GB2594645A

GB2594645A - Vehicle transportation systems

Info

Publication number: GB2594645A
Application number: GB2109759.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: donaldson Paul; Hobbs Steven; Payne Wesley; Clive-Smith Martin
Original assignee: Trans Rak International Ltd
Current assignee: Trans Rak International Ltd
Priority date: 2018-07-09
Filing date: 2018-07-09
Publication date: 2021-11-03
Anticipated expiration: 2038-07-09
Also published as: GB2594645A8; GB202109759D0; GB2594645B

Abstract

A vehicle transportation system for loading and unloading a vehicle body without wheels or general cargo into and out of a walled shipping container (fig. 2). The system has a supporting frame 100 having end members 101, 102 which extend transversely across the container and are connected by longitudinally extending frame members 105 and also has vehicle body receiving means 108 or general cargo receiving means located on the supporting frame. The supporting frame 100 has transportation wheels or rollers 107 on which a vehicle body or general cargo supported on the frame can be pushed into and pulled out of the container, and guidance means 103, 103a carried on the supporting frame which guide the supporting frame transversely of the container into a required position within the container with the vehicle body or general cargo clear of the container walls. The supporting frame is raisable to a transportation position on posts (104 fig. 2) secured to the container walls at longitudinally spaced locations to give clearance below the supporting frame 100 for vehicle bodies or general cargo positioned below the supporting frame on the floor of the container 10.

Description

VEHICLE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

This invention relates to transportation systems for transporting vehicles, vehicle bodies and general cargo within shipping containers and is a divisional application divided out of parent UK patent application No. 1811207.8.

It is well known to transport vehicles in this manner often with some of the vehicles in the container raised off the floor of the container and tipped to allow partial vertical overlapping of these raised vehicles with vehicles positioned below the tipped vehicles to increase the number of vehicles which can be loaded into the container.

Problems are beginning to arise with such systems as vehicles, particularly more expensive vehicles, are becoming larger and wider making it difficult, if not impossible, to open the doors of such vehicles sufficiently to allow exit or entrance to the vehicles once they are within currently available shipping containers. Also, as such vehicles become more sophisticated, they are often arranged to be totally immobilised if the ignition key is removed or not in the "on" position thus applying the handbrake function and locking the steering making the manoeuvring of such vehicles into and out of such containers impractical.

The parent application No. 1811207.8 provides an improved form of vehicle transportation system which addresses the above problems.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a transportation system for loading and unloading vehicle bodies without wheels or general cargo into and out of walled shipping containers.

Thus according to the present invention there is provided a transportation system for loading and unloading a vehicle body without wheels or general cargo into and out of a walled shipping container, the system comprising a supporting frame having end members which extend transversely across the container and are connected by longitudinally extending frame members and including vehicle body receiving means or general cargo receiving means located on the supporting frame, the supporting frame having transportation wheels or rollers on which a vehicle body or general cargo supported on the frame can be pushed into and pulled out of the container, and guidance means carried on the supporting frame which guide the supporting frame transversely of the container into a required position within the container with the vehicle body or general cargo clear of the container walls, the supporting frame being raisable to a transportation position on posts secured to the container walls at longitudinally spaced locations to give clearance below the supporting frame for vehicle bodies or general cargo positioned below the supporting frame on the floor of the container.

The guidance means may comprise cam surfaces associated with the transverse supporting frame which cooperate with the formations associated with the container. In one form of the invention vertical posts are secured to the container walls, the ends of the transversely extending supporting frame being connectable with hoist means provided on the posts to allow the vehicle body supported from the supporting frame to be raised from a floor of the container to tip the vehicle body and allow partial vertical overlapping of the vehicle body with a vehicle body position below in the container to increase the number of vehicle bodies which can be loaded into the container.

Conveniently each end of the transverse supporting frame has longitudinally extending plates which slide up and down inwardly facing surfaces on the vertical posts. The supporting frame can be fastened to the posts to prevent vertical, horizontal or rotary movement of the supporting frame relative to the posts when the support frame has been raised to its transportation position.

The supporting frame can be connected with hoist means provided on the posts for raising and lowering the support frame.

Alternatively the supporting frame can be raised and lowered by a fork lift or similar vehicle.

The supporting frame may have receiving means for a vehicle body which can be folded or removed.

The supporting frame may be telescopic transversely relative to the container so that the frame can be used in different width containers.

