GB2169576A - A wheeled barrow - Google Patents

Abstract

A wheeled barrow comprises an open-load carrying container (10) supported by a tilting mechanism (16) pivotally carried on the upper end of a power-operated, pivoted lifting arm (44) which is pivotally mounted on upstanding pillars (38) of a mobile carriage (12). The attitude of the tilting mechanism is maintained by a parallel, pivoted link (66), and that mechanism includes an actuator (84) for tilting the container (10) about a forward axis (76) between load-carrying and load-discharging attitudes (96,98). The carriage (12) includes a two-wheeled axle (20), and the lifting means (14,44) for the container is arranged to support and move the container vertically between upper and lower limiting, load-carrying positions (10,96) which lie substantially directly above that wheeled axle (20). The lifting means is also arranged so that the container when moving in its horizontal, load-carrying attitude lies at all times substantially directly above that axle. At no time can the container when so moving advance to a position wholly forward of the wheeled axle. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A wheeled barrow Technical field This invention relates to a wheeled barrow, for use in place of a conventional wheel-barrow, for example, in a garden or on a building site.

Background art In a conventional wheel-barrow an open container or barrow is supported t a conventiently low, easy loading and unloading level on a front, wheeled axle and a pair of transversley-spaced rear legs, and is equipped at the rear end with a pair of projecting handles by means of which a workman may lift the rear legs clear of the ground and push or pull the wheel-barrow along. With such a wheel-barrow, a load can be manually unloaded from the container in a piece-meal manner, or otherwise a load may be rapidly ejected therefrom by tilting the wheel-barrow forwardly so as to up-end it over its wheeled axle to an upright, discharge position.

Where materials or articles have to be carried in a conventional wheel-barrow from one level at which they are to be loaded with into the container thereof, to another and higher level at which they are to be unloaded therefrom, this is commonly achieved by manually propelling the wheel-barrow up an inclined plank which extends between the two levels. As a typical example, soil or debris to be removed from a worksite may have to be placed in a transportaton skip located temporarily at the worksite; and to achieve that, a plank has one end thereof raised up and placed upon the skip side, so that a workman can then manually propel a laden wheel-barrow up the narrow plank, and then up-end the wheel-barrow at the raised end of the plank so as to discharge its load into the skip.This procedure is limited by the ability of a workman to propel such a laden wheel-barrow up the inclined plank to the desired height, and by the poor transverse stability of the wheel-barrow and workman when moving up the plank. Filling a skip by that method can be quite hazardous, and timeconsuming.

There are in existence wheel-barrows in which the single front wheel is replaced by a pair of wheels spaced transversely apart at the respective sides of the container, but such wheel-barrows are in many instances less useful than the singlewheeled kind. For example, such two-wheeled wheel-barrows cannot be propelled up a single inclined plank for loading a skip in the manner referred to above; nor pass through narrow gateways due to their greater width.

Disclosure of the invention According to the present invention, a wheeled barrow comprises (a) a load-carrying container, (b) a mobile carriage for carrying said container, and (c) a lifting means mounted on said carriage and supporting said container in a horizontal, load-carrying attitude therefrom, which lifting means when inoperative supports said container over said carriage at a lowermost position relative thereto, and when rendered operative raises said container bodily to a higher position without changing the attitude of the container relative to said carriage and whilst maintaining the container in position over the carriage.

Preferably, said mobile carriage has at a forward end thereof a wheeled axle, and said lifting means is arranged when inoperative to support said container substantially directly over said wheeled axle, and when operative to raise said container to said higher position without ever advancing it as far as a position in which it would lie totally forward of said wheeled axle.

In a preferred arrangement, said lifting means is arranged so that whilst said container is being raised thereby, the container remains substantially directly over said wheeled axle.

