WO2004052680A1

WO2004052680A1 - Mounting assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2004052680A1
Application number: PCT/AU2003/001628
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ronald Gibson
Original assignee: Midwest Services Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2002-12-12
Filing date: 2003-12-12
Publication date: 2004-06-24
Also published as: AU2002953297A0

Abstract

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a mounting assembly suitable for mounting an article to a vehicle chassis, the vehicle chassis including at least one chassis member, the mounting assembly including: cooperating male and female members, one of which is operatively connected to the chassis member, the other of which is operatively connected to the article; the male member including opposed side wall sections and a leading edge portion at one end thereof, the side wall sections tapering towards one another in the direction of the leading edge portion; the female member including opposed spaced apart side wall sections and an access opening at one end thereof, the side wall sections tapering towards one another from the access opening, the side wall sections having a holding space therebetween; the side wall sections of the male and female members being adapted to cooperate with one another when the male member is disposed within the holding space so as to provide for a wedging interengagement.

Description

MOUNTING ASSEMBLY

This invention relates generally to a mounting assembly for mounting articles.

One particular application for the present invention is in the transportation of articles by rail. Although it will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention with reference to this application, it is to be understood that it is not to be taken as a limitation of the scope of the invention. For example, the support frame may be used equally well in road, sea and air transport applications, or assisting with temporary site storage.

Freight operators generally use single-purpose vehicles, and thus freight is not carried in an efficient manner. This method of operation generally increases the operators' required inventory of transport vehicles, while at the same time reducing the availability of those vehicles. Even where limited multi-purpose vehicles are provided, they generally require long set-up (changeover) times to cross between functions, or are inadequate to the task, because of the complex loading patterns encountered in vehicles.

Furthermore, chassis are generally provided with welded cross members to assist with bending strength, but this type of cross member generally increases torsional rigidity and therefore increased wheel-unloading risk of the vehicle.

In addition, the rollover risk of freight vehicles is generally high as the centre of gravity and torsional rigidity of the vehicle is generally high.

The present invention alleviates one or more of the abovementioned disadvantages.

In use the wedging interengagement of the side wall sections of the male and female members provides support to the article within the chassis to which the mounting member is connected.

The tapering of the wall sections on the male and female sections may be at any suitable angle. Preferably the angle is between 25 and 85 degrees to the horizontal. In one preferred embodiment, the tapering is about 83 degrees to the horizontal.

One side wall section of the female or male member may taper independently towards the other opposed side wall section, that is, asymmetrically. This apparent mismatching may have the advantage of indicating a preferred assembly direction. However, in a preferred embodiment, the opposed side wall sections of the female and male members taper towards one another in a symmetric manner, so that assembly may be effected in either direction.

An inclination of the side wall sections in relation to the chassis member may be provided, to give an additional wedging interengagement, further constraining lateral forces or buckling forces which may be imparted by, for example, shunting. In preferred forms this additional wedging interengagement is provided by front wall portions operatively connected to or integral with the side wall portions.

Preferably flanges are provided on the male member, on the ends of which the opposed side wall portions are mounted. In one form, a neck portion is provided in order to space the opposed side walls and flanges from the article or chassis member for location in the female member.

Preferably the side wall and/or front wall portions of the or each female member are attached to their respective article or chassis member so that a channel is formed, for receiving the or each flange on the male member.

Preferably two chassis members are provided. In one preferred embodiment each chassis member is disposed to either side of the chassis and extending longitudinally, the chassis member having an inside wall which is substantially vertical, and to which the mounting assembly is provided.

Preferably a plurality of mounting assemblies are provided, spaced apart at selected intervals along the chassis members.

Preferably a keeper is provided, in the form of a snub member, which restrains uplift of the upper member (usually the male member) under longitudinal shunt forces or vertical bounce forces and the like

To assemble the mounting means, the leading portion of the or each male member is lowered into the access opening of a respective female member until the side wall sections of male and female members abut one another to provide the wedging interengagement.

The chassis may include wheel mounting sections at opposite end portions of the side sills. The wheel mounting sections may include transoms operatively secured to and extending between the side sills. The upper surface of each transom may at least in part define the platform section of the chassis. Where the chassis is used in rail transport, longitudinally-spaced railway bogies are provided in the region of the transoms, the bogies including wheels and axles. The cavity defines a low-slung arrangement, disposed between the bogies in approximately the same plane as the axles. Preferably the cavity does not have a floor.

Examples of articles with which the chassis and mounting means can be used are: cross-beams for standard ISO container support; containers for liquids, bulk containers for carrying grain crops, cement, sand, coal minerals and the like; standard ISO containers; carriers for coil/pipe cradles; cradles for logs, railway sleeper; carriers for palletised bags. The aforementioned list is in no way exhaustive. Preferably the or each article includes a transversely extending mounting member adapted to be held between mounting means across the cavity, the arrangement being such that the side sills' longitudinal buckling and lateral bending strength is increased. Quick-release or auto-opening doors may be included at the base of an article.

