View source for Engineering:Euro container

{{Short description|Standardized industrial stacking container}}
{{Redirect|Eurobox|a post receptacle for incoming mail|Letter box#Europe}}
{{Expand German|Kleinladungsträger|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox tool
| name           = Euro container
| image          = Serie r klt 6429.png
| image size     = 
| caption        = R-KLT Euro 600 × 400 mm stackable container (tall version, 280&nbsp;mm high)
| other_name     = {{plainlist|
* {{lang|de|Kleinladungsträger}} (KLT)
}}
| classification = Inter-stacking reusable packaging
| types          = {{plainlist|
* KLT
* F-KLT (collapsible)
}}
| used_with      = {{plainlist|
* Automotive manufacturing
* Packaging
* Distribution
}}
| inventor       = 
| manufacturer   = 
| model          = 
| related        = {{plainlist|
* [[Engineering:EUR-pallet|EUR-pallet]]
* [[Engineering:Systainer|Systainer]]
}}
}}
A '''Euro container''', also called '''Eurobox''', '''Euro crate''' or '''KLT box''' (from {{langx|de|'''Kleinladungsträger'''}}, "small load carrier"), is an industrial stacking container conforming to the '''VDA 4500''' standard. The standard was originally defined by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) for the automotive industry, but was subsequently adopted across many other areas of manufacturing and the shipping industry. The most common sizes (length × width) are {{convert|600|x|400|mm}} and {{convert|400|x|300|mm|abbr=on}}, which can be stacked together to fill a Euro-pallet measuring {{convert|1200|x|800|mm|abbr=on}}.

== Dimensions ==

{{Bar chart
| float       = right
| title       = Container heights (without feet)<ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.verpackung24.com/out/azure/pdf/Kleinladungstraeger_VDA_4500.pdf|title=Kleinladungsträger (KLT)-System|number=4500|series=VDA|date=23 December 2005|accessdate=30 July 2018|language=de|quote=Höhenraster … Einheitliche Eintauchtiefe 15 mm … 2 Höhenraster … 147,5 mm … 280 mm|archive-date=30 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730202554/http://www.verpackung24.com/out/azure/pdf/Kleinladungstraeger_VDA_4500.pdf|url-status=dead}} – not retrievable 16 January 2019.</ref>
| bar_width   = 25
| width_units = em
| label_type  = Type
| data_type = Stacking height increment (mm)
| label2  = Normal
| label3 = High
| data2  = 132.5
| data3  = 265
| comment2 = 147.5 mm overall
| comment3 = 280 mm overall
| data_max  = 300
}}

Eurocontainers are based around two standard heights of {{convert|147.5|mm|in|abbr=on|frac=8}} and {{convert|280|mm|in|abbr=on|frac=8}}, including a {{convert|15|mm|in|abbr=on|adj=on|frac=8}} overlap in the vertical direction—the height of the feet, or base, stacked into the lip of the box below:

{| class="wikitable"
|+Measurements in millimetres
|-
! Nominal
! Actual
! Internal<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.de-pack.de/files/KLT_6_7.pdf|title=Kleinladungsträger|language=de|date=29 March 2014|accessdate=14 March 2014}} – not retrievable 16 January 2019.</ref>
|-
| 300×200
| 297×198
| 243×162
|-
| 400×300
| 396×297
| 346×265
|-
| 600×400
| 594×396
| 544×364
|-
| 800×600
| 800×600
| 752×552
|}

These containers are manufactured typically in grey polypropylene or another thermoplast by injection molding.

[[File:Bicycle-trailer-for-outdoor-trekking.jpg|thumb|right|A [[bicycle trailer]] for bike-trekking with three Euroboxes and [[Engineering:T-slot structural framing|aluminium profile]] framing]]
[[File:Bicycle_in_The_Hague_39.JPG|thumb|right|Woman on a [[utility bicycle]] with a red eurobox [[Engineering:Bicycle basket|bicycle basket]]]]

Containers with full floor and walls are watertight. Many designs have at least two or more often four rectangular (about 12 x 4 cm) rounded grip-holes near the middle of the lips. The design may include some small holes in the lowest parts of at least two walls to let liquid run out if stored outdoors in rain or after washing. Walls constructed as grids allow one to see from the side into the box. If the bottom is formed by a grid, too, air may flow easily through even stacked boxes to keep bakery dry or allow quick cooling.

Euro-containers mounted on the rear rack of a bicycle or small motorcycle are widely used by newspaper-deliverers in Austrian towns . A Euro-container fits between the frame tubes in the low transportation bay of the Danish freight bike Bullitt.

===Related standards===
The 400×300-millimetre sizes and stacking height were adopted in the early 1990s for inter-stacking [[Engineering:Systainer|Systainer]] boxes.

== See also ==
* [[Engineering:Cardboard box|Cardboard box]]
** [[Engineering:Banana box|Banana box]], a type of cardboard box designed for transportation of bananas
* [[Engineering:EUR-pallet|EUR-pallet]], the standard European pallet
* [[Engineering:Gastronorm|Gastronorm]], a European standard for sizes on containers for kitchen use
* Manual handling of loads
* [[Engineering:Milk crate|Milk crate]], a similarly-sized standardized container
* [[OpenStructures]], open specification for modular interfaces in hardware based on a geometrical grid
* [[Preferred metric sizes]]
* [[Social:Reusable packaging|Reusable packaging]]
* [[Social:Reverse logistics|Reverse logistics]]
* 32 mm cabinetmaking system, a standard for shelving

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.vda.de/de/downloads/909/|title=VDA Recommendation 4500: Small Load Carrier (KLT) System|publisher=Verband der Automobilindustrie|format=Zip of PDFs|date=October 2013|accessdate=14 March 2014|issue=10|archive-date=17 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317003244/http://www.vda.de/de/downloads/909/|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.de-pack.de/sites/default/files/2019-11/de-pack-kleinladungstraeger-klt.pdf|title=Kleinladungsträger|format=PDF}}
{{refend}}

{{packaging}}

[[Category:Shipping containers]]

{{Sourceattribution|Euro container}}