A preferred form of said lifting means comprises a lifting arm pivotally mounted on said carriage and pivotally carrying at its free end said container, and an actuator interconnecting said lifting arm and carriage and arranged when operative to pivotally raise said lifting arm relative to said carriage whereby to lift said container. Advantageously, said lifting arm is pivotally mounted on said carriage at a height which is substantially midway between the lowermost and uppermost positions of said container, and there is provided a link pivotally interconnecting said container and carriage at respective positions thereon which are equally spaced from the respective pivotal connections of said container and carriage with said lifting arm, in a manner such that said link always remains parallel with said lifting arm.

According to another preferred feature of the present invention said lifting means is connected to said container via a container tilting mechanism, which mechanism includes an actuator arranged when operative to cause that mechanism to tilt the container to a substantially upright, discharge attitude whereby to eject any load carried in the container.

Other features of the present invention will appear from a reading of the description that follows hereafter, and of the claims appended at the end of that description.

One wheeled barrow according to the present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

Brief description of the drawings Figures 1, 2 and 3 show respectively a side elevation, a front end view, and a rear end view of the wheeled barrow, with a load-carrying container thereof elevated to its highest position and disposed in its normal, horizontal, load- carrying attitude.

Best mode of carrying out the invention Referring now to the drawings, the wheeled barrow there shown comprises an open-topped, loadcarrying container 10, a mobile carriage 12, and a lifting means 14 mounted on the carriage and supporting the container 10 via a tilting mechanism 16. The lifting means is shown in its raised condition, supporting the container at its highest position, and the tilting mechanism is shown holding the container in its normal, horizontal, load-carrying attitude.

The mobile carriage 12 comprises a frame 18, in the form of a welded assembly of tubular sheetsteel members. The frame has at its forward end a two-wheeled axle 20, and near its rearward end a single, centrally-disposed wheel 22, which is enclosed by covers 24. The forward two-wheeled axle comprises two balloon-tyred wheels 26 rotatably carried on respective stub-axles 28 which are telescopically mounted in respective sockets formed in a forward transverse member 30 of the frame. The rear wheel is likewise balloon-tyred, and has an axle which is rotatably carried by a vertical steering shaft (not shown) which is itself rotatably supported in a vertical steering head 32 mounted on the frame within said covers 24.That steering shaft is provided uppermost with a steering tiller 34, by means of which the rear wheel is capable of being turned through a steering angle of 90" either side of its forward steering position, as indicated in chain-dotted form at 36.

The rear wheel is provided with a hydraulic driving means (not shown). If desired, the two front wheels may, alternatively or in addition, be provided with individual hydraulic driving motors, for enabling (if desired) skid-steering of the carriage.

The frame 18 carries just forward of the rear wheel two transversely-spaced vertical pillars 38, which together constitute a mounting for the lifting means 14, and between those pillars a pair of transversely-spaced, apertured lugs 40 which together constitute a pivotal mounting for a doubleacting hydraulic actuator 42 of the lifting means 14.

The lifting means comprises a fabricted lifting arm 44 which is carried at its lower end on pivot pins 46 which are themselves carried in bearings formed in the two pillars 38. The lifting arm comprises at its lower end a pair of transverselyspaced plates 48 which are welded to a box member 50, which member has welded to it at its upper end a further pair of transversely-spaced plates 52, in which plates is mounted a pivot pin 54 for carrying the tilting mechanism 16.

The lifting arm 44 also has journalled in its lower plates 48 a pivot pin 56 on which is pivotally received an eye-connector carried by the upper end of a piston rod 58 of the hydraulic actuator 42. An eye-connector carried by the lower end of the actuator cylinder 62 is pivotally received on a pivot pin secured in said mounting lugs 40.

The tilting mechanism 16 comprises a pair of transversely-spaced, dog-legged plates 64 which are pivotally carried between the upper spaced plates 52 of the lifting arm 44 on a pivot pin 54 carried thereby. The attitude (i.e. angular position) of those plates 64 is determined by a "parallel link" 66, which is journal led at its lower end on a pivot pin 68 mounted in the two pillars 38 directly above the lifting arm pivot pins 46, and which is pivotally connected at its upper end to the doglegged plates 64 by means of a pivot pin 70 secured in the upper end of that parallel link 66.

