US1598229A - Truck - Google Patents

Description

Patented Ang. 3i, 1926.

unirse saar-nr.

PATENT OFFICE..

GEORG-E WIL'COX, 0F RVERSDE, 'CALFLRNIA, ASSGNR TO CALIFORNIA CANN'ING IVIACHNRY O., f GRIPORA'TION F 'GALIFORNIL TRUCK.

Application nled January 20, 1923.

My invention relates to haind trucks of the type employed to transport boxes and other similarly shaped articles.

The ordinary type of Ahand truclz, employed for moving boxes from ,place to place within the warehouses, consists of a carriage having 'a shelf or tongue .and a pair of wheels at one. end thereof, and grips at the other end. in yusing this `type of tri-ick, 'the shelf Vmust ybe forced yunder the box to be carted in order .that the box may be lifted from the floor. This is often diiiicult to accomplish where the boxes are placed and moved in stacks owing to the considerable weight of the stack and the fact that it must be tilted in order to insert the shelf of the truck thereunder.

It is 'an object of my invention to provide a truck for handling boxed goods having no shelf or tongue which must be forced nnder the boxes Ito be transported; Abut is provided with means for ygripping the. lower box of the stack in such :a manner that the entire stack .may be lifted clear of the floor when the truck ispulled back out `of vertical position.

It is ya further .object of .the invention to provide a jhand truck having a frame which extends in .substantially vertical posi-tion so that when the truck is placed against a stack of boxes, this frame will rest against yone side of the stack. i

The invention further provides an auX- lilia-ry handle extending rearwardly from the vertical frame and Aprovided with curved grips whereby the operation -of the truck is facilitated.

It is a further object of the invention to provide `an improved and `simplified form of ,gripping means in which -a pair of rectilinear Aarms are pivoted centrally 'to the iframe of the carriage Aand extend downwardly yand outwardly beyond the sides of the carriage and have forwardly extending portions which are provided with inwardly projecting engagement tongs. A simplified for-1n of operating means which may be hand or rpedal oper-ated is further provided for swinging the arms outwardly out of enn gagement position.

It is a further object -of the invention to ,provide box engagement .members which by the action of'their own weizghtcome into position of engagement with the box to be carried, and which thereafter grip the box with Seliial ENO. '-613,898.

a force proportionate to the weight of the bon, due to `the novel arrangement -of these gripping members. With this anrangement, the above -noted Yoperating means has 'only the function of moving the gripping means ont 4of Aeng'agement position.

.It is fa still further object-of the invention to provide a hand 'operated lever yconnected with the .operating mean-s which enables .a truck operator Ato conveniently retain the gripping members spread apart 'vvhile wheeling the-empty truck to the next 'vbo/X., or lstack of boxes to be handled.

rJfhe 4especial advantages of the invention and further objects thereof will :be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings `which ,are for illustrative purposes only,

l is a 'face view :of a ing the features ping `mechanism closed position.

Fig. .2 is .a section taken rsu-bsta-ntia-lly upon .a plane represented by the Jline 2-`2fof Fig. l.

Fig. -3 .is an enlarged rear elevati-on of the lower partof the truck.

Fig. 4 is .a fragmentary section taken upon true'l; em-'bodyof any invention, the grip- .thereo'f being disposed in a plane represented by `the iine 4.-4 fof is shown in the drawings, the truck is comprised yof .-a pair of vertical Vside members ll Ihaving the upper ends thereof shaped 'to foran grips .12, .and cross ibars 14; which entend between the side members lil. As shown in Fig. 4, the .lower 4'ends of these side members 1l are recessed as :shown at 16, and :straps 17 are placed in the bottoms :of the recess so that a ymetal ,li-ned channel .1.8 is formed 'between .each strap 17 and the iron strap ,129 which is 'placed npon the .front of each of 4the :side members 1l :and is spaced apart from the :strap 17 by spacers .20 through which 'the bolts 2l extend.

Upon fa cross bar 23 which is attached somewhat above the bottom @cross member 24 of the carriage, `.a pair of arins ,-26 'are .pivoted upon .bolts .2?? which 'are spaced Yequally upon .each :side of the central axis of the truck. These arms 26 extend v'diaigonal'ly outwardly thro-ugh the chan-nels 18 provi-ded between the .st/raps i7 .and 119 as :showin ythe draw-ing, and have the ends 29 thereof bent forwardly and end-ing 4in :inwardly ,projecting Vprongs :30.

A pair of vertical members 32, which extend between the cross bar 23 and the bottom cross bar 24, provide a vertical slide 33 in which a central block 34 operates. lIhis block 34 has toggle links 36 pivoted thereupon which are attached by bolts 37 to the arms 26. -It will be perceived that by raising the block in the slides 33 from the position shown in Fig. l to the position shown in 3, the arms are swung outwardly upon the pivot bolts 27 so that the prongs 30 are spread apart. The lifting of the block may be accomplished by forcing down upon a foot lever 40 having a forwardly extending arm 41 which is connected to the block 34 by a link 42. This link 42 has an eye 44 rolled at the upper end thereof which is engaged by a rod 46. The rod 46 is supported against one of the auxiliary handle members 47 by a bracket 48,' as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and has the upper end thereof bent in the'v form of a handle 49 so that an upward pull may be exerted thereby. The auxiliary handles 48 are mounted upon the backs of the side members 11 and extend diagonally rearwardly as shown and are provided with curved grips'() which are in such a position as to expedite the handling of the truck. It will be seen that in placing the truck against a stack ofboxes and moving a loaded truck from place to place considerable difficulty is experienced if the truck isto be handled by the grips 12 of the side members 1l, owing to the fact that the grips are disposed forwardly yfrom the axis 52 upon which the wheels 53 of the carriage are mounted; therefore, the auxiliary handles are provided to'faeilitate the running of the truck about empty.

