DE9205852U1 - Device for securing transport containers stored on foundations on a loading area - Google Patents

Description

MEC Marine Equipment + Consulting Behr & Horstmann GmbH
Witternstrasse 2, 2102 Hamburg 93

Device for securing foundations on a
Transport containers stowed in the loading area

Description

The invention relates to a device for securing transport containers (containers) that are directly stowed on foundations on the loading area of vehicles, in particular on the hatch cover and/or deck of ships, the foundation being formed by a substantially flat, plate-shaped support that rests on the loading area and is spaced apart from it, on which the transport containers rest via their corner fittings.

Transport containers, generally referred to as containers, are stacked on top of one another, for example during shipping, and are detachably connected to one another via the standardized corner fittings on the transport container side using special devices, which are generally fitted with twistlocks.

These twistlocks are not only used between the corner fittings of the stacked transport containers, but also detachably connect the bottom transport container of a transport container stack to ship-side foundations, which form the vehicle- or ship-side support for the transport container stack, particularly on hatch covers, the deck of ships or in the cargo hold.

These so-called twistlocks, in addition to other lashing devices that may be additionally provided, serve to provide a force-fitting connection between the transport containers and the transport container stack and the ship, in order to protect the stack against the forces on the transport container stack or its connection to the transport vehicle caused by rolling, pitching or other movements of the ship.

For the lashing process, it was previously usual for the twistlocks to be taken from the on-board storage boxes and inserted into the foundations provided on the decks or hatch covers. After placing the transport container on the four corner foundations, the locking bodies (cones) were then twisted in a known manner by turning the locking lever so that a detachable, force-locking connection was created between the foundation and the corner fittings of the transport container. In the same way, the transport containers stacked on top of each other on the lower transport container are connected with the respective interposition of twistlocks in the opposite corner fittings, as described.

It is known that there are not only the most common 40' transport containers, but also 20', 30', 35', 45', 48' and 49' long transport containers. Depending on the length of the transport container to be stowed, the twistlocks must first be inserted into the appropriately spaced apart foundations. For example, if a 40' transport container is to be used in a place that was previously used by two 20' transport containers stacked one behind the other, the twistlocks must always be removed from the inner foundations in order to be able to place the 40' transport container on its four corner fittings in a flat position on the supports of the foundations. This process requires considerable attention from the stowing staff, and it has often been observed that the central twistlocks were not removed due to carelessness, which led to considerable damage to the transport containers that were then lowered onto them. Removing the twistlocks from the middle foundations in the above-mentioned scenario also requires additional work, including transferring them to the ship's stowage boxes. This means that many additional twistlocks have to be moved during each loading or unloading process, which is naturally time-consuming and therefore expensive. In addition, it is known that stowage and unloading operations on board ships are relatively rough, i.e. the twistlocks are usually thrown into the stowage boxes or onto the deck, which can lead to damage to the hatch covers, the twistlocks themselves or the surrounding ship structures, or they simply fall overboard.

This means that there is always a necessary additional supply of twistlocks on board the ship.

must be present, which entails additional costs for the operator of the ship or vehicle.

The object of the present invention is to create a device for securing transport containers of the type mentioned above that are stowed on foundations on a loading area, which does not have the disadvantages of the previously described devices known in the prior art for detachably connecting transport containers stowed on the loading area or on hatch covers or on decks of ships, which allows easy operation without, as was previously the case, having to remove the twist locks used for this purpose, with which there is no need to fear damage due to improper transport to storage boxes or falling overboard or onto deck, which is easy to handle and which can be retrofitted if necessary into existing foundations on loading areas of vehicles, on hatch covers or on the decks of ships, i.e. can be retrofitted and which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and easy to operate.

The object is achieved according to the invention in that a device for detachably connecting the transport container to the foundation from a first, lower position, in which an upper locking body (cone) that is essentially orthogonal to the support surface and can be rotated about the axis lies below the support surface, into a first, upper holding position by essentially vertical displacement in the direction of the axis, in which the upper locking body lies above the support surface, whereby after the support of the corner fitting and passage of the upper locking body through the corner fitting opening by

Rotation around the axis of this can be transferred to a second, upper holding position in which the upper locking body grips the corner fitting with force.

The advantage of the device according to the invention lies essentially in the fact that the connecting device for detachably connecting the transport container to the foundation remains permanently connected to the foundation, so that the connecting device no longer has to be removed for the loading and unloading process, and thus damage such as was previously observed due to twist locks being thrown into the stowage boxes or onto the deck etc. during the loading and unloading process is eliminated. This means that the service life of the device according to the invention can be increased many times over compared to the known twist locks, with the result that the previously necessary stock of spare parts can be reduced to a minimum. Furthermore, the stevedore no longer has the problems with the locking direction that often occurred in the past, namely because so-called left or right locking twist locks were used, which reached their locking position when turned in different directions. The solution proposed according to the invention ensures uniform handling for all connecting devices used in the foundations, i.e. a uniform locking direction and a uniform unlocking direction, so that it is actually ensured that the stack of transport containers does not tip over in the unlocked position as a result of incorrect locking movement by the stevedor, which has already been observed to be disadvantageous.

