Extruded nonskid treadway - Patent Review 4266381

Description Submit all comments and votes

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to treadways of nonskid design and more specifically includes a floor consisting of interlocking panels having nonskid pyramidal members.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The prior art includes floors comprising panel treadways having nonskid surface protrusions. Also, many of these are made by the use of aluminum extrusions with raised floor or panel surfaces which included ridges, projections, serration, rubber members and other shaped elements designed to eliminate skid hazards. Triangular projections as well as truncated projections with concave surfaces have been utilized. The present invention is an improvement over the prior art in that the treadway which is of extruded aluminum panels includes pyramidal projections which are formed at their vertices with sharp points, and are contiguously positioned in rectilinear and criss-cross relation thereby providing an improved nonskid construction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a treadway of nonskid design which is ideally suited for flooring and particularly floors of vehicles. Such vehicles may be trailers, containers, or other freight carrying equipment.

The treadway comprises a plurality of panels which preferably are of light weight metal such as aluminum. The panels are made by an extrusion process which provides a treadway surface supported on supporting members thereby raising said surface on the means which supports the treadways. The said means may be horizontal trailer floor beams or the like. The panels are provided with adjacent interlocking tongue and groove connections and are connected to the trailer floor beams. During the extruding process the raised surface is in turn provided with one or more flat projecting surfaces which are then subjected to a machining operation providing cross-forming. This is achieved by cutting grooves in one direction and then cutting the grooves in a perpendicular opposite direction. The grooves so formed provide contiguous pyramidal members or projections which each include a substantially four sided or rectangular base for each projection, pyramidal sides and a pointed vertex. The cross forming thus provides lateral and longitudinal rows of projections in contiguous and rectilinear relation.

A modified floor or treadway includes extruded panels which have a flat plate-like base supported on the trailer floor beams and connected thereto. T-shaped longitudinally extending and parallel extrusions are integral with the plate-like base, are laterally spaced with respect to one another, and are provided at their upper surfaces with the aforementioned pyramidal projection. These are cross formed in rail shaped flat upper surfaces projecting laterally outwardly on opposite sides of relatively narrow upstanding beams laterally spaced and thus defining the T-shaped, in cross section, configuration.

Another modified structure includes a floor of interconnected panels supported on the floor beams of the trailer.

In this construction the panels are of a serpentine, or corrugated type of configuration, which provides an upper surface consisting of horizontally spaced, parallel and linearly extending individual strip like surfaces, each of which is provided by strip treadways having the cross formed pyramidal projections.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a treadway or floor portion of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the treadway of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line of 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified treadway;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the treadway shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of another modified treadway; and

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the treadway of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A treadway, which may be the floor of a trailer, is designated as 10 and includes a plurality of interconnected sections 11. Each of the sections 11 includes an upper treadway surface 12, on a horizontally extending upper or top panel wall or portion 13. The walls 13 of the panels are carried in raised position by means of vertical support walls or portions 14, having enlarged lower feet or base portions 15 and connector flanges 16 provided at one side of each panel. The connector flanges 16 are secured to longitudinal floor beams 17 by rivets 18, the latter beams being of I-Beam construction.

The upper walls 13 of each panel 11 are provided with interlocking means in the form of tapered or truncated edges 19 which provide for contiguous V-shaped cavities extending longitudinally and which are filled by welds 20. One end of each panel includes a tongue 21 which is in tongue-and-groove connection with a grooved flange 22 of the other adjacent panel, thereby assuring proper positioning and interlocking of the panels.

Each panel includes upwardly projecting pointed members 23 of pyramidal shape. Each member 23 includes a base portion 24 of rectangular or four sided shape with sides projecting pyramidally upwardly and defining a pointed end 25 at the upper end or at the vertex of the same. The four sides may be designated, as shown in FIG. 4, as 26, 27, 28 and 29. This pyramidal shape with the pointed vertices 25 provides for an effective and clearly nonskid proof surface.

In the manufacture of this floor or treadway, the panels are extruded out of aluminum or other similar light metal. The pyramidal projections are not extruded, but the upper surface includes one or more upstanding rectangular surface projections which are then cross-formed by machining. A machine cutting operation, by angularly cutting or grooving in criss-cross relation, provides for the formation of the pyramidal shapes with the pointed vertices. Various cutting tools or grinding means can be employed for the cross forming operation. The cross forming thus provides for the criss-cross rectilinear disposition of the nonskid projections.

FIGS. 5 through 8 disclose modified panels 35 of different configuration. In these, the pyramidal members 23 are formed or manufactured as above described and each includes the four sides 26, 27, 28 and 29 with the vertex 25. FIGS. 5 and 6 disclose the panels 35, each of which includes an extruded base or plate 36 having vertically extending extruded support rails or webs 37 which are provided at their upper ends with strip like tread members 38, which with the webs 37 form a T-shaped configuration. The panels 35 are provided on opposite sides with interlocking elements 39 and 40 which expedite the installation of the same and which then are secured to the trailer beams 17 by conventional fastening means.

A tongue and groove 41, 42, arrangement is provided on the bases of adjacent panels and a dependent rib projection or vertical flange 43 of interlocking element 40 interlocks with an upstanding rib or flange 44 on an extension or horizontal flange 44a of the interlocking element 39 of the base 36.

FIGS. 7 and 8 disclose panels 45 of extruded corrugated type shape. These panels also can be described as comprising a plurality of spaced hat sections interconnected at their bottom edges by horizontal base portions. The hat sections 46 include upper laterally spaced strip treadways 47 which contain the pyramidal projections 23.

The hat sections 46 include upright walls 48 connected by base portions 49 seated upon the beams 17. The panels 45, like panels 35 include the interlocking edges or sides 39 and 40 which are connected to the beams 17 by conventional fasteners. The particular treadway shapes disclosed in the invention may be preferred by the individual manufacturer for a variety of reasons, and all include the unique pyramidal shapes formed by cross forming of the treadway surfaces.

Thus, it is clearly apparent that effective nonskid treadway panels have been achieved with an improved process of manufacturing the same.

* * * * *