Abstract:
A tool caddy including a pair of hinged arms for encircling a trashcan. A mounting bracket is hingedly secured to the inner end of each of the hinged arms for releasably securing the arm to a hand truck. A pair of cooperating locking elements is positioned at the outer ends of the hinged arms for releasably joining the hinged arms together. At least one clip is secured to one of the hinged arms for releasably grasping and carrying a tool.

Description:
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 still another object of the invention to provide a tool caddy that permits the location of the tools carried thereby to be varied somewhat so as to accommodate one another without binding.  
           [0009]    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.  
           [0010]    Briefly, the tool caddy in accordance with this invention achieves the intended objects by featuring a pair of hinged arms adapted to encircle a trashcan. Each of the hinged arms has an inner portion hingedly secured to an outer portion. A pair of mounting brackets is provided for releasably securing the hinged arms to a hand truck. Each of the mounting brackets is hingedly secured to the inner portion of one of the hinged arms. Each of the mounting brackets has a strap for encircling one of a pair of hand truck uprights and a threaded fastener penetrating the strap and retaining the strap in an upright-encircling condition. A pair of cooperating locking elements is positioned on the outer portions of the hinged arms for releasably joining the hinged arms together. A number of clips is secured to the hinged arms for releasably grasping at least an equal number of tools.  
           [0011]    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  
       [0012]    The present invention may be more readily described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a side view of a tool caddy in accordance with the present invention supporting a trashcan on a wheeled dolly.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a front view of the tool caddy, with portions broken away, on a wheeled dolly.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a top view of the tool caddy on a wheeled dolly.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a tool-carrying clamp used with the wheeled dolly. 
     
    
       [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 hinged arms  12  and  14  that may be releasably secured to a hand truck  16  by means of mounting brackets  18  and  20  at the inner ends of arms  12  and  14 . The outer ends of arms  12  and  14  are provided with cooperating locking elements  22  and  24  that permit arms  12  and  14  to be releasably joined together in a U-shaped arrangement so as to encircle a trashcan  26  on lifting platform  28  of hand truck  16 . Each of arms  12  and  14  carries a pair of clips  30  for releasably grasping garden tools like a shovel  32  and a rake  34 .  
         [0019]    Hinged arm  12  includes an inner portion  36  secured by means of a hinge  38  to an outer portion  40 . As shown, portions  36  and  40  are rigid bars of substantially equal length. Hinge  38  permits portions  36  and  40  to be positioned at any angle within a range of motion approaching three hundred and sixty degrees. Another hinge  42  secures portion  36  to mounting bracket  18  and permits portion  36  to be positioned relative to mounting bracket  18  at any angle within virtually a 360° range of motion.  
         [0020]    Hinged arm  14  includes an inner and outer portions  44  and  46  secured together by a hinge  48 . Portions  44  and  46  are rigid bars of substantially equal length. Hinge  48  permits portions  44  and  46  to be positioned at any angle within a range of motion of about three hundred and sixty degrees. Another hinge  50  secures portion  44  to mounting bracket  20  and permits portion  44  to be positioned relative to mounting bracket  20  at any angle within nearly a 360° range of motion.  
         [0021]    Mounting brackets  18  and  20  include base plates  52  and  54  to the outer ends of which hinges  42  and  50  are respectively secured. Extending from the inner ends of base plates  52  and  54  are pairs of straps  56  and  58  that are folded back upon base plates  52  and  54  and secured by means of threaded fasteners, i.e., wing nuts  60  and  62  so as to form loops as at  64  and  66 . Loops  64  and  66  are sized to snugly encircle and grasp the twin uprights  68  of hand truck  16 .  
         [0022]    Cooperating locking elements  22  and  24  define a simple latch. As shown, locking element  22  comprises a lever  70  secured to the front of a retaining pin  72  that is free to rotate with respect to outer portion  46 . Locking element  24 , however, is a slot in outer portion  40  that is sized, shaped and positioned for the full passage of horizontally oriented lever  70  only when outer portions  40  and  46  are brought into abutment with one another as illustrated in the FIGS. After the passage of lever  70  through slot  24 , lever  70  can be rotated to a vertical orientation that will prevent its passage through slot  24  and will selectively secure outer portions  40  and  46  together.  
         [0023]    Each of clips  30  includes a pair of jaw members  74  and  76  that are pivotally secured together by a pivot pin  78 . A spring  80  coiled around pivot pin  78  and engaging jaw members  74  and  76  biases the outer ends of jaw members  74  and  76  against one another so that the handle of a tool like shovel  32  or broom  34  can be grasped therebetween. The inner end of jaw member  74  is provided with a pair of inwardly directed lips  82  between which can be grasped the top and bottom surfaces of a guide rail  84 . Lips  82  are free to slide along a guide rail  84  affixed to one of the inner portions  36  and  44  of arms  12  and  14  extending along the length thereof.  
         [0024]    From the foregoing, it should be appreciated that mounting tool caddy  10  on hand truck  16  is straightforward. First, trashcan  26  is positioned upon hand truck  16 . Then, locking elements  22  and  24  are mated so as to join outer portions  40  and  46  together. Finally, mounting brackets  18  and  20  are secured to hand truck  16  proximate the top of trashcan  26  by wrapping straps  56  and  58  around uprights  68  and tightening wing nuts  60  and  62  to hold loops  64  and  66  in place. Although mounting brackets  18  and  20  are shown in the FIGS. to be positioned parallel to outer portions  40  and  46  when the mounting of tool caddy  10  is concluded, brackets  18  and  20  can be pivoted forward or back on uprights  68  to bring outer portions  40  and  46  into snug engagement with trashcans having dimensions different from those of trashcan  26 .  
         [0025]    Tools like shovel  32  and broom  34  are simply pressed into clips  30  carried by arms  12  and  14  to secure such adjacent trashcan  26 . If the tools prove to be too close to one another, they may be moved apart by sliding clips  30  along guide rails  84  to more suitable locations. When a tool is needed, it is simply pulled from the associated clip  30  with jaw members  74  and  76  opening as the biasing force of spring  80  is overcome.  
         [0026]    Should trashcan  26  become filled with lawn and garden debris during the course of its use, it can be hauled on hand truck  16  with little likelihood of spilling (because joined arms  12  and  14  prevent trashcan upset) to a chosen spot for emptying. Then, locking elements  22  and  24  can be released from one another and arms  12  and  14  pivoted to the broken line position of FIG. 3 where trashcan  26  is released from hand truck  16 . Trashcan  26  can now be emptied in the normal manner. Any tools retained by clips  20  need not be disengaged from tool caddy  10  to accomplish this task.  
         [0027]    If it is desired that hand truck  10  be used to move a tree or shrub, for example, trashcan  26  would not be needed and would be set aside. Arms  12  and  14  would, then, be collapsed upon themselves with portions  36  and  40  as well as  44  and  46  being placed in abutment with one another. Next, the collapsed arms  12  and  14  would be pivoted rearwardly to a compact stowage position beneath the wheels  86  and handgrips  88  of hand truck  16  so as to not engage the shrub (not shown). The shrub would now be positioned on the lifting platform  28  of the hand truck  16  and moved without impediment from arms  12  and  14 . Arms  12  and  14  always remain ready to be extended forwardly for future use in moving trashcan  26  and tools  32  and  34 .  
         [0028]    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, clips  30  may be replaced by any functional equivalent and may be rigidly affixed to arms  12  and  14  or permitted to move along the length of arms  12  and  14  as may be desired by a user. 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.