GB2214903A

GB2214903A - Collapsible container

Info

Publication number: GB2214903A
Application number: GB8803876A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Chii-Yah Yuan; Tsz-Gang Tswei; Chang-Franw Lee; Wu-Yaw Wei; Ching-Hwa Lin; Wen-Kuang Chen
Original assignee: CHEN WEN KUANG; Industrial Technology Research Institute ITRI
Current assignee: CHEN WEN KUANG; Industrial Technology Research Institute ITRI
Priority date: 1988-02-25
Filing date: 1988-02-19
Publication date: 1989-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2008-02-19
Also published as: DE3805981A1; GB8803876D0; DE3805981C2; GB2214903B

Description

k 1 2214903 Collapsible Container This invention relates to Collapsible

Container According to the ISO standards, a freight con tainer mainly comprises four top corner fittings, four corner posts, four bottom corner fittings, a floor, and a roof, and the auxiliary parts such zis side walls, end walls and doors. The top corner fittings are the major weight points upon being lifted with a crane at the con- tainer pier or at the container yard. The bottom corner fittings are used for support or fixing a container when the same is mounted on a container trailer, or placed on ground, or on the top of another container. Whenever several corner weight weight floor, through which the weight is then equally distributed to the four bottom corner fittings. The roof of a container is mainly used for supporting a container operator to work thereon.

As a result of the aforesaid weight-bearing features, a container must have a strong structure. The aforesaid conventional rigid type of container has met the requirements in terms of a strong structure; however, when an empty container is handled for storage or freight it will take a considerable space, which means a waste of freight space and cost. Recently, a detachable or containers are piled up one over another, the posts of the containers are used to bear the total of the containers and goods therein. The goods of an individual container is supported with the -2foldable container has become a design tendency in the container industry.

A known foldable container sub-stantially has no side walls and roof, but it has two end walls (or end frames) to be foldable to the floor. To form a enclosed type of container, it needs detachable side walls and top board. There is another type of container, of which the side walls are foldable, but its roof has to be removed before being folded up. The extreme of a detachable con- tainer is to have the walls, the door, the roof and the floor thereof be able to be assembled together respectively, but the assembling and disassembling operation of such a container always needs a special lifting or assembling equipment that causes additional costs and monual operation inconveniences.

This invention relates to a foldable container structure, and particularly to an integrally foldable container (not a detachable type).

The primary object of the present invention is to satisfy the aforesaid requirements, i.e., a completely foldable container without detaching any part thereof. A further object of the present invention is to provide a foldable container which can be folded up or unfolded by simply using the lifting equipment available in the container yard. Another object of the present invention is to provide the related parts for folding up the container and operating the end walls thereof.

The foldable container according to the present k i t invention comprises a roof, two foldable side walls, a floor, and two end walls (doors). By means of a pivotal or sliding parts, the end wall and the container body are linked together. The side wall includes three sections, of which the upper section is fixedly attached to the roof of the container. The mid-section, the lower section and the floor are hinged together one after another so as to have the mid-section and the lower section folded on the floor. When the container being folded, the roof falls on the mid-section and the lower section which are folded. There is a space under the roof and between the two upper sections of the side walls for tucking away the end walls at both ends. In the embodiments of the present invention pivotally lower end the roof, manner so space.

the upper end of the end wall is connected with the container so as to have the of the end wall folded into the space under or is connected with the container in a sliding as to have the end wall slid into the aforesaid The end wall may further be furnished with a springing device to reduce the operation weight thereof.

The hinged portions of the side walls are provided with fastening means to insure the strong structure after the container being unfolded and assembled in regular form.

When folding or unfolding the container according to the present invention, the roof of the container is to be lifted or lowered only; therefore, the four corner fittings of the container can be operated with a conventional container crane or the like, and it is deemed 1 1 -4a novel feature of this invention.

An embodiment of this invention is described by way of examples, with reference to the drawings in 5 which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a container according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows the container according to the present invention being folded.

Figs. 3A to 3C are sectional views, showing the hinge assembly in the side wall of the container; Fig. 3A illustrates the hinge assembly being fastened in place; Fig. 3B illustrates its two parts being turned at an angle of 90; Fig. 3C illustrates the two parts being turned at an angle of 18C.

Figs. 4A to 4C show the f irst embodiment of the operation and structure of the end wall of the container; Fig. 4A shows the end wall of container being recovered inside the container; Fig. 4B shows the end wall of container being pulled out of the container; Fig. 4C shows the end wall of container being put in a position to close the container.

Figs. 5A and 5B show the second embodiment of the operation and structure of the end wall of the container; Fig. 5A shows the end wall being recovered inside the container; Fig. 5B shows the end wall being put in a position to close the container.

