WO1996015052A1

WO1996015052A1 - Container locking means

Info

Publication number: WO1996015052A1
Application number: PCT/SE1994/001062
Authority: WO
Inventors: Björn Samuelsson; Johan Hove
Original assignee: A11 Set Marine Lashing Aktiebolag
Priority date: 1994-11-11
Filing date: 1994-11-11
Publication date: 1996-05-23
Also published as: HUT78066A; WO1996015053A1; EP0790944A1; PL320535A1; CZ142097A3; EE9700212A; AU4680496A; AU1079995A

Abstract

A container locking means of twistlock type having twistlock connection means (2, 12) for lockingly engaging in corner boxes of a container (17, 18), which twistlocks are formed so that they can be used both for easily accessible corner boxes, at which a releasing (by 4) can be made from many different places, even from the dock or quay, and for difficultly accessible corner boxes, at which the twistlocks have to be releasable by being moved straight up of the container corner boxes, and which comprises a twistlock housing (1), a first twistlock connection means (2) and a second twistlock connection means (12), at least one connection means of which is movable, means (4) for restricting the movement of the rotatable locking connection means, a spring means for biassing the movable locking connection means or cones into fully locked positions, and a means (4) for making it possible to move and release the locking connection means from the corner boxes and for setting the rotatable locking connection means in a certain fixed position, and which in that said first twistlock connection means is a conventional twistlock connection means (2), whereas the second twistlock connection means is formed as a latch connection means (3) having a nose part (13; 20; 23) which projects transversally in relation to vertical axis of said latch connection means (3), and in which one of said twistlock connection means (2 or 3) is arranged for being automatically moved and locked in a corner box of a lower container, whereas the opposite connection means, the latch connection means, after said connection means has been moved to and locked in said intermediate position, is adapted to slide downwardly to lockingly engage, with a projecting nose (13; 20; 23) thereof, under an edge surface of the corner box.

Description

1

CONTAINER LOCKING MEANS

The present invention generally relates to a container locking means, in the following referred to as "twistlock", adapted to be connected to the comer boxes of containers thereby lockingly interconnecting containers placed on top of each other, and the bottom layer of containers to the ship, bγ means of corner boxes which are readily accessible, and by means of corner boxes located in positions where it is very difficult to reach said corner boxes for releasing the twistlocks.

It is very usual on transportation of containers on ships, but also on docks, quays, in storing houses etc. that several containers are placed on top of each other. Especially on ships it is important that the containers are secured to each other so that theγ stand stably and can not slide or become offset in relation to each other, as may otherwise happen, for instance at rough weather. Since old containers are formed with a corner box at each corner thereof, which corner boxes are used for lockingly interconnecting containers in that any type of container locking means, a so called twistlock, is introduced and secured in said corner boxes. Many container locking means are formed so that it is necessary to climb up the uppermost container for releasing said container locking means, in some cases even for connecting said container locking means, and this is a both time consuming and risky job, in particular since several containers placed on top of each other lead to great total heights. For reducing the risque of accidents there has been a wish that the container locking means both may be applied and locked to, and also may be released, completely or partly, by a person standing on the ground or the dock (quay), meaning that there is no need for any person to climb up the containers.

For solving said problem several different types of container locking means, named twistlocks, have been presented, which twistlocks are often of so called semi-automatic type, which means that the twist lock can be mounted in each corner box at the bottom of a first container before said container is lifted and is placed on top of a second container, and that the twistlock is formed so that, upon lowering the "upper" container into position on top of the "lower" container, a downwardly facing locking head, in one way or another automatically snaps into locking engagement in the corresponding corner box on top of said "lower" container. The locking engagement generally is accomplished by a rotation of the locking head but engagement alternatively can be accomplished in other ways. For releasing the twistlocks many such twistlocks are formed with a projecting handle which has to be rotated in any direction or moved up/down or in/out etc. for releasing the twistlock. It may, however, in many cases be difficult to reach the handle, in particular if the containers are standing closely together aside of each other, and the handle also easily can be damaged upon careless handling of the containers, for instance when containers are put down closely aside of each other.

