US798127A - Handle for tamping-shovels. - Google Patents

Description

s 0 9 1 9 2 aw U A D T m v. T m A E P V 0 H mLS G m MP UM BA .T w WP E L D N A H 7 2 1 8 9 7 0 N APPLICATION FILED 'JAN. 31. 1906.

Inventor Witnesse %.;14

WILLIAM P. BURNITT, OF GREENWOOD, MISSISSIPPI.

HANDLE FOR TAIVlPlNG-SHOVELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1905.

Application filed January 31, 1905. Serial No. 243,536.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. BURNITT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greenwood, in the county of Lefiore and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and useful Handle for Tamping-Shovels, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for spades and shovels,

with a view of utilizing the handle of the shovel for tamping or packing of the earth and similar material. v

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment in the form of a hand-protector which may be made at small cost and form a part of the equipment of the workman, so that he may secure it to the shovel or remove it therefrom, as circumstances may require.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists of the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor, details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a handle constructed in accordance with the invention and showing the same applied to a blade of a shovel. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same, drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is an elevation illustrating a hand-protector of modilied construction applied to a shovel-blade. Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2, illustrating a further modification of the invention. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the removable metallic bar supported by the protector and provided with a groove to receive the cutting edge of the blade.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Shovels and spades are in many cases provided with handles of such construction that they may be used in place of tamping-irons for packing dirt, gravel, and similar material around trees, shrubs, fence-posts, or beneath railway-ties, and in practice it is usual to grasp the cutting edge of the shovel-blade. This is not only injurious to the hand, but the earth cannot be packed sufiiciently tight, inasmuch as the workman risks serious injury from the delivery of a hard blow with the implement.

The present invention is to provide a small detachable hand-guard which may be carried in the pocket and applied to any ordinary shovel when necessary, and said protector may be made of any suitable or convenient shape, as in the form of a handle, or it may be in the nature of a guard having a rod or bar recessed for the reception of the cutting edge of the shovel-blade.

One form of the invention comprises a handle 1, having a shank portion 2, that is provided with a longitudinally-disposed groove 3 for the reception of the cutting edge of the shovel or spade, and in the base of the groove is a bar 4, formed of metal or other suitable material, to receive the edge of the blade, so as to prevent splitting of the handle. This bar is mounted within the shank portion so as to permit of its ready removal when Worn from constant use, and in practice it is found that a bar of lead or an alloy of some comparatively soft metal is better suited for the work than a bar of iron or steel, inasmuch as it will prevent injury to the cutting edge of the shovel or spade. The shank portion of the handle is provided with fastening means, which may be in the form of screws 5, passing through suitable openings 6. The blade of the shovel is provided with openings for the passage of the securing means, there being, preferably, a number of such openings formed in the shovel in order that the handle may be fastened on after the shovel or spade has been worn.

The shank portion of the handle may be provided with simple threaded openings for the reception of set-screws that lie against one face of the shovel-blade, and that wall of the groove of the shank opposite the screw is preferably roughened in order that it may the better engage with the opposite face of the shovel-blade. In a still further modification of the invention the shank portion of the handle is widened to an extent sufficient to pass beyond both edges of the shovel-blade and clamping-screws 7 used to unite the two sides of the shank and clamp the same down upon the blade of the shovel. In all cases it is intended that the device be made and sold at small cost and be a part of the equipment of the workman, so that he may apply the the shovel.

same to the shovel When it is necessary to use the handle end of the shovel for tamping purposes.

With a device of this kind the shovel may be used as a tamping-iron, thus saving the expense of an additional tool and the labor of transporting the same from place to place.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed is- 1. A shovel attachment, comprising a handle member having a slotted shank for the reception of the cutting edge of the shovelblade.

2. A shovel attachment comprising a removable handle, and a slotted bar carried by said handle for the reception of the blade of shovel attachment comprising a grooved handle having a detachable slotted bar for engaging the cutting edge of the shovelblade.

4. A shovel attachment, comprising a body portion shaped to form a shank for the reception of the cutting edge of the shovel-blade, and a handle member that projects beyond the cutting edge.

5. A shovel attachment comprising a grooved handle member having a slotted shank, and a detachable metallic bar arranged in the base of the slot and adapted to receive the cutting edge of the shovel-blade. I

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM P. BURNITT.

Witnesses:

D. E. MCDONALD, M. P. FIsHBURN.

Images