Heat shield for a dock pad

Abstract

A dock pad for a loading dock includes a heat shield that helps protect the pad from heat generated by an adjacent lamp. The heat shield overlays an exterior surface of the pad, and, in some cases, the heat shield includes a plurality of layers. The thermal conductivity may differ among the layers with one layer having greater thermal conductivity than the exterior surface of the pad and another layer having less thermal conductivity. In some cases, a screen or mesh creates an air gap between the layers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The subject invention generally pertains to loading dock pads and more specifically to a heat shield for such a pad.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] When an exterior doorway of a building is used as a loading dock for vehicles, especially trucks, the perimeter of the doorway typically includes a seal known as a dock pad. A typical pad comprises a resiliently compressible foam core protected by a fabric outer covering. The dock pad seals off gaps that would otherwise exist between the exterior face of the building and the back end of the truck. Sealing the air gaps allows cargo from the rear of the truck to be loaded or unloaded while protecting the cargo and dockworkers from the weather. Usually a side dock pad runs vertically along each lateral edge of the doorway, and a top or head pad runs horizontally along the doorway's upper edge.

[0005] Many loading docks include a dock light for illuminating the inside of the truck during loading and unloading. Often an articulated arm supports the light so that the light can be easily repositioned and aimed into the truck. The arm is usually anchored to an inside wall of the building adjacent to the door of the loading dock or anchored to an inner edge of the doorway. The arm may have sufficient length and flexibility to extend the light through the doorway to fully illuminate the inside of the truck. Afterwards, the arm can be retracted to bring the lamp back inside the building for storage and to allow the door of the loading dock to close without closing on the lamp or the arm.

[0006] Unfortunately, if the lamp is placed too close to a dock pad, heat from the lamp may damage the pad. Thus, there is a need for a device or a method for preventing such damage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In some embodiments, a heat shield is installed between a dock pad and an adjacent lamp to protect the pad from excessive heat.

[0008] In some embodiments, a heat shield has a lower thermal conductivity and a higher temperature resistance than an exterior surface of the dock pad.

[0009] In some embodiments, a heat shield is comprised of a plurality of layers contained within an outer jacket.

[0010] In some embodiments, the plurality of layers have varying degrees of thermal conductivity.

[0011] In some embodiments, the heat shield includes a plurality of layers that help protect a dock pad from heat. One layer may have a greater thermal conductivity than the exterior surface of the pad while another layer may have less thermal conductivity.

[0012] In some embodiments, the plurality of layers includes a mesh or screen that creates an air gap between layers.

[0013] In some embodiments, the heat shield protects one side of a dock pad with that one side facing generally perpendicular to the wall of the loading dock.

[0014] In some embodiments, the heat shield wraps around two or more sides of a dock pad.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a loading dock whose dock pads include various heat shields.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

[0018] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a heat shield being assembled.

[0019] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another heat shield being assembled.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0020] To create a weather seal between the rear of a truck 10 (or some other vehicle) and the perimeter a loading dock doorway 12, a dock pad assembly 14 is installed, as shown in FIG. 1. In this example, dock pad assembly 14 includes two side pads 16 and 18 mounted along the lateral edges of doorway 12, and a top or head pad 20 installed along the doorway's upper edge. Pads 16, 18 and 20 are resiliently compressible, so as truck 10 backs up against them, the pads compressively and sealingly conform to the contour of the truck's rear edges.

[0021] Referring further to FIG. 2, dock pad 16 includes a resiliently compressible foam core 22 covered by a tough, pliable outer cover 24. Pads 16 and 18 can be similarly constructed. In this example, core 22 consists of a polyurethane or foamed polyester, such as, for example, an L24 open-cell polyurethane foam provided by Leggett & Platt of Carthage, Miss. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art; however, that a wide variety of other synthetic or natural foams may also work well. In some embodiments, cover 24 is a 3022 MFRLPC DC7 material provided by the Seaman Corporation of Wooster, Ohio. Other examples of cover materials would include, but are not limited to, HYPALON, canvas duck, rubber-impregnated fabric, and coated nylon fabric.

