This invention relates to the handling of waste, more particularly but not exclusively, to the transfer of heavy loads from a smaller container to a larger container for ultimate disposal or reuse, and has for its object improvements therein.

Since the advent of large waste containers called skips which are picked up very efficiently by lorries from factories, building sites and streets etc., the world over, the problem has always been to get the waste to and then into the skip in the most efficient manner.

Two methods are commonly used. The first method involves the use of a conventional single wheeled or two wheeled wheelbarrow, which enable small to medium sized loads to be taken to the large waste skip with relative ease over even rough terrain. Once there, however, the load is only transferred into the skip by a precarious and therefore dangerous journey up, usually, very suspect plank ramps, or by shovelling into the skip which is arduous and time consuming. The second method of loading the skip is used by those who have access to fork lift trucks. With this method a secondary much smaller container or skip is commonly used to transfer the waste, this secondary or transfer skip being adapted to be lifted by a fork lift truck. The fork lift truck collects the loaded secondary skip from the site where the secondary skip has been loaded, (assuming that it is possible for the fork lift truck to gain access to this site, which is by no means always the case), drives the loaded secondary skip to the large waste skip and lifts the loaded secondary skip into a position over the waste skip. In this position, a latch mechanism is operated causing the secondary skip to either tilt or the bottom of the secondary skip to open, to discharge the load into the waste skip. As can be appreciated all this

often results in the tying up of expensive fork lift truck time.

Manufacturers have produced a wide variety of secondary skips, all of which suffer from the disadvantage of lack of manoeverability. Even when the manufacturers address this disadvantage, by offering, commonly, a combination of fixed wheels and castors as an option which provides for ease of movement over smooth unobstructed floors, it is still not suited to rough terrain or surfaces where small obstructions, potholes, loose pebbles, swarf etc., impede movement. In many cases these wheels, due to their small diameter, are extremely prone to damage and seizing up. But for sites where the fork lift truck cannot gain access, other means such as wheelbarrows have to be used to transfer the waste from the inaccessible site to the secondary skip which once loaded can then be transferred by the fork lift truck to the waste skip. This is inefficient as it ties up valuable labour thereby increasing costs.

Applicant has discovered a principle which is that the advantages of wheelbarrows in terms of manoeverability and ease of travel with heavy loads over rough terrain can be combined with the advantages of secondary skips in terms of lifting by drivable means such as fork lift trucks and ease of unloading.

In order to carry this principle into effect, the present invention provides a load receiving skip receptacle with a barrow handle at the drivable lifting means load discharge side.

Thus, the invention may be expressed in terms of a device for use in transferring a load from one location to another location where that load is discharged, said device comprising a load receiving receptacle which is capable of being lifted and driven and which is provided with a barrow handle at the

drivable lifting means load discharge side thereof.

By means of the invention, the barrow handle can be used to manoeuvre the receptacle over rough terrain and from locations which are inaccessible to fork lift trucks or other drivable lifting means, to the load discharge location where say a large waste skip or tipper truck is situated and where the fork lift truck can be employed for a short time to lift the receptacle over the waste skip and discharge the load, thereby freeing the fork lift truck for other more cost efficient tasks.

Furthermore the invention may enable expensive fork lift trucks to be dispensed with in certain instances by the use of a stationary drivable lifting means at the waste skip location. Such a stationary drivable lifting means may comprise an upright, a lifting platform for receiving the loaded device and being drivable up the upright and turnable with respect thereto to position the device over the waste skip to discharge the load.

The barrow handle may be mounted to the said discharge side of the skip receptacle in any suitable position that will not interfere with the discharge of a load from the receptacle and in any convenient or desirable manner. Thus, the barrow handle may be integral or rigid with, fixed to, or movably mounted to, as by a pivot or hinge, the receptacle. In a preferred embodiment the barrow handle is located beneath the open top of the receptacle, and advantageously, forwardly of the discharge end to increase the barrow leverage and increase clearance for a person's feet when being used as a wheelbarrow.

Whilst in this specification, the term barrow handle has been used in the singular; it should be appreciated that the term includes within its ambit a plurality of barrow handles.

