GB2148208A

GB2148208A - Wheelbarrow handles

Info

Publication number: GB2148208A
Application number: GB08328483A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Henry Berrif Crawford
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-10-25
Filing date: 1983-10-25
Publication date: 1985-05-30
Also published as: GB2148208B; GB8328483D0

Abstract

A wheelbarrow (21) is fitted with loop-type handles (18) having a generally radial stem (19) by which the loop can be attached to an arm (20) of the wheelbarrow. In an alternative embodiment a special purpose wheel barrow is provided with straight arms which are bent into a loop at the end to form a loop-type handle. In each case the loops lie in a generally vertical plane and allow a user to apply manoeuvring forces to the wheelbarrow whilst gripping an appropriate part of the loop with the knuckles of the hand remaining perpendicular to the length of the fore arm thereby minimising the strain exerted on the user's wrists and increasing the ease with which a user may tip the barrow because the hands can slide around the loop handle as the barrow is tipped without requiring a change in orientation of the grip. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Wheelbarrow handles The present invention relates generally to wheelbarrows and particularly to wheelbarrows of the type used by gardeners and contractors and comprising a barrow body mounted on a wheel at or adjacent its forward end, and provided with a pair of arms the ends of which constitute handles by which the barrow may be manually propelled and manipulated.

The handles of such whee!barrows lie at a small angle to the horizontal and when pushing the barrow the user's arms have to be inclined forwardly of the handles to transmit the necessary traction so that generally the wrists are bent. Similarly when stopping the barrow or when wheeling it down an incline, the user's arms are inclined rearwardly of the handles so that the wrists are bent in the reverse direction. Such bending of the wrists puts a significant strain on them, more so than if the wrists could be kept straight when pushing or pulling the barrow. Additionally, when tipping the barrow, the grip on the handles has to be changed from one with thumbs pointing forwardly of the handles to one in which the thumbs extend towards the rear of the handles as these approach a vertical position when the barrow reaches its fully tipped orientation.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved handle for wheelbarrows and an improved wheelbarrow, in which these disadvantages are overcome.

According to one aspect of the invention, the handles of a wheelbarrow are formed as substantially circular loops extending in substantially vertical planes, so that the user's hands may be easily moved around the loops to positions in which the wrists remain substantially unbent when pushing or pulling the barrow. Furthermore, when tipping the barrow, the hands can be slid around the loop as the handles are raised so that the grip does not have to be changed in order to position the hands so as to apply the required tipping force.

In one embodiment of the invention, the free end of each arm of the barrow is bent upwardly, forwardly and downwardly to form a smoothly curved loop constituting a loop-shaped handle. The end of the loop may be joined to the arm to form a closed loop, or may be spaced thereform so that the loop is open. The loops are preferably generally circular although other curves, including irregular curves, may be employed.

Forming the loop by bending the barrow arms upwardly effectively raises the height of the handles so that the barrow arms no longer need to be at the height previously achieved by bends along their length. This enables a barrow body of greater depth to be fitted to the barrow and does not increase production costs since now the arms may be substantially straight.

The barrow arms, and thus also the loop handles, may be made from metal tube.

A particular embodiment of the invention will be described hereinbelow in more detail although it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus instead of bending the barrow arms upwardly to form the loop handles, they may be bent downwardly so that the loops lie below the arms; or they may be formed by bending the arms so that the centres of the loops are approximately aligned with the arms.

Instead of being formed integrally with the arms, the handles may be separate members for attachment to the ends of the arms, whether the arms be made of metal or of wood and the present invention thus also comprehends a wheelbarrow handle adapted to be attached to a wheelbarrow arm and incorporating a substantially loop-shaped handle portion and attachment means by which it can be secured to the end of a wheelbarrow arm.

Two embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a wheelbarrow incorporating loop-handles constituting an embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 2 is a side view of a conventional wheelbarrow having a loop handle constituting an embodiment of the present invention attached thereto.

Referring first to Figure 1 the wheelbarrow shown is largely conventional, comprising a single wheel 11 pivotally attached to a support frame 12 including two elongate support bearers 13 which carry a container 14 and are supported by legs 15 formed as generally V-shape bent tubes.

The arms 13 terminate in upwardly curved loop handles 16 which have a small opening 17. The container 14, as can be seen with reference to Figure 2 which illustrates a conventional wheelbarrow, can be made longer than in a conventional wheelbarrow thereby enabling bulkier, if not heavier, loads to be carried.

In the embodiment of Figure 2 the wheelbarrow illustrated is entirely conventional and has loop handles 18 fitted thereto. The loop handles 18 comprise generally circular slightly open loops with a radially extending system 19 which is fitted into the interior of the tubular handle 20 of a conventional wheelbarrow 21. Bolts or clamps (not shown) secure the stem 19 within the tubular handle 20. Although this adaptation extends the length of the wheelbarrow such extension only serves to increase the manoeuvrability and leverage obtained by the handles.By contrast with the embodiment of Figure 1, which is a purpose built wheelbarrow, the adaptation of Figure 2 still has the restricted carrying capacity of a conventional wheelbarrow, but has the advantage that the wrists of the user can be maintained in a conventional position with the knuckles substantially perpendicular to the length of the arm without requiring rocking and twisting movements and additionally facilitating tipping by allowing the hands to be moved around the loop as the hands 20 are raised.

Further, when the wheelbarrow is being moved downhill, for example, down a sloping lawn or down a ramp, it is much easier to apply tension and control the movement, which is important if there is a heavy load in the container, where in a conventional wheelbarrow the grip on the handles 20 had to be very strong to resist both the twisting of the wrists and the tendency for the handles to slip out of the grasp of the user.

Claims

1. A wheelbarrow having two rearwardly extending arms, in which the end portions of the arms are formed as or provided with handles which the user grasps in use of the barrow, the handles being formed as at least partly circularly curved, loops each of which lies in a respective generally vertical plane.

2. A wheelbarrow as claimed in Claim 1, in which the said handles are each formed as a substantially closed loop.

3. A wheelbarrow as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the circular curve of the handle loop meets the line of the associated arm tangentially.

4. A wheelbarrow as claimed in Claim 2 and Claim 3, in which the arm meets the loop tangentially at the underside of the circular curve of the handle.

5. A wheelbarrow as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the free end of each arm of the barrow is bent upwardly, forwardly and downwardly to form an integral smoothly curved loop constituting a loop-shape handle.

6. A wheelbarrow as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the curve of the loop-shape handle is circular throughout the circumferential length of the handle.

7. A loop-shape handle adapted to be fitted to a wheelbarrow arm, comprising as circularly curved portion and a linear portion extending generally radially of the said circularly curved portion and provided with attachment means for securing the handle to an arm of a wheelbarrow such that the circularly curved loop-shape portion lies in a generally vertical plane including the longitudinal central axis of the wheelbarrow arm.

8. A wheelbarrow handle as claimed in Claim 7, and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

9. A wheelbarrow having loop-shape handles, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, Figure 1 or Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.