BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a three dimensional drawing of a frame in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is the top view of the frame of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an assembly schematic drawing of a container body and the frame.
FIG. 4 is the installation schematic drawing of the container and the stiffening side beam of the frame.
FIG. 5 is the installation schematic drawing of the container and the corner post of the frame.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart which describes the method of installing the frame to the container.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the present invention is a frame 1 used for transportation of a container 2 and includes a top frame 11, a bottom frame 12 and four corner posts 13. The four corner posts 13 respectively connect with four corners of the top frame and bottom frame through a first detachable fastener combination 14. Since the top and bottom frames have the same construction, they are installed symmetrically. During the course of transportation, frame 1 is used in pair and two frames 1 are applied so that the plane location dimensions of the four corner fittings 17 of frame 1 complies with ISO668.
The first detachable fastener combination 14 consists of two connecting plates and at least one group of bolts and nuts. As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, two connecting plates have the same shape and are respectively welded at the end of the corner post 13 and cross member 15. The area of the connecting plate is larger than the cross sectional area of the corner post 13 as well as the width of the cross member 15. The two connecting plates are fastened by the bolts with nuts through the holes on the plates. For ease in dismantling, the two connecting plates may also be fastened through locating pins, cotter pins, bolts or rivets instead of bolts with nuts.
As shown in FIG. 2, each top frame 11 and bottom frame 12 contains two cross members 15, two groups of corner fitting's supporting beams and two corner fittings 17. Cross members 15 are connected in parallel through the corner fitting's supporting beams 16. They form the shape of two ladder steps. Two corner fittings 17 are respectively fastened at the central position of two groups of corner fitting's supporting beams 16. The hole distance of the two corner fittings 17 falls in the range of 2260 mm and its normal tolerance, which complies with ISO668. The corner fittings 17 may be fastened at other positions of the supporting beams 16 in accordance with the actual situation. FIG. 2 illustrates each supporting beam 16 consisting of two beams which are welded on a cross member 15 at its end. The middle space provides for the affixing of the corner fitting 17 to ensure the strength of the corner fittings. In this embodiment, no side rails are available for the top or bottom frames. In the case where the width of the container 2 is so large that it is too far from the end position of the cross member 15 to the corner fitting's supporting beams 16 located near the cross member, side rails may be utilized.
In the present invention, the corner fittings 17 may be of a structure of a corner fitting plate with other accessories welded together. The structure can perform the function of corner fittings. In this embodiment, the corner fitting 17 consists of three plates which have standard corner fitting holes. Two ends of the first plate of the three plates cross connect two supporting beams 16 while the remaining two plates are welded on the side of the first plate and connected with the supporting beam 16. They form a semi-isolated structure with the supporting beam 16. Such a structure is suitable for stacking and lifting, which is commonly used in the transportation of containers.
To enforce the bearing strength of the bottom frame 12, frame 1 may also include two stiffening side beams 18 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 4). The cross section of stiffening side beam 18 is L-shaped and the side beam is fastened on the cross member 15 of the bottom frame 12 through two supporting seats 19 with the cross section of a shape “[”. Stiffening side beams 18 and the supporting seats 19 are welded (rivet joint or bolting may also be available). The supporting seats 19 and the cross member 15 use such fastening methods as a rivet joints or bolting which are easy to dismantle. At the same time, the distance between the vertical parts of the two stiffening side beams 18 may be slightly larger than or equal to two times the width of the container 2. Thus, the container 2 may be directly placed on the horizontal part of the stiffening side beam 18. A space is provided between the container 2 and the cross member 15 of the bottom frame. The height of the corner post 13 includes a space between the top of the container 2 and the lower side of the top frame 11 after the container 2 is placed on the frame so as to ensure a cushion space for the container 2 and the top frame 11. In addition, the vertical part of the stiffening side beam 18 has holes which are used for the connection of the side beam and the container 2 to prevent the container 2 from sliding in transportation. In the present invention, in addition to enforcing the bearing capability of the bottom frame 12, the stiffening side beams 18 have other functions. When the frame 1, which is designed for the special container with larger sizes, is applied to the transportation of container 2 which is smaller, the installation location of the stiffening side beam 18 may be changed to match the size of the container 2 which is to be transported. In practice, the stiffening side beam 18 may function as a side beam only and used for reinforcement. According to the situation, more than two stiffening side beams 18 may be adopted and their location shall not interfere with the fixation of twist locks.
