GB2223742A

GB2223742A - Transport container

Info

Publication number: GB2223742A
Application number: GB8821165A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jeremy Instone; Giles Instone
Original assignee: INSTONE AIR LINE Ltd
Current assignee: INSTONE AIR LINE Ltd
Priority date: 1988-09-09
Filing date: 1988-09-09
Publication date: 1990-04-18
Also published as: GB8821165D0

Abstract

A transport container has a shelf 10 and supporting members 11 at the inner walls of the container for supporting the shelf 10. The shelf 10 can be placed in a first position near to the top of the container and goods such as garments on hangers suspended from the shelf. The shelf 10 can also be positioned centrally in the container, and goods which could be damaged or crushed if stacked too high, placed both on the shelf 10 and on the floor of the container. The shelf can be stored at the back of the container when not in use and held in a storing position by straps 12 on the rear wall 13 of the container. <IMAGE>

Description

A TRANSPORT CONTAINER The invention relates to a transport container.

When a consignment of goods is being transported by air, it is common to store the goods in a sealed container. The cost of carrying the container is normally calculated by the airline on the basis of both the size and the weight of the container. An empty container will still cost money to transport even though it will not be generating money by carrying goods, and it is therefore more cost effective to fill the container with goods on both the outward and the homeward journey. Even when a container is not being used it will cost the operator money because he will be faced with storage costs in storing the empty container in a warehouse, container depot, or the like. In order to run a profitable operation, an operator will therefore aim to use his containers to transport goods for as much of the time that is practicable.

For general purpose containers, the problem of keeping the container both full and in use can usually be solved by careful planning on the part of the operator. However, where specialised containers are involved, the logistics in ensuring that containers remain filled throughout their journeys can become so complex that any financial gain in filling the containers may be severely reduced by the cost of the time spent planning the journey of the container and the co-ordination of the exchange of goods at various destinations. For example, a refrigerated container for transporting perishable foodstuffs is not normally readily adaptable for transporting clothes, and so if an operator has a consignment of fresh meat to be delivered to say Japan and a consignment of overcoats to be brought back from Japan he will have to use two containers.This could work out to be expensive since the clothing container would travel over to Japan empty and the refrigerated container would travel back from Japan empty.

Containers are normally very large; a typical container can be as high as eight feet or even taller and this creates further problems when it comes to transporting perishables such as fresh or prepared meat because, unless whole or partial carcasses are transported suspended from the inside of the container, there is the possibility that meat at the bottom of the container will be damaged by the weight of meat bearing down from above if the container is overfilled.

The invention aims to provide a solution to the abovementioned and associated problems by providing a thermally insulated container comprising means for carrying garments on for example hangers and removable or hinged shelf means for carrying for example perishable goods.

In order that the invention may be better understood, an exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying illustrations, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the container with the doors closed; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the container with the doors open; Figure 3 is a view of the interior of the container with a shelf in position; and Figure 4 is an internal view of the container with the shelf strapped to the rear wall.

Referring now to Figure 1, the container generally indicated at 1 comprises insulated walls 2 of which one can be seen in the figure and a pair of doors 3 which run to the full height of the container.

The container is constructed by building a framework from aluminium frame members 2a and securing insulated panels 2b to the framework.

Each door 3 includes a pair of externally mounted locking bolts 4,5 which can be used to secure the doors in a closed position. The doors 3 are mounted to the side walls of the cabinet by hinges 6,7,8 which are arranged to allow the doors to be opened to the position shown in Figure 2 when a number of cabinets are lined up next to one another, or to a position in which the doors lie flat against the side walls of the container as shown in Figure 3.

Typically, the container is 125 inches long, 96 inches wide and 96 inches high. It will therefore be appreciated that the hinges 6,7,8, the bolts 4,5, etc.

must be dimensioned suitably and made from materials capable of supporting the mass of the doors 3.

In order to facilitate transportation of the container 1, the base may be adapted for example to receive the forks of a fork-lift truck.

