EP2099000B1 - Quick-fixing deposit device box - Google Patents

Abstract

The box has a flange (10) for maintaining a reception block on a tubular handle (72). The flange includes opposite rear and front hooking borders (14, 16) separated by a longitudinal space receiving the handle. The border (14) has a slot opening towards exterior of the box to receive a proximal link (48) of a chain. Deformable elastic tabs are located on both sides of the slot. The tabs are deformable between an opened position to authorize engagement of the link inside the slot and a closed position to retain the link inside the slot.

Description

The present invention relates to a deposit box for tubular handle of nestable trolley or caddy, intended in particular for supermarkets.

Trolleys of this type already include a two-part setpoint box, comprising a receiving block and a flange for holding said receiving block in a fixed position on the tubular handle. In addition, the housing has a link chain of a predetermined length and having a proximal link and an anchor-shaped distal key. The receiving block includes a locking mechanism of a key for receiving the key of another carriage and an unlocking mechanism adapted to receive an unlocking token to precisely unlock said key.

The housing is usually fitted to the cylindrical handle so as to present the receiving block on the top of the handle, while the flange is located below. The flange has two first fastening edges opposite one another and substantially parallel to each other. The first two hooking edges are spaced from one another and they are separated by a longitudinal gutter space adapted to receive the cylindrical tubular handle of the carriage. The receiving block meanwhile, has two opposite second attachment edges adapted to respectively apply to the first edges of the flange by covering the handle to sandwich it. One of the first and second borders applied to one another are then screwed together, while opposite to the handle, the others of the first and second borders are snapped into one another. Thus, by forcing one of the first and second edges together, the flange and the receiving block are adapted to form a vise to grip the cylindrical handle by trapping it.

In addition, one of the borders of one of the first and second edges screwed together has a slot that precisely crosses the clamping screw of the two borders. This slot opens outwardly from the housing and is intended to receive the proximal link so that the clamping screw through the same the proximal link, so as to imprison it too. Such a type of housing is described in the documents US2005 / 0230218 , DE19541258 and FR2731822 , while in the documents WO03 / 078225 , EP1626373 and DE8811173 , the proximal link is independent of the clamping screw.

Usually, when manually mounting the housing on the cylindrical handle by an operator, the receiving block and the flange are held together on the handle, while the operator attempts to screw the clamping screw through one of the first and second Edges applied to each other while trying to maintain the proximal link in the slot so that the clamping screw, passing, crosses the link.

We can refer to the document FR 2,731,822 which describes such a device, with adjustable latching means to allow a first manual clamping of the flange and the receiving block on the handle, which leaves a little more freedom for the operator to maintain the link proximal in the cleft.

However, this type of housing is relatively expensive, and most importantly, the latching means are not very resistant to burglary.

Also, a problem that arises and that aims to solve the present invention is to provide a deposit box that is not only cheap, but also, which allows a quick assembly on the handle of the carriages.

For this purpose, the present invention proposes a deposit box for tubular handle of a nestable trolley, said set-up box comprising a receiving block, a flange for holding said receiving block on said tubular handle and a chain having a proximal link and a distal key, said flange having two opposite first fastening edges separated by a longitudinal space adapted to receive said tubular handle, said receiving block having two opposite second attachment edges adapted to be respectively joined to said first two edges of said flange; , one of the first and second joined edges being able to be traversed by at least one connecting rod extended inside a bore, so as to trap said tubular handle between said receiving block and said flange, one borders of said one of the first and second joined edges pr a slot opening outwardly from said housing for receiving the proximal link of said chain, said slot being formed across said bore so as to be able to enclosing said proximal link within said slot when said connecting rod extends within said bore and passes through said proximal link. According to the invention, the housing further comprises deformable resilient tongues located on each side of said slot; and said tabs are deformable, between a spaced apart position to allow engagement of said proximal link within said slot, and a close position for retaining said link within said slot.

