US20170015498A1

US20170015498A1 - Container

Info

Publication number: US20170015498A1
Application number: US15/277,383
Authority: US
Inventors: Jianbin Zhu; Guoquan Lv; Xinlin Lu; Feng Wang; Aijun Wang
Original assignee: China International Marine Containers Group Co Ltd; Nantong CIMC Special Transportation Equipment Manufacture Co Ltd; CIMC Containers Holding Co Ltd
Current assignee: China International Marine Containers Group Co Ltd; Nantong CIMC Special Transportation Equipment Manufacture Co Ltd; CIMC Containers Holding Co Ltd
Priority date: 2013-09-30
Filing date: 2016-09-27
Publication date: 2017-01-19
Also published as: GB2542048A; WO2015043349A1; AU2014328107A1; GB2542048B; CN104512654A; AU2014328107B2; GB2542048C

Abstract

A container has a floor, bottom side beams are arranged to two sides of the floor, bottom cross beams are arranged between the bottom side beams on the two sides, at least the underside of the bottom cross beams is constructed as a closed structure, and/or at least the underside thereof extends only towards the ground. In the container, the underside of the bottom cross beams is free of a location where pests and microorganisms are hidden, thereby eliminating the potential of the pests and microorganisms being attached to the bottom cross beams and spreading everywhere with the container, and meanwhile the investigation of the container is also simplified, contributing to increasing the speed of circulation of containers.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a Continuation of International Application PCT/CN2014/085199, filed on Aug. 26, 2014. Application PCT/CN2014/085199 claims the benefit of and priority to Chinese Patent Application 201310464404.1 filed on Sep. 30, 2013.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to the technical field of containers, and in particular to a container.
Presently, containers have become the most frequently used means of transportation in international trade, however, the containers also become a carrier taking the pests and other microorganism during the goods transportation process. The pests population brought into the territory by the container is very difficult to thoroughly kill once its large-scale breeding occurs, and the losses caused by the pests are also difficult to assess.
The bottom frame of the container generally has its cross members, bottom side rails and even the end sills configured in a C-form configuration or a H-form steel structure, which increasingly facilitating the carrying of the pests. When taking into consideration the huge quantity of containers circulating worldwide and the inbound and outbound speeds of the containers, it is unpractical to require checking each of the containers to ensure that it doesn't carry pests.
FIG. 1 shows a side view of the existent container, and the cross section of the bottom side rail 1 of the container can be seen in FIG. 2 when cutting along the A direction of FIG. 1. While the cross section of the cross member 2 of the container can be seen in FIG. 3 when cutting along the B direction of FIG. 2. It is observed from FIGS. 2 and 3 that the bottom side rail 1 and the cross member 2 of existent containers have their cross sections approximately configured in a C-shape opening toward the side, and the bottoms of the bottom side rail 1 and the cross member 2 are open flat plates extending horizontally, where the pests and other microorganism are often hidden. Due to the bottom side rail 1 capable of being directly observed from the outside of the container, it is easier to be swept and investigated. But the cross member 2 is unable to be directly observed from the outside of the container and thus is much easier to carry pests and other microorganism.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a container capable of at least partially overcoming the problems existed in prior art.

