Reinforced container

Claim 2

A reinforced container comprising: a pair of sidewalls; a pair of end walls; a top wall including a pair of top flaps attached to said end walls; a bottom wall including a pair of bottom flaps attached to said end walls; a pair of vertically extending side cleats attached on an inside surface of each of said side walls, each of said side cleats spaced from an end of said side wall, with the side cleats at each end of the container longitudinally aligned; a pair of bottom cleats attached to and extending across the width of each of said bottom flaps and spaced from said end walls to permit the ends of each of said bottom cleats to abut the lower edge of a pair of longitudinally aligned side cleats; and a pair of top cleats, with one top cleat attached to the inside surface of each of said top flaps and extending across the width of said top flap and spaced from said end walls to permit the ends of each of said top cleats to be seated in abutting contact on a pair of longitudinally aligned side cleats.

Claim 3

The container of claim 1 in which the container is formed from a foldable blank including alternating sidewall panels and end wall panels, with each end wall panel having an attached top flap and an attached bottom flap, with a top Cleat extending across said top flap and a bottom cleat extending across said bottom flap said top and bottom cleats being spaced from said end wall panel a distance which exceeds the thickness of said top flap and said bottom flap, respectively; each side wall panel having longitudinally spaced side cleats attached on its inside surface and positioned to be seated on said bottom cleats and to support said top cleats.

Claim 4

The container of claim 2 in which said side, top, and bottom cleats have a width-to-thickness ratio of at least five.

Claim 5

The container of claim 2 including reinforcing flaps attached to the top and bottom of said sidewalls for cooperating with said top and bottom flaps, respectively, to form closed top and bottom walls for the container.

Claim 6

A reinforced container including a top section and a bottom section with the top section capable of being telescoped over said bottom section; and A. the top section including a pair of side panels and a pair of end panels, top flaps attached to the upper end of said end panels, top cleats attached to the inside surface of said top flaps and extending across said flaps and past the outside edges of said flaps a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the adjacent portion of said bottom section; and B. the bottom section including a pair of side panels and a pair of end panels each having a length dimension slightly less than said side and end panels of said top section, respectively, to permit telescoping said top section over said bottom section; a bottom flap attached at the bottom end of each of said end walls; a pair of spaced cleats attached on the outside surface of each of said side walls adjacent each end of said sidewalls; and longitudinally aligned with said top cleats to permit seating said top cleats on the upper surface of said side cleats in the assembled container; a bottom cleat extending across each of said bottom flaps and protruding therefrom a distance past the outside edges of said flap which is substantially equal to the combined thickness of the adjacent side cleat and side panel of said bottom section, each bottom cleat abutting the bottom surface of a pair of longitudinally aligned side cleats when a bottom flap is folded into a horizontal position in the assembled container.

Claim 7

A reinforced container including a top section and a bottom section with the top section capable of being telescoped over said bottom section; and A. the top section including a pair of side panels and a pair of end panels, top flaps attached to the upper end of said end panels, top cleats attached to the inside surface of said top flaps and extending across said flaps and past the outside edges of said flaps a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the adjacent portion of said bottom section; and B. the bottom section including a pair of side panels and a pair of end panels each having a length dimension slightly less than said side and end panels of said top section, respectively, to permit telescoping said top section over said bottom section; a bottom flap attached at the bottom end of each of said end walls; a pair of spaced cleats attached on the outside surface of each of said side walls adjacent each end of said sidewalls; and longitudinally aligned with said top cleats to permit seating said top cleats on the upper surface of said side cleats in the assembled container; a bottom cleat extending across each of said bottom flaps and protruding therefrom a distance past the outside edges of said flap which is substantially equal to the combined thickness of the adjacent side cleat and side panel of said bottom section, each bottom cleat abutting the bottom surface of a pair of longitudinally aligned side cleats when a bottom flap is folded into a horizontal position in the assembled container.

Claim 8

The container of claim 5 in which said side, top, and bottom cleats have a width-to-thickness ratio of at least five.

Claim 9

The container of claim 5 including a pair of reinforcing flaps attached to the side walls of said top section and a pair of reinforcing flaps are attached to the side walls of said bottom section to cooperate with said top flaps and said bottom flaps to form closed top and bottom walls for said container.

Claim 10

A reinforced container including a top section and a bottom section; and A. the top section including a pair of side panels and a pair of end panels, the top flaps attached to the upper end of each of said side and end panels, the top flaps attached to said end panels each having attached on their inside surface a top cleat extending across the top flap; B. the bottom section including a pair of side panels and a pair of end panels each having a length dimension slightly less than said side and end panels, respectively, of said top section to permit telescoping said top section over said bottom section; a pair of spaced side cleats attached on the inside surface of each of said side panels adjacent each end of said side panels to permit seating the ends of said top cleats on the upper surface of said side cleats in the assembled container; a bottom flap attached at the bottom end of each of said end panels; a bottom cleat extending across each of said bottom flaps, said bottom cleat abutting the bottom surface of a pair of said side cleats when said bottom flap is folded into a horizontal position in the assembled container.

Claim 11

A reinforced container including a top section and a bottom section; and A. the top section including a pair of side panels and a pair of end panels, the top flaps attached to the upper end of each of said side and end panels, the top flaps attached to said end panels each having attached on their inside surface a top cleat extending across the top flap; B. the bottom section including a pair of side panels and a pair of end panels each having a length dimension slightly less than said side and end panels, respectively, of said top section to permit telescoping said top section over said bottom section; a pair of spaced side cleats attached on the inside surface of each of said side panels adjacent each end of said side panels to permit seating the ends of said top cleats on the upper surface of said side cleats in the assembled container; a bottom flap attached at the bottom end of each of said end panels; a bottom cleat extending across each of said bottom flaps, said bottom cleat abutting the bottom surface of a pair of said side cleats when said bottom flap is folded into a horizontal position in the assembled container.

Claim 12

The container of claim 8 in which said side, top, and bottom cleats have a width-to-thickness ratio of At least five.

Claim 13

The container of claim 8 including a pair of reinforcing flaps attached to the side panels of said top section and a pair of reinforcing flaps attached to the side panels of said bottom section to cooperate with said top flaps and said bottom flaps to form closed top and bottom walls for said container.