GB2104456A

GB2104456A - Box handling barrow

Info

Publication number: GB2104456A
Application number: GB08126253A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Wesley Denton
Original assignee: SEA FISH INDUSTRY AUTHORITY
Current assignee: SEA FISH INDUSTRY AUTHORITY
Priority date: 1981-08-28
Filing date: 1981-08-28
Publication date: 1983-03-09

Abstract

The barrow comprises a pair of wheels 1, a handle 3, pivot arms 7 supported on the wheels, and a load- supporting member 11 pivoted to the pivot arms. The pivot axis of the load- supporting member 11 is disposed parallel to the wheel-axis and between a plane normal to the plane of the load supporting member passing through the centre of gravity of a supported load and a parallel plane containing the wheel axis. Stops 31,43 are provided to limit the fore and aft rocking motion of the load supporting member so as to prevent the load supporting member pivoting from the horizontal sufficiently to cause the load to fall over. The barrow enables boxes to be stacked next to other boxes without any clearance. Consequently there is a reduction in the space occupied by the stacked boxes. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Box handling barrow The present invention relates to a box handling barrow or hand truck.

Boxes are in use in a number of instances in industry for handling various items, in which it is convenientto move the boxes by means of a barrow or hand truck; a stack of the boxes being conveyed by means of the barrow.

Existing barrows are unsatisfactory in one or more respects depending on the circumstances of their use. For instance, they may not be adequately manoeuvrable,- they may require too much physical exertion by the person operating the barrow and they may not be suitable for working in confined spaces.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a more useful form of barrow.

There is provided by the present invention a box handling manually operated barrow comprising a pair of wheels, a handle, pivot arms supported on the wheels and a load-supporting member to support a stack of boxes thereon, pivoted to the pivot arms; the pivot arms being disposed one at each lateral side of the barrow to extend upwardly and forwardly and being supported on the wheels to be pivotable around the wheel axis by said handle, and said load-supporting member being pivoted to the pivot arms on an axis lying parallel with the wheel axis and so that a pivot axis of the member lies between a plane normal to the plane of the loadsupporting member and passing through the centre of gravity of a load supported on the load-supporting member and a parallel plane containing the wheel axis; stops being provided to limit pivoting of the load-supporting member relative to the pivot arms and to the ground to permit some fore and aft rocking motion to raise the load as the handle is pulled backwards, but so that the load supporting member cannot be pivoted from the horizontal sufficiently to cause a load supported thereon to fall over.

In one embodiment of the invention, the loadsupporting member comprises a fork, the members of which extend in the forward direction of the barrow; the fork acting to support the load. This form of the invention is especially useful for handling boxes, which are now common in industry, formed with a reinforced lip extending around the periphery of the box at the top edge thereof. In this case, the fork would comprise two members or prongs respectively located adjacent the pivot arms so that the two prongs could be positioned under a reinforcing lip at opposite lateral sides of a box to act against the lip to support the box.The stop to limit providing relative to the ground of the loadsupporting member and load thereupon rearwardly of the barrow may be in the form of an arm extending between the handles rearwardly of the barrow and connected to the load-supporting member and providing a depending portion to make contact with the ground to stop the pivoting movement. The stops to limit pivoting of the load supporting member relative to the ground may be in the form of abutments provided by the pivot arms.

The pivot arms may themselves be part of a frame of general "U" shape with the pivot arms being formed by the lateral limbs of the "U". Preferably, a pair of handles are employed, one at each lateral side of the barrow to provide a grip for both handles of the operator. The or each handle will generally extend upwardly and rearwardly of the wheel axis; and the or each handle may comprise at its upper extremity a curved over portion to provide alternative holding positions, namely, one on the curve of the or each handle for use when raising or lowering a load and when manoeuvering the barrow, and one at the end of the handle for use when entering or removing the load-supporting member from under a box.

The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 to 13 are elevational views illustrating the embodiment of the invention and its use in transporting boxes, and Figure 14 is a perspective view of the embodiment.

