Abstract:
A dump cart sustainer with a wheeled platform is provided for receiving, holding, transporting, and dumping a large heavy drum holding building materials such as concrete. The sustainer is structured to allow easy release, disposal, and replacement of the drum by receiving the drum in an apertured basket. The apertured basket avoids accumulation of any overflow from the drum and facilitates easy manual grappling and lifting by allowing hands and fingers to grasp the basket. The sustainer has a locking brake, drum clasping mechanism, and pivoting lifting post for the basket.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY CLAIM  
       [0001]    The present application claims the benefit of a priority date based on applicant&#39;s co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application bearing serial No. 60/360,031, filed on Feb. 22, 2002. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    This invention relates to land vehicles, and more particularly to an improved, handle-propelled vehicle having laterally spaced wheels and a tiltable frame body adapted to receive and sustain a removable disposable receptacle in position during dumping.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0005]    Many different kinds of handle-propelled load carriers, known generally by terms such as “hand carts” or “barrows,” have been proposed for use in carrying and dumping heavy loads such as soil, gravel, stones, fertilizers and other materials. One popular design is the conventional wheelbarrow, which comprises a load-carrying receptacle having a single, forwardly located wheel, a pair of feet located underneath a rear part of the receptacle, and a pair of handles extending to the rear. The conventional wheelbarrow has the advantage that its contents can be dumped by tilting the wheelbarrow forward or to either side. However, to propel the wheelbarrow, the operator needs to lift the handles to raise the wheelbarrow&#39;s feet off the ground, and hold the handles in the raised condition while walking forward. With very heavy loads, the wheelbarrow places a considerable strain on the operator, and unless great care is exercised, the wheelbarrow can tip over and/or the operator can sustain serious and debilitating lower back injury while propelling the wheelbarrow.  
           [0006]    Modified wheelbarrows having two laterally spaced wheels have been proposed, but are subject to the same problems that are inherent in the conventional wheelbarrow. Moreover, the modified wheelbarrows have the drawback that if their contents adhere to the receptacle, the receptacle cannot be easily replaced or a full one substituted in its place.  
           [0007]    To facilitate dumping of heavy loads such as mixed wet concrete or cement, for example, hand carts have been designed with receptacles that tilt relative to a frame, and with various mechanisms for facilitating the tilting motion. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,319 B1 issued to Kielinski on Feb. 27, 2001 for a handle-propelled, load-carrying tilting wheelbarrow and U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,701 issued to Brust on Feb. 2, 1982 for a removable container gimbals mounting on a transporting car container.  
           [0008]    Hand carts with laterally spaced wheels have also been designed with the axle of the wheels located behind the center of gravity of the load so that, instead of lifting upward on the handle or handles to propel the cart, the operator pushes downward, thereby avoiding the back strain encountered in operating a conventional wheelbarrow. However, none have been designed with the view that one person operates the vehicle for locomotion and a separate person operates the dumping of the receptacle while the first person holds the vehicle.  
           [0009]    Examples of some of the foregoing hand carts are depicted in the following U.S. patents.  
                                       2,770,491   Perko       2,852,304   Harrison       2,895,238   Long       3,160,439   Kazakowitz       3,888,501   McChesney       4,588,197   Benedetto, Jr.       4,629,203   Ballard       4,632,461   Randolph       4,789,171   Porter       4,861,110   Rumpke       5,149,116   Donze et al.                  
 
           [0010]    The prior art hand carts have all had limitations on the ease with which a load can be transported and dumped and on the re-usability of the receptacle where different types of pre-mixed concrete are ready and waiting in barrels for dumping at specified locations at a construction site. Even in the inventions of Long, Brust and Randolph, limitations resolved by this novel invention are encountered. Long, U.S. Pat. No. 2,895,238, describes a dump scoop having a load-receiving non-disposable, permanent body pivoted on a frame having a handle and rearwardly located wheels. Dumping is carried out by tilting the body on its pivot axis until a front edge of the body engages the ground, and then continuing to tilt the body forward, using a separate handle.  
         OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    A principal object of this invention is to provide a novel dumping hand cart sustainer that has one or more of the following advantages: Operational safety with dumping performed by two persons, ability to handle and dump heavy loads of liquid mixed concrete and cement without difficulty and with a replaceable releasable substitutable receptacle.  
