OPEN TOP CONTAINER AND ROOF COVER THEREOF

Abstract

A roof cover of an open top container, includes: a frame; a front cover plate having a first end fixed to the frame, and an opposite second end extending over the top end rail, the front cover plate further being formed with openings corresponding to front rain gutters; a front water-blocking plate provided at an edge of each of the openings; a rear cover plate having a first end fixed to a rear end of the frame and an opposite second end extending over the door header; and a roof panel spreading over the frame and overlapping the front and rear cover plates. The roof cover which is easy to manufacture endues the current open top container a suitable protection against theft and watertightness.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an open top container and a roof cover thereof, more particularly, to an improved design to the tarpaulin roof of the current open top container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The current open top container defined by ISO930 is manufactured according to the current international standard of ISO1496/1. Such a container is open in the top, and belongs to a common transportation equipment. Generally, an open top container is used to convey large-scale machineries. In use, the top of the container is covered with a waterproof tarpaulin. The tarpaulin is supported by a detachable carrier on the container body, and the periphery of the waterproof tarpaulin is secured to steel cable fasteners on the container body. Since the top corner fittings of the container body may not be covered by the tarpaulin, in order to ensure watertightness around the top corner fittings, usually a rain gutter for collecting external fluids and preventing external fluids from entering the interior of the container body is mounted around each of the top corner fittings. Four corners of the tarpaulin are connected to rain gutters, and thus the water falling onto the tarpaulin may be induced into the rain gutters, and then be discharged out of the container body. Although the above mentioned technique has been very matured, there are still some shortcomings to be overcome. For example, the tarpaulin cover of such an open top container does not provide adequate protection against theft, and the tarpaulin is liable to be damaged which will degrade its watertightness. All these shortcomings will definitely deteriorate the overall performance of the open top container especially when used as a container for conveying dry goods.

CONTENT OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an open top container and a roof cover thereof, which could overcome the above said shortcomings in protection against theft, watertightness and vulnerability of the type of the current open top containers taking waterproof tarpaulin as its roof cover. On the premise of no change to the structure of the current open top container body, the present invention provides a container which could be used either in connection with a tarpaulin roof cover or a steel-made roof cover, thereby fully ensuring the performance of the open top container in conveying dry goods.

According to an aspect of the present invention, it is provided a roof cover of an open top container for covering a container body of the open top container, the container body comprising front rain gutters provided at its front portion and rear rain gutters provided at its rear portion, said front and rear rain gutters being used to collect external fluids and guide external fluids out of the container body, each of said front and rear rain gutters comprising a base plate and an upright wall arranged along at least an intra-container boundary of the base, wherein the roof cover includes: a frame supported on the container body; a front cover plate provided at a front portion of the frame, the front cover plate having a first end fixed to a front end of the frame and an opposite second end extending forwards over a top end rail of the container body, the front cover plate further being formed with an opening at a region thereof corresponding to each of said front rain gutters so as to expose the upright wall of each front rain gutter; a front water-blocking plate provided at an edge of each of the openings of the front cover plate, the front water-blocking plate comprising a horizontally extending portion to cover a top surface of the upright wall and prevent external fluids from entering an interior of the container body via a clearance between the upright wall of the front rain gutter and the front cover plate; a rear cover plate provided at a rear portion of the frame, the rear cover plate having a first end fixed to a rear end of the frame and an opposite second end extending backwards over a door header of the container body, the rear cover plate at least partly covering the door header and the rear rain gutters; and a roof panel spreading over the frame and overlapping at least a portion of the front cover plate and at least a portion of the rear cover plate.

Preferably, the roof cover further comprises front skirt plates provided at side edges of the front water-blocking plate and extending downwards so as to allow guiding external fluids on the front water-blocking plate in a downward direction.

