Patent Application
20220041369
The present disclosure relates to bulk material shipping containers and more particularly to a door structure for a bulk material shipping container having an operating mechanism for a door structure of a material loading assembly.
Various bulk material shipping containers are generally known and used to transport a wide range of products, parts, components, items, and other materials such as, but not limited to, seeds, shavings, fasteners, dry bulk, plastic resins, and granular materials (such as but not limited to cement or sand). These materials are sometimes called loose materials.
New and improved bulk material shipping containers are continuously being developed. For example, U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2018/0002066, which is owned by the assignee of the present application and incorporated herein by reference, discloses relatively new bulk material shipping containers.
There is a continuing need for better bulk material shipping containers for loose materials and for mechanisms for loading such bulk material shipping containers.
Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a bulk material shipping container that provides various advantages over previously-known, commercially-available bulk shipping material containers. In general, these containers include a base, a container body connected to and supported by the base, a material unloading mechanism positioned at and/or under a central bottom portion of the container body and connected to and supported by the base, and a material loading assembly connected to and supported by the top assembly of the container body. The material loading assembly includes a door structure and an operating mechanism for moving and locking the door structure that is operable by a user standing adjacent to the bulk material shipping container. Depending on the height of the bulk material shipping container, the user may either directly operate the operating mechanism or may use a separate device such as an extended arm or pole, for example.
For purposes of brevity, the bulk material shipping container of the present disclosure may sometimes be referred to herein as a material shipping container, a shipping container, or simply as a container. For purposes of brevity, a person who uses the container may sometimes be referred to herein as a “user” or an “operator”, a person who loads loose materials into a container may sometimes be referred to herein as a “loader,” and a person who removes the loose materials from a container may sometimes be referred to herein as an “unloader.”
Additional features and advantages of container, material loading assembly, door structure and operating mechanism are described in, and will be apparent from the following Detailed Description and appended drawings.
While the systems, devices, and methods described herein may be embodied in various forms, the drawings show and the specification describes certain exemplary and non-limiting embodiments. Not all of the components shown in the drawings and described in the specification may be required, and certain implementations may include additional, different, or fewer components. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components; the shapes, sizes, and materials of the components; and the connections of the components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims. Unless otherwise indicated, any directions referred to in the specification reflect the orientations of the components shown in the corresponding drawings and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Further, terms that refer to mounting methods, such as mounted, connected, secured, attached, etc., are not intended to be limited to direct mounting methods but should be interpreted broadly to include direct mounting, indirect mounting and/or operable coupling means and methods. In this way, the following specification is intended to be considered as a whole and interpreted accordingly from the perspective and understanding of one of ordinary skill in the art. It should be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present disclosure, and it should be understood that the scope of the claimed subject matter is only defined the appended claims.
Referring now to the drawings,
Generally, the shipping container 10 includes a base 20, a container body 30 connected to and supported by the base 20, a material unloading assembly (not shown) positioned at and under a central bottom portion of the container body 30 and connected to and supported by the base 20, a material loading assembly 40 connected in part to and supported by a top of the container body 30. The base 20 is configured to facilitate movement of the container 10 and stacking of multiple containers 10. The material unloading assembly is connected to the base 20 and operable to dispense or unload loose materials from the container body 30 of the container 10. The container body 30 is connected to and supported by the base 20 and configured to admit, retain and dispense loose materials. The material loading assembly 40 is, in part, connected to and supported by the top of the container body 30 and operable to access the container body 30 for loading loose materials into and preventing contaminants from entering the container body 30.
As further explained below, the bulk material shipping container of the present disclosure provides an improved bulk material shipping container for loose materials that enables a user to open and close a door on top of the container without being physically located on the top of the container. Many bulk material shipping containers are configured to make use of gravity to load and unload materials. As such, it is often beneficial to load material into the container through the top of the container and unload material through the bottom. Where the container height is relatively tall with respect to the user, the opening on top through which materials are loaded is not easily accessible from the ground. In accordance with the present disclosure, the container 10 enables a user to operate the door structure that is positioned on top of the container, while the user remains adjacent to a side of the container. More particularly, the bulk material shipping container of the present disclosure includes a new material loading assembly described in detail herein.
The base 20 and various parts of the container body 30 are only very generally described herein for brevity; and it should be appreciated that further details of the base 20 and the container body 30 are set forth in US 2018/0002066. With continued reference to
The material unloading assembly enables the container 10 to unload loose materials. The material unloading assembly can take various forms, and may include a hinged or sliding gate, a material director or chute, and/or various other parts.
The container body 30 defines an interior volume chamber or material holding space configured to admit, retain and dispense loose materials. As illustrated in
The material loading assembly 40 of the shipping container 10 is shown in
The operating mechanism 200 generally includes an extension member 300 and a latch mechanism 400. The operating mechanism 200 is operable by a person standing adjacent to the bulk material shipping container 10. As discussed in further detail below, the operating mechanism 200 partially extends past an edge of the bulk material shipping container 10, enabling a user to engage the extension member 300 and latch mechanism 400 from the ground for locking and releasing the latch mechanism 400 and for opening and closing the door structure 100 by engaging the extension member 300.
