US3669284A

US3669284A - Container supporting apparatus in the container ship

Info

Publication number: US3669284A
Application number: US76024A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ichiro Tabuchi; Akira Iwami; Yasuhiro Harita; Toshiaki Yamamoto
Original assignee: Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co Ltd
Current assignee: Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co Ltd
Priority date: 1969-10-15
Filing date: 1970-09-28
Publication date: 1972-06-13
Anticipated expiration: 1989-06-13
Also published as: DE2050459A1; NO130760C; GB1323720A; NL7014965A; NO130760B; SE374326B; NL155494B; JPS5012195B1; FR2066008A5

Abstract

Container supporting apparatus in the container ship having container supporting members at middle stage in the container hold, the supporting members being adapted to be automatically projected into the container cell and retracted therefrom by sensing containers above the supporting members and beneath them.

Description

United States Patent Tabuchi et al.

[451 June 13, 1972 [54] CONTAINER SUPPORTING APPARATUS IN THE CONTAINER SHIP [72] Inventors: Ichiro Tabuchi, Chiba; Akira Iwami; Yasuhiro Harita, both of Tokyo; Toshlaki Yamamoto, Kanagawa, all of Japan [73] Assignee: Mitsui Shipbuilding and Engineering Co.

Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Sept. 28, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 76,024

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 15, 1969 Japan ..44/82354 [52] U.S.Cl. ..214/10.5 R,214/l5 R [51] Int. Cl ..B65g 1/20 [58] FieldofSearch ..2l4/10.5 R, l4, 15 R; 114/72 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,675,133 4/1954 stlund ..2l4/10.5 R 3,231,103 H1966 Tantlinger ..214/l0.5 R

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Frank E. Werner Attorney-Howson and Howson ABSTRACT Container supporting apparatus in the container ship having container supporting members at middle stage in the container hold, the supporting members being adapted to be automatically projected into the container cell and retracted therefrom by sensing containers above the supporting members and beneath them.

5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures Patented June 13, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet} CONTAINER SUPPORTING APPARATUS IN THE CONTAINER SHIP The present invention relates to a container supporting apparatus in the container ship which supports containers at middle stage in the container hold.

The container ship is provided with container guides located in the container hold, the guides forming the four corners of each of a series of container cells into which containers can be loaded and stacked-in superimposed relation. In such a container hold, it is not permitted to stack more than six containers in each cell, since the bottom container can not support more than five containers thereon. Accordingly, there have been provided apparatus for supporting containers above the six superimposed containers in order to load more than six containers in the container hold. Such apparatus have movable supporting members for container and the supporting members are adapted to be projected into the container cell or retracted therefrom by manually operating the control device when loading or unloading.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which is automatically operated.

The apparatus in accordance with the present invention is characterized by devices for sensing the containers above the supporting members and beneath them, the supporting members being adapted to be automatically projected or retracted by sensing containers.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now to be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from inside of the container hold;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line B-B of FIG. I; and

FIGS. 4a to 4f are diagramatical illustration showing operations of the apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3, container guides 2 at the four corners of the container 1 to be loaded are secured to pillars 4 by placing spacers 4a. Above the sixth container 1a, supporting plates 3 are secured to the pillars 4, and hence the container guides 2, the guides being aligned with out off portions of the supporting plates. Movable container supporting members 6 and 6a to support upper containers are rotatably provided on the supporting plates 3 and being symmetrically arranged at opposite corners. More specifically each of the supporting members has a shaft 7 which is pivotally mounted on the supporting plate 3 and a supporting block 3a fixed on the supporting plate. A lever 8 secured to the shaft 7 at one corner has an upwardly extended rod 10, and a lever 8a secured to the other shaft 7 has a rod 10a longer than the rod 10. The rods are connected by springs 13 to pins 12 fixed to actuating shafts 11 and 11a respectively. Each actuating shaft is slidably supported by brackets 14, extending over the width of container hold. The actuating shaft 11a is connected to a piston rod 16 of a hydraulic cylinder and also connected to the actuating shaft 11 by a connecting link 18 pivoted by a pin 17.

A pair of vertically arranged

stoppers

21 and 21a are slidably supported by brackets 22 in such a manner that they abut on the back side of the respective supporting members 6 and 6a when they are projected into the container cell as shown in FIG. 3 and abut on a shoulder as shown by dotted line when the supporting member is retracted. Each stopper is connected to a

sensing lever

24 or 24a by a link 23 and the sensing lever 24 being pivoted by a pin 29. Each sensing lever is adapted to be projected horizontally into the container cell by springs 25 provided between projections 19 and the one bracket 22.

