SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR SUPPORTING FRAGILE PANELS

Abstract

A shipping container for detachably supporting fragile panels therein, said shipping container comprising a floor and an upright panel extending upwardly in relation to said floor. Panel restraining means in adjacent surfaces of said floor and said upright panel support said fragile panels in spaced-apart generally parallel planes. A clamp panel is detachably connected to the shipping container and upright and spaced apart from the upright panel with the fragile panels between the upright panel and the clamp panel. Removable rigid panel connecting bars of substantially identical lengths removably are connected to a top edge of said fragile panels and held between the upright panel and the clamp panel. Resilient means restrain said connecting bars from displacement by a compression force exerted on opposed ends of said panel connecting bars.

Description

FIELD OF THE APPLICATION

The present disclosure relates to a shipping container for immovably and detachably supporting fragile panels, such as glass panels.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

It is often necessary to ship fragile panels, such as glass panels, to different locations. For example, glass panels are often shipped to window and door manufacturers for assembly. These panels often are of varying sizes and there is a need to provide a shipping container which can accommodate and safely restrain these panels of different sizes. The glass panels also need to be disposed in a spaced-apart manner with these individual glass panels engaged with a restraining means. Often, glass panels are shipped in stack form with the panels separated from one another by cardboard spacers and the stack is then shrink-wrapped with a plastic film to hold the stack together and prevent the individual glass panels from moving with respect to one another. This form of shipment has not proven satisfactory. For instance, if a particular panel in the middle of the stack is required, many panels must be manipulated to reach the desired panel.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,206 describes a packaging for supporting glass panels wherein each glass panel is restrained from movement by elastic cords which are securable to span an outer corner of an associated glass panel with the aid of a support member engagable with the outer corner of the glass panels. The support members are provided with elastic restraining means to prevent the elastic cords from lateral displacement with respect thereto. These elastic cords are stretched and unstretched due to multiple uses and are also subjected to temperature variations and may consequently lose some elasticity over time. Also, the installation of these elastic cords is a slow and labor-intensive process and the elastic cords can become disconnected if the support block disengages with the corner of the glass or during the effects of shocks from a transport vehicle traveling over a rough and bumpy surface.

There is the need to provide a shipping container which can immovably and detachably support fragile panels, such as glass panels in a secured manner while overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION

It is an aim of the present disclosure to provide a novel shipping container for supporting fragile panels.

A feature of the present invention is to provide a shipping container for immovably and detachably supporting fragile panels, such as glass panels and which prevents movement of the glass panels in the vertical or horizontal planes and wherein the glass panels are easily secured in the container.

According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present disclosure provides a shipping container for detachably supporting fragile panels therein, said shipping container comprising a floor and an upright panel extending upwardly in relation to said floor, panel restraining means in adjacent surfaces of said floor and said upright panel for supporting said fragile panels in spaced-apart generally parallel planes, a clamp panel adapted to be detachably connected to the shipping container and be upright and spaced apart from the upright panel with the fragile panels between the upright panel and the clamp panel, removable rigid panel connecting bars of substantially identical lengths removably connectable to a top edge of said fragile panels and held between the upright panel and the clamp panel, and resilient means to restrain said connecting bars from displacement by a compression force exerted on opposed ends of said panel connecting bars.

Further in accordance with the present disclosure, there is provided a method of detachably supporting fragile panels in a shipping container, said container having a floor and an upright panel extending upwardly in relation to said floor, said upright panel and floor having panel restraining means in adjacent surfaces thereof, said method comprising: positioning one or more of said fragile panels upright and supportingly engaged in a bottom edge and adjacent side edge thereof by said restraining means, positioning a removable panel connecting bar engaged with a top edge of an associated one of said one or more fragile panels, and restraining said panel connecting bars with compression force by connecting a clamp panel to the shipping container in such a way that the panel connection bars are held between the clamp panel and the upright panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the construction of a shipping container of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the construction of panel connecting bars of the shipping container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the construction of a slide block of the shipping container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the construction of a clamp wall with its compressible surface of the shipping container of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a section view, partly fragmented, showing the engagement of a free end of a connecting bar engaged in compression in the compressible surface of the clamp wall.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown generally at 10 a shipping container in accordance with the present disclosure, for immovably and detachably supporting fragile panels, such as the glass panels illustrated herein. As herein shown, the glass panels 11 are of different sizes. Moreover, there may be panels 11 that are not glass, but like fragile panels. The expression “fragile” is used in reference to the fact that the panels 11 must be protected from contact. In some instances, the panels may be thick tempered glass, not fragile per se, yet necessitating protection from contact with other fragile panels or with other objects during transportation.

