WO2005014273A1

WO2005014273A1 - A side tipping wheelbarrow

Info

Publication number: WO2005014273A1
Application number: PCT/AU2004/001043
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul Mark Tabone
Original assignee: Paul Mark Tabone
Priority date: 2003-08-06
Filing date: 2004-08-05
Publication date: 2005-02-17
Also published as: AU2003904116A0

Abstract

A side tipping wheelbarrow (10) comprising a front wheel (11), a pair of spaced apart rear wheels (12), a frame (13), a bowl (14) mounted relative to the frame (13) and able to be tipped to the side of the wheelbarrow (10), and a rear handle (15).

Description

A SIDE TIPPING WHEELBARROW Field of the Invention This invention is directed to an improved wheelbarrow which has a side tipping ability, and which has other improvements and modifications that allow the wheelbarrow to be used with reduced back pain, and with increased versatility. Background Art Wheelbarrows have wide use in domestic, industrial and commercial areas. A typical wheelbarrow comprises a single front wheel, a bowl in which a load can be placed, and a pair of rear handles. The wheelbarrow is designed to allow "over the top" tipping which is where the wheelbarrow needs to be lifted so that the bowl is in front of the front wheel. There are many disadvantages with conventional wheelbarrows. A main disadvantage is that tipping a heavy load can be quite difficult and can create strain and injury to a user. For instance, tipping a heavy load of sand or cement by lifting the wheelbarrow can be quite difficult. Another disadvantage is that the wheelbarrow is inherently unstable and is prone to tipping to its side which causes the load to spill. Another disadvantage is that because of the inherent instability of the wheelbarrow, a full wheelbarrow is difficult to maneuver on uneven surfaces. Another disadvantage is the force required to lift a heavy wheelbarrow.

