AU2008100820A4 - A vehicle loading dock fender assembly having a moveable fender - Google Patents

Description

00 Regulation 3.2

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SAUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION 0 FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT

ORIGINAL

00 00 Name of Applicant: Steven John Cowey Actual Inventor: Steven John Cowey Address for Service: MADDERNS, First Floor, 64 Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention title: A VEHICLE LOADING DOCK FENDER ASSEMBLY HAVING A MOVEABLE FENDER Details of Associated Provisional Application No: 2007904672 dated 29 August 2007 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me.

00 FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0 SThis invention relates to an improved fender assembly for protecting vehicle loading docks against damage during the loading or unloading of trailers. The invention however is not restricted to vehicle loading docks and may have application in the marine industry where boats or houseboats dock against a wharf or pontoon, and where relative movement occurs between a fixed surface and a 00 moving surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 00 With the introduction of airbag suspension trailers, the rate of damage to truck loading docks and the trailers themselves has increased quite dramatically. The movement of the trailer against the fixed 00 dock as the trailer is unloaded or loaded, can cause quite significant damage to the dock structure Oand/or rear end of the trailer, thereby escalating the cost of maintenance. It will be appreciated that vehicle trailers which incorporate airbag suspensions can rise and fall quite substantially when the loading on the trailer respectively decreases or increases. For example, during the loading/unloading of freight trailers, it is common practice for forklift vehicles to be driven onto the trailer and as a consequence, the loading on the trailer is dramatically increased. When the forklift truck is driven off the trailer, the trailer rises. This rise and fall movement, with the rear end of the trailer making contact against the dock, can cause a significant amount of damage to the dock structure (and the trailer). The above described rise and fall occurs even where self-levelling airbag suspension systems are operating. This is because there is a time lag between the increased load (from a forklift for instance) and the increase in air pressure admitted to the airbag suspension system.

In order to minimise damage, it is common practice for truck loading docks to have fixed on either side of the dock leveller a solid block of rubber mounted vertically by two bolts which are welded to a mounting surface on the dock. These rubber blocks, however, are fixed with respect to the dock and, in use, tend to deteriorate quite quickly as a result of forces applied thereagainst by the vehicle trailer rear end and the relative movement which occurs between the fixed blocks and the trailer.

The damage to the blocks causes the bolts to become exposed and bent.

Dock fenders that are able to move up and down substantially in unison with the rise and fall of a trailer are now known. However, with known arrangements, including the applicant's own dock fender as shown in Figures 1 to 4, it is possible that parts of the fender assembly (for instance guide track 19 shown in Figure 4) may be damaged.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved dock fender assembly that addresses this problem or at least offers a useful choice.

00 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

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OAccording to the invention there is provided a fender assembly adapted for attachment to a fixed support surface of a structure at a predetermined height above the ground, said fender assembly ;comprising: 00 5 a vertical elongate support which, in use, is fixed with respect to the support surface, the N, support having a pair of laterally spaced apart tubes; a guide track extending longitudinally between the tubes; a vertically disposed resilient elongate fender mounted on the support and guided therealong

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0by the guide track for vertical slidable movement downwardly and upwardly from a normal at rest position; and 0 spring loaded fender restraining means co-acting with and adapted to resist movement of the fender when displaced downwards from the normal at rest position, the restraining means including a spring within each tube, the springs acting on a vertically slidable generally U-shaped member which has a pair of upstanding legs extending into the tubes on opposite sides of the track, and a transversely extending bridging portion interconnecting the legs, wherein the guide track is wholly located between the tubes such that a laterally extending vehicle bumper presenting a substantially planar surface to the support will impact on the tubes before or at the same time as it impacts on the guide track, thereby offering some protection from damage to the guide track.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described in some further detail with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying figures. This embodiment is illustrative, and is not meant to be restrictive of the scope of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying representations in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a background art truck loading dock having a pair of fender units mounted adjacent opposite sides of the dock leveller; Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the assembly shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of part of the assembly shown in Figure 1 with a vehicle trailer abutting against the fenders, with the dock leveller in its raised position; Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the fender units shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 5a is a perspective view of a fender assembly according to a first embodiment of the invention in a neutral position; Figure 5b is a perspective view of a fender assembly according to a first embodiment of the invention in a downwardly displaced position; 00 Figure 6 is a perspective view of a fender assembly according to a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 7a is a perspective view of a fender assembly according to a third embodiment of the tb3 invention; Figure 7b is a perspective view of a fender assembly according to a fourth embodiment of 00 ,I the invention.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings, there is shown a background art truck loading dock 10 which typically includes a hinged dock leveller 11 and a pair of fender assemblies 00 12 mounted on opposite sides of the leveller 11. The dock leveller, when in use, is in a raised substantially horizontal position where it bridges between the dock platform and the rear end of the 00 vehicle trailer (as shown in Figure 3).

Referring to Figure 4, a background art fender assembly 12 is shown. This fender assembly, subject of the applicant's International Patent Application No. PCT/AU03/01204, performs extremely well but can, in some circumstances, be damaged by a trailer or truck. This is because the guide track 19 protrudes from the base plate 13 as can clearly be seen in Figure 4. Thus, a trailer or truck reversing towards a dock could potentially impact on the guide track 19 if the fender block 15 was for whatever reason in a lowered position as illustrated in Figure 4 or has been removed altogether.

