GB2102058A

GB2102058A - Container lifting twistlocks

Info

Publication number: GB2102058A
Application number: GB08201364A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Keijo Kalevi Kroger
Original assignee: Valmet Oy
Current assignee: Valmet Technologies Oy
Priority date: 1981-01-21
Filing date: 1982-01-19
Publication date: 1983-01-26
Also published as: FI66330B; DE3201329A1; GB2102058B; FI66330C; NL8200166A; DE3201329C2; FI810162L

Abstract

A container lifting apparatus fitted with twistlocks can be used, without shifting the engagement spindles, to lift containers both of the Sealand and ISO standard types. The twistlocks are introduced into the corner boxes of the containers through the area which is common to the ISO container upper holes (12) and the Sealand container upper holes (13) and fastened by rotation. The twistlocks are symmetrical and can be turned either in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The rotational centres (C) of the engagement spindles are located in a plane (P-P) arranged to pass through the mid points of the centre-lines (A, B) of the Sealand and ISO upper holes (13, 12), and between these lines (A, B). The engagement spindles (10) are symmetrical with reference to their central plane parallel to their short sides, this plane coinciding with the above-mentioned central plane (P-P) of the upper holes (12, 13) when the engagement spindles are being introduced, whereby the clearances ( DELTA 1, DELTA 2, DELTA 3) from the margins of both holes (12, 13) to the sides of the engagement spindle are mutually substantially equal. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Container lifting apparatus, and containerengagement spindle The present invention relates to a container lifting apparatus intended to be used for lifting containers both of the Sealand and ISO standard types, the lifting apparatus comprising an upper lifting frame, in bearing boxes of which engagement spindles are rotatably carried, these spindles having such a shape and mutual fixed spacing on the upper lifting frame that they can in one position be inserted in the upper holes of either Sea land or ISO containers and by rotation thereof locked in a locking position, and the engagement spindles having a rotational centre the location of which when the spindles are being introduced into the corner boxes of the containers deviates both from the centre line of the upper holes of a Sea land container and from the centre line of the upper holes of an ISO container.

The invention further relates to an engagement spindle, intended to be used for lifting containers both of the Sealand and ISO standard types, the engagement spindle having at one end an engagement projection and in its continuation a shaft part, by which the spindle is rotatably carried in its bearing box, and the spindle having a substantially planar surface delimiting its engaging projection and serving as a locking surface.

Regarding the state of the art associated with the present invention, reference is made to Finnish Patent No. 50 867 and to published Swedish Patent Application No. 78 04829-5.

In these references, a lifting apparatus is disclosed which is intended to be applied for the lifting both of Sealand and ISO standard type containers. It is well-known that the shape of the upper holes in the corner boxes of containers complying with these two standards, as well as the distances between the centre lines of adjacent upper holes, are different in the different standards.

The prior specifications referred to describe constructional solutions which serve the purpose that the same lifting means and their engagement spindles can be used to take up and lift containers both of the Sealand and the ISO standard type.

This is attained in the Finnish Patent No. 50 867 in that the turning spindles of the lifting means have such a shape that they may in one position be fitted into upper holes of containers of either the Sealand or the ISO standard and thereafter may be turned into a locking position within the respective corner boxes; also the spindles are provided with a turning shaft which is eccentrically displaced with regard both to the centre of the respective upper hole of the Sea land type container and to the centre of the respective upper hole of the ISO type container; furthermore the axis of rotation of the turning spindle is displaced towards one short side thereof.

In practice, the lifting apparatus as taught by the Finnish Patent No. 50 867 and the Swedish Patent Application No. 78 04829-5, and the engagement spindles according to them, have presented several drawbacks.

One drawback of the lifting apparatus and the engagement spindle as taught by the Finnish Patent No. 50 867 is that the engagement spindles can be turned into their locked position in one direction of rotation only because the engagement spindle is asymmetric and its central rotational axis is located to be offset towards one short side of the spindle. This also has the effect that the engagement spindle has a rather complex shape and that both right-handed and left-handed spindles are needed, from which follow comparatively high manufacturing and storage costs. A further drawback of the known spindle is that in certain directions the spindle comes too close to the margin of the upper hole of a Sealand container.It may also be considered a drawback that the filling projection of the bearing box of the known spindle is too thin-walled, and it has in fact been experienced that it does not tolerate the loads imposed on it in practice.

