Patent Application
20200122693
Not Applicable
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Not Applicable
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The disclosure and prior art relates to chock devices and more particularly pertains to a new chock device for parking a trailer.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a trailer that has a plurality of axles, a frame and air brakes. Each of the axles has a wheel that is rotatably coupled thereto. A chock unit is rotatably coupled to the trailer and the chock unit is operationally coupled to the air brakes. The chock unit is actuated into a deployed position when the air brakes are turned on. Thus, the chock unit lowers a stop between the wheel on each of a respective pair of the axles for inhibiting the trailer from rolling. The chock unit is actuated into a stored position when the air brakes are turned off thereby facilitating the wheel on each of the respective pair of axles to roll.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The chock unit 22 is actuated into a deployed position when the air brakes 18 are turned on. Thus, the chock unit 22 lowers a stop 24 between the wheel 20 on each of a respective pair of the axles 14. In this way the trailer 12 is inhibited from rolling thereby enhancing safety for workers loading and unloading the trailer 12. Additionally, the chock unit 22 inhibits the trailer 12 from rolling in the event of air brakes 18 failure. In this way the chock unit 22 enhances safety for individuals that are near the trailer 12 and for vehicles that are parked near the trailer 12. The chock unit 22 is actuated into a stored position when the air brakes 18 are turned off thereby facilitating the wheel 20 on each of the respective pair of axles 14 to roll.
The chock unit 22 comprises a motor 26 that is coupled to the frame 16 of the trailer 12. The motor 26 is electrically coupled to a power source 28 comprising an electrical system of the trailer 12. Moreover, the electrical system of the trailer 12 is in electrical communication with the vehicle that is towing the trailer 12 thereby supply power to the trailer's electrical system. The motor 26 is positioned between the respective pair of axles 14. The motor 26 is turned on to rotate in a first direction when the air brakes 18 are turned on and the motor 26 is turned on to rotate in a second direction when the air brakes 18 are turned off. The motor 26 may be an electric motor 26 or the like.
A spindle 30 is rotatably coupled to the motor 26 and the spindle 30 is positioned above the wheel 20 on each of the respective pair of axles 14. Moreover, the spindle 30 is horizontally oriented and is oriented collinear with the respective axles 14. The spindle 30 may have a pair of pulleys being mounted thereon. The pulleys may be spaced apart from each other and being aligned with the wheel 20 on each of the respective axles 14.
A pair of cables 32 is provided and each of the cables 32 is attached to the spindle 30. Each of the cables 32 is wrapped around the spindle 30 when the motor 26 is turned on to rotate in the second direction. Alternatively, each of the cables 32 is unwrapped from the spindle 30 when the motor 26 is turned on to rotate in the first direction. The cables 32 are spaced apart from each other on the spindle 30 and each of the cables 32 has a distal end 34. Additionally, each of the cables 32 may be positioned around a respective one of the pulleys. Each of the cables 32 is comprised of a weather resistant and break resistant material such as rubber coated steel cable or the like.
The stop 24 comprises a wheel chock 36 that is coupled to the distal end 34 of each of the cables 32. The wheel chock 36 is lowered to ground when the motor 26 is turned on to rotate in the first direction. The wheel chock 36 is positioned between the wheel 20 on each of the respective pair of axles 14 when the wheel chock 36 is lowered. In this way the wheel chock 36 inhibits the trailer 12 from rolling. The wheel chock 36 is lifted from the ground when the motor 26 is turned on to rotate in the second direction thereby facilitating the trailer 12 to roll. The wheel chock 36 may be a wheel chock 36 of any conventional design common to the trucking industry.
In use, the motor 26 is turned on to rotate in the second direction when the air brakes 18 on the trailer 12 are turned on. Thus, the wheel chock 36 is lowered to the ground between the wheel 20 on each of the respective axles 14. In this the wheel chock 36 inhibits the trailer 12 from rolling in the event of air brakes 18 failure or other unexpected event. The motor 26 is turned on to rotate in the first direction when the air brakes 18 on the trailer 12 are turned off. Thus, the wheel chock 36 is lifted from the ground thereby facilitating the trailer 12 to roll.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