In order to discharge the load, the receptacle is conveniently carried by a chassis on which it is mounted for tilting movement relative thereto between load receiving and load discharge positions. When latching, locking or other suitable holding means is released, the weight of the load in the loaded receptacle causes the discharge tilting movement with the weight of the receptacle itself causing the return movement of the empty receptacle to the load receiving position ready to be filled with another load. The load receiving and load discharge positions of the receptacle may be delimited by means including suitable end stops.

The delimiting means may be of any appropriate form but conveniently comprises a cam, which may be in the form of a pin, which is constrained to move along a path with the end stops being provided by opposite ends of the path. In one embodiment, the path is advantageously constituted by a slot, which may be a V-shaped slot, having closed ends which form the ends of the path.

Barrow leverage and foot clearance may be still further increased by extending the discharge side of receptacle well beyond the rear end of the chassis than has hitherto been the case with known secondary skips. Indeed for reasons of compactness the discharge side in the known skips is kept within the bounds of, or as close to the adjacent chassis end as possible.

The tilting movement of the receptacle may be performed in any appropriate manner for example by pivoting, rotation, rolling.

At the opposite side of the receptacle to the discharge side where the barrow handle is located, the chassis is conveniently provided with drivable lifting means entry, eg fork lift entry, so that the loaded device may be lifted and manoevered to a height to enable its load discharge, by releasing the holding means, into any desired object, skip or

other container or position.

To complete the function of the device, for operation as a wheelbarrow in combination with that of a skip, the receptacle or, as is preferred, the chassis, may be provided with freely rotatable means. The freely rotatable means may comprise one or more rollers, wheels or castors but a pair of wheels mounted in the region of the said opposite side of the receptacle is preferred to optimize wheelbarrow operation. or clarity of description such rotatable means will hereinafter generically be referred to as a wheel or wheels.

Depending upon how many wheels are provided, and the position of the or each wheel relative to the barrow handle, one or more legs may be provided, so that the device can be adequately supported for loading with the receptacle in its load receiving position.

In a preferred embodiment in which the device is provided with a pair of freely rotatable wheels in the region of the opposite side of the receptacle to that of the barrow handle, two legs are provided which engage the ground intermediate the discharge and opposite sides. The legs are advantageously angled forwards in order still further to increase foot clearance.

An advantage of devices constructed in accordance with the invention is that they can readily be adapted to discharge a load when in wheelbarrow mode by raising the handle to pivot the receptacle about the wheel axis to discharge a load over the opposite side to the handle carrying side. To facilitate wheelbarrow discharge the opposite side of the receptacle may be upwardly and outwardly inclined.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, an embodiment in accordance therewith will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings

in which :-

Fig. 1, is a side elevation of a device for use in transferring a load from one location to another and shown in a load receiving position,

Fig.2, is a front elevation of the device of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3, is a side elevation of the device of Fig 1, in a load discharge position.

Referring to the drawings, a device for transferring a load from one location to another location is generally indicated at 1 and, in this description will be referred to as a skip barrow. The skip barrow 1 comprises a chassis 2 carrying a receptacle 3 for receiving a load (not shown) which may be factory waste, for example. The receptacle 3 is moveable with respect to the chassis 2 from the load receiving position shown in Figure 1, in which it is to be filled with waste by an operative through its open top 4, as by shovelling for example, and the load discharge position shown in Fig.3. The chassis 2 comprises front and rear members 5 and 6 respectively, a base 7 on which the receptacle 3 is supported at its sides by roller means in the form of two roller plates 8, and two side members 9 which in the rear end region 10 of the chassis 2 are of greater height to form cam plates 11. The cam plates 11 are provided with respective V shaped cam slots 12 in which slide a cam pin 13, with the ends of the cam slots 12 acting as end stops in a manner to be described.

In order to function as a wheel barrow, the drivable lifting means discharge side 14 of the receptacle is provided with a barrow handle 15 which is rigid with the receptacle, projects forwardly beyond the discharge side 14 and is located beneath the open top 4 so as not to interfere with the discharge of a load from a filled receptacle 4. As will be apparent from Figure 1 the handle 15 is mounted on side plates 16 (only one

visible) which are fixed to or form part of the receptacle sides or side portions of the rim. As is usual with secondary skips, the receptacle bottom is upwardly and rearwardly inclined for a major portion of its length, as indicated at 17 which facilitates, in accordance with this illustrated embodiment of the invention, the lengthening of the distance between the handle 15 and the rear member 6 of the chassis 2 to increase barrow leverage and clearance for the operators feet.