The publication WO 92/05093 (equivalent to Swedish patent 9003041-1 having the publication number 467.459) discloses a twistlock in which the above mentioned problem with twistlocks having a projecting handle for releasing of the twistlocks is solved, among other things, in that the locking heads are formed as rotatable twist cones which are sping biassed in the locking direction and are arranged so that they can be rotated, against the sping action, by pulling a flexible wire in the direction upwards, downwards or to any side. The releasing can be made from any desired position, even from the ground or the dock (quay), and even of twistlocks of containers standing in several layers on top of each other. Such releasing thereby is made by using a bar having a hook which is hooked to a knob of the wire for each individual twistlock, whereby said wire is pulled out some distance, and the twistlock cones are rotated so that one of said twistlock cones becomes fully released and the containers can be moved apart.

A special problem arises if containers are placed very closely aside of each other. In such cases if may be very difficult, or even impossible, to release the twistlock from the sides of the closely standing containers facing each other. It may in such cases also be impossible to use twistlocks of the known type having a projection handle.

Containers commonly are manufactured in two standard sizes, namely 20 foot containers and 40 foot containers. If it is wanted to place and secure layers of pairs of 20 foot containers on an area arranged for a 40 foot container, for saving space, and using the 40 foot container ship securing means it is necessary that the pair of 20 foot containers are placed very closely to each other, namely with an intermediate space between the pairs of containers of only 3 inches. Said space is so narrow that it is generally not possible to release ordinary twistlocks from the "narrow space" sides facing each other, at least not without having someone climb up the uppermost container to release the twistlock from there, and, as mentioned above, this is a time consuming and risky job.

In an attempt to solve the above mentioned problem it has been suggested to supply two different types of corner locking means for the container, namely a conventional type of twistlock adapted to be connected to those corner boxes which can easily be reached from a freely accessible end of a container and a second type of corner locking means of solid integral type adapted to be connected to those corner boxes which are difficult to reach depending on the "narrow space" between containers standing closely aside of each other, and which is formed so that said solid locking means can be hooked into a corner box of an "upper" container and which slidinglγ engages the top corner box of a "lower" container lockingly when said upper container is put down on top of said lower container. During said movement downwardly the container is concurrently therewith side-offset in relation to the lower container. Said solid locking means can be released in that the conventional twistlocks, placed at the freely accessible end of the upper container, are released from the lower container, and in that the upper container is slightly raised at said freely accessible end and is concurrently therewith moved longitudinally in the direction away from the adjacent container of said pair of containers whereby said solid locking means can be moved straight up from the corner boxes.

Said previously suggested apparatus, however, is disadvantageous, among other things, in that the staff has to handle and take care of two different types of container locking means; there is a risque that the solid container locking means may become unintentionally released when the upper container is lifted from the quay or the truck etc. and is put down on the lower container; there is also a risque that the two types of container locking means are mixed up with the semi-automatic twistlocks, so that a solid locking means happens to be connected at the place of a semi- automatic twistlock, and vice versa; it is necessary that there are two storing boxes with two different types of container locking means; in dismounting the solid locking means and the semi-automatic twistlock there is a risque that either of said locking means happen to be put in the wrong storing box; it is also expensive to supply and handle such double container locking systems, etc.

It must be considered an important claim for a rational, effective and low-cost handling of containers that all container locking means for any and all corner boxes and for any possible application are of the same type, i.e. twistlocks.

Therefore, the present invention relates to a container locking means of twistlock type having connection means, in the following referred to as twistlock cones, for lockingly interconnecting two containers standing on top of each other or on the base of a ship etc. by means of corner boxes of the containers, which connection means are formed so that they can be used both for easily accessible corner boxes and for difficultly accessible corner boxes, from which last mentioned corner boxes the connection means have to be releasable without manual operation thereof.

