Pallet for Hand Trucks and Dollies

Abstract

A hand truck pallet or dolly pallet teaches that the pallet may secure to the hand truck nose plate both top and bottom, allowing almost complete freedom of rotation without allowing the pallet to fall from the hand truck. It furthermore may be removed instantly by withdrawal. The nose plate is held between rails on either side which have projections defining small gaps into which the edges of the nose plate are slid in usage.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention relates generally to hand trucks, dollies and barrows, and specifically to accessories for hand trucks.BACKGROUND[0002]Palletization of cargo and goods for delivery is an enormous efficiency factor. Pallets, typically of wooden or plastic construction, are approximately a meter on a side and have large holes or gaps underneath allowing entry of the tines of a forklift, hydraulic pallet jack or other power equipment. The traditional pallet may be loaded with goods and then secured by wrapping plastic around the goods or by means of tie downs, twine and so on. From then on, it can be handled with equipment quickly and easily.[0003]There simply exists no commercially successful equivalent to the pallet in the world of hand deliveries. A consignment of goods to be moved through normal sized doorways or over curbs and the like cannot use the normal large size of pallet or any other powered equipment method such as a cargo container or the like. ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016]The present invention yet further teaches that the body of the device may be constructed of a single sheet of durable material such as aluminum alloy or extremely tough polymers, and that the edges of the device may be bent downward on the front and both sides to create underneath the space for the rails and for rigidity and strength, while the back of the device may be bent upward for the same reasons and the help stabilize cargo on the pallet.

Problems solved by technology

There simply exists no commercially successful equivalent to the pallet in the world of hand deliveries.

A consignment of goods to be moved through normal sized doorways or over curbs and the like cannot use the normal large size of pallet or any other powered equipment method such as a cargo container or the like.

None of these provide the ease of shipping of a pallet with the small size and manual maneuverability and flexibility of a hand truck.

The slots are not intended for straps or other cargo securing means because it is not a cargo carrying device.

Importantly, it does not teach any way to secure the nose plate of the hand truck to the platform so that the platform does not fall off the nose plate: the platform sits atop the nose plate in the same manner as it sits atop a box.

Thus while the bottom of the platform has a shallow space for the nose plate, the platform does not secure to the nose plate in any way and the hand truck may alter the cargo orientation in only a single dimension of rotation.

Obviously the construction of the device is only sufficient for very light weight loading and occasional usage.

However, like the '102 patent it too lacks any actual securing of the pallet to the nose plate of the hand truck, also does not teach the use of straps, teaches away from straps, and so on.

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