This invention is related to a locking device to interlock second part pertaining thereto, comprising at/one hook member and at least one shackle member, each of said members being associated to one of said parts, one of said members being pivotably movable into and out of engagement with the other member to interlock and release ^{^} said parts, one of said members being connected to a resilient element, said pivotable member being pivotable to its locking position against the action of said element.

BACKGROUND ART

A device of this kind is disclosed in the US patent speci¬ fication 2 901 279 _* In this device, a hook member is rigidly connected to one of said parts and a shackle member is pivotably connected to a rod, which in turn is movably received in a hole in the other of said parts. A stop member, whiβh _j. may be associa¬ ted to a resilient element in the form of a spring, prevents the rod from disengaging the hole. When the hook and shackle members are in engagement with each other the rod projects considerably out of the hole. When said members are disengaged from each other, the shackle member is completely unguided in that the rod falls back into the hole. When said parts are to be interlocked, the shackle member and the rod must accordingly be directly manipu- lated in order to bring the shackle member into engagement with the hook member. The spring exclusively serves to counter-act the pivoting of the shackle member to its locking position and to provide a compressing action on a sealing between said parts when they are interlocked. Furthermore, it is known within the food industry to use heat insulating containers for the transportation of temperature sensitive goods. Such containers may comprise a first part,

which is carried by wheels and which has the character of a box and a second part, which has the character of a door or cover and is connected to the box part via hinges. The height of such a container is preferably large in relation to its bottom surface and may be about the height of a man. In order to lock the cover in a position closing the box, different kinds of locking devices have been used. Such a locking device may com¬ prise a hook member rigidly connected to the cover and a shackl member associated to the box part. The shackle member may be engaged with the hook member and tensioned to a locking positio by means of a tensioning arm. The locking device may be located along a vertical side of the container with the hook member on the vertical edge portion of the cover and the shackle member o the outside of one side wall of the box part. Although such locking devices for containers of this kind have been reliable and efficient, they are associated to the disadvantage that the location of the locking device on one side of the container makes it difficult to open and close the cover in that said manoeuvres cannot be performed when a plurality of containers are located side by side in an adjacent relation. This disad¬ vantage is per se eliminated by the device according to the Swedish patent specification 60 159 in that said device compris two locking members, one of which is pivotable and connected to a transmission element adapted to enable operation of the pivo- table member from another side of the container than that side on which the pivotable member itself is located.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The main object of the invention is to improve the locki device according to the US patent specification 2 901 279 so as to make it more easily operated. In addition, the present inven tion aims at making the locking device defined in the preamble of this specification efficiently applicable in connection with a transmission element of the kind illustrated in the Swedish patent specification 60 159. This object is obtained in that said resilient element is connected to said other member and adapted to automatically loc the same into a position, in which the pivotable member may eng

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as well as release said other member.

According to a preferred embodiment, heresilient element comprises an elastic rubber body, which is firmly connected to said other member and to the part associated therewith. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view from above of a container provided with two locking devices according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the upper portion of the container, a cover being opened;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the locking device, the cover still being opened;

Fig. 4 is a similar section illustrating the cover closed and the locking device in the process of becoming locked; and Fig. 5 a perspective view similar to Fig. 1 but illustra¬ ting the cover in a closed position.

BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The container illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises in a conven¬ tional manner a box like part 1 and a door or cover part 2, which is pivotably connected to the box part via hinges not illustrated in the drawings. Under the box part 1, there affr>(not visible) wheels, by means of which the container may be transported in a rolling motion. The box part as well as the cover part are well heat insulated, which is indicated by the comparatively great thickness of the cover part 2. At all four corners of the container, there are handles 3 by means of which the container may be grabbed during transportation.

In order to lock the cover part 2 in the closedposition illustrated in Fig. 1, two locking devices 4, 4' are provided. These two locking devices are preferably located opposite the hinges of the cover part and separated vertically from each other to such an extent that they give an equal abutment pressure against the front edges of the box part 1 when closing the cover part.