The chassis may be operatively connected to suspension, ground engaging wheels, and braking and/or motorising means, such as for example is found on a railway bogie as mentioned above. Furthermore, the chassis may take the form of a frailer or even a fully steered and powered vehicle.

The cross-beams and some articles such as for example liquid containers may include an upper face which lie in the same plane as the cross beams so that articles such as for example standard ISO containers and the like can be secured by twist locks disposed in a single, generally horizontal plane. Such twist locks are well known and understood by those skilled in the art, and are used to enable the releasable attachment of one or more selected containers to the main deck, as described more fully below.

Preferably, the chassis members are arranged so that at least a portion thereof is situated above the platform section of the support frame, forming shoulders to increase security of articles such as for example, ISO containers, to provide some lateral support if, for example, a twist lock fails.

In order to enable a clearer understanding of the invention, drawings illustrating example embodiments are attached, and in those drawings: Figure 1 is an isometric view of an example of a chassis including an example embodiment of mounting assemblies according to the present invention showing in particular, the female members of the assembly operatively connected to the side sills;

Figure 2 is an isometric view of the chassis of Figure 1 incorporating article supports held captive by mounting assemblies;

Figure 3 is an isometric view of the chassis of Figure 1 with a "belly tank" held captive by mounting assemblies;

Figure 4 is an isometric view of the chassis of Figure 1 with an acid tank held captive by mounting assemblies;

Figure 5 is an isometric view of the chassis and articles of Figures 2 and 3 coupled with two 20' containers;

Figure 6 is a detail isometric view of the male member of a preferred embodiment of a mounting assembly, which in the figure is operatively connected to the acid tank shown in Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a front elevation view of the male and female members of the mounting assembly, the male member aligned with but above the female member, ready for lowering into the female member for assembly;

Figure 8 is a plan view of the female member operatively connected to a chassis member.

Referring to the drawings, in particular to Figures 1, 6, 7 and 8, there is shown a chassis generally indicated at 10 which includes chassis members 26 and 27, spaced laterally by transoms 46 and 47, and a cavity 14 disposed within the interior space so defined. Mounting assemblies 12 for mounting articles (eg a belly tank 20, or an acid tank 22) or article cross-beam supports 28 are disposed within the cavity 14, the mounting assemblies 12 including female members 16 and 17 operatively connected to the interior face of the chassis members 26 (also on 27).

The mounting assembly 12 includes female members 16 and 17, and male members 34 which cooperate therewith, each female member 16 and 17 having front wall portions 18 for providing a lateral tie to bolster the chassis member against buckling from shunt forces and resistance against lateral bending forces. The male member 34 includes a neck portion 37 in the form of a first plate 38 and a superposed, second plate 40, the arrangement forming flanges 42.

Furthermore, the male member 34 includes opposed side walls 7 and 8 mounted on the flanges 42, the side walls 7 and 8 tapering towards one another in the direction of a leading edge portion 33 about an axis of symmetry (not shown). The symmetric nature of the walls' tapering allows assembly of an attached article 20, 22, 28 in either one of two directions - front-front or front-back.

The female member 16, 17 includes opposed spaced apart side wall sections 5 and 6 and an access opening 3, the side wall sections 5 and 6 tapering towards one another in a direction away from the access opening 3. The side wall sections 5 and 6 have a holding space 4 therebetween. The side wall sections 5 and 6 are disposed on plates 45 and 46.

The front wall portions 18 are attached to the chassis member 26 to form a channel 21 for receiving a flange 42 of the male member.

A base 19 is provided in one embodiment, however, in use the base 19 only provides some additional lateral strength for the front wall portions 18, as the mounting assembly 12 supports articles wholly wedging interengagement between side walls 5, 6, 7 and 8. No vertical support is generally placed on base 19. A keeper plate (not shown) is provided in order to reduce the likelihood of shunting forces dislodging the male member 34 from the female member 16, 17. The keeper plate is in the form of a snub member, abutting a trailing edge 39 of the second plate 40.

The opposed side wall sections 5, 6, and 7 and 8, are generally inclined at angle , which in this embodiment is 83°.

h the embodiment shown at Figure 1, two mounting assemblies 12 are provided on each chassis member 26 and 27.

To assemble the mounting assembly, the male member 34 is aligned with the female member 16, 17 so that the leading edge 33 of the male member is above the access opening 3 of the female member 16, 17. The flanges 42 align with the channel 21 and are inserted therein, by lowering the male member 34 into the female member 16, 17 until opposed side walls 7 and 8 abut opposed side walls 5 and 6. The mounting assembly 12 is now complete and vertical and horizontal loads are taken through the opposed side wall interface. The keeper is slid over or placed in position above the trailing edge 39 of the flanges 42 or second plate 40. An air gap is generally maintained above base 19.

