US2602944A

US2602944A - Shipping platform

Info

Publication number: US2602944A
Application number: US780239A
Authority: US
Inventors: Beverly E Richardson
Original assignee: JACK C WEAVER
Current assignee: JACK C WEAVER
Priority date: 1947-10-16
Filing date: 1947-10-16
Publication date: 1952-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 1969-07-15

Description

SHIPPING PLATFORM 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed Oct. 16, 1947 m mm mm V a m.@ R J m w 8 M W 6 zm 0 a 4 6 w 4 4 mm ,0 4 W "a m2 fi/ a July 15, 1952 B. E. RICHARDSON SHIPPING PLATFORM 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Oct. 16, 1947 Pi gy. 7; 5; 86

INVENTOR. ,5 82er/ylf3zdard'dam BY 7 fiy. 6

Patented July 15, 1952 SHIPPING PLATFORM Beverly E. Richardson, Richmond, Va., assignor' of one-half to Jack C. Weaver, Richmond, Va.

Application October 16, 1947, Serial No. 780,239

4 Claims.

My invention relates to shipping platforms;

and particularly to platforms at the doors of the shipping rooms in large warehouses and; factories.

It has for its object the providing of aplatform which, with the wagon or truck or trailer tobe loaded or unloaded, will take up the least amount of space in the street outside the door to the building. Traffic on a busy street is often brought to a standstill by a large vehicle in the process of being spotted at a shipping door and at right angles to the wall of the building. Another object is to provide a platform at which the spotting of vehicles may be accomplished in less timethan is usually required atthe door itself. Yet. another object is to provide a platform which may be removed'from the street and be secured within the boundary of the wall of the building-when not in use; and which shall be protected from vandals when not in use- My platform is triangular in outline; the ob je'ct of this shape being to allow the vehicle which is to be spotted to be at an angle to the wall of the building, when spotted; and so occupy less street space than it would if placed at right angles to the Wall. It is not new to build platforms which are triangular in outline; for such platforms may be seen at some post-offices where street or alley space is at a premium. In some of these cases a long concrete platform is notched at intervals, so that the platform has in effect a row of triangular platforms. But these notched platforms are fixed; and they themselves take up considerable space, which cannot be reclaimed by raising the platforms. Were they used by" industrial concerns in narrow streets, they would permanently take up much street space, would encroach upon the sidewalks when not in use; and would not be allowed by the authorities.

In'the case of the fixed triangular platform: thevehicle may not be backed up, on the first try, to align with the edge of the platform. Time is lost in pulling'out and in backing up again. Using my platform: I can spot a car quickly; adjusting, when necessary, the angle of the side of the platform to the tail-board of the vehicle.

In the drawings: Figure '1 is in plan, partly in section, and showing my platform. Figure 2 is a view of the platform in elevation, partly in section; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view, in plan, of: the platform, to show ways in which it can be: adjusted; Figure 4' is a plan, partly in section, showing the. platform raised. Figure 5 is a front elevation of the platform when not in use,

2 and when raised. Figures 6 and '7 are of details, partly in section.

In Figures 1 to 5. the walls of abuilding' are indicated at 12;: door posts at I4; a door sill at: [6; the lintel at l8, and the ground line at 2 0'.

In the doorway is hinged at 22 a triangular plat-- form 24; preferably of steel plate. The hinges are of the pivot type; Near the outer edge 25 of the platform 24 and on its underside, there is hinged at 26 the leg 28 (Figs. 2 and 5'). Also pi-voted' onthe underside of platform 24 is a hook 3%, the en'-' gaging end 32 of which drops into the staple 34 which is set in the door-post I4 (Fig. 5). A padlock 36 is passed through a hole 38 in the hookend 32 at a point below the staple 34; to prevent unauthorized releasing of the hook. The other: end 40 of the hook 343 is so formed that it may be passed over the folded leg 28- when the platform 24 is raised (Fig. 5). When the platform 24 is down, the hook 30 is supported by theguard 42. v

The platform 24 may be raised from the down position by means of a rope or chain indicated at 44; passed over a pulley 46, set under the lintel- [8 of the doorway; and hooked into an eye lii under the edge 25 of platform 24; To secure the platform when notin use: it is pulled' up from the position shown in Figure'2' to that shown in Figure 5; the hook 30 is swung into place, its end 32 dropping through the staple 34 and the padlock 36- is snapped in place. The leg 28 is secured by the end 40' of hook 30, and also by the bracket formed by the

upright pieces

50 and 52, riveted or welded to the underside of platform 24*.

