Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1;~79Z7A
_ N
Cartons have been widely used for packing fruits
and other things ~o be shipped or stored. But it tal~es
time to staple the carton folds together and it is wasteful
because they are not recoverable and reusable. Furthermore,
cartons are not strong enou~h for shipping in stack. It
is often the case that the contents in the cartons being
stacked by other cartons are damaged. To inspect the
contents, they m~s~ be taken out one by one or layer by
layer. ~ter inspection they must be packed back. So using
cartons is not only a waste of money but also a waste of time
and laborious. In the past years, the inventor himslef
used about S,000 cartons a year for pac~ing fruits. At the
current market price of $1.5 per carton, the total cost was
$7,500 enough for 255 cartons of fruits. The amount would be
terribly huge for the cartons used in the whole country.
According to the inventor's statistics, the cost of car~ons
almost accounted for more than 50 perccnt of the sale amount
of fruits a farmer had harvested. So if a stron~, collapsi-
ble, recoverable and reusable container is developed to
replace cartons, it would save the farmer a lot of money,
time and trouble.
In view of this, the inventor studied hard with
some intimate friends to make improvements and developed
this invention.
So the main object of this invention is to provide
a callapsible crate which has high compression strength to
ensure safety of shipping and storin~.
Another object of ~his invention is to provide a
collapsible crate which is recoverable and reusable so as to
save money.
Cont'd/3 ~Ji~
~279274
J
S,ili ano,her o~jec~ of .his invention is to pro-
vide a colla?sible -rate of which .he con.ents can be
raised by lifting ~ev.ce for inspection purpose.
B~ ~SCRlPTI0~ Of, r~ CS
~ne presen~ inventio-~-A w,ll become more readily
apparent from the following descri?tion of the preferred
embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying draw-
ings, in which:
Fig. l is an exploded view of the coliapsibie
plastic crate of this invention.
Fig. 2 is a vertical view of ,he said crate.
Fig. 3 is sectional view tai~en alon~ the A-A line
in Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the B-B
line in Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 illustrates the stacking of the said
crstes.
Fig. 6 illustrates the appiication of a pneumatic
lift to raise the contents from the crate.
Fig. 7 illustrates the application of a pneumatic
lift to lower the raised contents.
Fig. 8 illustrates the application of aaother
lifting device to raise and lower the contents of the said
crate.
Fig. 9 illustrates the collapsing of the said crate.
Con,'&/4
12792~4
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D T IL~D_~n~C ~ I~
~ s shown in Fig. 1, ~he collapsible plastic cra e
comprises .~ ro~t sidc plate 1, a back side plates 2, a left
side plate 3, a r ght side ?'.ate 4, a top lid plate 5, a
S bottom plate 6, seven knuckle pins 7 in same dlameter, and
two tub~ ar connecto~s 8. The front side plate, has leftward
spaced sockets 1~ on the left edge, backward spaced sockets
11 on the right edge, two projec~ions 12, 13 on the top edge,
two small ho7es 14 ^n the top edge for tyin~ the top lid
plate ~ with a wire, a hook lc and a lug 16 in the middie of
the bottom edge and two slots 17 in the same edge near the
corners. The said lug 16 has a slot 161 for the proiection
62 to fit in for the purpose to strengthen the binding. The
back side plate 2 has forward spaced sockets 20 or the left
edge, rightward spaced sockets 21 on the right edge, two
notches 22 at the top edge to acco~modate the two tubular
connectors 8, two indentures 23 at the corners, two forward
spaced sockets 24 on the bottom edge, three f:Lat projections
25 to keep the bottom plate 6 from turning downward and to
allow it to fold upward only. The left and right side plates
3, 4 are made with same mold. The left side plate 3 has out-
ward spaced sockets 30 on both front and rear edges to form a
hin~ed joint respective'y with the sockets 10 of the front
side plate 1 and the sockets 20 of the back side plate 5 by
meanæ of a pin 7. The right side plate 4 has outward spaced
sockets 40 on both fron~ and .rear edges to fo~m a h~-nged
joint respectively with the sockets 11 of the front side
plate 1 and the back side pl~ e 2 by means of a pin 7. The
let and right ~ide Plates 3, 4 have projections 3~, 41 on
the top edges for snapping in t'ne siots 54, 55 of the top lid
plate S, hand holes 32, 42 below the projections 31, 41, and
projections 33, A~4 h,A~- ng slots 331, 431 are arranged ln such
way that they are between the projections 16 of ~he rront
side plate l and the p-rojections 25 of t'ne bac'~ side plate 2
after the crate is fol. ded. ~he 'op lid pla~e 5 has notches
_ Co~t ~/5
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- 5 -
5~ anG n&en~ures _~ a~ ~'ne rea-. edge to forrl a hinged joint
w~tn ~ne back side pia~e 2 '~y r.lcans of pi~s and tubular
connectors, a~d slo.s 52, 53, 54, 55 in the front edge and
left and right euge for the ?rojectiGrLs i2, ]3 of the front
S side pla~e 1 and t'.e projections 31, 41 of tne left and right
side -.~lates ~o fit in after it is closed ïne top lid plate
5 also has two small holes 56 in the front edge corresponding
to the small holes 14 in the top edge of front siae plate 1,
and two recesses 57 to facilita.e ~ne opening of the top lid
plate 5. Six ribs 58 are provided on the top surface of the
top lid plate 5 as shown in Fig. 2. Two vertical ribs 58
intersect -our horizon~al ribs 58 to form six large squares
59. The angle part 581 of each corner of the squares 59 is
made a little thicker to prevent the crate stacked thereon
from slipping off. The bottom plate 6 has sockets 60 on the
rear edge to form hinged joint with those of the back side
plate 2 by means of a pin 7, five holes 61 'or use in lifting
the contents of the crate, projectior.s 62 on .he front, left
and right edges to fit in the slots 161, 331, 431 of the lugs
16, 33, 43 of the front, left and right side ~lates 1, 3, 4,
and two projections 63 on the front edge to strengthen the
binding of the two plates 1, 6 together with the hook 15 at
the bottom edge of the front side plate 1, which keeps the
bottom plate from springing upward and off the front side
plate 1. The knuckle pins 7 are used to join the sockets to
form hinged joints. The tubular connec~ors 8 are oval in
cross section and sized to fit i-n the notches 50 in the top
edge of the back side plate 5 and has holes oO, 81 for the
knuckle pins 7 to fi~ in and to form a hinged joint of the
top lid plate 5 and the back side plate 2.
