The present invention relates to a container lock, and a method for locking of at least one door of an standardized container. The door has a frame edge portion, and further is a thereto adjacent frame edge portion provided, which frame edge portions are used to lock the door in a closed position.

When transporting goods, for instance, on cargo ships, trains and trucks, containers are used to a great extent. Such containers are easy to handle in loading and unloading due to standardized sizes and a robust construction. This design of containers, which are often referred to as ISO containers, allows the transported goods to be well protected in transport and also during loading and unloading. These containers are usually equipped with two doors on one of the short sides, there are mechanisms for keeping the doors in a closed position. Among prior art there are a number of different kind of fixed mounted equipment for locking of the doors, however this equipment may extend out of the exterior measure of the container, causing space consuming problems. Further this kind of fixed locking equipment demands time consuming modifications to the container for mounting of the lock equipment at the doors and/or container.

There are problems with containers when persons are trying to illegally reach the content of the container, at a storage site or during transport. Particularly leasing containers, which are usually not equipped with locking device for the door.

It is desirable with fast and efficient locking and unlocking of containers, it is also desirable to minimize the risk for unwanted opening of the container.

An object of the present invention is to provide an quick and easily handled container lock for locking of container doors.

The above object and other objects that will be evident from the following description are achieved by a container lock to be connected to frame edge portions of a container according to the appended claims.

According to one aspect of the invention, a container lock is provided for locking of at least one door of a container, said door having a first frame edge portion, and further is said container provided with a second frame edge portion positioned adjacent to said first frame edge portion. Said container lock comprises an interior blocking portion extending over said first and second frame edge portions, said interior blocking portion having an engaging abutment and an extension portion arranged to extend out from the interior of the container to the exterior of the container, said engaging abutment and extension portion provides interacting engagement of opposite side surfaces of said second frame edge portion, said container lock further comprises an exterior blocking means for lockable interaction with said extension portion.

An ISO container has usually two doors at one of the short sides, which are constituted of a frame and corrugated sheet metal. This design causes a recess at the edge of the frame since the dimension of the frame is larger than the dimension of the sheet metal. This recess provided by the frame edge portion is used for interacting engagement of the interior blocking portion. When both doors are closed and the interior blocking portion is mounted on the inside of the doors, i.e. in the interior of the container, the interior blocking potion extends over the first and second frame edge portions of the first and second door. The engaging abutment and extension portion interacts for engagement of opposite side surfaces of the second frame edge portion, which engagement is possible without mounting any fixed parts to the door and/or container.

Advantageously the interior blocking portion is provided with a resilient element for interacting engagement of said engaging abutment and extension portion of opposite side surfaces of said second frame edge portion.

This resilient element is compressed during mounting of the interior blocking portion on the second frame edge portion. Hence, when the resilient element expands, the resilient element will take up tolerances between the interior blocking portion and the frame edge portion, and also act as a sealing between the interior portion and the frame edge portions. The resilient portion will also provide friction between the interior blocking portion and the frame edge portion. Due to the absorbing of tolerances and provided friction the resilient element will enable that the interior blocking portion stay in place in the mounted position at the frame edge portion.

Preferably said engaging abutment and extension portion provides interacting geometrical engagement of opposite side surfaces of said second frame edge portion.

The interior blocking portion will be attached to the frame edge portion by geometrical engagement due to interaction between the abutment and resilient means, wherein the resilient means initially is compressed for enabling the engaging abutment to engage with the frame edge portion. In this way it is possible to mount the interior blocking portion with play to the frame portion, where after the interacting geometry for example by tilting of the interior blocking portion or expansion of the resilient means provides engagement. It is also possible to provide the engagement by a combination of friction and geometrical engagement.

In a preferred embodiment said extension portion is provided with an abutment for limiting movement of the interior blocking portion in direction towards the interior of the container.

In the mounted position of the interior blocking portion this abutment will interact with the second frame edge portion and prevent the interior portion from being pushed into the container, which would cause lost engagement with the frame edge portion. This abutment interacts with the outside surface of the second frame edge portion.

Advantageously said interior blocking portion having an reinforcement abutment for engagement of a side surface of said first frame edge portion corresponding to said side surface of the second frame edge portion.

By means of this reinforcement abutment and the engaging abutment the interior portion will, in closed condition of the doors, engage opposite sides of the first and second frame portions of the doors respectively. In this way the interior portion will provide a strong reinforced unit acting against an eventually pulling force used for trying to break the doors open. With this design the interior portion will be loaded with mainly a tensile stress which makes it stronger than if it would have been loaded with a bending stress.

In a preferred embodiment said interior blocking portion is provided with a reinforcing structure.

This reinforcing structure can for example be performed as a box made of sheet metal, as flanges, solid reinforcement or other suitable design. Also the exterior blocking means can be provided with this kind of reinforcement for achieving a strong exterior portion of the lock.

Preferably said container lock is provided for interlocking of two doors of a container.

