STANCHION FOR VEHICLE LOAD PLATFORM

Abstract: Stanchion for vehicle load platform with locking mechanism for locking the stanchion to load platform and at least one side panel, incorporating an operating lever (14) for actuating a pretensioned locking bolt (27) provided for cooperation with a lock fitting for platform panel and at least one locking member (17) for cooperation with a platform attachment (19), one operating lever (14) end being articulately connected (15) to the locking member (17) and spaced therefrom with a link (25), the opposite end (26) of which is articulated to the locking bolt (27), the operating lever (14) having a compression spring (23) acting against a fixed stanchion stop (28) supporting the locking bolt (27) in one of its end positions, the pressure spring (23) being pivotable relative to the operating lever (14) about a shaft journal (21) between the pivot points (15; 24) for the operating lever (14) and the link (25), resp., for giving the operating lever (14) a braking effect when pivoted past an open panel locking mechanism position.

Description: STANCHION FOR VEHICLE LOAD PLATFORM The present invention refers to a stanchion for a vehicle load platform having a locking mechanism built into the stanchion and intended for individual, releasable locking of at one hand the stanchion to the load platform and on the other hand at least one side panel to the stanchion and which locking mechanism incorporates at least one operating lever for actuation of a spring loaded locking bolt provided for cooperation with the locking means for the platform panel and at least one locking member provided for coopera¬ tion with a load platform attachment, whereby one end of the operating lever is articulately connected to the locking member and at some distance from this to a link arm, the opposite end of which is articulately connected to said locking bolt, and where between the operating lever and an attachment in the stanchion is provided a compression spring, which attachment is designed as a support for the locking bolt in one of its end positions. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The locking mechanism for stanchions of the above mentioned type has been substantially un-altered since the design was developed about 25 years ago and as described in Swedish patent No. 218 048. According to this patent, and also in later developments, the operating lever operates against the action of a compression spring, which is arranged to act directly upon the locking bolt. This constructional design means that the locking mechanism requires quite a large space in longitudinal direction of the stanchion, which means that the stanchion can not be shorter than a certain predetermined length. In SE-C-9200432-4 is described a locking mechanism designed for a stanchion of a vehicle load platform, which requires less space, but which does not simultaneously renounce any of the demands which are laid on a modern stanchion. It thus must not have bigger external measures than earlier known stanchions and the locking mechanism shall be easy to operate, which has been obtained in that one end of the operating lever is articulately connected to the locking member and at some distance from this to a link, the op¬ posite end of which is articulately connected to said lock¬ ing bolt and that between the fulcrum for the operating lever and an attachment in the stanchion is provided a compression spring, which attachment is designed as a sup¬ port for the locking bolt in one of its end positions. In order to dampen the movement of the operating lever when the compression spring is allowed to expand, a plate spring is arranged in the operating lever, which presses against the lower end of the link arm thus that a retardation of the pivoting motion of the lever is obtained. By this construction is obtained a locking mechanism, which very well fulfils the requirements, but the arrangement with a plate spring, which retards the motion of the lever, thus that this shall not cause accidents by flying out at manipulation, means a complication, and it will loose its retarding function completely at spring rupture. PURPOSE AND MAIN FEATURES OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the present invention is to provide a locking mechanism, which fulfils the requirements on the earlier mentioned mechanism, and which furthermore is designed thus that the movement of the operating lever when the com¬ pression spring is relieved, is retarded simply, efficiently and reliably, and this has been solved by the features defined in the accompanying claim 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Hereinafter the invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show an embodiment. Fig. 1 shows the stanchion according to the invention in a side view partly in cross section and with the locking mechanism in closed position. Fig. 2 is a view of the stanchion according to the invention analogous with Fig. 1 with the locking mechanism in a first releasing position, in which a load platform panel is dis¬ connected. Fig. 3 shows the same view as in Fig. 2, but with the lock- ing mechanism in a position, wherein the locking bolt as well as the locking wedge are disconnected. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The entire stanchion according to the invention is desig¬ nated 10 and consists of stanchion housing 11, which is preferably constituted by a hollow profile of rectangular cross section. In this is provided a locking mechanism, more specifically a platform locking mechanism 12 and a panel locking mechanism 13, which are both operable by means of a common operating lever 14. This is at one of its ends via a pivot shaft 15 articulately connected to a connecting link 16, which in turn is connected to at least one locking wedge 17, which cooperates with a platform attachment 19 provided at the vehicle load platform 18. This attachment in¬ corporates guiding rails 20, which are designed with sub¬ stantially the same inclination as the conicity of the locking wedge. At the operating lever 14 at some distance from the pivot shaft 15 there is provided a further shaft journal 21, which forms a supporting axis for a guiding arm 22, which supports and forms a counter-stay for a compression spring 23. On the operating lever 14 at a distance from the shaft journal 21 for the guiding arm 22 is provided a further shaft journal 24, which pivotably supports a link arm 25, the opposite end of which via a shaft journal 26 is pivotably connected to a locking bolt 27, which is axially movable in the stanchion housing 11, and which cooperates with a not shown lock fittings provided at one side edge of a not shown load platform panel. The lock fittings is introducible in a recess in the stanchion housing 11. The axial movement of the locking bolt 27 in the stanchion housing 11 is limited at the lower end by a fixed stop member 28, which simul¬ taneously forms an abutment surface against which the free end of the compression spring 23 remote from its shaft journal 15 presses with different forces in different pivo¬ tal positions for the operating lever. The operating lever 14, which has a U-shaped cross section, is designed thus, that the link arm 25 as well as the com- pression spring 23 are received between the shanks of the U- profile. In the raised position of the operating lever 14, according to Fig. 1, the load platform mechanism 12 as well as the panel locking mechanism 13 are locked, which means that the stanchion is arrested to the load platform and that the platform panel is arrested to the stanchion 10. In this position the compression spring 23 is compressed between the portion of the guiding arm 22 acting as a counter-stay and its abutment surface on the stop member 28. If only the load platform panel shall be detached from the stanchion the operating lever 14 is swung to an intermediate position shown in Fig. 2, in which the locking bolt 27 is displaced downwards, thus that the lock fittings for the load platform panel can be retracted from the stanchion. The locking wedge 17 is still in its active locking position, which means that the stanchion is locked to the load platform. In this posi- tion the shaft journal 21 for the guiding arm 22 of the com¬ pression spring during the downward pivoting of the operat¬ ing lever about its shaft journal 15 move out¬ wards/downwards, thus that the free end of the compression spring is pressed only lightly against its abutment surface on the stop member 28, and the compression spring is thereby relieved, but it is still under so big compression, that it for this reason has a distinct operating position. If the stanchion shall be removed for giving better ac¬ cessibility to the load platform, the operating lever 14 is displaced to its lower end position, such as shown in Fig. 3, whereby the connecting link 16 and the locking wedge 17, which are both axially displaceable in the stanchion housing 11, are brought out of engagement with the guiding rail 20 of the platform attachment 19. The stanchion is thereby released from the load platform 18, and is held only by the hook formed end portion of the platform attachment. At pivoting of the operating lever 14 from the locking position shown in Fig. 1 the compression spring 23 during expansion will exert a force against the operating lever in opening direction until the compression spring is completely relieved from load, whereby the operating lever is posi- tioned in a position shown in Fig. 2, wherein the locking bolt 27 is removed from engagement with the lock fitting. At continued pivoting of the operating lever in the same direc¬ tion the locking bolt 27 engages the stop member 28 and is therefore prevented from moving further. Instead the pivot shaft 15 will hereby move upwards thereby causing the lock¬ ing wedge 17 to be brought out of engagement with the guid¬ ing rail 20. At this continued pivoting also the shaft jour¬ nal 21 for the guiding arm 22 of the compression spring 23 will move upwards, when an equilibrium has been passed and thereby the compression spring will again be compressed between the portion of the guiding arm 22 acting as a counter-stay and the stop member 28. The compression spring 23 thereby will retard the movement of the operating lever when the equilibrium according to Fig. 2 has been reached, and it thereby prevents the operat¬ ing lever from continued pivoting in an uncontrolled manner towards the position shown in Fig. 3. As the compression spring 23 is connected to the operating lever 14 it can be housed entirely inside the operating lever, which means that the locking mechanism for the stanchion can be shortened with a corresponding length. TABLE OVER REFERENCE NUMERALS 10 = stanchion 11 = stanchion housing 12 = platform locking mechanism 13 = panel locking mechanism 14 = operating lever 15 = pivot shaft 16 = connection link 17 = locking member/locking wedge 18 = load platform 19 = platform attachment 20 = guiding rail 21 = shaft journal 22 = guiding arm 23 = compression spring 24 = shaft journal 25 = link arm 26 = shaft journal 27 = locking bolt 28 = stop member