Another significant advantage of the device is that it also makes it possible to comply with certain international and national safety regulations in a simple way, as there is, for example, a requirement that special twistlocks must be provided in the lower layer of a stack of transport containers for stacked weights of more than 60 tonnes. The lower twistlocks of a stack must have a larger contact area than a normal standard twistlock due to the high pressure forces when a ship rolls. These twistlocks with the larger contact area are normally only required between a transport container and the foundation on the loading area or the hatch cover and/or the deck of a ship, while normal twistlocks can then be used between the transport containers stacked on top of each other. However, due to the possibility of confusion, this is often not done, with the result that the ship operator equips the ship with the larger, heavier and more expensive twistlocks. With the solution proposed by the invention, this is no longer necessary, as the solution proposed here is completely independent of the other twistlocks used between the transport containers and cannot be confused.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the locking device has a lower locking body connected to the upper locking body and rotatable about the axis, the lower locking body being designed in such a way that it can slightly grip the underside of the support in the first, upper holding position, while the upper

The locking body itself still allows unhindered passage through the opening of the corner fitting of the transport container to be placed on the support.

For this purpose, the locking body, although it can in principle be designed in any suitable form, is advantageously designed in the form of a plate-shaped element, the surface of which facing the support is aligned essentially parallel to the support. When rotated about the axis, the lower locking body can thus be rotated like a web under the support essentially parallel to the lower support surface.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the device, a centering body is arranged between the upper locking body and the lower locking body, which rotatably accommodates the axle shaft connecting the two locking bodies. This centering body can be designed in a similar structure and dimensions to those usually found in standard twist locks. However, when the device is locked, the centering body of the device according to the invention rests with part of its body in a correspondingly designed opening in the support of the foundation and with another part of its body in a correspondingly designed opening in a corner fitting of a transport container, the corner fitting opening on the transport container side being standardized according to ISO.

Preferably, the connecting device is rotatable about the axis and displaceable in the axial direction by at least one rod-shaped lever element that projects substantially radially from the axis. This lever element projects out from the foundation so far that it

» · 9 »
II

ml

can be easily grasped and operated by the driver for the locking or unlocking process. Preferably, two essentially diametrically opposed rod-shaped lever elements are arranged on the connecting device, which can then each be grasped with one hand, so that the locking and unlocking process can be carried out easily without great effort due to the two-sided or two-handed operation.

In principle, a guide device that interacts with the foundation and can be designed in any way can be provided on the connecting device in any way, which ensures that, in the sense of the above inventive solution, a first, upper holding position and a second, upper holding position of the connecting element can be assumed from a lower position. However, it has proven to be advantageous to design the foundation in such a way that at least one of its spacer elements, which run essentially at right angles to the support, has a slotted guide for a vertical movement parallel to the axis and for a rotary movement of the lever element about the axis, whereby this advantageous solution can be implemented in a simple manner without additional complex guide means, since the guide and the locking holder in the first upper holding position and in the second upper holding position are easily achieved by the lever element in cooperation with the spacer elements on the foundation side.

For this purpose, in another advantageous embodiment of the device, the vertically extending part of the guide rail is in the form of a vertical slot and the radially encircling part is in the form of a horizontal slot

formed, whereby such a design can be provided on both spacer elements in the case of a two-lever design of the device.

Finally, it is advantageous that in the radially encircling part of the link guide two locking recesses aligned parallel to the axis are arranged for locking the lever element in the first and second upper lever positions, whereby these locking recesses have a semicircular cross-section into which the levers, which are fully circular in cross-section, can be inserted in a locking manner and can be easily removed or moved from these semicircular recesses by moving them in the circumferential direction in order to be able to assume the various positions of the connecting device.

The invention is described in detail with reference to the following schematic drawings using an exemplary embodiment. In them:

Fig. la in plan view the device in an unlocked lower position,

Fig. Ib the representation of Fig. la in side view in section along the line A-B of Fig. 4,

Fig. 2a in plan view the device in a first, upper holding position,

Fig. 2b the representation of Fig. 2a in side view in section along the line A - B of Fig. 4,

Fig. 3a in plan view the device in a second, upper holding position,

Fig. 3b is a side view of Fig. 3a in section along the line A - B of Fig. 4,

Fig. 4 is a side view in comparison with Fig. Ib, Fig
and

Fig. 2b and Fig. 3b view rotated by 90°

Fig. 5 shows a 40' transport container placed on a loading area on foundations, whereby the loading area can also be used to accommodate two symbolically shown 20' transport containers, in perspective.

