Patent Application
20250115420
The present disclosure relates to a cover system and associated methods. More specifically, a modular, waterproof cover system for containers (e.g., shipping container) or other suitable structures and associated methods are disclosed. The present cover system can be conveniently assembled, adjusted, and disassembled depending on various needs.
Containers are popular for shipment, transportation and storage uses. These containers can also be used as modular units. However, due to structural limitation, only single container can be used as one unit. It is inconvenient because it can only provide a limited space. Traditional ways of connecting containers do not address water leakages issues. Accordingly, it is advantageous to have an improved system to address the foregoing needs.
The present disclosure provides a modular cover system for containers (e.g., shipping containers) and other suitable structures. Associated methods for assembling, disassembling, adjusting, maintaining, and operating the cover system are also provided.
In some embodiments, the cover system includes (1) two or more corner components; (2) one or more elongated components connecting the corner components; (3) two or more side supporting components positioned on a side of a container and configured to support and secure the corner components.
The corner component is configured to be positioned at corners of the containers (e.g., there can be two, three, or four containers) to be connected. The corner component can be a four-end corner component (i.e., configured to connect four elongated components), a three-end corner component (i.e., configured to connect three elongated components), and a two-end corner component (i.e., configured to connect two elongated components). The corner component includes a center element and two or more external elements.
For example, the four-end corner component includes a four-way center element and four external elements circumferentially connected to the four-way center element. Similarly, the three-end corner component includes a three-way center element and three external elements circumferentially connected to the three-way center element. Similarly, the two-end corner component includes a two-way center element and two external elements connected to the two-way center element at both ends. In some embodiments, the center element and the corresponding external elements can be integrally formed. In some embodiments, the center element and the corresponding external elements can be modular elements that can be conveniently assembled and disassembled. Embodiments of the corner component are discussed in detail with reference to
The elongated component is configured to be positioned between sides of two containers to be connected. The elongated component can include a center cover and two side covers. In some embodiments, the center cover and the side covers can be modular elements that can be conveniently assembled and disassembled. In some embodiments, the center cover and the side covers can be integrally formed. Embodiments of the elongated component are discussed in detail with reference to
The side supporting component is configured to support the elongated component. The side supporting component includes an insert component configured to be positioned in a recess of a container, such that the side supporting component can be securely connected to the container. The side supporting component also includes an extension (e.g., a rounded extension) configured to be positioned in a socket (e.g., a rounded socket) of the elongated component. By this arrangement, the elongated component and the corresponding side supporting component together form a water-leakage-proof structure that can effectively connect two containers. Embodiments of the side supporting component are discussed in detail with reference to
One aspect of the present disclose includes methods for assembling, disassembling, and adjusting the components of the present cover system. Another aspect of the present disclose includes methods for operating containers connected by the present cover system.
In some embodiments, the present method includes design or simulating methods for assembling, disassembling, and adjusting the components of the present cover system. Such methods can include, for example, methods for determining dimensions/sizes/numbers/types of components for assembling the present cover system. Another example can be methods for simulating a “wear and tear” scenario, determining installation/maintenance schedules, performing a fluid leakage estimation, etc. The foregoing methods can be implemented by a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium having processor instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more aspects/features of the method described herein. In other embodiments, the present method can be implemented by a system comprising a computer processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the computer processor to perform one or more actions of the method described herein.
To describe the technical solutions in the implementations of the present disclosure more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings show merely some aspects or implementations of the present disclosure, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.
To describe the technical solutions in the implementations of the present disclosure more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings show merely some aspects or implementations of the present disclosure, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.
The cover system 100 includes multiple corner components configured to be positioned at corners of the containers to be connected. In the illustrated embodiments, these corner components include a four-end corner component 101, four three-end corner component 103, and four two-end corner component 105.
The cover system 100 includes multiple elongated components 102 positioned among the corner components 101, 103, and 105. In some embodiments, The elongated component 102 is configured to be positioned between sides of two containers to be connected. The four-end corner component 101 is configured to connect four corresponding elongated components 102. The three-end corner component 103 is configured to connect three corresponding elongated components 102. The two-end corner component 105 is configured to connect two corresponding elongated components 102.
By the foregoing arrangement, the cover system 100 can effectively over and secure the container C1-C4. The cover system 100 can also prevent water penetration/leakage from the top of the container in some weather conditions (rain, snow, hail, etc.). The cover system 100 can also improve the heat insulation capacity of the containers C1-C1 because the cover system 100 provides space between the inside and the outside of the containers C1-C4.
In the illustrated embodiments in
As also shown in
In other embodiments, the center cover 201 can be formed with other numbers of partitions. The partitions P1-P9 provide structural rigidity and insulation capacity for the center cover 201. Without wishing to be bound by theory, having partitions P1-P9 with varied sizes/dimensions provides effective structural support for the center cover 201.
The cover system can include side supporting components 205 positioned at a side of a container and configured to engage with and support the elongated component 102. In the illustrated embodiments of
The side supporting component 205A also includes an extension 2053 (e.g., a rounded extension) configured to be positioned in a socket 2035 of the side cover 203A of the elongated component 102. In some embodiments, the extension 2053 and the socket 2035 can be in different shapes. As shown, the side supporting component 205B and the side cover 203B can have the same arrangement. In some embodiments, the side supporting components 205A, 205B do not need to be in the same shape. Similarly, the side covers 203A, 203B do not need to be in the same shape, either. By this arrangement, the elongated component and the corresponding side supporting component together form a water-leakage-proof structure that can effectively connect two containers.
