WO1989001907A1

WO1989001907A1 - A device for interlocking stacked containers

Info

Publication number: WO1989001907A1
Application number: PCT/DK1988/000139
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frank Bunde
Original assignee: I/S Aalykke
Priority date: 1987-08-26
Filing date: 1988-08-26
Publication date: 1989-03-09
Also published as: DK446587A; DK171376B1; DK446587D0; AU2389188A

Abstract

A device for interlocking stacked containers comprises a protruding central portion (4) with abutment faces (5, 6) for two containers and integral with the central portion end portions (3) having a flange (7) for engagement with the corner box of the first container and for insertion into the corner box of the second container, respectively. The last mentioned end portion includes a pivotal locking head (10) turnable between an engaging position and a neutral position and having an engaging surface (11) facing the central portion. The rotation of the locking head is controlled by a handle (9) pivotal between two extreme positions and having a pivot shaft extending from the central portion. The locking head is spring-biassed by a spring so as to be urged towards the engaging position. The shaft is via a projection and a slot guide in rotation transferring engagement with the locking head. The slot guide includes a surface for arresting the handle in the neutral position. When the first end portion is inserted into a container corner a pin (8) is pushed into the central portion. Thus, the pin co-operates with the pivot shaft (19) so that the handle (9) by the depression of the pin is forced to occupy the extreme position in which the locking head is in the engaging position.

Description

A Device for Interlocking Stacked Containers.

The invention relates to a device for interlocking superposed stacked containers, particularly on the deck of a ship, said lock device comprising a protruding central portion with abutment faces for a first and a second container and integrally with the central portion a first end portion with a flange adapted to engage the container corner or corner box of the first container and a second end portion to be inserted in the corner box of the second container, said second end portion including a pivotal locking head turnable between an engaging position and a neutral position and having a contacting surface facing towards the central portion, said head being integral with a central journal that is spring-biassed to be turned into the engaging position, in which lock device the rotation of the locking head is controlled by a handle extending from the central portion and being pivotal between two extreme positions.

Conveyance of goods in containers is quite widely used and is effected in internationally standardized containers of 20 feet, 30 feet or 40 feet which across longer distances are conveyed particularly on container vessels. Compared to other types of ship, container vessels convey a cargo of great economic value and it is thus important that the conveyance and the transhipment of the containers are effected quickly and safely, and in view of the fact that the competition between individual container shipping companies is moreover very keen, it is strictly indispensable to keep the time schedule of each individual vessel. In this respect, it is important that waste of time and wrong operations during transhipping are avoided, the lay days in port for transhipment being short-termed and the operator staff for container cranes as well as moorings being booked in advance. DE patent No. 35 38 892 discloses a lock device of the above mentioned type which is adapted to be secured at the corner box of the first container prior to its being transferred on board a ship. After the mounting, the handle is moved to a position corresponding to the engaging position of the locking head. Upon insertion of the locking head into a corner box two diametrically opposed controlling surfaces on said head will temporarily be affected by the edge of the hole in the corner, thereby turning the locking head to the neutral position in passing the hole. When the first container is piled on a stack of containers the locking head therefore automatically engages the corner box of the second container, provided the handle be placed in the engaging position. The handle of the lock device is over a spring directly secured to the journal and the handle is turnable in parallel to the main plane of the central portion so that it must be turned in the horizontal direction if two interlocked containers are to be released from each other. This implies, on one hand, that the position of the locking head cannot be read with certainty from the position of the handle, thereby involving the risk of insufficient interlocking, thereby again entailing losses or damage to the containers when sailing in heavy weather and, on the other hand, the handle is difficult to actuate to the neutral position due to the horizontal movability when the lock device is positioned high up in a pile of containers that may be as high as 15 meters. US patent No. 4 564 984 discloses a lock unit with a first end portion having a flange for engagement with a corner box. Two diametrically opposed corners of said end portion are obliquely cut off so as to provide at each of said corners a clearance between the end portion and the periphery of the hole in the corner box when the flange is pushed into and engages the corner box. With a view to ensure the lock unit against unintentional release the central portion accommodates a locking pin displaceable into the central portion against a spring bias force and extending upwards into said free space when the flange engages the corner box. The flange may then solely be disengaged from the corner box after the locking pin has manually been pulled into the central portion.

