초록 ▼

A ratchet tie down structure is shown that is designed to hold heavy objects in place on a transport vehicle such as a flat bed trailer, a car carrier, a railroad car and the like. The mechanism includes a base element attached to the transport vehicle that has pair of cooperating elements having in

A ratchet tie down structure is shown that is designed to hold heavy objects in place on a transport vehicle such as a flat bed trailer, a car carrier, a railroad car and the like. The mechanism includes a base element attached to the transport vehicle that has pair of cooperating elements having interfitting ratchet teeth and a latch that permit a shaft to be turned in one direction to tighten a flexible holding element attached to the object with the latch holding the tension therein until the ratchet teeth on the two elements are disengaged. The structure includes a driving connection by which the shaft may be rotated in one direction to wind a tension in the flexible holding element and the latch being selectively operative to disengage one of the elements with the ratchet teeth from the other in order to release the tension in the flexible holding means when the heavy object is to be unloaded.

대표청구항 ▼

A compact hold down device designed to hold heavy objects in place within the confines of a transport means, which objects are being transported on such transport means in commerce such as on car carriers, flat bed trailers, rail road cars and the like; said device including a ratchet means, said ra

A compact hold down device designed to hold heavy objects in place within the confines of a transport means, which objects are being transported on such transport means in commerce such as on car carriers, flat bed trailers, rail road cars and the like; said device including a ratchet means, said ratchet means including a first series of ratchet teeth and a second set of complementary ratchet teeth, said device being operative to apply a tension to and to hold the tension in a flexible holding means such as a chain or a strap adapted to coact with an object for holding said object in place on said transport means during such movement and then said hold down device being operative to release the tension applied to the holding means to permit the unloading of said objects from said transport means; said hold down device that is mounted on said transport means comprising a base element for said hold down device that is fixed to said transport means: a shaft to which said flexible holding means is attached and said shaft being rotatably mounted in said element supported on said transport means for rotation in either a clockwise or counter clockwise direction about an axis; said shaft having an end accessible from beyond the confines of said transport means; an input means integral with said accessible end of said shaft and said input means being adapted to be rotatably driven to drive said shaft in one of said directions for wrapping said flexible means on said shaft for tensioning said holding means; an output element slideably mounted on and being relatively rotatable with respect to said shaft; latch means pivotally supported on said base element fixed to said transport means for engaging with and being operative to slide said output element toward and away from said input element; means interacting between said latch means and said output means to preclude the rotation of said output element with said shaft when said shaft rotates in either said clockwise or counter clockwise direction; means to resiliently bias said latch means together with said output element toward said input element; said first series of ratchet teeth being integral with said input element which teeth are disposed in a circular pattern concentric about said axis and which face toward said output element; said second set of complementary ratchet teeth being integral with said output element and being disposed in the same concentric circular pattern about said axis and which face toward said input element; said first series and said second set of ratchet teeth being designed to interact one with the other; said latch means including a release adaptor means which can be engaged to swing said latch against said bias of said resilient means to move said output element away from said input element to disengage said second series of ratchet teeth from said first series of ratchet teeth; said latch means being a U shaped member with the open ends of the U being mounted on bearing means carried by said base element; and the closed end of the U shaped latch member having said release adaptor integral therewith; said hold down device being constructed and arranged to permit said flexible holding means to be placed under tension by being wound up on said shaft when said shaft is rotated in said one direction while said first series and said second set of ratchet teeth are resiliently urged into complementary engagement whereby said holding means is held in its tensioned state by said interengaged first series and second set of ratchet teeth as said shaft is rotated in said one direction and said latch means being operative through said interactive means to slide said output element on said shaft and away from said input element to disengage said second set of teeth from said first series of ratchet teeth to permit said shaft to rotate freely in a direction the opposite to said one direction in order to release the tension in said flexible holding means to permit said heavy objects to be unloaded from said transport means.