FIGS. 8 to 11 and includes the external skirt;

FIG. 13 depicts the container body of FIGS. 8 to 10 with a lid open, the external skirt once more being omitted;

FIG. 14 is a section in a vertical plane through a locking arrangement of the container of FIGS. 8 to 13;

FIG. 15 is a section in a vertical plane through an alternative locking arrangement for the container of FIGS. 8 to 13;

FIG. 16 depicts a further container embodying the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a section in a vertical plane through a further locking arrangement for a container embodying the present invention;

FIG. 18 depicts a container incorporating the locking mechanism of FIG. 17;

FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 depict another container embodying the present invention in a use configuration with its lid closed, in a collapsed configuration, and in the use configuration with its lid open, respectively;

FIGS. 22, 23 and 24 depict another container embodying the present invention with its lid closed, with its lid and bottom panel both open, and with its lid only open, respectively;

FIGS. 25, 26 and 27 depict another container embodying the present invention. In FIG. 25 the container is assembled for use. In FIG. 27 it is disassembled and in FIG. 26 it is disassembled and stacked;

FIG. 28 depicts a further form of inflatable dunnage for use in containers embodying the present invention; and

FIG. 29 depicts the inflatable dunnage of FIG. 28 folded to fit into a container embodying the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the embodiments depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are presented by way of example and not of limitation. The detail offered is not intended to limit the scope of the invention; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention according to the appended claims.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, a container 100 comprises a container body 102 in the form of a box having a closure in the form of a lid 104, a bottom panel 106 and multiple side panels 108. The panels 106, 108 and the lid 104 together define the container's shape, which in this example is cuboidal although other container shapes may be adopted in other embodiments. The lid 104 is movable between a closed position in which it covers an otherwise upwardly open face of the container body 102, preventing access to the interior of the container 100, and an open position in which the said upwardly open face is exposed. The lid 104 may in some embodiments be wholly removable from the container body 102 but in the present embodiment is hingedly connected to the container body 102. With the lid in its open position the container 100 can receive content 112 through its open face. Any suitably-sized object or item may form the content. The lid 104 may be securable in its closed position through a suitable locking arrangement. This is not depicted in FIGS. 1 to 7 but suitable locking arrangements will be described below and may be used with the container 100.

The container 100 may comprise two or more compartments within the container body 102 to facilitate accommodation of individual items of content 112 in respective compartments. One or more removable partitions can be placed within the container 100 to form the compartments. The partitions may be inflatable.

The container 100 further comprises inflatable dunnage, formed in the present embodiment by one or more inflatable pillows 114 within the container body 102. The pillows 114 are able to to be inflated and deflated from outside of the container 100. The pillows 114 may be inflated before the content 112 is placed in the container 100. Alternatively, the content 112 may be placed in the container 100 with the pillows 114 deflated, and the pillows 114 may then be inflated to take up the vacant space around the content 112 and to closely embrace it. In either case, the content 112 may be surrounded, embraced and protected by the pillows 114 as depicted in FIG. 5.

In the present embodiment the pillows 114 are in fluid communication with one another through conduits 116 in the form of pipes, which may be flexible. Gas to inflate the pillows 114 is supplied from a gas source 118 which may for example comprise a pump or a pressurised gas reservoir. A gas extractor may in some examples be used to draw gas out of the pillows 114 to fully deflate them. While the pillows 114 of the present embodiment are to be gas filled, they may instead be filled with liquid in other embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 5, each internal face of the container body 102 is in this embodiment provided with a respective pillow 114 to surround the content 112 from all sides.

FIG. 5 depicts, purely by way of example, a conically shaped item of content 112 and balloon-shaped inflatable pillows 114, but the invention imposes no limitation on the nature or shape of the content 112. The shapes of the inflatable pillows 114 may also differ in other embodiments, and may be chosen to accommodate content of a particular shape.

