Certain machines or equipment, such as lawnmowers, rollers, power sweeper and similar devices are customarily provided with handles for guiding or propelling them. These handles are ordinarily provided with a shaft having at one end a yoke shaped portion consisting of diverging arms adapted to be connected to the machine or equipment. The upper end of the shaft is ordinarily provided with a cross bar with or without hand grips at the opposite ends for the grasp of the operator.

The handles thus provided have been made in a single unit. Such unitary handles are of considerable length in comparison with the dimensions of the machine to which they are to be attached and hence it is often necessary to crate and ship the handle apart from the machine to which it is to be attached. Such shipment in separate crates often results in the arrival of the machine ahead of the handle, or in the temporary loss of the handle in shipment, giving rise to frequent complaints from dealers and customers. When the handle is shipped in the same crate with the machine, however, the crate is unnecessarily bulky, resulting in seriously increased shipping charges as well as in the unduly increased cost of the crate and its handling. Furthermore, a machine with a conventional unitary handle is an unwieldy article when it is desired to transport the moto mower or to store it for an extended period of time.

It is ordinarily difficult and inconvenient to remove the handle, and the handle is not necessary when it is desired to transport the machine to a repair shop for repairs or for sharpening of the cutting blades or cutting reel of rotary tiller. Since the machine cannot be placed conveniently in the baggage compartment of an ordinary passenger automobile or in the passenger compartment thereof, such transportation is inconvenient and often impossible without the use of a truck. The ordinary user, however, does not usually have access to a truck.