US2868368A - Container - Google Patents

Description

J. M. BEACH Jan. 13, 1959 CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 7, 1955 INVENTOR.

' JOHN M. 6540/ BY 71/5 4 TTOEA/EVS J. M. BEACH Jan. 13, 1959 CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 7, 1955 INVENTOR.

JOHN M. 55/104 BY 2 6 5:, W

H/S ATTOFA/EYS United States This invention relates to a shipping container and more particularly to a shipping container for heavy objects such as aircraft engines, rockets, and the like, though not necessarily so limited.

The ever increasing use of air transportation has created a demand for light weight yet strong and durable, shipping containers which can be used for shipping heavy objects by air. In this connection, a special problem has arisen with the practice of air freighting replacement engines for aircraft, rockets, and the like, in that it is necessary to provide an air-tight container which must support several thousand pounds of equipment. Available shipping containers for this purpose weigh from 4000 to 6000 pounds empty and thus, the container alone is an expensive item to ship by air.

In recent years much varied and costly research in military and civilian laboratories has been directed toward development of light weight containers for this purpose, with but little success. The difficulty lies in the fact that suitably strong materials are too heavy and when light materials are used, the container becomes very large and bulky if it is to have the necessary strength.

An object of the present invention is to circumvent this problem by combining the structural strength of aluminum alloys in a suitable support frame with a light weight durable laminated plastic receptacle for encapsulating the object to be shipped.

Another object is to provide an airtight light weight shipping and storage container.

Other objects and advantages reside in the construction of parts, the combination thereof and the mode of operation, as will become more apparent from the following description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the shipping container.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially along the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view, taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, the shipping container comprises a cylindrical receptacle 22 supported by a dolly generally indicated at 10. The dolly is formed from a plurality of arched aluminum alloy yokes 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and 12a connected together by a plurality of horizontal aluminum stringer tubes 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 14e, 14 and 14g. Stringer tubes 14c, 14d and 146 are arranged to all lie in a horizontal plane, so that the dolly 10 may be transported by a conventional fork truck. The yokes are held in fixed relationship by the stringer tubes which are slightly expanded on either side of each inner yoke and on the inner sides of the end yokes 12a and 126. The yokes 12a, 12b, 12d and 12a, that is, the two yokes on either end of the dolly 10, each have a pair of integral brackets 16 projecting therefrom, the brackets coupling to pivot type aluminum feet 18 by means of an axle 20 which may be integral with the brackets. The feet are pivota-ble, so that the dolly will rest firmly on an uneven or warped floor.

The plurality of yokes 12a, 1212, et cetera, form a substantially semi-cylindrical bed which accommodates a cylindrical receptacle 22. The receptacle 22 is designed to house a conventional jet engine, shown schematically at 24, or a rocket, or the like. However, the dolly 10, and not the receptacle 22, supports the weight of the housed item. This is accomplished as follows.

The yokes 12a, 12b, 12d and 12s have integral flanges 26 at their ends which abut the wall of the receptacle 22. Opposite the flanges 26, in the interior of the receptacle 22, are aluminum shock mount supports 28, which abut the inner wall of the receptacle 22. The shock mount supports 28 and the flanges 26 are bolted together with threaded aluminum bolts 30, penetrating the flanges 26, the wall of the receptacle 22 and the shock mount supports 28, and threadedly engaging aluminum nuts 32. The receptacle is kept airtight by providing sealing washers 34 around each of the bolts 30, the washers being inserted between the shock mount supports 28 and the wall of the receptacle 22. These sealing washers 34 may be commercially available O-rings made from a suitable elastomer.

Bolted to the shock mount supports 28 are shear type shock mounts 36 which support longitudinal aluminum side rails 38, there being one side rail on each side of the dolly 10, as best seen in Figure 2. The shear type shock mounts may be made of any suitable elastomer. The side rails 38 are adapted to engage brackets 40 extending from the jet engine 24, or other housed item, thereby supporting the housed item. As best seen in Figure 2, the weight of the housed item is transmitted directly to the aluminum yokes 12a, 12b, 12a. and 12a, with only compression forces being exerted upon the wall of the receptacle 22.

Thus, the receptacle 22 can be constructed of a light Weight material which is preferably a thermo-setting type plastic. The walls of the receptacle 22 may be given added strength by laminating to both sides of the wall a woven fiberglass mat, the lamination and shaping of the receptacle parts being accomplished in. a single molding operation. Other suitable reinforcing materials may also be used.

