GB2186239A - Securing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A securing device for securing large planar sheets (20) of various sizes, such as glass, windows or doors, to the sides of a vehicle (10) or pallet comprises a plurality of upwardly extending elongate channel members (18) forming, with a plurality of rubber faced horizontal members (19) a frail (15) which is secured to the vehicle or pallet side (13). A ledge (16) is attached to the bottom of the frail (15) to support the articles (20). Sliding in the channel members (18) are sliders (23) having a T-shaped head (24) which slides in the channel (18) and a strap (26) attachment portion (25). A buckle (27) is attached to a short length of strap (28) which is secured to the ledge (16). The articles (20) are placed on the ledge (16) and rest against the horizontal members (19), and are secured in position by the strap (26). The upper end of the strap (26) is secured to the slider (23) held in the channel (18) and the lower end passes through the buckle (27) whereupon it is tightened to retain the article (20) in place. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Securing device This invention relates to securing devices, and in particular to devices for securing loads to vehicle bodies. More particularly the invention relates to devices for securing large planar articles such as sheet glass or framed windows to the sides of transport vehicles.

Conventionally large planar articles such as sheet glass or framed windows are carried at the sides of vehicles, either inside or outside, by being supported with one edge on a ledge and leaning slightly out of the vertical against a supporting framework or frail. Some form of retaining means is necessarily provided to retain the article in its inclined position against the frail, and such retaining means generally comprises one or more straps attached to the roof of the vehicle or top of the frail and secured by a respective buckle which is attached to the ledge either directly or by a short length of strap. However such an arrangement does not satisfactorily restrain an article, whose height is appreciably less than the height of the frail, against movement and possible damage during transit on the side of the vehicle.To overcome this problem it has been proposed to provide a hook attached to the strap whereby it may be hooked into one of a series of holes provided at differing heights on the vehicle side. However such hooks can become readily detached, particularly if the most appropriate hole to be used when a particular article is to be transported is not positioned close to the top of the article concerned.

Another arrangement has been proposed to overcome the abovementioned disadvantages, in this case the retaining means comprises a metal pole, one end of which is received in retaining member located at the top of the frail and the other end of which is received in a retaining member located on the ledge. The length of the pole is resiliently compressible so that the lower end can be inserted in its retaining member after the upper end has been inserted in its retaining member. Such an arrangement is more costly than the previously described strap arrangements and is not so readily adaptable for use with varying numbers of articles carried in face to face disposition on the side of the vehicle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a securing device for securing planar articles to a side of a vehicle which avoids at least to a substantial extent, the aforementioned disadvantages.

The invention provides a securing device comprising at least one elongate member adapted to be secured to a support structure, a siider engaged by said elongate member and slidable longitudinally thereof, an elongate strap secured to said slider, and buckle means operable to secure said strap relative to said elongate member at a location spaced from said slider.

Said elongate member may be a channel, in which case said elongate member may be secured to the support structure with the opening of said channel facing away from said support structure. The slider may have a Tshaped portion having a cross-member adapted to be received in said channel, and a strap attachment portion. The strap attachment portion may be an elongate loop which may extend substantially parallel with the cross member of the T-shaped portion.

The support structure may be a vehicle side, and a securing device may be secured to the inside or the outside of said vehicle side.

Alternatively said support structure may comprise a pallet which may be transported in a vehicle. Said elongate member may extend upwardly of said support structure.

One embodiment of securing device in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the device mounted on the outside of a vehicle, Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view, Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view showing the slider being removed from the elongate member, Fig. 4 is a cross-section through a vehicle showing the devices mounted on the inside and the outside of a vehicle, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a pallet incorporating the device.

Referring now to Fig. 1 there is shown a vehicle 10 comprising a roof 11, base 12, sides 13, only one being shown, and wheels 14. The roof 11 is narrower than the base 12 so that the sides 13 are inclined from the vertical by a small angle, typically of the order of 5". Attached to each side 13, on the outside thereof, is a frail 1 5 at the lower end of which is a ledge 16 extending outwardly of the vehicle. Conveniently the frail 15 extends below the base 1 2 so that large articles may be carried by the vehicle 10 for the same overall height thereof. Alternatively or additionally the vehicle 10 may have internal, upwardly, outwardly inclined walls 1 7 to which another frail (see Fig.4) may be attached.In this case the base 12 forms a ledge for Supporting articles within the vehicle 10.

Each frail 15 comprises upwardly extending elongate members 18 and horizontally extending elongate members 19. The horizontally extending elongate members 19 are formed of, or preferably are faced with, a resilient material such as rubber, in order that the glass or other articles 20 laid in contact therewith are not likely to be damaged by such contact, One or more articles 20, for example sheet glass or windows are placed with a lower edge on the ledge 16 to be supported thereby, and are laid back to be in face to face contact with the horizontal members 19 of frail 15.

The upwardly extending elongate members 18 of the frail 15 are of channel section, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, with the open side of the channel facing away from the wall 13 or wall 17 in the case of an internal frail.

The members 18 have lips 21 so that the opening 22 is narrower than the internal width of the channel section. A slider 23 is formed having a T-shaped portion 24, adapted to be received in the channel section member 18 so that it may slide longitudinally of the member 18, and a strap attachment portion 25, in the form of an elongate loop to which a strap 28 is attached. A buckle 27 is attached to a short length of strap 28 which is secured to the ledge 18, or base 12 in the case of an internal load carrying arrangement. The length of strap 28 is less than the height of the article 20 whereas strap 26 is long enough to reach the buckle 27 when articles 20 of maximum height possible, having regard to the height of the side 13, are being carried and the slider 23 is at the top of the upright member 18.In order to insert the slider 23 in the appropriate section of upright member 18 between two horizontal members 19 for the height of article 20 being carried, the slider 23 is rotated through 90" to the position shown in Fig. 3. In this disposition the T-shaped part 24 can pass through the opening 22 into the channel section and the slider 23 is then rotated back to the position shown in Fig. 2.

