BULK MATERIAL CONTAINER

Abstract

A bulk material container includes a cuboid support structure having floor and roof frames supporting sheet metal cladding with floor wall, side walls and end walls completely closed, without loading and unloading openings. The roof frame delimits a roof opening for loading and unloading bulk material. The floor frame has a forklift pocket formed of tubular cross supports with a closed cross section and outwardly open ends in a container transverse direction. Unloading includes engaging a forklift in the pocket for tilting the container until bulk material falls out of the open roof. To increase container rigidity during unloading, the forklift pocket is a component of a U-shaped hollow support reinforcement, at which the pocket transitions into vertical reinforcement hollow supports at floor reinforcement nodes on both sides in the container transverse direction. The vertical reinforcement hollow supports are attached to the roof frame, forming roof reinforcement nodes.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A bulk material container, comprising: a sheet-metal cladding including a sheet-metal floor wall, sheet-metal side walls and sheet-metal end walls; a cuboid support structure supporting said sheet-metal cladding, said cuboid support structure including a floor frame and a roof frame; said roof frame delimiting a container roof opening for loading or unloading bulk material and said floor frame having at least one forklift pocket configured as a tubular hollow cross support having a hollow profile being closed in cross section and outwardly open in a container transverse direction; said at least one forklift pocket configured for engagement of a forklift truck for tilting the bulk material container in an unloading procedure until the bulk material drops out of said open container roof or another opened unloading opening of the bulk material container; and said at least one forklift pocket being a component part of a U-shaped hollow support reinforcement for increasing container stiffness during the unloading procedure, said at least one forklift pocket forming floor-proximal reinforcement nodes in said container transverse direction and transitioning on both sides directly to vertical reinforcement hollow supports, and said vertical reinforcement hollow supports forming roof-proximal reinforcement nodes and being attached in a force-transmitting manner to said roof frame.

12. The bulk material container according to claim 11, wherein said cuboid support structure includes at least one of: floor longitudinal supports and floor cross supports connected to one another at floor corner fittings and forming said floor frame, or roof longitudinal supports and roof cross supports connected to one another at roof corner fittings and forming said roof frame, or corner vertical supports each disposed at a respective corner of the bulk material container for interconnecting said floor and roof corner fittings lying on top of one another, or tubular hollow supports having a hollow profile being closed in cross section and forming all of said longitudinal, cross, and vertical supports of said support structure.

13. The bulk material container according to claim 12, wherein each of said floor longitudinal supports is at least one of: subdivided into two longitudinal support external parts and one longitudinal support central part disposed behind one another and in alignment with a container longitudinal direction, said at least one forklift pocket being disposed between one of said longitudinal support external parts and said longitudinal support central part, or formed of one longitudinal support external part, a longitudinal support central part, said vertical reinforcement hollow support and said at least one forklift pocket converging in a force-transmitting manner at said floor-proximal reinforcement node.

14. The bulk material container according to claim 13, wherein said at least one forklift pocket forms a support base at least one of: attached to said longitudinal support central part and said longitudinal support external part in front and rear narrow sides oriented in the container longitudinal direction, or attached at an upper flat side of said support base to said reinforcement hollow support or an outwardly open C-profile part of said reinforcement hollow support.

15. The bulk material container according to claim 11, which further comprises: a sheet-metal angular profile part having a horizontal floor leg and a vertical lateral leg enclosing a lower longitudinal support external edge for further stiffening said floor-proximal reinforcement node; said horizontal floor leg being attached to a lower forklift pocket flat side and to a longitudinal support lower side; said vertical lateral leg being attached to a longitudinal support external side and to said vertical reinforcement hollow support; and said vertical lateral leg of said sheet-metal angular profile part having a clearance, said clearance having an opening rim delimiting a forklift pocket opening.

16. The bulk material container according to claim 11, wherein: said cuboid support structure includes corner vertical supports; said sheet metal cladding is configured to have at least one of: said sheet-metal side walls run between said corner vertical supports without interruption in a completely continuous manner in a container longitudinal direction, or said sheet-metal end walls run between said corner vertical supports without interruption in a completely continuous manner in said container transverse direction; in an event of stress in the unloading procedure, said sheet-metal end walls and said sheet-metal side walls at least one of: form thrust fields transmitting force between said corner vertical supports, or run in a completely continuous manner in a vertical plane without any lateral convexities in said sheet-metal side walls; and said vertical reinforcement hollow support or a C-profile part of said vertical reinforcement hollow support is configured as a linear elongate extruded profile having a cross section running so as to be continuously constant in a direction of manufacture.

