DE20210106U1 - folding - Google Patents

Description

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Folding box

The invention relates to a folding box.

Folding boxes are used in particular for grocery shopping in supermarkets for the subsequent transport of goods. They are usually injection-molded from plastic material. Usually, long and short side walls can be folded using different mechanisms. When folded, the

&iacgr;&ogr; folding box has a lower height of just a few centimeters. The long and short folding box walls are arranged inside the folding box, folded up or folded in, parallel to the folding box floor. When unfolded, the folding box walls stand perpendicular to the folding box floor and form the height of the folding box.

The disadvantage of the well-known unfolded folding boxes is their low rigidity, in particular their low torsional stability in the longitudinal direction.

The object of the present invention is to provide a folding box which is particularly rigid, in particular torsion-resistant, when unfolded.

This task is solved by a folding box with four folding box walls arranged in a rectangle and an opening-side edge that surrounds the folding box walls on the outside, which has a constant depth along the folding box walls and a greater depth in the folding box corners than along the folding box walls.

IV

-2-It
It has surprisingly been shown that in order to achieve greater torsional stability, only the corners of the opening-side folding box edge need to be thickened. In particular, the corners of conventional folding boxes are

Stability weak points. By strengthening these weak points, an overall increase in rigidity and torsional stability is achieved.

Ideally, folding box walls have beads running parallel to the folding box floor. Beads provide additional stiffness to folding box walls. It is also possible to provide the folding box floor with beads. The wall beads can also be arranged vertically or at any other angle to the folding box floor. The same applies to the floor beads.

It has proven particularly advantageous to connect short folding box walls to a folding box edge on the opening side using a film hinge. This design of a folding box enables the short folding box walls and the folding box edge on the opening side to be manufactured in one piece using an injection molding process. The two long folding box walls are identical in shape and can therefore both be manufactured using a second injection mold. The folding box base is also made in one piece and can be manufactured using a third injection mold. By using the film hinges, the entire folding box can be manufactured using just three different injection molds.

In order to enable a favourable transmission of force from handle openings on short folding box walls to the folding box, the handle openings have circumferential outward-protruding collars, the outer circumference of which on the folding box opening side is against a bottom edge of the

-3-edge handle
In this preferred folding box design, the load-bearing forces in the handle openings are transferred to the folding box edge on the one hand on the inside of the folding box via the short folding box walls and on the other hand on the outside of the folding box via the collar and the edge grip. In order to prevent the edge grip from slipping off the collar, the latter has a thickening arranged on the outside of the collar, preferably completely surrounding the handle opening.

A variant of the folding box according to the invention that can be produced inexpensively has webs arranged on the long folding box walls on the bottom and opening side edges parallel to the folding box bottom for wrapping around hooks arranged on the folding box bottom and folding box edge to form hinges. The hinges are thus formed by a simple plug-in mechanism.

Ideally, long folding box walls have hooks on their short side edges, which protrude vertically from the folding box base when opened, at half the height of the folding box for engaging in receptacles arranged on the side edges of the short folding box walls. The unfolded folding box snaps into place at each corner of the folding box thanks to the engagement of the hook and receptacle, thus increasing the stability of the unfolded folding box.

The folding box height should essentially correspond to half the folding box length so that both short folding box walls can be folded into the folding box interior parallel to the floor without overlapping each other.

The invention is explained using an embodiment. In the following:

-4-figure
1 Perspective view of a short folding box wall

Figure 2 Side view of the short folding box wall
Figure 3 Side view of the long folding box wall
Figure 4 Top view of the folded folding box
Figure 5 Sectional view through the short folding box wall according to

Figure 1
Figure 6 Perspective view of a corner of the folding box frame.

The folding box 1 has two opposing long folding box walls

2 and two opposing short folding box walls 3. A folding box opening 4 is essentially rectangular. An opening-side edge 5 of the folding box surrounds the folding box walls 2, 3 on the outside. The folding box edge 5 has a constant depth d along the folding box walls 2, 3. In the four folding box corners 6, the folding box edge 5 is deeper than along the folding box walls 2, 3. The two short folding box walls 3 are each connected in one piece to the folding box edge 5 via a film hinge 7. The height of the folding box walls 2, 3 corresponds approximately to half the folding box width. The two short folding box walls 3 and the folding box edge 5 are injection-molded in one piece.

The long folding box walls 2 and the folding box base 8 are each injection-molded in one piece.

In the opening area of the short folding box walls 3, elongated, slightly elliptical shaped handle openings 9 are provided. The handle openings 9 have a collar 10 that extends around them and protrudes outwards. The collar 10 is thickened on its outer edge. The outer circumference of the collar 10 on the opening side abuts against a bottom edge of the edge grip 11 on the folding box opening side. The thickening of the collar 10 prevents the edge grip 11 from slipping.