That parallel link comprises at its lower end an inverted U-section channel member 72, in the upper end of which are welded two transverselyspaced plates 74, which plates carry the said pivot pin 70.

The container 10 is pivotally connected to the dog-legged plates 64 by means of a pivot pin 76 which is carried in the upper ends of those plates 64, and which extends through bearings formed forwardly in a pair of transversely-spaced webs 78 which are themselves secured to the underside of the container 10. Those webs also carry a transverse pivot pin 80 on which is pivotally received an eye-connector carried by a piston rod of a doubleacting hydraulic, "tilt" actuator 82. An eye-connector carried by the cylinder of that actuator is pivotally received on a transverse pivot pin 84 carried in the lower rear parts of the dog-legged plates 64.

The mobile carriage frame 18 also carries on either side, forward of the pillars 38, a power unit 86, which comprises a hydraulic pump driven by an internal combustion engine, and a reservoir 88 for the oil to be used in powering the lifting and tilting hydraulic actuators 42 and 82, and the wheel-driving motor(s).

The frame 18 also carries a towing bar 90, and is optionally provided with a driving seat 92, positioned behind the steering tiller 34, and in reach of a control unit 94 secured on and to the rear of the two pillars 38. That control unit includes control handles for controlling respectively the raising/lowering of the lifting arm 44, the tilting of the container 10, and the forwardireverse movement of the carriage. The mode of operation of the lifting and tilting mechanisms 14, 16 is self-evident.

The position of the container 10 when lowered to its lowermost, base position is represented in chain-dotted form at 96; and the positions of the container when tilted forwardly to its upright, discharge attitude are indicated in chain- doubie-dotted form at 98 and 100 respectively.

The tilting of the container 10 takes place about a transverse axis which is positioned forwardly of the centre of gravity of the container, so that when the container is at its lowermost position and is then tilted forwardly, its forward transverse edge or rim 102 descends below ground level, as indicated in Figure 1. Thus, the vehicle can be used, if desired, in a self-loading mode to at least partially fill the container with a load to be picked up from ground level, by driving the carriage forwards with the container lowered to the base position and tilted forwardly so as to lower its forward edge 102 to a convenient self-loading position.

The dog-legged shaping of the tilt mechanism plates 64 enables the container to have a base position which lies in close proximity to the forward wheeled axle 20.

The lifting means 14 is arranged so that (a) the container 10 is disposed, when in its respective lowermost and uppermost positions, directly over the forward wheeled axle 20 and (b) when moving between those positions, the container 10 always remains directly over that axle, the movement of the container 10 forward relative to that axle being limited to a desired low value. At no time is the container caused to move to a position totally forward of that wheeled axle during the raising and lowering of the lifting arm.

Though the most advantageous position of the container 10 is directly over the forward wheeled axle, it may be positioned, if desired, slightly rearward of that position, between the forward and rear wheels.

Any other convenient form of lifting means 14 may be used in place of that described. For example, a vertically- oriented "lazy-tongs" mechanism may be used.

Instead of using the rear wheel as a steering means, steering may be achieved in addition, or as an alternative, by driving the wheels of the forward axle 20 differentially so as to "skid-steer" the vehicle. Moreover the single rear wheel may be replaced by a two-wheeled axle, if desired, and such rear wheels may be driven and controlled in like manner with the corresponding wheels of the forward axle.

The steering tiller 34 may be replaced by any other convenient form of steering means. Preferably, the steering and other control means are positioned so that, with the driving seat 92 removed, a workman may properly and fully control the various functions of the vehicle whilst standing or walking at the rear of the vehicle.

The stub axles for the forward wheels 20 (and for the corresponding rear axle wheels when provided) may be telescoped inwards and outwards relative to the vehicle frame so as to provide alternatively a wide transverse wheel spacing (as indicated in Figure 2 at reference 104) when greater transverse stability is required, and a narrow wheel spacing when the vehicle needs to pass through confined spaces such as garden gate openings.