SUMMARY

To overcome the above deficiencies in prior art, the present invention provides a container, the container comprises a floor, bottom side rails provided at both sides of the floor, and cross members provided between the bottom side rails, the bottom side rail extends in the longitudinal direction of the container, the cross member extends in the transverse direction of the container, the cross member is configured to be a closed structure at least at its bottom, and/or to extend toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom.
Optionally, the bottom side rail is configured to a closed structure at least at its bottom, and/or to extend toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom.
Optionally, the closed structure is a polygonal prism.
Optionally, the closed structure is a triangular prism.
Optionally, the triangular prism comprises a vertical plates, a horizontal plate and an inclined plate, the vertical plate extends in a vertical direction, the horizontal plate extends in a horizontal direction, the vertical plate and the horizontal plate are connected in a L-shaped configuration, the inclined plate is obliquely connected at the side edge of the horizontal plate and onto the surface of the vertical plate.
Optionally, the triangular prism is approximately a regular triangle in its cross section.
Optionally, the closed structure has at least one inclined side provided at the upper part of the closed structure.
Optionally, the bottom side rail and/or the cross member are closed in its entirety.
Optionally, the bottom side rail and/or the cross member are rectangular tubes or diamond tubes.
Optionally, the bottom side rail and/or the cross member comprise a U-shaped support plate, the cross section of the U-shaped support plate is in a U-shaped form, and the opening of the U-shaped support plate is arranged upwardly or downwardly.
Optionally, the U-shaped support plate is also provided with epitaxial-plates, the epitaxial-plates being connected at both ends of the opening of the U-shaped support plate and extending in directions away from the U-shaped support plate respectively.
Optionally, the bottom side rail and/or the cross member are configured to extend vertically toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom.
Optionally, the bottom side rail and/or the cross member comprise at least one vertical support plate.
Optionally, the bottom side rail and/or the cross member further comprise a horizontal support plate, the vertical support plate being connected at the end of the horizontal support plate or below the horizontal support plate.
Optionally, the bottom side rail and/or the cross member is formed into a T-shape or an inverted L-shape.
Optionally, the cross member is a corrugated plate comprising a plurality of bumps joined side by side.
Optionally, two vertical support plates are provided at the two ends of the horizontal support plate respectively, in such a way that the bottom side rail and/or the cross member is in a C-shape opening downward.
Optionally, there are provided at least two cross members selected from the triangular prism, the cross member in a C-shape opening downward, the U-shaped support plate, the T-shaped cross member, the cross member in an inverted L-shape and the cross member integrally closed.
With the container according to the embodiments of the present invention, the underside of the cross member is free of a location where pests and microorganisms are hidden, thereby eliminating the possibility that the pests and microorganisms are attached to the cross member and spreading everywhere with the container, and meanwhile, the investigation of the container is also simplified which contributes to increasing the speed of circulation of containers.
In this SUMMARY section, a series of simplified concepts are introduced which will get a further detailed description in the DETAILED DESCRIPTION section. The SUMMARY section of the present invention does not intend to define the critical features and the essential technical features of the claimed technical solution, nor intend to determine the protection scope of the claimed technical solution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, a detailed description will be made about the advantages and features of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings. The drawings of the present invention listed below are used as a part of the present invention herein for the understanding of the present invention. The drawings illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and its description, so as to explain the principle of the present invention. In which,

