Stackable and interlocking carrying cases for a mobile tactical command and control center
First and second stackable and interlocking carrying cases having particular application for use at a mobile tactical command and control center to be operated in the field. The first carrying case transports a pull-out desk top and a pull-top drawer at the interior thereof. The second carrying case transports a shock isolated housing at the interior thereof to which standard (e.g., 19 inch) rack mounted electronics are connected. A plurality of the first and second carrying cases can be stacked one above the other to form a pair of vertical columns. The pull-out desk top slides outwardly from the first carrying case in one of the vertical columns so as to extend between the pair of columns and thereby create a flat writing surfaces, or the like, for building a modular desk. Access to the electronics necessary to operate the tactical command and control center is available from one or more of the second carrying cases in the pair of vertical columns.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to stackable and interlocking carrying cases within which rack mounted electronics and a desk top are transported. The carrying cases can be stacked one above the other to facilitate shipment and storage or to build modular furniture (e.g., a desk) to conveniently fit within a tent at a mobile tactical command and control center located in the field.
2. Background Art
It is desirable to transport fragile computers as well as related electrical hardware having communications, networking, data storage, and the like, applications in shock resistant portable cases so that such equipment can be transported without being subject to damage that it may otherwise be caused by shock and other mechanical forces to be encountered during transit. For example, the military may wish to ship listening equipment to a hostile environment to monitor and/or control a military exercise. By way of another example, a government agency may need sensitive equipment at a remote or inhospitable environment so that tests can be conducted and recorded.
Because of the relatively large size that characterize conventional shipping cases and the equipment carried therein, it is often difficult to stack a number of such shipping cases close together on a pallet so as to fit within the cargo hold or storage space of a truck, plane or ship, particularly when storage space is at a premium. That is, a tall stack of conventional shipping containers is known to consume excessive cargo area as well as to be unstable so as to shift and possibly fall over during transit. Because of the large weight associated with the conventional shipping containers, it is often difficult to transport individual containers that must be hand carried onto an airplane or a helicopter or to a remote base over rugged terrain.
What is even more, a grouping of bulky shipping containers are undesirable at a command and control station in the field. More particularly, in some instances, access to and use of the equipment transported therewithin is not possible until some or all of the equipment is first removed from its container. Thus, a great deal of time may be wasted during loading and reloading the shipping containers which can lead to inefficiency, especially when it is desirable to create a highly mobile command and control center that is capable of rapid deployment. Once a shipping container has been emptied, it is typically pushed aside so as to consume valuable space within a small enclosure (e.g., a tent) in which the command and control personnel and their furnishings are based. Consequently, the shipping containers either create tight working conditions within a small enclosure or require that larger and more expensive enclosures be available within which to house the personnel and the equipment required to operate a remote command and control center.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONStackable and interlocking carrying cases are disclosed that are especially suitable for use within a small enclosure (e.g., a tent) at a mobile tactical command and control center. The carrying cases are of relatively light weight, compact size and are preferably manufactured from a shock resistant material that is capable of minimizing the transfer of shock to the contents of the cases during transit.
A first of the stackable and interlocking carrying cases includes a pair of wheels at one end of the front and a pair of locking feet projecting from the opposite end of the front. The first carrying case also includes pairs of locking recesses at each end of the back. The pairs of wheels and locking feet at the front of one carrying case are received in interlocking engagement within respective pairs of locking recesses at the back of an adjacent carrying case so that a plurality of carrying cases can be stacked together in a vertical column having increased stability so as to be palletized for storage and shipment. The first carrying case has a pair of detachable side panel that are removed to permit access to conventional (e.g., 19 inch) rack mounted electronics that are supported by a shock isolated housing at the interior of the case. The shock isolated housing is retained at the interior of the carrying case by sets of shock deflecting coiled spring that are positioned between the housing and the case. Rack mounted electronics for communications, data storage, networking, and the like, applications are detachably connected to and supported by the shock isolated housing so as to be transported from place-to-place at the interior of the first carrying case.
