Mobile equipment storage and charging station

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to improvements in providing equipment to remote locations within limited time frames, limited security, and limited power access. More particularly, the invention relates to an equipment storage station and method of use particularly suited for providing scissor lifts to construction and maintenance properties without requiring that the user maintain a commercial driver's license, haul the equipment during transfers, and fit into a strict time schedule. In particular, the present invention relates specifically to a shippable, balanced, self-contained, solar-powered, battery-charging, restricted-access, parkable, equipment station.

2. Description of the Known Art

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, shipping containers or intermodal containers are known in various forms. Standard shipping containers have two doors fitted at one end, and is made of corrugated weathering steel with a plywood floor. Containers are 8-foot, 2.44 m wide by 8 ft 6 in, 2.59 m high, and either a nominal 20-foot, 6.1 m or 40-foot, 12.19 m long. Shipping containers are built per International Organization for Standardization, ISO, standards including:

ISO 6346:1995 Freight containers—Coding, identification and marking

ISO 668:2013 Series 1 freight containers—Classification, dimensions and ratings

ISO 1496-1:2013 Series 1 freight containers—Specification and testing—Part 1: General cargo containers for general purposes.

Patents disclosing information relevant to shipping containers include:

Other patents and applications of note include:

U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,244, issued to Hannon, et al. on Aug. 18, 1987 entitled Integrated cargo security system; U.S. Pat. No. 6,882,269, issued to Moreno on Apr. 19, 2005 entitled System and method for remotely coordinating the secure delivery of goods; U.S. Pat. No. 7,484,391, issued to Moore on Feb. 3, 2009 entitled Door lock system for trailers and cargo containers; and United States Patent Application No. 2007/0200664, filed by Proska et al. on Aug. 30, 2007 System and method for providing and tracking equipment. Each of these patents and the application are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety.

From these prior references it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved mobile equipment storage and charging station is needed to overcome these limitations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an improved mobile equipment storage and charging station. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a mobile equipment storage and charging station is provided using a shippable, balanced, self-contained, solar-powered, battery-charging, restricted-access, parkable, equipment station.

One advantage of the present invention is that the equipment station is shippable because it compacts down to the size standard for an intermodal shipping container, has secured component construction, and includes an internal tie down system for strapping down the equipment being housed and shipped inside the station.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the equipment station is balanced with the solar panels, internal charge storage batteries, and parked equipment all centered on both the side and end lifting locations with the batteries providing a low center of gravity such that the station always presents a substantially balanced and gravity stable load for shipping, regardless of whether it is loaded with equipment.

A still further advantage of the present invention is that the equipment station is self-contained because all of the necessary equipment including the equipment access door, access lock, access panel, access control system, communication system, equipment ramp, parking blocks, solar power panels, storage batteries, power inverter, power charging control, power supplies, and wiring are all contained within the unit.

Yet another advantage is provided because the equipment station provides solar charging cells and a charging inverter for charging the internal storage batteries. Even further, the internal batteries are also connected to an equipment battery charging control with an external power connection for charging the equipment during shipping and storage.

An additional advantage is that the equipment station provides restricted-access through the use of remote communication via a communication system including a wireless cell phone communication standard.

One more advantage is provided in the system being a standard parking size for placement in readily available parking lots for storage of the equipment station until access is needed.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, along with features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear or become apparent by reviewing the following detailed description of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown inFIG. 1of the drawings, one exemplary embodiment of the present invention is generally shown as an equipment station100for holding a piece of equipment10which is shown as a scissor lift10although other pieces of equipment such as cherry pickers, floor polishers, concrete screeds, etc. are also envisioned. The initial embodiment was designed for providing a scissor lift10. Scissor lifts10are generally provided with a low center of gravity by providing a heavy motor, a heavy battery, and a substantial ballast to stabilize the device when the lift is in operation. The scissor lift10is supported by front wheels12and back wheels14that support a lift body16that houses the lift motor and lift batteries. The lift batteries are charged through a charging connector18.

The equipment station100is constructed from two main components including the container body200and the power circuit300.

In order to make the equipment station portable, it is desirable necessary to make the device deployable from a truck platform with either a gravity deployment using an angling truck bed, tow truck, flat bed and crane truck, or using standard fork lifts that can be hauled on the same truck. For both of these considerations, balancing the equipment station100and providing lift points becomes critical. Standard ISO lifting point corners and other connections can be provided. The container body of the present invention can provide these elements for transportation as well as several other aspects to increase safety of the deployment.

The container body200is made with a container top210that supports a panel support frame212that supports the solar panels302. The panel support frame212is held above the container top210by panel legs214. The panel legs214support side beams216that then support spanning joists218. The solar panels302are bolted to the spanning joists218.

The container bottom220is made with an interior floor221and standing frame222including the corner locks as known in the art. Unique features of the container bottom include the ramp aperture224allowing the front ramp260to recess or retract into the container bottom220for compaction for shipping. The front ramp260is deployed in front of the front door254to allow the equipment10to be rolled or driven into and out of the container body200. The front ramp260is not removable from the container and can be locked in both the extended and retracted positions.

