Freight container and lift casting therefore and method for lifting and transporting same
AssigneeThe Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company
InventorThomas P. Kelly
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved freight container for use in intermodal freight transportation systems that includes lift castings having a top lift aperture located on the lift casting at an outboard position, such that when other containers are stacked on top of the improved container, loads are properly distributed through reinforcement beams of the improved container, thereby substantially reducing bending stresses in the improved container, substantially reducing the possibility fatigue failure of the improved container, and reducing the costs of maintenance and inspection of the improved container.
Claims39
An improved freight container for use with an existing lift mechanism, the improved freight container comprising:
- a rigid support structure having a roof, side walls, a floor, and at least one door;
- at least two reinforcement beams, each having a header, side posts, and a footer;
- a stack casting disposed between each footer and each side post, the stack casting having at least one stack aperture adapted to allow stacking of the improved freight container;
- and
- a lift casting disposed between each header and each side post, each lift casting comprising:
- an upper plate;
- and
- at least one elongated lift aperture through the upper plate, the elongated lift aperture being located in an outboard position on the upper plate.
An improved container lift system for lifting and transporting freight containers, the improved lift system comprising:
- a lift mechanism comprising:
- a support frame;
- at least one extensible arm;
- at least one lift attachment coupled to each end of each extensible arm;
- a bayonet-type twist lock member coupled to each lift attachment;
- and
- an actuating means for actuating each extensible arm and each bayonet-type twist lock member;
- at least a first freight container comprising:
- a rigid support structure having a roof, side walls, a floor, and at least one door;
- at least two reinforcement beams, each having a header, side posts, and a footer;
- a stack casting disposed between each footer and each side post, the stack casting having at least one stack aperture adapted to allow stacking of the first freight container;
- and
- a lift casting disposed between each header and each side post, each lift casting comprising:
- an upper plate;
- and
- at least one elongated lift aperture through the upper plate, the elongated lift aperture being located in an outboard position on the upper plate, the elongated lift aperture being adapted to releasably receive the bayonet-type twist lock member.
A lift casting for use in a freight container, the lift casting comprising:
- a rigid support structure having a roof, side walls, a floor, and at least one door;
- at least two reinforcement beams, each having a header, side posts, and a footer;
- a stack casting disposed between each footer and each side post, the stack casting having at least one stack aperture adapted to allow stacking of the first freight container;
- and
- a lift casting disposed between each header and each side post, each lift casting comprising:
- an upper plate;
- and
- at least one elongated lift aperture through the upper plate, the elongated lift aperture being located in an outboard position on the upper plate, the elongated lift aperture being adapted to releasably receive the bayonet-type twist lock member.
An improved method of lifting a wide freight container having a plurality of lift castings with an existing lift mechanism, the method comprising:
- providing a lift aperture at an outboard location on a top surface of each lift casting;
- and
- lifting the wide freight container with the existing lift mechanism by attaching the existing lift mechanism to the lift aperture.
An improved method for stacking freight containers, the method comprising:
- providing a wide first freight container having a lift aperture at an outboard location on a top surface of a lift casting on the first freight container;
- and
- stacking a second freight container with the wide first freight container such that loads from the stacking are transferred through the lift casting of the wide first freight container such that bending stresses in the wide first freight container and the second freight container are substantially reduced.
An improved method of lifting and transporting freight containers comprising the steps of:
- providing a lift mechanism having a support frame, at least one extensible arm, at least one lift attachment coupled to each end of each extensible arm, a bayonet-type twist lock member operable between an unlocked position and a locked position, the bayonet-type twist lock member being coupled to each lift attachment, and an actuating means for actuating each extensible arm and each bayonet-type twist lock member;
- providing at least a first freight container having a rigid support structure having a roof, side walls, a floor, at least one door;
- providing at least two reinforcement beams, each having a header, side posts, and a footer;
- disposing a stack casting between each footer and each side post, the stack casting having at least one stack aperture adapted to allow stacking of the first freight container;
- disposing a lift casting between each header and each side post, each lift casting having an upper plate and at least one elongated lift aperture through the upper plate;
- locating the elongated lift aperture in an outboard position on the upper plate, the elongated lift aperture being adapted to receive the bayonet-type twist lock member;
- inserting the bayonet-type twist lock member through the elongated lift aperture;
- actuating the bayonet-type twist lock member into the locked position with the actuating means;
- and
- lifting and transporting the first freight container with the lift mechanism.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.