The device 10 essentially consists of a foundation 14, which is arranged on the loading area or the hatch cover or the deck 11 of a vehicle or a ship 12, and a connecting device 19.

The foundation 14 is formed by a plate-shaped support 15 which is designed essentially horizontally to the loading surface 11 and which is connected to the loading surface 11 via two plate-shaped spacer elements 16, 17 which are spaced apart from one another, for example by welding or in another suitable manner. Both spacer elements 16, 17 are essentially parallel to one another and, compare the figures, have an essentially U-shaped cross-section together with the plate-shaped support 15.

The support 15 and the upper support surface 20 there form a counter support for a corner fitting 18 of a transport container 13 (container), i.e. the transport container 13 rests in the transport state with its four corner fittings 18 on a support surface 20 of a respective foundation 14, compare Fig. 5.

A hole 35 is provided in the support surface 20, which has a hole cross-section corresponding to the cross-section of the corner fitting opening 24 of a transport container 13, the corner fitting opening 24 being an opening standardized according to ISO standards. The hole 35 is designed to run essentially vertically, i.e. essentially at right angles to the support surface 20, with reference to Fig. 1b, 2b, 3b and 4. The vertical through the hole 35 is essentially identical to the axis 21 of the connecting device 19, with which the detachable connection of a transport container 13 to the foundation 14 is carried out, which is described in more detail below.

The connecting device 19 consists of an upper locking body 23, which is also called a cone, and a lower locking body 25, which is also called a cone. Both locking bodies 23, 25 are fixedly connected to one another by an axle shaft 22, with the axis 21 being the axis of the axle shaft 22. Between the upper locking body 23 and the lower locking body 25 there is a centering body 27 which has a substantially identical cross-section at right angles to the axis 21 as is formed by the standardized cross-section of the corner fitting opening 24 of the transport container 13. However, the cross-section of the centering body 27 is smaller than the cross-section

the corner fitting opening 24 is slightly reduced in size so that the centering body 27 can be moved in the axial direction 29 through the hole 35 and can also be inserted into the corner fitting opening 24 of the transport container 13.

The cross-section of the upper locking body 23 in the vertical and horizontal direction as well as the conical taper towards its vertical upper end correspond in structure to that of known upper locking bodies as used in known twistlocks, so that this does not need to be discussed further here. The conical taper towards its vertical tip provides guidance when inserting the upper locking body 23 into the corner fitting opening 24 of a transport container 13. The lower locking body 25 essentially has the shape of a plate-shaped element, with the side of the surface 26 of the lower locking body 25 facing the support being essentially parallel to the support 15 or to the support surface 20. The lower support surfaces of the support 15 opposite the support surface 20 are parallel to one another when the support 15 has a plate-shaped structure. The lower locking body 25 can have a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axis 21 that is essentially identical to that of the centering body 27, which would ensure that the connecting device 19 can be mounted through the hole 35, but both cross-sectional shapes do not have to be identical in every case.

On the lower locking body 25, two rod-shaped lever elements 28 are arranged, which protrude essentially radially from the axis 26 and with which the connecting device 19 in its entirety can be rotated around the axis 21.

rotatable and displaceable in the axial direction 29. The rotatability about axis 21 is ensured by the axle shaft 22 connecting the upper and lower locking bodies 23, 25, which is rotatably received in a corresponding axle hole formed centrally in the centering body 27. It should be noted that in the drawing, for reasons of clarity, the centering body 27 is shown freely arranged in the interior of the foundation 14 in its positions according to Fig. la, b. In reality, the plate-shaped support 15 is slightly thicker in the vertical direction, so that even in the lower position of the connecting device 19, as shown in Fig. la, b, the hole 35 of the support 15 slightly grips the centering body 27, so that the centering body 27 can be displaced in the axial direction 29, but cannot be rotated in the direction of the arrows 36 as a result of the rotation of the connecting device 19 via the hand lever 19.

In particular, with reference to the representation of the device 10 in Fig. 4, it can be seen that the foundation 14 has a slotted guide 30 for a vertical movement of the connecting device 19 parallel to the axis 21 and a rotary movement of the lever element 28 about the axis 21 on its spacer elements 16, 17, which run essentially at right angles to the support 15. In the slotted guide 30, the vertically running part 31 is designed in the form of a vertical slot, which is slightly wider than the thickness of the cross section of the lever element 28, and the radially encircling part 32 is designed in the form of a horizontal slot. In the radially encircling part 32 of the slotted guide 30, two locking recesses 33, 34 are provided which are aligned parallel to the axis 21 and are designed as semicircular vertical recesses.

These locking recesses 33, 34 serve to lock the lever element 28 in the first and second, upper holding positions of the connecting device 19.

