Container pallet, module and rack and related methods

A container pallet or battery cell framework comprising a lattice of walled cells for receiving and/or supporting a plurality of tessellatable containers in a close packed arrangement where side walls of the containers contact each other, in which each walled cell has a profile of or approximating a polygon that is tessellatable with itself or one or more other polygons, and one of:

• each walled cell includes a lower side wall and an upper side wall, and the upper side wall is inset from the lower side wall in a direction towards a central axis of the walled cell;
• or
• each walled cell includes a container receiving surface and a lower side wall extending away from the container receiving surface, each walled cell having a central axis, and at least one retaining lip is provided around a periphery of the container pallet or battery cell framework.

A container pallet module or battery cell framework module for tessellation and assembly with one or more other modules into a container pallet or battery cell framework, the module comprising a walled cell having a profile of or approximating a polygon that is tessellatable with itself or one or more other polygons, the walled cell including a lower side wall and upper side wall, in which the upper side wall is inset from the lower side wall in a direction towards a central axis of the walled cell, and the module includes side wall connection means for allowing connection of the module to at least one additional module.

A method of assembling a container pallet or battery cell framework for a plurality of tessellated containers, the steps comprising:

• providing a plurality of container pallet modules or battery cell framework modules as claimed in claim 3;
• and
• connecting or securing the modules together.

A rack for a plurality of containers in a tessellated or pseudo-tessellated arrangement, comprising a base, a first side wall extending from the base, a second side wall extending from the base, the second side wall opposing the first side wall, a front, and a rear opposing the front, in which

• the first side wall includes a first corrugated face opposing the second side wall, and/or the second side wall includes a second corrugated face opposing the first side wall, and
• the base includes a base face extending between the first and second side walls from at or adjacent to the first and/or second corrugated faces, in which the base face and each corrugated face together define a surface profile for conforming to at least some sides of the tessellated or pseudo-tessellated arrangement of containers, in which a cross-section of the surface profile remains substantially identical or constant in a direction extending from the front to the rear of the rack for conforming to the arrangement of containers.

A method of packing or securing a plurality of tessellatable containers using at least two container pallets or battery cell frameworks, each container pallet or battery cell framework including a lattice of cells arranged in a plane, the method comprising the steps of:

• locating a bottom end of each container in the plurality of containers to a topside of a respective cell of a first container pallet or battery cell framework;
• and
• locating undersides of cells of a second container pallet or battery cell framework to respective top ends of the plurality of containers, to sandwich the plurality of containers between the container pallets or battery cell frameworks.