Freight container, system, and method for shipping freight
First Claim
1. A system for shipping freight from the premises of a customer to the premises of the ultimate recipient by means of transportation including one or more land vehicles, the system comprising:
- an inventory of identical freight containers for holding the freight to be shipped, each of said containers having a length of approximately 13 feet and including a base, a roof, a pair of opposed side walls, a pair of opposed end walls, and an opening formed in one of said end walls, said opening being sufficiently large to permit a conventional fork lift truck to load and unload freight into and out of the container; and
land vehicles for removably supporting at least one freight container and transporting at least one container to and/or from the customer'"'"'s premises, and to the ultimate recipient.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A freight transportation container can accept standardized pallets and is suitable for the transportation by land, sea, or air. The size and construction of the container permits the loading and removal of freight by a conventional fork lift truck, and allows placement of the container in standard-sized trucks and aircraft. Lockdown lips formed on the bottom of the container secure the container to the floors of trucks and aircraft. The freight container also is part of a system for transportation whereby the freight can be loaded, inventoried, locked, and sealed at a customer'"'"'s premises, and remain under the custody of one entity throughout shipment of the freight to the consignee. An empty freight container can be delivered to a customer'"'"'s premises on a truck having a cab and removable trailer, so that the container and trailer can remain there for loading, and then later be picked up by the cab and taken to holding areas, other trucks, ships, aircraft, or directly to the consignee. Transactional information regarding the freight and destination is stored in a computer, allowing a central system to track the freight and generate appropriate business and customer documentation.
-
Citations
35 Claims
-
1. A system for shipping freight from the premises of a customer to the premises of the ultimate recipient by means of transportation including one or more land vehicles, the system comprising:
-
an inventory of identical freight containers for holding the freight to be shipped, each of said containers having a length of approximately 13 feet and including a base, a roof, a pair of opposed side walls, a pair of opposed end walls, and an opening formed in one of said end walls, said opening being sufficiently large to permit a conventional fork lift truck to load and unload freight into and out of the container; and
land vehicles for removably supporting at least one freight container and transporting at least one container to and/or from the customer'"'"'s premises, and to the ultimate recipient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A system for shipping freight from the premises of a customer to the premises of the ultimate recipient by means of transportation including one or more land vehicles and one or more aircraft, the system comprising:
-
an inventory of identical freight containers for holding the freight to be shipped, each of said containers having a length of approximately 13 feet and including a base, a roof, a pair of opposed side walls, a pair of opposed end walls, and an opening sufficiently large to permit a conventional fork lift truck to load and unload freight into and out of the container;
land vehicles for removably supporting at least one freight container and transporting at least one container to and/or from the customer'"'"'s premises and to and/or from an airport; and
aircraft for removably supporting at least one freight container and transporting at least one container from one airport to another. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
a locking system that can secure one or more freight containers in place as they are transported from one location to another by said land vehicles and aircraft; and
means for locking the loaded freight in the container at the customer'"'"'s premises, placing custodial control of locked and secure freight in the hands of the carrier until it is received by the ultimate recipient.
-
-
14. The system of claim 13 wherein the container is approximately 8 feet high and 8 feet wide.
-
15. The system of claim 12 wherein said land vehicles and said aircraft each include a bed for supporting at least one freight container and wherein the freight containers include a relatively smooth, planar bottom surface for movement on the beds of both the truck and the aircraft.
-
16. The system of claim 12 further comprising means for placing transactional information regarding the freight and its intended destination into a computer memory before the freight is locked and sealed at the customer'"'"'s premises.
-
17. The system of claim 16 wherein at least one of said land vehicles includes a cab and a removable trailer for holding a freight container while it is at the customer'"'"'s premises and while it is being transported by the land vehicle.
-
18. The system of claim 16 wherein said means for placing transactional data includes a portable computer for use at the customer'"'"'s premises and means for transferring said transactional data from said portable computer to a central computer system to track the freight and generate business and customer documentation.
-
19. The system of claim 12 further comprising doors on the one end of each of said containers having said opening, said doors being designed to selectively close the opening of said one end wall and thereby secure any freight loaded in the freight container.
-
20. The system of claim 19 further comprising a means for locking the door to prevent unauthorized access to any freight contained in the freight container.
-
21. The system of claim 12 wherein the opening of said container has a height of at least 7 feet and 6 inches and width of at least 7 feet and 6 inches.
-
22. The system of claim 21 wherein the height of the container from the lower surface of the base to the upper surface of the roof is approximately 96 inches.
-
23. The system of claim 22 wherein the two side walls are substantially parallel to each other and the distance between the outer surfaces of said side walls is approximately 96 inches.
-
24. The system of claim 12 wherein each of said containers includes an exterior chamfer located on the top surface of the container at the juncture of the end wall and roof opposite the opening to the container.
-
25. The system of claim 24 further comprising a ledge extending outwardly from the exterior bottom of each of said containers along at least two of said side walls, said ledge serving as contact surface for permitting the container to be locked in place.
-
26. The system of claim 25 wherein the ledge has a height within the range of ¼
- to ¾
of an inch, and a width within the range of ¾
to 1½
inch.
- to ¾
-
27. The system of claim 24 wherein said chamfer is cut at approximately a 45°
- angle and cuts out approximately 9.5 inches of the side and 9.5 inches of the roof at the chamfer.
-
28. The system of claim 12 wherein said container has a height of 8 feet, a width of 8 feet, and a length of 13 feet.
-
29. The system of claim 12 wherein each of said containers is approximately 8 feet high and 8 feet wide.
-
30. The system of claim 29 wherein each of said containers has a freight volume of approximately 777 cubic feet and a usable pay load of at least 10,000 pounds.
-
31. The system of claim 29 wherein said aircraft include one or more 747, 777, Md-11, DC-10, and A3XX airplanes and wherein said containers can fit within each of said airplanes.
-
32. The system of claim 31 wherein said land vehicles include one or more tractor trailer, flat bed, and articulated trucks and wherein said containers can fit on each of said trucks.
-
33. The system of claim 32 wherein at least one of said trucks includes a bed with a roller system that can be selectively raised to permits the containers to be rolled on the roller system and lowered to increase the friction between the container and the truck bed.
-
34. The system of claim 16 wherein the base of said container is flat and smooth on the inside and the outside surfaces of the base.
-
35. A system for shipping freight from the premises of a customer to the ultimate recipient by means of transportation including one or more land vehicles and one or more aircraft, the system comprising:
-
an inventory of identical freight containers for holding freight to be shipped, each of said containers having outer dimensions of approximately 13 feet in length, 8 feet in height and 8 feet in width and including a base, a roof, a pair of opposed side walls, a pair of opposed end walls, and an opening sufficiently large to permit a conventional fork lift truck to load and unload freight into and out of the container;
land vehicles for removably supporting at least one freight container and transporting at least one container to and/or from the customer'"'"'s premises and to and/or from an airport; and
aircraft for removably supporting a plurality of said freight containers and transporting them from one airport to another.
-
Specification