Figs. 6A to 6C show the third embodiment of the 4 1 is the operation and structure of the end wall of the container; the embodiment includes a first springing device; Fig. 6A shows the end wall being recovered inside the container; Fig. 6B shows the end wall being pulled out of the container and being supported in place with a springing device; Fig. 6C shows the end wall beng put in a position to close the container.

Figs. 7A to 7C show the fourth embodiment of the operation and structure of the end wall of the con- tainer; the end wall is mounted with a second springing device; Fig. 7A shows the end wall being pulled out; Fig. 7B is a sectional view along line B-B of Fig. 7A;Fig.

7C shows the end wall being put in the closed position.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a container according to the present invention, which comprises a roof 1, two side walls 2, a floor 3 and two end walls 4. Each of the side walls 2 includes three sectons, i.e., an upper section 21, a mid-section 22, and a lower section 23. The upper section 21 and the roof 1 are fixedly connected together. The three sections 21, 22 and 23 and the f loor 3 are connected one another by means of a special hinge assembly K (to be described later), which can have the aforesaid parts turned or fastened in place.

Both ends of each of the sections 21, 22 and 23 are furnish ed with corner posts 210, 220 and 230, being fixed together with the sections respectively. The end wall 4 is connect ed with the container body by means of a suitable method (to be described later); the lower end of that end wall can be lifted or fixed in a position so as to load or unload goods of the container; the end wall can also be pushed upwards or into the under-roof space of the container body upon the container being folded up. The end wall has a conventional fastener 41 for fastening the end wall in the container body.

Fig. 2 shows the container according to the present invention being folded. The two end walls 4 have been tucked into the under-roof space. The six hinge assemblies K of the two side walls have been unfastened into a pivotal state. The four corner fittings 10 on L'he top of the container are hooked with a container lifting machine (not shown) so as to let the top portion 1 fall downwards with its own weight at a suitable falling speed, and the mid- section 22 and the lower section 23 will be folded into the container body until the corresponding end surfaces 211 and 231 of the corner posts being contacted each other. In that case, the roof i, the end walls 4, the mid-section 22 and the lower section 23 of the side walls, and the floor 3 is closely folded together. On the contact parts of the four corner posts, there are furnished with fastening parts 212 and 232 respectively so as to hold the container folded up fixedly as one piece to facilitate freight. The aforesaid fastening parts may be any suitable convention fasteners.

The sectional view of the structure and the functions of the hinge assemblies K on the side wall are shown in Figs. 3A, 3B and 3C. Fig. 3A shows a first pivot to connect a first member 91 and a second member 92 together in a pivotal manner. The f irst member 91 is mounted with a hook fastener 93 by means of a second pivot 910, and the hook fastener 93 is to be mated with a hook groove 921 on the second member 92. The mating surface 923 is included in a first plane P, passing through the center of the pivot 90, and a second plane P 2 which is perpendicular to the mating surface 923 will pass through the center of the second pivot 910. After the first member 91 and the second member 92 being fastened together by means of the hook fastener 93, a lock function is provided thereby. Any external force applied to the first and the second members 91 and 92 will be unable to cause the hook fastener 93 to turn except a force that moves the hook fastener 93 out of the hook groove. A resilient member 94 is mounted between the first member 91 and the hook fastener 93. The resilient direction P 3 (as shown in Figs. 3A and 3B) is positioned by one side of the second pivot 910 upon the hook fastener 93 being put in the fastened or the unfastened position; in either case, the hook fastener 93 will have a positioning force for fastening or un-fastening. Between the first member 91 and the second member 92, there is a sealing member 95 for tightly closing the gap after the two members 91 and 92 being fastened together.

As the mechanical means for fastening the hook fastener 93 to prevent it from un-intentional un-fastening, f 1 is of ordinary skill, it is not shown in the Figures. Fig. 3B illustrates the two members 91 and 92 being turned around the pivot at an angle of 90 after the hook fastener 93 being un-fastened. As shown in Fig. 2, the 90" of pivotally turning takes place between the upper section 21 and the mid- section 22 of the side wall, and also between the lower section 23 and the floor 3. Fig. 3C illustrates the two members 91 and 92 being turned around the pivot at an angle of 180', which takes place between the mid-section 22 and the lower section 23 of the side wall.

The operation and structure of the end wall 4 are described in the four embodiments illustrated in Figs.

4A to 4C, 5A to 5B, 6A to 6C, and 7A to 7C.

