U.S. patent application number 10/444615 was filed with the patent office on 2003-12-18 for connection device for use with a blast-resistant container.
Invention is credited to An, Chao-Chyun, Hsu, Chuang-Chieh, Teng, Buh-Shiuh, Wang, Feng-Ho, Wang, Ming-Jong.
Application Number | 20030230589 10/444615 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29708725 |
Filed Date | 2003-12-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030230589 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wang, Ming-Jong ; et
al. |
December 18, 2003 |
Connection device for use with a blast-resistant container
Abstract
A connection device for use with a blast-resistant container
includes a frame with a recess, and a connecting member. An arcuate
surface is formed on the outside of the opening of the recess. The
connecting member is connected to the frame at one end with a head
engaged in the recess and connected to a side panel at the other
end. Thus, this connection device can transmit strong membrane
force between each two panels of a container and meet the
connection requirement of a blast-resistant container. When there
is a blast, the connection device is able to confine the blast
within the container for that the maximum strain of the plastic
hinge in the connecting member can be controlled by the curvature
of that arcuate surface formed on the frame.
Inventors: |
Wang, Ming-Jong; (Taoyuan
Hsien, TW) ; An, Chao-Chyun; (Hsinchu, TW) ;
Teng, Buh-Shiuh; (Taichung Hsien, TW) ; Hsu,
Chuang-Chieh; (Taipei, TW) ; Wang, Feng-Ho;
(Tou-Liu City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Rosenthal & Osha L.L.P.
One Houston Center
Suite 2800
1221 McKinney Street
Houston
TX
77010
US
|
Family ID: |
29708725 |
Appl. No.: |
10/444615 |
Filed: |
May 23, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/682 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 90/325 20130101;
B65D 88/14 20130101; F42B 39/14 20130101; B65D 90/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/682 |
International
Class: |
B65D 006/08; B65D
006/10; B65D 006/28; B65D 008/04; B65D 008/18; B65D 090/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 27, 2002 |
TW |
091207664 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A connection device for use with a blast-resistant container
comprising: a first panel having an edge; a connecting member which
connects to said panel edge at one edge of itself, a head being
formed at the other edge of this connecting member; a frame having
a recess which hold said head of said connecting member, the
outside opening of said recess being shaped as an arcuate surface;
and a second panel having an edge which connects to said frame,
thereby when the blast is happened inside a container, said
connecting member can be held effectively in said recess of said
frame and deform along said arcuate surface of the outside opening
of said recess such that the maximum plastic strain is under the
control of the curvature of said arcuate surface to avoid the main
failure effect from the bending stress near the edge of a container
panel. Thus, this connection device can transmit strong membrane
force between each two panels of a container and meet the
connection requirement of a blast-resistant container. And the
blast can be confined in the inside of the blast-resistant
container.
2. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame
has an engaging portion connected to said second panel.
3. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein
additionally comprises: a second connecting member which connects
to said second panel edge at one edge of itself, a second head
being formed at the other edge of this connecting member; and a
second recess in said frame, which hold said second head of said
second connecting member, the outside opening of said second recess
being shaped as an arcuate surface, thus said second panel is also
connected to said frame.
4. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame
uses reinforced ribs to reduce the weight.
5. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said head
of said connecting member is formed by L shaped with a lip.
6. The connection device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said lip of
said L shaped head extends outwardly from the elbow of said
connecting member.
7. The connection device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said lip of
said L shaped head extends inwardly from the elbow of said
connecting member.
8. The connection device as claimed in claim 7, roller assemblies
are installed to the bottom of said recess of said frame, thus, the
panel sliding on this frame can be used as a door.
9. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame
is manufactured by extrusion.
10. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
connecting member is manufactured by extrusion.
11. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
connecting member is made of stainless steel.
12. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
connecting member is made of aluminum alloy with high
toughness.
13. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame
is made of metal.
14. The connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said metal
is aluminum alloy.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a connection device of a
container, and more particularly to a connection device for use
with the blast-resistant container. The present invention connect
one frame to its adjacent panels in this container, and it can not
only transmit strong membrane force between two panels to meet the
connection requirement of a blast-resistant container, but also
especially admits one panel relatively moving to the frame.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] A container is usually a box-shaped or nearly box-shaped
structure. According to analysis and experiments, the
blast-resistant container need to undertake the blast pressure much
greater than the payloads of the conventional container overall.