In the employment of this truck, the arms 26 are spread apart as shown in Fig. 3 so that considerable space exists between the forwardly extending portions 29 thereof, the` arms 26 being held in separated position by holding the handle 49 in raised position by gripping itwith the hand which holds the auxiliary handle 50. The truck is then run into position against a stack of boxes indicated by the dotted lines 55 with the front of the carriage resting against the side of the boxes. By releasing the handle 49, `the block 34 is permitted to move downwardly in the slide 33, allowing the arms to swing'- inwardly and the tongs 30 to be brought into engagement with the sides of the bottom box 57 of the stack 55. The truck may then Vbe tilted backwardly upon the wheels 52, and the stack of boxes lifted from the ficor and transported as desired. The release of the boxes from the truck is accomplished by bringing the truck-and stackl back to the position shown in Fig. 2 and then depressing the pedal 40 or lifting' the handle 49 to cause the separation of vthe arms 26.

- In pivoting the bars-26 centrally upon the carriage an arrangement is provided whereby the downward force exerted upon the lower Vends of the arms 26, due to the weight of the box, causes a rotative tendency of the bars around their pivots which forces the lower ends of the, bars inwardly with a force proportionate to the downward force exerted; therefore, it will be seen that when the prongs are swung into engagement with box 57, an increase of weight upon the box only serves to further imbed the tongs in the sides of the boxes, with the result that the box is more firmly gripped.

At the upper end of each bar 36, I provide an integrally formedprojection or arm 60 which extends outwardly in the plane in which the arms 26 rotate. rIhese arms 6() bearV against the cross bar'23 of the carriage and thus provide a broad surface of contact lfor taking the axial torsion stresses exerted in the bars 26 by the outward reaction of the boxes against the tongs 30. It will be understood that it is not necessary for the entire face of each member 60 to be in contact with cross bar 23, but that only the ends 65 thereof need be, and that the length of these members 60 may be increased or decreased to give the desired freedom of action of the bars 26.

A particular advantage is found in the employment of the operating handle 49. By its use the truck operator is enabled to deposit a stack of boxes and to maintain the tongs in separated position, by gripping the handle against the underside of the plow handle type of grip 50, while wheeing the truck back to the next stack of boxes to be carted. lith the tongs in this extended position the truck is brought into placebefore the next stack, whereupon the handle 49 is released, allowing the arms 26 to diop and the tongs brought into gripping engagement.

My invention provides a truck which may be moved into a position against a stack of boxes, as hereinbefore described, and will pick up this stack of boxes without the necessity of moving or tilting the stack as necessary where the common type ofhand truck, employing a shelf, is used. The simplicity of the parts make-sit possible to build a truck of the type shown at asmall cost, and adds v considerably to the durability thereof.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a hand truck provided with two sets of handles, the combination of: a carriage; a pair of one-piece arms pivoted on fixed pivots within the sides of said carriage and having lower ends which extend outwardly beyond said sides; arm operating means engageable by the fingers of a hand holding one of said handles and engagement means formed at the outer ends of said arms.

2. A truck, as defined in claim l, in which said arms are of 'substantially rectilinear forni and are provided at their upper ends with separate pivots and separate bearing extensions.

3. A truck, as dened in claim l, in combination with toggle means for spreading said arms, said toggle means comprising a central guided block, movable either by hand-operated or by foot-operated means and carrying the pivots of links which extend to said arms.

Il. d truck, as defined in claim l, in combination with means for spreading said arms which includes a vertically movable central, guided blocl; and toggle links extending between said block and said arms.

5. A truck, as delined in claim l, in combination' with means in the form ot integral extensions in the same plane with said arms resisting axial rotation o't said arms.

6. A truck, as defined in claim l, comprising` axial rotation resisting members formed at the pivot ends of said arms, saidk members projecting substantially in a radial plane respective to the axes of the pivots of said arms, and bearing against the structure of said carriage.

7. In a hand truck, the combination of: a carriage having wheels at the lower end thereof; a pair or arms pivoted centrally upon said carriage and at a point above the lov-:er end thereof and extending in substantially straight line formation downwardly and outwardly beyond the sides of said earriage; forwardly extending portions, having inwardly projecting prongs, bent up on the outer ends of said arms; extensions integrally formed atl the inner ends of said arms, said extensions extending laterally in the plane through which said arms swing, and bearing against the structure of said carriage; a block; a vertical slide for said block; spreader links extending between said block and said arms; and a lever for moving said block in said slide.

8. in a hand truck, the combination of: a wheeled traine; toggle-operated gripping means disposed at the lower end of said trame and comprising arms pivoted directly thereto', said gripping means being normally disposed in engagement position; and means operable by ioot pressure, for moving said gripping means from said normal engagement position when it is desired to engage an article to be transported.

9. A device, as defined in claim 8, in combination with a manually operated rod secured to a central, guided block to which toggle links are pivoted, said rod constituting alternative means for actuating said gripping means.

ln testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 11th day of January 1923.

GEORGE WILCOX.

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