Lip guiding mechanism for dock levelers

A dock leveler associated with a loading dock comprising:

• a lip guide member having at least one camming surface, the lip guide member being disposed adjacent to the loading dock for movement between a stored position and an activated position, said at least one camming surface being positioned for clearance from a pivotally movable lip of the dock leveler when the lip guide member is in the stored position, said at least one camming surface being positioned for engagement by the lip of the dock leveler when the lip guide member is in the activated position, wherein, when the lip guide member is in the activated position, said at least one camming surface of the lip guide member is positioned to deflect the lip of the dock leveler away from a rear of the dock leveler as a deck of the dock leveler descends from a raised position toward a below dock level position, the lip guide member being mounted independent of the deck such that moving the deck between the raised position and the below dock level position does not move the lip guide member, the lip guide member including a counterweight portion which biases the lip guide member toward the stored position by force of gravity.

For use with a loading dock and a dock leveler, the dock leveler having a movable deck and a pivotally movable lip, a lip guiding mechanism comprising:

• a lip guide member having at least one camming surface, the lip guide member being disposed adjacent to the loading dock for movement between a stored position and an activated position, said at least one camming surface being positioned for clearance from the lip of the dock leveler when the lip guide member is in the stored position, said at least one camming surface being positioned for engagement by the lip of the dock leveler when the lip guide member is in the activated position, wherein, when the lip guide member is in the activated position, said at least one camming surface of the lip guide member is positioned to deflect the lip of the dock leveler away from a rear of the dock leveler as the deck of the dock leveler descends from a raised position toward a below dock level position, the lip guide member having a counterweight portion which biases the lip guide member toward the stored position by force of gravity.

For use with a loading dock and a dock leveler, the dock leveler having a movable deck and a pivotally movable lip, a lip guiding mechanism comprising:

• a lip guide member having at least one camming surface, the lip guide member being disposed adjacent to the loading dock for movement between a stored position and an activated position, said at least one camming surface being positioned for clearance from the lip of the dock leveler when the lip guide member is in the stored position, said at least one camming surface being positioned for engagement by the lip of the dock leveler when the lip guide member is in the activated position, wherein, when the lip guide member is in the activated position, said at least one camming surface of the lip guide member is positioned to deflect the lip of the dock leveler away from a rear of the dock leveler as the deck of the dock leveler descends from a raised position toward a below dock level position;
• and
• an actuator coupled to the lip guide member for selectively moving the lip guide member between the stored and activated positions, the actuator and the lip guide member being coupled such that, actuation of the actuator applies a force to the lip guide member in a first direction to thereby cause a camming portion of the lip guide member to move in a second direction opposite the first direction.

For use with a loading dock and a dock leveler, the dock leveler having a movable deck and a pivotally movable lip, a lip guiding mechanism comprising:

• a lip guide member having at least one camming surface, the lip guide member being disposed adjacent to the loading dock for movement between a stored position and an activated position, said at least one camming surface being positioned for clearance from the lip of the dock leveler when the lip guide member is in the stored position, said at least one camming surface being positioned for engagement by the lip of the dock leveler when the lip guide member is in the activated position, wherein, when the lip guide member is in the activated position, said at least one camming surface of the lip guide member is positioned to deflect the lip of the dock leveler away from a rear of the dock leveler as a force causes the deck of the dock leveler to descend from a raised position toward a below dock level position, wherein the deflection of the lip away from the rear of the dock leveler is caused by the force moving the deck of the dock leveler from the raised position to the below dock position.