[0022] In assembling pad 16, cover 24 wraps at least partially around core 22, and the two are attached to a relatively rigid backer 26, such a formed steel channel or a wood board. Backer 24, in this example, provides a mounting surface for attaching pad 16 to a wall 28 of a building 30. A conventional fastener or anchor can be used to attach backer 26 to the wall. Cover 24 can attach to the side edges or any surface of backer 26 by any one of a variety of fasteners including, but not limited to, screws, nails, VELCRO, rivets, hooks, adhesive, etc. Core 22 can be frictionally held to cover 24, or the two can be joined in a more positive manner. For example, cover 24 can be connected to core 22 with adhesive, straps, hooks, VELCRO, stitches, screws, etc.

[0023] In installations where the loading dock includes one or more lights 32 for illuminating the interior of truck 10, dock pad assembly 14 preferably includes one or more heat shields, such as heat shields 34 and 36. The heat shields help protect an exterior surface 38 of the pads from heat generated by the lights. Heat shields 34 and 36 are particularly useful when lights 32 are supported by an articulated arm 40 or gooseneck that can hold a light adjacent to a dock pad. In FIGS. 2 and 3, for example, arm 40 can reach all the through the doorway to place the light right alongside the dock pads.

[0024] The actual construction of a heat shield may vary; however, shield 34 of FIG. 2 and shield 36 of FIG. 3 are two currently preferred designs. Heat shield 34 comprises a plurality of layers contained within an insulating jacket 42. For shield 34 of FIG. 2, a conventional fastener 44 attaches one end 46 of shield 34 to a first side 48 of backer 26. For shield 36 of FIG. 3, a jacket 50 wraps around pad 22 with opposite ends 52 and 54 of shield 36 being attached to opposite sides of backer 26, which may hold shield 36 more securely. Jackets 42 and 50 can be a heat-resistant fiberglass fabric, such as an Alpha Maritex Style #8459-2-SS, provided by Alpha Associates, Inc., of Woodbridge, N.J.

[0025] Although the layers and their arrangement within jackets 42 and 50 may vary, surprisingly good results were achieved when the layers included an insulating layer 56, a conductive layer 58, a conductive mesh 60, another conductive layer 58, and another insulating layer 56. Insulating layers 56 inhibit heat transfer, conductive layers 58 reduce localized heating by distributing the heat across a broader surface, and conductive mesh 60 provides an air gap that also inhibits heat transfer. In some cases, insulating layer 56 is 0.25-inch thick Rescor Ceramic Fiber Blanket, which is provided by Cotronics Corporation of Brooklyn, N.Y. Conductive layer 58 can be a 0.010-inch thick aluminum sheet. And conductive mesh 60 can be an expanded metal screen made of aluminum, such as those provided by Wallner ToolingExpac, Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The aluminum provides mesh 60 and conductive layers 58 with greater thermal conductivity than the exterior surface 38 of pad 18. Jacket 42 and insulating layers 56 have less thermal conductivity than the average thermal conductivity of exterior surface 38.

[0026] For heat shield 36 of FIG. 3, the layers within jacket 50 may lie along one side of pad 18, as shown, or they may wrap around two or more sides of the pad. The materials and layers of shield 36 may be the same as those of shield 34.

[0027] The assembling of heat shield 34 is shown in FIG. 4 where the layers are placed one on top of the other, and jacket 42 is folded over to contain the layers. Items 62 schematically represent any conventional system for holding heat shield 34 together. Examples of items 62 include, but are not limited to, threaded fasteners, stitches, buttons, hooks, VELCRO, snaps, clips, adhesive, etc.

[0028] In another embodiment, shown in FIG. 5, a heat shield 34′ includes several layers sandwiched within a two-piece jacket 42′. Items 62 can hold the two pieces of jacket 42′ together. Jacket 42′ can be made of the same material as jacket 42.

[0029] Although the invention is described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications are well within the scope of the invention. For example, the illustrated dock pads could have L-shaped or other cross-sectional shapes that differ from those illustrated. Moreover, the shape of the head pad could be different than that of the two side pads. One or more heat shields can be applied to just the head pad, just the side pads, or applied to both the head and side pads. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be determined by reference to the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A dock pad assembly adapted to provide a seal between a building and a vehicle, comprising:

a dock pad attachable to the building and being adapted to seal against the vehicle; and

a heat shield overlaying an exterior surface of the dock pad, wherein a portion of the heat shield has a lower thermal conductivity and a higher temperature resistance than the exterior surface of the dock pad.