In Figs. 4A to 4C, the end wall 4 is tucked under the f loor (Fig. 4A) of the container by means of rails 42 inside the upper sections 21 of the side walls. The end wall 4 can be pulled out of the rail 42 by pulling the supporting rod 43 so as to pull the end wall downwards to closed the container (as shown in Fig. 4C). The end wall 4 may also be supported with the supporting rod 43 mounted on the container tody (such as the corner post) as shown in Fig. 4B. Fig. 4C illustrates the end wall pivots 44 being slidely mounted in guide rooves 421 connected with the end of the rails 42, but being bent slightly upwards than the level of the rails 42 so as to have the end wall 4 hinged therein. When the end wall is put in the closed position, the oblique outer surface 2 5. k, 31 of the f loor 3 causes the end wall 4 to move upwards, the end wall pivots 44 then enters into the top of the guide grooves 421, therefore, prevents the upper end of the end wall 4 from moving into the container. The end wall 4 may be locked in place with a conventional lock means which is not shown.

Figs. 5A and 5B illustrate a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the pivot 44 on the upper end of the end wall 4 is mounted on the top portion of the container, while the lower end of the end wall is turned inside the container, being held in position with a hook 14 (as shown in Fig. 5B). Af ter the hook being unfastened, the end wall will turn and fall to the closed position 4X (as shown in Fig. 5B). The end wall may also be mounted with a supporting rod 43 as in the first embodiment and is shown in Fig. 4B so as to support the end wall outside the container at the position 4Y for loading or un-loading goods.

In order to reduce the manual operation load of the heavy end wall, the end wall may further be furnished with a springing device to facilitate the operation. The embodiment will be described in the following paragraph Figs. 6A to 6C illustrate the operation and structure of the third embodiment according to the present invention, which is furnished with a springing device to facilitate the operation. The operation method of the end wall 4 is similar to the first embodiment (as shown in Figs. 4A to 4C), i.e., the container includes rails 42, guide grooves 421 and pivots 44, which can facilitate the end wall 4 to be pulled out and turned. The end wall 4 is further furnished with spring members 45 (such as pneumatic resilient devices); their front ends 451 are pivotally connected with the end wall 4, while the rear ends 452 are mounted in elbow-shaped sliding grooves 24 provided on the side walls 2. When the end wall 4 is tucked into the container body, the spring members 45 are in the released state (as shown in f ig. 6A). When the end wall 4 is pulled out, the rear ends 452 of the spring members 45 will slide outwards along the sliding grooves 24 until sliding to the bottom ends 241 of the grooves 24; in that case, the end wall 4 is fully pulled out and is supported with the spring members 45, which are then compressed to generate the counter force as shown in Fig. 6B. When the end wall 4 is pulled downwards to close the container, the spring members 45 will be com pressed further as shown in Fig. 6C. Where the end wall 4 is put in the correct closed position, the counter force F generated by the spring members 45 is to directed along a line from the rear ends 452 to the front ends 45, i.e., being biased to the inner side of the end wall pivots 44 to provide a force to cause the lower end of the end wall 4 to move inwards and upwards so as to facilitate the end wall to be fixed in place.

Figs. 7A to 7C illustrate the operation and structure of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention, which has a second springing device to t 1 X, facilitate the operation of the end wall. Fig. 7A illustrates a vertical sectional view of the second spring ing device, while Fig. 7B illustrates a horizontal section al view of the springing device taken along the line B B of Fig. 7A; it can be seen in the aforesaid Figs. that the inner end (the upper end) of the end wall 4 is connect ed with the springing device 46 by means. of pivots 461.

The springing device 46 comprises a seat member 462 and a sliding block 464 movable thereon and biased by a spring assembly 463 (such as disk springs or spiral springs as shown in the Fig.). Each side of the seat member 462 is mounted with rolling wheels 465 and 466, which are slidably attached in the guide channels 214 on the upper sections 21 of the side walls. Therefore, the end wall 4 and the spring device 46 can slide along the guide channels 214 and rolling wheel assemblies 215. The inner end of the end wall 4 is furnished with a roller 467 pressing against the sliding block 464. The aforesaid pivots 461 and roller 467 are furnished on the two corners of the inner end of the ned wall respectively. When the end wall 4 and the springing device 46 are in the corespond ing positions as shown in Fig. 7A, the spring assembly 463 is under the condition of having less compression.

Fig. 7C illutrates the end wall 4 being turned with the pivots 461 to move downwards. The position change of the roller 467 will, via the sliding block 464, cause the spring assembly 463 to be compressed further and to store more counter force, which will provide a force upon the end wall 4 being lif ted. Since the front end of the guide channels 214 as shown in f ig. 7A are bent upwards, they are helpful to cause the end wall 4 to be caught in position uppn the end wall being placed on the oblique outer end of the floor 3 because that the rolling wheels 465 will be forced to enter into the bent portions of the guide channels 214 (as shown in Fig. 4C).