The piece 50 may well be a part of the hook to the type of vehicles to be serviced at the platform. Some can be spotted closer to the building than can others; and in that case, the angle. of the side against which they are: spotted with the wall of the building may be greater. The angles which the two sides of the platform make with the wall of the building may be equal. or they may be unequal. The length of the sides is also affected by the width of the vehicles to be serviced.

The platform 24' in Figure 5 is shown inits raised position. The factory door, which is on the other side. of'the building wall, may now be closed.

I have so far described my platform 24; how it is hinged to the building; and how it may be raised or let down. I will now describe how the edge of my platform may be adjusted to the back end of the vehicle when in its spotting it has not been lined up with the platform. Lying on the platform 24, and adjustably pivoted to it, is another plate 60 (Figs. 1, 2, and 4). Through plate 60 are drilled pivot holes 62, 64, and 68. Corresponding holes l2, l4, and 16 are drilled in the platform 24. One pivot-pin, (see Fig. 6) is needed. This pin is dropped through any one of the

holes

62, 64, or 66 in plate 60, and through the corresponding hole in plate 24.

In Figure 1 the plate 60 is pivoted to platform 24 at the upper corner by the pin [8. Assume that the observer is facing the wall of the building. The obtuse angle made with the wall of the building by the side 56 of platform 24 is shown as 120 degrees. Now assume that in spotting his vehicle the driver got the back end of his vehicle so lined up that there was an angle of, say, 10 degrees between his truck and the edge 56 of platform 24. Instead of pulling out and backing up again, and if the gap is at the outer end of side 56 of platform 24, the driver places the pivot pin HI in hole 64 in plate 80, and then swings the plate 60 on the pivot 10, which is in hole 64, until side 63 of plate 60 is in line with the back end of the truck. If however the driver backs his truck up at too great an angle with the wall of the building, the back end of the truck will show a gap between it and platform 24 adjacent the wall i2. He then takes the pivot 70 and drops it through holes 68 and 16 in the toes of the plate 60 and platform 24, respectively; and then swings plate 68 until it is in line with the back end of the truck. This position of the plate 68 is shown by the dash and double dotted line B- in Figure 3.

The plate 60 can have an outline similar to that of platform 24. In the drawings: the plate 80 is shown with rounded corners adjacent the wall of the building so that these corners shall not touch the posts l4 when the plate is pivoted at its toe, through

holes

66 and 16. In Figure 3 a third position and pivoting of plate 68 is indicated by the simple broken line C.

What I have said about the lining up of a vehicle on the right hand side of the platform applies also to a vehicle spotted on the left hand side, against the side 54 of platform 24. If the lining up has not been accurately done, the gap can be closed by swinging plate 60 on the pivot when placed in hole 62 in plate 80 and in hole 12 in platform 24; or if the gap is adjacent the wall of the building: by pivoting plate 60 at the toe at hole 66. The position of the plate when pivoted at 12 is shown in Figure 3 by the broken line C. The dot and dash line A shows the position of plate 61) when pivoted through the

holes

64 and 14.

It is possible that, when lining up the back end of a. truck, the plate 60 may overhang the edge of the platform 24; as it does'in the positions shown in Figure 3 at A, B, and C. It is then liable to tip if a heavy weight such as a hogshead of tobacco is placed on the overhanglng edge of the upper plate. To check this tendency to tip: I set and weld in plate 60 a pin 88, letting it extend downward so that it may pass through platform 24, under which it may be held by simple means. This is shown in Figure 7, wherein pin 88 is set and welded at 82 in the platform 60, and where it passes through an opening 84 in the plate 24. Below platform 24 it is prevented from rising by a washer 86 and nut 88.

