Patent ID: 7168514

Claim:
A materials handling device, comprising: (a) a chassis; (b) an elongated handle shaft mounted to said chassis for use in maneuvering said device; (c) at least one roller rotationally mounted to said chassis and in contact with a surface; (d) at least one battery pack supported on said handle shaft and being configured so as to substantially surround a portion of said handle shaft, said battery pack having a housing which includes a pair of holders being semi-cylindrical in configuration that fit and fasten together to provide said housing with an annular configuration and define a passage through said housing receiving said portion of said handle shaft; (e) a drive unit spaced from said battery pack and mounted to said chassis so as to drivingly engage said roller; and (f) means for electrically connecting said battery pack to said drive unit to supply electrical power to operate said drive unit to transmit a high torque driving output to said roller so that a rotary driving output can then be supplied by said roller to enable said device to thereby move across the surface and to manipulate and move a heavy load.