US2994457A - Stacking and nesting box - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 1, 1961 L. FORNAS STACKING AND NESTING BOX 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 20, 1959 INVENTOR. LEW A. Ear/45' KTTIF/VE)?! Aug. 1, 1961 L. L. FbRNAs 2,994,457

STACKING AND NESTING BOX Filed Aug. 20. 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. LfV/ L. Fay/W5 fizz,

2,994,457 STACKING AND NESTING BGX Levi L. Fornas, North Hollywood, Calif. (11776 Laurel Crest Drive, Studio City, Calif.) Filed Aug. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 835,032 8 Claims. (Cl. 220-97) The present invention relates to an open top box or container which is adapted to be either nested within or stacked upon another identical box or container.

One object of the invention is to provide a stacking and nesting box formed of flexible sheet material but which is nevertheless capable of accommodating relatively heavy loads.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a stacking and nesting box made of lightweight flexible material and whose load carrying capacity is determined by the geometry of the box, rather than merely by the inherent strength and rigidity of the material from which the box is formed.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a container embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the container of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of two of the containers of the invention, one being superimposed upon the other in a nesting relationship;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of two of the containers of the invention, one being stacked upon the other;

FIGURE 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the nested containers of FIGURE 3 taken on the line 5-5 thereof;

FIGURE 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the nested containers of FIGURE 3 taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the stacked containers of FIGURE 4 taken on the line 77 thereof; and

FIGURE 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of the stacked containers of FIGURE 4 taken on the line 8-3 of FIGURE 7.

Referring now to the drawings it will be seen that the single box or container illustrated in FIGURES l and 2 is designated by the letter A, while the nestably superimposed box of FIGURES 3, 5 and 6 is designated by the letter B and the stackably superimposed box of FIGURES 4, 7 and 8 is designated by the letter C. Since all of the boxes are identical, like parts are identified throughout by like reference numerals, hence in the ensuing description reference will be made to one of the boxes A, B or C only wherever a cooperative relationship of two of the boxes is involved in the description.

The box or container of the invention is integrally formed of flexible sheet material which is preferably a gum plastic such as rubber-base styrene. When made of material of this type the box or container is formed by stretching a flat sheet of the material which has previously been heated to a formable temperature, the stretching of the material being guided by male and female dyes which restrict the shape assumed by the more significant portions of the ultimate structure, and the material then being allowed to cool after the forming process is completed. In accordance with the invention boxes or containers made by the above process require only a relatively small amount of the plastic material for their construction, and consequently have a relatively thin wall structure which is substantially of uniform thickness throughout. While the invention is not necessarily restricted to the use of the type of ma- Patented Aug. 1., 1961 terial as described above, nor to the forming process described above, it Will nevertheless be understood that this material and this process have been utilized in forming the presently preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustrated herein.

Referring now to the drawings it will be seen that the box or container of the invention comprises a body integrally formed of flexible sheet material and including a substantially flat bottom 10, upwardly diverging sidewalls 12 and 13, and upwardly diverging endwalls 14, 15. inwardly deformed portions of sidewall 12 provide upwardly tapered posts 21, 22 therein, while inwardly deformed portions of sidewall 13 provide upwardly tapered posts 23, 24. The sidewalls 12, 13 and endwalls 14, 15 are adapted to receive the corresponding walls of a superimposed identical box in nesting relationship, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 5, 6.

When the upper box is to be stacked rather than nested it is turned in end-for-end relationship, as shown in FIGURE 4. The posts of each sidewall of the underneath box A then stackably support bottom edge portions at the opposite side of the superimposed or stacked box C. Thus the post 21 of sidewall 12 of underneath box A engages a bottom edge portion 26 on the opposite side of the stackably superimposed box C, post 22 of box A supports bottom edge portion 25 of box C, post 23 of box A supports bottom edge portion 28 of box C, and post 24 of box A supports bottom edge portion 27 of box C. Thus the construction of the box or container is such that the position of each post, and the position of the bottom edge portion in the same box corresponding to the one in the stackably superimposed box which the post is to stackably support, are complementary with respect to a transverse center line drawn at the longitudinal center of the box. That is, each post and its corresponding bottom edge portion are the same distance from the longitudinal center of the box, but on opposite sidewalls, and in opposite directions from the longitudinal center of the box.

It therefore follows that where a post is formed on one sidewall of the box, in the complementary position on the opposite sidewall no post is formed, since the bottom edge portion of the box at that location must remain in substantially its basic rectangular form in order to be stackably supported by the corresponding post of an underneath box. Although only one configuration of the posts is illustrated herein, it will be evident that other positioning arrangements could be utilized. For example, the positions of posts 22 and 23 could be transposed with the positions of bottom edge portions 28 and 25, respectively.

A continuous bead 30 extends around the entire upper edge of the side and endwalls of the box. An enlargement 31a of the bead provides a handle portion above endwall 14 while a similar enlargement 31b provides a handle portion above endwall 15. It will be noted that in FIGURE 3 where box B is nested within box A the handle portions 31a, 31b of the two boxes are aligned at corresponding ends of the boxes, while in FIGURE 4 where box C is stacked upon box A the handle portion 31b of box C is at the same end as handle portion 31a of box A, and vice versa.