Preferably, the roof cover further comprises rear skirt plates provided at side edges of the rear cover plate and extending downwards so as to allow external fluids to either flow in the longitudinal direction of the container body and flow along the rear cover plate and over the door header and the rear rain gutter and then to be discharged out of the container body, or flow in the transverse direction of the container body and flow along the rear cover plate and to be discharged out of the container body.

Preferably, the frame comprises two longitudinal beams and a plurality of transverse beams each of which is perpendicular to the two longitudinal beams and is connected to the two longitudinal beams at both ends.

Preferably, each of the longitudinal beams is supported on a top side rail of the container body, and a sealing member is provided in a contact region between each longitudinal beam and corresponding top side rail.

Preferably, each of the longitudinal beams has a U-shaped cross section adapted to match with a profile of the top side rail in a nesting manner.

Preferably, said front rain gutters are provided at both ends of the top end rail, and said upright wall of said front rain gutter has an L-shaped profile when viewed from the top. Preferably, said front cover plate has a T-shaped profile when viewed from the top, a horizontal portion of “T” being arranged inside the container, a vertical portion of “T” extending forwards over the top end rail.

Preferably, said rear rain gutters are provided at both ends of the door header.

Preferably, the rear cover plate generally has a Z-shaped vertical profile consist of a lower horizontal portion, a vertical portion and an upper horizontal portion. The lower horizontal portion has an end fixed to the rear end of the frame and at least partly overlapped by the roof panel, and from said end the lower horizontal portion extends backwards in a horizontal direction to a certain position and then turns to extend upwards to form the vertical portion. The vertical portion extends substantially in a vertical direction or in parallel with the upright wall, and extends to a position higher than the top surface of the upright wall, and then turns to extend outwards in a horizontal direction to form the upper horizontal portion. The upper horizontal portion extends over the door header.

Preferably, sealing members are provided in contact portions between the front cover plate and the top end rail, and between the rear cover plate and the door header.

Preferably, the roof cover further comprises a plurality of hinged flaps provided on side surfaces of the frame, each hinged flap being adapted to be engaged with a steel cable fastener provided on the container body so as to form a closure assembly in conformity with TIR (Transport International Routier, herein referred as “TIR”).

Preferably, the roof cover further comprises at least one lifting assembly each of which comprises a ring member to be coupled with a lifting apparatus for lifting the roof cover, and a supporting member by which the ring member is pivotally connected to the roof cover.

Preferably, the frame, the roof panel, the front cover plate and the rear cover plate are all made of steel.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is provided an open top container comprising the roof cover mentioned above.

The structures of the open top container and its roof cover according to the present invention are simple and easy to manufacture. Compared with a tarpaulin roof cover used in current open top container, the steel-made roof cover according to present invention has a higher strength. In combination with TIR closure assemblies, the roof cover also provides suitable protection against theft. The improved structure combined with the sealing members ensures a better watertightness between the longitudinal beam and the top side rail, between the front cover plate and the top end rail, and between the rear cover plate and the door header. A lifting assembly enables a convenient lifting and installing operation of the roof cover by a commonly used crane, which thereby remarkably increases the usability and application scope of the open top containers, making it possible to convey not only large scale machineries but also common dry goods. Tarpaulin can also be used as the roof cover when the requirements of protection against theft and watertightness are not so high. Therefore, the present invention possesses good future application prospects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a roof cover of an open top container according to the present invention;

FIG. 1a is a top view of the front rain gutter shown at the right lower corner of FIG. 1;

FIG. 1b is a top view of the rear rain gutter shown at the left lower corner of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view taken along line C-C of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic view of part E of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of the hinged flap and the steel cable fastener in FIG. 4, viewed in the direction of arrow D;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the lifting assembly of the roof cover of the open top container according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the longitudinal beam of the frame of the roof cover of the open top container according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a front view of the front cover plate of the roof cover of the open top container according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the front cover plate of the roof cover of the open top container according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a front view of the rear cover plate of the roof cover of the open top container according to the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a side view of the rear cover plate of the roof cover of the open top container according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be now described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Firstly, it should be noted that the roof cover of the open top container according to present invention is designed to match with an open top container manufactured in accordance with the current international standard of ISO1496/1. Therefore, the length and width of the tope cover respectively are in accordance with those of the container body of the conventional open top container.

