Cargo unit

Details Cargo unit Cargo unit

1990-08-23

1992-12-08

Gibson, Jr., Robert W.

Supports: racks

Knockdown

Foldable or collapsible

108 531, 211194, A47F 500

Patent

active

051690110

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a cargo unit intended for use in freight vessels, the unit having a rectangular flat fitted with ends, the ends having at their upper edges, preferably at least at their upper corners, and respectively on the lower surface of the flat, gripping and guide members for stacking two or more cargo units one on top of the other and for the automatic transfer of each cargo unit.
From Finnish Patent 71908 there is known a cargo unit of the above-mentioned type, which has, at each corner of a rectangular flat, upward- and downward-oriented gripping and guide members by means of which the ends, provided at their upper and lower corners with corresponding gripping and guide members, can be coupled to the flat, the loading attachments of the overhead crane of the freight vessel and the gripping devices of the cargo-unit trailer being provided with corresponding gripping and guide members for the automatic hoisting and releasing of the cargo unit. Such a cargo unit is usually dimensioned to accommodate four 20 -feet standard containers in pairs, adjacently and one on top of another.
A cargo unit of the above-mentioned type can efficiently be loaded full in a harbor, for example with newsprint or cellulose bales, whereby a full-loaded cargo unit is obtained. When the cargo space on a ship is filled with such units, the cargo space available on the ship can be exploited almost to the full in vessels referred to in Finnish Patent 71908, and thus maximally low marine transport costs are achieved.
If the character of the goods to be transported is such that, owing to their high sensitivity to damage or the irregular shape of the goods or the packages, the goods cannot be loaded one on top of another, a situation is arrived at in which all known loading systems lead to incomplete filling of the cargo space or to excessive risks of damage. A typical export transport chain may include as many as 13 separate handlings of an individual package between the manufacturer and the end user of the product. This circumstance has led to an increase in cases of damage, as the degree of refining of products has risen and especially as the packaging and shapes of products have become more and more irregular in dimensions (sheet paper on pallets, small rolls of paper, and other refined paper qualities).
Success in the export efforts of the export industry also in times of depression is greatly dependent on the condition in which the customer will receive the products. The seller who can guarantee that all products will arrive at the destination undamaged and economically will certainly be in a better position than a seller whose products, and usually the most expensive products, are likely to be damaged during transport.
The cargo unit according to Finnish patent 71908 mentioned above has the disadvantage that often goods having a smaller height than the height of the ends of the cargo unit are loaded on the cargo unit, in which case empty space is left in the upper part of the cargo unit, and this space cannot be filled up if the goods transported on the cargo unit are sensitive and prone to damage and cannot endure being loaded one item on top of another. Thus the degree of filling of such cargo units is usually low.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages and to provide a cargo unit of the type referred to in the preamble, the degree of filling of the cargo unit being higher than previously even in the transport of goods which are sensitive to damage and expensive, as well as of varying size and shape, and flats loaded at the factory being capable of being transferred in the cargo unit, by road or rail, to harbor terminals and, via marine transport, again onto a truck or a train in the country of destination, without the product loaded on the flat or the transport packaging of the product having to be touched before arrival at the final warehouse of the customer. The flats can in this case be handled as whole units with their cargo in harbor terminals, and the

REFERENCES:
patent: 2699911 (1955-01-01), Chase et al.
patent: 2956763 (1960-10-01), D'Avca
patent: 3565018 (1971-02-01), Jay
patent: 3628805 (1971-12-01), Archer
patent: 3665869 (1972-05-01), Howe
patent: 4353520 (1982-10-01), Jansson
patent: 4638744 (1987-01-01), Clive-Smith

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