Foldable container

Abstract

A foldable container comprises a box including a floor and sidewalls attached to one another to present a chamber. The box further includes foldable panels that shift from a retracted position within the chamber to an upright extended position. The extended panels serve to expand the chamber for containing a liquid or solid bulk material. The extended panels are interconnected by joints that resist tampering and that are tamper-evident. The container further includes a retaining assembly for securely holding the material in the chamber and a lid for covering the chamber. The lid cooperates with the panels to resist tampering and to be tamper-evident. The container also includes stanchions for selectively stacking at least two containers when the containers are storing the bulk material.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 744,062, filed Mar. 31, 2006, entitled FOLDABLE CONTAINER, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates generally to material storage containers. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention concern a foldable intermediate bulk container that is stackable with similar containers when in either a folded or unfolded configuration. [0004] 2. Discussion of Prior Art [0005] Intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) for transporting various solids and liquids are well known in the art. Conventional IBCs take up a substantial amount of space when in use. But some prior art IBCs include collapsible sides so that the container can be collapsed to a relatively smaller size when not in use. Consequently, these collapsible containers take up less space when collapsed and are more ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Conventional IBCs take up a substantial amount of space when in use.

Prior collapsible IBCs are problematic and suffer from various undesirable limitations.

For example, prior art IBCs are generally prone to tampering and permit external objects to interfere with or contaminate the load contained therein.

These containers present various locations of weakness that permit a foreign object to pass through the container structure and into the internal chamber of the container.

Collapsible containers are particularly problematic in this regard because the collapsible elements can naturally produce various weak points between the elements that permit tampering with a container load.

Moreover, foldable IBCs generally do not comply with the controlling state and federal regulations governing the storage of certain food and / or medical related products and cannot store these types of products.

Additionally, the prior art foldable IBCs are unable to handle larger quantities of products and are not cost-effective to manufacture for such applications.

Anther problem with prior art IBCs is that such containers do not safely contain liquid materials.

In particular, liquids are prone to substantial weight shifts that can result in either instability or tipping of the container.

Yet another problem with prior art IBCs is that they are not stackable when storing a load therein.

Prior art containers are typically not structurally strong enough to support a fully-loaded container in a stacked configuration while being cost-effective to manufacture.

Still another problem is that prior art containers do not accommodate gravity discharge of the stored material directly from the container while the container remains upright.

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