Referring to Figures 1 and 8, the barrow comprises a pair of wheels 1, a pair of handles 3, a generally "U" shaped frame 5, the lateral members of which constitute pivot arms 7 supported on the wheels, and a load-supporting member 11 again in the form of a generally "U" shaped frame, the lateral members 12 of which constitute a fork pivoted to the pivot arms; the pivot arms being disposed one at each lateral side of the barrow to provide a mounting for the wheels respectively and to extend upwardly and forwardly, and being supported on the wheels to be pivotable around the wheel axis by the handles, the handles being attached to the cross-member 13 of the frame 5; and the lateral members of the loadsupporting member being pivoted to the pivot arms on an axis lying parallel with the wheel axis and so that the pivot axis of the lateral members lies between a plane normal to the plane of the load support member and passing through the centre of gravity of a load supported on the load-supporting member and a parallel plane containing the wheel axis. This is most clearly seen in Figures 6 and 7 where the centre of gravity of the load is indicated at 21, the plane normal to the load-supporting member by the reference numeral 23 and the parallel plane by the reference numeral 25.

Each pivot arm forwardly of the pivot axis of the load-supporting member provides an abutment in the form of edge 31 for the respective lateral member 12 so that when the load-supporting member and the pivot arms are pivoted so as to bring the edge 31 of each pivot arm substantially into the same plane as the upper surface of the lateral members of the load-supporting member, that edge acts on the underside of the respective lateral member. An upper edge 32 of each pivot arm may similarly acts as a stop when the load bearing member and the pivot arms are pivoted in the opposite direction the edges 32 in certain circumstances acting on the underside of the cross member or lateral member of the load supporting member.

The cross member of the frame of the loadsupporting member has an arm 41 extending rear wardlytherefrom and providing a depending portion 43 which contacts the ground when the load supporting member and the load thereon are pivoted rearwardly of the barrow by more than a predetermined amount, in order to preserve stability of the load.

Each handle towards its upper end comprises a curved-over portion providing alternative gripping positions 51 and 53 respectively; gripping positions 51 being for use when the barrow is being welded and when on and off loading, and gripping position 53 being for use when the barrow is being entered under or removed from a stack of boxes.

In this instance, the boxes are of a kind commonly used in industry and comprise a reinforcing lip 61 passing around the periphery of the box at the top end thereof and having a tapered section so that each wall of the box from the upper end thereof to the bottom end thereof is inclined inwardly. Boxes of this kind are "stack nest" boxes, i.e. boxes which when empty can be nested one within the other, but which can also be stacked one upon the other. In particular instances, boxes of this kind can be stacked several high in stacks which are very closely spaced together in circumstances in which there is little room for manoeuvre.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is considered to be especially suitable for dealing with boxes in these circumstances; and the use of the barrow will now be described.

In use of the illustrated embodiment, the fork members of the load-supporting member are intended to act on the underside of a reinforcing lip on each of two opposite sides of a box.

The barrow is inserted under the lip of the bottom box (Figure 2) with the handles in a near upright position. In this position the pivot axis of the fork is low and the fork is knocked into a near horizontal position by contact with the lips. There is then a clearance between forks and lips and the fork is brought to a position near its limit of clockwise travel relative to the handles. The cross member of the fork comes into contact with the box when the barrow is fully inserted (Figure 3). When entering the fork of the barrow under the box, the end position of the handles is used, this providing a convenient grip with the gripping point being between the operator and wheel centre. Thus control over the barrow is readily exercised.

The grip position is then changed to a manoeuvring position at the top of the handles in pulling the handles back. This raises the pivot axis of the fork with mechanical advantage relative to the end of the handles. The fork comes into firm contact with the lip and then pivots relative to the handles and the stack of boxes tilts away from the operator (Figure 4) pivoting about the far bottom edge of the bottom box, raising the near bottom edge, and thereby raising the centre of gravity (CG) of the stack with further mechanical advantage.

In so doing, the wheels move forward flanking the stack, or if the boxes are close stacked in front of an obstruction, contact at the top of the stack moves the bottom backward between the wheels.

The limit of fork travel relative to the handles in the anti-clockwise direction as seen in the drawings is reached before the stack falls over away from the operator. The fork then moves with the handles (Figure 5) and the stack tilts (Figure 6) back to the operator pivoting about the wheels, which are now effectively close to the near bottom edge of the bottom box, and thus the C.G. of the stack is raised higher with further mechanical advantage.

As the stack is tilted back past the vertical, its C.G.

moves towards the wheels and thus the load experienced by the operator reduces.

In so doing the C.G. also moves towards the fork pivot which would result in instability if continued.

However, the rear stop attached to the fork contacts the ground to limit the tilt of the stack before an unstable condition is reached (whether due to the C.G. passing the pivot or the stack itself becoming unstable), and this prevents the stack and the barrow falling over towards the operator.

