Drum Handling Device

Abstract

Combined drum truck and drain rack having two wheels at one end of the truck supporting the truck frame to extend beyond the wheels in opposite directions, with a hollow cradle beam extending at an angle with respect to the frame and braced to the frame and having drum cradles at each end of the frame. The cradles are adapted to support a drum for transportation from place to place and for rotation about its periphery to position the drain opening of the drum in a drain position, when the frame is tilted into position to drain fluid from the drum. A leg pivoted to the cradle beam is provided to support the frame and beam in a drain position. A slip handle carrying a pair of gripping jaws is telescopically fitted in the hollow beam with the gripping jaws disposed above the drum. The slip handle may be moved downwardly within the beam to engage the gripping jaws carried thereby within and beneath the bead of the drum and tilt the frame upwardly and thereby lift the drum about the axes of the wheels and transport the drum from place to place.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Combined drum truck and drain rack of the type found in class 214.

BACKGROUND, SUMMARY AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

Hand operated drum trucks have previously been provided with gripping jaws operable to grip beneath and within the bead of a drum and lift the drum above the ground by tilting of the truck. One such truck is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,272,447, dated Feb. 10, 1942.

Such gripping devices as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,272,447 and in the Ericson et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,698,107 and 2,814,403 have come into general use and have been very satisfactory, but are too complicated and expensive to be used on simple two-wheeled drum lifting and transporting trucks, and are not adapted for utilizing with a drum lifting and transporting truck which may also serve as a drain rack for the drum.

The device of the present invention is an improvement on the prior art drum lifting and transporting devices in that a simple form of two-wheeled drum truck is positionable by a telescopic handle and gripping jaws to lift and transport a drum, and is also positionable by the use of the handle into a drain position, to drain liquid therefrom upon removal of the handle.

The advantages of the present invention are in the telescopic handle and in the simplicity and effectiveness of the gripping jaws for gripping and lifting the drum mounted on the handle in which the jaws may be released from the drum and the handle may be removed from the truck out of the way of the drain for the drum when the drum is in a drain position.

A further advantage of the present invention is that by the use of a movable handle carrying the gripping jaws, a two-wheeled truck may be used for lifting and transporting a drum and for positioning the drum into a position to accommodate the drainage of liquid from the drum.

Still another advantage of the invention is in the simplicity of the gripping mechanism carried by the handle coming into gripping engagement beneath and within the bead of the drum, by the simple operation of moving the handle along its socket towards the drum.

A further advantage of the invention is in the simplicity of the gripping jaws arranged to securely hold a heavy drum, and eliminating the complicated camming and leverage arrangements heretofore used for drum gripping devices.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drum truck constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention showing the truck in position to transport a drum.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the truck in a drain position.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the telescopic handle shown in FIG. 1 and drawn to an enlarged scale.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the handle and clamping jaws showing the handle telescoping within the cradle bar of the truck with the gripping jaws positioned beneath the bead of the drum.

FIG. 5 is a view somewhat similar to FIG. 4, but showing the handle moved downwardly to bring a movable gripping jaw into engagement with the bead of the drum.

FIG. 6 is a view somewhat similar to FIGS. 4 and 5, and showing the handle in the further telescoped position relative to the cradle bar and positioning the clamping jaws within and without the bead of the drum.

FIG. 7 is a view showing the handle tilted about the axes of the wheels for the truck and completely telescoped relative to the cradle bar, with the jaws in gripping engagement with the bead of the drum.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a modified form of clamping jaw arrangement; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the jaws of FIG. 8 in gripping engagement with the bead of a drum.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF INVENTION

In FIG. 1 of the drawings, we have shown a drum truck and drain rack 10, constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention including a truck frame having a pair of parallel spaced frame members 11 connected together at their rear ends by a cross frame member 12 and at their forward ends by a cradle 13 generally V-shaped in form and diverging toward the center of the cradle. The cradle 13 has rollers 15 journalled thereon rotatable about an axis of a drum 16 and having supporting engagement with the drum, accommodating rotatable movement of the drum with respect thereto.

A cradle bar 17 extends rearwardly along the truck from the center of the cradle 13 at an angle with respect to the side frame members 11, shown in FIG. 1 as being upwardly inclined relative to the ground when the truck is in a drum transporting position, said cradle bar 17 has cradle arms 19 extending angularly upwardly from opposite sides thereof forming supports for rollers 20 rotatable about axes in alignment with the axes of rotation of the rollers 15 and having supporting engagement with the drum 16 in spaced relation with respect to the rollers 15, to support said drum for turning movement to position a drain opening 21 of said drum into a drain position when the frame 11 is tilted into the drain position shown in FIG. 2, as will hereinafter more clearly appear as this specification proceeds.

