US647629A - Hand-truck. - Google Patents

Description

No. 647,629. Patented Apr. I7, i900. H. G. KNUWLES.

HAND TRUCK.

(Application 'filed Aug. 26, 1899,) (N M o d el A 7TOHNEYS THE Nonms Pneus co.. PHoTaLITHo.. WASHINGTON, n c.

Nrn STATES FFICE HAND-TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 647,629, dated April 17, 1900. Application filed August 26, 1899. Serial` No. 728,570. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE G. KNowLns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vilmington, in the county of New Castle and State of Delaware, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hand-Trucks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apperta-ins to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in trucks; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and defined in the claim.

IIeretofore many attempts have been made to produce a strong, durable, and inexpensive truck for lifting and transporting barrels, boxes, dre. The constructions heretofore suggested have been usually of complicated nature, cumbersome, and expensive.

The object of my invention is to provide a hand-truck which will meet the requirements as to strength, cheapness, and durability and one which will possess the fewest possible number of parts.

The invention more particularly comprehends a structure which, if desired, can be cast in one piece, the only additional parts consisting of the wheels and in some cases their carryingaxle.

While I have stated that the invention relates to trucks, the nature and arrangement of the parts are such that it is also designed and well adapted for use as a carrier and lifter.

I have shown an operative embodiment of the invention in the accompanying drawings, but desire it understood that the particular shape and specific formation therein shown can be varied slightly without departing from the nature and principle of the invention.

Figure l is a plan view of the improvement. Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing the improvement in a position for carrying a barrel, being shown in dotted lines 3 and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the lower end of the truck, showing a slightly-modified form of hook.

In the drawings, A designates the truckbar, formed conveniently of a single piece of material, such as metal. This bar has at its upper end a handle u., while beyond the handle is a continuation c', serving as a handhold when it is necessary to have an increased leverage. The bar A is conveniently of T- shaped cross-section and its upper portion is curved rearwardly, so that the handle can be used withoutv bringing the hand of the operator in contact with the object being trucked or carried.

The extreme lower end of the bar A is bifurcated, as at B, the outer portions of the bifurcated part being straight and the two arms thereof constituting what I choose to term stub-arms l) b', as distinguished from side bars. These arms are parallel with each other and have formed on their under edges ears C,each having a perforation therethrough in which an axle D is secured, which in addition to its function as an axle also acts as a brace for the arms. On the outer ends of the axles are the truck-wheels E, being located slightly backward from the outer ends of the arms. These wheels are secured on the axle in any convenient manner, such as by the keys c passing through the protruding ends of the axle. The wheels are of any convenient width and may be cast or otherwise formed. Their diameter is such as to carry the upper portions of the perpheries slightly below the upper faces of the arms.

The outer ends of the stub-arms beyond a plane of the wheels are bent or carried upward, forming hooks F, as shown in Fig. 2, or they may be of the straight formation, as shown in Fig.

Integral. with the bar A, substantially mid- Way its length, is a laterally-extended support G, the same extending in opposite directions from the bar to points considerably beyond the plane of the wheels. It is conveniently formed of a single piece of metal integral with the bar. This rest may be curved, straight, or angular, as desired.

The above-described construction, it will be noted, consists, practically, of a single-piece frame co mposed, substantially,of a single bar. Additional supports may be added to the bar and the position of the wheels may be changed, if found desirable.

When the truck is used as a carrier, the hooks are placed below the edge of the box or chime of the barrel, the latter being tipped back onto the bar and its rest, the hooks pre-- IOO venting the barrel or box from escaping from the truck. It may also be convenient to use two trucks, one on each side of the object being carried, when the object is heavy and is to be transported some little distance.

This truck is especially useful for store and domestic purposes, its lightness, durability, and cheapness making it especially desirable, and owing to its formation it is very easily handled, while being well adapted for carrying or transporting very heavy objects.

I am aware that a truck having a U -shaped frame has been heretofore suggested; but in -that construction the side bars of the U" n of the structure being such as to make it obj ectionable for general use and weak in parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters

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