When boxes or containers formed of relatively thin flexible sheet material are heavily loaded there is a tendency for the sides thereof to bulge outwardly. Stacking is required when the boxes or containers are loaded, rather than when they are empty, and outward bulging of the sidewalls of an underneath container makes the proper stacking of one or more superimposed containers very difficult. According to the present invention this problem is solved not by the use of excessive bulk of the material from which the box or container is formed,

but rather by means of the geometry of the boxor container itself. More specifically, interengaging locking means are provided-on the tops of the posts, and in the bottom edge portions of the boxes or'containers, for inhibiting horizontal movement of the stackably supported superimposed box while simultaneously restraining the sidewalls of the underneath box from bulging outwardly.

Details of construction of the posts, the locking means on the tops of the posts, and the locking means in the corresponding bottom edge portions of the box or container, in accordance with the presently preferred form of the invention, will now be described.

Each post includes a flat inner wall 35 which is displaced inwardly of the box relative to the main portion of the side wall but is substantially parallel thereto. The lower end of the post is provided with vertically disposed flat sidewalls 36, 37, which extend upwardly only a fraction of the height of the box, and terminate in corresponding fiat shoulder portions 36a, 37a respectively. Inwardly tapered sidewalls 38, 39 rise upwardly from shoulders 36a, 37a, respectively. The upper end of inner wall 35 terminates in a point or projection 45, the elevation of which is somewhat below that of bead 30. A flat ledge 41 extends horizontally inwardly from bead 30 and joins a vertical wall section 42 which extends downwardly somewhat below the elevation of projection 45. A flat trough bottom 43 extends from wall 42 most of the way toward inner wall 35, and then joins a sloped wall 44 which extends upwardly to merge with the upper end of wall 35 and thus provide the projection 45.

The locking means at each bottom edge portion 25-28, inclusive, is provided by an inverted trough 47 having sufficient length to receive the corresponding projection 45 of an underneath box. Trough 47 has one longitudinal edge 48 which joins to bottom of the box, while its other longitudinal edge 49' merges with the corresponding sidewall, but at an elevation somewhat above that of bottom 10. The downward projection formed at edge 49 is therefore received upon flat trough bottom 43 of the upper end of the corresponding post of the underneath box. See FIGURE 7. The wall of trough 47 adjacent edge 49, and wall 44 of the post, provide cooperative laterally faced abutments which prevent bulging of the side wall of box A.

The shoulders 36a, 37a provide a stepped bottom portion of each post, which as specifically shown in FIGURE 6 limits the extent to which the nestably superimposed box B may be downwardly inserted within the underneath box A.

It is significant to note that in the stacking relationship as illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 7, 8, the locking means at the upper ends of the posts of the underneath box A and in the corresponding bottom edge portions of the superimposed box C perform a double function. One function is to firmly anchor the superimposed box C so as to cause some of the load of the underneath box A to be carried by the superimposed box C. More specifically, a heavy load of material in box A which tends to cause the side walls thereof to bulge outwardly, is partially supported by bottom 10 of the superimposed box C which is placed in tension in order to prevent the side walls of the underneath box A from spreading apart.

Various modifications of my invention other than the form specifically illustrated herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A stacking and nesting box comprising a body integrally formed of relatively thin flexible sheet material and having a substantially fiat bottom, upwardly diverging side and end walls,a plurality of inwardly deformed portions of each side wall providing upwardly tapered posts, said side and end walls being adapted to receive the corresponding walls of a superimposed identical box in nesting relationship, the posts of each side wall being adapted to stackably support opposite side bottom edge portions of an identical box when superimposed in reversed end-for-end relationship, and complementary projection and trough locking means disposed in the top of and adjacent the base of the posts of said box, and adapted, when two of said boxes are supported one on the other, to be engageable with their complement on the other box to connect the top of the supporting box to the bottom lateral edges of the supported box so as to simultaneously inhibit the horizontal movement of the supported box and the outward movement of the side walls of the supporting box.

2. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 1 in which said locking means are provided with cooperative laterally faced abutments.

3. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 2 in which said locking means in said bottom edge portions are socketed and said locking means on the tops of said posts are projected to be accommodated in said iocketed means of a stackably superimposed identical 4. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said posts has a stepped base portion for limiting the extent to which a nestably superimposed identical box may be inserted within said box.

5. A stacking and nesting box comprising a body integrally formed of flexible plastic sheet material and having a substantially flat bottom, upwardly diverging side and end walls, a plurality of inwardly deformed portions of each side wall providing upwardly tapered posts extending to just below the top of the side wall, said side and end walls being adapted to receive the corresponding walls of a superimposed identical box in nesting relationship, each of said posts being positioned to correspond to a straight section of the opposite side wall an equal and opposite distance from the longitudinal center of the box so as to engage the corresponding bottom edge portion of an identical box when stacked upon said box in reversed end-for-end relationship, and complementary projection and trough locking means disposed in the tops of said posts and in the bottom edge portions adjacent the bases of said posts, and adapted, when two of said boxes are supported one on the other, to be engageable with their complement on the other box to connect the top of the supporting box to the bottom edge portions of the supported box so as to simultaneously inhibit the horizontal movement of the supported box and the outward movement of the side walls of the supporting box.

6. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 5 in which said interlock means are provided with cooperative laterally faced abutments.

7. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 6 in which said bottom interlock means are socketed and said top interlock means are projected to be accommodated in said socketed means of a stackably superimposed identical box.

8. A stacking and nesting box as claimed in claim 5 in which each of said posts has a stepped base portion for limiting the extent to which a nestably superimposed identical box may be inserted within said box.

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