It should be aimed at providing a lock device which with the least possible risk of incorrect operation or failure of functioning is easy and quick in use, since such a device contributes to preventing heavily expensive delays of container vessels. The lock device should, moreover, possess a great reliability in operation, also when used in maritime environments.

According to an embodiment of the present invention the lock device of the above mentioned type is characterized in that the handle comprises a pivot shaft accommodated in the central portion and having an axis of rotation substantially transverse to the direction of the axis of rotation of the journal, and that a first engaging member is in firm connection with the pivot shaft and is adapted to such a direct and rotation transferring engagement with a second engaging member firmly connected with the journal that a specific handle position substantially corresponds to a specific turning position of the locking head.

When the lock device is mounted in a tier of containers the handle will protrude from the tier and be pivotal about a horizontal axis so as to be comparatively easily moved to the neutral position by clutching the handle with a long lever, then either pulling or pushing in the vertical direction. A turning of the handle is to be converted into a rotation of the locking head and by effecting this step via the rotation transferring engagement between two engaging mem bers that are in direct communication with each other and firmly connected with the shaft and the journal, respectively, there is obtained such a conversion of the rotational movements within the comparatively narrow central portion that the pivotal position of the locking head may unambiguously and easily be visually read from the position of the handle in unison with using only a small number of engaging members, thereby ensuring a high degree of reliability in operation and a simple disassembling and assembling of the lock device.

According to an additional embodiment of the invention the lock device of the above mentioned type is characterized in that the handle includes a pivot shaft accommodated in the central portion and having an axis of rotation substantially transverse to the direction of the axis of rotation of the journal, said shaft being in rotation transferring engagement with the journal in such a manner that a specific position of the handle substantially corresponds to a specific turning position of the locking head, and that the rotation transferring engagement is provided so that the handle may be self-barring in the extreme position in which the locking head is in its neutral position. Two containers are interlocked at four corners and when the containers are to be separated it is therefore, for operational reasons, of great importance that the locking head may be arrested in the neutral position so that the lock devices may be individually released in good time before lifting off one container from a tier. By designing according to the invention the rotation transferring engagement in such a way that the handle is self-barring in the neutral position a particularly simple and thus reliable design is obtained without superfluous elements but, more importantly, it is obtained that the means providing the self-barring effect are positioned in the interior of the lock device, thereby being protected against stress of blows and particularly against corrosion due to actions from sea water and saline air. Still an additional embodiment of the invention is chartacterized in that a locking member known per se rises from the abutment face for the first container so that the flange of the first end portion by the engagement with the corner box is secured against unintentional release, said locking member being displaceable into the central portion against a spring bias force, and that the handle includes a pivot shaft accommodated in the central portion and cooperating with the locking member in such a manner that on depression said member urges the handle to occupy the extreme position in which the locking head is in the engaging position.

The cooperation of the locking member with the handle causes the handle to occupy the "loading position", i.e. the position in which the locking head is in the engaging position, when the first end portion is inserted into the associated corner box, the insertion being possible only if the locking member is simultaneously pressed down to flush with the abutment face for the first container. This facilitates the work of the operating staff and ensures that the first container on its being piled on a stack of containers aboard the ship will automatically be interlocked with the previous container, thereby preventing that insufficient control on operators' part of the position of the handle may result in failing interlocking of the containers which might otherwise involve the risk of damaging the containers or even that the containers might fall overboard during sailing in rough weather. Said automatical securing against incorrect operation is particularly important when container vessels call at ports making use of non-routined dockers. In order to prevent the handle protruding beyond the outer surface of the container from being damaged during the handling of the containers, the handle may advantageous be pressed axially inwardly against a spring bias force, thereby further enabling the use of conventional container lashing rods, which rods are to be secured to the lower corner boxes in either of the second and third layer of containers and which extend diagonally downwards to form lashing crosses, irrespective of whether use is also made of the lock device for the three lowermost container layers of a tier, the lashing rods having thus to pass the handles of the devices.