Herein, the end adjacent to the top end rail of the container is referred as a “front” end, and accordingly the opposite end, i.e. the end adjacent to the door header of the container is referred as a “rear” end. Therefore, a “front and rear direction” mentioned herein means the direction from the top end rail to the door header, or vice versa, which also could be referred as a “longitudinal” direction of the container. Correspondingly, a “left-right direction” is a transverse direction of the container, i.e. a direction horizontally perpendicular to the above said “front and rear direction”.

The roof cover of the open top container according to the present invention will be described hereinafter.

The roof cover according to the present invention comprises a frame, a roof panel and two cover plates. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 8, the frame includes two parallel longitudinal beams 1 made of channel steel and a series of transverse beams 2 each of which is perpendicular to the two longitudinal beams 1 and is connected to the two beams at both ends, by means of welding for example. Each of the longitudinal beams 1 has a general U-shaped cross section (as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 8) adapted to encase or embrace the top side rail 6 of the container body in a nested manner. Since mounting seats 18 for mounting therein metal supporting bars used to install a tarpaulin are provided on the inner sides of the top side rail 6 (as shown in FIG. 4), the longitudinal beam shall have a width substantially equal to or slightly larger than the total width of the top side rail 6 and the mounting seat 18 so as to match with the top side rail 6 in said nested manner.

The two cover plates include a front cover plate 4 and a rear cover plate 5, which are provided at the front portion and the rear portion of the frame respectively. One side of the front cover plate 4 is secured to the front end of the frame, by welding or screwing for example, and another side opposite to said one side extends forward over the top end rail 14 and is preferably supported by the beam 14. Similarly, one side of the rear cover plate 5 is secured to the rear end of the frame, by welding or screwing for example, and another side opposite to said one side extends backward over the door header 9 and is preferably supported by the door header 9. FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 illustrate preferred profiles of the front cover plate 4 and the rear cover plate 5, in which FIGS. 9 and 10 are respectively a front view and a side view of the front cover plate 4; and FIGS. 11 and 12 are respectively a front view and a side view of the rear cover plate 5. The front and rear cover plates 4 and 5 will be further described hereinafter.

A roof panel 3 spreads over the frame and fixed to the same, for example by welding or screwing, and overlaps at least the end portions of the front and rear cover plates 4 and 5 (as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3). The roof panel 3 may be a roof panel commonly used in the dry freight container (or “container for conveying dry goods”).

Hereinafter, the front cover plate 4 as well as the members related to it will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 1a and FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, there are usually two front rain gutters 13 provided near the front top corner fittings of the open top container body. The two front rain gutters 13 are respectively positioned at left and right ends of the top end rail 14 in the top view of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1a and FIG. 2, each of the front rain gutters 13 generally includes a base plate 13a substantially in a flat plate shape, and an upright wall 13b provided at least along a portion of the boundary of the base plate 13a which lies in the interior of the container body when viewed from the top (hereinafter referred as “intra-container boundary”). The upright wall 13b is arranged to ensure that external fluids falling onto the base plate 13a can only flow towards extra-container boundary (i.e. the boundary located out of the container body when viewed from the top) of the front rain gutter 13 and can not flow into the interior of the container body. As shown in FIG. 1a, preferably, the base plate 13a of the front rain gutter 13 generally has a rectangular profile, and two outer edges of the rectangle are aligned with the corner edges of the container body. The upright wall 13b is provided along the two inner edges of the rectangular base plate and has an L-shaped profile when viewed from the top.

