Patent Application
20070258784
Standard Boeing 747 cargo aircraft are configured to accommodate several air cargo containers up to approximately 120 inches in height. Bridge height limitations on highways, however, generally prevent cargo containers having heights greater than approximately 96 inches from being trucked to and from locations. As a result, the air cargo industry typically uses air cargo containers having a height of approximately 96 inches to transport cargo, leaving approximately 24 inches of unused vertical space available inside a standard Boeing 747 cargo aircraft. The United Parcel Service (“UPS”), for example, uses standard “M1” shipping containers, which are approximately 96 inches high by 96 inches wide by 125 inches long, to transport air cargo. A standard M1 container typically includes a curved or chamfered rear upper section that substantially conforms to the curvature of the fuselage of an aircraft. Each M1 container provides approximately 593 cubic feet of available storage space for cargo.
An M1 container used to ship air cargo typically carries an average load of approximately 8900 pounds. Standard M1 containers, however, are certified to transport up to 15,000 pounds of cargo. Thus, it would be advantageous to modify a standard M1 container, or a similar container, so that it occupies more available cargo space in an aircraft, while still being efficiently transportable along highways.
The extension container is removably attachable to a main cargo shipping container, such as a standard M1 container or other container, to form a modified cargo container assembly. Attachment elements attach the extension container to the main container. The modified cargo container assembly allows more cargo to be carried in an aircraft.
For ground shipping, the extension container and the main container can be detached from each other and shipped as separate units that each meet bridge or other height limitations. An optional transportation pallet, onto which one or more extension containers may be stacked and secured, may be included for ground transportation. For air shipping, the extension container can be attached to the main container to form a container assembly that occupies more of the available storage space in an aircraft.
Other features and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter. The features of the invention described above can be used separately or together, or in various combinations of one or more of them. The invention resides as well in sub-combinations of the features described. Furthermore, many of the method steps described herein may be performed in a different order than that which is explicitly described.
In the drawings, wherein the same reference number indicates the same element throughout the several views:
Various embodiments of the invention will now be described. The following description provides specific details for a thorough understanding and enabling description of these embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand, however, that the invention may be practiced without many of these details. Additionally, some well-known structures or functions may not be shown or described in detail so as to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the relevant description of the various embodiments.
The terminology used in the description presented below is intended to be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments of the invention. Certain terms may even be emphasized below. However, any terminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will be overtly and specifically defined as such in this detailed description section.
Where the context permits, singular or plural terms may also include the plural or singular term, respectively. Moreover, unless the word “or” is expressly limited to mean only a single item exclusive from the other items in a list of two or more items, then the use of “or” in such a list is to be interpreted as including (a) any single item in the list, (b) all of the items in the list, or (c) any combination of items in the list.
A door 20 through which cargo items may be loaded and unloaded is typically located between the front panels 16 although the door may be placed in, or itself form, any surface or side of the extension container 10. The extension container may alternatively have a clam shell type design. A panel or side may be entirely removable, or it can be hinged, to provide a door opening. The door 20 may be a roll-up door made of a flexible fabric material, or it may be made of a plastic, metal, wood, or other suitable material. In one embodiment, the door 20 is made of a flexible fabric material and includes cables sewn into outer vertical edges of the door 20. The cables are insertable into corresponding channels in door support members 22 on either side of the door 20 for guiding the door along the door support members 22, as described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/655,890, filed Sep. 5, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference. In an alternative embodiment, the front panels 16 may be omitted, and the door may occupy substantially the entire length of the extension container 10.
A “sweeping shoe” or netting may be included inside the rear section of the extension container 10 to aid an operator in removing packages from the rear section. The netting may be attached to one or more ropes or straps extending toward the front of the extension container 10. An operator can pull the ropes or straps toward the front of the extension container 10, causing the netting to drag cargo items from the rear interior section to the front of the extension container 10 for easier unloading of the items. Alternatively, a rod, broom handle, or similar device may be included or detachably secured inside the extension container 10, or may be separate from the extension container 10, for use in removing cargo items located in the rear section of the extension container 10. Although shown with substantially flat walls, the extension container 10 may also have one or more curved walls.