A twistlock useful for the present inventioncomprises a twistlock housing, a first twistlock connection means and a second twistlock connection means, at least one connection means of which is movable, means for restricting the movement of said movable connection means, a spring means for biassing said movable connection means into locking position, and a means for making it possible to move and release said movable connection means from the corner box and for setting said movable connection means in certain fixed positions, one fixed position of which is a partly moved intermediate position.

According to the invention the said first twistlock cone is formed as a conventional twistlock cone, whereas the second twistlock cone is formed as a latch cone having a nose part which projects transversally in relation to the vertical axis thereof, and in which one of said twistlock cones is arranged for being manually introduced and locked, by rotating the entire twistlock in a corner box of a container, and in which both twistlock cones facing downwards when putting an upper container down on top of a lower container are arranged to automatically take a locking position in the corner boxes of said lower container, one of said twistlock cones by being positively rotated and snap engaged, and the second cone, the latchcone, after said twistlock cone has been rotated to and locked in said intermediate position, by sliding downwardly to lockingly engage under an edge surface of the corner box with said transversally projecting nose part thereof.

At least one of the twistlock cones has be to movable, e.g. rotatable, and formed with external means for releasing same, namely the twistlock cone adapted to be introduced and locked in the corner box of the lower container at the freely accessible side of said container, whereas the latch cone at the opposite side of the container just slides straight down ans slightly offset into locking engagement in the corner box.

According to the invention said first twistlock connection means is a conventional twistlock connection means, whereas the second twistlock connection means is formed as a latch connection means having a nose part which projects transversally in relation to vertical axis of said latch connection means, said first twistlock connection means is arranged for being manually introduced and locked in a corner box of an upper container, whereas the opposite twistlock connection means is arranged to automatically lockingly engage the corner boxes of a lower container, and both twistlock connection means facing downwards when putting an upper container down on top of a lower container are arranged to automatically take a locking position in the corner boxes of said lower container, one of said pairs of twistlock connection means, the latch connection means, after said twistlock connection means has been moved, e.g. rotated to and locked in said intermediate position, by sliding downwardly to lockingly engage, with the projecting nose thereof, under an edge surface of the corner box, and the second one of said pairs of connection means, at a readily accessible side of a container, by being snap engaged in the corner box.

By "moving" of the twistlock connection means is means any type of movement, like a rotation of the twistlock cone, or a radial dicplacement of movement thereof. In the following there is mainly described twistlock cones which have a rotary movement, but it to be understood that the invention also includes twistlock cones having an radial rotary movement, and other types of movements.

Now the invention is to be described more in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a twistlock according to the invention, figure 2 is a perspecive side view of a second embodiment of a twistlock according to the invention, and figure 3 is a top view of the twistlock shown in figure 2. Figures 4, 5 and 6 are vertical cross section views illustrating the function of said first embodiment of the twistlock which is shown in figure 1 , in locked, in unlocked, and in unloading positions respectively. Figures 7, 8 and 9 correspondingly illustrate the function of a second embodiment of a twistlock according to the invention, and figures 10 and 11 are top views of the function of the twist lock type shown in figures 2 and 3. Figure 12 is a perspective view illustrating the method of using the twist locks shown in figure 1 while putting an upper container down on a lower container, and figure 13, similarly shows the method of releasing and lifting off the upper container from the lower container.

The twistlock according to the invention generally comprises a twistlock housing 1 , having a twistable locking cone 2 and a latch locking cone 3, a actuation means 4 for said cones 3 and a locking means 5 for said actuation means 4. The twist lock housing 1 is formed with a central support body 6 having parallell upper and lower sides adapted to contact the bottom and top surfaces of corner boxes of a container. From each planar side of the support bocy a substantially rectangular guide body 7 projects which is of substantially the same shape and size as the bore of the container corner box, in which the twist lock is to be lockingly engaged.