In practice, the stiffening side beam 18 may be fastened on the top frame 11 or on both the top and bottom frames. As shown in FIG. 5, corner post 13 of frame 1 has one plate which is welded at its top position and is larger than the corner post 13 in width. In addition, the plate may have a hole. Accordingly, container 2 may have rubber blocks corresponding to bolts. When the container 2 is placed on the bottom frame 12 and after the corner post 13 is installed, the corner post 13 is fastened on the container 2 by bolts. Holes are available which are used for the connection with the container 2 to be transported and utilized to prevent the container 2 from sliding in transportation. Holes may also be made on the corner post 13 which directly fasten the corner post 13 onto the container 2 by bolts, locating pins, cotter pins or rivets.
As shown in FIG. 6, the present invention is a method of installing the frame 1 onto container 2. The method begins with step S1 where the stiffening side beam 18 is fastened at a position near two ends of the cross member 15 of the bottom frame 12 through the supporting seat 19, whereby the distance between the vertical parts of the two stiffening side beams is slightly larger than or equal to the width of the container 2 to be transported. In practice, the stiffening side beam 18 may be fastened onto the top frame 11 as required. Next, in step S2, the two bottom frames 12 of frame 1 are placed on the same plane in parallel. According to the dimensions of the container and the specifications of the crane, the two bottom frames 12 are placed so that the distance between the corner fitting holes of the two corner fittings 17 on the same side of the two bottom frames 12 are more than or equal to 2777 mm and less than or equal to 11995 mm so that the plane location dimensions of four corner fittings 17 on the two bottom frames 12 comply with ISO668.
In step S3, the container 2 to be transported is placed on the horizontal portion of the stiffening side beam 18 of the two bottom frames 12. The method then moves to step S4 where the stiffening side beam 18 is fastened onto the container 2 by rivets or bolts. In step S5, the corning post 13 is fastened onto the bottom frame 12 located above through the first detachable fastener combination 14. Next, in step S6, the top frame 11 is fastened onto the corner post 13 located above through the first detachable fastener combination 14.
In step S7, the corner post 13 is fastened onto the container 2 by rivets or bolts. Step S1 may follow step S2 or step S3. Step S4 may follow step S5, step S6 or step S7. Step S7 may occur before step S6. If the stiffening side beam 18 needs to be fastened onto the top frame 11, step S1 may be placed after step S4 and step S5.
In practice, if the stiffening side beams 18 need to be installed on both the top and bottom frames, in step S1, the stiffening side beam 18 is respectively fastened at a position near the two ends of the cross member 15 of the top and bottom frames through the supporting seats 19, thereby making the distance between the vertical portions of the two stiffening side beams 18 slightly larger than or equal to the width of the container 2 to be transported. Additionally, step S1 may be placed after step S2 or step S3. Following the installation steps, the stiffening side beams 18 also may be installed on the top and bottom frames.
When the frame 1 needs to be dismantled, it can be operated by following the reverse sequence of the installation steps as described above. In addition, the stiffening side beam 18 may remain in place.
The frame of the present invention provides ease in installation and dismantling, as well as ease in recycling. The installation and separation of the frames and containers are also easy to operate. By use of the transport frames of this present invention, both hoisting and stacking special containers are available, which contributes to convenient transportation of the containers.
Thus, the present invention has been described herein with reference to a particular embodiment for a particular application. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the present teachings will recognize additional modifications, applications and embodiments within the scope thereof.
It is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and all such applications, modifications and embodiments within the scope of the present invention.
Patent Application
20070295724
