Nestable and stackable storage bins

Abstract

Nestable and stackable storage bins have bump-ins formed in their sidewalls such that the storage bins are rotationally non-symmetric. The bump-ins are configured and located such that a top storage bin can nest within a bottom storage bin when the two storage bins are oriented in the same direction. On the other hand, the top storage bin rests on interior support columns formed by the bump-ins when the top storage bin is rotated to a different orientation relative to the bottom storage bin, thus allowing the support storage bins to be stacked on top of each other. A disclosed storage bin is rectangular with two long sidewalls and two short sides; bump-ins at two adjacent corners where a short sidewall of the storage bin meets the two long sidewalls of the storage bin; and another bump-in in the middle of the opposite short sidewall of the storage bin.

Description

DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 1 NESTABLE AND STACKABLE STORAGE BINS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 770,224 filed March 11, 2025, which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to storage bins. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0003] Storage bins can be found in many sizes and shapes at, for example, home goods stores, hardware stores, etc., with rectangular storage bins perhaps being the most common. Typically, they are made from thermoplastic or other resinous, injection-moldable material. They are useful for storing and / or transporting innumerable items, from canned goods to sporting equipment to tools and home-repair supplies, etc.

[0004] Such storage bins are typically displayed at retail locations – and they may be stored at home when not in use – with multiple storage bins nested one inside another to reduce the amount of space they take up. This is also advantageous for shipping the storage bins from, for example, the manufacturer to the retail location.

[0005] Furthermore, it is common to stack multiple filled storage bins on top of each other, to take full advantage of available storage space. Conventionally, this requires a “platform” of some sort across the top of the filled storage bin, to provide a stable support surface for the storage bin or storage bins to be stacked on top of a given storage bin. The platform is often provided by means of a lid that is attached to the top of the storage bin or, in some cases, by flaps that are connected to edges of the storage bin by hinges and folder over to close the storage bin. Unfortunately, however, lids and hinged flaps add cost to a given storage bin for both the manufacturer and the consumer. Additionally, separate lids can get lost, and they tend to crack after repeated use or in cold climates, etc., especially when they are made from plastic materials. CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 2 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Storage bins are provided that are both nestable within and stably stackable on top of each other, depending on how one storage bin is oriented relative to another. Nestable and stackable storage bins in accordance with the claimed invention have bump-ins formed in their sidewalls such that the storage bins are rotationally non-symmetric. The bump-ins are configured and located such that a top storage bin can nest within a bottom storage bin when the two storage bins are oriented in the same direction. On the other hand, the bump-ins are configured and located such that the top storage bin rests on interior support columns formed by the bump-ins when the top storage bin is rotated to a different orientation relative to the bottom storage bin, thus allowing the support storage bins to be stacked on top of each other.

[0007] An aspect of the present invention is to provide a storage bin comprising a plurality of sidewalls and a bottom wall that together define an interior region of the storage bin, the storage bin having an open top, and a plurality of bump-ins formed in at least some of the sidewalls of the storage bin and protruding into the interior region of the storage bin, the bumpins forming support columns protruding into the interior region of the storage bin and corresponding recesses as viewed from the exterior of the storage bin, the bump-ins extending vertically into the bottom wall of the storage bin and the support columns having support surfaces at upper ends thereof. For a pair of the storage bins, the sidewalls, the bottom wall, and the bump-ins are structured and arranged such that a top storage bin can be lowered into and nested within a bottom storage bin through the open top of the bottom storage bin, with the support columns of the bottom storage bin accommodated within the recesses of the top storage bin, when the top storage bin and the bottom storage bin are oriented the same way relative to each other, and when the top storage bin is rotated about a vertical axis to a different orientation relative to the bottom storage bin, a lower portion of the top storage bin fits partially down into the open top of the bottom storage bin until regions of said lower portion of the top storage bin rest on the support surfaces provided by the support columns of the bottom storage bin, whereby the top storage bin is stably stacked on the bottom storage bin at a stacking position that is higher than a nesting position.