The twistlock cone and the latch lock cone are mounted at each end of a common shaft (not visible in the drawings) which extends through the twist lock housing. The inner of the twist lock housing comprises means for rotating the cones 2 and 3. Said rotation means is known per se from the above mentioned publication WO 92//05093 and is not to be described in detail. For providing such rotating of said said cones 2 and 3 an actuation means in the form of a flexible wire 8 projects out of the twist lock housing. For locking the cones 2 and 3 in predetermined rotated positions the twist lock comprises a wire lock means 9 having four recesses 10 at 0°, 90°, 180° and 270° in which the wire 8 can be placed and can be blocked by a wire stop in the form of a sleeve 1 1 which is press connected in a particular position on the wire. The recesses 10 are, in pairs, of such depth that the twist lock cones can be set in a first intermediate locked position and in a fully rotated position, respectively. The inner of the twist lock is formed with a spring means which biasses the twistlock cones to a locking position in the container corner boxes.

The twist locking cone 2 is formed as a substantially rectangular, screw formed cone, the maximum length and width of which are slightly less than the length and the width of the rectangular connection bore of the container corner box in which the twistlock cone is to lockingly engage. The twisting cone 2 is formed such that the cone is automatically brought to rotate, from its original locking position to a position in which the cone can enter through the connection bore of the corner box when two containers are moved together, whereafter the cone is rotated back to its locking position biassed by the spring means inside the twist lock housing. At the opposite end of the common cone shaft a latch lock cone is mounted.

In a first embodiment of the invention, shown in figure 1 and figures 4-6 said latch cone is formed as a generally rectangular cone 12 the maximum length and width of which are slightly less than the length and width of the connection bore of the corner box. At the longitunial top edge facing the twistlock end having the releasing wire 8 said cone 12 is formed with a projecting nose 13 having an inclined upper surface which, in the fully connected condition of the latch lock cone, engages under an outer edge 14 of the corner box. The opposite edge 15 of the cone 12 and also the equivalent edge 16 of the support body are bevelled, thereby providing a sliding surface 15 + 16 along which the cone 12 is introduced through the corner box bore sliding along the rear edge of said corner box bore. After the twist lock at the opposite end of the container has engaged its corner box the said latch cone is safely locked in its left corner box. As evident, when using the twistlock according to a first embodiment of the invention at a freely accessible end of the container said twistlock is turned with the latch cone facing up and the "twisting" cone facing down; at the opposite, difficultly accessible end of the container the twistlock is turned with the twisting cone facing up and the latch cone facing down. Figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the situation in which an upper container

17 is lockingly engaged to a lower container 18, both containers marked with phantom lines. As evident the twist locks at the free end and at the "narrow space" end are turned in opposite directions. The function of the twist locks while placing an upper container 17 on top of a lower container 18 is the following:

The "upper" container 17, which can be standing on a vehicle or on the ground or the quay, is lifted slightly and a twist locks is manually engaged in each of the four bottom corner boxes. At the end of the container, which in the loaded condition is easily accessible, in figures 4-6 the right corner boxes, the twist locks are mounted with the latch cones 12 facing up and with the cones in their fully "locking" positions, in which the wire 8 is fully retracted in the twist lock housing and the twist lock is rotated into locking position in the corner box; since the cone 12 is locked in the bottom corner box of the upper container it can not unintentionally be released therefrom; at the "narrow space" end of the containers the twist locks are mounted with the twisting cones 2, manually mounted, facing up and with the cones 2 and 12 set in such rotated position that the latch lock cone 12 is generally aligned with the bore of the lower container corner box; the rotated position is blocked in that the wire 8 with the wire stop 11 is locked in this position in any of the side slot 10 of the wire lock means 9 (see figure 3). The "upper" container with the twist locks is lifted and is put down on top of "lower" container 18. During said putting down of the container the rear edge 15 of the latch lock cone 12, which is, in its rotated position, aligned with the bore of the corner box, and also the rear edge 16 of the support body slidingly engages the rear edge of said corner box bore thereby successively guiding the upper container 17 slidingly to a position exactly above the lower container 18; concurrently therewith the twisting cones 2 rotatingly engages the corner boxes at the readily accessible end of the container and are thereby automatically rotated whereby said cones 2 lockingly engage the free end corner box of the lower container 18. In this condition the two containers 17 and 18 are safely interconnected. This situation is shown in figure 4.

