US3587900A - Demountable container - Google Patents

Abstract

A CONTAINER OF FIBER REINFORCED PLASTIC COATED PANELS AND ALUMINUM FRAME MEMBERS OF WHICH THE PANELS CAN BE REMOVED FROM THE FRAME WITHOUT BREAKING THE FRAME.

Description

United States Patent Inventors Alexander 13. J. Miller;

William'W. Shaver; Richard Mrotzek, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada App]. No. 803,237 Filed Feb. 28, 1969 Patented June 28, 1971 Assignee Pacific Containers Ltd.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada DEMOUNTABLE CONTAINER 2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

U.S.Cl 217/12, 217/65, 217/69, 220/1.5 Int. Cl 865d 9/34 Field ofSearch 217/12, 65,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Dreher Newman Allington Jewell et a1. Combs et a] Van Geem et al.

Wykough Engelbrecht Chiswell et a1... Golder Primary Examiner- Raphael H. Schwartz Attorney Fetherstonhaugh and Co.

52/495-X 52/495 217/69-X 52/282-X 217/69-X 217/65 217/12 52/282-X ABSTRACT: A container of fiber reinforced plastic coated panels and aluminum frame members of which the panels can be removed from the frame without breaking the frame.

PATENTEUJuuzsmn sum 1 or 4 INVENTORG ALEXANDER Ed. MlLLAR WILLIAM W. SHAVER RICHARD MROTZEK \[lllllll lllllllllllllll imwil ulnl ulrliuvll AT we PATENTED M28 19?: 3,587; 900

' sum 2 or 4 INVENTORG ALEXANDER Ed. MILLAR WILLIAM W SHAVER RICHARE MROTZEK 12% AT ORNEYS PATENTEnJuuzsalsn 3587300 sum 3 OF 4 INVENTORS ALEXANDER Ed. MILLAR WILLIAM W. SHAVER RICHAR D MROTZEK x i AmmEW PATENT-ED JUN28|971 3587800 I I SHEET t [1F 4 I INVENTORQ ALEXANDER E. J MILLAR WILLlAM W- SHAVER RICHARD MROTZEK DEMOUNTABLE CONTAINER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is concerned with containers of the kind used in the shipment of goods and which are packed at one site transported to their destination and are adapted to be transferred from one mode of transport to another during that transportation.

Currently, the form and characteristics of the containers of which this invention is directly concerned are laid down by the International Standards Organization. This invention seeks to satisfy the requirements of that standard whilst achieving certain advances. However, it is to be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the Standard.

In order to comply with the requirements of the Standard concerning strength and rigidity the majority of manufacturers have resorted to the use of steel or aluminum for the walls, floor and doors of the containers. Difficulty arises with this arrangement inasmuch as to meet the strength requirements of the Standard either heavy plate must be used or ribbed or otherwise reinforced plate may be used. The disadvantages of the first arrangement are apparent and are the cost and weight of the materials and so, the latter arrangement is the most common. However, as the Standard sets the limit on the external dimensions of the container this means that the ribs or other reinforcing elements must reduce the internal dimensions of the container.

Also, to meet the strength requirements and also to obtain an effective weather seal it is the practice to weld the floor, roof and walls to appropriate frame members where this is possible or, where it is not, for example when aluminum elements are to be secured to steel elements, the various parts are secured by riveting or bolting. In the latter arrangement, the frame members are usually of channel section and the edges of the walls or other panels are. received in that channel so that weather proofing or caulking is relatively simple.

However, the problem is raised that when a panel becomes damaged its replacement is a long and difficult job involving cutting and welding of either the panels or the frame. If the damage occurs whilst the container is loaded, for example, the damage occurring when the container is being transferred to a ship, then this is particularly problematical for even to apply a patch, welding is necessary and the contents must be removed from the container and this takes time. In the modern container ship each container has a special place allocated to it and thus the whole loading operation may be delayed until the repair has been made.

The present invention seeks to provide a container ofwhich the panels are free of projecting reinforcing elements and of which the panels are readily repaired and simply replaced.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to this invention there is provided a container having a frame made up of interconnected frame members and a plurality of plywood panels which are coated with a fiber reinforced plastic and are mounted upon the frame to be removable without the need to break down the frame.

According to one aspect of this invention the frame members are made in two parts between which the edges of the panels are received and the two parts of the frame member and the edge of the panel are held together by appropriate connector means.

In a particular arrangement according to this invention, the frame members include a channel section into which the edges of the panels are received and one of the flanges deferring the channel is detachable from the remainder of the member so that the panel can be removed from the frame member when the detachable flange is removed.

In this latter arrangement is is necessary to seal the channel at the connection between the two flanges against the ingress ofliquids and in particular against the ingress ofsea water. To this end the mating edges of the two flanges are grooved and the peaks between the grooves of the two flanges are interdigitated to present a tortuous path against the passage .of the water.

The advantages of the container of this invention are apparent. In the event ofa minor mishap in which say, a panel is cracked or pierced a small patch can be very readily applied without the application of heat so that there is no necessity to unload the container. In the event ofa major mishap in which one or more panels are extensively damaged then these can readily be removed and replaced.

