The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 19, 1995
Filed:
Jan. 31, 1995
Douglas H Massey, New Berlin, WI (US);
Kelley Company, Inc., Milwaukee, WI (US);
Abstract
A lip lifting mechanism for the pivotable lip of a dock leveler moves the lip to an operative extended position as the ramp of the dock leveler is moved from a raised position toward a lowered position. The lip lifting mechanism includes a push bar, a lifting rod, a lug engageable with the lip through the lifting rod, and a link arrangement to which the lifting rod is pivotably mounted, with the push bar being engageable with the link arrangement upon downward movement of the ramp. The push bar moves the link arrangement and the lifting rod into an over-center toggle position to extend the lip. Engagement of the lip with the bed of a truck results in the link arrangement and the lifting rod being moved to an under-center release position, so as to enable the lip to fall to a pendant position when the truck moves away from the dock. The invention contemplates a unique construction of the engagement structure between the push bar and the link arrangement for increasing the force applied to the lifting rod by the push bar, and a trip structure for ensuring that the lip is always returned to its pendant position when the dock leveler is in a lowered, storage position.