The present invention relates to a placard fastener for use with a transportation placard holder.
Transportation vehicles, such as trucks, trains, or container ships that carry hazardous materials, must be placarded in accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 172. The placards must be positioned on exposed sides (e.g. front and back ends and both sides) of the transportation container, for example, a trailer of a truck, a railcar, a storage tank, or an intermodal container. The placards identify the hazardous material carried in the transportation vehicle and provide information related to the hazard posed by the identified hazardous material and give cleanup instructions in the event of a spill or incident. The placards must be removed whenever the transportation vehicle is carrying a non-hazardous cargo or must be changed to correspond to the identity of a new hazardous cargo. The placards are received in placard holders positioned on the ends and sides of the transportation container and are secured to the placard holder using placard fasteners.
Since the placards are frequently changed and since the transportation container is exposed to harsh outdoor environmental conditions, the placard fasteners experience wear and eventually fail. A broken placard fastener may cause “placard blowout,” in which the placard blows out of the placard holder. Placard failures, therefore, can cause non-compliance with 49 C.F.R. § 172, safety problems, or mishandling of hazardous materials in the event of a spill or other incident. Prior art placard fasteners consist of a snap fastener which is riveted to the placard holder. The snap fastener flips down to secure the placard into the placard holder and flips up to release. The snap fasteners are difficult to open and often times the end-user uses a broom handle or some other tool to open the fastener. The pressure on the fastener when flipping them open or closed causes breakage or premature wear.
In one construction, the disclosure provides a placard system for a transportation container or vehicle. The placard system includes a holder including a cavity and a placard fastener mounting hole. The cavity is configured to receive a placard. The placard fastener mounting hole is spaced from an opening of the cavity and defining an axis of rotation. The placard system further includes a placard fastener engaged with the holder and rotatable about the axis of rotation between a closed position in which the placard fastener blocks a portion of the opening of the cavity and an open position in which the placard fastener is spaced from the opening of the cavity. The placard fastener includes a planar base portion including a mounting hole, an engagement portion configured to engage the holder or the placard, and an actuation portion.
In another construction, the disclosure provides a method of securing a placard within a placard holder for transportation. The method includes grasping an actuation portion of a placard fastener engaged with the placard holder. The placard fastener includes a planar base portion having a mounting hole defining an axis of rotation and an engagement portion configured to engage a lip of the placard holder. The method further includes swinging the placard fastener about the axis of rotation so that the placard fastener is spaced from an opening of a cavity of the placard holder. The method further includes positioning a placard within the cavity of the placard holder. The method further includes swinging the placard fastener about the axis of rotation so that the placard fastener is blocking a portion of the opening of the cavity.
In another construction, the disclosure provides a placard system for a transportation container for use with a transportation vehicle. The placard system includes a holder including a cavity and a raised ridge. The cavity is configured to receive a placard and a raised ridge. The cavity is formed between a first holder portion and a second holder portion. The raised ridge is formed on the first holder portion and spaced from an opening of the cavity. A placard fastener mounting hole spaced is spaced the raised ridge and defines an axis of rotation. The placard system further includes a placard fastener engaged with the holder and rotatable about the axis of rotation between a closed position in which the placard fastener is engaged with the raised ridge and blocks a portion of the opening of the cavity, and an open position in which the placard fastener is spaced from the opening of the cavity. The placard fastener includes a planar base portion having a mounting hole. The placard fastener further includes a securing portion positioned between the planar base and the engagement portion. The securing portion is adapted to engage the raised ridge. The placard fastener further includes an engagement portion including a vinyl rivet that engages the placard or the placard holder configured to engage the holder or the placard, and an actuation portion including a first tab and a second tab.
Other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Before any constructions 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 invention is capable of other constructions and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways.
In any disclosed construction, the terms “substantially” or “approximately” may be substituted with “within a percentage of” what is specified, where the percentage includes 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 percent. The terms “angled”, “angle”, and “slanted” are used to mean a non-zero angle or a non-parallel relationship between two components.
The placard (not shown) has a front side and a back side (not shown). The front side of the placard includes information about an identity of a hazardous material stored in the transportation container. For example, the front side of the placard may include indicia indicative of the specific identity of the hazardous material or a particular hazard warning about the particular danger posed by the hazardous material (e.g. “flammable” or “corrosive”, or visuals symbols indicating the same). A placard for use with the illustrated placard holder 14 would be a substantially square shaped placard.
In the construction illustrated in
The second holder portion 26 is secured to the first holder portion 22, for example, by staking or rivets. The second holder portion 26 includes a plurality of viewing apertures 62. The viewing apertures 62 allow visualization of a placard positioned within the cavity 30. A lip 64 is formed on the second holder portion 26 proximate the opening 34 of the cavity 30. The placard holder 14 may be formed differently in other constructions of the placard system 10.
As shown in
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With continued reference to
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The placard holder 14 and the placard fastener 18 are preferably made of stainless steel to provide strength, durability and corrosion resistance.
In operation, an operator selects the appropriate placard for a hazardous cargo transported within a shipping container (not shown). The operator grasps the actuation portion 86 and swings the placard fastener 18 about the axis A until it is rotated away from the lip 64 and the opening 34 of the placard holder 14 (
The placard fastener 18 is designed with the end-user in mind. The end-user can quickly and easily insert/remove placards from the placard holder 14 by pivoting or swinging the placard fastener 18 to the left or right to release it from the placard holder 14. Swinging or pivoting the placard fastener 18 left or right reduces the pressure on the placard fastener 18 thereby increasing the useful life of the placard fastener 18 reducing breakage of the component.
Various features and advantages of the disclosure are set forth in the following claims.
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Number | Date | Country |
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2876629 | May 2015 | EP |
Entry |
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U.S. Appl. No. 15/633,068 dated Jun. 1, 2018 (6 pages). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20180374397 A1 | Dec 2018 | US |