When the explosives explode inside, the container will deform
tending to spherical shape unavoidably if its weight is limited for
real use. Hence, they are very important both the extremely using
the membrane strength of all panels of the container and the
allowing of the bending rotation between the panels and their
connectors(frames) on the surrounding edges of the container.
Moreover, it may still make a serious problem if in practice one or
some panels of a container have to be strongly supported or only
one of two panels beside a frame can be expanded freely. The
present invention is mainly to those important problems of a
blast-resistant container.
[0005] For example, an air cargo container must comprise strong and
rigid enough frames, which can undertake the side restraint
loadings for fixing the container on the deck of an airplane, on
the perimeter of its bottom panel. The bottom perimeter frames are
also a connection device between side panels and bottom panel of
the container. And its bottom panel is strongly supported by the
deck on an airplane, but the other panels of the container can
expand freely.
[0006] However, if the air cargo container does not have a
strengthened design about the bottom perimeter frames connecting
the side panels and bottom panel to resist an explosive blast, it
is very easy to failure for the bottom panel separating with its
adjacent side panels under the explosive blast. Even all the panels
of the air cargo container are high membrane strength enough! There
are two reasons to induce the former description. Firstly, the
higher rigidity of bottom perimeter frames causes the difficult of
relative rotation between the frame and side panel. Secondly, the
explosive pressure cause all panels but bottom panel deform to
outside, because it can be transmitted to the deck of an airplane
or ground directly. Therefore, even the strengthened connection
device, which can transmit membrane forces effectively between
panels (except bottom panel and its adjacent panels), may not work
well for bottom panel and its adjacent panels.
[0007] Over a decade, airplanes have become a primary target for
terrorist attack, and many people have lost their lives in plane
crashes due to terrorist bombs attached in checked baggage. To
prevent those tragedies from happening, a lot of efforts have been
made in the field of blast-resistant containers. Recently, because
of the bomb threat to the airliners by terrorists and the 911
suicide attack to the Twin Tower in New York City, U.S.A. Countries
are devoting their researches on flight safety. Hence, a
blast-resistant container becomes important and is extremely
popular in the market. This kind of blast resistant container is
also popular in the transportation and the storage business.
[0008] According to the blast test of a blast-resistant air cargo
container, it is one of the typical failure modes for the bottom
panel separating with its adjacent side panels under the explosive
blast. This is because of too great stress mainly contributed from
the great bending stress happened in the concurrence of bottom
frame and side panels.
[0009] In order to overcome such problem, some blast-resistant
container (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,112,913 and 6,237,793) use the
connecting members which extends upward some length directly from
bottom perimeter frames to combine with the side panels of this
container. It is a possible way to solve this problem; because the
directly extended connecting members may soften the rotation
stiffness between the bottom perimeter frames and the down edges of
side panels. But it is not a reliable mechanism. The position and
the quantity of the most seriously bending strain in the connecting
member, which may cause the failure of a blast-resistant container,
is not under control.
[0010] To overcome those shortcomings, the present invention tends
to provide an improved, more reliable connection device that can
control the maximum strain of the plastic hinge in the connecting
member to mitigate and obviate the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] For the blast-resistant container, the present connection
device invention use a connecting member that is separated with a
rigid frame, not extending directly from the rigid frame, such that
the maximum strain of the plastic hinge in the connecting member
can be controlled by the curvature of an arcuate surface formed on
the frame under the explosive blast. Thus, this connection device
can transmit strong membrane force between each two panels of a
container and meet the connection requirement of a blast-resistant
container.
[0012] For example, the blast-resistant air cargo container
comprises bottom perimeter frames which are connectors of bottom
panel and its adjacent side panels and must be strong and rigid
enough to undertake the side restraint loadings for fixing the
container on the deck of an airplane. The present connection device
includes bottom perimeter frame and a connecting member for
connecting down edge of the side panel to the bottom panel. The
bottom perimeter frame has a recess and an arcuate surface formed
outside the recess.
