AU641548B2

AU641548B2 - Stackable container

Info

Publication number: AU641548B2
Application number: AU84560/91A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Tom Vanovac
Original assignee: DUBRAVKA BODULOVIC
Current assignee: Bodulovic Dubravka
Priority date: 1991-09-18
Filing date: 1991-09-18
Publication date: 1993-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 2011-09-18
Also published as: AU8456091A

Description

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P/00/011 Form PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

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17 7 17 1 FTZ77-v- I I I _1 26o-I V kN VA-e' M PSOoi 1 IRF)V KA 800OL 16 WAri*L P4) f)c-r at7 'LV Complete Specification for the invention entitled: The followin~ statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:-.1 Note: The description isto be typed in double spacing, pica type face, in an area not exceeding 250 mm In depth and 160 mm In widtih, on tough white paper of good quality end it is to be Inserted inside this form.

1 4599/78- L Printed by C. J. Ttiompso"', Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra The present invention relates to improvements in packaging for liquid and granular goods and particularly for dangerous goods.

In the past the transportation storage and disposal of used containers has been a problem particularly in the chemical industry The inside surfaces of an empty container are invariably coated ith a residue of the **so material stored in it and in the case of dangerous *0 goods the empty container is often also potentially 10 hazardous The usual methods of container disposal such as dumping burning or pulverising do not effectively eliminate this hazard and often act to concentrate or release the hazardous residue Empty containers have also been expensive to transport because of their relatively high volume to weight ratio 000 o 00 The invention thereby enables efficient reuse of containers and their economical packing for return to '0*0 the contents manufacturer or packer or to a container recycling station for cleaning detoxification and reuse Naturally non-dangerous goods may also be stored in these containers It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved storage container which overcomes or substantially ameliorates at least some of the deficiencies of the prior art Accordingly the invention provides a stackable and nestable container comprising a substantially hollow tapered container shell handle means and a pouring means disposed on or adjacent the narrower top end of the shell a removable container base releasably engageable *g 10 with the wider b6ttom end of the shells and a clamping means adapted releasably to lock the shell and the base o.o ,together In one preferred form of the invention the shell and the base are releasably connected by complementary screw and thread portions In other forms the invention requires no threads between the container shell and the container base In such cases the seal may for S example comprise a clamp and a suitable gasket In another form of the invention two gaskets are provided, 20 one at the outside of the thread and one at the inside of the thread for a double seal as shown in Fig. 13.

Another preferred form of this invention incorporates a second thread and captive gasket in the bottom of the container base This enables one container base to screw into another container base for a hermetic seal as shown in Fig. 14.

The components of the container may be made of any combination of suitable materials such as mouldud plastic or metal depending on container size and the required chemical resistance The gaskets may be made of any 10 suitable material such as neoprene rubber or any other compatible material which possesses the necessary resiliance and chemical resistance properties *e To assist with understanding the invention a preferred embodiment of the inventior will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which o S Fig. 1 shows one example of a container according to this invention; Fig. 2 shows an exploded view of the container of 20 figure 1; Fig. 3 shows a vertical section through the container; Fig. 4 shows a side view of the container; Fig. 5 shows the top view of the container; Fig. 6 shows the bottom view of the container; Fig. 7 shows the top view of the base of the container; Fig. 8 shows the principle of vertical stacking of assembled containers whether full or empty; Fig. 9 shows an example of the method of connection between the tapered drum shell and the base of the container; Fig. 10 shows the method of connection between two nested tapered container shells; o 10 Fig. 11 shows the principle of vertical nesting of disassembled container components according to this invention; Fig. 39 shows an example of vertical nesting of disassembled container components incorporating base elements which connect together; Fig. 13 shows an example of the connection between the tapered container shell and the container base incorporating a double gasket seal; Fig. 14 shows an example of the method of connection between two container base elements; Fig. 15 shows the principle of packing disassembled container base elements into a separate sealed container; Referring firstly to Fig. 2 of the drawings it can be seen that the stackable container according to this invention comprises a hollow tapered container shell in the shape of a truncated cone with a handle and a pouring 5 cap on the top a removable circular container base and a lever clamp which locks the shell and the base together The container shell is tapered in a frusto-conical fashion to permit close nesting of one container shell 10 into the other The angle of the conical taper is such '00* that it permits full but loose nesting of a plurality of o0 0 0 0,0 like shells having regard to the relevant shell wall Smaterial thickness The inside angle of the conical taper will vary with the thickness of the container shell wall.

