AU2132695A - Collapsible infant seat for a shopping cart - Google Patents

Description

"COLLAPSIBLE INFANT SEAT FOR A SHOPPING CART"

FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a collapsible infant seat for a shopping cart and in particular but not limited to a collapsible infant seat suitable for nestable shopping carts.

BACKGROUND ART

Shopping carts are known to employ an open-topped tapered container having a bottom wall, spaced side walls, a front wall and an end gate forming a rear wall for the container, the end gate being adapted to swing upwardly and forwardly about an upper pivot to form an opening so that when the front wall of another similar shopping cart is pushed through the gate the gate swings upwardly and the two carts nest together for storage purposes. A train of nested carts are commonly seen being manoeuvred about supermarkets by staff returning the carts from strategic collection locations to a main storage area for use by shoppers.

The rear wall commonly includes spaced leg holes and employs a collapsible infant seat in the form of a backrest panel pivotally connected at a lower end thereof to a fixed connecting point below the leg holes and having a hinged seat located between the rear wall and the backrest panel whereby the backrest panel may be inclined away from the rear wall so the seat is automatically positioned substantially horizontally and the backrest panel constitutes a backrest in an upper portion thereof above the seat.

Collapsible infant seats of this type have in recent times come under scrutiny and have a number of serious disadvantages. The carts employing this type of seat are prone to topple over thus injuring the infant. The infant is positioned quite high in the cart and this is dangerous. Due to the seat position and the need for carts to nest for storage the backrest is made short for clearance and therefore does not properly support the infant's head and back. In existing seats the backrests provide a top bar midway up the infant's back and rather than provide comfort the position of the bar creates discomfort and can even injure.

As the infants are placed so high in the cart the upper body of the infant is exposed so that the infant's arms can protrude and be bumped and injured by passing carts. In addition the infant can reach behind the backrest and interfere with groceries in the cart. Moreover, the present seats are not suited to slightly handicapped, developmental ly delayed infants or to enable young infants up to nine months of age to sleep and drink in comfort.

Efforts to overcome these problems are prevalent in the patent literature. U.S. patent No. 4,1 16,456 teaches a shopping cart especially designed to overcome the problem of the high centre of gravity. The solution in this patent is a significant departure from the common collapsible seat as a whole completely redesigned seat section is built into the rear of the cart. A similar cart is described in U.S. patent No. 4,432,882.

Other workers have sought to build alternative "car seat" style seats into nesting carts, see for example U.S. patent No. 5,227,473 and U.S. patent No.

5,056,865, whilst other workers have sought to provide and insert for the existing collapsible seat. Typical examples are illustrated in U.S. patent No. 4,324,430 and U.S. patent No. 4,204,695.

On the other hand despite these innovations, existing collapsible seats have remained essentially unchanged in terms of the operation and position as is shown in recent U.S. patent No. 5,312,122 and U.S. patent No. 5,368,318. The carts in these Patents still suffer from the above disadvantages.

What this means is that workers in the field in the last twenty years have endeavoured to improve infant safety by completely redesigning rather than considering what improvements might be made to the common form of seat.

OUTLINE OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to alleviate at least to some degree the abovementioned problems associated with the prior art.

In one aspect therefore the present invention resides in a shopping cart comprising an open-topped container having a bottom wall, spaced side walls, a front wall and preferably an end gate forming a rear wall for the container, the end gate being adapted to swing upwardly and forwardly about an upper pivot to form an opening for another cart to nest inside the first mentioned cart, the rear wall having spaced leg holes and a collapsible infant seat in the form of a backrest panel pivotally connected at a lower end thereof to a connecting point below the leg holes and having a hinged seat between the rear wall and the backrest panel whereby the backrest panel may be inclined away from the rear wall so the seat is automatically positioned substantially horizontally and the backrest panel constitutes a backrest in an upper portion thereof above the seat, the seat being positioned relative to the side walls and the rear wall generally below the midway level in the rear wall and the backrest panel extending upwardly to support the head, shoulders and neck of an infant seated in the cart.

