US1427720A - Wheelbarrow handle - Google Patents

Description

H. M, CASWELL.

WHEELBARROW HANDLE APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1921.

1,427,720, Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

WTTORNEYIS' PATENT HERBERT IVL CASWELL, 0F OATIIIAN, ARIZONA.

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Be it known that I, HERBERT M. CAswnLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oatman, in the county of Mohave and State of Arizona, have invented new and useful Improvements in Wheelbarrow Handles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an attachment for wheel barrow handles, and is an improvement over my Patent No. 1,392,114,

issued September 27, 1921.

It is the principal object of the present invention to generally improve upon the construction of the devices shown in my patent aforesaid so as to materially increase the efficiency thereof.

NVith the foregoing andother objects in View, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the method of gripping the wheel barrow handles constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged outside elevation of a handle gripped by a hand;

Figure 3 is a similar inside elevational View;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective of a wheel barrow handle with the attachment mounted thereon.

In wheeling a heavily loaded barrow, the strain is mostly directed to the grip of the hands, and consequently these parts become tired and exhausted first. In fact, the load is actually carried besides being shoved forward, and as a result, the pull on the fingers is increased so as to loosen the grip. The grip or efiiciency may be summed up as weight of load plus force of resistance in shoving the barrow forward and in carrying the load forward. and especially on an incline as shown in Figure 1, nearly all of the energy is concentrated on the grip, and particularly on the first and second joints of the first finger of each hand, as it is there where most of the gripping action occurs.

In the construction illustrated in the drawings, an abutment element- 2 is either forged or adjustably secured on the handle 1 of a barrow 3. The element 2 is in the nature of a sleeve that has its corners rounded to present no sharp surfaces. It will be understood that a sleeve is employed on each handle,

Specifieationof Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 29, 1922- .Application filed November 9, 1921. Serial No. 513,959.

and each of the sleeves, on its under face,

has a transverse concavity 4 at its rear edge. The inner wall of the concavity as well as the side walls thereof are rounded, as at 5.

The depression or concavity extends approximately one-third of the way around the element, so that in pushing the barrow the element will prevent the hands slipping forward, and the concavity will cause the pressure to be distributed against the fingers the barrow the grip will not be loosened as the push is all exerted by the portion of the thumb from the first joint to its base and by the portion of the fingers from the knuckles to the joints next to the knuckles. Consequently the portion of the thumb from the first joint to the end of the thumb and the portions of the fingers from the second joints to the finger tips are employed for no other purpose than to grip the handles. It will be understood that it is due to the provision of the concavity in the abutment element that the gripping portions of the thumb and fingers do not impinge against the abutment element. As a result, these gripping portions of the thumb and fingers may exercise a firmgrip upon the handle without becoming exhausted.

\Vhen a' loaded barrow is being pushed,

the operator tends to lean forward which will throw his arm and hand forwardly as is shown in Figures 2 and 3, and such a position, it is evident, will throw the knuckles of the thumb and index finger beyond the remaining joints of the hand, and the specific improvement in this invention is to provide suitable recesses or concavities in the upper portion of the rear edge of the element so that the knuckles of the thumb and index finger will not have excessive localized pressure on the same.

To accomplish this result, a concavity 6 is formed on the upper outside portion of the rear edge so as to receive the knuckle of the index finger, as is clearly shown in Figure 2. A similar concavity 7 is formed on the upper portion of the inner side of the rear edge to receive the knuckle of the thumb as is clearly shown in Figure 3.

It will be noted that the concavity 7 is of somewhat greater depth than the concavity 6, because it is found that in practice the knuckle of the thumb projects forwardly more than the index knuckle; therefore, the concavities 6 and 7 are made or formed accordingly.

To make the upper portion ofthe element have practically the same contour as that of the hand which engages the element, the portion 8 intermediate to concavities 6 and '1" is left protruding reai'wardly so as to fill the space between the knuckles of the thumb and index finger. I It is thus seen that by such a construction the hand will bear evenly over the entire upper surface of the element and will not cause excess pressure on any portion of the same.

Theabutment element is placed forwardly of the rear end of the handles to permit the hands to grasp the handles, and can be heldthereto as by set screw 9. The abutment maybe forged upon the barrow handles 0r adjustahly secured thereto by the set screw 9.

The handle of an ordinary wheelbarrow is at least an inch and a qua rter in diameter, ,OlltSldG measurement, and my mproved abutment properly positioned on the handle is of material assistance in the pushing of a wheelbarrow and particularly when the same is heavily loaded or being pushed up an incline.

Various changes may be made inthe details of construction by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A wheelbarrow having abutment elements on the handles thereof, said abutment elements having concavities in the rear edges of said elements at the bases and upper portions of the same.

A wheelbarrow having abutment elements on the handles thereof, said elements having in the upper portion of their rear edges concavities each side of the vertical center line toreceive the knuckle portions of the thumb and index finger.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HERBERT M. CASWELL.

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