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US-20260125181-A1 - PALLETIZED CONTAINER ASSEMBLY WITH MULTIPURPOSE ADAPTER

US20260125181A1US 20260125181 A1US20260125181 A1US 20260125181A1US-20260125181-A1

Abstract

A palletized container assembly comprises a pallet base of substantially conventional design, a four-walled sleeve and a pallet adapter providing in one location an interface between the bottom edge of the sleeve and the pallet base and in another location providing a cover for the container assembly by being inverted and placed over the top edge of the container sleeve. Various reinforcement structures can be molded into the pallet adapter.

Inventors

  • Nenad Ilijeski

Assignees

  • SHUERT TECHNOLOGY, LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20260106

Claims (20)

  1. 1 - 17 . (canceled)
  2. 18 . A method of constructing a container assembly using a base pallet of a type having a flat upper loading surface and plurality of hollow feet extended to the surface, comprising: placing an adapter plate that is separate from the base pallet on the loading surface wherein the adapter plate has an upwardly opening peripheral groove and features molded into a bottom surface and arranged to co-locate into the plurality of hollow feet to prevent sliding and rotation of the adapter plate relative to the loading surface; and placing a sleeve on the adapter plate with a bottom edge of the sleeve extended into the peripheral groove.
  3. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the adapter plate has ring features formed on the surface opposite of the groove opening and sized to fit contactingly into the hollow pallet feet to prevent lateral sliding of the adapter plate.
  4. 20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the pallet base is rectangular and the sleeve has four walls wherein some of said walls have apertures formed therein adjacent to lower edges.
  5. 21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the sleeve is collapsible.
  6. 22 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising a clip fixedly attached to the sleeve proximate to the bottom edge and configured to fit into the peripheral groove of the adapter plate.
  7. 23 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising: contacting a cover plate with a top edge of the sleeve in an inverted orientation at a cover groove of the cover plate.
  8. 24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein the cover plate and the adapter plate have a structure that is essentially uniform.
  9. 25 . The method of claim 23 , wherein each of the adapter plate and the cover plate have a peripheral rim configured and sized to fit around edges of the sleeve.
  10. 26 . A method of constructing a container, comprising: contacting a base pallet having a generally flat top surface and plurality of hollow feet that are spaced apart and extended to the flat top surface with an adapter plate on the flat top surface, wherein the adapter plate comprises a flat upper surface that overlays the flat top surface, an upward-opening peripheral groove, and features molded into a bottom surface and spaced to co-locate with an extend into the hollow feet to prevent lateral movement and rotation of the adapter plate relative to a loading surface; and mounting a multi-walled sleeve into the adapter plate so that a lower edge of the sleeve fits into the upward-opening peripheral groove of the adapter plate.
  11. 27 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the container further comprises a clip fixedly attached to the sleeve proximate to the bottom edge and configured to fit into the peripheral groove of the adapter plate.
  12. 28 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the sleeve further comprises reinforcing components molded and/or integrated into the adapter plate.
  13. 29 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the base pallet and/or the adapter plate have as a shape of a rectangle and/or a square.
  14. 30 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising: contacting a cover plate onto a top edge of the multi-walled sleeve to enclose the multi-walled sleeve in combination with the adapter plate.
  15. 31 . A mold, comprising: an adapter plate having a continuous outer rim portion forming a channel between a rim and a planar portion, the adapter plate configured to connect with a base pallet at adapter opposing features of the adapter plate so that the base pallet supports the adapter plate and mitigates or prevents sliding between the adapter plate and the base pallet; and a multi-wall sleeve connected with the adapter plate at the continuous outer rim to form a container.
  16. 32 . The mold of claim 31 , wherein the adapter plate and the base pallet connect at base hollow feet of the base plate and the adapter opposing features of the adapter plate.
  17. 33 . The mold of claim 31 , wherein opposing features of the adapter plate have a shape of a ring.
  18. 34 . The mold of claim 31 , further comprising a cover adapter connected with a continuous top edge of the multi-wall sleeve.
  19. 35 . The mold of claim 34 , wherein the cover adapter comprises cover ring features that are configured to interface with stacked hollow feet of a stacked pallet.
