Unitary pallet pack container

Claim 2

A unitary, knock-down type pallet pack container, comprising a body formed of sheet material having a plurality of flexibily interconnected side and end walls, a bottom wall flexibly interconnected at one marginal edge to the lower edge of one of said walls, and a plurality of rows of non-collapsible, solid skids fixedly secured to the underside of said bottom wall, said rows of skids being suitably spaced apart for accommodating a fork of a lift truck there-between, said container, by reason of the flexible interconnections of its walls, being collapsible for storage in a flattened compact form with said skids attached thereto.

Claim 3

A container as set forth in claim 1, characterized by having bottom flaps flexibly interconnected at one edge to other of said walls and adapted to be positioned across the entire bottom opening of the container above said bottom wall to provide a multi-ply reinforced bottom for the container.

Claim 4

A container as set forth in claim 1, wherein the container may be collapsed in knocked-down form with the bottom wall provided with said skids positioned in parallel extended relation to the side wall to which it is connected, whereby a plurality of said knocked-down containers may be stacked one upon the other with alternate containers disposed in opposite and reversed relation to a container immediately there-below.

Claim 5

A container as set forth in claim 1, characterized by said end walls each being provided with one or more hinge joints intermediate the width thereof and approximately parallel to the connections with the side walls, whereby said container may be collapsed into flattened, compact form with the portions at opposite sides of the hinge joints being folded inwardly and the bottom wall provided with said skids disposed in a plane parallel to the side wall to which it is connected.

Claim 6

In a container as defined in claim 4, wherein the bottom wall provided with said skids mounted thereon may be folded inside the container in direct contact with the side wall to which it is connected.

Claim 7

A container as set forth in claim 1, characterized by said end walls each being provided with a hinge joint at approximately midway of the width thereof and extending approximAtely parallel to the connections with the side walls, whereby said container may be collapsed into flattened, compact form with the portions at opposite sides of the hinge joint being folded inwardly and the bottom wall with said skid mounted thereon being disposed in extended parallel relation to the side wall to which it is connected.

Claim 8

A container as defined in claim 1, wherein said container is formed of corrugated paper board and the end walls each being provided with score lines to form a hinge joint located approximately midway of the width thereof and extending approximately parallel to the connections with the side walls, whereby said container may be collapsed into flattened, compact form with the portions of the end walls on opposite sides of the score lines being folded inwardly and the bottom wall disposed in a plane parallel to the side wall to which it is connected.

Claim 9

A container as set forth in claim 2, wherein said container is formed of corrugated paper board and the bottom flaps, corresponding to said other of said end walls, each being provided with score lines to form a hinge joint located approximately midway of the width thereof and extending approximately parallel to the connections between the end walls and the side walls, whereby said container, when the flaps are folded inwardly against the inside surface of the end walls, may be collapsed into flattened, compact form, so that portions of said end walls and their corresponding bottom flaps, opposite the hinge joints, may be folded inwardly to permit positioning the opposite side walls in close relation and with the bottom wall provided with said skids disposed in a plane parallel to the side wall to which it is connected.

Claim 10

A container as defined in claim 7, characterized by the provision of two sets of score lines in each of said end walls, approximately parallel to and spaced from the interconnection with the side wall forming an extension of the bottom wall, whereby preparatory to collapsing the container, said bottom wall provided with said skids may be first folded into the body of the container, in direct contact with the side wall to which it is connected, and one set of score lines permitting the portions of the end walls, adjacent the side walls, to be wrapped around the outermost portion of said skids and the other set of score lines permitting other portions of the end walls to be folded inwardly, whereby in collapsed form the container occupies a relatively small planar area with the bottoms of the skids being covered by the opposite side wall of the container.