The slider 23 can be withdrawn in similar manner. In consequence articles 20 of any height can readily be accommodated. In addition, by means of the invention, the slider 23 will move to a position close to the top of an article 20 so that the strap 26 will securely hold the article 20 against the frail 1 5 whilst the vehicle is in motion. Since the elongate loop 25 is parallel with the cross-member of the T-shaped part 24 there will be no tendency for the slider 23 to become detached in use from the upright member 18. In consequence articles 20 of any height are easily and reliably secured in position against the frail 15 for transportation by the vehicle 10.

Alternative embodiments of securing means in accordance with the invention will readily be apparent to persons skilled in the art. For example the buckle 27 may be directly secured to the ledge 1 6 and strap 28 dispensed with. Alternatively the buckle 27 may be secured to the end of strap 26 instead of strap 28. As an alternative to the channel section of member 18 and T-shaped portion 24 of slider 23 other mutually cooperating sections may be used if preferred. For example the member 18 may be of I-section and the slider of lipped channel section so as to be slidable on a flange of the Section. In this case a short portion of the flange between each horizontal flail member 19 may be removed to allow for insertion and removal of the slider, or the slider may be formed with a movable or removable part for this purpose.

Referring now to Fig. 4 there is shown a vehicle 10 comprising a roof 11, base 12, Sides 13 and wheels 14. The sides 13 are formed as A-section frames as shown and each side 13 has a frail 15a, of the types hereinbefore described in relation to Figs. 1 to 3, attached to the outwardly facing wall 29 and another frail 15b attached to the inwardly facing wall 17. The base 12 of the vehicle 10 forms a ledge for supporting articles which are secured to the internal frails 15b as previously described, and the ledges 16 are operable to support articles which are secured to the external frails 15a. The ledges 16 are hingedly secured to the outwardly facing frails 15a at 30 so that they can be pivoted to an inoperative, non-outwardly extending position, as shown on the left hand side of Fig. 4, when not in use, thereby reducing the width of the vehicle.The outwardly facing frails 15a may conveniently be made of aluminium so as to resist corrosion, whereas the inwardly facing frails 15b may be of steel. However both frails 15a, 15b may be of the same material if preferred.

Referring now to Fig. 5 there is shown a vehicle 31 having a rear wall 32, a roof 33, a base 34 and wheels 35. The vehicle 31 also has curtain sides 36 which can be closed to conceal the articles carried by the vehicle 31 or can be drawn back as shown to provide access to the interior 37 of the vehicle 31 for loading and unloading purposes. In this case the articles carried by the vehicle 31 comprise a plurality of pallets 38, two being shown in the Figure. The pallets 38 are carried in sideby-side disposition extending laterally of the vehicle 31 and spaced longitudinally thereof.

Each pallet 38 comprises an A-shaped frame 39 to the sides of which are secured frails 1 5 and ledges 16 of the type previously described in relation to Figs. 1 to 4. Conveniently the pallets 38 are provided with feet 40 so that they may be loaded onto and off the vehicle 31 by means of a fork lift truck. Alternatively, if the vehicle 10 of Fig. 4 is sufficiently wide, one or more pallets 38 may be loaded into the interior of the vehicle 10 so as to extend longitudinally thereof.

Although in all of the embodiments described the elongate members 18 extend upwardly of the frails 15, they may extend longitudinally thereof if desired.

Claims (18)

1. A securing device comprising at least one elongate member adapted to be secured to a support structure, a slider engaged by said elongate member and slidable longitudinally thereof, an elongate strap secured to said slider and buckle means operable to se cure said strap relative to said elongate member at a location remote from said slider.

2. A securing device according to claim 1 wherein said elongate member comprises a channel.

3. A securing device according to claim 2, wherein said slider comprises a T-shaped member, having a crossmember adapted to be received in said channel, and a strap attachment portion.

4. A securing device according to claim 3 wherein said strap attachment portion comprises an elongate loop.

5. A securing device according to claim 4 wherein said elongate loop extends substantially parallel with said cross-member.

6. A securing device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

7. A securing device according to claim 2 and a support structure to which said securing device is secured, wherein said elongate member is secured to said support structure with an opening of said channel facing away from said support structure.

8. A securing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and a support structure to which said securing device is secured, wherein said elongate member extends upwardly of said support structure.

9. A securing device and a support structure according to claim 8 wherein said support structure comprises a ledge secured to the bottom end thereof.

10. A securing device and a support structure according to claim 8 wherein said ledge is pivotally secured to said support structure.

11. A securing device and a support structure according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein said support structure comprises an A-shaped frame.

12. A securing device and a support structure according to claim 11 wherein each side of the frame is inclined at substantially 5 to the vertical.

13. A securing device and a support structure according to any one of claims 7 to 12 wherein said support structure comprises a pallet.

14. A securing device and a support structure according to claim 13 wherein said pallet has a plurality of feet at its underside.

15. A securing device and a support structure to which said securing device is secured substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Fig 1 Fig. 4 or Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings.

16. A vehicle having at least one side and having a securing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 secured to said side at the outside thereof.

17. A vehicle having at least one side and said side is formed having an A-shaped frame with internally and externally facing walls, and having a securing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 secured to each of said walls.

18. A vehicle and a securing device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Fig. 1 or Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings.