US2789000A - Crate handling implement - Google Patents

Description

E. SULDON 2,789,000

CRATE HANDLING IMPLEMENT A ril 16, 1957 Filed May 6, 1954 United States Patent'O CRATE HANDLING IMPLEMENT Edwin Snldon, Corpus Christi, Tex.

Application May 6, 1954, Serial No. 427,946 4 Claims. (Cl. 294-) The present invention relates to manually usa'ble implements and devices which are especially useful in assisting a user thereof in pushing, pulling and otherwise aiding in handling unwieldy and heavy crated loads, and has more specific reference to what may be briefly described as 'a readily attachable and detachable crate handler There has long existed a need for improved ways and means capable of meeting the requirements undertaken in moving and shifting heavy crated commodities. This is especially true when handling large crates of glass. As a matter of fact, it is indeed a task for workmen to laboriously and dangerously move a large crate of glass around on rollers from place to place. The trouble is that no provisions are made on the conventional crate slats or boards which make it possible to handily push, pull and otherwise maneuver the crate. In these circumstances, it is common practice to use ten and sometimes twelve men on a single heavily packed crate. Usually, one will find two men at each end of the crate and four men on each side. Lacking proper gripping facilities, the principal burdens are imposed on the end men, for the ones on the side can hardly do much more than perform a reliable balancing job. Under these circumstances, it is evident that the provision of handles or hand grips available to all persons would permit easy handling of the load and make it possible to reduce the number of men required to about six, for the average job.

Because the slats :are not usually suitable to accommodate handles, a special handle construction is, therefore, required. It is the object of the invention to provide a handle which is simple, practicable, readily attachable and detachable and which, when applied, makes it possible to afford the user reliable pushing and pulling facilities with a saving in time, money, effort and, what is more important, safeguarding the men who are called upon to handle the load moving task.

Briefly, a preferred embodiment of the invention has to do with a temporarily attachable handle which is applicable to place of vantage on the exterior of the boards or slats of an unwieldy and heavily loaded crate, the same being characterized by 'a crate pushing and pulling implement comprising a U-shaped handle embodying a centrally disposed grip adapted to be grasped by the users hand, said grip having lateral arms and said arms having means for retentive connection with customary spaced apart wooden slats in said crate.

Further, novelty is predicated upon the structure revealed wherein the stated means embodies an anchoring prong which is adapted to be driven or otherwise wedged into and thus chocked and retained in a reliable handle anchoring position.

In carrying out a specific embodiment of the invention, the handle construction is not only U-shaped with limbs, the latter are provided with claw-like heads with spurs to become embedded in the slats and with one arm hav- 2,789,000 Patented Apr. 16, 1057 handle constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and showing the construction and use thereof;-

Figure 2 is a view essentially in section, bringing out the details of construction; and

Figure 3 is a view in elevation on a small scale, based on Figure l and showing one of the arms in its detached position, the position assumed thereby just prior to its being swung to the functioning position depicted in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings with reference numerals and lead lines, it will be seen that the implement or handle, as an over-all device, is generally U-shaped. Sometimes these types of handles are merely referred to as hand grips. In the instant case, it is preferred that the portion that is grasped by the hand be specifically referred to as the hand grip. Starting, then, with the overall U-shaped construction, the intermediate portion is a hand grip, and this is preferably an elongate cylindrical or equivalent solid member which is denoted by the numeral 4 in Figure 2. The exterior surface is preferably encased in a rubber sleeve providing a suitably cushioned and anti-slipping grip 6. Thus, the numeral 4 .is the complete hand grip, while 6 denotes the sleeve part which is commonly referred to in the trade as a rubber or equivalent grip. In any event, the member 4 is provided at one end with an axial screw threaded socket 8 into which the screw threaded part 10 of the lateral shank 12 is screwed and fixedly anchored by a stud or the like, as at 14. The portion 16 is referred to as an arm. This arm is therefore lateral to the hand grip and is fixed. It may be integrated with the member 8 in some other manner, if desired. In any event, the arm 16 has anchoring means, broadly, at the outer end. More specifically, this comprises a lateral abutment 18 having a flat surface 20 to bear against the slat or board 22 of the packing crate. The outer end of the abutment has a segmental head which has sometimes been referred to as claw-like. This head is denoted at 24 and has an impact surface 26 which may be struck with a hammer or the like, if desired. The detents thereon are in the form of spurs 28, the latter being embedded in the wood surface of the crate slat. Coplanar with the abutment surface 20 and lateral to the arm 16 is an extension which is here referred to as an anchoring prong 30, and this parallels the hand grip and has a beveled end 32 defining a pointed probing tip 34. As best shown in Figure 1, this anchoring prong is adapted to be forced by hand through the restricted crack or opening 36 brought out in Figure l and existing between the slats 22 and 38. By pressing and forcing the anchoring prong into place, the claw-like head 24 may be also anchored, this by forcing the spurs into the wood, as brought out in the drawings. There is a similar axial screw threaded socket 40 in the other end of the hand grip member 4, and this accommodates the screw threaded end portion 42 of the shank 44 of the other or remaining arm 46. The latter is supposed to oppose the arm 16 in general parallelism. It terminates in a solid sector-shaped or equivalent anchoring head 48 also of claw-like form and having anchoring spurs 50.

