Catcher tire abutment device for restraining road vehicle on a transport vehicle
A catcher tire abutment device is described for restraining road vehicles transported on a support surface of a transport vehicle. Primary wheel restraining devices are secured to the support surface on outward sides of pairs of wheels of each road vehicle adjacent the thread surface of the wheels. A catcher tire abutment device is also secured to the support surface an approximate predetermined distance spaced adjacent the thread face on inward sides of front and rear pairs of wheels of the vehicle. When the road vehicles are subjected to an impact force, from either a front or rear direction, kinetic energy from the impacted vehicle is absorbed and dissipated softly in a sequential manner by (a) contact of the tires of one of the front and rear pairs of wheels against an arresting surface of the primary wheel restraining devices and (b) by the tires of the other pair of wheels contacting the arresting surface of the catcher tire abutment devices.
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This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/842,531, filed May 11, 2004.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention relates to a catcher tire abutment device for restraining a road vehicle on a vehicle support surface of a transport vehicle and maintaining the transported road vehicle in a transport location when subjected to an impact force from either a front or rear direction.
BACKGROUND ARTReference is made to my earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,302,063 and 5,312,213 which relate to a wheel chuck which is securable to a grating, of a transport vehicle to prevent axial displacement and lateral shifting motion of a road vehicle being transported. With these wheel chucks it is pointed out that it is not necessary to strap any wheel or tie down the vehicle by the use of chains connected to steel runners in the support surface, such as the floor of a railway flatbed vehicle. With many prior art devices, tools are required in order to secure these chains or straps to restrain the transported vehicle. The wheel chucking system as described in my above-referenced, patents can be installed very rapidly onto a grating floor of transport vehicles. However, if the transport vehicle, such as a railway flatbed vehicle, is subjected to an abrupt stop or starts abruptly or is impacted by other flatbeds during interconnection, the transported road vehicles are subjected to an impact force from either a front or a rear direction. Because the road vehicles are not tied down it is possible that if this impact force is large enough the vehicle could be dislodged from its transport location between the chucks by jumping over a pair of these chucks facing the direction of impact.
SUMMARY OF INVENTIONIt is a feature of the present invention to provide a method and a system for restraining a road vehicle on a vehicle support surface of a transport vehicle by using primary wheel restraining devices i.e. the chucks of my above-referenced patents, and securing a catcher tire abutment device on an inward side of each tire of the front and rear pair of wheels of the road vehicle and spaced from its thread face.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a catcher tire abutment device for use in combination with my aforementioned chuck system and wherein the catcher tire abutment device is secured to the flooring without the use of tools.
A further feature of the present invention is to provide a catcher tire abutment device as above-mentioned and which is lightweight, economical to produce and easy to install and remove from a flooring surface without the use of tools.
According to a broad aspect of the present invention there is provided a catcher tire abutment device for use in a system for restraining road vehicles on a vehicle support surface of a transport vehicle. The catcher tire abutment device has a flat bottom wall and a rearwardly and upwardly extending arresting front surface. Securement arresting means project from the flat bottom wall and is adapted for release engagement with a vehicle support surface. A clamping means is spaced rearwardly of the flat bottom wall for engagement with the vehicle support surface. Means is also provided to engage and disengage the clamping means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGSA preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to
The restraining system comprises, for each road vehicle being transported, four primary wheel restraining devices, herein the chucks 17 which are constructed in accordance with my previously referred to U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,063 and these comprise an arresting wall 18 which has an arresting outer surface 18′ for contact with a tire thread 19 of the tire 10′ of the wheel 10. As can be seen this arresting wall 18 is rearwardly inclined and extends upwardly from a lower front portion 20 of the chuck. The chuck or primary wheel restraining device 17 has a bottom wall 21 which is provided with securing means in the form of a plurality of teeth 22 (see
As also shown in
Referring now more specifically to FIGS. 2 to 4B there will be described the construction of the catcher tire abutment device 26. As hereinshown, the device is a one piece device which is molded from structural plastic material and it has a flat bottom wall 28 and a rearwardly and upwardly sloping front wall 29 which defines the outer arresting surface 27, as more clearly shown in
The catcher tire abutment device 26 is further provided with clamping means in the form of grating engagement means provided by arresting teeth 35 which depend from a lower surface 36 of a flexible tongue section 37 which is an extension of the bottom wall 28 projecting rearwardly thereof. This tongue section 37 extends co-extensively with the bottom wall and is provided with an elevated handle 38 formed at a free end 39 thereof and extending upwardly whereby to facilitate grasping by a user's hand to flex the end portion of the tongue section upwardly for engagement and disengagement from the grating. As hereinshown the arresting teeth 35 slope towards the front wall 27 in a direction opposite to the clamping teeth 30. Therefore, in order to permit engagement of these arresting teeth 35 within the grating it is necessary to firstly position the clamping teeth 30 in engagement within the grating and then by foot pressure or otherwise, the arresting teeth are pressed within the openings of the grating by downward pressure. The handle 38 may also be at the same time lifted in the direction of arrow 40 to articulate the teeth 35. When it is necessary to remove the tire abutment device 26 from engagement with the grating it is only necessary to grasp the handle 38 and pull the handle in a forward and upward direction as illustrated by arrow 40 in
It is pointed out that once the clamping teeth 30 are in engagement with the transverse rods 13′ the arresting teeth 35 only prevent the catcher tire abutment device 26 from sliding out in a forward direction. Therefore, these arresting teeth 35 may be formed as downwardly projecting transversely extending teeth 41, as shown in
It is pointed out that the tongue section 37 need only flex very slightly to permit engagement and disengagement of the arresting teeth 35 or projections 41. It is also conceivable that this tongue section could be molded as a wall which is thinner at least in a section thereof to facilitate flexion.