Turning now to Figure 3, it will be seen that a shelf 10 is provided on supporting members 11. With the doors 3 in the position shown in Figure 3, the shelf 10 can be removed from the container 1 by sliding the shelf 10 out from the supporting members 11. Although the shelf 10 is shown as being formed from square section members, it will be appreciated that, where appropriate, the shelf 10 can be made instead from round section members or indeed any other form that is best suited to the intended use for the shelf. The shelf is provided in two sections which fold together so that the shelf can be stored at the back of the container as shown in Figure 4. The sections may be hinged together to form a single unit or may be provided as separate sections.

It will be noted from Figure 3 that a strap 12 is provided on the inside rear wall 13 of the container.

As can be seen from Figure 4, the strap 12 can be used in conjunction with the rear end portions of the supporting members 11 to secure the folded shelf to the upper portion of the rear wall 13.

When the shelf 10 is in position on the supporting members 11 the cabinet is divided into two compartments which may each be used to store goods.

This has the advantage that when the goods to be stored could be damaged or crushed if stacked too high, the safe storage capacity of the container is effectively increased by the provision of the shelf 10. Thus, fresh meat for example can be stored on both the floor of the container and on the shelf 10 to a greater capacity without damage to the meat at the bottom during storage.

Further support members (not shown) are provided close to the ceiling of the container for supporting the shelf 10 so that it can be used as a rack from which goods such as for example clothing or garments on hangers or meat carcasses may be hung.

Thus, the shelf 10 may be utilised to perform two functions; firstly as a shelf provided at a convenient height within the container to provide additional storage space for the goods; and secondly as a.rack provided at or near to the ceiling of the container from which rack garments on hangers or the like may be hung. In this way the container is adaptable to transport a wide variety of different goods and may be utilised on both the outward and homeward journeys.

The invention is intended to encompass each and every novel feature or concept herein disclosed whether considered alone or in combination with any other feature(s) and/or concept(s).

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A transport container comprising first supporting means mountable at a first position within said container for use in supporting at least some goods of a first type to be transported and second supporting means mountable at a second position within said container for use in supporting at least some goods of a second type to be transported, whereby the container can be readily adapted for transporting goods of differing types.

2. A transport container according to claim 1, wherein the first supporting means is adaptable for use as the second supporting means.

3. A transport container according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein at least one of the said supporting means is dimensioned to extend fully across the width of the interior of the container and is mountable on supporting members provided at side walls of the container.

4. A transport container according to claim 3, wherein said supporting means are provided at a first position on said side walls which first position is near to the top of the interior of said container and at a second position which is near to or at the centre of said side walls.

5. A transport container according to any preceding claim wherein at least one of the said supporting means comprises a shelf member.

6. A transport container according to claim 5 wherein said shelf member is formed from hollow section members arranged to define a lattice structure from which goods to be transported can be suspended.

7. A transport container according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the shelf member is formed from two shelf sections.

8. A transport container according to claim 7, wherein the two shelf sections are hingedly connected together thereby to facilitate storage of the shelf member when the shelf member is not in use.

9. A transport container according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising securing means for securing at least one of said supporting means in a storage position when the supporting means is not in use.

10. A transport container according to claim 9, wherein said securing means comprise strap members secured at a portion thereof to inner face of the rear wall of the container at a position to enable said at least all supporting means to be stored in a substantially vertical position.

11. A transport container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said first type of goods include goods adapted to be suspended from said first supporting means when said goods are contained within said container.

12. A transport container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said second type of goods include goods arranged or adapted to be stacked on said second supporting means or on the floor of said container when said goods are contained within said container.

13. A transport container having a shelf member and supporting means at the inner walls of the container for supporting said shelf member at either a first position near to the top of said container, whereat goods to be transported can be suspended from the shelf member or at a second position substantially central to the container whereat goods to be transported can be additionally or alternatively placed on the shelf member.

14. A transport container according to any preceding claim, the walls of which have been thermally insulated.

15. A transport container substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.