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In some embodiments, the deflector module 501 is also configured to accommodate other components of the trailer 500. For example, a towing bar assembly 507 can be folded (in direction X) and a portion of the towing bar assembly 507 can be stored inside the deflector module 501 when the towing bar assembly 507 is folded.
Once the deflector module 501 and the towing bar assembly 507 are removed from the trailer 500, the trailer can be connected with other trailer or containers by the present cover system 100.
At block 605, the method 600 continues by positioning a first corner component at a first end of the elongated component. At block 607, the method 600 continues by positioning a second corner component at a second end of the elongated component.
It may be understood that the memory 720 in the implementations of this technology may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random-access memory (RAM) and is used as an external cache. For exemplary rather than limitative description, many forms of RAMs can be used, and are, for example, a static random-access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), a synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM), a double data rate synchronous dynamic random-access memory (DDR SDRAM), an enhanced synchronous dynamic random-access memory (ESDRAM), a synchronous link dynamic random-access memory (SLDRAM), and a direct Rambus random-access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memories in the systems and methods described herein are intended to include, but are not limited to, these memories and memories of any other suitable type. In some embodiments, the memory may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions capable of execution by a processor.
In the illustrated embodiments in
As also shown in
The cover system can include side supporting components 805 positioned at a side of a container and configured to engage with and support the elongated component 802. In the illustrated embodiments of
The side supporting component 805A also includes an extension 8053 (e.g., a rounded extension) configured to be positioned in a socket 8035 of the side cover 803A of the elongated component 802. In some embodiments, the extension 8053 and the socket 8035 can be in different shapes. As shown, the side supporting component 805B and the side cover 803B can have the same arrangement. In some embodiments, the side supporting components 805A, 805B do not need to be in the same shape. Similarly, the side covers 803A, 803B do not need to be in the same shape, either. By this arrangement, the elongated component 802 and the corresponding side supporting component 805 together form a water-leakage-proof structure that can effectively connect two containers.
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In the illustrated embodiments of
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The above Detailed Description of examples of the disclosed technology is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed technology to the precise form disclosed above. While specific examples for the disclosed technology are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the described technology, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, while processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative implementations may perform routines having steps, or employ systems having blocks, in a different order, and some processes or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified to provide alternative implementations or sub-combinations. Each of these processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed in series, these processes or blocks may instead be performed or implemented in parallel, or may be performed at various times. Further, any specific numbers noted herein are only examples; alternative implementations may employ differing values or ranges.
In the Detailed Description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the presently described technology. In other implementations, the techniques introduced here can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features, such as specific functions or routines, are not described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure. References in this description to “an implementation/embodiment,” “one implementation/embodiment,” or the like mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic being described is included in at least one implementation of the described technology. Thus, the appearances of such phrases in this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same implementation/embodiment. On the other hand, such references are not necessarily mutually exclusive either. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more implementations/embodiments. It is to be understood that the various implementations shown in the figures are merely illustrative representations and are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Several details describing structures or processes that are well-known and often associated with communications systems and subsystems, but that can unnecessarily obscure some significant aspects of the disclosed techniques, are not set forth herein for purposes of clarity. Moreover, although the following disclosure sets forth several implementations of different aspects of the present disclosure, several other implementations can have different configurations or different components than those described in this section. Accordingly, the disclosed techniques can have other implementations with additional elements or without several of the elements described below.
Many implementations or aspects of the technology described herein can take the form of computer- or processor-executable instructions, including routines executed by a programmable computer or processor. Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the described techniques can be practiced on computer or processor systems other than those shown and described below. The techniques described herein can be implemented in a special-purpose computer or data processor that is specifically programmed, configured, or constructed to execute one or more of the computer-executable instructions described below. Accordingly, the terms “computer” and “processor” as generally used herein refer to any data processor. Information handled by these computers and processors can be presented at any suitable display medium. Instructions for executing computer- or processor-executable tasks can be stored in or on any suitable computer-readable medium, including hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and firmware. Instructions can be contained in any suitable memory device, including, for example, a flash drive and/or other suitable medium.
The term “and/or” in this specification is only an association relationship for describing the associated objects, and indicates that three relationships may exist, for example, A and/or B may indicate the following three cases: A exists separately, both A and B exist, and B exists separately.
These and other changes can be made to the disclosed technology in light of the above Detailed Description. While the Detailed Description describes certain examples of the disclosed technology, as well as the best mode contemplated, the disclosed technology can be practiced in many ways, no matter how detailed the above description appears in text. Details of the system may vary considerably in its specific implementation, while still being encompassed by the technology disclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the disclosed technology should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the disclosed technology with which that terminology is associated. Accordingly, the invention is not limited, except as by the appended claims. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the disclosed technology to the specific examples disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms.
A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, in combination with the examples described in the implementations disclosed in this specification, units and algorithm steps may be implemented by electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on particular applications and design constraint conditions of the technical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for each particular application, but it should not be considered that the implementation goes beyond the scope of this application.
Although certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certain claim forms, the applicant contemplates the various aspects of the invention in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the applicant reserves the right to pursue additional claims after filing this application to pursue such additional claim forms, in either this application or in a continuing application.
