Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02886025 2015-03-25
HARD OPEN TOP CONTAINER AND TOP COVER LIFTING APPLIANCE
Technical Field
= 5 The disclosure generally relates to a container, and particularly
relates to a hard open top
container and a top cover lifting appliance.
Background
Generally, an integral type hard top cover container in related art includes a
container
body and a top cover. Currently, the top cover of the container is locked or
released by a top
cover lock mounted on a side of the container body of the container. In
general, this is done by
opening a connection lock between the top cover and the container body firstly
by an operator
on the ground or using a ladder, and then lifting and transporting the top
cover of the container
by a forklift or a crane by means of fork pockets or a hanger plate on the top
cover of the
container.
A lifting appliance in the prior art is inconvenient, since opening and
lifting the top cover
of the container relates to two separated steps.
The above-mentioned information disclosed in the background is only used for
enhancing
the understanding to the background of the disclosure. Therefore, it may
include information
which is not the prior art known by the person skilled in the art.
Summary
The technical problem to be solved by this disclosure is to provide a hard
open top
container and a top cover lifting appliance, aiming to the defects existing in
the hard open top
container in the prior art.
The disclosure provides technical solutions aiming to the above technical
problem.
According to one aspect of the disclosure, a hard open top container is
provided. The hard
open top container includes a container body, a top cover, at least one top
cover lock, and at
least one lifting device. The top cover is covered on a top end portion of the
container body; the
at least one top cover lock is mounted on the top cover, for locking the top
cover and the
container body, a lower portion of the top cover lock being provided with a
lock hook which
may be fastened to the container body, an upper portion of the top cover lock
being rotatably
connected to the top cover, a trailing end of the upper portion of the top
cover lock being
provided with a lock pressing handle which can rotate the top cover lock to
separate the lock
CA 02886025 2015-03-25
hook from the container body; the at least one lifting device is provided on
the top cover, for
lifting the top cover.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the top cover lock have an
inverted "L"
shape.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the lifting device is a top
cover lifting
component or a top cover lifting hole.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the top cover lifting component
and the top
cover lock are integrated with each other.
According to another aspect of the disclosure, a top cover lifting appliance
for the hard
open top container is provided. The top cover lifting appliance comprises a
lifter head, a lifting
hook, and an actuating mechanism. The lifter head is disposed at a lower
portion of the top
cover lifting appliance, and can act on a lock pressing handle of a top cover
lock in order to
rotate the top cover lock and separate a lock hook from a container body; the
lifting hook being
rotatably disposed on the top cover lifting appliance, and can act on a
lifting device of a top
cover; the actuating mechanism being connected to a trailing end of the
lifting hook, in order to
push the lifting hook to hook up or separate from the lifting device.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the actuating mechanism is a
manual,
electric or hydraulic actuating mechanism.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a top portion of the top cover
lifting
appliance is provided with a connecting device.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the connecting device is fork
pockets
operated by a forklift and/or a hanger plate operated by a crane.
The hard open top container according to the disclosure has at least one of
following
advantages comparing with the prior art:
1. The top cover of the hard open top container may be opened by a matched top
cover
lifting appliance, thereby the step of opening locks by manual work is
omitted; and both opening
the locks and lifting the top cover are done in sequence by operating the top
cover lifting
appliance, thus the efficiency of opening the top cover is improved.
2. When mineral powder and dangerous goods are loaded on and transported by
the hard
open top container, it is unnecessary for operators on the ground to open the
locks and transport
the top cover, which is time-saving, labor-saving, safe and reliable.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The contents shown in the drawings of the description and the reference signs
in the
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drawings will be depicted briefly.
Fig. 1 is a structural schematic view of a first embodiment of a hard open top
container
and a top cover lifting appliance according to the disclosure;
Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the first embodiment of the hard open top
container and the
top cover lifting appliance according to the disclosure when a lock is opened
by a forklift;
Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the first embodiment of the hard open top
container and the
top cover lifting appliance according to the disclosure when a top cover is
lifted by the forklift;
Fig. 4 is a structural schematic view of a second embodiment of the hard open
top
container and the top cover lifting appliance according to the disclosure;
Fig. 5 is a schematic view of the second embodiment of the hard open top
container and
the top cover lifting appliance according to the disclosure when the lock is
opened by a crane;
and
Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the second embodiment of the hard open top
container and
the top cover lifting appliance according to the disclosure when the top cover
is lifted by the
crane.
