MODULAR CONTAINER

Abstract

A modular container includes a tubular body having a plurality of wall plates, and a plurality of pillars each interconnecting two adjacent ones of the wall plates. Each of the pillars has two wing plates projecting outwardly therefrom. Each of the wing plates has at least two vertically spaced-apart slots. Each of the wall plates has a plurality of spaced-apart side tabs engaged respectively to the slots in a corresponding one of the wing plates. A base seat is connected to and covers a bottom end of the tubular body.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a modular container, more particularly to a modular container having a plurality of wall plates.

2. Description of the Related Art

A container, such as a garbage container, a book or newspaper container, etc., has a tubular body that is sometimes made into a one-piece body, and at other times that is made by rolling a stainless steel plate to form a circular body, after which the ends thereof are joined together. Because the technique of making the one-piece container is rather difficult, the defective rate of the container during production is high. As to the method of rolling the metal plate and connecting the ends thereof, the appearance of the product is affected because the connection of the ends is exposed.

The applicant has developed a modular container that is capable of resolving the aforementioned drawbacks, its disclosed by the applicant in Taiwanese Publication No. 500112, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the modular container 1 includes a base seat 11, a tabular body 2, and a top frame 12. The tubular body 2 includes two wall plates 21 each having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and two fixing plates 22 interconnecting the wall places 21. Each of the wall plates 21 has two spaced-apart parallel plate sections 211, and an intermediate plate section 212 connected between the plate cent lone 211. Each plate section 211 has a vertically extending curled engaging edge 213. Each of the fixing plates 22 is made of plastic, and has two vertically extending grooves 221 formed respectively in two opposite sides thereof.

During assembly of the modular container 1, each fixing plate 22 interconnects two adjacent plate sections 211 of the wall plates 21 by sliding the corresponding fixing plate 22 along the curled engaging edges 213 of the two adjacent plate sections 211 through engagement between the curled engaging edges 213 and the grooves 221. Afterwards, the base seat 11 and the top frame 12 are fitted respectively to top and bottom ends of the assembled wall plates 21 and fixing plates 22.

Although the aforementioned modular container 1 can resolve the drawbacks associated in making the tubular body of the container, that is, the non-modular container described above, the curled engaging edges 213 of the plate sections 211 of the wall plates 21 are not only troublesome to process, but also must be formed with precision. If the curled engaging edges 213 are not formed with precision, the engagement between the curled engaging edges 213 and the respective grooves 221 may be either too tight, making it difficult to slide the curled engaging edges 213 downwardly along the grooves 221, or too loose, in which case connections between the wall plates 21 and the fixing plates 22 ere not strong. Since the modular container 1 requires high precision in the processing of its components, manufacture and assembly of the same are very inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a modular container that can be easily and conveniently processed and assembled.

According to this invention, a modular container comprises a tubular body and a base seat. The tubular body includes a plurality of wall plates, and a plurality of pillars each interconnecting two adjacent ones of the wall plates. Each of the pillars has two wing plates projecting outwardly therefrom. Each of the wing plates has at least two vertically spaced-apart slots. Each of the wall plates has a plurality of spaced-apart side tabs engaged respectively to the slots in a corresponding one of the wing plates. The base seat is connected to and covers a bottom end of the tubular body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the prefer red embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a modular container disclosed in Taiwanese Publication No. 500112;

FIG. 2 is a sectional top view of the container of FIG. 1 in an assembled state;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of a modular container according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional top view of the first preferred embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional side view of the first preferred embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a modular container according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a modular container according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 an exploded perspective view of a wall plate and a pillar of a modular container according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should foe noted that the seems reference numerals have been used to denote like elements throughout the specification.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the first preferred embodiment of a modular container according to the present invention is shown to comprise a base seat 3, a tubular body 4, and a top frame 5.

The base seat 3 has a substantially rectangular base wall 31, an upstanding flange 32 extending from a periphery of the base wall 31, and a plurality of spaced-apart bottom insert holes 311 formed in the bass wall 31 adjacent to the upstanding flange 32 and equally spaced apart from each other.

