JP2002160793A - Variable volume container and transport method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a container which can send back or store an empty container in a low-cost as much as possible, and reduce cost by changing a volumetric capacity according to a loading and provide transportation method for cargoes by making use thereof. SOLUTION: At a large size container, which houses rectangular parallelepiped freights, for a long-distance transportation, a capacity variable container, a top and a bottom surface of which have a constant area and form, equipped with a means for changing a hight of movable side surfaces which integrally keeping together with the container and a transporting method where a volume of the capacity variable container is fittingly reduced to a capacity of freights when transporting freights, and after unloading, the volume of the container is reduced when returning, transporting, and storing the container, and the volume of the container is contracted in accordance with the loading volume when transferring the cargoes by use of the container.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container for storing cargo, and more particularly to a large container for long-distance transportation via sea or air, and a transportation method using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The distribution of goods becomes borderless not only domestically but also internationally. Today, when a large amount of imports / exports and domestic transportation are performed, cargo is stored in large containers and ships, aircraft, wagons, trucks, etc. Stacked via transport,
The so-called container transport for transportation and unloading is frequently performed.

[0003] Now, the cargo stored in the container is unloaded at the destination and the container is emptied. If there is a cargo for the departure place at the destination, the empty container is loaded with the cargo for the departure place. It can be stored and used, but the type and quantity of cargo are not always balanced between the outbound and return routes. Inevitably, they must return them empty or store them at the destination until the next opportunity.

[0004] As is well known, the cost of transportation and storage is greatly related to the volume of the article, so the cost increase when there is no return load is significant. Also, depending on the type of cargo, there is a case where the cargo cannot be mixed and stored in the same container. In such a situation, since the standard of container size is unified or there is no standard of the target size, the entire container volume is not available and it may be transported in a hollow state, After all, it leads to cost increase.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and can be carried out at the lowest possible cost when returning or storing an empty container. It is an object of the present invention to provide a container and a method for transporting goods using the container, which can reduce the cost by changing the volume.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a large-sized container for long-distance transportation for storing a rectangular parallelepiped load, wherein the upper and lower surfaces have a constant area and shape, and the side height can be changed while the container is integrated. 5 is a variable volume container having a change means.

[0007] The variable volume container of the present invention is further characterized in that, on the two side surfaces opposed by the side surface height changing means, a side plate is at least divided into a side plate fixed to the upper plate and a side plate fixed to the lower plate, It is characterized in that it has a side plate configured such that the two divided side plates slide and overlap with each other, an upper plate upper / lower means and a height fixing means.

[0008] The variable volume container according to the present invention is further characterized in that the other two sides facing the side height changing means include a wind-up shutter.

In the variable volume container according to the present invention, the side plate is further divided into at least two sides on the two side surfaces opposed to the side surface height changing means, the side plate being fixed to the upper plate and the side plate being fixed to the lower plate. It is characterized by having a side plate configured such that the two divided side plates are folded over each other, and side plate folding means.

[0010] The variable volume container according to the present invention is further characterized in that the side height changing means includes a side plate whose other two opposite side surfaces are tiltably fixed to a lower plate.

[0011] In the transportation method using the variable volume container according to the present invention, in a large-sized long-distance transportation container for storing a rectangular parallelepiped load, the upper surface and the lower surface have the same area and shape, and the container remains integral. When the cargo is transported using a variable volume container having a changeable side height changing means, and the container after unloading is returned, transported, and stored in an empty state, the volume of the container is reduced. And

Further, the method of transporting using a variable volume container according to the present invention is characterized in that in a large container for long-distance transport for storing a rectangular parallelepiped load, the upper and lower surfaces have the same area and shape, and the container remains integral. When a load is transported using a variable volume container having a changeable side height changing means, the volume of the container is reduced according to the volume of the load.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the structures, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the products described in the present embodiment are not intended to limit the present invention only to them, unless otherwise specified, but are merely illustrative examples.

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic views showing an example of a container according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a normal time and a maximum capacity, and FIG. It represents the time when the volume was reduced to about 1/2.

