GB2339764A

GB2339764A - Containers

Info

Publication number: GB2339764A
Application number: GB9815527A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Trevor Houlden; Derrick Sharpe
Original assignee: LEGEND DEVELOPMENTS Ltd
Current assignee: LEGEND DEVELOPMENTS Ltd
Priority date: 1998-07-17
Filing date: 1998-07-17
Publication date: 2000-02-09
Also published as: GB9815527D0

Description

CONTAINERS 2339764

This invention relates -to the field of load-carrying containers, suitable for transportation by a truck, ship 5 or other means of transport.

Containers are well known in the art which are able to be loaded with cargo, and then lif ted on to a truck body or into a ship's hold for transportation.

Such containers are generally cuboid in shape for ease of stacking and are, preferably, of standardised dimensions so that a standard-sized truck body, for example, can be employed to carry containers from different manufacturers or even different countries.

Truck bodies are usually designed to carry only one standard-sized container at a time. Where a number of containers are to be placed adjacent to one another, for example in a ship's hold or in a storage facility, spaced upstanding spigots are used as guides to locate adjacent containers.

Some types of vehicle, for example, the rail wagon 1 shown in f igure 1, are of such a shape that a region of "dead-space" is formed by the generally cuboid containers 2. Support spigots 3 are required for stability but this arrangement is wasteful of space which could otherwise be used to carry cargo.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a container which alleviates the above-described problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container for carrying cargo, the container having a first section of a first height 2 adjacent a second section of reduced vertical dimension, the discontinuity in vertical dimension between the two sections being located at the bottom of the container with the container in its normally intended attitude of use.

Preferably, the container is provided with one or more retractable support means which are moveable between a retracted position wherein they are retained substantially within the second section of the container and an extended position wherein the combined vertical dimension of the support means plus the second section is substantially equal to the height of the first section of the container.

is Preferably, the or each support means is a leg, pivotable about a fixed pivot on said second section of the container so that the leg is pivotable between the retracted and the extended positions.

Advantageously, the or each support means is further provided with locking means so that the support means can be locked in either the retracted or the extended position. Ideally, the locking means comprises a removable pin which, in use, is inserted into an aperture provided on the or each support means, the pin substantially preventing further movement of theor each support means.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a rail wagon supporting two conventional containers (PRIOR ART);

3 Figure 2 is a side view of a container embodying the present invention; Figure 3 is an end view of a container embodying the 5 present invention; Figure 4 is a view on section A-A of figure 3; Figure 5 is a view on section B-B of figure 3; Figure 6 is a view on section D-D of figure 3; Figure 7 is a view on section E-E of figure 3; Figure 8 is a schematic side view of detail of the support means; Figure 9 is a side view of a rail wagon supporting two containers embodying the present invention; and Figure 10 is a schematic side view of several stacked containers embodying the present invention.

Referring to Figure 2, the container 10 comprises a body 25 having two sections; a first section 11 which is of a first height (preferably, but not necessarily, the conventional height for such containers) and a second section 12 of reduced vertical dimension. This gives the whole container 10 a generally stepped shape.

In order to ensure the container 10 will f it saf ely on standard-sized vehicle bodies or in the marked spaces in a ship's hold, for example, the overall envelope of the container must have substantially flat base.

To this end, a leg 13 is provided at each of the two 4 corners of second section 12 which, when extended as shown in figure 2, provide a flat base to enable the container 10 to stand stably at the correct height, as the overall envelope of the container will then have a generally cuboid shape.

It is envisaged that each leg 13 could be heightadjustable so as to permit minor adjustments to ensure the stepped container stands stably on an uneven surface, for example.

The legs 13 are shown in more detail on Figures 3 and 8. Each leg 13, when in the extended position (see Figure 3) sits flush with the lowermost surface 14 of the container 10. An arm 15, pivotable about a pivot pin 16 attaches the leg 13 to the container 10 as shown in Figures 3 and 8. The leg is therefore pivotable between an extended position (13a) and a retracted position (13b).

The arm 15 is provided with a aperture 17 into which a locking pin 18 can be removably fitted. This enables the leg to be locked in either the extended or the retracted position, thus improving the stability of the container.

Referring to Figure 9, it can be seen how two containers 10 according to the present invention may be transported on a rail wagon 1 so as to eliminate the "dead-space" which is present with conventional containers (c.f. Figure 1). In order to transport the containers 10 in this way, the legs 13 of each container need to be pivoted into the retracted position.

The versatility of the container according to the present invention is further shown in Figure 10 which shows a plurality of containers 10 stacked on top of one another, such as would occur in a storage facility for example.

In order for the containers to stack in a stable manner, the legs 13 are locked in the extended position so that the overall envelope of each container 10 is of a generally cuboid shape.

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Claims

1.A container for carrying cargo, the container having a first section of a first height adjacent a second section of reduced vertical dimension, the discontinuity in vertical dimension between the two sections being located at the bottom of the container with the container in its normally intended attitude of use.

2.A container according to claim 1 wherein the container is provided with one or more retractable support means which are moveable between a retracted position wherein they are retained substantially within the section of the container and an extended position wherein the combined vertical dimension of the support means plus the second section is substantially equal to the height of the first section of the container.

3.A container according to claim 2 wherein the or each support means is a leg, pivotable about a fixed pivot on said second section of the container so that the leg is pivotable between the retracted and the extended positions.

4.A container as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the or each support means is further provided with locking means so that the support means can be locked in either the retracted or the extended position.

5.A container as claimed in claim 4 wherein the locking means comprises a removable pin which, in use, is inserted into an aperture provided on the or each support means, the pin substantially preventing further movement of the or each support means.

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6.A container substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrates by any appropriate combination of Figure 2-10.