Dock Seal Preserves Plant Integrity Against Contaminants

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Automobiles )



As a plant manager or plant engineer, you would want to protect your plant against infiltration from outside contaminants. These contaminants may come in the form of birds, insects and other pests; or, they may be dust, fumes, and windborne microbes, which are particularly undesirable if you're running a food plant.

On the other hand, your plant will have to interact with the outside regularly: you have to load finished products into, or unload production materials from, delivery trucks. This leaves your plant vulnerable. A simple but effective device that serves as interface between your plant and the outside environment is the dock seal.

Dock seals are structures (made of flexible materials, like rubber or canvas) that extend outward from the loading dock face for environmental control. They permit a delivery truck's rear door sides and top to be flush against this extension.

With the dock seal, you ensure that there is no gap between the delivery truck's body, and the building dock door frames and jamb. Dock seals come in various configurations; some may be mechanically activated or may function like pneumatic seals. Dock seals (or sometimes dock shelters) are effective and relatively inexpensive, and should be used whenever possible.

Dock seals are commonly used for weather-protection, especially rain. In places of high activity that leaves dock doors often open, you may use weather curtains consisting of strips of clear flexible material (similar to the plastic material in self seal bags, only much thicker).

Sometimes the slope of the drive causes the trailer to incline down toward the dock. This may allow rainwater or melting snow to flow off the trailer top, run underneath a dock seal, and land onto the loading dock area. This can create slippery conditions on the surface. Some dock seals are specially designed to divert rain, to avoid this problem.


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