Patent ID: 7736106

Claim:
A locking system for locking a container to a vehicle, the vehicle including a chassis and a hoist frame liftable and lowerable to load and unload the container, the locking system comprising: a locking assembly comprising: at least one hook for hooking over a portion of the container, the hook having a center of mass located to bias the hook to an unlocked position, and a mounting mechanism for pivotably mounting the locking assembly to the hoist frame; a striker assembly comprising: a striker element disposed to strike the hook at a location to move the hook against the bias of the hook's center of mass to a locked position in which the hook is hooked over the portion of the container, a striker biasing element disposed for biasing the striker element into contact with the hook and for allowing movement of the striker element away from the locked position of the hook when the hook encounters an obstruction preventing movement of the hook into the locked position, and a mounting mechanism for mounting the striker assembly to the vehicle chassis; and a keeper element disposed to engage the striker element in the locked position, the keeper element comprising a plate with a downward lip extending from the hoist frame, the top edge of the striker element engaged by the lip when in the locked position.