A hand truck for carrying stacks of nested trays in the home
A hand truck for carrying stacks of nested trays and other products in the home has a vertically disposed back frame with an upper handle surface, supported for travel by a pair of rearward spaced apart wheels. The back frame provides a pair of side rails joined by horizontal brace rails. The hand truck further has an elongate nose plate pivotally connected to the lower ends of the side rails and foldable from an operable horizontal position to a stowed position swung up to lie in a plane substantially parallel to and adjacent the back frame. The nose plate has a back plate which fits between the side rails when the nose plate is swung up to stowed position. A home member securing to the nose plate and pivotally secured on the interior side of each side rail has a back flange extending angularly outwardly and providing a rigid abutment stop engaging the rear side of the side rail on which it mounts when the nose plate is swung to operative position.
1. In a hand truck for carrying stacks of product containing nested trays and other products and having an elongated generally vertically disposed back frame with an upper handle surface, supported for travel by a pair of rearward spaced apart wheels, the back frame comprising a pair of side rails with upper and lower ends and vertically extending front, rear, interior and exterior sides joined by vertically spaced generally horizontal brace rails, the hand truck further having a pivotally mounted elongate nose plate having an outer edge and pivotally connected to said lower ends of said side rails and foldable from an operable position in which said noseplate extends generally horizontally in a plane substantially perpendicular to said back frame to a stowed position swung up to lie in a plane substantially parallel to and adjacent said back frame, the nose plate having a laterally extending back plate which is vertically disposed when the nose plate is in operative position; the improvement wherein:
a. a home member having a back flange projecting angularly is pivotally secured on each side rail and has a front portion securing to the back plate of the nose plate to pivotally mount said nose plate to said side rails; each back flange extending laterally and providing a rigid vertically extending abutment stop engaging the vertically extending rear side of the side rail when the nose plate is swung to operative position;
b. said home member being pivotally mounted to said side rail at a vertical location to permit said back flange to swing from a generally horizontal position when said nose plate is in operative position to a vertical position when said nose plate is in vertical stowed position.
2. The further improved hand truck of claim 1 wherein said back frame mounts a slide guide between said side rails extending vertically from a position near the upper end of said back frame to the position of the outer edge of the nose plate when the nose plate is in vertical stowed position, and a releasable retainer member is slideable vertically on said guide from a position engageable with the upper tray of a stack of nested trays when the hand truck is in use to a lower dual function position in which said retainer member is engageable with said outer edge of the nose plate when the latter is in stowed position.
3. The further improved hand truck of claim 2 wherein said guide is a shaft on which said retainer member is revolvable, and said retainer member includes a hook swivelable from a forward retaining position to a non-engaging inoperative position.
4. The further improved hand truck of claim 1 in combination with a vertical stack of nested trays having a center of gravity, the nose plate extending forwardly well beyond said center of gravity, and extending laterally in front of said side rails.
5. The further improved hand truck of claim 1 wherein said side rails are generally channel shaped in cross-section and a fastener receiving fitting is received in and interfits with each side rails, each said fitting having a recess therein in its exposed face, a bracket received in each said recess to rigidly interfit therewith, a fastener extending to anchor each said bracket and fitting to each said side rail, and a pivot pin for pivotally securing one of said home members on each said bracket and each said side rail.
6. The further improved hand truck of claim 5 wherein a friction creating spring device is mounted to tend to hold said home member and thereby said nose plate in said nose plate’s stowed and operative positions.
7. The further improved hand truck of claim 1 wherein said home member is generally S-shaped in cross section and incorporates a front flange facially engaging said nose plate back plate.
8. The hand truck of claim 1 wherein said back plate is of a width to fit between said side rails when the nose plate is swung up to stowed position so that said back plate extends generally horizontally between said side rails; each said home member being pivotally secured on the flanges extending laterally outwardly.