1 and 2, 1 is a container upper structure portion, 2 is a container lower structure portion, 3 is a floor, 4 is a retractable shutter, 5 is an upper portion hinge, 6 is a lower portion hinge, 7 Is the hinged slider at the top, 8
Upper part slide rail, 9 is a lower part hinged slider, 10 is a lower part slide rail, 11 is a lower part hinged slider stopper, 12 is a height changing diagonal material, and 13 is a lower part hinged. A connecting member for the slider, 14 is a direct acting ball screw, 15 is a slider handle, 16 is an upper structure frame, 17 is a lower structure frame, 18 is an upper structure height fixing bolt and nut, 19 is
Is a bolt hole for adjusting the height of the upper structure, and 20 is a corner fitting.

In this embodiment, the container is referred to as a 20-feet container in which the size of the container is most frequently used. The length is 6500 mm, the height is 2400 mm, and the width is 2400 mm.
mm.

In FIG. 1, the container is 6500 × 240
A lower plate having a constant shape and area of 0 (mm ₂ ) and an upper plate having a constant shape and area slightly larger than the lower plate,
As a first part of the side height changing means that can be changed as it is with the container, as a first part, hanging from the upper plate, a side plate on the upper plate long side slightly higher than substantially half the height in the size of the container, Standing up from the lower plate, the side plate on the long side of the lower plate slightly higher than approximately half the height in the size of the container slides on top of each other by the height of the slightly higher portion, and becomes the height of the size of the container. , Container superstructure part 1
And the container lower structure portion 2 so that the side height can be changed.

The eight sides of the rectangular parallelepiped container are reinforced by frames, but the vertical frame forming the height is divided into an upper structure frame 16 and a lower structure frame 17, each having a height as shown in the figure. Adjustment bolt hole 19
Are provided in several stages, and bolts and nuts 1 for fixing the height
8 allows the height to be adjusted to an arbitrary height, and constitutes a second part of the side height changing means of the present invention.

The side plate on the short side of the upper plate of the rectangular parallelepiped type container can be opened and closed by a rewinding shutter 4 and its height can be adjusted, and its lower end is in contact with the short side of the lower plate, and the box is sealed as a whole. To form The wind-up shutter 4 is also a third part constituting the side height changing means of the present invention.

In addition, as ancillary members of the side height changing means that can be changed while the container is integrated, there are two places at opposite positions near a line intersecting the upper plates of both upper side plates, and both lower portions symmetrical thereto. Hinges 5 and 6 attached at two places near a line intersecting the upper plate of the side plates, and a slide of an upper portion attached to a target position on a longitudinal bisector of the upper or lower plate of the hinges 5 and 6 A rail 8, a hinged slider 7 of an upper portion slidably provided on a slide rail 10 of a lower portion, and a hinged slider 9 of a lower portion are provided. A member 12 is rotatably mounted. The hinged slider 9 in the lower part is joined by a connecting member 13, a direct acting ball screw 14 is screwed into the center of the connecting member 13, and when the screw is rotated by a slider handle 15, the hinged slider 7, 9 is turned on. Slide and diagonal 1
The height can be adjusted in conjunction with 2. The slide rail 10 can be provided with a stopper 11 as appropriate to provide a limit for sliding.

In this embodiment, since the height changing means including the direct acting ball screw 14 is provided in the lower portion of the container, a floor is provided on the lower plate in order to prevent damage to the member due to a load or the like. Also, a corner fitting 20 for lifting and fixing the container is attached for the purpose of reinforcement. The mounting position and shape of the corner fitting 20 are the same as those of a general container.

Next, the procedure for changing the volume of the container of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the retractable shutters 4 on both sides of the container are opened. Remove the height fixing bolt and nut. Remove the hinged stopper 11 in the lower part. The handle 15 for the slider is attached to the tip of the direct acting ball screw 14, and the ball is manually rotated. By rotating the slider handle 15, the lower hinged slider 9 and the upper hinged slider 7 connected by the lower hinged slider connecting member 13 gradually slide, and the container upper structure 1 descends. .

The height of the container can be arbitrarily adjusted by a height adjusting bolt hole 19. When the height of the container reaches the target height, the slider handle 15 is removed from the tip of the direct acting ball screw 14. The bolt 18 for fixing the height is attached, and the stopper 11 with the hinge at the lower part is attached. If necessary, the retractable shutters 4 on both sides of the container are closed. Thus, the volume is reduced as shown in FIG.