           [0012]    Another object of the novel invention is to provide a dump cart sustainer for receiving a large heavy drum of liquids such as concrete, holding and locking the drum in place, manually transporting the drum in a basket of the sustainer to a work site, the basket being further adapted to hold the drum in place while tilting forward, horizontal, and downward whereby the contents of the drum are emptied while the drum is held on the sustainer.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0013]    The novel handle-propelled, load-carrying dumping cart sustainer comprises a tiltable steel basket frame adapted for receiving an open drum mounted on a movable cart platform. The platform has two front independently pivoting wheels and two rear wheels with braking sprockets, with the rear wheels being mounted on a common axle. The dump cart sustainer frame has a brake made of a rear wheel-engaging pedestal connected to a frame and extending downward therefrom at a location rearward of the axle; and the basket being pivotally connected to the platform by a post and pin structure, preferably adjacent to the front of the platform. The basket is pivotable forwardly and rearwardly about the pin from a hauling position, in which it extends rearwardly from the pin toward the rear of the platform to a dumping position in which it extends upward and forward of the front of the platform and post.  
           [0014]    In a preferred embodiment of the invention, suitable for carrying heavy liquid cement and granular loads, such as sand, gravel, small rocks or the like, the basket receives a removable disposable container. The basket is an aperture with a partially opened bottom, and an opened side wall. A selectively engagable lock is included and essential to the utility of the invention and prevents release of the container from the basket.  
           [0015]    The dump cart sustainer in accordance with the invention not only provides for easy transportation and dumping of granular loads, but is also adaptable to easily repeated reloading with different non-cross mixable loads by changing the disposable removable container.  
           [0016]    Other objects, details and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 is a side view of the novel dump cart sustainer;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 is a rear view of the novel dump cart sustainer;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 is a front view of the novel dump cart sustainer with its basket elevated in a horizontal position;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 is a left side view of the novel dump cart sustainer shown in FIG. 3;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the novel dump cart sustainer; and,  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 is a top view of the novel dump cart sustainer.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0023]    There is shown in FIG. 1 a novel dump cart sustainer  10  having a handle  12 , a platform  14 , a basket  16 , a post  18 , a brake  20 , and a lock  22 . The platform  14  has a transporting means for locomotion of the platform  14  comprising a steering means, for example, the handle  12  operating in conjunction with a pair of front wheels  24  and a pair of rear wheels  26 . The platform  14  has a top and a bottom with the wheels attached to the bottom. The handle  12  is attached to the platform  14  and provides a first operator with a means for steering and holding the sustainer  10  while a second operator tilts and dumps a disposable container  30  (shown in dashed lines) resting in the basket  16 .  
         [0024]    The basket  16  has a locking means for retaining and locking the container  30  inside the basket  16 . This locking means for retaining and locking the container  30  is comprised of the lock  22 . The lock  22  has an adjusting means for adjustment of a clamp  32  to fit over the edge of the container  30  and grasp and clamp down on it.  
         [0025]    Referring to FIG. 2, the brake  20  is comprised of an engaging means for engaging and locking the rear wheels  26 . The wheels  26  are mounted on an axle  34  rotatably attached to the platform  14  via brackets  40  and  42 . Each wheel  26  has a sprocket  44  affixed at its interior. A braking means for braking and holding the sustainer  10  in place comprises the slots  46  in the sprocket  44  attached to the left rear wheel  26  and slots  48  in another sprocket  44  attached to the right rear wheel  26 . The slots  46  and  48  are each equally spaced between teeth in the sprockets  44 .  
         [0026]    A braking bar  50  is suspended underneath the platform  14  with each end thereof suspended in slidable engagement of the sprockets  44  by mounting brackets  52   a  and  52   b.    
         [0027]    The braking bar  50  is made of a cylindrical rod with a member  53  comprising a center elongated portion offset from and separating two integral coaxial portions  54   a  and  54   b.  Further offset from the portions  54   a  and  54   b  are two coaxial ends  56   a  and  56   b  adapted for engaging respective in-line slots  46  and  48  located around sprockets  44  attached to each rear wheel  26  and thereby locking the rear wheels  26 .  
         [0028]    The basket  16  is shown in FIG. 3 tilted to a horizontal position above the platform  14 . The lock  22  is above and connected to the basket  16 . The lock  22  holds and sustains the container  30 , e.g. a drum, on the sustainer  10  as contents of the container  30  are dumped in front of the platform  14 . The clamp  32  engages the edge of the container  30 . The lock  22  attached to the basket  16  has a means for adjustment of the clamp  32  to the height of the rim of the container  30 . The means for adjustment of the clamp  32  may be any of several constructions including a spring loaded lever mechanism such as that similar to a car jack or a screw mechanism such as that used in an adjustable wrench. However, the inventor has determined that the most reliable means for clamping down the rim of the container  30  in the basket  16  comprises a base plate  60  with a deep serrated surface matching a mating serrated surface on an inside face of the clamp  32  as shown in FIG. 1. The base plate  60  is affixed to a bracket  62  attached to the top of the basket  16 . The clamp  32  has its serrated face disengageably pressed into the mated serrations of the plate  60  by means of a bolt  64  threadedly adjustably extended through the bracket  62  and pressing the clamp  32  against the plate  60 . Thus, a position of the clamp  32  relative to the basket  16  and the rim of the container  30  is selected and adjusted.  