The present invention in one aspect provides container lifting apparatus intended to be used for lifting containers both of the Sealand and ISO standard types, the lifting apparatus comprising an upper lifting frame, in bearing boxes of which engagement spindles are rotatably carried, the said spindles having such a shape and mutual fixed spacing on the lifting frame that they can in one position be inserted in the upper holes of either Sealand or ISO containers and by rotation thereof locked in a locking position, and the engagement spindles having a rotational centre the location of which when the spindles are being introduced into the corner boxes of the containers deviates both from the centre line of the upper holes of a Sealand container and from the centre line of the upper holes of an ISO container, wherein the said rotational centre of the engagement spindles is disposed to be located substantially in the transverse plane arranged to pass through the said centre lines of the said Sealand and ISO container holes, and wherein the said transverse plane is substantially the central symmetry plane for the engagement spindles in connection with their introduction, so that the engagement spindles are turnable into a locking position both clockwise and counterclockwise.

The invention in another aspect provides an engagement spindle, intended to be used for lifting containers both of the Sealand and ISO standard types, the engagement spindle having at one end an engagement projection and in its continuation of a shaft part, by which the spindle is rotatably carried in a bearing box, and the spindle having a substantially planar surface delimiting its engagement projection and serving as a locking surface, the spindle being substantially symmetrical with reference to the central plane passing through the rotational centre defined by its cylindrical shaft part, the said central plane being substantially parallel to the short sides of the spindle.

There is thus provided by means of the present invention a lifting apparatus and engagement spindles thereof which can be turned into a locked position in either direction, from which follows the important practical advantage that only one kind of spindle is required. Thus the manufacturing and storing costs of spindles are significantly reduced.

The lifting apparatus and engagement spindles thereof when being applied impose fewer restrictions as regards the designing of the spindle-turning linkage, this being above all attained because the spindles may be turned into their locked position in either direction. This advantage is particularly important in cases where finished lifting frames according to the ISO standard -- in which the spindles all turn in the same direction -- are modified to be usable also in the handling of containers according to the Sealand standard.

The engagement spindle has a shape such that its clearance with the area defined in combination by the upper holes of ISO and Sealand containers is at every point substantially equal and in all events large enough so that it is possible with these spindles to engage all containers of the ISO as well as the Sealand type which meet the tolerance requirements.

The engagement spindle structure is such that the shaft of the spindle is acted upon by smaller bending moments than in the equivalent previously known spindles described above.

In the lifting apparatus the filling projections of the bearing boxes of the engagement spindles can be made stronger than in equivalent previously known constructions.

The most important advantage of the present invention is that the engagement spindles of the lifting apparatus of the invention can be turned into their locked position equally well in one direction as in the other, whereby all corners of the lifting frame may be fitted with the same kind of spindle, an important advantage over previously known spindles from the viewpoint of manufacturing and storage costs, for instance. The end of the spindle of the invention has been so shaped that in the locked position the required carrying surface of 8 cm2 is surpassed.

The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view showing the location with reference to each other of the upper holes in the corner boxes of containers according to the Sealand and ISO standards, and illustrating the principle of the introduction and locking of the engagement spindle of the invention; Figure 2 is an elevational view of one embodiment of an engagement spindle of the invention; Figure 3 is a section taken along the line Ill-Ill of Figure 2; Figure 4 shows the engaging end of the spindle, viewed in the direction IV--IV indicated in Figure 3; Figure 5 shows the design of a bearing box of the spindle of the invention, viewed in the axial direction; and Figure 6 shows the same as Figure 5, in elevational view.

As shown in Figure 1 , the corner boxes of Sealand containers have an upper hole 13, indicated with a dot-and-dash line in Figure 1.

