Plastic corrugated container with sealed edges
AssigneeORBIS Corporation
InventorWilliam F. McMahon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A reusable plastic container is provided. The container includes a plastic container body having opposing side panels and opposing end panels. The container body also includes top side panel flaps attached to a top portion of each side panel, and bottom side panel flaps attached to a bottom portion of each side panel. The container body has top end panel flaps attached to a top portion of each end panel, and bottom end panel flaps attached to a bottom portion of each end panel. The top and bottom side panel flaps are each defined with respect to the side panels by a fold line. The fold lines including at least one scored portion and at least one welded portion.
Claims19
A blank for forming a reusable plastic container including a manufacturer's joint comprising:
- a multilayer corrugated plastic sheet having a first planar outer layer, a second planar outer layer and plurality of spaced apart ribs between the first planar outer layer and the second planar outer layer, the sheet having a first thickness, a first plurality of side panels connected together along fold lines, the plastic sheet has a first lateral edge having a second thickness and a second lateral edge opposed to the first lateral edge having a third thickness, the sheet is folded onto itself and a portion of the first lateral edge is connected to a portion of the second lateral edge along the manufacturer's joint to form a polygonal hoop where the combination of the second thickness and the third thickness is equal to the first thickness, the hoop is movable from a pre-erected condition where the hoop is flat, to an erected position where the first plurality of side panels define a chamber with openings at opposed ends into the chamber, the sheet also having a second plurality of end panels connected by hinges integral with the sheet to the first plurality of side panels, the second plurality of end panels are foldable from an open position where they are coplanar with the first plurality of side panels to a closed position where they seal the openings into the chamber, wherein the hinges have a memory to bias the second plurality of panels into a position coplanar with the first plurality of side panels, and wherein the hinges maintain their foldability after the container has been knocked down from the erected position into the pre-erected condition for reuse.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.