US3407960A - Guide means for stackable receptacle - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 29, 1968 J. A. RoGus GUIDE MEANS FOR STACKABLE RECEPTACLE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 26, 1967 s R.s Y .ou w: T NWO N E R V WR. @m A T MA ze.,

Oct. 29, 1968 J. A. ROGUS v 3,407,960

GUIDE MEANS FOR STACKABLE RECEPTACLE Fixed April 26, 1967 2 sheets-sneer 2 d d .a4

INVENTOR.

Josep/r A. Regus A rroRNL-vq United States Patent() GUIDE MEANS FORSTACKABLE RECEPTACLE' -Joseph A. Rogus, Willowick, Ohio, assignor to Mid-West Metallic Products, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 633,795 Claims. A(Cl. 220-97) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A receptacle adapted for tiering and nesting with a like receptacle is provided with a planar shelf extending along the top of two parallel side walls and an upstanding rib along each shelf. rI wo shoes extend downwardly from the bottom, one each under each side wall at one end in position to ride on the shelf of a lower receptacle and closely adjacent the outside of each upstanding rib. The shelves are inclined downwardly in such a way at one end that as an operator slides the shoes of an upper receptacle along the shelves of a lower receptacle, tiering supports on the bottom of the upper receptacle are held out of engagement with coacting tiering supports near the upper edge of the lower receptacle until the shoes reach the inclined shelf portions, when the tiering supports drop smoothly into engagement.

Specification This invention relates to guide means for stockable receptacles and more particularly to means for aiding an operator to readily stack or tier an upper receptacle above a like lower receptacle having interengaging tiering support portions, without the operator having to see all of the parts or to do an unusual amount of manipulation in order to stack the parts in the proper position. Specifically, the invention provides a receptacle having opposed parallel side walls with one shoe projecting from the bottom at the end of each side wall most remote from the operator or 'receptacle handler, these shoes adapted to ride on a planar shelf provided along the upper edge of each of the side walls of the lower receptacle, together with an upstanding rib extending longitudinally of those side walls, the parts being so arranged that the shoes of the upper receptacle, in the preferred embodiment, ride on the laterally outermost side of the rib as the handler moves the upper receptacle to a registering position above the lower receptacle. The arrangement is such that the tiering support portions are held out of engagement by the shoes riding on the shelvesuntil registering position of the upper receptacle over the lower receptacle is almost attained, at which time the parts are so arranged that the shoes run oif of the planar shelf portions and allow the tiering support portions of the two receptacles to engage each other and hold the receptacles in stacked or tiered relationship. In a preferred form of the invention, a short horizontal guide means is provided leading smoothly to each of the uppertiering support port-ions of the lower receptacle and when the upper receptacle is dropped down toward the lower receptacle, the lower tiering support portions of the upper receptacle engage these short horizontal guide means of the lower receptacle after which the upper receptacle slides easily into fully tiered position.

Other advantages of this invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and description and the essential features are set forth in the appended claims.`

In thedrawings,

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a receptacle according to the present invention;

- FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of a plural-ity of the receptacles of this invention in stacked or tiered relationship; i

3,407,960 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 Mice FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are views taken from the right-hand side of FIG. 1 and showing the progressive movement of an upper like receptacle into tiered or stacked relationship with the lower receptacle; v

FIG. 6` is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view taken from the right-hand side of FIG. l, enlarged, from the position of the line 7-7 of that figure;

FIG. 8 is an end elevational v-iew taken from the lefthand end of FIG. 7 and showing in dot-dash lines a portion of an upper receptacle; l

FIG. 9 is a fragmental view taken toward the right-hand end of FIG. 7 and showing an upper receptaclefbeing started toward a stacked position on the lower receptacle;

while FIGS. l() and 1l are fragmental elevational views showing the upper portion of the lower receptacle as in FIG. 7, together with the lower portion of an upper receptacle moving from the position of FIG. 9 through FIGS. l0 and 1l to a nal stacked or tiered relationship with the upper receptacle in registration over the lower receptacle.

It should be understood that this invention may be applied to different designs of stackable receptacles, but is here shown as applied to a tierable and nestable receptacle which is the subject matter of a copending application of Joseph A. Rogus, Ser. No. 581,317, led Sept. 22, 1966. The receptacles here shown are almost exactly like that shown in FIGS. 13 through 16 of the above mentioned copending patent application except for the modification to utilize the present invention as will presently appear.

