GB2097751A - Transportable containers - Google Patents

Abstract

A transportable container 14 of the kind which is normally moved from place to place by a special purpose vehicle generally as shown in Fig. 1 is provided with at least one detachable lifting lug 16 thus preventing unauthorised transport of the vehicle. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Transportable containers This invention relates to transportable containers of the kind provided with projecting lifting lugs and which are intended to be chain connected to the lifting arms of a special purpose vehicle so as to lift and transport a container, for example with its contents.

One well known form of container of this kind is called a skip, and these skips are made of heavy gauge steel plate so that they can be used as rubbish bins to accumulate possibly ten tons or more of contents, and then be removed with the contents for disposal of the same.

These skips are often parked in public places, on building sites and the like, and left unattended. The owners rely upon their weight, possibly of the order of a ton even when empty, and thier general immobility, to prevent their removal by unauthorised persons. However, it is not unknown for them to be stolen, presumably by other users of the same kind of special purpose vehicle.

The object of the present invention is to reduce the possibilty of unauthorised removal of such containers.

In accordance with the present invention a container of the kind referred to is characterised by the provision of at least one detachable lifting lug. Preferably two lifting lugs on the same side of the container are detachable.

Hence, when the container has been transported to the place of use, and lowered to the ground, the detachable lugs may be removed, and then it requires not only the special purpose vehicle, but also replacement lugs before the container can be taken away.

The term container used herein is to be construed broadly. In addition to the rubbish container discussed earlier in this specification, the container may be a closed storage box intended for tools or appliances. The box may be a transportable building, so as to provide for example a store room for tools or materials being used on a building site, or a safe and secure storage place for explosives being used in mining or quarrying work.

Preferably the exterior of the container is provided with a longitudinally extending reinforcing bar and the detachable lifting lugs may be a slide fit onto that bar.

The invention is now more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing a skip being lifted by a special purpose vehicle; Figure 2 is a fragmentary transverse section showing a portion of a container side wall with a fixed lifting lug attached thereto; Figures 3, 4 and 5 are views similar to Fig.2 showing three different ways of carrying out the present invention; and Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a container according to the present invention.

Referring first to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the conventional special purpose vehicle shown therein is a platform truck or lorry having a pair of pivoted arms 10 powered by hydraulic rams 1 2 so as to be movable between a pair of positions which may be of the order of 180" apart.

The vehicle is used with a series of containers or skips 14 which have pairs of lifting lugs 1 6 on each of the two parallel sides, and these are connected by lifting chains 1 8 to the arms 1 0. Hence each skip is suspended at four points.

In the inboard position of the arms, the chains are slack and the skip rests on the platform of the vehicle. In the outboard position, the chains are also slack and the skip rests on the ground surface to the rear of the vehicle so that the chains can be released and the vehicle driven away. In the intermediate positions the chains are taut and the container is maintained substantially level whilst being swung in an arc from one position to the other.

Fig. 2 shows a typical lifting lug which may be made of a short length of massive steel rod 20, typically of the order of 2" diameter which is welded at one end to the side wall 22 of the container, and has a head 24 which may be made of steel plate of say 1" thickness, welded to its opposite end. This enables the sling, hook or simply an eye on the end of a lifting chain to be passed over the head and engaged with the part 20, and once the slack has been taken up the chain is safely engaged with the lug. It will be appreciated that the vehicle must be relatively level during the container movement operations, and the vehicle is usually provided with ground engaging jacks which can be adjusted for this purpose when the vehicle is used on uneven sites.The chains 1 8 thus extend in vertical planes although they are necessarily inclined in but not to those planes.

According to the invention, at least one of the lifting lugs is detachable from the container. Figs. 3 to 5 show three alternative arrangements for this purpose.

In Fig. 3 the side wall 22 is provided with a hollow box section stiffening or strake extending generally along the length of the container and indicated by the reference numeral 26.

The strake may be made of massive steel plate welded at its junctions and to the container.

The detachable lug may be made in similar fashion to that shown in Fig. 2, except that instead of being welded directly to the side 22, it is welded to a channel section piece 28 which is an easy push fit on to the strake 26, the channel and the strake being fixed together by one or more clamping bolts 30 which are screw-engaged with tapped holes in the channel 28. When the bolts 30 are tightened, the detachable lug becomes clamped to the strake and my be chain engaged in the same fashion as mentioned above. When the bolts are released the complete lug can be removed and taken away. At such time the chain or hook normally provided on the vehicle of Fig. 1 will be unable to get a satisfactory purchase on the strake 26 and hence the container in immobilised.

