AU2013276971A1

AU2013276971A1 - Container bottom lock, container with bottom lock and method for opening container

Info

Publication number: AU2013276971A1
Application number: AU2013276971A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Aihua Li; Aijun Wang
Original assignee: China International Marine Containers Group Co Ltd; Nantong CIMC Special Transportation Equipment Manufacture Co Ltd; CIMC Containers Holding Co Ltd
Current assignee: China International Marine Containers Group Co Ltd; Nantong CIMC Special Transportation Equipment Manufacture Co Ltd; CIMC Containers Holding Co Ltd
Priority date: 2012-12-31
Filing date: 2013-12-24
Publication date: 2014-07-17
Anticipated expiration: 2033-12-24
Also published as: AU2013276971B2; CN103910154B; CN103910154A

Abstract

The disclosure discloses a container bottom lock, a container with the bottom lock and the method for opening the container, in which the container bottom lock comprises a door hook disposed at a door of the container and a lock hook disposed at the bottom of the container and matching the door hook, the lock hook is connected with a driving shaft, the driving shaft is capable of extending axially to a side of the container, the lock hook rotates about a rotation shaft to open or close the door when a pressure is applied to the driving shaft. The invention can solve the problem in the prior art that the door needs to be opened from the door end thereby potentially causing an injury to the operator. Chbm A0127912888-vl 120416522 -136 133 134 135 Figure 4