Even though a wheelbarrow is designed to lift a heavy load, a full wheelbarrow is still difficult to lift by the handles. Another disadvantage with conventional wheelbarrows is that there is little height adjustability to adjust for the height of different people. Another disadvantage is that a conventional wheelbarrow is not able to be towed behind a vehicle. However, there would be many instances where there would be an advantage if it were possible to attach a wheelbarrow to the rear of a vehicle (for instance a ride-on lawnmower in domestic uses). Therefore, there would be an advantage if it were possible to provide a wheelbarrow that had a side tipping functionality and that had other improvements and modifications which would reduce back strain, enable heavy wheelbarrows to be maneuvered more easily, and which can provide some form of adjustment for people of different heights. It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country. Object of the Invention It is an object of the invention to provide a wheelbarrow that may overcome at least some of the above-mentioned disadvantages or provide a useful or commercial choice. In one form, the invention resides in a wheelbarrow, the wheelbarrow comprising a front wheel, a pair of spaced apart rear wheels, a frame, a bowl mounted relative to the frame and able to be tipped to the side of the wheelbarrow, and a rear handle. It is preferred that the height of the bowl from the ground can be adjusted. It is preferred that the rear handle can be collapsed. It is preferred that attachment means can be provided to enable the wheelbarrow to be attached to a vehicle. The vehicle may comprise a ride-on lawnmower although no limitation is to be placed on the invention merely by identifying a ride-on lawnmower as an example of a vehicle. The term "wheelbarrow" should not be interpreted narrowly and is meant to include any type of apparatus that can accommodate a load and which can tip the load and which can be wheeled around manually. The wheelbarrow may be of any suitable size and shape. As the wheelbarrow is designed to be moved manually, it is envisaged that this will place some restriction on the ultimate size of the wheelbarrow. Thus, it is preferred that the wheelbarrow has a length of between 1-3 metres. Typically, the wheelbarrow of the present invention will be able to accommodate a load which is about the same of a conventional wheelbarrow which is typically between 0.1-0.5 cubic metres. The wheelbarrow comprises a front wheel. The front wheel may comprise a pneumatic wheel, a solid wheel, a wheel containing a tyre and the like. However, because of the design of the wheelbarrow, it is preferred that the front wheel is a pneumatic wheel. The front wheel may be of any suitable size. It is envisaged that the front wheel will have a diameter of between 20-50 centimetres and a tread width of between 10-30 centimetres although no particular limitation is meant thereby. Because of the design of the wheelbarrow, it is possible, and preferred, that the front wheel can pivot about a vertical axis. Therefore, the front wheel may comprise a "castor" type wheel. Any type of pivoting or hinging arrangement to enable the front wheel to adopt this function is considered to fall within the present invention. As an example only, the front wheel may be rotatably attached to an axle, and the axle may be a vertical "stub" axle which is rotatably attached relative to the remainder of the wheelbarrow to enable the front wheel to pivot. The wheelbarrow contains a pair of spaced apart rear wheels. The rear wheels may be similar to that of the front wheel and therefore may again comprise a pneumatic wheel. However, it is preferred that the rear wheels do not pivot about a vertical axis and simply rotate about a horizontal axle. Again, any means by which the rear wheels can be mounted for rotation relative to the wheelbarrow is considered to fall within the scope of the present invention. Typically however the rear wheels will be rotatably mounted to a common axle. The wheelbarrow includes a frame. The frame may be made of any suitable material including metal, plastics, fibreglass, composite materials and the like. It is preferred that the wheelbarrow is made of steel tubing although no particular limitation is meant thereby. The frame may comprise a pair of side frame members. The side frame members may be somewhat triangular in shape. Therefore, the side frame members may comprise an upper substantially horizontal frame member (which may support the bowl) and a pair of converging descending frame members. The axle that supports the rear wheels may be mounted to, or relative to, each side frame member and at the position where the descending