In the arrangement of Fig. 4, an additional security when the lug is in position is provided by giving the strake an additional component 32 which may be in the form of a steel bar of say 1" x 1" cross section welded in position, but over a comparatively short length of the strake, for example over a 3" or 6" length of the strake in the immediate vicinity of the normal location of the lifting lug when in place. The additional part 32 means that the clamping bolt can abut against the component to resist forces tending to pull the lug off the strake instead of relying solely on clamping pressure applied by the bolt itself.

Whilst it is possible that a hook provided on the end of a lifting chain might be engaged with the component, the comparatively short length of the components 32 ensures that proper engagement between the hook and the container (in the absence of the lifting plug) is impossible.

In the version of Fig. 5, the clamping bolt is dispensed with and the strake is provide with a pair of such components 32, 34 on each of its upper and lower faces, whilst the channel section part is provided with a similar component 36 welded in place, and which is located so as to be a slide fit between the components 32 and 34. Again the parts 32, 34 are of relatively short length, and this means that in assembly of the detachable lug, it is moved axially of the part 20 so as to engage with the strake at a position adjacent to but clear of the parts 32, 34, and is then moved lengthwise of the strake to engage it in position.

Preferably in any of the versions described an additional abutment stop is provided along the length of the strake so as to locate the releasable lugs in their normal position for use. Such abutments are indicated by the reference numeral 38 on Fig. 6. These abutments again should be shaped and dimensioned so that they afford no satisfactory purchase for a hook or chain, in the absence of the proper detachable lifting plug, and they are intended to provide abutments both of which will be located wholly between the two detachable lugs in use. Hence, the tendency of the lifting chains to move towards a vertical position, with accompanied sliding of the detachable lugs along the strake towards one another, is resisted by the abutments 38.It is contemplated that by using the abutments 38 in conjunction with the arrangement of Fig. 5 for example, the clamping bolts to hold the lifting plugs in position would be quite unnecessary.

The container shown in Fig. 6 is a portable building having side walls, end walls, a roof and an entrance door 40. The building may be for use in a quarry or on a building site for example and is intended to provide a secure and safe storage place for tools or materials. It needs to be transported from site to site from time to time as work on the quarry or building site for example proceeds. It is provided with strakes 26 on each side, and is generally made to the same dimensions as a standard skip such as the one shown in Fig. 1. On the far side of the container and not seen in the drawings a pair of fixed lifting lugs as in Fig.

2 are provided, and on the near side a pair of detachable fixing lugs are used when the container is to be moved.

In a further arrangement (not shown) the container is provided with a longitudinally extending channel welded to its side, such as the one shown in Fig. 4, having the additional strips 32 in Fig. 4 provided over that portion of the length of the channel where the detachable ligting lug is to be mounted. The detachable lifting lug is made generally similar to the arrangement in Fig. 5, that is to say essentially having the components 36 located so as to engage between those strips (such as 32) and the wall of the container, but possibly omitting the parts 34 from the Fig. 5 arrangement. Additionally however the fixing bolts as used in the Fig. 4 arrangement are used, except that they are arranged to abut against the components which are welded to the channel section (the equivalent of the parts 32) instead of lying between those components and the wall of the container. In this particular version, it will be seen that the interengagement of the strips equivalent to the parts 32 and 36 of Figs. 4 and 5 respectively provide a resistance to the detachable lug being pulled off in a direction at right angles to the wall of the container, whilst the bolts serve merely to fix the lug in position along the length of the container.

Claims (7)

1. A transportable container of the kind referred to characterised by the provision of at least one detachable lifting lug.

2. A container as claimed in Claim 1, wherein two lifting lugs on the same side of the container are detachable.

3. A container as claimed in Claim 2 wherein two fixed lugs are provided on the other side of the container.

4. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the detachable lugs are provided with clamp means for fixing them in position.

5. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the detachable lugs are arranged to be slid lengthwise of the container in engagement of disengagement therefrom.

6. A container as claimed in Claim 5 wherein an abutment is provided to limit sliding movement.

7. A container of the kind referred to substantially as described and with reference to any of Figs. 3 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.