GB2323590A

GB2323590A - Transport container bodies

Info

Publication number: GB2323590A
Application number: GB9706441A
Authority: GB
Inventors: George Hugh Edmond
Original assignee: FRUEHAUF CRANE Ltd
Current assignee: FRUEHAUF CRANE Ltd
Priority date: 1997-03-27
Filing date: 1997-03-27
Publication date: 1998-09-30
Anticipated expiration: 2017-03-27
Also published as: GB9706441D0; GB2323590B

Abstract

A transport container body apparatus for connecting a vertical "side" or "goal" post (3) to a load bearing cross member (4) comprises a bracket (2) adapted to be fitted to the transport container cross member (4). The bracket (2) and post (3) are collectively so sized and shaped as to interconnect, when assembled, in a manner which is thereafter normally non-dismantleable means for preventing the post (3) from coming away from the bracket (2) when the transport container body is in use may comprise a locking pin (7) rather than a welded or bolted connection.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSPORT CONTAINER BODIES Field of the Invention The present invention relates to improvements in transport container bodies, in particular but not exclusively to so-called curtain-sider transport container bodies, in particular to an approved apparatus lor the attachment of vertical "side" or "goal" posts to in particular but not exclusively the chassis rear road bearing cross member of the transport container body.

Background Art Known to the Applicant There is a type of transport container body that is used for road and rail haulage called a "curtain-sider" by those who operate such containers. The name stems from the fact that at least one "wall" of the container body comprises a tarpaulin type material, at least one end of which can be drawn like a curtain along a continuous track that substantially runs the length of the roof beam of the container. Such transport container bodies have acquired an increase in popularity by the users of such transport container. especially those in the road haulage business. This has mainly been because access to the contents of the container is available from not only the rear section of the container where the doors are located but also the or each side wall of the container as a result of the tarpaulin curtain. Furthermore. transport container bodies that use a tarpaulin curtain in this way, reduce the overall mass of the transport container body without reducing the integrity of the container, thus enabling greater payloads to be carried for a given gross weight of transport container body.

Obviously, as a result of such weight savings, the fuel economy of such road haulage vehicles is vastly increased and attempts to further reduce the overall gross weight of the transport container body without reducing the integrity of the container are the main areas of research and development for the manufacturers of such transport container bodies. UK patent application number 95 21585.1 illustrates one means of reducing the weight of the transport container body without loss of structural integrity and epitomises the type of novel research and development that is currently being undertaken by major players in this field.

One can think of a transport container body of the curtain-sider type comprising a wooden deck and a horizontal oblong roofing structure comprising a plurality of beams or "headers" welded or otherwise fastened together this oblong being supported by four vertical "side" or "goal" posts that are themselves, welded or otherwise secured to the chassis cross bearers of the transport container body chassis also supporting the wooden deck of the container body.

The rear of the transport container body can be considered to be a vertical oblong comprising a rear "header" or horizontal roof beam, each respective end of which being supported by two "goal" posts that are themselves secured to a so-called load bearing chassis cross bearer. The "goal" posts support the "header" which in turn supports the roof. Between the "goal" posts there is a clear aperture to gain access to the interior of the vehicle, this is generally closed off by some form of weather seal. which normally takes the appearance of sealed plywood doors.

When the doors are fitted, the rear "goal" posts act as the support for the door hinges as well as protection from the general operating conditions of the transport container body, for example, the stresses and strains experienced during acceleration, cornering, de-accelerating etc of the road haulage vehicle that forms part of the transport container body. As such. "goal" posts (especially those fitted to the rear of the vehicle which experience additional stresses and strain due to the constant opening and closing of the doors) are the main load bearing areas of curtain-sider and other transport container bodies.

This being the case, the connections to the rear header and the rear chassis cross member suffer the highest cyclic loading of the overall structure and, if not carefully designed out, the connections will suffer an unacceptably low working life due to fatigue failure.

In order to maximise the working life of these connections, current thinking in this area dictates that "goal" posts are to be of steel construction and they are to be fitted or otherwise secured to the load bearing chassis cross bearers through conventional welding or bolting techniques. Although this does not strictly speaking "design-out" the stresses and strains due to the constant opening and closing of the doors and the cyclic loading of the overall structure, the use of steel "goal" posts fitted or secured in this manner positively work because of the sheer robust nature of the steel construction and these methods of fastening the posts to the load bearing chassis cross bearers.

An obvious alternative to steel (all be it a slightly more expensive alternative) would be to use aluminium in a similar manner. This would effect a weight reduction of the overall transport container body allowing more loads to be carried for the same gross weight of the transport container body without reducing the integrity of the container at all.

The conventional methods employed to secure "goal" posts to load bearing chassis cross bearers are as follows: 1) the welding of a bracket to the "goal" post to give a large bolt bearing area to clamp the post bearing bracket to a load bearing chassis cross bearer or 2) to simply bolt the "goal" post to a load bearing chassis cross bearer.