FIG. 1 is a side view of the container in prior art;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 taking in the A direction;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of FIG. 2 taking in the B direction;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the container according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a structural representation of an embodiment of the bottom side rail according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a structural representation of another embodiment of the bottom side rail according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a structural representation of still another embodiment of the bottom side rail according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a structural representation of the fourth embodiment of the bottom side rail according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a structural representation of the first embodiment of the cross member according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a structural representation of the second embodiment of the cross member according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a structural representation of the third embodiment of the cross member according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a structural representation of the fourth embodiment of the cross member according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a structural representation of the fifth embodiment of the bottom side rail according to the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a structural representation of the sixth embodiment of the bottom side rail according to the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a structural representation of the fifth embodiment of the cross member according to the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a structural representation of the sixth embodiment of the cross member according to the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a structural representation of the seventh embodiment of the cross member according to the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a structural representation of the eighth embodiment of the cross member according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description hereinafter gives a large quantity of specific details so as to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, as obvious to the skilled in this art, the present invention may be implemented without one or more of these details. Some of the technical features well-known in this art are not described in other examples so as not to confuse with the present invention.
A detailed structure would be proposed in the following description for the purpose of thorough understanding the present invention. Apparently, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to special details known by the skilled in this art. The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail as follows, however, the present invention can also comprise other embodiments besides these detailed description.
The embodiment of the present invention discloses a container, the exterior structure of which is as shown in FIG. 4. When cutting the bottom of the container of the present invention in the C direction of FIG. 4, the sectional view shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained so as to observe the structure of the cross section of the bottom side rail 30. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the container of the embodiment of the present invention comprises a floor 10, and bottom side rails 30 are provided at both sides of the floor 10 and extend in the longitudinal direction of the container. The cross members 50 are provided between the bottom side rails 30 at both sides of the floor 10, and the cross members 50 are divided into two parts, that is, a part located below the floor 10 as shown in FIG. 5, and a part located at the bottom of the end face of the container (not shown in the figures), such cross members 50 extend in the transverse direction of the container. The bottom of each of the two end faces of the container is provided with one cross member 50 respectively, while a plurality of cross members 50 are provided below the floor 10, these cross members 50 are separated from each other in the transverse direction of the container, so as to provide support to the floor 10. Then, cutting the bottom of the container of the present invention in the D direction of FIG. 5 once again, it is possible to obtain the sectional view as shown in FIG. 9 in which the structure of the cross section of the cross member 50 can be observed. The locations of the bottom side rail 30 and the cross member 50 are generally at the bottom of the container.
To prevent the pests and microorganisms from hiding on the cross member 50 of the container of the present invention, the cross member 50 is configured to be a closed structure at least at its bottom, or the cross member 50 extends in the vertical direction at least at its bottom, and undoubtedly, the above two manners can also be adopted simultaneously in one and the same container to construct the cross member 50. The cross member 50 extending toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom specifically means that it extends toward the ground merely in at least one direction and has no bending structure, for example, the one direction along which it extends toward the ground can form an angle of 70°, 80° or other proper angle with the ground, and such a direction can also be approximately perpendicular to the ground (the angle formed with the ground is in the range of perpendicularity tolerance for the angle of 90°.
With the container according to the embodiments of the present invention, the underside of the cross member is free of a location where pests and microorganisms are hidden, thereby eliminating the possibility that the pests and microorganisms are attached to the cross member and spreading everywhere with the container, and meanwhile, the investigation of the container is also simplified which contributes to increasing the speed of circulation of containers.
Alternatively, to prevent the pests and microorganisms from hiding on the bottom side rail 30, the bottom side rail 30 is configured to be a closed structure at least at its bottom, or the bottom side rail 30 is configured to extend toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom. Undoubtedly, the above two manners can be adopted simultaneously to construct the bottom side rail 30 in one and the same container. The meaning of the bottom side rail 30 extending toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom may refer to the aforesaid description about the cross member 50, its repeated description is omitted here.
A description about the bottom side rail 30 and the cross member 50 will be made in the following in conjunction with the drawings.
Firstly, it can be seen from FIG. 5 that the bottom side rail 30 employs an integrally closed rectangular tube. Such an integrally closed bottom side rail 30 has no open structure in the direction toward the transverse direction of the container, thus eliminating the space where the pests and microorganisms can hide, and moreover, such a square tube also has advantages of easy processing, low cost and reliable support strength. In addition to the closed rectangular tube, the bottom side rail 30 may also employ a diamond tube known to the skilled in this art.
The cross member 50 shown in FIG. 9 is similar to the bottom side rail 30 shown in FIG. 5, and also employs a rectangular tube. Also, a diamond tube known to the skilled in this art is practicable.
The bottom side rail 30 and the cross member 50 adopting a closed structure can employ the above-mentioned closed structure of standard shapes, such as the rectangular tube and diamond tube, but as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the bottom side rail 30 and the cross member 50 can also be configured, at their bottom, to be a closed structure having at least one inclined side.
Referring now to FIG. 6, the bottom of the bottom side rail 30 is configured to be a closed triangular prism. Specifically, as can be further seen from FIG. 6, the bottom side rail 30 comprises a vertical plate 31, a horizontal plate 33 and an inclined plate 35. Here the vertical plate 31 extends in the vertical direction, the horizontal plate 33 extends in the horizontal direction, and the vertical plate 31 and the horizontal plate 33 are connected in a L-shaped configuration so as to be supportive. Then the inclined plate 35 is obliquely connected at the side edge of the horizontal plate 33 and onto the surface of the vertical plate 31 to form a closed triangular prism, thus the bottom of the bottom side rail 30 is closed and the pests and microorganisms are prevented from entering. At the same time, the bottom side rail 30 of such a structure has a smaller footprint while ensuring reliable support strength.
Similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the cross section of the bottom of the bottom side rail 30 can also be configured to be a closed right-angled trapezoid as shown in FIG. 7. But it should be noted by this time that the sloping side of the right-angled trapezoid is required facing upward as shown in FIG. 7, so as to avoid the site where the pests and microorganisms could hide.
Additionally, the bottom of the bottom side rail 30 can also be configured into a closed triangular prism as shown in FIG. 8, and by this time, the cross section of the triangular prism is an approximate regular triangle with two inclined sides which intersect and form a bump protruding in a direction away from the cross member 50. Undoubtedly, the bottom of the bottom side rail can also be configured as a polygonal prism of other forms.
The cross member 50 shown in FIG. 10 is similar to the bottom side rail 30 of FIG. 6, the bottom of the cross member 50 is configured to be a closed triangular prism. The specific formation of the triangular prism may refer to the aforesaid bottom side rail 30. Furthermore, the bottom of the cross member 50 can also be configured according to the right-angled trapezoid shown in FIG. 7, but similarly, it should be informed that the sloping side of the right-angled trapezoid is required to be provided above. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8, it can also be configured to be a triangular prism, the cross section of which is an approximate regular triangle. Undoubtedly, the bottom of the cross member can also be configured to be a polygonal prism of other forms.
According to the above-mentioned embodiments, the skilled in this art can also reasonably predict other closed structures having one or more inclined sides. But taking into consideration of providing no site where the pests and microorganisms can hide, the skilled in this art would provide the inclined side(s) at the upper portion of the closed structure, rather than providing the horizontal structure at the upper portion of the closed structure. Also, taking into consideration of the volume restriction upon the bottom side rail and the cross member as well as the fact that the container needs to meet some design criteria, the skilled in this art can reasonably provide the number of the inclined sides while no excessive number of inclined sides will be arranged.
In the following, the cross member will be described by way of example in conjunction with FIGS. 11 and 12, so as to explain other embodiments of the bottom side rail and the cross member having closed structure.
Referring firstly to FIG. 11, the cross member 50 shown in FIG. 11 comprises epitaxial-plates 51 and an U-shaped support plate 53. Here, the U-shaped support plate 53 is in a U-shaped form in cross section for supporting on the ground. There provide a pair of epitaxial-plates 51, which are connected at both end at the opening of the U-shaped support plate 53 and extend in directions away from the U-shaped support plate 53. In this way, the cross member 50 can also be approximately considered as an inverted Ω-form, being applicable to the case where the floor 10 of the container has a small ground clearance. Furthermore, the cross member 50 can also have no epitaxial-plate 51, but only comprises the U-shaped support plate 53 having an U-shaped cross section, and such a cross member 50 comprising only the U-shaped support plate 53 can be provided in such a way that the U-shaped support plate 53 can open upward and open downward.
Additionally, the bottom side rail 30 may also employ the structure of the cross member 50 shown in FIG. 11, and employs the embodiment in which only the U-shaped support plate 53 is comprised and the U-shaped support plate 53 can open upward and open downward. Only that in one and the same container, the bottom side rail 30 and the cross member 50 adopting such a structure are different in dimensions. As to the cross member 50, the epitaxial-plates 51 are connected to the bottom surface of the floor 10 by welding or similar process known to the skilled in this art. As to the bottom side rail 30, the epitaxial-plate is used to connect with the parts of the container above the bottom side rail 30.