[0008] Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a storage bin comprising a plurality of sidewalls and a bottom wall that together define an interior region of the storage bin, CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 3 the storage bin having an open top, and a plurality of bump-ins formed in at least some of the sidewalls of the storage bin and protruding into the interior region of the storage bin, the bumpins forming support columns protruding into the interior region of the storage bin with support surfaces at upper ends thereof, wherein the bump-ins are positioned so as to render the storage bin rotationally non-symmetric about a central vertical axis thereof.

[0009] These and other aspects of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figs. 1A, 1B, and 1C are a side view, a top perspective view from one end, and a top perspective view from the other end, respectively, showing two storage bins in accordance with the claimed invention, with the top storage bin nested within the bottom storage bin;

[0011] Figs. 2A, 2B, and 2C are a side view, a top perspective view from one end, and a top perspective view from the other end, respectively, showing the two storage bins illustrated in Figs. 1A-1C, respectively, with the top storage bin stacked on top of the bottom storage bin;

[0012] Fig. 3 is a top perspective view and Fig. 4 is a bottom perspective view of one of the storage bins illustrated in Figs. 1A-1C and 2A-2C from one end thereof, and Fig. 5 is a top perspective view and Fig. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the storage bin from the opposite end thereof;

[0013] Fig. 7 is a plan view of one of the storage bins illustrated in Figs. 1A-1C and 2A- 2C, with Figs. 8 and 9 being section views taken along the cutting lines 8-8 and 9-9, respectively. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] Two storage bins 100 constructed in accordance with the claimed invention are illustrated in Figs. 1A-1C and 2A-2C. As illustrated in Figs. 1A-1C, when one storage bin 100 is aligned with the other storage bin 100 in the sense that features to be described below in greater detail are aligned with each other, one storage bin (the top storage bin 100t) can fit down into the other storage bin (the bottom storage bin 100b) from above to nest within the bottom storage bin 100b. On the other hand, as illustrated in Figs. 2A-2C, when the top storage bin 100t is rotated by 180 degrees around a central vertical axis A, as labeled in Figs. 7 and 8, relative to the bottom CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 4 storage bin 100b, the features that are aligned in Figs. 1A-1C are no longer aligned with each other and prevent the top storage bin 100t from nesting within the bottom storage bin 100b. Rather, those features provide multiple support surfaces on which the top storage bin 100t can be supported above the bottom storage bin 100b in stable fashion.

[0015] In general, as illustrated in Figs. 3-9, a storage bin 100 in accordance with the claimed invention may be generally rectangular as seen from above. Here, the term rectangular is used as in common parlance to mean there are two long sides that are parallel to and spaced apart from each other, and two short sides that are parallel to and spaced apart from each other, with the short side extending between the long sides. (Storage bins in accordance with the claimed invention may also be square, with four sidewalls of equal length.) Thus, the storage bin 100 has two long sidewalls 102, two short sidewalls 104, and a bottom wall 106 that together define the interior region of the storage bin. The top of the storage bin is open, and a slightly outturned rim 108 surrounds the upper opening of the storage bin.

[0016] As shown most noticeably in Figs. 1A and 2A, the short sidewalls 104 are canted outwardly by about 3 to about 5 degrees; so, too, are the long sidewalls 102. The cant angles of the short and long sidewalls 104, 102 may be at least 1 or 2 degrees, up to 6 or 8 degrees, or more. As a result, the overall length L1 and width W1 of the bottom of the storage bin is smaller than the overall length L2 and width W2 of the upper opening of the storage bin 100. See Fig. 7, in particular. This allows a top storage bin 100t to be inserted into a lower, bottom storage bin 100b for nesting, as illustrated in Figs. 1A-1C.

[0017] The storage bins 100 may be made of any suitable formable material such as plastic, metal, or the like. For example, the storage bins 100 may be made of plastics such as polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high impact polystyrene (HIPS), or the like, and they are suitably manufactured by injection molding. If desired, the storage bins 100 may be textured externally, e.g., with a wicker pattern as shown.