For removing the upper container 17 from the lower container 18 it is necessary to unlock the free end twistlock cones 2 and this is made in pulling the wire 8 and locking same by means of the wire lock 1 1 in the bottom (or top) recess 10, which recess is formed so that the twisting cone 2 is thereby rotated to a position in which the twisting cone 2 is fully aligned with the corner box bore and can be removed therefrom. This is illustrated in figure 5.

Now said twisting cone 2, at the right end of the upper container, can be moved straight up through the corner box bore of the lower container. In lifting the upper container 17 from the lower container 18 the inclined upper surface of the nose 13 engages the bottom surface of the corner box edge 14 thereby forcing the entire container slightly to the right, as shown in figure 6, whereby the latch cone 12 is moved out of the corner box and the upper container 17 is free to be removed from the lower container 18. This is illustrated in figure 6. It is emphasized that the conventional twistlock cone 2 must not necessarily be rotatable. Said cone 2 can form a solid integral unit with the twistlock housing 1. The opposite twist lock, the latch cone, on the contrary, has to be rotatable. When using a twist lock having a fixed conventional twistlock cone said cone is manually introduced in the corner box of the upper container and is locked therein by rotating the entire twistlock. The opposite cone, which is formed as a latch cone both having a latch nose and having a screw shape, is bu its screw shape rotated and is snapped into engagement with the corner box of the lower container; at the opposite end of the container the latch cone of the twistlock, which is manually connected to the upper container by means of the conventional twistlock cone 2, is rotated and locked in its intermediate position, in which said latch cone 12 can simply slide into engagement with corner boxes at the "narrow end" of the pair of containers. In an alternative embodiment of the latch lock cone shown in figures

7-9 said cone 19 is formed with a swingable nose 20 which is rotatable about a horizontal pin 21 close to the bottom vertex of the latch cone 19. In its non-actuated condition said nose 20 is fully expelled, as shown in figure 7-9. In this embodiment of the invention the twist locks are placed with the latch cones facing down, both at the free end and at the narrow space end of the container, and with the release wires 8 for both twistlocks facing right, which means that only the wire at the free end of the container can be reached whereas the wire at the narrow space edge of the container can not be reached.

Also in this embodiment the twisting cones 2 are manually engaged lockingly in the bottom corner boxes of the upper container. The left twistlock, however is slightly rotated, like in the embodiment of figures 4-6, so that the latch cone is aligned with the corner box bore of the lower container, whereas the cones 2 and 19, at the free end of the container are in their locking end position, in which both the twisting cone 2 and the latch cone 19, 20 take a locking position. When lowering the upper container 17 into engagement with the lower container 18 said nose 20, at both ends of the upper container 17, are pressed into a position inside the cone 19 upon contact with the left upper edges of the corner boxes, whereby the upper container can be lowered straight down over the lower container. The left latch cone is moved straight down, and after the cone 19 has passed the upper edge 14 of the corner box the nose 20 swings out thereby lockingly engaging under said upper edge 14 of the corner box; the latch cone 19 at the free end (right) side of the container, which is slightly screw formed, is slightly rotated, whereby the swingable cone 20 in pressed into the latch cone 19 and the latch cone can be moved down through the bore of the container box, whereupon the latch cone 19 + 20 is rotated back to its fully locked position in the corner box. This position is shown in figure 7.

Unlocking of the twistlocks, which is also in this embodiment made only at the free end (right) of the container, is made exactly as previously described by pulling out the wire 8 and locking same in the bottom (or perhaps upper) recess 10 of the wire lock 9. See figure 8.

