Vehicle securement apparatus

Claim 2

Securement apparatus for secUring cargo to a vehicle deck comprising: an elongated horizontal channel adapted to be fastened to one side of the deck below the level of the deck; said channel having an inner wall adjacent the side of the deck and an outer wall spaced outwardly from the inner wall and defining an upwardly open guideway therebetween extending along the side of the deck; one of said walls having a horizontally extending, downwardly facing track; an anchor housing being movable along said channel within said guideway; said anchor housing having an extension on one side underlying and engaging said downwardly facing track on said one channel wall, said anchor housing having an opposite side sufficiently close to the other channel wall to keep the extension so engaged with the underside of the track through the entire range of movement of the anchor housing along the deck; winch means for a chainlike cargo securing element, said winch means being supported by said anchor housing to provide access from the deck for such element through the entire range of movement of the housing along the deck; and manually releasable means for interlocking the housing to the channel at a plurality of positions of the housing along the guideway.

Claim 3

Securement apparatus according to claim 1 in which the extension on the housing is an elongated slide member fastened to the housing and engageable with and slidable along said downwardly facing track.

Claim 4

Securement apparatus according to claim 1 in which a plurality of stake pockets, open at the top and bottom, are disposed along an upper portion of said inner wall in generally vertical alignment with the winch means, to train and guide a chainlike element through a selected one of said pockets between the winch means and cargo.

Claim 5

Securement apparatus according to claim 3 in which said stake pockets comprise outwardly extending loops, and a horizontal retaining strip interconnects the stake pocket loops and is spaced outwardly from said inner wall to enable a chainlike element to be trained and guided beneath the strip.

Claim 6

Securement apparatus according to claim 1 in which the winch means is so positioned in the anchor housing that the line of action of the chainlike element, when tensioned, urges the housing toward said one-channel wall having said downwardly facing track.

Claim 7

Securement apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for interlocking the housing to the channel comprises a plurality of upwardly open notches spaced apart along the upper edge portion of the outer wall of the channel, and a downwardly biased pawl carried by the anchor housing for engagement with a selected one of said notches, said pawl being accessible from the exterior of the channel and manually releasable.

Claim 8

Securement apparatus according to claim 1 in which said horizontally extending, downwardly facing track is on the inner wall of the housing.

Claim 9

Securement apparatus according to claim 7 in which said winch means is horizontally offset toward the inner wall whereby the line of action of the chainlike element, when tensioned by the winch, urges the housing toward the inner wall to maintain maximum engagement between said housing extension and said track.

Claim 10

Securement apparatus for securing cargo to a top load carrying surface of a vehicle deck, said deck having a channel extending horizontally along at least one side thereof, which channel has angularly related side and bottom surfaces which are exposed outwardly away from the deck, said securement apparatus comprising: an anchor housing adapted to be supported at selected positions along said channel, said anchor housing having winch means for tensioning a flexible tie element trained laterally across the side surface of the channel and upwardly of the side of the deck, thereby to extend between said anchor housing and said cargo on the deck; said anchor housing including a side wall having only a single lower transverse extension thereon, which housing siDewall and transverse extension simultaneously and respectively engage the side and bottom surfaces of said channel; and means at the bottom of the channel for holding said anchor housing in close proximity with said side surface of said channel to maintain a substantial lapped relationship between said lower transverse extension and said bottom surface of said channel to enable and cause said lower transverse extension and said channel to absorb the force reaction of the flexible tie element and thereby to restrain said housing against upward movement laterally of the channel when said flexible tie element is tensioned by said winch.

Claim 11

Securement apparatus for securing cargo to a top load carrying surface of a vehicle deck, said deck having a channel extending horizontally along at least one side thereof, which channel has angularly related side and bottom surfaces which are exposed outwardly away from the deck, said securement apparatus comprising: an anchor housing adapted to be supported at selected positions along said channel, said anchor housing having winch means for tensioning a flexible tie element trained laterally across the side surface of the channel and upwardly of the side of the deck, thereby to extend between said anchor housing and said cargo on the deck; said anchor housing including a side wall having only a single lower transverse extension thereon, which housing siDewall and transverse extension simultaneously and respectively engage the side and bottom surfaces of said channel; and means at the bottom of the channel for holding said anchor housing in close proximity with said side surface of said channel to maintain a substantial lapped relationship between said lower transverse extension and said bottom surface of said channel to enable and cause said lower transverse extension and said channel to absorb the force reaction of the flexible tie element and thereby to restrain said housing against upward movement laterally of the channel when said flexible tie element is tensioned by said winch.