[0018] As further illustrated in the various figures and alluded to above, storage bins 100 in accordance with the claimed invention have features that permit multiple storage bins 100 to be nested as illustrated in Figs. 1A-1C when they are oriented in one direction relative to each other, yet stacked when they are oriented in another direction such as by being rotated 180 CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 5 degrees relative to each other. In the disclosed embodiment, for example, the sidewalls 102, 104 of the storage bin 100 have what may be referred to as “bump-ins,” which extend down into the bottom wall 106 of the storage bin 100 (see Figs. 4 and 6, in particular) and almost all the way up to the top of the storage bin. For example, the height h of the bump-ins may be on the order of approximately 90 to 95 percent of the total height H of the storage bin. See Figs. 8 and 9, in particular.

[0019] As a result of the bump-ins, there are multiple storage bin-supporting support columns 110 formed in the sidewalls 102, 104 of the storage bin 100 and protruding into the interior region of the storage bin; obversely, there are corresponding recesses 112 formed in the sidewalls 102, 104 of the storage bin 100 as viewed from the exterior of the storage bin 100. Because the bump-ins do not extend the entire height of the storage bin, the tops of the support columns 110 have substantially flat, upper storage bin-supporting surfaces 114. With this arrangement, including the canted nature of the sidewalls 102, 104 and the fact the bump-ins extend down into the bottom wall 106 of the storage bin 100, the recesses 112 of a given top storage bin 100t fit over and accommodate therein the support columns 110 of a corresponding bottom storage bin 100b, thus permitting the top storage bin 100t to nest within the bottom storage bin 100b as illustrated in Figs. 1A-1C.

[0020] On the other hand, if the top storage bin 100t is rotated by 180 degrees around its central vertical axis A (see Figs. 7 and 8), its recesses 112 will no longer be aligned with the support columns 110 of the bottom storage bin 100b; rather, support regions 116 of the bottom wall 106 of the top storage bin 100t will be aligned with the support columns 110 of the bottom storage bin 100b. See Figs. 4 and 6, in particular. As a result, when the top storage bin 100t is lowered toward the bottom storage bin 100b, the top storage bin 100t will be supported above, but slightly within, the bottom storage bin 100b by means of the support regions 116 of the bottom wall 106 of the top storage bin 100t resting on the storage bin-supporting surfaces 114 of the support columns 110 of the bottom storage bin 100b. In other words, rotating the top storage bin 100t by 180 degrees relative to the bottom storage bin 100b allows the top storage bin 100t to be stacked on top of the bottom storage bin 100b, as illustrated in Figs. 2A-2C.

[0021] More specifically, in the storage bin embodiment illustrated in the figures, the storage bin 100 has a rather pronounced, central bump-in 118 formed in the widthwise-middle of CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 6 one of the short sidewalls 104 located at one end of the storage bin, and two somewhat smaller corner bump-ins 120 at the opposite end of the storage bin, where the two long sidewalls 102 meet the opposite, short sidewall 104. In general, the bump-ins 118, 120 may have any desired profile as seen from above, as shown in Fig. 7, so long as the profiles are configured to permit the exterior recesses of a top storage bin 100t to fit over and accommodate therein the interior support columns of a bottom storage bin 100b. In the illustrated embodiment, the central bumpin 118 has a generally curved or parabolic profile with a central bump-in depth d that constitutes at least 10 percent of the overall length L2 of the storage bin 100, for example, from 20 to 25 percent, and a central bump-in width w that constitutes at least 20 percent, or at least 40 percent, or at least 50 percent of the overall width W2 of the storage bin, for example, from 60 to 80 percent, or from 65 to 75 percent. At the opposite end of the storage bin 100, the corner bumpins 120 have generally quarter-circle profiles, with corner bump-in radiuses r that each constitute at least 10 percent of the overall width W2 of the storage bin 100, for example, from 20 to 25 percent. The corner bump-in radiuses r may be the same as, or about the same as, the central bump-in depth d, if desired.

