GB2377924A

GB2377924A - Cargo container

Info

Publication number: GB2377924A
Application number: GB0216731A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Bo-Liang Mai; Shi-Sheng Wang; Si-Dong He; Qiao-Feng Chen; Gu Yao; Jia-Ping Cai
Original assignee: China International Marine Containers Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: China International Marine Containers Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2001-07-25
Filing date: 2002-07-18
Publication date: 2003-01-29
Anticipated expiration: 2022-07-18
Also published as: US20030146212A1; DE10233431B4; DE10233431A1; GB2377924B; GB0216731D0

Abstract

A cargo container comprises a pair of side panels, a door, a roof, a floor and a base frame, the base frame including two longitudinal side rails (611), a number of parallel cross members (612) and at least one longitudinal member (613) in parallel with the side rails (611) and connected with at least two of the cross members (612). The floor is made from corrugated steel and the side panels have a corrugated structure with a wave height of 36 - 54 mm. The longitudinal members (613) preferably pass though slots in and are welded to the cross members (612) and may extend for the whole or part of the length of the base frame. The corrugations of the floor may be filled with a non metallic filler such as wood, foam or plastics and a wooden, composite wooden or steel pate may pave the floor.

Description

A CONTAINER

- The present invention relates to a container, and more particularly, to improvements in the structure of a container.

Containers were first used in cargo transportation in IJ.S.A in 1956. After more than 40 years' development, containers have been used worldwide. In the course of the development of the container, designers and manufacturers are devoted to improvements on its structure, so as to improve the functions of the container, reduce the material consumed and the production cost.

As shown in Figures 1, 1A, 1B, 1C, a conventional cargo container consists of a pair of side panels 1, a door end 2, a front end 3, a roof 4, a floor and a base Moraine 6, where the base frame 6 and the floor 5 constitute the bearer for the cargoes in the container, which is also called the base assembly.

As shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5, the conventional container base frame mainly comprises two bottom side rails 601, numbers of bottom cross members 602, where the two ends of the bottom cross members 602 are welded to the bottom side rail 601 respectively, constituting a rigid integral frame structure. In the conventional container, plywood floor (28mm) is paved on the bottom cross members 602, and joined with the bottom cross members 602 by screws 603, the plywood floor 5 and the base frame 6 make up the bearer for the cargoes in the container.

To pass the ISO test for containers, the cross members need to be arranged in high density with quantities of beans, and the bottom cross members should be mad of thick steel plates to satisfy the strength requirement, therefore, large quantity of material is consumed. In addition, the floor is made of special hard wood. On one hand, there exist several shortcomings such as: a great diversity in quality, expensive price, high cost, and easily influenced by possible shortage of plywood floor supplies.

On the other hand, since it is thicker (gamin) in thickness, the plywood floor is heavier in weight, and the tare weight of the container is heavier accordingly.

The side panel of the container is usually made of corrugated plate. As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the cross section of the conventional side panels is a corrugated structure made up by a number of identical wave crests, slopes and wave troughs, where the slope projection length I on the wave crest plane is relatively 'onger and the wave height O is relatively shorter. The conventional corrugated structure of the side

panels is not advantageous for enhancing the bending resistant capability of the corrugated plate, therefore, thicker steel sheet and high strength material have to be adopted to pass ISO test. Use of high strength material drives up the material cost and use of thicker steel sheet not only increases material cost and tare weight, but also decreases the loading capacity and efficiency.

A main object of the present invention is to seek to overcome the shortcomings of conventional containers, and, by snaking improvements to its structure, to provide a container which is lighter in tare weight, less in material consumed and lower in production cost.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a container comprising, a pair of side panels, a door end, a front end, a roof, a floor and a base frame, said base frame further comprising two longitudinal bottom side rails and numbers of parallel bottom cross members, wherein said base frame further includes at least one longitudinal member, said longitudinal member being substantially in parallel with said bottom side rails, and connected with at least hvo of the bottom cross members.

Said base frame may include at least two longitudinal members, and the space between two longitudinal members may be no longer than 600 mm, preferably no longer than 180 rum.

Said longitudinal members may be shorter than said bottom side rails, and only distributed within a partial area of the entire base frame, i.e., said longitudinal members may only cross some of the bottom cross members.