The frame 11 is supported on wheels 22, which may have hard rubber tires 23. The wheels are journalled on a transverse shaft 25 mounted at its ends in bosses 26 depending from the bottom of the frame members 11. The cradle bar 17 is hollow and is shown as being generally rectangular in form, although it need not necessarily be rectangular, and is braced to the side frame members 11 by braces 27 extending from the insides of the frame members 11 angularly toward each other and converging to opposite sides of the cradle bar 17 and welded or otherwise secured to said cradle bar, and to the frame members 11. The cradle bar 17 has a support leg 29 pivoted between ears 30 depending from the bottom of said cradle bar and disposed adjacent the cradle arms 19 and forming a support for said cradle bar, supporting said cradle bar and the cradles 13 and 19 and rollers 15 and 20, respectively in the drain position shown in FIG. 2, upon tilting of the frame 11 to be supported on the rear ends of the side frame members 11 and said support leg. When the truck is tilted into a drain position, a handle 31 therefor is removed and the drum is turned with its drain opening 21 at the low part of the drum. A spigot (not shown) may then be secured to the drain opening of the drum to accommodate ready draining of the contents thereof.

Referring now in particular to the handle 31, which will hereinafter be termed a slip fit handle, said handle is shown as slidably carried in the cradle bar 17, and as being generally rectangular in cross section, to generally conform to a hollow interior portion 32 of the hollow cradle bar 17. The slip fit handle 31 has an enlarged shouldered portions 33 engaging the end of the cradle bar 17 when in the innermost position of said handle with respect to said cradle bar. The outer end portion of the slip handle 31 has a handle bar 35 secured thereto as by welding or other securing means and forming a gripping means for the hands of the operator of the drum truck.

Disposed above the shouldered stops 33 of the slip handle 31 are a pair of parallel spaced stationary ears 36, extending outwardly from said handle over the head of a drum 16. Said ears each have a stationary clamping jaw 37 depending therefrom, in position to extend within a bead 39 of the drum 16 when the rollers 15 and 20 of the cradles 13 and 19 are in engagement with the cylindrical side wall of the drum.

Pivoted between the ears 36 adjacent the upper end thereof on a pivot pin 40, the axis of which extends inwardly of the bead of the drum 16 over the head of the drum, is an ear 41 extending outwardly of an elongated clamping jaw 43 intermediate the ends of said bar. A stop 42 positions the clamping jaw 43 to come into engagement with the top of the bead 39 of the drum upon downward movement of the slip handle 31. Said clamping jaw is biased into engagement with said stop by a tension spring 44 connected at one end to the slip handle 31 on a connector 45 and at its opposite end to the clamping jaw 43 on a connector 46.

The clamping jaw 43 is in the form of an elongated bar having a bottom camming surface 47 inclined downwardly from its outer to its inner end at a relatively slight camming angle, to be forced outwardly against the spring 44 as forced into engagement with the bead of the drum upon telescopic movement of the slip handle 31 within the cradle bar 17. The jaw 43 has a lower recessed portion 48 facing the bead of the drum 16, the lower end of which is defined by a lip 49 extending thereacross above the camming surface 47. The recessed portion 48 converges from the inner margin of the lip 49 to the plane of the bar along a uniform elongated curve of sufficient length and curvature to accommodate the stationary jaw 37 to be moved downwardly within the bead of the drum to the drum head. The spring 44 will then engage the lip or gib 49 beneath the bead of the drum, and thereby effect lifting of the drum and holding the drum to the rollers 15 and 20 of the respective cradles 13 and 19, as the cradle bar 17 is tilted into a carrying position, to accommodate moving of the truck and drum along the ground from place to place, by an operator gripping the handle bar 35 with the hands.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 illustrate the sequence of operation of the gripping jaws 37 and 43 to grip within and beneath the bead of the drum to effect lifting thereof upon downward sliding movement of the slip handle and tilting of the lift truck about the axes of the wheels 22. In FIG. 4, the telescopic handle 31 has been inserted in the hollow interior portion 32 of the cradle bar 17 and the rollers 15 and 20 of the respective cradles 13 and 19 have been engaged with the peripheral surface of the drum. The handle 31 is then moved downwardly to engage the inclined camming under-surface 47 of the jaw 43 with the bead of the drum, and effect camming movement of the jaw 43 outwardly to pass along the outside of the bead of the drum. As the jaw 43 moves downwardly along the outside of the bead of the drum into the position shown in FIG. 6, the jaws 37 and 43 are in position to have clamping engagement with the drum. The truck is then tilted about the axes of the wheels by the handle bar 35 and slip handle 31 to lift the bottom of the drum above the ground. Continued movement of the slip handle 31 downwardly along the hollow interior portion 32 of the cradle bar 17 will bring the shoulders 33 into engagement with the top of the cradle bar 17. The gripping action is attained by the weight of the drum on the lip 49 and the tension spring 44 closing the jaws 37 and 43 to grippingly engage within and beneath the bead of the drum as the drum slides downwardly along the cradle bar and rollers 15 and 20 on the respective cradles. The drum may then be transported from place to place and deposited in an upright position for storage or may be placed in the drain position shown in FIG. 2 for draining the contents of said drum as the drum is turned to position the drain 21 in the drum head in the low portion of the drum.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, we have shown a modified form of clamping jaw arrangement from that shown in FIGS. 1 through 7. In this form of clamping jaw arrangement, an ear 50 is welded or otherwise secured to the slip handle 31 and has a downwardly and inwardly extending jaw 51 engageable within the bead of a drum. Jaws 53 are pivotally connected to opposite sides of the ear 50 adjacent the outer end thereof on a transverse pivot pin 54. The jaws 53 extend downwardly and inwardly of the pivot pin 54 along the outsides of the slip handle 31 and have an outwardly hooked lower end portion 55, the undersurface of which forms a curved camming surface 56 camming the jaws 53 to the outside of the bead of the drum as the slip handle 31 is moved downwardly, and accommodating said jaws to come beneath the bead of the drum as the slip handle 31 is lowered along the cradle bar 17, and to come into clamping engagement with the bead of the drum as the truck and cradle bar are tilted and continued pushing on the slip handle causes the drum to slide downwardly along the rollers 15 and 20 of the respective cradles 13 and 19. A tension spring 57 is connected between the slip handle 31 and the outer end portion of a handle 59 for the jaws 53. The handle 59 extends from the clamping jaws 53 and is welded or otherwise secured thereto on the opposite side of the pivot pin 54 from hooked portions of said jaws. The tension spring is provided to bring the clamping surfaces of the jaws 53 beneath the bead of the drum and come into position to lift and hold the drum to the truck as the slip handle 31 is moved downwardly to engage the shouldered portion or collar 33 with the end of the cradle bar 17.

