Plastic storage and transport container

Abstract

A transport/shipping box has a polygonal floor with a plurality of straight edges and respective flat walls extending upward from the edges and joined together at corners to form an upwardly directed opening. The walls have upper edges that are of upwardly open U-section.

1 . In a transport/shipping box having:
 a polygonal floor with a plurality of straight edges;   respective flat walls extending upward from the edges and joined together at corners to form an upwardly directed opening,   
       the improvement wherein
 the walls have upper edges that are of upwardly open U-section. 
 
     
     
         2 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 2  wherein the upper edges are unitarily formed with the walls. 
     
     
         3 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 1  wherein the side walls are formed as flat substantially panels and each upper edge is formed by an inner flange generally coplanar with the respective panel and an outer flange offset outward from the respective inner flange. 
     
     
         4 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 3  wherein each outer flange is substantially parallel to the respective inner flange. 
     
     
         5 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 4  wherein each upper edge further has a horizontal web joining lower edges of the respective inner and outer flanges. 
     
     
         6 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 5  wherein each upper edge is formed with a plurality of crosswise stiffening ribs unitary with the respective inner edge, outer edge, and web and subdividing each upper edge into a plurality of upwardly open compartments. 
     
     
         7 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 6  wherein at least some of the compartments are vertically throughgoing in that the respective web is open between the respective ribs. 
     
     
         8 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 6 , further comprising
 a marker/reinforcement strip fittable in at least one of the compartments and visible from outside the box.   
     
     
         9 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 8 , further comprising
 interengaging latch formations on the marker/reinforcement strip and on the respective upper edge securing the strip to the respective upper edge.   
     
     
         10 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 9  wherein the one compartment is formed with a throughgoing hole through which the marker/reinforcement strip is visible. 
     
     
         11 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 9  wherein the marker/reinforcement strip is of a characteristic identifying color different from that of the box. 
     
     
         12 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 9  wherein the marker/reinforcement strip is L-shaped, extends around one of the corners and is engaged in two of the chambers. 
     
     
         13 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 9  wherein the marker/reinforcement strip has a top strip lying atop the inner and outer flanges and visible from outside the box. 
     
     
         14 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 5  wherein the sides further have downwardly open inverted U-section lower edges engageable over an upper edge of another box. 
     
     
         15 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 14  wherein the lower edges are formed by inner flanges generally coplanar with the panel of the respective side and outer flanges spaced outward therefrom. 
     
     
         16 . The transport/shipping box defined in  claim 15  wherein a spacing between the inner and outer flanges is at least equal to a transverse width of the respective upper edge.