Stress brace
OwnerRobert Ljungberginventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stress brace is disclosed which minimizes warping of the side walls of plastic parts, such as plastic radiator tanks, during storage. The stress brace of the present invention includes two spaced apart side beams which are bowed relative to one another so that when a radiator tank is mounted on the stress brace, the side walls of the tank are held slightly stressed outwardly so that inward warping of the side walls is minimized. A central support structure is also included in the brace which may be in the form of several crosswise supports. The crosswise supports maintain the side beams of the brace in space apart relation and assure that the side beams themselves will not warp.
Claims19
A brace member for holding an article comprising:
- two, spaced apart side, beam support members, said side beam members having end and central portions with at least part of the central portions being spaced apart a first distance and the end portions being spaced apart a second distance different from said first distance;
- means for spanning between said side beam members to establish and maintain the spaced apart relationship thereof;
- and
- means for maintaining edges of said article in contact with said side support members.
A stress brace for holding an article comprising:
- first and second side beam members;
- at least one cross bar member coupled at each end thereof to said first and second side beam members, respectively, so that said side beam members and each said bar member are disposed in a common horizontal plane;
- each said side beam member including wall means at least at a central portion along the length thereof and disposed substantially vertically relative to said horizontal plane;
- each said wall means being slightly bowed relative to a plane centrally disposed between said side beam members and perpendicular to said horizontal plane such that said wall means of said first side beam member and said wall means of said second side beam member are spaced apart a first distance at a midpoint of the brace and a second distance at a point spaced from said midpoint;
- and
- means for maintaining edges of said article in contact with said side beam members.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.