An embodiment of the device according to the invention will now be explained in detail with reference to the drawings, in which

Fig. 1 is an illustration of a pile of containers while being stacked.

Fig. 2 is a view of two corner boxes prior to their being interlocked.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a lock device with a locking head in the neutral position,

Fig. 4 illustrates the lock device in Fig. 3 with the locking head in the loading position, Fig. 5 in partial section a lateral view of an exchangeable unit with a locking pin,

Fig. 6 is a plane view of the exchangeable unit in Fig. 5,

Figs 7 to 9 are illustrations of the connection between a handle and the locking head in Fig. 3,

Fig. 10 is a cross-section along the line X-X in Fig. 6, and

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of a slot guide member. As illustrated in Fig. 1 the containers 100, 101 have at each corner a so-called corner box 102 which is an internationally standardized fitting or fixture designed to the lifting and securing of containers, having an opening 103 in which a device 1 for interlocking containers may be secured. Fig. 2 illustrates three containers 100 piled on each other and interlocked at each corner by means of the lock device 1 and the fourth container 101 which by a non-illustrated container crane is being lifted to be correctly piled on the top of the stack. Lock device 1 is mounted at each of the lower corner boxes of container 101 and on piling the container on the top of the stack the lock devices automatically engage the upper corner boxes of container 100, as explained in the following. As it appears from Figs 1, 3 and 4 the device comprises an integral housing comprising a first end portion 2, a second end portion 3 and a central portion 4 protruding in relation to the end portions and having abutment faces 5, 6 for the superjacent and subjacent containers 100, 101, respectively. The first end portion is rhomboidal with two diametrically opposed flanges 7 formed at the extreme end of the end portion so that the device may be inserted into one corner box on a first, for instance the superjacent container, and may be turned, thereby effecting flanges 7 to engage the corner box. In the engaging position device 1 is secured against dropping out unintentionally of the corner box by a spring-biassed locking pin 8 projectable from abutment face 5 at the completion of the turning jumps up into the cleared part of opening 103 of the corner box, thereby impeding an oppositely directed turning.