  20. 36 . The mold of claim 35 , wherein another container is configured to connect with a tope surface of the stacked pallet.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/665,610 filed on May 16, 2024, which claims priority to Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/545,417 filed Oct. 24, 2023. The entire contents of both applications are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to container assemblies and more particularly to a container assembly comprising the combination of a molded plastic pallet, an adapter with a molded-in sleeve track, a four-sided collapsible sleeve and a molded plastic cover. INTRODUCTION TO THE INVENTION U.S. Pat. No. 11,542,061 issued Jan. 3, 2023 to Shuert Technology LLC describes a container assembly comprising the combination of a molded plastic pallet having, a four-sided collapsible sleeve and a molded plastic cover. The container can be handled by a forklift and is easily knocked down for storage or return. The sleeve which makes up the container body has multiple external and internal hinges to allow it to be folded flat. The pallet in that combination is provided with an upwardly opening peripheral track or groove that accepts the bottom edge of the sleeve to join the sleeve to the pallet. Clips may be used to join the component of the assembly together. Many pallets already in use do not have the peripheral track to receive the sleeve edge. The present innovation addresses this problem by providing an adapter, preferably but not necessarily of molded plastic construction, that fits engagingly on the top of a conventional nine-legged pallet to provide the necessary channel to receive the sleeve edge. In the embodiments described herein, the adapter can play a dual role in that it can serve the purpose of a cover with a peripheral edge fitting over and around the top edge of the sleeve. In addition, the cover can be configured with features on a side opposite the groove to couple with the legs of a pallet in a second container stacked on top of the cover to prevent sliding as between the two stacked container assemblies. The material of construction is non critical and can be HDPE, other polymers or combinations thereof, wood, metal and any of several composites, the key qualities being strength, reasonable rigidity and ability to withstand varying weather and temperature conditions. Several variations to the basic innovation are here disclosed including varying locations of the adapter channel as well as various reinforcement features to prevent distortion of the adapter and/or the pallet under load due to container content and/or stacking of multiple containers. The terms “channel” and “groove” are used interchangeably herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The various features, advantages and uses of the present apparatus will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description and drawing in which: FIG. 1 is exploded view of a container assembly according to the innovative subject matter herein; FIG. 2 shows the container assembly of FIG. 1 in the fully assembled state; FIG. 3 shows two container assemblies of the type shown in FIG. 2 stacked one atop the other; FIG. 4 shows a container assembly with a modification to the location of the groove making the connection between the sleeve and the pallet adapter; FIG. 5A is front view of two container assemblies stacked upon one another with a reinforcement feature in the pallet adapter; FIG. 5B shows the two container assemblies of FIG. 5A stacked upon one another from the side; FIG. 5C is a detail from the container assembly of FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrating a reinforcement beam having an M configuration; FIG. 6A shows two stacked container assemblies from the front; FIG. 6B shows the two container assemblies of FIG. 6A from the side; FIG. 6C shows a detail of the manner in which an upper pallet engages the pallet adapter of a lower assembly when used as a cover; FIG. 7A shows another set of container assemblies stacked upon one another in a front view; FIG. 7B is a side view of the container assemblies from FIG. 7A; FIG. 7C shows an enlarged detail of a reinforcement plate molded into an pallet adapter used as a cover; FIG. 8 shows a container assembly fully incorporating the pallet adapter; and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the reinforcement plate which is molded into the corners of the pallet adapter shown in FIGS. 7A-7C. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSRATIVE EMBODIENTS Referring first to FIGS. 1,1A, 2, 3 and 4 there is shown a container assembly 10 comprising the combination of a molded plastic pallet base 12, a four-walled collapsible sleeve 14 and two identical molded plastic pallet adapters 16 and 18, plate 16 being located between the top surface of the pallet base 12 and the bottom edge of the sleeve 14, while plate 18 is inverted and used as a cover for the container assembly. The top edge of the sleeve 14 fits into the groove 26 in plate 18. Describing the pallet base 12 in greater detail, it is of essentially conve