Patent Application
20150314797
The disclosure relates to brake devices and more particularly pertains to a new brake device for facilitating stopping of and enhancing control of a wheelbarrow.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a wheelbarrow having a frame, a pair of handle sections extending rearwardly from the frame, a barrow coupled to and supported by the frame, and a wheel coupled to the frame. A lever is pivotally coupled to one of the handles. A brake pad is pivotally coupled to and extends from the frame. The brake pad is positioned adjacent to the wheel and is pivotable to abut the wheel. A cable is coupled to and extends between the lever and the brake pad wherein manipulation of the lever pivots the brake pad into abutment with wheel.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A brake pad 34 is pivotally coupled to and extends from the frame 14 such that the brake pad 34 is positioned adjacent to the wheel 22 and is pivotable to abut the wheel 22. The brake pad 34 may be positioned on a forward side 36 of the wheel 22. A cable 38 is coupled to and extends between the lever 30 and the brake pad 34 wherein manipulation of the lever 30 pivots the brake pad 34 into abutment with the wheel 22 such that the brake pad 34 inhibits rotation of the wheel 22. A first end 40 of the cable 38 is coupled to the lever 30 such that the cable 38 is pulled upwardly towards the gripping section 28 of the first one of the handles 16 when the lever 30 is manipulated. A swivel post 44 is coupled to and extends from the frame 14 proximate the wheel 22. The brake pad 34 is coupled to the swivel post 44 such that the brake pad 34 is pivotally coupled to the frame 14. The swivel post 44 is angled relative to a vertical axis and the brake pad 34 positioned such that gravity urges the brake pad 34 away from the wheel 22 until the lever 30 is manipulated. A post mounting bracket 46 may be provided allowing application of the device 10 to an existing wheelbarrow apparatus. The swivel post 44 is coupled to the post mounting bracket 46 which is coupled in a static position to the frame 14. A second end 42 of the cable 38 is coupled to a distal end 48 of the brake pad 34 relative to the swivel post 44. Thus, the brake pad 34 pivots rearwardly into contact with the wheel 22 when the lever 30 is manipulated. The cable 38 extends along the first one of the handles 16.
In use, the lever 30 and brake pad 34 may be provided as original parts with, or as parts which may be coupled to an existing wheelbarrow 12. The lever 30 has a straight section 50 extending offset from a pivot point 52 and parallel to the first one of the handles 16 such that the straight section 52 may be pressed or squeezed towards the first one of the handles 16 resulting in pivoting of the brake pad 34 into contact with the wheel 22. Variations in pressure on the lever 30 vary the resistance to rotation of the wheel 22 provided by the brake pad 34 allowing for speed control as well as facilitating full stopping of the wheelbarrow 12 when desired.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded.
A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