frame members meet. The upper substantially horizontal frame member may have a length of between 0.5-2 metres, and each depending frame member may have a length of between 40-100 centimetres. Of course, these lengths can vary to suit the size of the wheelbarrow. The side frame members may be connected relative to each other by connecting members. Suitably, a front connecting member is provided. The front connecting member may also support the front wheel. The front connecting member may have an inclined upper surface. Suitably, the side frame members, and particularly the upper horizontal frame members are not level with respect to each other, and instead one of the frame members is about 10-30 centimetres lower than the other frame member. The reason for this is to facilitate tipping of the bowl which will be described in greater detail below. Suitably, a rear connecting member is provided that interconnects the side frame members relative to each other. The rear connecting member may be of an inverted U-shaped configuration. The rear connecting member may comprise an extension of a descending frame member. Any number of other frame arrangements may be used to form the frame of the wheelbarrow and it is not considered that the invention should be limited only to the frame arrangement described above. The wheelbarrow comprises a rear handle. The rear handle will typically be used to enable the wheelbarrow to be manually pushed or pulled. Therefore, it is preferred that the rear handle has a configuration that facilitates this. Any type of shape and configuration of the rear handle which enables a person to manoeuvre the wheelbarrow is considered to fall within the scope of the present invention. However, as an example only, the rear handle may have a substantially inverted U-shaped configuration. The rear handle may be attached to the remainder of the wheelbarrow in such a way that the handle can be collapsed or removed to facilitate storage and transportation of the wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow contains a tipping bowl. The bowl may be any suitable size, shape and configuration. It is preferred that the bowl has a volume of between 0.1-1.0 cubic metres and typically a volume of between 0.2-0.5 cubic metres. The bowl may be made of any suitable material such as metal, plastic, fibreglass, composite materials and the like, although it is envisaged that the bowl will be made of metal such as steel. The bowl may be substantially rectangular when viewed in plan although no particular limitation is meant thereby and it is envisaged that the bowl may also be oval, circular, or have irregular shapes. The bowl is preferably mounted to be tippable to one side of the wheelbarrow. Thus, the bowl may be hinged or otherwise connected relative to the wheelbarrow to enable the bowl to tip to one side of the wheelbarrow without needing to lift or tip the entire wheelbarrow (as is the case with conventional wheelbarrows). Suitably, the bowl will be hinged relative to the frame of the wheelbarrow. Suitably, the bowl will be hinged relative to a substantially horizontal frame member. It is preferred that the bowl is hinged relative to the lower horizontal frame. The bowl may be provided with a lift handle. Suitably, a pair of lift handles is provided. Typically, the or each lift handle will comprise an elongate member which is attached to the bowl and which can be gripped and lifted to tip the bowl. The lift handle may be hinged relative to the bowl such that the lift handle does not extend outwardly from the bowl when the bowl is in the lowered position and therefore be a snagging hazard. The height of the bowl above the ground surface may be adjustable. It is considered that any means by which this can be achieved will fall within the scope of the present invention. Suitably, height adjustment means is provided. The height adjustment means may be provided adjacent the rear axle of the wheelbarrow. The height adjustment means may raise and lower the rear wheels relative to the ground. Mounting means may be provided to enable the wheelbarrow to be attached to a vehicle such as a ride-on lawnmower. The mounting means may comprise an attachment arm. The attachment arm may be mounted to the wheelbarrow and to the ride-on lawnmower. Of course, various other types of mounting means are envisaged including link members, chains, wires, rigid members, ball and socket arrangements and the like. It is not considered that the invention should be limited to any particular manner by which the wheelbarrow can be attached to a vehicle. Brief Description of the Drawings An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which: Figure 1. Illustrates a side view of the wheelbarrow.

