| 摘要 |
An automatic twistlock (10) comprising a shaft (11) journalled for rotation in a housing (12). The housing (12) comprises an upper portion (15) for registering with a slot (16) in a corner casting (17) of an international shipping container. The shaft extends out of the top of the upper part (17) of the housing and has a cone (20) fixed thereto for rotation with the shaft, between a disengaged position aligned with the slot (16) and an engaged position straddling the slot. A biasing means (18) acts between the housing (12) and the shaft (11) to bias the shaft and thus the cone (20) to the engaged position. A downwardly facing surface (21) of the cone comprising four lower quadrants (21) defined around a pivot axis (22) of the shaft. At least one, and preferably two, lower quadrants, comprise a lower contact path (25) for contact with a side of the slot. The lower contact path is angled upwardly and laterally outwardly so that on drawing the container upwardly the side of the slot (16) urges the cone (20) and hence the shaft (11) to rotate against the action of the biasing means toward the disengaged position and thus release from the corner casting (17). The lower contact path comprises an initial lower contact part (26) and a further lower contact part (27). The initial lower contact part is shaped so that more lift of the container is required to give a unit of rotation than the further lower contact part thus requiring less force to lift the container. |
