US3402845A

US3402845A - Device for connecting collapsed containers in stacked relation

Info

Publication number: US3402845A
Authority: US
Inventors: Eriksson Lars Erik
Original assignee: Eriksson Lars Erik
Priority date: 1966-12-30
Filing date: 1967-02-16
Publication date: 1968-09-24
Anticipated expiration: 1985-09-24
Also published as: NO119942B; FI46830B; DK112852B; FI46830C; NL6701152A; SE320323B; DE1586746A1; GB1171654A

Description

p 24, 1968 1.. E. ERIKSSON 3,402,845

DEVICE FOR CONNECTING COLLAPSED CONTAINERS IN STACKED RELATION Filed Feb. 16, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet l I Iguwumu' P 24, 1963 L. E. ERIKSSON 3,402,845

DEVICE FOR CONNECTING COLLAPSED CONTAINERS IN STACKED RELATION Filed Feb. 16, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 P 24, 1968 L. E. ERIKSSON I 3,402,845

DEVICE FOR CONNECTING COLLAPSED CONTAINERS IN STACKED RELATION Filed Feb. 16, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,402,845 DEVICE FOR CONNECTING COLLAPSED CONTAINERS IN STACKED RELATION Lars Erik Eriksson, Dosentintie 5A, Helsinki, Finland Filed Feb. 16, 1967, Ser. No. 616,659 Claims priority, application Finland, Dec. 30, 1966, 3,488/ 66 5 Claims. (Cl. 2201.5)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device which is usable in conjunction with a large container, the ends of which can be pivoted around hinge pins towards one another and placed on top of the bottom in order to collapse the container to a small volume. In the corners of the bottom are corner fittings with holes for lifting hooks. Openings are made in the lower. part of the ends, which when the ends are collapsed are situated opposite the openings in the corner fittings of the container placed above this container, whereby the containers can be secured to one another by means of locking pieces passing through the coincident openings.

In recent times uniform large containers have found increasing use for the sea transport of all kinds of goods. By means of these containers, the handling of the goods is simplified and the packing and freight costs are reduced. The goods are packed right at the factory in such containers, the containers are carried to the dockside, lifted on board, unloaded at the port of destination and subsequently carried as containers to the consignee. The containers are large in order that they may be used for the carriage of widely differing goods. 8 x 8' x 20' have been agreed as standard dimensions for the most-used containers, 20 tons has been agreed as maximum gross weight for such a container. The length of the containers may vary from 10' to 40'. The known types of containers are box-shaped and usually have doors at one end. Such containers occupy the same space, whether loaded or empty. Frequently the containers must be carried empty back to their point of departure, in which case the return costs for the empty containers may be as high as the freight costs for the loaded containers.

The present invention relates to such containers which can be dismantled after emptying, in the event that there is no cargo to be loaded in them for the return journey. An empty container then occupies only a fraction of the space required for a loaded container. The container has a removable top which may consist of corner tubes and a tarpaulin or top panels placed over these. In the container, the end panels can be pivoted around hinge pins, towards one another, and be placed on top of the bottom. Such a design is already known, but it has not been employed for large containers of the kind referred to here, which must be able to withstand the weight of nine vertically stacked containers of the same size, this weight being 180 tons in the case of -ft. long containers.

In order that the empty, compactly stowed containers can be easily handled they must be bound together in stacks to make as assembly of the same size as the original container. One assembly could comprise, for example 5-7 containers. In this way the cargo spaces of the ship can be effectively utilized since the assemblies and the loaded containers would be at least approxmiately the same height. The assembly could then be handled like a container. This is of great importance particularly since a transition is being made to automated computer-controlled loading and unloading of ships.

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The purpose of the present invention is to provide means to secure the compactly stowed containers in -a vertical stack so as to form an assembly of a size corresponding to one container or possibly two vertically stacked containers. The invention makes use of standardized corner fittings at each corner of the containers. The corner [fittings have openings for the hooks of the lifting cables. The hooks can be affixed to the casingseither at the lower corners of the container or at its upper corners.

The invention is directed to a device which is usable in conjunction with a large container, the ends of which can be pivoted around hinge pins towards one another and placed on top of the bottom in order to collapse the container into a small volume, the corners of the container having fittings with holes for lifting hooks. The invention is mainly characterized in that openings are made in the lower part of the end frames, which when the ends are collapsed are situated opposite the openings in the corner casings of a container placed above this container, whereby the containers can be secured to one another by means of locking pieces passing through the coincident openings.

In one form of the invention, the locking piece consists of a body having a downward projection filling a hole made in the end of the container, the shape of this hole deviating from a circle and preferably being oval, and an upward projection filling a hole in the corner casing of the container above, this latter hole preferably being of the same shape as the first-mentioned hole; in addition, is arranged in the body, a pivoting pin joining the projections which at their ends have transverse stops that are able to pass through the openings when the pin is pivoted to a certain position but which are secured behind the edges of the openings when the pin is pivoted to another position.

When empty containers are to be stacked, the containers are first dismantled and their end frames pivoted around the hinge pins, towards one another, to be placed on top of the bottom. At each corner, a locking piece is fitted so that its downward projection is inserted in the opening in the end frame. Since the opening is non-circular and since the projection fills this opening the locking piece cannot be twisted relative to the opening. Another container is lifted on to the first container so that the upward projections of the locking pieces coincide with the openings in the corner fittings of the uppermost container. The pins in the locking pieces are thereafter turned so as to secure the stops behind the edges of the openings. In the same way, several collapsed containers can be loaded on top of one another. The dimensions of the containers may be chosen so that 5 to 7 stacked collapsed containers have a height corresponding to that of an original opened container.

