EP0445856B1

EP0445856B1 - Cargo space door locking device

Info

Publication number: EP0445856B1
Application number: EP91200326A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Klaas Krab
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-02-16
Filing date: 1991-02-18
Publication date: 1996-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 2011-02-18
Also published as: NL9000715A; EP0445856A2; DE69120987T2; ES2091857T3; EP0445856A3; DE69120987D1; ATE140755T1; DK0445856T3; HK1007783A1

Abstract

Assembly for securing swing doors (16, 17) of a cargo space like a loading space of a truck or a container, comprising a door locking means (1) which is designed to extend during use within the swinging range of the door means and which comprises a locking body (2) provided with at least a first securing means (25, 26), also comprising for each first securing means a fixed second securing means (12, 8, 9) like a corner fitting (12) of a container, which is located out of the swinging range of the doors and is suitable to be in securing engagement with the related first securing means during use. The locking body (2) is formed and supported by the securing means such as to extend freely from the doors during use. The locking body may be formed as a two-part brace, wherein the two brace members (4, 5) may be interlocked after the first and second securing means have been brought into securing arrangement with one another. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a cargo space door securing assembly, in particular a securing assembly for securing containers which are provided with corner fittings. The invention further relates to a cargo door locking device for use in said assembly.
A door securing assembly of the kind described in the preamble of claim 1 is known from European patent application 0.204.706 (WO 85/03921). The door securing assembly disclosed therein is fitted diagonally across a door arrangment of a container having so-called 'corner fittings', i.e. hollow corner blocks provided with elongated holes for enabling insertion of fastening devices on board of a ship or on a truck. The known door securing assembly comprises a beam consisting of a first bar member and a second bar member, which are telescopically connected with each other, and an operating lever member. At its outer end, the second bar member is provided with a locking member, which is integrated therewith and comprises a stem portion and an unround locking plate which is insertable into the holes in the corner fittings. At its outer end, the first bar member is provided with bearing bushes in which a spindle of the lever member is freely pivotably received. At its one end, the spindle is secured to said lever member, while at its other end a similar unround locking plate is fixed thereto.
After having been set equal to the diagonal distance between the lower and the upper corner fittings of the container, the locking plate of the second bar member is inserted into a lower corner fitting, while the user holds the beam vertically. Then the user swings the beam over approx. 45° towards an orientation in which the beam extends diagonally across the doors of the container. In this position, the user must keep the locking plate of first bar member right in front of the upper corner fitting so that the next step, the insertion of that locking plate into the upper corner fitting, may be performed. Subsequently, the user grasps the lever member which depends vertically from the upper end of said first bar member, to swing it against the beam and to secure it against it with a padlock.
The known locking bar assembly requires a great deal of dexterity on the part of the user, especially during the step of inserting the locking plate in the upper corner fitting. A further consequence of the choice to position the beam diagonally is that the beam must have the longest possible length. This implies, that the length exposed to a possible attack is also as large as possible, probably necessitating additional reinforcement means. In this connection, a related further consequence of the diagonal arrangment is the relatively large amount of material required for the beam itself, resulting in high production costs and in the arrangment becoming less manoeuvrable due to its high weight. A further consequence still of the diagonal extension of the beam is, that in that position it has an ideal orientation for being attacked with a metal saw, for the burglar handling the saw will be able to work in a comfortable attitude during sawing, and he will be able to do this in a controlled manner.
Finally, it is important to realize that in practice, the lower and the upper corner fittings, in particular the opening therein, may be of a different size, thereby severly restricting the possibilities for use of the known The invention aims to provide a door securing assembly of the kind described in the preamble of claim 1, which provides an improvement with respect to these deficiencies.
According to the invention, the locking member extends between two second securing means which are located at a same side of the door means and spaced substantially horizontally. As a result, the length and the weight of the locking means are kept to a minimum, while said problems with deviating sizes of corner fittings are avoided. Due to the horizontal arrangement, the user will be able to fully control the placement of the locking means, since this will mostly be done at the height of the pelvis of the user,in case of a truck, or near the ground, in case of a container which is stalled at a construction site or the like.
Both of the two securing means of a conventional door means, which consists of two opposite opening swing doors, may be positioned at the level fo the lower angular points of the frame work of the loading space/container, wherein the locking body extends across approximately the whole width of the loading space/container. The second securing means can be formed by corner fittings already located on a container or semitrailer or applied to it later.
Since the locking body as stated by the invention can be positioned independently from the door or doors, no provisions need to be applied to the door or doors for guiding or retaining the locking body. As a result the self-weight of the door or doors and thus that of the loading space/ container will not be increased. Furthermore, the dimensions of the locking body are not bounded by the dimensions of guiding means, et cetera, on the door or doors. Therefore, the locking body can have a robust embodiment.
Another merit of the invention is that the door means locking means does not have to be applied to a loading space/ container until it is really necessary, namely in case said loading space/ container is loaded. Thus, it will not be necessary anymore to provide every loading space/container with a door means locking means, which results in a saving of expenses.
With reference to French Patent Application 2,640, 672 the applicant has voluntarily limited the scope of the present application and submitted separate claims for France.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the locking body has the form of a brace comprising a straight central portions and end portions obliquely positioned on said centered portion on either end thereof and each provided with a first securing means.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention the locking body is elongated and along its length divided into two elongated members, each of which is provided at one first end with a first securing means and at the other, second end with connecting means which complementally mate with one another.
It will be clear that the door means locking means as described above is also within the scope of the claims. The door means locking means as such is a releasable and separately removable part of the assembly according to the invention.
Cargo space door locking devices which are suitable for use as door means locking means for standard type containers in the assembly of the invention are subject of claims 6-8.
Now the invention will be discussed in view of a preferred embodiment as illustrated in the drawing.