Generally, the upright wall 13b of the front rain gutter 13 will extend upwards beyond the top surface of the top side rail 6 and also beyond the front cover plate 4. Therefore, the front cover plate 4 is formed with openings 40A and 40B in regions corresponding to the upright wall 13b, as shown in FIG. 9, so as to prevent the front cover plate 4 from being interfered by the upright wall 13b when mounting the roof cover. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 9, preferably, the front cover plate 4 is shaped like a letter “T”. The horizontal portion of “T” is arranged inside of the container. The vertical portion of “T” extends forwards to the outside of the top end rail 14 and is preferably supported by the same. Said openings 40A and 40B are formed at both sides of the vertical portion so as to leave the upright wall 13b emerged from the front cover plate 4.

In this way, in the horizontal direction, a clearance may be formed between the upright wall 13b and the front cover plate 4. Thus, when a region between the upright 13b and the front cover 4 is subjected to external fluids, such as especially rain water, it is possible for said external fluids to enter the interior of the container body via the clearance.

To prevent the entering of external fluids into the interior of the container body via the clearance between the upright wall 13b and the front cover plate 4, a front water-blocking plate 19 for preventing external fluids from entering into the interior of the container via the clearance is provided along the edge of each of the openings of the front cover plate 4. Preferably, the front water-blocking plate 19 has a vertical profile shown in FIG. 2. That is, the front water-blocking plate 19 firstly extends upwards to an appropriate height and then extends horizontally to cover the top surface of the upright wall 13b of the front rain gutter 13. In addition, the end portion of the horizontally extending portion of the front water-blocking plate 19 may slightly bend downwards so as to facilitate guiding the fluids on the top surface of the plate 19 into the front rain gutter 13.

By means of its horizontally extending portion, the front water-blocking plate 19 covers the upright wall 13b when viewed from the top, and thus can prevent external fluids especially rain water falling vertically from entering into the interior of the container body. For the preferred situation shown in FIG. 1, the front water-blocking plate 19 generally has an L-shaped profile corresponding to that of the upright wall 13b, when viewed from the top. Preferably, the front water-blocking plate 19 is designed so that the bottom surface of its horizontally extending portion nearly contacts the top surface of the upright wall 13b so as to achieve a better watertightness. Also, in order to obtain a better watertightness, as shown in FIG. 2, a sealing member 11 may be provided between the bottom surface of the horizontally extending portion of the front water-blocking plate 19 and the top surface of the upright wall 13b. In this way, external fluids falling onto the front portion of the roof cover, such as rain water, could either be directly discharged out of the container body via the front cover plate 4, or firstly flow into the front rain gutter 13 via the front water-blocking plate 19 and in turn be discharged out of the container body.

In order to further ensure that the fluids falling onto the front water-blocking plate 19 won't enter the container body via side edges of the front water-blocking plate 19, front skirt plates 15 extending downwards are respectively provided at side edges of the front water-blocking plate 19, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the skirt plates 15 is preferably an L-shaped skirt plate extended from side edges of the front water-blocking plate 19.

Hereinafter, the rear cover plate 5 as well as the members related to it will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 1b and FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, two rear rain gutters 10 are provided near the rear top corner fittings of the open top container body. The two rear rain gutters 10 are respectively positioned at left and right ends of the door header 9 when viewed from the top.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 1b and FIG. 3, each of the rear rain gutters 10 also includes a base plate 10a substantially in a flat plate shape, and a generally upright wall 10b provided at least along a portion of the boundary of the base plate 10a which lies in the interior of the container body when viewed from the top.

Since the height of the door header 9 is usually higher than that of the upright wall 10b of the rear rain gutter 10, the rear cover plate 5 may generally have a Z-shaped vertical profile as shown in FIG. 3 (also shown in FIG. 12) composed of three segments, i.e., a lower horizontal portion 5a, a vertical portion 5b and an upper horizontal portion 5c. Particularly, the lower horizontal portion 5a has an end fixed to the rear end of the frame and at least partly overlapped by the roof panel 3, and from the end the lower horizontal portion 5a extends backwards in a horizontal direction to a certain position and then turns to extend upwards to form the vertical portion 5b. The vertical portion 5b extends substantially in a vertical direction or in parallel with the upright wall 10b, and extends to a position higher than the top surface of the upright wall 10b, and then turns to extend outwards in a horizontal direction to form the upper horizontal portion 5c. Finally, the upper horizontal portion 5c extends over the door header 9 and is preferably supported by the same.

