Shipping crate for unitized packages

Jan. 25, 1966 j. s. kean, sr 3,231,084

SHIPPING CRATE FOR UNITIZED PACKAGES

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Jan. 25, 1966

J. S. KEAN, SR

3,231,084

SHIPPING CRATE FOR UNITIZED PACKAGES

Filed May 27, 1963

Sheets-Sheet 2

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INVENTOR.

BY

ATTORNEYS

United States Patent Office _Patenled rulvlHcU «J Cl XI· 40} X *7OU

3,231,084

SHIPPING CRATE FOR UNITIZED PACKAGES James S. Kean, Sr., Toledo, Ohio, assignor to LibbeyOwens-Ford Glass Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio

Filed May 27,1963, Ser. No. 283,218 3 Claims. (Cl. 206—62)

The present invention relates to the transporting of packaged sheet materials, such as sheets or plates of glass and the like, and has for its principal object the provision of an improved shipping crate for the transportation of a plurality of unitized packages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reuseable shipping crate of the above character which can be assembled and disassembled with a minimum amount of handling and expense.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shipping crate of the above character formed of readily assembled component parts and which can be safely supported in stacked relation with one or more like shipping crates.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shipping crate for shipping flat sheets of glass or other frangible material contained in a plurality of cartons supported on edge side by side in vertically disposed rows and effectively secured against movement relative to one another during shipment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent during the course of the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shipping crate, constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the shipping crate partially packed with cartons;

FIG. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the shipping crate;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a corner area of the shipping crate;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of two shipping crates arranged in stacked relation;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a disassembled shipping crate; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of shipping crate.

With reference to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a shipping crate constructed in accordance with the invention and designated in its entirety by the numeral 15. The crate comprises essentially a substantially rectangular base 16 and component framing members, generally designated by the numeral 17, carried by said base. As viewed in FIG. 1, the shipping crate 15 is adapted to contain a plurality of cartons 18, containing sheets or plates of glass or other frangible material arranged on edge one above another on the base 16 in two vertically disposed rows.

More particularly, the base 16 is formed by two horizontally disposed spaced, parallel wooden bars 19 and 20, each being provided with spaced, substantially square spacer blocks 21, 22 and 23 which are attached to the undersurface of each wooden bar as by nailing. The spacer blocks 21, 22 and 23 are of sufficient height to maintain the bars 19 and 20 of the base 16 above the floor or other supporting surface, or above a crate therebeneath as will be hereinafter described, so that the forks of a conventional lift truck can be conveniently inserted therebetween for handling purposes. In this connection, it will be noted that when a crate is carried by a lift truck, the entire weight is supported by the support bars 19 and 20.

The wooden support bars 19 and 20 are transversely spaced apart in parallel relation according to the length of the cartons 18 as shown in FIG. 2. This distance is structurally maintained by relatively thin wooden slats 25 secured to the bottom surfaces of the opposed pairs of spacer blocks 21-23.

The framing members 17 consist of vertically disposed metal angle members 26, 27, 28 and 29 arranged at the opposite ends of the wooden base bars 19 and 20 to form the corner posts of the crate, with horizontal end members 30 and 31 and side members 32 and 33, of the same angular formation, being attached to the upper ends of the posts. It is to be noted that the corner posts, the end members and side members are formed of metal angle stock having angularly disposed leg portions a and b. Each of the leg portions 26α, 27α, 28α and 29α as well as the leg portions 26b, 27b, 28b and 29b are provided adjacent their upper ends with aligned and alternately arranged circular openings or holes 34 and elongated openings 35. The leg portions 30α, 31α, 32α and 33α of the respective end and side members 30, 31, 32 and 33 are provided with similarly arranged openings 34 and slots 35 adjacent each of their ends. In the assembly of the various members, as in FIG. 4, selective registration of the circular and slotted openings permits desired adjustments in spacing to be made between the end and/or side members and the corner posts before they are rigidly secured together such as by means of bolts passing through the registered openings, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the partially assembled crate illustrated in FIG. 2, each of the upright posts 26, 27, 28 and 29 has been secured at its lower end, as by nailing, to the respective supporting bar and spacer block 21 or 23 to form the corners of the crate. The corner posts 26 and 27 are thus seemed to the bars 19 and 20 and the blocks 21 at one end of the base with the leg portions 26α and 27α thereof disposed in aligned relation to one another at one end of the base bars 19 and 20 and the leg portions 26b and 27b directed along the side surfaces of the bars. This is also true with regard to the corner posts 28 and 29 at the opposite end of the base bars 19 and 20 and the spacer blocks 23 in which relation the leg portions 28α and 29α are disposed across the end surfaces of the respective base bars and with the legs 28Z&gt; and 29b along the sides thereof.

This fixed and spaced relation of the corner posts or members, as established by the length of the base bars 19 and 20 and the wooden slats 25 therebeneath, enables the ends of the endmost cartons 18 to be snugly received within and against the inner surfaces of the respective corner posts. This is clearly apparent in FIG. 2 in which the packing of an initial row of cartons 18 is illustrated.