A second one of the stackable and interlocking carrying cases has pairs of locking grooves formed at opposite ends of the front. A pair of locking feet project from one end of the back, and a pair of locking grooves are formed at the opposite end of the back. Thus, the first and second stackable carrying cases may be interconnected in interlocking engagement with one another for building modular furniture that can be easily configured and broken down so as to be especially suitable for use within a small enclosure (e.g., a tent) for a mobile tactical command and control center in the field. To this end, the second carrying case has a hollow interior so as to receive a pull-out drawer and a pull-out desk top. Like the first carrying case, the second case has detachable side panels that are removed to permit the drawer to be pulled outwardly therefrom so as to enable access to the contents (e.g., stationary supplies) thereof. The desk top is pulled axially outward via an exit opening that is formed through the top of the case to establish a flat surface that is suitable for writing or for supporting a telephone, photograph, etc.
By arranging the first and second carrying cases in a pair of vertical stacks with the second carrying case located on top of one stack, the desk top can be pulled outwardly from the second case so as to extend between the vertical stacks and thereby create a modular desk. In addition, the drawer can also be pulled outwardly from the second case, whereby the modular desk may be used during a military or similar exercise with the convenience of a standard office desk. In this same regard, when the side panels are removed from selected ones of the first carrying cases in one or both of the stacks, access will be immediately available to the rack mounted electronics therewithin so as to provide the resources necessary to configure a space efficient tactical command and control center.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A first rugged, stackable and interlocking carrying case 1 which is adapted to carry conventional rack mounted electronics is initially described while referring to
Many of the external features of the stackable carrying case 1 that is shown in
The body of carrying case 1 includes a top 3, bottom 5, front 7 and back 9. A pair of wheels 10 (best shown in
A pull-out handle 18 is recessed within a cavity 20 that is formed in the front 7 of carrying case 1 (best shown in
The close interlocking relationship of one stackable carrying case with additional carrying cases located adjacent the top, bottom, front and back thereof enables a plurality of carrying cases to be retained one above the other, side-by-side and end-to-end one another. Moreover, the aforementioned interlocking relationship of carrying cases facilitates the stacking of such carrying cases in a space efficient array of rows and columns like that shown at
Unlike the stackable carrying case of my U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,090, access to the interior of the carrying case 1 of my current invention is gained through one or both of the opposite sides. More particularly, and referring concurrently to the
Referring specifically to
The shock absorbing means that enables the base plates 36 and 38 of shock isolated housing 35 to be suspended from the front and back 7 and 9 of carrying case 1 is generally similar to the shock absorbing means that is shown and described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,229,698. Therefore, only a brief description of this shock absorbing means will be provided herein. Such shock absorbing means includes upper and lower sets of metallic shock deflecting coiled springs 48 that are located at opposite sides of the carrying case 1 between the shock isolated housing 35 and the front and back 7 and 9 of carrying case 1.
Each spring 48 is supported by and threaded through a pair of spaced oppositely aligned mounting blocks 52 and 54. One mounting block 52 of each pair is attached to one of the base plates 36 or 38. The opposite mounting block 54 is attached to the front or back 7 or 9 of carrying case 1. The mounting block 52 and 54 have a series of holes formed therein to receive respective turns or loops of the springs 48. The mounting blocks 52 and 54 maintain the coiled springs 48 in a slightly compressed condition. As is best shown in
In the as-packaged condition of
Turning now to
The carrying case 70 includes first and second pairs of locking recesses 76 (best shown in
Like the carrying case 1 of
However, instead of carrying rack mounted electronics, like the carrying case 1 of
What is more, rather than having a cavity (designated 20 in
In the axially extended position, the pull-out desk top 74 forms a convenient writing surface or a similar work surface for the modular desk assembly of
When the desk top 74 is located at the interior of carrying case 70, the fold-out desk flaps 96 and 98 are rotated to a folded condition so as to sit side-by-side one another over top the desk top 74. In this case, the spring loaded hinges 100 will be stretched so as to store energy. When it is desirable to maximize the work surface of the desk with the desk top 74 pulled outwardly from case 70, one or both of the fold-out desk flaps 96 and 98 can be rotated to an unfolded condition so as to extend horizontally and outwardly from the desk top 74, whereby the energy stored by the corresponding spring loaded hinges 100 will be released.
