REFRIGERATED FREIGHT CONTAINER

Abstract

A refrigerated freight container is provided comprising thermally insulated sidewalls [2], roof [3] and floor [4], a thermally insulated access opening at one end of the container and a refrigeration installation [10] at the other end of the container. The refrigeration installation is built into a removable end wall unit [8] that closes off the end of the container opposite the access opening in the installed position. The access opening preferably includes a surrounding frame [7] forming an access opening unit that is also removable from the container. The sidewalls of the container are preferably hinged [15] in a central region up the height thereof so that they can collapse inwardly in concertina fashion with the roof moving towards the floor of the container and the central regions of the sidewalls folding inwardly towards each other. A separate holder [20] may be provided for holding one or more removable end wall units and one or more removable access opening units [5] when the container is in the collapsed condition.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to refrigerated freight containers for the shipping and/or storage of perishable goods that may be simply refrigerated to temperatures somewhat above 0° C. or that may be frozen. The invention is applicable to maritime transport containers, air-cargo containers, as well as rail- and road transport containers.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

As a result of the fact that the world-wide flow of cargo is not in balance in terms of import and export from any particular harbour, especially as regards fresh produce being transported from a producer country to a consumer country, a large number of empty freight containers has to be returned empty to the producer country for re-use. It is even quite common to charter container vessels merely to transport empty freight containers back to where they are required.

Furthermore, since empty containers occupy the same volume as loaded containers, their storage, too, is increasingly expensive with the growing use of containers for shipping. A solution that has been proposed is to produce collapsible containers that can be returned to the place where they are required for use in a collapsed condition and therefore of very much reduced size.

United States patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,19,0179 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,669 and Canadian patent CA2636126 describe one mode of collapsing conventional containers [as opposed to refrigerated containers that normally include refrigeration equipment built into them] is for the end walls of the container to hinge inwards against either the floor or ceiling of the container with the sidewalls being hinged in the central region up their height to collapse inwardly in concertina fashion. Applicant is not aware of any practical implementation of this arrangement.

The most important requirement of any collapsible container is that it should be capable of being stacked with other collapsible or non-collapsible containers.

Applicant is unaware of any prior attempts to produce a collapsible refrigerated container having refrigeration equipment built into it.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a refrigerated freight container that has at least some of the advantages of a collapsible conventional non-refrigerated freight container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention there is provided a refrigerated freight container comprising thermally insulated sidewalls, roof and floor, a thermally insulated access opening at one end of the container and a refrigeration installation at the other end of the container, the refrigerated container being characterized in that the refrigeration installation is built into a removable end wall unit that closes off the end of the container opposite the access opening in the installed position.

Further features of the invention provide for the access opening to include a surrounding frame forming an access opening unit that is removable from the container; for the sidewalls of the container to be hinged in a central region up the height thereof so that they can collapse inwardly in concertina fashion with the roof moving towards the floor of the container and the central regions of the sidewalls folding inwardly towards each other; for the sides of the roof and floor or both to have formations that may interconnect when the freight container is in the collapsed condition to maintain the roof and floor in the collapsed condition; and for a separate holder to be provided for holding the removable end wall unit and the removable access opening unit when the container is in the collapsed condition with a single holder preferably being configured to receive the removable end wall units and access opening units from multiple collapsed freight containers.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood one embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:—

FIG. 1 is a schematic isometric view of a refrigerated shipping container with a removable end wall unit in exploded relationship relative to the container body;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the container showing both the removable end wall unit and removable access opening unit in exploded relationship relative thereto;

FIG. 3 is a schematic isometric view illustrating a holder for holding multiple removable end wall units and access opening units when their containers are in the collapsed condition;

FIG. 4 is a schematic isometric view illustrating multiple collapsed containers in stacked relationship relative to each other; and,

FIGS. 5a, 5b, and 5c are schematic end views illustrating the container body in its erected, partially collapsed, and fully collapsed conditions respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH THE REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

In one embodiment of the invention a refrigerated freight container has a body, generally indicated by numeral [1], comprising thermally insulated sidewalls [2], a roof [3] and a floor [4].

At one end of the freight container is a modular, thermally insulated access opening unit [5] in the form of a pair of thermally insulated doors [6] mounted in a surrounding frame [7]. The access opening unit [5] is thus removable relative to one end of the container.

At the opposite end of the freight container is a modular, removable end wall unit [8] that, as provided by this invention, has a refrigeration installation built into it. This removable end wall unit [8] operatively closes off the end of the container opposite the access opening unit in the installed position. The refrigeration installation may comprise an appropriate prime mover that is indicated by numeral [9] and that may be in the form of an engine or an electric motor, depending upon the vessel in association with which the refrigerated freight container is to be used. In this regard, appropriate reefer ships generally have a suitable electrical power supply for each of the containers carried by it. The nature of the prime mover may also depend on whether or not the refrigerated container is to be used above or below deck, this being particularly relevant if the prime mover is an internal combustion engine.

The prime mover is adapted to energize a refrigeration unit that is indicated schematically by numeral [10] and that is adapted to refrigerate air for circulation through the container in the usual way through channels and ducts [not shown] of the usual or any other type. The removable end wall unit has a service and venting opening [11] for providing access to the refrigeration unit as and when required.

