Patent Publication Number: US-2006016807-A1

Title: Foldable freight container

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      Not Applicable  
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
      Not Applicable  
     FIELD OF INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a foldable freight container, wherein the freight container can be folded by a foldable structure design when no cargo is loaded therein so as to minimize the occupied volume for saving stacking space and facilitating convenient transportation that reduces storage and transportation costs.  
     BACKGROUND  
      It is found that the conventional freight container uses a fixed structure and has a considerable large standardized space for loading a large amount of cargo. Common freight containers are directed to dry containers with a dimension of 20 feet in length, 8 feet in width and 8.6 feet in height, a dimension of 40 feet in length, 8 feet in width and 8.6 feet in height, etc. However, when the freight container is unloaded with cargo, the freight container is stored in lots. The huge volume of the freight container may occupy large spaces, and several freight containers are stacked such that the stacked freight containers may be dangerous for its considerable height. In addition, when transporting empty freight container, limited amount of the freight containers may be carried by the trailer, and thus the efficiency is low and the cost of transportation is high. low and the cost of transportation is high.  
      A U-shaped freight container is used to load high and heavy cargo, comprising a bottom plate and two side plates (only three plates) to form an open freight container. The bottom ends of the side plates pivot onto to the bottom plate. When the freight container is in use, the side pates are vertically disposed on the sides of the bottom plate; when the freight container is not in use, the side plates can lie on the bottom plate forming a piece of plate to minimize the volume of the freight container. However, the U-shaped freight containers cannot be used as a closed freight container, i.e. the structure of the U-shaped freight containers cannot be utilized for the rectangular, closed dry freight container with six plates such that the large amount of usage of the dry container cannot achieve the object of saving space for stacking dry freight container.  
      As a result, minimizing the volume of conventional freight containers when empty is a goal in freight container design.  
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
      The main object of the present invention is to provide a foldable structure of freight container such that when the freight container is empty, the freight container can be folded to minimize the space it occupies for saving stacking space and facilitating convenient transportation of empty freight container.  
      To achieve the above object, the present invention discloses a foldable freight container structure, comprising: 
          a body, comprising:     a bottom plate, a top plate opposing to the bottom plate, two side plates opposing to each other, a front plate, and a rear plate opposing to the front plate;     the front plate and the rear plate pivot onto a front end and a rear end of the bottom plate, respectively; each of the side plates comprises an upper side plate and a lower side plate, wherein the upper side plate has a top end pivoting onto a side end of the top plate, the lower side plate had a bottom end pivoting onto a side end of the bottom plate, and the upper side plate has a bottom end pivoting onto a top end of the lower side plate;     the freight container structure further comprises fixing devices disposed inside the body whereby the front plate and the rear plate are not adapted to pivot with respect to the bottom plate, and the upper side plate and lower side plate are not adapted to pivot with respect to each other.        

      The foldable freight container structure further comprises a frame in a shape of parallelepiped which is adapted to position the bottom plate, the top plate, the two opposing side plates, the front plate, and the rear plate.  
      The procedure for folding the freight container of the present invention is stated as follows: the front plate and the rear plate are hung by cranes, and operators unlock the second locks on the front plate and the rear plate so as to make the front plate and rear plate lie down on the bottom plate inside the freight container; the freight container frame is hung by cranes, operators unlock the first locks on the sides of the freight container so as to make the frame folded. The folded freight container is fixed in a folded state by utilizing fixing devices to fix the corners of the top frame and the bottom frame. Spacers are disposed on the corners of top frames of a folded freight container for stacking another folded freight container. The folded freight container merely has 20% of the height of the unfolded freight container such that saving considerable spaces.  
