The present disclosure relates to a dock light apparatus.
To increase visibility and safety during loading and unloading of tractor trailers at a warehouse loading dock, dock lights are used to illuminate trailer interiors that do not have interior lights. Dock lights typically are mounted adjacent to a loading dock door in the interior of the loading dock and include a light source that can be positioned to direct lighting into the interior of a docked trailer.
In one embodiment, the disclosure provides a dock light apparatus including an elongated bent arm having a rigid bend, a light fixture mounted proximate to a distal end of the bent arm, and a bracket assembly mounted at a proximal end of the bent arm.
Other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Before any embodiments of the disclosure are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways.
Referring now to the figures,
The bent arm 102 may be made of any suitable material having sufficient strength to support the light fixture 116 and to withstand incidental impacts from forklifts. For example, the bent arm 102 may be made of mechanical steel tubing having a hollow tubular cross section in a rectangular, square, or round shape. The steel tubing may be shaped or bent as required to produce the axially curved or bent portion 104. The bent arm 102 also may have a rigid one-piece construction in that it is formed from a single piece of steel tubing. Alternatively, different portions of the bent arm 102, such as the axially curved portion 104 and the axially straight portion 106, may be integrally formed or connected with each other, for example, by welding separate pieces of steel tubing together, so as to form a continuous rigid structure for the bent arm 102. In other embodiments, the bent arm 102 may have a hinged construction (as described below) in that it is an assembly of discrete components configured to provide flexibility for the bent arm.
In the illustrated embodiment, the bent arm 102 is made of 16 gage rectangular steel tubing having a wall thickness of about 0.065″ and nominal outside dimensions of 1″×2″. It is believed that rectangular steel tubing can offer a mechanical advantage for the bent arm 102 compared to square steel tubing having the same surface area and lower gage by providing additional strength and reducing material weight and cost. The steel tubing may be coated to provide corrosion resistance and a desired appearance. With reference to
Referring to
In addition, the transverse leg 126 of the lamp head bracket 122 defines a through-hole 126a sized to slidably receive a pivot pin 128. The pivot pin 128 is mounted within and projects through an opening 120a formed in the sidewall of the lamp head 120. The pivot pin 128 has an axial passage extending therethrough to allow wiring to pass internally from the lamp head 120 into the bent arm 102. For example, the lamp head 102 may be an LED light source that is in electrical communication with an LED driver circuit located inside the bent arm 102 via the electrical connection provided by the wiring passing through the pivot pin 128. A bowed E-ring 130 is installed onto a groove formed on the pivot pin 128 adjacent to the transverse leg 126 on the side opposite the lamp head 120. The bowed E-ring 130 provides a friction fit onto the groove of the pivot pin 128 and generates a pre-load or axial tension pulling the lamp head 120 into engagement with the lamp head bracket 122. This configuration prevents axial movement of the lamp head 120 relative to the lamp head bracket 122 and allows the lamp head 120 to frictionally rotate relative to the lamp head bracket 122 while staying in place.
With reference to
The L-shaped brackets 134 are disposed against the top wall 102a and the bottom wall 102b of the bent arm 102 proximate its proximal end 108 so that the bolt holes 142 of the bracket base plates 140 are aligned axially with the flange bushings 144 received in the bushing holes 114. The shank 138b of the mounting bolt 138 is inserted through the bolt holes 142 and the flange bushings 144 so that the enlarged head 138a abuts against the bracket base plate 140 of the first L-shaped bracket 134 and the threaded portion of the shank 138b extends out of the bolt hole 142 of the second L-shaped bracket 134. A nut 146 is tightened on the threaded portion of the shank 138b against the bracket base plate 140 of the second L-shaped bracket 134 to clamp the bent arm 102 between the bracket base plates 140 of the L-shaped brackets 134. In this configuration, the bent arm 102 may rotate relative to the L-shaped brackets 134 about the longitudinal axis of the mounting bolt 138 for positioning the bent arm 102 relative to a door opening, as described below. In addition, a nylon spacer 136 may be disposed over the mounting bolt 138 extending between the bolt holes 142 of the bracket base plates 140 so as to prevent tube crush when the mounting bolt 138 is tightened and to maintain alignment of the flange bushings 144 and L-shaped brackets 134.
Each base plate 140 of the L-shaped brackets 134 may also include one or more clevis pin holes 148 sized to removably receive a clevis pin 150 therein. In the illustrated embodiment, each base plate 140 includes two clevis pin holes 148 that are formed symmetrically on opposite sides of the bolt hole 142 such that when a pair of L-shaped brackets 134 are mounted to the bent arm 102 using the mounting bolt 138 as described above, each clevis pin hole 148 of the first L-shaped bracket 134 is coaxially aligned a clevis pin hole 148 of the second L-shaped bracket 134. A clevis pin 150 may be inserted through at least a first pair of coaxially aligned clevis pin holes 148 to limit the rotation of the bent arm 102, as described below. Further, a nylon spacer 152 extending between the clevis pin holes 148 may be disposed over the clevis pin 150 to prevent tube crush when the mounting bolt 138 is tightened. Also, an additional securing bolt 154 may be inserted through a second pair of coaxially aligned clevis pin holes 148 to provide additional strength and stability for the mounting bracket assembly 118.
In addition, each L-shaped bracket 134 includes a mounting plate 156 that defines one or more mounting holes 156a for fastening the L-shaped bracket 134 to a building wall with conventional fasteners. With reference to
In another embodiment, as illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
The bent arm 202 includes one or more LED openings formed in a sidewall thereof to allow light emitted by the light fixture 260 to pass through and provide illumination. The bent arm 202 also may include one or more ventilation openings formed in a second sidewall thereof to allow heat generated by the light fixture 260 to dissipate to the atmosphere. When the bent arm 202 is mounted to a wall adjacent to a loading dock door, the axially curved portion 204 again provides sufficient clearance around obstructions adjacent the door opening, such as a door track, to provide clearance for the axially straight portion 206 to extend unimpeded into the door opening and illuminate the inside of a docked trailer via the light fixture 260.
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