As shown in FIG. 1, rear skirt plates 16 are also provided at side edges (i.e. upper and lower edges shown in FIG. 1) of the rear cover plate 5. The rear skirt plate 16 has a function similar to that of the front skirt plate 15, that is, to guide the fluid such as rain water which flows in a transverse direction of the rear cover plate 5 out of the container body and prevent the fluids from entering the interior of the container body. Thus, external fluids such as rain water either flow in the longitudinal direction of the container and flow along the rear cover plate 5 and flow over the door header 9 and the rear rain gutter 10 and then are discharged out of the container body, or flow in the transverse direction of the container and flow along the rear cover plate 5 and are discharged out of the container body.

To further ensure a good watertightness between the roof cover and the container body, sealing members 11 may be provided at the contact regions between the bottom surface of the front cover plate 4 and the top surface of the top end rail 14, and between the bottom surface of the rear cover plate 5 and the top surface of the door header 9.

As to the longitudinal beam 1 of the frame, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, due to its U-shaped cross-section matched with the profile of the top side rail 6 of the container body, the longitudinal beam 1 may be reliably supported by the top side rail 6. In order to ensure a better watertightness between the roof cover and the container body, there is also a seal member 11 mounted in the contact region between the longitudinal beam 1 and the top side rail 6, for example, by means of adhering.

In addition, a plurality of hinged flaps 7 is provided on side surfaces of the frame, for example, by welding. In use, each of the hinged flaps 7 is firstly engaged with a steel cable fastener 8 mounted on the container body, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, and then a steel cable is inserted through all steel cable fasteners 8, so as to form a closure assembly in accordance with TIR.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, at lease one lifting assembly is provided on the side surface of the frame. Preferably, a plurality of lifting assemblies is provided. In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 7, each lifting assembly includes two supporting members 17 in the form of sleeves which are fixed to the frame by welding for example, and a ring member 12 which is inserted through the two supporting members 17 with a clearance therebetween so as to be pivoted in the supporting members 17. In addition, in the case of a plurality of lifting assemblies, preferably, these lifting assemblies are symmetrically arranged on both side surfaces of the frame. However, the lifting assemblies are not necessarily arranged in a symmetrical manner.

In use, after the roof cover is disposed on the container body, each hinged flap 7 is engaged with corresponding steel cable fastener 8, and then a steel cable in accordance with TIR is inserted through all steel cable fasteners 8 to interlock the roof cover and the container body, so as to assure a closure effect as well as protection against theft. When it is intended to upload/download goods via the top of the container, the steel cable may be removed, and then the hinged flap might be separated from the engagement with the steel cable fastener 8. Consequently, the roof cover can be separated from the container body by lifting apparatus such as a crane, and then the uploading/downloading of goods could be performed.

As the roof cover of the open top container according to the present invention can be directly and conveniently utilized in connection with the current open top containers, operators may install the roof cover onto the body of the open top container according to their needs so as to achieve a container with suitable protection against theft and watertightness, thereby especially suitable for a long-distance transportation. When the use of the roof cover is not necessary, the roof cover can be removed and a waterproof tarpaulin could be used to cover the container body instead. Since the roof cover may be mounted/dismounted easily whenever necessary, it has a high practicability.

