Panel carrier

Abstract

Abstract A panel carrier for facilitating the manual transport of panels and glass sheets including a handle, an elongate member having a first end connected to the handle, a panel receiving and supporting ledge connected to the other end of the handle and pointed members disposed adjacent to the supporting ledge. Additionally, a resilient bumper is provided adjacent to the handle so that fragile panels such as glass sheets may be supported without damage. The pointed members are used to frictionally engage a panel which is situated on top of a stack in order to slide the panel therefrom or to engage the edge of a panel opposite the user and to aid in lifting said opposite edge toward the user. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to devices used to facilitate the manual handling of panels or other large, substantially flat articles, and more particularly to an improved panel carrier which may be used to slide panels off a stack, lift panels from horizontal positions, and transport fragile panels. In the building construction industry, it is often the case that stacks of plywood, gypsum board and other large, relatively thin, flat sheets, or panels, are delivered to a construction site stacked one on top of another. In order to remove a top panel from the stack, the panel must be moved or slid laterally along the top of the next panel such that an edge of the panel to be removed is free from grabbing by a workman. The panel may then be lifted and shifted for carrying. With large, heavy panels, such movement by a workman or workmen can prove to be very burdensome due to panel weight and stack height. Furthermore, there is the danger of a workman's fingers becoming lodged between that panel being slid and the next panel such that injury might result. It may also be desirable to tilt a horizontally situated panel to an upright position for carrying without sliding the panel. Presently, in order to effectuate such an upward tilt, workmen must bend over and grab one of the panel's longitudinal edges and then lift it from a horizontal to an upright position. Once the panel is in an upright position, it may be transported to a desired location. It can be appreciated that constantly bending over and lifting loads is extremely wearisome and can cause injury to back muscles, etc. With respect to known panel carriers, such carriers are not adapted to transport fragile panels, such as large glass sheets, without the sheets bumping against the carrier itself or an individual's hands. If a fragile panel is bumped too severely against its carrier during transport, it may become damaged. Additionally, known panel carriers are not provided with any means for aiding a workman in laterally sliding a panel off the top of a stack of panels. A panel carrier, if modified so that it could be extended across the top of an uppermost stacked panel and secured to a panel face so that the panel could be slid off, would greatly aid workmen. Panel carriers known in the art may take several forms. One form is exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,606 which describes a carrying rod for wallboard panels. Basically, it is an elongate rod having a handle attached at one end thereof and incorporates a foot at the other end. An upright panel is placed on top of the foot with the elongate rod extending upwardly along an outer face of the panel. An individual then extends his arm over the side of the panel, grasps the handle and lifts the carrier thereby also lifting the panel. The panel may then be manually transported to a desired location. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,428,941 there is disclosed a panel carrier having a handle guard provided to maintain carried panels spaced from the handle. This patent describes such a handle guard as being preferably in the form of a U-shaped yoke having legs and a plate member. However, it is to be noted that the described handle guard does not include any yieldable surface suitable for transporting glass sheets or the like. While not directly related to panel carriers, U.S. Pat. No. 1,881,194 sets forth an elongate handle having a U-shaped body at one end thereof with a pair of spaced parallel coextensive tines. One of the tines is provided with a curved hook which terminates in a sharpened point, the hook being substantially parallel to the handle. Because the hook is parallel to the handle, it is apparent that such a device could not be used to reach across a stack of panels such that the hook could be embedded in the panel for dragging such a panel off of a stack. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a panel carrier used to facilitate the manual transportation of large, relatively flat and thin sheets or panels of material such as plywood, gypsum board, glass sheets and the like. The panel carrier of the present invention includes a handle attached to one end of an elongate member, the other end of the elongate member being secured to a panel receiving and supporting portion. The panel receiving portion includes a ledge which extends substantially perpendicularly to the elongate member and further includes a retainer section to keep an upright panel from slipping off. The improved panel carrier includes pointed members or spikes disposed opposite of the ledge for frictionally engaging the top surface of a horizontally positioned panel in order to slide such panel from a stack. Additionally, the improved panel carrier of the present invention includes a bumper disposed adjacent the handle which is constructed at least partially of resilient material so that a glass sheet or other fragile panel may be held against the bumper and allowed to move against the same without damage to the panel or glass sheet. It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved panel carrier which may be extended across an uppermost one of a stacked plurality of panels such that pointed members disposed on the carrier may frictionally engage a surface of the panel so that a worker may pull or laterally slide a panel somewhat off the stack so that the panel may be grasped by its edges for further movement, tilting, etc. It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved panel carrier wherein the aforementioned spikes are configured to permit a panel lying substantially flat to be tilted upwardly by engaging an edge, such as a longitudinal edge of the panel, with the pointed members so that when a worker exerts a pulling force on the carrier, the engaging spikes permit the panel to be tilted upwardly to a vertical or other desired position. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved panel carrier having a yieldable bumper disposed adjacent to the carrier's handle so that glass or other relatively fragile panels may abut against a resilient surface so that damage to such glass or panels during transport is prevented. Additional objects of the present invention reside in the specific construction of the preferred embodiment hereinafter particularly described in the specification and shown in the drawings.

Inventors

• 👤 Dillon L. Moore

Bibliographic Details