Patent Publication Number: US-10328910-B2

Title: Collapsible chock assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to chock devices and more particularly pertains to a new chock device for automatically chocking a vehicle tire. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that is positioned in a well in a support surface thereby facilitating a vehicle to drive on the housing. A chock unit is provided and the chock unit is movably positioned in the housing. The chock unit is selectively positioned in a deployed position to abut a tire on the vehicle thereby inhibiting the vehicle from rolling. The chock unit is selectively positioned in a compressed position having the chock unit being recessed into the housing thereby allowing the vehicle 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. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       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: 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a collapsible chock assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a top phantom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a right side phantom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a cut-away in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing a chock unit in a deployed position. 
         FIG. 5  is a cut-away in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing a chock unit in compressed position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new chock device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the collapsible chock assembly  10  generally comprises a housing  12  that is positioned in a well  14  in a support surface  16  thereby facilitating a vehicle  18  to drive on the housing  12 . The support surface  16  may be ground and the well  14  may be a hole that has been dug in the ground. The vehicle  18  may be a cargo vehicle, a passenger vehicle and any other vehicle that has wheels and tires. Additionally, the housing  12  may be positioned near a loading dock at a commercial building or the like. The housing  12  has a top wall  20 , a bottom wall  22  and an outer wall  24  extending therebetween. The outer wall  24  has a front side  26  and a back side  28  and the housing  12  is elongated between the front  26  and back  28  sides. The top wall  20  is aligned with the support surface  16  when the housing  12  is positioned in the well  14 . The top wall  20  has an opening  30  extending into an interior of the housing  12  and the opening  30  extends substantially between the front  26  and back  28  sides of the housing  12 . 
     A pair of tabs  32  is each coupled to and extends outwardly from the outer wall  24  of the housing  12 . Each of the tabs  32  is aligned with the top wall  20  and each of the tabs  32  is positioned on an associated one of the front  26  and back  28  sides of the housing  12 . Each of the tabs  32  abuts the support surface  16  when the housing  12  is positioned in the well  14 . A plurality of fasteners is extended through each of the tabs  32  and engages the support surface  16 . In this way the housing  12  is retained in the well  14  and each of the fasteners may comprise a screw or the like. 
     A chock unit  34  is provided and the chock unit  34  is movably positioned in the housing  12 . The chock unit  34  is selectively positioned in a deployed position to abut a tire  36  on the vehicle  18  thereby inhibiting the vehicle  18  from rolling. The chock unit  34  is selectively positioned in a compressed position having the chock unit  34  being recessed into the housing  12 . In this way the chock unit  34  allows the vehicle  18  to roll. 
     The chock unit  34  comprises a panel  38  that has a first end  40  and a second end  42 . The panel  38  has a pair of bends  44  thereon and the bends  44  are spaced apart from each other to define a central portion  46  extending between a pair of end portions  48 . The panel  38  is comprised of a resiliently bendable material such as rubber or the like and the panel  38  is positioned in the housing  12 . Moreover, each of the first  40  and second  42  ends of the panel  38  is contained within the housing  12 . 
     The panel  38  is positioned in a deployed position has each of the end portions  48  being concavely arcuate between the central portion  46  and an associated one of the first  40  and second  42  ends. Moreover, each of the end portions  48  extends upwardly through the opening  30  in the housing  12  and the central portion  46  is horizontally oriented between the end portions  48  when the panel  38  is positioned in the deployed position. Thus, the tire  36  abuts a selected one of the end portions  48  when said vehicle  18  is rolled against the panel  38 . In this way the panel  38  inhibits the vehicle  18  from rolling. The panel  38  may have a bending strength ranging between approximately 45.0 kg and 90.0 kg such that the panel  38  resists bending when the vehicle&#39;s engine is not running. In this way the panel  38  inhibits the vehicle  18  from rolling when the vehicle  18  is parked. The panel  38  is positioned in a compressed position having the central portion  46  being aligned with the top wall  20  of the housing  12 . In this way the vehicle  18  may drive over the panel  38  when the vehicle  18  is being powered by the engine. 
     A plurality of biasing members  50  is provided and each of the biasing members  50  is positioned within the housing  12 . Each of the biasing members  50  extends between an associated one of the first  40  and second  42  ends of the panel  38  and an associated one of the front  26  and back  28  sides of the housing  12 . Moreover, each of the biasing members  50  biases the panel  38  into the deployed position. Each of the biasing members  50  may comprise a spring or the like. 
     In use, the housing  12  is positioned in the well  14  and the vehicle  18  drives over the panel  38  when the vehicle  18  is approaching the loading dock or the like. The panel  38  is compressed into the housing  12  when the vehicle  18  drives over the panel  38 . The plurality of biasing members  50  biases the panel  38  into the deployed position when the vehicle  18  is not resting on the panel  38 . The vehicle  18  is allowed to roll against the panel  38  when the vehicle  18  is being parked. Thus, selected ones of the tires  36  on the vehicle  18  abuts a corresponding one of the end portions  48  of the panel  38 . In this way the panel  38  inhibits the vehicle  18  from rolling when the vehicle  18  is parked. Moreover, the vehicle  18  is chocked without requiring a driver of the vehicle  18  to exit the vehicle  18 . The vehicle  18  is selectively driven over the panel  38  when the vehicle is departing. The tire  36  rolls over the panel  38  thereby urging the panel  38  into the compressed position. 
     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.