      The details of the present invention can be clearly understood by the drawings and the description of the preferred embodiments below.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      These and other modifications and advantages will become even more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention and from the drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1 ( a ) is a schematic drawing illustrating a perspective view of a freight container of this invention;  
       FIG. 1 ( b ) is a side view of  FIG. 1 ( b );  
       FIG. 2 ( a ) is a cross sectional view of  FIG. 1 ( b ) along line B-B;  
       FIG. 2 ( b ) is an enlarged view of  FIG. 2 ( b ) illustrating the corner of the freight container;  
       FIG. 3 ( a ) is a schematic drawing illustrating the first lock on the inside of the side plates;  
       FIG. 3 ( b ) is a schematic drawing illustrating the second lock on the front plate;  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic drawing showing the freight container in the procedure of folding;  
       FIG. 5 ( a ) is a schematic drawing illustrating the folded freight containers from the front when being stacked;  
       FIG. 5 ( b ) is a schematic drawing illustrating the folded freight containers while stacking.  
       FIG. 5 ( c ) is a schematic drawing of the retaining device for stacking freight containers; and  
       FIG. 5 ( d ) is a schematic drawing of the spacer for stacking freight containers.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS)  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 ( a ) to  FIG. 2 ( a ), the freight container of the present invention comprises a freight container frame  10 , a top plate  21 , a bottom plate  22  opposite to the top plate  21 , two opposite side plates  23 ,  24 , a front plate  25  and rear plate opposite to front plate  25  (not shown in the drawings). The freight container frame  10  is generally in the shape of parallelepiped, and its dimension is not limited to the standard dimenstion of conventional dry freight containers only. The freight container frame  10  comprises a top frame  11  to position the top plate  21 , a bottom frame  12  opposite to the top frame  11  to position the bottom plate  22 , and at least four supporting pillars are connected between the top frame  11  and bottom frame  12 . Preferably, the at least four supporting pillars are directed to six supporting pillars, wherein the four supporting pillars are connected between the four corners of the top frame  11  and the bottom frame  12 , defining the spaces for positioning the two side plates  23 ,  24 , the front plate  25 , and the rear plate. The remaining two supporting pillars are disposed at the center region of the side plates respectively. With reference to  FIG. 1 ( b ), showing an embodiment of side plate  23 , the supporting pillars comprises upper supporting pillars  131 ,  141 ,  151 , and lower supporting pillars  132 ,  142 ,  152 , wherein the top of the upper supporting pillars  131 ,  141 ,  151  and the bottom of the lower supporting pillars  132 ,  142 ,  152  pivot onto the top frame  11  and the bottom frame  12  respectively, and the upper supporting pillars  131 ,  141 ,  151  pivot onto the lower supporting pillars  132 ,  142 ,  152 , such that the upper and lower supporting pillars can be folded into the freight container. Each of the four corners of the top frame  11  and the four corners of the bottom frame  21  comprises a corner block  90 , and the corner block  90  has slots on the outer surface.  
      It is emphasized that the configuration of the supporting pillars on the side plates are not limited to the configuration of one pillar disposed on the center region of the side plate in this embodiment, and can be the configuration of either no supporting pillar or at least one supporting pillars on the side plate.  
      The top plate  21 , the bottom plate  22 , the side plates  23 ,  24 , the front plate  25 , and the rear plate form a closed freight container. Each of the side plates  23 ,  24  of the freight container comprises at least one upper side plate and at least one lower side plate, disposed between the upper supporting pillars  131 ,  151 , and the lower supporting pillars  132 ,  152 , respectively. With reference to  FIG. 1 ( b ), showing an embodiment of side plate  23 , the upper side plate  23  and the lower side plate  24  are spaced by the upper supporting pillar  141  and the lower supporting  142  into two upper side plate panels  231 ,  232  and two lower side plate panels  233 ,  234 .  
      The front plate  25  comprises a door frame  253  and two doors  251 ,  252  adapted to be open, being disposed on the door frame  253 . The doors  251 ,  252  use bolt lock  254  to be fixed to the door frame  253 . The bottom of the door frame  253  pivots onto the bottom frame such that the front plate  25  can lie inwardly on the freight container. Similarly, the bottom of the rear plate pivots onto the bottom frame  12  such that the rear plate can lie inwardly on the freight container. The door frame  253  of the front plate  25 , preferably, further provides at least one hook ring (not shown in the drawings) thereon to be hung by cranes in the procedure of folding.  
