Air cargo containers
First Claim
1. An air cargo container comprising a base, four side walls arranged in opposed pairs, and a roof, said side walls and roof being made of panels of composite structural material comprising a core layer, a first outer structural layer which is on the outside of the container and a second outer structural layer which is on the inside of the container, said outer layers being capable of sustaining the tensile, compressive and shear loads to be carried by the container, and means connecting said structural layers of said panels together and to said base along their lower edges in the absence of a structural framework, wherein said core layer comprises closed cell foam, said first outer structural layer comprises an aluminum alloy sheet material bonded to a reinforced thermo-setting plastics sheet material arranged between said aluminum alloy sheet material and said core layer, and said second outer layer of said composite structural material comprises a reinforced thermo-setting plastics sheet material, said roof and one pair of opposed side walls being formed as one piece from a single panel of said composite material.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An air cargo container includes a base, side walls and a roof, the side walls and roof being made of panels of a composite structural sheet material which is capable of sustaining the tensile, compressive and shear loads to be carried by the container, the panels being connected together and to the base along their edges in the absence of a structural framework. The composite structural material includes three layers, a core layer of a closed cell foam and outer structural layers including thermo-setting plastics sheet material and aluminium alloy sheet material. At least some of the side walls are vertical and planar over their entire extents and, at their lower edges, are surrounded by a laterally projecting flange for use in anchoring the container in the cargo hold.
33 Citations
16 Claims
- 1. An air cargo container comprising a base, four side walls arranged in opposed pairs, and a roof, said side walls and roof being made of panels of composite structural material comprising a core layer, a first outer structural layer which is on the outside of the container and a second outer structural layer which is on the inside of the container, said outer layers being capable of sustaining the tensile, compressive and shear loads to be carried by the container, and means connecting said structural layers of said panels together and to said base along their lower edges in the absence of a structural framework, wherein said core layer comprises closed cell foam, said first outer structural layer comprises an aluminum alloy sheet material bonded to a reinforced thermo-setting plastics sheet material arranged between said aluminum alloy sheet material and said core layer, and said second outer layer of said composite structural material comprises a reinforced thermo-setting plastics sheet material, said roof and one pair of opposed side walls being formed as one piece from a single panel of said composite material.
Specification