The aforesaid two springing devices 45 and 46 are used for describing the sliding type of end wall; however, an assembly of the conventional prior art may also be used in the pivotal type of end wall described in the second embodiment as shown in Figs. 5A and 5B, and therefore there will be no details given herein.

Briefly, the container according to the present invention can be folded up completely; the folding or unfolding operation may be done by using a conventional container crane to hold the corner fitting. The folding portions of the side walls have newly developed fastening devices; the end walls of the container are connected with and tucked into the top portion of the container by means of pivotal means or slidably connecting means. The end walls may also be provided with springing devices to facilitate the operation of the end walls. It is deemed that the present invention has a practical value in the industry.

i k

Claims

CLAIM

1. A foldable container comprising: a floor having two sides and two ends, and-four corner fittings; two side walls, of which each having three section being hinged one another, i.e., the upper section, the midsection, and the lower section; said lower section being hinged with said floor; and each of the hinged portions can be turned and fixedly fastened; a roof having two sides, two ends and four corner fittings cooresponding to those of said floor, said two sides depending down to fixedly connect with said upper sections of said two side walls respectively defined the top portion of the container; two end walls each of which having four sides, i.e., a top bottom, left and right sides for closing the two ends of the container body that is made wiith said floor, said side walls, and said roof; and connecting devices to have said end walls connected with said container body so as to let said end walls move freely to close said container and to tuck away into the upper portion of said container body; and when the hinge portions of said side walls being put in movable state and said two end walls being in tucked away position, said container can be picked up by means of a conventiofial container crane by hooking said four corner fittings so as to fold said mid-section and said lower t -14section into said container, and finally said roof, said end walls, said side walls, and said floor beiing folded closely together.

2. A foldable container as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the hinged portions on said side walls includes:

a f irst member and a second member being hinged together by a f irst pviot, which is located at one side of said two members so as to let said two members turn each other freely; a third member having one pivotal end being pivotally attached to said first member by means of a second pivot opposite said first Pivot, and having a hook- shaped end for mating or separating from a hook groove on said second member upon being turned; therefore, said first and said second members can be fixedly fastened together by said third member; the mating surface between said hook-shaped end and said hook groove is included in a first plane passing through said first pivot, and a second plane which is perpendicular to said first plane will pass through said second pivot; and a spring membe being mounted between said first member and said third member for providing said third member with a biasing force either to the mating or disengaging position.

3. A foldable container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting device between said end wall and z -is- said container body includes: pivot means being furnished at the upper left and right sides of said end wall, and the outer end of said upper portion of said container body so as to let said end wall be able to be turned to the closed position or lifted up at a horizontal position outside said container; and guiding means being furnished on the upper portion of said container body for guiding said end wall from said outside horizontal position, to slide inside said container body for tucking away.

4. A foldable container structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein the connecting device further includes springing means to provide a resilient force to support the weight of said end wall so as to assist said end wall to be turned to said horizontal position; said springing means include:

sliiding grooves being furnished on each of said side walls, each groove extending vertically up from a starting point then turning to be horizontal till an end point, and spring members each having an upper end and a lower end that can generate a resilient force upon being compressed; said lower end being slidably mounted in said sliding groove, while said upper end being pivotally connected with said end wall at a suitable position; and when said end wall being turned towards said outside horizontal position, said lower end being positioned at said starting point, while said upper end supporting said end wall; and when said end wall being tucked inside said container, said spring member being in a released condition, and said lower end thereof sliding to said end point.

5. A foldable container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting device includes:

pivot means mounted to the top side of said end wall and the outer end of the upper portion of said con tainer body, whereby said end wall can be pivotally turned to a horizontal position or to the closed position; and fastening means being mounted to said end wall and said container body so as to have said end wall f ixed at said horizontal position.

6. A foldable container as claimed in claim 3 or 5, wherein the connecting device further includes spring means being pivotally connected with the top side of said end wall and with the upper portion of said container body so as to facilitate said end wall to pivotally move between the tucking-away position and the closed position; said springing means having springs to generate a counter force upon being compressed so as to oppose the weight of said end wall, and to provide a lifting force for assisting said end wall to be turned upwards.

Published 1989 at The Patent Office, State House, 6671 High Holborn, Lo. ndon WC1R 4TP. Further copies may be obtaine d from The Patent Office.

Sales Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BR5 3RD. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd, St Mary Cray Kent, CorL 1/87 Q