Container-connecting fitting

Abstract

To provide a preferable container-connecting fitting with which it is possible to anchor a container using a cable, a connecting fitting is, at a part thereof, fitted into non-circular hole in the container and is connected to the cable. The fitting has a shaft part to be inserted into the hole in the container. One end side of the shaft part is provided with a first flange which can pass through the hole only when positioned at a specific angle about the center line of the shaft part, and the other side of the shaft part is provided with a second flange that is too large to pass through the hole. Further, a cable connecting part is mounted on an opposite side where the first flange is present, the second flange being interposed therebetween, so as to be able to rotate, about the center line of the shaft part.

Claims

1. A container-connecting fitting, which is, at a part thereof, fitted into a non-circular hole in a container and is connected to a cable, in order to anchor the container with the cable, wherein the container-connecting fitting has a shaft part to be inserted into the hole, the shaft part comprising opposing first and second sides, with a center line extending therebetween, the first side of the shaft part being provided with a first flange which can pass through the hole only when positioned at a specific angle about the shaft part, and the second side of the shaft part being provided with a second flange that is too large to pass through the hole, and a cable connecting part is mounted on the shaft part opposite the first flange, the second flange being interposed therebetween, wherein the cable connecting part extends radially outward from the center line to an end portion configured to connect to the cable, and wherein the cable connecting part is able to rotate relative to the first flange, without limitation to the angle, about the center line of the shaft part.

2. The container-connecting fitting according to claim 1, wherein in a state where the cable is not connected, the center of gravity of the entire container-connecting fitting is on the side opposite the side where the first flange is present, with the second flange interposed therebetween.

3. The container-connecting fitting according to claim 1, wherein a projecting part projecting in a direction oriented outward from the center line of the shaft part or in a direction oriented opposite the side where the first flange is present is formed on the second flange.

4. The container-connecting fitting according to claim 1, wherein the cable connecting part has an inclined portion oriented to be increasingly apart from the second flange as going outward from the center line of the shaft part, and has a connection hole at the tip of the inclined portion.

5. The container-connecting fitting according to claim 1, wherein the cable comprises a belt having a hook at an end part thereof, the belt including a latching apparatus and a ratchet handle.

6. A container-connecting fitting, which is, at a part thereof, fitted into a non-circular hole in a container and is connected to a cable, in order to anchor the container with the cable, wherein the container-connecting fitting has a shaft part to be inserted into the hole, the shaft part comprising opposing first and second sides, with a center line extending therebetween, the first side of the shaft part being provided with a first flange which can pass through the hole only when positioned at a specific angle about the shaft part, and the second side of the shaft part being provided with a second flange that is too large to pass through the hole, the first flange and the second flange being integral or rigid with the shaft part, and a cable connecting part is mounted to an extension of said shaft part adjacent the second flange and opposite the first flange, wherein the cable connecting part extends radially outward from the center line to an end portion configured to connect to the cable, and wherein the cable connecting part is able to rotate relative to the first flange, without limitation to the angle, about the center line.

7. The container-connecting fitting according to claim 6, wherein in a state where the cable is not connected, the center of gravity of the entire container-connecting fitting is on the extension of the shaft part.

8. The container-connecting fitting according to claim 6, wherein a projecting part projecting in a direction oriented outward from the center line of the shaft part or in a direction oriented opposite the side where the first flange is present is formed on the second flange.

9. The container-connecting fitting according to claim 6, wherein the cable connecting part has an inclined portion oriented to be increasingly apart from the second flange as going outward from the center line of the shaft part, and has a connection hole at the tip of the inclined portion.

10. The container-connecting fitting according to claim 6, wherein the cable comprises a belt having a hook at an end part thereof, the belt including a latching apparatus and a ratchet handle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1(a) is a front view and FIG. 1(b) is a partial side view, for illustrating a state where a connecting fitting 10 or a belt (cable) 3 according to the present invention is used to connect containers 1 to each other.

(2) FIG. 2 A drawing for illustrating a state where the connecting fitting 10 is mounted on the container 1, where FIG. 2(a) is a detailed view of section II in FIG. 1(b) and FIG. 2(b) is a front view thereof (a state where the belt 3 is hung vertically).

(3) FIG. 3 A drawing for illustrating the connecting fitting 10, where FIG. 3(a) is a side view, FIG. 3(b) is a front view, FIG. 3(c) is a view on arrow c-c in FIG. 3(a), and FIG. 3(d) is a view on arrow d-d in FIG. 3(b).

(4) FIG. 4 A drawing for illustrating the connecting belt 3, where FIG. 4(a) is a detailed view of section IV in FIG. 1(b) and FIG. 4(b) is a front view thereof (a state where the belt 3 is hung vertically).