Similarly, the corner boxes of containers meeting the ISO standard have an upper hole 12, represented by a line interrupted at intervals by double dots. The spacing of the upper holes 13 at adjacent corners of the Sealand container is L1 = 2286+4g mm, as measured from the central planes T1-T1 of the holes. The equivalent distance between the central planes T2-T2 of adjacent holes 1 2 of the ISO container is L2 = 2258+: mm. It is understood that the distance between the planes T1-T1 and T2-T2 is 12+ 11=(L1-L2)/2=14mm.

As can be seen in Figure 1, the upper holes 12 of ISO containers and the upper holes 13 of Sealand containers have a common area. The lifting spindles are dimensioned and shaped to be rotatably carried in the corners of the upper lifting frame (not shown in the drawings) for containers, in such a manner that they can be introduced through the upper holes of the corner boxes into the corner boxes through the common area of holes 12 and 13, moreover in such a manner that the clearances A1, A2 and A3 from the margins of holes 12, 13 to the adjacent edges of the lifting spindle are large enough in all direction and mutually substantially equal.

In Figure 1 , the position in which the lifting spindle is introduced has been indicated with a heavier, solid line and identified with the reference numeral 1 Oa. The cross-hatched areas a1 and a2 in Figure 1 represent the locking areas in connection with the upper hole 13 when the lifting spindle 10 has been turned about its rotational centre C into a locking position 1 0b indicated by a broken line.

In Figure 1 is indicated the transverse central plane P-P of the ISO upper hole 12 and of the Sealand upper hole 13. The line of intersection of the central plane T1-T1 of the Sealand upper hole 1 3 and the transverse plane P-P is indicated by reference letter A and similarly the line of intersection of the central plane T2-T2 of the ISO upper hole 12 and the transverse plane P-P is indicated by reference letter B. The rotational centre C of the lifting spindle 10 and of its turning shaft 11 is located substantially on the transverse central plane P-P, between the lines A and B. As can be seen in Figure 1 , the engagement spindle 10 is in its introduction position symmetrical with reference to the central plane P-P, so that the plane P-P is at the same time substantially the plane of symmetry of the spindle 10, making the distances 13 of the short sides of the spindle from this central plane mutually equal, which is a substantial difference from the spindles described in the Finnish Patent No. 50 867.

In Figure 1 is indicated the dimension L3, which is the spacing of the central planes TkTk of adjacent spindles.

The distances between the planes T1,T2 and Tk have been selected so that the tolerances A1, A2 and As mentioned previously are mutually preferably substantially equal. This is achieved for example by such dimensioning as shown in Figure 1, where 1r~ 2 x 12.

Thus the rotational centre C of the lifting spindles 10 is located substantially on the transverse centre-plane P-P both of the Sealand and ISO holes 13 and 12, between the centre lines of these holes. As can be seen from Figure 1, the lifting spindles can be rotated into their locking position either clockwise or counter-clockwise.

The lifting spindle 10 shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 has an engagement head, bordered by a substantially planar surface 14 and by an opposed surface having a round projection surface 15 and slightly rounded short sides 1 6. In its continuation, the engagement head 10 of the lifting spindle has a cylindrical shaft part 11. A planar surface 17 of the engagement head constitutes a locking face.

In connection with the shaft part 11 is provided an extension shaft 16, to which is connected a known rotation linkage (not shown).

In Figures 5 and 6 is shown a bearing box 20, which is affixed to each corner of the upper lifting frame of the container lifting apparatus. In each bearing box 20 is rotatably carried one lifting spindle 10. To this end, the bearing box 20 has a central hole 21, in which the shaft part 11 is accommodated. The bearing box 20 has a filling projection 22 in such a manner that the planar face 23 of the filling projection will abut on the planar face 1 7 of the engagement projection of the spindle. The shape of the filling projection 22 is consistent with the shape of the engagement spindle 10, as is apparent from Figures 3 and 5.

The planar face 14 of the engagement head of the spindle 10 corresponds to a face 24 of the filling projection 22 and the round projection surface 15 to a surface 25 of the filling projection.