Said base frame may further include supporting beams tilted installed at the corner of the cross made up by the longitudinal members and the bottom cross members. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a container comprising a pair of side panels, a door end, a front end, a roof, a floor and a base frame, said base frame further comprising two longitudinal bottom side rails and numbers of parallel bottom cross.rnembers, wherein said floor is nade Up of corrugated steel floor.

According.o a third aspect of he nvention there i s provided a container

comprising a pair of side panels, a door end, a front end, a roof, a floor and a base frame, the cross section of said side panels being a corrugated structure made up by a number of identical wave crests, slopes and wave troughs, wherein the wave height D between said wave crest and wave trough is 36<D 54mm.

The len;,th of said slope projection on said wave trough plane may be ODIN 25mm, the thickness of said side panel may be 0.8-1.2mrn.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1, Fig. 1A, Fig. 1B and Fig. 1C show respectively the front, left, right and top views of a conventional container; Fig. 2 is a partial top view of the base frame and plywood floor of the conventional container; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the A-A line of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the B-B line of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the connecting structure between the bottom cross members and the plywood floor of the base frame shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the side panels of the conventional container; Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along the A-A line of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a partial top view of the base fraTne and plane steel floor of a first preferred embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view taken along the A-A line of Fig. 8; Fig. 1 O is a partial enlarged stereogram or perspective view illustrating a kind of connecting structure between the bottom cross members and the longitudinal members of the base frame shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 11 is a partial enlarged stereogram or perspective view illustrating another kind of connecting structure between the bottom cross members and the longitudinal members of the base frame shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 12 is a cross sectional view talcen along the B-B line of Fig. 8; Fig. '3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the connecting structure between the bottom cross members and the plywood floor of the base frame shown in Fig. S; Fig. 4 s a font view of the corrugated plate used n the side panels of the

second preferred embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 15 is a cross sectional view taken along the A-A line of Fig. 14; Fig. 16 is a cross sectional view of the third preferred embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 17 is a partial top view of the base frame and corrugated steel floor of the container shown in Fig. 16; Fig. 18 is a cross sectional view taken along the A-A line of Fig. 7; Fig. 19 is a partial stereogram illustrating a kind of base frame which is made up by C-shaped bottom cross members and corrugated steel floor; Fig. 20 is a partial stereogram illustrating another kind of base frame which is made up by L-shaped bottom cross members and corrugated steel floor; -

Fig. 21 is a cross sectional view taken along the B-B line of Fig. 17; Fig. 92 is a schematic diagram illustrating the connecting structure between the bottom cross members as shown in Fig. 19 and the corrugated steel plates in the container shown in Fig. 16; Fig. 93 is a cross sectional view illustrating a kind of corrugated steel plate with stuffing in its grooves in the third preferred embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 24 is a cross sectional view illustrating another kind of corrugated steel plate with stuffing in its grooves in the third preferred embodiment according to the present Invention; Fig. ?5 is a partial stereogram illustrating floor structure in the third preferred embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 96 is a stereogram or perspective view with a partial cross sectional view illustrating the continuous corrugated steel floor with stuffing in its grooves in the third preferred embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 7 is a stereogram or perspective view with a partial cross sectional view illustrating the disconnected corrugated steel floor with stuffing, in its grooves in -he third preferred embodiment according to the present invention; his,. 8 is a partial top view illustrating the base Earns and plane steel plate in the

s l fourth preferred embodiment according to the present invention; Figures 29, SO, 31, 32 are schematic diagrams of different kinds of base frames in the fourth embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 33 is a schematic diagram illustrating a kind of connecting structure between the longitudinal members and bottom cross members in the fourth embodiment according to the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to the preferred embodiments: Embodiment 1: In this embodiment, the improvements mainly concentrate on the base frame and floor of the container.

