GB2166184A

GB2166184A - Improved means for securing freight containers to trailers and other vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2166184A
Application number: GB08426751A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ian Foskett; Kenneth Reynard
Original assignee: George Blair PLC
Current assignee: George Blair PLC
Priority date: 1984-10-23
Filing date: 1984-10-23
Publication date: 1986-04-30
Also published as: GB2166184B; GB8426751D0

Abstract

Releasable means for securing a freight container having corner fittings to a vehicle chassis (4) comprises a housing (2) to be attached to the chassis (4) and including an upper plate (6) provided with a generally rectangular aperture (8) therein. The means further comprises a locking member (14) pivotal between an operative position and a retracted position. In the operative (Fig. 1) position, a locking head (20) of the locking member (14) seats in the aperture (8) and projects from the housing (2) whereby a corner fitting can be located thereon, the locking head (20) being rotatable to secure the fitting to the chassis (4). In the retracted position (Fig. 3) of the locking member (14), the locking head (20) is displaced from the aperture (8) in the housing (2), allowing the aperture to be engaged by a locking head on another component. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improved means for securing freight containers to trailers and other vehicles This invention relates to improved means for securing freight containers to trailers and other vehicles, and more particularly to releasable securing means for co-operation with the corner fittings of standard containers.

Freight containers are produced in a series of standard sizes, usually 8 feet in width by 20 feet, 30 feet or 40 feet in length, and are known as I.S.O.

containers.

These containers are provided with corner fittings, in the normally horizontai face of each of which is formed a generally rectangular opening.

It is common practice to transport I.S.O.

containers of this type on, for example, vehicle chassis, which vehicles may be platform trailers, skeletal trailers, semi-trailers, rail wagons or the like, said chassis being provided with releasable securing means, commonly known as twistlocks, located on the chassis at predetermined positions for co-operation with said apertures in the corner fittings of the containers.

More particularly, the twistlocks each comprise a generally T-shaped spindle axially rotatable in a housing mounted on the vehicle chassis, the head of the spindle in one angular position thereof being adapted to pass through the aperture in an associated corner fitting, and the container being securable to the chassis by rotating the spindle through 90 so that the head engages over the base of the fitting on opposed sides of the aperture.

As well as being rotatable, the spindles of the twistlocks may be axially movable so that the locking head can be retracted from the projecting position, which enables securing of the container to the associated platform or the like, into a position within its associated housing and such as to leave a continuous surface to the platform for the transportation of non-standardised loads.

Loading of containers onto, or removal of containers from, a vehicle chassis is normally achieved by means of a spreader frame suspended from a crane, a releasable locking device similar two a twistlock being provided at each corner of the spreader frame for location in the uppermost corner fittings of the containers to be raised or lowered.

However, it is often necessary to ship the chassis themselves around from place to place, and no convenient means for achieving this has yet been devised. Usually slings are used which are positioned about the chassis to enable raising of the chassis by a crane or like mechanism, but such a procedure is both awkward and time consuming.

Furthermore, only a single chassis can be handled at a time.

According to the present invention there is provided releasable means for securing a freight container having corner fittings to a vehicle chassis, said means comprising a housing for attachment to the vehicle chassis and having an upper surface in which is formed a generally rectangular aperture, and a locking member having an operative position in which a generally rectangular locking head of said locking member seats in said aperture and projects from the housing to receive thereover a corner fitting of a container, said locking head in the operative position of the locking member being rotatable about the central longitudinal axis of the locking member to engage with the corner fitting and to secure said fitting to the chassis, the locking member being pivotal from the operative position to a retracted position in which the locking head thereof is displaced from the aperture in the housing.

It will be appreciated that, with the locking members of the releasable securing means in their operative positions, freight containers can be secured to the associated vehicle chassis in relatively conventional manner. However, on pivoting the locking members into their retracted positions, the generally rectangular apertures in the housings that are then revealed can have located therein, for example, the correspondingly-shaped heads of the T-shaped spindles of the conventional twistlocks carried on a spreader frame or like lifting mechanism, whereby the chassis itself carrying the releasable securing means of the invention can be bodily transported in a manner heretofore only associated with freight containers.

