Receptacles – Freight containers
Patent
1987-10-21
1989-04-11
Pollard, Steven M.
Receptacles
Freight containers
220 234, A44B 2100
Patent
active
048198200
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates generally to cargo storage and transportation, and in particular to a container in which cargo is stored and transported. The container may be a shipping container for national and international transportation of cargo, and it will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention in relation to that example application. It is to be appreciated, however, that the invention is not limited to that application.
The use of large regular hexahedral shaped metal containers for holding cargo has generally revolutionised international transportation of that cargo, particularly shipping where those containers can be stacked on open ship decks and readily transferred between those decks and road vehicles to facilitate rapid flow of cargo between suppliers and receivers. Those containers are required to be of standard dimensions and be constructed to certain standards to facilitate their handling, stacking, and storage.
For economies of transportation each standard container should be transported full of cargo which may be provided by a single supplier having a full container load (FCL) or a number of suppliers each having less than a container load (LCL). An FCL may be rapidly transported between a supplier who loads the container and a receiver who unloads the container without any intermediary cargo loading or unloading. However, each LCL necessitates additional handling since the cargo is loaded into a standard container at a cargo consolidation depot and then unloaded from that container at a cargo deconsolidation depot. This additional handling adds to the cargo shipping time and costs, and generally negates advantages otherwise provided by containerisation.
In an effort to alleviate this additional handling "mini" containers have been devised for holding small cargo loads. In this way, each mini container can be filled with an LCL and shipped between suppliers and receivers without intermediary cargo handling. To overcome the problem that these mini containers ar smaller than the standard container and thus in themselves unacceptable, a number of the mini containers are locked together at the consolidation depot to form a single standard container for shipment, and then separated at the deconsolidation depot for fowarding to separate receivers.
Various arrangements have been developed for locking these mini containers together. One such arrangement involves separate linking devices which lock into juxtaposed twist lock corner castings of adjacent mini containers to hold the containers together. Being separate from the containers they are prone to misplacement and loss when not in use. Moreover, those devices are generally of a complicated construction and may not function satisfactorily over a period of time, particularly after exposure to harsh environments, unless meticulously maintained.
Another arrangement involves a separate base frame on which a set of mini containers is positioned and each container individually locked to that frame. Again, however, being separate from the containers increases a likelihood that the base frame will be misplaced or lost when not in use, or at least may present difficulties in monitoring its location when not in use.
It is an object of the present invention to alleviate these disadvantages through the provision of a relatively simple coupling assembly for securing these mini containers together. A further object is the provision of simple mini container which can be coupled together in sets to form a standard container.
With these objects in mind, the present invention provides in one aspect a coupling assembly for releasably coupling cargo containers together in a side-by-side relationship, including: a male coupling part having a mounting structure for mounting that part on a container and a connecting element carried by the mounting structure and retained for limited linear movement relative thereto between a projected position projecting from the mounting structure and a retracted position; a female coupling part having a mounting structure for
REFERENCES:
patent: 3061134 (1962-10-01), Fesmire et al.
patent: 3711902 (1973-01-01), Eggert, Jr.
patent: 3823972 (1974-07-01), Ramer
patent: 3872555 (1975-03-01), Link et al.
patent: 4088238 (1978-05-01), Berwald et al.
patent: 4108326 (1978-08-01), Bertolini
patent: 4695184 (1987-09-01), Robishaw et al.
Pollard Steven M.
TCS Containers Pty. Ltd.
LandOfFree
Cargo containers does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Cargo containers, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cargo containers will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-660965