As shown in Fig. 8, the base frame according to this embodiment mainly comprises two bottom side rails 611, several longitudinal members 613 and several bottom cross members 612. The both ends of the bottom cross members 612 are respectively welded to the side of the bottom side rails 611, the longitudinal members 613 are crossed and welded to the bottom cross members 612, constituting an integral rigid frame structure. Compared to a conventional container, in the new design, several longitudinal members 613 are added in the base frame, and thinner plane steel plate is adopted in the floor. Therefore, on the premise of passing ISO test, the space L1 between two bottom cross members is far larger than that (LO, as shown in Fig. 2) of the conventional one, thus, the quantity of the bottom cross members are greatly reduced. As shown in Fig. and Fig. 9, at least two longitudinal members 613 are crossed and welded to some bottom cross members 612, and the longitudinal members 6i3 are distributed along the longitudinal direction of the bottom cross members 612. To enable the longitudinal members to pass the ISO test with a small sectional area H2, B2 and thinner thickness T2, space L2 between the longitudinal members should be no larger than 600mrn, better being preferred to be no larger than 300mm, and best preferred lo be equal to the width of the floor test wheel Zoo of a container, which is iSOmm, so than at least one longitudinal member will directly support the floor test wheel 400. in addition, the space Hi between the bottom cross members did should not be made too Large, and should be reasonably designed.

Various linl; structures can be adopted for the longitudinal members 613 and the bottom cross members 612. Two kinds of representative link structures are given below: As shown in Fig. 10, some slots 614 with openings are made on the bottom cross members 612 in regular interval, the entire longitudinal members 613 can pass through slots 614 and be welded to the bottom cross members 612.

As shown in Fig. 11, the longitudinal members 613 are disconnected and then welded to the bottom cross members 612.

In the structures described above, both the bottom cross members 612 and the longitudinal members 613 can be made of steel bars whose cross section can be L-shape, I-shape, T-shape, U-shape, C-shape or square shape.

In this embodiment, the floor is made of steel plate 510 no thicker than 4 mm. As shown in Fig. 13, the bottom cross members 612 of the base frame and the steel plate 510 are connected by welding. As shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 12, the bottom side rails 611, longitudinal members 613, bottom cross members 612 and the steel plate 510 are welded together, constituting an integral rigid bearer for cargoes in the container.

This invention has following advantages: (a) The height Hi of the bottom cross members 612 is larger than that (HO, as shown in Fig. 4) of a conventional one, which enables the material distribution of the bottom cross members more advantageous for increasing the bending resistance of the bottom cross members.

(b) Since the bottom cross members 612 and the steel floor 510 are welded into an integral structure, the materials around the spot where the steel floor 510 and the bottom cross members 61 are welded will greatly improve the bending resistance of the bottom cross members.

Therefore, on the premise of passing the ISO test, the thickness T1 of the bottom cross members 612 according to this embodiment is thinner, normally it is 2 - 3 mm, while the thickness TO of the conventional bottom cross members 602 is thicker, normally it is 4 4.:mm. n this embodiment, the bottom cross members 612 have similar 'ease width 31, 'sigher height H1, and comprehensively lighter weight as compared to that of the conventional one.

The steel floor is made of common steel. Compared to conventional plywood floor, it has advantages such as light weight, low cost and stable market supply. On the premise of passing the ISO test, in the new designed base frame, the quantity and the tare weight of the bottom cross members are reduced. Moreover, in the new design, since steel floor is adopted instead of plywood floor, the material cost is decreased. Besides, by using steel floor instead of conventional plywood floor, the influence to the production and cost of the container from the possible shortage of the wood supply can be avoided.

Embodiment 2: In this embodiment, the improvements mainly concentrate on the structure of the side panels of the container.

To pass the ISO strength test for the side panels of the container, the corrugated plate for the side panels should possess certain bending resistant capability, which depends on the bending resistant section modulus W of the corrugated plate and the yield strength a s of the corrugated plate material. The larger the bending resistant section modulus W is, the better the bending resistant capability of the corrugated plate is. So it is with the yield strength a S. In the conventional container, the corrugation depth (wave height) D of the corrugated plate is too small, and the projection length I of the slope on wave crest plane is too high, which is not advantageous for material to be thoroughly distributed in wave crests and troughs on the corrugated plate, and results in small bending resistant section modulus W. Therefore, thicker steel sheet and higher strength material need to be used in the conventional corrugated plate to pass ISO strength test.

As shown in Fig. 14 and Fig. 15, on the premise of meeting the ISO standard dimension requirement for the container, the corrugation depth D of the corrugated plate is increased and the projection length I of the slope on the wave crest plane is reduced, so as to appropriately increase the width B of wave crest and the width C of the wave trough, improve the material distribution in wave crests and troughs, and thereby to improve the bending resistant section modulus W of the corrugated plate.

