US1705058A - Method and means for shipping packages and the like - Google Patents

Description

L. F. HINTZ 1,705,058 IBTHOD AND IEANS FOR SHIPPING PACKAGES AND THE LIKE March 12, 1929.

Filed Sept. 16. 1925 2 sheep s-sheet 1 gwum rtoz March 12, 1929. 12 1,705,058

IBI'HOD AND IEANS FOR SHIPPING PACKAGES AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 15, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 S 15' x 1% J6 6 I. b 1 T1 mu M- 10 J6 k 16 M L 1 1 m. g f x E "was" J6 KI Ill/ 444x Patented Mar. 12, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEROY I. HINTZ, OI CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 GERRARD COMPANY, INC OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELA- WARE.

METHOD AND MEANS FOR SHIPPING PACKAGES AND THE LIKE.

Application filed September 16, 1925. Serial No. 56,741.

Thi invention relates to a method of and means for assembling and securing packages, bales, boxes, bundles, and the like, of merchandise, cargoes, etc., for shipment.

The object of the invention is to provide a method of and means for assembling and securing individual packages, bales, boxes,

bundles, and the like, of any and all sorts.

of merchandise, cargoes, and the like, for freight or other shipment, on freight or other cars, boats, ships, or carriers generally, in such manner as to reduce and eliminate damage, injury, or loss, due to relative movement, impact, .or impingement of the individual box, package, bundle, or the like, upon or against adjacent ones, or upon or against the walls of the carrier under the influence of shocks, jars, jolts, or other movements of the carrier while in transit.

Other objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists substantially in the steps or combinations of steps, constituting the method, and in the parts and combinaions of parts, and arrangement thereof, constituting the means, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts in all the views,-

Fig. 1 is a broken, diagrammatic, horizontal, sectional plan view of a freight car, or other carrier, showing an application of my invention to packages of merchandise carried thereby.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, transverse section of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken detailed view in transverse section, on the line 33- of Fig. 1, looking in the direction .of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a broken detailed View in horizontal section, showing the disposition of binder means at a corner of the carrier.

, Fig. 5 is a broken detailed view in section, showing the manner of mounting and securing a spacer member for'the binders.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged broken detailed view in vertical section, showing the disposition the carrier .merchandise is being switched from subjected ages, of cargo are liableto take of the parts when binders are applied to a plurality of tiers of packages or units of merchandise.

It is well known that merchandise, pack ages, boxes, bales, barrels and the like, loaded on to cars, boats, ships, trucks and other forms of carriers, for transportation, and particularly such merchandise, pack-, ages, etc., which are loaded on freight or other cars for transportation to distant points, are subjected in transit to various movements and strains on account of the movements, shocks, jolts, and jars to which is subjected. For example, of freight cars loaded with one track to another, or when a train of freight cars so loaded is being made up'by the switching and shifting of the individual cars, and also while such train is in transit from one point to another", such cars are to severe bumps or jolts which frequently are suflicient to overcome the inertia of the individual packages, boxes, etc., of merchandise with which such carrier 1s loaded. Thus, it frequently happens that individual packages of the cargo are urged with considerable force towards and against ad acent packages, and also towards and against the end or side walls of the carrier, or are otherwise injured by shifting about or being shifted about within the carrier, with the result that individual packages, constituting the cargo or load, are liable to be injured or crushed between or against adjacent packages, and in the case of the extreme end packages of the cargo, that is, those located adjacent the ends of the carrier, are frequently caused to be impinged or to be crowded or crushed agaipst the end or side walls, as the case may be, of the carrier. It is also well-known that in the case of many and various kinds of packages, especially containers or barrels holding liquids of value, such, by way of illustration, as coca-cola, it often happens that the barrels are subjected during transit, to such crushing actions that serious leaks develop, causing heavy losses. Investigations have disclosed the fact that these crushing actions on individual containers or packplace, and

when a train acka es under shocks,

such contamers or v h the carrier is subjars, and jolts, to w jected, and also due to the sudden stopping of the car or cars or other forms of carrier while in transit. Particularly on down grades, the momentum of each individual package or container tends to urge such package or container forwardly in the direction of the downward incline of the grade, and against the container ahead of it. The result is to transmit or concentrate the ressure of the succeeding individual pac ages or containers to or on the outer or inmost packages or containers, thereby jamming the latter up against the end walls of the carrier. In other words, succeeding packages or containers act somewhat after the fashion of battering rams on the preceding containers or packages, the battering effects of which accumulate in force, and are delivered so as to cause breaks and leaks to occur. The ultimate result is that on arrival of the cargo or shipment at its destination, and as a result of the shocks, jars, jolts, and the like, received during transit, it frequently happens that the cargo is very substantially and materially injured, thereby causinggreat loss. Experience has shown that very great losses in the shipment of merchandise of all sorts, are experienced from these causes. In fact, the shipping records of the railroads reveal the remarkable. fact that it is seldom, articularly in the case of long hauls, that t e transported, cargo arrives at its destination in unimpaired condition. This difiiculty presents a very serious problem of transportationfto which little suc .cessful effort, apparently, has heretofore been directed in the attempt to remedy the same. For the most part, the efforts'which have heretofore been made in this direction have been along lines such as the use .of timbering and lagging, for the purpose of bracing the cargo against movement within the carrier. .In other words, bracingtim bers, called lagging, have been secured inside the car and in such relation to the packa es or individual containers or other forms 0 cargo as to fixedly hold the individual packages attached to the carrier itself; the various packages and containers or the like being so closely stowed or packed into the car as to enable such bracing, timbering or lagging to rigidly hold the same against movement. Such methods not only are expensive, consuming time in their appllcatlon and requlring labor to mstall and remove the timbering or lagging, but such timbering and lagging material also adds considerable weight to the loaded carrier.

