Private pallet-box cargo shipping system
A cargo transportation system comprising secure (fully closeable and lockable), sealable, stackable, trackable, universal, auto-latching “pallet boxes” that may be used in two main ways: 1) secured to the undercarriage transverse I-beams of over-the-road semi-trailers by means of loading alignment and hanger assemblies that provide positive locking-in-place; and 2) stackable, up to three or more high, inside the trailer bodies. The inventive pallet boxes are designed to be secured by auto-latching hanger assemblies that are retrofittable on individual types of semi-trailer undercarriages, both US and metric (European, Central and South American, and Asian) standard dimensions. The pallet boxes include vertical sidewall load-bearing channel members permitting stacking fully-loaded pallet boxes three or more high. The pallet boxes may be refrigerated, insulated, or atmospherically controlled, e.g., chargeable with preservative, security or disinfecting gases, during shipping.
1. A high security pallet box container for shipment and warehousing of goods, documentary materials and agricultural products comprising in operative combination:
a) a unitary bin having two pairs of opposed, spaced generally planar side walls and a bottom, said bin being constructed of material of strength sufficient to carry the weight of at least two fully loaded bins stacked on top of it;
b) said bottom including feet providing four-way forklift access thereunder;
c) a generally planar, openable lid including a margin having a lip for engaging said walls;
d) an external structural skeleton of flat steel strap members and vertical side wall members secured to said bin, comprising top strap members extending across said lid and bottom strap members extending across said bottom;
e) said external skeleton including vertical side wall members connected to said top and bottom strap members, said vertical side wall members include channel portions having load carrying hanger-engaging members for carrying the loaded weight of said bin, said load carrying members being disposed in association with said channel portions below said lid lip;
f) said top portion of said structural skeleton includes retaining members for engaging cooperatingly-aligned receiving elements on at least one vertical side member of said structural skeleton for locking said lid to said side wall structural skeleton member;
g) said structural skeleton members that extend vertically down said sides and under said bottom provide a continuous sling structure for carrying the suspended weight of said bin; and
h) said bin and external structural skeleton are adapted for stackability and security, and said load-carrying members provide for substantially quick-release support and retention to the undercarriage I-beams of a truck trailer for under-slung transport.
2. Container as in claim 1 wherein said lid and said top structural members include hinges on one side.
3. Container as in claim 2 said load carrying members include a generally horizontal pin spanning the walls of said channel portions.
4. Container as in claim 3 wherein at least one of said retaining members includes a hole and said receiving element is a locking pin.
5. Container as in claim 3 wherein said channel-shaped portions extend vertically from adjacent the top of the lid of the bin to the bottom of the feet of the bin.
6. Container as in claim 1 wherein at least one gases input/exhaust port is provided in at least one of said walls, said lid and said bottom, and said container walls or lid includes a hermetic sealing element so that container can by at least partly evacuated or pressurized with a special, selected gas atmosphere.
7. Container as in claim 1 wherein at least one side wall of said bin includes at least a partial door for easy access to the interior of said bin and said lid includes recesses to receive the feet of a bin stacked thereon.
8. Container as in claim 1 wherein said bin walls and floor are integral.
9. Container as in claim 8 wherein said bin is constructed of high strength polymeric material, and said receiving element includes an electronic lock that includes functions selected from at least one of permitting unlocking only by approved keys, tracking when the lock is opened and how long the lock stays open.
10. Container as in claim 1 which includes at least one of a unique identification element and a location tracking device.