If option 1 were adopted for an aluminium "goal" post, the structure would have an extremely unacceptable low working life due to fatigue failure of the weld as it is common general knowledge that any aluminium-to-aluminium weld does not lead to a strong join (cf steel-to-steel).

Furthermore, if option 2 were adopted, a phenomenon known as "creeping" could occur wherein those areas of the post that form the connection to the chassis via the bolt connections would posses localised areas of extreme stress and overloading causing the bolts to either "creep" or induce cracks in the aluminium post which will start to propagate along the post and will again, substantially reduce the working life of the connection, through fatigue failure.

Once again, this problem is minimised if an all steel construction is used or if the bolts could be spread apart through the use of a bracket (see option 1).

Attempts have been made to combine the use of aluminium posts and steel in the past but this has tended to cause either the formation of galvanic couples which induce pitting or rusting of either the aluminium or steel respectively, and in any event, the combined use of aluminium and steel to overcome the problem associated with the use of aluminium on its own, tends to re-introduce the problem of adding weight to the overall transport container body. Metal corrosion as just described can be overcome by painting the components.

The present invention seeks to overcome the problems associated with an all aluminium construction and in so doing, will, by default, further reduce the overall weight of the transport container body without loss of structural integrity.

Summarv of the Invention According to the present invention, there is provided a transport container body apparatus for connecting a vertical "side" or "goal" post to a load bearing cross member comprising: a "goal" post and bracket, the bracket being adapted to be fitted to the transport container cross member and the apparatus being characterised in that the bracket and post are collectively so sized and shaped as to interconnect, when assembled for use as part of the transport container body, in a manner which is thereafter disengageably normally non dismantleable and in which the means primarily preventing the post coming away from the bracket when the transport container body is in use is neither a welded nor a bolted connection.

Preferably, the bracket and post are respectively adapted to receive a portion of a locking means and characterised in that when in use, substantially the entirety of the locking means is in contiguous relationship with the apparatus once the post and bracket are interconnected.

More preferably still, the locking means comprises a shear pin whose load bearing area when in use runs substantial along the entire longitudinal peripheral surface of the pin.

Preferably, the bracket and post are further provided with a hinge mechanism to allow the post to be partially disconnected from the bracket.

Preferably, the invention includes within its scope, apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

The invention also includes within its scope, a transport container body incorporating apparatus of the type specified above.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 illustrates a top view of one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a top view of the invention as illustrated in Figure 1 but showing the connecting parts disconnected.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments The embodiment described herein is non-limiting.

Figure 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention and shows a rear chassis cross member 4 together with the embodiment of the present invention secured to it, the combined drawing generally referenced 1.

The rear chassis cross member 4 has bolted to it an aluminium bracket 2, the bracket 2 having a rear aluminium post 3 interconnected with it via the hinge pin 5. As can clearly be seen by Figure 1, the arrangement of the bracket and post intermesh at the intermeshing joints 6 and one of the intermeshing points also serves as a site for a locking pin 7. The bracket and post at this locking pin site being so adapted to receive substantially an entire shear pin whose load bearing area when in use runs substantially along the entire longitudinal peripheral surface of the locking pin.

Figure 1 illustrates the apparatus in an interconnected state, the interconnection being through the use of the locking pin 7.

Figure 2 illustrates the degree of movement available to the rear aluminium post when the locking pin 7 is removed and the degree of movement is illustrated by the arrow indicated bv the letter "A" The hinge pin 5 ends in a locking restraint means to prevent the post section from moving further than the arrow "A" indicates in Figure 2.

Further embodiments of the present invention can be envisaged whereby the locking pin is not required and interconnection itself serves as a means of achieving a disengageably lockable state. For example, one could think of the bracket and post in a similar manner to a "dove-tail" joint in carpentry.

In further alternative embodiments, as well as the locking pin 7, additional bolts or welds could be used however the primary means of interconnecting the bracket to the post in a normally non-dismantleable arrangement for this embodiment of the present invention will still be through the use of the locking pin.

The tensioning pole for the curtain resides in the slot 8 as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

Claims

Claims

l. A transport container body apparatus for connecting a vertical "side" or "goal" post to a load bearing cross member comprising: a "goal" post and bracket, the bracket being adapted to be fitted to the transport container cross member and the apparatus being characterised in that the bracket and post are collectively so sized and shaped as to interconnect, when assembled for use as part of the transport container body, in a manner which is thereafter disengageably normally non dismantleable and in which the means primarily preventing the post coming away from the bracket when the transport container body is in use is neither a welded nor a bolted connection.
2. A transport container body apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that the bracket and post are respectively adapted to receive a portion of a locking means and characterised in that when in use, substantially the entirety of the locking means is in contiguous relationship with the apparatus once the post and bracket are interconnected.
3. A transport container body apparatus as claimed in either Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterised in that the locking means comprises a shear pin whose load bearing area when in use runs substantial along the entire longitudinal peripheral surface of the pin.
4. A transport container body apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, characterised in that the bracket and post are further provided with a hinge mechanism to allow the post to be partially disconnected from the bracket.
5. A transport container body apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in any appropriate selection or combination of the accompanying Figures.