摘要:
A molded plastic drum (10) for shipping large quantities of food or other materials includes cylindrical or frustoconical upper (18) and lower (20) sections joined by a middle transition section (22) that is frustoconically shaped. The lower section is smaller in diameter than the upper section to permit nesting of the drums. The lower section side wall includes reinforcing flutes (48) for stiffening the lower section to prevent elephant footing. A chime (24) is compression-molded onto the upper edge of the drum body such that no portion of the chime extends inwardly and there are no depressions in the inner surface of the side wall, thus permitting solid or semi-solid materials to slide unimpeded out the top opening of the drum. A clearance ring (46) is compression-molded onto the side wall of the drum at a location spaced below the chime to help prevent the cover of the drum from being dislodged by contact with an adjacent drum or a wall of a shipping container. The drum side wall preferably comprises a laminate having a layer of polymer containing a reinforcing agent such as glass fibers, and two layers of high-density polyethylene sandwiching the reinforced polymer layer therebetween.