9. In a hand truck for carrying stacks of product containing nested trays and other products, and having a generally vertically disposed elongate frame with an upper handle surface supported for travel by a pair of rearward transversely spaced apart wheels mounted on an axle, the frame comprising a pair of side rails, forwardly extending brackets mounted on said axle and extending forwardly to connect to said side rails, said side rails having upper ends and terminating in linear vertical lower ends and providing generally vertical front faces extending in a common substantially vertical plane, and vertically spaced spanning brace rails, the hand truck further having a pivotally mounted forwardly extending elongate nose plate having an outer edge and having an inner edge pivotally connected to said lower ends of said side rails and foldable from an operable position in which said nose plate extends in a plane substantially perpendicular to said lower ends of said siderails to a vertical stowed position swung up to lie in a plane substantially parallel to and forwardly of said front faces of said side rails; the improvement wherein:
a. pivots carried by said side rails are positioned to swing said nose plate from said operable position to said vertical stowed position in which said nose plate is vertically aligned with said side rails and extends in a plane spaced forwardly of said front faces of said side rails.
b. a slide guide is mounted by said frame between said side rails to extend vertically from a position near the upper end of said frame to the vertical position of said outer edge of said nose plate when said nose plate is in stowed position; and
c. a releasable retainer slide member on said slide guide comprises a slide body portion with a forwardly extending portion having a dependent latch portion spaced a predetermined distance forwardly of said side rails forwardly of said plane of said nose plate, said body portion being mounted on said slide guide to slide vertically on said, guide from a position in which said latch portion is engageable with the upper tray of a stack of nested trays when the hand truck is in use to a lower dual function position in which said latch portion is engageable with and latches over said outer edge of the nose plate when the latter is in vertical stowed position.
10. The further improved hand truck of claim 9 wherein said guide is a shaft and said retainer member comprises a hook pivotable on said shaft from a forward hooking position to a non-engaging inoperative position.
11. The further improved hand truck of claim 9 wherein said shaft extends between a pair of said brace rails.
12. A method of constructing an improved hand truck for carrying stacked nested trays and other products comprising:
a. providing a hand truck comprising a generally vertically disposed elongate frame having a pair of side rails, with vertically extending front, rear, interior, and exterior sides and upper and lower ends, joined by vertically spaced generally horizontal side rails spanning the side rails, the hand truck further having an elongate nose plate with an outer end pivotally connected to said lower ends of said side rails and foldable from an operable position in which said nose plate extends in a generally horizontal plane substantially perpendicular to said frame to a vertical stowed position swung up to lie in a plane substantially parallel to said frame, the hand truck further including a laterally extending back plate for said nose plate which is vertically disposed when said nose plate is in operative position and being of a width to fit between said side rails when said nose plate is swung up to stowed position so that it extends rearwardly between said side rails in the stowed position; the improvement comprising:
b. providing a home members having a back flange projecting laterally angularly, to be pivotally secured on the interior side of each side rail, said home member having a front portion adapted to be secured to the said back plate for the nose plate, said back flange extending laterally outwardly for providing a rigid vertically extending abutment stop engaging the vertical rear side of the side rail on which each said home member is mounted when said nose plate is swung down to operative position; and
c. securing said front portion of each said home members to said back plate and pivotally mounting each said home member on said side rail at a vertical location to permit said back flange to swing from a generally horizontal position when said nose plate is in generally horizontal operative position to a vertical position when said noseplate is swung to vertical stowed position.
13. The method of claim 12 comprising pivotally securing said home member by extending a pin bolt through to said side rail and providing a spring washer on said pin bolt to tend to hold said home member and thereby said nose plate in each of its stowed and operative positions.
14. The method of constructing an improved hand truck as defined in claim 12 comprising:
a. mounting a slide guide on said frame between said frame side rails to extend vertically from a position near the upper end of said frame to the position of said outer end of said nose plate when said nose plate is in stowed position; and
b. mounting a releasable retainer hook on said guide so as to be slideable and swivelable thereon, and to be moveable vertically on said guide from a position engageable with the upper tray of a stack of nested trays when the hand truck is in operative position to a lower dual function position in which it is engageable with the outer edge of said nose plate to hold said nose plate in stowed position when said nose plate has been swung up to stowed position.