With reference now to
Referring now to
It is pointed out that this system of restraining the transported vehicles when subjected to front or rear impact forces, provides for a longer time dissipation of the kinetic energy resulting in a soft dissipation of the impact force. This sequential action provides a longer time delay for absorbing the energy and is calculated as the time lapse in the displacement of the front wheels to engage the arresting surface 18′, the time lapse in the deformation of the tire, the time lapse when the wheels move upwardly on the inclined face which is dictated by the time lapse of the rear wheels impacting on the inclined face of the catcher tire abutment devices 26 and any deformation in the tires of the rear wheels. Thereafter, the vehicle may oscillate back and forth on the wheels between the outer wheel chuck restraining devices 18 to finally stabilize therebetween.
It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obvious modifications of the preferred embodiment of the present invention described herein, providing such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A catcher tire abutment device for use in a system for restraining road vehicles on a vehicle support surface of a transport vehicle, said catcher tire abutment device having a flat bottom wall, a rearwardly and upwardly extending arresting front surface, securement arresting means projecting from said flat bottom wall and adapted for release engagement with a vehicle support surface, and clamping means spaced rearwardly of said flat bottom wall for engagement with said vehicle support surface, and means to engage and disengage said clamping means.
2. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said vehicle support surface is formed by spaced-apart transverse welded metal rods, said securement arresting means is constituted by a plurality of rearwardly sloping teeth extending rearwards of said bottom wall for engagement with said vehicle support surface.
3. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said teeth are spaced apart in transverse equidistantly spaced rows and disposed for projection in openings in said support surface defined between said transversely welded metal rods for engagement with at least some transverse ones of said rods.
4. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said teeth in adjacent rows define therebetween rearwardly inclined slots terminating in an arcuately shaped base above said flat bottom wall dimensioned for close fit about a peripheral portion of said at least some of said transverse ones of said rods.
5. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said clamping means comprises grating engagement means spaced from a rear lower edge of said bottom wall on a displaceable section whereby to cause said grating engagement means to project into some of said openings for engagement with some of said transverse rods after said teeth of said arresting means have been engaged to prevent displacement of said catcher tire abutment device.
6. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said displaceable section is a projecting tongue section extending co-extensively with said bottom wall and formed of flexible material capable of restoring its shape.
7. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 6 wherein said means to engage and disengage said clamping means is a handle formed at a free end of said projecting tongue section, said handle permitting said grating engagement means to be engaged and disengaged with some of said transverse rods by pushing said projecting tongue section on said grating for engagement and pulling it away from said grating for disengagement.
8. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 7 wherein said grating engagement means is constituted by forwardly sloping teeth for engagement with some of said transverse rods.
9. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 7 wherein said grating engagement means is constituted by downwardly projecting transversely extending teeth dimensioned for friction fit engagement in said rectangular openings of said grating.
10. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 7 wherein said catcher tire abutment devices are molded from a structural plastics material, said tongue section being dimensioned to flex by pulling a force on said handle which is molded integrally therewith.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 21, 2006
Publication Date: Jul 20, 2006
Applicant:
Inventor: Robert Winsor (Montreal)
Application Number: 11/384,332
International Classification: B60P 3/06 (20060101);