If a tall and relatively unstable stack is to be carried, an optional upright 71 (Figures 1 and 7) can be rigidly attached to the back of the fork to provide additional support to the stack when tilted backwards in the manoevring positiOn.

When the handles are pulled back to a convenient pushing height, the load experienced by the operator is small and the arm is clear of the ground.

The load experienced by the operator is further reduced by weighting the end of the handles.

Manoeuvring the loaded barrow is aided by the distance between the gripping point and the wheels when the handles are lowered.

Unloading is the reverse of loading, with the exception that if close stacking in front of an obstruction (Figure 9), then the arm attached to the fork has to be used. Otherwise, when the stack tilts away from the operator during unloading, the contact at the top of the stack would push the bottom of the stack away from the obstruction and close stacking would not be achieved, (Figures 10 and 11).

If, however, the operator lightly places his foot on the conveniently positioned end of the arm, (Figures 12 and 13), the bottom of the stack swings back to the obstruction during the final stage of lowering.

Close stacking between adjacent boxes can be achieved because the fork and wheels of the barrow are contained within the space created by the taper of the two sides beneath the lips of the boxes.

The fork can be counterbalanced or lightly sprung such that when unloaded the end away from the operator hangs down and the arm is clear of the ground and does not drag.

When unloaded and not in use, the barrow is stable either when tipped forward against the ends of the fork, in which case edge 32 acts as a stop in the manner explained above, or when tipped backward against the arm (Figures 1 and 7).

CLAIMS (Filed on 27 Aug 1982) 1. A box handling manually operated barrow comprising a pair of wheels, a handle, pivot arms supported on the wheels and a load-supporting

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. The cross member of the frame of the loadsupporting member has an arm 41 extending rear wardlytherefrom and providing a depending portion 43 which contacts the ground when the load supporting member and the load thereon are pivoted rearwardly of the barrow by more than a predetermined amount, in order to preserve stability of the load. Each handle towards its upper end comprises a curved-over portion providing alternative gripping positions 51 and 53 respectively; gripping positions 51 being for use when the barrow is being welded and when on and off loading, and gripping position 53 being for use when the barrow is being entered under or removed from a stack of boxes. In this instance, the boxes are of a kind commonly used in industry and comprise a reinforcing lip 61 passing around the periphery of the box at the top end thereof and having a tapered section so that each wall of the box from the upper end thereof to the bottom end thereof is inclined inwardly. Boxes of this kind are "stack nest" boxes, i.e. boxes which when empty can be nested one within the other, but which can also be stacked one upon the other. In particular instances, boxes of this kind can be stacked several high in stacks which are very closely spaced together in circumstances in which there is little room for manoeuvre. The illustrated embodiment of the invention is considered to be especially suitable for dealing with boxes in these circumstances; and the use of the barrow will now be described. In use of the illustrated embodiment, the fork members of the load-supporting member are intended to act on the underside of a reinforcing lip on each of two opposite sides of a box. The barrow is inserted under the lip of the bottom box (Figure 2) with the handles in a near upright position. In this position the pivot axis of the fork is low and the fork is knocked into a near horizontal position by contact with the lips. There is then a clearance between forks and lips and the fork is brought to a position near its limit of clockwise travel relative to the handles. The cross member of the fork comes into contact with the box when the barrow is fully inserted (Figure 3). When entering the fork of the barrow under the box, the end position of the handles is used, this providing a convenient grip with the gripping point being between the operator and wheel centre. Thus control over the barrow is readily exercised. The grip position is then changed to a manoeuvring position at the top of the handles in pulling the handles back. This raises the pivot axis of the fork with mechanical advantage relative to the end of the handles. The fork comes into firm contact with the lip and then pivots relative to the handles and the stack of boxes tilts away from the operator (Figure 4) pivoting about the far bottom edge of the bottom box, raising the near bottom edge, and thereby raising the centre of gravity (CG) of the stack with further mechanical advantage. In so doing, the wheels move forward flanking the stack, or if the boxes are close stacked in front of an obstruction, contact at the top of the stack moves the bottom backward between the wheels. The limit of fork travel relative to the handles in the anti-clockwise direction as seen in the drawings is reached before the stack falls over away from the operator. The fork then moves with the handles (Figure 5) and the stack tilts (Figure 6) back to the operator pivoting about the wheels, which are now effectively close to the near bottom edge of the bottom box, and thus the C.G. of the stack is raised higher with further mechanical advantage. As the stack is tilted back past the vertical, its C.G. moves towards the wheels and thus the load experienced by the operator reduces. In so doing the C.G. also moves towards the fork pivot which would result in instability if continued. However, the rear stop attached to the fork contacts the ground to limit the tilt of the stack before an unstable condition is reached (whether due to the C.G. passing the pivot or the stack itself becoming unstable), and this prevents the stack and the barrow falling over towards the operator. If a tall and relatively unstable stack is to be carried, an optional upright 71 (Figures 1 and 7) can be rigidly attached to the back of the fork to provide additional support to the stack when tilted backwards in the manoevring positiOn. When the handles are pulled back to a convenient pushing height, the load experienced by the operator is small and the arm is clear of the ground. The load experienced by the operator is further reduced by weighting the end of the handles. Manoeuvring the loaded barrow is aided by the distance between the gripping point and the wheels when the handles are lowered. Unloading is the reverse of loading, with the exception that if close stacking in front of an obstruction (Figure 9), then the arm attached to the fork has to be used. Otherwise, when the stack tilts away from the operator during unloading, the contact at the top of the stack would push the bottom of the stack away from the obstruction and close stacking would not be achieved, (Figures 10 and 11). If, however, the operator lightly places his foot on the conveniently positioned end of the arm, (Figures 12 and 13), the bottom of the stack swings back to the obstruction during the final stage of lowering. Close stacking between adjacent boxes can be achieved because the fork and wheels of the barrow are contained within the space created by the taper of the two sides beneath the lips of the boxes. The fork can be counterbalanced or lightly sprung such that when unloaded the end away from the operator hangs down and the arm is clear of the ground and does not drag. When unloaded and not in use, the barrow is stable either when tipped forward against the ends of the fork, in which case edge 32 acts as a stop in the manner explained above, or when tipped backward against the arm (Figures 1 and 7). CLAIMS (Filed on 27 Aug 1982)