The basic receptacle has a bottom 15 with parallel upstanding side walls 16 rigidly secured to the bottom 15. Between the side walls at the rear end of the container is a shorter upstanding hollow end wall 17 and at the front of the container is a still shallower hollow end wall 18; The end walls are rigidly secured both to the bottom and to the side walls.

Interengaging tiering support portions are provided for holding one receptacle in stacked or tiered relationship above a like lower receptacle. These are shown as upper tiering support portions 19, 20 and 21 on the inside of each side wall near the top and lower tiering support portions 19a, 20a and 21a on the outsiqle of each side wall near the bottom thereof. These tiering support portions are rigid with the adjacent side wall. Preferably, these tiering support portions provide an upwardly opening pocket at 19, 2() and 21 and downwardly extending projections at 19a, 20a and 21a adapted to enter respectively into the pockets above them. Referring to FIG. yS, it will be seen that each of the pockets 19, etc., is vertically directly above its associated lprojecting member 19, etc., and that when the tiering support portions are interengaged, they lock the two receptacles against relative movement sidewise and endwise all as described in the above mentioned copending application.

It will be noted that rigid with the side walls are reinforcing ribs 22 on the inside as clearly shown in FIG. 6 and also on the outside as shown at 23 in FIG. 7.

It will be noted that the lower tiering support portions 20a and 21a have hook members 24 which lock beneath the keeper shoulders 25 of the upper tiering support portions 20 and 21 as clearly shown in FIG. 16 of the above mentioned copending patent application. The lower tiering support portion 19a has a downwardly extending triangular Iprojection 26 which ts into a complementary pocket 27 in the upper tiering support portion 19 as clearly shown in other views of the copending patent application.

j To the above mentioned receptacle, the present invention is added. As clearly shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, along almost the entire upper edge of each of the side walls 16 there is extends a planar shelf portion 28 which extends horizontally outwardly from an upstanding rib 29, these two parts coacting with a downwardly extending shoe 30 of which there is one at one end only of each side wall extending downwardly from the bottom. Referring to FIG. 8, the shoes 30 on the opposite side walls are so arranged that they rest with slight clearance on the laterally outer sides of the associated upstandingribs 29. Therefore, once the shoes 30 are engaged laterally outside of the ribs 29, motion of the upper receptacle from the position of FIG. 9 to that of FIG. 11 can proceed without danger of getting E the track. The arrangement as shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 is such that the rib 29, the shoe 30 and the shoulder 30a which may be regarded as a functioning portion of the shoe hold the lower tiering support portions, including the projections 24 and 26, out of engagement with the corresponding upper pockets 20, 21 and 19. In this position of the parts, the upper receptacle may be moved from the position of FIGS. 3 and 9 through the positions of FIGS. 4 and 10 without interengagement of the tiering support portions.

Means is provided to allow the tiering support portions of the two receptacles to interengage as they move from the positions of FIGS. 4 and 10 to the position of FIGS. 5 and 11. Note at the right-hand end of FIG. 6 and the left-hand ends of FIGS. 7, and l1 that an inclined shelf portion 28a is provided with the rib 29 inclined in a like manner as shown at 29a so that when the shoe 30 and shoulder 30a arrive at this end of their travel, the shoe 30 and associated shoulder drop off of the inclined portions 28a and 29a as shown in FIG. 11, permitting the tiering support portions of the upper receptacle to drop to interlocking level.

As an aid in guiding the tiering support portions into their final position, each of the upper tiering support portions is provided with a short horizontal guide means 31 which is like that shown in FIG. 16 of the above mentioned copending patent application. Each of the guide means 31 leads smoothly into the corresponding pocket at 19, 20 and 21. As shown in FIG. 10, as the shoe 30, and its associated shoulder, move down the inclined parts 28a and 29a, the depending portions 24 and 26 of the lower tiering support portions lie above the horizontal `guide means 31 in each case so that the nal movement from the position of FIG. 10 to that of FIG. 11 consists of sliding of the depending parts 24 and 26 on the associated horizontal guide means 31 until lfinal locking position is achieved. At the left-hand end of FIG. 10 there will be seen a stop member 32 associated with the upper tiering support portion 19. When the lower tiering support portion 19a strikes this stop member 32, the operator knows that he has reached a completely stacked position of the two receptacles. At this point, the operator drops his end of the receptacle which he has 1been holding tilted as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 9 and 10.