Further by using the fiber reinforced plastic overlaid plywood which is light and strong the necessity for reinforcing is avoided and so the internal dimensions of the container are greater, for the same external dimensions, than in the conventional metal containers in which thereinforcing members project into the interior of the container. Further, the inner walls are clean and free of obstructions.

Other advantages are the easy maintenance of containers of this kind as opposed to that of metal containers for all that is required to restore the container to its original condition is washing rather than chipping, sanding and painting as with metal containers. Also, because of the simple erection of the containers, they can be supplied in parts to be assembled by the purchaser and in this way great savings can be made on freight charges because several containers can be transported, in parts, within a single made up container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which,

FIG. 1 is an isometric view ofa container of this invention,

FIG. 2 is a part sectional view on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a part sectional view on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a part'sectional view on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 55 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The container is of rectangular box shape made up of a number of panels, frame members and corner pieces for interconnecting the frame members.

For easy reference throughout this description it is proposed, where appropriate, to refer to the various parts of the container with reference to their positions as illustrated in FIG. 1, thus for example, the doors are at the front ofthe container and the end wall at the rear.

There are roof and floor panels 10 and 20 respectively, opposed sidewall panels 30, and end wall panel 40 and a pair of doors, 50. Each of these panels are of plywood overlaid with a fiber reinforced plastic as can be seen for example in FIG. 5 where the overlay of fiber reinforced plastic on the panel 10 is accorded reference numeral 10a.

The frame is made up of upper horizontal side rail 60, lower, horizontal side rails 70, an upper horizontal end wall rail 80, a lower horizontal end rail 90, a pair of upright end wall rails 100, a door sill rail 110, and a door lintel rail 120, and door jamb rails 130.

To interconnect the frame members there are several corner pieces. Similar, but appropriately right and left hand, corner pieces are located at the upper front corners of the container and interconnect the lintel rail, the upper horizontal side rails and the door jamb rails. At the lower front corners, there are corner pieces I50 (again, as are all the pairs of corner pieces, appropriately left and right handed) interconnecting the sill rail, the lower horizontal side rails and the door jamb rails. At the rear end of the container there are a pair of upper corner pieces I60 and a pair oflower corner pieces 170, the upper corner pieces interconnecting the upper horizontal end rail 80 with the upper horizontal side rails and the upright end wall rails. The lower corner pieces interconnect the lower horizontal sidewall rails, the lower horizontal end wall 75 rail and the upright end wall rails.

Each of the rails has a channel section in which the edge portion of an appropriate one of the panels is received. Of course, the door panels, are not so received and their structure is described in more detail'hereinafter.

ln FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 the interconnection of the lower horizontal rail 70, the door sill rail 110 and door jamb rail 130 is illustrated.

The rail 130, as are all the frame members, is an aluminum extrusion and has an upright and forwardly extending flange 131, i.e., the flange is parallel to the plane of the sidewall, to which suitable hinges are secured to mount the door. The hinges and other hardware of the door in themselves form no part of this invention and thus are not described in detail. The flange 131 is cut away at appropriate intervals as at 132 (FIG. 1) to allow the doors to be opened through a 270angle to lie along the sidewalls 30.

The rebate for the door is defined by the flange 131 and by wall 132 of a box section part 133 of the rail. Beyond the box section a flange 134 extends in the same plane as the flange 131 to define one of the two flanges of a channel section 135 for receiving the vertical edge portion of the sidewall 30. The other of the two flanges of the channel comprises a separable L section piece 136. The shorter limb of the L, together with a thickened section 137 of the rail between the box section and flange 134, forms the base of the channel and the mating surfaces 138 of the flange 136 and the section 137 are each formed with cooperating grooves of V section of which the peaks to each side of the grooves are interdigitated effectively to seal the base of the channel against the passage of water. It will be appreciated that additional caulking is provided.

The flange 134 and the L section piece 136 are formed with registering holes at spaced intervals along their lengths so that bolts may pass therethrough and through corresponding holes in the edge region of the panel 30 to releasably secure the panel in the frame member. It will be appreciated that when the piece 137 is removed then the panel can be withdrawn through that side of the channel otherwise blocked by that piece.

Referring now specifically to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the door sill rail 110 is ofinverted T-section having an upright web 111 and a horizontal flange 112, the part of this flange projecting forwardly of the web constituting the sill and the rearwardly projecting part being an element of the means by which the rail is connected to a corner piece. Towards the end of the web remote from flange 112 a horizontal, rearwardly projecting flange 113 is formed. This flange, together with a flange 114 of a separate extrusion 115 forms a channel to receive the front edge ofthe floor panel 20. The extrusion 115 is of L-section and the extreme edge 116 of the shorter limb of the L is grooved to cooperate with similar grooves on the upper edge 117 of web 111 so that that rim and the part ofthe web above the flange 113 form the base of the channel and so that the joints in the base of the channel is sealed in the manner ofchannel 135, against the ingress ofwater.

The front edge of the floor panel is received in the channel and each of flanges 114 and 113 has corresponding holes drilled in it at intervals so that the panel can be secured by bolts passing through those holes and through holes in the edge region of the panels. To detach the panels the flange 114 is removed.