Unloading is made by moving the container straight up, whereby the swingable nose 20 at the right twist locks slides up along the smooth, open surface of the corner box; the upper inclined surface of the nose 20 at the left twist locks slide against the upper edge 14 of the the left corner box thereby pressing the upper container 17 slightly to the right whereby the left twistlocks get free from the corner boxes and the upper container 17 can be removed from the lower container. A third embodiment of the latch lock cone in shown in figures 2-3 and

10-1 1 . In this embodiment the latch cone 22 is formed with a transversal latch nose 23 at a side edge at the bottom of the latch cone. In the non- actuated, locked condition, which is best evident from the right twist lock of figure 10 both the twisting cone and the latch cone 22 are in fully locked positions. Also in this embodiment the left twist lock, engaging the corner boxes at the "narrow space" ends of the lower container are slightly rotated and the wire is pulled out some distance and is locked in the side recesses of the wire lock means 9, as best evident from figure 3. It is obvious that the latch nose 23, which is also in this case formed with a bevelled upper surface is adapted to engage underneath a side edge of the corner box.

In this case both the twist locks at the free accessible container end and the twist locks at the narrow space end are engaged in the upper container 17 with the twisting cones facing up, the left twistlocks, however and as mentioned above, slightly rotated. The interconnection of the upper container 17 with the upper container 18 is made by moving said upper container straight down, wheregy the latch cones engage the corner boxes at both ends of the lower container 18. See figure 10.

Unlocking ans unloading of the upper container is made like in all previously described embodiments. The right twist locks are released by pulling the wire and locking same in the top or bottom recess 10 of the wire lock means 9; the upper container is lifted, whereby the right twist locks are rotated and can be removed from their corner boxes, whereas the left twist locks are slightly rotated to a freed position in their corner boxes in that the inclined upper edge of the latch nose 23 engages a side edge of the corner box thereby positively rotating the latch cone into the releasing position. Compare figure 1 1.

Reference numerals

1 twist lock housing

2 twist locking cone

3 latch locking cone

4 actuation means

5 locking means (for 4)

6 support body

7 buide body

8 wire

9 wire lock means

10 recess

1 1 wire stop

Figures 1 , 4-6

12 rectangular latch cone

13 nose

14 edge

15 rear edge (of 12)

16 rear edge (of 6)

17 upper container

18 lower container

Figures 1 , 7-9

19 latch cone

20 swingable nose

21 rotation pin

Figures 2-3, 10-11

22 latch cone 23 latch nose

Claims

C L A I M S

1. A container locking means of twistlock type having connection means (2, 3), referred to as twistlock cones, for lockingly interconnecting two containers standing on top of each other or on the base of a ship etc. by means of corner boxes of the containers (17, 18), which connection means are formed so that they can be used both for easily accessible corner boxes and for difficultly accessible corner boxes, from which last mentioned corner boxes the connection means have to be releasable without manual operation thereof, and which comprises a twistlock housing (1 ), a first twistlock connection means (2) and a second twistlock connection means (3), at least one connection means of which is movable, means for restricting the movement of said movable connection means (2, 3), a spring means for biassing said movable connection means into locking position, and a means (4) for making it possible to move and release said movable connection means (2, 3) from the corner box and for setting said movable connection means in certain fixed positions, one fixed position of which is a partly moved intermediate position, characterized in that said first twistlock connection means is a conventional twistlock connection means (2), whereas the second twistlock connection means is formed as a latch connection means (3) having a nose part (13; 20; 23) which projects transversally in relation to vertical axis of said latch connection means (3), in that one of said twistlock connection means (2 or 3) is arranged for being manually introduced and locked in a corner box of an upper container, whereas the opposite twistlock connection means (3 or 2) is arranged to automatically lockingly engage the corner boxes of a lower container, and in that both twistlock connection means (2, 12; 19; 22) facing downwards when putting an upper container (17) down on top of a lower container (18) are arranged to automatically take a locking position in the corner boxes of said lower container, one of said pairs of twistlock connection means (left connection means of figures 4-11 ), the latch connection means, after said twistlock connection means has been moved to and locked in said intermediate position, by sliding downwardly to lockingly engage, with the projecting nose (13; 20; 23) thereof, under an edge surface of the corner box, and the second one of said pairs of connection means (right connection means of figures (4-11), at a readily accessible side of a container, bγ being snap engaged in the corner box.