The upper surface of the transoms 46 and 47 in part define a platform section 51 and 52, above which an upper portion of the laterally spaced side sills 26 and 27 rise, forming shoulders 23 and 25, to increase the security of articles, such as for example containers 24, when installed.

In Figure 2, article supports 28 have been installed on the chassis 10. Twist locks

30 and 31 are provided, so that containers 24 may be secured to the transoms 46 and 47 and article supports 28 (as shown in Figure 5). Twist locks 31 are also provided on belly tank 20 (shown in Figure 3) so that containers 24 may also be secured onto belly tank 20 and platforms 51 and 52 (Figure 5 may also be considered containers 24 secured to platform section 51 and 52 and belly tank 20). Twist locks 30 and 31 are of a standard type adapted to engage complementary corner lock formations on standard ISO containers 24.

Figure 4 shows acid tank 22 secured by mounting assembly 12 without article supports 28, so that the centre of gravity may be lower than would be possible if there was no cavity 14, or if there was a single platform supported by a centre sill at the level of 51 and 52. Also shown are supplementary supports 36 including gussets 37 which assist the holding means in supporting the tank 22.

In use the chassis 10 is mounted on railway bogies, the bogies including ground engaging wheels and axles (all not shown) and the particular combination of freight is selected. A railway wagon is thus formed. A belly tank 20, loaded with, for example, 20 000 litres of diesel fuel may be lowered into the mounting assembly 12 and the male and female members mated (by lowering 34 onto 16). The mass of the tank 20 is supported in the cavity 14 at approximately the plane of the axles (not shown), lowering the centre of gravity of the entire assembly. Containers 24 may also be lowered onto the belly tank 20 and transoms 46 and 47, and secured by twist locks 30 and 31. Other combinations of freight may be selected, so that wagons may be more flexible, and have less potential for travelling unloaded.

It will be noted that in the above example, and that shown in Figures 3 and 4, firstly that the centre of gravity is thus lowered, reducing overturning moment and increasing safety. Secondly, it will also be appreciated that the particular mounting assembly alleviates torsional rigidity problems, which contribute to derailment in certain cases, without reducing load carrying ability. Support frame design is often a balance between torsional rigidity and bending stiffness.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia. Finally, it is to be understood that various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be incorporated into the various constructions and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A mounting assembly suitable for mounting an article to a vehicle chassis, the vehicle chassis including at least one chassis member, the mounting assembly including: cooperating male and female members, one of which is operatively connected to the chassis member, the other of which is operatively connected to the article; the male member including opposed side wall sections and a leading edge portion at one end thereof, the side wall sections tapering towards one another in the direction of the leading edge portion; the female member including opposed spaced apart side wall sections and an access opening at one end thereof, the side wall sections tapering towards one another from the access opening, the side wall sections having a holding space therebetween; the side

- wall sections of the male and female members being adapted to cooperate with one another when the male member is disposed within the holding space so as to provide for a wedging interengagement.

2. A mounting assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein in use the wedging interengagement of the side wall section of the male and female members provides support to the article within the chassis to which the mounting member is connected.

3. A mounting assembly as defined in claim 1 or 2 wherein the tapering of the wall sections on the male and female sections is at an angle of between 25 and 85 degrees to the horizontal.

4. A mounting assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein the angle is about 83 degrees to the horizontal.

5. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein one side wall section of the female or male member tapers asymmetrically towards the other opposed side wall section, wherein a preferred assembly direction is indicated.

6. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein opposed side wall sections of the female and male members taper towards one another in a symmetric manner, so that assembly may be effected in either direction.

7. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein an inclination of the side wall sections in relation to the chassis member is provided, to give an additional wedging interengagement, further constraining lateral forces or buckling forces which may be imparted by, for example, shunting.

8. A mounting assembly as defined in claim 7 wherein the front wall portions are operatively connected to or integral with the side wall portions to provide the additional wedging interengagement.

9. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein flanges are provided on the male member, on the ends of which the opposed side wall portions are mounted.

10. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein a neck portion is provided in order to space the opposed side walls and flanges from the article or chassis member for location in the female member.

11. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein the side wall and/or front wall portions of the or each female member are attached to their respective article or chassis member so that a channel is formed, for receiving the or each flange on the male member.

12. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein two chassis members are provided.

13. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein each chassis member is disposed to either side of the chassis and extends longitudinally, the chassis member having an inside wall which is substantially vertical, and to which the mounting assembly is provided.

14. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein a plurality of mounting assemblies are provided, spaced apart at selected intervals along the chassis members.

15. A mounting assembly as defined in any previous claim wherein a keeper is provided, in the form of a snub member, which restrains uplift of an upper member (usually the male member) under longitudinal shunt forces.

16. A mounting assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.

Dated this 12th day of December 2003 MIDWEST SERVICES PTY LTD

By their Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON CAVE