Leg restraint for a parked swap body container

Details Leg restraint for a parked swap body container Leg restraint for a parked swap body container

1999-01-22

2001-10-30

King, Anita (Department: 3632)

Material or article handling

Load-transporting type vehicle and external means...

Means serves to align wheeled vehicle and load receiving or...

C248S351000, C248S352000, C414S584000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06309165

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally pertains to swap body containers, and more specifically, to a device that restrains a parked swap body container.
2. Description of Related Art
A swap body is typically a large freight container having four retractable legs. The legs are usually retracted while the swap body is in transit on the bed of a truck or trailer, ship or rail car. When parked at a truck loading dock, the legs are typically extended to support the container upon a driveway with the floor of the container generally aligned flush to the floor of the loading dock platform. This allows a forklift to drive into the container for loading or unloading, yet allows the truck that delivered the container to leave.
While the legs provide a vertical/columnar support for the weight of the container and its contents (and material handling equipment), the legs are not designed to resist substantial horizontal forces. Substantial horizontal forces, however, can be exerted on the legs. For example, if the forklift inside the container were to suddenly stop, by applying the brakes or striking cargo, the reaction force would be transmitted to the container's legs. Since a forklift can weigh thousands of pounds, and given the relative instability of the legs to resist horizontal movement, it is possible that an abrupt stop or collision could cause the container to move horizontally away from the dock, opening up a potentially hazardous gap between the container and the dock. Further, such horizontal movement could place a torque or bending force on one or all of the legs, causing them to buckle, or fold up, or (in a worst-case scenario) to collapse altogether. Such an accident might seriously harm the forklift operator, others nearby, the cargo or surrounding structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to minimize horizontal movement of a swap body away from the dock, there is provided a swap body leg brace that remains in the vicinity of a loading dock area. According to preferred embodiments, the brace is selectively repositioned from a retracted position to an engaged position on a leg of the swap body. In the engaged position, one end of the brace is preferably anchored to the driveway adjacent the loading dock, while an opposite end engages at least one leg of the swap body to minimize horizontal movement of the swap body away from the loading dock, and thus undesirable forces on the legs themselves that could lead to their failure.
In some embodiments, the brace assembly incorporates a firm landing pad on which the container legs may rest to provide a consistent, level height at which the swap body is parked.
In some embodiments, the brace is at least partially fixed relative to the loading dock when in the engaged position, yet somewhat free to be laterally or longitudinally positioned when in the retracted position. The positioning feature accommodates swap bodies whose legs are at various positions relative to the loading dock.


REFERENCES:
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International Search Reportconcerning International Application Ser. No. PCT/US00/01143, ISA/US, dated May 15, 2000, 6 pages.

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