The container 100 may, without limitation, comprise any of plastic, cardboard, metal, wood, or biodegradable material. The inflatable pillows 114 may be made of a flexible, fluid-impermeable material. A suitable material is known as TPU-coated fabric and comprises a textile sheet with a thermoplastic polyurethane coating. The textile sheet can be robust and tear resistant. The coating renders the material impermeable to gases.

One of the challenges to reuse of delivery containers is that their bulk makes them cumbersome to ship and to store when empty. For example, where containers are used for delivery of retail items to consumers, the containers will typically need to be returned to a depot for refilling if they are to be reused. But empty containers potentially take up a large volume in a delivery vehicle, so the cost of this return journey can be an economic obstacle to reuse of the containers. Warehousing a large number of bulky containers can also be uneconomic. To address this problem, containers embodying the present invention may (a) be collapsible or (b) be configured to stack one within another. In either case, the use of inflatable dunnage is advantageous because when deflated its volume too can be minimized. After a delivery, the dunnage is deflated, the container is collapsed and/or placed in a compact stack with other similar containers, and in this straightforward manner the volume taken up by the container is minimized.

The container 100 is collapsible. In the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 1 to 7, each of the side panels 108a-d of the container body 102 comprises an upper subpanel 122 having an upper edge 125 hingedly connected to an edge of an upper panel 126 of the container body 102, and a lower edge 128 hingedly connected to an upper edge of a lower sub-panel 130. Lower edge 132 of the lower subpanel 130 is hingedly connected to an edge of the bottom panel 106. This configuration allows the container 100 to be switched between a collapsed state and an in-use state.

In the collapsed state, depicted in FIG. 7, the upper and lower subpanels 122 and 130 are turned outwardly to lie face to face with one another and generally parallel with the bottom panel 106. The upper panel 126 lies adjacent the bottom panel 106, providing a configuration of small depth which thus takes up a small volume. The deflated pillows 114 and pipes 116 are securely accommodated between the panels 106, 126.

The container body 102 is converted from the collapsed state to the use state by drawing the upper panel 126 away from the lower panel 106, causing the upper and lower subpanels 122, 130 to turn and so take up positions in which they lie in a common plane and largely perpendicular to the bottom panel 106, maximizing the separation of the bottom panel 106 from the upper panel 126 and forming the erect container's cuboidal shape, ready to receive the content 112.

The reconfiguration between the collapsed and use states is reversible and can be carried out repeatedly.

The containers 100 are configured to be stacked one upon another both in the collapsed state and in the use state, and may be provided with registration features to maintain alignment of neighbouring units in a stack, thereby facilitating orderly stacking and/or enhancing stability of the stack. The registration features may be provided on top and/or bottom faces of the container 100. In the present embodiment the registration features comprise ridges 134 at corners of the lid 104.

FIGS. 8 to 13 depict a second container 200 which embodies the present invention. It shares various constructional features with the first container 100. Container body 202 of container 200 comprises a bottom panel 206, side panels 208 each comprising an upper subpanel 222 and a lower subpanel 230, a closure in the form of a lid 204, and an upper panel 226 immediately beneath the lid 204. The container 200 has a rectangular plan shape and hence has four side panels 208, although other shapes may be used in other embodiments. The upper subpanels 222 are each hingedly coupled at their upper edges 224 to a respective edge of the upper panel 226 and are each hingedly connected at their lower edges 228 to a respective lower subpanel 230, Each lower subpanel is hingedly connected at its lower edge 232 to a respective edge of the bottom panel 206.

The lid 204 is hinged to the upper panel 226 and is seen in its open position in FIG. 13, which also shows opening 236 in the upper panel 226, through which content 112 is able to be placed in, and removed from, the container 200.