A supporting frame which can be raised on the vertical posts can also be used to load a vehicle body without wheels or general cargo to a position below a raised supporting frame.

The invention also provides a method of loading a vehicle bodies without wheels or general cargo into a container comprising the steps of:-providing supporting frames as defined in claim 1 and two pairs of vertical posts secured to the inside of the walls of the container; loading a first vehicle body or general cargo onto a first such supporting frame and pushing the first vehicle body or general cargo into the container and raising the first vehicle body or general cargo to its transportation position above the floor of the container on the pair of vertical posts; loading a second vehicle body or general cargo onto a second such supporting frame and pushing the second vehicle body or general cargo into the container below the raised the first vehicle body or general cargo, and repeating the above procedure to load subsequent raised and unraised vehicle bodies or general cargo into the container as required to complete the loading of the container.

The invention also provides a system for the transportation of a vehicle body without wheels, the system comprising a pair of support frames extendable transversely between pairs of vertically extending posts secured at longitudinally spaced locations to the walls of a shipping container, and longitudinally extending members extending between these support frames to form a vehicle body support structure, wheels being provided on the support structure to allow the structure to be wheeled into the container carrying a vehicle body, and guidance means on the support structure to guide the structure into the desired position transversely relative to the walls of the container as the structure is wheeled into the container, the structure being raiseable on the vertical posts above the floor of the container if required.

The invention also further provides a method of loading a vehicle body without wheels into a walled shipping container comprising the steps of:-providing a wheeled vehicle body support structure comprising a pair of support frames extendable transversely between pairs of vertically extending posts secured at longitudinally spaced locations to the walls of a shipping container, and longitudinally extending members extending between these support frames; loading and securing the vehicle body onto the body support structure with guidance means on the support structure guiding the support structure transversely relative to the walls of the container to ensure the body does not contact the container walls, and either securing the support structure in its transport position on the floor of the container or raising the body and the support structure above the floor on the vertical posts to a raised transport position.

The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a vehicle body support structure which allows vehicle bodies without wheels to be wheeled into and out off a shipping container; Figure 2 shows a container loaded with vehicle bodies using the support member of Figure 1 Figure 3 shows Figure 9 of W02012/022941 to better illustrate certain features used in the present invention, and Figure 4 shows a modified form of the support structure of Figure 1 used to load general cargo into a raised position in a shipping container, and Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a supporting frame 100 which includes two transversely extending end members 101 and 102 which have end plates 103 designed to side up and down the inside of pairs of vertical posts 104 (see Figure 2) secured to the inside of a shipping container by flexible ties 104a which pull in the fore and aft direction and fixing plates 104b at the bottom of the posts so that the post can be secured at any desired position longitudinally along the container (see Figure 2). Members 101 and 102 are joined by longitudinally extending members to form a vehicle body support structure which can support vehicle bodies 106 via body support means 108. The body support means 108 has conical projections 108 which enter apertures in the underside of the vehicle body. The positioning of the support means 108 on the frame 100is adjustable to cater for the transportation of different vehicle bodies and the support means 108 can be folded or removed to allow easy stacking of frames 100 when required.

Figure 3 shows the upper part of the post arrangement (disclosed in Figure 9 of W02012/022941) for raising wheeled vehicles in a shipping container and which is suitable for raising supporting frame 100.

The pairs of vertical posts 104 (see Figures 2 and 3) are attached to the corrugated walls 15 of the container 10 by, for example, straps or ties 104a or other fasteners which engage standard fastening rings 17 provided on the container and pull the upper ends of the posts in the fore and aft direction via ratchets 16a (see Figure 3) as disclosed and claimed in W02012/022941. The lower ends of the posts 104 can also be secured to the container by similar straps 104a or can be nailed or screwed to the container floor through fastening plates 104b in the manner disclosed in W02012/022941.

The end plates 103 on transversely extending members 101 and 102 slide up and down flanges 20 on the posts 104 when the supporting frame 100 is raised relative to the posts by lift chains 21 which engage lifting rings 22 on end plates 103 and are raised by winches 23 provided at the top of each post as shown in Figure 3. The winches 23 are detachably mounted on their associated posts via hooks 23a and brackets 23b so that they can be removed when not required. End plates 103 have arrays of holes 24 and flanges 20 have vertical lines of holes 25. Bolts 24a or other fasteners can be inserted through aligned holes in the end plates and flanges to secure the wheel support frames in their required transport positions against vertical, horizontal or rotary movement relative to their associated posts as is also described and claimed in W02012/022941.

