LOW PROFILE SUPPORT PANEL FOR DOCK SEAL

摘要

A dock seal (20), such as a head seal (22) mountable above a doorway (14) of a loading dock (12), includes a compressible body (36) with a support panel (44). The compressible body can conformably seal against the rear edge (26) of a vehicle's (10) enclosed trailer as the vehicle backs the trailer up against the seal (20). The support panel (44) provides relatively dense structure for mounting the seal to the wall (16) of a building. Compared to the horizontal distance that the compressible body (36) projects from the wall, the support panel (44) is ultra- thin to avoid consuming compressible space between the wall and the rear of the trailer. In some cases, a flexible panel (56) suspends the compressible body and its support panel (44) from the wall (16) such that the flexible panel (56) allows the dock seal (20) to move relative to the wall.