At the front end of the chassis, the front chassis member 5 provides a fork lift entry 18 for the fork 19 of a fork lift truck (not shown) .

The chassis 2 is supported on the ground by means of a pair of freely rotatable front wheels 20 carried by stub axles 21 to provide a clear fork lift entry space 18 and minimise weight and overall height of the skip barrow 1 and by means of a pair of rear legs 22 which are integral with the chassis side members 9. The legs 22 are angled forward as indicated at 23 to maximise clearance between the feet of a person using the skip barrow and the chassis rear and side members 6 and 9. At the fork lift entrj end of the chassis 2 the side members 9 and front member 5 are angled towards the wheels 20 as indicated at 24 in order to maximize ground clearance when the skip barrow 1 is being used as a wheelbarrow. The wheels 20 are positioned such that the effort of lifting the skip barrow, by the handle 15 is minimised.

In the interests of clarity, extensive potential use of lightening holes in the roller plates and chassis elements to minimise the weight of the skipbarrow has been omitted from these drawings.

There are recesses in the bases of the roller plates 8 which recesses are constituted by cut-outs 26 which serve two purposes; they enable the reinforcement webs 27 over the stub

axles 21 to reinforce the stub axle mountings 28 and restricts any lateral receptacle movement when the skipbarrow is emptied forward over the fork lift entry end of the chassis when being tipped in the manner of a wheelbarrow. Discharge over the discharge side 29 of the receptacle 3 is facilitated by inclining this discharge side upwardly and outwardly, as will be apparent from Fig. 1.

In order to prevent the receptacle tilting forwards on the roller plates 8 which roll on tracks 30 on the base, outwardly of the chassis side members 10 and cam plates 11, a mechanical latch 31 is provided. The latch comprises a hook-shaped latching member 32 which is mounted for pivoting movement on a pivot pin 33 fixed to the front member 5. The latching hook 32 is biased into a latched position in which it engages over a latch pin 34 by a spring 35 and is released manually in this embodiment by the operation of a handle 36. The rod 34 carries a restraining washer 37 at its free end, as shown in Figure 1.

When lifted by the handle 15, the cam pin 13, being at one (the frontward) extremity of its travel in the cam slots 12 in the cam plate 11, as shown in Figure 1 keeps the receptacle 3 locked to the chassis 2. Rolling of the receptacle forwards towards the discharge side 14 is prevented by the latching hook 32 being in its locked position over the latch pin 34, the hook 32 being is maintained in this position by the spring 35.

When the handle 15 is lifted by a person suitably positioned at the discharge side 14 of the receptacle 3,the rear legs 22 are raised from the ground 38 and the skipbarrow 1 may be manoeuvred and used in the manner of a normal wheelbarrow.

On the other hand, when the skipbarrow 1 is lifted bodily by a fork lift truck with the forks 19 occupying the entry 18, the design is such that when the receptacle 3 is loaded with

material the skipbarrow is driven to a waste skip 40, positioned thereover and the latch 31 released by pulling down on the integral handle 36, the receptacle 3 will roll forward upon the chassis via the roller plates 8 thereby tilting into the position shown in Figure 3 where the load will be ejected. The receptacle 3 is prevented from falling off the rear end 6 of the chassis 2 by the cam pin 13 preventing further rolling at this point by being at the other (the rearward) extremity of the cam slots 12 in the side members 19 as shown in Figure 3. When the load has been ejected, the design of the receptacle 3 is such that it will return by tilting forwards and into the original load receiving position shown in Figure 1, in which it will be automatically locked by the latch 31. The whole skipbarrow 1 is prevented from toppling forward off the forks 19 of the fork lift truck by a topple restraint bar element 25 of the front cross member 5 of which it is an integral part.

Whilst, a particular embodiment has been described, it should be appreciated that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the wheels 20 may be moved a little way towards the fork entry end of the chassis 2 to improve balance. The height of the bottom of the receptacle 3 from the base 7 may be raised, giving clearance above the wheels 20 to enable the receptacle to be widened as shown in chain lines in Figure 2. In another modification, small wheels or castors may be mounted on the legs 22.