Ln this way, the corrugated plate for the new side panel is equivalent to the corrugated oiate of the conventional side panel in ' ending resistant strength, thus achieving the

end of substituting expensive, high strength material with cheap, low strength material, reducing material cost, corrugated plate thickness and tare weight.

The corrugation depth D of the corrugated plate for the new side panel is 36<D<54mm, the projection length I of the slope in the wave crest plane is O I 25 mm, preferably within 12 - 15 mm, and the thickness of the side panel is within 0.8 -

1.9 mm.

A comparison of dimension and material of corrugated plates for a conventional side panel and two examples of this embodiment is given in the table below: Corrugation Corrugation dimension (mm) Corrugated plate shape and material material Wave Wave Corrugation Slope I Thickness T Matenal Yield crest B trough C depth D of strength ClOate Hated Kg/mm Conventional 72 70 36 68 1.6 Corten A 35 Dlate _._ _.

New 78 78 3 15 1.2 SS4 25 gated 1 1 plate 7S 78 45 12 SS4 25 It can be seen from the data in the table, the slope projection length I of the corrugated plate for the conventional side panel is too big ( 68rnm), while corrugated depth D is comparatively small (36mrn). To pass ISO test, the thickness T of the corrugated plate has to be at least 1.6mrn and steel sheet Corten A of relatively higher strength ( yield strength 35 Kg/mm2) has to be used.

The corrugated plate PI for the new side panel appropriately increases wave crest and wave trough size by adding the corrugated plate depth D (38mm) and reducing the slope size I <'Smm). ihe corrugated plate made of lower strength steel sheet SS4i yield strength 25 glmm) and l.3mm in thickness T is good enough to provide equivalent bending resistant strength as the corrugated plate for the

conventional side panel.

The corrugated plate P2 for the new side panel appropriately increases wave crest and wave trough size, by adding corrugated plate depth D (42mm) and reducing slope dimension I (12mm). The corrugated plate made of lower strength steel sheet SS41 (yield strength 25 Kg/rnrn2) and lmrn in thickness T is good enough to provide equivalent bending resistant strength as the corrugated plate for the traditional side panel. It can be seen that, by adjusting the wave depth D and the projection length I of the slope on the wave crest plane, the corrugated plate for the new side panel can achieve the end of substituting high strength material with low strength material, reducing the material cost of the container, the thickness of the corrugated plate, the weight of the container and improve the maximum pay load of the container.

Embodiment 3: In this embodiment, the improvements mainly concentrate on the floor structure of the container.

As shown in Fig. 16, the container according to this embodiment consists of a pair of side panels 130, a door end, a front end, a roof 430, a base frame 630 and a corrugated steel floor 530.

As shown in Fig. 17, 18, 21 and 92, the base frame of the container mainly comprises two bottom side rails 631 and several bottom cross members 632; both ends of the bottom cross members 632 are welded to the side of the bottom side rails 631 respectively; corrugated steel plate 530 is paved on the bottom cross members 632, and welded on the bottom cross members 632 and two bottom side rails 631, constituting a rigid bearer for cargoes in the container.

Since steel is much better in synthetic mechanics performance than wood, and a corrugated Boor has a good bending resistant capability, which are specially advantageous for satisfying loading requirements and application features of container floor, the corrugated steel floor:30 is better in mechanics performance and has higher load gearing strength than the prior art plywood floor. With the corrugated steel floor

530 adopted, thinner steel sheet and less material are required to achieve high bending resistant capability. Besides, the welding of the corrugated steel floor 530 with the bottom cross members 632 enhances the bending resistant strength of bottom cross members 632, reduces cross sectional dimension, weight and cost. The corrugated floor 530 according to this embodiment made of 2mm thick steel sheet is good enough to meet strength requirement.

In the above base assembly, bottom cross members 632 and the corrugated steel floor 530 can be joined by many ways, and the two preferred ways are given below: As shown in Fig. 19, the corrugated steel floor 530 is directly paved on the bottom cross members 632, and form a rigid integrated structure either by welding at the external sides, or by rivetting. The bottom cross members 632 can be made of steel of C-shaped cross sectional form.

