Slope apparatus and slope apparatus installation method

Abstract

To provide a slope device of a simple structure which can be easily fixed to a container, and its installation method.SOLUTION: A slope apparatus for a container includes a slope body 201 having an inclined portion side 20a and a flat portion side 20a intersecting the inclined portion side 20a in front of the inclined portion side 20b, a leg portion 21 provided at a tip end portion 201 of the flat portion side 20b and placed on an upper surface of a corner cast portion 10, and a displacement member supported by the flat portion side 20b so as to be displaceable in a front-rear direction and having a locking portion on a tip end side and an operation portion on a rear end side. When the displacement member is displaced forward by a pushing operation of the operation portion, the latching portion enters the cavity of the long hole, and in the entered state, the latching portion can be changed to a posture of being hooked to the long hole by a rotation operation of the operation portion.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a ramp device and an installation method thereof, and more particularly to a ramp device and an installation method thereof for a container having corner castings. [Background technology]

[0002] For loading and unloading operations into containers mounted on trailer chassis, it is known to use ramps to allow forklifts to enter and exit the container.

[0003] Utility Model Registration No. 3213796 (Patent Document 1) discloses a slope device having wheels and a jack on a flat platform for a loading and unloading work stage. In this device, after the flat platform, which can be moved by wheels, is positioned near the rear opening of a container, the jack is operated to extend the support legs, and the lower ends of the support legs are positioned below the lower ends of the wheels, thereby fixing the loading and unloading work stage to the loading and unloading site. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Utility Model Registration No. 3213796 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In Patent Document 1, a jack is required to fix the position of the slope device relative to the container, which makes the structure complicated and cumbersome to operate.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a slope device with a simple structure that can be easily fixed to a container, and a method for installing the same. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention provides a slope device for containers, which has a hollow corner casting at a lower corner. The corner casting has an upper surface that is lower than the container floor, a facing wall facing the slope device, and a slot formed in the facing wall, the length of which is greater in one direction than in another direction perpendicular to the facing wall and which communicates with the container cavity. The slope device includes a slope body having an inclined portion and a flat portion that intersects with the inclined portion forward of the inclined portion; legs provided at the tip of the flat portion and placed on the upper surface of the corner casting; and a displacement member supported on the flat portion so as to be movable forward and backward, the displacement member having a hook portion at the tip end and an operating portion at the rear end. When the operating portion is pushed forward to displace the displacement member, the hook portion enters the hollow of the slot, and when in the inserted position, the operating portion can be rotated to change the position so that the hook portion engages with the slot.

[0008] Preferably, the length of the hook portion is greater than the length (relatively short length) of the elongated hole in the other direction and less than the length (relatively long length) of the elongated hole in one direction.

[0009] Preferably, the displacement member includes an intermediate shaft portion connecting the hook portion and the operating portion, the hook portion and the operating portion extending parallel to each other in a direction intersecting the direction in which the intermediate shaft portion extends.

[0010] Preferably, the length of the operating portion is greater than the length of the hook portion.

[0011] Preferably, a notch capable of holding the operating part when the hook part is in a retracted position where it is not inserted into the elongated hole is formed on a side of the inclined part.

[0012] Preferably, the flat portion has a guide portion that guides the front-rear displacement of the intermediate shaft portion.

[0013] Preferably, the guide portion includes a pair of guide plates spaced apart in the front-rear direction. The guide plates have a through-hole through which the intermediate shaft passes, and the intermediate shaft between the pair of guide plates has a fixed flange, a movable flange located between the fixed flange and the rear guide plate and movable back and forth relative to the intermediate shaft, and an elastic member provided between the fixed flange and the movable flange. When the displacement member is in a position displaced rearward, the operating portion is hooked on the notch, and this state is maintained by the biasing force of the elastic member.

[0014] Preferably, the height of the legs is set so that at least a part of the tip surface of the flat portion contacts the step surface (standing wall surface) between the floor surface of the container and the upper surface of the corner casting portion.

[0015] Preferably, a guide panel is attached to the rear end of the ramp so as to be pivotable relative to the ramp.

[0016] Preferably, the ramp houses a pair of pawl-receiving handles that are rotatable relative to the ramp.