It should be obvious that changes to certain details of the preferred embodiment can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A roof cover of an open top container for covering a container body of the open top container, the container body comprising front rain gutters provided at its front portion and rear rain gutters provided at its rear portion, said front and rear rain gutters being used to collect external fluids and guide external fluids out of the container body, each of said front and rear rain gutters comprising a base plate and an upright wall arranged along at least an intra-container boundary of the base plate, wherein the roof cover includes:

a frame supported on the container body;

a front cover plate provided at a front portion of the frame, the front cover plate having a first end fixed to a front end of the frame and an opposite second end extending forwards over a top end rail of the container body, the front cover plate further being formed with an opening at a region thereof corresponding to each of said front rain gutters so as to expose the upright wall of each front rain gutter;

a front water-blocking plate provided at an edge of each of the openings of the front cover plate, the front water-blocking plate comprising a horizontally extending portion to cover a top surface of the upright wall and prevent external fluids from entering an interior of the container body via a clearance between the upright wall of the front rain gutter and the front cover plate;

a rear cover plate provided at a rear portion of the frame, the rear cover plate having a first end fixed to a rear end of the frame and an opposite second end extending backwards over a door header of the container body, the rear cover at least partly covering the door header and the rear rain gutters; and

a roof panel spreading over the frame and overlapping at least a portion of the front cover plate and at least a portion of the rear cover plate.

2. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 1, further comprising front skirt plates provided at side edges of the front water-blocking plate and extending downwards so as to allow guiding external fluids on the front water-blocking plate in a downward direction.

3. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 1, further comprising rear skirt plates provided at side edges of the rear cover plate and extending downwards so as to allow external fluids to either, in the longitudinal direction of the container body, flow along the rear cover plate and over the door header and the rear rain gutter and then to be discharged out of the container body; or, in the transverse direction of the container body, flow along the rear cover plate and the rear skirt plates and then to be discharged out of the container body.

4. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 1, wherein the frame comprises two longitudinal beams and a plurality of transverse beams each of which is perpendicular to the two longitudinal beams and is connected to the two longitudinal beams at both ends.

5. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 4, wherein each of the longitudinal beams is supported on a top side rail of the container body, and a sealing member is provided in a contact region between each longitudinal beam and corresponding the top side rail.

6. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 5, wherein each of the longitudinal beams has a U-shaped cross section adapted to match with a profile of the top side rail in a nesting manner.

7. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 1, wherein said front rain gutters are provided at both ends of the top end rail, and said upright wall of each of said front rain gutters has an L-shaped profile when viewed from the top.

8. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 7, wherein said front cover plate has a T-shaped profile when viewed from the top, a horizontal portion of “T” being arranged inside the container, a vertical portion of “T” extending forwards over the top end rail.

9. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 1, wherein said rear rain gutters are provided at both ends of the door header.

10. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 9, wherein the rear cover plate generally has a Z-shaped vertical profile consist of a lower horizontal portion, a vertical portion and an upper horizontal portion, and wherein the lower horizontal portion has an end fixed to the rear end of the frame and at least partly overlapped by the roof panel, and from said end the lower horizontal portion extends backwards in a horizontal direction to a certain position and then turns to extend upwards to form the vertical portion; and the vertical portion extends substantially in a vertical direction or in parallel with the upright wall, and extends to a position higher than the top surface of the upright wall, and then turns to extend outwards in a horizontal direction to form the upper horizontal portion; and the upper horizontal portion extends over the door header.

11. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 1, wherein sealing members are provided in contact portions between the front cover plate and the top end rail, and between the rear cover plate and the door header.

12. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of hinged flaps provided on side surfaces of the frame, each of the hinged flaps being adapted to be engaged with a steel cable fastener provided on the container body so as to form a closure assembly in conformity with TIR.

13. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 1, further comprising at least one lifting assembly each of which comprises a ring member to be coupled with a lifting apparatus for lifting the roof cover, and a supporting member by which the ring member is pivotally connected to the roof cover.

14. The roof cover of the open top container according to claim 1, wherein the frame, the roof panel, the front cover plate and the rear cover plate are all made of steel.

15. An open top container comprising the roof cover according to any one of the preceding claims.