The upper locking device 4 is more specifically illustrate in Fig. 2 and 3. The two main components of the device are a hoo member 5 and a shackle member 6. The shackle member 6 consists in the illustrated example of a crank like projection or portion of a shaft 7, which for the rest is straight and extends verti¬ cally within cover part 2. More specifically, the shaft 7 i hidden within a cross sectionally U-shaped edge frame 8, surrou ding cover part 2. The shaft is positioned in the rear edge por¬ tion of the frame 8 which is located closest to box part 1. The hook member 5 _» which preferably has a considerable wid is connected to box part 1 via an elastic or resilient element 9 against the resilient actionof which the shackle member 6 is pivo table to a locking position. In the illustrated embodiment, the resilient element is a rubber body, in the free end of which the hook member is secured, preferably by being vulcanized into the element. At the opposite end thereof, the rubber body 9 is connected to a plate 10recessed into the wall of box part 1 by means of an U-section 11 andrivets 12. A wedge 13 may be provided behind the rubber body 9 to hold the rubber body 9 obliquely outwardly from the plate 10 so that the hook member 5 connected to the rubber body automatically will assume a position, in which the shackle member 6 may engage as well as release the hook member. Instead of using a particular wedge of the kind ^' indicated, it is of course also possible to design the rubber body 9 in such a manner that it automatically assumes the desired position.

As is apparent from Fig. 2, the transmission shaft 7 is rotatable by means of a U-shaped arm 14. This arm is hingedly connected to a cross piece which is rigidly connected to the upper end of shaft ^~ , A spring 15 strives to hold the arm 14 in the horizontal position illustrated in the drawing but the arm is pivotable somewhat upwardly against the action of spring 15 to be able to pass a stop 16 on the upper side of cover part 2 when rotating the arm 180 . The stop 16 has an inclined surfac and a transversevertical surface, behind which the arm 1 is held when the locking devices are in a locking position (see Fig The stop 16 is provided to prevent accidental rotation of shaft towards an opening position.

In Figs. 2 and 3 _» the recess in which the shackle member is pivotable is denoted 17. The recess for the rubber body 9 is denoted 18. A sealing, elastic packing 19 extends about the entire frame like front edge surrounding the opening in the box part 1.

In Fig. 1, it appears that the shaft 7 has two crank like shackle members, namely the member 6 for locking device 4 and the member 6' for locking device 4'- Thus, it is evident that both hook members co-operating with the shackle members 6, 6* may be engaged simultaneously by a single operating movement of shaft 7.

The locking devices described operate in the following manner: When the cover part 2 is open as illustrated in Figs, 2 and 3, the hook member 5 automatically assumes a position sui- table for engagement by shackle member 6 due to the elastic rubber body 9» which, however, has some stiffness. The shackle member 6 is in turn pivoted to a position in which the member is facing obliquely rearwardly out of the recess 17 in that arm 14 has been loosened from the engagement with stop 16 and rota- ted 180 so that it is pointing outwardly from the frame 8 of the cover part. The cover part 2 is now pivoted into the posi¬ tion illustrated in Fig. 4» in which the inner side of the cover part abuts against the packing 19 and shackle member 6 is located within the outer portion of hook member 5. At tϊ_$.s stage, the arm 14 is rotated 180 to the position illustrated in Fig. 5. During the rotation of shaft 7 thereby obtained, the shackle member 6 is moved past a dead center or balance position (as long as possible away from the U-section 11). After passage of said dead center the resilient element strives to retain the shackle member in a position, in which said member abuts against the bottom of recess 17. This retaining action is normally fully adequate to obtain a reliable locking of the cover part to the box part but as an additional safety measure, the stop 16 has been provided. In this manner, the locking devices cannot be released even through severe external strains, such as vibrations of a transport vehicle and the like.

The cover part is opened in the reverse manner.

It is indicated in Fig. 1 by means of dotted lines that cover part 2 is pivotable 270 in relation to box part 1. By providing a retainer pin 20 at the back edge of the upper side of the box part, the arm 14 previously mentioned can be used in a preferable manner to retain cover part 2 in the rearwardly pivoted position.

The advantages of the invention are evident in that it makes it possible to open and close the cover part of the con- tainer in a simple and convenient manner due to the provision of the resilient element 9.

The invention is of course not limited only to the embo¬ diment described and illustrated in the drawings. Thus, it is e.g. conceivable to apply the locking device according the inve tion to other parts than cover and box like parts of the kind described. The number of shackle and hook members may vary con¬ siderably. It is also possible to use other transmission elemen than a shaft, and the location of the transmission element may ^' deviate from the one exemplified. Furthermore, the resilient element may be designed in an other manner, e.g. as a helical spring, than a solid rubber body.

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