Lightweight chassis and container for transportation of goods

A system for transport of goods, including hard to handle commodities, the system comprising:

• a drive vehicle;
• a chassis including a frame having a first end and a second end, a hitch connection located at the first end of the frame, and one or more lifting jacks positioned adjacent the first end of the chassis;
• and
• one or more containers adapted to be received on the frame of the chassis, each comprising a body including:
• a floor having a forward section and a rearward section, the rearward section of the floor terminating at a rear end of the body and overhanging the second end of the frame of the chassis,
• substantially parallel lengthwise side walls, having proximal and distal ends;
• a roof,
• a front wall located adjacent the first end of the chassis and arranged substantially perpendicular to the lengthwise walls, and
• an end door panel disposed substantially parallel to the front wall and hingedly attached to the frame, so that when the end door panel is in an upright position a first end of the panel is located adjacent the distal end of each of the lengthwise walls and when the end door panel is in a lowered position end door the panel forms a ramp configured for loading the goods into the container, and the floor, side walls, front wall, end door panel, and the roof comprise one or more composite panels including a core layer sandwiched between opposite outer facing layers, and the rearward section of the floor overhanging the second end of the chassis having a selected length and extending downwardly at an angle so as to provide a selected drop distance of the rear end of the body of the container below the second end of the chassis sufficient to substantially reduce an apex of an angle defined between the floor of the container and a ground surface when the end door panel is in its lowered position to provide a ramp for loading and unloading the goods into the container, the end door panel comprising at least two stacked cores sandwiched between the outer facing sheets, and having a thickness of approximately 0.90 inch to approximately 1.0 inch and a compressive strength of at least approximately 400 lb./in2.

A system for transport of goods, including hard to handle commodities, the system comprising:

• a drive vehicle;
• a chassis including a frame having a first end and a second end, a hitch connection located at the first end of the frame, and one or more lifting jacks positioned adjacent the first end of the chassis;
• and
• one or more containers adapted to be received on the frame of the chassis, each comprising a body including:
• a floor having a forward section and a rearward section, the rearward section of the floor terminating at a rear end of the body and overhanging the second end of the frame of the chassis,
• substantially parallel lengthwise side walls, having proximal and distal ends;
• a roof,
• a front wall located adjacent the first end of the chassis and arranged substantially perpendicular to the lengthwise walls, and
• an end door panel disposed substantially parallel to the front wall and hingedly attached to the frame, so that when the end door panel is in an upright position a first end of the panel is located adjacent the distal end of each of the lengthwise walls and when the end door panel is in a lowered position end door the panel forms a ramp configured for loading the goods into the container, and the floor, side walls, front wall, end door panel, and the roof comprise one or more composite panels including a core layer sandwiched between opposite outer facing layers, and the rearward section of the floor overhanging the second end of the chassis having a selected length and extending downwardly at an angle so as to provide a selected drop distance of the rear end of the body of the container below the second end of the chassis sufficient to substantially reduce an apex of an angle defined between the floor of the container and a ground surface when the end door panel is in its lowered position to provide a ramp for loading and unloading the goods into the container, the one or more containers further comprising one or more side door panels arranged along one or both lengthwise side walls, the side door panels hingedly attached to the body of the container and configured to move from a raised, closed position to a lowered loading position to define additional ramps.

A method for transportation of goods utilizing a consumer vehicle, the method comprising:

• positioning a container on a chassis, the container includes a body defining an interior chamber, and comprises a container length that is greater than a chassis length of the chassis, with a rearward section that overhangs the chassis by a selected length and extends at a downward angle so as to define a selected drop at a rear end of the container;
• raising a front end at the container so as to increase the downward angle at the rear section of the container;
• moving an end door panel to a lowered position with a free end of the end door panel resting on a ground surface to define a ramp;
• loading the goods into the interior chamber of the container, the selected drop distance of the reward section along the length is adapted to substantially eliminate an apex of an angle between the ground surface and a floor of the container;
• moving the end door to a closed position;
• and
• coupling the chassis and container to the consumer vehicle.

A method for transportation of goods utilizing a consumer vehicle, the method comprising:

• positioning a container on a chassis,
• the container includes a body defining an interior chamber, and comprises (a) a container length that is greater than a chassis length of the chassis, (b) a rearward section that overhangs the chassis by a selected length and extends at a downward angle so as to define a selected drop at a rear end of the container, and (c) one or more side door panels along at least one side of the container;
• raising a front end at the container so as to increase the downward angle at the rear section of the container;
• moving an end door panel to a lowered position with a free end of the end door panel resting on a ground surface to define a ramp;
• loading the goods into the interior chamber of the container,
• the selected drop distance of the reward section along the length is adapted to substantially eliminate an apex of an angle between the ground surface and a floor of the container;
• moving the end door to a closed position;
• coupling the chassis and container to the consumer vehicle;
• and moving the one or more side door panels to a lowered position to provide one or more additional ramps for loading goods into the interior chamber through the sides of the container.

A system for transport and delivery of goods utilizing a pickup truck, the system comprising:

• a chassis including a frame with a first end and a second end, and at least one-wheel assembly supporting the frame;
• a container configured to be received on the frame of the chassis, the container comprising a body having front and rear ends, a floor, side walls, a roof, a front wall, an end door panel hingedly coupled to a rear end of the body, and one or more side door panels hingedly coupled to the side walls of the body;
• and
• a loading/unloading system configured to control movement of the container along the frame of the chassis for loading and/or unloading of the container onto and from the chassis, the loading/unloading system comprising a clevis releasably connectable to the container and a winch coupled to the clevis,-the winch configured to control a rearward movement of the container along the chassis and a tilting motion of the container as the front end of the container approaches and is moved past the second end of the chassis and to a rest position, the end door panel is configured to move between a raised, closed position and a lowered, open position defining a ramp for loading and unloading of the goods into and out of the container, and the rearward section of the floor overhanging the second end of the chassis having a selected length and extending downwardly at an angle so as to provide a selected drop distance of the rear end of the body of the container below the second end of the chassis sufficient to substantially reduce an apex of an angle defined between the floor of the container and a ground surface.

A system for transport and delivery of goods utilizing a pickup truck, the system comprising:

• a chassis including a frame with a first end and a second end, and at least one-wheel assembly supporting the frame;
• a container configured to be received on the frame of the chassis, the container comprising a body having front and rear ends, a floor, side walls, a roof, a front wall, an end door panel hingedly coupled to a rear end of the body, and one or more side door panels hingedly coupled to the side walls of the body, the rearward section of the floor overhanging the second end of the chassis having a selected length and extending downwardly at an angle so as to provide a selected drop distance of the rear end of the body of the container below the second end of the chassis sufficient to substantially reduce an apex of an angle defined between the floor of the container and a ground surface;
• and
• a loading/unloading system configured to control movement of the container along the frame of the chassis for loading and/or unloading of the container onto and from the chassis, the loading/unloading system comprising a clevis releasably connectable to the container and a winch coupled to the clevis, the winch configured to control a rearward movement of the container along the chassis and a tilting motion of the container as the front end of the container approaches and is moved past the second end of the chassis and to a rest position, the end door panel is configured to move between a raised, closed position and a lowered, open position defining a ramp for loading and unloading of the goods into and out of the container, and the floor, side walls, roof, front wall, end door panel, and one or more side door panels each also including one or more composite panels comprising at least one core having a corrugated structure and sandwiched between outer facing sheets.