Abstract:
A multi-use intermodal container for transporting cargo comprises compartments, each having both a hopper for discharging particulate material from the bottom of the compartments and a floor above the hopper for supporting standard freight thereon. The floor is arranged to allow passage of particulate material therethrough so that the compartments can be used either for bulk material transport or standard cargo/freight. A door in the side wall provides access to store cargo on the floor of the compartment and a roof hatch provides access to store bulk materials in the compartment for subsequent removal through the hopper.

Description:
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/780,068, filed Mar. 8, 2006. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to the movement of granulated and standard freight products, and more particular relates to a multi-use intermodal container for transporting either particulate material or pallet type freight. 
   BACKGROUND 
   Hopper style trucks, rail hopper cars and bulk shipping have commonly supported shipping of the granulated products, for example, grain, specials crops and other bulk items. The material handling between truck, rail cars and bulk ships tends to be costly, causes considerable material to be lost and is time consuming because of the resulting over handling of materials. 
   Common international trade routes involve use of box containers used to ship grain or seeds or other like materials from one continent or country to another in one direction with the box containers then being loaded with pallet type freight when returned in the other direction. Conventional box type containers however are typically not well suited for handling grain or other small particulate material, resulting in high cost or spoilage due to the awkwardness of transferring, loading or otherwise handling the material. Use of hopper containers are known for improving handling of particulate materials including grain and the like, however when used on a common trade route as noted above, the hopper containers must be returned empty as they are not suitable for receiving pallet type freight. Shipping of empty containers represents a further cost which is desired to be avoided. 
   SUMMARY 
   According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a multi-use intermodal container comprising:
         a rectangular frame suitably sized and configured for stacking with conventional intermodal containers;   at least one compartment supported on the frame, said at least one compartment comprising:
           a top wall enclosing a top side of the compartment and locating a hatch opening therein;   a hatch cover for selectively closing the hatch opening;   a hopper enclosing a bottom side of the compartment, the hopper tapering downwardly and inwardly to a discharge opening;   a gate for selectively closing the discharge opening;   upright side walls extending between the hopper and the top wall;   and a floor spanning generally horizontally between the side walls above the hopper for supporting a load thereon, the floor being arranged to allow passage of particulate material therethrough; and   
           at least one door supported in a respective one of the side walls for access to a hollow interior of said at least one compartment.       

   By combining a container including hopper discharges along with a floor which does not interfere with the use of the hopper discharge for particulate material but which can be used for supporting pallet type freight thereon provides a container which is suitably configured for maximizing efficiency when carrying either one of particulate material or pallet type freight. Accordingly shipping cost of shipping empty containers can be avoided while still taking advantage of improved handling characteristics of hopper containers. 
   The floor preferably comprises a grate including a plurality of through openings formed therein which spans between a bottom of the side walls and locates the hopper immediately below the floor. Accordingly, the side walls preferably extend substantially vertically upward from the floor. Preferably the door also extends upwardly from the floor. 
   Preferably the door is fully contained within a volume defined by a perimeter of the frame. 
   When there is provided a plurality of compartments, each preferably is rectangular in cross section and includes a hopper at a bottom end, a floor spanning above the hopper and at least one door in a respective one of the side walls thereof. Preferably a door is supported at each end of the frame. 
   When there is provided four compartments sequentially aligned with one another in a longitudinal direction of the frame, doors are preferably located along sides of the container in association with interior ones of the compartments. 
   The frame preferably extends along a full rectangular perimeter about the hopper of the compartments. 
   The container may be provided in combination with a container carrying railcar having a deck upon which the frame of the container is supported in which the hopper of said at least one compartment is supported above the deck of the railcar. 
   According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an intermodal container comprising:
         a plurality of compartments including:
           a bottom shaped hopper tapering down and inward to a chute opening;   a gate operating device to selectively open and close the chute opening;   an opening at the top of each compartment which can be closed or opened with an operating covering;   a set of doors with locking devices at the ends in association with compartments at the ends of the container and along sides of the container in association with middle ones of the compartments;   a floor even with the bottom of the doors, which allows the bulk material to discharge through the bottom chutes and allows the loading of standard freight through the doors; and   
           a frame work surrounding said at least one or more compartments for supporting the container, the frame being compatible and standard to other intermodal containers and the like.       

   The container according to the present invention permits the storage, transportation and consistency of the bulk materials or other standard freight or materials transported by truck, to rail, to domestic customers and/or to ship yards for international shipments. Accordingly once the product is in the container there is no need for transferring and/or handling of this product for each movement will be on the container. 
   Some embodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of a first embodiment of the container. 