Moreover, such timbering or lagging 1s fre-.

quently secured by heavy spikes ,rdriven into the walls, flooring or roofing'of the car,

which it is necessary to extract or remove at the end of the journey, thereby seriously injuring the interior surface of the carrier flooring, sides, Walls orroofing. Besides, the cargo which is thus rigidly fixed and braced in place within the carrier, is subjected to greater strains and stresses than itwould otherwise be subjected to, since it more directly receives the full effects of any shock, jar or bump to which the car 1n transit is subjected.

v It is among the special purposes of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus designed to overcome and avoid the objections above noted, and to provide for the assembling and securing of merchandise, packages, containers, or the like, for shipment in such a manner as to permit a more or less elastic movement ofsuch packages, not only relatively to each other, but with reference to the carrier.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown an illustrative arrangement, embodying the principles of my invention.

Referring more particularly to Figs. '1 and 2, Lindicates the end wall, and 2 the side walls, and 3 the doorways of an ordinary freight car. 4 indicates a plurality of merchandise packages, some thirty in num ber, shown in this instance as barrels, which are closely packed together, resting endwise upon the floor 5 of the carrier.

Of 'course, the invention is not to 'be limited or restricted with. reference to the numbers of packages so to be packed or loaded. Ordinarily, a number of such packages are located in each end or half of the carrier, in the case of a freight car, although this is not essential in carrying out the princi les of my invention. Where a number 0 packages are employed-at each,

versely across the car, at the side doors.

This is particularly true in the case of loading systems heretofore employed, and in addition to affording space for loading and unloading the packages. This unoccupied area is also employed for erecting within the carrier, the lagging or timbering for anchor-- ingthe packages in place. I have indicated in dotted lines at 6, the pressing timbers or laggin which, prior to my invention,

has ordin fily been used for anchoring the individual containers to prevent them from becoming displaced.

According to my invention, one or morerods or strips, indicated at 7, areprovided, which are reversely bent or otherwise shaped or constructed at each end, to form a loop or eyelet, or other retaining means, such for example, as is indicated at 8 and 9. These supports or rods 7, are temporarily secured in vertical position in any suitable or convenient manner, as for instance, by staples 10, by which said rods are retained in position upon the side or end walls of. the carrier. These vertically disposed rods are positioned at suitable points on the side and around the entiregroup or assembly of 'bled group of packages.

packages, and associated in the retaining means of the vertically disposed rods. The

"position of the binders, with relation to the height of the packages, .may be varied throughout wide limits, and would depend more or less upon the nature or character of the packages to be bound. In the illustrative arrangement shown, round binder wires are employed, but obviously my invention is not to be limited or restricted in this respect. In Figs. 3 and 6, I have shown, for illustrative purposes, two binders applied around the assemblyof packages near their bottom ends, and two near their upper ends. My invention, however, is not to be limited or restricted in this respect. In the case of the shipment of barrels, for example, the rods 7 are preferably chosen of such a length 'as to hold or retain the binders in a plane just below the bilge hoops 12 at the lower ends of the barrels, and just above the bilge hooks 16, near the upper ends-0f the barrels.

But as above stated, my invention is not to be limited with respect to this detail. It is also obvious that the binder may be passed one or more times around the assembly of packages; or additional binders may be so applied to thegroup or assembly. a

After the binders are applied around each of the groups orassemblies of packages in the manner above described, the ends of the binders are then attached or secured together after being drawn taut around the assem- Ordinarily, the tensioning of the binders around the assembly or group of packages is effected. under heavy strain or stress, which may amount to several hundred pounds or more, in order to sufiiciently and firmly bind and hold together, and to exert a more or less compressive action on the assembled packages, as a group or assembly. After this tension has been applied and retained, and before it is released, the adjusting ends of the binders are securely'fastened together, and such securement may be eifected in any suitable way. In the case of wire hinders, the ends of the binders are twisted together as indicated at'18. (See Fig. 3.) The required tensioning of the binders, where binder Wires are used, and the. twisting together of the ends of the binder wires while held under tension, may be readily accomplished by well-known wire tensioning and tying macnines 25 now on the market, such for example, as that disclosed in U. S. Pat

ent No. 1,456,127, granted May 22, 1923, to G-errard,et al, for wire tensioning and twisting machines. p

The eflect of the tensioning of the binders in the manner above described, is to cause the binders to firmly and snugly hold and compress all of the containers together into a single assembly, group, or massed' unlt, so to speak. Anotherw etlect of thisv 'tensioning operation is that it causes the retaining devices or staples-10, which temporarily support the rods 7 upon the wallsof the carrier to be pulled out, and the holding rods 7 to be drawn against and to snugly lie upon or hug the surface of an adjacent container as shown at 50 in Fi 1 and in I dotted lines in F ig.-5, said rods or members 7 acting in this relation, as supporters or spreaders for the binders to hold the latter in 'spaced relation with respect to each other, and thereby preventing them from slipping relatively to each other upon the group or assembly of packages, and hence preventing them from losing their compressive action upon the packages, which was imparted by the tensioning action referred to.