The shipping container 10 comprises a floor or floor panel 12 and an upright panel 13, both of which are formed with spaced-apart grooves 14 and 15, respectively, on their adjacent surfaces 12′ and 13′. The expression panel is used for the frame portions 12 and 13, due to their overall flat and rectangular shape. The panels 12 and 13 are made of any appropriate material(s) providing suitable structural integrity in light of supporting glass panels 11, taking into account the weight of such panels 11. In an embodiment, the panels 12 and 13 are formed of polymers such as HPDE plastics with the grooves integrally formed. The upright panel 13 extends upwardly in relation to the floor 12, herein at a right angle thereto (i.e., for the rectangular shape of the panels 11), although other arrangements may be considered as a function of the shape of panels 11 being supported. The grooves 14 and 15 in the floor panel 12 and the upright panel constitute panel restraining means for transporting the glass panels 11 in spaced-apart parallel planes, as they concurrently restrain the panels 11 from out-of-plane movement. Removable rigid panel connecting bars 16, of identical lengths, are removably connected to a top edge 11′ of the glass panels 11, and have an end received in the grooves 15 of the upright panel 13.

With additional reference to FIG. 4, it can be seen that a clamp panel or wall 17, substantially of the same size as the upright panel 13, is provided to clamp the connecting bars 16 in an immovable position. The clamp wall 17 comprises a frame 18 and a rigid outer panel 19. A sheet 20 of compressible material is secured to the rigid outer panel 19 on an inner side thereof facing the grooved surface 13′ of the upright panel 13. The compressible material as hereinshown, is constituted by a foam sheet of suitable thickness, herein 1 inch in thickness. The compressible material is preferably, of a type having a memory and thereby capable of substantially restoring its form after being compressed (e.g., expanded polypropylene, expanded polyethylene, Arcel, or any other appropriate foam). It is also contemplated that this sheet of compressible material 20 may be replaceable after a predetermined number of uses of the shipping container 10.

The clamp wall 17 may also be provided with pivotal connecting arms 21 secured adjacent to each corner of the clamp wall 17 on a pivot connection 22 secured to the frame 18 vertical side edges. Only the two of these pivotal connecting arms 21 are shown in FIG. 1, but there are two additional ones on the other vertical side edge of the clamp wall 17, as shown in FIG. 4. These pivotal connecting arms 21 are engagable with a latching mechanism 23 as will be described later. Other configurations with more or less of such arms 21 may be provided. Moreover, these arms 21 may consist of other materials, such as elastic chords, etc.

Referring again to FIG. 1, and additionally to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is shown the construction of the rigid panel connecting bars 16. These panel connecting bars 16 are constructed of a rigid material, such as rigid plastics material, and are provided with one or more slide blocks 25 slidably attached thereto. These slide blocks 25 are constructed of rigid material or semi-rigid materials, e.g., metals such as aluminum, polymers, etc and provided with a through slot 26 to slidingly receive the panel connecting bar 16 therethrough, and thus form a translational joint thereon. As shown in FIG. 2, slide block 25 is provided with a panel receiving slot 27 in a bottom surface 28 thereof for receiving therein an upper edge portion 11′ of an associated one of the fragile glass panels 11, as shown in FIG. 1. These slide blocks 25 may also be arrested at a desired location along the panel connecting bars 16 by a metal plunger 29 or set screw securable in a tapped hole 29′, among numerous possible configurations. As also shown in FIG. 2, a slide block 25′ is similar to the slide block 25, but is provided with a partial slot 30 therein whereby a slot butt end 31 is formed in the slide block 25′ to abut a corner portion 32 of the glass sheet 11, as shown in FIG. 1. With the connecting bar 16 and slide blocks 25 and 25′ being positioned over the top edges 11′ of respective ones of the glass panels 11, the clamp wall 17 is then positioned on the ledge 35 formed by the floor panel 36 of the shipping container and ready to be clamped against the free ends 16′ of the panel connecting bars 16. The ledge 35 and the bottom of the clamp wall 17 may be provided with complementary engagement means. As previously mentioned, these bars 16 are of equal lengths and therefore each of these free ends will abut against the sheet 20 of compressible material. With the clamp wall 17 thus supported on the ledge 35, the pivotal connecting arms 21 are then engaged with the latch mechanism 23.

