Foldable shipping container
AssigneeHoover Group, Inc.
InventorsGeorge L. Barber, Curtis P. Taylor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A foldable shipping container capable of being shipped in either a folded or erected condition. The container includes an outer container and an inner tank. The outer container is foldable upon itself so that all portions of the outer container are generally confined within the perimeter of the its base. The inner tank is also provided with a protected valve assembly located within the perimeter of the base and further includes an inflatable support which assists in the filling the inner tank.
Claims32
A foldable shipping container capable of being shipped in either a folded or erected condition, said container comprising a rectangular base, a front wall, a rear wall, a pair of side walls, and a top wall which cooperate to form a box-like outer shell when in said erected condition, said base having a perimeter defined by upright sides and including a floor pan extending generally between said sides, said top wall having a perimeter generally corresponding to said perimeter of said base, said top, rear, front and side walls being interconnected with one another to permit folding said top, rear, front and side walls into a substantially upright collapsed condition, one of said top, rear, front and side walls being pivotally mounted to said base by a pivoting means for pivoting movement of said top, rear front and side walls from said substantially upright collapsed condition to a substantially horizontal collapsed condition where said top, rear, front and side walls are generally horizontally oriented and resting on said base, said one of said top, rear front and side walls also being slidably mounted to said base by a sliding means for sliding movement of said top, rear, front and side walls while in one of said collapsed conditions thereby moving said walls in said collapsed condition relative to said base and said perimeter of said top wall at least in registry with said perimeter of said base.
A shipping container comprising an outer container enclosing an inner tank, said outer container including a base, side walls, and a top wall, said base having upright walls defining a perimeter of said base, a floor pan extending between said upright walls for supporting said inner tank thereon, portions of said floor pan defining an opening therethrough generally adjacent to one side edge of said base, a cavity defined by portions of said base generally below said floor pan and accessible through said opening, portions of one of said walls of said base defining a lateral opening into said cavity, said inner tank constructed out of a molded plastic resin and being adapted to store flowable materials therein, said inner tank including a bottom wall, a top wall and side walls, a discharge housing connected to said bottom wall generally adjacent to one of said side walls and extending downward therefrom, said discharge housing being in communication with the interior of said inner tank and including a nipple having a valve assembly mounted thereto for permitting discharging of the flowable materials from said container, said discharge housing being received in said cavity such that said valve assembly is wholly enclosed within said perimeter of said base.
A shipping container comprising an outer container enclosing an inner tank, said outer container including a base, side walls, and a top wall, said base having upright walls defining a perimeter and a floor pan extending between said upright walls for supporting said inner tank thereon, said inner tank being adapted to store flowable materials therein, said inner tank being incapable of supporting itself when empty and including a bottom wall, a top wall, side walls, a discharge port and a fill port located in said top wall, support means located within said inner tank for supporting said top wall of said inner tank above said bottom wall of said inner tank during filling of said inner tank, said top wall of said inner tank being supported by said support means a distance above said bottom wall generally corresponding to the height of said inner tank and thereby readily permitting filling of said inner tank.
A foldable shipping container capable of being shipped in either a folded or erected condition, said container comprising an outer shell and an inner tank, said outer shell having a rectangular base, a front wall, a rear wall, a pair of side walls, and a top wall which cooperate to form a box-like outer shell when in said erected condition, said base having a perimeter defined by upright sides and including a floor pan extending generally between said sides for supporting said inner tank thereon, portions of said floor pan defining an opening therethrough generally adjacent to one side of said base, a cavity defined by portions of said base generally below said floor pan and accessible through said opening, portions of one of said side of said base also defining a lateral opening into said cavity, said top wall having a perimeter generally corresponding to said perimeter of said base and being connected to said rear wall along a top edge of said rear wall for pivotal movement from a position where said top wall forms a lid over said shipping container to a position where said top wall is generally in a side-by-side location with said rear wall, said front, rear and side walls being hingedly interconnected with one another to permit folding said front, side and rear walls into an upright collapsed condition where said front wall is substantially adjacent to said rear wall and said side walls are located immediately therebetween, said rear wall being connect to said base by pivoting means for folding of said front, side and rear walls while in said collapsed condition downward upon said base into a generally horizontal collapsed condition, said rear wall also being connected to said base to permit sliding movement of said front, side and rear walls while in said collapsed condition so as to permit said perimeter of said top wall to be brought generally into registry with said perimeter of said base, said inner tank adapted to store liquids therein being positionable within said container when said container is folded or erected, said inner tank including a top wall, side walls, a bottom wall, a fill port located in said top wall and an inflatable support means secured to said fill port and located within said inner tank for supporting said top wall of said inner tank above said bottom wall of said inner tank during filling of said inner tank, said top wall being supported by said support means a distance generally corresponding to the height of said inner tank, a discharge housing connected to said bottom wall generally adjacent to one of said side walls of said inner tank, said housing extending downward therefrom and including a nipple having a valve assembly mounted thereto, said discharge housing being received in said cavity in said base such that said valve assembly is wholly enclosed within said perimeter of said base.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.