After one group or assembly ofpackages has been bound together into a unitary group or assembly, in the manner above de scribed, other groups may be similarly secured together in unitary assemblies. In this manner, the entire carrier-load of in dividual packages is unified into one or more unitary masses, groups, or assemblies, the members of each of which are firmly compressed and bound together into a unitary assembly, and incapable of appreciable relative movement of the individual elements composing such group or assembly, or of movement independently of the entire group, when the carrier stops or is bumped by other cars, or when other shocks or jars or effects of momentum and inclines are imposed upon the carrier. In other words, the members of these unified and unitary groups or masses of packages are prevented from bumping or impinging against each other,

and hence they are not permitted to act cumulatively as battering rams to compress, or crush, or otherwise injure the end elementsof the groups, as has been the case heretofore. In fact, the aggregate weight of each group or assembly of packages so bound and held together, is such that thecollective action of the bound group on the floor surface of the carrier-1s found, in practice, amply sufficient to cause the packages heretofore been attained by any; of the methods of securement or anchora e heretofore proposed or attempted. oreover,

with the system of assembling and bindingof packages into unitary masses, groups, or assemblies, as above described, the employment of anchoring timbers or lagging is not required, and may be entirely dispensed with, leaving the space in the carrier heretofore occupied thereby, free for use for other purposes, or for containing other packages to be shipped or transported. By disin Fig. 6, the same advantages as above in-' dicated likewise accrue. Due to the fact that the binders employed are not expensive,

the cost of preparing 'a cargo and applying the binder principle of stowage thereof is not costly in its application to groups or unitary masses of the packages to be trans-' ported. In fact,'experience has shown that the binding of shipping packages in groups and unitary masses in the manner above described is less expensive and effects a remarkable saving of time, labor, and material, over the timbering or lagging methods heretofore employed, besides attaining safety of transportation of the packages without injury or loss through breakage, which is not accomplished with the prior timbering or lagging methods, and the saving in this respect is relatively great,

and therefore most desirable. As will also be seen, the method of unifying and binding shipping packages in unitary assemblies or groups in the manner above set forth, is advantageously applicable to shipping articles generally, and efiects' greater ease of loading, unloading, handling and stowing of the cargo.

\Vh'ere binder wires are used with a tensioning and twisting machine therefor, such a machine may be supported in any convenient way, or carried in the hand, as is indicated in dotted lines at 25, Fig. 2.

Of course, it will be understood that the relative position of the individual elements composing each group or assembly within the assembly or group, is immateriah and will, in a large measure, depend upon the nature or character of the packages themselves. The relative positioning or arrange ment of these elements, shown in Fig. 1, has been found convenient where barrels constitute the cargo.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the procedure as well as the means above described, throughout wide limits, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. I do not desire therefore, to be limited to the exact procedure, arrange-- ment or structure shown and described,"except as may berequired by the claims.

Having now set forth the objects and nature of my invention,'and a structure em-.

bodying the principles thereof, what I claim as new and useful and of my own invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. The method of preventing damage dur-.

ing transit to shipping packages, which consists in assembling a plurality of such-packages into a group or assembly, temporarily supporting a binder within the carr1er' hor izontally n surrounding relation with respect to the group or assembly off-packages, then applying and maintaining tension to the binder to apply the same to the group or assembly ofpackages under tension, to

hold the individualpackages against relative movement with respect to each other, and the mass assembly in unattached relation, the application of the tension serving also to detach the binder from its temporary support.

2. The method of loading a car with load elements and preventing damage to the same during. transit which consists in placing a flexible binder within the car in position to be passed horizontally around the load elements, then arranging in the car and within the area included by the flexible binder when so placed, and in vertically disposed position therein a sufficient number of the load elements to form a load unit adapted to retain itself substantially in place by its weight and frictional contact with the car, and finally securing the binder tightly around the load elements to form a compact load unit. i

3. The method of freight loading upon carriers which consist in draping a flexible binder horizontally partially around the space within the carrier, to beoccupied by the freight, then disposing freight elements in vertical position'within the space partially surrounded by the binder and drawing the binder tightly around the assembled freight elements and securing the same to form a the carrier, capable of retaining itself in place by its own weight and friction under ghter shocks imparted to the carrier in transit but free to move under heavier shocks.

In testimony whereof I afii'x my signature.

LEROY F. HINTZ.

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