The tubular body 4 is connected to she base seat 3 with the upstanding flange 32 surrounding a bottom end thereof. The tubular body 4 has a plurality of corners, a plurality of wall plates 41, and a plurality of pillars 42. In this embodiment, the tubular body 4 has four corners, four wall plates 41, and four pillars 42. The wall plates 41 and the pillars 42 cooperatively define a receiving space 40. Each wall plate 41 is made by stamping a metal plate, and has a plurality of spaced-apart, side tabs 412 provided on two opposite lateral sides 411 thereof, and a plurality of spaced-apart bottom, tabs 413 provided on a bottom side thereof to engage respectively the bottom insert holes 311.

The pillars 42 are provided respectively at the corners of the tubular body 4. Each pillar 42 interconnects two adjacent ones of the wall, plates 41 which are perpendicular to each other, and has two inner faces 423 that form an angle therebetween, and an outer face 425 connected between two outer ends of the inner faces 423. Two wing plates 422 project outwardly and respectively from the inner faces 423 of each pillar 42, and are parallel respectively to the two adjacent ones of the wall plates 41. Each wing plate 422 has a plurality of vertically spaced-apart slots 424 formed adjacent to the respective inner face 423 to engage respectively the side tabs 412 on the lateral side 411 of the corresponding wall plate 11.

The top frame 5 is fixed to a top end of the tubular body 4, and includes a top ring member 51 surrounding the top end of the tubular body 4, tour top corner pieces 52 projecting inwardly from the top ring member 51, and four screws 53 to fix the top corner pieces 52 to the pillars 42, respectively.

To assemble the modular container of the first preferred embodiment, the side tabs 412 on one lateral side 411 of each of the wall plates 41 are inserted through the respective slots 424 in the corresponding wing plate 422 of one of the pillars 42, after which, through the use of a tool, the side tabs 412 are bent inwardly, as shown in FIG. 4, so that each of the side tabs 412: has a first tab part 4121 inserted into the respective slot 424 and angled to the corresponding wall plate 41, and a second tab part 4122 that extends out of the respective slot 424, that is angled to the first tab part 4121, and that abuts against the corresponding wing plate 422. Through such an assembly process, each of the wall plates 41 is connected to and is parallel to the corresponding wing plate 422 of one of the pillars 42. As shown in FIG. 4, the thickness of each wall plate 41 is equal to a distance (w) from the adjacent wing plate 422 to the adjacent outer face 425, so that when each side tab 412 is inserted into the respective slot 424 and is bent exteriorly of the slot 424, the wall plate 41 is flush with the adjacent outer face 425 of the pillar 42.

After the tubular body 4 is assembled, the bottom tabs 413 on each wall plate 41 are inserted respectively into the bottom insert holes 311 in the base wall 31 of the base seat 3, and, through the use of a tool, the bottom tabs 413 are boot inwardly, as best shown in FIG. 5, so chat the tubular body 4 is connected to the base seat 3. Finally, the top frame 5 is placed on top of the tubular body 4, and the screws 53 are passed respectively through the top corner pieces 52, and engage threadedly and respectively the pillars 42.

Since each wall plate 41 of the modular container of the present invention is made by stamping a metal plate, since the pillars 42, the base seat 3, and the top frame 5 may be formed integrally, and since the assembly of the aforementioned components are accomplished through engagement of the side and bottom tabs 412, 413 with the slots 424 and the bottom insert holes 311, respectively, the components of the modular container of the present invention can foe interconnected firmly without requiring precise matching of the components, hence, the production and assembly of the modular container of the present invention are easier than with the aforementioned conventional modular container 1 (see FIG. 1).

Referring to FIG. 6, the modular container according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to be similar to the first preferred embodiment. The main difference between the first and second preferred embodiments resides in that the base wall 31 of the base seat 3 in the second preferred embodiment includes a plurality of screws 30 that fix the base wall 31 to the pillars 42 of the tubular body 4.