With reference to the figures, the function of the device according to the invention is now described using a stowing process of a transport container 13 that is placed on a foundation 14. It goes without saying that the same process is regularly repeated with four foundations 14 that are supported to accommodate a transport container 13 over its four corner fittings 18, so that the stowing or depositing process only needs to be described using one foundation 14. The basic state is shown in figures 1a, b, i.e. a device 10 in a lower position that represents the rest position. Before the transport container 13 is placed on according to figure 2b, the two handles 28 are grasped by a stower and transferred from the lower position, in which the upper locking body 23 lies below the support surface 20, in a vertical displacement in the direction 29 parallel to the axis 21, into a first, upper holding position. In this case, the upper locking body 23 and the centering body 27 pass through the hole 35 and assume a position shown in Fig. 2b, whereby after completion of the lifting movement in the axial direction 29, a slight rotational movement of the lever elements 28 in the direction of the arrows 36 follows by approximately 10°, so that the hand lever 28 enters the locking recess 33, compare also Fig. 4.

The transport container 13 is then lowered onto the device 10 in such a way that it comes to rest with its corner fitting 18 on the support surface 20, compare

Fig. 3b. Both the upper locking body 23 and a part of the centering body 27 pass through the standardized corner fitting opening 24 of the transport container 13.

By subsequently turning the hand lever 28 in the direction of arrow 36 by approximately another 40°, the upper locking body 23 is rotated about the axis 21 in such a way that it assumes a second, upper holding position, in which the upper locking body 23 grips the corner fitting 18 in a force-fitting manner, see Fig. 3a. In this second, upper holding position, the hand lever 28 then lies in the second locking recess 34, see Fig. 4.

The device 10 or the device's own connecting element 19 is released in the same way as described above, but in reverse order.

&idiagr;&idiagr;&igr;&igr; · »

&agr; ·

-,ta ·

16

List of reference symbols

10 Device

11 Loading area / hatch cover / deck

12 Vehicle / Ship

13 Transport containers

14 Foundation

15 supports

16 Spacer element

17 Spacer element

18 Corner fitting (transport container)

19 Connecting device

20 supports

21 Axis

22 Axle shaft

23 upper locking body (cone)

24 Corner fitting opening

25 lower locking body (cone)

26 Surface (lower locking body)

27 Centering body

28 Lever element

29 Axis direction (arrow 1)

30 Scene guide

31 verti kai er part

32 radially rotating part

33 Locking recess

34 Locking recess

35 holes

36 Arrow

Claims (8)

MEC Marine Equipment + Consulting Behr & Horstmann GmbH Witternstraße 2, 2102 Hamburg 93 Device for securing transport containers stored on foundations on a loading area s &rgr; r ü c h e 1. Device for securing transport containers (containers) stored directly on foundations on the loading area of vehicles, in particular on the hatch cover and/or deck of ships, the foundation being formed by a substantially flat, plate-shaped support which rests on the loading area and is spaced from it and on which the transport containers rest via their corner fittings, characterized in that a device (19) for detachably connecting the transport container (13) to the foundation (14) from a first, lower position, in which an upper locking body (cone) (23) which is rotatable about an axis (21) essentially orthogonal to the support surface (20) lies below the support surface (20), into a first, upper holding position by vertical displacement essentially in the direction of the axis (21). can be transferred, in which the upper locking body (23) is located above the support surface (20), whereby after the corner fitting (18) has been supported and the upper locking body (23) has passed through the corner fitting opening (24), it can be moved into a second, upper holding position by rotation about the axis (21), in which the upper locking body (23) grips the corner fitting (18) in a force-fitting manner. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the connecting device (19) has a locking body (23) connected to the upper and rotating about the axis (24) rotatable lower locking body (25). 3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the lower locking body (25) is designed in the form of a plate-shaped element, the surface (26) of which directed towards the support (15) is aligned substantially parallel to the support (15). 4. Device according to one or both of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that between the upper locking body (23) and the lower locking body (25) a centering body (27) is arranged, which rotatably receives an axle shaft (22) connecting both locking bodies (23, 25). 5. Device according to one or more of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the connecting device (19) is rotatable about the axis (21) and displaceable in the axial direction (29) by at least one rod-shaped lever element (28) projecting substantially radially from the axis (21). 6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the foundation (14) has a sliding guide (30) for a vertical movement parallel to the axis (21) and a rotary movement of the lever element (28) about the axis (21) on at least one of its spacer elements (16, 17) running essentially at right angles to the support (15). 7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the vertically extending part (31) of the guide (30) is in the form of a vertical slot and the radially encircling part (32) is in the form of a horizontal slot. 8. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that in the radially encircling part (32) of the slotted guide (30) two locking recesses (33, 34) aligned parallel to the axis (21) are arranged for lockingly receiving the lever element (28) in the first and second upper holding positions.