Patent Application
20120248100
The present invention relates to security in shipping containers and more particularly to an apparatus for barring access to a shipping container.
Shipping containers are used to move materials by ship, truck and train. These containers are provided in various lengths to fulfill a broad range of shipping needs. Access to the interior of shipping containers is gained through a pair of doors located in one end of the container and which doors open outwardly. Each door is hinged to the outside edge of the door. Each shipping container door normally has a set of vertical bars placed in front of the door. These bars may be rotated to engage their camlocks and then locked with a padlock. Padlocks however are easily defeated by a grinder, torch or other burglary tool or by use of a key in the possession of those who are not authorized to enter the shipping container. Thus, while the prior art teaches the use of padlock bars for inhibiting access to the storage container, additional security measures are needed to prevent theft from the storage containers.
Prior art U.S. patents which provide additional security means for access to shipping containers includes the Taylor U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,584 for an access bar for a shipping container. This patent is directed towards means to prevent theft from storage containers while they are in transit and provides a blocking apparatus having a pair of legs joined to form a generally L-shaped elongate member in which one of the legs provides spaced apart apertures. Each aperture then fits over a container locking device having a lower cleat which mounts in a hole in a mounting bracket in each corner of a flatbed truck. One of the pair of elongated legs is then positioned under the end of a shipping container so that the other leg of the L-shaped elongated member protrudes above the doors to prevent entry into the doors.
In the Charlton U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,933, a brace is provided for securing the doors of cargo containers being transported on a railway flat car and having end doors that are commonly subjected to forceful opening. The apparatus is handedly attached to a freight car floor and may be folded downwardly into a stowed position but has an upstanding member integrally attached thereto which is raised to block entry into the freight car. A forward biasing component extends between the base member and the supporting floor for forcibly directing the upstanding member against the containerized doors.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,791 to Brown, a container door barricade is for use on a railroad container car having one or more freight decks adapted to carry containers of different lengths. The door barricade may include a plurality of fixed and pivotal barricade assemblies having one or more rotatable Z-shaped plates interconnected by linkage to provide means for simultaneously rotating the Z-shaped plates from either side of the freight vehicle.
The present invention is for an access shield for a shipping container, which container has a pair of doors and a plurality of supporting feet. An access shield for the shipping container is placed under one end of the shipping container and is supported by the shipping container's weight with a pair of locking arms positioned behind the shipping container's feet to block access into a shipping container.
The present invention is an access shield for a shipping container which shipping container has a pair of end doors and a plurality of supporting feet. The access shield has an elongated flat base having a generally upright door shield attached thereto. The base has a protruding arm on each end thereof with each arm being sized to fit behind one foot of a shipping container when the base is placed under the door end of the shipping container. An upright door shield attached to the base is positioned to extend over a portion of the shipping container pair of doors when the base is placed under the door end of the shipping container so that the doors of the shipping container are blocked from being open. Thus an access shield for a shipping container placed under the door end of the shipping container and supported by the shipping container's weight having a pair of protruding arms positioned behind the container's feet holds a door shield over the shipping container's pair of doors to block access to the shipping container. The protruding arms on the end of the base form a generally L-shape on each end of the flat base while the generally upright door shield is attached to the base on one edge of the base so that when the base is positioned below the shipping container, the door shield extends in front of the doors. The upright door shield has an aperture therethrough for use in storing the door shield.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in which:
Referring to the drawings of
In a typical shipping container 15, as seen in
In operation, the access shield 10 is positioned under the door end of the shipping container 15, as seen in
In
A simplified shipping container door shield 10 provides additional security to prevent the shipping container doors from being opened. Shipping containers normally have padlocks attached thereto but padlocks can be opened by cutting the locks with grinders or torches or keys. If the padlocks are opened or broken, the container 15 is still secured by the present shipping container access shield.
It should be clear at this point that an access shield for a shipping container having a pair of doors and a plurality of support feet has been provided with added security for securing the shipping container doors. However, the present invention is not to be construed as limited to the forms shown which are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.
