Extendable high-capacity intermodal transport platform

Abstract

Described herein is A transport platform comprising a center platform comprising two side rails connected with two or more cross beams and two end sills; and two side wing extensions reversibly attached to the center platform; wherein the side wing extensions can be detached, stacked, and secured on top of the center platform. This design facilitates the transport and storage of heavy cargo related sub-assemblies or finished components of oversized cargo.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A transport platform comprising
 a center platform comprising two side rails connected with two or more cross beams and two end sills; and   two side wing extensions reversibly attached to the center platform;   
       wherein the side wing extensions can be detached, stacked, and secured on top of the center platform. 
     
     
         2 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , wherein the side wing extensions are reversibly attached to the center platform using standard twist-lock style connectors. 
     
     
         3 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , wherein the side rails and end sills are connected using standardized ISO 1161 style corner castings. 
     
     
         4 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , further comprising multiple tie-down points, threaded and pass-through bolt locations, hooks, forklift slots, D-rings, or shipping container style corner castings. 
     
     
         5 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , wherein the platform is constructed using steel. 
     
     
         6 . The transport platform of  claim 5 , wherein the steel is Corten steel. 
     
     
         7 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more corner castings. 
     
     
         8 . The transport platform of  claim 7 , wherein the center platform comprises 8 corner castings, and each side wing comprises four corner castings. 
     
     
         9 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more bottom corner castings. 
     
     
         10 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more cross beams. 
     
     
         11 . The transport platform of  claim 10 , comprising four cross beams. 
     
     
         12 . The transport platform of  claim 10 , further comprising steel mesh disposed between the end sills and the cross beams. 
     
     
         13 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , further comprising four lifting points for dual crane lifting operations set at end corners of the center platform. 
     
     
         14 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , further comprising forklift tubes. 
     
     
         15 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , wherein each side rail is an “I” beam fabricated from high strength steel. 
     
     
         16 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , wherein each side rail comprises one or more rectangular openings. 
     
     
         17 . The transport platform of  claim 16 , wherein the rectangular openings are configured for use as interfaces for the cross beams that will connect side wing extensions to the main structure. 
     
     
         18 . The transport platform of  claim 1 , configured to accept jack legs. 
     
     
         19 . The transport platform of  claim 10 , wherein each cross beam is a welded rectangle tube with a large U-shaped notch in the top center. 
     
     
         20 . The cross beams  3  may be hollow and open at both ends. The ends of the cross beams will match the openings in the side rails and form tunnels that the inserted cross beams  3  pass through. In one embodiment, the end sills  4  are welded “I” beams with U-shaped notches at the top centers with top and bottom flanges.