When the engagement spindles 10 are pushed in position 1 0a into the upper holes 12 or 13, the filling projections 22 will also at the same time be pushed into the upper part of holes 12 or 13 in such a manner that planar faces 27 of the bearing boxes will abut on the upper side of the container corner boxes. The engagement spindles 10 are next turned, either clockwise or counterclockwise, into the locking position 1 Ob, while the bearing boxes 20 and filling projections 22 remain stationary. Unlocking is effected by turning the engagement projections into positions 1 0a where they become aligned with the filling projections 22, whereupon by lifting the lifting frame the four spindles, and the entire lifting means, can be detached from the container.

The engagement spindle 10 itself, intended to be used for lifting containers both of the Sealand and ISO standard types, is substantially symmetrical with reference to a central plane p1-p1 passing through the rotational centre C defined by its cylindrical shaft part 11, this plane p1-p1 being substantially parallel to the short sides 1 6 of the lifting spindle. When introducing the engagement spindles as shown in Figure 1, the central plane of symmetry p1-.p1 coincides with the central plane P-P of the holes 12 and 13.

Claims

1. Container lifting apparatus intended to be used for lifting containers both of the Sea land and ISO standard types, the lifting apparatus comprising an upper lifting frame, in bearing boxes of which engagement spindles are rotatably carried, the said spindles having such a shape and mutual fixed spacing on the lifting frame that they can in one position be inserted in the upper holes of either Sealand or ISO containers and by rotation thereof locked in a locking position, and the engagement spindles having a rotational centre the location of which when the spindles are being introduced into the corner boxes of the containers deviates both from the centre line of the upper holes of a Sea land container and from the centre line of the upper holes of an ISO container, wherein the said rotational centre of the engagement spindles is disposed to be located substantially in the transverse plane arranged to pass through the said centre-lines of the said Sealand and ISO container holes, and wherein the said transverse plane is substantially the central symmetry plane for the engagement spindles in connection with their introduction, so that the engagement spindles are turnable into a locking position both clockwise and counter-clockwise.

2. Lifting apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the said rotational centre of the engagement spindles is disposed on the said transverse plane between the said centre lines of the Sealand and ISO container upper holes substantially closer to the centre line of the Sea land container holes than to the equivalent centre line of the ISO container holes.

3. Lifting apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the distance of the said rotational centre of the engagement spindles from the centre line of the upper holes of the ISO container is approximately twice the equivalent distance of the rotational centre of the engagement spindles from the centre line of the upper holes of the Sealand container when effecting the engagement.

4. Lifting apparatus as claimed in Claim 2 or 3, wherein the engagement spindles are so shaped and mutually fitted that the smallest clearances to the margins both of the upper holes of the ISO container and of the upper holes of the Sealand container are mutually substantially equal.

5. Lifting apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein on the said upper lifting frame are disposed bearing boxes for the engagement spindles which each have in their lower part a filling projection substantially corresponding to the cross-sectional form of the respective engagement spindle and which has an end face adjacent the planar locking face of the engagement spindle.

6. Lifting apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the bearing boxes each have a planar face below which is the said filling projection.

7. Container lifting apparatus according to Claim 1, substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

8. An engagement spindle, intended to be used for lifting containers both of the Sealand and ISO standard types, the engagement spindle having at one end an engagement projection and in its continuation a shaft part, by which the spindle is rotatably carried in a bearing box, and the spindle having a substantially planar surface delimiting its engagement projection and serving as a locking surface, the spindle being substantially symmetrical with reference to the central plane passing through the rotational centre defined by its cylindrical shaft part, the said central plane being substantially parallel to the short sides of the spindle.

9. An engagement spindle as claimed in Claim 8, which has a substantially planar side face to which the short sides of the lifting spindle adjoin, and wherein on the opposite side of the said side face is a substantially round-surfaced projection part the shape of which is consistent with the shape of the round central part of the hole of a Sealand container.

10. An engagement spindle according to Claim 8, substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.