Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16G—BELTS, CABLES, OR ROPES, PREDOMINANTLY USED FOR DRIVING PURPOSES; CHAINS; FITTINGS PREDOMINANTLY USED THEREFOR
  • F16G15/00—Chain couplings, Shackles; Chain joints; Chain links; Chain bushes
  • F16G15/04—Quickly-detachable chain couplings; Shackles chain links with rapid junction means are classified according to the corresponding kind of chain
  • F16G15/06—Shackles designed for attachment by joint pins to chain elements, e.g. D-shackles so called harp links; the D-chain links are classified according to the corresponding kind of chain
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D21/00—Nestable, stackable or joinable containers; Containers of variable capacity
  • B65D21/02—Containers specially shaped, or provided with fittings or attachments, to facilitate nesting, stacking, or joining together
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D90/00—Component parts, details or accessories for large containers
  • B65D90/0006—Coupling devices between containers, e.g. ISO-containers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66C—CRANES; LOAD-ENGAGING ELEMENTS OR DEVICES FOR CRANES, CAPSTANS, WINCHES, OR TACKLES
  • B66C1/00—Load-engaging elements or devices attached to lifting or lowering gear of cranes or adapted for connection therewith for transmitting lifting forces to articles or groups of articles
  • B66C1/10—Load-engaging elements or devices attached to lifting or lowering gear of cranes or adapted for connection therewith for transmitting lifting forces to articles or groups of articles by mechanical means
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66C—CRANES; LOAD-ENGAGING ELEMENTS OR DEVICES FOR CRANES, CAPSTANS, WINCHES, OR TACKLES
  • B66C1/00—Load-engaging elements or devices attached to lifting or lowering gear of cranes or adapted for connection therewith for transmitting lifting forces to articles or groups of articles
  • B66C1/10—Load-engaging elements or devices attached to lifting or lowering gear of cranes or adapted for connection therewith for transmitting lifting forces to articles or groups of articles by mechanical means
  • B66C1/62—Load-engaging elements or devices attached to lifting or lowering gear of cranes or adapted for connection therewith for transmitting lifting forces to articles or groups of articles by mechanical means comprising article-engaging members of a shape complementary to that of the articles to be handled
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66C—CRANES; LOAD-ENGAGING ELEMENTS OR DEVICES FOR CRANES, CAPSTANS, WINCHES, OR TACKLES
  • B66C1/00—Load-engaging elements or devices attached to lifting or lowering gear of cranes or adapted for connection therewith for transmitting lifting forces to articles or groups of articles
  • B66C1/10—Load-engaging elements or devices attached to lifting or lowering gear of cranes or adapted for connection therewith for transmitting lifting forces to articles or groups of articles by mechanical means
  • B66C1/62—Load-engaging elements or devices attached to lifting or lowering gear of cranes or adapted for connection therewith for transmitting lifting forces to articles or groups of articles by mechanical means comprising article-engaging members of a shape complementary to that of the articles to be handled
  • B66C1/66—Load-engaging elements or devices attached to lifting or lowering gear of cranes or adapted for connection therewith for transmitting lifting forces to articles or groups of articles by mechanical means comprising article-engaging members of a shape complementary to that of the articles to be handled for engaging holes, recesses, or abutments on articles specially provided for facilitating handling thereof

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a joining device for joining two loads so they can be lifted as one.
• the device of the present invention has been designed especially for connecting two shipping containers lengthwise, and will therefore be described with particular reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the device of the present invention could also be used for joining other loads.
• corner casting refers primarily to the corner casting normally provided on standard shipping containers, as described below, but also includes any equivalent component provided on other loads.
• Equivalent component includes any strong rigid component which is rigidly secured to, or built into, each load to be connected, and which provides an oval aperture with a space behind it, dimensioned and arranged so as to be capable of engaging an attachment member of a twist lock type.
• Shipping containers are made in a variety of different lengths, predominantly 20 foot and 40 or 45 foot. Cranes and other lifting devices for handling shipping containers are designed to handle the largest size of available container, and therefore rather than handling each of the smaller containers separately, it is feasible to handle two such containers as a single unit, providing they can be quickly and reliably connected together.