Figure 1 shows the assembly according to the preferred embodiment in a detached state, before being mounted on a container:
figure 2 shows the assembly according to figure 1 as mounted on the container, and
figure 3 shows details of the door means locking means, with a cylinder lock.

In fig.1 a part of a container 18 located on a loading platform 19 of a truck is shown. The container 18 is of a standard type and is provided with corner fittings 12 and 13 at its vertices. These corner fittings 12 and 13 are characterized by a hollow, cubical construction, the outwardly facing surfaces of which are provided with openings for the accomodation and accessibility of fastening devices. These openings are out-of-round and elongated. Figure 1 shows two of such openings, indicated by 8 and 9. Apart from that, the container 18 is provided with two conventional swing doors 16 and 17, which are hinged onto the framework 22 of the container 18 by means of hinges 20 and 21.
Figures 1 and 3 show a locking means 1 which comprises a brace 2 being composed of two members 2a and 2b, both of which comprise a straight, portion 3a and 3b as well as portions (4, 5) obliquely positioned on it Each of the portions 4 and 5 is provided with a projection 6 and 7, respectively, projecting transversely to it and comprising an end plate 25 and 26, respectively, as well as an intermediate portion 23, 24 located between said end plate and the related end portion 4 and 5, respectively. The elongated end plates 25 and 26 have such dimensions that they can be inserted in one position into the corner fittings 12 and 13 through the related elongated openings 8 and 9, yet they cannot be removed from it anymore after having been turned through an angle of 90 degrees. The end section 27 of portion 3a is reduced in diameter in relation to the remaining portion of brace member 2a. The end section 28 of portion 3b is shaped like a reversed U-profile which fits over the reduced section 27. Both the end sections are provided with holes 30 and 31 which are in alignment in an assembled state and are used for accomodating a cylinder lock 10.
In applying the brace 2 the members 2a and 2b are held upright in such a manner that their projections 6 and 7, particularly the elongated end plates 25 and 26, can be inserted into the openings 8, 9 of the corner fittings 12 and 13. When the elongated end plates 25 and 26 are positioned within the corner fittings 12 and 13 and the intermediate sections 23 and 24 extend through the openings 8 and 9, the brace members 2a and 2b are tilted toward one another and into a substantially horizontal position, wherein during the bringing together of the end sections 27 and 28 the U-profile is caused to fit over the reduced section 27 and the portions 3a and 3b will be brought into alignment. As a matter of fact the holes 30 and 31 are in alignment as well and they form a passage which fits the cylinder lock 10. After the cylinder lock 10 has been applied into this passage and after its locking part 11 has been twisted, the end sections 27 and 28 and as a result also the portions 3a and 3b are secured in relation to one another. The use of a cylinder lock has the additional benefit that it does not need to project from the brace, and thus it will be more difficult to destruct. The brace 2 is fixed now in relation to the corner fittings 12 and 13 and consequently in relation to the container 18. Under these conditions the length of the intermediate sections 23 and 24 is such that the central part 3 of the brace 2 extends just in front and within the swinging range of the doors 16 and 17. The final state is illustrated in figure 2, which shows that the brace 2 does not need any points of support on the doors and that its cross-sectional dimensions will only be limited in the direction towards the doors.
Finally it is noted that, if necessary, the securing apparatus according to the invention may be applied as an additional fastening to the containers provided with the known securing device, wherein the locking body can prevent the removal of the pawl means from the hook-shaped means.

