Low profile support panel for a dock seal

Abstract

A dock seal, such as a head seal mountable above a doorway of a loading dock, includes a compressible body with a support panel. The compressible body can conformably seal against the rear edge of a vehicle's enclosed trailer as the vehicle backs the trailer up against the seal. The support panel provides relatively dense structure for mounting the seal to the wall of a building. Compared to the horizontal distance that the compressible body projects from the wall, the support panel is ultra-thin to avoid consuming compressible space between the wall and the rear of the trailer. In some cases, a flexible panel suspends the compressible body and its support panel from the wall such that the flexible panel allows the dock seal to move relative to the wall.

1 . A dock seal mountable adjacent to a doorway of a wall and being adapted to seal against a vehicle at a loading dock, the dock seal comprising:
 a compressible body comprising a front compressible body and a rear compressible body, the rear compressible body is interposed between the wall and the front compressible body when the dock seal is mounted to the wall; and   a support panel interposed between the front compressible body and the rear compressible body, the support panel is more dense than the front compressible body.   
   
   
       2 . The dock seal of  claim 1 , further comprising an adhesive bonding the compressible body to the support panel. 
   
   
       3 . The dock seal of  claim 2 , wherein the support panel includes a plurality of holes in which the adhesive is disposed. 
   
   
       4 . The dock seal of  claim 1 , further comprising an intermediate compressible body, wherein the intermediate compressible body is interposed between the support panel and the front body. 
   
   
       5 . The dock seal of  claim 1 , wherein the compressible body is resiliently compressible between the support panel and the vehicle when the dock seal seals against the vehicle, the compressible body has a forward surface that generally faces the vehicle when the vehicle is at the loading dock, the compressible body has a rear surface that generally faces the support panel, the forward surface and the rear surface define a compressible projection therebetween when the vehicle is spaced apart from the dock seal, the support panel is a substantially rigid member that has a forward-most point that generally faces away from the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall, the support panel has a rearward-most point that generally faces the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall, the forward-most point and the rearward-most point define a panel projection therebetween, the panel projection divided by the compressible projection defines a projection ratio that is less than 2%. 
   
   
       6 . The dock seal of  claim 5 , wherein the projection ratio is between 0.5% and 1.5%. 
   
   
       7 . The dock seal of  claim 1 , wherein the support panel is movable relative to the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall. 
   
   
       8 . The dock seal of  claim 1 , wherein the dock seal is horizontally elongate and lies above the doorway when the dock seal is mounted to the wall. 
   
   
       9 . The dock seal of  claim 1 , further comprising a flexible panel attached to the support panel and mountable to the wall such that the support panel is movable relative to the wall when the dock seal is attached to the wall via the flexible panel. 
   
   
       10 . A dock seal mountable to a wall above a doorway and being adapted to seal against a vehicle at a loading dock, the dock seal comprising:
 a compressible body that is horizontally elongate when the dock seal is mounted to the wall above the doorway; and   a support panel interposed between the compressible body and the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall, the support panel is stiffer than the compressible body; and   a flexible panel attached to the support panel and mountable to the wall such that the support panel is movable relative to the wall when the dock seal is attached to the wall via the flexible panel.   
   
   
       11 . The dock seal of  claim 10 , wherein the support panel is stiffer than the flexible panel. 
   
   
       12 . The dock seal of  claim 10 , further comprising an adhesive bonding the compressible body to the support panel. 
   
   
       13 . The dock seal of  claim 12 , wherein the support panel includes a plurality of holes in which the adhesive is disposed. 
   
   
       14 . The dock seal of  claim 10 , further comprising a rear compressible body, wherein the rear compressible body is interposed between the support panel and the flexible panel. 
   
   
       15 . The dock seal of  claim 10 , wherein the compressible body is resiliently compressible between the support panel and the vehicle when the dock seal seals against the vehicle, the compressible body has a forward surface that generally faces the vehicle when the vehicle is at the loading dock, the compressible body has a rear surface that generally faces the support panel, the forward surface and the rear surface define a compressible projection therebetween when the vehicle is spaced apart from the dock seal, the support panel is a substantially rigid member that has a forward-most point that generally faces away from the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall, the support panel has a rearward-most point that generally faces the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall, the forward-most point and the rearward-most point define a panel projection therebetween, the panel projection divided by the compressible projection defines a projection ratio that is less than 2%. 
   
   
       16 . The dock seal of  claim 15 , wherein the projection ratio is between 0.5% and 1.5%. 
   
   
       17 . The dock seal of  claim 10 , wherein the dock seal is horizontally elongate and lies above the doorway when the dock seal is mounted to the wall. 
   
   
       18 . A dock seal mountable adjacent to a doorway of a wall and being adapted to seal against a vehicle at a loading dock, the dock seal comprising:
 a compressible body; and   a substantially rigid support panel interposed between the compressible body and the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall, the support panel is more dense than the compressible body, the compressible body is resiliently compressible between the support panel and the vehicle when the dock seal seals against the vehicle, the compressible body has a forward surface that generally faces the vehicle when the vehicle is at the loading dock, the compressible body has a rear surface that generally faces the support panel, the forward surface and the rear surface define a compressible projection therebetween when the vehicle is spaced apart from the dock seal, the support panel has a forward-most point that generally faces away from the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall, the support panel has a rearward-most point that generally faces the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall, the forward-most point and the rearward-most point define a panel projection therebetween, the panel projection divided by the compressible projection defines a projection ratio that is less than 2%.   
   
   
       19 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , wherein the compressible body comprises a resiliently collapsible frame. 
   
   
       20 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , wherein the compressible body is made of foam. 
   
   
       21 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , wherein the projection ratios is between 0.5% and 1.5%. 
   
   
       22 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , wherein the compressible body has a body density and the support panel has a panel density, the body density divided by the panel density defines a density ratio that is less than 3%. 
   
   
       23 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , wherein the compressible body has a body density and the support panel has a panel density, the body density divided by the panel density defines a density ratio that is less than 1%. 
   
   
       24 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , wherein the compressible body has a body density and the support panel has a panel density, the boy density divided by the panel density defines a density ratio that is less than the projection ratio. 
   
   
       25 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , further comprising an adhesive bonding the compressible body to the support panel. 
   
   
       26 . The dock seal of  claim 25 , wherein the support panel includes a plurality of holes in which the adhesive is disposed. 
   
   
       27 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , further comprising an intermediate compressible body, wherein the intermediate compressible body is interposed between the support panel and the compressible body. 
   
   
       28 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , wherein the support panel is movable relative to the wall when the dock seal is mounted to the wall. 
   
   
       29 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , further comprising a flexible panel attached to the support panel and mountable to the wall such that the support panel is movable relative to the wall when the dock seal is attached to the wall via the flexible panel. 
   
   
       30 . The dock seal of  claim 29 , wherein the support panel is stiffer than the flexible panel. 
   
   
       31 . The dock seal of  claim 29 , further comprising a rear compressible body, wherein the rear compressible body is interposed between the support panel and the flexible panel. 
   
   
       32 . The dock seal of  claim 18 , wherein the compressible body is horizontally elongate and lies above the doorway when the dock seal is mounted to the wall.