Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2062355
A COLLAP8IBLB B~LK CONTATN~R AND
NETHOD OF MARING THE 8ANE
BACKGROUND OF THE I-Nv~NllON
A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a bulk container for shipping and
storing various goods, and more particularly to a fiber container
which can be made to be dismantled, or collapsed, and reassembled
at will when not in use, to save space.
B. DescriPtion of the Prior Art
Containers are the predominant means of shipping various
goods, including materials in a liquid, or semi-liquid or powder
form. Recently, it has been discovered that containers made of
several laminated fiber layers are particularly useful for this
purpose because they are relatively light, yet strong enough to
hold various kinds of materials securely. Moreover, several such
containers can be stacked vertically. In particular, fiber drums
having substantially rectangular cross-sections with rounded
corners have been found to be very advantageous, because this
shape makes the containers very strong. A further advantage of
these containers is that their tops can be easily stored therein
without distortion, while the containers are not in use.
One problem with the containers presently used in the indus-
try is that when they are empty they occupy a large amount of
space, they are difficult to handle, and expensive to ship.
Although metal drums and other types of containers are known
which can be disassembled, so far no collapsible fiber containers
have been suggested in the art which have proved to be satis-
~r~ factory.
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OB.JECTIVES AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, it is an
objective of the present invention to provide a fiber container which is easily collapsible to
5 save space, and which can be easily assembled, without special tools.
A further objective is to provide a collapsible fiber container with means for
reinforcing its bottom to allow h~n-lling using mech~ni7e(1 machinery.
Yet a further objective is to provide a container which is strong so that it can
be used for large amounts of liquids or other materials.
Other objectives and advantages of the invention shall become apparent from
the following description of the invention. A collapsible drum constructed in accordance
with this invention includes several sidewalls which are joined together by connectors to form
a tubular body. A bottom member is formed separately with a bottom plate and a peripheral
skirt. The bottom member is inserted telescopically over the tubular body. A top member
15 is similarly formed separately from a plate and a peripheral skirt and telescopically mounted
over the body. The body may be made of two separate sections, one section being disposed
inside the other.
Accordingly, the invention herein comprises a collapsible fiber container
comprising a plurality of continuous curved fiber sidewalls; connecting means for connecting
20 said sidewalls to form a tubular body; and a bottom skirt forming a bottom hlLelrel~l1ce fit
with said tubular body to reinforce said tubular body.
The invention also comprises a collapsible container complisillg a plurality of
continuously curved sidewalls, each sidewall being defined between two longit~l-lin~l edges;
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an equal plurality of connectors for conn~cting said sidewalls by said edges to form a tubular
body; a top member including a top plate and a top skirt extending below said top plate and
arranged and constructed to form an hl~elrelcllce fit with said tubular body when said tubular
body is telescopically joined to said top member; and a bottom member including a bottom
5 plate and a bottom skirt extending above said bottom plate and arranged and constructed to
form an hllclrclcllce fit with said tubular body when said tubular body is telescopically joined
to said bottom member.
The invention further comprises a method of forming a fiber container
comprising the steps of joining a plurality of continuous curved fiber sidewalls to form a
10 tubular body; joining a bottom member with a bottom skirt to the tubular body by
telescopically engAging the bottom skirt to the tubular body; and joining a top member of the
body.
The invention still further comprises an easily collapsible to save space
container that may be readily reassembled without special tools comprising a plurality of
15 reusable identical and nestable U-shaped continuously slightly curved and convex relatively
rigid molded sidewalls and rounded corners, each sidewall being defined between two
longitl1l1inAl edges; an equal plurality of reusable H-shaped connectors for connecting said
sidewalls by said edges to form a generally rectangular tubular body with slightly curved and
convex sidewalls conn~cted with rounded corners each of said edges being located20 intenn~ te a sidewall and between a pair of rounded corners, said connectors having
grooves so shaped and dimensioned to form an h~t~lrefellce fit with said edges so that the
side walls and connectors may be assembled and disassembled without special tools; a top
member including a top plate and a top skirt extending below said top plate and arranged and
- 2b -
20623SS
constructed to form an hlLelrelellce fit with said tubular body when said tubular body is
telescopically joined to said top member; and a bottom member including a bottom plate and
a bottom skirt extending above said bottom plate and a bottom skirt extending above said
bottom plate and arranged and constructed to form an hl~elrerellce fit with said tubular body
5 when said tubular body is telescopically joined to said bottom member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGURE 1 shows an exploded view of a container constructed in accordance
with this invention;
FIGURE 2 shows a sectional view of the container of FIGURE l;
FIGURE 3 shows a side elevational view of the container of FIGURE l; and
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Figure 4 shows a partial side-sectional view of the container
as shown in Figure 3 taken along lines 4-4.
DETAILED DE8CRIPTION OF THE lNv~..lON
Referring now to the drawings, a container 10 constructed
in accordance with this invention includes a top cap 12, a
tubular body 14 and a bottom 16. Except as otherwise noted, the
elements which make up container 10 are made of a fibrous materi-
al such as paper, cardboard etc. Moreover, each element may
ccnsist of a single fibrous layer or several layers laminated
together.