It may be seen from the foregoing that a simplified form of drum truck has been provided which when carrying the drum is tilted in one direction, and which may be converted to a drain rack by tilting in an opposite direction, and removing the slip handle and supporting the end of the rack adjacent the leg 29 on said leg and on the rear ends of the frame members 11, and then turning the drum on the rollers 15 and 20 until its drain opening 21 is at the lower part of the drum, as shown in FIG. 2.

Claims

We claim as our invention:

1. In a drum truck and drain rack,

a frame having a pair of wheels at one end thereof forming a tiltable support therefor,

a cradle bar extending along the center of said frame beyond the rear end thereof,

drum cradles spaced along said bar adjacent opposite ends thereof,

said cradles supporting a drum for transportation and for rolling movement about its axis into a drain position,

a handle telescopically mounted relative to said cradle bar,

gripping means carried by said handle and positioned to come beneath and within the bead of a drum in position along said cradle upon telescopic movement of said handle relative to said cradle bar, and to positively grip the bead of the drum for transportation upon tilting movement of said truck and cradle bar into a drum transporting position, and comprising a stationary gripping jaw extending from said handle over the bead of a drum when positioned against said cradles and a movable gripping jaw pivoted to the stationary gripping jaw and yieldably retained in position to engage the top surface of the drum as said handle is telescopically moved relative to said cradle bar and having a bottom surface camming said movable gripping jaw outwardly to engage beneath the bead of a drum upon continued downward movement of said handle.

2. The drum truck and drain rack of claim 1, wherein the bottom camming surface of the movable clamping jaw is downwardly and outwardly inclined relative to the bead of the drum and has an inwardly recessed lip spaced above said camming surface and having gripping engagement beneath the bead of the drum upon tilting movement of said truck and telescopic movement of said handle into an extreme downward position.

3. The drum truck and drain rack of claim 2,

wherein the movable clamping jaw is in the form of an elongated bar having an ear extending outwardly therefrom,

wherein the pivot pin pivotally connects said ear to said stationary clamping jaw adjacent the upper end thereof inwardly of the bead of the drum, and spring means connected between said handle and clamping bar bias said movable clamping jaw toward said stationary clamping jaw and accommodate camming movement of said movable clamping jaw to pass along the outside of the bead of the drum and therebeneath upon engagement of said stationary clamping jaw within the bead of the drum.

4. The drum truck and drain rack of claim 2, wherein a pair of parallel ears extend outwardly of said handle and a stationary clamping jaw depends from each ear and is positioned by said ears to come within the bead of a drum as said cradle bar is in position to engage said cradles with the periphery of the drum, and stop means extend between said ears to limit inward movement of said movable clamping jaw into position to engage the top of the bead of the drum upon downward telescopic movement of said handle within said cradle bar.

