Patent Application
20060254947
The present invention relates to modular containers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stackable, interlocking, modular container system that is useful for storage and shipping of liquid and dry goods, and construction of retaining walls, shelters, and other small structures.
Containers useful for holding liquid or dry goods are old. Containers that are designed to stack vertically for convenient storage are also known. However, when these prior art containers are stacked higher than three to four courses the stacks become unstable and are likely to fall over unless braced or contained by some external means. Likewise, if several vertical stacks are set side-by-side, the entire load becomes unstable and unwieldy to transport without some external bracing, extensive strapping, or containment. These disadvantages become especially troublesome when dealing with large quantities of liquid or dry goods that must be transported in bulk, but must be distributed at the destination in smaller individual quantities. Such situations are common in disaster relief scenarios, where large amounts of food, water, fuel, and medical supplies must be distributed to and within areas lacking functioning transportation systems. Bulk quantities of aid may be trucked or airlifted into a central distribution point, but further distribution within the stricken area may require transfer to man-portable loads in order to reach individuals.
One option then is to utilize large tanks for transporting liquids, or large holds for transporting dry goods, to a distribution point for further transfer. This option is not always desirable because separate smaller containers will be required to offload individual quantities—requiring separate transportation for the smaller containers and specialized equipment to pump or otherwise dispense the bulk goods into the individual containers for redistribution. This method also requires excessive time to transfer loads during time-critical situations.
A second option would be to transport the goods in a large number of conventional small containers. This option is not desirable because large loads of conventional containers filled with product are unstable and so require special packing techniques or special transport vehicles. Another disadvantage to this method is that used containers create a large amount of waste because they have no other function than transportation or storage. The used containers either become trash in the distribution area, or the containers must be transported back to their point of origin thereby consuming valuable transportation space, excess fuel and excess time and labor in reloading.
There may also be situations where it is desirable to utilize the advantages of large capacity liquid tanks at a distribution point, but it is impossible to transport such large tanks to the distribution point. The ability to transport liquids such as fuel or drinking water in smaller portable containers (either man-portable, or easily carried by small vehicles or carts that can travel where large tanker trucks cannot) and then reassemble these small containers into the equivalent of a large tank, with a single dispensing system, would be a great advantage.
Thus, there is a need for a container system capable of storing liquid or dry goods; which can be arranged in stable stacks that are easily palletized for transportation and easily broken down for individual transfer or distribution; and which can also be reassembled to function as a large liquid storage tank.
Sandbags and similar apparatus are also known in the art. Using sandbags for constructing temporary shelters, bunkers, or retaining walls is well known. Sandbags are often used to create temporary dikes to divert flood waters or mud; to construct temporary field fortifications above and below ground; or to construct temporary weather shelters in areas without readily accessible building materials. The main advantages of sandbags are that empty bags are easily transportable; construction methods require only some dirt and labor; and hastily built or partially completed shelters can provide significant protection from weather and/or attack.
Sandbags and similar apparatus have many disadvantages, however. Sandbags become unstable when stacked vertically, so that walls higher than a few feet tall require an extremely thick base or some external structural support such as timbers and planks. Typical materials used to construct sandbags (such as burlap and nylon fabrics) are water-permeable, rapidly becoming waterlogged and unstable, and are easily torn so that frequent repair is necessary. Such materials also tend to breakdown with prolonged exposure to sun and rain, again requiring frequent repair. A further disadvantage is that, due to their water-permeability, typical sandbags can only be filled with sand, dirt, or gravel—not water. Sandbags are thus not optimal in flooding scenarios, requiring rapid construction of stable retaining walls capable of diverting water, because filling the bags with mud will not create a stable wall, and the bags cannot be filled with water—which is distressingly abundant. Another disadvantage of sandbags is that they are not useful for other purposes, and cannot easily be reused.
More durable types of sandbags have been developed, constructed from weather-resistant and watertight synthetic materials. These new types of bags still suffer from the disadvantage that they cannot be used to create stable walls higher than a few feet tall without separate structural support. These new bags also cannot be easily emptied, cleaned, and dried for long term storage and future reuse. Nor can these new bags be used for any other purpose, such as transportation of food, drinking water, medicine, or other goods. Thus, though there are improved sandbags in the prior art these improved sandbags still exhibit many of the disadvantages of older products.