Claim 12

Securement apparatus according to claim 9 in which said sidewall and said transverse extension of said anchor housing are slidable along said channel for moving said anchor housing between said positions.

Claim 13

Securement apparatus according to claim 10 having locking means between said channel and said anchor housing to hold said anchor housing against slidable movement along said channel in selectable securement positions.

Claim 14

Securement apparatus for securing cargo to a vehicle deck, said deck having an elongated horizontally extending channel along at least one side thereof, a series of outwardly extending stake pocket loops which are open at their tops and bottoms and are disposed along said channel, said channel including a vertical web having a lower marginal flange, said securement apparatus comprising: an anchor housing adapted to be supported throughout a range of securement positions along the length of said channel, said anchor housing having winch means for tensioning a flexible tie element trained across the side of the deck and extending between said anchor housing and said cargo on said deck; said anchor housing having a sidewall and a lower transverse extension simultaneously abuttable respectively with said vertical web and with the underside of said lower marginal flange to dispose said winch means at a level below said stake pocket loops and in alignment therewith to enable said flexible tie element to be trained across a selected one of said stake pocket loops to stabilize the fore and aft position of said anchor housing relative to said channel; and means for maintaining a substantial lapped relationship between said lower transverse extension and said underside of said lower flange to stabilize the transverse position of said anchor housing relative to said channel and to enable said lower transverse extension and said channel to absorb the force reaction of said flexible tie element and to restrain said housing against upward movement when said flexible tie element is tensioned by said winch.

Claim 15

Securement apparatus for securing cargo to a vehicle deck, said deck having an elongated horizontally extending channel along at least one side thereof, a series of outwardly extending stake pocket loops which are open at their tops and bottoms and are disposed along said channel, said channel including a vertical web having a lower marginal flange, said securement apparatus comprising: an anchor housing adapted to be supported throughout a range of securement positions along the length of said channel, said anchor housing having winch means for tensioning a flexible tie element trained across the side of the deck and extending between said anchor housing and said cargo on said deck; said anchor housing having a sidewall and a lower transverse extension simultaneously abuttable respectively with said vertical web and with the underside of said lower marginal flange to dispose said winch means at a level below said stake pocket loops and in alignment therewith to enable said flexible tie element to be trained across a selected one of said stake pocket loops to stabilize the fore and aft position of said anchor housing relative to said channel; and means for maintaining a substantial lapped relationship between said lower transverse extension and said underside of said lower flange to stabilize the transverse position of said anchor housing relative to said channel and to enable said lower transverse extension and said channel to absorb the force reaction of said flexible tie element and to restrain said housing against upward movement when said flexible tie element is tensioned by said winch.

Claim 16

Securement apparatus for securing cargo to a vehicle deck having a beam extending longitudinally along one side thereof and presenting outwardly exposed and angularly related side and lower surfaces, said securement apparatus comprising: a housing; a winch carried by said housing for rotation about an axis for tensioning a flexible cargo tiedown element which extends upwardly and laterally across said exposed side surface of the beam; said housing having an upstanding sidewall relative to which the winch axis extends in generally perpendicular relationship from one surface, and which has an opposed surface adapted to abuttably and slidably engage the side surface of said beam on the vehicle deck; said housing having a lower, transverse extension providing an upper surface adapted abuttably and slidably to engage the lower surface of said beam when the cargo tiedown element is tensioned by the winch; said housing being movable to a selected position along said beam and said lower transverse extension being effective to absorb the force reaction of said tiedown element when the latter is tensioned by said winch; and means remote from the top of the beam for retaining the housing and beam surfaces in adjacent relationship when the cargo tiedown element is not under tenSion.

Claim 17

Securement apparatus for securing cargo to a vehicle deck having a beam extending longitudinally along one side thereof and presenting outwardly exposed and angularly related side and lower surfaces, said securement apparatus comprising: a housing; a winch carried by said housing for rotation about an axis for tensioning a flexible cargo tiedown element which extends upwardly and laterally across said exposed side surface of the beam; said housing having an upstanding sidewall relative to which the winch axis extends in generally perpendicular relationship from one surface, and which has an opposed surface adapted to abuttably and slidably engage the side surface of said beam on the vehicle deck; said housing having a lower, transverse extension providing an upper surface adapted abuttably and slidably to engage the lower surface of said beam when the cargo tiedown element is tensioned by the winch; said housing being movable to a selected position along said beam and said lower transverse extension being effective to absorb the force reaction of said tiedown element when the latter is tensioned by said winch; and means remote from the top of the beam for retaining the housing and beam surfaces in adjacent relationship when the cargo tiedown element is not under tenSion.