Abstract:
A tool caddy for use with a hand truck having a pair of uprights and carrying a trashcan. The tool caddy includes a pair of articulated arms for engaging and supporting the sides of the trashcan. Each arm has a fixed inner portion with a clasp for releasable securement to an upright of the hand truck. A movable outer portion is positioned adjacent the fixed inner portion and has a free end remote from said the inner portion. A hinge joins the fixed inner portion to the movable outer portion. A flexible tether releasably connects the free end of each movable outer portion together. A tool retainer is secured to each of the articulated arms.

Description:
CONTINUING APPLICATION INFORMATION This application is a continuation-in-part of the application Ser. No. 10/255,687, filed Sep. 27, 2002, now abandoned. 
    
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to hand-propelled, wheeled vehicles and, more particularly, to plural load supports used therewith.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Gardeners have long used trashcans to haul their tools and to collect debris. To further reduce their labors, many gardeners have taken to employing conventional hand trucks and wagons to move tool- and debris-filled trashcans over the ground. Special-purpose dollies have been proposed for the purpose of toting trashcans and long-handled garden tools like rakes, shovels and brooms, but these have not seen widespread acceptance or great commercial success.  
           [0003]    Conventional hand trucks and wagons lack means for securing trashcans in place and for supporting gardening tools remote from a trashcan. Bungee cords are, thus, used to weakly secure a trashcan in place on a hand truck or wagon. Furthermore, gardening tools are often carried along with garden waste in a trashcan positioned on a hand truck or wagon. Unfortunately, tools that are small in size are sometimes buried in the waste, forgotten and discarded.  
           [0004]    Special purpose dollies pose a number of problems for users. Perhaps their principal problem is that trashcans are more-or-less permanently secured thereto, making the emptying of accumulated trash and garden debris a time-consuming and burdensome task. Furthermore, these dollies cannot be converted to normal use whereby items other than trashcans and a few tools can be easily transported. Finally, these dollies are costly and cumbersome in their construction. One does not often see them in use.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    In light of the problems associated with the known products for hauling trashcans and gardening tools around a lawn or garden, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a tool caddy that can be selectively attached to a conventional hand truck such that, in an open configuration, a trashcan and a plurality of tools can be carried by the hand truck for ready use and, in a collapsed configuration, the hand truck can be employed in a normal manner to transport items of any sort.  
           [0006]    It is another object of the invention to provide a tool caddy of the type described that permits a trashcan to be easily attached and detached from the hand truck to which the tool caddy is mounted. Thus, scooping materials into such a trashcan or dumping materials from the trashcan can be accomplished in an unencumbered manner, free of a hand truck. Any tools carried by the tool caddy need not be detached therefrom to attach or detach the trashcan.  
           [0007]    It is a further object of the invention to provide a tool caddy of the type described that can be universally mounted upon hand trucks of many different makes and models. Mounting of the tool caddy can be accomplished with minimal instruction and without tools of any sort. The tool caddy can also be used with trashcans of varied design.  
           [0008]    It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a tool caddy for the purposes described which is lightweight in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and dependable in use.  
           [0009]    Briefly, the tool caddy in accordance with this invention achieves the intended objects by featuring a pair of articulated arms adapted to encircle a trashcan positioned on a hand truck. Each arm has a fixed inner portion with a clasp for releasable securement to an upright of the hand truck. A movable outer portion is positioned adjacent the fixed inner portion and has a free end remote from said the inner portion. A hinge joins the fixed inner portion to the movable outer portion. An elastomeric band releasably connects the free ends of the movable outer portions together and squeezes them against the sides of the trashcan. A number of tool retainers are secured to each of the articulated arms for supporting tools adjacent the trashcan.  
           [0010]    The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    The present invention may be more readily described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a side view of a tool caddy in accordance with the present invention supporting a trashcan on a wheeled dolly.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a front view of the tool caddy, with portions broken away, on a wheeled dolly.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a top view of the tool caddy on a wheeled dolly.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tool retainer used with the wheeled dolly.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a side view of the tool retainer of FIG. 4 with portions broken away to reveal details thereof. 
     