[0013] By means of these, we provide a "soft connection" between
the side panels and the bottom panel which can be "opened" by the
mechanism of plastic hinge on the connecting member under a blast.
When the blast-resistant container is experiencing a blast, the
connection device is able to confine the blast within the container
for that the maximum strain of the plastic hinge in the connecting
member can be controlled by the curvature of that arcuate surface
formed on the frame.
[0014] Besides, being a connection device between side panels and
bottom panel, it can not only transmit strong membrane force
between them to meet the connection requirement of a
blast-resistant container, but also especially admits side panel
sliding along the bottom frame. Hence, base on this feature, the
side panel above this frame can be used as a sliding door for a
blast-resistant container.
[0015] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the connection device
applied to an air cargo blast-resistant container;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a side plan view of the large-curvature bottom
perimeter frame corresponding to the head of L shaped extended
outwardly;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the engagement between
the bottom perimeter frame in FIG. 2 and distal edges of side
panels before and after the blast;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a side plan view of the small-curvature bottom
perimeter frame corresponding to the head of L shaped extended
outwardly;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the engagement between
the bottom perimeter frame in FIG. 4 and distal edges of side
panels before and after the blast;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a side plan view of the bottom perimeter frame
corresponding to the head of a L shaped extended inwardly; and
[0022] FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the engagement between
the bottom perimeter frame in FIG. 6 and distal edges of side
panels before and after the blast.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0023] With reference to FIG. 1, an air cargo blast-resistant
container includes bottom perimeter frames (10) formed on a
peripheral edge of a bottom panel (not shown) of the
blast-resistant container. The bottom perimeter frames (10) are
used to connect the bottom panel to side panels (30). Each of the
side panels (30) has a connecting member (20) formed on a lower
portion of the side panel (30) to connect with the bottom perimeter
frame (10).
[0024] With reference to FIG. 2, the bottom perimeter frame (10)
has a recess (12). An arcuate surface (122) is formed the outside
of the opening (120) of the recess (12). Besides, the bottom
perimeter frame (10) has an engaging portion (126) extending from a
side of the bottom perimeter frame (10) to connect with the bottom
panel of the blast-resistant container. In order to reduce the
weight of the connection device, multiple reinforced ribs (128) are
formed inside the bottom perimeter frame (10) instead of the solid
frame.
[0025] With reference to FIG. 3, the bottom perimeter frame (10) is
combined with the side panel (30) through a connecting member (20).
One edge of the connecting member (20) connects to side panel (30),
and the other edge of this connecting member (20) is formed a head
to be held in the recess (12). The head of the connecting member
can be L shaped, T shaped (not shown), or the likes which embed in
the recess (120). The connection between the connecting member (20)
and the side panel (30) must transmit great tensile force therein.
The using of high strength bolts is preferable. The arrangement of
the bolts is the same as conventional method and well known in the
art. Detailed description thereof is omitted hereinafter. The frame
and connecting member can be manufactured by extrusion. The frame
is made of metal; aluminum alloy is preferred for lightweight. The
connecting member is made of high toughness metal, like stainless
steel, aluminum alloy with high toughness, for it can take loading
under a long-range plastic state without failure until its maximum
strain over its elongation strength.
[0026] When the blast-resistant container is experiencing a blast
and the side panel (30) is deformed relative to a bottom panel
(40), the blast pressure (P1) applied on a top surface of the
bottom panel (40) is counterbalanced by a counter-reaction force
(P2) on a bottom surface of the bottom panel (40). The side panel
(20) will be pushed by the blast pressure (P3) to engage with the
arcuate surface (122) and is bent according to the arcuate surface
(122). A plastic hinge is thus formed on controlled position and
the maximum deformation is controlled to prevent destruction of
overly bending. After the plastic deformation of the connecting
member, the membrane force between two panels on different sides of
connector, including bottom perimeter frame and connecting member,
can be transmit effectively.
[0027] When either different material or different thickness is
used on the connecting member (20), the curvature of the arcuate
surface (122) would be different. The smaller the elongation
strength or the larger the thickness, the smaller the curvature is
needed. And doing that can avoid the failure happened. Therefore,
FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show the connecting member (20') uses highly
elongation steel and the curvature is obviously smaller than the
design of aluminum with smaller elongation strength, shown in FIG.