Figure 2. Illustrates the wheelbarrow from the other side (the tipping side).

Figure 3. Illustrates a rear view of the wheelbarrow.

Figure 4. Illustrates a rear view of the wheelbarrow in the tipping position.

Figure 5. Illustrates the wheelbarrow in side view and in the tipping position. Figure 6. Illustrates a front view of the wheelbarrow in the tipping position.

Figure 7. Illustrates a front view of the wheelbarrow in the non tipping position.

Figure 8. Illustrates a side view of the wheelbarrow with the handle in the collapsed position. Figure 9. Illustrates a side view of the wheelbarrow with the bowl in the raised position (illustrating the height adjustment ability of the wheelbarrow). Figure 10. Illustrates the wheelbarrow attached to the rear of a ride-on mower. Figure 11. Illustrates the wheelbarrow attached to the rear of a ride-on mower. Figure 12. Illustrates the height adjustment means and particularly illustrates the height adjustment means in the upper position.

Figure 13. Illustrates the height adjustment means in the lower position. Best Mode Referring to the illustrations and initially to figure 1 and figure 2, there is illustrated a wheelbarrow 10 which basically comprises a front wheel 11, a pair of spaced apart rear wheels 12, a frame 13, a bowl 14 and a rear handle 15. Specifically, front wheel 11 is a pneumatic wheel having a diameter of between 20-40 centimetres. Front wheel 11 is rotatably attached to a horizontal stub axle (not illustrated). The stub axle is fixed to a substantially vertical supporting bracket 16. Bracket 16 is attached to one side of a horizontal bar 17 (best illustrated in figure 6). A vertical stub axle 18 extends upwardly from horizontal bar 17 (best illustrated in figure 6), and this arrangement enables front wheel 11 to pivot 360° about a horizontal axis. The wheelbarrow also contains a pair of spaced apart rear wheels 12. Wheels 12 are same as front wheel 11 in that they comprise pneumatic wheels; however these wheels are mounted to a single horizontal axle 19 (best illustrated in figure 3). In this vicinity, there is provided a height adjustment mechanism which will be described in greater detail below. A frame is provided to support the various components of the wheelbaπow. In the particular embodiment, the frame comprises a pair of somewhat triangular side frame members 20, 21, with one side frame member 20 being illustrated in figure 1 (this being one side of the wheelbarrow), and the other side frame member 21 being illustrated in figure 2 (this being the other side of the wheelbarrow). Each side frame member as mentioned above is somewhat triangular and comprises an upper substantially horizontal frame member 22, and a pair of converging descending frame members 23, 24. The wheelbaπow frame can be made of tubular steel members that are attached together. The upper horizontal frame member will typically have a length of between 1-2 metres. Best illustrated in figure 6 is that the horizontal frame member of one of the side frame members is higher than the horizontal frame member on the other side frame member by between 10-30cm. This aπangement assists in the tipping action of the wheelbaπow bowl as will be described in greater detail below. The side frame members are attached relative to each other by a front connecting member and a rear connecting member. The front connecting member 25 is illustrated in figure 6, and comprises a horizontal steel bracket which is substantially L-shaped. The steel bracket supports the vertical axle 18 of the front wheel via a collar 27. The steel bracket has a sloped upper edge 28 best illustrated in figure 7, again to support the tipping action of the wheelbaπow bowl as will be described in greater detail below. The rear connecting member 29 is substantially of an inverted U- shaped configuration, and comprises an extension of one of the descending frame members 24 on each side frame member. This is best illustrated in figure 3. The shape of the rear connecting member 29 supports the rear handle 15. Rear handle 15 can be of any suitable shape and configuration, but in the particular embodiment, the rear handle comprises a substantially inverted U- shaped member 15 which is typically attached to the rear connecting member 29 by bolts 30 (see for instance figure 3). This enables rear handle 15 to be moved between an extended use position, (see for instance figure 3), and a collapsed transport and storage position which is illustrated in figure 8. An actuator is provided to enable the handle to be collapsed. The actuator comprises a locking pin 31 (see figure 4) which is biased by a spring in the locking position where it locks rear handle 15 in the upright position. However, the locking pin can be pulled back against the force of the spring to release the rear handle

15 from the rear connecting member 29 to enable the rear handle 15 to be collapsed to the position illustrated in figure 8. The wheelbaπow bowl 14 can be of any suitable shape and configuration and in the particular embodiment, the bowl is substantially rectangular when viewed in plan (see for instance figure 5), but has a forward inclined side wall