As a further aid to the operator, a cam piece 33 may be provided on the bottom of the receptacle extending downwardly and spaced laterally inwardly from the associated shoe 30. This position of the parts is clearly seen in FIG. 8. Each cam piece is inclined downwardly and outwardly to a shoulder 33a toward the associated shoe. The action of these parts is as follows. As the operator moves the upper receptacle to approach the position of FIG. 9, he may hold the side wall 16 of the upper receptacle laterally outside of the similar side wall of the lower receptacle. Then as he brushes the upper receptacle across the lower receptacle in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 8, the cam piece 33 will cam that side wall of the upper receptacle upwardly until shoulder 33a passes the upstanding rib 29 of the lower receptacle, after which this rib of the lower receptacle will be caught between the shoulder 33a and the shoe 30, after which the operator can lower the opposite side of the receptacle knowing that with the rst engaged shoe 30 against its associated rib 29, the shoe and rib on the opposite side of the receptacle will fall into the same coordinated position.

It should be understood that an upper receptacle may be passed from tiering position above a lower receptacle down to a nesting position therein by moving the lower tiering support portions of the upper receptacle down through the passageways in the lower receptacle indicated by the arrows in FIG. 6, in the same manner as described in the above mentioned copending application.

What is claimed is:

1. In a receptacle adapted to be tiered with a second like receptacle having a bottom and two upstanding parallel side walls rigid with said bottom, and having upper tiering support portions spaced along each of said side walls near the upper edge thereof, and having lower tiering support portions near the bottom of said side walls, each lower support portion being directly vertically below a corresponding upper support portion; means for guiding an lupper receptacle into tiering position over a lower receptacle comprising a horizontally extending planar shelf portion extending substantially along the entire length of the top of each of said side walls, said shelves having portions downwardly inclined from said planar portions at theends thereof remote from a receptacle handler, shoe portions on the lower edges of said side walls at said same remote ends thereof, said shoe portions being at a vertical height to prevent engagement of coacting upper and lower tiering support portions of two receptacles when the shoe portions of an upper receptacle rest on the planar shelf portions of a lower receptacle, said inclined shelf portions being so located and descending sufhciently below said planar shelf portions to guide said shoe portions downwardly to enable engagement of coacting upper and lower tiering support portions of two receptacles when said receptacles are in vertical registration, and means slidably engageable between the upper edges of the side walls of a lower receptacle and the lower edges of an upper receptacle to maintain registering Side walls against lateral deviation as said shoe portions slide along said shelf portions, whereby a receptacle handler may place said shoe portions of an upper receptacle on s aid planar shelf portions of a lower receptacle While tilting the bottom of said upper receptacle upwardly toward himself away from said shoe portions, then slide said shoe portions of said upper receptacle along said planar shelf portions of said lower receptacle to and downwardly along said inclined shelf portions thereof whereupon said coacting tiering support portions will automatically engage.

2. Means for guiding an upper receptacle into tiering position over a lower like receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein said means to maintain registering side walls against lateral deviation comprises a linear upstanding rib extending longitudinally of each side wall above said planar shelf portion, and said shoe portions on opposite side walls are spaced to lie reasonably snugly on laterally opposite sides of the respective ribs as said shoe portions of an upper receptacle slide along said planar shelf p0rtions of a lower receptacle.

3. Guiding means as defined in claim 2 wherein said shoe portions of an upper receptacle lie laterally outside the associated upstanding rib.

4. Guiding means as defined in claim 3 including a cam piece on the bottom of said receptacle extending downwardly therefrom and spaced laterally inwardly from an associated shoe, and each said cam piece inclined downwardly and outwardly to a shoulder toward an associated shoe and camming that side wall of an upper receptacle upwardly as it is moved laterally toward registering position over a lower like receptacle and dropping the associated shoe in position laterally outside an associated guiding rib.

5. Means for guiding an upper receptacle into tiering position over a lower like receptacle as defined in claim 1, including generally horizontal guide means extending from each of said upper tiering support portions a short distance longitudinally of its associated side wall toward the receptacle handler from said remote ends, each said guide means having a surface leading smoothly to its associated upper tiering `support portion and the length of said guide means being suicient to underlie said lower tiering support portions of an upper receptacle when said shoe portions of said upper receptacle pass onto said inclinder shelf portions of said lower receptacle, after which the handler may lower his supported end of the upper receptacle and said lower tiering support portions of said upper receptacle will follow said guide means to engagement with said upper tiering support portions of said lower receptacle.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/ 1967 Paxton 220-97 X 9/1967 Tucker 211-126 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

G. E. LOWRANCE, Assistant Examiner.

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