Stackable container assembly with reciprocal locking of the stacked containers

A container assembly, with at least one stackable container which has a bottom part with an opening, and a lid assigned to the opening of the bottom part and movable relative to the bottom part for either opening or closing the opening, and designed for the vertical stacking of several containers in such a way that the lid of a lower container comes to lie between the bottom part of the lower container and an upper container positioned immediately above, wherein the at least one stackable container is provided with at least one connecting device which has a movable connecting means, by which the bottom parts of containers resting directly on top of one another may be connected releasably together to obtain a container unit comprised of several containers, and wherein the movable connecting means is mounted on the lid of the container and, to connect the container to a container placed on top of it, may be moved relative to the lid into a connected position in which it is simultaneously in connecting engagement with the bottom parts of both stacked containers, and

• wherein a first engaging structure is provided on the top side of the lid, and a second engaging structure is provided on the underside of the bottom part, whereby the two engaging structures are so matched to one another that, when two containers are resting on top of one another, the first engaging structure lying on top of the lower container, and the second engaging structure lying below of the upper container, engage in one another in such a way that the two containers are on the one hand secured against shifting relative to one another at right-angles to the stacking direction and on the other hand, due to rear-engaging elements of the engaging structures engaging from behind at right-angles to the stacking direction, there exists between the containers a locking which prevents lifting of the upper container from the lower container only in certain areas, so that the upper container may be swiveled up around the locking area defined by the rear-engaging elements, whereby the connecting device or devices is or are arranged with clearance from the locking area and, in the connected position of its coupling means, prevent the upper container from being swiveled up from the lid of the lower container, and
• wherein the first engaging structure comprises engaging recesses located on the top side of the container, and the second engaging structure comprises engaging projections located on the underside of the container, while the container has distributed on its underside several downwards projecting feet which belong to the second engaging structure and form at least partly its elements, and
• wherein at least one foot is designed as a locking foot forming a rear-engaging element of the second engaging structure, and at least one other foot is located with clearance from the locking foot in the area of the container capable of swiveling upwards, and forms a pure support foot not used for vertical locking, and
• wherein the second engaging structure has two locking feet spaced apart and each forming a rear-engaging element, and
• wherein, between the two locking feet, there extends a locking strip which, in the stacked condition of two containers is also in locking engagement with the rear-engaging elements of the first engaging structure.

A container assembly, with at least one stackable container which has a bottom part with an opening, and a lid assigned to the opening of the bottom part and movable relative to the bottom part for either opening or closing the opening, and designed for the vertical stacking of several containers in such a way that the lid of a lower container comes to lie between the bottom part of the lower container and an upper container positioned immediately above, wherein the at least one stackable container is provided with at least one connecting device which has a movable connecting means, by which the bottom parts of containers resting directly on top of one another may be connected releasably together to obtain a container unit comprised of several containers, and wherein the movable connecting means comprises:

• a rotating locking bolt mounted on the lid, the locking bolt being rotatable with respect to the lid between a connected position and an open position;
• first and second anchoring means provided on the bottom part to interact with the rotating locking bolt, the first and second anchoring means being spaced apart in the stacking direction of the container, whereby the first anchoring means are disposed closer to the lid than the second anchoring means in such a way that, when the rotating locking bolt is in the connected position, the rotating locking bolt of the lower of two stacked containers is simultaneously in connecting engagement with the first anchoring means provided on the bottom part of the lower container and with the second anchoring means provided on the bottom part of the upper container, and, when the rotating locking bolt is in the open position, the rotating locking bolt is entirely out of connecting engagement with the first anchoring means provided on the bottom part of the lower container for releasing the locking between the lid and the bottom part, while the rotating locking bolt is still in engagement with the lid;
• and
• a pivot pin extending outwardly from a front face of the lid, the pivot pin defining a rotation axis for the rotating locking bolt and the rotating locking bolt being rotatably mounted on the pivot pin,
• wherein the rotating locking bolt comprises a plurality of locking slots adapted for engagement with the anchoring means of the bottom part, the locking slots being spaced apart from one another on a common circular arc, the center of the circular arc being the rotation axis defined by the pivot pin, and
• wherein the rotating locking bolt has three locking bolt arms defining a T-shape, each arm having one of the plurality of locking slots.

A container assembly with at least one stackable container designed for the vertical stacking of several containers, the at least one stackable container comprising:

• a bottom part defining an opening;
• a lid attached to the bottom part adjacent the opening, the lid being movable relative to the bottom part for either opening or closing the opening in such a way that the lid of a lower container comes to lie between the bottom part of the lower container and an upper container positioned immediately above upon vertical stacking of several containers;
• a rotating locking bolt mounted on the lid, the locking bolt being rotatable with respect to the lid between a connected position, a semi-connected position and a closed position;
• and
• anchoring means provided on the bottom part to interact with the rotating locking bolt,
• wherein, when the rotating locking bolt is in the connected position, the rotating locking bolt of the lower container of two stacked containers is in simultaneous connecting engagement with the anchoring means of the bottom parts of both containers, whereby the upper container and the lower container are connected releasably together to obtain a container unit, and
• wherein, when the rotating locking bolt is in the semi-connected position, the rotating locking bolt of the lower container of two stacked containers is in connecting engagement with the anchoring means of the bottom part of an upper container mounted over the assigned lid, and is simultaneously disconnected from the anchoring means of the bottom part of the lower container, so that it is possible to lift the lid of the lower container together with the upper container mounted above the lid from the bottom part of the lower container, and
• wherein, when the rotating locking bolt is in the closed position, the rotating locking bolt of the lower container of two stacked containers is disconnected from the anchoring means of the bottom part of an upper container mounted over the assigned lid, and is simultaneously in connecting engagement with the anchoring means of the bottom part of the lower container in such a way that the lid of the lower container is locked in a covering position relative to the bottom part which closes the opening of the bottom part, and
• wherein the rotating locking bolt is further rotatable to an open position, wherein, when the rotating locking bolt is in the open position, the rotating locking bolt is entirely out of connecting engagement with the anchoring means provided on the bottom part of the lower container for releasing the locking between the lid and the bottom part, while the rotating locking bolt is still in engagement with the lid.

A container assembly with at least one stackable container designed for the vertical stacking of several containers, the at least one stackable container comprising:

• a bottom part defining an opening and having a front face;
• a lid attached to the bottom part adjacent the opening, the lid having a front face and being pivotably movable relative to the bottom part about a pivot axis for either opening or closing the opening in such a way that the lid of a lower container comes to lie between the bottom part of the lower container and an upper container positioned immediately above upon vertical stacking of several containers, the pivot axis of the lid being spaced from and parallel with the front face of the bottom part and the front face of the lid;
• a rotating locking bolt mounted on the front face of the lid, the locking bolt being rotatable with respect to the lid about a rotation axis between a connected position and an open position, the rotation axis of the rotating locking bolt being perpendicular to the pivot axis of the lid;
• and
• first and second anchoring means provided on the front face of the bottom part to interact with the rotating locking bolt, the first and second anchoring means being spaced apart in the stacking direction of the container, whereby the first anchoring means is disposed closer to the lid than the second anchoring means in such a way that, when the rotating locking bolt is in the connected position, the rotating locking bolt of the lower of two stacked containers is simultaneously in connecting engagement with the first anchoring means provided on the bottom part of the lower container and with the second anchoring means provided on the bottom part of the upper container, and, when the rotating locking bolt is in the open position, the rotating locking bolt is entirely out of connecting engagement with the first anchoring means provided on the bottom part of the lower container for releasing the locking between the lid and the bottom part, while the rotating locking bolt is still in engagement with the lid.