Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF I~VE~TION
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid
imperviouq liner for use in shipping containers and
S which is easily insertable and removable from such con-
tainers.
The liquid impervious liner of the present
invention is particularly, although not exclusively,
suitable for the transportation of rawhides which are
shipped in various type containers, such as trailers,
railroad cars, box containers, etc. These raw animal
skins are shipped all over the world to be treated to make
leather for use in the manufacture of leather products.
In the shipping of these hides, they are normally inter-
leaved with rock salt and a great deal of liquid is
secreted from the hides in the form of amino acids.
These amino acids, in combination with the rock salt, have
created disastrous results to the equipment being used to
transport the hides. For example, the acids and the salt
will create corrosion to the container and eventually
render the container irreparable.~ Further, during trans-
portation and handling, the liquids are sometimes spilled
or leak from the containers and contaminate the environ-
ment, such as roads, shipping docks, ships, etc.
(b) Description of Prior Art
Known methods utilized today to solve this prob-
lem are proving unsatisfactory and costly. The most com-
monly used liner known is an extruded polyethylene sheet
having a diameter of approximately 18 feet and a length of
anywhere from 20 to 45 feet, depending on the length of
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the container or railcar. mis tube-type polyethylene
sheet is gathered and crimped at one end and tied to-
~ether with a piece of wire to give a sau~age-skin type
appearance. It is then placed with the tied end into
the front of a container.
The hides, which normally come on wooden pallets,
are placed with an average height of 2 to 3 feet inside
the polyethylene sheet which is now inside the container
and is loaded until the pallets fill the whole length of
the container. The hides, which are normally no more than
3 feet in height, would weigh approximately 40,000 lbs. in
a 30 or 3S foot container. It can be seen that loading
such a bag in a container is a difficult task.
me major problem with this method is that in
the majority of cases the polyethylene sheets are punctured,
either as a result of negligent driving of a lift truck's
sharp edges on the pallets, or protruding objects in the
container itself such as nails, screws, or even splinters
of wood. As a result of these punctures, the amino acids
combined with the rock salt, ooze out of the liners thereby
corroding the containers or the vehicle used for the trans-
poration of these liners.
In addition to the corrosion factor created by
the liquid is the smell and the stench caused by shipping
raw hide liners. Upon arrival the smell remains inside
~; the container making it very difficult to ship other com-
modities as a result of the odours.
Another serious problem as a result of a leaky
-I liner is that it also creates leaky containers and there-
fore creates a health hazard by having these liquids dis-
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persed on highways, docks, and factories with the spread
of bacteria and other harmful microorganisms.
A special container was also developed which
is extremely costly and consists of stainless steel floors
which are ribbed and underneath these floors is a special
catch-basin also fabricated from stainless steel with
special taps for the release of the liquids when desired.
The drawback to this type of container is its extreme high
cost plus the fact that it is limited to the shipment of
raw hides only and in many cases containers go back empty.
This is a costly solution.
SUMMARY OF INVE~TION
It is a feature of the present invention to
provide a liquid impervious liner which substantially
overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.
A further feature of the present invention is to
provide a liquid impervious liner which is easy to install
in a container and which is substantially leak-proof.
A further feature of the present invention is to
provide a liquid impervious liner which will prevent leakage
even when a top cover sheet of the bottom wall is punctured.
According to the above features, from a broad
aspect, the present invention provides a liquid impervious
liner for use in shipping containers. The liner comprises
a base sheet of cushioning material and a top cover sheet of
polymeric material bonded to the base sheet by a plurality
of spaced apart continuous seal strips extending entirely
across the base sheet. The top cover sheet has panel portions
extending beyond the periphery of the base sheet. The panel
portions are portions of the top cover sheet extending
beyond the front, rear and opposed side edges of the base
sheet to constitute a front, rear and side panels. The top
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cover sheet is constituted by three rectangular sheets.
The first of these rectangular sheets is bonded to the
base sheet, which is also rectangular, by the plurality
of seal strips and protrudes be~ond the front and rear
edges of the ~ase sheet to constitute the front and the
rear panels. A second and third one of the sheets overlap
the first sheet at a respective side edge portion thereof
and is sealed thereto by a plurality of closely spaced
continuous seal strips. The second and third sheets
constitute the side panels.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIO~ OF DRAWI~GS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention
will now be described with reference to the accompanying
drawings in which:
FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the liquid
impervious liner of the present invention;
FIGURE 2 is a fragmented section view showing
the construction of the liquid impervious liner;
FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the
installation of the liquid impervious liner in a container;
, FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an end section
of a container showing the manner in which the rear panel
is located with respect to the container, and
FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of an end section
of the container showing the manner in which the rear panel
of the liner is secured across a container opening.
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DESCRIPTION OIF P~EFERRED EMBODIME~TS
Referring now to the drawings, and more particu-
larly to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown generally at 10,
the liquid impervious liner of the present invention.