The second container 200 is able to be reversibly and repeatedly reconfigured between the collapsed state of FIG. 10 and the use state of FIG. 8. The second container 200 differs from the first container 100 in that to collapse the container body 202, its upper and lower subpanels 222, 230 turn inwards (rather than outwards) to lie within the footprint defined by the bottom and the upper panels 206, 226, as can be appreciated from FIGS. 9 and 10. In this way the footprint of the collapsed container 200 is minimized and the collapsed container forms a roughly cuboidal shape which is easy to handle and to stack. To permit the subpanels 222, 230 to turn inwards without fouling each other, each of the subpanels 222, 230 has ends 240, 242 which are not perpendicular to the upper and lower edges 224, 232, but are instead inclined to them to form a trapezoid shape (more specifically an isosceles trapezoid shape, in the present example) which converges in the direction toward the hinged connection between the upper subpanel 222 and the lower subpanel 230. The lower subpanel 230 is wider at its lower edge than at its upper edge, while the upper subpanel 222 is wider at its upper edge than at its lower edge. In the present example, the ends 240, 242 are angled at substantially 45 degrees to the upper and lower edges 224, 232. Consequently the lower subpanels 230 can turn inwards to lie in a common plane with their ends 240 neighbouring but not fouling one another, and likewise the upper subpanels 222 can turn inwards to lie in a common plane without fouling.

A locking mechanism is provided to maintain the upper and lower subpanels 222, 230 in the upright orientations of FIG. 8, and so maintain the container 200 in the use state. The side panels 208 provide the container 200 with columnar strength which is important when filled containers are stacked.

The trapezoidal subpanels 222, 230 do not form a continuous wall for the container body 202 in its use state since their angled ends 240, 242 leave spaces 244 between them at the container's upright vertices. To provide an enclosed space to receive the content 112, the container 200 further comprises a flexible skirt 246 which extends from the bottom panel 206 to the upper panel 226 and which is disposed around and outside the side panels 108, as seen in FIG. 12. The skirt 246 comprises flexible sheet material. In the present embodiment it comprises a textile, but other forms of flexible membranous material such as plastics or rubber sheet may be adopted. The bottom panel 206 is seen in FIG. 8 to have a peripheral upstand 248 and the upper panel 226 likewise has a peripheral upstand 250. Bottom and top edges of the skirt 246 are secured to the respective upstands, e.g. by bonding, to keep the skirt 246 in position.

It is desirable that the skirt 246 should fold tidily as the container 200 is collapsed, avoiding crumpling which might resist the movement of the upper panel 226 toward the bottom panel 206. To this end, the skirt 246 is tethered to the container body 202 in selected regions, causing the skirt 246 to be drawn inwards along with the subpanels 222, 230 and enabling it to fold tidily. The skirt 246 may for example be secured to the hinge line 228 along the lower edge of the upper subpanel 222. Alternatively it may be adhered or otherwise attached to the outer faces of the subpanels 222, 230. The skirt 246 may comprise pre-formed crease lines causing it to fold tidily at the container's vertices.

As noted above it is desirable for the container 200, when placed in a stack with other similar containers, to register with the neighbouring containers such as to maintain their alignment and facilitate orderly stacking. In the present embodiment the lid 204 is provided with a registration feature in the form of a raised region 252, which is rectangular in plan in this embodiment although other shapes would be suitable. The bottom 206 has on its underside (not shown in the drawings) a complementary recess to receive and register with the raised region 252 of another container 200, thereby to align one with the other in a stack.

The container 200 comprises inflatable dunnage 256 to cushion and/or to locate content 112 within the container 200. In the present embodiment the inflatable dunnage comprises two layers of a flexible skin 258 (see FIG. 12 in particular, although only one of the skins 258 is visible, since it overlies and covers the other). The material of the skin may comprise TPU-coated textile, or it may comprise any other suitable membranous flexible gas-impermeable material. Inflatable cells 254 are formed between the skins 258 by seams 260 which connect one to the other along chosen lines. Gaps in the seams allow for passage of fluid (gas or in some embodiments liquid) from one inflatable cell 254 to another, so that all cells are able to be inflated through a single port 270. The seams 260 may for example be formed by heat welding, adhesion, or any other suitable technique. This two-skinned form of construction is well suited to mass manufacture and can be both economical and physically robust.

