Abstract: A broadcast spreader constructed from two separate and rotationally molded parts; one molded part integrates the handle and hopper assemblies while the other molded part forms the base assembly that supports the wheels for the spreader. A pair of dovetail-like connection between the molded parts assures a strong and tight fit and proper alignment therebetween. Also provided are a self-aligning bearing for the rotor shaft and a single control for simultaneously operating a deflector plate and an auxiliary dispensing member for the spreader.

Abstract: A large bucket-like utility cart having two pairs of wheels for allowing the cart to be tilted in both forward and backward directions on respective pairs of wheels by means of a collapsible loop handle with an angled crossbar design. A number of such utility carts can be alternately stacked or nested within one another with either the handle extended for use or collapsed or folded to its inoperative position, thus creating a high-density multiple-product module suitable for shipping, storage or display.

Abstract: First and second mold members are fitted one within another and together define a first annular space for forming a discontinuous single thread in a thin-walled housing, as well as a second annular space coaxial and contiguous with the first annular space; the second space defines the thread on the interior wall of the housing in the form of teeth members for receiving a threaded member associated with a linear adjustment device used with an agricultural implement, such as a spreader.

Abstract: A drop spreader having a hopper with a series of materials-dispensing apertures therein supported by a pair of wheels, an upper U-shaped frame pivotally connected to a pair of spaced-apart leg members supported on the hopper for use as a handle for the spreader, the hopper further having molded in place a pair of sleeve members adjacent the rim thereof for receiving the respective leg members, a shutoff bar adjacent the apertures being composed of two different materials, plastic enveloping metal, and further the use of a simple pivotal snap connection between the micrometer device used with the spreader and the control lever for controlling the movement of the shutoff bar.

Abstract: A collapsible drop spreader having a hopper for supporting a wheel axle bearing member, an upper U-shaped frame pivotally connected to a pair of parallel leg members supported on the hopper for use as a handle for the spreader, the hopper further having wheel track alignment guide arrows indexed thereon, a series of material exit apertures extending the length thereof, a two-part rotary agitator bar disposed above the material exit apertures of the hopper, a spring washer for biasing the separate members of the agitator bar apart to effect a sealing relationship with the wheel axle bearing supports, a light weight fiber reinforced shut-off bar disposed adjacent the material exit apertures and rotatable about splines on the wheel axle bearing members, and a flexible cable having one end connected to the rotatably journaled shut-off bar and the other end thereof connected to a control lever located on the upper frame for rotating the shut-off bar from a closed position to an open position with respect to the ma

Abstract: A collapsible broadcast spreader having a lower frame for supporting a wheel axle, an upper frame pivotally connected to the lower frame for use as a handle for the spreader when the upper frame and lower frame are in an extended position, a hopper also supported by the lower frame and having a materials exit aperture in the hopper, a slide integral with a bottom wall of the hopper, a shut-off plate disposed within the slide, a flexible cable having one end pivotally connected to the shut-off plate and the other end thereof connected to a control lever located on the upper frame for moving the shut-off plate from a closed position to an open position with respect to the aperture, wherein the control cable and the shut-off plate are in-line.

Abstract: According to one embodiment of the present invention there is provided a two-part shipping and display carton for use with a stacked array of portable wheeled spreaders, each spreader having a hopper, a pair of wheels disposed below the hopper, a lower frame supporting the hopper, and an upper frame pivoted to the lower frame and being pivoted into a collapsed state so that the upper frame lies generally adjacent the lower frame. A bottom portion of the carton receives the stacked array of spreaders, while a top portion of the carton having a similar cross-sectional shape as the bottom portion and a height that is slightly higher than the height of the stacked array of spreaders fits within the bottom portion so that the outside surfaces of its walls contact the inside surfaces of the walls of the bottom portion when the top portion is lowered into the bottom portion.

Abstract: A collapsible spreader having all parts pre-assembled that requires no tools for its transformation into an operative device and that includes a wheel assembly, a two-part frame member, whose lower part is affixed to the wheel assembly and supports a high-volume hopper as well as a collapsible support stand. The leg members of the lower frame are pivotally connected to the legs of the upper frame, such that the lower and upper frames when pivoted into an extended position from a trapezoidal loop and, when returned to their collapsed state, form a generally rectangular prism that includes the entire spreader device within its volume, namely the legs of the lower and upper frames, the hopper, the support stand, the seed-dispensing mechanism and the wheel assembly.

Abstract: A hand held spreader having the bottom-face of the hopper portion at an angle with respect of the horizontal and having the handle for holding the device disposed directly below the hopper and so directly below the weight of the hopper; the handle is angled so as to afford an in-line action between the trigger of the handle and the slide of a dispensing mechanism, thus avoiding any requirement or a linkage between the trigger and the slide mechanism. Also the gear-box portion of the device is of a simple clam-shell design that allows the rotary drive shaft of the device to be removably supported on opposite sides of its load bearing section by means of bearing supports on both sides of at least one of the gears. The supports are part of the separate halves of the housing itself, thus avoiding the need for additional or separate bearing structures.

Abstract: The invention provides an easily assembled connector for handle sections of a wheeled appliance in which the connector is formed from a plastic having an agressive memory for enabling a pair of opposed tab members thereon formed from the same material to cooperate with respective apertures in the handle members to be joined or connected. The handle members are slip-fitted the one onto the other with the connector occupying a reinforcing position on the inside surface of the end of the innermost handle member in one embodiment and, according to another embodiment in which the connector housing comprises two half portions, joins the handle members in an abutting relationship.

Abstract: A hand cart or wheelbarrow is provided with a tub member having slanted walls, one with respect to another, together with suitably designed auxiliary members, such as a handle, wheels, axle and hardware. At the factory site the auxiliary members and hardware are placed within the tub and enveloped as a unit with a packaging material so that the resultant package is of the same general shape and configuration as the tub and contains all the elements of the complete product. In this way each package can be nested in another like package, and a plurality of such packages, so nested together, can form a compact shipping unit, storage unit or sales unit that affords maximum protection to each product and that virtually eliminates wasted space between the stacked products.