[0022] As noted above, because the bump-ins do not extend the entire height of the storage bin 100, the tops of the support columns formed by the bump-ins have substantially flat, upper storage bin-supporting surfaces 114. In addition to the storage bin-supporting surfaces 114, it is preferable for each of the support columns 110 to include a bead-like step extending along the horizontally outermost, top-most portion of the support column 110, where the storage bin-supporting support surface 114 of the support column 110 meets the upper portion of the adjacent storage-bin sidewall or sidewalls. These steps help limit or reduce lateral movement of the top storage bin 100t relative to the bottom storage bin 100b when the storage bins are stacked. Suitably, the step height sh of the steps are all the same, and the step height sh may be half the distance dx from the tops of the storage bin-supporting surfaces 114 to the top edge of the storage bin, as illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9.

[0023] For the support column 110 formed by the central bump-in 118, the central step 122 extends along the short sidewall 104 in which the central bump-in 118 is formed in a straight line for the width w of the central bump-in 118. For the support columns 110 formed by the corner bump-ins 120 at the opposite end of the storage bin 100, on the other hand, the corner CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 7 steps 124 are L-shaped, extending along both the adjacent long sidewall 102 and the adjacent short sidewall 104 of the storage bin 100 for a length l of each that is the same as the radius r of the corner bump-ins 120. As explained above, because the sidewalls 102, 104 are canted, the overall length L1 and width W1 of the bottom of the storage bin is smaller than the overall length L2 and width W2 of the upper opening of the storage bin, as indicated in Fig. 7. As a result, the “footprint” of the bottom of the storage bin 100 is smaller than and fits within the “footprint” of the top of the storage bin 100. The steps 122, 124 “fill in” the gaps otherwise attributable to the difference in “footprint” between the top and the bottom of the storage bin 100 when storage bins 100 are stacked. Thus, for a top storage bin 100t, the bottom corners on either side of the central bump-in 118 will nestle within the interior corners of the L-shaped steps 124 at the tops of the corner support columns 110 of a bottom storage bin 100b, and the bottom edge extending between the corner bump-ins 120 will nestle against the linear step 122 at the top of the central support column 110. See Figs. 4 and 6.

[0024] In general, the arrangement of the bump-ins and their corresponding external recesses / internal support columns may be said to render the storage bin rotationally nonsymmetric as viewed from above, for rotation of the storage bin by 180 degrees about the central vertical axis of the storage bin. What this means is that if the storage bin had no bump-ins and were constructed from four completely flat sidewalls, with two being long sidewalls and two being short sidewalls meeting at four corners, then the storage bin would be rotationally symmetric of order two: the plan view of the storage bin at 180 degrees of rotation and at 360 degrees of rotation about the central vertical axis would be exactly the same. But because the storage bin has its bump-ins located where they are – i.e., two at the corners at one end of the storage bin and one at the center at the opposite end of the storage bin – the storage bin is not rotationally symmetric about its central vertical axis at all. This is why the top storage bin rests on the support columns when the top storage bin is rotated 180 degrees relative to the bottom storage bin.

[0025] On the other hand, while the storage bin is not rotationally symmetric, the arrangement of the bump-ins is, in fact, such that the storage bin is symmetric across its longitudinal centerline CL, as viewed from above. See Fig. 7. This provides stability such that the top storage bin does not wobble when it is stacked on and supported by the support columns CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 8 of the bottom storage bin. Having the two support columns at the one end of the storage bin be located at the corners of the storage bin has a maximum stabilizing effect at that end of the storage bin. On the other hand, while the support column at the opposite end of the storage bin is widthwise-centrally located, the substantial extent of its width, e.g., at least 50 percent, or from 60 to 80 percent, of the overall width of the storage bin, as noted above – yields comprehensive support at that end of the storage bin and therefore contributes to the stabilizing effect of the bump-ins’ arrangement.