Further, the releasable securing means detailed above enables two chassis to be secured one on top of the other, the first chassis having its locking members in their operative positions and the other chassis having its locking members in their retracted positions whereby said other chassis can be inverted and located on the first chassis with the locking heads of the first chassis received within the generally rectangular apertures of the housings of the other chassis.

In a preferred arrangement the locking member includes a shear block pivotally mounted to the housing, the lower perimeter of said shear block and the defining walls of the aperture in the housing being correspondingly shaped to be located one within the other to define the operative position of the locking member, the locking head being axially rotatable relative to said shear block but pivotal therewith.

Conveniently the locking member is pivotal about an axis located in a plane parallel with that containing the upper surface of the housing, said axis preferably extending in a direction fore and aft of the associated chassis.

The locking member may be pivotal through at least 180 and preferably 270 from the operative position into the fully retracted position, and it is further preferred that the locking member can be secured in its retracted position, for example by cooperation between the locking head and an abutment member on the chassis or on the housing.

The locking member includes a spindle extending through, to be rotatable in, the shear block and carrying at its outer end the locking head, and its preferred that resilient means react between the shear block and said spindle to ensure positive location of the spindle relative to the shear block for each 90 displacement of the spindle in the shear block.

Said resilient means may comprise one or more leaf springs reacting between the shear block and the spindle, or may comprise a ball bearing urged by a coil spring reacting between the shear block and the ball bearing into oneoffourdetentsformed at 90 intervals about the spindle.

By way of example only, an embodiment of the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Fig. 1 shows a releasable securing means according to the invention with the locking member in its operative position, and Figs. 2 and 3 are two different views of the means of Fig. 1 with the locking member in its retracted position.

Referring to the drawings, the illustrated securing means includes a housing indicated at 2 welded or otherwise secured to the chassis of a vehicle, part of which chassis is shown at 4. The housing 2 includes an upper plate 6 which forms a continuation of the supporting surface of the vehicle, said plate 6 having a generally rectangular aperture 8 formed therein the size of which is such as to be capable of receiving therein the head of a standard I.S.O.

twistlock as will be explained below. The upper edge of the wall defining the aperture 8 is chamferred as at 10 again for reasons which will become apparent.

Pivotally mounted to the housing 2, by means of a pivot pin 12 extending fore and aft of the vehicle and just below the upper surface of the plate 6, is a locking member indicated generally at 14. Said locking member comprises a shear block 16 of generally rectangular shape about which is formed a skirt portion 18 the lower surface of which is shaped to co-operate with the chamfer 10 on the plate 6 whereby the locking member 15 has an operative position as shown in Fig. 1 with the shear block seating in,to completely cover and be supported by the walls of, the aperture 8 in the plate 6.

A spindle (not shown) extends upwardly through, to be rotatable in, the shear block 16, said spindle carrying at its upper end a generally rectangular locking head 20 which seats on the top of the shear block 16. Secured to the lower end of the spindle, within the housing 2, is a handle 22 which permits rotation of the spindle and locking head 20 relative to the shear block 16 whereby the locking head can be moved from the position shown in Fig. 1 extending longitudinally of the shear block 16 to a position extending transversely of said block 16.

It will be appreciated that the arrangement so far described enables I.S.O freight containers with corner fittings to be secured to the vehicle in the conventional manner, the corner fittings being located over the projecting shear biocks 16 and locking heads 20 with said heads in the position shown in Fig. 1, and the locking heads 20 then being turned through 90 by means of the handles 22 so that said heads 20 engage over the bases of the associated fittings on opposite sides of the openings in said fittings.

Conveniently resilient means (not shown) are provided within the locking member 14 to locate the locking head 20 relative to the shear block 16 either in the longitudinal position shown in Fig. 1 or in the transverse position 90" displaced from the illustrated position. These resilient location means may comprise, for example, one or more flat springs reacting between the inside of the bore through the shear block 16 and fiats formed on the spindle, or may comprise a ball bearing urged by a coil spring into one of four detents formed at 90 intervals about the spindle, the spring reacting between the shear block and the ball bearing.

As mentioned above, the locking members 14 are pivotal about the pins 12 and this feature, in combination with the presence of the apertures 8, provides the major advantage of the described arrangement over other known arrangements.

