ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 13 -- United States Patent no. 12,522,455, issued on Jan. 13.
"Dock leveler with deck hinge" was invented by Kirk E. Mellits (Fort Worth, Texas), Girish Malligere (Frisco, Texas), Philip Sotak (Lewisville, Texas) and Ruiping Ouyang (Richardson, Texas).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A dock leveler with a deck hinge shaped to fit in the pit of a loading dock. The dock leveler may have a rear leg bracket including a plurality of legs couplable to a bottom surface and a rear wall of the pit. The leg bracket may be positioned directly adjacent the rear wall and may include a plurality of brackets having an upwardly facing opening configured to receive a cylindrical shaft. The ...