US3651974A - Container - Google Patents

Abstract

A shipping container in the form of one or more separate enclosures releasably supported in assembled relation by a unitizing frame adapted for containerized shipping techniques, each enclosure having an access opening closeable by a door in hermetically sealed relation, and incorporating shock absorbent legs and interior tiedown members for cargo protection.

Description

United States Patent 51 Mar. 28, 1972 Barry et al.

[ CONTAINER [72] Inventors: Daniel J. Barry, 3321 Mt. McKinley Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95127; James J. McNeill, 2650 California Street, Mountain View, Calif. 94040 [22] Filed: July 7, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 839,559

[52] 11.8. C1 ..220/1.5, 220/69', 248/350, 220/4 [51 lnt. Cl ..B65d 87/00 [58] Field 01 Search ..220/l.5, 12, 23.4, 55 B, 69, 220/84, 8; 217/53, 12 R, 43; 206/46 M, 46 FR; 248/350 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,336,896 4/1920 Driver et a1 .220/1.5 1,757,518 5/1930 Ehmer ..220/69 X 1,879,756 9/1932 Kuchta 220/12 UX 2,457,842 1/1949 Smith et a1. ..220/l.5 2,556,413 6/1951 Del Mar 220/l.5 X 2,556,631 6/1951 Pool ..'..220/12 X 2,568,518 9/1951 Smith ..220/55 B UX 2,756,693 .7/1956 Frost ..280/179.1 X

Johnson ..220/1.5

2,972,430 2/1961 3,268,199 8/1966 Kordyban et al... .....220/69 X 3,386,600 6/1968 Betjemann..... ....220/l.5 X 332,376 12/1885 Barton ..217/43 1,633,354 '6/1927 Rau ..217/43 2,628,737 2/1953 Zeni ..217/12 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 684,826 4/1964 Canada ..220/ 1.5 1,441,816 5/1966 France ....220/1.5 190,482 6/1923 Great Britain ..220/55 B 47,288 12/1929 Norway ..217/12 316,450 10/1969 Sweden ..220/8 Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair Assistant Examiner-James R. Garrett Anorney-Paul B. F ihe [5 7] ABSTRACT A shipping container in the form of one or more separate enclosures releasably supported in assembled relation by a unitizing frame adapted for containerized shipping techniques, each enclosure having an access opening closeable by a door in hermetically sealed relation, and incorporating shock absorbent legs and interior tiedown members for cargo protection.

' 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures P'ATENTEU m 28 I972 SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOR. DANIEL J. BARRY JAMES J. MCNEIL; BY

PATENT AGENT PATENTEDHAM I9 2 8,651 .974

' SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR. DANIEL J. BARRY JAMES J. MCNEILL PATENT AG NT CONTAINER The present invention relates generally to containerized shipping and, more particularly, to containers reuseable for the shipping of various cargoes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For protective purposes, wooden boxes or containers of rather large size are commonly utilized to house various fragile items during shipping by truck, train, or ship. These wooden containers are, of course, subject to fire damage and are normally air-pervious so that moisture damage to the contents may result. Additionally, all of the exterior container is subject to direct contact and consequent direct physical damage, and the physical shock encountered during handling of the container is frequently transmitted through the relatively rigid container so as to effect, for example, breakage of glass or similar shock damage to other contents. Finally, although such wooden containers are considered as reuseable, their useful life is very limited for the housing of items to be shipped and, as a practical matter, some repairs are required after each trip and the total useful life normally runs no more 7 than three trips or shipping cycles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is a general objective of the present invention to provide a container for the shipping of various cargoes designed to provide high resistance tofire damage, moisture or other weather damage, and shock damage to the container contents and which, furthermore, is capable of withstanding normal shipping or handling techniques without intervening maintenance for 25 trips or cycles of shipping so that its useful life is substantially extended beyond that of present containers. To achieve this objective, the entire container embodying the present invention is preferably formed by one or more cargo enclosures which are held in assembled relation by a unitizing frame. Each individual enclosure is formed by an open rectangular frame of steel which is covered on all sides but one by walls formed of reinforced fiberglass or other material leaving an access opening across one side over which an access door can be removably secured. The enclosing fiberglass or other material is, itself, impervious to air, and the door, when appropriately disposed over the access opening is arranged to establish sealing engagement therewith so that the entire interior of the enclosure is free from the damaging effect of air, moisture or other environmental factors. The material chosen for the entire enclosure, whether it be steel, fiberglass, or other material, is preferably fire-resistant as well as weather-proof and also takes into account the particular usage of the enclosure so that its maintenance and useful life are extended.

