Lightweight metallic shipping container with metallic cellular floor of heterogeneous cell wall thicknesses

Abstract

A lightweight shipping container includes two parallel side walls each having a top rail and secured on the opposite side to bottom rails of a floor frame, coupled to one another by a floor, secured to a multiplicity of cross-beam members. A front end assembly is secured to one end of the top and bottom side rails and a door end assembly opposite the front end assembly is secured to an opposite end of the top and bottom side rails. The container further includes a roof secured to respective ones of the top rails of each of the two side walls. The floor includes a metallic cellular panel including a metallic cellular core of multiple polygonal cells, each including opposing horizontal walls coupled to one another at each distal end by at least one perpendicularly intersecting wall of half thickness as that of the opposing horizontal walls.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A lightweight metallic container comprising:
 two parallel elongated side walls each having a top rail at one side and each being secured on an opposite side to a corresponding bottom rail of a floor frame, each bottom rail being coupled to one another by a floor secured to and resting on a multiplicity of cross-beam members of the floor frame;   a front end assembly secured to one end of each of the top rails and to one end of each of the bottom rails over respective corner castings;   a door end assembly opposite the front end assembly and secured to an opposite end of each of the top rails and to an opposite end of each of the bottom side rails over respective corner castings, and   a roof secured to respective ones of the top rails of each of the two side walls,   the floor comprising at least one cellular panel comprising a metallic cellular core of a multiplicity of polygonal cells each cell comprising at least two opposing horizontal walls coupled to one another at each distal end of each of the walls by at least one intersecting wall of half thickness of a thickness of each of the opposing horizontal walls.   
     
     
         2 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein each polygonal cell is hexagonal in shape. 
     
     
         3 . The container of  claim 2 , wherein each panel comprises an interior portion including a metallic cellular core of a multiplicity of the polygonal cells that are each hexagonal in shape, and a skin covering the metallic cellular core. 
     
     
         4 . The container of  claim 3 , wherein the skins are metallic. 
     
     
         5 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein each panel is joined to the neighboring structure by way of a butt joint and by way of a lap joint 
     
     
         6 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the lesser thickness of the cell walls is equal or smaller than 0.187 millimeters. 
     
     
         7 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the distance between two opposing cell walls of greater thickness is equal or greater than 3.175 millimeters. 
     
     
         8 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the thickness of a cellular panel is not greater than 56 millimeters. 
     
     
         9 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein each panel comprises a frame defining the panel interior portion including a metallic cellular core of a multiplicity of polygonal cells, and a skin covering both the frame and the metallic cellular core. 
     
     
         10 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the floor comprises an arrangement of a multiplicity of interconnected metallic cellular panels.