Storage bin for bulk commodities
AssigneeTw America Inc.
InventorTodd Turner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A high-capacity bin for storing loose agricultural commodities, for example, fruits and vegetables, has a basket, four risers, and two foot straps. The sidewalls of the basket have a curved contour in the form of a dome with waves superimposed on the dome along the entire length of the dome, to strengthen the sidewalls against compressive, hydraulic, and buckling forces. The four risers are removably attached to the four corners of the basket, and have a webbed pattern of ridges, and valleys defined between the ridges, to stiffen the risers. The foot straps are removably retained by posts and sockets formed on the bottom of the basket.
Claims18
A storage bin for bulk commodities, the storage bin comprising:
- a basket having four corners and a bottom and adapted to store bulk commodities, the basket comprising a floor, four sidewalls rising from the floor, and a rim disposed at a top portion of the four sidewalls, each of the four sidewalls having a curved contour in the form of a dome with waves superimposed on the dome along the entire length of the dome.
A kit for constructing a storage bin for bulk commodities, the kit comprising:
- a basket having four corners and a bottom and adapted to store bulk commodities, the basket comprising a floor, four sidewalls rising from the floor, and a rim disposed at a top portion of the four sidewalls, each of the four sidewalls having a curved contour in the form of a dome with waves superimposed on the dome along the entire length of the dome, four corner rim sockets formed in the rim of the basket, four corner posts disposed on the bottom of the basket, and four side sockets disposed on the bottom of the basket between the corner posts;
- four risers removably attachable to the four corners of the basket, each of the four risers comprising a pillar portion and a riser post portion disposed atop the pillar portion, the riser post portions adapted to be received and removably retained in the corner rim sockets;
- and
- two foot straps, each of the foot straps comprising a first foot socket, a foot post, and a second foot socket, the first foot socket and second foot socket disposed at respective ends of the foot strap, the foot post disposed at the center of the foot strap, and a first strap member connecting the first foot socket with the foot post, and the second strap member connecting the second foot socket with the foot post, the first foot socket and second foot socket adapted to receive and removably retain corner posts of the basket, the foot post adapted to be received and removably retained in the side sockets of the basket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.