US2086747A - Shipping container - Google Patents

Description

July 13, 1937. C c, STETSON 2,086,747

SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed June 8, 1931 220. METALUC RECEPTACLES,

Patented July 13, 1937 UNITED STATES grid:

PATENT OFFICE SHIPPING CONTAINER Charles C. Stetson, St. Paul, Minn. Application June 8, 1931, Serial No. 542,815

4 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in shipping containers by means of which merchandise may be readily and safely shipped by railroad, steamship or truck. My construction of container provides a stronger, lighter and more easily handled shipping container than those now commonly in use.

It is my object to provide a container for the shipping of merchandise which is not too heavy to be handled easily by the aid of a lift truck. My shipping containers may be transported about the city upon a fiat body automobile truck or may be placed within an ordinary large railroad box car.

It is my purpose to make the complete container of sheet, steel or aluminum, and to mount the same upon certain shaped skids firmly attached thereto. These skids act to hold the body of the container up off the floor and give great rigidity to the structure. The skids are pennanently attached to the container and serve to support the weight of the sameas well as the weight of the cargo carried within the container. The floor and sides of the container are bound together by means of these skids which being connected together at the back and front of the structure form a complete base or frame. Attaching rings for engagement with the hooks or cables of a crane or derrick are connected through suitable side brace members with the skids. In this manner the sides and bottom are supported and braced when the container is lifted by a crane or the like. I It is the purpose of my invention to provide a container which may ordinarily be handled by means of a lift truck of the type commonly used in warehouses. The lift truck is rolled beneath the container between the skids and is then raised, lifting the skids away from the floor. The container may then easily be moved about as desired.

Other objects and novel features of my invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawing forming a part of myspecification:

Figure 1 is a front view of my container.

Figure 2 is a side view of the same.

Figure 3 is a detail view of a portion of my container, illustrating the manner in which the same is lifted by means of a lift truck.

Figure 4 is a perspective sectional detail of a portion of my container.

Figure 5 is a sectional detail through a portion of the flooring of my container.

Figure 6 is a sectional detail of my corner construction.

Figure 7 is a sectional detail illustrating a modification of my flooring construction, before being pressed into finished form.

Figure 8 is a sectional detail of the flooring illustrated in Figure 7, after being pressed into finished form.

I make the floor of my container of two parallel sheets of steel, spaced apart and reinforced by a series of bridge pieces, as will be described, forming a duplex fiat fabric of great strength. The upper and lower sheets of steel extend the full size of the floor and the bridging or trussing pieces fill the space between said sheets. All are fused or welded together where they touch, forming a stifi and rigid fabric of comparatively light weight. When in use as a floor the upper sheet is under compression and the lower under tension and the truss or bridge pieces which separate the sheets are under compression. These truss pieces are of peculiar shape and so formed that they present great resistance to crushing or upsetting and thus efficiently hold apart and reinforce the main sheets at all points. They extend from side to side of the container and thus reach from and over each of the supporting skids, in this way adding their strength to that of the main sheets of the flooring fabric.

My container A is mounted upon skids Hi. The skids II! are secured to the lower surface of the bottom member or floor l l of the container A. A flange l2 extends outwardly and upwardly from the outer side of each skid l0, and is welded or otherwise secured to the side wall IS on either side of the container. The flange I2 also extends around partially along the front I and the rear I5 of the container A, to reinforce the same.

, It is an object of my invention to provide skids for supporting the container with an integral side flange adapted to overlap the lower edge of each vertical side of the container and be welded or otherwise secured thereto. The sides are in this manner supported rigidly to the flooring which is also tightly secured to the skids. A horizontal flange on the inside of each of the skids provides a means of attaching these skids rigidly to the floor and this flange extends a distance beneath the floor surface to support the same. These last mentioned flanges also serve the purpose of providing a strong frame for the lift truck to bear against as the same is lifted and distributes the lift" evener, avoiding any tendency to sag. The skid members extend beyond the front and rear of the containers and act as bumpers to prevent injury to the body of the container. The projegtion of the skids is just sufficient to protect the body of the shipping container and not sufficient to take up excess room as the compact size of my container is a feature of my construction.