As shown in FIG. 3, the supporting member 6 in the projected position is supported by a bracket 26 secured to the pi]- lar 4 through the block and is held in the position by the stoppers 21 and 27. While in the retracted position, the supporting member 6 is supported by the supporting plate 3 and held in the position by

stoppers

21 and 28.

In loading of the container, the hydraulic cylinder 15 is operated to move the rod 16 from position X to position Y in FIG. 1. The movement of the rod 16 causes the actuating shafts 11 and 11a to slide in directions counter to each other, and hence the pins 12 are moved from the position X to the position Y in FIG. 3. Thus the supporting members 6 and 6a are pulled by the springs 13 in the direction to the projecting position. However the supporting members can not be rotated because of the

stoppers

21 and 21a.

From FIGS. 4a and 4b it will be seen that the

sensing levers

24 and 24a are actuated by the container I loaded in the container cell. The

sensing levers

24 and 24a are positioned apart a distance larger than the height of the container, so that the sensing levers are not actuated at the same time by one container. Thus the supporting members 6 and 6a are always held in the retracted position by either of the

stoppers

21 and 21a. In the condition that the sixth container 1a has been loaded in the container cell as shown in FIG. 4b, the lower sensing levers 24a are kept in the actuated position by the sixth container. As shown in FIG. 4c, when the seventh container actuates the sensing levers 24, the supporting members 6 and 6a are released from the

stoppers

21 and 21a. Thus the supporting members are projected into the container cell by the springs 13, so that the seventh container is supported by the projected supporting member as seen from FIG. 4d.

In unloading, the rod 16 is moved from position Y to position X by operating the hydraulic cylinder 15, which in turn the pins 12 are moved to position X. Thus the springs 13 urge the supporting members 6 and 6a to rotate to the retracted position. However the supporting members 6 and 6a can not be rotated by the weight of the containers loaded thereon. When the seventh container is unloaded, the supporting member rotates to the retracted position. Thus the lower containers than the seventh container can be unloaded without obstruction of the supporting members.

It should be understood that limit switches or photoelectric tubes to sense the containers may be provided in stead of the aforementioned sensing lever. In this case, the apparatus is so constructed that supporting members are projected only when the both upper and lower switches or photoelectric tubes are actuated by the containers above the supporting members and beneath them.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the present invention provides novel apparatus which can efficiently perform the loading and unloading works, because the supporting members are automatically projected and retracted.

We claim:

1. Container supporting apparatus in a container ship comprising supporting members adapted to be projected into the container cell to support the container at a middle stage in the container cell, two sets of sensing means for sensing stacked containers situated above the supporting members and beneath them, and actuating means adapted to move the supporting members to the projected position when the two sets of sensing means are activated by the containers at the same time and to the retracted position when the container on the supporting members is raised.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said actuating means includes spring means operable to bias said supporting members toward said projected position during loading of the containers and to bias said supporting members toward said retracted position during unloading of the containers, and stop means operable when operative to restrain said supporting members against movement under the influence of said spring means, said stop means being connected to said sensing means to be rendered inoperative when the two sets of sensing means are activated by the containers at the same time during loadmg.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said two sets of sensing means are vertically spaced apart a distance greater than the height of the container so as to avoid activation of both sets at the same time by the same container.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said sensing means comprise levers pivoted about horizontal axes for displacement from a normal horizontal position intercepting the path of movement of the containers in the cell into both upwardly and downwardly displaced positions out of the path of movement of the containers whereby said lever is displaced from its normal position by either upward or downward displacement of the containers.

Claims

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said actuating means includes spring means operable to bias said supporting members toward said projected position during loading of the containers and to bias said supporting members toward said retracted position during unloading of the containers, and stop means operable when operative to restrain said supporting members against movement under the influence of said spring means, said stop means being connected to said sensing means to be rendered inoperative when the two sets of sensing means are activated by the containers at the same time during loading.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said supporting members are pivotally mounted for rotation on vertical axes so as to be displaced within a horizontal plane, said actuating means comprising a spring attached to each supporting member at one end and attached to a movable element at the other end, said element being positioned during loading to cause said spring to bias said supporting member to the projected position, and said element being positioned during unloading to bias the supporting member toward the retracted position.