As is best shown in
The top-most case of at least one of the vertical stacks is preferably the carrying case 70 of
By virtue of the foregoing, individual modular, stackable and interlocking carrying cases that transport standardized rack mounted electronics can be sized (e.g., 9 inches×14 inches×22 inches) so as to be treated as carry-on luggage on a commercial airliner. As shown in
Claims
1. A plurality of carrying cases to be stacked together, at least a first of said plurality of carrying cases transporting a desk top, said desk top being movable from a retracted position at the interior of said first carrying case to an extended position outwardly of said first carrying case at which to establish a writing surface.
2. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 1, wherein the desk top transported by said first carrying case is slidable between the retracted and extended positions.
3. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 2, wherein said first carrying case has an exit opening formed therein, said desk top being slidable between the retracted and extended positions by way of said exit opening.
4. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 1, wherein the desk top transported by said first carrying case includes fold out flaps hingedly connected to the opposite sides thereof, said fold out flaps being rotated over top said desk top when said desk top is moved to the retracted position at the interior of said first carrying case, and said fold out flaps being rotated so as to project horizontally from the opposite sides of said desk top to increase said writing surface when said desk top is moved to the extended position outwardly of said first carrying case.
5. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 1, said first carrying case also transporting a drawer, said drawer being movable from an inside position at the interior of said first carrying case to an outside position outwardly of said first carrying case at which access to the contents of said drawer is available.
6. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 5, wherein said first carrying case has a pair of sides and at least one side panel removably attached to one side of said pair of sides to cover said one side, said side panel being removed from said one side to enable said drawer to be moved from said inside position to said outside position.
7. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 5, wherein said desk top and said drawer are disposed one above the other at the interior of said first carrying case when said desk top is moved to the retracted position and said drawer is moved to the inside position.
8. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 1, at least a second of said plurality of carrying cases transporting a housing at the interior thereof and electronics connected to said housing at the interior of said second carrying case.
9. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 8, wherein one of the first and second carrying cases has a set of projections extending outwardly therefrom and the other one of said first and second carrying cases has a corresponding set of recesses formed therein, the set of projections extending from the one of said carrying cases being received in interlocking engagement within the corresponding set of recesses formed in the other one of said carrying cases, whereby said first and second carrying cases are stacked together one above the other.
10. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 9, wherein said first and second carrying cases are stacked together one above the other to build a modular desk.
11. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 8, wherein the housing transported at the interior of said second carrying case is suspended at said interior by means of shock deflecting springs that are located between said housing and said second carrying case.
12. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 11, wherein each of said shock deflecting springs has a series of coils extending axially therealong.
13. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 12, wherein the series of coils of one of said shock deflecting springs are spaced closer together and have a smaller diameter than the series of coils of another one of said shock deflecting springs.
14. The plurality of carrying cases recited in claim 8, wherein said second carrying case has a pair of sides and at least one side panel removably attached to one side of said pair of sides to cover said one side, said side panel being removed from the one side of said second carrying case to enable access to said electronics connected to said housing at the interior of said second carrying case.
15. In combination:
- a first carrying case having a handle to enable said first carrying case to be carried form place-to-place, said first carrying case also having a pull-out desk top being movable from a retracted position at the interior of said first carrying case to an extended position outwardly of said first carrying case at which to establish a writing surface; and
- a second carrying case having a handle to enable said second carrying case to be carried from place-to-place, said second carrying case transporting a housing at the interior thereof and electronics connected to said housing at said interior,
- one of the first and second carrying cases having a set of projections extending outwardly therefrom and the other one of said first and second carrying cases having a corresponding set of recesses formed therein, the set of projections extending from the one of said carrying cases being received in interlocking engagement within the corresponding set of recesses formed in the other one of said carrying cases, whereby said first and second carrying cases are stacked together one above the other.
16. The combination recited in claim 15, wherein said first and second carrying cases are stacked together such that said first carrying case sits atop said second carrying case to create a vertical column to build a modular desk when the pull-out desk top of said first carrying case is moved to the extended position.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 9, 2004
Publication Date: Sep 15, 2005
Inventor: Stephen Harvey (Las Cruces, NM)
Application Number: 10/797,752