• containers are provided at each corner with a corner casting as shown in Figure 1 a:- this is a heavy duty steel casting 2 which is rigidly secured to, or built into, each corner of the container and which is apertured to provide an oval hole 3,4, through the thickness of the casting, on each face of each corner of the container.
• the longer axis x of each oval hole is substantially vertical.
• the corner castings are used to receive lockdown devices in the form of twist locks secured to the vehicles transporting the containers (e.g. road trailers or railway wagons).
• a twist lock includes an oval head which is slightly smaller than the oval hole of the corner casting, but which has a longer axis greater than the shorter axis of the oval hole in the corner casting.
• the head of the twist lock can be pushed inside the oval hole with the longer axis of the head aligned with the longer axis of the hole, and the twist lock can then be rotated through 90 ° so that the oval head lies with its longer axis perpendicular to the longer axis of the hole, and the head is retained inside the corner casting.
• the containers are aligned end to end, and joining devices are connected between the pair of adjacent corner castings of the two containers.
• Simple joining devices for containers consist essentially of two twist locks joined by a flexible connector such as a chain; one of the twist locks is engaged with one of the corner castings and the other twist lock with the other corner casting.
• a device of this type remains in place only because of its own weight, and is relatively easy to dislodge if the containers are jolted. Obviously, if the containers become disconnected while they are being lifted, there is a serious risk of injury to anyone in the vicinity, and the container and its contents almost certainly will be badly damaged.
• NZ patent 247657 and 272824 have been designed to overcome this problem, but both of these suffer from the drawback that the portions of the joining device which engage with the corner castings can be connected together only after they have been inserted into the corner castings; this requires the use of one or more removable pins to make the connection. This can be a slow and awkward job, particularly if the operator is trying to work with gloved hands, and there is also the problem of the removable pins being lost or misplaced.
• An object of the present invention is the provision of a joining device which overcomes the above described problems and which provides a relatively lightweight and easily used joining device which nevertheless provides a safe connection between two loads.
• the present invention provides a joining device which includes:
• a first attachment member provided with a protruding head which is arranged and dimensioned to be insertable into, and engageable with, a corner casting;
• the head of said first attachment member being rigidly secured to a lug which is adapted to restrict the rotation of said first attachment member relative to a corner casting with which it is engaged;
• a second attachment member provided with a protruding head which is arranged and dimensioned to be insertable into, and engageable with, a corner casting;
• the head of said second attachment member being rigidly secured to a handle so as to be rotatable between a first position in which the head of said second attachment member is insertable into the corresponding corner casting, and a second position in which the head of said second attachment member is engaged with the corresponding corner casting;
• said flexible connection means is a short length of chain.
• said handle can be locked into each of said first and second positions.
• said device can be locked into each of said first and second positions by means of a spring-loaded engagement member associated with one of the second attachment member or a shackle arranged to surround part of said second attachment member, said spring-loaded engagement member being arranged to resiliency engage the other of said second attachment member or the shackle.
• Said spring-loaded engagement member may comprise a ball bearing mounted within said shackle and resiliency engageable with the socket formed in the second attachment member.
• the head of each attachment member is substantially oval in plan, and said lug is lozenged in cross-section.
• Figure 1 a is an isometric view of a corner casting
• Figure 1 b is a side view of two containers, (shown only in part) joined together by the device of the present invention
• Figure 1 is a side view, partly sectioned, showing the device of the present invention in the disengaged position
• Figure 2 is a side view similar to Figure 1 , but with the device in the engaged position;
• Figure 3 is a plan view of the device, partly sectioned, in the engaged position;
• Figure 4 is a section on line A - A of Figure 3.
• Figure 5 is a section on line B - B of Figure 3.
• a joining device 10 consists of two attachment members 1 1 , 12, connected together by a short length of chain 13.
• the length of the chain 13 may be varied as required to suit different applications.
• the attachment member 1 1 is a fixed attachment in the sense that it can be moved from one position to another only manually.
• the attachment 1 1 includes a head 14 which is oval in plan and which is rigidly secured to a lug 15, which is in turn rigidly secured to a shackle 16.