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(5) FIGS. 1-4 illustrate embodiments of the invention.

(6) FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) illustrate a state where three containers 1 have been lined up horizontally, a total of four stages have been stacked vertically, and a belt 3 and a connecting fitting 10 have been used to connect the same. At one end part of the container 1 as shown in FIG. 1, the uppermost and rightmost container 1 and the lowermost and leftmost container 1 are connected together with the belt 3 and the like as shown in FIG. 1(a), and the uppermost and leftmost container 1 and the lowermost and rightmost container 1 are connected with another belt 3 or the like applied in a direction crossing the former belt 3. The containers 1 are similarly connected with the crossing belts 3 also at the other end part which is omitted to be illustrated on the left side of FIG. 1(b). Connecting containers 1 in this manner stabilizes the stacked containers 1 to prevent the containers 1 from being collapsed by a strong wind or the like.

(7) A corner fitting 1a, also called a casting, is provided to the eight corner parts of each of the containers 1. The connection between the containers 1 is carried out by mounting the connecting fitting 10 on the corner fittings 1a. In other words, the connecting fitting 10 is mounted on the corner fitting 1a at the lower part of the containers 1 and the belt 3 is connected between the connecting fittings 10, whereupon tension is applied to achieve the connection as shown in FIG. 1.

(8) The state where the connecting fitting 10 is mounted on each of the corner fittings 1a of the containers 1 is as per the illustration in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b). The corner fitting 1a has a vertically long oval hole 2, as per the illustration, at a front-part plate, and also has a wide space therebehind. The first flange 12 and the shaft part 11, which is a part of the connecting fitting 10, are inserted into the hole 2 to be prevented from falling out. The belt 3 provided with the hook 4 is connected via a connection-assist fitting 7 to the cable connecting part 15 of the connecting fitting 10 mounted in this manner.

(9) The connecting fitting 10 is made of cast steel, and has a structure as shown in FIGS. 3(a) to 3(d). Namely,

(10) i) In addition to having a cylindrical shaft part 11 that has a cross-section with a perfect circular outer shape and is sized to be insertable into the hole 2 of the corner fitting 2, the connecting fitting 10 has two flanges 12 and 13 placed apart in the length direction. The shaft part 11 and the flanges 12 and 13 are formed integrally by casting.

(11) ii) The first flange 12 is provided on a base end side of the shaft part 11 (the left side in FIG. 3(a)), and the outer shape thereof is an oval that is similar to but slightly smaller than the hole 2. This first flange 12 can be passed through the oval hole 2 and inserted into or pulled from the corner fitting 1a only when rotated together with the shaft part 11 about the center line thereof to reach positioning at a specific angle, i.e., a position where the long axis of the oval is oriented in the up-down direction.

(12) iii) The second flange 13 is formed on the shaft part 11, spaced from the first flange 12 at an interval slightly greater than the thickness of the front-part plate of the corner fitting 1a. The second flange 13 has a sufficiently larger outer shape than the hole 2 of the corner fitting 1a, and is sized to be unable to pass through the hole 2. For this reason, the connecting fitting 10 is such that only the first flange 12 and the shaft part 11 can be inserted into the hole 2 of the corner fitting 1a when the first flange 12 and the second flange 13 are rotated appropriately together with the shaft part 11 about the center line to appropriately set the angular position of the first flange 12. When the shaft part 11 and the like are rotated by about 90° after insertion and the long axis of the first flange 12 is turned horizontal, the connecting fitting 10 can be mounted on the corner fitting 1a as shown in FIG. 2, and the first flange 12 hangs on the plate and does not fall out of the hole 2.

(13) iv) A thin shaft part 14 having the same center line as the shaft part 11 extends from the second flange 13 toward the top end side (the right side in FIG. 3(a)), and the cable connecting part 15 is mounted on the outside thereof so as to be able to rotate about the center line without limitation to the angle. The connecting part 15 has a portion that is inclined oriented to be increasingly apart from the second flange 13 as going outward from the center line of the shaft parts 11 and 14, and has a connection hole 15a at the tip of the inclined portion. Passing a bolt-nut 7a through the connection hole 15a as shown in FIG. 2 makes it possible to mount the connection-assist fitting 7. The connection-assist fitting 7 has a U-shaped member on which the hook 4 of the belt 3 (see FIG. 4) can be easily hung.