The various components of the extension container 10 may be constructed of aluminum, or of any other suitable materials that provide requisite structural strength and that are preferably relatively lightweight. In one embodiment, all (or substantially all) of the components of the extension container 10 are made from aluminum. In another embodiment, the top panels 18 and the base 12 of the extension container 10 are made from aluminum, while the front, side, or rear panels are made from a transparent polycarbonate material or other transparent material. The various container components are preferably riveted, welded, bolted, adhered, or otherwise suitably connected to one another to form the extension container 10.
Referring to
The shipping container 40 includes a door 47 through which cargo items may be loaded and unloaded. The door 47 may optionally have substantially the same width as, and be substantially aligned with, the door 20 on the extension container 10, as shown in
The flanges 30 and receiving elements 32, which together form a locking mechanism, may be attached to the frame members 25 (or other structural members or support members) of the extension container 10 and of the standard shipping container 40 (or other structure), respectively, with nuts 37 and bolts 39, screws, rivets, or any other suitable attachment elements. In one embodiment, as is best shown in
In one embodiment, the flanges 30 include a downward protrusion or guide member 38 that is curved or angled outwardly away from the extension container 10 to aid in guiding the flange 30 over the top of the shipping container 40 or other structure. The flanges 30 may optionally be tapered or narrowed in a downward direction (i.e., from top to bottom) so that they may be readily guided between the receiving elements 32. Additional alignment elements, such as alignment pins that pass through openings or slots in outwardly-extending members on the extension container 10 and the shipping container 40, may optionally be included to further aid in aligning the extension container 10 with the shipping container 40.
Each flange 30 preferably includes an upwardly curved, or substantially U-shaped, protrusion 34 for engagement with plungers 36, or similar elements or members, located on or in the receiving elements 32. In one embodiment, each receiving element 32 provides a housing for a substantially cylindrical plunger 36 that is manually or automatically (via a motor, spring mechanism, etc.) moveable between an open position, as shown in
After an extension container 10 is lowered onto a standard shipping container 40 or other structure, such that each flange 30 is positioned between two corresponding receiving elements 32, the plungers 36 may be manually or automatically moved inwardly, from the position shown in
Flanges 30 (or other engagement elements or members) are preferably attached to lower portions of the front wall and side walls of the extension container 10. As shown in
In an alternative embodiment, the rear portion of the extension container 10 may be configured to mate with an upper portion of a shipping container 40 or other structure, and may therefore additionally or alternatively include one or more flanges 30 (or other engagement elements or members), attached thereto. Any suitable number of flanges 30 (or other engagement elements or members) may be included at any suitable locations on the extension container 10.
In another alternative embodiment, the engagement members or flanges 30 are attached to the upper portion of the main shipping container 40 (or other structure), and the receiving elements 32 or other receiving mechanisms are attached to the lower portion of the extension container 10. It is also contemplated that one or more engagement members or flanges 30 may be located on both the lower portion of the extension container 10 and on the upper portion of the shipping container 40 (or other structure), and that corresponding receiving mechanisms or receiving elements 32 may be located on the other respective container or structure.
The extension container 10 may have any dimensions suitable for a given application. In one embodiment, the extension container 10 is configured for mating with a standard M1 shipping container. In this embodiment, the base 12 of the extension container 10 is preferably rectangular, with a length ranging from 100 to 150 inches, or 120 to 130 inches, and a width ranging from 75 to 110 inches, or 90 to 100 inches. The base of a standard M1 shipping container has a length of approximately 125 inches and a width of approximately 96 inches. Thus, the base 12 of an extension container 10 configured for mating with such a shipping container preferably has similar dimensions.