Referring now to Figures 5a and 5b, an improved fender assembly 12 is shown. The fender assembly 12 is adapted for attachment to a fixed support surface such as a loading dock at a predetermined height above the ground. It is mounted in the same way as the fender assembly 12 shown in Figure 1.

The fender assembly 12 shown in Figures 5a and 5b has a vertical elongate support which, in use, is fixed with respect to the loading dock or other support surface. The elongate support 13 also includes a pair of laterally spaced apart tubes 40 and 50. The assembly 12 further comprises a track guide 19 extending longitudinally between the tubes 40 and 50. A vertically disposed resilient elongate fender 15 is mounted on the support 13 and guided therealong by the guide track 19 for vertical slidable movement downwardly and upwardly from a normal at rest position shown in Figure 5a. A spring-loaded fender restraining means is provided to resist movement of the fender when displaced downwards from the normal at rest position shown in Figure 5a. The restraining means includes a spring 27 within each tube 40 and 50, the springs 27 acting on a vertically slidable generally U-shaped member 23 which has a pair of upstanding legs 24 extending into the tubes and 50 on opposite sides of the guide track 19 and a transverse extending bridging portion interconnecting the legs 24.

00 The guide track 19 is wholly located between the tubes 40 and 50 such that a laterally extending 0 vehicle bumper presenting a substantially planar surface to the support 13 will impact on the tubes and 50 before or at the same time as it impacts on the guide track 19 thereby offering some ;protection from damage to the guide track 19. Figures 5a and 5b have a cut-away portion revealing spring 27 around upstanding leg 24 within the tube 40. A retaining nut 29 is provided on the end of 00 C'i the U-shaped rod 23 to retain the spring 27.

SFigure 5a shows the fender assembly 12 in its neutral position, whereas Figure 5b shows the fender 00 assembly 12 with its fender 15 in a downwardly displaced position.

0 00 The installation of the fender units 12 to a dock as shown in Figure 1 is quite simple. The mounting Splate 13 together with the fender restraining mechanism is fixed to a support surface on the dock at the required location and thereafter the fender 15 is simply slidably fitted onto its track 19 from the top thereof. When a fender 15 requires to be replaced with a new one, this can be achieved very easily and conveniently without any dismantling of the unit.

Referring again to Figures 5a and 5b, it can be seen that the springs 27 are compressed between end caps 42 and 52 respectively and retention nuts 29. The end caps 42 and 52 can be separate components or alternatively can be integral with the tubes 40 and The fender 15 can be made of materials including rubber. Preferably, the mating component 15a for the track guide 19 is constructed from a harder material than the body of the fender 15b. For instance, fender component 15a may be constructed from steel or aluminium.

An abutment member 26 welded to the lower portion of the U-shaped rod 23 engages with the lower portion of the insert 15a as is clearly shown in Figure Referring now to Figure 6, the guide track 19 is more clearly shown. The guide track 19 is formed by the space between the mounting plate 13 and a pair of parallel spaced apart rails 45 and 55. These rails 45 and 55 are positioned between the tubes 40 and 50 and are therefore protected from damage at all times. Specifically, even when the fender 15 is completely removed, a trailer reversing into the remaining fender assembly 12 is less likely to damage the guide track 19 compared to prior art arrangements.

Referring now to Figure 7a, a further embodiment of the invention is shown. With this embodiment of the invention, the guide track 19 comprises a plate 19' and a rod 18. The rod 18 is welded to the mounting plate 13 and the plate 19' is welded to the rod 18. Again, the entire track guide 19 is 00 positioned so that it does not protrude outwardly from the tubes 40 and 50. Thus, the guide track 19 0 is protected at all times.

;A variant of the embodiment shown in Figure 7a is shown in Figure 7b. With this variant, a pair of 5 rods 18 is provided between plate 19' and mounting plate 13.

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In use, when a trailer is backed up against the dock with its rear end making pressure contact with the fenders 15 which are in their neutral (at rest) position illustrated in Figure 5a. Any subsequent up 00 0or down movement of the trailer rear end will cause simultaneous up or down movement of the 10 fenders 15. While the fenders 15 can slide upwards unrestrained by the springs 27, from their 0 normal at rest position (shown in Figure 5a), any downwards movement therefrom is resisted by the Scompression springs 27 as is shown in Figure 5b. This ensures that if the trailer moves away from the dock with the fenders 15 displaced downwards, they will return automatically to their normal at rest positions. Ifa similar situation occurs where the fenders 15 are displaced above their at rest positions, the fenders 15 return to their normal at rest positions under their own weight.

A brief consideration of the above described embodiment will indicate that the invention provides for a very simple, inexpensive, and easily installed sliding fender unit which is particularly suited for protecting loading docks against damage from airbag suspension trailers which undergo significant vertical movement with respect to the dock during unloading/loading thereof. The fender unit of the present invention has a minimum number of moving components which are designed to be substantially damage resistant.