The container bottom220also defines the side and end lifting channels226which are positioned to correspond with the left lifting tubes232, right lifting tubes242, front lifting tubes264, and back lifting tubes272. The lifting channels226are perpendicular to the walls230,240,250,270that they intersect and are positioned on alternate sides of the centerline of the wall230,240,250,270. The left container side wall230defines the left lifting tubes232with the space between them defining the side balance axis234. The right container side wall240defines right lifting tubes242aligning with the left lifting tubes232. The left battery274and right battery276are centered over the side balance axis234and equidistance positioned from the end balance axis266. The batteries274,276are deep cycle fork lift batteries selected to provide sufficient storage for several days of scissor lift use with minimal input from the solar charging panels.

The front wall250includes a door frame252mounting a front access door254sized to allow for the equipment10to be loaded and unloaded front the container100. The front access door can be constructed as a twin panel door256although a roll up door or overhead single or multiple type panel can also be used. The roll up door does not blow in the wind and easily clears the equipment10while minimizing the danger of the door or equipment being damaged, but requires separate positioning of the lock370and access panel371. The interior door access lock370is electrically controllable and lock or unlocks the door from inside the container. The exterior door access panel371is controlled through the external lock control374to unlock the door using a key sequence or other identifier.

The front ramp260is held in place with a ramp lock262and is positioned in the standing frame222between the front lifting tubes264. The front lifting tubes264are centered on the end balance axis266. The back wall270has similarly aligned back lifting tubes272.

The equipment cabinet280is positioned on the back wall270and houses the equipment for the power circuit300.

Wheel chocks282are mounted to the floor221to center the scissor lift or other equipment10over the side balance axis234and end balance axis266. The wheel chocks282sense the presence of the scissor lift through the use of a pressure switch contacting the tire, a transducer positioned under the tire, or a break beam type of visual sensor to verify the position of the scissor lift in the container body200and wirelessly communicate this through the remote access control380.

Tie down loops284are connected to the floor221so that tie down straps290can be used to secure the equipment10for transport.

The power circuit300includes solar panels302electrically connected via a panel wiring harness304including a solar input circuit breaker306to the solar power converter308. The solar power converter308is a AIMS POWER (trademark) Aims MPPT+ Series Solar Charge Controller SCC40MPPT available from Aims Corp., 9736 S. Virginia St. STE A, Reno, Nev. 89511. The solar power converter308is electrically connected via the solar output wiring harness310, including a solar output circuit breaker312and a solar output charging detector314, to the first battery power connection322and the second battery power connection324to charge the left battery274and the right battery276. A charging fan313can also be integrated into the solar output wiring harness310to turn on during the charging process.

The first battery power connection322and the second battery power connection324are electrically connected via the battery wiring harness320to the first battery disconnect326and second battery disconnect328to the left battery274and right battery276so that the batteries can be easily changed out.

An external power charging port330is connected through the port wiring harness332to the power input converter340. The power input converter is a AIMS POWER (trademark) Global LF Series Pure Sine Wave Inverter/Solar Charger available from Aims Corp., 9736 S. Virginia St. STE A, Reno, Nev. 89511. Similarly, the left battery274and right battery276are connected through the charging output wiring harness360, including the charging output circuit breaker362, to the power input converter340. The power input converter340is connected through the equipment output wiring harness342to the equipment connector344. In this manner the power input converter340can use either solar or battery power to charge equipment10. Typical household 110 volt power connectors350are also connected through an auxiliary output wiring harness346to the power input converter340to provide a source of standard power within the equipment station100for items such as internal lights on a timer.

A door access lock370is electrically connected through the lock wiring harness372to the lock control374. Similarly, the door access panel371is electrically connected through the access wiring harness373to the lock control374. The door access panel371is a DOORKING(trademark) RS485 Keypad. The lock control374is powered by the power supply wiring harness376, including the lock power supply375, that is electrically connected to the first battery power connection322and the second battery power connection324for an uninterrupted power source. The Lock control374is a DOORKING (trademark) Model 1838 Access Plus PC Programmable Access Control System. DOORKING (trademark) is located at DoorKing, Inc. 120 Glasgow Avenue, Inglewood Calif. 90301. The lock control374is also connected to the wireless remote access control380by the remote wiring harness382.

In one embodiment, a lighting wiring harness394connects to a power connector350and includes both a door sensor390and a timer light switch391to selectively control an LED lighting system392to minimize power consumption.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention well adapted to obtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with other advantages which are inherent to the structure. It will also be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

When interpreting the claims of this application, method claims may be recognized by the explicit use of the word ‘method’ in the preamble of the claims and the use of the ‘ing’ tense of the active word. Method claims should not be interpreted to have particular steps in a particular order unless the claim element specifically refers to a previous element, a previous action, or the result of a previous action. Apparatus claims may be recognized by the use of the word ‘apparatus’ in the preamble of the claim and should not be interpreted to have ‘means plus function language’ unless the word ‘means’ is specifically used in the claim element. The words ‘defining,’ ‘having,’ or ‘including’ should be interpreted as open ended claim language that allows additional elements or structures. Finally, where the claims recite “a” or “a first” element of the equivalent thereof, such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.