| 摘要 |
A shipping container is provided comprising a pallet as the bottom thereof, an inverted identical pallet as the top thereof, and a peripheral sleeve forming load-bearing side walls mating with each pallet via a peripheral sleeve-receiving groove defined by a peripheral rim. The unitary pallet is configured so that a bottom pallet of one container will mate with the inverted top pallet of a lower container, when containers are stacked, in such a way as to prevent shifting between containers. Said pallets are also self-nesting for transport or storage when unloaded. The containers will stack even if vertically adjacent mutually inverse pallets are rotated 180 DEG in a horizontal plane with respect to each other. This ability to tolerate a 180 DEG rotation is provided by depending members and platform members of the pallet feet, oriented so that (i) a 180 DEG rotation of the pallet in the plane of the pallet results in a depending member/platform member pattern the same as the pattern prior to rotation and (ii) a 180 DEG rotation of the pallet about a center line lying in the plane of the pallet results in a depending member/platform member pattern which engages the unrotated depending member/platform member pattern in mutually abutting relationship. The pallets also have their feet so disposed to permit four-way fork lift entry. An alternative embodiment is provided wherein said pallets are nestable and stackable at 90 DEG intervals of relative rotation. |