A handle 9 and a locking head 10 are interconnected, as will be explained later on, so that a specific position of the handle substantially corresponds to a specific position of the locking head which in the illustrated, preferred embodiment is a container locking cone known per se and is movable between a neutral position illustrated in Fig. 3 and an engaging position illustrated in Fig. 4. When the cone is in the neutral position it may be pushed into corner box 102 together with the second end portion 3 of a second, e.g. the subjacent container, and in the engaging position cone 10 is twisted or turned an angle in relation to end portion 3 so that the flat engaging surface of the cone facing the central portion 4 at the two end sections 11 extending beyond end portion 3 may engage an internal surface on the corner box, thereby firmly locking device 1 to the container. If lock device 1 is designed to be mounted at the lower corner box of the superjacent container 101 it is advantageous, for operational reasons, that handle 9 and cone 10 are connected so that the latter is in the neutral position as illustrated on the drawings, when the handle is turned to a lower extreme position, a container being then releasable from a tier, since the seamen by means of a long lever or rod having a gripping member, e.g. in the form of a loop fitting, pull the handle downwards until the cone disengages the corner box. At its free end handle 9 is provided with a projection 12 forming a stop for the gripping member. When handle 9 is positioned in the horizontal extreme position prior to inserting the second end portion 3 into corner box, lock device 1 is in a so- called loading position in which cone 10 is in the engaging position and is spring-biassed to return thereto after the cone upon insertion into a corner box has been rotated towards the neutral position by guide surfaces 13 actuated by the edge of the opening of the corner box. With reference to Figs 5 and 6 the security of device 1 against incorrect operation on fastening at the corner box 103 of the first container will now be described. Upon pushing the first end portion 2 into the corner box, locking member 8 in the form of a pin is being pressed downwards and a lever 15 pivotal about a machine screw 14 and the one end of which engages a groove 16 in the pin, urges the handle to move to its horizontal extreme position due to the abutment of its other end 17 on the end of a recess 18 in the pivot shaft 19 of the handle, in which extreme position a projection 20 on shaft 19 abuts on a stop 21, device 1 being in its loading position. A spring 22 urges locking pin 8 upwards to engage opening 103 of the corner box. When lock device 1 is to be released in order, to be disposed on another container or for storage locking pin 8 is pressed downwards by manually actuating an arm 23 connected with the pin and positioned in such a manner relative to the handle that the operating staff will naturally and simultaneously actuate the handle upwards, thereby easing the depressing of the pin, the device being then turned until flanges 7 disengage the corner box, following which the lock device may be removed. In case of stress of blows and shocks the handle may be pushed axially inwards under compression of a spring 24, the internal shaft 19' of the handle being axially displaced within shaft 19.

The internal end of shaft 19 supports a finger 25 converting the movement of handle 9 into a rotating movement of cone 10 as described in the following with reference to Figs 7 to 9.

Cone 10 has a central journal 26 to be inserted into the housing of the device. Journal 26 is axially secured in the housing through a bajonet coupling between cams 27 on the journal and corresponding recesses in the continuous, central opening of the housing. At its free end journal 26 is provided with a spring guide 28 and a helical spring 29 the first end 30 of which is secured in relation to the journal and the other end 31 of which is bent outwards to abut on the wall surface of the continuous opening of the housing, thereby causing the spring to urge cone 10 to rotate towards the engaging position.

A slot guide member 32 is disposed beneath spring 29 in a groove at the end of journal 26 and is in unison with the spring and spring guide 28 secured to the journal by means of a machine screw 33 screwed into a threaded hole 34 at the tap end.

At its one end guide member 32 has a bore 35 into which the first end 30 of the spring is inserted and at its other end the slot guide member is provided with a bifurcated member 36 defining a guide slot for finger 25 of the handle. The engaging connection between finger 25 and the bifurcated member 36 provides for a mutual positive engagement between cone 10 and handle 9. Fig. 9 illustrates the positioning of the finger in the slot guide when the cone is in the engaging position.

When cone 10 is to be kept in the neutral position, handle 9 is moved downwards until the free end of finger 25 passes an edge of the bifurcated member 36 and abuts on an obliquely backwards directed surface 37 of said member. This prevents spring 29 from turning the cone towards the engaging position. On placing the first end portion in the corner box, handle 9 is, as above, compulsorily turned upwards, thereby again pushing finger 25 up into the guide slot.

Due to the bias force of spring 29 when cone 10 is in the neutral position, the force to be extered on handle 9 in order to rotate the cone to the engaging position amounts approximately to one third of the force required to rotate the cone in the opposite direction into the neutral position. This feature facilitates the operation of the handle when device 1 is positioned high above the deck of a vessel and the handle is to be actuated by the above mentioned long rod.

In the proximity of the lower extreme position handle 9 is frictionally loaded against rotation so that the free end of finger 25 does not unintentionally turn down onto surface 37. The frictional loading is illustrated in Fig. 10, in which a rim 38 on shaft 19 has a cut-off edge or recess 39. A screw 40 in a threaded hole within central portion 4 carries at its internal end an elastic material 41, for instance a plastics material or rubber, extending somewhat into the bearing hole of the rim. When the handle is close to the lower extreme position corresponding to the neutral position of the cone, the elastic material will abut on the lower end 42 of recess 39 so that a continuous rotation of the handle to the extreme position necessitates an intentional power influence of a certain size dependent on the positioning of screw 40 in the threaded hole.

