US1436965A - Wheelbarrow - Google Patents

Description

L. LANDKAMER. WHEELBARROW. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.Z3| I921.

Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

- 15w LA/VflhA/WEP INVENTOR.

' ATTORNEY.

LEVI LANDKAMEB, 0F ALEXANDRIA,

'WHEELBARROW.

Application filed September 23, 1921. Serial No. 502,706.

To (IL/Z vii/mm it may concern Be it known that 1, Law .l JAxDliAtllEli, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alexandria, in the county of Thayer and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheelbarrows, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to wheelbarrows, and more particularly to the types of wheelbarrows used by contractors for filling the forms in concrete work. The wheelbarrows at present used for this Work were perfected for other uses long before the extensive use of concrete in building structures, and were adopted without change by concrete workers merely because they served the purpose better than anything else that was readily obtainable, even though contractors generally recognized their inherent defects. My purpose is to produce a wheelbarrow having several novel features which render it especially serviceable in work of the class for which it is designed, and it is also my purpose to produce a device which can be attached to wheelbarrows already in use to make them serve their purpose better than at present.

In the drawings,

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a wheelbarrow with one form of my fulcrum curve attached and in use, Figure 1 showing the position of the wheelbarrow before dumping and Figure 2 showing the position of the wheelbarrow during the dumping operation.

Figures 3 and 4 show two of the numerous possible modifications of the fulcrum curve. i

The wheelbarrow has a body or receptacle 1.0, handles 11, legs 12 and a wheel 13. Braces 14 and 15 give rigidity to the legs and handle portions respectively. All of this however is of common construction found in nearly all wheelbarrows and is mentioned here only to bring out the applications of my invention.

(oncrete walls are cast by pouring wet or semi-wet concrete into forms made by nailing horizontal boards 16 on exterior uprights or tWo-by-fours 17. The concrete is usually transported from the mixer to the forms in wheelbarrows, but whereas it takes only one man to push the loaded wheelbarrow it generally requires two to dump it, because of the weight and awkwardness of the load. My invention makes it possible for one to dump the whe lb rrow as easily as it is for him to push it, and the one man alone can perform the operation with less loss of time and waste of concrete than under the methods heretofore employed.

One form of the invention resides in piece of strap iron, steel or other suitable material which is shaped so as to constitute a fulcrum for the Wheelbarrow in dumping, and means for securing it to a wheelbarrow. Merely by way of illustration I have shown a few of the forms which it may take. In Figure 1 I have shown a piece of strap iron bent into a semi-circular loop 18, a brace portion 19 and a securing portion 20. This is firmly secured either singly or in pairs or more to the front end of a wheelbarrow. In order to avoid waste in dumping, the fulcrum is preferably so placed that the front or spout portion of the wheelbarrow will advance far enough in dumping to clear the wall.

Some wheelbarrows have large wheels or they have wheels which are considerably in advance of the spout, -My invention can be applied to such wheelbarrows in numerous ways, one of which is shown in Figure 3. An additional spout 21 with a lip portion 22 is riveted or otherwise secured to the front end of the wheelbarrow. My invention in the form shown in Figures 1 and 2 with its curved fulcrum 18, brace 19 and securing end 20 incombination with the spout 21 can be readily attached to many .of the wheelbarrows now in use. If the spout 21 is pressed or rolled out of heavy steel, the fulcrum curve corresponding to 18 can be produced inthe body of the lip or spout. If desired, the material in the spout portion may be folded back on itself and then bent into curve, brace and securing portions. In this case the finished appearance in cross section will be similar tothat in Figure l, but the spout and curve will be integral and consist of a single piece ofmetal. Similar results can of course be secured by embodying the fulcrum curve in the wheelbarrow at the time of manufacture.

