Explosion resistant cargo container

Abstract

An explosion resistant cargo container ( 1 ), useful for storing cargo on aircraft, is made of side wall panels ( 6 ), top wall panels ( 50 ) and bottom wall panels ( 7 ) mounted onto a frame, where a side door ( 51 ) is connected to a top wall, bottom wall and side wall panel by a locking mechanism ( 5 ) which has fingers ( 11 ) and perforations ( 21 ) locked together when closed by wedge action, and where the panels ( 6, 7, 50 ) are of, for example, woven polymer sheeting and/or aluminum.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An explosion resistant cargo container comprising: 
 a frame;    side wall, top wall and bottom wall panels mounted to the frame to form an enclosure having at least four corners;    and a door connected to a top wall panel, a bottom wall panel and a side wall panel by a locking mechanism comprising fingers and perforations locked together when closed by wedge action caused by a 2° to 45° angle between the fingers and perforations;    where interior corners are supported by supports connected to a strap plate with fasteners that do not pass through the frame and where the panels are of sheeting.    
     
     
         2 . The cargo container of  claim 1 , where the panels are of woven polymer sheeting supported without perforating the sheeting and the door is a side door.  
     
     
         3 . The cargo container of  claim 1 , where the locking mechanism is engaged by rotating the fingers about an axis to physically engage the fingers with perforations on at least the top and bottom wall panels of the container.  
     
     
         4 . The cargo container of  claim 1 , where internal pressure tightens the locking mechanism.  
     
     
         5 . The cargo container of  claim 1 , where the angle between the fingers and perforation is about 4° to about 40°.  
     
     
         6 . The cargo container of  claim 1 , where the supports are hollow and the fasteners pass through the strap plate and into the hollow portion of the support.  
     
     
         7 . The cargo container of  claim 1 , where the frame and hollow supports are aluminum.  
     
     
         8 . The cargo container of  claim 1 , where the wall panels are a composite of high density aluminum and low density foamed aluminum.  
     
     
         9 . An explosion resistant cargo container comprising: 
 a plurality of panels, each said panel comprising (1) a panel body having a circumferential edge and (2) at least one flange support member, wherein at least a portion of said circumferential edge is attached to at least one said flange support member, and wherein said plurality of panels is contiguously positioned along said flange support members to form an enclosure;    a plurality of straps, each said strap removably attached to at least two contiguously positioned flange support members;    a hinge attached to at least one of said panels;    a door attached to said hinge;    a locking mechanism comprising a plurality of fingers and a perforated member having a plurality of orifices, said plurality of fingers slidably engageable with said orifices, said plurality of fingers attached to at least one of said panels and said perforated member attached to said door; and    a flexible ballistic curtain attached to said plurality of panels and suspended within said enclosure.    
     
     
         10  The explosion resistant cargo container of  claim 9  wherein said plurality of fingers are attached to said door and said perforated member is attached to at least one of said panels.  
     
     
         11 . The explosion resistant cargo container of  claim 9  wherein said straps are aluminum extrusions.  
     
     
         12 . The explosion resistant cargo container of  claim 9 , where the locking mechanism is engaged by rotating the fingers about an axis to physically engage the fingers with orifices on at least the top and bottom wall panels of the container.  
     
     
         13 . The explosion resistant cargo container of  claim 9 , where internal pressure tightens the locking mechanism.  
     
     
         14 . The explosion resistant cargo container of  claim 11  wherein said straps include a generally hook shaped feature that engages at least one frame support member.  
     
     
         15 . The explosion resistant cargo container of  claim 14  in which said hook feature includes a tapered portion that results in a wedge action when engaged with said frame support member.  
     
     
         16 . The explosion resistant cargo container of  claim 12  when in the locking mechanism the fingers and orifices are locked together when closed by a wedge action caused by a 2° to 45° angle between the fingers and orifices.  
     
     
         17 . The explosion resistant cargo container of  claim 14  where the wedge action is caused by a 4° to 40° angle between the fingers and orifices.