Container

[0001] This application claims the priority of German Patent Document No. 101 35 226.3, filed Jul. 24, 2001, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.

[0002] The present invention relates to an expandable container, in particular as a work room.

[0003] An expandable container is disclosed, for example, in the German Patent Document DE-G 92 16 314.9. It comprises a basic container with hinged side walls and one or more expansion element(s), which can be moved out of the basic container. An expansion element comprises two side walls and a front wall. In the state in which the expansion element is moved out, two folded-out side walls of the basic container form the roof wall and bottom wall of an expansion element. The drawback with this design is the long seal that is necessary along the roof and bottom wall for sealing the container. This is a problem especially with the demand for ABC tightness.

[0004] A generic container is known from the European Patent Document EP 0 682 156 B1. It comprises a basic container as well as one or more expansion element(s), whose purpose is to expand the interior and which can be moved out of the basic container. The expansion elements exhibit the shape of a box and, with the exception of the open side in the direction of the basic container, are closed on all sides. There is also a lift unit, whose purpose is to achieve a flat bottom inside the entire container and with which the expansion elements can be lowered in such a manner that, after lowering, the bottom walls of the basic container and the expansion element are at the same height.

[0005] In the design with two expansion elements the dimensions of the two expansion elements have to be chosen in such a manner that the one expansion element can be slid into the other expansion element. The result is that the standing height is relatively short (approximately 190 cm), especially in the smaller of the two expansion elements.

[0006] Another drawback of this container is the circumstance that the area that is usually contaminated the most by the environmental influences, namely the roof wall of an expansion element, gets into the interior of the basic container when the expansion elements are retracted again. This factor is a problem especially when the container is used for medical purposes, for example, as an operating room.

[0007] Therefore, the object of the invention is to improve an expandable container of this class in such a manner that with the improved standing height the described problems arising from the contamination of its exterior surfaces are avoided.

[0008] The container of the present invention exhibits in particular the following advantages: improved standing height; simple sealing, short sealing lengths; and simplified decontamination.

[0009] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings

[0018] FIGS. 1 to 4 depict the individual steps for assembling an inventive container that can be expanded with two expansion elements. FIG. 1 depicts the starting state (transport state). The box-shaped basic container 1 includes two expansion elements 10, 20. At the same time the expansion element 20 is slid into the somewhat larger expansion element 10 (with respect to length and height, see also FIG. 6). One can recognize the respective bottom wall 15, 25 and front wall 16, 26 of the two expansion elements 10, 20 as well as a side wall 27 of the internal expansion element 20. In the illustration, the height of the front wall 16, 26 of an expansion element is chosen somewhat higher than the height of the related side wall 27. The basic container 1 exhibits a bottom wall 2, a roof wall 3 and two side walls 4, 5, which can be folded down.

[0019] In FIG. 2 the smaller expansion element 20 has already been partially moved out. Before the expansion element is moved out, the side wall 5 of the basic container 1 is swung away toward the top. To move the expansion element out, guide rails 50 (typically two guide rails per expansion element) are installed. They in turn can be slid out of the basic container. The expansion element 20 is moved by means of rollers 52, which roll down over the guide rails 50. The length of the base, on whose underside the rollers 52 are mounted, is dimensioned in such a manner that during the moving out operation the bottom wall 25 of the expansion element remains in the horizontal position.

[0020] In FIG. 3 the smaller expansion element 20 has already been completely moved out and then, upon reaching the end area of the guide rails 50, lowered so that at this stage the bottom wall 25 of the expansion element 20 is at the same height as the bottom wall 2 of the basic container 1. The device for lowering the expansion element 20 is disposed and acts preferably between the expansion element 10 and the basic container 1. In the depicted embodiment there are slanting steps 55, which descend outwardly on the exterior end of the guide rail 50 and which are intended for lowering. There are also corresponding slanting steps on the edge of the bottom wall 2 of the basic container 1. This edge faces the expansion element 20. The larger expansion element 10 is moved out and lowered analogously. Since during the moving out operation this expansion element 10 rests directly on the bottom wall 2 of the basic container 1, it is lowered by a shorter distance than the smaller expansion element 20, which, during the moving out operation, rests on the bottom wall 15 of the expansion element 10.

[0021] Especially in the design with slanting steps, depicted in FIG. 3, an expansion element 10, 20 can be moved out, lowered, lifted and retracted advantageously by means of a manually operated winch, which acts between the basic container 1 and the expansion element 10, 20.

[0022] To delay the lowering movement of an expansion element 10, 20, resistance elements can be installed, for example, in the form of a spiral spring as disclosed in European Patent Document EP 0 682 156 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,839, the disclosures of both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

[0023] As an alternative to the lowering of the expansion elements by means of slanting steps 55, the guide rails can also be designed as lifting rails as disclosed, for example, in European Patent Document EP 0 760 040 B1, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. To this end, the guide rails are divided into two parallel, stacked partial rails, where the one can be lifted and lowered with respect to the other partial rail, for example, by means of a hydraulic cylinder.

[0024] The guide rails 50 (designed as normal guide rails or as lifting rails) can also be disposed advantageously on the side so as to be offset in relation to the expansion elements 10, 20, instead of below the expansion elements 10, 20. This feature has its advantages, especially when diagonal braces are disposed (parallel to the side walls) for stabilizing the side walls of the expansion elements that are moved out. Since the diagonal brace and the guide rail can then lie in the same plane, the bracing moments can be introduced into the container roof without misalignment moment. Thus, there is no need for an otherwise necessary cross brace between the parallel guide rails, a feature that results ultimately in a reduction in the assembly time of the container.

[0025] FIG. 4 shows the situation, in which the two expansion elements 10, 20 are fully moved out and lowered. The drawing shows exemplary dimensions for the minimum standing height in the two expansion elements. When the two expansion elements 10, 20 are lowered, the two hinged side walls 4, 5, forming the roof wall of the expansion elements 10, 20, come to rest slanted so as to descend outwardly. In principle the rise in the smaller expansion element 20 is somewhat larger. Thus, it is guaranteed in particular that rain water is led away from the seals at the transition point between the basic container and expansion element.

[0026] As already evident from FIGS. 1 to 3, trapezoidal additional surface elements 18, 28 can be hinged to the upper edge of the side walls 17, 27. After the expansion elements have been completely moved out and lowered, they can be swung upwardly, as depicted in FIG. 4, so that the gap between the roof wall 4, 5 and the side wall 17, 27 is closed. The cross sectional FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the folding process in detail. Thus, the result is a container interior that is totally closed outwardly. Of course, the additional surface elements 18, 28 can also be transported separately from the container elements as separate modules and can be installed, as desired.

[0027] FIG. 5 is a side view of a fully expanded container. One can clearly see that a door 99 is attached to the front wall of an expansion element 10.

[0028] FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional view along the line 6—6 of the container, according to FIG. 5, which corresponds to an outline of the container. Exemplary dimensions are given. One can recognize the basic container 1 as well as the smaller 20 and the larger 10 expansion element. In this design the basic container has an engineering room 60, in which, for example, the energy supply and the air conditioning for the work room of the container can be housed.

[0029] The examples, depicted in the drawings, show designs with precisely two expansion elements. Of course, other designs with precisely one expansion element are also possible. The procedure for moving out and lowering is carried out analogously to the procedure presented for the individual expansion elements 10, 20.

[0030] The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.