US2312461A

US2312461A - Hand truck for carrying box-on-end stacks

Info

Publication number: US2312461A
Application number: US422996A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gilbert R Woods
Original assignee: FMC Corp
Current assignee: FMC Corp
Priority date: 1941-12-15
Filing date: 1941-12-15
Publication date: 1943-03-02
Anticipated expiration: 1960-03-02

Description

Marh 2, 1943.

l G. R. wooDs HAND TRUCK FOR CARRYING BOX-ON-ENDl STACKS Filed Deo. 15,1941 2 sheets-sheet 1 March 2, 1943. G. R. -woons RAND TRUCK RoR CARRYING Box-oN-END sTAcxs 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l Filed Deo.

Patented Mar. 2, 1943 HAND TRUCK FOR CARRYING BOX-ON-END STACKS Gilbert E.. Woods, Whittier, Calif., assignor to Food Machinery Corporation, San Jose, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application December 15, 1941, Serial No. 422,996

Claims.

This invention relates to hand trucks used in packing houses and warehouses for handling fruits packaged in boxes ready for shipping and in loading these boxes into cars and removing the same therefrom.

This invention is particularly useful in handling packed boxes of citrus products as these are customarily put' up at present and it will accordingly be illustrated and described as thus used.

It is common practice in the United States to pack citrus fruits in shipping cases with what is known as an overlled or crown pack in which the fruit holds the lid in outwardly arched conformation after the ends of the lid are nailed to the ends of the b-ox. After the box is thus lidded, it is customary to place a metal strap over the middle of the lid and secure the ends of the strap to the sides of the box. Until recently it was common practice, since the time this package was first evolved, to place these boxes on-end in packing them in railway cars and to batten the lower layer of boxes in the car by wooden battens tacked to the upper ends of these boxes before loading a second layer of boxes, also placed on-end, on top of the rst layer. When loading in this manner it was the general practice at the lidder to stack the packed boxes with these lying on their sides and de-` liver this stack by hand truck to the floor of the car where the boxes were individually removed from the stack and positioned on-end in whichever layer was being formed at that time in the car.

Recently it has been found that battening may be dispensed with in loading packed boxes of citrus in railway cars so that the boxes in the upper layer may rest directly on the boxes in the lower layer. The function formerly performed by the battens is now taken care of by blocks nailed to the car wall and steel straps nailed on the inner faces of these blocks, these straps snugly engaging each of the two layers of boxes and their ends tied together to tightly encircle these layers after the car has been loaded and before the doors are closed.

It is an object of my invention to provide a means for loading packed boxes of citrus fruits in railway cars in the new form hereinabove described which will eliminate the necessity of re-handling boxes after they are delivered to the car. Y

It is another ob-ject of this invention to provide a hand truck by which one or more plural stacks of packed boxes of citrus placed on-end may be trucked from one point to another without breaking down or disturbing the form of the stacks.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a hand truck by which two stacks of packed boxes of Ycitrus with the boxes in each stack arranged on-end and resting one on the other may be picked up and transferred from one point to another and there set down without disarranging thesestacks.

