It is unclear, however, whether the aircraft manufacturer has any plans to actually produce the plane.
A report by Popular Mechanics magazine has highlighted an innovative design for a cargo airplane that would allow the aircraft to “squat” over a row of intermodal shipping containers and insert them into a slot at the underside of the plane.
The report, which includes a Patent Yogi video of what the plane might look like and how it would work, says the patent envisions a system would transport airfreight in standard intermodal containers, locked into place with twist locks, rather than using the special containers and pallets used by airlines today to move cargo.
The inventors are Lowell B. Campbell of Mukilteo, Washington and Victor Ken Stuhr of Seattle.
Asked to comment on the report, Tom Kim, a Boeing spokesman said only, “I can tell you that while Boeing files many patents every year that protect our intellectual property, that doesn’t necessarily mean we end up pursuing them.”
Boeing patents container handling plane
