Wheeled plate carrier

Claim 1

A hand-operated, wheeled plate carrier for transporting a small number of large-sized, generally rectangular plates at a time and comprising (a) a stand having an elongate base structure; (b) bracket means provided on said base structure along one longitudinal side thereof only to form a support, on which the plates to be transported may be rested on edge in a nearly upright position; (c) an upper frame structure secured to and extending upwardly from said base structure inside said bracket means thereon in a manner to form a lateral support, against which the plates to be transported may be leaned, said upper frame structure extending mainly in the longitudinal direction of said base structure; (d) means connected to said upper frame structure for releasably retaining the plates to be transported in their nearly upright position, in which they are seated on said bracket means and leaned against said upper frame structure; (e) a handle element forming part of said upper frame structure and arranged in a manner to be conveniently grasped by an operator along at least a considerable part of the length of said base structure from one side of said stand also when plates are loaded on said stand; (f) a single main supporting wheel of considerable diameter mounted on said elongate base structure in a position at least approximately midway between the ends thereof and close to and inside said plate supporting bracket means thereon in a manner to rotate about a fixed axis extending in the transverse direction of said base structure; and (g) two additional supporting members mounted on said elongate base structure near the respective, opposite ends thereof, said two supporting members being substantially equally spaced from said plate supporting bracket means and located on the same side thereof as is said main supporting wheel but further away from said bracket means than said wheel, whereby said stand, whether loaded or not, on a substantially horizontal surface may be placed in a stable position of rest, in which it is supported by said main supporting wheel as well as by said two additional supporting members, and from which an operator grasping said handle element may swing it up into an erect transporting position in which it is supported by said single main supporting wheel only.