Still other means have been developed for easily constructing walls or shelters, but these also have significant disadvantages. For instance, it is known in the art to utilize reusable pre-fabricated construction blocks of various materials for small retaining walls and erosion control barriers. The disadvantages of these systems are that in order to remain stable they require either a bonding agent or staking with a long rod through the stack. A further disadvantage is that prior art pre-fabricated construction blocks are heavy—weighing thirty pounds or more each—making them difficult to transport in bulk or as man-portable loads. Another disadvantage is that prior art construction blocks do not provide ready-made attachment points for useful add-ons, such as: cosmetic facings for structures, roofing tie-downs, mounting lights or signs, armor plating, handles, and straps for easier transportation, etc. Finally, known prefabricated construction blocks are not useful for any other purpose. Because they are solid rather than hollow such blocks cannot be used for transporting or storing liquid or dry goods.
Thus, there is a need for a device that can combine the advantageous features of stackable liquid tight, reusable storage containers with the advantages of sandbags and prefabricated construction blocks, but which eliminates the major disadvantages of each. The present invention seeks to address these needs.
The following represents a list of known related patents:
The teachings of each of the above-listed citations (which does not itself incorporate essential material by reference) are herein incorporated by reference. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
A stackable, multi-use shipping and storage container includes a container having a bottom wall, a generally vertical enclosing sidewall, and a top surface forming a water-tight enclosure, one or more raised lid upsets on said top surface, with an equal number of receiving indentations on said bottom surface corresponding in planar arrangement to said raised lid upsets, such that any of said raised lid upsets fit tightly within the said bottom indents of any other said container when said containers are stacked vertically, an opening provided in at least one lid upset to access the interior of said container, and at least one lid attachable to a corresponding number of lid upsets having openings, wherein each said lid attached to each said lid upset having an opening forms a water-tight seal.
A stackable, multi-use shipping and storage containment system includes a plurality of containers of predetermined dimensions, each of said containers comprising a bottom wall, a generally vertical enclosing sidewall, and a top surface forming a water-tight enclosure, each of said containers including either single or multiple raised lid upsets on its top surface, with an equal number of receiving indentations on its bottom surface corresponding in planar arrangement to the said raised lid upsets, such that any of said raised lid upsets fit tightly within the said bottom indents of any other said container when said containers are stacked vertically, wherein, said raised lid upsets and corresponding bottom indentations are arranged in a planar manner in proportional geometric patterns such that any one of said containers with a plurality of lid upsets has linear dimensions equal to an array of single-lid containers arranged side-by-side to correspond to the planar pattern of said multi-lid container, wherein, at least one raised lid upset of each of said containers is open with a means to accept said lid forming a water-tight seal, said lid not interfering with the vertical stacking of the said containers, and wherein, said plurality of containers with differing numbers of said raised lid upsets can be stacked in an interlocking pattern for stability.
Thus, the present invention combines the following advantages into a single system of containers: (1) the containers are easily stackable in stable arrangements for ease of handling, transport, and stowage; (2) the container capsules with plumbing connections may be stacked and manifolded to become a large continuous tank; (3) containers may be filled with water, mud, sand, dirt, gravel, concrete or other ballast to be used in constructing shelters, retaining walls, dikes, revetments, bunkers, barriers, and other structures; (4) the capsules are reusable—they can be emptied, flushed, dried, and returned to storage even after being filled with ballast; (5) the capsules may be constructed from a variety of materials to provide compatibility with specific products, such as drinking water, hydrocarbon fuels, foodstuffs, hazardous chemicals, medical supplies, and human waste; and (6) the capsules can be used to store children's toys and then the children can stack the capsules in various formations to create forts, castles and other playful structures.
Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Further benefits and advantages of the embodiments of the invention will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which specify and show preferred embodiments of the present invention.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.