The skids H! are formed with a peculiar bottom construction adaptable for supporting the weight of the container and cargo, and are tapered in such a manner as to permit the container to ride over slight projections and inclines without danger of having the legs of the same drag upon the runway when the container is lifted only slightly by the lift truck B. The skids ID are tapered downwardly from the ends of the same to form leg surfaces l6 adapted to rest upon the fioor. The skids l are tapered upwardly from these leg portions I6 to form a recessed portion l1 between the portions IS.

The ends l8 of, the skids l6 project outwardly somewhat beyond the ends of the container A, and act in the manner of bumpers, to protect the body of the container A. Thus, the containers A are prevented from being injured by coming in too close contact with one another, and with other objects.

The front end l4 of the container A is equipped with a pair of doors I 9 and 20. One of the doors, I9, is preferably wider than the other door, and if small articles are to be placed within the container A, the larger door is opened, and the narrower door 20 remains closed.

An important feature of my improved container is the beveled or rounded corners by which these important portions of the box are strengthened and at the same time are so shaped that they will fend off any obstruction and avoid hitting or engaging passing objects, while at the same time they leave the inner of the box at approximately right angles.

Peculiarly shaped angle members 22 form the corners of the container A vertically, and act to connect the various vertical junctions between the side and end walls. These angle members 22 may be welded or riveted in place. The members 22 are quite wide, and are bent to an enclosed angle of somewhat more than 90 degrees. The side wall members [3 are connected to the front wall l4 and the rear wall I5 in the manner illustrated in Figure 6 of the drawing. The side walls l3, and the front and rear walls I4 and I5 are tapered inwardly at a slight angle, as illustrated in Figure 6, and the angle members 22 secured to join and reinforce the corner. The angle members also serve to brace and support the top 23.

Diagonal braces 24 extending from near the bottom corners of each side member to the middle of the top of the side, act as supports for the side walls I 3 and connect each skid ID to a ring or loop 25 by means of which the container A may be lifted by a derrick or crane. The lifting strain is distributed by way of the skids ID to the whole container and contents. The diagonal braces 24 serve to distribute the lifting strain also when the container A is lifted by means of a lift truck B, as the truck B is adapted to bear against flanges 25 on the skids I0, which flanges serve to reinforce and connect these skids ID to the flooring of the container, and as these braces 24 are connected to the skids Ill.

The top 23 is arched or arcuated in preferred form, and is securely attached to the sides l3 and the front and rear end walls l4 and I5 respectively. The junction between the top and the various walls, as well as the junction of the various walls themselves, is watertight and weatherproof,

and when the doors I!) and 20 are shut, the container A is tightly sealed against atmospheric conditions.

In cross section each of the truss pieces of my flooring is an approximate flattened tube of sheet metal about twice as broad as deep, with four right angles lying fiat or longitudinally in the plane of the main floor sheets and paralleling with one long side the upper sheet and with the other long side the lower sheet; the two short sides of each tube extend vertically from main sheet to main sheet and resist firmly any tendency for the sheets to bend together. One of the short sides is somewhat fluted or ribbed in the main portion of the distance in direction from one main sheet to the other, thus preventing. buckling or bending under pressure.

This bridging or truss piece is easily stamped out of sheet metal and indented in the line of the short surface as above described and then bent into the flattened tube as desired, the lower edge of one side abutting the other edge of the same sheet, to which it fits into a. slight lip. The next truss piece fits against the first lying parallel and extending from side to side of the entire floor, and the next truss piece next to it and so on for the full surface of the floor structure. It will then be seen that at uniform short distances across the floor the two main sheets are held firmly apart by the vertical short portions of my bridging or truss tubes, two such short portions standing together and bracing each other. When slightly compressed and welded as described herein, these two form an. integral part of the structure and support the upper and lower main sheets by their long sides and bracing the sheets apart by their short sides.

