Pallet Container

The invention relates to pallet containers for liquids, with an inner container of a synthetic resin with respectively one sealable filling and discharge opening and with an outer jacket of metal attached to a flat pallet of metal or wood, wherein the pallet is adapted for manipulation by means of forklift, shelf-servicing device, or the like (DE 38 19 911 A1, DE 25 45 023 C2).

The strict environmental protection laws require changeover from one-way containers, such as pallet containers and barrels for transporting and storing liquids of varying kinds, to multiple-trip containers; conversion to containers having a larger volume with the objective of reducing the residual amounts; and the development of novel multiple-trip containers which can be reconditioned with a view toward relieving the environment of harmful substances, wherein the plastic parts of such containers contaminated by the liquid material to be transported and stored can be disposed of in optimal fashion by destruction with low pollutant generation, or even no pollutant generation, for example by burning.

The use of the pallet containers of this type as reusable containers is uneconomical on account of the high return transport costs for the empty containers to the manufacturing facilities of the liquid materials and/or the filling facilities, and due to the high storage expenses since the containers occupy a large amount of space. A further drawback of the pallet containers of this type resides in disposing of the relatively large mass of plastic of the inner container when the plastic has been contaminated by the liquid material.

The invention is based on the object of further developing the pallet container of this type with a view toward lowering the empty-transport and storage costs for use as multiple-trip containers and toward an optimum disposal of the plastic inner container.

This object has been attained according to the invention by a pallet container having the features recited in the main independent claim.

The dependent claims contain suitable embodiments of the invention.

The pallet container according to this invention is distinguished by the following advantages:

By virtue of the fact that the outer jacket and the supporting insert for the inner container are collapsible, as well as by virtue of the possibility of inverting the flexible top section into the dimensionally stable bottom section of the plastic inner container, it is feasible to stack, for empty transport, the pallets and the outer jackets together with the supporting inserts one on top of the other in flat condition, and the plastic inner containers can be stacked in nested condition. Consequently, due to the considerably reduced space requirement for the collapsed pallet containers in the empty condition as compared with the pallet containers with a filled inner container, the shipping expenses for the return transport of the pallet containers to the manufacturing and filling plants for the liquid goods, and the costs for storage of the empty pallet containers, can be considerably lowered. On account of the support provided for the plastic inner container by means of a supporting insert placed into the outer jacket of grid structure, the wall thickness of the plastic inner container can be substantially reduced and thereby the mass of plastic contaminated by paints, varnishes and similar polluting liquids can be considerably decreased so that the disposal of this plastic mass by combustion poses no problems. Finally, the pallet container, for filling with liquid material, can be simply and quickly assembled and, for empty transport and for storage, can be disassembled in a simple way.

The invention will be described in greater detail below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings in schematic views. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a frontal view of a pallet container with lattice jacket,

FIG. 2 is a top view of the pallet container according to FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged partial sectional view along line III--III of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a cross section of the inner container with the top section being inverted therein,

FIG. 5 shows a frontal view of a pallet container collapsed to a transport unit,

FIG. 6 is a frontal view of a stack of several inner containers.

The pallet container 1 according to FIGS. 1 and 2, utilized as a multiple-trip container, for the transport and storage of liquid material of various kinds comprises, as the main components, an outer jacket 2 of intersecting vertical and horizontal lattice rods 3, 4 of metal, a supporting insert 5 insertable in the outer jacket 2 for an exchangeable, thin-walled inner container 6 of a synthetic resin, preferably polyethylene, having a rectangular outline and rounded corners and being equipped with a filling fitting 7 sealable with a screw cap 8 and a drainage fitting 9 for the connection of a drainage cock 10, an upper reinforcing frame 11 exerting a lid function and made up of diagonally arranged tubular struts respectively threaded to the lattice jacket 2 in the lateral center, and a steel pallet 12 which can be manipulated by means of forklift, shelf-servicing device or the like and has length and width dimensions satisfying European standards, for carrying the inner container 6, the supporting insert 5, and the lattice jacket 2 attached to the pallet 12.

The collapsible lattice jacket 2 consists of four wall sections 2a-2d which are joined by screws or by means of hinges and are detachably mounted on the steel pallet 12.

The foldable supporting insert 5 serving for the reinforcement of the thin-walled plastic inner container 6 and made of a plastic blow-molded part exhibits four double-panel wall sections 5a-5d with smooth inner walls 13 and outer walls 14 having vertical and horizontal troughs 15, 16 for accommodating the vertical and horizontal lattice rods 3, 4, wherein the lattice rods 3, 4 are entirely integrated into the wall sections 5a-5d to form a continuous external wall plane (FIG. 3). The wall sections 5a-5d of the supporting insert 5 are joined together by means of flexible hinge parts 17 of plastic. The hinge parts 17 of the supporting insert 5 are located at the same sites as the hinges of the lattice jacket 2 so that the wall sections 5a-5d of the supporting insert 5 can be collapsed, together with the wall sections 2a-2d of the lattice jacket 2, into a flat parcel (FIG. 5).

The thin-walled plastic inner container 6 produced as a blow-molded part exhibits a rigid, dimensionally stable bottom section 18 and a flexible top section 19 that can be inverted into the bottom section 18 for stacking and shipping purposes; this top section, when a pallet container 1 is assembled, is raised up by being inflated with air or, when it is being filled, by the rising liquid (FIG. 4).

Without the plastic inner container 6, the pallet container 1 can be utilized for the shipping and storage of piece goods and semifinished products of various types.

The pallet container 1, for empty transporting purposes, can be readily and quickly disassembled and composed into a space-saving shipping unit (FIG. 5).

Furthermore, there is the possibility, for shipping and storage purposes, to superimpose several pallets 12, collapsed supporting inserts 5, and lattice jackets 2 as well as inner containers 6 to form separate stacks, the inner containers 6 being stacked in nested fashion (FIG. 6).

In a modification of the described embodiment, the collapsible supporting insert 5 can consist of smooth wall sections of plastic, joined together by hinge parts of plastic or metal.

Furthermore, the supporting insert 5 can be constituted by a collapsible sheet-metal jacket of wall sections connected with one another by means of hinges.

Finally, the supporting insert 5 can consist of a rigid, container-like jacket with smooth wall sections of plastic, this jacket being fashioned to taper slightly in the bottom zone for stacking purposes.

According to the illustration in FIG. 1, there is the possibility of equipping the pallet container 1 with a mobile pallet 12 exhibiting four casters 20, at least one of the latter being provided with a locking means 21.

The casters 20 can be swung out of the rest position within the pallet 12 into the drive position underneath the pallet and, conversely, can be swung inward into the pallet from the drive position into the rest position.

A pallet container thus fashioned to be mobile is suitable, without the inner container, especially for intra-plant transport of piece goods and semifinished products of all kinds, and for the storage of piece goods and semifinished products.