Floor assembly and floor securing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10549795-B2
Application number	US-201715689913-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2017
Priority date	Aug 31, 2016
Publication date	Feb 4, 2020
Grant date	Feb 4, 2020

Abstract

A floor securing apparatus comprises a riser slot formed in a floor riser transverse to a longitudinal axis of the floor riser, the floor riser configured to support a floor sheet and a key including a locking head and at least one anchor tab, wherein the key is slidable into the riser slot transverse to the longitudinal axis of the floor riser, wherein the key is configured to engage a portion of the floor sheet to prevent vertical movement of the floor sheet relative to the floor riser.

First claim

I claim:

1. A floor assembly, comprising:
a floor sheet including a first end and a second end, the first end including a protrusion extending from a bottom surface thereof, the protrusion forming a notch, and the first end of the floor sheet being connected to a second end of a second floor sheet by a weld;
a floor riser configured to support the floor sheet, the floor riser including at least one riser slot, wherein at least a portion of the protrusion of the floor sheet is positioned within at least a portion of the riser slot; and
a key including a locking head and at least one anchor tab, wherein the key is positioned within the riser slot with a portion of the locking head positioned within the notch of the protrusion to secure the floor sheet to the floor riser to prevent vertical movement of the floor sheet relative to the riser.

2. The floor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the second end of the floor sheet is configured to mate with a foot of the first end of a further floor sheet.

3. The floor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the floor riser further includes a plurality of riser slots spaced apart such that a number of floor sheets may be connected to one another, thereby forming a continuous flooring surface.

4. The floor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the key further includes a plurality of anchor tabs extending in opposing directions.

5. The floor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the key further includes a spine and at least one anchor tab disposed at a non-90 degree angle with respect to the spine.

6. The floor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the bottom surface of the floor sheet and the protrusion of the first end of the floor sheet extend a full length of the floor sheet.

7. The floor assembly of claim 1 , wherein a top surface of the key is flush with a top surface of the riser.

8. The floor assembly of claim 1 ,
wherein the first end of the floor sheet further includes a downwardly extending foot having a first portion that abuts at least a portion of a top surface of the key and a second portion that includes a first coupling extension that extends away from the floor sheet;
wherein the second end of the floor sheet includes a downwardly extending leg having a second coupling extension extending away from the floor sheet; and
wherein the first and second coupling extensions of different floor sheets are positioned adjacent one another when the different floor sheets are connected and the first and second coupling extensions are further configured to be welded together.

9. A floor assembly, comprising:
a floor sheet including a first end and a second end, the first end including a protrusion extending from a bottom surface thereof, the protrusion forming a notch;
a floor riser configured to support the floor sheet, the floor riser including at least one riser slot, wherein at least a portion of the protrusion of the floor sheet is positioned within at least a portion of the riser slot; and
a key including a locking head and at least one anchor tab, wherein the key is positioned within the riser slot with a portion of the locking head positioned within the notch of the protrusion to secure the floor sheet to the floor riser to prevent vertical movement of the floor sheet relative to the riser,
wherein the first end of the floor sheet further includes a downwardly extending foot from which the protrusion extends;
wherein the second end of the floor sheet includes a downwardly extending leg; and
wherein the downwardly extending leg of the second end and the downwardly extending foot of adjacent floor sheets are positioned adjacent one another and portions of the downwardly extending leg of the second end and the downwardly extending foot are welded.

10. The floor assembly of claim 9 , wherein the notch of the protrusion is defined by a vertical section and a horizontal section.

11. The floor assembly of claim 9 , wherein the notch is a horizontal notch; and
a vertical notch is formed in the downwardly extending foot adjacent to and above the horizontal notch by an outwardly and upwardly extending finger.

12. The floor assembly of claim 11 , wherein a latch is formed on an end of the finger;
a projection extends inwardly from the downwardly extending leg; and
the projection is configured to form a snap fit with the latch.

13. The floor assembly of claim 9 , wherein one or more of an upper end of the downwardly extending foot and an upper end of the downwardly extending leg are angled to form a groove for depositing a weld bead.

14. The floor assembly of claim 9 , wherein a second foot extends from a lower end of the downwardly extending leg,
an upper surface of a lower portion of the downwardly extending foot defines a depression; and
the second foot is sized to fit within the depression.

15. The floor assembly of claim 14 , wherein the second foot includes a locking heel that locks the second foot within the depression.

16. The floor assembly of claim 9 , wherein the downwardly extending foot includes a notch that receives and retains a projection that extends inwardly from the downwardly extending leg.

17. The floor assembly of claim 1 ,
wherein the first end of the floor sheet further includes a downwardly extending foot from which the protrusion extends, the downwardly extending foot further including a first toe portion;
wherein the second end of the floor sheet includes a downwardly extending leg with an outwardly extending foot having a second toe portion; and
wherein the first and second toe portions of different floor sheets are positioned adjacent one another and a weld beam is positioned between the first and second toe portions.

18. The floor assembly of claim 17 , wherein the downwardly extending foot further includes an upwardly locking heel that is spaced from the first toe portion to create a depression configured to form a snap fit engagement with the outwardly extending foot of the second end of an adjacent floor sheet when different floor sheets are positioned adjacent one another.

19. A floor assembly, comprising:
a floor sheet including a first end and a second end, the first end including a protrusion extending from a bottom surface thereof, the protrusion forming a notch;
a floor riser configured to support the floor sheet, the floor riser including at least one riser slot, wherein at least a portion of the protrusion of the floor sheet is positioned within at least a portion of the riser slot; and
a key including a locking head and at least one anchor tab, wherein the key is positioned within the riser slot with a portion of the locking head positioned within the notch of the protrusion to secure the floor sheet to the floor riser to prevent vertical movement of the floor sheet relative to the riser,
wherein the first end of the floor sheet further includes a downwardly extending foot, the protrusion forming the notch being positioned at a lower end of the downwardly extending foot and further including a second notch formed within the downwardly extending foot and spaced from the protrusion forming the notch;
wherein the second end of the floor sheet includes a flange; and
wherein at least a portion of the flange of one floor sheet is configured to be positioned within the second notch of an adjacent floor sheet and a weld beam is positioned in contact with portions of the first and second ends of the floor sheets adjacent the flange and the second notch.

20. The floor assembly of claim 19 , wherein one or more of an upper end of the downwardly extending foot

Assignees

• Wabash National Lp

Inventors

• Ehrlich Rodney P

Classifications

• B62D25/2054

  Load carrying floors for commercial vehicles · CPC title

• B62D33/044 Primary

  built up with profiles of constant elongated shape, e.g. extruded, mechanically interconnected by coupling members, e.g. by clamping, riveting or bolting · CPC title

• B62D33/048 Primary

  for refrigerated goods vehicles · CPC title

• B62D65/02

  Joining sub-units or components to, or positioning sub-units or components with respect to, body shell or other sub-units or components · CPC title

• B60Y2304/05

  Reducing production costs, e.g. by redesign · CPC title