US2126692A

US2126692A - Hollow back shovel

Info

Publication number: US2126692A
Application number: US148721A
Authority: US
Inventors: George C Wharton
Original assignee: AMES BALDWIN WYOMING CO
Current assignee: AMES BALDWIN WYOMING Co
Priority date: 1937-06-17
Filing date: 1937-06-17
Publication date: 1938-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 1955-08-09

Description

Aug. 9, 193s.,

G. c. WHARTON 2,126,692

HOLLOW BACK SHOVEL Filed June 1'7, 1957 if@ e.

` Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE HOLLOW BACK SHOVEL Application June 17, 1937, Serial No. 148,721

Z Claims.

This invention relates to shovels of the hollow back type and the object is to improve the construction of such shovels, particularly with respect to the manner of connecting the handle and blade with resultant advantages both to the user and the manufacturer, as will more fully appear from the following description of the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown by way of example in the accompanying drawing, wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a rear view of the lower portion of the shovel; and

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section partly broken away.

Referring to the drawing, I have there shown a shovel blade 4 having a forwardly expressed reinforcing frog 6 at its rear edge, the wall of which merges into the central extension 8 from the rear of the blade, which extension is curled over into tubular form to form a socket for the reception of the customary wooden handle I0. This is the well known hollow back construction. It has hitherto been customary to secure the handle by means lof transverse rivets passing through the socket 8. A finishing operation to smooth up the heads of the rivets is ordinarily required and even when so finished they remain as interruptions to the smoothness of the socket.

In accordance with my invention I provide means for attaching the handle I0 such as will permit al1 finishing operations'on the blade and on the handle respectively to be completed before they are assembled, the method of attachment being so effected that this finish is not harmed and no subsequent smoothing operation is required. The construction also provides in the finished shovel a handle-receiving socket externally smooth and free from such asperities as` are presented by the rivet heads of the ordinary construction.

In accordance With my invention I weld together at w (Fig. 1) the opposed edges of the tubular socket 8 to form a circumferentially continuous tube. The handle l0 at the proper point in its length has a cross section adapted closely to t this tubular portion and may be driven snugly thereinto with its end portion extending into and received by the frog 6 as shown. To retain the handle in position a rivet I2 may be inserted vertically through the wall of the frog and the end of the handle forming a single retaining means preventing longitudinal withdrawal of the handle while the firm `seat of the handle in the seamless tube provides a strong connection between the handle and the blade under the prying strains encountered in the ordinariT use of a shovel. As is seen from Fig. 2, the lower or rear end of the rivet I2 is received within the frog above the back surface of the shovel and is therefore protected from wear.

I prefer to reinforce the end of the handle where the rivet l2 passes therethrough and conveniently a metal sleeve' I4 may be fitted to the end of the handle, through which sleeve the rivet I2 passes and on which the end thereof is upset.

It will be seen that the blade and its integral socket may be polished or otherwise finished as a relatively small, wieldy unit before it is united to the handle; that the handle likewise may be subjected to iinishing operations as a unit, and that the assembly of the two is not such as to mar the finish thus given or to require any supplemental finishing operations. In the completed article the exterior wall of the socket 8 where the hand comes in contact with it in use of the shovel is entirely smooth.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive; reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A shovel of the hollow back type which presents to the grasping hand a handle-supporting socket smooth and free of asperities, comprising a blade having a forwardly expressed frog at the rear, a rearward extension in line with the frog distally formed as a circumferentially continuous tube, a non-metallic handle tightly fitted into the tube and extending into the frog, and a substantially single securing means for retaining the handle comprising a securing device attaching the handle end to the wall of the frog.

2. A shovel of the hollow back type which presents to the grasping hand a handle-supporting socket smooth and free of asperities, comprising a blade having a forwardly expressed frog at the rear, a rearward extension in line with the frog distally formed as a circumferentially continuous tube, a non-metallic handle tightly fitted into the tube vand extending into the frog, a sleeve tting over the end of the handle, and a substantially single securing means for retaining the handle comprising a securing device passing through said sleeve and the handle end within the same and the overlying wall of the frog.

GEORGE C. WHARTON.