    
       [0017]    Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the accompanying drawings.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]    Referring now to the FIGS., a tool caddy in accordance with the present invention is shown at  10 . Tool caddy  10  includes a pair of articulated arms  12 ,  12 ′ each having a fixed inner portion  14 ,  14 ′ and a movable outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ joined together by a hinge  18 ,  18 ′. Each inner portion  14 ,  14 ′ is releasably affixed to an upright  20 ,  20 ′ of a hand truck  22 . Outer portions  16 ,  16 ′, however, are releasably connected together by a flexible tether  24  so as to hold a trashcan  26  upon hand truck  22 . Outer portions  16 ,  16 ′ are provided with a number of retainers  28  and  30  for suspending tools adjacent trashcan  26 .  
         [0019]    Each inner portion  14 ,  14 ′ has a base plate  32  from the inner end of which two clasps  34  extend. Each clasp  34  has a pair of resilient fingers  36  configured to encircle an upright  20 ,  20 ′ of hand truck  22 . Threaded fasteners, i.e., wing nuts  38 , pass through the free ends of fingers  36  and draw fingers  36  together to tightly grasp uprights  20 ,  20 ′. Opposite fingers  36 , a hinge  18 ,  18 ′ is affixed to the outer end of each inner portion  14 ,  14 ′.  
         [0020]    Each outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ comprises an elongated bar whose length is substantially equal to that of an adjacent side of trashcan  26 . For increased stiffness and strength, the height of each outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ gradually increases toward its inner end being secured to a hinge  18 ,  18 ′. The outer end of each outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ is provided with a hole  40  for attaching flexible tether  24 . During normal use, each outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ swings about a vertical axis established by hinge  18 ,  18 ′ as shown in FIG. 3.  
         [0021]    Flexible tether  24  includes an elastomeric band  42  having hooks  44  secured to its opposite ends. Band  42  is somewhat shorter than that of the adjacent side of trashcan  26  so that it will be placed under tension when connecting arms  12 ,  12 ′ together. Hooks  44  are dimensioned such that they fit easily within holes  40  provided in arms  12 ,  12 ′.  
         [0022]    A pair of tool retainers  28  is secured to each outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ in a spaced-apart relationship. Each of tool retainers  28  includes a pair of jaws  46  and  48  with C-shaped cross-sections that cooperate to encircle the handle of a shovel  50 , a broom  52  or like tool. Preferably, each jaw  46  is affixed to an outer portion  16 ,  16 ′. Each jaw  48 , however, is affixed to a spring hinge  54  that is, in turn, affixed to an outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ adjacent a jaw  48 . A tab  56  extends outwardly from each jaw  48  and permits each jaw  48  to be easily pivoted away from a jaw  46  to open a tool retainer  28 .  
         [0023]    Each spring hinge  54  includes a tubular sleeve defined by a central tube  58  and a pair of end tubes  60  capable of rotational movement relative to central tube  58 . Central tube  58  is affixed to an outer portion  16 ,  16 ′. End tubes  60 , on the other hand, are affixed to a jaw  48 . Positioned within each tubular sleeve is a wound spring  62 . Preferably, spring  62  is attached to both central tube  58  and to at least one of the end tubes  60  in a manner that permits spring  62  to normally urge jaws  46  and  48  toward one another so that a tool can be grasped between them.  
         [0024]    A tool retainer  30  is affixed to each outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ between tool retainers  28 . Tool retainer  30  has a pair of opposed legs  64  joined by a crosspiece  66  in a C-shaped configuration. Legs  64  are welded, or otherwise joined, to an outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ and support crosspiece  66  as a distance from the associated outer portion  16 ,  16 ′. Into the slot  68  formed between crosspiece  66  and outer portion  16 ,  16 ′ can be positioned a tool such as loppers  70 .  
         [0025]    From the foregoing, it should be appreciated that mounting tool caddy  10  on hand truck  22  is straightforward. First, inner portions  14 ,  14 ′ are secured to hand truck  22  proximate the top of trashcan  26  by positioning fingers  36  around uprights  20 ,  20 ′ and tightening wing nuts  38  to hold clasps  34  in place. Next, trashcan  26  is positioned upon hand truck  22  and outer portions  16 ,  16 ′ are pivoted into engagement with the opposite sides of trashcan  26 . Then, hooks  44  at the opposite ends of elastomeric band  42  are extended through holes  40  in outer portions  16 ,  16 ′ to tightly secure trashcan  26  upon hand truck  22 . Although inner portions  14 ,  14 ′ are shown in the FIGS., to be positioned at right angles to outer portions  16 ,  16 ′ when the mounting of tool caddy  10  on hand truck  22  is concluded, outer portions  16 ,  16 ′ can be pivoted forward or back on uprights  20 ,  20 ′ to bring outer portions  16 ,  16 ′ into snug engagement with trashcans having dimensions different from those of trashcan  26 .  
         [0026]    Tools like shovel  50  and broom  52  are slipped into tool retainers  28  to secure such adjacent trashcan  26 . When a tool is needed, it is simply pulled from the associated retainer  28  with jaws  46  and  48  opening as the biasing force of spring  62  is overcome. Other tools, like loppers  70 , are simply inserted into, and withdrawn from, the top of slots  68  within tool retainers  30 .  
         [0027]    Should trashcan  26  become filled with debris during the course of its use, it is hauled on hand truck  22  with little likelihood of spilling (because joined arms  12 ,  12 ′ prevent trashcan upset) to a chosen spot for emptying. Then, flexible tether  24  is disengaged from arms  12 ,  12 ′ and moved to the broken line, flaccid position in FIG. 3. Next, arms  12 ,  12 ′ are pivoted to the broken line position of FIG. 3 where trashcan  26  is released from hand truck  22 . Trashcan  26  is now be emptied in the normal manner. Any tools retained by retainers  28  and  30  need not be disengaged from tool caddy  10  to accomplish this task.  
         [0028]    If it is desired that hand truck  22  be used to move a tree or shrub, trashcan  26  and tools  50 ,  52  and  70  would not be needed and would be set aside. To accomplish this, arms  12 ,  12 ′ would be pivoted rearwardly to a compact stowage position between the wheels  72  and handgrips and  74  of hand truck  22  so as to not engage the shrub (not shown). The shrub would now be positioned on the lifting platform  76  of hand truck  22  and moved without impediment from arms  12 ,  12 ′. Arms  12 ,  12 ′ always remain ready to be extended forwardly for future use in moving trashcan  26  and tools  50 ,  52  and  70 .  
         [0029]    While the invention has been described with a high degree of particularity, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto. For example, tool retainers  28  and  30  can be replaced by any functional equivalent and may be slidably affixed to arms. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.