Patent Publication Number: US-10322736-B1

Title: Wheelbarrow fixer bracket assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Statement Regarding Federally Sponsored Research or Development 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to bracket devices and more particularly pertains to a new bracket device for improving the performance of a wheelbarrow. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a wheelbarrow that has a bucket, a pair of handles, a pair of supports each extending between a respective one of the handles and the bucket, and a wheel that is rotatably coupled between the handles. A bracket is coupled between each of the supports. The bracket inhibits each of the handles from moving laterally away from the wheel. Thus, a nose piece that extends between the handles may be removed from the wheelbarrow. In this way the wheelbarrow may be rolled along the ground without having the nose piece engaging the ground and tipping the wheelbarrow. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a bracket of a wheelbarrow bracket assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a top phantom view of a bracket of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 4  thereof, a new bracket device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 4 , the wheelbarrow bracket assembly  10  generally comprises a wheelbarrow  12  that has a bucket  14 , a pair of handles  16  and a pair of supports  18  that extend between a respective one of the handles  16  and the bucket  14 . Additionally, the wheelbarrow  12  includes a wheel  20  that is rotatably coupled between the handles  16  and each of the supports  18  is aligned with the wheel  20 . The wheelbarrow  12  may be a single wheeled wheelbarrow  12  of any conventional design. 
     A bracket  22  is coupled between each of the supports  18  and the bracket  22  inhibits each of the handles  16  from moving laterally away from the wheel  20 . The bracket  22  facilitates a nose piece  24  that extends between the handles  16 , in front of the wheel  20 , on conventional wheelbarrows to be removed. Thus, the wheelbarrow  12  may be rolled along the ground without the risk of the nose piece  24  engaging the ground and tipping the wheelbarrow  12 . In this way the function of conventional wheelbarrows is improved with the addition of the bracket  22  and the removal of the nose piece  24 . Alternatively, the wheelbarrow  12  may be manufactured with the bracket  22  in place of the nose piece  24 . 
     The bracket  22  comprises a first member  26  that has a first surface  28 . The first member  26  extends between each of the supports  18  having the first surface  28  abutting a back side  30  of the supports  18 . Moreover, the first member  26  is horizontally oriented and is positioned between the wheel  20  and the bucket  14 . The first member  26  is comprised of a rigid material such as steel or the like. 
     The bracket  22  includes a second member  32  that has a primary end  34 , a secondary end  36  and a primary surface  38  extending therebetween. The second member  32  has a plurality of bends  40  thereon and the bends  40  are spaced apart from each other and are distributed between the primary end  34  and the secondary end  36 . Moreover, the bends  40  define a pair of first portions  42  of the second member  32  that is each offset with respect to a plurality of second portions  44  of the second member  32 . Each of the first portions  42  defines a pair of recesses  46  on the primary surface  38 . 
     The primary surface  38  of the second member  32  abuts the first surface  28  of the first member  26  having each of the supports  18  being positioned in a respective one of the recesses  46 . In this way each of the supports  18  is laterally restrained on the second member  32 . A plurality of fasteners  48  is provided and each of the fasteners  48  extends through the first member  26  and engages the second member  32 . Each of the fasteners  48  compresses the first member  26  and the second member  32  on the supports  18  thereby retaining the bracket  22  on the supports  18 . Each of the fasteners  48  may comprise a nut and a bolt or other similar, releasable fastener. 
     In an alternative embodiment  50  as shown in  FIG. 4 , a panel  52  may be provided and the panel  52  may be attached between each of the supports  18 . Each of the handles  16  may have a first end  54  and the wheel  20  may be aligned with the first end  54  of each of the handles  16 . A pair of end caps  56  may be provided and each of the end caps  56  may be positioned on the first end  54  of a respective one of the handles  16 . Each of the end caps  56  may be comprised of a resiliently compressible material such as rubber or the like. 
     In use, the nosepiece  24  on the wheelbarrow  12  is removed from the handles  16  and each of the handles  16  is cut such that each of the handles  16  terminates at a point that is aligned with a leading edge of the wheel  20 . The first member  26  is positioned to extend between the supports  18  and abut the back side  30  of the supports  18 . The second member  32  is positioned a front side  58  of the supports  18  such that each of the supports  18  is positioned in a respective one of the recesses  46  on the second member  32 . The fasteners  48  are extended through the first  26  and second  32  members thereby retaining each of the first  26  and second  32  members on the supports  18 . Removing the nose piece  24  and shortening the handles  16  eliminates the risk of the nose piece  24  or the handles  16  from engaging the ground when the wheelbarrow  12  is rolled along the ground. In this way the wheelbarrow  12  is inhibited from nose diving or tipping over resulting from the nose piece  24  or the handles  16  engaging the ground. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.