Hand lift truck for transporting stacking chairs

A lift truck for transporting stacking chairs of the type having spaced apart opposite legs and a bottom portion raised above floor level, said lift truck having a front end, a back end and an operator's handle projecting upwardly from said back end and comprising:

• a main frame and an elevating platform, each having longitudinal opposed sides, the distance between said sides being less than the distance between the spaced apart opposite legs of the stacking chairs;
• lift means connected to said elevating platform for raising said elevating platform, said lift means including a transverse, manually actuated lever pivotally connected to said handle;
• and forward and rear wheels;
• said elevating platform having a rest position and an elevated position, said rest position being lower than the bottom portion of the lowermost stacking chair, and said elevated position being higher than the bottom portion of the lowermost stacking chair;
• said forward wheels being mounted on the main frame at the front end of the lift truck, and said rearward wheels being mounted on arms extending from and running parallel to said main frame at the back end of the lift truck, said arms forming a channel between the arms and the main frame to receive the legs of the stacking chairs;
• wherein, with the elevating platform in rest position, the front end of the lift truck may be pushed between the legs and under the stacking chairs, and
• whereby elevation of the elevating platform by actuation of the lift means raises the stack of chairs above floor level for transport.

A lift truck for transporting stacking chairs of the type having transversely spaced legs and a bottom portion spaced above floor level, said lift truck comprising:

• a main frame supported on front and rear wheels and having a front end, a rear end, and a pair of substantially parallel sides defining a generally rectangular configuration;
• an operator's handle projecting upwardly from said rear end of said main frame;
• an elevating platform carried on said frame and including lift means for raising said platform from a lowered inoperative position to a raised lifting position;
• said elevating platform in said inoperative position being disposed at a level lower than said bottom portion of said chair and in said lifting position being higher than said bottom portion;
• said lift means including fore and aft parallel linkage means connected between said main frame and said elevating platform, said parallel linkage means including a first member mounted to pivot about a transverse axis within said main frame and a second member mounted to pivot about an axis in said elevating platform parallel to said transverse axis whereby said elevating platform swings about an arcuate path between said inoperative and lifting positions;
• said lift means further including a manually actuated lever pivotally connected to said handle, an arm affixed to said parallel linkage means, and a link pivotally connected at opposite ends between said lever and arm, said lever being movable between an inoperative position and an elevating platform lifting position, said lever being arranged to pivot downwardly from the inoperative position to a lowered position for causing raising movement of said elevating platform, said link being arranged to push said arm to a position to cause said linkage to swing to the lifting position;
• a locking means for holding said elevating platform in said lifting position, said locking means including a pivotally mounted latch member spring biased to a locking position and a manually operable activating rod means mounted on said handle for moving said latch member to an unlocked position;
• said truck having a forward portion defined by said main frame, front wheels and elevating platform,
• said forward portion having a width less than the transverse spacing of the chair legs thereby permitting said forward portion of said truck to be pushed in a fore and aft direction under a lower chair in a stack;
• and
• rear wheel mounting means projecting transversely outwardly and forwardly from the rear end of said frame and defining a forwardly open chair leg receiving space between said mounting means and adjacent sides of said main frame,
• said rear wheel mounting means positioning said rear wheels transversely outwardly from the sides of said main frame and forwardly of said rear end of said main frame.