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Description  |
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TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an open frame plastic basket and a method
of making it. More particularly, it relates to a plastic basket having an
open frame construction for receiving objects, such as golf balls, for use
at a driving range where the game of golf may be practiced.
BACKGROUND ART
Baskets of all sizes and shapes have been in existence for some time,
because there has always been a need to transport or store items which
were not readily transported or stored by hand. Examples of such object
include rice, grain, clothing, and many others. The earliest forms of
baskets, as well as some present day ones, were made by interweaving
materials derived from plants.
A modern example is a metal, open frame wire basket, used at driving ranges
for transporting a quantity of golf balls.
Such baskets for the transportation and storage of golf balls, referred to
as "range baskets," frequently found at golf driving ranges, have been
manufactured from metal rods welded or otherwise suitably fixed together,
to form a metal basket construction having a carrying handle or bail.
Baskets so formed have been made of an open frame construction, wherein
the interconnected metal rod elements have been spaced from one another to
form gaps or openings. The openings are sufficiently small in size to
confine the golf balls within the basket. However, they are sufficiently
large in size to permit the user to readily perceive the group of golf
balls stored within the basket.
While such metal wire baskets have been satisfactory for some applications,
they have been susceptible to being damaged by rust, since they are
primarily used outdoors. In this regard, the baskets have been exposed to
rain, snow, and other weather conditions. As the baskets are made of
metal, the weather conditions tend to lead to the formation of rust.
Eventually, excessive oxidation can destroy or otherwise render the basket
unsuitable for its intended purpose. The integrity of the basket can
deteriorate to the point where it becomes useless, and must then be
replaced.
Another disadvantage of metal wire range baskets, is that should the welds
be defective, the wire joints can be dislodged. As a result, the basket
then looses the structural integrity, and breaks apart. Such a basket must
then be replaced.
Additionally, the weight of the heavy metal baskets is a serious drawback.
While a single basket is not especially heavy, when several empty metal
baskets are combined in a nested fashion, the overall weight becomes
increasingly burdensome. In this regard, the wire baskets are tapered so
that the baskets fit one within the other.
Nesting of the baskets is desirable and important for golf ball driving
ranges. In this regard, several baskets can be readily carried by hand by
only one person, thereby reducing the amount of time to transport the
empty baskets. Also, nesting the baskets permits a larger number of
baskets to be stored in a smaller area.
Another problem in the nesting of metal baskets relates to the wire
elements, which become bent out of shape during use. Such bent portions
make it more difficult to nest the baskets, because the heavy wire
elements of nested baskets engage one another, and the bent portions tend
to lock the nested baskets together. Thus, the baskets could not be
readily nested, and then later could not be easily separated.
An additional disadvantage of the conventional wire basket is that it
includes a rotatable handle, which is capable of falling into the interior
of the basket. When a handle falls into such a position, the nesting of
the baskets was made to be impracticable, if not impossible.
If an open frame could somehow be entirely made from thermoplastic
material, it would be lightweight and rust resistant. If such a plastic
basket could be injection molded with a tapered body, such a basket could
be successfully used as a driving range golf ball basket.
In order to make a plastic basket with a tapered body and having an open
frame construction, a multiple part mold would be required. Such a mold
having many parts, would be unduly complex, and excessively expensive to
manufacture. Thus, the resulting parts would be excessively expensive.
Thus, it would be highly desirable to be able to injection mold such an
open frame basket, by a less expensive mold arrangement, such as a two
part mold. The resulting basket would have to have the desired tapered,
open frame construction.
One approach could be to make the open frame basket with a stepped
sidewall, so that the basket could be injection molded with only two mold
parts. Such plastic basket would be a radical departure from the
relatively smooth tapered sidewall of the metal wire baskets. Such a
substantially different appearance would be totally unacceptable to the
driving ranges.
Thus, it would be highly desirable to have a plastic open frame basket
which can be constructed from a two part mold. Such a plastic basket
should have a smoothly tapered body and be relatively inexpensive to
manufacture.
Such a plastic open frame basket should not only be lightweight, but it
must also be structurally strong to withstand heavy use, which is
customary at commercial driving ranges. In addition to being strong, the
basket must be durable and capable of withstanding repeated and sustained
abuse.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a
new and improved plastic open frame basket, and a method of manufacturing
it, having a smooth tapered body portion, without requiring the use of
unduly expensive molding techniques.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a new and
improved plastic open frame basket, and a method of manufacturing it, such
that the basket is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, is light in
weight, and is strong and durable to withstand repeated heavy use, such as
the use subjected to at a golf driving range.
Briefly, the above and further objects of the present invention are
realized by providing a plastic open frame basket, and a method of
manufacturing it, such that the basket has a smooth tapered body and can
be produced relatively inexpensively. The basket is lightweight, strong,
and durable.
