Dock leveler with adjustable bracket assembly
AssigneeOverhead Door Corporation
InventorsJared W. Eller, Dor Gamliel, Ruiping Ouyang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dock leveler for a loading dock having an adjustable leg bracket assembly. The dock leveler may include an adjustment bracket and a threaded adjustment shaft. The adjustment bracket may include a horizontal plate having a threaded hole. The threaded adjustment shaft may extend through the threaded hole of the horizontal plate and may be configured to adjust a height of the leg bracket assembly by rotation of the adjustment shaft relative to the horizontal plate. The threaded adjustment shaft may have a leading end that abuts against a base plate disposable in a fixed position on a floor of the dock. The base plate may be independent from the adjustment shaft.
Claims20
A dock leveler comprising:
- a movable deck having an access hole and being pivotable between a plurality of positions;
- and
- a leg bracket assembly below the movable deck and including:
- an adjustment bracket having a through hole;
- and
- a shaft extendable through the through hole and adjustable to modify a height or stability of the dock leveler, wherein the shaft is positioned relative to the deck to be accessible for adjustment through the access hole in the deck.
A dock leveler comprising:
- a movable deck pivotable between a first position and a second position, the movable deck having a pivot edge and a lip edge, the movable deck also having a first adjustment access hole and a second adjustment access hole formed therein closer to the pivot edge than to the lip edge, each of the first adjustment access hole and the second adjustment access hole being spaced about a same distance from a rear pivot edge of the movable deck, the first adjustment hole and the second adjustment hole being sized to selectively pass an adjustment tool;
- and
- a dock leveler height adjustment assembly disposed below the movable deck and configured to adjust a height of the movable deck, the dock leveler height adjustment assembly including:
- a first rotatable shaft accessible by the adjustment tool through the first adjustment access hole in the movable deck and adjustable to modify the height or stability of the dock leveler;
- and
- a second rotatable shaft accessible by the adjustment tool through the second adjustment access hole in the movable deck and adjustable to modify the height or stability of the dock leveler, the first and the second rotatable shafts being disposed below and between the pivot edge and the lip edge.
A method for adjusting a dock leveler comprising a movable deck pivotable between a plurality of positions and a leg bracket assembly including an adjustment bracket and a shaft, the method comprising:
- extending a tool through an access hole in the movable deck, the access hole being disposed in a position on the movable deck to move with the movable deck when the movable deck is pivoted between the plurality of positions;
- engaging the shaft with the tool through the access hole in the movable deck;
- and
- rotating the shaft with the tool in a manner that adjusts a level of the leg bracket assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.