If it should be necessary to repair lock device 1, this is easily taken apart to its individual pieces. A hexagonal wrench is inserted into the continuous opening of the housing and screw 33 is removed together with spring guide 28, spring 29 and slot guide member 32. A section of the housing formed as a unit with the handle, locking pin 8 and lever 15 (illustrated in Figs 5 and 6) may then be laterally removed from the central portion 4, following which the bajonet coupling of the cone with the housing may be released.

The designing of the individual parts as one unit, illustrated in Fig. 6, allows, on one hand, for a quick disassembling of device 1 and, on the other hand, a cheap transportation of spare parts, the unit having only a low weight in comparison with the total lock device.

Fig. 11 illustrates a second embodiment of a slot guide member 50, in which a spring guide 51, a body 52 to be inserted into the slot at the end of journal 26 and a first section of a bifurcated member is formed in one piece and for instance produced by means of drop-forging. The other section of the bifurcated member constituting slot guide for finger 25 is provided by a first end 54 of a helical spring 55 which, for the rest, corresponds to helical screw 29 and which for the sake of clearness is shown only partially. The first end 54 of spring 55 is bent inwards and downwards to be secured in a recess 56 of body 52 and outwards to form the slot guide. With a view to facilitate the mounting of spring 55,. spring guide 51 includes a keyway or slot 57 adapted to lead end 54 of the spring into recess 56. Slot guide member 50 is secured to journal 26 by means of a helical member to be inserted through the central bore 58 of spring guide 51. A washer, not shown, having a larger diameter than the outer diameter of spring 55 may advantageously be disposed between the helical member and the spring guide 51, thereby preventing the slot guide member from tipping. Finger 25 is illustrated in the extreme position corresponding to the neutral position of the cone.

It is possible to fill the internal space of the lock device with grease in order to obtain an improved resistance to corrosion of the elements that is important for the functioning of the lock device.

The invention is not restricted to the embodiments illustrated and described above. For example, the connection between the handle and the engaging member may be a gearing or any other similar coupling, and the horizontal extreme position of the handle may correspond to the neutral position of the engaging member, which may be useful if the first end portion of the device is to be pushed into the upper container corner of the container.

Claims

P A T E N T C L A I M S

1. A device for interlocking superposed stacked containers, particularly on the deck of a ship, said lock device (1) comprising a protruding central portion (4) with abutment faces (5, 6) for a first (100) and a second container (101) and integrally with the central portion a first end portion with a flange (7) adapted to engage the container corner or corner box (102) of the first container and a second end portion (3) to be inserted in the corner box of the second con tainer, said second end portion including a pivotal locking head (10) turnable between an engaging position and a neutral position and having an engaging surface (11) facing towards the central portion, said head being integral with a central journal (26) that is spring-biassed, to be turned into the engaging position, in which lock device the rotation of the locking head is controlled by a handle (9) extending from the central portion and being pivotal between two extreme positions, characterized in that the handle comprises a pivot shaft (19) accommodated in the central portion and having an axis of rotation substantially transverse to the direction of the axis of rotation of the journal (26), and that a first engaging member (25) is in firm connection with the pivot shaft (19) and is adapted to such a direct and rotation transferring engagement with a second engaging member (36) firmly connected with the journal (26) that a specific handle position substantially corresponds to a specific turning position of the locking head (10).

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the first engaging member is a curved finger (25) projecting from the internal end of the pivot shaft (19) and extending transversely to the longitudinal axis thereof, and that the second engaging member is a slot guide defined by a bifurcated member (36) secured to the internal end of the journal (26) and protruding transversely to the longitudinal direction thereof.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 and wherein the spring bias force exerted on the locking head is effected by a helical spring, characterized in that one end of the helical spring (29) constitutes the branch of the bifurcated member (36) forming the guide surface of the finger during the movement of the handle (9) towards the extreme position corresponding to the engaging position of the locking head.