[0026] Finally, the disclosed embodiment of a storage bin is generally rectangular, as noted above, with two long sides and two short sides. Additionally, the bump-ins are arranged with two in the corners of the storage bin at one end of the storage bin, where one of the short sidewalls of the storage bin meets the two long sidewalls of the storage bin, and one bump-in in the center of the other short sidewall at the opposite end of the storage bin. Other shapes of the storage bin and / or locations of the bump-ins may be utilized as well, so long as the storage bin is rotationally non-symmetric such that 1) two of them can nest, as described above, when they both have the same rotational orientation, while 2) permitting the bottom of a top storage bin to fit slightly down within the open top of a bottom storage bin, and to be stably supported by support columns protruding interiorly from the walls of the bottom storage bin, when the top storage bin has a different rotational orientation relative to the bottom storage bin.

[0027] For example, the storage bin could be rectangular, but with two bump-ins located at the two corners where one of the long sidewalls meets the two short sidewalls and a third bump-in located centrally within the opposite long sidewall. In other words, such an arrangement would have the bump-ins rotationally “shifted” by 90 degrees as compared to the arrangement disclosed and described above. Alternatively, the storage bin could be square – i.e., rectangular in the strict geometric sense (quadrilateral with four right angles and opposite sides that are equal and parallel) with all four sidewalls having the same length – but with three bumpins arranged as disclosed and described above (two in adjacent corners, one in the middle of the opposite sidewall).

[0028] Still further, other shapes such as regular hexagonal or regular octagonal could be implemented for storage bins in accordance with the claimed invention, although square / rectangular would, it is believed, yield greatest storage efficiency in terms of the number CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 9 of storage bins that could be stored within a given area for a given manufacturing cost per storage bin. Storage bins with these other shapes would – but for the presence of bump-ins – have higher orders of rotational symmetry than the storage bin described above. In particular, a regular hexagonal storage bin would have an order of rotational symmetry of six, and a regular octagonal storage bin would have an order of rotational symmetry of eight.

[0029] Depending on the overall shape of the storage bin and / or the sizes of the storage bin’s sidewalls, it is possible that not all of the sidewalls of the storage bin will include bumpins.

[0030] The above examples are intended to illustrate various aspects of the claimed invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

[0031] As used herein, “including,” “containing,” and like terms are understood in the context of this application to be synonymous with “comprising” and are therefore open-ended and do not exclude the presence of additional undescribed or unrecited elements, materials, phases or method steps. As used herein, “consisting essentially of” is understood in the context of this application to include the specified elements and structural features where applicable, and to also include any unspecified elements and structural features that do not materially affect the basic or novel characteristics of the invention. As used herein, “consisting of” is understood in the context of this application to exclude the presence of any unspecified element, material, phase, or method step.

[0032] Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard variation found in their respective testing measurements.

[0033] Also, it should be understood that any numerical range recited herein is intended to include all sub-ranges subsumed therein. For example, a range of “1 to 10” is intended to include all sub-ranges between (and including) the recited minimum value of 1 and the recited maximum value of 10, that is, having a minimum value equal to or greater than 1 and a maximum value of equal to or less than 10. CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 10

[0034] In this application, the use of the singular includes the plural and plural encompasses singular, unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, in this application, the use of “or” means “and / or” unless specifically stated otherwise, even though “and / or” may be explicitly used in certain instances. In this application and the appended claims, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless expressly and unequivocally limited to one referent.

[0035] Whereas particular embodiments of this invention have been described above for purposes of illustration, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the details of the present invention may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims. CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10

Claims

DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 11 WE CLAIM:

1. A storage bin comprising: a plurality of sidewalls and a bottom wall that together define an interior region of the storage bin, the storage bin having an open top; and a plurality of bump-ins formed in at least some of the sidewalls of the storage bin and protruding into the interior region of the storage bin, the bump-ins forming support columns protruding into the interior region of the storage bin and corresponding recesses as viewed from the exterior of the storage bin, the bump-ins extending vertically into the bottom wall of the storage bin and the support columns having support surfaces at upper ends thereof, wherein, for a pair of the storage bins, the sidewalls, the bottom wall, and the bump-ins are structured and arranged such that: a top storage bin can be lowered into and nested within a bottom storage bin through the open top of the bottom storage bin, with the support columns of the bottom storage bin accommodated within the recesses of the top storage bin, when the top storage bin and the bottom storage bin are oriented the same way relative to each other; and when the top storage bin is rotated about a vertical axis to a different orientation relative to the bottom storage bin, a lower portion of the top storage bin fits partially down into the open top of the bottom storage bin until regions of said lower portion of the top storage bin rest on the support surfaces provided by the support columns of the bottom storage bin, whereby the top storage bin is stably stacked on the bottom storage bin at a stacking position that is higher than a nesting position.