:
To assemble the crate as shown in Fig. 2, the
bottom plate 6 and the back side plate 2 are first joined
together by inserting the pin 7 into the sockets 60 of the
bottom plate 6 and the sockets 24 of the back side plate 2
with the ~lat pro~ections 25 beside the sockets 24 supporting
the bottom plate ~ and preventing the same from further
Cont'd/6
127927A
openlng. T~en the lc~t and ril~ht side plates 3, 4 are hinged
tog~ther with the bac~ slde plate 2 by nserting-the pins 7
in the sockcts 20, 30, ~1, 40, and having the knuckle pins 7
locked with .sn~p r~ngs at the top and bottom ends. In the
same way, the left and right side plates 3, 4 are hinged
together by insertinÆ the pir.s 7 nto the sockets 10, 30, 11,
40 and havlng the pins lockc~ with snap rings at the top and
bottom ends. At the same time, the projections 62, 63 of the
bottom plate 6 is fitted in tae slots 331, 431 of thP lugs
33, 43 of the left and right side plates 3, 4, and in the
slot 161 of the lug 16 and the slots 17 in the bottom edge of
the front side plate 1. As showr. in Fig. 3 the bottom plate
is retained by the hook 15 at the bottom edge of the front
side plate 1 and prevented from spring up. Finally, the top
lid plate 5 is closed with the projections 12, 13, 31, 41
fitted in the slots 52, 53, 54, 55 as shown in Fig. 4, and
wire a is inserted in the holes 56 and 14 and tied and fixed
with lead or zinc at the bottom edge of the front side plate
1. Thus, the crate is ready for shipping.
As shown in ~ig. 5, the crates of this invention
can be shipped in stack. The crate has a fixed ratio of
length and width - 3:2 and the ribs 58 provided on the top
surface intersect to form six large squares 59 of which the
angle parts 581 are thicker. So the bottom of the crate on
top fits the top of the crate beneat'n closely without ~ear of
slip~ing off. ~nd the crates are strong enough to be shipped
in a large stack without fear of damage to the contents.
It is a common practice to take out the contents
one by one (or layer by layer~ when a buyer war.t to inspect
the contents. Ater inspec~ion, th.ey are put bacX one by one
(or layer by layer). T~ t is troublesome and timewastin~ to do
so and damage would be caused to the con~ents. To eli~inate
this disadvantage, the inventor developed this invention
which by using of a s-mple lifting device is capable of talx-
ing out or putting bacX the cont~nts quic'~'y without causing
Cont'd~7
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any ~ama~_ ~o the co.it2.its. -~s s..~wn i~ ig. 6 Lhe crate is
p'aced ~,-a tr.e pneumat-c li~t with its ~ive posts 102 fitted
in tne i ve holes 61 in ~he boLtcm plate 6. W;.~n the crate
body he,d ~y .he operaLor is 'owereG s;owiy, the contenLs b
suppor.,c~ by the _-ve posts î32 a-'e noL lowered but come out
of the c-.aLe. After -,.specLion by the buyer, the pneumatlc
lift c is inflated anG the cra~e body held by the opera~or
is pushed up pne~..atically u~til ~he contents b are fully
packed in the craLe as shown ln ~ig. 7. After the top lid
plate 6 is closed and tied with wire a, ~he ins?ection oper-
aLion is finished. The appiication of anoth~r lifting
device is shown in Fig. 3. The law of lever is applied to
this lifting device which co-inprises a stand 101, five posts
102, a guide rod 104, two retaining rings 105 for retaining
the guide rod 104 at .,he central post 102, and a lever 106.
The lever 106 is fitted in the rod 104 at one end and
supported at the fulcru... by a post 102. With this lever 106,
the crate placed on the s;ide lG3 can be raised and lowered.
Thus, the contents in the crate can be removed from the
crate wi LhOU~ causing any damage.
The collapsing of crate is shown in Fig. 9. First,
the wire a is cut off and the top lid plaLe S is opened as
arrowed with the hand in the recess 57. After the contents
sremoved, the front side plate 1 is disassembled by pulling
outward the hook 15 at the bottom ed~e and letting the bottom
plate 6 .urn up as arrow~d and olGed upon the back side
plate 2. Then the joint of the leLt side plate 3 and the
front side piate 1 is pushed rearward and ri~,htward as
arrowed. At this time the righ~ side plate turns as though
it was a parallelogram. It is pushed until tn~ left side
plate 3 and the front side plate 1 become a straight line.
Like a ~lat board the collap~ed crate ls space saving when
being shipped or stored.
; Cont'd/8
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