Thus, a feature of the invention lies in the implementation of tongues resiliently deformable on either side of said slot, which allows to manually engage the proximal link inside the slot by removing the deformable tongues which then come closer when the link is finally housed inside the slot. In this way, the proximal link is held in a fixed position inside the slot and the operator can then, when the receiving block and the flange are assembled on the cylindrical handle, hold them together with one hand, while the chain is suspended from its proximal link, and with the other hand, forcefully, with the help of a tool, push a threaded rod through one of the first and second joined edges, crossing the same , the proximal link. Therefore, the mounting of the setpoint box is made much easier, and therefore less expensive to implement.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, said flange has retractable locking lugs located along said first edges to extend projecting in said longitudinal space, and said locking lugs are movable between, a position spaced apart from said longitudinal gap to allow engagement of said handle within said longitudinal space, and a close position to retain said flange suspended from said handle. Thus, the flange can be clipped beforehand on the cylindrical handle, by dragging it from below the cylindrical handle so that the longitudinal space extends opposite the handle. As soon as the locking lugs come into contact with the handle, they tend to move elastically away from the longitudinal space to retract towards their respective first edges. Then, when the cylindrical handle extends entirely in the longitudinal space, the locking lugs tend to return to their initial position by folding towards the top of the handle. Thus, the flange can be previously installed on the cylindrical handle and be suspended there before being attached to the top, the receiving block. It is understood that this feature, further facilitates the installation of the setpoint box for the operator, who can then adjust one by one the parts of the setpoint box, the chain by engaging the distal link in the slot, the flange on the handle and without them dissociating themselves.

Advantageously, said slot is formed inside said flange near its bottom wall, so that the proximal link is held in a fixed position at a close distance from this wall, which will then be pierced from the outside for push in the connecting rod.

In addition, said slot has an open entrance and extends toward the longitudinal space to a bottom opposite the open entrance. Said deformable resilient tongues open into said open inlet so as to be able to insert the proximal link within the slot and so that the tabs can move closer behind this proximal link to maintain it.

Furthermore, the others of the first and second joined edges are also traversed by at least one other connecting rod, so as to grip the cylindrical handle by printing significant forces on the flange and on the receiving block. In this way, the housing is perfectly locked in rotation on the handle. In addition, the two second opposing attachment edges respectively joined to said two first edges define an average joint plane of said housing and said slot is precisely formed in a mean plane substantially parallel to said middle joint plane, so as to further facilitate the mounting. And moreover, always for this purpose, said drilling extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to said mean joint plane, so as to be able to drive the connecting rod, for example a self-tapping screw, through the joined edges according to a direction substantially perpendicular to the mean joint plane.

Advantageously, said flange has clamping ribs which are flush with said longitudinal space to be applied against said handle to make clamping more effective. These ribs also have the advantage of stiffening the flange.

In addition, said flange is bordered by first lips, while said receiving block is bordered by complementary second lips, and said first and second lips are adapted to engage one another in overlapping at least partially when said second attachment edges are respectively joined to said first two edges by trapping the cylindrical handle, so as to seal said housing.

According to a preferred embodiment, said flange and said deformable elastic tongues are molded together in one piece of plastic material, so as to obtain and a flange at an advantageous cost, and also, to naturally confer the elasticity to the tongues by the nature of the molded material.

• la Figure 1 est une vue schématique de dessus en élévation d'un élément du boîtier de consigne conforme à l'invention ;
• la Figure 2 est une vue schématique en coupe de l'élément représenté sur la Figure 1 selon le plan II-II ;
• la Figure 3 est une vue schématique en perspective de détail de l'élément représenté sur les Figures 1 et 2 ;
• la Figure 4 est une vue schématique en perspective de détail de l'élément représenté sur la Figure 3 additionné d'un élément supplémentaire ;
• la Figure 5 est une vue schématique en perspective de détail de l'élément représenté sur la Figure 3 additionné de l'élément supplémentaire et d'un organe de fixation ;
• la Figure 6a est une vue schématique de côté de l'élément représenté sur la Figure 2 selon la flèche VIa représentée sur la Figure 5 et selon une étape de montage ; et,
• la Figure 6b est une vue schématique en perspective des éléments représentés sur la Figure 5 dans une seconde étape de montage.

Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge on reading the following description of a particular embodiment of the invention, given by way of indication but not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

• the Figure 1 is a schematic view from above in elevation of an element of the deposit box according to the invention;
• the Figure 2 is a schematic sectional view of the element shown on the Figure 1 according to plan II-II;
• the Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of detail of the element shown on the Figures 1 and 2 ;
• the Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of detail of the element shown on the Figure 3 supplemented by an additional element;
• the Figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of detail of the element shown on the Figure 3 added with the additional element and a fastener;
• the Figure 6a is a schematic side view of the element shown on the Figure 2 according to the arrow VIa shown on the Figure 5 and according to a mounting step; and,
• the Figure 6b is a schematic perspective view of the elements represented on the Figure 5 in a second stage of assembly.