5. The drum truck and drain rack of claim 1,

wherein the stationary clamping jaw is positioned to extend within the bead of a drum and the movable clamping jaw is transversely pivoted to said stationary clamping jaw in vertically spaced relation with respect to the head of the drum and inwardly of the bead of the drum when the drum is on said cradles, and

wherein the movable clamping jaw is of a generally hook-like form having a curved undersurface and a hook-like upper surface, the undersurface forming a camming surface camming said jaw outwardly of the bead of a drum upon telescopic lowering movement of said handle, and a bead engaging lip spaced above said undersurface, and

wherein spring means bias the bead engaging lip to engage beneath the bead of the drum to cooperate with said stationary clamping jaw, and lift the drum for transportation on said lift truck.

6. The drum truck and drain rack of claim 4,

wherein a handle extends from said movable clamping jaw and is secured thereto in outwardly spaced relation with respect to the pivot thereof and extends upwardly from said pivot, and

wherein spring means connected between said handle and said handle of said movable clamping jaw bias said movable clamping jaw toward said stationary jaw and into engagement beneath the bead of the drum upon telescopic movement of said handle within said cradle bar.

7. The drum truck and drain rack of claim 1,

wherein a lug extends inwardly of said handle and has the stationary gripping jaw extending downwardly therefrom positioned by said lug to come within the bead of the drum upon lowering movement of said handle along said cradle bar,

wherein two movable clamping jaws are provided and extend along and downwardly of said lug,

wherein a common pivot pin is provided to pivot said movable clamping jaws to said lug at the upper end thereof,

wherein a hand lever extends upwardly of said movable clamping jaws along said telescopic handle,

wherein a spring connected between said telescopic handle and hand lever biases said movable clamping jaws toward said stationary jaw, and

wherein said movable clamping jaws are of a hook-like form having an undercamming surface cammed outwardly upon downward movement of said handle along said cradle bar to pass along the outside of the drum when in position in engagement with said cradle and have hook-like gripping portions facing the bead of the drum and having clamping engagement with the bead of the drum in cooperation with said stationary clamping jaw to clamp the drum to said cradles for transportation from place to place.

8. The drum truck and drain rack of claim 1,

wherein the cradle bar extends at an acute angle with respect to said frame, and is braced thereto, and

wherein a leg is pivotally mounted on said cradle bar adjacent the rear end thereof and cooperates with the rear end of said frame to support the drum in a tilted position opposite to its transporting position and to accommodate draining of fluid from said drum upon removal of said slip handle.

9. The drum truck and lifting device of claim 8, wherein said cradles have rollers thereon rotatable about axes parallel to the axis of said drum to accommodate turning movement of said drum when said cradle bar is in its drain position to turn the drain opening in said drum into a draining position.

10. In a slip fit handle for drum trucks and the like and in combination with a drum truck and drain rack having a hollow cradle bar extending along the center thereof, and drum supporting cradles adjacent each end thereof,

said handle having telescopic movement with said cradle bar and having a lug extending inwardly therefrom over the head of a drum when the drum is resting on the ground and said cradles are against the periphery of the drum,

said lug having a stationary gripping jaw extending downwardly therefrom inwardly of the bead of the drum toward the head thereof,

a movable clamping jaw comprising an elongated bar having a lug extending therefrom intermediate the ends thereof,

a pivot pin pivotally connecting said lug to said first-mentioned lug adjacent the upper outer end portion thereof,

spring means biasing said movable clamping jaw toward said stationary clamping jaw,

said movable clamping jaw having a bottom inclined camming surface engageable with the top of the bead of the drum and cooperating therewith to cam said movable clamping jaw outwardly relative to the bead of the drum upon downward telescopic movement of said handle within said hollow cradle bar,

said movable clamping jaw also having a lip extending inwardly therefrom and spaced above said camming surface, and a recessed portion extending from said lip and gradually converging to the other surface of said clamping jaw and providing a clamping recess, and

said lip having clamping engagement beneath the bead of the drum upon movement of said telescopic handle downwardly and tilting of said cradle bar to position said cradle bar and truck in a drum transporting position.

11. The slip fit handle of claim 10, including a stop collar on said handle beneath said clamping jaws and engageable with the top of said hollow cradle bar when said truck and cradle bar are in drum transporting positions.

12. The slip fit handle of claim 11, wherein two stationary clamping jaws extend from said handle in parallel relation with respect to each other and said movable clamping jaw is pivoted between said stationary clamping jaws adjacent the upper ends thereof inwardly of the gripping portions thereof.

13. The slip fit handle of claim 11,

wherein two movable clamping jaws extend from said handle and are pivoted to said stationary clamping jaw adjacent the upper end thereof inwardly of the gripping portion thereof for movement above a common transverse axis.