US 8,464,846 B2Granted

Restraining arms for wheel chocks

AssigneeRite-Hite Holding Corporation

InventorsJonathan Andersen, Eric D. Bublitz, Timothy Cotton, Kurt Lessard, Pamala Pietrangelo, Benjamin Wieberdink

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Abstract

Wheel restraints for restraining vehicles at loading docks are described herein. An example wheel restraint includes a restraining arm to anchor a wheel chock to a fixed point at the dock. When in a blocking position, the chock rests directly upon the dock's driveway without the chock having to engage additional hardware that could be an obstruction to snow removal. In some examples, the wheel chock automatically swings between its blocking and release positions in response to the arm simply lowering or raising the chock.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A wheel restraint to engage a wheel of a vehicle at a loading dock, the wheel restraint system comprising:

an anchor mountable to the loading dock;
an arm defining a longitudinal axis and comprising a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end being pivotally coupled to the anchor to enable the distal end of the arm to move substantially vertically between a generally vertical storage position substantially parallel relative to the dock face and an extended position substantially perpendicular relative to the dock face;
a wheel chock rotatably coupled to the arm such that the wheel chock rotates about the longitudinal axis of the arm to selectively move the chock between a blocking position and a release position such that:
a) in the blocking position, the wheel chock obstructs the wheel,
b) in the release position, the wheel chock is clear of the wheel, and
c) in the release position, the wheel chock is translatable in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis;
and
a lift mechanism for offsetting a weight of the arm and the wheel chock to facilitate movement of the distal end of the arm.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.