15. A method of transporting a stack of product containing nested trays including an uppermost tray with a top edge on a two-wheeled hand truck comprising a generally vertically disposed elongate frame having an upper and lower end provided with an upper handle surface and supported for travel by a pair of rearward laterally spaced apart wheels mounted on said axle, the frame comprising a pair of side rails and forwardly extending brackets mounted on said axle and extending forwardly to mount to said side rails, said side rails having upper ends and terminating in linear vertical lower ends, with front, rear, interior, and exterior vertical sides, joined by vertically spaced generally horizontal brace rails, the hand truck further having an elongate nose plate with an outer edge extending forwardly in an operable position beyond the center of gravity of the trays stacked thereon and an inner end so pivotally connected to the linear lower ends of said side rails to be foldable from said operable position in which said nose plate extends in a plane substantially perpendicular to said frame to a vertical stowed position swung up to lie in a vertical plane substantially parallel to and spaced forwardly of said frame, said frame mounting a slide guide laterally between said side rails which extends vertically from a position near said upper end if said frame to the vertical position of said outer edge of said nose plate when said nose plate is in vertical stowed position, and there being a releasable hook retainer member having a dependent latch part spaced forwardly of said front sides of said side rails forwardly of said vertical plane of said nose plate when the nose plate is in stowed position and shiftable vertically on said guide, comprising:
a. loading the stack of nested trays to said nose plate of the hand truck when said nose plate is in operative position;
b. moving said releasable retainer hook member on said guide to a position above the stack of trays and lowering it to a position in which said latch part hooks over the top edge of the uppermost tray to retain said stack of trays when said stack of trays when said frame is tilted for transport;
c. transporting said stack and when said stack of trays has been transported, raising said latch part of said hook member to release said upper end of said stack of trays;
d. unloading said stack of trays from said nose plate; and
e. swinging said nose plate upwardly to a vertical stowed position and lowering said hook member along said slide guide and positioning said latch part to hook over said outer edge of the stowed nose plate and hold it in stowed position.
Packaged baked goods are often placed in large, open-topped transport trays which are designed to be stackable in nested relation, one upon the other, while leaving sufficient room between adjacent trays to accommodate the baked goods. Such trays typically are several feet across in width and length and are fairly shallow in height. While a person is able to carry a few stacked trays by hand, it becomes much more difficult to handle the trays in this manner when a large and heavier stack of trays is involved.
The current practice for handling such large stacks of trays in the baked goods industry, to applicant’s knowledge, is to load them onto the platform of a fork-lift truck, or onto a four-wheeled floor cart. However, the presently used equipment is fairly large and cumbersome when it comes time to store it, and when used to transport trays aboard a congested delivery vehicle of the type which is commonly used to deliver the baked goods to market. More maneuverable, conventional, two-wheeled hand trucks are not equipped to handle large stacks of such trays. Typically, the nose plate of such two-wheeled hand trucks extends forwardly of the side rails of the hand truck a distance far short of what is required to support such trays in a stable manner, and the trays would tip forwardly off the truck.
The invention is concerned with a two-wheeled hand truck having a nose plate that extends sufficiently forwardly of the side rails of the truck to support a stack of large baked goods trays in a stable fashion, and further provides a vertically positionable tray hook which is extendable from the frame of the truck to engage the edge of the top-most tray nearest the frame to secure the stack against forward tipping when it is supported on the nose plate. The vertical adjustment capability of the tray hook enables the hand truck to accommodate stacks of trays of different height, with the hook being moveable to any position along the frame to engage the uppermost tray.
The large nose plate and tray hook cooperate to provide the proper support and stability to the stack of trays which enables the operator to handle them in a safe and efficient manner.
According to another feature of the invention, the nose plate is mounted on a novel, frame-braced, rigidified hinge assembly and may be folded to a flush position against the frame when not in use. The tray hook uniquely has the capability of being moved from upper tray engaging position to a position to engage the end of the nose plate to secure it releasably in the folded position, lending further utility to the tray hook. The folded nose plate makes the hand truck more compact, enabling it to be more readily stored in a confined space, such as the cargo compartment of a delivery truck, or flush against a wall in a manufacturing or store setting, unlike the fork lift truck and four-wheeled cart mentioned previously.