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view along the line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is an end elevational view of the first embodiment. 
       FIG. 4  is a sectional view along the line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view along the line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 3  in which the floor is shown partially removed. 
       FIG. 6  is a top plan view of the container according to  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 7  is a plan view of one of the hatch covers. 
       FIG. 8  is a sectional view of one of the hatch covers shown in a closed position. 
       FIG. 9  is a bottom plan view of the container according to  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 10  is an enlarged plan view of one of the hopper discharge gates. 
       FIG. 11  is a sectional view of one of the hopper discharge gates. 
       FIG. 12  is a side elevational view of a second embodiment of the container. 
       FIG. 13  is a sectional view along the line  13 - 13  of  FIG. 12 . 
   

   In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures. 
   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Referring to the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a hopper/freight/intermodal container generally indicated by reference numeral  10 . The container  10  is particularly suited for both the movement of bulk granulated product and for the shipping of pallet freight. This container used by the shipping and transport industry for being handled similarly to conventional intermodal containers. These containers are stackable and used in the industry on trucks, intermodal railcars and shipping companies. 
   The container  10  has a rectangular frame  12  which fully surrounds the container so that it is suitable for being supported in a stacking configuration or on a generally horizontal supporting surface. Each frame includes two bottom rails  14  which are parallel and spaced apart along opposing sides of the container along the bottom thereof. 
   The two top rails  16  are similarly parallel and spaced apart from one another along opposing sides of the top side of the container. Corner posts  18  join the top and bottom rails. A plurality of side posts  20  span between the top and bottom rails, parallel to the corner posts at spaced position along respective sides of the containers. The rails used forming the structure of the frame  12  each comprise an angle formed of two perpendicular flanges to provide suitable strength to the frame. The corner posts  18  and side posts  20  forming the structure of the frame  12  each comprise tubular material to provide suitable strength to the frame. 
   Corner and center connectors  22  are provided at each of the top and bottom ends of the posts  18  and  20  to permit the containers to be interlocked with one another when stacking similarly to conventional box-type intermodal containers. The frame further includes cross bars  23  which extend between the bottom rails  14  at spaced positions therealong and at respective ends thereof and similarly span the top rails  16  at spaced position therealong and at respective ends thereof. The cross bars are similarly formed of an angle comprising two perpendicular flanges and are similarly interconnected between the corners and center connectors  22 . 
   The interior volume of the container is divided into a plurality of separate compartments  26 . The compartments are aligned sequentially with one another in the longitudinal direction between the opposed ends of the container  10 . Each compartment therefore extends a full width of the container and a full height of the container but only a portion of the length of the container in the longitudinal direction. As shown in the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , when the container comprises a standard forty foot long intermodal container, the container is preferably divided into four equal compartments in the longitudinal direction. Alternatively, when the container comprises a standard dimensioned twenty foot length intermodal container as shown in  FIG. 12 , preferably only two compartments divide the container in the longitudinal direction. 
   Each compartment  26  includes four side walls  28  which extend substantially vertically between a top wall  30  adjacent a top end of the container and a hopper  32  forming a bottom of each compartment  26  adjacent the bottom end of the frame  12 . The side walls  28  of each compartment are spaced outwardly at the outer perimeter of the frame  12  so that each compartment is substantially rectangular in cross section and occupies a maximum volume within the volume bound by the frame  12 . 
   The top wall  30  is located adjacent the top of the frame  12 , but is spaced downwardly slightly below the top rails  16  sufficiently to provide space for a hatch cover  34  which selectively encloses a hatch opening  36  formed in the top of each compartment for access to the hollow interior thereof. The hatch openings  36  and the respective hatch covers  34  are elongate in the longitudinal direction of the container and are centered between opposing sides of the container. Seals  38  are provided to fully seal the hatch openings closed when the hatch covers are in the closed position. A linkage  40  is coupled between the top wall  30  and each hatch cover  34  for controlling movement of the hatch cover between open and closed positions. The linkages  40  and the hatch covers  34  are suitably designed to ensure that the hatch covers and linkages remain fully within a volume defined by the perimeter of the frame as they are displaced between respective open and closed positions. 
   The hopper  32  at the bottom of each compartment is low in profile and fully spans the bottom of the side walls  28  to ensure that all material within the respective compartment falls down onto the hopper  32  which is sloped downwardly and inwardly to a discharge opening  42  centrally located relative to the respective compartment  26 . A suitable gate  44  selectively spans the discharge opening  42 . The gate and respective discharge opening  42  of each compartment are also elongate in the longitudinal direction and are provided with suitable seals  46  to ensure that the gates are maintained in an airtight condition when closed. A suitable linkage  48  is provided coupled between the frame and each gate  44  for controlling movement of the gates between respective open and closed positions. The gate and corresponding linkage of each compartment  26  is suitably arranged such that both the gate and the linkage remain fully contained within the volume bounded by the frame of the container as they are displaced between respective open and closed positions. The gate  44  along with the respective linkage  48  is supported on a frame which bolts onto the bottom of the respective hopper  32  for ease of replacement if broken. 