As shown in Figure 4, cap 12 consists of a substantially
flat plate 18 peripherally surrounded by, and adhesively joined
to, a downwardly extending upper skirt 20. Similarly, bottom 16
consists of a flat plate 22 surrounded peripherally by a lower
skirt 24. Importantly, skirt 24 extends above and below plate
22. An inner ring 26 is adhesively joined to the skirt 24 to
reinforce the bottom of the container, and to provide a ledge 28.
Ledge 28 supports plate 22. The skirt 24 and plate 22 may be
shaped and constructed to form an interference fit therebetween
to hold the plate 22 in place. Alternatively, or in addition,
plate 22 may be secured to skirt 24 and ring 26 by an adhesive
material.
As shown in Figures 1 and 3, skirt 24 and ring 26 are
provided with several cutouts 30 separated by tabs 32. A rein-
forcing flat member 34 is secured by an adhesive material to the
bottom of plate 22. In addition, extending along two opposed
sides of the skirt 24, preferably behind tab 32, there is provid-
ed a strut 36 secured to member 34. Strut 36 may be made of
~ 3
2062~
polystyrene or another plastic "honey-comb like" material which
is light enough so as not to add to the weight of the container
10, yet strong enough to insure that the bottom plate 22 does not
buckle when the container is filled. Preferably the strut 36
extends downwardly so that it is even with the bottom of skirt
24. Alternatively, the member 34 may be shaped to form a
channel 34' for housing strut 36 as indicated in Figure 1 by the
dotted lines.
Body 14 preferably consists of two sections, although for
smaller and/or lighter containers a single section will be suffi-
cient. The inner section consists of two U-shaped wall portions
38, 40 preferably having identical shapes and dimensions to
reduce manufacturing costs. The two sections are placed face-to-
face and are joined by connectors 42, 44 to form a continuous
inner sidewall.
Similarly, the outer section consists of two U-shaped wall
portions 46, 48 also joined by connectors 50, 52. Preferably,
connectors are elongated members with two parallel side grooves
as at 54 to define an H-shaped cross-section. These connectors
may be made of a plastic material, for example by molding.
Grooves 54 are shaped and dimensioned to form an interference fit
with the vertical edges of the wall portions 38, 40, 46, 48, so
that the body 14 may be assembled and disassembled easily without
any special tools, by merely pressing the wall portions with
their edges into the grooves of the connectors. Wall portions
46, 48 are slightly larger than wall portions 38, 40 so that they
can be formed into an outer section which can surround the inner
section.
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As shown more clearly in Figure 2, the body 14 has a gener-
ally rectangular, or more particularly square shape with each
sidewall being slightly curved, and with rounded corners having a
smaller radius of curvature. As mentioned above, this shape is
preferred because it provides a strong container and furthermore,
if necessary, cap 12 can be stored temporarily inside the con-
tainer without deformation. Importantly, the outer section of
body 14 is rotated by 90 about a vertical axis with respect to
the inner section so that the connectors 42, 44 joining the
portions 38, 40 are not adjacent to the connectors 50, 52,
joining portions 46, 48. This feature is provided to insure that
the container remains intact when it falls on its side.
Preferably, body 14 is shaped and dimensioned so that it
forms an interference fit with both the upper skirt 20 and an
upwardly extending portion of lower skirt 24.
Advantageously, the elements of the container 10 as de-
scribed above can be manufactured and shipped separately to the
customer and stored without assembly. These elements take much
less space than the assembled container and are much easier to
handle. One skilled in the art will appreciate that several
sidewall portions can be nested into each other for storage
and/or shipping.
In order to put the container together, first the body 14 is
assembled, by fitting the sidewalls into the connectors with the
outer section being formed around or placed outside the inner
section. Thereafter, the body 14 is pushed into the upper
portion of lower skirt 24 preferably until the body 14 comes into
contact with the plate 22. The container can now be filled
either directly, or alternatively, a rigid or pliable liner may
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be put inside the container to hold a particular material. After
the container is filled, top 12 is placed over and pushed down on
the body so that the skirt 20 extends over the body 14. In this
configuration, the top 12 and bottom 16 cooperate to hold body 14
together thereby, providing a strong container suitable for
holding various types of heavy materials such as liquids, powders
and so on. It has been found that containers can be made in this
manner for holding 60 gallons or more. The strut 36 insures that
bottom 16 does not collapse even under heavy loads. The cutouts
26 form a space in bottom 16 to allow the handling of a filled
container by mechanized means such as a fork lift for example,
for loading the container on a truck, or for stacking.
In order to insure the integrity of the container, and
especially to insure that the connectors do not open under
internal or external forces, a strap 60 may be mounted on body 14
as shown. Once the strap 60 is wound around the body 14, its
ends may be secured by a standard locking clip 62. The strap 60
may be made of plastic or maybe metallic.
Finally, since containers are frequently stored on surfaces
which may be wet at times, and since fibrous materials may be
weakened structurally when wet, the bottom 16 is protected by
dipping it into a wax, or other water repellent material to form
a coating, as shown somewhat exaggerated, at 64 (Figure 4).
Obviously numerous modifications can be made to the
invention without departing from its scope as defined in the
appended claims.
