Container having a downwardly pivotable ramp wall, and method

A landscaping storage bin for transporting and storing bulk material at a site on a ground surface (S), comprising:

• (a) a rectangular storage bin body (2) containing a chamber (C) having bottom (4), side (6, 8) and rear end (10) walls, said chamber being open at its front end, said rear end wall containing an access opening (12);
• (b) roller means (17) for supporting said bin body with said chamber bottom wall arranged at a given distance above the ground surface;
• (c) a rectangular vertical ramp wall (20) having a horizontal lower edge connected with said bottom wall at said bin body front end for pivotal displacement about a horizontal pivot axis (18) arranged at said given height above the ground surface, said ramp wall being pivotally displaceable between:
• (1) a vertical first position at least partially closing said chamber front end, and
• (2) a downwardly inclined second position in which the horizontal free second edge of said ramp wall engages the ground surface,
• (3) the width of said ramp wall and the spacing distance between said side walls being such that when said ramp wall is in said downwardly inclined second position, an unloading vehicle may be driven up said ramp wall for engagement with the bulk material contained within said chamber, and down said ramp wall to remove the bulk material from said chamber;
• (d) motor means (22) for displacing said ramp wall between said vertical first position and said downwardly inclined second position;
• (e) a first connecting member (40) mounted on said storage bin body front end, whereby when said bin body is arranged on a tilt bed vehicle with the bin body front end adjacent the forward end of the vehicle, the bin body may be deposited by gravity rear-end-first from the tilt bed under the control of a flexible control member (56) connected with said first connecting member;
• (f) first locking means (30) operable when said ramp wall is in said vertical position for locking the vertical end portions of said ramp wall to the associated bin body side walls, respectively;
• (g) a vertical rectangular access door (14) having a first vertical edge portion hingedly connected with said rear wall access opening, thereby to afford pivotal movement of said access door between closed and open positions about a vertical axis relative to said access opening;
• and
• (h) second locking means (32) for locking the other vertical edge of said access door with said rear end wall when said access door is in said closed position.