Referring to FIG. 7, the modular container according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to be similar to the first preferred embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the base seat 3 includes a bottom ring member 33 and a bottom plate 34. The bottom ring member 33 is disposed on top of the bottom plate 34, and has a horizontal flange 332 extending inwardly from and along the length of the bottom ring member 33. The horizontal flange 332 has four bottom corner portions 333 extending inwardly from the horizontal flange 332, and a plurality of apertures 334 adjacent to the bottom ring member 33. The bottom plate 34 has a plurality of spaced-apart bottom side tabs 342 provided on two opposite sides thereof. The bottom side tabs 342 are bent upward and inserted into the respective apertures 334, and are further bent exteriorly of the apertures 334 so that the bottom plate 34 is fixed to the bottom ring member 33. A plurality of screws 30 are passed through the bottom plate 34 and the respective bottom corner portions 333, and engage threadedly and respectively the pillars 42 of the tubular body 4, thereby fixing the base seat 3 to the tubular body 4. The advantages of the first preferred embodiment can be similarly achieved using the third preferred embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, the modular container according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to be similar to the first preferred embodiment. However, in this embodiment, all of the wall plates 41 (only one is shown) and the pillars 42 (only one is shown) are convexed outwardly, and have the same curvature.

From, the aforementioned description of the preferred embodiments, the modular container of the present invention has a rectangular cross section, and the number of the wall plates 41 used is four. Alternatively, the modular container of the present invention may have a triangular cross section, polygonal cross section, or any other geometrical shape, in which case the number of the wall plates 41 is adjusted accordingly. Each of the wall plates 41 may also have a U-shapes cross section similar to that of the wall plate 21 shown in FIG. 1. Hence, the shape of the modular container and the number of the wall plates 41 of the present invention are not limited to the disclosed embodiments.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. A modular container, comprising:

a tubular body including a plurality of wall plates, and a plurality of pillars each interconnecting two adjacent ones of said wall plates, each of said pillars having two wing plates projecting outwardly therefrom, each of said wing plates having at least two vertically spaced-apart slots, each of said wall plates having a plurality of spaced-apart side tabs engaged respectively to said slots in a corresponding one of said wing plates; and

a base seat connected to and covering a bottom end of said tubular body.

2. The modular container of claim 1, wherein each of said side tabs is inserted into the respective one of said slots, and is bent exteriorly of the respective one of said slots.

3. The modular container of claim 1, wherein said tubular body has a plurality of corners, said pillars being respectively provided at said corners, each of said pillars having two inner faces that form an angle therebetween, and an outer face connected between said inner faces, said two wing plates of each of said pillars projecting from said inner faces, respectively, and being parallel to said two adjacent ones of said wall plates, respectively, each of said side tabs of said wall plates having a first tab part inserted into a respective one of said slots and angled to a corresponding one of said wall plates, and a second tab part that extends out of said respective one of said slots, and that is angled to said first tab part.

4. The modular container of claim 3, wherein said slots formed in each of scold wing plates are adjacent to a corresponding one of said inner faces.

5. The modular container of claim 1, wherein said base seat includes a base wall, and an upstanding flange extending from a periphery of said base wall and surrounding said bottom end of said tubular body.

6. The modular container of claim 5, wherein said base seat further includes a plurality of spaced-apart bottom insert holes formed in said base wall adjacent to said upstanding flange, each of said wall plates further having a plurality of spaced-apart bottom nabs engaged respectively to said bottom insert holes.

7. The modular container of claim 5, wherein said base wall includes a plurality of screws fixing said base wall to said pillars.

8. The modular container of claim 1, further comprising a top frame fixed to a top end of said tubular body.

9. The modular container of claim 8, wherein said top frame includes a top ring member surrounding said top end of said tubular body, a plurality of cop corner pieces projecting inwardly from said top ring member, and a plurality of screws fixing said top corner pieces to said pillars, respectively.

10. The modular container of claim 1, wherein said base seat includes a bottom plate, and a bottom ring member disposed on top of and fixed to said bottom plate.

11. The modular container of claim 10, wherein said bottom ring member has a horizontal flange extending inwardly from and along the length of said bottom ring member, said horizontal flange having a plurality of apertures adjacent to said bottom ring member, a plurality of bottom corner portions extending inwardly from said horizontal flange, and a plurality of screws each fixing one of said bottom corner portions to one of said pillars and to said bottom plate.

12. The modular container of claim 1, wherein all of said wall plates and said pillars are convexed outwardly.