• the head 14, lug 15 and shackle 16 are formed integrally.
• the shackle provides two opposed apertured plates 17, 18 which are spaced apart sufficiently to admit one link 13a of the chain 13.
• a pin 19 is secured between the holes in the plate 17, 18, to secure the chain 13 to the attachment member 1 1 .
• the pin 19 is secured by a retainer (not shown) in known manner.
• the oval head 14 has a longer axis slightly less in length than the length x of the holes 20, 21 , in the corner castings 2 (shown in broken lines in Figures 4 and 5), but greater in length than the width w of the holes, so that the head 14 will pass through the hole 20 when the head is positioned so that its longer axis is parallel to the longer axis of the hole 20, but when the head is rotated through 90 ° as shown in Figure 4, the head will lodge securely behind the rear face of the hole 20, and the attachment is engaged with the corner casting and cannot be withdrawn from the corner casting.
• the lug 15 is not circular in cross-section, but is lozenged as shown in Figure 4, so that the attachment 1 1 , once fully engaged with the hole 20, cannot be rotated in the direction of arrow A beyond the position shown in Figure 4, because the sides of the lug 15 bear against the walls of the hole 20.
• the fixed attachment 1 1 cannot be accidentally disengaged from the corresponding corner casting:- the fact that the locking attachment 12 is engaged with the opposed hole 21 of the opposite corner casting, and the two attachments are connected by the chain 13, means that the attachment 1 1 cannot rotate in the direction opposite to arrow A, and movement in the direction of arrow A is prevented by the shape of the lug 15, as described above.
• the locking attachment 12 is designed to be moved between the insertion position and the locked position by means of a locking handle 23, which can move between the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 by rotation of the handle in the direction of arrow B.
• the locking attachment 12 has a head 24 which same size and shape as the head 14 of the attachment member 1 1 and which is rigidly connected to a stem 25, the other end of which is attached to one end of the handle 23.
• the stem 25 is circular in cross- section (see Figure 5).
• the other end of the chain 13 is secured by means of a pin 26 which passes through opposed apertures in a shackle 27.
• the pin 26 is secured by a retainer (not shown) in known manner.
• the shackle 27 extends around the stem 25; the stem 25, and head 24 can rotate relative to the shackle 27, and the head 24, stem 25, and handle 23 can be locked in one of two positions relative to the shackle 27:- these two positions are the insertion position shown in Figure 1 and the locked position shown in Figure 2.
• the interior of the shackle 27 is formed with a bore 28 which carries a compression spring 29. At the end of the bore 28, on top of the spring 29, a ball bearing 30 is mounted.
• a socket 30a is formed to seat part of the ball bearing 30.
• the ball bearing 30 engages the socket and retains the handle, stem and head in that position.
• the engagement of the ball bearing 30 with the socket can be overcome by a firm positive movement of the handle 23, but the handle 23 is secured against accidental movement.
• a possible variation of the above described arrangement is for the ball bearing to be mounted in the stem and the sockets formed in the interior of the shackle 27.
• a lug 23a is formed on the side of shackle 27 to engage the side of the handle 23 and prevent the handle from being turned beyond the position of Figure 1 in the direction of arrow B or beyond the position of Figure 2 in the opposite direction to arrow B.
• the above described joining device remains permanently assembled, and thus can be used quickly and easily, even by an operator working with gloved hands.
• the handle 23 may be releasably locked in the above described manner by any of a wide variety of locking mechanisms, and alternatively or additionally may be provided with further means for securing the handle in the engaged position of figure 2 during transit, as a precaution against vandalism.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Hooks, Suction Cups, And Attachment By Adhesive Means (AREA)
• Connection Of Plates (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=50236606

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Cited By (1)

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Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2013
  • 2013-08-28 WO PCT/IB2013/058042 patent/WO2014037849A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2013-08-28 EP EP13835824.7A patent/EP2892839A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2013-08-28 AU AU2013311275A patent/AU2013311275A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-08-28 CN CN201380057714.XA patent/CN104854016A/zh active Pending

Patent Citations (5)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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