At least some of the seams 260 define lines along which the inflatable dunnage 256 is to be creased when it is inside the container body 202. Any creases across the inflatable cells 254 tend to straighten as they expand under internal pressure, but the seams 260 can remain flexible. Viewed in plan as in FIG. 12, the dunnage 256 forms a geometric net able to be folded along some of the seams 260 into a shape which approximately matches the interior shape of the container body 202, and which covers its interior faces. A bottom dunnage panel 262 conforming to the bottom panel 106 of the container body 102 is defined by seams 260a and hingedly coupled through them to side dunnage panels 264 which are to be folded upwardly to lie against the side panels 108 of the container body 202. One of the side panels meets a top dunnage panel 266 in a seam 260b. The top dunnage panel lies adjacent and beneath the lid 104 in the assembled container 200. The side dunnage panels 264 have V-shaped cutaways 268 to conform to the inclined ends 240, 242 of the subpanels 222, 230 of the container body 202. Consequently the side dunnage panels 264 are able to fold tidily as the container 200 collapses, without excess material at the upright vertices of the container 100 which might crumple and so form a bulk which would resist the collapsing action.

Tidy folding of the inflatable dunnage 256 during collapsing of the container 200 may also be promoted by tethering the inflatable dunnage 256 to the container body 202. Tethers may be provided only at chosen lines or points. For example, tethers may be provided at chosen vertices in the structure of the container body 202. Alternatively, the inflatable dunnage 256 may be adhered or otherwise secured to internal faces of the container body 202, to move along with them.

The container 200 comprises a locking arrangement 276 which is able to serve more than one function. It is used to selectively mechanically lock the lid 204 in its closed position, preventing inadvertent release of (and in some cases unauthorized access to) content 112. And it cooperates with an exhaust port shutoff arrangement 278 (see FIG. 14) to automatically exhaust pressure from the inflatable dunnage 256 when the lid 204 is unlocked. In some embodiments the locking arrangement 276 has a third function which is to maintain the container 200 in its collapsed state.

The automatic deflation of the inflatable dunnage 256 upon opening of the container 200 has various advantages. If the content 112 is tightly embraced by the dunnage when inflated, a recipient of the container 200 might struggle to withdraw the content 112 without first deflating the dunnage and might even damage the dunnage in such attempts. Also the inflated dunnage might, were its pressure not released, cause the lid 204 to fly open on being unlocked, causing possible consternation or even risk of injury. Both risks are mitigated by the automatic release of pressure from the inflatable dunnage 256.

The locking arrangement 276 depicted in FIG. 14 comprises a locking member 280 which is coupled to the lid 204 through a pivot 282 and so is able to be turned by a user between a lock position and an unlock position. In the lock position, and whilst the lid 204 is closed, a latch portion 284 of the locking member 280 engages a complementary latch feature 286 of the container body 202, retaining the lid 204 in its closed position until the locking member 280 is turned to the unlock position, which is depicted in FIG. 14, to release the lid 204.

The locking member 280 carries a bung 288 which faces toward the container body 202 and is positioned to align with an exhaust port 290 which, in the absence of the bung 288, is open to the exterior of the container 200. The exhaust port 290 communicates with the interior of the inflatable dunnage 256. When the lid 204 is closed and the locking member 280 is moved to its lock position, the bung 288 is advanced into the exhaust port 290 to shut it off. Hence pressure is able to be sustained in the inflatable dunnage 256. Moving the locking member 280 to its unlock position withdraws the bung 288 from the exhaust port 290 and so opens the port, releasing pressure from the inflatable dunnage 256 and causing it to deflate. The container 200 thus cannot be opened without deflation of the inflatable dunnage 256.

Preparing the container 200 involves first placing content 112 inside, then closing and locking the lid 204, then inflating the dunnage 256 to protect the content 112. An arrangement that permits inflation of the dunnage 256 is depicted in FIG. 15 and comprises an inflation port 292 passing through the bung 288, so that the exhaust port 290 additionally serves as an inflation port. The inflation port 292 is able to close against escape of gas. To this end it may be provided with a one-way valve, but in the present embodiment the inflation port 292 simply comprises a narrow passage through the bung 288 which receives a needle-shaped fitting for inflation, and which seals when that is withdrawn due to its own resilience.