17. The bulk material container according to claim 11, wherein said reinforcement hollow support is constructed from a C-profile part being outwardly open in said container transverse direction, said C-profile part having profile flanks forming a closed hollow profile and being attached to an internal side of said sheet-metal side walls or to a planar assembly portion of said sheet-metal side walls.

18. The bulk material container according to claim 12, wherein said roof longitudinal supports extend in a completely continuous manner between said roof corner fittings in said container longitudinal direction, and said reinforcement hollow support forming said roof-proximal reinforcement node is attached to said roof longitudinal support.

19. The bulk material container according to claim 12, wherein said at least one forklift pocket in said floor frame acts as an additional cross support subdividing a floor frame opening into two end-side sub-openings and one central sub-opening disposed between said two end-side sub-openings, said sub-openings are spanned by three floor wall segments, said three floor wall segments are spaced apart in a container longitudinal direction and said at least one forklift pocket is disposed between said three floor wall segments.

20. A bulk material container, comprising: a sheet-metal cladding including a sheet-metal floor wall, sheet-metal side walls and sheet-metal end walls; a cuboid support structure supporting said sheet-metal cladding, said cuboid support structure including a floor frame and a roof frame; said roof frame delimiting a container roof opening for loading or unloading bulk material and said floor frame having at least one forklift pocket configured as a tubular hollow cross support having a hollow profile being closed in cross section and outwardly open in a container transverse direction; said at least one forklift pocket configured for engagement of a forklift truck for tilting the bulk material container in an unloading procedure until the bulk material drops out of said open container roof or another opened unloading opening of the bulk material container; and said at least one forklift pocket being a component part of a hollow support reinforcement for increasing a container stiffness in the unloading procedure, said at least one forklift pocket, in said container transverse direction, at least on one side on a floor-proximal reinforcement node, transitioning directly to a vertical reinforcement hollow support, and said vertical reinforcement hollow support forming a roof-proximal reinforcement node and being attached in a force-transmitting manner to said roof frame.

Description

[0030] Three exemplary embodiments of the invention are described hereunder by means of the appended figures in which:

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a bulk material container according to the first exemplary embodiment in a perspective view;

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a cuboid support structure of the bulk material container without sheet-metal cladding in a view corresponding to that of FIG. 1;

[0033] FIGS. 3a and 3b show in each case sectional illustrations along sectional planes zy and zx from FIG. 1;

[0034] FIGS. 4 to 8 show further sectional illustrations of details of the bulk material container; and

[0035] FIGS. 9 and 10 show in each case a bulk material container according to a second and a third exemplary embodiment.

[0036] A bulk material container which is implemented as an open top container is shown in FIG. 1. Said bulk material container is composed of sheet-metal side walls 1, sheet-metal end walls 3, and a sheet-metal floor wall 5, said walls being completely closed across the entire area and being configured without loading and unloading openings.

[0037] For loading and unloading of bulk material, the bulk material container has an open container roof 7 (that is to say a container roof opening) which is optionally able to be covered with a tarpaulin.

[0038] The sheet-metal side walls 1, the sheet-metal end walls 3, and the sheet-metal floor wall 5 is supported by a cuboid support structure 9 as is shown (in isolation as well as in an exploded view) in FIG. 2. Consequently, the support structure 9 has a floor frame 11 from floor longitudinal supports 13 and from floor cross supports 15 which are connected to one another at floor corner fittings 17 (FIG. 1). Moreover, the support structure 9 has a roof frame 19 from roof longitudinal supports 21 and from roof cross supports 23. Said roof longitudinal supports 21 and said roof cross supports 23 are connected to one another at roof corner fittings 25 (FIG. 1). One corner vertical support 27 which connects to one another the floor and roof corner fittings 17, 25 that lie on top of one another is provided at each container corner in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0039] Moreover, two forklift pockets 29 are integrated in the floor frame 11. Said forklift pockets 29 in a container transverse direction y extend between the two floor longitudinal supports 13. Each of the forklift pockets 29 is configured as a tubular hollow cross support having a hollow profile which is closed in the cross section xz, specifically as a square flat-profile tube which on both sides in a container transverse direction y is open toward the outside at forklift pocket openings 31 (FIG. 5).