The liner comprises a base sheet 11 of foam-like material
and, for example, a closed-cell foam or any other suitable
material which is liquid impervious and which is shock
absorbing~ A top cover sheet 12 of polymeric material
such as polyethylene, is bonded to the base sheet 11 and
extends beyond the periphery of the base sheet.
As hereinshown, the base sheet and top cover
sheet are of rectangular shape with the top cover sheet
being, o course, larger than ~he base sheet to orm
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panel portions. The portions extending beyond the side
edges 13 of the base sheet 11 constitute side panels 14.
The portion extending beyond the front edge 15 of the base
sheet 11 constitutes a front panel 16. The portion extending
beyond the rear edge 17 of the base sheet 11 constitutes
the rear panel 18 of the liner.
As shown in Figure 2, the top cover sheet 12
is constituted by three rectangular sheet sections. A
first sheet section 12' is bonded to the base sheet 11 by
a plurality of heat-sealed strips 19 equidistantly spaced
and extending along the entire length of the base sheet 11
(see Figure 1). A second and a third sheet of polyethylene
material 12" and 12"' respectively overlaps the first sheet
12' at the respective side edge portion thereof and heat
sealed to the first sheet 12' by a plurality, herein three,
of closely spaced continuous heat sealed strips 20. Thus,
it can be seen that in the side edge portions of the base
sheet 11, a plurality of seals are provided whereby if the
top cover sheet 12 is punctured, any liquid flowing there-
under would be trapped between the seals 20 and 19 onto
the top surface 21 of the base sheet 11.
As shown in Figure 1, eyelets 22 are provided
in respective outer corners of the rear panel 18. Secure-
` ment means in the form of straps or ropes 23 are attached to
the eyelets for a purpose which will be described later.
A typical specification of the liner illustrated
herein may be constituted by a base sheet of closed cell
foam of 1/4" thickness and a top cover sheet constituted
by high density polyethylene material of a thickness of
20 mil. The heat sealed strips may be formed by a long
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heating element whereby a continuous uninterrupted bond is
effected longitudinally of the bottom and top cover sheets.
The base sheet 11 may also be constituted by a polyfoam-type
rubber that is normally used as an underpadding for carpets
and this base sheet 11 is sized to cover the floor area of
a container. A further top sheet of polyethylene may be
heat seaLed over the polyethylene sheet 12 and over base
sheet area only. This further top sheet may also be of
linoleum and have a shiny or slippery surface which would
prevent tearing of the polyethylene and other films. How-
ever, the liner structure shown in Figure 1 has been found
suitable without this added sheet.
The purpose of the rubberized foam base sheet is
to absorb some of the shock created when loading and unload-
ing material onto the base sheet and also protects the poly-
ethylene from being punctured as it will permit vertical
downward displacement of the polyethylene.
Referring now to Figures 3 to 5, there is shown
the manner in which the liner is positioned and secured in
a container, such as a trailer 30. The trailer 30 is
substantially a rectangular box container and has a bottom
wall 31, side walls 32, a front wall 33, and a closable
open rear wall 34. The liner 10 is usually rolled up and
inserted in the container 30 and unrolled over the bottom
wall 31 with the base sheet 11 resting directly on the
bottom wall 31. The liner is then in its unrolled folded
state with the side panels 14 and the front and rear panels
16 and 18 respectively lying flat, as shown in Figure 3.
The side panels 14 and front panel 16 are then unfolded up-
wards and secured to the side walls and front wall of the
container by securement means, such as staples 35, see
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Figure 4. The rear panel 18 is retained upstanding, see
Figure 5, by attaching the ~traps or ropes 23 to suitable
vertical rear edge portions of the side walls 34 of the
container. Pleats 16' and 18' are made in the corners
of the front and rear panels 16 and 18 by overlapping the
material whereby these panels may be fastened to constitute
rectangular panels and to provide liquid impervious corners.
With the panels secured upstanding, the liner substantially
constitutes a liquid impervious tub in the container to
retain therein liquid secreted from the material being
shipped, herein hides.
As shown in Figure 4, the liner may also comprise
an additional reinforcing strip 36 of polyethylene or other
suitable reinforcing material in the rear portion of the
rear edge 17 of the base sheet 11 and extending slightly
over a bottom rear edge portion of the side panels 14.
This is the area of the liner where there is more wear and
tear when loading and unloading material in the container.
The liquid impervious liner of the present inven-
tion is particularly useful for the shipping of green
salted raw hides and protects the container from contamina-
tion and corrosion. It also protects the container from
offensive odours which would be retained therein should
there be laakage of the liquids secreted from such hides.
A further advantage of the liner of the present invention
is that it can be installed in a trailer container by one
; man with a staple gun within approximately five minutes.
The liners are prefabricated and form-fitted to the exact
dimensions of a container and require no modifications in
installation. The container being substantially leakproof
prevents the spreading of bacteria and other micro-organisms
on highways, in ports and on ships, during transportation
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of such materials.
It is within the ambit of the present invention
to provide any obvious modifications thereof, provided
such modifications fall within the definition of the in-
vention as defined by the appended claims.