The second frame edge portion is usually provided on the second door, but this second frame edge portion can also be provided as a fixed frame edge portion of for example the container, and hence a door can be locked directly to a frame edge portion of the container.

Advantageously said exterior blocking means is provided with a positioning means for facilitating the engagement with said extension portion.

This positioning means is used to align the exterior means when engaging it with the extension portion of the interior portion. This is advantageous since it might be difficult to align a hole on the back side of a large exterior means with the extension portion. It is also possible to provide a second positioning means for another alignment direction of the exterior means.

Said exterior blocking means is provided with an aperture provided for insertion of said extension portion into the aperture.

This aperture can for example be a hole in the back plate of the exterior means. The extension portion is inserted in through the aperture for enabling attachment of a locking means to the extension portion for blocking of the exterior blocking means relatively to the interior blocking portion providing a locked condition for the door.

Preferably said extension portion is provided with a hole for engagement with a lock, further said exterior blocking means is provided with a cover for covering of said lock. This cover for covering of the lock can for example be a box with an aperture directed downwards, which helps to provide a stronger exterior portion of the lock, and also makes it more difficult to access the lock in an attempt to break it. This above mentioned design does further also provide a protection for the lock due to weather and an aggressive environment.

According to a method for locking of at least one door of a container, said door having a first frame edge portion, and further is said container provided with a second frame edge portion positioned adjacent to said first frame edge portion, said method further comprising the steps of;

• releasable attaching an interior blocking portion, on the inside of said container, by means of geometrical locking to the opposite side surfaces of said second frame edge portion,
• closing said door, wherein said interior blocking portion extends over said first and second frame edge portions, and an extension portion of said interior blocking portion extends out from the interior of the container to the exterior of the container,
• locking an exterior blocking means with said extension portion.

The interior portion is releasable attached to the frame portion, which means that the interior portion is attached to the frame portion without any remaining attachment parts or effect on the container after the lock has been removed. The interior portion is initially mounted and held in position by geometrical and/or friction engagement with the second frame edge portion. The interior portion extends over the first and second frame edge portions on the inside of the container, which means that the interior portion is provided with a portion with an extension covering a main part of the dimension of the frame edge portions in a horizontal direction. Further the extension portion of the interior portion, in mounted position, extends out from the container through the chink of the door, i.e. the space between the door and the adjacent second frame edge portion.

The container lock according to the invention has the advantages of making it possible to lock the door/doors of a container by means of a lock which is releasable attached to the container or the doors. This means that it is not necessary to modify or attach, for example by welding, screwing, any components of the lock to the container.

Since it is not necessary to equip every container with a container lock according to the invention, the total number of locks can be reduced. For example each truck driver can have his own lock for usage on different containers when it is necessary to lock a container. Another advantageous usage of the lock is for leasing containers that does not have to be equipped with a fixed lock if the lock according to the invention is used, and hence it is easy to achieve a lockable container even for a shorter leasing period.

Preferred embodiments will in the following be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying exemplary drawings, in which

• Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a container lock according to the invention.
• Figure 2 shows a perspective view of two doors and an interior portion of the lock.
• Figure 3a discloses a top cross section view of the second frame portion and the interior portion.
• Figure 3b shows a perspective view of two doors and an interior portion of the lock, and a partial view from the interior of the container.
• Figure 4a shows in perspective a door being closed towards the interior portion.
• Figure 4b discloses a top cross section view of the second frame portion and the interior portion in engaged position.
• Figure 5a discloses a perspective view of two closed doors with the interior portion.
• Figure 5b discloses a top cross section view of two doors with the interior portion in engaged position.
• Figure 6 shows in a perspective view two doors and the exterior portion of the lock.
• Figure 7 shows in perspective positioning of the exterior portion on the two doors.
• Figure 8 discloses in perspective view the exterior portion in position at the container, and a partial view from below of the lock.
• Figure 9 shows in perspective a container with a lock according to the invention.
• Figure 10 shows in perspective view an alternative embodiment of the interior portion.
• Figure 11 shows in perspective view a further alternative embodiment of the interior portion.

The invention will now for the purpose of exemplification be described in more detail by means of examples and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

An embodiment of a container lock 1 according to the invention is shown in figure 1, wherein the interior portion 6, the exterior portion 9 and the pad lock 16 are shown. The interior portion 6 is constituted of a reinforcing structure 13 which can be made of a square-section bar, on this reinforcing structure 13 are plates welded forming an engaging abutment 7 and a reinforcement abutment 12 in each end of the reinforcing structure 13. Approximately at the middle of the reinforcing structure 13 is an extension portion 8 attached for example by welding. On the side of the extension portion 8, directed towards the engaging abutment 7, is a sealing and resilient element 10 attached, this resilient element 10 can for example be made of a resilient cellular rubber, spiral spring or other suitable element. The extension portion 8 is further provided with an abutment 11 constituted of two bends of the plate 8, a hole is also provided in the plate for engagement with the lock 16.