Description

CONTAINER BOTTOM LOCK, CONTAINER WITH BOTTOM LOCK AND METHOD FOR OPENING CONTAINER CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims benefits of Chinese Patent Application No. 201210593285.5, filed on Dec. 31, 2012 in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a container, and more particularly to a container bottom lock, a container with the bottom lock and an opening method of the container. BACKGROUND [0002] A container is an important transportation device and the importance of the container is self-evident. [0003] As shown in Figure 1, a conventional container 9 has a locking mechanism typically disposed at a door end thereof That is to say, at the door end of the container, a door 91 is disposed, and the door 91 is provided with the locking mechanism, such as a plurality of locking bars 92 which are arranged in parallel in a vertical direction. During unloading, operators need to unlock the locking mechanism at the door 91. [0004] In the case where the container contains bulk cargo (such as lime, chemical fertilizer and other particle bulk cargo), the bulk cargo may rush out of the door 91 when the door is opened to unload the bulk cargo, which may potentially cause an injury to the operator. [0005] As a result, it is necessary to provide a container and a locking mechanism thereof, which can improve the safety by avoiding directly opening the door from the door end. SUMMARY [0006] In view of the problem in the prior art, an object of the invention is to provide a container bottom lock that can avoid opening the door from the door end and eliminate a potential injury to the operator. ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 1 [0007] Another object of the invention is to provide a container with a bottom lock. [0008] Still another object of the invention is to provide a method for opening a container with the bottom lock. [0009] To achieve the above objects, the invention provides the technical solutions set forth below. [0010] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container bottom lock which may include a door hook disposed at a door of the container and a lock hook disposed at the bottom of the container and matching the door hook. The lock hook may be connected with a driving shaft which is capable of extending axially to a side of the container. The lock hook may rotate about a rotation shaft to open or close the door when a pressure is applied to the driving shaft. [0011] In the container bottom lock of the invention, preferably, the lock hook may be connected with a return spring for automatically returning the lock hook after the pressure applied to the driving shaft is removed. [0012] In the container bottom lock of the invention, preferably, the rotation shaft may be disposed between the driving shaft and the return spring. [0013] In the container bottom lock of the invention, preferably, the driving shaft may be disposed between the rotation shaft and the return spring. [0014] In the container bottom lock of the invention, preferably, the driving shaft may have a manually operated extendable shaft or an automatically operated extendable shaft which is capable of extending to the side of the container. [0015] In the container bottom lock of the invention, preferably, the door hook and the lock hook may each comprise an arc-shaped edge. The arc-shaped edge of the door hook may be disposed at a side of the door hook facing inwards, and the arc-shaped edge of the lock hook may be disposed at a of the lock hook facing outwards. [0016] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container with a container bottom lock according to the invention. [0017] In the container with the bottom lock, preferably, a locking mechanism may be further disposed at the container. ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 2 [0018] In the container with the bottom lock, preferably, the second locking mechanism may be a locking bar disposed transversely at the door. [0019] In the container with the bottom lock, preferably, a handle may be disposed on a side at the bottom of the container. The handle may rotate such that a pressure is applied to the driving shaft of the bottom lock so as to unlock the bottom lock and open the door of the container. [0020] According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for opening a container with a bottom lock, preferably, a handle may be disposed on a side at the bottom of the container, and the handle may rotates such that a pressure is applied to the driving shaft of the bottom lock so as to unlock the bottom lock and open the door of the container. [0021] According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for opening the container with the bottom lock. The method comprises the steps of: lifting the container with a lifting frame and a wire rope, a bottom end of the wire rope being fixed to bottom corner fittings of the container; lifting a front end of the container after the container is translationally lifted up to a certain height, such that the front end of the container becomes higher than a door end of the container and thus the container is inclined; and using the wire rope to applying a pressure to the driving shaft of the bottom lock, to unlock the bottom lock and open the door. [0022] The present invention can achieve advantageous effects set forth below. With the container bottom lock, the container with the bottom lock and the opening method of the container, an external force can be applied on the driving shaft at the bottom of the container from the side of the container so as to unlock the bottom lock, so that the door is prevented to be directly opened from the door end, and the safety performance is improved. In the container with the bottom lock of the present invention, at least one end of the driving shaft is provided with an extendable shaft that can extend and retract, so that outer dimensions of the container can be ensured not to exceed the ISO requirement. Meanwhile, the bottom lock may return to the original position automatically by means of the return spring, and automatic locking can be achieved by means of arc structures of the bottom lock. In the method for opening the container with the bottom lock of the present invention, the bottom lock is ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 3 unlocked with the wire rope, so that manual operation can be removed and safety performance can be improved; and bulk cargo contained in the container can be unloaded automatically while the door is opened, so that the unloading speed can be increased. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0023] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a door of a container and a locking mechanism thereof in accordance with the prior art. [0024] Figure 2 is a front view diagram showing the container with a bottom lock in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [0025] Figure 3 is a side view diagram showing the container with a bottom lock in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [0026] Figures 4 to 7 are schematic diagrams showing the container bottom lock and the locking and unlocking processes thereof in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. [0027] Figures 8 to 11 are schematic diagrams showing the container bottom lock and the locking and unlocking processes in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. [0028] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram showing a driving shaft of the container bottom lock in accordance with the present invention, in which the driving shaft is manually operated to extend. [0029] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram showing a driving shaft of the container bottom lock in accordance with the present invention, in which the driving shaft is manually operated to retract. [0030] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram showing a driving shaft of the container bottom lock in accordance with the present invention, in which the driving shaft is automatically operated to extend. [0031] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram showing a driving shaft of the container bottom lock in accordance with the present invention, in which the driving shaft is automatically operated to extend. ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 4 [0032] Figures 16 to 17 are schematic diagrams showing an opening process by means of the method for opening the container in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. [0033] Figures 18 to 19 are schematic diagrams showing an opening process by means of the method for opening the container in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0034] Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments will be described in detail to make features and advantages of the present invention more clear. It will be understood that various modifications may be made to different embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims. It should be noted that the description together with the accompanying drawings, are solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention, but not constitute restrictive definition to the present invention. [0035] A container with a bottom lock, a container bottom lock and an opening method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, may be used for opening the door of the container with the bottom lock in accordance with the embodiment of the invention. [0036] As shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3, the container 1 with the bottom lock in accordance with the embodiment of the invention has a door 12 disposed at a door end thereof, and bottom locks 13 are disposed at the bottom of the door 12. The bottom locks 13 are disposed at the inside of two bottom corner fittings 19, which are located at the bottom of the container 1. In the door 12, preferably, a locking bar 11 may be further disposed as a second locking mechanism, but it is not limited thereto. For example, the second locking mechanism may be omitted, or it may be other locking mechanisms in addition to the locking bar. The second locking mechanism may further lock the door 12 to ensure the transportation safety. ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 5 [0037] As shown in Figures 2-3, the door 12 is disposed at the lower middle part of the door end of the container 1. The top end of the door 12 is hinged to a container plate at an upper part of the door end of the container 1 via a hinge 15. As shown in Figure 4, a sealing strip 120 is disposed at the bottom surface of the door 12 to improve the sealing performance of the container 1. [0038] The bottom lock 13 mainly includes a door hook 131, a lock hook 132, a return spring 133, a driving shaft 134, a rotation shaft 135. Except that the door hook 131 is disposed outside the door 12, other components are disposed under a bottom plate of the container 1. The door hook 131 is disposed at a side of the lower part of the bottom of the door 12, the lock hook 132 and the door hook 131 cooperate with each other to open and close the door 12. [0039] Hereinafter, the container bottom locks in accordance with the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the invention will be illustrated, respectively. [0040] As shown in Figures 4-7, in the container bottom lock in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention, the driving shaft 134 of the bottom lock is disposed between the return spring 133 and the rotation shaft 135. [0041] As shown in Figures 4-7, the lock hook 132 is perpendicular to and connected to the driving shaft 134 and the rotation shaft 135, respectively. A pressure is applied to the driving shaft 134 via a side. In the present embodiment, the pressure is applied downwardly (as shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6), so that the lock hook 132 may rotate around the rotation shaft 135 to achieve the purpose of unlocking the bottom lock 13. The rotation shaft 135 is pivotally disposed on a fixing element 136, and the fixing element 136 is fixedly connected to the lower surface of the bottom plate of the container 1. [0042] The rotation shaft 135 is a shaft around which the lock hook 132 rotates. However, with respect to the driving shaft 134, the lock hook 132 does not rotate about the driving shaft 134, so that the driving shaft 134 may be fixedly connected to the lock hook 132, or may be integrally formed with the lock hook 132. [0043] Since the bottom lock 13 is disposed at the inside of the corner fittings 19, it is inconvenient to access the inside of the corner fittings 19 when a force needs to be applied on the driving shaft 134. Thus, the driving shaft 134 may be lengthened such that the driving ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 6 shaft 134 extends to outside of the corner fittings 19, namely to outside of the container 1, to facilitate the operation of the operator. In order to prevent the lengthened driving shaft 134 from exceeding the ISO standard about the outer width of the container, at least one end of the driving shaft 134 is configured to be an extendable shaft. Hereinafter, the extendable shaft will be described in detail. [0044] As shown in Figures 4-7, the driving shaft 134 is connected in the middle, a return spring 133 is connected to the driving shaft 134 at a side away from the rotation shaft 135, such that the bottom lock 13 can return to the original position automatically after the external force applied laterally is removed. [0045] As shown in Figures 4-7, the lock hook 132 and the door hook 131 each have arc-shaped parts, such that the door 12 can be locked automatically by its weight and a extending (stretching) force of the return spring 133. The arc-shaped part of the door hook 131 is in a shape of 90 degree sector, in which the arc-shaped edge of the sector is disposed at a side of the door hook 131 facing inwards. The arc-shaped part of the lock hook 132 has a shape formed by combining a right triangle with a 120-145 degree sector, in which the arc-shaped edge of the sector is disposed at a side of the lock hook 132 facing outwards and a side of the lock hook 132 facing inwards forms 90 degree angle. [0046] Figures 4-7 are A-A sectional diagrams of Figure 2 showing the unlocking process of the container bottom lock 13 in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention. Figure 4 shows a locking state of the bottom lock 13, Figure 5 shows an unlocking state of the bottom lock 13 when a downward external force is applied to the driving shaft 134. The external force is applied until the door 12 is opened, as shown in Figure 6. After the external pressure is removed, as shown in Figure 7, the door 12 can be locked by its weight automatically via the arc-shaped parts (arc structures) of the door hook 131 and the lock hook 132. [0047] The above-mentioned embodiment shows the door lock in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention. The container bottom lock in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention differs from the first embodiment in that the driving shaft 134 is disposed between the return spring 133 and the rotation shaft 135, as shown in Figure 8 to ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 7 Figure 11, and in that an upward force will be applied to the driving shaft 134 when the door 12 needs to be opened. [0048] Figures 8-11 are A-A sectional diagrams of Figure 2 showing the unlocking process of the container bottom lock 13 in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention. Figure 8 shows a locking state of the bottom lock 13, Figure 9 shows an unlocking state of the bottom lock 13 when an upward external force is applied to the driving shaft 134. The external force is applied until the door 12 is opened, as shown in Figure 10. After the external force is removed, as shown in Figure 11, the door 12 may be locked by its weight automatically via the arc-shaped parts (arc structures) of the door hook 131 and the lock hook 132. [0049] Next, the above-mentioned extendable structures of the driving shaft 134 will be illustrated. The extendable structure may have two implements set forth below, but the invention is not limited thereto. [0050] Figure 12 and Figure 13 show a manually operated extendable structure, and Figure 14 and Figure 15 show an automatically operated extendable structure. The automatically operated extendable structure includes a connecting shaft 140, connecting shaft sleeves 130, an extendable sleeve shaft 137 and an extendable shaft 138. The connecting shaft 140 is connected between the two connecting shaft sleeves 130. The connecting shaft 140 and the connecting shaft sleeve 130 each are disposed within a shaft hole of the lock hook 132 of the bottom lock 13, and the extendable sleeve shaft 137 is disposed inside the connecting shaft sleeve 130, the extendable shaft 138 is disposed in the extendable sleeve shaft 137. An end of the extendable shaft 138 inside