The latch mechanism 23 is herein defined by a pair of pivoting tongues 40 secured to a vertical side post 39 of the frame 38 on which the floor panel 12 and the upright panel are secured. Each of the pivoting tongues 40 are displaceable on a pivot pin 41. The pivoting tongues 40 are also provided with a connecting pin 42 spaced from the pivot pin 41 and on which the hook end formation 43 of an associated pivotal connecting arm 21 is engaged. The pivoting tongues 40 may be pivotally connected to one another by a link rod 44. A handle 45 is used to displace the lower pivoting tongue 40 and consequently the upper pivoting tongue via the link rod 44, to position the connecting pins 42 substantially aligned with the vertical side post 39, whereby the hook end formation 43 of the pivotal connecting arms 21 can be engaged with the connecting pins 42. At this position, the outer surface of the sheet 20 of compressible material lies against the free ends 16′ of the panel connecting bars 16 or very close thereto. The latch mechanism 23 is then clamped engaged by displacing the latch arm 45 downwardly in the direction of arrow 50 to draw the pivotal connecting arms 21, whereby the clamp wall 17 is displaced forwardly towards the upright panel 13 with the free end 16′ of the panel connecting bar 16 penetrating into the resilient material 20′ (about ¼ inch) as shown in FIG. 5. This compression of the resilient material 20′ generates a compression force into the panel connecting bars 16 which are held captively secured between the clamp wall 17 and the upright panel 13. For this purpose, a rubber plug or the like may be provided on the ends of the connecting bars 16 abutting against the grooved surface 13′ of the upright panel 13. The foam material also provides vibration damping during transportation of the shipping container by transport vehicles. With all of the panel connecting bars 16 immovably secured in position, all of the glass panels 11 are immovably retained in the shipping container. Of course, if desirable, the shipping container 10 may be fitted with side panels and a top wall to provide a fully protective enclosure for the glass panels and/or be shrink-wrapped.

The present disclosure also contemplates a method of immovably and detachably supporting fragile panels in the shipping container 10. The method contemplates the steps of positioning one or more of the fragile panels, herein glass panels 11, upright and supportingly engaged via their opposed side and bottom edge thereof by the panel receiving grooves 14 and 15, as previously described. The method further contemplates positioning the removable panel connecting bars 16 engaged over the top edge of each of the fragile panels 11 and then restraining the panel connecting bars. In positioning the panel connecting bars 16, the slide blocks 25 and/or 25′ are slid along the panel connecting bars 16, as a function of the size of the panels 11, for the slide blocks 25 and 25′ to respectively cover a generally central portion of the top edge 11′ and the corner 32 thereof, and securing the slide blocks and 25′ in the appropriate position along the panel connecting bars 16. The step of restraining the panel connecting bars 16 is done by applying the compressible material sheet 20 against the free end 16′ of panel connecting bars by clampingly displacing the clamp wall 17 against the free ends 16′ of the panel connecting bars 16 to urge the compressible material 20 against the free end 16′ of the connecting bars 16, to retain the connecting bars 16 from displacement between the panel 13 and the clamp wall 17 by compression. The clamp wall 17 is latched and tightened to the panel 13 for transportation.

Still in accordance with the method, once the clamp wall 17 is removed from a remainder of the shipping container 10, the connecting bars 16 may be removed, with the panels 11 remaining in an upright position by engagement in the grooves 14 and 15. As the clamp wall 17 is removed, lateral access to all panels 11 is provided. In other words, a person or equipment standing to the right-hand side of the container 10 in FIG. 1 can pull out any of the panels 11. The panel 11 being pulled out moves along its own plane.

It is within the ambit of the present disclosure to cover any obvious modifications of the preferred embodiment described herein provided such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims. For instance, the resilience may be provided by a plug at either or both ends of the connecting bars 16 instead of by the resilient material sheet on the clamp wall 17. Likewise, strips of resilient material may be provided in the grooves 14 and 15. In the case of strips of resilient material in the grooves 15, such strips could provide the elasticity required to clamp the connecting bars 16 between the panel 13 and the clamp wall 17.

The panels 12 and 13, described and shown as solid wall components with grooves 14 and 15 defined therein, could have other configurations as well. For instance, the panels 12 and 13 could be rectangular frames with elongated troughs define the restraining grooves 14 and 15. As yet another alternative, the panels 12 and 13 could have generally planar contact surfaces, with pins or like restraining members projecting from the contact surfaces to restrain the panels 11 from out-of-plane movement. These are just a few configuration among many others.