As shown in Figure 2 the vehicle bodies can be carried both on the floor of the container as shown at 106 and in raised positions as shown at 106'. The raised bodies 106' are shown tipped on their supporting frames 100 to allow partial vertical overlapping with the lower bodies 106 to increase the number of bodies which can be loaded into the container.

The supporting frames 100 each have wheels /castors 107 on which the vehicle bodies can be wheeled into the container. The raised bodies 106' are then winched into their raised positions by winches 23 (see Figure 3) carried at the top of the vertical posts 104. The end plates 103 have angled guide portion 103a which cooperate with the bases of the vertical posts 104 to guide the frames 100 into the correct position transversely of the container as the frames are pushed into the container.

The supporting frame 100, minus the vehicle body support means 108, can be used to carry general cargo. For example, Figure 4 shows frames 100 whose longitudinally extending members 105 support upper loaded pallets 109' which have been raised, using winches (not shown) mounted on the top of vertical posts 104, to allow the loading of lower loaded pallets 109 onto the container floor.

The various wheel supporting frames and sub-frames disclosed in this application can be made telescopic in a transverse sense relative to the container so that they can be used in different width shipping containers.

The present invention thus provides a system and method for loading vehicle bodies and general cargo into a shipping container. This is particularly advantageous as vehicles are becoming larger and wider making it difficult to load vehicle bodies within currently available shipping containers.

It has also been found that, using the systems and methods of the present invention, it is possible to load vehicle bodies into a standard refrigerated shipping container which is conventionally a standard shipping container lined with insulating materials and therefore has a narrower width available for loading vehicles bodies. This allows, for example, a refrigerated container to carry vehicle bodies, or other general cargo, using the systems and methods described above, on a return journey when no refrigerated cargo is available.

Claims

CLAIMS1 A vehicle transportation system for loading and unloading a vehicle body without wheels or general cargo into and out of a walled shipping container, the system comprising a supporting frame having end members which extend transversely across the container and are connected by longitudinally extending frame members and including vehicle body receiving means or general cargo receiving means located on the supporting frame, the supporting frame having transportation wheels or rollers on which a vehicle body or general cargo supported on the frame can be pushed into and pulled out of the container, and guidance means carried on the supporting frame which guide the supporting frame transversely of the container into a required position within the container with the vehicle body or general cargo clear of the container walls, the supporting frame being raisable to a transportation position on posts secured to the container walls at longitudinally spaced locations to give clearance below the supporting frame for vehicle bodies or general cargo positioned below the supporting frame on the floor of the container.
2 A system according to claim 1 in which the supporting frame has longitudinally extending plates which slide up and down inwardly facing surfaces on the vertical posts, the supporting frame being fastenable to the posts to prevent vertical, horizontal or rotary movement of the supporting frame relative to the posts when the support frame has been raised to its transportation position.
3 A system according to claim 1 or 2 in which the supporting frame is connected with hoist means provided on the posts for raising and lowering the support frame.
4 A system according to claim 1 or 2 in which the supporting frame is raised and lowered by a fork lift or similar vehicle.A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the supporting frame has receiving means for a vehicle body which can be folded or removed.
S
6 A system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 in which the supporting frame is telescopic relative to the container so that the frame can be used in different sizes of containers.
7 A system according to ant one of claims 1 to 6 in which a supporting frame which can be raised on the vertical posts can also be used to load a vehicle body without wheels or general cargo to a position below a raised supporting frame.
8 A method of loading a vehicle bodies without wheels or general cargo into a container comprising the steps of:-providing supporting frames as defined in claim 1 and two pairs of vertical posts secured to the inside of the walls of the container; loading a first vehicle body or general cargo onto a first such supporting frame and pushing the first vehicle body or general cargo into the container and raising the first vehicle body or general cargo to its transportation position above the floor of the container on the pair of vertical posts; loading a second vehicle body or general cargo onto a second such supporting frame and pushing the second vehicle body or general cargo into the container below the raised the first vehicle body or general cargo, and repeating the above procedure to load subsequent raised and unraised vehicle bodies or general cargo into the container as required to complete the loading of the container.