GB2213134A

GB2213134A - Freight containers

Info

Publication number: GB2213134A
Application number: GB8827832A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Michael Harrison
Original assignee: BELL LINES Ltd
Current assignee: BELL LINES Ltd
Priority date: 1987-12-03
Filing date: 1988-11-29
Publication date: 1989-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 2008-11-29
Also published as: GB8827832D0; GB2213134B

Abstract

A freight container has a hinged door 6, a locking device 14 fixed to the door 6 and operating means 17 accessible from the outside when the door 6 is shut, for operating the locking device 14. The door includes strengthening ribs 9 and the looking device is located inside the exterior structural wall of the door 6. Two doors 6, 7 arranged to lie alongside respective sides of the container when open may be provided. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in or relating to Freight Containers The present invention relates to freight containers and, in particular, but not exclusively, to freight containers of the type that can be transported by sea, on trailers or by other means. An example of a freight container of this kind is shown in British Specification No. 1 202 566.

en freight containers are transported it is essential for reasons of security and safety that the container doors should be locked. Previously, locking gear has been provided on the outside of the doors of the container for this purpose. Because of its exposed position, the locking gear of such containers inevitably gets damaged in use either accidentally or, in some cases, by persons attempting to break into the container.

It is a requirement of freight containers that the doors, like the side walls, should be capable of supporting a considerable load, for example, the load caused by cargo in the container shifting while in transit. The doors, which are of generally sheet-like structure, for example of steel plate, may be strengthened by providing vertical ribs, which may be on the inside or on the outside of the door.

In order to fulfil the further requirement that the doors should open through an angle of approximately 270 , that is, such that in the fully open position they lie against the sides of the container, the doors are provided with a cranked-arm type hinge. On closing the doors, such hinges push the doors inwards so that they are slightly set back into the open end of the container. As a result of this feature valuable space in the container is wasted.

The present invention provides a freight container of substantially cuboidal shape comprising a hinged door having an exterior structural wall which defines a part of the exterior of the container when the door is shut and which lies along a side of the container when the door is fully open, a locking device fixed to the door and operating means, accessible from the outside when the door is shut, for operating the locking device, the door including a plurality of strengthening ribs and the locking device being accommodated substantially within the overall thickness of the door, the locking device being located inside of the exterior structural wall of the door. Thus, in a container according to the invention the major part of the locking mechanism is protected within the container when the container is locked.Further, because the locking device is inside the door it is possible for the overall thickness of the door to be less than in previously known freight containers.

Preferably, an inwardly recessed area is provided in the exterior structural wall of the door, the operating means being located in the inwardly recessed area.

Preferably, the locking device comprises one or more rotatable locking bars extending vertically along the door. Each locking bar may comprise an engaging element at each of the upper and lower extremities of the locking bar, cooperating elements being provided on the container in the vicinity of the door such that on rotation of the locking bar when the door is shut each engaging element engages with a respective cooperating element to lock the door. The engaging elements of the container of the invention will thus be inside the door seals of the locked container, so that the risk of unauthorised persons interfering with the engaging elements is substantially eliminated.

The operating means may comprise an arm pivotally connected to the locking bar for rotating the said bar.

Advantageously, the container comprises a pair of doors, an edge of each of the said doors being hingedly attached to a respective opposing edge of an open end of the container, each door having an exterior structural wall which defines a part of the exterior of the container when the door is shut and which lies along a side of the container when the door is fully open, a locking device fixed to the door and operating means, accessible from the outside when the door is shut, for operating the locking device, and each door including a plurality of strengthening ribs, each locking device being accommodated substantially within the overall thickness of, and being located inside of the exterior structural wall of, the respective door. The doors may be arranged so that they can be locked and unlocked independently of each other.

The strengthening ribs are advantageously in the form of vertical ribs and may be located inside the exterior structural wall of the door. Preferably, at least the region of the door adjacent to the hinged edge is strengthened.

The axis of pivoting of the door is preferably substantially in the plane of the door. Preferably, the door is attached to a side wall of the container by hinge means comprising a rod extending along the edge of the side wall and a hinge, the hinge comprising a sleeve portion rotatably mounted about the said rod and a plate portion extending outwardly from the sleeve portion, the plate portion being fixed to the door. Thus, the doors, when shut, are located so that they are immediately adjacent to the ends of each of the side, top and bottom walls of the container; that is, the doors are not in a position slightly set back from the end of the container as they are in the previously known freight containers described above.Consequently, although the locking device and, preferably, the strengthening ribs are located inside the exterior structural wall of the doors, the container according to the invention nevertheless is able to provide more space in the container than in the prior art construction. For example, in a standard container of length 40 ft (12.192 m) an increase in internal length of up to 100 mm may be obtained.

One type of container according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows an end view of the container showing the doors in the shut position; Figure 2 shows a view of the interior of the right hand door of the container in Fig. 1.

With reference to Fig. 1, a container body has side walls 2, 3, an upper wall 4 and a lower wall 5. The container shown in Fig. 1 is a container of the type in which the overall width of the container at the centre is slightly greater than the overall width in the vicinity of the ends of the container (see for example European Patent Application No. 0206542), but the present invention may be used with any type of freight container.

One of the ends of the container body is closed by an end wall (not shown). At the other, open end of the container, a pair of doors 6, 7 having exterior structural walls 6a, 7a respectively, are hingedly attached to the side walls 2, 3 of the container body. The container body is provided with suitable corner fittings 8 by which the container can be lifted and/or secured to a trailer or other transport means.