Since the enclosures may be reused and various items may be housed therein for shipping purposes, tiedown members are preferably secured to the metallic frame elements on the interior of the enclosure to enable the connection of cords thereto and the passage of such cords around the contents to hold the same in a secure position therewithin thus to preclude accidental motion during handling or shipping. Any shocks to the enclosure itself, do not effect motion of the contents and, in accordance with the general desirability of mitigating any shock delivered to the enclosure contents, for example, when such contents are fragile, shock absorbent members are incorporated in the enclosure itself. More particularly, the supporting legs of the enclosure are preferably in the form of shock absorbers so that if the enclosure is roughly placed on a supporting surface, the shock of such placement is absorbed and thus not transmitted to the container contents.

The mentioned legs on the enclosure, in addition to functioning as shock absorbers, are positioned to facilitate container handling either by the utilization of a fork lift or a sling support, for example of the type used commonly in the transfer of a container into the hold of a ship. More particularly, the legs are slightly spaced from the sides of the enclosure to facilitate placement of the sling thereover without lifting thereof. The leg position is also correlated with the position of indexing recesses on the top of an individual enclosure so that the enclosures can be stacked one upon another.

In view of all the design criteria incorporated in each individual enclosure summarized hereinabove, the useful life of the enclosure is increased tenfold although its total weight may well be less than existent wooden containers.

While the individual enclosures can be handled separately, as indicated, a complete shipping container embodying the present invention preferably includes the mentioned unitizing frame which consists of an open rectangular frame of rather heavy metal frame members of telescopic tubular form so that the entire frame can be expanded to enable insertion of one or more individual enclosures therewithin whereupon a frame retraction enables close supporting encompassment of the enclosures. Thus, depending upon the cargo, one large compartment or a number of small shipping compartments can be provided in the unitized structure.

The unitizing frame is provided with suitable means for holding it in its retracted enclosure-supporting position and, in turn, can be releasably joined to the individual enclosures to preclude shifting of the latter. In addition, the frame is formed with sockets at its comers to enable ease of handling by standard containerized shipping apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing objective and summary of the invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description of the structure shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container including several enclosures held within a unitizing frame in accordance with the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 illustrating details of the frame-enclosure engagement,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a single enclosure, portions of its side being broken away to illustrate interior details and also to indicate the support of a refrigerator therewithin, as indicated in phantom lines,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 indicating the releasable connection of a door over the access opening of the enclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION With particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 the illustrated embodiment of the invention includes one or more enclosures 10, each of which has an open rectangular frame 1 1 formed by the bolted or welded juncture of angle iron sections so that the overall configuration is that of a rectangular parallelepiped of appropriate dimensions. The dimensions of the illustrated structure will be approximately 6.5 feet long by 8 feet high by 4 feet wide, but obvious variations in such dimensions, depending upon the particular use of the container, will fall within the general scope of the invention.

On five sides of the rectangular parallelepiped frame 11, sealed walls 12 are arranged to cover its bottom, top and three sides, preferably being formed by panels of integrated reinforced fiberglass material. As shown, the reinforcement is achieved by plywood sheets but other well-known fabricating techniques can be employed. The sixth side of the enclosure 10 is left open to provide an access opening for loading or unloading of contents into the enclosures 10. As shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3, a refrigerator R is supported within the enclosure but the contents can be of any nature. Around the edge of the access opening, a rubber gasket 14 is mounted and is arranged to establish hermetic sealing engagement with the perimeter of a door 16 also which is formed by a rectangular metallic frame with a reinforced fiberglass panel molded thereover. A number of threaded sockets 18 are provided in the enclosure 10 around the access opening for the screwed around the contents of the enclosure, such as the illustrated refrigerator R, so as to maintain the latter in a fixed immovatherewithin and another intermediate size having dimensions of 6.5 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet in which case three enclosures could be accommodated. Thus, theunitizing frame 40 is well adapted for the accommodation of enclosures of various sizes to, in turn, accommodatevarious cargoes.

In more detail, the unitizing frame 0 conslsts of rectangular frame members 42 on all sides, each of which is adjustable in its length so that the frame can be opened to enable placement of the enclosures l0 therewithin and can subsequently be retracted to provide close encompassing engagement with the enclosures. Preferably, as illustrated, each of the expansible ble position within the enclosure during handling and shipping. These same eyelets 24 canbe utilized to support a spring suspension structure (not shown) for very fragile equipment such as a glass member or a piece of complex and fragile electronic equipment, thus to provide a spring suspension of the general type currently utilized for the support'of nitroglycerine or other explosives within a truck.

Four legs 28 project downwardly from the bottom of the enclosure at slightly inwardly spaced positions from the corners of the bottom so as to distribute theweight of the enclosure 10 and its contents evenly when the container is resting. Since the legs 28 are spaced inwardly from the comers of the enclosure 10, a standard sling may be placed under opposite ends of the enclosure to enable lifting of the container, thus to facilitate such form of transport. In addition, the spacing between the legs 28 permits ready insertion of the tines of a.

standard fork lift under the bottom of the enclosure to facilitate local transport thereof.