A plastic open frame basket is made by molding from plastic material, a
tapered body portion, having integrally interconnected smoothly contoured
longitudinal rib members and cross members in an interconnected, open
frame configuration. A plurality of raised diagonal parting lines extend
between said outer and inner corners formed by adjacent cross members to
define a stepped configuration, thereby enabling the resulting plastic
molded open frame basket to be made from a relatively inexpensive mold
apparatus.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The above mentioned and other objects and features of this invention and
the manner of attaining them will become apparent, and the invention
itself will be best understood by reference to the following description
of the embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a plastic open frame basket construction,
which is constructed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 1A is an enlarged fragmentary detail portion of the basket
construction of FIG. 1, illustrating at least some of the parting lines
and reinforcing webs of the basket construction;
FIG. 2 is top view of the basket construction of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the basket construction of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an elevational, slightly enlarged view of basket construction of
FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is an elevational, partially broken away view of like plastic open
frame basket constructions nested together;
FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of the basket construction of FIG. 2,
taken substantially one line 6--6 thereof;
FIG. 7 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the basket
construction of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the basket construction of
FIG. 6, illustrating the outside surface of a bail attachment area with
the bail removed for illustration purposes;
FIG. 9 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the basket construction of
FIG. 6, illustrating the bail cross hole of the bail attachment area of
FIG. 8 with the bail removed for illustration purposes;
FIG. 10 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the basket construction of
FIG. 8, illustrating the inside surface of the bail attachment of FIG. 8;
FIG. 11 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view of the basket
construction of FIG. 6, taken on line 11--11 thereof;
FIG. 12 is a fragmentary, top view of the basket construction of FIG. 4;
FIG. 13 is an enlarged, fragmentary detail elevational view of the bail
attachment area of FIG. 8, illustrating an end of the bail attached
thereto;
FIG. 14 is an enlarged, fragmentary detail elevational view of the bail
attachment area of FIG. 9, illustrating an end of the bail attached
thereto;
FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary detail elevational view of the bail
attachment area of FIG. 10, illustrating an end o the bail attached
thereto;
FIG. 16 is a partially diagrammatic plan view of an outer cavity mold
portion of an injection mold assembly for manufacturing the basket
construction of FIG. 1;
FIG. 17 is an elevational cross section of the mold assembly of FIG. 16,
taken substantially on line 17--17 thereof, illustrating the basket of
FIG. 1 in the process of being molded in place;
FIG. 17A is a greatly enlarged view of the mold assembly of FIG. 17;
FIG. 18 is a partially diagrammatic plan view of an inner core mold portion
of the mold assembly which is combined with the outer cavity mold portion
of FIG. 16 to form the basket of FIG. 1;
FIG. 19 is a partially diagrammatic elevational sectional view of the mold
assembly of FIG. 16, taken substantially on line 19--19 thereof; and
FIG. 20 is a greatly enlarged view of a detail portion of the mold
assembly, similar to FIG. 17A, illustrating the mold parts of the mold
assembly in the process of being separated to permit the resulting basket
to be removed therefrom.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1, 1A, 4, and
5 thereof, there is shown a plastic open frame basket construction 10,
which is constructed according to the present invention. The basket
construction 10 is preferably used as a driving range basket for storing
and transporting a quantity of golf balls (not shown). However, it will
become apparent to those skilled in the art that the construction 10 can
also be used for other applications, such as garden plants and others.
The construction 10 has an open top and smoothly tapered side walls. The
construction 10 includes a rim member 12, and a bail or handle 16
connected pivotally across the rim member 12, to serve as a carrying
handle a circular inwardly dished base or bottom wall 18 helps to rigidity
and strengthen the construction 10. A plurality of rectilinear, smoothly
contoured longitudinal rib members, such as longitudinal rib members 30,
32, 34, and 36, are integrally connected between the bottom wall 18 and
the rim member 12 to form a smoothly tapered body portion 40 having an
interior space 42.
A plurality of curved cross rib members, such as cross rib members 50, 52,
54, and 56, are integrally connected between adjacent longitudinal rib
members, such as longitudinal rib members 30 and 32, and 32 and 34, to
form concentric circular rings, such as rings 60 and 62, respectively.
Adjacent concentric rings 60 and 62 differ in size to cause the body
portion 40 to be tapered. In this manner, the basket construction 10 is
nestable as indicated in FIG. 5.
A plurality of integral, diagonal raised parting lines, such as diagonal
parting lines 70 and 72, are disposed on the outer surface of the
longitudinal rib members 32 and 36, respectively, and extend between inner
rigidifying radius webs, such as inner radius webs 80 and 82, and outer
radius webs, such as outer radius webs 84 and 86. The diagonal parting
lines of adjacent facing longitudinal rib members, such as longitudinal
rib members 32 and 34, and the associated inner and outer radius webs 80,
82, 84, and 86, form generally rectangular openings, such as an opening
88.
