This application relates to a system to facilitate reconfiguration of shipping containers.
Reusable, stackable containers such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. RE 47,210, PCT/IB2020/000183 filed Apr. 17, 2020, and PCT/IB2020/000378 filed May 14, 2020, which are incorporated by reference herein, can be useful for transporting various types of cargo, e.g., by ship, by rail, by truck, in domestic or overseas commerce, and in other contexts. Certain containers include collapsible walls for facilitating storage and/or transportation of containers without payloads. Each side wall may be pivotable on the base of the container. Each side wall may be locked in an upright position during use of the container. After the container has been emptied, each of the side walls may be pivoted inward through an angle of about 90° so that the side walls are stacked on the base. When the container is to be reused, a collapsed container may be reconfigured to an erect position, i.e., the walls may be pivoted upward away from the base, then locked in upright positions, to restore the container to a working configuration. In some instances, reconfiguration of collapsed containers may be labor-intensive, difficult and/or time consuming.
Disclosed herein is a system to facilitate container reconfiguration. In some embodiments, the system includes a mechanism to pivot the container walls from generally collapsed or horizontal positions to generally upright or erect positions. In some embodiments, the system comprises a holder for temporarily supporting the container, and a drive mechanism for rotating the container to cause all of the sidewalls of the container to pivot from collapsed positions to erected positions. In some embodiments, the system includes a conveyor for transporting a container having sidewalls in a collapsed arrangement to a rotatable support or frame. The support may include at least one securement member for releasably securing the container to the rotatable support such that the container is rotatable. The system may further include a drive for rotating the support from a first angular orientation to a second angular orientation such that one or more sidewalls pivot under the influence of gravity from the collapsed arrangement toward an erected arrangement.
A method of assembling a container may include transporting a container having sidewalls in a collapsed arrangement to a rotatable support or holder. With the container at the rotatable holder, the method may include securing the container to the rotatable support such that the container is rotatable. The method may further include rotating the container from a first angular orientation to a second angular orientation such that the sidewalls fall from the collapsed arrangement to an erected arrangement.
Described herein is a system and method of reconfiguring a container. The system is configured to receive a container in a collapsed arrangement and secure the container such that it is fixed relative to a rotatable holder. The system is further configured to rotate the rotatable holder and container secured thereto such that the container is at least partially inverted. In the inverted position, sidewalls of the container fall due to gravitational forces. An operator may then lock the walls in the erected arrangement. The system may then return the container, now in the erected arrangement, to its original orientation. A conveyor may then transport the erected container out of the rotatable holder. The process may be repeated with additional collapsed containers. This automated or semi-automated process assembles a container more efficiently than manual reconfiguration, and reduces operator effort in reconfiguring a container.
With reference to
The container 12 includes locking mechanisms 32 adjacent opposite vertical edges of at least one of the sidewalls to facilitate securing and releasing adjacent sidewalls when the sidewalls are the erected arrangement.
Referring again to
The rotation station 52 may include a rotatable holder 70 that includes a base portion 72 and at least one rotatable frame 74 that is connected (directly or indirectly) to the base portion 72. The base portion 72 receives the container 12 from the first conveyor 60. In the example shown, the rotation holder 70 includes two circular rotatable frames 74 that are longitudinally offset from each other. The rotatable frames 72 have an inner dimension sufficient to receive the container 12 therebetween. For example, the rotatable frames 74 may have an inner diameter that is greater than an outer dimension of the container 12 such that the container 12 may pass through the two circular rotatable frames 74. One or more transverse brace members 76 may extend between the rotatable frames 74.
The rotatable frames 74 are connected to the base portion 72 such that the rotatable frames 74 and the base portion 72 are rotatable together. For example, when one or both of the rotatable frames 74 are rotated about a central axis, the base portion 72 is also rotated about the central axis.
The rotation holder 70 also includes at least one securement member 80 for releasably securing the container 12 to the rotation holder 70. For example, the securement member 80 may include at least one clamp for releasably securing the container 12 to the base portion 72.
In one approach, one or more (e.g., four) rotatable members are rotated into locking engagement with the base portion 72 of the container 12 such that rotation of the rotation holder 70 also rotates the container 12. The system 10 may include one or more electric motors that are configured to rotate the rotatable members between a disengaged position and an engaged position. In the engaged position, the base portion 72 of the container 12 is rotatably secured to the rotation holder 70. In another approach, one or more (e.g., four) pneumatic pumps are provided to secure the container 12 to the rotation holder 70 such that rotation of the rotation holder 70 also rotates the container 12.
The system includes a drive 82 for rotating the rotatable holder 70. The drive 82 may include a motor 84 that is operatively connected to a driven roller 86 such that operation of the motor 84 rotates the driven roller 86. The driven roller 86 may be engagement with the rotatable holder 70 such that rotation of the driven roller 86 effects rotation of the rotatable holder 70. In one example, the driven roller 86 includes a groove 88 that receives a portion of the rotatable frame 74 therein.
The rotation station 52 may also include one or more secondary rollers 86′ that have grooves 88′ similar to the grooves 88 of the driven roller 86. The secondary rollers 86′ may assist in supporting the weight, and facilitate rotation, of the rotatable holder 70 and container 12 received therein.
The rotation station 52 also includes a second conveyor 90 for receiving the container 12 from the receiving station 50 and for transporting the container 12 to the removal station 54
Referring now to
As shown in
Referring to
Referring to
As shown in
In one approach, before the sidewalls are locked, the rotatable holder 70 and container 12 may be rotated in an opposite rotational direction to a third angular orientation that is between the first (horizontal) angular orientation and the second (inverted or partially inverted) angular orientation. For example, the rotatable holder 70 and container 12 may be rotated such that they are angularly offset from the first angular orientation in the range of approximately 100 degrees to approximately 170 degrees, and more particularly, approximately 110 degrees. This partial reverse rotation may assist an operator in locking the sidewalls by vertically raising the locking mechanisms relative to their previous position in the inverted orientation.
Referring to
In another approach, when the container 12 is rotated to the inverted position (e.g., the position shown in
The pins may permit the sidewalls to pivot slightly toward the collapsed arrangement. For example, the pins, when in the extended position, may be offset or spaced from a parallel axis of the sidewalls 24, 28. When the sidewalls 24, 28 are rotated back to the first angular orientation (e.g., the angular orientation shown in
In this way, when the container 12 is rotated back to the first angular orientation, one or more of the sidewalls of the container 12 (e.g., sidewalls 22, 24, 26, and 28) are held or maintained in the erected or nearly erected arrangement. With the sidewalls maintained in the erected or nearly erected arrangement, an operator 100 may approach the container 10 to actuate one or more first and second locking mechanisms 32 to secure adjacent sidewalls of the container 12 in the erected arrangement. Thereafter, the holding mechanism 120 may be retracted and the securement member 80 may be disengaged from the base portion 72, thereby releasing the container 12.
As shown in
The system 10 may utilize various approaches for rotating containers 12. For example, the rotatable holder 70 may include one or more rotatable frames 74 and may not include a base, or may include a base 72 and not a rotatable frame. Other structures and assemblies for rotating containers may be utilized.
The present disclosure describes embodiments and examples of cargo units and related methods of use and operation. Terms such as front, rear, side, vertical, horizontal, upper, lower, etc. are descriptive of the figures presented herein.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope as set forth in the claims, and that such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventive concept. In addition, it should also be understood that features of one embodiment described herein may be combined with features of other embodiments described herein.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/078,596, filed Sep. 15, 2020, which is hereby fully incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/IB2021/000622 | 9/14/2021 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63078596 | Sep 2020 | US |