During engagement of the interior portion 6 to the second frame edge portion 5, the interior portion 6 is angled out from the plane of the second door 2', as shown in fig 2. The interior portion 6 is further inserted with the abutment 11 and reinforcing structure 13 on each side of the second frame edge portion 5, wherein the resilient element 10 is compressed (shown in figure 3a-b). Hence, during the compression of the resilient element 10 it is possible to engage the engaging abutment 7, by rotating the interior portion in figure 3a in a counter clockwise direction in the horizontal plane, on the opposite side surface of the second frame edge portion 5. Since the sealing and resilient element 10 has an extension in the direction of the frame edge portions it will provide a sealing effect for the extension portion 8, which extends from the interior of the container passing the sealing 18.

When the interior portion 6 is in the mounted position (figure 4a-b), the portion 6 will remain in this position due to that the resilient element 10 causes a force clamping the second frame edge portion 5 giving a friction force. Further, the portion 6 is also kept in position at the second frame portion 5 by geometrical locking, both acting for preventing the interior portion 6 from falling down, due to a torque from the weight of the right portion of the interior portion 6 in figure 4a-b. This torque will cause the surfaces of the engaging abutment 7 and reinforcement abutment 12 which are interacting with the second frame edge portion 5 to keep the portion 6 in position.

Further, when the interior portion 6 is in the mounted position, the abutment 11 of the extension portion 8 prevents the interior portion 6 form coming out of engagement with the second frame edge portion 5 in direction towards the interior of the container 3. The abutment 11 of the extension portion 8 does also make it possible for the extension portion to pass the sealing 18 (as shown in figure 5b), with a remaining sealing effect from the sealing 18.

After the interior portion 6 has been positioned in its mounted position the door 2 can be closed and the first frame edge portion 4 engages the reinforcement abutment 12. When the door 2 is closed the interior portion 6 is positioned (as shown in figure 5a-b) with the engaging abutment 7 and reinforcement abutment 12 on opposite side surfaces of first and second frame edge portions 4,5 respectively. Further the extension portion 8 comes out from the interior of the container through the gap between the two doors 2,2' and an eventually sealing provided in this gap can be compressed by the extension portion 8, and the sealing effect will remain.

The doors of ISO containers are usually constructed of corrugated plates with the corrugation oriented horizontally, this orientation helps the interior portion 6 to stay in place and prevents the lock from being moved downwards or upwards after the lock has been locked. Due to that the engaging abutment 7 and reinforcement abutment 12 will interact with the indentations of the corrugated plates.

Usually there are vertical bars at the doors for closing of the doors 2,2'. In figure 6 is shown how such a bar is used for positioning of the exterior blocking means 9 by using a hook shaped positioning means 14. Since the position of the bar is standardized the position of the exterior portion 9, in the horizontal direction, will provide the aperture 15 to align correctly with the extension portion 8, and hence facilitating the portion 8 to enter the aperture 15.

When the exterior blocking means 9 has been positioned with the extension portion 8 penetrating in through the aperture 15 it is possible to attach a lock 16 in the hole at the extension portion 8, and hence the doors of the container will be locked. The fact that the positioning means 14 of the exterior blocking means 9 engages between the bar and the container helps, together with the lock 16, to block the door in locked position.

The exterior blocking means 9 is provided with a cover 17 formed as a box with an opening at the bottom, this cover can be manufactured from steel plates welded to a hood shaped box. The cover 17 protects the lock 16, which is positioned inside the cover 17 when in locked condition. The cover will further protect the lock from attempts to break the lock, the environment such as rain, snow, pollutions or other kind of contamination.

In figure 10 is shown a simplified embodiment of the interior blocking portion 6' which is constituted of a reinforcing structure 13' which can be made of a square-section bar. The reinforcing structure 13' is provide with a welded plate forming an engaging abutment 7', but the and a reinforcement abutment in the opposite end is excluded. Approximately at the middle of the reinforcing structure 13' is an extension portion 8' attached. On the side of the extension portion 8' directed towards the engaging abutment 7' is a sealing and resilient element 10' attached. Since this embodiment of the extension portion 8' does not have any abutment for limitation of the movement of the portion 6' in towards the interior of the container, it is possible to undesirably push the portion 6' into the container when engaging the exterior blocking means 9. The extension portion 8' in figure 10 is constituted of a straight plate welded to the reinforcing structure 13' and having a hole in the plate for engagement with the lock 16.

In figure 11 is shown a further alternative embodiment of the interior blocking portion 6", which is designed in the same way as the preferred embodiment except for the part of the reinforcing structure 13" extending from the extension portion 8" to the engaging abutment 7", which is angled upwards (or downwards) providing a longer diagonal distance between the portion 8" and the abutment 7" compared to the corresponding projected horizontal distance. This makes it possible to mount the interior portion 6'' to the second frame edge portion 5 by angling/tilting of the portion 6" around a horizontal axis. In this embodiment it may be possible to engage the portion 6" with the second frame portion 5 with out a resilient element, since the distance between the portion 8" and the abutment 7" can be made to fit the dimension of the frame portion 5 more exact.