The Figure 1 illustrates a flange 10 of a deposit box intended to be installed on a nestable supermarket trolley. This flange 10 for above is substantially rectangular, and it is intended to be engaged from below a cylindrical handle of the nestable trolley. It has an outline delimited by lips 12 which make it possible to ensure a tight junction with a not shown receiving block which is applied above. In addition, it has a rear edge 14, facing the rear of the nestable carriage, and a front edge 16 facing the front of the carriage. These two borders are spaced apart from each other, and between them extends a longitudinal space 18 of axis A. We thus find on the Figure 2 , the flange 10 having its rear edge 14 opposite its front edge 16 and the longitudinal gap 18 between them. The flange 10 has a wall 20, which has an outer surface 22 and the opposite, an inner surface 24 having ribs 25. Reference is again made to the Figure 1 , on which the rear edge 14 has a slot 26 which extends substantially in the plane of the Figure, and which has an inlet opening 28 and a bottom wall 30, the inlet opening 28 having two elastic tongues deformable 32, 34 opposite one another and facing. The opening 28 of this slot 26 opens towards the outside of the housing after the not shown receiving block has been adjusted to cover the flange 10. In addition, a bore 36 has been formed, perpendicular to the slot 26 and the plane means Pm of the flange 10, which average plane Pm is substantially parallel to the mean joint plane of the paired flange and receiving block. This bore 36 passes through the slot 26 substantially at its center.

We will now refer to the Figure 3 , on which are found in perspective the two deformable elastic tongues 32, 34 which extend laterally on each side of the opening 28 of the slot 26 and projecting precisely in the opening 28. The bottom 30 of the slot 26 is formed by a partition formed inside the flange 10. This slot 26 has a bottom wall 36 and an upper wall 38, opposite and close to each other; and two side walls 40, 42 opposite and remote from each other. In addition, the opening 28 has an upper clearance 44 and an opposite lower clearance 46. Also found on this Figure 3 the bore 36 which extends across the slot 28. It will be observed that the deformable resilient tongues 32, 34 extend projecting towards one another in the opening 28 and are spaced apart from one another. other from a distance less than the distance between the two opposite side walls 40, 42 of the slot 26. In addition, these tongues 32, 34 are free and they are likely to be deformed so as to be spaced apart from each other. Indeed, and this is an object of the invention, a proximal link of a chain will be inserted inside the slot 56 so that the average plane defined by this link is oriented substantially parallel to the mean plane of the slot 26, so that the two rounded branches of the proximal link are simultaneously bear against the deformable elastic tongues 32, 34 to force them away from each other as the link is depressed towards the bottom 30 of the slot 26. The two opposite side walls 40, 42 are spaced from each other by a distance substantially equal to the width of the link, to the functional clearance close to allow the sliding without difficulty of the link distal in the slot 26, so that the deformable resilient tongues 32, 34 are spaced from each other by a distance not exceeding the width of the slot 26.

Then, as soon as the distal link is depressed in the slot 26, the deformable elastic tongues 32, 34 tend to return to their initial positions and to move closer to each other behind the depressed distal link. We find such a situation on the Figure 4 , where there is a distal link 48 housed in the slot 26, the two retractable elastic tongues 32, 34 then being brought closer to each other to hold the link 48 inside the slot 26. In addition, one will observe that the bore 36 thus crosses the distal link 48, while the first link 50, integral with the distal link 48 and which is substantially perpendicular to it, bears in the opening 28 at the upper clearance 44 and lower 46. Thus , the distal link 48 is retained inside the slot 26 across the bore 36. In this way, the receiving block which will be attached to the flange 10 and which will mask the distal link 48 may be secured to the rear edge 14 of the flange 10 by forcing a self-tapping screw, through the outer surface 22 of the flange 10 illustrated on the Figure 2 at a recess 52 specially formed for this purpose in the axis of the bore 36. Thus, the self-tapping screw, an illustration of which forms a fixing rod 54 on the Figure 5 , is screwed from below the flange 10 and into the receiving block which does not appear in the Figure, through the bore 36 and especially through the distal link 48 which is thereby imprisoned in the deposit box. Thus, it is understood that the distal link 48 during the depression of the self-tapping screw, is held in position in the slot 26 by the elastic deformable tongues 32, 34 without the need to hold it by hand, although the rest of the chain is suspended from the flange. In this way, the mounting conditions of the deposit box are facilitated.