STwo integral projecting rings and at the base of o the conical container shell prevent the nested shells 0ee from jamming together afford additional stiffness to *0 the lower container rim and provide a grip for the circumferential lever clamp when the container shells are nested The lower projecting ring has a number of notches for gripping the container shell during assembly and disassembly of the container The handle is attached to the container shell with a pinned connection to enable the handle to fold flat for stacking and nesting of the containers and their components The pouring cap is also recessed below the top plane of the container shell to improve the stability of the container stack The container base is indented so as to match the shape of the top of the container shell when two or more containers are stacked vertically as shown in Fig. 8.

c*o* 10 The container base incorporates two keyways which are 00 used for gripping the base during assembly and 0 0000 disassembly of the container The base also has a pattern of radial corrugations (10) for rigidity The inside corner of the container base is rounded for ease of c-leaning and reinforced with radial ribs (11) to enhance the rigidity of the clamped joint between the container shell and the container base.

The seal between container shell and base is accomplished by means of complementary interengageable screw threads 00 20 formed on the respective elements and a captive gasket (13) disposed therebetween A circumferential lever clamp is also used to apply additional pressure on the gasket seal and prevent the separation of the threaded connection.

8 An integral vertically projecting ring (14) on the container base provides additional lateral stiffness at the clamped joint.

In the nested configuration, as shown in Fig. 10 the outer of a pair of nesting container shells seals with its captive gasket (13) against the projecting ring (6) on the outside surface of the inner container shell thus confining the contents residue within the nested shells In this nested configuration the container shells are 10 clamped with the same lever clamps as used to lock shells and bases together on assembled containers.

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0 In the case of dangerous contents or contents which necessitate specialised treatment of used containers the bases of disassembled containers can be packed into a 15 separate sealed container of a similar type but larger

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size for transport to a recycling station as shown in Fig. Although, the invention has been described with reference 04 to specific examples it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms

Claims

1. A stackable and nestable container comprising a substantially hollow tapered container shell handle means and a pouring means disposed on or adjacent the narrower top end of the shell a removable container base releasably engageable with the wider bottom end of the shells and a clamping means adapted releasably to lock the shell and the base together

2. The stackable and nestable container of claim 1 10 wherein the container shell is generally frusto-conical in the shape of a truncated 4 *e 9 •multi-faceted prismatic cone. 44

3. The stackable and nestable container of any one of claims 1 to 2 wherein the container shell and the S15 container base are connected and sealed by means of a 4 threaded connection a gasket and a clamp .I.

4. The stackable and nestable container of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the container shell incorporates *4 integral projecting rings at the bottom of the 20 container shell for gripping engagement with the clamp when the container shells are nested. The stackable and nestable container of any one of claims 1 to 4 further including lever means to facilitate manual tightening of the circumferential clamp

6. The stackable and nestable container of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the circumferential clamp utilizes a tightening system comprising a threaded bolt passing through eyelets in the ends of the clamp tightened with a standard nut or a wingnut *car 10 7. The stackable and nestable container of any one of *6 claims 1 to 6 wherein the handle is pin jointed and folds into a horizontal position when the containers i are stacked or nested

8. The stackable and nestable container of any one of 15 claims 1 to 6 wherein the container shell comprises an integral non-folding handle 4J4*

9. The stackable and nestable container of any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the container base is indented to match the shape of the top of the container shell when two like containers are stacked vertically. stackable and nestable container of any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the ring at the bottom of the container shell comprises notches and the container base comprises parallel flat keyways all of which are used for gripping the container during assembly and disassembly

11.The stackable and nestable container of any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein the container base comprises radial reinforcement in the form of corrugations or a 10 ribs Ni Os 0

12.The stackable and nestable container of any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the container base comprises a n second matchir thread to allow the top of one container base to be screwed to the bottom of another @**see 15 container base O 0 a S *i

13.A stackable and nestable container substantially as 0* herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. t. j) d S1 Dated this day 1991. 'DubrcrikcV 8kockud1*40