[0017] The method for installing a slope device according to the present invention comprises the steps of installing a slope device having hanging portions on both sides in the width direction in a container having hollow corner castings at its lower corners, inserting the hanging portions into holes in the corner castings formed on the side facing the slope device and communicating with the hollow, and, after the inserting step, changing the position of the hanging portions so that the hanging portions are caught in the holes. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] In the present invention, the slope device is fixed to the container by utilizing the long hole in the corner casting portion, so the displacement member can have a simple structure, and the hooking portion can be changed to a position where it hooks onto the long hole by a simple rotation operation of the operating portion. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a slope device according to an embodiment of the present invention is placed on a container. [Figure 2] FIG. 1A is a perspective view schematically showing a corner casting portion, and FIG. 1B is a front view schematically showing a slot. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view schematically showing a flat portion of the slope device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a rear perspective view schematically showing a state in which the operating portion according to the embodiment is maintained in the notch. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a state in which the slope device according to the embodiment is placed on a corner casting section. [Figure 6] 10 is a perspective view showing a state in which a hook portion of a displacement member according to the embodiment has entered a cavity in a corner casting. FIG. [Figure 7] 10 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a state in which the hook portion according to the embodiment has been changed to a position where it is hooked onto the elongated hole of the corner casting. FIG. [Figure 8] 10A is a front view showing a schematic view of the hook portion entering the slot, and FIG. 10B is a front view showing a schematic view of the hook portion changed to a position where it is hooked onto the slot. [Figure 9] 1 is a side view schematically showing a state in which a leg according to an embodiment of the present invention is placed on the upper surface of a corner casting. FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a guide panel according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] 10 is a perspective view showing a state in which the claw receiving handle portion according to the embodiment is raised. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof will not be repeated.

[0021] <Embodiment> (Configuration Overview) As shown in FIG. 1, a container 1 is loaded onto the chassis 91 of a trailer 9. The trailer 9 is parked with the rear end of the container 1 close to a warehouse platform 8. After the container 1 has stopped, the door at the rear end of the container 1 is opened, but in FIG. 1, the door and side walls at the rear end of the container 1 are not shown, and only the floor surface 11 of the container 1 is shown. The same is true for the other figures. After the door is opened, a slope device 2 is installed between the platform 8 and the container 1 (corner casting section 10).

[0022] 1, the front (driver's seat side of the trailer 9) is indicated by arrow X1, the rear is indicated by arrow X2, the up-down (vertical) direction is indicated by arrow Y, and in Fig. 2, the width direction of the slope device 2 is indicated by arrow Z. The same applies to the other figures.

[0023] (About containers) The container used in this embodiment is a container (sea container) with corner castings at the front and rear corners. Corner castings are structural elements that are hollow inside with long holes in the walls that communicate with the hollow, and are used to lift containers, connect containers to each other, and secure containers to the chassis of a trailer.

[0024] 2(A) shows the corner casting 10 at the lower left corner as viewed from the rear. The corner casting 10 is formed integrally with the corner of the underside 12 of the container 1 and has an upper surface 10a, a facing wall 10b facing the slope device 2 (FIG. 1), an outer surface 10d, an inner surface 10e, and a lower surface 10f. The interior of the corner casting 10 is a cavity 100.

[0025] The top surface 10a is lower than the floor surface 11 of the container 1, and a step surface (standing wall surface) 3 is formed by the height difference H1 between the top surface 10a and the floor surface 11. A long hole 10c is formed in the facing wall 10b, and as shown in Figure 2(B), the length L1 of the long hole 10c in one direction (vertical direction) is greater than the length L2 in the other direction (horizontal direction) perpendicular to the length L1, and the long hole 10c communicates with the cavity 100.

[0026] The corner casting 10 has slots formed not only in the slot 10c of the facing wall 10b but also in the outer surface 10d and the lower surface 10f, but these are not shown in the drawing.

[0027] (Regarding the slope device) As shown in Fig. 1, the slope device 2 includes a slope main body 20, legs 21, and a displacement member 22. A pair of legs 21 and a pair of displacement members 22 are provided on both sides in the width direction (depth direction on the paper). Because the slope device 2 has the same shape and structure on both sides in the width direction, the shape and structure of the left side as viewed from the front will be described below as a representative example.

[0028] The ramp body 20 is made of, for example, a checkered steel plate with a thickness of approximately 16 mm, and has an inclined portion 20a and a flat portion 20b. The flat portion 20b is located forward of the inclined portion 20a and intersects with the inclined portion 20a. In other words, the flat portion 20b extends approximately horizontally with the ground 7, and the inclined portion 20a extends obliquely from the rear end of the flat portion 20b toward the platform 8.