The front panels 16 and side panels 14 of the extension container 10 may have a height of 15 to 30 inches, or 20 to 25 inches, or may have any other dimensions suitable for a given application. When configured to mate with a standard M1 shipping container, which has a height of approximately 96 inches, the front panels 16 and side panels 14 preferably have a height of approximately 22 to 24 inches so that the combined container assembly may occupy substantially all of the available vertical space in a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft, which typically accommodates up to 120 vertical inches of cargo.
When sloped or chamfered, the rear wall of the extension container may be at an angle of approximately 35 to 45°, or approximately 39°, or any other suitable angle, relative to the base 12 of the extension container 10. By including the sloped rear wall, the extension container 10 can substantially conform to a typical aircraft fuselage, thus maximizing the amount of available space that the extension container 10 can occupy in the aircraft. In an alternative embodiment, the rear wall of the extension container 10 is not sloped, such that the extension container 10 has rectangular side walls. Such an embodiment may be preferable for an extension container intended to be loaded into a central region of a large aircraft, where the extension container does not have to accommodate the curved interior of the aircraft fuselage, or for other “non-curved” applications.
A standard M1 shipping container typically provides 593 cubic feet of available storage space. An extension container 10 with the dimensions described above provides approximately 120 to 145 cubic feet of available storage space, depending on the precise dimensions selected and whether the rear wall of the extension container 10 is sloped. Thus, by adding an extension container 10 to a standard M1 shipping container, approximately 20 to 25% more cargo can be stored at a given container location within an aircraft. Even at the higher end of this range (i.e., at approximately 735 cubic feet of available storage space in the combined container assembly), an average cargo load would be approximately 11,000 pounds, well under the certified container load capacity of 15,000 pounds.
A typical Boeing 747 cargo aircraft has the capacity to house 29 standard M1 containers, six of which are limited by fuselage ceiling limitations to a height of approximately 96 inches. The remaining 23 M1 containers may be as tall as approximately 120 inches. Thus, extension containers 10 may be added to 23 of the standard M1 containers in a given aircraft, providing an increase of approximately 16 to 20% of available storage space utilized in the aircraft.
Referring to
As is best shown in
The stack of extension containers 10 may be loaded for transport onto a truck, aircraft, or other vehicle via a forklift or other lifting mechanism or device. The pallet 50 optionally includes front, rear, or side openings to accommodate the tines of a forklift. Once loaded, the stack of extension containers 10 may be transported to a desired destination. For example, the stack of extension containers 10 may be transported by truck to an airport to which standard shipping containers 40 have been or will be delivered, either in the same truck or in a different truck or trucks. At the airport, each extension container 10 may be lifted off of the stack and lowered, via a forklift or other lifting mechanism or device, onto the top surface of a respective shipping container 40. The plungers 36 in the receiving elements 32 of the standard shipping container 40 may then be manually or automatically moved into engagement with the flanges 30 on the extension container 10 to secure the extension container 10 to the shipping container 40. The combined container assembly may then be loaded onto an aircraft, via a forklift or other lifting mechanism or device.
Because the extension containers 10 are relatively small, they are more likely to be customer-specific than are the larger standard shipping containers 40, which are more likely to be used to transport cargo for multiple customers. Furthermore, because the extension containers 10 may be transported separately from the standard shipping containers 40, customers or freight forwarders have the option to carefully load their cargo items into the extension containers 10 before they are shipped to an airport. Thus, the extension containers 10 can be ready for mating with a shipping container 40 upon arrival at the airport. Similarly, in some cases, extension containers 10 containing a customers cargo may be shipped directly to the customer. In these instances, airline carriers are freed from having to load and unload the extension containers 10, which can be a labor intensive and time-consuming process.
While several embodiments have been shown and described, various changes and substitutions may of course be made, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The precise dimensions of any feature described, for example, are not material to the invention, unless specifically recited in the claims. The invention, therefore, should not be limited, except by any claims and their equivalents.
