As standard all Pentalift dock lifts are provided with a manually operated hinged bridge plate on one end of the dock lift platform. This hinged bridge plate acts as a transition plate to move product from the dock lift platform to or from the bed of the truck.
When not in use the hinged bridge plate is stored in the vertical position, when required the dock attendant manually raises and lowers the bridge plate using an operating chain.
The steel hinged bridge plate weight depends upon the lifting capacity of the dock lift and also depends upon the length and width of the hinged bridge plate. The higher the dock lift capacity and longer or wider bridge plates increase the weight of the bridge plate.
A heavier bridge plate can pose a challenge to the dock attendant to raise and lower the bridge plate manually. Pentalift offers 3 options to reduce or eliminate the physical effort required by the dock attendant to operate the hinged bridge plate.
Hinged Bridge Lip Assist: This design incorporates an extension spring per each section of hinged bridge plate. With the bridge plate stored in the vertical position the extension spring is fully retracted / relaxed. As the bridge plate lowers the extension spring begins to stretch and stretches further as the bridge plate continues to be lowered to the level operating position. When it is time to raise the hinged bridge plate the dock attendant pulls on the operating chain; the stretched spring returning to its normal position assists in reducing the amount of force required to lift and return the bridge plate to the stored position. This option requires a level of physical input to raise and lower the bridge plate. This link shows a hinged bridge lip assist spring. https://www.pentalift.com/solutions/spring-assist/
Hydraulic Hinged Bridge Assist: This design uses a platform installed hydraulic cylinder and power unit to raise the hinged bridge plate to the vertical stored position. To lower the hinged bridge plate the dock attendant first unhooks the stored bridge plate and manually nudges the bridge plate forward. Safe, controlled lowering of the hinged bridge plate is accomplished by a fixed flow control valve that is installed on the power unit. To return the lowered bridge plate to the vertical stored position the dock attendant operates the push button control, the hydraulic cylinder connected to a chain raises the hinged bridge plate to the vertical stored position. The dock attendant then re-connects the chain securing the hinged bridge plate in the raised, stored position. Â This option eliminates any physical lifting of the bridge plate. Â This link shows a hydraulic hinged bridge assist. https://www.pentalift.com/solutions/hydraulic-dock-lift-bridge-assist/
Hydraulic Powered Bridge Plate: This design uses an hydraulic cylinder that is installed under the lifts platform to both raise and lower the hinged bridge plate. A dock lift equipped with this feature typically has a 4 button hand held pendant control; dock lift up, dock lift down, bridge plate up, bridge plate down.  This option eliminates any physical lifting or lowering of the bridge plate. This link, Page 7 shows a hydraulic powered bridge plate. https://www.pentalift.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/HED-Dock-Lift-Brochure.pdf
For additional information on any Pentalift product please contact the Pentalift Sales Department.