the connecting shaft sleeve 130 has a diameter slightly larger than a diameter of a body of the extendable shaft 138, to function as position-limiting. The operator may push and pull a free end of the extendable shaft 138 to extend and retract the extendable structure manually. Figure 12 is a schematic diagram showing the manually operated extendable structure in an extending state, and the Figure 13 is a schematic diagram showing the manually operated extendable structure in a retracting state. [0051] The detail of the automatically operated extendable structure will be described. As shown in Figure 14 and Figure 15, the automatically operated extendable structure may ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 8 also include a connecting shaft 140, a connecting shaft sleeve 130, an extendable sleeve shaft 137 and an extendable shaft 138. The automatically operated extendable structure differs from the manually operated extendable structure shown in Figure 12 and Figure 13 in that, the extendable sleeve shaft 137 of the automatically operated extendable structure further includes a spring 139 and a position limiting mechanism (not shown) therein, and the extendable shaft 138 is connected to the spring, and may extend and retract according to the extension and compression of the spring 139. The position limiting mechanism is used to fix a restrain end of the extendable shaft 138 when the spring 139 is compressed, to prevent the restrain end from being ejected by the spring 139. For example, the position limiting mechanism may be a combination of a movable limiting stopper and a matched recess. After the free end of the extendable shaft 138 is pressed, the limitation of the position limiting mechanism can be released and the extendable shaft 138 can be ejected again. Figure 14 is a schematic diagram showing the automatically operated extendable structure in an extending state, and Figure 15 is a schematic diagram showing the automatically operated extendable structure in a retracting state. [0052] To facilitate opening the bottom lock 13, a handle 18 may be disposed at the bottom of the container 1 with the bottom lock 13 in accordance with the embodiments of the invention. Specifically, the handle 18 may be located in the inside of the corner fitting 19 seen from the longitudinal direction of the container 1, and at the outer surface of a bottom side beam and a side plate of the container 1 seen from the transverse direction of the container 1. The rotation shaft of the handle 18 may be disposed at the bottom side beam, or between the corner fitting 19 and the bottom side beam, and especially between the corner fitting 19 and the driving shaft 134 of the bottom lock 13. However, the handle may be disposed in other forms (not limited to the above-mentioned arrangements), as long as the handle 18 may apply an upward force to the driving shaft 134 (for the bottom lock 13 of the second embodiment) or a downward force to the driving shaft 134 (for the bottom lock 13 in the first embodiment). In an idle state, the handle 18 may be fixed vertically as shown in Figure 16. Figure 17 shows a method for opening the container with the bottom lock in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention. In the case where a handle 18 is disposed at the bottom of the container 1, the operator may rotate the handle 18 to apply a ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 9 force to the driving shaft 134 of the bottom lock 13 to unlock the bottom lock. [0053] More specifically, if the door 12 has a second locking mechanism thereon, the door 12 can be opened by the following steps. The second locking mechanism is unlocked first, and then the extendable shaft 138 of the extendable mechanism of the driving shaft 134 extends to a position where it is beyond the corner fitting 19 in the transverse direction of the container 1. Thereafter, the handle 18 is rotated to downwardly apply a pressure to the extendable shaft 138 of the driving shaft 134, the lock hook 132 of the bottom lock 13 is driven to rotate downwardly about the rotation shaft 135 to disengage the door hook 131 from the lock hook 132, whereby the door 12 is opened. Since the handle 18 is disposed on a side of the bottom end of the container 1, the safety of the operator can be ensured effectively. [0054] Also, the container with the bottom lock in accordance with the embodiments of the invention may be opened by the opening method of the second embodiment. The opening method in the present embodiment is not only adapted to a container 1 without a handle 18, but also adapted to a container 1 with a handle 18. Thus, in accordance with the invention, the container can be opened by various methods, and the user may have various choices during opening the container 1. [0055] In the method for opening the container 1 with the bottom lock 13 in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention, by utilizing the angle change of a wire rope 3, a pressure is applied to the driving shaft 134 of the bottom lock 13 automatically, thereby opening the bottom lock 13; and at the same time, the bulk cargo is unloaded automatically by opening the door 12. The present embodiment is mainly adapted to the container 1 with the bottom lock 13 in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention. [0056] In the case where the container 1 contains the bulk cargo, if the door 12 has a second locking mechanism, the second locking mechanism is first unlocked, and then the extendable shaft 138 of the driving shaft 134 extends to a position where it is beyond the corner fitting 19 in the transverse direction of the container. As shown in Figure 18, a lifting frame 4 and a wire rope 3 are used to lift the container, in which the bottom of the wire rope 3 is fixed to the corner fittings 19 at the bottom of the container 1, and the wire rope 3 abuts against the side of the container 1 at the bottom of the rope. Thus, after the container is translationally lifted up to a certain height, as shown in Figure 19, the front end of the ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 10 container 1 is lifted to be higher than the door end of the container 1 with the door 12, whereby the container becomes inclined. At this point, the wire rope 3 (the wire rope 3 itself or a flange on the wire rope 3) applies a pressure to the driving shaft 134 of the bottom lock 13 to unlock the bottom lock 13, whereby the door 12 is opened automatically. [0057] The cargo in the container is unloaded automatically due to obliquity generated by height difference. After the unloading of cargo is completed, the front end of the container is lowered, and the container is oriented horizontally, the wire rope 3 (the wire rope 3 itself or the flange on the wire rope 3) is disengaged from the driving shaft 134, the bottom lock 13 automatically returns to the original position due to the pressure of the return spring 13, and the door 12 is automatically locked to the bottom lock 13 again by its weight. [0058] To sum up, in the container with the bottom lock in accordance with embodiments of the invention, the bottom lock 13 is unlocked by an external force which is applied to the driving shaft 134 at the bottom of the container 1 from the side of the container. This can prevent the door 12 from being directly opened from the door end of the container, and improve the safety factor. In the container 1 with the bottom lock 13 of the invention, at least one end of the driving shaft 134 is provided with an extendable shaft 138, so that outer dimensions of the container can be ensured not to exceed the ISO requirement. Meanwhile, the bottom lock 13 may return to the original position automatically by means of the return spring 133, and automatic locking can be achieved by means of arc structures of the bottom lock 13. In the method for opening the container with the bottom lock in accordance with the embodiments of the invention, the bottom lock 13 is unlocked with the wire rope 3, so that manual operation can be removed and safety performance can be improved; and the cargo contained in the container can be unloaded automatically while the door is opened, so that the unloading speed can be increased. [0059] The present invention has been described as above with reference to the preferred embodiments. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. Therefore, the present embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. ChbmA0127910955-vl 120416522 11