In the illustrated embodiment, particularly in
The elongated arm 310 includes a rectangular tube 312 having a plurality of attachment apertures 314a, 314b, 314c, and 314d (
The engagement pin 320, shown in greater detail in
With reference now to
The attachment bracket 410 includes an L-shaped bracket having first and second flanges 410.1, 410.2 configured to wrap around an edge E of the bulk material shipping container 10. The attachment bracket 410 has a plurality of apertures 412 formed through the first flange 410.1 for receiving suitable fasteners to secure the attachment bracket 410 to the container 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the first flange 410.1 is affixed to the first side wall 32c of the container 10. The attachment bracket 410 has a plurality of apertures 414 (
The lower capture member 420 includes an L-shaped bracket having a first plate 422 and a second plate 424. The lower capture member 420 is oriented opposite the attachment bracket 410 as shown. The first plate 422 includes a plurality of apertures (not shown) that align with the apertures 414 of the attachment bracket 410 for receiving suitable fasteners to secure the lower capture member 420 and upper capture member 430 to the attachment bracket 410. The second plate 424 has a pin slot 426 extends from an upper edge of the second plate 424 towards the first plate 422 as separates a first end region 424a and a second end region 424b of the second plate 424. The pin slot 426 is configured to receive the lock portion 330a of the engagement pin 320. In the illustrated embodiment, the pin slot 426 is wide enough to receive the latch contact surface 322 of the engagement pin 320 and narrow enough to prevent the shoulder 321 and the guard 323 from being received therein. The width of pin slot 426 restricts lateral sliding of the engagement pin 320 out of the pin slot 426. In other words, The shoulder 321 and the guard 323 will contact the second plate 424 to prevent lateral movement the engagement pin 320. The end region 424b has a locking pin aperture 428 formed therethrough. Locking pin 440 (described in further detail below) may be inserted through the locking pin aperture 428 to engage the upper capture member 430.
The upper capture member 430 is positioned in the same orientation as the lower capture member 420. The upper capture member 430 includes L-shaped brackets 432.1, 432.2 that are nested in a spaced relation. A pin seat 434 extends from an upper edge of the L-shaped brackets 432.1, 432.2 align with the pin slot 426 of the lower capture member 420. The first and second L-shaped brackets 432.1432.2 are interconnected by suitable fasteners for securing the upper capture member 430, the lower capture member 420 and the attachment bracket 410. In this way, the fasteners are inserted through the attachment bracket 410, lower capture member 420, first L-shaped bracket 432.1, and second L-shaped bracket 432.2.
The first and second L-shaped brackets 432.1, 432.2 are spaced apart such that first, second, and third bearings 436a, 436b, and 436c are supported between upright plates thereof. The second bearing 436b and the third bearing 436c are connected to a movable locking member 438. The movable locking member 438 is movable to extend at least partially across the pin slot 426 in the lower capture member 420 and across the corresponding pin seats 434 in the first and second L-shaped bracket 432.1 and 432.2. The movable locking member 438 is movable between a locked position and an unlocked position. In the locked position, the movable locking member 438 extends across the pin slot 426 and the pin seats 434 to prevents the engagement pin 320 from moving out of the latch mechanism 400. In the unlocked position, the movable locking member 438 is moved out of the way such that it no longer spans the top of the pin slot 426 and pin seats 434 such that the lock engagement pin 320 is free to move out of engagement with the latch mechanism 400.
The locking pin 440 engages the movable locking member 438, to cause the movable locking member to move from the locked position to the unlocked position and vice versa. The locking pin 440 extends through the locking pin aperture 428 of the lower capture member. The locking pin aperture 428 is formed as an elongated arcuate slot for enabling the locking pin 440 to slide up and down to selectively position the movable locking member 438 between the locked (or closed) position and the unlocked (or open) position. The locking pin 440 includes a ring 442. The ring 442 provides an ergonomic contact member for a user to easily lock and unlock the latch mechanism 400. While a ring 442 is shown, it should be understood that any other suitable shape can be used.
As noted above, the bulk material shipping container 10 of the present disclosure enables a user to lock, unlock, open and close a door 110 on top of the bulk material shipping container while positioned on a side of the container. To close the door 11-, the user reaches up and engages the handle portion 330b of the engagement pin 320 on the operating mechanism 200 (either by hand or using a device such as an extended pole). The user lifts the engagement pin 320, which is connected to the front edge 112 of the door 110. As the engagement pin 320 and door 110 rotate from the open position to the closed position, the engagement pin 320 moves along an arc. When the engagement pin 320 reaches the top of the arc, the door 110 is in an upright position. The user continues to move the engagement pin 320 and lowers the door 110 into the closed position. The user lowers the engagement pin 320 until the latch contact surface 322 enters the latch mechanism 400. Once the door is in the closed position, the user can lock the door in this position by locking the latch mechanism 400. To do this, the user engages the locking pin 440 of the latch mechanism 400 to move the moveable locking member 438 into the locked position, which prevents the engagement pin 320 from moving out of the latch mechanism 400. All of the above steps can be performed from the side of the container. To unlock and open the door, the same procedure can be performed in reverse.
It should be appreciated that suitable instructional marking or labels may be placed on or connected to the container of the present disclosure to instruct the users, operators, loaders, or unloaders on how to use, load, unload, and/or move the container in accordance with the present disclosure. It should further be appreciated that the attachment of the various components of the container can be performed in any suitable way such as by welding (including but not limited to laser welding) and by suitable fasteners (such as but not limited to rivets and bolts and nuts). It should also be appreciated that the present disclosure contemplates the elimination or reduction of sharp edges in the container body and that any sharp edges can be curved or formed with a suitable radius.
