Container handling apparatus

Claim 1

In a system for handling sea containers to secure such a container in a loaded position on a vehicle, a tiltable support frame on the vehicle adapted to support a sea container having a forward and rearward end, said support frame in its tilted position having one of its ends adjacent the surface on which the vehicle rests, and means for moving the container along said support frame, the improvement characterized by a cross member movable along said support frame and having means to lock onto the sea container, said means for moving the container being attached to said cross member whereby said container may be drawn along said support frame by and during movement of said cross member, said cross member including stop and locating pins fixedly mounted thereon to engage openings in the forward end of the base of the container and also including a set of forward locking pins on locking plates pivotally mounted on the cross member to be engageable with apertures at the sides of the base of the container at the forward portion thereof, actuating means being provided to pivot the plates toward and away from each other to engage the second-named pins in said apertures in the sides of the base of the container, and a set of rearward locking pins engageable with apertures at the rear of the container base to secure the container in the loaded position, each pin in the rearward set being supported by a movable carriage, and means for moving the carriages toward and away from the container to engage and disengage the pins.