Press Release 09/07/2017
The TruStack Tire Dolly has been issued a patent (US Patent 9,610,963) for its innovative tie-down system and for its clever and unique caster configuration.
While major tire retailers enjoy strong brand recognition among their potential customers, small tire retailers have to inform every potential customer that drives by that they sell tires for a living. That’s why when you drive down a street with tire stores, it is common to see dozens of tires stacked out by the road in front of those stores.
Those street displays are very time-consuming to build every morning and tear down every night. The TruStack Tire Dolly was originally invented to make those stacks safe and mobile, to help those retailers spend time on customers more quickly after opening their stores in the morning and to get home to their families just a little earlier every night. Two of the features of the TruStack Tire Dolly do that job so well and so uniquely that the US Patent Office agreed and issued a patent for it.
The tie-down system on the TruStack allows the user to build a stack of tires nice and straight, loop the provided lash-strap through the top tire and then through TruStack base, cinching it tight to form a solid display unit on wheels. This keeps the tires from tumbling off the stack during a breeze or from little kids climbing the display. This system also helps protect the retailer from potential physical damage to both people and property from that tumbling tire.
The other noteworthy claim issued with the patent has to do with the casters. The TruStack Tire Dolly only uses commercial-grade sealed-bearing casters rather than dry bushings, but any competitor could have chosen those. The TruStack was also designed to ride on five casters rather than saving 20% by specifying four. But again, that could have been done by others. The really clever part was designing it to be easily controlled so that it could be steered down aisles, between cars, and on slanted driveways without the random movements of a typical furniture dolly. That is accomplished by specifying that two of the five casters be rigid non-swivel units mounted parallel to each other. The result is that the user can guide a full load of tires with one hand.
Other significant features are combined with these patented features, such as a large 30” diameter, large 1000# capacity, carry handle, side strap guides, 2 brakes, and full 360 degree support for the load, but you can read about those on your own at www.ChariotConcepts.com.
Of course, this means that those small town tire shops can deploy those street displays much more cost effectively than ever before, and with an extra layer of security as well.
Dan Jensen is inventor of the TruStack Tire Dolly and the owner of Chariot Concepts LLC which was founded in 2015. Dan spent 36 years working in and managing tire stores for Les Schwab Tire Centers in the West before retiring to start Chariot Concepts LLC. Dan likes to explain that he creates the tools he wished he’d had while running those tire stores. The first product created for Chariot Concepts was the TruStack Tire Dolly which debuted at SEMA in the same year, winning a Global Media Award for New Products in the process.