         [0029]    The post  18  as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and  6  has a groove  66  at its top adapted to rotatably receive a flange  68  attached to the basket  16 . For example, the flange  68  pivots about a pin  70  for dumping the contents of the container  30  as the basket  16  is elevated, preferably by a second operator at the front of the sustainer  10 . Further, the front wheels  24  employ caster mounts  72  attached to the platform  14  to provide maneuverability to the sustainer  10 .  
         [0030]    The brake  20 , shown in detail in FIG. 5, is mounted on the bottom of the platform  14  by brackets  52   a  and  52   b.  The brackets  52   a  and  52   b  allow an operator to actuate and lock the wheels  26  with the brake  20  by depressing the member  53 . The brake  20  is comprised of a braking bar  50  bent into the shape shown, and as further specified above, to rotate the ends  56   a  and  56   b  into in-line slots  46  and  48  located in the sprockets  44 . As the member  53  is depressed, preferably by an operator&#39;s foot, the braking bar  50  rotates inside the conforming apertures of the brackets  52   a  and  52   b  and engages slots  46  and  48 .  
         [0031]    In FIG. 6 there is shown the basket  16 , made of high strength steel, for example. The bottom of the basket  16  is apertured to allow drainage. Likewise, as shown in FIG. 4, the side of the basket  16  has apertures  80 ,  82 , and  84  to provide a means for grappling and lifting the basket  16 . The side further comprises integral ribs  91 ,  92 ,  93  and  94 , which extend from a bottom rim  95  to a top rim  97  of the basket  16 . The bottom rim  95  has a bottom comprised of at least two crossed integral members  96  and  98 . The post  18  supports the basket  16  via the flange  68 , which is integral to the basket  16 . The flange  68  pivotally attached to the post  18  via the pin  70  is restrained from rotating or pivoting by a means for clamping down the basket  16  and the removable container  30 , for example the lock  22 .  
         [0032]    A critical feature of the sustainer  10  to work properly is that its center of gravity always resides in the platform  14 . Hence, the weight or mass of the platform  14  is at least three times that of the combined mass of the basket  16 , post  18  and filled container  30 . Thus, for a filled container  30  and basket weighing, for example, 150 kg., the combined weight of the platform and the support structures and wheels below it must weigh 450 kg. to 600 kg. This holds true for a wheel diameter ranging from 12.5 c. to 28 cm. with the bottom of the platform  14  about 17 cm. to 35 cm. above the support surface.  
         [0033]    Many other mechanical versions as well as motorized conversions or modifications may be made to a selected component or component set of the novel apparatus described above and all are equivalents within the scope of the invention disclosed without departing from the scope of the invention as a whole as defined in the appended claims.  
       Parts List  
       [0034]    dump cart sustainer  10   
         [0035]    handle  12   
         [0036]    platform  14   
         [0037]    basket  16   
         [0038]    post  18   
         [0039]    brake  20   
         [0040]    lock  22   
         [0041]    front wheel  24   
         [0042]    rear wheel  26   
         [0043]    container  30   
         [0044]    clamp  32   
         [0045]    axle  34   
         [0046]    first rear bracket  40   
         [0047]    second rear bracket  42   
         [0048]    sprocket  44   
         [0049]    slots  46  and  48   
         [0050]    braking bar  50   
         [0051]    mounting bracket  52   a    
         [0052]    mounting bracket  52   b    
         [0053]    member  53   
         [0054]    coaxial portions  54   a  and  54   b    
         [0055]    coaxial ends  56   a  and  56   b    
         [0056]    base plate  60   
         [0057]    bracket  62   
         [0058]    bolt  64   
         [0059]    groove  66   
         [0060]    lange  68   
         [0061]    pin  70   
         [0062]    caster mount  72   
         [0063]    brackets  52   a  and  52   b    
         [0064]    apertures  80 ,  82 , and  84   
         [0065]    integral ribs  91 ,  92 ,  93  and  94   
         [0066]    bottom rim  95   
         [0067]    top rim  97   
         [0068]    crossed integral members  96  and  98