The invention is explained by way of example in the following description, with reference to the appended drawings, in which- FIG. 1 shows a container ready for use,

FIG. 2 shows a section at 11-11 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows a dismantled container, in which the ends have been pivoted around their hinge pins towards one another on top of the bottom,

FIG. 4 shows five vertically stacked containers as per FIG. 3, which are secured one to the other, and

FIG. 5 shows a section at V-V in FIG. 4.

The container illustrated in FIG. 1 is formed by a bottom 1 and end frames which can be pivoted around hinge pins 2. The right-hand end frame is closed by a corrugated metal panel 3 while the left-hand end frame is open and fitted with tensionable diagonal stays 4. Corner tubes 5 are arranged between the top corners of the ends and the ends are held in place by diagonal stays 6.

FIG. 2 shows to a larger scale a section of the lower corner of the container. .A lug 7 isfixed to the upper surface of a side rail of the bottom 1, said lug containing a hinge pin 2. A section 8 forming part of the end frame is journalled on this hinge pin.A corne,r fitting 9 with openings for lifting hooks is fitted at'the corner of the bottom 1. An opening 1 in the corner fitting 9 is of oval shape. Similarly, an opening 11 of the same shape as opening is formed in sectionSand is located exactly above opening 10 when the end is pivoteddown on bottom 1.

. The container shown in FIGURE 1 is dismantled in such a way that first the diagonal stays 6 on the longer sides of the container are released by means of the turnbuckles 12. This releases the compression force on corner tubes 5 so that they can be released. The tubes 5 are placed on the bottom 1. Then the turnbuckles 12 and 13 on stays 4 and 6 are fully unscrewed so that the ends of the stays are separated and the end frames of the container are rotated onto the bottom. This arrangement is shown in FIG. .3.

To form the packet shown in FIG. 4 a locking piece, best seen in FIG. 5, is placed at each corner of the container shown in FIG. 3. A downward projection of the body14 of the locking piece is inserted in the oval opening 11 in the section 8. Projection 15 fills opening 11 entirely so that the body of the locking piece cannot be turned relative to the opening 11. At this stage, a pivot pin 16 in body 14 and transverse stops 17 and 18 at the ends of pin 16 are in a position as shown in FIG. 5 by dot-dash lines. In this position there is room for stop 17 to pass through opening 11. Another container is there after placed on top of the container shown in FIG. 3 so that the upward projection 20 in the body 14 of the locking piece enters the opening 10' in corner casing 9 and stop 18 enters casing 9. The stacked containers are secured behind the edges of openings 10 and 11 by turning pin 16. In order to turn pin 16, a slot 19 is arranged in body 14, through which slot the pin is engageable by a suitable key. The cross section of pin 16 in slot 19 is of square, hexagon, or any other suitable form so that it can be gripped by the key. The next container is locked on top of the preceding one in the same way, and so forth.

The various versions of the invention can, of course, vary within the scope of the patent claims below. According to the drawing, the shorter sides of the container, referred to above as the ends, are pivoted towards one another on top of the bottom. But instead of these short sides, the container could equally well be arranged so that the longer sides can be pivoted around hinge pins towards one another on top of the bottom. As far as this invention is concerned, the significant point is that two opposed sides of the container can be pivoted in the way described above. The arrangement of the container in other respects is of less significance.

I claim:

1. In combination, a collapsible container and means for locking two collapsed containers in superposed relation, each container comprising abottom constituting a support for the container by resting on a supporting surface, a pair of opposite end frames pivotably mounted on said bottom for movement between an erect position and a collapsed position on the bottom, said bottom including side rails and corner fittingsysaid cornemfittings having openings for receiving a hook for lifting the container, said bottom including hinge means supporting the end frames in the region of said corner fittings, said end frames each including a portion proximate 'said hinge means which is provided with an opening which is positioned in its associated end frame to become vertically aligned with a corresponding opening in a corner fitting of the bottom of the same container when the end frame is collapsed, whereby the openings in the end frames will be aligned with correspondingopenings in the corner fittings of the bottom of a container superposed thereon, said means for lockin'g'two collapsed superposed containers comprising a device for each pair of aligned openings including locking means having a first position for entering adjacent aligned openings of two superposed containers, and a second position in which the locking means are locked in said aligned openings and lock the superposed containers together. 1

2. The combination as claimed in claim'l wherein said openings are non-circular and said locking means of each device is insertable in the openings in said first position but is non-removable in said second position.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein the locking means of each said device includes a turntable pin having opposite ends and stops on said ends of the pins engageable in respective openings. 1

4. The combination as claimed'in claim 3 wherein each said locking device includes a body portion locked-between the collapsed end frame of the lower container and the said rail of the bottom of the superposed container, said body portion including projections engageable in aligned openings in said collapsed end frame and side rail such that the body portion is non-rotatable relative thereto, said pin being turnable in said body portion.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 4wherein said body portion has a slot therein furnishing access to said pin to enable turning thereof between said first and second portion for locking and unlocking of the stops in the respective openings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,122,258 2/1964 Shile 220-6 3,317,219 5/1967 Hindin 22023.4 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 647,990 9/1962 Canada.

GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Primary Examiner.