Preferably the backrest panel may be positioned at a steep inclination corresponding to an infant's sitting position or at a lesser inclination corresponding to an infant's reclined position. In this regard the collapsible seat typically includes detent means corresponding to each position, the detent means typically being so designed as to be responsive to the weight of an infant sitting in the seat in order to inhibit folding of the collapsible seat. Preferably the detent means comprises a respective slot selectively engageable with the backrest panel at the respective positions.

In order to enhance the infant restraining capabilities of the seat it is preferable that the backrest panel includes a strap means adapted to be wrapped around an infant sitting in the collapsible seat and the strap means passing just below the infant's arms and having a point of securement behind the backrest panel and therefore behind the infant. In this arrangement the infant cannot undo the strap means.

In order that the present invention can be more readily understood and be put into practical effect reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings and wherein:-

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a shopping cart according to the prior art;

Figure 2 is a similar drawing to that of Figure 1 but illustrating the present invention;

Figure 3 is a side view illustrating a collapsible seat according to the present invention showing two positions of the backrest; and

Figure 4 is a side view showing the collapsible seat in its folded position;

Figure 5 is a drawing illustrating application of a typical strap means suitable for use with the present invention.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figure 1 there is illustrated a shopping cart 10 according to the prior art wherein a collapsible seat 1 1 is shown illustrating an infant 12 seated in the seat. As can be seen the backrest does not extend up to support the head and shoulders of the infant and the infant is positioned above the halfway level raising the centre of gravity of the cart particularly when the cart is empty.

The infant is not restrained in any way and even if a strap of the type depicted in Figure 5 hereof were employed the strap would be too low for comfort. The infant shown can stand and further enhance the likelihood of the cart toppling or the infant falling. The infant's arms and shoulders can easily protrude and hang over the side of the cart protentiating injury.

On the other hand Figure 2 illustrates the present invention where the seat is set much lower and the same size infant as illustrated in the drawing of Figure 1 is positioned much lower in the cart and is effectively by comparison completely caged in thereby reducing the risk of injury to limbs and due to the lower centre of gravity there is less likelihood of the cart toppling over.

The infant's head and shoulders are supported and due to the relative positions of the infant and the increased height of the backrest a strap can be employed which actually fits comfortably beneath the arm of most infants who would be using this kind of seat (see Figure 5).

Referring particularly to the features of Figure 2 there is illustrated a shopping cart 13 according to the present invention comprising an open topped container 14 having a bottom wall 15, side walls 16 and 1 7, a front wall (cut away for clarity) and in this case an end gate 18 forming a rear wall for the container, the end gate is adapted to swing upwardly and forwardly about upper pivots formed by hooks 19 and 20 and form an opening for another cart to nest inside the cart 13, the end gate has spaced leg holes 21 and 22 and a collapsible infant seat in the form of a backrest panel 23 pivotal ly connected at a lower end thereof to two connecting points 24 and 25 (behind the infant's legs) on opposite sides of the end gate 18 and having a hinged seat 26 between the end gate 18 and the backrest panel 23 whereby the backrest panel may be inclined away from the end gate 18 so the seat is automatically positioned substantially horizontally as shown and the backrest panel constitutes a backrest in an upper portion thereof above the seat 26, the seat being positioned relative to the side walls and the end gate generally below the midway level in the end gate and the backrest panel extending upwardly to support the head, shoulders and neck of the infant seated in the cart.

In the illustrated embodiment the seat 26 is slightly inclined to the horizontal with the backrest panel 23 being inclined at a lower inclination of two possible selectable positions. The inclination shown in Figure 2 is a reclining position so that the infant can lay back in the seat in a sleeping or drinking position.