1. A box handling manually operated barrow comprising a pair of wheels, a handle, pivot arms supported on the wheels and a load-supporting

member to support a stack of boxes thereon, pivoted to the pivot arms; the pivot arms being disposed one at each lateral side of the barrow to extend upwardly and forwardly and being supported on the wheels to be pivotable around the wheel axis by said handle, and said load-supporting member being pivoted to the pivot arms on an axis lying parallel with the wheel axis and so that a pivot axis of the member lies between a plane normal to the plane of the load-supporting member and passing through the centre of gravity of a load supported on the loadsupportinhg member and a parallel plane containing the wheel axis; stops being provided to limit pivoting of the load-supporting member relative to the pivot arms and to the ground to permit some fore and aft rocking motion to raise the load as the handle is pulled backwards, but so that the load supporting member cannot be pivoted from the horizontal sufficiently to cause a load supported thereon to fall over.

2. A box barrow as claimed in claim 1, in which the load-supporting member comprises a fork, the members of which extend in the forward direction of the barrow; the fork acting to support the load.

3. A box barrow as claimed in claim 2, for handling boxes formed with a reinforced lip extending around the periphery of the box, in which the fork comprises two members or prongs respectively located adjacent the pivot arms so that the two prongs could be positioned under the reinforcing lip at opposite lateral sides of a box to act against the lip to support the box.

4. A box barrow as claimed in any of claims 1,2 or 3, in which the stop to limit pivoting relative to the ground of the load-supporting member and load thereupon rearwardly of the barrow is in the form of an arm extending between the handles rearwardly of the barrow and connected to the load-supporting member and providing a depending portion to make contact with the ground to stop the pivoting movement.

5. A box barrow as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, in which the stops to limit pivoting of the load supporting member relative to the ground are in the form of abutments provided by the pivot arms.

6. A box barrow as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the pivot arms are themselves part of a frame of general "U" shape with the pivot arms being formed by the lateral limbs of the "U".

7. A box barrow as claimed in any preceding claim in which a pair of handles are employed, one at each lateral side of the barrow to provide a grip for both hands of the operator.

8. A box barrow as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, in which the or each handle extends upwardly and rearwardly of the wheel axis; and the or each handle comprises at its upper extremity a curved over portion to provide alternative holding positions, namely, one on the curve of the or each handle for use when raising or lowering a load and when manoeuvering the barrow, and one at the end of the handle for use when entering or removing the load-supporting member from under a box.

9. A box handling manually operated barrow, constructed and arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.