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Stanchion for a vehicle load platform having a locking mechanism built into the stanchion (10) and intended for in- dividual, releasable locking of at one hand the stanchion to the load platform (18) and on the other hand at least one side panel to the stanchion and which locking mechanism incorporates at least one operating lever (14) for actuation of a spring loaded locking bolt (27) provided for coopera- tion with the locking means for the platform panel and at least one locking member (17) provided for cooperation with a load platform attachment (19), whereby one end of the operating lever (14) is articulately connected (15) to the locking member (17) and at some distance (24) from this with a link arm (25), the opposite end (26) of which is articu¬ lately connected to said locking bolt (27) , and where at the operating lever (14) is provided a compression spring (23) adapted to act against a fixed stop (28) in the stanchion, which fixed stop (28) is designed as a support for the locking bolt (27) in one of its end positions, c h a r a c t e r i z e d t h e r e i n, that the pressure spring (23) is pivotably journalled in relation to the operating lever (14) about a shaft journal (21) positioned between the pivot points (15; 24) for the operating lever (14) and the link arm (25), resp. 2. Stanchion as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d t h e r e i n, that the compression spring (23) is arranged about a guiding arm (22), pivotably supported on the operating lever about said shaft journal (21), and which forms a counter-stay for the end of the compression spring (23 ) remote from the stop member (28) .

Inventors: ROSEN GOERAN, ROSEN, GOERAN
Applicants: ROSEN GORAN, ROSEN, GOERAN
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B62D33
IPC codes: B62D33