In addition, and this is also a characteristic of the invention, said flange 10 is equipped with first retractable locking lugs 60, 62 along the rear edge 14 on the one hand and opposite, second lugs retractable locking pins 64, 66 along the front edge 16. These retractable locking lugs, have a rod 68 integral with the inner surface 24 and which extends substantially perpendicular to the average plane Pm and also which ends with a free hook 70 which extends projecting into the longitudinal space 18.

Thus, we find on the Figure 6a the flange 10 in side view in the axis of its longitudinal space 18, delimited by the two edges 14, 16. It also contains the first locking lugs 60, 62 and the opposite, the second locking lugs 64 , 66. In addition, the free hooks 70 of the lugs 60, 62; 64, 66 are in contact with a handle 72 of circular symmetry and a diameter greater than the distance separating the free hooks 70. Thus, from this position the handle 72 of the nesting carriage is usually held in a fixed position, while that the flange 10 is driven in translation upwards according to the arrow T. In this way, the locking lugs 60, 62; 64, 66 respectively deviate from each other to allow the engagement of the handle 72 within the longitudinal gap 18. Then, when the ribs 25 of the inner surface 24 of the flange 10 are applied against the handle 72, the free hooks 70 are released and the lugs 60, 62; 64, 66 are respectively approaching each other, while the free hooks 70 are applied on top of the handle 72. Such a situation is illustrated on the Figure 6b , on which, the hooks 70 are supported on the upper part of the handle 72 so that the flange 10 is held clipped on the handle 72. Thus, again, the lugs 60, 62; 64, 66 allow to maintain the flange 10 on the handle 72 without a operator needs to do so, which gives him complete freedom to come and adjust the unrepresented receiving block on this flange 10.

Claims (10)

1. Deposit device box for a tubular handle (72) of a nestable trolley, said deposit device box comprising a reception block, a flange (10) allowing said reception block to be held on said tubular handle and a chain having a proximal link (48) and a distal key, said flange having two first opposed coupling edges (14, 16) separated by a longitudinal spacing (18) able to receive said tubular handle, said reception block having two second opposed coupling edges adapted to be respectively joined to said two first edges (14, 16) of said flange (10), certain ones of the first and second joined edges being able to be traversed by at least one linking rod (54) extending within a bore (36) so as to trap said tubular handle (72) between said reception block and said flange (10), one (14) of the edges of said certain ones of the first and second joined edges having a slot (26) issuing towards the outside of said box to receive said proximal link (48), said slot (26) being provided through said bore (36) so as to be able to trap said proximal link (48) within said slot when said linking rod (54) extends within said bore (36) and traverses said proximal link (48);
   characterised in that it comprises deformable resilient tabs (32, 34) located on each side of said slot (26);
   and in that said tabs (32, 34) are deformable between a spaced-apart position to allow the engagement of said proximal link (48) within said slot (26) and a close-together position to keep said proximal link (48) within said slot (26) so as to be able to press said linking rod (54) within said bore (36), traversing said proximal link (48), when said reception block and said flange (10) are kept assembled on said cylindrical handle.
2. Deposit device box as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that said flange (10) has retractable blocking lugs (60, 62; 64, 66) located along said first edges (14, 16) to extend protruding into said longitudinal spacing (18), and in that said blocking lugs (60, 62; 64, 66) are retractable between a position spaced-apart from said longitudinal spacing (18) to allow the engagement of said handle (72) within said longitudinal spacing (18) and a close-together position to keep said flange (10) suspended from said handle (72).
3. Deposit device box as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said slot (26) is provided within said flange (10).
4. Deposit device box as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that said slot (26) has an open inlet (28) opposite a base (30), and in that said deformable resilient tabs (32, 34) issue into said open inlet (28).
5. Deposit device box as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the other edges of the first and second joined edges are traversed by at least one other linking rod.
6. Deposit device box as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that since two second opposed coupling edges respectively joined to said two first edges (14, 16) define a joint mid-plane of said box, said slot (26) is provided in a mid-plane substantially in parallel with said joint mid-plane.
7. Deposit device box as claimed in Claim 6, characterised in that said bore (36) extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to said joint mid-plane.
8. Deposit device box as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, characterised in that said flange (10) has clamping ribs (25) which become flush with said longitudinal spacing (18) to become applied against said handle (72).
9. Deposit device box as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterised in that said flange (10) is bordered by first lips (12) whilst said reception block is bordered by complementary second lips, and in that said first and second lips are adapted to become mutually engaged when said second coupling edges are respectively joined to said two first edges (14, 16) so as to seal said box.
10. Deposit device box as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9, characterised in that said flange (10) and said deformable resilient tabs (32, 34) are moulded together as a single piece.

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