In the moving industry, it is quite usual to face the situation of having to move large, heavy, and sometimes awkwardly shaped objects such as furniture within the confines of buildings. The movement of large objects and furniture are not limited to the venue of commercial buildings, but equally experienced in residential settings with interest in relocating furniture to achieve a new floor plan or moving the furniture or large objects to a new home. Other occurrences arise from office downsizing, team wiring upgrades, etc. that frequently mandate office reconfigurations requiring that the furniture be moved or rotated. Furniture is also frequently moved for example, in healthcare and educational facilities for cleaning. In these instances, as in the installation of modular carpet, it is desirable to move the furniture quickly, with the least possible effort and, preferably, after hours with a limited number of workers.
Office equipment is usually moved with a hand truck, four-wheel dolly, or the like and can take several individuals working together. The work is hard, labor expensive and injuries occur. Other furniture, such as workstations, computers, etc. are also difficult to move. The preferable method of moving the heavy objects is for professional movers to pick the object up and carry it by hand, but this is not always an economically feasible or a possible arrangement because of the lack or cost of labor.
An alternative to hand trucks and dollies for movement of furniture and objects includes the use of attachment gliders, typically placed under the legs of the object to be moved. The attachment glider comprises various contact surfaces for engaging the type of material forming the floor across which the object or furniture is moved. For example, for a wood or tile floor, the attachment glider will have a textile surface such as felt. For a floor covered with carpet, the attachment glider will have a hard smooth surface such as plastic. Such surfaces reduce the friction and/or wear that occurs from the object moving across the floor's surface.
One example of hand glider assemblies are those shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/491,703 entitled ATTACHMENT GLIDER that was filed on Jun. 8, 2012. The ATTACHMENT GLIDER application was assigned to the assignee of the present disclosure and is incorporated herein by reference.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds