Cylindrical cargo securement apparatus and method therefore

A method for securing steel coils to a supporting platform provided with spaced parallel tracks, a plurality of end and anchoring chocks slidably mounted and selectively secured to said tracks, and two adjustable chocks slidably mounted on said tracks and connected to anchoring chocks by means for operably moving the adjustable chocks against a coil and for holding said adjustable chocks, through said anchoring chocks, against movement along said tracks, the method comprising:

• selectively securing end and anchoring chocks to respective parallel tracks;
• adjusting the position of said adjustable chocks to permit loading a coil onto all of said chocks;
• placing a coil on said chocks;
• moving the adjustable chocks against an end of a loaded coil by operating said means for moving said adjustable chocks and thereby moving the adjustable chocks with respect to the anchoring chocks and thereby against, said coil, and;
• holding said adjustable chocks against said coil and against movement along said tracks through said means operably connecting each adjustable chock to a respective anchoring chock by maintaining said means for operably moving the adjustable chocks against the coil in a stable condition.

Apparatus for supporting and securing at least single cylindrical objects to a supporting platform and including:

• a pair of spaced parallel tracks attached to said platform;
• object supporting chock means mounted on said tracks for sliding movement along said tracks, said chock means including a forward end chock adapted to be selectively fixed to each of said tracks, a multi-intermediate chock slidably mounted on each of said tracks, an anchoring chock slidably mounted on each of said tracks and adapted to be selectively fixed to said tracks, and an adjustable rearward end chock slidably mounted on each of said tracks proximate respective ones of said anchoring chocks;
• means adjustably connecting the respective adjustable end chock on each track to a respective anchoring chock, mounted on the same track, for adjustably anchoring each adjustable rearward end chock to its respective anchoring chock and for moving said adjustable chocks to the respective anchoring chocks against a cylindrical object when said anchoring chocks are fixed on said tracks, and
• said multi-intermediate chocks including a retractable object separator means for separating the adjacent ends of objects mounted on said chocks, and being retractable to permit securement and support of a single object on all of said chocks.

In apparatus for securing objects to platforms and including parallel elongated tracks and object supporting chocks secured thereto, an improvement in said tracks wherein each track comprises:

• two elongated side walls, each having top and bottom edges;
• an eongated connecting web extending between and connecting said side walls intermediate said top and bottom edges, and
• an elongated side wall projection extending inwardly from each of said side walls toward the other side wall intermediate said top edges and said connecting web, each of said projections terminating in an elongated edge proximate an edge of an opposite projection and said edges defining an elongated first slot,
• wherein said tracks slidably support object supporting and securing chock means, and further including:
• elongated retainers slidably captured in said tracks and attached to said chock means, said retainers including a bottom flange slidably disposed between said connecting web and said side wall projections, and a top flange overlying said side wall projection and connected to said bottom flange by a vertical elongated web,
• said bottom flange engaging said elongated connecting web of said track to support said chocks thereon, and said top flange of said retainer being spaced from top surfaces of said side wall projections of said track,
• said top and said bottom flanges including side edges slidingly engagable with a side wall of said track, and
• said vertical elongated web having a thickness less than the width of said elongated slot and being spaced from the elongated edges of said side wall projections when the side edges of said bottom and top flanges engage a side wall of said track.

In a vehicle of the type having a flat bed, apparatus for securing objects to the bed and including:

• a pair of spaced apart parallel elongated tracks attached to said flat bed;
• a pair of end chocks, each one of said end chocks selectively fixed to a respective track;
• a pair of adjustable chocks, each one of said adjustable chocks slidably mounted in a respective track;
• a pair of anchor means, each of said anchor means being movable along its respective track and being selectively fixable to a respective track proximate an adjustable chock,
• means operatively connecting each adjustable chock to a respective anchor means for moving said adjustable chocks against an end of said object and with respect to said anchor means when said anchor means is selectively fixed to said respective track;
• and
• wherein said flat bed includes elongated main support beams and cross-beams, and wherein said tracks are secured to said cross-beams.