Open top container and roof cover thereof

Abstract

A roof cover of an open top container, includes: a frame; a front cover plate having a first end fixed to the frame, and an opposite second end extending over the top end rail, the front cover plate further being formed with openings corresponding to front rain gutters; a front water-blocking plate provided at an edge of each of the openings; a rear cover plate having a first end fixed to a rear end of the frame and an opposite second end extending over the door header; and a roof panel spreading over the frame and overlapping the front and rear cover plates. The roof cover which is easy to manufacture endues the current open top container a suitable protection against theft and watertightness.

1 . A roof cover of an open top container for covering a container body of the open top container, the container body comprising front rain gutters provided at its front portion and rear rain gutters provided at its rear portion, said front and rear rain gutters being used to collect external fluids and guide external fluids out of the container body, each of said front and rear rain gutters comprising a base plate and an upright wall arranged along at least an intra-container boundary of the base plate, wherein the roof cover includes:
 a frame supported on the container body;   a front cover plate provided at a front portion of the frame, the front cover plate having a first end fixed to a front end of the frame and an opposite second end extending forwards over a top end rail of the container body, the front cover plate further being formed with an opening at a region thereof corresponding to each of said front rain gutters so as to expose the upright wall of each front rain gutter;   a front water-blocking plate provided at an edge of each of the openings of the front cover plate, the front water-blocking plate comprising a horizontally extending portion to cover a top surface of the upright wall and prevent external fluids from entering an interior of the container body via a clearance between the upright wall of the front rain gutter and the front cover plate;   a rear cover plate provided at a rear portion of the frame, the rear cover plate having a first end fixed to a rear end of the frame and an opposite second end extending backwards over a door header of the container body, the rear cover at least partly covering the door header and the rear rain gutters; and   a roof panel spreading over the frame and overlapping at least a portion of the front cover plate and at least a portion of the rear cover plate.   
   
   
       2 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 1 , further comprising front skirt plates provided at side edges of the front water-blocking plate and extending downwards so as to allow guiding external fluids on the front water-blocking plate in a downward direction. 
   
   
       3 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 1 , further comprising rear skirt plates provided at side edges of the rear cover plate and extending downwards so as to allow external fluids to either, in the longitudinal direction of the container body, flow along the rear cover plate and over the door header and the rear rain gutter and then to be discharged out of the container body; or, in the transverse direction of the container body, flow along the rear cover plate and the rear skirt plates and then to be discharged out of the container body. 
   
   
       4 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 1 , wherein the frame comprises two longitudinal beams and a plurality of transverse beams each of which is perpendicular to the two longitudinal beams and is connected to the two longitudinal beams at both ends. 
   
   
       5 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 4 , wherein each of the longitudinal beams is supported on a top side rail of the container body, and a sealing member is provided in a contact region between each longitudinal beam and corresponding the top side rail. 
   
   
       6 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 5 , wherein each of the longitudinal beams has a U-shaped cross section adapted to match with a profile of the top side rail in a nesting manner. 
   
   
       7 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 1 , wherein said front rain gutters are provided at both ends of the top end rail, and said upright wall of each of said front rain gutters has an L-shaped profile when viewed from the top. 
   
   
       8 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 7 , wherein said front cover plate has a T-shaped profile when viewed from the top, a horizontal portion of “T” being arranged inside the container, a vertical portion of “T” extending forwards over the top end rail. 
   
   
       9 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 1 , wherein said rear rain gutters are provided at both ends of the door header. 
   
   
       10 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 9 , wherein the rear cover plate generally has a Z-shaped vertical profile consist of a lower horizontal portion, a vertical portion and an upper horizontal portion, and wherein the lower horizontal portion has an end fixed to the rear end of the frame and at least partly overlapped by the roof panel, and from said end the lower horizontal portion extends backwards in a horizontal direction to a certain position and then turns to extend upwards to form the vertical portion; and the vertical portion extends substantially in a vertical direction or in parallel with the upright wall, and extends to a position higher than the top surface of the upright wall, and then turns to extend outwards in a horizontal direction to form the upper horizontal portion; and the upper horizontal portion extends over the door header. 
   
   
       11 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 1 , wherein sealing members are provided in contact portions between the front cover plate and the top end rail, and between the rear cover plate and the door header. 
   
   
       12 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of hinged flaps provided on side surfaces of the frame, each of the hinged flaps being adapted to be engaged with a steel cable fastener provided on the container body so as to form a closure assembly in conformity with TIR. 
   
   
       13 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 1 , further comprising at least one lifting assembly each of which comprises a ring member to be coupled with a lifting apparatus for lifting the roof cover, and a supporting member by which the ring member is pivotally connected to the roof cover. 
   
   
       14 . The roof cover of the open top container according to  claim 1 , wherein the frame, the roof panel, the front cover plate and the rear cover plate are all made of steel. 
   
   
       15 . An open top container comprising the roof cover according to any one of the preceding claims.