Pulling-style restraint for a parked swap body

Details Pulling-style restraint for a parked swap body Pulling-style restraint for a parked swap body

1999-01-22

2001-11-20

Lillis, Eileen D (Department: 3652)

Material or article handling

Load-transporting type vehicle and external means...

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

C414S396000, C410S082000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06318947

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, 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. 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 was to suddenly stop by applying the brakes or striking cargo, the horizontal 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 undesirable horizontal movement of a swap body container, there is provided a pulling-style restraint that includes an elongated member coupled to a base at one end and a restraining member at an opposite end. The base is fixed relative to a driveway, while the restraining member is adapted to engage a leg or bottom fitting of the swap body container, thereby restraining the container in relation to the driveway.
Such a restraint helps keep a swap body container from slipping too far away from the edge of the dock, thereby possibly avoiding creating a hazardous gap between the container and the edge of the loading dock and the related undesirable forces on the legs that could lead to their failure.
In some embodiments, a twist-lock connector inhibits the restraining member from inadvertently slipping out of the aperture of the swap body container's bottom fitting.
In some embodiments a spring return ratchet reel provides a self-tightening feature that allows the container to shift toward the dock, but not away from it.


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