The interior of the right hand door 6 is shown in Fig. 2. The door has a number of strengthening ribs 9, provided on the interior surface of the exterior structural wall 6a, which extend vertically from the top edge 10 of the door to the bottom edge 11. In particular, a strengthening rib 12 is provided in the region adjacent to the hinge edge 13 of the door.

The door is provided with locking bars 14 on the interior surface of the exterior structural wall 6a, the locking bars extending vertically between the top and bottom edges of the door. The locking bars are accommodated within the overall thickness of the door, including the strengthening ribs, and thus do not add significantly to the overall thickness of the door. The locking bars 14 are mounted on the door in mounting sleeves 15 so that they are each rotatable about their longitudinal axis. Engaging elements 16 are provided at the top and the bottom of each bar. Cooperating elements (not shown) are provided on the container body, the elements being so arranged that when the door is closed each of the locking bars 14 can be releasably engaged in a locked position by rotating the bar 14 such that the upper and lower engaging elements 16 each engage a cooperating element on the container body.

It will of course be appreciated that the interior construction of the left hand door 7 of the container of Fig. 1 which is not shown in Fig. 2 will normally be the mirror image of the right hand door.

Operating means accessible from the outside of the door are provided for rotating each of the locking bars 14. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the operating means comprises an arm 17 for rotating the respective locking bar, the arm being pivotally attached to the locking bar 14 at a pivot block 18; any other suitable means may however be provided for rotating the locking bars. The operating means is provided in a recessed area 19 of the door. The arrangement of the locking bars 14 and the operating means is such that, when the doors 6, 7 are locked, the arm sits in the recessed area 19. Thus, the risk of damage to the operating means in transit of the container is minimised. A keeper 20 is provided for holding the arm 17 in the locking position.

The doors 6, 7 are each attached to the container body by a hinge arrangement comprising- a respective rod 21 of circular cross section, extending vertically along the edge of the respective side walls 2, 3 at the open end of the container, and a number of hinges 22. Each hinge 22 has a plate portion 23 which is fixed by, for example, welding to one of the doors in the strengthened region 12 adjacent to the hinge edge 13 of the door, and a sleeve portion 24 which is rotatable about the respective rod 21 so that the door may be rotated about the rod. The region adjacent to the hinge edge 13 of each door is shaped to allow the door to open fully.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the upper and lower edge 10, 11 of the doors are slightly inclined towards each other in the region of the hinge edge 13 of the door. This enables the door to be opened without interference from the corner fittings 8.

In use, the container doors may be opened by removing each arm 17 from its respective keeper 20 and rotating each of the bars 14 by means of the arm 17 so that the engaging elements 16 of each bar are released from the respective locking elements on the container.

The doors 6, 7 may then be swung open such that the exterior structural walls 6a, 7a of the respective doors lie against the outside of the side walls 2, 3. After loading the container, the doors may be swung shut and the locking bars 14 rotated into the locked position using the arms 17. The arms are then secured in position by the keepers 20, so that the arms are retained within the recessed area 19.

As will be appreciated from the above description, the major part of the locking mechanism is located inside the container when the doors are shut, thus reducing the risk of damage to the system. Further, as a result of the construction of the hinge arrangement described above, the doors, in the shut position, are located substantially at the open edge of the container body. This is in contrast to conventional containers in which the hinge construction is such that the doors, when shut, are set back slightly into the open end of the container body. By locating the locking system within the overall thickness of the doors it is possible to obtain a container having an increased internal length and thus of increased capacity, without increasing the external length of the container. The internal length may also be increased by using the hinge arrangement described above.

Claims

Claims:

1. A freight container of substantially cuboidal shape comprising a hinged door having an exterior structural wall which defines a part of the exterior of the container when the door is shut and which lies along a side of the container when the door is fully open, a locking device fixed to the door and operating means, accessible from the outside when the door is shut, for operating the locking device, the door including a plurality of strengthening ribs and the locking device being accommodated substantially within the overall thickness of the door, the locking device being located inside of the exterior structural wall of the door.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein an inwardly recessed area is provided in the exterior structural wall of the door, the operating means being located in the inwardly recessed area.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the locking device comprises one or more rotatable locking bars extending vertically along the door.

4. A container as claimed in claim 3, wherein each locking bar comprises an engaging element at each of the upper and lower extremities of the bar, cooperating elements being provided on the container in the vicinity of the door such that on rotation of the locking bar when the door is shut each engaging element engages with a respective cooperating element to lock the door.

5. A container as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the operating means comprises an. arm pivotally connected to the locking bar for rotating the said bar.

6. A container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the container has a pair of doors, an edge of each of the said doors being hingedly attached to a respective opposing edge of an open end of the container, each door having an exterior structural wall which defines a part of the exterior of the container when the door is shut and which lies along a side of the container when the door is fully open, a locking device fixed to the door and operating means, accessible from the outside when the door is shut, for operating the locking device, and each door including a plurality of strengthening ribs, each locking device being accommodated substantially within the overall thickness of, and being located inside the exterior structural wall of, the respective door.

7. A container as claimed in claim 6, wherein the doors can be locked and unlocked independently of each other.

8. A container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the axis of pivoting of the door is substantially in the plane of the door.

9. A container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the door is attached to a side wall of the container by hinge means comprising a rod extending along the edge of the side wall and a hinge, the hinge comprising a sleeve portion rotatably mounted about the said rod and a plate portion extending outwardly from the sleeve portion, the plate portion being fixed to the door.

10. A container substantially as described herein with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

11. A container door substantially as described herein with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.