associated surface 71. With the aid of the sealing element 70 it is possible to make the transport container 1 watertight, dust-proof and/or gas-tight. In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the sealing element may be disposed in regions 72a, 72b, 72c in order to seal the respective regions upon assembly.

[0056] FIG. 13 shows a diagrammatic perspective view of a section of a container with a holding ring 80 which is clipped onto the bottom, as well as an individual holding ring. Transportation items received in the transportation container can be lashed down with the aid of the holding ring 80. The anchoring points 81 in the embodiment shown are formed by predetermined breaking points which allow the anchoring points 81 to be removed in order to create an aperture for insertion of a holding ring.

[0057] FIG. 14 shows diagrammatic perspective views of a section with a closing lug 29a which is hinge mounted. In the closed condition (see the right hand view in FIG. 14), a securing lug 90 penetrates through an aperture 91 in the closing lug 29a so that a securing rod or a padlock can be introduced into an opening 92 of the securing lug 90 in order to secure the closing lug 29a in the closed position.

[0058] Although the present invention has been disclosed in the form of preferred embodiments and variations thereon, it will be understood that numerous additional modifications and variations could be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0059] For the sake of clarity, it is to be understood that the use of “a” or “an” throughout this application does not exclude a plurality, and “comprising” does not exclude other steps or elements. The mention of a “unit” or a “module” does not preclude the use of more than one unit or module.