2. The dock pad assembly of claim 1, further comprising a backer adapted to connect the dock pad to the building, wherein the heat shield has a first end anchored to a first side of the backer.

3. The dock pad assembly of claim 2, wherein the heat shield has a second end anchored to a second side of the backer, wherein the first side and the second side are at opposite sides of the backer.

4. The dock pad assembly of claim 1, wherein the heat shield includes a plurality of layers.

5. The dock pad assembly of claim 4, wherein the plurality of layers includes a conductive layer and an insulating layer, wherein the conductive layer has greater thermal conductivity than the insulating layer.

6. The dock pad assembly of claim 4, wherein the plurality of layers includes a conductive mesh, wherein the conductive mesh has greater thermal conductivity than the exterior surface of the dock pad.

7. The dock pad assembly of claim 6, wherein the plurality of layers includes two conductive layers that have greater thermal conductivity than the exterior surface of the dock pad, and the conductive mesh is sandwiched between the two conductive layers.

8. The dock pad assembly of claim 4, further comprising an insulating jacket that contains the plurality of layers, wherein the insulating jacket has lower thermal conductivity than the exterior surface of the dock pad.

9. The dock pad assembly of claim 4, wherein the exterior surface of the dock pad has an average thermal conductivity that is greater than one layer of the plurality of layers and less than another layer of the plurality of layers.

10. The dock pad assembly of claim 4, wherein the plurality of layers includes a conductive later sandwiched between two insulating layers wherein the conductive layer has greater thermal conductivity than the two insulating layers.

11. The dock pad assembly of claim 1, further comprising an articulated arm attached to the building and a lamp attached to the articulated arm such that the heat shield is between the dock pad and the lamp.

12. A dock pad assembly adapted to provide a seal between a building and a vehicle, comprising:

a foam core; and

a pliable cover overlaying the foam core, wherein the pliable cover has a first exterior surface and a second exterior surface, wherein the first exterior surface has a lower thermal conductivity and a higher temperature resistance than the second exterior surface.

13. The dock pad assembly of claim 12, further comprising a backer adapted to connect the dock pad to the building, wherein the first exterior surface has a first end anchored to a first side of the backer.

14. The dock pad assembly of claim 13, wherein the first exterior surface has a second end anchored to a second side of the backer, wherein the first side and the second side are at opposite sides of the backer.

15. The dock pad assembly of claim 12, further comprising an articulated arm attached to the building and a lamp attached to the articulated arm such that the heat shield is between the dock pad and the lamp.

16. A dock pad assembly adapted to provide a seal between a building and a vehicle, comprising:

a dock pad attachable to the building and being adapted to seal against the vehicle;

an articulated arm attachable to the building;

a lamp attached to the articulated arm such that the articulated arm can support the lamp adjacent to the dock pad; and

a heat shield attached to the dock pad at a position where the heat shield is between the lamp and dock pad.

17. The dock pad assembly of claim 16, further comprising a backer for connecting the dock pad to the building, wherein the heat shield has a first end anchored to a first side of the backer.

18. The dock pad assembly of claim 17, wherein the heat shield has a second end anchored to a second side of the backer, wherein the first side and the second side are at opposite sides of the backer.

19. The dock pad assembly of claim 16, wherein the heat shield includes a plurality of layers.

20. The dock pad assembly of claim 19, wherein the plurality of layers includes a conductive layer and an insulating layer, wherein the conductive layer has greater thermal conductivity than the insulating layer.

21. The dock pad assembly of claim 19, wherein the plurality of layers includes a conductive mesh, wherein the conductive mesh has greater thermal conductivity than the exterior surface of the dock pad.

22. The dock pad assembly of claim 21, wherein the plurality of layers includes two conductive layers that have greater thermal conductivity than the exterior surface of the dock pad, and the conductive mesh is sandwiched between the two conductive layers.

23. The dock pad assembly of claim 19, further comprising an insulating jacket that contains the plurality of layers, wherein the insulating jacket has lower thermal conductivity than the exterior surface of the dock pad.

24. The dock pad assembly of claim 19, wherein the exterior surface of the dock pad has an average thermal conductivity that is greater than one layer of the plurality of layers and less than another layer of the plurality of layers.

25. The dock pad assembly of claim 19, wherein the plurality of layers includes a conductive later sandwiched between two insulating layers wherein the conductive layer has greater thermal conductivity than the two insulating layers.