Dolly for handling long heavy objects

Claim 1

A lightweight, pneumatic-tired dolly for transporting long, heavy rolls of carpeting or the like and maneuvering the same through narrow passageways, over curbs, up steps, and on irregular terrain, by one person, said dolly comprising an elongated rectangular frame of round tubular material having a pair of parallel side members and a pair of downwardly bent, transverse end members joined together by rounded corners for cradling a long, heavy roll of carpeting or the like longitudinally thereof, the width of said frame being less than the width of a doorway, a downwardly bent, center crossbar extending transversely between and fixedly attached to said side members at the midpoint thereof, a pair of laterally spaced supports secured to the frame inwardly of the side edges thereof, each of said supports consisting of a symmetrically formed Vshaped member of tubular material having its ends joined to said end members of the frame, said V-shaped members being disposed in vertical planes parallel to said side members of the frame and spaced inwardly therefrom a distance only slightly greater than the width of a pneumatic tire, a transverse axle sleeve fixed to said V-shaped support members at the apex of the V, said axle sleeve terminating at the outer sides of the support members, an axle extending through said sleeve and projecting from opposite ends thereof, said axle having an overall length not more than the width of said frame, a pair of upwardly converging bracing struts joined at their lower ends to said axle sleeve adjacent the junction of said supports thereto, said bracing struts being joined at their upper ends to said center crossbar near the midpoint thereof, and a pair of laterally spaced wheels journaled on the projecting ends of the axle and disposed inwardly of the frame side edges and directly under said center crossbar, said wheels having pneumatic tires of a size to permit easy rolling over irregular terrain, curbs, steps, and the like to enable one man to maneuver a heavy roll of carpeting from a loading point outside of a building to an interior room in which the carpeting is to be laid, said dolly being devoid of projections extending upwardly or laterally from the frame for facilitating loading of the roll of carpeting on the dolly and passage of the loaded dolly through passageways only slightly wider than the frame, and the frame being tiltable downwardly at one end for disposing the roll of carpeting in tilted position and moving the dolly relative thereto for centering or discharge of the roll.