Because the plate 60 is designed to be pivoted at, and turned on, any one of its three corners, the opening 84 in platform 24 is cut in the shape of three arcuate slots; each one described with one of the pivots as center. As we do not wish to have to move the pin from its fixed position in plate 60, the three slots intersect, so that the pin may travel down any one of them. For example: when the plate 60 is pivoted at 84 (Fig. 1), and is turned on its pivot, the pin 88 will move along slot 94. When the plate is pivoted at 62, the pin 80 will move in slot 92; and when the plate is pivoted at 66, the pin 80 will move in the slot 96 (Fig. 5). When the plate 60 is returned to its normal position, and the platform 24 with plate 68 is raised as shown in Figure 5, the pin 80 will lie against the side of the slot 96, and so help to hold the plate 60 in position.

I claim:

1. In a shipping platform: the combination of a platform extended outward from the shipping door of the building; a plate laid upon the platform, and having an edge extending alon and adjacent an extending edge of the platform; means pivotally connecting said plate and platform adjacent the outer end of the plate and adjacent the underlying edge of the platform to permit pivoting of the plate on the platform to bring the said edge of the plate to an obtuse angle with the extended wall of the building, cooperating guide means on the plate and platform disposed in an arc concentric to said pivotal connecting means, and holding means associated with said guide means to maintain the plate and platform in a selected contiguous relationship and against tilting.

2. In a shipping platform: the combination with the platform of a plate imposed upon the platform and having an edge substantially in line with an edge of the platform; a pivot located adjacent an end of the said edge of the plate and pivotally connecting said plate upon the platform so that the said edge of the plate may be swung beyond and to an angle with the said edge of the platform; the platform having cut through it an arcuate slot concentric with the axis of the said pivot; and pin means fixed in the plate at a point spaced from the said edge of the plate and extending downward from the plate and through the slot in the platform; and holding means associated with the pin means below the platform to check tilting of the plate when overlapping the edge of the platform and during the transfer of freight.

3. In a shipping platform: the combination with an extended platform of a plate imposed upon the platform and having extended edges substantially in line with the extended edges of the platform; pivot means respectively located adjacent each end of the extended edges of the plate and selectively pivotally connecting the plate upon the platform at either pivot means so that any one of the edges of the plate may be swung on a pivot beyond and to an angle with its associated and underlying platform edge; the platform having cut through it arcuate slots, concentric respectively with the axes of the said pivot means, the said slots intersecting and joining at a common point; pin means fixed in the plate and extending downward from the plate and through the slots in the platform, and

5 which, when the plate is swung on one of said holding means associated with said guide means pivot means, is adapted to follow the S1017 0011- to maintain the plate and platform in a selectcentric Wi h he a s of t t pivot means; and ed contiguous relationship and against tilting. holding means associated with the pin means below the platform to check tilting of the plate 5 BEVERLY RICHARDSON when overlappin the edge of the platform and REFERENCES CITED during the transfer of freight.

4. In combination with a shipping platform having a fiat upper surface bounded on one side The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

by a substantially straight edge, a plate super- 10 UNITED STATES PATENTS imposed on said platform and having an edge Number Name Date normally coextensive and in substantial regis- 820 842 Alsop May 15 1906 try with said edge of the platform, pivots se- 963918 Miller July 1910 lectively pivotally connecting between said plate 975543 figg j 1910 and said platform at relatively spaced axes ad- 1034061 Benedict July 1912 jacent opposite ends of said edge of the plat- 1131783 Howard 1915 form whereby the plate may be swung about 2117499 Poison 3 1938 either said axis to project either end of its said edge beyond said edge of the platform and in FOREIGN PATENTS angular relation thereto, cooperating guide 20 Number Country Date means on the plate and platform disposed in 459,450 France 9 3 arcs concentric to said spaced pivotal axes, and