Wherein, the reference signs are described as follows:
1 container body, 2 top cover, 3 top cover lock, 31 lock hook, 32 lock pin
shaft, 33 lock
pressing handle, 4 top cover lifting component, 5 lifter head, 6 lifting hook,
7 actuating
mechanism, 8 fork pocket, 9 hanger plate.
Detailed Description
The example embodiments now will be described in details with reference to the
accompanying drawings. However, the example embodiments can be implemented in
various
manners without being construed as limiting to the embodiments stated herein.
Rather, the
embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will be comprehensive and
complete, and the
conceptions of the example embodiments will be conveyed to the person skilled
in the art
completely. The same reference numbers will indicate the same or similar
structures in the
drawings, detailed descriptions of which will not be repeated consequently.
Hard Open Top Container
As shown in Figs. 1 to 6, an embodiment of a hard open top container according
to the
disclosure includes a container body 1, a top cover 2 for covering a top end
portion of the
container body 1, at least one top cover lock 3 and at least one lifting
device.
In an embodiment, the top cover lock 3 may be mounted at a side of the top
cover 2 for
locking the container body 1 and the top cover 2. The top cover lock 3 may
have an inverted "L"
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shape, but is not limited thereto.
A lower portion of the top cover lock 3 may be provided with a lock hook 31,
which may
be fastened to the container body 1 and may be hooked up the container body 1
from below. An
upper portion of the top cover lock 3 may be rotatably connected to the top
cover 2, for example,
by a pin shaft 32. A trailing end of the upper portion of the top cover lock 3
may be provided
with a lock pressing handle 33 which may be rotated by an action of a top
cover lifting
appliance, and then the lock hook 31 is separated from the container body 1.
The lifting device may be arranged at a side of the top cover 2 in order to
lift the top cover
2. The lifting device includes a top cover lifting component 4 which may be
hooked by a lifting
hook 6 of the top cover lifting appliance and a seat (not shown) for fixing
the top cover lifting
component 4. In other embodiments, the top cover lifting component 4 may be
replaced by a
structure, such as a top cover lifting hole. The lifting device and the top
cover lock 3 on the top
cover 2 may be arranged separately or integrally as a whole. In an embodiment,
the top cover
lifting component 4 may be arranged at a corner of the "L" shaped top cover
lock 3.
Embodiment 1 of Top Cover Lifting Appliance
As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a first embodiment of a top cover lifting
appliance according
to the disclosure is used for a hard open top container. The first embodiment
of the top cover
lifting appliance includes a lifter head 5, a lifting hook 6, an actuating
mechanism 7 and a
connecting device.
The lifter head 5 may be disposed at a lower portion of the top cover lifting
appliance, and
may act on a lock pressing handle 33 of the top cover lock 3 in order to
rotate the top cover lock
3 and separate the lock hook 31 from the container body 1.
The lifting hook 6 may be rotatably disposed on the top cover lifting
appliance, and may be
situated on a side of the lifter head 5. The lifting hook 6 may have a
function of hooking the top
cover lifting component 4 on the top cover 2.
The actuating mechanism 7 may be connected to a trailing end of the lifting
hook 6, in
order to pull and push the lifting hook 6 to hook up and separate from the
lifting device. The
actuating mechanism 7 may be driven by a manual, electric or hydraulic
actuating mechanism,
such as an air cylinder or an oil cylinder.
A connecting device may be disposed at a top portion of the top cover lifting
appliance. In
an embodiment, the connecting device is a fork pocket 8 operated by a
forklift.
As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the first embodiment of the top cover lifting
appliance
according to the disclosure may open the top cover lock 3 and lift the top
cover 2 by cooperating
with the hard open top container according to the disclosure. The relevant
operation steps are
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explained as follows.