When the floor 10 of the container has a small ground clearance, the corrugated plate shown in FIG. 12 can also be used as the cross member 50 (the corrugated plate is not applicable to the bottom side rail), the corrugated plate comprises a plurality of bumps joined side by side, and these bumps act to support the floor 10. The use of a corrugated plate as the cross member 50 is equivalent to integrating a plurality of cross members 50 into one piece, and when being assembled, such a structure can complete its connection with the floor 10 in only one step, simplifying the assembling process. In practice, the corrugated plate can be an ordinary side wall plate or an ordinary top wave plate.
As mentioned previously, the bottom side rail 30 and the cross member 50 extend toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom, as an alternative embodiment, the bottom side rail 30 and the cross member 50 are configured to extend vertically toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom. Undoubtedly, in one and the same container, things can be that one of the bottom side rail 30 and the cross member 50 is configured to extend vertically toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom.
As can be seen referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, the bottom side rail 30 comprises horizontal support plate 37 and vertical support plate 39. Here, the horizontal support plate 37 is used to connect with the parts of the container above the bottom side rail 30, and the vertical support plate 39 extends vertically toward the ground from the horizontal support plate 37 and is supported onto the ground. There can be provided with only one or a plurality of vertical support plates 39. For example, in FIG. 13, one vertical support plate 39 is provided, which is connected to the end of the horizontal support plate 37 so that the bottom side rail 30 is in a form of an inverted L-shape (it can also connect onto the bottom surface of the horizontal support plate 37 to form a T-shaped bottom side rail). The vertical support plate 39 and the horizontal support plate 37 can form at least one of a C-shape opening downward, a T-shape, an inverted L-shape and the combination thereof. In FIG. 14, two vertical support plates 39 are provided, which are provided at two ends of the horizontal support plate 37 respectively, so that the bottom side rail 30 takes a C-shape opening downward.
Furthermore, it is also possible that only the vertical support plate 39 is used as the bottom side rail 30 without the horizontal support plate 37 being provided. By this time, the top of the vertical support plate 39 is connected with the parts of the container above the bottom side rail 30, and the bottom of the vertical support plate 39 is used to support on the ground.
FIGS. 15 to 17 illustrate another three embodiments of the cross member 50, the three embodiments are similar in structure to the bottom side rails 30 shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the cross member 50 is also not configured to comprise a closed structure.
Referring firstly to FIG. 15, it can be seen that the cross member 50 also comprises a vertical support plate 55 (being equivalent to the vertical support plate 39 of the bottom side rail 30), the vertical support plate 55 connects below the floor 10 and extends vertically toward the ground so as to act to support the floor 10.
It is clear from FIGS. 16 and 17 that both of the two embodiments comprise horizontal support plate 57 (being equivalent to the horizontal support plate 37 of the bottom side rail 30), the horizontal support plate 57 is connected to the bottom surface of the floor 10 of the container by means of welding or similar manner known to the skilled in this art, and the two kinds of cross members 50 require at least one vertical support plate 55 being comprised. FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate exemplary embodiments in which one vertical support plate 55 is adopted, wherein the vertical support plate 55 of the cross member 50 of FIG. 16 is connected at the central portion of the bottom surface of the floor connecting plate 57, and extends toward the ground vertically, the entirety of the cross member 50 forms a T-shaped structure. While the vertical support plate 55 of the cross member 50 of FIG. 17 is connected at the end of the floor connecting plate 57, and also extends toward the ground vertically, the entirety of the cross member 50 forms an inverted L-shape. Furthermore, according to the structure of the bottom side rail 30 shown in FIG. 14, it is also possible to provide one vertical support plate 55 at both ends of the floor connecting plate 57 respectively, so that the cross member 50 assumes a C-shape opening downward. Undoubtedly, the bottom surface of the floor connecting plate 57 can also be provided with a plurality of vertical support plates 55 arranged side by side. The vertical support plate 55 and the horizontal support plate 57 can form at least one of a C-shape opening downward, a T-shape, an inverted L-shape and the combination thereof.
Finally, reference is made to FIG. 18. FIG. 18 illustrates that the cross members 50 of different embodiments are provided below the floor 10, for example, the cross member 50 of a closed structure can be provided at the part of the floor 10 subjected to a large load, while the part of the floor 10 subjected to a small load adopts the cross member 50 shown in FIGS. 15 to 17 for supporting. FIG. 18 exemplarily adopts the above cross members 50 for supporting the floor 10 from below, but undoubtedly, as to different situations, the skilled in this art also knows how to select the cross members 50 of the above embodiments to support the floor 10.
The present invention has been described with the above embodiments thereof, however, it should be appreciated that the above embodiments are used only for the purpose of illustration and explanation, rather than limiting the present invention within the scope of the described embodiments. Furthermore, the skilled in this art would understand that the present invention is not restricted to the above embodiments; the teaching according to the present invention can also be altered and modified in various ways, all of which fall into the protective scope claimed by the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention is defined by the claims and its equivalent scope.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A container comprising a floor, bottom side rails provided at both sides of the floor, and cross members provided between the bottom side rails, the cross member comprises a part located below the floor, the bottom side rail extends in the longitudinal direction of the container, the cross member extends in the transverse direction of the container, wherein the cross member is configured to be a closed structure at least at its bottom, and/or to extend toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom side rail is configured to a closed structure at least at its bottom, and/or to extend toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom.