   When multiple compartments are provided in sequence along the length of the container, interior ones of the side walls  28  comprise a common wall dividing two compartments. In some embodiments interior ones of the side walls  28  which form dividers between adjacent compartments may be removed for ease of access to the interior and for shipping larger pallet type freight to span multiple compartments. 
   In order to support the pallet type freight, a floor  50  is provided which spans horizontally between the opposed side walls  28  of each compartment  26 . The floor  50  is located at the bottom of the vertical portion of the side walls  28  immediately above the respective hopper  32  which tapers inwardly towards the discharge opening  42 . The floor  50  of each compartment thus comprises a rectangular member which is sufficiently rigid for supporting pallet loads thereon. The floor  50  is formed of a grate or other suitable material having a plurality of through openings therethrough so as not to restrict particulate material from falling therethrough onto the hopper discharge at the bottom of the compartment. Structural beams connected to the frame  12  of the container are provided as required for supporting the floor  50  to span the side walls in a horizontal orientation. The floors  50  of adjacent compartments are level with one another so that if interior ones of the side walls  28  are removed, the floors form a continuous supporting surface for pallet loads. 
   Doors  52  are provided in association with each compartment  26  to provide access to pallet loads onto the floor of the compartment. Compartments  26  at the opposed longitudinal ends of the container are provided with doors  52  which fully span the side walls  28  located at the respective ends of the container. Each set of doors  52  comprises two door panels which are hinged along vertical hinges at opposing sides of a door opening so that the door panels meet at a center of the opening where suitable latches  54  are provided for locking the door panels closed in a sealed configuration spanning the door openings of the respective compartments. 
   Intermediates ones of the compartments  26  located between the opposed ends are each provided with a set of doors  52  in one of the side walls of the container. In each instance the doors  52  span a full width of the respective compartment and span a full height of the compartment between the top wall  30  and the hopper  32  at the bottom so that the side wall  28  at each door location is substantially fully replaced with a door opening of similar dimension to the set of doors  52  which spans the door opening when closed. Due to location of the floor  50  directly above the respective hopper  32  of each compartment, the doors  52  accordingly span a full height between the floor  50  and the top wall  30 . When interior ones of the side walls  28  are removed so that compartments  26  within the interior are open to one another, door sets are not required at the side walls of the container, but may instead be only provided at the ends of the container. 
   Each of the containers has a height ranging from a standard 8 feet to 9 feet 6 inches and is 8 ft wide. The embodiment of  FIG. 1  is 40 feet in length and the embodiment of  FIG. 12  is 20 feet in length. The containers are standard to all ISO containers for domestic and international service and allow for bulk and dry service. The hatches are 2 ft wide and 4 ft long. The gates are 1 foot 6 inches wide and 3 feet long. The gates and hatches are vertically aligned with one another for aligning each gate with the hatch of an adjacent container of identical configuration stacked therebelow. The top roof is 6 inches from the top and the bottom gate is approximately 6 inches from the ground. The unit is suitable for carrying 20 metric tons of grain or granulated products. 
   As described herein an intermodal container is provided comprising: at least one or more compartments including: a hopper formed at a bottom end of said at least one or more compartments which tapers downwardly and inwardly to a chute opening; a gate member which selectively closes the chute opening of said at least one or more compartment; a hatch opening at the top of said at least one or more compartment which is selectively covered by a hatch cover; a set of doors at the end or side of said at least one or more compartment which selectively opens and closes for loading and unloading; a flow-through floor which allows granulated product to fall through and supports pallet type freight thereon; and a frame surrounding the hopper of said at least one or more compartment for supporting on a generally horizontal supporting surface. Said at least one or more compartment comprises a plurality of compartments each having a respective gate member, hatch cover and end/side doors. The frame extends along a full rectangular perimeter about the hopper container. The gate member, the hatch cover and the doors are fully contained within an area/volume bound/defined by the frame. The gate member opening and hatch cover opening of said at least one or more compartment are in vertical alignment with one another. When the container is supported on a container carrying railcar having a deck upon which the frame of the container is supported, the hopper of said at least one or more compartment of the container is supported above the deck of the railcar. 
   Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.