[0040] The bulk material container according to the invention in a rotary unloading procedure provides a container stiffness which is increased in comparison to the prior art. In order for the container stiffness to be increased, each of the forklift pockets 29 in the figures is a component part of a U-shaped hollow support reinforcement 33. In the U-shaped hollow support reinforcement 33, the forklift pocket 29 in the container transverse direction y at floor-proximal reinforcement nodes KB transitions on both sides in a force-transmitting manner directly to vertical reinforcement hollow supports 35. The vertical reinforcement hollow supports 35, while forming roof-proximal reinforcement nodes K.sub.D, are connected by butt-welding to the lower side of the roof longitudinal supports 23. As is derived from FIG. 2, the roof longitudinal supports 23 along the container longitudinal direction x extend in a completely continuous manner between the roof corner fittings 25.

[0041] As opposed to the roof longitudinal supports 23, each floor longitudinal support 13 is subdivided into two end-side longitudinal support external parts 37 and into one longitudinal support central part 39. The two longitudinal support external parts 37 and the longitudinal support central part 39, having the forklift pocket 29 disposed therebetween, are disposed behind one another so as to be in alignment with the container longitudinal direction x.

[0042] The design in terms of construction of the floor-proximal reinforcement node KB is shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. Accordingly, the forklift pocket 29 (that is to say a flat profile tube) forms a support base to which the longitudinal support external part 37, the longitudinal support central part 39, and the reinforcement hollow support 35 are attached. The longitudinal support central part 39 and the longitudinal support external part 37 are in each case welded to the two narrow sides 41 of the forklift pocket 29, while a C-shaped profile part 45 of the reinforcement hollow support 35 is attached (that is to say welded) to an upper flat side 43 (FIG. 5) of the forklift pocket 29.

[0043] As is derived from FIG. 5, the reinforcement hollow support 35 is constructed from the above-mentioned C-shaped profile part 45 that in the container transverse direction y is open toward the outside. The profile flanks 47 of said C-shaped profile part, while forming a closed hollow profile, are welded to the internal side of the sheet-metal side wall 1 (that is to say to the planar assembly portion 65 of the latter).

[0044] The sheet-metal side walls 1 in the container longitudinal direction x run in a completely continuous manner between the corner vertical supports 27. In the same manner, the sheet-metal end walls 3 in the container transverse direction y run in a completely continuous manner between the corner vertical supports 27. In this manner, the sheet-metal end walls 3 and the sheet-metal side walls 1 in the event of stress, that is to say in rotary unloading, form large-area thrust fields by way of which a transmission of force, or a distribution of force, respectively, takes place between the corner vertical supports 27 so as to avoid any deformation of the container during the unloading procedure.

[0045] The forklift pockets 29 integrated in the floor frame 11 act as additional cross supports which subdivide a floor frame opening 49 (FIG. 2) into two end-side sub-openings 51 as well as a central sub-opening 53 disposed therebetween. The sub-openings 51, 53 are spanned by a total of three floor wall segments 54, 55, 56 which are mutually spaced apart in the container longitudinal direction x, having the forklift pockets 29 disposed therebetween, and form the sheet-metal floor wall 5.

[0046] For further stiffening the floor-proximal reinforcement node KB, a sheet-metal angular profile part 57 which has a horizontal floor leg 59 and a vertical lateral leg 61 which protrudes in an orthogonal manner from the latter is provided in the figures. The sheet-metal angular profile part 57 defines an internal corner region which encloses a lower longitudinal support external edge 67 (FIG. 6 or 7). The horizontal floor leg 59 of the sheet-metal angular profile part 57 is welded to the lower forklift pocket flat side 63 (FIG. 6 or 7) as well as to the lower sides of the longitudinal support external part 37 and of the longitudinal support central part 39. In contrast, the vertical lateral leg 61 of the sheet-metal angular profile part 57 is welded to the external side of the longitudinal support external part 37 and the longitudinal support central part 39 as well as to the sheet-metal side wall 1. Moreover, a clearance 66 (FIG. 6) which delimits the forklift pocket openings 31 is configured in the vertical lateral leg 61 of the sheet-metal angular profile part 57.

[0047] The sheet metal end walls and sheet-metal side walls 1, 3 as well as the floor wall 5 are implemented as trapezoidal panels. In the sheet-metal side walls 1 the trapezoidal profile is interrupted by planar assembly portions 65. The latter are connected by butt-welding to the C-shaped profile parts 45 of the reinforcement hollow supports 35 (FIG. 4 or 5).