(14) v) The position of the center of gravity of the connecting fitting 10 is closer to the top end side (closer to the side to which the connecting part 15 is provided; the right side in FIG. 3(a)) than the second flange 13, both in a state where the connection-assist fitting 7 is mounted and in a state where the connection-assist fitting is not mounted. For this reason, when the shaft part 11 and the first flange 12 are inserted into the hole 2 of the container 1, a state of uneven contact occurs, where there is a locally large contact surface pressure to the corner fitting 1a, as a result, it is difficult for the connecting fitting 10 to rotate even before the belt 3 is connected. When it is difficult for the connecting fitting 10 to rotate, the first flange 12 can be prevented from unintentionally falling out of the hole 2. Additionally the first flange 12 with the long axis being horizontal is brought into contact with a (either upper or lower) horizontal wall surface inside of the corner fitting 1a as shown in FIG. 2; this also produce an effect that it is difficult for the connecting fitting 10 to rotate and it is difficult for the first flange 12 to fall out.

(15) vi) As shown in FIGS. 3(b) and 3(d), the projecting part 13a projecting to be orientated outward from the center line of the shaft parts 11 and 14 and oriented to the direction apart from the first flange 12 is formed at two points on the outer edge of the second flange 13. Placing a finger on the projecting part 13a allows an operator to easily rotate the connecting fitting 10.

(16) Both the connecting fitting 10 mentioned above and the belt (lashing belt) 3 illustrated in FIG. 4 are used to make a connection for stabilizing the containers 1. The belt 3 is provided with the hook 4 at both end parts of a belt body made of nylon or a similar synthetic fiber; and a ratchet handle 6, for facilitating length adjustments, connected to an intermediate portion (a portion about 1.5 m high from the lower end part during use). The spring-type latching apparatus 5 is provided to the hooks 4 at both end parts (or at least to the hook 4 hung on the fitting 10 of the upper container 1).

(17) The containers 1 are connected using the foregoing connecting fitting 10 and belt 3 as shown in FIG. 1, according to the following procedure, for example.

(18) 1) The containers 1 are stacked in order from the lower stage while being lined up with narrowing an interval therebetween; before the uppermost container 1 is stacked, the connecting fitting 10 is mounted on the uppermost container 1 to be connected. This mounting, as described previously, is performed by inserting the first flange 12 and the shaft part 11 of the connecting fitting 10 into the hole 2 of the corner fitting 1a and rotating them by about 90°. At each of the containers 1, the connecting fitting 10 is mounted on both the side in FIG. 1(a) and the side opposite thereto (not shown).

(19) 2) As shown in FIG. 2, the belt 3 is connected via the connection-assist fitting 7 to the connecting part 15 of each of the mounted connecting fittings 10. For this connection, the hook 4 is hung on the U-shaped portion of the connection-assist fitting 7 with the latching apparatus 5 being in action.

(20) 3) Each of the containers 1 to be placed at the uppermost stage is stacked thereon sequentially with a crane or the like. The container 1 to which the belt 3 is set is stacked with the belt 3 still suspended.

(21) 4) The connecting fitting 10 is mounted on the corner fitting 1a of those, of the lowermost containers 1, which are to be connected. This mounting is also performed by inserting the first flange 12 and the shaft part 11 of the connecting fitting 10 into the hole 2 of the corner fitting 1a and rotating them by about 90°. The connection-assist fitting 7 is also mounted on the connecting part 15 of the connecting fitting 10.

(22) 5) The hook 4 at the lower end part of the belt 3 suspended from the uppermost container 1 is connected to the connecting fitting 10 (connection-assist fitting 7) on the lowermost container 1.

(23) 6) The ratchet handle 6 is operated to adjust the length of the belt 3, generating a suitable tension in each of the belts 3.

(24) When the length adjustment for all of the belts 3 is completed, the containers 1 are connected as shown in FIG. 1, so that they are in a stable state against even a strong wind or the like. As per 1) to 3) mentioned above, when the belts 3 are connected in advance to the containers 1 to be placed at the uppermost stage, there is no need for the operator to climb to a high position after stacking.

(25) In a case when the connection between the containers 1 is to be loosed, the ratchet handle 6 is operated to loosen the belts 3, whereupon the inverse operation of the foregoing description is performed in order, for example, going from 6) to 1) above; the belts 3 have been loosened, then the belts 3 and the connecting fittings 10 are removed from the containers 1. In so doing, each of the containers 1 can also be lowered without the need to climb to a high position.

(26) The foregoing description introduced an example where the connecting fitting 10 is used in order to connect the containers 1 to each other, but it will be readily understood that it would also be possible to use the connecting fitting 10 (and belt 3) in a state where the container 1 is anchored to any fixing means on the ground or on a ship.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(27) The container-connecting fitting according to the present invention can be advantageously employed in industries where containers are transported, stored, or the like.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

(28) 1 Container 2 (Non-circular) hole 3 Belt 4 Hook 5 Latching apparatus 10 connecting fitting 11 Shaft part 12 First flange 13 Second flange 15 Cable connecting part