METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING MOTOR VEHICLES FROM LIGHTWEIGHT SLEEVES WHICH ARE CARRIED IN STANDARD CARGO CONTAINERS

摘要

A method and apparatus are provided forloading motor vehicles into an open-centered, light-weight sleeve which carries a plurality of the vehiclesand is inserted into a standard cargo-carrying con-tainer. A sled, which is arranged to carry at leastone vehicle, is movable on tracks which extend fromoutside of the sleeve across substantially its entireextent. Thus, vehicles can be driven onto the sledoutside of the sleeve and then transported into thesleeve on the sled. Once in the sleeve a vehicle israised by gantries which are located outside of theside walls of the sleeve. The gantries have liftingcylinders which releasably attach to cradle latcheswhich are slidable on and attachable to tension membersthat are suspended from the sides of the sleeve. Thecradle latches engage the ends of the cradles, whichare carried in the sled below the tires of the vehicle.Thus, when the cradles are raised by the cradle latchesthey engage the vehicle's tires and the vehicle israised with them. The sleds are movable by a motor-driven endless chain having a clip which is releasablyattachable to the sled. The sled includes rams whichare extendable to positions where they protrude pastthe side walls of the sleeve. Thus, the sled can beused to pull a sleeve out of and push a sleeve into acontainer.