4 and FIG. 5.
[0028] The head in the FIG. 3 has to be held in the recess (12) and
keeps the connecting member away from failure. Therefore, the
design of the head is very important. With reference to FIG. 3, the
head is L shaped with a lip and the lip of the L shaped extends
outwardly from its elbow. This is because when the blast is
happened, the pressure faces outward and makes the upper of L
shaped deform to outward and that lets the tip of the lip contact
the bottom of the recess tighter and tighter. This avoids the head
to be stretched straightly automatically and the head would be kept
in the recess safely. Besides, the elbow of the connecting member
would be pulled up to contact the upper of the recess by the great
tensile force transmitted from a side panel. Comparing two contact
forces: the upper contact force is with smaller arm and greater
magnitude of force, the direction of the lower contact force is on
the contrary with the upper contact force, results that the bending
moment in the neighbor of elbow is not very great. Therefore, the
thickness of the lip is not necessary great and can be designed
nearly the thickness of its upper of L shaped. When the head is L
shaped which lip extends inwardly, it would be drawn out without
strengthened design. Because the lip extends inwardly, the blasting
pressure would pull the connecting member(20") straightly, like a
wire, which makes the connecting member drawn out. In order to
avoid this problem, the lip has to become a big block which is much
thicker than original design in order to avoid to be stretched
straightly, shown in FIG. 7. This block can help the connecting
member to securely hold in the recess. This type of head would not
touch the bottom of the recess, rather than L outwardly type, when
the blast is happened. Because the great membrane forces of panels
will pull up the connecting member and the head will contact
tightly to the upper of the recess. Therefore, it is allowable to
install roller on the frame (not shown) and the side panel above
this frame can be used as a door.
[0029] The bottom perimeter frame (10") corresponding to the head
of a big block is shown in FIG. 6. The bottom perimeter frame (10")
has a recess (12"). An arcuate surface (122") is formed the outside
of the opening (120") of the recess (12"). Besides, the bottom
perimeter frame (10") has an engaging portion (126") extending from
a side of the bottom perimeter frame (10") to connect with the
bottom panel of the blast-resistant container. In order to reduce
the weight of the connection device, multiple reinforced ribs
(128") are formed inside the bottom perimeter frame (10") instead
of the solid frame.
[0030] When the blast-resistant container is experiencing a blast
and the side panel (30") is deformed relative to a bottom panel
(40"), the blast pressure (P1")) applied on a top face of the
bottom panel (40") is counterbalanced by a counter-reaction force
(P2") on a bottom surface of the bottom panel (40"). The side panel
(20") will be pushed by the blast pressure (P3") to engage with the
arcuate surface (122") and is bent according to the arcuate surface
(122"). A plastic hinge is thus formed and the maximum deformation
is controlled to prevent destruction by overly bending.
[0031] It is concluded from the foregoing that the connection
between the distal edges of the side panels (through the connecting
members) and the bottom perimeter frame (12) provides a clearance
and low rotation stiffness of the connecting member to allow the
cside panel to rotate relatively to the rigid frame when
experiencing a blast. Therefore, damage from the rotation
destruction is prevented. I.e., the adaptable deformable plastic
hinge of the connecting member avoids the direct failure of over
stress (including the bending stress) due to the overly stiffness
of rotation.
[0032] The connecting member is made of stainless steel or aluminum
with high toughness. The radius of the arcuate surface (122) of the
frame (10) is depends on the strength of the blast and which
material the connecting member (20) is made of. The stronger of a
blast, the more thick of connecting member (20) is needed to take
the greater tensile force. So, the smaller curvature or the larger
curvature radius of the arcuate surface (122) is needed. When there
is a blast, the connecting member is bent according to the arcuate
surface (122) so as to form a plastic hinge. Its maximum
deformation is controlled so that the blast-resistant container is
protected from damage of overly bending deformation.
[0033] Furthermore, the connection device of the present invention
not only can be applied to the blast-resistant container with
vertical side panels (30), but also applied to a sliding door
frame. It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
* * * * *