Frommelt Industries, Inc.

Rite-hite Holding Corporation

Rite-hite Corporation

Robert J Frommelt

Thomas J Boffeli

John A Frommelt

William Triervieler

Kenneth F Lenz

Thomas J Medley

David J Hoffmann

Thomas E Duccini

Jon A Giuliani

David J Hoffman

A loading dock shelter having a resilient and flexible seal assembly is provided for forming a substantially air-tight seal between the dock opening and the truck. The seal assembly comprises a support or panel member which is adapted to attach to the loading dock frame and to support a seal member. The seal member has a substantially hook-shaped cross-section adapted to hookably engage the incoming truck and is capable of resiliently flexing between a hook-shaped cross-section in the disengaged position and a substantially straight cross-section in the sealing position in response to the truck. The hook-shaped cross section permits the seal member to sealably engage the interior wall of the truck, and, in the alternative, will seal against the peripheral edge of the truck, or the exterior wall of the truck depending on the size and position of the truck. The flexible seal member has a seal end adapted to bend and conform to the surface contours of the truck surface in the sealing position so as to form a substantially air-tight seal therewith.

Loading dock seal assembly

A seal assembly, which minimizes or eliminates infiltration of rain water along the roof of a truck parked in a loading dock, generally comprises a downwardly inclined roof panel which extends outwardly from the building wall and collects the water. A gutter member, supported by and disposed along the length of the roof panel, collects water runoff from the building walls and the roof panel and channels the water away from the center of the door opening and towards either side of the loading dock opening. The seal assembly also comprises a seal member mounted to the roof panel and/or the gutter member so that it generally hangs into the upper portion of the door opening and engages the top portion of the truck so as to sealably engage the truck roof and form a water blocking barrier, thereby minimizing or eliminating infiltration of rain water along the truck roof. In one embodiment, the seal member comprises a fabric curtain which is suspended into the path of the incoming truck and drapes over the truck roof to form a seal therewith. In another embodiment, the seal member comprises a resilient, compressible and deformable seal pad, pivotally suspended from the roof panel and/or the gutter member, into the path of the incoming truck and for engaging the roof and/or the top rear peripheral edges of the truck and thereby form a barrier to rain, snow, air and the like.

Gutter and seal assembly

A dock shelter adapted for mounting to a wall about an opening in the wall includes a plurality of coupled outer panels comprised of molded plastic. The plastic outer panels include a pair of roof sections as well as left and right lateral sections each coupled to a respective distal end of a roof section. Each lateral section includes respective pairs of upper and lower side panels coupled together in a telescoping manner to allow the height of the dock shelter to be fixed as desired over a range of values. Similarly, the roof sections are coupled together by means of a center roof connector cap in a telescoping manner to allow for adjustment of the width of the dock shelter. The telescoping coupling arrangement between the various dock shelter structural members allows the dock shelter to be used with a wide range of wall opening sizes. The plastic outer panels are sturdy and weather-resistant and each includes an outer angle portion to which either a head curtain or a side curtain may be attached so as to form a weather resistant, leak proof, outer structure for the inner dock shelter components which include a metal support/reinforcing structure and a pair of bottom pad seals. The plastic outer panels, formed by rotational molding in a preferred embodiment, are inexpensively fabricated, lightweight yet strong, and easily assembled and installed.

Molded modular dock shelter

A seal disposed about the periphery of an opening such as a warehouse door includes an inflatable head bag and a pair of facing inflatable side bags. The head and side bags are each comprised of a plurality of serially coupled, elongated, aligned pleated sections which are separated by apertured baffles for regulating air flow between adjacent pleated sections. A source of air under pressure such as a blower directs air into an upper head bag which, in turn, directs the air flow into the facing side bags via respective duct arrangements coupling the head bag to the side bags. Under pressure, the head and side bags expand toward the center of the opening to enclose in a sealed manner an object such as a loading vehicle positioned within the opening. Disposed within and along the width of each of the side bags are a plurality of spaced horizontal ropes or straps which are coupled at a first end thereof via an alignment tube to the nose edge of the end, or distal, pleated bag section, and at a second end thereof to vertically movable weights which bias the side bags to the retracted or open positon when air under pressure is no longer provided to the side bags. A plurality of spaced vertical retraction straps in the head bag are wrapped around a spring-biased roller tube positioned in an upper portion of a support frame and extending across the opening for rolling the head bag up in a retracted position when air under pressure is no longer delivered to the perimeter seal.

Air perimeter seal for opening

A loading dock shelter of the pad type having L-shaped configuration, which, in normal operation provides a wrap-around type of engagement with the rear end of trucks backed into operative engagement with the loading dock shelter.

Loading dock shelters

A loading dock shelter of the pad type, which, in normal operation provides a 'wrap-around' type of engagement with the rear ends of trucks backed into operative engagement with the loading dock shelter.

Growing community of inventors

Peosta, IA, United States of America

Robert J Frommelt