The flooring l l of my container A is built up of two sheets or plates 26 and 21 of steel or other suitable material. The plates 26 and 21 are spaced apart by means of fiat tubularly shaped members 28 which are substantially rectangular in cross section, and which are formed by bending a sheet of steel or other suitable material into the correct form. The tubular members are placed side by side between the sheets 26 and 21, transversely with the container, and are welded in this position. The sheets 26 and 21 are accordingly reinforced by the long sides 29 of the tubing 28, and are held in the proper spaced relationship by the vertical short sides 36 of the same. It is obvious that as the tubes 28 are placed side by side, two vertical short sides 30 of adjacent tubes 28 are together, and are braced against one another. To make these vertical sides 38 still more rigid, one side wall 30 of each tubular member 28 may be slotted to form ribs 32, as illustrated in Figure 4, or may be fluted to add to the rigidity. v i If it is desired, some of the tubular members 28 may be filled with plastic cement or concrete to further stiffen the flooring of the container, and to form a tight grip for any bolts 33 which may be used to hold the flanges 25 of the skids ID to the flooring l l. The construction embodying the use of concrete or cement may be seen in Figure 5, in which one tubular member 28 is filled with cement 34, embedding the bolt 33 tightly therein. 1

It is my purpose to form the side walls of a similar duplex welded construction, if desired,

honey-combed or trussed floor many times stiffer Z5 220. METALLIC RECEPTACLES,

and stronger than the same amount of metal flat in one sheet.

In the modified construction illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 of the drawing, the flooring sheets 26 and 21 are spaced by means of inverted channel or trough shaped members 31. The sides of each member 31 are bent at enclosed angles of greater than ninety degrees, so that when the channel members 31 are placed between the sheets 26 and 21, the only point of contact between two adjacent members is along the extreme free edge 38 of the same, as illustrated in Figure 7. The channel members 31 are preferably corrugated transversely, to enable them to withstand extreme strain, and are creased before bending to prevent the sheets from buckling or splitting as they are bent. When placed side by side, with the free edges contacting as illustrated in Figure 7 of the drawing, the adjacent channels 31 nest together.

The channels when in the described position are subjected to a transverse squeezing strain. The sides of each channel member are bent at right angles to the bottom of the channel, and the sides nest closely together. When in this position, they are welded to the sheets 26 and 21.

The sides l3, and the front and rear walls I and I5 are also made in a manner similar to the flooring II, but need not be as heavy or thick, as the strain upon the upright walls is not as great as that upon the flooring.

The containers A are just sufiicient size to be contained easily in a box car of large size. The shape is such that two containers A may be placed in each end of the car, with the doors facing the center of the car, and a fifth container may rest transversely with the car, facing the door of the box car. When in place within a car in this manner, the containers may not well be opened, as space does not permit, preventing theft of anything within the containers by breaking into the same during transit.

My containers A have been found very practical for the shipping of goods, and protect the goods therein against damage in transit. My containers are of very sturdy construction, and will resist wear. Furthermore, they may be handled with a minimum of trouble, as they may be moved from one position to another by means of a warehouse lift truck without the aid of a crane, and handled on or off a flat truck for Scarcn rioom residence delivery. My containers are fireproof, rat and mice proof, sanitary and insulated somewhat against heat and cold. They are of proper size to hold the average lot of freight complete. They present many obstacles to pilferers, as they are difllcult to break into because of the nature of their construction, and they are formed with the body portion sufficiently far from the ground to prevent damage from being set in pools of water and the like.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of operation of my shipping containers, and although I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiments thereof, I desire to have it understood that these are only illustrative of a means of carrying out my invention, and that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A steel shipping container having a wall structure comprising, parallelly disposed steel plates spaced apart, reinforcing channel spacers extending between said plates having corrugated reinforcing ribs extending transversely therethrough, said spacers intermeshing with each other when said channel spacers are compressed into operative position between said plates.

2. A steel container including, spaced platelike members adapted to form the sides of said container, and obtuse angle corners having beveled receiving legs to which the inner portion of the marginal edges of said plates are adapted to be secured when the marginal edges of said plates have been bent to extend toward each other and to fit angularly within said obtuse angle corner member.

3. A steel shipping container including, sides formed of spaced apart steel plates, the edges of said plates being bent towards each other, and obtuse angle corner members into which the edges of said plates are adapted to fit and be secured.

4. A reinforcing wall portion for shipping containers including steel plates, reinforcing steel filler portions extending between said plates, some of said filler portions having a cementitious filler therein to provide solid beam-like members in conjunction with said filler portions between the plates forming said wall structure.

CHARLES C. STE'I'SON.

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