For convenience in handling, the receptacle 22 is formed from two semi-cylindrical halves, a lower half 42, attached to the dolly 10, and an upper half 44, removable from the dolly 10. To reduce the tendency of the receptacle halves 42 and 44 to Warp out of shape, aluminum flanges 46 and 48, respectively, are bonded along the periphery of the halves. As best seen in Figure 3, the bond is made by embedding portions of the flanges in the plastic, the embedded portions having serrations or teeth 47 and holes or slots 49 which are filled with the plastic under pressure in a mold, the volume of the slots 49 being just suflicient to take up the plastic which Would normally tend to squeeze out of the mold. The plastic filled slots 49 also serve to increase the strength of the aluminum to plastic bond considerably. Grooves 51, located in both aluminum flanges 46 and 48 are also filled with plastic during the molding operation, the grooves 51 serving to prevent the plastic from peeling, or being peeled, away from the embedded aluminum. For added structural strength, both sides of the bond may be laminated with fiberglass matting or any other suitable material. The flanges 46 and 48 also provide the means by which the halves 42 and 44 are bolted together. At several places along the periphery of the halves, aluminum bolts 50 penetrate both flanges to threadedly engage aluminum nuts 52. The flange 46, bonded to the lower receptacle half 42, has a grooved portion 54, which accommodates a rubber O-ring 56, the O-ring 56 acting as an air seal to make the receptacle 22 airtight. The lower flange 46 has a projecting portion 58 which seats into a recess 60 in the upper flange 48, thereby containing the O-ring 56. This construction is best seen in Figure 3.

A typical shipping container of this'design has a receptacle measuring six feet in diameter and eighteen to twenty feet in length. The weight of the receptacle and combined dolly, however, is less than 1200 pounds. This compares with a weight of 4000 pounds or more for the equivalent all metal shipping containers currently in use. The shipping container herein described, when loaded with a conventional jet aircraft engine, may be dropped as much as three feet without harm to the engine or the container, even though the force of the drop may be sufficient to distend the shock mountings several inches.

Several advantages in this design for a shipping container are apparent. The receptacle 22 is airtight without being bulky. The plastic and fiberglass lamination, coupled with the O-ring seal, provide a receptacle capable of withstanding a 10 pounds per square inch pressure differential from the inside to the outside of the conlength by increasing the number of yokes forming the dolly and making a corresponding increase in the length of the receptacle. Also, the receptacle may be formed from a single tubular center section attached to the dolly and one or two detachable end sections of variable length to form a closed receptacle of variable length. The receptacle herein described is of cylindrical shape. How ever, any suitably shaped receptacle maybe used in combination with dollies having beds of complementary shape.

Although the preferred embodiment of the device has been described, it will be understood that within the purview of this invention various changes may be made in the form, details, proportion and arrangement of parts, the combination thereof and mode of operation, which generally stated consist in a device capable of carrying out the objects set forth, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A container for shipping and storage of heavy objects such as aircraft engines comprising, in combination, a dolly, said dolly including a plurality of arcuate yoke portions and means supporting said yoke portions in fixed spaced relation, said yoke portions cooperating to provide an arcuate bed for said dolly, a hollow substantially cylindrical receptacle nested in the bed of said dolly, the upper ends of said yoke portions terminating in contacting relation to said receptacle at diametrically opposed points, a plurality of shock mounting supports arranged in substantially diametrically opposed pairs within said receptacle, bolt means penetrating the wall of said receptacle, the shock mounting supports and the adjacent ends of said yoke portions to secure said pairs of mounting supports to opposite ends of said yoke portions, there being one yoke portion for each pair of mounting supports, and means disposed within said receptacle engaging said mounting supports for supporting an object within said receptacle, said bolt means providing the sole fixed connection between said receptacle and said dolly.

2. A container for shipping and storage of heavy articles such as aircraft engines comprising, in combination, a dolly, said dolly including a plurality of yoke portions and means supporting said yoke portions in fixed spaced relation, said yoke portions cooperating to provide a bed for said dolly, a hollow receptacle mounted on said dolly between the upper ends of said yoke portions, the upper ends of said yoke portions terminating in contacting relation to said receptacle on opposite sides thereof, article mounting elements disposed within said receptacle in contacting relation to the opposite sides thereof and in opposing relation to the ends of saidyoke portions, and bolt means penetrating said mounting elements, the wall of said receptacle, and the opposing ends of said yoke portions to secure said mounting elements to the ends of said yoke portions, said bolt means providing the sole fixed connection between said receptacle and said dolly.

3. The container according to claim 2 wherein said yoke portions having an arcuate configuration and cooperate to provide an arcuate bed for said dolly, said receptacle having a substantial cylindrical shape and being nested in the bed of said dolly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 172,538 Wiley Ian. 18, 1876 643,787 Brochu Feb. 20, 1900 1,376,216 Mittinger Apr. 26, 1921 2,279,958 Snyder et al Apr. 14, 1942 2,285,219 Morrell June 2, 1942 2,300,259 Kueppers Oct. 27, 1,942 2,311,613 Slayter Feb. 16, 1943 2,613,807 Higbee Oct. 14, 1952 2,660,295 Beck Nov. 24, 1953 2,688,582 Phair et a1. Sept. 7, 1954 2,708,509 Gould et al May 17, 1955 2,715,089 Michener Aug. 9, 1955 2,729,327 Roy Jan. 3, 1956

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