' Preferably, each of the legs 28 takes the form of a shock absorber, as best shown in FIG. 2, and accordingly includes an upper tubular member 30 with inturned flange portions 31, said member being secured to the under surface of the bottom panel of the enclosure 10 and arranged for the telescopic reception of a lower leg member 32 having an annular flange 34. Molded rubber 37 is secured within the upper and lower telescoping members 30, 32, to substantially fill their interiors and provide resilient shock absorbing contact with the flange 34. Accordingly, when the enclosure 10 is set down, for example, by a fork lift, any shock in such activity is absorbed primarily by the legs 28 and is thus not transmitted either to the enclosure itself, or its contents. Additionally, any motion during transport on a train, ship, or truck is absorbed by such legs 28 to mitigate the shock effects on the enclosure contents.

To facilitate stacking of the described enclosures, recesses 36 are formed at all four corners on the top of the enclosure 10 so that the legs 28 of a superimposed enclosure can be received and confined within such recesses 36 to preclude accidental lateral shifting of the stacked enclosures while, at the same time, providing no transmission of shock therebetween. The legs 28 are sufficiently long so that the bottom of an upper enclosure 10 is spaced from the top of the lower enclosure in a stack, thus to permit insertion of the tines of a fork lift or application of a lifting sling to the upper enclosure 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, six of the described enclosures 10, each having the mentioned dimensions of 6.5 feet by 8 feet by 4 feet can be accommodated in a unitizing frame 40 of open rectangular configuration whose overall dimensions are approximately feet long by '8 feet high by 8 feet wide, although as shown in FIG. 1, a lesser number of enclosures 10 can be accommodated so that, for example, two enclosures can be removed from the encompassing unitizing frame 40 leaving four held therewithin for further shipment. As will be obvious, this same unitizing frame having overall dimensions of approximately 20 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet can also accommodate a single larger enclosure having approximately those dimensions and other standard sizes such as 10 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet in which case two enclosures would be accommodated frame members 42 is composed of a number of telescopic flattened tubular sections which are held in telescopically adjusted relationship by the insertion of small holding pins 44 through a single hole in an outer tubular section and a selected threaded holebrought into registry therewith in an interior tubular section, as best shown in FIG. 1. A resilient pad 46 on the undersurface of the largest tubular sections at the top of the unitizing frame 40 is arranged to frictionally engage the top of an individual enclosure 10 when the frame is retracted, as best shown in FIG. 2 thus to provide a holding means for the enclosure, and this functional connection together with the shock absorbent legs 28 serves to hold the enclosures 10 within the frame 40 but to mitigate transfer of shock therebetween.

The eight corners of the adjustable unitizing frame 40 are provided with standard sockets or recesses 48 which adapt themselves for engagement by standard crane hooks commonly employed for the movement of cargo by containerized shipping methods. Since such recesses 48 are of standard configuration in the field, no further details need be described and obviously other connecting members can be utilized if different container handling apparatus is to be employed.

In use, it will be obvious that the unitizing frame 40 will be expanded prior to insertion of one or more enclosures l0 therewithin, the expansion being sufficient so that the enclosure can be lowered by use of a sling through the opened upper portion of the open rectangular frame or can be placed therewithin through the expanded side openings by use of a standard fork lift. After the enclosures 10 have been appropriately placed in position, the unitizing frame 40 is then retracted to bring the frame members into close encompassing relationship with the enclosures and the pins 44 are then inserted to hold the retracted elements of the unitizing frame in tight engagement with the sides of the enclosures. The mere reversal of this process allows simple removal of the enclosures.

During shipment, the exterior unitizing frame 40 absorbs substantially all exterior direct contact thus protecting the enclosures 10 and their contents and the latter through their shock-absorbent legs 28 and resilient pads 46, and the tiedown apparatus on their interiors precludes damage by direct contact or by transmitted shock to the enclosures or their contents. Thus the entire container structure, whether it include one or more enclosures is very flexible in its utilization, has a relatively long useful life, and most significantly, provides maximum protection to the cargo.

What is claimed is:

1. A container which comprises,

an enclosure having an access opening,

a door arranged to close said opening and establish sealing engagement with the edges thereof, and

a plurality of legs supporting said enclosure,

each of said legs being shock absorbent and including a larger tubular member arranged for telescopic reception of a smaller member, both of said members having intumed flange portions between which resilient material is disposed to resiliently resist relative motion of said members.

* i 4K 4K

Claims (1)

1. A container which comprises, an enclosure having an access opening, a door arranged to close said opening and establish sealing engagement with the edges thereof, and a plurality of legs supporting said enclosure, each of said legs being shock absorbent and including a larger tubular member arranged for telescopic reception of a smaller member, both of said members having inturned flange portions between which resilient material is disposed to resiliently resist relative motion of said members.

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