A yet further object of this invention is to provide a hand truck by which two stacks onend of packed boxes of citrus may be transferred from a packing house or warehouse into a railway car or truck and set down in the proper relation with the balance of the load in the car, and without the necessity of rehandling these boxes in order for them to be properly incorporated with said load.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a hand truck by which either one or two stacks on-end of packed boxes of citrus may be picked up and transported from point to point and then set down without disturbing the arrangement of said one or two stacks thus transported.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects, as well as further objects and advantages, will be made manifest in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is afront view of a preferredA embodiment of the hand truck of this invention with the latter in clamping engagement with two stacks on-end of packed boxes of citrus in readiness for the truck and these stacks to be tilted rearwardly and the stacks transported elsewhere on the truck,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View of the clamping jaws and operating mechanism of the truck shown in Figs. l and 2 with said jaws in retracted positions.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1 and illustrating the positions of the truck jaws, both in retracted position and in clamping position, and also illustrating how two stacks of packed boxes of citrus on-end may be moved into or removed from a space just wide enough to receive the same in a row of stacks on-end of similar boxes.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Figs, 2 and 4 and illustrating the cross-sectional contour of the jaws of said truck so as to indicate the reasons for this.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the truck I shown therein comprises a preferred embodiment of my invention, this including an upright frame Il having wooden side bars I2 joined together by wooden spacers I3 and metal bars |4, I5, |6 and I1. The side bars I2 are also provided with handles I8 andV bearings I9, the latter supporting a shaft 20 on which are rotataably mounted rubber-tired wheels 2|. The front faces of the side bars I2 are covered bymetal straps 25, slots 26 being formed in the bars I2 just beneath these straps and between the cross bars I6 and I1.

Slideable in the slots 26 are

base bars

30 and 3| of U-shaped clamping members 32' and 33.

These members have outer jaws 34 and 35, and

inner jaws

36 and 31. These jaws are all formed with beveled inner faces, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, the reason for which will become apparent in describing the operation of the invention.

c The end of each of the

jaws

34, 35, 36 and 31 is provided with a relatively :dat tooth 4|). These teeth on the member 32 extend in the same direction which is toward the member 33 and, in like manner, those on the member 33 extend in the opposite direction and toward the member 32. The jaw 31 is disposed above the jawV 36 and the

base bars

36 and 3| are recessed respectively at 4| and 42 so that the inner portions of theseV bars are adapted to have telescopic or overlapping movement relative to each other in the op eration of the truck.

Pivotally mounted on the bar I6 on pins 50 are double bars and 52, the lower ends of these bars straddling the bars I1 and being pivoted by pins 53 to the base bars30 and 3| of the

members

32 and 33. The double bars 5| and 52 form levers which fulcrum on the pins 59 and are actuated to shift the

members

32 and 33 in-4 wardly and outwardly by toggle links 6|) the opposite ends of which are pivoted to the levers 5| and 52 and to a central double slide bar 64. This bar has a central slot 65receiving the cross-bars Sand 6 and is guided onV the latter by pins (i6v and 61. are adapted to be locked in their inner'or clamping positions by the toggle links 6i) A ridingupwardly over dead center, as shown in Fig; 5. Vertical movement ofv the slide bar 64 is effected by a Adepressing pedal 1.0 which is fixed on the rear face of this bar and an elevating pedial 1| which pivots on a bracket 12 which is mounted I on the bar |1 and shaft 20, (see Figs. 2 and 3).

The pedal 1I is connected to the pedal 10 vby a link 13.

Operation The truck I0, while having awide variety' of uses, is particularly designed for handling a plurality of on-end stacks of overpacked boxes of citrus fruit. As previously pointed out, it is the present practice, when loading these boxes in railway cars, to stack them in two layers, the boxes in each layer being on-end with each box in the upper layer` super-imposed directly over.

boxes'thus stacked into the car where the boxesV wereV manually' removed from this stack and placed in their proper positions in one orthe Y other of the two layers of boxesV b'ein'gload'edin thecar'.

In packing houses'equipped with my inven-` The clamping members 32 and 33A to be arched from one end to the other when the ends of the lid are nailed to the box, so as to accommodate the quantity of fruit placed in the box in excess of that needed to ll it. When the boxes are stacked on-end with the arched lids all in a given direction there is thus provided a free space between the bottom ends of each adjacent pair of stacks.