Claims

1. A container bottom lock, comprising: a door hook disposed at a door of a container; and a lock hook disposed at the bottom of the container and matching the door hook, which the lock hook is connected with a driving shaft, the driving shaft is capable of extending axially to a side of the container, the lock hook rotates about a rotation shaft to open or close the door when a pressure is applied to the driving shaft.

2. The container bottom lock according to claim 1, wherein the lock hook is further connected with a return spring for automatically returning the lock hook after the pressure applied to the driving shaft is removed.

3. The container bottom lock according to claim 2, wherein the rotation shaft is disposed between the driving shaft and the return spring.

4. The container bottom lock according to claim 2, wherein the driving shaft is disposed between the rotation shaft and the return spring.

5. The container bottom lock according to claim 2, wherein the driving shaft comprises a manually operated extendable shaft or an automatically operated extendable shaft, which is capable of extending to the side of the container.

6. The container bottom lock according to claim 5, wherein the door hook and the lock hook each have an arc-shaped edge, the arc-shaped edge of the door hook is disposed at a side of the door hook facing inwards and the arc-shaped edge of the lock hook is disposed at a side of the lock hook facing outwards.

7. A container with a bottom lock, wherein the bottom lock is a container bottom lock according to anyone of claims 1-6.

8. The container with the bottom lock according to claim 7, wherein a locking mechanism is further disposed at the door of the container.

9. The container with the bottom lock according to claim 8, wherein the locking mechanism is a locking bar disposed transversely at the door.

10. The container with the bottom lock according to claim 7, wherein a handle is disposed on a side at the bottom of the container, and is able to rotate such that a pressure is applied to the driving shaft of the bottom lock so as to unlock the bottom lock. Chbm A0127912484-vl 120416522 12

11. A method for opening a container with a bottom lock according to claim 7, wherein a handle is disposed on a side at the bottom of the container, and the handle is able to rotate, such that a pressure is applied to the driving shaft of the bottom lock so as to unlock the bottom lock and open the door of the container.

12. A method for opening the container with the bottom lock according to claim 7, wherein the method comprises the steps of: lifting the container with a lifting frame and a wire rope, a bottom end of the wire rope being fixed to bottom corner fittings of the container; lifting a front end of the container after the container is translationally lifted up to a certain height, such that the front end of the container becomes higher than a door end of the container, and the container is inclined; and using the wire rope to applying a pressure to the driving shaft of the bottom lock, to unlock the bottom lock and open the door. Chbm A0127912484-vl 120416522 13