[0029] The leg portion 21 is provided at the tip portion 201 of the flat portion 20b and placed on the upper surface 10a (FIG. 2) of the corner casting 10. The leg portion 21 is formed, for example, as a protrusion having a rectangular cross section and is in surface contact with the upper surface 10a, but is not limited to this shape.

[0030] The displacement member 22 is supported on the flat portion 20b so as to be displaceable forward and backward. As shown in Fig. 3, the displacement member 22 has a hook portion 221 on the front end side and an operating portion 222 on the rear end side. The hook portion 221 and the operating portion 222 are connected to each other by an intermediate shaft portion 223.

[0031] In this embodiment, displacement member 22 is made of a single piece of round steel, and is bent at the front and rear ends of intermediate shaft portion 223 to form hook portion 221 and operating portion 222. Hook portion 221 and operating portion 222 extend parallel to each other in a direction intersecting the direction in which intermediate shaft portion 223 extends (front-rear direction X). In addition, the length of operating portion 222 is formed to be longer than the length of hook portion 221.

[0032] The flat portion 20b has a guide portion 24 that guides the forward and backward displacement of the intermediate shaft portion 223. The guide portion 24 includes a pair of guide plates (a front guide plate portion 241 and a rear guide plate portion 242) that are spaced apart in the front-to-rear direction. Both guide plates 241, 242 extend downward from the underside of the flat portion 20b, and are connected to each other at their lower ends via a lower plate portion 243 and on their insides via an inner plate portion 244. In addition, a fall prevention plate portion 246 (described later) is formed integrally with the rear guide plate portion 242.

[0033] The front guide plate portion 241 and the rear guide plate portion 242 have a through hole 241a and a through hole 242a, respectively. Both the through holes 241a and 242a penetrate in the front-rear direction, and the intermediate shaft portion 223 is inserted therethrough. Therefore, the displacement member 22 can move back and forth and rotate while being supported by the guide portion 24.

[0034] The intermediate shaft 223 between the front and rear guide plates 241, 242 has a fixed flange 223a, a movable flange 223b, and an elastic member 223c provided between the fixed flange 223a and the movable flange 223b. The elastic member 223c is, for example, a compression spring or rubber.

[0035] The movable flange 223b is located between the fixed flange 223a and the rear guide plate portion 242, and is provided so as to be movable back and forth relative to the intermediate shaft portion 223. The diameter of the movable flange 223b is larger than the diameter of the through-hole 242a of the rear guide plate portion 242.

[0036] A notch 23 capable of holding the operating part 222 is formed in the side part 204 of the inclined part 20a of the slope main body 20. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 4, when the operating part 222 is pulled rearward along the side part 204, the operating part 222 is caught in the notch 23. In the state in which the operating part 222 is caught in the notch 23 (the position in which the displacement member 22 is displaced rearward), the elastic member 223c is compressed in the front-rear direction.

[0037] That is, when the elastic member 223c is compressed between the fixed flange 223a and the movable flange 223b and a biasing force is applied forward, the operating part 222 is hooked in the notch 23, thereby maintaining the hooked state of the operating part 222. With the operating part 222 maintained in the notch 23, the slope device 2 can be easily moved and installed.

[0038] (Regarding fixing of slope devices) An example of a method for fixing the slope device 2 to the corner casting 10 at the lower left corner as viewed from the rear will be described below. In Figures 6 and 7, the underside 12 of the container including the corner casting 10 is shown by a two-dot chain line (phantom line) to show the behavior of the hooking portion 221.

[0039] First, as shown in Fig. 5, with the operating part 222 hooked into the notch 23, the leg 21 of the flat part 20b is placed on the upper surface 10a of the corner casting 10. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 9, the flat part 20b is placed so that the tip surface 203 abuts (is in surface contact with) the step surface 3. The height H2 of the leg 21 is set so that the upper surface of the flat part 20b and the floor surface 11 of the container 1 are approximately flush with each other.

[0040] Since the height H3 of the chassis 91 varies slightly depending on the manufacturer, depending on the chassis, the tip surface 203 and the step surface 3 may not be parallel to each other, and they may be in line contact rather than surface contact. In other words, the height H2 of the leg 21 is set so that at least a part of the tip surface 203 is in contact with the step surface 3.

[0041] 5 shows a state in which the hook portion 221 is in a retracted position where it has not entered the elongated hole 10c. From this state, the operating portion 222 is removed from the notch 23 and pushed forward to insert the hook portion 221 into the elongated hole 10c. In other words, when the displacement member 22 is displaced forward by the pushing operation of the operating portion 222, the hook portion 221 enters the cavity 100 from the elongated hole 10c.

[0042] Since the through holes 241a, 242a of the front and rear guide plate portions 241, 242 are positioned to overlap the elongated hole 10c in the width direction and height direction, the hook portion 221 is smoothly guided into the elongated hole 10c.

[0043] Fig. 6 shows a state in which hook portion 221 has entered cavity 100 through elongated hole 10c. In this state, operating portion 222 is rotated counterclockwise. As shown in Fig. 7, by rotating operating portion 222, hook portion 221 in cavity 100 also rotates and changes its position so that it is caught in elongated hole 10c.

[0044] That is, first, as shown in Fig. 8(A), the hooking portion 221, which is shorter than the vertical length of the elongated hole 10c (reference symbol L1 in Fig. 2(B)), passes through the elongated hole 10c and enters the cavity 100. In this entered state, as shown in Fig. 8(B), the hooking portion 221 is rotated and tilted horizontally. Because the length of the hooking portion 221 is greater than the horizontal length of the elongated hole 10c (reference symbol L2 in Fig. 2(B)), by the simple operation of rotating the hooking portion 221, the hooking portion 221 is positioned so as to be hooked onto the elongated hole 10c.

[0045] In this embodiment, operation is easy because operation portion 222 is longer than hook portion 221. Furthermore, because operation portion 222 and hook portion 221 extend parallel to each other, the orientation of operation portion 222 and the orientation of hook portion 221 are the same, and it can be instantly determined from the orientation of operation portion 222 whether or not hook portion 221 in cavity 100 is in an orientation that allows it to be hooked onto elongated hole 10c.

[0046] 7, the distance α2 between the rear end 246a of the fall prevention plate 246 and the operating part 222 is smaller than the distance α1 between the tip surface 21a of the leg 21 and the rear end of the upper surface 10a of the corner casting 10. Therefore, even if the slope main body 20 of the slope device 2 shifts rearward while the hooking part 221 is hooked into the elongated hole 10c, the fall prevention plate 246 will come into contact with the operating part 222 before the leg 21 falls from the upper surface 10a, preventing the slope device 2 from falling from the container 1.

[0047] The slope device of the present invention utilizes the long hole 10c in the corner casting portion 10 of the container 1, allowing the slope device 2 to be fixed and released to the container 1 by a simple action of moving the displacement member 22 back and forth and rotating it.

[0048] (Other configurations of the slope device) 1, i.e., at the rear end 202 of the inclined portion 20a, a guide panel 4 shown in FIG. 10 may be attached (not shown in FIG. 1). The inclined portion 20a and the guide panel 4 are connected to each other, for example, by a hinge 40, and the guide panel 4 can rotate in a direction in which it overlaps with the inclined portion 20a.

[0049] The height H3 of the chassis 91 of the trailer 9 varies slightly depending on the manufacturer, so if the chassis 91 is taller, the inclination of the inclined portion 20a relative to the floor surface may become slightly greater. Even in this case, the guide panel 4 can soften the inclination, allowing forklifts and other work vehicles to enter smoothly.

[0050] 11 may be provided on the inclined portion 20a at the location surrounded by the symbol B in FIG. 1. The claw receiving handle portion 5 is rotatable relative to the inclined portion 20a and is stored in a storage hole 50 during loading and unloading operations. When moving the slope device 2, the claw receiving handle portion 5 is raised and the forks of the forklift are hooked onto the claw receiving handle portion 5 to lift the slope device 2. If a guide panel 4 is provided at the rear end portion 202 of the inclined portion 20a, the guide panel 4 is folded to lift the slope device 2. By folding the guide panel 4, the slope device 2 can be lifted closer to the base end of the forks, improving stability.

[0051] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments. Various modifications and variations can be made to the illustrated embodiments within the same scope as the present invention or within an equivalent scope.

[0052] For example, in the embodiment, the vertical length of the slot is greater than the horizontal length, but this relationship may be reversed.