2. The storage bin according to claim 1, wherein the sidewalls meet at corners of the storage bin, two of the bump-ins comprise corner bump-ins formed at adjacent corners of the storage bin with one of the storage-bin sidewalls located therebetween, and a third bump-in comprises a center bump-in formed in the storage-bin sidewall opposite the storage-bin sidewall located between the two corner bump-ins. CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 12 3. The storage bin according to claim 2, wherein the corner bump-ins comprise quartercircular profiles.

4. The storage bin according to claim 3, wherein each of the corner bump-ins has a radius of curvature that is at least 10 percent of a dimension of the storage bin taken in a direction from one of the corner bump-ins to the other corner bump-in.

5. The storage bin according to claim 4, wherein the corner bump-in radius of curvature is from 20 to 25 percent.

6. The storage bin according to claim 2, wherein the center bump-in has a curved profile.

7. The storage bin according to claim 6, wherein the curved profile is parabolic.

8. The storage bin according to claim 2, wherein the center bump-in protrudes toward the interior of the storage bin by a bump-in depth that constitutes at least 10 percent of a dimension of the storage bin taken in a direction from the storage-bin sidewall in which the center bump-in is formed toward the opposite storage-bin sidewall.

9. The storage bin according to claim 8, wherein the center bump-in depth is from 20 to 25 percent.

10. The storage bin according to claim 2, wherein the center bump-in has a bump-in width that constitutes at least 20 percent of a dimension of the storage bin taken in a direction orthogonal to the direction from the storage-bin sidewall in which the center bump-in is formed toward the opposite storage-bin sidewall.

11. The storage bin according to claim 10, wherein the center bump-in width is at least 50 percent. CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 13 12. The storage bin according to claim 10, wherein the center bump-in width is from 60 to 80 percent.

13. The storage bin according to claim 1, wherein the support surfaces have steps extending along junctions between the support surfaces and the sidewalls from which the bumpins protrude.

14. The storage bin according to claim 1, wherein the sidewalls of the storage bin are canted outwardly at a cant angle taken in a direction from the bottom wall toward the open top of the storage bin.

15. The storage bin according to claim 14, wherein the cant angle is at least 1 degree.

16. The storage bin according to claim 15, wherein the cant angle is from 3 to 5 degrees.

17. The storage bin according to claim 1, wherein the storage bin is rectangular; two of the sidewalls are long sidewalls disposed opposite each other; and two of the sidewalls are short sidewalls disposed opposite each other and between the long sidewalls.

18. The storage bin according to claim 17, wherein two of the bump-ins comprise corner bump-ins formed at adjacent corners where one of the short sidewalls meets the two long sidewalls, and a third bump-in comprises a center bump-in formed at a widthwise centered position along the other short sidewall, between the two long sidewalls.

19. The storage bin according to claim 1, wherein the sidewalls and bottom wall comprise solid panels. CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10 DECO-705A1CA 4919-5857-0902 14 20. A storage bin comprising: a plurality of sidewalls and a bottom wall that together define an interior region of the storage bin, the storage bin having an open top; and a plurality of bump-ins formed in at least some of the sidewalls of the storage bin and protruding into the interior region of the storage bin, the bump-ins forming support columns protruding into the interior region of the storage bin with support surfaces at upper ends thereof; wherein the bump-ins are positioned so as to render the storage bin rotationally nonsymmetric about a central vertical axis thereof.

21. The storage bin according to claim 20, wherein, but for the presence of the bump-ins, the storage bin would be rotationally symmetric about the vertical axis with order two or more.

22. The storage bin according to claim 20, wherein the storage bin is 180 degrees rotationally non-symmetric about the central vertical axis. CA 3304399 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-10