In accordance with the present invention, as will become apparent
hereinafter, the diagonal parting line arrangement results from the
inventive method of molding the basket 10. In this regard, only two mold
parts are required, and the tapered body portion of the resulting basket
construction 10 has a smooth, straight appearance.
As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of annular stacking ribs, such as stacking
ribs 90, 92, and 94 are disposed about the inner circumference of bottom
wall 18 in the interior space 42 to receive and support the bottom wall of
a like basket. In this manner, as best seen in FIG. 5, the stacking or
nesting of plastic open frame basket constructions, such as basket
construction 10 and a like basket construction 100, can be accomplished.
Referring now to FIGS. 16, 17, 17A, 18, and 19, there is shown a mold 110
for making a plastic open frame basket construction, such as basket
construction 10, which is constructed according to the present invention.
The mold 110 is a two part mold and includes an outer cavity or hot mold
portion 120 and an inner core or ejection mold portion 130 which conforms
to the cavity mold portion 120, wherein the core mold portion 130 moves
reciprocatively in and out of engagement with the cavity mold portion 120
to form the basket construction 10, indicated by broken lines in FIG. 17,
by injection molding.
As best seen in FIG. 17A, mold portions 120 and 130 have complementary
diagonally shaped mating surfaces 140 and 142, respectively, which form
the diagonal parting lines, such as parting lines 70 and 72, of the basket
construction 10. When brought into contact with each other, mating
surfaces 140 and 142 form a plurality of interconnected cavities, such as
annular cavities 150, and 152, and 154, to receive injected molten
thermoplastic material therein. In this regard, cavities 150, 152, and 154
form the rim member 12, and concentric rings 60 and 62, respectively.
Considering now the basket construction 10 in greater detail with reference
to FIGS. 1 and 1A, the generally rectangular openings, such as opening 88,
formed by the diagonal parting lines of adjacent facing longitudinal rib
members, such as longitudinal rib members 32 and 34, and the associated
inner and outer radius webs 80, 82, 84, and 86, have varying shapes,
depending on the axial location of the opening. In this regard, the
opening 88 is close to the rim member 12 and is substantially square while
an opening close to the base wall 18, such as opening 96, is longer in one
dimension than in the other.
As best seen in FIGS. 2, 3, 5, and 6, the inwardly dished base wall 18 has
an open frame construction. The base wall 18 includes a central hub member
164 having an exterior surface 160, an outer edge portion 166, and a
plurality of radiating spoke members, such as spoke members 170, 172, and
174, disposed therebetween. A plurality of curved base cross members, such
as base cross members 176 and 178, are disposed between adjacent spoke
members 170 and 172, and spoke members 172 and 174, and are aligned to
define a concentric base ring 180.
As best seen in FIGS. 1, 12, 13, 14, and 15, terminal ends 20 and 22 of the
bail 16 are rotatably connected to the rim member 12 and held in place by
a pair of rivets 24 and 26, respectively.
Considering now the mold 110 in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 17
and 19, the mold 110 is positioned with the outer cavity mold 120 above
the inner core mold 130, wherein the basket construction 10 is formed in
an inverted position. The mold 110 includes a single sprue 180 for
supplying molten thermoplastic material to the mold 110, wherein the
molten thermoplastic material is introduced into the cavities, such as
cavities 150, 152, and 154, through a central hub cavity (not shown). As
the cavities, including cavities 150, 152, and 154, are in fluid
communication with one another, the molten material flows downwardly from
the central hub cavity until all of the cavities are completely filled.
For cooling purposes, the inner core mold portion 130 includes a manifold
190 in fluid communication with metallic baffles, such as baffles 192,
194, and 196, to circulate coolant within the mold 110 for removing heat
from therewithin.
After the thermoplastic material injected into the mold 110 has cooled, the
basket construction 10 is solidified and can be removed from the mold 110.
In this regard, inner core mold portion 130 is disengaged from the outer
cavity mold portion 120, wherein mating surfaces 140 and 142 are separated
from one another. As best seen in FIG. 20, basket construction 10 rests on
core mold portion 130 during disengagement from cavity mold portion 120
and is supported on mating surface 142 by cross members, such as cross
members 54 and 56 having cross sectional areas 54A and 56A, respectively.
Diagonal parting lines, such as diagonal parting line 70, are exposed on
the longitudinal rib members, such as longitudinal rib member 32.
Once the inner core mold 130 has been removed a sufficient distance, the
basket construction 10 is removed from the inner core mold portion 130 by
any conventional means.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed,
it is to be understood that various different modifications are possible
and are contemplated within the true spirit and scope of the appended
claims. There is no intention, therefore, of limitations to the exact
abstract or disclosure herein presented.
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