Kelley Company, Inc.

Jonathan W Kovach

Martin P Hageman

Joseph R Driear

An improved vehicle restraint for preventing movement of a vehicle, such as a truck away from a loading dock during a loading operation. The vehicle restraint includes a guide frame mounted on the front face of the loading dock and a hook is disposed to move vertically on the guide frame between a lower inoperative position and an upper operative position where the hook engages an abutment on the vehicle. The hook is moved between the inoperative and operative positions by a fluid cylinder assembly, including a cylinder which is disposed in a recess in the driveway adjacent the loading dock, and the piston rod of the fluid cylinder assembly is connected to the hook. By introducing fluid into the lower end of the cylinder, the piston rod will be extended to move the hook to the operative position. The compressible nature of the fluid in the cylinder enables the hook to follow rising and falling of the truck bed during the loading operation.

Vehicle restraint utilizing a fluid cylinder

A vehicle restraint for preventing accidental movement of a vehicle away from a loading dock. The vehicle restraint comprises a frame mounted on the front face of the dock and a restraining member having a hook-like configuration is mounted for movement on the frame between the lower storage position and an upper operative position where the restraining member is engaged with an abutment, such as an ICC bar, on the vehicle. The restraining member is biased upwardly to the operative position and a power operated unit is arranged to move the restraining member downwardly from the operative position to the storage position where it is locked in the storage position by a releasable latch. On release of the latch, the biasing mechanism will move the restraining member upwardly into engagement with the ICC bar, and the biasing mechanism enables the engaged restraining member to follow both upward and downward movement of the ICC bar during a loading operation.

Vehicle restraint having an upwardly biased restraining member

A pit-mounted dockboard which eliminates the need for a conventional sub-frame and has an improved mechanism for retracting the cross traffic legs when the ramp is moved to a downwardly inclined below dock level position. The dockboard includes a ramp hinged to the supporting structure and movable from a horizontal cross traffic position to an upwardly inclined position and to a downwardly inclined below dock level position. A pair of cross traffic legs are pivoted to the forward portion of the ramp and are movable between an upright supporting position and a rearwardly pivoted retracted position. The cross traffic legs when in the supporting position engage the bottom of the pit in the loading dock to support the ramp in the cross traffic position. Locking means are engageable with the cross traffic legs to prevent the cross traffic legs from being pivoted to the retracted position when the ramp is in the cross traffic position. A gas spring assembly interconnects the cross traffic legs and an arm connected to the ramp to provide a toggle mechanism. The toggle mechanism can be manually moved to an overcenter position to load the gas spring, so that when the ramp is pivoted upwardly, the force of the gas spring assembly will move the cross traffic legs to the retracted position, so that the ramp can then be lowered to the downwardly inclined position. When the ramp reaches the downwardly inclined position, the toggle mechanism is automatically returned to the undercenter position so that the cross traffic legs can be returned to the upright supporting position on elevation of the ramp. An improved telescopic maintenance strut assembly is incorporated with the dockboard to hold the dockboard at an upwardly inclined position for maintenance.

Dockboard construction

A yieldable and releasable lip lifting mechanism for a dockboard. The dockboard includes a ramp which is pivoted at its rear edge to a supporting structure, and a lip is hinged to the forward edge of the ramp and is movable between a downwardly hanging pendant position and an extended position. As the ramp is walked down from an inclined position toward a horizontal position, a lip lifting mechanism becomes operative to raise the lip and hold the lip in the extended position. A yieldable connection is incorporated in the lip lifting mechanism which enables the lip lifting mechanism to yield and fall out of supporting engagement when a substantial force is applied to the extended lip. In addition, the yieldable connection can be manually released by an operator to permit the lip to fall to its pendant position.

Growing community of inventors

Milwaukee, WI, United States of America

Jonathan W Kovach