Before beginning a detailed description of the subject invention, mention of the following is in order. When appropriate, like reference materials and characters are used to designate identical, corresponding, or similar components in differing figure drawings. The figure drawings associated with this disclosure typically are not drawn with dimensional accuracy to scale, i.e., such drawings have been drafted with a focus on clarity of viewing and understanding rather than dimensional accuracy.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
The stackable multi-use shipping and storage capsule and system includes a system of containers 10, 60, 70, preferably rotation-molded polyethylene, in which the lid upsets 24 in the top 12 of each container fit tightly into corresponding receiving indentations 28 in the bottom 14 of each container. As shown in
The first embodiment of the container 10 has two lid upsets 24 and two corresponding indentations 28, further described as male/female interconnect features. A second embodiment of the container 70 is “T”-shaped with three of the male/female interconnect features, one at each branch. A third embodiment of the container 60 has a single male/female interconnect feature. The dimensions of the capsules are such that a standard capsule 10 is the same height, same width, but twice the length of a single capsule 60. A “T”-shaped capsule 70 has the same height as a single capsule 60, but the “T”-shaped capsule's 70 other dimensions are equivalent to placing three single capsules 60 in a “T” arrangement. Thus, the basic dimensions of any capsule with a plurality of lid upsets 24 are equal to an arrangement of an equal plurality of single capsules 60 arranged in an identical pattern. When stacking capsules this single capsule 60 may be used as a filler wherever offset rows of standard capsules 10 require an end space filler. Each type of capsule 10, 60, 70 is fitted with at least one large diameter screw on watertight lid 26, and at least one plumbing connection threaded hole 22 near the bottom of the capsule which can be plugged, fitted with a valve for dispensing, or cross-connect plumbing for manifolding.
A first embodiment is shown in
Threaded caps 26 insert far enough to prevent interference with the male/female interconnection, and are provided with notched crown tops to facilitate opening and closing. A threaded cap plug (not shown) can be provided in each threaded cap 26 to permit venting the capsule, or alternatively to accept a vent valve or relief valve (not shown).
The capsule is preferably constructed from rotation-molded low density polyethylene (LDPE) due to its food safe properties, compatibility with a wide range of chemicals, strength, resistance to weathering, and manufacturability. However, any suitable material can be utilized for this invention depending on the cargo, environment, manufacturing capabilities and desired cost.
A recessed threaded port 22 is located near the bottom of the capsule to provide drainage, utilizing ¾″ NPT female threads to accommodate common plumbing fixtures, such as plugs 30. Multiple capsules may be cross-connected via each capsule's threaded port 22 utilizing commonly available valves, piping and/or tubing, and other fittings as necessary thereby creating a single continuous tank, or a manifold system allowing dispensing from any individual capsule.
A front sidewall 16 and rear sidewall 18 of the first embodiment are parallel in the direction of the long axis of the capsule, and generally vertical. End sidewalls 20 in the preferred embodiment are shaped with a constant radius equal to one half the distance from the flat face of front sidewall 16 to the flat face of rear sidewall 18. As seen by
Four pre-tapped mounting holes 38 are inset on each of front sidewall 16 and rear sidewall 18. Mounting holes 38 provide means for mounting shelving, signage, lighting, paneling, lapping, armor plate, or other items on an assembled wall, or alternatively, could be used to mount handles for easier handling of individual capsules. An alternative would be for mount holes 38 to incorporate threaded metal inserts for increased thread strength. As seen in
Horizontal slots 44 are formed integrally into each end wall 20. Horizontal slots 44 provide ready handles individual capsules. Additionally, when capsules are assembled into linear walls horizontal slots 44 may provide ventilation or pass through points for facilities, or firing ports when capsules are used to construct bunkers.
Detents 46 are provided on the top of the capsules arranged circumferentially about each raised lid upset 24 to demark angular offsets. Circumferential grooves 48 are molded into the bottom of each capsule corresponding with radii of the detents 46 and sized to accept the detents 46. Detents 46 allow assemblers to ensure stacked capsules are oriented at the correct angle for the desired wall layout.
A second embodiment is shown in
A third embodiment is shown in
Protection against blast effects can be improved by filling the capsules forming the blast wall with water and leaving them uncapped, so that the capsules are not ruptured by the overpressure effect. A secondary wall constructed with capsules filled with sand, dirt, or concrete would provide added protection from shrapnel.
The container could also be used for such purposes such as a field toilet. A capsule could accept a toilet seat adaptation threaded into a raised upset, thereby providing a field toilet that can be sealed and transported to protect the environment.
The container can be used to store children's toys. In this aspect, the capsules have the added attractive feature of not only storing the toys, but being a toy themselves in that the capsules can be stacked, as shown in
Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications and changes may be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. It will, of course, be understood that modifications of the invention, in its various aspects, will be apparent to those skilled in the art, some being apparent only after study, others being matters of routine mechanical, chemical and electronic design. No single feature, function or property of the preferred embodiment is essential. Other embodiments are possible, their specific designs depending upon the particular application. As such, the scope of the invention should not be limited by the particular embodiments herein described but should be defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