Where there is no requirement for the container 10 to be capable of tilting in the manner described above, the tilting mechanism may be omitted, in which case the container 10 may be carried directly by the lifting arm 44 and parallel link 66; or alternatively, the tilting mechanism 16 may be modified to replace the actuator 84 by a fixed link.

If desired, the rear, wheeled axle may be replaced by one or more props or skids, in which case the mobile carriage may be provided with a pair of transversely-spaced, rearwardly-projecting handles by means of which the mobile carriage may be propelled manually, more in the manner of a conventional wheel-barrow.

Furthermore, if desired one or both of the power-operated actuators 42 and 82 may be replaced by manually- operated actuators.

Claims (16)

1. A wheeled barrow comprises (a) a load-carrying container, (b) a mobile carriage for carrying said container, and (c) a lifting means mounted on said carriage and supporting said container in a horizontal, load-carrying attitude therefrom, which lifting means when inoperative supports said container over said carriage at a lowermost position relative thereto, and when rendered operative raises said container bodily to a higher position without changing the attitude of the container relative to said carriage and whilst maintaining the container in position over the carriage.

2. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 1, wherein said mobile carriage has at a forward end thereof a wheeled axle, and said lifting means is arranged when inoperative to support said container substantially directly over said wheeled axle, and when operative to raise said container to said higher position without ever advancing it as far as a position in which it would lie totally forward of said wheeled axle.

3. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 1, wherein said lifting means is arranged so that whilst said container is being raised thereby, the container remains substantially directly over said wheeled axle.

4. A wheeled barrow according to any preceding claim, wherein said lifting means comprises a lifting arm pivotally mounted on said carriage and pivotally carrying at its free end said container, and an actuator interconnecting said lifting arm and carriage and arranged when operative to pivotally raise said lifting arm relative to said carriage whereby to lift said container.

5. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 4, wherein said lifting arm is pivotally mounted on said carriage at a height which is substantially midway between the lowermost and uppermost positions of said container.

6. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 4 or Claim 5, including a link pivotally interconnecting said container and carriage at respective positions thereon which are equally spaced from the respective pivotal connections of said container and carriage with said lifting arm, in a manner such that said link always remains parallel with said lifting arm.

7. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 1, wherein said lifting means is connected to said container via a container tilting mechanism, which mechanism includes an actuator arranged when operative to cause that mechanism to tilt the container to a substantially upright, discharge attitude whereby to eject any load carried in the container.

8. A wheeled barrow according to any one of the Claims 2 to 6, wherein said lifting means is connected to said container via a container tilting mechanism, which mechanism includes an actuator arranged when operative to cause said mechanism to tilt the container in a forward direction relative to said carriage to a substantially upright, discharge attitude whereby to eject any load carried in the container forwardly of said wheeled axle.

9. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 8, wherein said tilting mechanism is arranged to tilt the container about a transverse axis which is par allel to said wheeled axle and forward of the centre of gravity of the container.

10. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 9, wherein said container has a transverse forward rim which descends to position substantially at or below ground level when said container is tilted to said discharge attitude whilst the container is supported at its lowermost position.

11. A wheeled barrow according to any one of the Claims 4 to 10, wherein the or each said actuator is power operated, and including on said mobile carriage a power source and associated control means for controlledly supplying power to the or each said actuator.

12. A wheeled barrow according to any one of the Claims 2 to 11, wherein said mobile carriage is provided at a rearward part thereof with a second wheeled axle.

13. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 12, wherein said second wheeled axle is steerable by steering means mounted on said carriage.

14. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 12 or 13, wherein at least one of the wheeled axles is provided with power-operated driving means.

15. A wheeled barrow according to Claim 14, including mounted on said mobile carriage a power source and associated control means for controlledly supplying power to said power-operated driving means.

16. A wheeled barrow substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.