In the construction revealed, it will be clear that the arm 16 is fixed in right angular relationship to the axis of the hand grip, which hand grip, incidentally, may be identified in the unitary sense by the numeral 5. By having the arm 46 pivotally mounted, it may be swung to an out-of-the-way position, as shown in dotted lines in Figure l and full lines in Figure 3. This permits one to force or otherwise drive (by hand or hammer) the anchoring: prong 36 through the crack and between the two slats 22 and 38 using the tension of the buckled slat 38 to impose the necessary retentive pressures on the prong, abutment and head 24. In many instances, it will be possible to angle the anchoring prong into place purely by hand and Without hammering it in. in other instances, the crack may be so restricted that it will be necessary to resort to driving, under which circumstances, the head and. its surface 25 becomes a satisfactory impacting member. Once thearm 16 is thus attached, the

'complemental arm id is swung around and into place,

and the spurs 59 are embedded, thus utilizing the two complemental heads in conjunction with the anchoring prong and thus in aining the over-all handle in ternporarily attached pcsdon. This sort of a handle is ideal to enable a user to push, pull, tug and otherwise handle the load with the handle attached at such elevation as needed, all in a reasonably obviou and easy-to-appreci'ate manner. Under ordinary circumstances, after the prong has been started in the crack, it can be pushed all the way in by grasping the arm and giving it a quick push or by hitting with the heel of the open palm. The

cross-pieces or horizontal boards on a crate are hardly ever close enough to prevent the slats from having enough give to permit the prong to be inserted in the crack by forcing with the hand.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invcntion to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims. 7

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. For temporary attachment to a place of vantage on the exterior of a heavy and unwieldy crate, a heavy duty crate pushing and pulling implement comprising a substantially U-shaped handle embodying a centrally disposed suitably cushioned hand grip and complemental lateral spaced parallel arms, one of said arms being fixed to the adjacent cooperating end of the hand grip, the other arm having one end coaxial with and pivotally attached to the cooperating end of the hand grip so that said arm may swing in a plane at right angles to the axis of said hand grip, both of said arms having spaced parallel heads attached thereto, and each head having pointed spurs adapted to be embedded in the Wooden slats of the crate.

2. For temporary attachment to a place of vantage on the exterior of a heavy and unwieldy crate, a crate pushing and pulling implement comprising a substantially iii) U-shaped' handle embodying a centrally disposed hand grip and complemental arms, one of said arms beingfixed to the adjacent end of the hand grip, the other arm having one end coaxial with and pivotally attached to the cooperating end of the hand grip so that said arm may swing in a plane at right angles to the axis of said hand grip, both of said arms having heads attached thereto, and each head having pointed spurs adapted to be embedded in the slats of the. crate, the first named arm having a tapered wedge-shaped anchor, said anchor being lateral to the arm and being adapted to be pressed through a restricted crack and thus bound between cooperating slats of the crate.

3. A readily applicable and removable crate handle comprising a U-shaped handle construction embodying a centrally disposed rigid cushioned hand grip, a rigid arm at one end of the hand grip and lateral thereto and provided at its crate engaging end with a lateral abutment terminating in a head, said head being laterally olfset relative to the axis of said arm and having spurs to embed in the coasting surface of a wooden slat, and there being an anchoring prong integral with said arm and in general axial alignment with said abutment, said prong being substantially parallel to the hand grip, and a second arm having one end coaxial with and pivotally attached to the opposite end of said hand grip and provided at its opposite end with a head, said head having spurs.

4. A readily applicable and removable crate handling implement comprising, a U-shaped handle construction embodying a centrally disposed rigid cushioned hand-grip having an axial screw-threaded socket in one end thereof, a first laterally disposed arm provided at one end with a prong-equipped anchoring head and provided at its opposite end with a screw-threaded portion which is lateral to the arm and is threaded for attachment and intended optional rotation in said screw-threaded socket so that said arm is capable of being swung in an orbital path which is at right angles to the axis of said hand-grip, a second complemental arm lateral to the handgrip and parallel to the first named arm and rigidly connected with the other end of said hand-grip and provided at its work engaging end with a lateral abutment having a head at one end, said head having spurs adapted-to embed themselves in a coacting surface of a wooden slat in the stated crate, and there being an anchoring prong integral with said last named arm and in general axial alignment with said abutment, said prong being substantially parallel to the hand-grip and being tapered and providing. a wedge-shaped anchor which is adapted to be pressed through a restricted crack and thus bound and anchored between cooperating slats in the stated crate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

Images