AU2001100560A4

AU2001100560A4 - Portable shopping bag transportation device

Info

Publication number: AU2001100560A4
Application number: AU2001100560A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Nikolaus Rudenno
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-11-14
Filing date: 2001-11-14
Publication date: 2001-12-20
Anticipated expiration: 2009-11-14

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT PORTABLE SHOPPING BAG TRANSPORTATION

DEVICE

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:

DESCRIPTION

PORTABLE SHOPPING BAG TRANSPORTATION

DEVICE

This invention relates to improvements in devices for the personal transportation of shopping bags.

Many people are faced with the transportation of numerous shopping bags, generally made of plastic with individual handles formed as part of the bag. The bags are usually transferred from the checkout counter of shops or supermarkets to the shopper's car and then at a later stage from the car to the shopper's place of residence.

Although in many cases large cumbersome shopping trolleys are provided to help with the transportation of shopping bags to the shopper's car, such devices are not available to the shopper on arrival at home.

Previous attempts to provide individual means of transporting shopping include trolleys that comprise a fabric covered container on wheels into which shopping goods can be placed. These are restricted by the modest volume of the container that only allows for a small number of goods to be placed inside. Further, since goods have to be stacked on top of each other, some fragile goods that are placed in the trolley may be damaged as a result of the weight of goods placed on top of them. As well, when empty these trolleys are still quite bulky devices that are not easy to carry or to store.

These problems are overcome by the present invention. This invention provides a portable shopping bag transportation device comprising a vertical column fitted with one or more hooks on which to hang shopping bags supported on a base assembly with wheels that contact the ground, and a handle with which to push or pull the device along the ground. Shopping bags are generally filled at the shop in a selective fashion to ensure fragile goods are separated from heavier goods. The present invention maintains this separation of goods within their shopping bags and requires no stacking of goods, which minimises or prevents any damage to goods. In its fully collapsed position (Figure 2) the portable shopping transportation device is very compact, light to carry and easy to store.

In one form of the invention, the shopping bags are hung on a number of hooks Figurel) that protrude from the top of a vertical column Figure The hooks are uniformly distributed around the circumference of the vertical column so that the weight and number of bags can be distributed as evenly as possible around the column. The hooks are several centimetres in horizontal length with an upturned section also of several centimetres in length. The column is of a length to allow sufficient ground clearance for the majority of shopping bags when loaded onto the hooks. The vertical column fits into a hollow housing Figure of similar circumference, on the top of the base Figure The vertical column can be removed by pulling it out of the housing on the base.

The base consists of a tubular section some 30 centimetres in length with a free wheeling wheel Figure 1) located at each end. The wheels provide adequate ground clearance for the base so that the device can be pulled or pushed along freely using an extendable handle. This fixed extendable handle Figure 1) is attached to the base at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the vertical column. The handle can be extended from a contracted length slightly longer than the vertical column to approximately twice this length by turning and pulling out the internal section of the handle Figure The internal section can be locked into the fully extended position by turning it until it tightens inside the lower section. This procedure is reversed to collapse the extendable handle.

Both sections of the extendable handle are hollow. The internal section of the handle is slightly larger in circumference than the movable vertical column so that the vertical column can be stored inside the extendable handle when in the contracted position (Figure 2) making the unloaded transportation device compact, easy to carry and to store.

Attached by way of a hinge approximately one-third up the underside (side opposite the base) of the extendable handle is a resting frame Figure which can be opened out from the extendable handle. Once the resting frame is opened and the handle is fully extended, the portable shopping bag transportation device will rest on the frame and the wheels of the base, with the extendable handle approximately degrees to the horizontal, and the vertical column, when fitted to the base, approximately vertical to the ground. The portable shopping bag transportation device is then in a stable and stationery position enabling the operator to use both hands to easily load the shopping bags onto the hooks on the vertical column. Once fully laden with shopping, the resting frame can be collapsed back against the lower section of the extendable handle either by hand or foot, so that only the wheels make contact with the ground. The portable shopping bag transportation device is then easily pushed or pulled along using the extendable handle.

The components that make up the portable shopping bag transportation device can be made from aluminium, wood, plastic or metal or any combination of these.

Claims

1. A portable shopping bag transportation device comprising a vertical column fitted with one or more hooks on which to hang shopping bags supported on a base assembly fitted with wheels that contact the ground, and a handle with which to push or pull the device along the ground.

2. The portable shopping bag transportation device of claim 1 wherein the one or more hooks are located at the top of the vertical column and evenly distributed around the circumference of the vertical column.

3. The portable shopping bag transportation device of claims 1 2 wherein the vertical column is removable from the base assembly and can be stored inside the hollow handle.

4. The portable shopping bag transportation device of claims 1 to 3 wherein one wheel is located at either end of the base assembly.

The portable shopping bag transportation device of claims 1 to 3 wherein a three- wheel stair-mounting assembly is located at each end of the base assembly.

6. The portable shopping bag transportation device of claims 1 to 5 wherein the handle is extendable and lockable in the extended position.

7. The portable shopping bag transportation device of claims 1 to 6 wherein a resting support frame is attached to the underside of the handle and which frame can be opened out away from the handle to support the device in a stationary position so it can be loaded with shopping bags.

8. The portable shopping bag transportation device substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings Figure 1 Figure 2.