The extrusion 70 forming the lower horizontal side rail is to be seen in section in FIG. 4 and is generally L-shaped having a vertical flange 71 and a shorter, horizontal flange 72 at its lower edge, the flange 72 serving to secure the rail to its associated corner pieces.

A stepped flange 73 projects from flange 71 to provide a ledge 74 upon which the side edge of the floor is supported and to provide a thickened section 75 which is grooved to cooperate with a correspondingly grooved edge 78 of separable flange 76 which, with the portion of flange 71 above the step flange 73. forms a channel for receiving the lower edge of the sidewall 30. The sidewall panel is secured in position by bolts passing through corresponding holes in each of flanges 71 and 76 and in the edge region ofthe sidewall.

The door sill 110, the doorjamb 130 and the side rail 70 are interconnected by a corner piece 150 which is a unitary casting of generally block form. The corner piece is preferably of aluminum so that the frame members can be welded to it to make a firm connection.

A channel section projection 151 (see FIG. 3) extends from the left hand vertical face (as viewed in FIG. 1) of the corner piece and is received in the space between the flanges 112 and 113 of the door sill 110. From the rear vertical face of the corner block, an angle piece 152 projects and this angle piece fits in the angle formed by the flanges 71 and 72 of rail 70.

From the upper surface of the corner piece a vertical post extends and fits into the box section part 133 of the door jamb 130.

The block 150 at the other corner of the container is ofsubstantially similar form to the one just described above, but is of the opposite hand.

To reinforce the floor l-section beams are located at intervals along the length of the container and extend transversely of the container.

The door lintel extrusion is to be seen in FIG. 3 in cross section and is of generally T-section having an upper horizontal flange 121 and'a vertical flange 122. The portion offlange 121 projecting forwardly of flange 122 together with the flange 122 forms a rebate for the door.

A short vertical flange 123 projects from that part of the flange 121 rearwardly of the flange 122 and together with section 124 of a detachable flange 125 forms the base of a channel section for receiving the roof panel 10.

The mating edges 127 of flange 123 and section 124 of flange 125 are grooved as in the manner of the other channel connections previously described to seal the base of the channel against the ingress of the water.

The end of the flange 122 remote from its connection to flange 121 terminates in a horizontal flange 126, which serves to secure the rail to a cooperating part of the corner piece 140.

ln FIG. 4 the upper horizontal side rail 60 is to be seen in cross section. The rail 60 is of L-shape, each limb of the L terminating in a panel receiving channel. The channel for receiving the roof 10 is formed by the outer end of the limb 61 of the rail 60, a vertically downwardly projecting flange 62 and a detachable flange 63. The mating surfaces 67 of flanges 62 and 63 are grooved to sea] the base ofthe channel.

The channel for receiving the sidewall is formed by the outer end of flange 64, a horizontally and inwardly projecting flange 65 and a detachable flange 66 of substantially similar form to flange 63. Both sides of each of the channels of the rail 60 are drilled at intervals along their length to receive bolts for securing the panels in position.

It is to be appreciated that of the pair of rails 60 one is left and the other, right hand.

The corner block for interconnecting rails 120, 60 and 130 is of aluminum and is hollow block casting with an angle piece 141 (See FIG. 4) projecting from its rear vertical face and seating in the angle between flanges 61 and 64 of rail 60.

Projecting from the left hand vertical face of the block is a channel section piece 142 which is received between flanges 121 and 126 of rail 120 and has its web adjacent the flange 122 of that rail.

The lower horizontal face of the corner piece has a downwardly projecting post adapted to be received in the upper end of the box section 133 of the door jamb rail 130, in much the same manner as is the upstanding post of lower corner piece 150.

The upper horizontal end rail 80 and the upright end rail 100 are of substantially similar construction and are to be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6. The construction of the rails is apparent from the drawings and as such are not described in detail herein. The corner block for interconnecting rail 80 and 100 and upper horizontal side rail 60 are of hollow block form having angle pieces projecting from their appropriate faces for engagement in the angles of the various extruded rails.

Each of the comer blocks is provided with holes into which the hooks of cranes or other handling equipment may be engaged to move the containers. The lower side rails are also provided with spaced apertures within which the tines of forklift trucks may be engaged.

The doors are of simple construction comprising an outer frame 51 and panels of fiber reinforced plastic overlaid plywood. The frame members making up the frame 51 may, if desired, include the inventive principles of the frame of the other parts of the container so that the edges of the door panels are received in channels ofwhich one flange is removable to facilitate the removable and replacement of the door panel should then become damaged.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described with reference to the drawings are exemplary and that the structure may be varied without deviating from the scope of the invention.

We claim:

' l. A container comprising a frame and a plurality of panels of plywood overlayed with fiber reinforced plastic and secured to the frame said frame including an element of generally L- section, each limb ofthe l. terminating in a panel edge receiving channel of which one of two flanges defining each channel is detachable from the element to release the panel edge received in the channel.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1, in which mating surfaces of the flanges of the channel have longitudinally extending grooves, the peaks formed by the material remaining between the grooves of one surface interdigitated with those on the other.

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