4. A device for interlocking superposed stacked containers, particularly on the deck of a ship, said lock device (1) comprising a protruding central portion (4) with abutment faces (5, 6) for a first (100) and a second container (101) and integrally with the central portion a first ehd portion with a flange (7) adapted to engage the container corner or corner box (102) of the first container and a second end portion (3) to be inserted in the corner box of the second container, said second end portion including a pivotal locking head (10) turnabie between an engaging position and a neutral position and having an engaging surface (11) facing towards the central portion, said head being integral with a central journal (26) that is spring-biassed to be turned into the engaging position, in which lock device the rotation of the locking head is controlled by a handle (9) extending from the central portion and being pivotal between two extreme positions, characterized in that the handle includes a pivot shaft (19) accommodated in the central portion and having an axis of rotation substantially transverse to the direction of the axis of rotation of the journal (26), said shaft (19) being in rotation transferring engagement with the journal in such a manner that a specific position of the handle substantially corresponds to a specific turning position of the locking head (10), and that the rotation transferring engagement is provided so that the handle (9) may be self-barring in the extreme position in which the locking head (10) is in its neutral position.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the rotation transferring engagement is a slot guide (32) connected with the journal (26) and a projection or finger (25) for engagement with the slot guide, said slot guide including a surface (37) for arresting the projection in a position corresponding to the neutral position of the locking head.

6. A device as claimed in claims 4 or 5, characterized in that the pivot shaft (19) close to the extreme position corresponding to the neutral position of the locking head (10) is frictionally loaded against rotation.

7. A device as claimed in claims 2 and 5, characterized in that the arresting surface (37) is provided on the branch of the bifurcated member forming the guide surface of finger (25) during the movement of the handle towards the extreme position corresponding to the neutral position of the locking head.

8. A device for interlocking superposed stacked containers, particularly on the deck of a ship, said lock device (1) comprising a protruding central portion (4) with abutment faces (5, 6) for a first (100) and a second container (101) and integrally with the central portion a first end portion with a flange (7) adapted to engage the container corner or corner box (102) of the first container and a second end portion (3) to be inserted in the corner box of the second container, said second end portion including a pivotal locking head (10) turnabie between an engaging position and a neutral position and having an engaging surface (11) facing towards the central portion, said head being integral with a central journal (26) that is spring-biassed to be turned into the engaging position, in which lock device the rotation of the locking head is controlled by a handle (9) extending from the central portion and being pivotal between two extreme positions, characterized in that a locking member (8) known per se rises from the abutment face (5) for the first container so that the flange (7) of the first end portion by engaging corner box (102) is secured against unintentional release, said locking member being displaceable into the central portion (4) against a spring bias force, and that the handle includes a pivot shaft (19) accommodated in the central portion and cooperating with the locking member (8) in such a manner that on depression said member urges the handle (9) to occupy the extreme position in which the locking head (10) is in the engaging position.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8, and in which the locking member is a pin (8) displaceable in its axial direction, characterized in that the pin has a radial groove (16) adapted to engage one end of a lever mechanism (14, 15) pivotally journalled between the pin and the pivot shaft (19) of the handle, the pivot shaft having a recess (18) for receiving the other end (17) of the lever mechanism.

10. A device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the handle (9) may be depressed axially inwards against a spring bias force.

11. A device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the necessary force exerted on the handle (9) in order to urge the locking head (10) into the engaging position is substantially inferior to the force necessary to urge the locking head into the neutral position.

12. A device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the handle (9) together with the pivot shaft (19), locking member (8) and the lever mechanism (14, 15) are mounted in an easily exchangeable unit.