A forklift 10 may be operated by an operator to extend prongs A of the
forklift 10 into the
fork pockets 8 of the top cover lifting appliance; the top cover lifting
appliance is lifted up to a
place right above the hard open top container; the actuating mechanism 7, such
as a piston rod
of an air cylinder, is retracted to rotate the lifting hook 6 so as to open a
lower end portion of the
lifting hook 6 outwardly; the top cover lifting appliance is lowered, and the
lifter head 5 on the
top cover lifting appliance presses down the lock pressing handle 33, so that
the top cover lock 3
is rotated to separate the lock hook 31 from the container body 1 and release
the top cover 2; the
piston rod of the air cylinder is extended out to move the lifting hook 6
inwardly so that the
lower end thereof hooks up the top cover lifting component 4; the forklift 10
is operated to lift
up the prongs A, so as to separate the top cover lifting appliance and the top
cover 2 from the
container body I
In the first embodiment, the actions of opening the top cover of the hard open
top container
and lifting the top cover both are operated by the forklift. The top cover is
transported via a
conventional lifting operation thereafter without any other operators on the
ground. Therefore,
this is time-saving, labor-saving, safe and reliable.
Embodiment 2 of Top Cover Lifting Appliance
As shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, a second embodiment of a top cover lifting
appliance
according to the disclosure is substantially similar with the first embodiment
of the top cover
lifting appliance according to the disclosure except that:
The connecting device may be a hanger plate 9 operated by a crane, and the
hanger plate 9
may be detachable.
Other parts of the second embodiment of the top cover lifting appliance will
not be
explained further, since they are the same as those in the first embodiment.
As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the second embodiment of the top cover lifting
appliance
according to the disclosure may open the top cover lock 3 and lift the top
cover 2 by cooperating
with the hard open top container according to the disclosure. The relevant
operation steps are
explained as follows.
The crane is connected with the hanger plate 9, and the crane is operated to
lift the hanger
plate 9 and the top cover lifting appliance up to a place right above the hard
open top container;
the actuating mechanism 7, such as a piston rod of an air cylinder, is
retracted to rotate the
lifting hook 6 and open a lower end portion thereof outwardly; the top cover
lifting appliance is
lowered, and the lifter head 5 on the top cover lifting appliance presses down
the lock pressing
handle 33, while the top cover lock 3 is rotated to separate the lock hook 31
from the container
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body 1 and release the top cover 2; the actuating mechanism 7, such as a
piston rod of an air
cylinder, is extended to rotate the lifting hook 6 so that the lower end
thereof hooks up the top
cover lifting component 4; the crane is operated to lift the hanger plate 9,
so as to separate the
top cover lifting appliance and the top cover 2 from the container body 1 of
the container.
In the second embodiment, the actions of opening the top cover of the hard
open top
container and lifting the top cover both are operated by the crane. The top
cover is transported
via a conventional lifting operation thereafter without any other operators on
the ground.
Therefore, this is time-saving, labor-saving, safe and reliable.
In the disclosure, the top cover lock 3 may be automatically opened by the top
cover lifting
appliance at the same time rather than opened by manual work. After this, the
top cover lifting
appliance hooks up the lifting device mounted on the top cover 2
automatically. Thus, opening
the locks and lifting the top cover 2 are done in sequence, which improves the
efficiency of
opening the top cover.
Industrial Applicability
Using the hard open top container and the top cover lifting appliance fitted
thereto
according to the disclosure, opening the lock and transporting the top cover
are implemented by
operating the forklift or the crane, which is time-saving, labor-saving, safe
and reliable. In
particular, there is no need for operators on the ground in the disclosure,
thus the disclosure is
particularly adapted to such a situation that the operators on the ground are
prohibited in
=consideration of the safety, such as transporting mineral powder or dangerous
goods by using a
hard open top container.
The example embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated and described
in detail
herein. It is appreciated that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed
embodiments, but
intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements that are
contained in the
spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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