Patent Application
20250206364
(1) Field of the Invention: The instant disclosure generally relates to carts for storing and transporting building materials in the building and construction trades, and more particularly to a unique and novel cart for storing and transporting large heavy panel materials, and particularly wooden doors, which are easily subject to damage during storage and transportation as well as during staging for installation.
(2) Description of Related Art: Finish construction materials are particularly vulnerable to damage while being stored, as well as during transportation from the warehouse to the job site. Wooden doors are particularly heavy and difficult to maneuver and are typically handled individually requiring significant time and effort. Additionally, extra care must be taken to avoid bumping the doors into other surrounding materials or structures as these types of accidents can often cause marring, scratching and denting of the wood materials, potentially requiring repair or replacement.
To prevent damage, many doors are provided with cardboard packing around the edges which does help with damage control, but is not a perfect solution as each door is still handled individually.
There are also general purpose carts of the type found in home improvement stores, which can accommodate one or perhaps two doors and other types of planar or panel construction materials to facilitate movement, but they lack certain features which would be helpful to prevent damage.
There is a need in the industry for a novel cart which can securely and safely hold a plurality of doors (or other panel materials) in parallel fixed relation to each other for both storage and transport.
According to exemplary embodiments of the invention, a cart in accordance with the present invention comprises a horizontal deck, a plurality of wheels supporting rolling movement of the deck, an upright support frame at a rear end of the deck, a rearward support ledge at a rearward end of the deck, the rearward support ledge including an upright support flange having a plurality of spaced upwardly opening slots, each slot having a flexible U-shaped bumper element, a forward support ledge at a forward end of the deck, the forward support ledge including an upright support flange having a plurality of spaced upwardly opening slots, each slot having a U-shaped flexible bumper element, and a rearward guide flange extending forwardly from said upright support frame, the rearward guide flange having a plurality of spaced forwardly opening slots, each slot having a flexible U-shaped bumper element.
Respective sets of spaced slots are aligned in cooperating planar relation to receive and vertically support a plurality of planar doors in spaced parallel relation.
The cart may further spaced forklift fork guides on the underside of left and right sides of the deck and the front and rear side of the deck.
The cart may further include a plurality of upwardly facing tubular stacking seats and a like plurality of downwardly facing stacking seats which are vertically aligned and configured and arranged to receive vertically extending support legs on the top and the bottom so that the carts may be stacked vertically for transportation. The upright support frame at the rear of the cart includes support leg pass through guides for receiving and guiding the vertically extending support legs.
The forklift fork guides facilitate lifting of the carts for stacking.
Some embodiments of the cart may further comprise a forward stabilizer bar having a plurality of slots in a rearward facing surface thereof and a laterally extending strap channel on a forward facing surface. A packing strap or removable ratcheting strap may be secured around the cart and stabilizer bar to further support the doors or panels in parallel spaced relation.
While embodiments of the invention have been described as having the features recited, it is understood that various combinations of such features are also encompassed by particular embodiments of the invention and that the scope of the invention is limited by the claims and not the description.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming particular embodiments of the instant invention, various embodiments of the invention can be more readily understood and appreciated from the following descriptions of various embodiments of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Certain exemplary embodiments will now be described to provide an overall understanding of the principles of the structure, function, manufacture, and use of the device and methods disclosed herein. One or more examples of these embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will understand that the devices and methods specifically described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings are non-limiting exemplary embodiments and that the scope of the present invention is defined solely by the claims. The features illustrated or described in connection with one exemplary embodiment may be combined with the features of other embodiments. Such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. Further, in the present disclosure, like-numbered components of the embodiments generally have similar features, and thus within a particular embodiment each feature of each like-numbered component is not necessarily fully elaborated upon. Additionally, to the extent that linear or circular dimensions are used in the description of the disclosed systems, devices, and methods, such dimensions are not intended to limit the types of shapes that can be used in conjunction with such systems, devices, and methods. A person skilled in the art will recognize that an equivalent to such linear and circular dimensions can easily be determined for any geometric shape. Further, to the extent that directional terms like top, bottom, up, or down are used, they are not intended to limit the systems, devices, and methods disclosed herein. A person skilled in the art will recognize that these terms are merely relative to the system and device being discussed and are not universal.
According to exemplary embodiments of the invention, and referring now to
The entire cart assembly 10 may be assembled from aluminum or steel components for strength and durability, although other plastic and composite materials may also be contemplated for construction.
The deck 10 may includes left and right parallel deck beams 20, 22 and a plurality of transverse tie bars 24, 25, 26, 28, 30 forming a generally rectangular deck frame. Similarly, the support frame 16 also includes left and right upright beams 32, 34 and transverse tie bars 36, 38. The support frame 16 may generally be used to push or pull the cart 10 as needed.
Referring to
The cart 10 further includes a forward support ledge 48 at a forward end of the deck, with the forward support ledge 48 also including an upright support flange 50 having a plurality of spaced upwardly opening slots 44. Each slot 44 having a U-shaped flexible bumper element 46.
To provide lateral spacing support, a rearward guide flange 52 extends forwardly from the upright support frame 16 with the rearward guide flange 52 having a plurality of spaced forwardly opening slots 44. Each slot 44 also has the same flexible U-shaped bumper elements 46.
The bumper elements 46 may comprise a single integrally molded U-shaped element as best illustrated in
The respective sets of spaced slots 44 and bumpers 46 are aligned in cooperating planar relation to receive and vertically support a plurality of planar doors, or the like, in spaced parallel relation (
The cart 10 may further include spaced forklift fork guides 54 on the underside of left and right sides of the deck and/or the front and rear sides of the deck.
In some transportation and storage scenarios, it may be advantageous to be able to stack the carts 10 one on top of the other. Referring now to
Referring to
Referring to
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The forklift fork guides 54 facilitate lifting of the carts for stacking.
Referring to
While there is shown and described herein certain specific structures embodying various embodiments of the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.