The access opening unit [5] and removable end wall unit [8] are capable of being inserted into the container body after its erection, and of removed from it before collapsing it. Both the access opening unit [5] and removable end wall unit [8] are fitted with suitable internally accessible sliding locks to lock the units into their operative positions after insertion. The peripheries of the access opening unit [5] and removable end wall unit [8] are fitted with suitable elastomeric seals.

Turning now to the construction of the container body, each of the sidewalls [2] is hinged in a central region up the height thereof, as indicated by numeral [15], so that they can collapse inwardly in concertina fashion with the roof [3] moving towards the floor [4] of the container. The central regions of the sidewalls thus fold inwardly towards each other during the collapsing process.

In a preferred arrangement the sides of the roof [3] and floor [4] have formations [16, 17] [see FIG. 5b] that can be used to interconnect the roof and floor when the freight container is in the collapsed condition to maintain the container body in that collapsed condition.

Internal sliding bolt locks [18] [see FIG. 5a] are provided to keep the side-walls [2] from folding inwards during removal and introduction of the access opening unit and removable end wall unit during the erection or collapsing procedure.

In order to weather-proof the container, all mating surfaces of folding or opening panels maybe fitted with rubber strip seals and/or rubber aprons. The open end of the collapsed container, therefore, is covered by such rubber seals, as is the longitudinal side opening at the upper and lower mating surfaces of the side-walls.

It will be understood that in order to facilitate the handling and stacking of the collapsible containers alongside conventional containers, both the floor and roof of the container body conform to standard dimensions and features, as used in the industry, and employ standard format corner blocks that cooperate with corner blocks on other containers that may be stacked upon them or upon which they may be stacked.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a separate holder [20] is preferably provided for holding multiple removable wall units and removable access opening units when a plurality of freight containers are in the collapsed condition for transport and storage purposes. The holder may be akin to a pallet or flat rack that is configured to store and transport the removable units when they are separated from their collapsible container bodies. The holder is preferably fitted with protective side-walls [21] and the removable units may be loaded and unloaded from the holder by means of a mobile lifting device that can be used to transport the units to the erected container body for installation. The holder can, in the alternative, be a closed container that may even be a standard and optionally a collapsible container.

FIGS. 5a through 5c show the progressive folding of the container body from its fully erected form to its fully collapsed form.

In order to collapse a container of the type described above from the fully erected condition, the access opening unit [5] and removable end wall unit [8] are firstly released and removed, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The removed insulated access opening units [5] and removable end wall units [8] can be introduced into the separate holder as will be apparent from the foregoing. A suitable mobile crane can be used for this purpose.

The mobile crane can then be attached to the roof and placed under a slight lifting action so that the container side-walls can then be unlocked by releasing the sliding bolt locks and allowing the sidewalls to collapse inwards as the roof is lowered towards the floor. The result is that the sidewalls become folded within the original foot-print of the container that occupies, in the collapsed condition, only about 20-25% of its original volume, depending on the type of container and the insulation in the sidewalls, roof and floor.

The container roof may then be locked to the container floor by means of the formations [16, 17], enabling the collapsed unit to be handled like any normal container. The entire collapsing or re-erection procedure can be performed by one man within a few minutes using a small mobile crane.

Once this has been achieved, the collapsed freight containers can be stacked one upon the other and suitable fastener clips [19] may be used to connect the collapsed units to each other to thereby allow an entire stack to be handled as a single unit. FIG. 4 illustrates a stack of four collapsed container bodies.

It will be understood, that the embodiment of the invention described above is a conceptual design of quite a complex assembly. As such, numerous variations may be made to structural, mechanical and material design details, without departing from the scope of the invention. The basic principle of the invention; the removable end wall unit containing the refrigeration installation built into it, coupled with the collapsible container being the main concept of the invention. The removable access opening unit is also of importance as it enables the collapsing of the container to be carried out most compactly.

The manner of collapsing of the container is not essential but it is preferred that the sidewalls fold inwards in concertina fashion as described above. The principles of the invention can apply equally well to a wide range of refrigerated freight containers, from standard refrigerated maritime shipping containers to wheeled refrigerated airfreight containers. Clearly, the peripheral design details of this wide range of containers will result in an equally wide range of designs while still incorporating the basic invention, as described above.

Claims

1. A refrigerated freight container comprising thermally insulated sidewalls, roof and floor, a thermally insulated access opening at one end of the container and a refrigeration installation at the other end of the container, wherein the refrigeration installation is built into a removable end wall unit that closes off the end of the container opposite the access opening in the installed position;

wherein the sidewalls of the container are hinged in a central region up the height thereof so that they can collapse inwardly in concertina fashion with the roof moving towards the floor of the container and the central regions of the sidewalls folding inwardly towards each other.

2. A refrigerated freight container as claimed in claim 1 in which the access opening includes a surrounding frame forming an access opening unit that is removable from the container.

3. (canceled)

4. A refrigerated freight container as claimed in claim 1 in which for the sides of the roof and floor or both have formations that interconnect when the freight container is in the collapsed condition to maintain the roof and floor in the collapsed condition.

5. A refrigerated freight container as claimed in claim 1 in which a separate holder is provided for holding a removable end wall unit and a removable access opening unit when the container is in the collapsed condition.

6. A refrigerated freight container as claimed in claim 5 in which the separate holder is configured to receive the removable end wall units and access opening units from multiple collapsed freight containers.