Claims

A cargo space door locking assembly comprising:
a cargo space structure (18), for instance a freight container,

a vertical door frame (22) connected to the cargo space structure, said door frame (22) comprising at least two vertical elements,

one or more swinging doors (16,17) hinged vertically to the vertical elements of the door frame (22),

an elongated locking body (2) which locks the door or door (16, 17) in their closed position by extending across the door or doors (16, 17) within the swinging range of the door or doors (16, 17) and which is composed of two elongated members, each of which is provided, at their one end with interconnecting means which complementary mate with one another and at their second end with first securing means (6,7), one per elongated member,

second securing means (8, 9) for each of said first securing means, said second securing means having a fixed position on the door frame (22) outside the swinging range of the door or doors (16, 17) and being provided with an opening , for example in the corner fittings (12, 13) or corner blocks of a freight container, each of said first securing means (6,7) comprising a noncircular projection (25,26), which can be inserted through the opening of the corresponding second securing means (8, 9), which opening has a shape complementary to the shape of the first securing means (6, 7) in one or more angular positions as viewed in a plane perpendicular to the direction of insertion and each of said first securing means (6, 7) being secured by subsequent rotation of said projection in relation to the corresponding opening into a second angular position in such a way that the locking body (2) in locking position is supported only by the cooperation of said firs (6, 7) and second (8, 9) securing means,

locking means (10) for securing the position of the first (6, 7) and the second (8, 9) securing means in relation to one another,

characterized in that

both second securing means (8, 9) are located on the door frame, and are spaced apart horizontally in a substantially horizontal plane.
Assembly according to claim 1 characterized in that the locking body (2) has the form of a brace comprising a straight central portion (3) and end portions (4, 5) obliquely positioned on said central portion on either end thereof and each provided with a first securing means (6, 7).
Assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the locking means (10) is a cylinder lock which can be inserted into suitable openings (29, 30) arranged in the mating connecting means (27, 28) for securing the connection of said connecting means.
Assembly according to any of the claims 1-3, characterized in that the cargo space is a container (18) provided with corner fittings (12, 13) forming second (8, 9) securing means.
Cargo space door locking device (1) comprising an elongated locking body (2) provided with at least two first securing means (6, 7) which are designed to be brought into securing arrangement with second securing means (8, 9) on a cargo space (18) located outside the swinging range of the door of said cargo space in order to lock said door, wherein said first securing means (6; 7) each comprise a non-circular projection (25, 26) which can be inserted through the opening of said second Securing means in the form of a so-called corner fitting (12, 13) or corner block on a freight container in one or more angular positions as viewed in a plane perpendicular to the direction of insertion and which can be secured by subsequent rotation of said projection in relation to the corner fitting in a position in which said locking body (2) is in a locking position in which it extends into said swinging range between at least two second securing means (8, 9), said locking body (2) being formed to extend into said swinging range in said locking position without being supported by the door, and further comprising locking means for securing the position of the first (6, 7) and the second (8, 9) securing means in relation to one another, characterized in that the distance between said at least two first securing means (6, 7) on said locking body (2) corresponds to the horizontal distance between the two lower corner fittings (12, 13) of a standard type container.
Cargo space door according to claim 5, characterized in that the locking body (2) has the form of a brace comprising a straight central portion (3) and end portions (4, 5) obliquely positioned on said central portion on either end thereof and each provided with a first securing means (6, 7).
Cargo space door locking device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the locking body (2) is divided along its length into two elongated members (2a; 2b), each of which is provided at one first end with a first securing means (6; 7) integrated therewith and at the other, second end with connecting means (27, 28) which complementally mate with one another.