      Again, take the side plates  23 ,  24  for example, the upper side plate panel  231  and the lower side plate panel  232  comprise a reinforcement tube  50  on their top and bottom, as shown in  FIG. 2 ( a ) to increase the rigidity of upper plate panel  231  and the lower plate panel  232 . Rubber strips, i.e. sealing rubber strips  60  as shown in  FIG. 2 ( b ), are disposed between the reinforcement tubes, and between the reinforcement tubes and the top frame as well as the bottom frame to provide damping and waterproof effects. The sealing rubber strips  60  can also be disposed on the conjunction of the door frame, the doors, and the frame.  
      There are a plurality of first locks  70  inside the freight container between the upper supporting pillars  131 ,  141 ,  151  and the lower supporting pillars  132 ,  142 ,  152  (or between the upper side plate panels  231 ,  233  and the lower side plate panels  232 ,  234 ), between the upper supporting pillars  131 ,  141 ,  151  (or the upper side plate panels  231 ,  233 ) and the top frame  21 , and between the lower supporting pillars  132 ,  142 ,  152  (or the lower side plate panels  232 ,  234 ) and the bottom frame  12  to prevent the upper side plates from folding when using the freight container. The rear plate and the door frame  253  of the front plate  25  are provided with plurality of second locks  80  to be fixed to the top frame  11  (or top plate  21 ) to prevent the rear plate and the front plate  25  from lying down. As shown in FIGS.  3 ( a ), ( b ), each of the first locks  70  comprises two adjacent lock blocks  71  and a lock bolt  72 , and the second locks  80  is directed to assemblies to prevent the front plate  25  and rear plate from lying down, for example a bolt lock  81 . The bolt lock  81  comprises a plate with a hole being disposed on the top frame  11 , and a bolt being disposed on the door frame  253 . The door frame  253  can be fixed by inserting the bolt into the hole of the plate.  
      In the procedure of folding the freight container of the present invention, the hook rings on the door frame  253  of the front plate  25  and the rear plate are hung by cranes, and then operators enter the freight container to unlock the second locks  80 . At first, the operators make the rear plate slowly lie down by the crane. Then, the operators close the doors  251 ,  252  of the front plate  25 , lock the doors  251 ,  252  to the front plate  25 , and make the front plate  25  slowly lie down by the crane. The hook rings on the top frame  11  are hung by the cranes, and the operators unlock the first locks  70  to make the side plates  23 ,  24  slowly folded inwardly.  FIG. 4  illustrates the front view of the freight container in the procedure of folding after the front plate  25  and rear plate lie down;  FIG. 5 ( a ) illustrates the front view of the folded freight container.  
      As shown in FIGS.  5 ( b ), ( c ) and ( d ), when the freight container is folded, the corner blocks  90  on top frame  11  and bottom frame  12  are fixed by retaining devices  100  to retain the folded state. While stacking the folded freight containers, each corner of the freight containers is provided with a spacer  110  for aligning and spacing the folded freight containers.  
      The retaining device  100  comprises a connecting rod  105 , and each end of the connecting rod comprises handles  102 ,  104 , lock panels  101 ,  103 , the lock panels  101 ,  103  are adapted to be put into the slots of the corner block  90 . By turning the handles  102 ,  104 , the lock panels  101 ,  103  lock the corner blocks  90  of the upper freight container and the lower freight container to make the folded freight containers being placed on each other.  
      The spacer  110  comprises a spacer block  111  and fixing parts  113 ,  114 . The fixing part  113  and  114  is movable with the bar  11 . Each of the folded freight containers is limited by the spacers  110 , which are disposed on the four corners of the freight containers, in limited horizontal movements such that they are aligned in order.  
      This invention is related to a novel creation that makes a breakthrough in the art. Aforementioned explanations, however, are directed to the description of preferred embodiments according to this invention. Since this invention is not limited to the specific details described in connection with the preferred embodiments, for example, the definition of the front plate, the rear plate, the side plates, the top plates, the bottom plate, their relative positions, and the structures of the hinges for pivoting on the plates or the frame, changes and implementations to certain features of the preferred embodiments without altering the overall basic function of the invention are contemplated within the scope of the appended claims.