Fig. 20 illustrates another way of connecting the bottom cross members 632 with the corrugated steel floor 530: the cross sectional form of the bottom cross members 632 is L-shaped, and at the edge of a limb of the bottom cross member 632, there is provided a plurality of upstanding teeth 633 complementary in shape with the concave grooves of the corrugated floor 530, assisting in welding the bottom cross members and the corrugated steel floor.

In the above structures, the cross sectional form of the bottom cross members 632 can be L-shape, I-shape, T-shape, U-shape, C-shape, or of rectangular shape to suit the demands of various base frames.

Compared to the prior art, the base assembly of this embodiment possesses the

following advantages: (a) By substituting the prior art plywood floor with the corrugated steel floor, the

rigidity and strength of the floor is enhanced, and thereby the load bearing capability of the base assembly is enhanced.

(b) Since the rigidity and strength of the corrugated steel floor is enhanced, the space between cross members are widened, and thereby the quantity and amount of cross members are enhanced.

ic) Since the steel floor and cross members are welded nto an integrated entity,

the material around the welding spot will greatly enhance the bending resistant strength of the cross members.

Therefore, on the premise of passing ISO test, the thickness of the bottom cross member according to this embodiment is 3rnm thick, while it has to be 04.5rnm thick for bottom cross members of the prior art base assembly. The use of corrugated steel

floor improves the bending resistant capability of bottom cross members, that is why the amount and weight of bottom cross members in this embodiment is much smaller than that of the prior art base assembly.

To further meet the demands of various applications, make the surface of the corrugated floor as plain as the plywood floor for the ease of cargo loading, the floor structure of this embodiment can be improved in following ways: As shown in Fig. 23, a filler, stuffing 5310r the like can be filled in the respective concave grooves of the corrugated floor of the base assembly to make the surface of the corrugated floor flat. Stuffing 531 can be made of various kinds of materials such as wood, foam, plastics or other non-metal materials.

As shown in Fig. 24, a layer of thin plate 532 can be paved on the surface of the corrugated floor of the base assembly as an alternative way to malce the surface of the corrugated floor flat. The thin plate 53? can be made of a variety of materials, such as thin wooden plate, composite wooden plate or steel plate.

In order to fasten the cargoes in the container, some pieces of wood or other non-metallic materials may be retained on the floor 530. Following improvements on the structure of the floor may be adopted: As shown in Fig. 25, the floor 530 consists of corrugated steel floor 533 in the main, and several plywood bars or other non metallic stuffing 531 such as wood, foam, or plastics, which are put together and paved on the base frame 630 of the container, constituting a rigid base assembly for loading. The floor 530 and base frame 630 may be jointed by welding, riveting, or connecting via screws.

As shown in Fig. 26, which is a partial enlarged view of Fig. ?5, the corrugated steel floor 533 is continuous at the position where the non metallic stuffing 531 s filled. The non metallic stuffing 531 is completely held within an integrated concavity 534 of.he corrugated steel floor 533.

As shown in Fig. 27, the corrugated steel floor 533 is disconnected at the position where the non metallic stuffing 531 is filled. The non metallic stuffing 531 is held within a concavity 534 which is formed by two adjacent disconnected corrugated floors 533 and has an opening 535 at its bottom.

As shown in Fig. 25, Fig. 26 and Fig. 27, the steel floor 533 is non uniform corrugated steel floor, which is formed by modifying the corrugated steel floor structure in partial. The wavelength of each corrugation is not equal to each other, and there is a wider concavity 534 at regular intervals, within which the non metallic stuffing 531 is installed.

The grooves with non metallic stuffing filled in may be or not be in a certain proportion to the grooves without non metallic stuffing filled in.

Alternatively, the steel floor according to this embodiment may be common uniform corrugated steel floor, namely, the wavelength of each corrugation is equal to each other, where the grooves of the corrugated steel floor are made of the concavities of the corrugated steel floor itself, and the non metallic stuffing may be installed at intervals within the predetermined concavities.

Embodiment 4: In this embodiment, the improvements mainly concentrate on the base frame of the container.

As shown in Fig. 28 and Fig. 29, in the kind of structure of this embodiment, there is one or several longitudinal members 340 vertically installed between the bottom cross members 240, and there are supporting beams 440 tilted installed at the corner of the cross made up by the longitudinal members 340 and the bottom cross members 240. And the distribution intensity of the supporting beams 440 may be varied in different positions of the base frame according to the actual loading situation of the container. Compared with the conventional base frame of a cargo container, one or several longitudinal members 340 and tilted supporting beams 440 are added in the base frame. Therefore, with the base frame strength requirement fulfilled, the space if. be veen To cross members of the base frame may be for larger than that (LO) of the conventional one. Thus, compared with the conventional container base frame, the numbers of the cross members A,40 are greatly reduced.

