Container having sliding support members

Abstract

The present invention provides a container for holding product therein during shipment and being returned for reuse that has a body, tracks attached to opposite sides of the body, and a plurality of support members supported by the tracks. Rollers are located at the ends of the support members which roll in the tracks to move the support members. The support members have product receptacles whereby products may be suspended between adjacent support members, portions of the products residing in the product receptacles.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to containers for use in shipping, and more particularly, to containers with movable members for supporting product. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] A large number of different container structures are utilized by manufacturers to ship a variety of different products to end users, which may be, for example, assembly plants. In the automobile industry for example, an assembly plant assembling a particular automobile might utilize a number of different parts from different manufacturers. These manufacturers ship their respective parts to the assembly plant in container structures where the parts are then removed from dunnage or support members inside the container structure and assembled into a finished automobile. [0003] Access to the product in the containers is of particular concern. Specifically, in the automotive industry, the containers full of product are positioned on an assembly line adjacent to a work area which ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a container for holding and shipping products that can be easily unloaded and accessed from both the front and rear of the container. The container includes a body with tracks or retainers for suspending products, and support members that can slide along the tracks or retainers. The support members have rollers or other features that allow them to roll or move in the tracks or retainers. The container also includes stabilizers to prevent rotation of the support members. The container allows for efficient and safe removal or insertion of products without unnecessary stress or strain on the unloader or loader. The product receptacles are located at or near the top of the support members, making them easily accessible. The container can have multiple layers or levels of product, and the support members can be moved to different positions within the container to accommodate the product. The unloading process involves removing the product from the front of the container and moving the support members to position the product closer to the unloader.

Problems solved by technology

Some existing containers are difficult to access which makes removal of the parts therein difficult and time consuming.

Any delay in access and removal of the part from the container is undesirable.

The size and / or weight of the parts or work pieces may cause stress or strain on the line worker, and more particularly on the back of the worker when inserting or removing parts from such a container.

Such ergonomically unfriendly movements may cause physical trauma, pain, and other injuries that may lead to lost production time.

This requires space around the container which may not be available, depending on the physical layout of the plant or facility.

The length (front to back) of certain containers may be limited because the container manufacturer needs to eliminate the need for a line worker to walk around the container to remove product from inside the container.

The more containers need to ship a predetermined number of parts, the greater the cost to the shipper.

This movement by the line worker is ergonomically unfriendly because the line worker must lean forward and bend down into the container to insert or remove a part or work piece from the bottom of the container.

Depending upon the number of times the line worker repeats this unnatural motion into the interior of the container, strain in the back, legs and arms may result.

The size and / or weight of the parts or work pieces may increase the strain on the line worker.

Thus, simply removing multiple parts during a work day may cause physical trauma, pain, and other injuries that may lead to lost production time.

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