In Figures 1,. 2, and 3 I have shown curves which are fixed in position to the wheelbarrow. Figure 4 shows a construction involving a pivoted fulcrum. Numeral 10 inclicates the front portion of the body of a wheelbarrow. The hook 18" is secured either pivotally or rigidly to the rod 23 which is secured to the wheelbarrow by means of braces 24:. In the use of this form, the hook itself catches over the edge of the wall while the lower end of the pivoted hook rests against the side of the wall and the entire book portion remains Stationary while the wheelbarrow swings on the pivot 23. This form is of course also capable of many variations. For example a prong or other pointed element may be substituted for the hook l8 and the prong when thrust into the lumber of the wall, will prevent slippage in much the same way that the hook does.

I have shown and described a few-0t the forms of my invention as applied to the lip or spout portion of a wheelbarrow, but it is evident that the invention will function if placed on other parts of the Wheelbarrow. With braces similar to 24 and of appropriate length the fulcrum may be placed as low as desired. In pipe frame wheelbarrows where the pipe passes around in front of the wheel, a pivoted collar with the form of hook shown in Figure 4 or a fixed collar with the hook as in liigure 1 may be secured to the pipe just in advance of the wheel. Nor do I desire to limit my rights to the use of my invention on a wheelbarrow, since it could be applied to many other forms of dumping receptacles with equal utility.

Another important feature of my wheelbarrow resides in the relative dimensions with relation to the work which the wheelbarrow is to perform. Lumber comes in lengths of an even number of feet, and for this reason the tworbyefours of the forms are set two feet apart on centers. The present wheelbarrows used by concrete workers were developed for brick and stone masons. but because of their width they do not dump easily when filling forms. I overcome this difiiculty by constructing the body narrow enough to fit in between the uprights.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is z.-

1. In combination with a. wheelbarrow which is partially supported on a transverse whee-l axis and which has means at its rear end for enabling a walking attendant to partially support and to propel the wheelbarrow a device on the front end of the wheel: barrow with reference to its line of movement, said device being adapted to directly engage in pivotal relationship the upper edge of a wall at any desired point, whereby the attendant can dump the wheelbarrow by swinging it through an are having the upper edge of the wall as its center. the device preventing slippage at all points in the ar cu ate movement of the wheelbarrow.

2. In combination with a wheelbarrow of the kind comprising a receptacle wheelmounted on an axis transverse to its line ofmovement but forward of its center of gravity and being supported at its rear end and propelled by a walking attendant, a device at the forward end of the wheelbarrow for directly engaging the upper edge of a wall at any desired point in pivotal relationship whereby the walking attendant can dump the contents of the receptacle over the edge of the wall at any desired point, said device being so formed that the wheelbarroi'v will be prevented from sliding forward when it is in its vertical position.

3. A receptacle having a dumping spout at its forward end, a wheel support forward of its center of gravity, means rearward of the center of gravity for enabling a walking attendant to partially support and to' propel the receptacle on its wheel support, a

device associated with the spout of the receptacle for directly and pivotally engaging the upper edge of a wall at any desired point the arrangement being such that the walking attendant can dump the contents of the re ceptacle over the edge of the wall by swing;- ing the rear end of the receptacle upwardly through an are about the forward end of the receptacle as the center of the swinging movement, said device preventing downward slippage of the receptacle at the beginning of the dumping operation and preventing also forward slippage on the edge of the wall when the receptacle is in vertical position at the end of the dumping operation.

l. A fulcrum attachment for a dumping receptacle comprising an inverted U-shaped hook, a brace member projecting from the lower extremity of one of the legs of the said U-shaped hook at an angle less than a right angle to the said. leg the free end of said brace member being bent into a plane which if projected will be tangent to the curve at the upper end of said inverted U-shap'ed hook and means for securing the fulcrum attachment to the wall ef receptacle in such a way that the portion comprising the free end of the brace and th upper end of the inverted Ushaped hook will both rest against the wall of the receptacle.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature ture.

LEVI LA NDK AMER.

Images