When the desired number of cartons have been packed on edge in two vertically disposed rows, as in FIG. 1, the horizontally disposed angular end members 30 and 31 are placed between the upper ends of the transversely disposed pairs of corner posts 26-27 and 28-29. The end members are arranged with the leg portions 30α and 31α thereof against the inner surface of the respective corner posts and are secured thereagainst by means of bolt and nut fastenings 36 and 37 passed through aligned openings in the leg portions 30α and 31α of the end members and the transversely disposed leg portions 26α, 27α, 28α and 29α of the corner posts. Due to the provision of the circular openings 34 and the elongated openings 35 in these leg portions, the respective pairs of corner posts are brought into relatively firm engagement

3,231,084

Ο with the end surfaces of the endmost cartons 18 while the leg portions 306 and 316 of the end members are forced downwardly onto the top surfaces of the cartons before the nuts 37 are tightened on the bolts 36.

The cartons 18 in the upper row are also compactly held together by means of the horizontally disposed side members 32 and 33 which extend between the corner posts 26-28 and 27-29 and are secured thereto by bolt and nut fastenings 38 and 39. As in the case of the corner posts and the end members 30 and 31, the arrangement of the circular openings 34 and slotted or elongated openings 35 at each end of the vertically disposed legs 32α and 33α of the side members and upper ends of the longitudinally disposed legs 266 and 286 and 276 and 296 of the respective corner posts insures that the upper layer of cartons will be positively retained in side by side relation between the several corner posts when the nuts 39 are tightened on the bolts 38. Additionally, the horizontally disposed leg portions 326 and 336 of the side members 32 and 33 cooperate with the similarly disposed leg portions of the end members 30 and 31 to maintain the cartons from objectionable upward dislodgement.

A band 40 of suitable strapping material is located around the several upright corner posts 26-29 to further secure the cartons 18 in the first or lower row in compact relation and also prevent lateral movement of the more centrally located cartons. The ends of the band 40 are secured by a clamping unit 41 which further serves to reinforce the lower portion of the crate from objectionable expansion or transverse spreading which could occur if the slats 25 should become inadvertently damaged and broken.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, securing of the several framing members is made on the vertically disposed surfaces thereof by the bolt and nut fastenings 36-37 between the vertical corner posts 26-27 and 28-29 and horizontal transversely disposed end members 30 and 31 as well as the similar fastenings 38-39 between the vertical corner posts and the longitudinally disposed side members 32 and 33. This affords an unobstructed top surface whereby, as viewed in FIG. 5, the slats 25 attached to the spacer blocks of a second shipping crate 15α can be firmly located on the top surface of a first crate. Also since the longitudinal side members 32 and 33 at each side of a completed crate are the last ones to be secured, the several slats 25 of the uppermost crate 15α are supported on a substantially horizontal surface provided by the leg portions 326 and 336 thereof. It will be appreciated that while the solidarity of the contained cartons adds materially to the supporting of a vertically disposed load, the rigidity of the upright corner posts 26-29 at the comers of each crate more importantly serves to sustain the weight of the upper crate or crates.

The shipping crate of this invention can be readily assembled for use according to the required number of cartons to be formed as a unitized package. Thus, the transverse members, such as the slats 25 and the end members 30-31, can be readily proportioned to the length of the cartons 18, while the length of the base wooden bars 19 and 20 and the longitudinal side members 32-33 can be varied to suit the number of cartons comprising each row; such number depending upon the type of transportation, as by railroad car or truck, by which the crate will be carried while in transit. By way of example, the longitudinal dimension of a shipping crate such as is illustrated in FIG. 1, is suitable for the location of two crates cross-wise on the bed of a transport truck. By reducing this longitudinal dimension as by the elimination of at least two cartons from each layer, a shipping crate of the same assembled character can be loaded into a railroad car in transverse rows of three crates. As aforementioned, these shipping crates are adapted to convenient stacking before being transported or in areas of general distribution.

An additional advantageous feature of the invention is realized in the collapsibility or disassembly aspects of the shipping crate for return and repeated use. To this end, the relatively inexpensive wooden slats 25 can be removed from the support blocks 21-23 and the end members 30-31 removed from the upper ends of the corner posts. As viewed in FIG. 6, the positions of the corner posts are reversed to locate the leg portions 6 against one another as well as the leg portions a of the side members 32 and 33. Thus, the corner post 27, side member 32 and corner post 29 are placed against the related corner posts 26 and 28 and the side member 33 and secured together by suitable metal bands 42. At the lower end of the disassembled crate, the base bars 19 and 20 are similarly tied together by bands 43. The initially removed end members 30 and 31 can then be placed as shown against the inner surfaces of one of the corner posts and secured by the bolts and nuts 36 and 37 passed through the openings 34 and 35 in the adjacent leg portions of the corner post and end members. Upon subsequent replacement of the lower wooden slats 25 to the support blocks, the crate can be readily reassembled.

In FIG. 7 is shown a slightly modified form of crate in which the side members 32-33 are not employed and the cartons in the upper row are held in closely packed relation by a band of strapping material 44 girding the vertical corner posts 26, 27, 28 and 29 of the crate in the same manner as the previously described band 40 located therebeneath. Shipping crates of this modified character can also be employed for the safe transportation of cartons containing sheets or plates of glass, and are also adapted to be temporarily stacked one upon another in the manner disclosed in FIG. 5.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred embodiments of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.