[0048] In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, the sheet-metal end walls 3 as simple trapezoidal sheet-metal parts are fastened, that is to say welded, by way of the end side to the cuboid support structure 9 of the bulk material container. As opposed thereto, one of the sheet-metal end walls 3 in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is constructed from a portal frame 68 which is closed in a frame-shaped manner and encloses an unloading door 69. The unloading door 69 is mounted in the portal frame 68 so as to be pivotable about an upper, horizontally oriented pivot axis S. The portal frame 68 delimits an end-side unloading opening with a large cross-section. Said unloading opening in FIG. 9 is closed by means of the pivotable unloading door 69.

[0049] The portal frame 68 is moreover conceived as a separate add-on part which in FIG. 9 is fastened to a vertical frame V on the support structure. Said vertical frame V is constructed from the floor cross support 15, the corner vertical supports 27, and the roof cross support 24.

[0050] An unloading opening with a small cross-section is configured in the pivotable unloading door 69, said unloading opening being able to be closed by way of a closing element 71, in particular a slide.

[0051] In an unloading procedure, the forklift truck moves the bulk material container shown in FIG. 9 to a tilted position, and the unloading door 69 and/or the closing element 71 are/is opened until the bulk material can drop out of one of the unloading openings.

[0052] In the closed state shown in FIG. 9, the unloading door 69 is secured on the vertical frame V by way of locking elements 73, in particular a latching locking mechanism.

[0053] As an alternative to FIG. 9, a further exemplary embodiment in which one of the sheet-metal side walls 1 forms an unloading door having two door leaves 75 is shown in FIG. 10. The two door leaves 75 are in each case articulated about a vertical pivot axis S by hinges 77 on corner vertical supports 27. The two door leaves 75, as has been explained above by means of FIG. 9, can likewise be enclosed in a separate portal frame which as an add-on part is fastened to the support structure 9.

[0054] One C-profile part 45 can be welded to the internal side of each of the door leaves 75 in FIG. 10. The C-profile part 45, conjointly with the respective door leaf 75, forms a vertical reinforcement hollow support which is a component part of the U-shaped hollow support reinforcement 33. In this case, the C-profile part 75 is connected by welding neither to the upper flat side 43 of the forklift pocket 29 nor to the upper roof longitudinal support 21, but rather bears loosely in a force-transmitting manner thereon so as to enable an activation of the door.

[0055] Alternatively thereto, the installation of a C-profile part 45 on the respective door leaf 75 can be dispensed with. In this case, the respective hollow support reinforcement 33 is no longer configured so as to be U-shaped but rather L-shaped, specifically by way of the floor-proximal forklift pocket 29 and only one reinforcement hollow support 35 rising therefrom. The latter, when viewed in the container transverse direction y, is positioned on the sheet-metal side wall 1 that lies opposite the door leaves 75.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0056] 1 Sheet-metal side wall

[0057] 2 Sheet-metal end wall

[0058] 5 Sheet-metal floor wall

[0059] 7 Container roof

[0060] 9 Support structure

[0061] 11 Floor frame

[0062] 13 Floor longitudinal support

[0063] 15 Floor cross support

[0064] 17 Floor corner fittings

[0065] 19 Roof frame

[0066] 21 Roof longitudinal support

[0067] 23 Roof cross support

[0068] 25 Roof corner fittings

[0069] 27 Corner vertical support

[0070] 29 Forklift pockets

[0071] 31 Forklift pocket openings

[0072] 33 U-shaped hollow support reinforcement

[0073] 35 Vertical reinforcement hollow support

[0074] 37 Longitudinal support—external part

[0075] 39 Longitudinal support—central part

[0076] 41 Narrow side

[0077] 43 Upper flat side of the forklift pocket

[0078] 45 C-profile part

[0079] 47 Profile flanks

[0080] 49 Frame opening

[0081] 51 End-side sub-opening

[0082] 53 Central sub-opening

[0083] 54, 55, 56 Floor wall sheet-metal segments

[0084] 57 Sheet-metal angular profile part

[0085] 59 Floor legs

[0086] 61 Lateral legs

[0087] 63 Lower flat side of the forklift pocket

[0088] 65 Planar assembly portion

[0089] 66 Clearance

[0090] 67 Longitudinal support external edge

[0091] 68 Portal frame

[0092] 69 Unloading door

[0093] 71 Closing element

[0094] 73 Locking element

[0095] 75 Door leaf

[0096] 77 Hinges

[0097] S Pivot axis

[0098] K.sub.B Floor-proximal reinforcement node

[0099] K.sub.D Roof-proximal reinforcement node

[0100] V Vertical frame