2. Twistlock according to claim 1 , characterized in that the locking nose part (13) of the latch connection means (12), in the said moved, e.g. rotated intermediate position, extends in the longitudinal direction of the container thereby engaging under an edge (14) of the corner box at the difficultly accessible end of the container. (Figures 4-9)

3. Twistlock according to claim 2, characterized in that the locking edge of the latch connection means (19) is a swingable latch nose (20) which upon lowering of the upper container (17) is temperarily fold in and is thereafter fold out to lockingly engage under an edge (14) of the corner box of the lower container (18) at the difficultly accessible short thereof. (Figures 7-9)

4. Twistlock according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the locking nose (13), or the swingable nose (20) respectively, is formed with an outwardly-downwardly inclined upper surface which can provide an inclined sliding surface which, upon lifting of the upper container (17) makes the upper container (17) slide slightly in its longitudinal direction away from the container standing closely aside thereof.

5. Twistlock according to claim 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the rear edge (15) and an adjacent part (16) of the rear edge of the twistlock housing are formed with downwardly-outwardly inclined surfaces thereby forming an inclined sliding surface (15, 16) for guiding the upper container (17) down and slightly aside upon putting the upper container ( 17) down on top of the lower container (18).

6. Twistlock according to claim 1 , characterized in that both the conventional twistlock connection means (2) and the latch connection means (22) have a rotatable locking function, and in that the latch of said latch connection means (22) is a latch nose (23) projecting transversally from an edge at the base of said latch connection means (22), which latch nose (23) is formed for being snapped into locking engagement under a side edge of the corner box. (Fig. 10-1 1 )

7. Twistlock according to claim 1 , characterized in that the conventional twistlock connection means (2) is a fixed connection means arranged to be manually engaged lockingly in the corner box of an upper container by rotating the entire twist lock, whereas the latch connection means (2) is a rotatable connection means which can automatically be positively rotated when an upper container is put down on top or a lower container, of bγ pulling a release wire (8) extending out of the twistlock housing (6).

8. Twistlock according to claim 6, characterized in that said transversally extending latch nose (23) is formed with an inclined upper surface which, upon lifting of the upper container (17), makes the latch connection means (22) rotate thereby opening a passageway for moving said latch connection means (22) out of the container corner box.

9. Use of a container twist lock according to any of the preceding claims,

- whereby the container twist lock - at the end of the container which is easily accessible - is turned with the latch connection means (12) facing up and is secured in the bottom corner boxes of an "upper" container, and with the conventional twistlock connection means (2) facing down for automatical positive, spring biassed movement, e.g. rotation, back thereby lockingly engaging in the top corner box of the "lower" container,

- whereas the container twistlock - at the end of the container which is difficultly accessible - is turned with the convention twisting cone (2) facing up and is secured in the bottom corner boxes of the "upper" container and with the latch means (12) facing down and in alignment with the bore of the corner box, so as to slidingly and locking engage under an edge of the top corner boxes of the the "lower" container with the latch nose thereof. (Fig. 4-6) 10. Use of a container twist lock according to any of claims 1 - 9,

- whereby the container twist locks - both at the end of the container which is easily accessible and at the end of the container which is difficultly accessible - are turned with the conventional twistlock cones (2) facing up and secured in the bottom corner boxes of an "upper" container and with the conventional latch cones (19; 22) facing down,

- and with the latch cone (19; 22) at the easily accessible side of the container (17) in its initial fully locking position and with the latch cone (23) at the difficultly accessible side of the container (17) rotated to and locked in a position in which the latch cone (19; 22) is extending aligned or nearly aligned with the longitudinal direction of the container so that said latch cones (19; 22) with locking noses (20; 23) thereof can readily slide into locking engagement in the corner boxes of the "lower" container,

- and whereby releasing of the containers from each other is made bγ rotating the twisting cones (2) at the readilγ accessible side of the container to become fully released from its engagement in its corner box, and lifting of the "upper" container, wherebγ the latch noses (20; 23) at the difficultly accessible side of the container slidingly release said latch cones (19; 22) from their engagements in the corner boxes. (Fig. 7-11 )