32 (see for instance figure 7) to assist in the tipping action. The bowl can be made from metal such as steel, plastics, composite materials and the like. The bowl 14 is designed for side tipping and therefore can tip between a substantially upright use position (see figure 7 and figure 3), and a tipping position (see, for instance, figure 6 and figure 4). Bowl 14 is hinged to the lower horizontal frame member 22 (see figure 6) by a pair of spaced apart hinges 33. By being attached to the lower horizontal frame member, the bowl is already at a slight incline (see figure 7) which assists in the lifting and tipping action. The positioning of the hinges on bowl 14 is such that when the bowl is in the tipping position (figure 6), the load is tipped away from the wheelbaπow and does not tip onto the rear wheels etc. To facilitate the tipping action, a pair of handles 34 (see for instance figure 1) is provided on one side of the bowl which is away from the hinged side of the bowl. The handles comprise metal tubular handles which are typically mounted to the bowl and therefore can move between a vertical rest position, and a horizontal lifting position. In use, a person can stand on the side of the wheelbarrow which contains the handles and can lift up the handles to the horizontal position and then continue lifting which will cause the bowl to tip. The handles are attached to the bowl in such a manner that they can hinge freely to the substantially horizontal position but are then locked against the bowl such that further lifting of the handles will cause the bowl to tip. Another feature of the wheelbaπow is a height adjustment mechanism which enables the height of the bowl to be varied relative to the ground surface which enables the tipping action to be carried out more conveniently by people of different height. Figure 1 illustrates the bowl 14 in the lower position, and figure 9 illustrates the bowl 14 in the raised position. The height adjustment mechanism is provided adjacent the rear wheels and is best illustrated in figure 12 and figure 13. Specifically, there is provided a curved plate 36 which has a toothed edge 37. Curved plate 36 is pivotally attached to descending frame member 23 (see for instance figure 8). Curved plate 36 also supports the horizontal rear wheel axle 19. Thus, raising and lowering of curved plate 36 will cause raising and lowering of the rear wheels relative to the ground and therefore cause the height of bowl 14 to be raised and lowered relative to the ground. The other side of curved plate 36 (that is the side containing the toothed edge 37), is fitted with a bolt 38 (see figure 12 and figure 13) that can slide within a curved slot 39 of a supporting bracket 40 that is mounted to the frame. To operate the height adjustment mechanism, a pair of operating handles 41 (see figure 9 and figure 8) is provided on rear handle 15. The operating handles are attached by a Bowden type cable 42 to a toothed engaging plate 43 illustrated in figure 12 and figure 13. When the handles are left alone, the toothed engaging plate 43 is biased by spring 44 to engage with curved plate 36 to lock curved plate in position. However, when the handles are squeezed, this will cause retraction of engaging plate 43 (figure 12 and figure 13 illustrates the engaging plate in the retracted position) and this enables the height to be adjusted. When the required height is achieved, the handles are released which will cause engaging plate 43 to engage with curved plate 36 to lock the wheels at the required height. Another advantage of the wheelbarrow is that it can be attached to the rear of a vehicle such as a ride-on lawnmower (see figure 10 and figure 11). A suitable type of attachment means 45 may be provided. The three-wheeled wheelbaπow described above has several advantages, including: • The wheelbarrow can be pushed on its three wheels without lifting, thereby rendering it easier to use and reducing the risk of back injuries. The load is supported by the wheels at all times, rather than by the operator. • The castor wheel 13 enables the wheelbaπow to be turned easily. The use of a front offset castor wheel also allows the operator to turn the wheelbaπow sharply, without putting unnecessary load on the operator's arms, legs or back. • The three large diameter pneumatic tyres allow the wheelbarrow to be pushed easily, in almost any terrain. • The height adjustment mechanism allows quick and easy adjustment of the height of the wheelbaπow to suit the user. The height may be adjusted before or after the wheelbaπow is loaded. • The height adjustment mechanism allows the wheelbaπow to be lowered into contact with the ground, thereby providing a braking effect. • The bowl can be tipped sideways to minimise the lifting effort required. However, the wheelbaπow can still be tipped forwardly if required. • The tapered or inclined side wall of the bowl near the hinge axis facilitates the side-tipping of the contents of the bowl. Throughout the specification and the claims (if present), unless the context requires otherwise, the term "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to apply the inclusion of the stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers. Throughout the specification and claims (if present), unless the context requires otherwise, the term "substantially" or "about" will be understood to not be limited to the value for the range qualified by the terms. It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications can be made to any embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

Claims:

1. A wheelbaπow, the wheelbarrow comprising a front wheel, a pair of spaced apart rear wheels, a frame, a bowl mounted relative to the frame and able to be tipped to the side of the wheelbaπow, and a rear handle.

2. The wheelbaπow as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front wheel is a castor wheel.

3. The wheelbarrow as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear wheels are connected by a common axle, and a height adjustment mechanism is provided which can raise or lower the axle relative to a ground surface.

4. The wheelbaπow as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear handle is collapsible.

5. The wheelbarrow as claimed in claim 1, including attachment means to enable the wheelbarrow to be attached to a vehicle such as a ride-on lawnmower.

6. The wheelbarrow as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frame comprises a pair of spaced apart horizontal frame members which support the bowl, one frame member being lower than the other frame member.

7. The wheelbarrow as claimed in claim 6, wherein the bowl is hingedly attached to the lower frame member.

8. The wheelbaπow as claimed in claim 1, comprising at least one lifting handle which is attached to the bowl.