As shown in Fig. 30 and Fig. 31, in another kind of structure of this embodiment, longitudinal beams 340 are shorter than bottom side rails, and vertically installed between adjacent or non adjacent bottom cross members 240. Conventionally, manufacturers installed a whole length of longitudinal beam on the base frame, the whole length of the longitudinal beam is in parallel with and of the same length as the bottom side rail 140; while in this embodiment, the longitudinal beam is installed in segments regularly or irregularly, namely, distributed non continuously.

In another kind of structure of this embodiment, only one end of the bottom cross member is connected with the bottom side rail, and the other end is connected with the longitudinal member. As shown in Fig. 32, one end of several bottom cross members 240 are disconnected from the two bottom side rails 140 crisscross, each longitudinal member 340 is connected in parallel between more than two disconnected bottom cross members 240, the internal point of the longitudinal member 340 is connected with the disconnected end of one bottom cross member 240, while the two ends of the longitudinal member 340 are connected with the internal point of the bottom cross member 240.

The longitudinal members 340 and the bottom cross members 240 are jointed by crossing, and the embodiments of the crossing structure may be various. Apart from the two kinds of commonly used crossing structures described in embodiment 1 of this invention, another kind of connecting structure may be adopted as shown in Fig. 33: several beams 240, 340, 440 are jointed together at one connecting point.

In the above mentioned container base frames, the bottom cross members 240, longitudinal members 340 and tilted supporting beams 440 may be made of steel beams with the cross sections such as L shape, I shape, T shape, U shape, C shape or square shape. In order to save material, the cross section of the longitudinal members 340 should be less than that of the bottom cross beams 240, and the longitudinal members are usually made of beams with smaller thickness and width.

Comparing to the conventional design, the container base frame according to this embodiment has other advantages as follows: a. The height Hi ofthe bottom cross members 240 is higher than that of the conventional one, which makes the cross section material distribution of the bottom cross members 240 more favorable for increasing its bending resistance;

b. The bottom cross members 240, the longitudinal members 340, the supporting beams 440 and the steel floor 540 are welded together into an integral entity, which makes the strength of the materials around the welding area increased, and the bending resistance of the base frame is greatly improved; The steel floor is made of common steel. Compared with conventional plywood floor, it has advantages such as lightweight, low cost and stable supplies from the market. On the premise of passing ISO test, in the new container base frame, the quantity of the bottom cross members used is reduced, the longitudinal members can be installed with more flexibility and the dimension of its cross section is smaller.

Therefore, the material consumed is greatly reduced and the material cost of the new type container base frame is reduced compared with that of the conventionaLone. In addition, the conventional plywood floor is replaced by the steel floor, which prevents the influence to the production and cost of the container from the possible shortage of plywood floor supplies. With the application of the container base frame and the steel floor according to this embodiment, the targets of reducing material cost and tare weight of a container, and increasing its loading capacity are successfully achieved.

Claims

1> CLAIMS

1. A container, comprising a pair of side panels, a door end, a front end, a roof, a floor and a base frame, said base frame further comprising two longitudinal bottom side rails and numbers of parallel bottom cross members, wherein said base frame further includes at least one longitudinal member, said longitudinal member being substantially in parallel with said bottom side rails, and connected with at least two of the bottom cross members.

2. A container, comprising a pair of side panels, a door end, a front end, a roof, a floor and a base frame, said base frame further comprising two longitudinal bottom side rails and numbers of parallel bottom cross members, wherein said floor is made up of corrugated steel floor.

3. A container, comprising a pair of side panels, a door end, a front end, a roof, a floor and a base frame, the cross section of said side panels being a corrugated structure made up by a number of identical wave crests, slopes and wave troughs, wherein the wave height D between said wave crest and wave trough is 36<D 54mm. 4. A container according to any of claims 1 - 3, wherein said base frame may include at least two longitudinal members.