More particularly, the locking member 14 can be pivoted upwardly and outwardly through 270from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 in which said member 14 extends generally downwardly from the plate 6. In this position of the locking member 14, the aperture 8 in the plate 6 is exposed and there are no components of the releasable securing means projecting above the common level of the surface of the plate 6 and the supporting surface of the vehicle.

The locking member can be secured in the retracted position of Figs. 2 and 3 by rotating the spindle and locking head 20 through 90" from the position shown in Fig. 1 whereby said locking head 20 extends transversely of the shear block 16 and engages behind an abutment (not shown) welded or otherwise secured to the chassis of the vehicle which abutment may be provided on the housing 2 itself.

With the locking members on a chassis in their retracted positions such that the apertures 8 are accessible, it will be appreciated that a spreader frame as detailed above or like lifting device provided with twistlock-type securing means at its corners can be used to raise the chassis bodily.

More particularly, the locking heads of the twistlocks are lowered through the apertures 8 and said heads are then turned through 90" to engage the undersurfaces of the plates 6 whereby the chassis can be raised for subsequent transportation.

Further, two chassis can be locked together one on top of the other by means of the releasable securing means detailed above, it merely being necessary to invert one of the chassis with its locking members in their retracted positions and to locate the apertures 8 of said chassis over the locking heads 20 of the other chassis, which locking heads are in their operative positions as shown in Fig. 1. Securing together of the two chassis is then achieved by rotating the locking heads 20 of the other chassis through 90 to engage with the plates 6 of the one chassis. Clearly this facilitates transportation of the chassis, in that the two chassis are fully interlinked and require no further lashing for transportation on roads or for lifting by conventional cranes.

Thus chassis can be loaded on board ships, moved around ports and the like using normal container handling facilities, while conventional spreader frames, fork lift trucks or the like can be used to double or triple stack the chassis in the port for delivery or transportation purposes.

Clearly modifications and variatioons from the described and illustrated arrangement can be made without departing from the scope of the basic invention. In particular, the nature, direction and extent of the pivoting movement of the locking member 14from its operative position can vary providing the aperture 8 is accessible with the locking member in its retracted position. Other variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. Releasable means for securing a freight container having corner fittings to a vehicle chassis, said means comprising a housing for attachment to the vehicle chassis and having an upper surface in which is formed a generally rectangular aperture, and a locking member having an operative position in which a generally rectangular locking head of said locking member seats in said aperture and projects from the housing to receive thereover a corner fitting of a container, said locking head in the operative position of the locking member being rotatable about the central longitudinal axis of the locking member to engage with the corner fitting and to secure said fitting to the chassis, the locking member being pivotal from the operative position to a retracted position in which the locking head thereof is displaced from the aperture in the housing.

2. Releasable means as claimed in claim 1 in which the locking member includes a shear block pivotally mounted to the housing, the lower perimeter of said shear block and the defining walls of the aperture in the housing being correspondingly shaped to be located one within the other to define the operative position of the locking member, the locking head being axially rotatable relative to said shear block but pivotal therewith.

3. Releasable means as claimed in claim 2 in which the locking member is pivotal about an axis located in a plane parallel with that containing the upper surface of the housing.

4. Releasable means as claimed in claim 3 in which the locking member is pivotal through at least 180'.

5. Releasable means as claimed in claim 4 in which the locking member can be secured in its retracted position.

6. Releasable means as claimed in claim 5 in which the locking member can be secured in its retracted position by co-operation between the locking head and an abutment member on the chassis or on the housing.

7. Releasable means as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 6 in which the locking member includes a spindle extending through, to be rotatable in, the shear block and carrying at its outer end the locking head, resilient means reacting between the shear block and said spindle to ensure positive location of the spindle relative to the shear block for each 90 displacement of the spindle in the shear block.

8. Releasable means as claimed in claim 7 in which the resilient means comprise one or more ieaf springs reacting between the shear block and the spindle.

9. Releasable means as claimed in claim 7 in which the resilient means comprise a ball bearing urged by a coil spring reacting between the shear block and the ball bearing into one of four detents formed at 90 intervals about the spindle.

10. Releasable means for securing a freight container having corner fittings to a vehicle chassis, the means being substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.