Background of the invention The object of this invention is a coupling means to be used for lashing and supporting containers, more particularly containers to be transported on cargo ships, which coupling means comprises a lashing bar and a locking head connected to it, which locking head comprises a locking means for locking into the corner casting of a container, and between which locking head and lashing bar is a joint arrangement, which enables movement of the lashing bar in relation to the locking head towards the corner casting and away from the corner casting.

Containers must be locked during transportation so that excessive shifting, inclining or even toppling of containers is prevented when at sea. Containers are locked at their ends e.g. to lashing bridges with coupling means, which are fixed at one of their ends (locking head) to a corner of a container and at the other of their ends (turnbuckle) to a lashing bridge or alternatively to the deck of the ship or to other support structures. A coupling means thus comprises a turnbuckle, a lashing bar and a locking head hinged to the lashing bar. Generally two or four coupling means are fixed to the end of a container. By tightening the turnbuckles the locking can be made to be tight. A similar fixing is generally also on the opposite end of the container.

Many solutions for this purpose are known in the art. For example, a solution is known from publication DE3525322 wherein two fixed locking heads are fitted to a lashing bar. Known from publication DE3501109 is a lashing rod, both ends of which comprise a locking head.

Prior-art solutions have a few drawbacks. For example, when lashing bars are placed crosswise for fixing containers, a longitudinal adjustment margin is achieved with the elongated hole of the hinge point in the locking head, so that the second of the lashing bars would be farther from the container, and despite this the lashing bars can still collide with each other. In addition, it sets limitations in relation to the alignment of lashing bars.

Brief description of the invention

The aim of the coupling means according to the invention is to improve the solutions known in the art by, inter alia, facilitating installation. The aim is realized with the invention, which is characterized in that when the locking head is locked into the corner casting of a container at least a part of the joint arrangement is above the horizontal plane traveling via the centre of curvature of the bottom edge of the locking hole of the corner casting.

In addition, the coupling means according to the invention is also characterized by what is mentioned in the dependent claims 2-6.

The solution according to the invention now being presented has some significant advantages with respect to prior-art solutions. The distance of a lashing bar from the container can be adjusted to be suitable, and thereby the collision of lashing bars with each other can be prevented. The invention thus enables lashing bars going more in the horizontal direction than before.

Compared to a prior-art solution, in the solution according to the invention the distance of the top end of a lashing bar from the container corner to which the lashing bar is connected remains optimal, unlike in a prior-art model having a long hole, in which model the center line of the shaft pin is situated below the center line of the locking hole in the corner casting of the container.

Further, prior art has a limitation of transversal gap between containers of 38 mm when performing external double cross lashing. The present invention allows external lashing with 25 mm transversal gap between the containers.

The solution according to the invention is also simple in structure and extremely easy to use. Brief description of the figures

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail by the aid of some embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, wherein;

Figs, la and lb present some prior-art solutions for coupling means. Figs. 2a and 2b present a lashing bar and a locking head of a coupling means according to the invention, in different positions.

Fig. 3 presents the use of the solution according to the invention in lashing and supporting containers.

Fig. 4 presents a section of a lashing bar and locking head according to the invention, which is fixed into the locking hole of the corner casting of a container.

Fig. 5 presents the same as Fig. 4, but axonometrically.

Detailed description of the invention

Fig. la presents a perspective sketch of a prior-art solution, in which a longitudinal adjustment margin has been achieved with the elongated hole of the hinge point in the locking head so that it would be possible to adjust some of the lashing bars crossing each other to be farther from the container in a locking situation.

Fig. lb correspondingly presents one of the lashing bars and coupling pieces presented by Fig. la as viewed from the side. In Fig. lb the hole (slot) in the locking head can be seen, into which hole the lashing bar is fitted such that it can move in the hole.

Figs. 2a and 2b present a locking head 1 according to the invention, which is connected to a lashing bar 2. The locking head 1 has an elongated slot 3, through which the shaft 4 at the end of the lashing bar 2 is arranged. The slot in this embodiment is slightly curved. The purpose of the slot 3 is therefore to enable moving of the lashing bar 2 in relation to the locking head 1 towards the corner casting of the container and away from it. This arrangement is seen best in Figs. 4 and 5. The locking head 1 also comprises a locking means 5, which is intended to be locked into the locking hole in a corner casting (reference numbers 7-10 in Fig. 3) of a container. The support surface 6 of the locking means 5 helps in this locking.

Fig. 3 presents the principle for fixing the ends of containers e.g. to a lashing bridge or to the deck of the ship or to some other support structure. The containers themselves are not presented in Fig. 3, but instead only their corner castings 7, 8, 9 and 10. Accordingly, there are four containers and each of the corner castings seen in Fig. 3 belongs to a different container. The corner castings 7 and 8 are the adjacent corner castings of two upper containers, and the corner castings 9 and 10 are correspondingly the adjacent corner castings of the two containers below them. Each corner casting, as is known in the art, has locking holes for the locking heads 1. The lashing bars 2 are only partially presented. They are connected in a manner known in the art to turnbuckles, by the aid of which the fixing is tightened. The turnbuckles are therefore attached e.g. to a lashing bridge or the deck of the ship or to some other support structure.

In the prior art of Fig. la as also in the invention, the lashing bars are pulled so that they "crisscross", i.e. the lashing bars fixed to the corner castings on the left-hand side cross the lashing bars 2 fixed to the corner castings on the right-hand side for achieving a more supportive fixing.

Fig. 4 presents a section, showing the fixing of the locking head 1 to the corner casting (e.g. reference number 7) of a container. The fixing itself is implemented in a manner known in the art when locking the locking means 5 inside the corner casting 7.

From Fig. 4 it is seen that when the locking head 1 is connected to the corner casting 7 of a container, the slot 3 is above the horizontal plane L. The horizontal plane L is at the height of the centre of curvature of the bottom edge of the locking hole in the corner casting. The bottom edge of the locking hole is curved, as is known in the art, although it is not presented at all in the drawings. When the slot 3, and thus the shaft 4 of the lashing bar 2, is above this plane, the adjustment margin of the lashing bar can be better utilized than it could be before. The longer the distance from the crossing point of the lashing bars to the hinge point of the coupling means and lashing bar, the better the lashing bars can be adjusted amongst themselves without hampering each other.

Instead of the embodiment presented in the drawings, the joint arrangement between a lashing bar and a locking head can also be a different type. For example, at the end of the lashing bar can be a (closed or partly open) loop or eye, through which the locking head is guided. In this case the bar is arranged to move a certain distance in the longitudinal direction of the coupling means. Also in this case the hinge point of the lashing bar and the locking head is situated at least partly above the horizontal plane L. It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the different embodiments of the invention are not limited solely to the examples described above, but that they may be varied within the scope of the claims presented below. The characteristic features possibly presented in the description in conjunction with other characteristic features can if necessary be used separately to each other.