Land vehicles – Wheeled – Extensible
Patent
1990-01-04
1991-09-24
Kashnikow, Andres
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Extensible
280DIG8, B62D 2118
Patent
active
050508970
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an arrangement for a closeable cargo holder of the container type having doors located at the rear, which cargo holder is designed so as to be stacked with one cargo holder on top of another cargo holder on board ships, etc., for example, during transport, and so as to be transported to the intended destination on land after unloading and to be transferred between shore and ship by means of lifting equipment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Transport systems which are suitable for use on ships for door-to-door transport of cargo holders typically take one of two forms. The first form, shown in FIG. 1, is a roll-on/roll-off type of system I in which haulage vehicles transport containers A.sup.I between the shore and the cargo decks C.sup.I of ships. These containers A.sup.I are in the form of trailers having wheels B.sup.I fixed thereon and bearing against the floor thereof. The other form of transport system is a container system II which consists of closeable cargo holders A.sup.II which are transferred between the shore and ship by means of loading cranes which are either located on the shore or on board the ship. In this system, shown in FIG. 2, the containers are designed to be stacked one on top of the other in the cargo spaces of a ship or on deck during transport.
In most circumstances, the roll-on/roll-off system I is preferred since it permits quicker door-to-door transport of the goods in the containers A.sup.I because only haulage vehicles have to be coupled to the trailers assembled on board the ship. On the other hand, the cargo holders A.sup.II of the container system II have to be loaded by cranes at the receiving port onto special wheeled haulage trucks in order to be driven to the intended destination on land after unloading. The use of transport system I, however, is expensive since large dead spaces are formed between the trailers when they are loaded onto the ship. Moreover, the ships on which transport system I is used are not as quick as the larger existing container freight vessels on, for example, Atlantic crossings. Furthermore, Ro-Ro vessels have expensive and complex ventilation systems because of the exhaust fumes from the haulage vehicles, and special complex and expensive ramp systems are required for loading and unloading these vessels.
There thus exists a need for a transport system which provides the ease of loading and unloading and quick delivery associated with the roll-on/roll-off system I, but which may be stacked in close arrangement for transport on a ship.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses these needs by providing a stackable cargo holder including a container defining a storage space and having a front end, a rear end and a bottom; a wheel assembly arranged proximate to the rear end of the container and displaceable between a storage position above the bottom of the container whereby the bottom of the container can be stacked in contact with a supporting structure and a use position below the bottom of the container, the wheel assembly including at least two wheels; means responsive to vertical movement of the container for displacing the wheel assembly between the storage and use positions; and coupling means disposed proximate the front end of the container for releasably connecting the container to a haulage vehicle.
In preferred embodiments of the present invention the wheel assembly is pivotally displaceable between the storage position and the use position.
In more preferred embodiments, the wheel assembly further includes a wheel frame which forms an essentially horizontal floor section when pivoted to the use position and an essentially vertical wall section when pivoted to the storage position. Preferably, the horizontal floor section lies substantially coplanar with the bottom of the container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A more complete appreciation of the subject matter of the present invention and the various advantages thereof can be realized by reference to the
REFERENCES:
patent: 2806710 (1957-09-01), Mascaro
patent: 2876466 (1959-03-01), Baldwin
patent: 3752493 (1973-08-01), McWhorter
patent: 3788683 (1974-01-01), Rumell
patent: 4008902 (1977-02-01), Dill
patent: 4154352 (1979-05-01), Fowler
patent: 4527486 (1985-07-01), Baird et al.
Johnson Brian L.
Kashnikow Andres
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