Collapsible wheelbarrow
OwnerPatrick Higginsinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A collapsible wheelbarrow has a barrow formed of a plurality of panels that are hinged together to transition between an erected state in which the panels are configured to define the operative barrow and a collapsed state in which most or all of the panels are not folded together and the barrow is relatively flattened out extending over a greater ground area than when in the erected state so that the barrow in the collapsed, flattened state can function as a ground sheet, having an enlarged surface area. For a gardener this makes it much better for collecting leaves, grass or other garden cuttings or materials, which may be swept or raked directly onto the flattened but floor area-expanded barrow before then raising/erecting the barrow to its operative wheelbarrow state to be wheeled off to a compost heap or other location.
Claims23
A collapsible wheelbarrow that comprises a barrow formed of a plurality of panels that are hinged together to transition between an erected state in which the panels are configured to define an operative barrow and a collapsed state in which most or all of the panels are not folded together and the barrow is relatively flattened out extending over a greater ground area than when in the erected state, wherein the wheelbarrow has a pair of wheels that lie substantially co-planar or plane parallel with the flattened panels in the collapsed state of the wheelbarrow whereby the wheelbarrow is erected by raising and turning the wheels from being substantially co-planar or plane parallel with the flattened panels to being substantially mutually parallel with each other.
A method of operating a wheelbarrow for collecting and transporting ground-lying materials the method comprising the steps of:
- i) providing a collapsed wheelbarrow that comprises a wheeled barrow formed of a plurality of panels to transition between an erected state in which the panels are configured to define the operative barrow and a collapsed state in which most or all of the panels are not folded together and the barrow is relatively flattened out extending over a greater ground area than when in the erected state;
- ii) deploying the wheelbarrow in the collapsed state on the ground along-side ground-lying materials and sweeping, raking or otherwise transferring the ground-lying materials onto the barrow;
- and
- iii) erecting the wheelbarrow to the erected operative wheelbarrow state, standing on a pair of wheels of the wheelbarrow to be wheeled to another location, wherein the pair of wheels lie substantially co-planar or plane parallel with the flattened panels in the collapsed state of the wheelbarrow and the step of erecting the wheelbarrow is effected by raising and turning the wheels from being substantially co-planar or plane parallel with the flattened panels to being substantially mutually parallel with each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.