Claims

1. A shipping container for detachably supporting fragile panels therein, said shipping container comprising a floor and an upright panel extending upwardly in relation to said floor, panel restraining means in adjacent surfaces of said floor and said upright panel for supporting said fragile panels in spaced-apart generally parallel planes, a clamp panel adapted to be detachably connected to the shipping container and be upright and spaced apart from the upright panel with the fragile panels between the upright panel and the clamp panel, removable rigid panel connecting bars of substantially identical lengths removably connectable to a top edge of said fragile panels and held between the upright panel and the clamp panel, and resilient means to restrain said connecting bars from displacement by a compression force exerted on opposed ends of said panel connecting bars.

2. A shipping container as claimed in claim 1 wherein said resilient means is defined by a resilient surface in the clamp panel adapted to be positioned against a first end of said panel connecting bars, an opposed end of said panel connecting bars abutting said upright panel, and clamping means to urge said resilient surface against said first end of said panel connecting bars to generate said compression force.

3. A shipping container as claimed in claim 2 wherein said resilient surface is constituted by a panel of resilient foam material having at least a partial memory characteristic.

4. A shipping container as claimed in claim 2 wherein said clamping means is comprised by pivotal connecting arms pivotally connected to opposed vertical side edges of said clamp panel and adapted to be secured to a latching mechanism secured to opposed vertical side edges of said upright panel, said latching mechanism being displaceable to apply a pulling force on said pivotal connecting arms to displace said clamp panel towards said upright panel a predetermined distance to cause the compression force on said first end of said panel connecting bars.

5. A shipping container as claimed in claim 4 wherein said opposed vertical side edges of said clamp panel and opposed vertical side edges of said upright panel are supported along parallel vertical planes transversally extending between said upright panel and said clamp panel.

6. A shipping container as claimed in claim 1 wherein said panel restraining means is constituted by a plurality of panel edge restraints associated with said adjacent surfaces of said floor and upright panel, said restraints in said floor and upright panel being aligned co-extensively to support said fragile panels in upright parallel vertical planes.

7. A shipping container as claimed in claim 6 wherein said panel edge restraints are straight parallel grooves integrally formed in said floor and upright panel.

8. A shipping container as claimed in claim 1 wherein said panel connecting bars are each provided with at least one slide block slideably secured thereto, said at least one slide block having a panel receiving slot in a bottom surface thereof for receiving therein an upper edge portion of an associated one of said fragile panels.

9. A shipping container as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one slide block comprises block arresting means to immovably set said side blocks at predetermined locations along said panel connecting bars.

10. A shipping container as claimed in claim 8 wherein said panel receiving slot is one of a through slot, and a partial slot having a butt end adapted to abut against a corner of the fragile panel.

11. A shipping container as claimed in claim 10 wherein two of said slide blocks are provided on each said panel connecting bar, with one of the two slide blocks having said through slot and another of the two slide blocks having a butt end.

12. A method of detachably supporting fragile panels in a shipping container, said container having a floor and an upright panel extending upwardly in relation to said floor, said upright panel and floor having panel restraining means in adjacent surfaces thereof, said method comprising:

i) positioning one or more of said fragile panels upright and supportingly engaged in a bottom edge and adjacent side edge thereof by said restraining means,

ii) positioning a removable panel connecting bar engaged with a top edge of an associated one of said one or more fragile panels, and

iii) restraining said panel connecting bars with compression force by connecting a clamp panel to the shipping container in such a way that the panel connection bars are held between the clamp panel and the upright panel.

13. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein restraining said panel connecting bars comprises clamping said connecting bars between said upright panel and said clamp panel using a compressible surface on the clamp panel urged against a free end of said panel connecting bars.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein positioning a removable panel connecting bar comprises adjusting a position of at least one sliding block along each said panel connecting bar, such that the at least one sliding block for receiving in a slot of the at least one sliding block an upper edge portion of an associated one of said fragile panels.

15. A method as claimed in claim 15 wherein adjusting a position of at least one sliding block along each said panel connecting bar comprises immovably setting the at least one sliding block in said position.

16. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein connecting the clamp panel to the shipping container comprises latching and clamping the clamp panel to the upright panel, and clamping the clamp panel to the upright panel to apply the compression force on the panel connecting bars.

17. A method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising removing the clamp panel, and any one of the panel connecting bars, and pulling one said fragile panel associated with the removed panel connecting bar out of the shipping container, the pulling being in the plane of the fragile panel.