The truck I0 of my invention is adapted to pick up a pair of these stacks, transport these to any place and set them down in the same relative positions as those in which they were picked up. To accomplish this, the truck with the

jaws

34, 35, 36 and 31, disposed as shown in Fig. 3, is rolled on the wheelsV 2| so as to extend the jaws 36. and 31V in the free space between the two stacks to be transported on the truck and to extend the jaws 34 and 35 in the spaces just outside of these two stacks,as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. The operator then leans the truck forwardly so that the frame Ii is disposed vertically, as shown in Fig. 2, and presses his foot downwardly on the pedal 1| which rocks this from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3 to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2. This lifts the slidebar 64 and expands the toggle links 66 to shift the

clamping members

32 and 33 inwardly with the result shown in full lines toward the box engaged thereby permits those jaws which. are adjacent the archedv lid of one of the boxesto conform to this lid and therebyV permit the tooth 43 on'the end of this jaw to have an opportunity to extend beneath theadjacent lowercorner edgeof Vthis boxlfV K The toggle link 60; when positiore'da's'shownv in Fig. 5, locks the jaws -inthe' stack lclamping po-V sitions in which these Vjaws-are shown in full lines in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5. l'Ilispermits` the two stacks engaged to be* lifted bodily on the truck" l0 by rocking the latter rearwardly about the' axis of the wheels 2| and then rolling the'truck and itsloadon these wheels to any point to which it; is desired to transport these stacks; When ar#V rivingr there, the truck is halted and rocked for; wardly, gently setting ,down the two stacksronl end carried' thereby. While Figs. 4 and 5'illus; trate the'manner in which two such stacks Sonend of packed citrusv boxes may be pickedup, these views also illustrate howvth'esetwo stacksv may be delivered'into a space in Vafp'artiall'y load' ed railway car just large enough to receive them.

Having set thestack down in such a spacepth'e truck operator pressesy his=foot downwardly on' the peda1 1e thus releasing the' toggle iink'stn,

as shown in Fig.` 3, and VVshifting the clamping bringing the jaws' While only a single embodiment of the invention is disclosed in this application, it is to be understood that various modications may be made in this to adapt the invention to other uses than that illustrated without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a hand truck, the combination of: an upright frame; wheels on said frame about which said frame is adapted to be rocked in the operation of said truck; a pair of U-shaped clamping members sldeably mounted on said frame close to the lower .end thereof, each of said members having an outer clamping jaw and an inner clamping jaw the inner jaws of said members being adapted to by-pass each other; and means for shifting said members toward or away from each other to cause the inner jaw of one member and the outer jaw of the other member to cooperati'veiy engage opposite portions of the bottom box of a stack of boxes which may be disposed between said jaws.

2. In a hand truck, the combination of an upright frame; wheels on said frame about which said i'rame is adapted to be rocked in the operation of said truck; a pair of Urshaped members slideably mounted on said frame, each of said members having an outer jaw and an inner jaw which face in the same direction, the inner jaws of said members being adapted to by-pass each other; and means on said frame for actuating said members so that the outer jaw of each member and the inner jaw of the other member will,

when said members are shifted together, grip a stack of boxes disposed therebetween, said means incorporating looking means to lock said jaws in gripping relation with any stacks disposed between said jaws.

3. In a hand truck adapted for handling two closely spaced stacks of boxes on end, the combination of: a carriage; a pair of U-shaped clamping members slidably mounted on said carriage close to the lower end thereof, each of said members having an outer clamping jaw and an inner clamping jaw; teeth on said jaws adapted to underiie the lower edges of said stacks, the teeth on said inner jaws of said members being adapted to by-pass each other in the operation of said members; and means for shifting said members toward or away from each other to cause the teeth on the inner jaw of one member and on the outer jaw of the other member to cooperatively engage opposite portions of the bottom box of a stack of boxes which may be disposed between said jaws.

4. A combination as in claim 3, in which said teeth on said inner jaws by-pass each other while both said teeth are in contact with the oor.

5. A combination as in claim 3, in which the tooth on one of said inner jaws is disposed farther frem said carriage than the tooth on the other of said inner jaws whereby said teeth are able to by-pass each other in the operation of said truck while said teeth remain in engagement with the oor.

GILBERT R. WOODS.