Wheelbarrow.

Application filed July 23, 1909. Serial Mo. 509,126.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Harry J. Span’gler, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Alle5 gheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheelbarrows, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

Ή This invention relates to wheelbarrows, and the invention has for its primary object to provide a collapsible wheel, barrow that will occupy a comparatively small space for transportation purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wheelbarrow that can be adjusted for farm, railroad or various other purposes, according to the material to be hauled in the same.

A further object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive wheelbarrow, consisting of comparatively few parts, easily and quickly assembled.

A still further object of the invention is 25 to provide a strong and durable wheelbarrow that can be safely used by laborers for various kinds of work, the wheelbarrow being adjusted according to the work to be performed. . .

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter 35 described and then claimed.

In the drawings:—Figure 1 is a side elevation of the wheelbarrow constructed in accordance with my invention, Fig. 2. is a plan of the same, Fig· 3 is a rear elevation of the wheelbarrow, partly in section, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the detached leg of the wheelbarrow, Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the wheelbarrow provided with an attachment, Fig. 6 is a plan of the same, ⁴ 3 Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of the wheelbarrow showing the attachment in position, Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the wheelbarrow designed for railroad purposes,.Fig. 9 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 10 is a rear elevation of 50 the wheelbar row partly in section.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 designates longitudinal converging bars haying the forward inner sides thereof provided with metallic bearings 2 for the spindles 3 55 of a hub 4, said spindles extending into the forward ends of the bars 1. The hub 4 supports a rim 5 through the medium of spokes 6, said hub, spokes and rim constituting the wheel of the barrow. The rear end of the side bars 1 are reduced to provide 60 handles 7 similar to an ordinary wheelbarrow.

The inner faces of the side bars 1 intermediate the ends thereof are provided with a plurality of detachable brackets 8, said 65 brackets being detachably connected to the side bars 1 by revoluble thumb screws 9; these screws when turned in a certain direction aline with the longitudinal slots formed in the brackets 8, thereby permitting the 70 side bars 1 to be easily separated from the brackets 8. These brackets are fixed to a bottom board 10, keystone-shaped in plan and adapted to engage the forward edge of said bottom plate is a front board 11, said 75 board being disposed at an angle and supported by brackets 12 detachably connected to the forward ends of the side bars 1 and the front side of the board 11 by revoluble thumb screws 13, these thumb screws also 80 being adapted to aline with longitudinal openings or slots in the ends of the brackets 12, to permit of the front board being removed from the side bars 1.

designates side boards having the for- 35 ward outer sides thereof provided with brackets 15 detachably connected to the rear side of the board 11 by thumb screws 16 similar to the screws 13. The inner sides of the boards 14 adjacent to the rear edge 90 thereof are provided with hinged brackets 17 having longitudinally disposed openings or slots 18 through which extend thumb screws 19 for attaching said brackets to the bottom plate 10. It is through the 95 medium of the hinged brackets 17 and the brackets 15 that the inclination of the side boards 14 relative to the bottom plate 10 can be adjusted.

The side bars 1 at a point removed from 100 the rear ends thereof are recessed as at 20 and mounted over said recesses are plates 21 having openings formed therein to receive headed pins 22 carried by the upper ends of legs 23. These legs are adapted to support 105 the side bars 1 and are adjustably connected to said side bars by metallic braces 24 pivotally and detachably connected to the side bars 1 by thumb screws 25. The metallic braces 24 are offset, as at 26, to provide no clearance for the legs 23, when said legs are folded into parallelism with the side bars 1,

944,291 said braces being adjustably connected to the legs by thumb screws 27 extending through longitudinally disposed openings or slots 28 formed in the braces 24.

In Figs. 5 to 7 inclusive, I have illustrated an attachment for the wheelbarrow, comprising a rear board 29 adapted to rest against the rear edges of the side boards 14, said rear board being supported by brackets 10 30 detachably connected to said rear board and to the rear ends of the side bars 1 by thumb screws 31.

In Figs. 8 to 10 inclusive, I have illustrated the side boards 14 as being removed, 15 also the bottom plate 10, and in lieu of said bottom plate, plates 32 are used, these plates fitting between the front and rear boards 11 and 30 and corresponding in width to said boards, said plates being provided with 20 brackets 33 adapted to be connected to the inner sides of the bars 1, similar to the brackets 8 of the plate 10.

It is a well known fact that the present type of wheelbarrow occupies considerable 25 room in a freight car when being transported, and it is in view of this fact that I have devised my wheelbarrow, which can be disassembled to occupy a comparatively small space when being shipped, or certain 30 parts thereof folded or removed when the wheelbarrow is to be stored.

It is thought that the manner of adjusting the side boards 14, disassembling parts of the wheelbarrow, or placing the bottom 35 plates 32 in position will be apparent without further description, and while in the drawings there is illustrated the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that the structural elements 40 thereof can be varied or changed, as to the shape, size and manner of assemblage without departing from the spirit of the invention.