An alternative position to this is where the backrest panel is moved forward to a steeper inclination so that the infant is in more of a seating position with the infant's back and head being supported in more of an upright position. These two positions are illustrated in Figure 3 where the upright position is shown in phantom at 23'. Figure 3 also illustrates a typical detent means where at opposite ends of the seat 26 there is provided a plate 27 having a pair of slots 28 and 29, the slots cooperating with a bar or projection 30 on the backrest panel 23 so that the backrest panel will be held in one of the selectable positions 23 or 23' and the weight of an infant sitting on the seat 26 will inhibit accidental folding of the backrest 23 on to the infant. The slots 28 and 29 are so formed that the slots 28 and 29 can be automatically engaged and disengaged by the parent of an infant using a single handed action on the panel 23 while the parent at the same time can position the infant in the seated position. Even if the infant is in place a parent can still manoeuvre the seat against the load of the infant to release the bar 30 and change the position of the backrest panel 23 should the parent wish to move the infant between the two positions.

As can be seen each of the slots 28 and 29 include an inclined mouth 31 and 32 respectively with the slot 28 additionally including a ridge 33 over which the projection or bar 30 must ride in order to be removed from the slot.

If the seat is not required then it can be moved to the folded position illustrated in Figure 4. This is also the position that the collapsible seat occupies against the end gate so that the end gate and seat moves in the direction of the arrow 34 in order to nest with another cart. It will be appreciated from Figures 2 and 5 that in order for the gate to swing up to an approximately horizontal position for nesting with another cart that the top of the backrest panel 23 must dear the handle 35.

Due to the design and construction of the seat illustrated in Figures 2 to 4 a strap can be employed at a higher level relative to the infant than in the prior art so as to hold an infant at a comfortable position. A typical strap is illustrated in Figure 5 where the strap is shown at 36 the strap having a loop section 37 secured about a number of bars and a free end 38 that can be passed around an infant below the arms of the infant back through the backrest panel 23 and secured to the strap at 39 thereby effectively securing the infant behind the backrest panel 23 and in turn behind the infant. Typically the strap employs co¬ operating hook and loop fastener material at 39 and on the free end 38. Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention, many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims (8)

1 . A shopping cart comprising an open-topped container having a bottom wall, spaced side walls, a front wall and an end gate forming a rear wall for the container, the end gate being adapted to swing upwardly and forwardly about an upper pivot to form an opening for another cart to nest inside the first mentioned cart, the rear wall having spaced leg holes and a collapsible infant seat in the form of a backrest panel pivotal ly connected at a lower end thereof to a connecting point below the leg holes and having a hinged seat between the rear wall and the backrest panel whereby the backrest panel may be inclined away from the rear wall so the seat is automatically positioned substantially horizontally and the backrest panel constitutes a backrest in an upper portion thereof above the seat, the seat being positioned relative to the side walls and the rear wall generally below the midway level in the rear wall and the backrest panel extending upwardly to support the head, shoulders and neck of an infant seated in the cart.

2. A shopping cart according to claim 1 wherein the backrest panel may be positioned at a steep inclination corresponding to an infant's sitting position or at a lesser inclination corresponding to an infant's reclined position.

3. A shopping cart according to claim 2 wherein the collapsible seat includes detent means corresponding to each position, the detent means being so designed as to be responsive to the weight of an infant sitting in the seat in order to inhibit folding of the collapsible seat.

4. A shopping cart according to claim 3 wherein the detent means comprises a respective slot selectively engageable with the backrest panel at the respective positions.

5. A shopping cart according to claim 1 wherein the backrest panel includes a strap means adapted to be wrapped around an infant sitting in the collapsible seat and the strap means passing just below the infant's arms and having a point of securement behind the backrest panel and behind the infant.

6. A shopping cart according to claim 2 wherein the backrest panel includes a strap means adapted to be wrapped around an infant sitting in the collapsible seat and the strap means passing just below the infant's arms and having a point of securement behind the backrest panel and therefore behind the infant.

7. A shopping cart according to claim 3 wherein the backrest panel includes a strap means adapted to be wrapped around an infant sitting in the collapsible seat and the strap means passing just below the infant's arms and having a point of securement behind the backrest panel and therefore behind the infant.

8. A shopping cart according to claim 4 wherein the backrest panel includes a strap means adapted to be wrapped around an infant sitting in the collapsible seat and the strap means passing just below the infant's arms and having a point of securement behind the backrest panel and therefore behind the infant.