3. The container according to claim 1, wherein the closed structure is a polygonal prism.

4. The container according to claim 1, wherein the closed structure is a triangular prism.

5. The container according to claim 4, wherein the triangular prism comprises a vertical plates, a horizontal plate and an inclined plate, the vertical plate extends in a vertical direction, the horizontal plate extends in a horizontal direction, the vertical plate and the horizontal plate are connected in a L-shaped configuration, the inclined plate is obliquely connected at the side edge of the horizontal plate and onto the surface of the vertical plate.

6. The container according to claim 4, wherein the triangular prism is approximately a regular triangle in its cross section.

7. The container according to claim 1, wherein the closed structure has at least one inclined side provided at the upper part of the closed structure.

8. The container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom side rail and/or the cross member are enclosed in its entirety.

9. The container according to claim 8, wherein the bottom side rail and/or the cross member are rectangular tubes or diamond tubes.

10. The container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom side rail and/or the cross member comprise a U-shaped support plate, the cross section of the U-shaped support plate is in a U-shaped form, and the opening of the U-shaped support plate is arranged upwardly or downwardly.

11. The container according to claim 10, wherein the U-shaped support plate is also provided with epitaxial-plates, the epitaxial-plates being connected at both ends of the opening of the U-shaped support plate and extending in directions away from the U-shaped support plate respectively.

12. The container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom side rail and/or the cross member are configured to extend vertically toward the ground in a non-bending manner at least at its bottom.

13. The container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom side rail and/or the cross member comprise at least one vertical support plate.

14. The container according to claim 13, wherein the bottom side rail and/or the cross member further comprise a horizontal support plate, the vertical support plate being connected at the end of the horizontal support plate or below the horizontal support plate.

15. The container according to claim 14, wherein the bottom side rail and/or the cross member is formed into a T-shape or an inverted L-shape.

16. The container according to claim 1, wherein the cross member is a corrugated plate comprising a plurality of bumps joined side by side.

17. The container according to claim 14, wherein two vertical support plates are provided at the two ends of the horizontal support plate respectively, in such a way that the bottom side rail and/or the cross member is in a C-shape opening downward.

18. The container according to claim 1, wherein there are provided at least two cross members selected from the triangular prism, the cross member in a C-shape opening downward, the U-shaped support plate, the T-shaped cross member, the cross member in an inverted L-shape and the cross member integrally enclosed.