The folding box 1 has beads 12 running parallel to the floor 8 along its short folding box walls 3. The short folding box walls 3 have holes arranged at regular intervals.

Figure 2 shows the beads 12 running parallel to the base 8 along the short folding box walls 3. The handle opening 9 is essentially elliptical in shape, with the bottom-side opening edge of the handle opening 9 being raised towards the folding box opening. The long

&iacgr;&ogr; Folding box walls 2 have further hooks 13a at half height on their short side edges that protrude vertically from the folding box base 8, which interact with receptacles 13b arranged on the side edges of the short folding box walls and give the folding box 1 additional stability when opened. The bottom edge of the edge surround 11 abuts the outer circumference of the collar 10 on the opening side.

Figure 3 shows beads 12 running parallel to the floor along the long folding box walls 2. The long folding box walls 2 also have holes. The folding box frame 5 surrounds the opening-side edges of the folding box walls.

The folding box edge 5 according to Figure 4 has a constant depth d along the folding box walls 2, 3. In the four folding box corners 6, the folding box edge 5 is deeper than along the folding box walls 2, 3. The thickening at the folding box corners 6 increases the torsional stability of the folding box in its longitudinal direction.

Figure 4 also shows that the folding box base can be swivelled into the folding box interior without overlapping the short folding box walls 3. The

-6 arrangement
of the film hinge 7 between short folding box wall 2 and

Frame 5.

Figure 5 clearly shows the beads 12 of the short folding box walls 3. The folding box edge 5 surrounds the opening-side edges of the short folding box walls 3. The edge surround is reinforced at its bottom end. In the area of the handle openings 9, the bottom edge of the edge surround 11 meets the outer circumference of the collar 10 on the side of the folding box opening. This enables a force transmission from the handle openings 9

β on the folding box edge 5 is improved. The circumference of the collar 10 on the outside of the folding box is thickened.

Figure 6 shows the thickening of the folding box corners 6 according to the invention in a perspective view. Along the folding box walls 2, 3, the folding box edge has a depth d. In the area of the folding box corners 6, this depth d is increased. The radius of the outer folding box edge is smaller than the radius of the inner folding box edge.

Claims (11)

1. Folding box with four folding box walls ( 2 , 3 ) arranged in a rectangle and an opening - side edge ( 5 ) which surrounds the folding box walls ( 2 , 3 ) on the outside and which has a constant depth (d) along the folding box walls ( 2 , 3) and a greater depth in folding box corners ( 6 ) than along the folding box walls ( 2 , 3 ). 2. Folding box according to claim 1, characterized in that handle openings ( 9 ) are provided on opposite short folding box walls ( 3 ), each of which has an outwardly projecting collar ( 10 ) surrounding the handle opening ( 9 ), the outer circumference of which abuts against a bottom edge of the rim surround ( 11 ) on the folding box opening side. 3. Folding box according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that folding box walls ( 2 , 3 ) have beads ( 12 ) running parallel to the folding box edge ( 5 ). 4. Folding box according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that a folding box base ( 8 ) has beads. 5. Folding box according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that two opposite short folding box walls are each integrally connected to the opening-side folding box edge ( 5 ) via a film hinge. 6. Folding box according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the folding box height corresponds essentially to half the folding box length. 7. Folding box according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that opposite long folding box walls ( 2 ) have film hinges running in the longitudinal direction at half their height. 8. Folding box according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that long folding box walls ( 5 ) have webs arranged on the bottom and opening side edges parallel to the folding box bottom for wrapping around hooks arranged on the folding box bottom ( 8 ) and folding box edge ( 5 ) to form hinges. 9. Folding box according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that long folding box walls ( 2 ) have further hooks ( 13a ) on their short side edges projecting vertically from the folding box base ( 8 ) at half the height of the folding box for engagement in receptacles ( 13b ) arranged on side edges of the short folding box walls. 10. Folding box according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that an opening-side edge ( 5 ) and the two short folding box walls ( 3 ) are injection-molded in one piece and the two long folding box walls ( 2 ) and the folding box base ( 8 ) are each injection-molded in one piece. 11. Folding box with four folding box walls ( 2 , 3 ) arranged in a rectangle and with a folding box opening ( 4 ) and an edge ( 5 ) surrounding the folding box opening ( 4 ) on the outside and with handle openings ( 9 ) arranged on opposite short folding box walls ( 3 ), each having an outwardly projecting collar ( 10 ) surrounding the handle opening ( 9 ), the outer circumference of which abuts against a bottom edge of the edge surround ( 11 ) on the folding box opening side.