WIRE AND CABLE DISPENSING CONTAINER AND SYSTEMS

• US 20120068424A1
• Filed: 10/19/2011
• Published: 03/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Windy City Wire Cable and Technology Products LLC
• Original Assignee: Windy City Wire Cable and Technology Products LLC
• Inventors: GALGANO, Richard, WINKEL, Mark K., MCGUIRE, Martin C., MCGUIRE, Martin J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,366,126 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/47.11
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 1/14 involving means for grappling or securing in place objects to be carried; Loading or unloading equipment
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 2202/025 Reels, e.g. for filamentary or sheet material
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 3/003 Non-transparent side walls
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 3/04 involving means for grappling or securing in place objects to be carried; Loading or unloading equipment
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 5/0083 Wheeled supports connected to the transported object
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 85/04 for coils of wire, rope or hose
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 49/32 Stands or frameworks
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 49/322 Enclosing boxes with supporting means for the package or reel during unwinding
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 49/325 Arrangements or adaptations for supporting the shafts, e.g. saddle type shaft bearings

Abstract

A hand truck allows for the transportation of containers, where each container has a passageway therethrough. The hand truck has a flat bottom member that receives and supports a vertical stack of the containers and vertical members are affixed to the bottom member. Cross members are joined to the one or more vertical members, and each cross member has a rod-receiving hole that is formed therein such that the holes are vertically spaced apart from each other. The hand truck also has a plurality of elongate support rods. A first end of each support rod is inserted through the container passageway, is inserted into a respective cross member hole, and is fastened to the cross member to prevent its withdrawal. A second end of each support rod is enlarged so as to affix the container or containers to the respective cross member.

Claims

1. A hand truck for the transportation of cable reel-containing containers, each container having a passageway therethrough, the hand truck comprising:

a horizontally disposed flat bottom member for receiving and supporting at least one vertical stack of the containers, the bottom member having an upper surface;

at least one elongate vertical frame member affixed to and extending upwardly from the bottom member;

a plurality of horizontal cross members joined to and extending from the vertical frame member, each cross member having a rod-receiving hole formed therein, the holes of the respective cross members vertically spaced apart from each other; and

a plurality of elongate support rods each having a shaft and first and second opposed ends, the first end of each support rod adapted to be inserted through at least one passageway formed through at least one of the containers and into a respective rod-receiving hole, ones of the support rods being inserted into ones of the rod-receiving holes to extend horizontally and in parallel from the cross members, the second end of each support rod being enlarged relative to the shaft thereof so as to be larger than a diameter of the at least one passageway to thereby affix the at least one container to the respective cross member.

2. The hand truck of claim 1, wherein the at least one vertical member is a first vertical frame member and further comprising a second elongate vertical frame member affixed to the bottom member to be parallel with and spaced from the first vertical member, each cross member affixed to and spanning a distance between the vertical frame members.

3. The hand truck of claim 1, wherein the bottom member is a shelf.

4. The hand truck of claim 1, wherein the plurality of support rods have different lengths, each length being selected to extend through one or more containers having a predetermined overall width.

5. The hand truck of claim 1, further comprising a fastener for fastening the first end of an elongate support rod to prevent its withdrawal from the cross member hole.

6. The hand truck of claim 1, wherein the spacing of the rod-receiving holes in the horizontal cross members approximate a predetermined uniform height of the containers such that when the support rods are inserted into the rod-receiving holes, they approximate the height.

7. The hand truck of claim 1, wherein each horizontal cross member further comprises a left outer end, a left side retaining plate affixed to and forwardly extending from the left outer end, a right outer end, and a right side retaining plate affixed to and forwardly extending from the right outer end, the left and right side retaining plates spaced from each other by a distance greater than a depth of the carton.

8. A cart for the transportation of containers of reeled wire or cable comprising:

an elongate rectangular frame disposed in a horizontal plane and having an upper surface for supporting a bottom surface of at least one container and for preventing its rotation about an axis, the frame being elongate in an axial direction;

a plurality of wheels affixed to the frame, ones of the wheels being fixed to roll in the axial direction;

an elongate front rod holder affixed to a front end of the frame to extend upwardly therefrom;

an elongate rear rod holder affixed to a rear end of the frame to extend upwardly therefrom; and

a plurality of horizontally disposed, spaced apart, elongate support rods, the support rods being parallel to each other and spanning the distance between the front rod holder and the rear rod holder, first ends of the support rods being received into respective holes in the front rod holder and second ends of the support rods being received into respective holes in the rear rod holder, the support rods including first and second support rods, a spacing of the second support rod above the first support rod being about twice the distance of the first support rod above the frame and approximating a height of the container;

wherein the support rods are disposed such that the wire or cable can be withdrawn simultaneously from a first container and a second container in a direction which is at a substantial angle to the axis.

9. The cart of claim 8, further including a front panel of the front end of the frame disposed in a vertical plane, a rear panel of the rear end of the frame disposed in a vertical plane displaced from the front panel, a vertical left panel joining the front and rear panels and disposed in a plane orthogonal to the front and rear panels, a right panel joining the front and rear panels and being in parallel to and displaced from the left panel, a width between the left and right panels being substantially the same as said height.

10. The cart of claim 9, further including a handle having left and right vertical legs, a left socket formed at a corner of the front panel of the frame and the left panel thereof, a right socket formed at a corner of the front panel and the right panel, the left leg receivable into the left socket, the right leg receivable into the right socket.

11. The cart of claim 8, wherein the cart is reconfigurable between a use configuration and a storage configuration, such that a lowest one of the support rods occupies the same position in both the use and storage configurations, the last said support rod, when the cart is in the storage configuration, being adaptable to be used as a carrying handle.

12. The cart of claim 8, wherein the upper surface of the rectangular frame forms a continuous plane.

13. The cart of claim 8, wherein a length of each of the elongate support rods is preselected to accommodate a width of the containers.