When stored or returned as an empty container, it was returned and stored as a minimum volume. In addition, if the container is used as a container whose volume is adjusted and is used as a return container to be sent to a destination, any kind and amount of cargo can be handled. The container having the structure of the present embodiment can be used not only for transportation but also as a variable-volume and portable warehouse.

(Embodiment 2) In the first embodiment, the side plates divided into two parts are slid and overlapped, and the height is lowered. However, in this embodiment, the side plates divided into two parts are connected by hinges so that they can be folded. 3 to 5 schematically show the structure and the process of folding and reducing the volume.

In the figure, 31 and 32 are retractable short side plates connected by hinges to the lower plate, and 33 and 34 are long side plates which are vertically divided into two and connected by hinges 35. .
Reference numeral 36 denotes a top plate lock for height adjustment, and a crane 37 for operation. The procedure for changing the volume of the container of this example is shown below in FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a normal state of the present embodiment. In this state, the container is lifted by a crane 7 to hold the upper plate of the container, and the stoppers (not shown) of the side plates 1 and 2 are released. Flip 1 and 2 inward. Next, in FIG. 4, the stoppers (not shown) of the side plates 3 and 4 are released,
The side plates 3 and 4 are folded inward while relaxing the tension of the crane 7. Further, in FIG. 5, after lowering the tension of the crane and lowering the upper plate, the upper plate is locked by the top plate lock 36 so as to fix the height. Thus, the container in the present example was reduced.

This embodiment is suitable for a structure for reducing the volume of an empty container, but is not suitable for storing articles as a container having a reduced volume.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, when returning or storing an empty container, it can be carried out at the lowest possible cost, and the cost can be reduced by changing the volume according to the amount of cargo stored. It has become possible to provide and provide a method for transporting goods using the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a normal state of one example of a container of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a container according to the present invention in a reduced state.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a normal state of a second example of the container of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a second example of a container according to the present invention in the process of being reduced;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second example of a container according to the present invention in a reduced state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container upper structure part 2 Container lower structure part 3 Floor 4 Retractable shutter 5 Upper part hinge 6 Lower part hinge 7 Upper part hinged slider 8 Upper part slide rail 9 Lower part hinged slider 10 Lower part 11 Slider stopper of lower part hinged slider 12 Diagonal member for height change 13 Connecting material of lower part hinged slider 14 Direct acting ball screw 15 Slider handle 16 Upper structure frame 17 Lower structure frame 18 Fixed height Bolt and nut 19 Height adjustment bolt hole 20 Corner fitting 31, 32 Side plate 33, 34 Side plate 35 Hinge 36 Top plate lock

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A large-capacity container for storing long-distance transport for storing cargo in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, wherein the upper and lower surfaces have a constant area and shape, and a variable volume container having a side height changing means that can be changed while the container is integrated. . 2. The side height changing means includes a side plate fixed to an upper plate and a side plate fixed to a lower plate on at least two side surfaces opposed to each other, and the two divided two sheets are provided. 2. The variable volume container according to claim 1, further comprising a side plate configured such that the side plates slide over each other, an upper plate vertical unit, and a height fixing unit. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said side surface height changing means is provided with another opposite side.
3. The variable volume container according to claim 2, wherein the side of the surface includes a roll-up shutter. 4. The side height changing means is configured such that, on two opposing side surfaces, a side plate is at least divided into a side plate fixed to an upper plate and a side plate fixed to a lower plate. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a side plate configured to fold the side plates and a side plate folding unit.
A variable volume container as described. 5. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the side surface height changing means is provided with another opposite side.
5. The variable volume container according to claim 4, wherein the side surface of the surface includes a side plate fixed to the lower plate in a foldable manner. 6. A variable volume container having a rectangular parallelepiped container for storing long-distance transport, wherein a top surface and a bottom surface have a constant area and shape, and a side height changing means which can be changed while the container is integrated. A method of transporting a load using a variable volume container, wherein the volume of the container is reduced when the load is transported, and the container after unloading is returned, transported, or stored in an empty state. 7. A variable volume container having a rectangular parallelepiped cargo for long-distance transportation, wherein the upper surface and the lower surface have a constant area and shape, and a side height changing means which can be changed while the container is integrated. A method of transporting a load using a variable volume container, wherein the volume of the container is reduced in accordance with the volume of the load when transporting the load.