[0053] Furthermore, the fall prevention plate 246 may not be provided, and the displacement member 22 may be formed with dimensions such that the operating portion 222 and the rear guide plate 242 are close to each other when the hook portion 221 is in the hooking position.

[0054] Furthermore, the hook portion 221 and the operating portion 222 may be formed so as to be at slightly different positions from each other in the circumferential direction of the intermediate shaft portion 223.

[0055] Furthermore, although the container shown in the figure is generally called a sea container, the present invention is not limited to sea containers, and it is sufficient if there are holes and cavities at both the left and right ends of the underside of the container into which the hook part can be inserted and rotated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 1 container, 10 corner casting part, 10a upper surface, 10b facing wall, 10c elongated hole, 11 floor surface, 2 slope device, 20 slope body, 201 tip part, 202 rear end part, 204 side part, 20a inclined part, 20b flat part, 21 leg part, 22 displacement member, 221 hook part, 222 operation part, 223 intermediate shaft part, 223a fixed flange, 223b moving flange, 223c elastic member, 24 guide part, 241 front guide plate part, 242 rear guide plate part, 241a, 242a through hole, 246 fall prevention plate part, 3 step surface, 4 guide panel, 40 hinge, 5 claw receiving handle part, 50 storage hole, 7 ground, 8 platform, 9 trailer, 91 chassis, 92 Tire, 100 Cavities

Claims

1. A slope device for a container having a hollow corner casting at a lower corner thereof, the corner casting having an upper surface that is lower than the floor of the container, an opposing wall on the side facing the slope device, and a long hole formed in the opposing wall, the long hole having a length in one direction greater than a length in another direction perpendicular thereto, the long hole communicating with the hollow; The slope device is a slope body having an inclined portion and a flat portion that intersects with the inclined portion forward of the inclined portion; a leg portion provided at a tip end of the flat portion and placed on an upper surface of the corner casting; a displacement member supported on the flat portion so as to be displaceable forward and backward, the displacement member having a hook portion on a front end side and an operating portion on a rear end side, When the displacement member is displaced forward by the pushing operation of the operating portion, the latch portion enters the cavity of the elongated hole, In the inserted state, the operating unit can be rotated to change the position of the latching portion so that it is hooked onto the long hole.

2. 2. The slope device according to claim 1, wherein the length of the hook portion is greater than the length of the elongated hole in the other direction and is smaller than the length of the elongated hole in the one direction.

3. the displacement member includes an intermediate shaft portion connecting the hook portion and the operation portion, The slope device according to claim 2 , wherein the hook portion and the operating portion extend parallel to each other in a direction intersecting with the direction in which the intermediate shaft portion extends.

4. The slope device according to claim 3 , wherein the length of the operating portion is greater than the length of the hooking portion.

5. The slope device according to claim 4, wherein a notch capable of holding the operating part is formed in a side portion of the inclined part when the hook part is in a retracted position where it is not inserted into the elongated hole.

6. The slope device according to claim 5 , wherein the flat portion has a guide portion that guides the forward and backward displacement of the intermediate shaft portion.

7. the guide portion includes a pair of guide plate portions spaced apart in the front-rear direction, the guide plate portion has a through hole through which the intermediate shaft portion passes, the intermediate shaft portion between the pair of guide plate portions includes a fixed flange, a movable flange located between the fixed flange and the rear guide plate portion and movable back and forth relative to the intermediate shaft portion, and an elastic member provided between the fixed flange and the movable flange, 7. The slope device according to claim 6, wherein when the displacement member is in a rearwardly displaced position, the operating portion is hooked onto the notch, and this state is maintained by the biasing force of the elastic member.

8. A slope device as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the height of the leg is set so that at least a portion of the tip surface of the flat portion contacts the step surface between the floor surface of the container and the upper surface of the corner casting portion.

9. The slope device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a guide panel that is rotatable relative to the inclined portion is attached to the rear end of the inclined portion.

10. 10. The ramp device of claim 9, wherein said ramp portion houses a pair of pawl-receiving handle portions that are rotatable relative to said ramp portion.

11. a step of installing a slope device having hook portions on both sides in a width direction in a container having hollow corner casting portions at lower corners; inserting the hook portion into a hole in the corner casting portion that is formed on a side facing the slope device and communicates with the cavity; A method for installing a slope device, comprising: a step of changing the posture of the hooking portion after the inserting step so that the hooking portion is hooked into the hole.

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