5. A container according to claim 4, wherein the space between two longitudinal members is no longer than 600 mm.

6. A container according to claim 5, wherein the space between two longitudinal members is no longer than 300 mm.

7. A container according to claim 6, wherein the space between two longitudinal members is no longer than 180 mm.

8. A container according to any of claims 1 - 3, wherein some slots with openings are inade on the bottom cross members at substantially regular intervals, the entire longitudinal members passing through said slots and being welded to the bottom cross Members. container according to any of claims - at, wherein the longitudinal

members are disconnected and then welded to the bottom cross members.

10. A container according to any preceding claim, wherein said longitudinal members may be distributed non continuously.

11. A container according to claim 10, wherein said longitudinal members are shorter than said bottom side rails, and only distributed within partial area of the entire base frame.

12. A container according to any preceding, claim, wherein said base frame may further include supporting beams tilted installed at the comer of the cross made up by the longitudinal members and the bottom cross members.

13. A container according to claim 12, wherein the cross section area of said bottom cross members is larger than that of the longitudinal members.

14. A container according to any preceding claim, wherein only one end of said bottom cross member is connected with said bottom side rail, the other end being connected with said longitudinal member.

l5. A container according to anti preceding claim. wherein said floor is made Up of corrugated steel floor which is directly paved on said bottom cross members, and welded to the external side of the bottom cross members, constituting an integral rigid structure. 16. A container according to claim 15, wherein said bottom cross members are made of steel bars of C-shape cross sectional form.

17. A container according to claim 15, wherein the cross sectional form of the bottom cross members is L-shaped, an edge of the bottom cross member having a plurality of teeth complementary to the concave grooves of the corrugated floor, helping the bottom cross members to be welded to the corrugated steel floor.

18. A container according to claim 15, wherein there is a non metallic filler, stuffing or the like in the respective grooves of the corrugated steel floor.

19. A container according to claim i 8, wherein said non metallic stuffing may be made of wood, or foam, or plastics.

?0 container according to claim;5. wherein thin plate s paved on he orrugated steel floor.

21. A container according to claim 20, wherein said thin plate may be made of thin wooden plate, composite wooden plate or steel plate.

22. A container according to claim 15, wherein said non metallic stuffing is filled within some of the grooves of the corrugated steel floor.

23. container according to clain1 22, wherein the grooves with non metallic stuffing filled in ale in a certain proportion to the grooves without non metallic stuffing filled in.

24. A container according to claim 22, wherein the grooves Title non metallic stuffing filled in are not in a certain proportion to the grooves without non metallic stuffing filled in.

25. A container according to any one of claims 19 or 22, wherein the non metallic stuffing filled in the grooves of the corrugated steel floor is continuously distributed along the grooves.

26. A container according to any one of claims 19 or 22, wherein said corrugated steel floor is continuous, the non metallic stuffing completely filled in the grooves of the corrugated steel floor.

27. A container according to any one of claims 19 or 22, wherein said corrugated steel floor is disconnected at the position where the non metallic stuffing is filled, said non metallic stuffing is held within a concavity which is formed by two adjacent disconnected corrugated floors and has an opening at its bottom.

28. A container according to claim 15, wherein the wavelength of each corrugation of the steel floor is not equal to one another.

29. A container according to claim 15, wherein the wavelength of each corrugation of the corrugated steel floor is equal to one another.

30. A container according to any one of claims 1 - 3, wherein the thickness of said side panel is 0.8-1.2mm.

31. A container according to any one of claims l - 3, wherein the length I of said slope projection on said wave trough plane is O I 25 mIn.

:2. A container according to any one of claims, or 30 or 31, wherein he wave

height D between said wave crest and wave trough is 38 mm, the length I of said slope projection on said wave trough plane is 15 mm.

33. A container according to any one of claims 3 or 30 or 31, wherein the wave height D between said wave crest and wave trough is 45 mm, the length I of said slope projection on said wave trough plane is 12 mm.

34. A container according to any one of claims 1 - 3, wherein said bottom cross members, longitudinal members and support beams can be made of steel bars whose cross section can be L-shape, I-shape, T-shape, U-shape, C-shape or square shape.

35. A container according to claim 1 or claim 34 or any one of claims 4 9, wherein said floor is made of steel plate.

36. A container according to claim 35, wherein the thickness of said floor is no thicker than 4 mm.

37. A container, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one or more of Figs 8-33 of the accompanying drawings.