GB2234472A

GB2234472A - Wheeled trolley

Info

Publication number: GB2234472A
Application number: GB8913520A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Daron Mark Gill
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-06-13
Filing date: 1989-06-13
Publication date: 1991-02-06
Also published as: GB8913520D0

Abstract

A framework (27) supporting a load container (47) is raisable and lowerable by a jack (21), the container (47) is detachable from the trolley (1) and the trolley is foldable for storage. The trolley (1) is particularly suitable as a supermarket trolley and can raise and lower a basket of goods from and to the floor of a hatchback vehicle for instance. The jacking means may comprises a pivoted cam arrangement, a screw and nut arrangement, or a hydraulic arrangement. <IMAGE>

Description

WHEELED TROLLEY The invention relates to wheeled trolleys.

Trolleys provided by supermarkets for the use of shoppers within their stores and out in their carparks are well known as are personally owned trolleys such as wheelbarrows and sackbarrows to be used around the house and garden. Use of supermarket trolleys by customers necessitates individually unloading all the goods purchased from the basket of the supermarket trolley into a car in a car park of the supermarket and subsequently individually unloading each of the items from the car at the home of the purchaser.

According to the invention there is provided a wheeled trolley capable of supporting a load container in which purchased goods can be conveyed, the trolley including means whereby the load container when loaded can be raised and lowered, the load container being detachable from the trolley and the trolley being foldable to reduce the space required for storage thereof.

Preferably the trolley comprises a generally horizontally extending frame supported on at least three wheels, a framework extending generally vertically from one end of the frame, a further framework telescopically received in the framework and including cantilevered arms and a handle arrangement. The means for raising and lowering the load container may comprise a jacking arrangement provided between the framework and the further framework to move the further framework telescopically with respect to the framework. Such Jacking means may comprise a pivoted cam arrangement, a screw and nut arrangement or a hydraulic arrangement.

The framework is preferably pivotable with respect to the frame so that it can be folded down thereon two and locking means are provided to imnobilise the pivot when pivoting is not required.

The cantilever arms are preferably pivotable with respect to the further framework through approximately 2700 from a position in which they extend generally horizontally and perpendicular to the further framework to a position in which they lie generally parallel to and alongside the framework.

Thus the load container such as a basket, supported on the cantilevered arms and with the further framework in a lowered position with respect to the framework, can be loaded with purchased goods in a supermarket and the trolley can then be pushed on- its wheels to the location of the user's road vehicle. The trolley is particularly suitable for use with hatchback vehicles and, at the vehicle, the further framework can be raised to its maximum height with respect to the framework and the trolley then advanced against the rear of the vehicle so that the basket overlies the floor within the vehicle with the frame and wheels of the trolley extending beneath the vehicle. The further framework and basket can then be lowered so that the basket is supported on the floor of the vehicle and further lowered to disengage the cantilevered arms from the basket.Preferably the basket has projecting trunnions at forward and rear positions which engage in recesses in the upper edges of the arms. The trolley can then be folded by unlocking the pivot between the framework and the frame, collapsing the framework down onto the frame and pivoting the cantilevered arms through 2700 to overlie the framework. The folded trolley can then be placed in the vehicle alongside the basket and the vehicle driven to the user's home. At the user's home the trolley can be unfolded, the cantilever arms can be engaged beneath the basket, the further framework can be raised and the basket can be removed from the vehicle to be taken into the user's home on the trolley and unloaded.

The trolley can be used for other purposes around the home, for example as a sackbarrow for transporting refuse sacks to a pickup collection position or supporting a bag for collecting garden refuse.

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an elevation of a trolley according to the invention.

Figure 2 is an elevation taken in the direction of arrow II of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing how the trolley can be folded.

Referring to the drawings a trolley 1 comprises a rectangular frame 3 supported on four castored wheels 5. At a rear end of the frame 3, the right hand side as viewed in Figure 1, the frame 3 has an upstanding pair of rigid lugs 7 each of which can be received between a respective pair of downwardly depending lugs 9 of a framework 11 with pivot pins 13 passing through the lugs 7 and 9. Thus the framework 11 is pivotable with respect to the frame 3 as indicated by the arrow 15 in Figure 3, a sliding collar 17 being provided on one of the downward depending legs of the framework 11 whereby the framework 11 can be locked in a vertically upright position with respect to the frame 3.

The framework 11 also includes a transverse upper member 19 on which a handlever 21 is rotatably mounted by a shaft 23, a cam 25 being secured against rotation with respect to the shaft 23 whereby it is rotated by rotation of the handlever 21.

A further framework 27 comprises a transverse member 29, downwardly depending legs 31 each telescopically received in a respective leg of the framework 11, pivot mountings 33, in each of which a respective cantilever arm 35 is pivotably mounted about a pivot pin 37 and upwardly projecting stays 39 supporting a handle 41. The cantilever arms 35 each have two recesses 43 in their upper edges and can thereby receive trunnions 45 projecting from the sides of a basket 47 whereby the basket 47 is securely supported on the trunnions 45 by the cantilever arms 35.

The cantilever arms 35 can be folded from the position of Figure 1 about the pivots 37 to the position of Figure 3, that is to say folded through 2700 with respect to the framework 11 so that they overlie and extend parallel to the framework ii.

By rotating the handlever 21 in a clockwise direction about the axis of the shaft 23 the cam 25 can be caused to abut the transverse member 29 of the further framework 27 to raise the further framework 27 with respect to the framework 11 and thus raise the basket 47. After the basket has been sufficiently raised to pass over the sill of a hatchback for example, the lever 21 can be rotated in the opposite direction to deposit the basket on the floor of the hatchback and release the trunnions 45 from the recesses 43. The cantilever arms can then be folded over to lie against the framework 11 and the collar 17 can be raised to allow the framework 11 to be pivoted down to overlie the frame 3 as indicated by the arrow 15 in Figure 3. The folded trolley can then be placed alongside the basket 47 in the hatchback until it is again required to remove the basket from the hatchback and transport it to another location.

Claims

1. A wheeled trolley capable of supporting a load container in which goods can be conveyed, the trolley including means whereby the load container when loaded can be raised and lowered, the load container being detachable from the trolley and the trolley-being foldable to reduce the space required for storage thereof.

2. A trolley according to claim 1 comprising a generally horizontally extending frame supported on at least three wheels, a first framework extending generally vertically from one end of the frame, a further framework telescopically receivable in the first framework and including cantilevered arms and a handle arrangement.

3. A trolley according to claim 2, in which the means for raising and lowering the load container comprises jacking means provided between the first framework and the further framework to move the further framework telescopically with respect to the first framework.

4. A trolley according to claim 3, in which the jacking means comprises a pivotal cam arrangement.

5. A trolley according to any one of claims 2 to 4, in which the load container is supported by trunnions disposed thereon and receivably mounted in recesses on the cantilever arms such that should, on lowering, the load container come to rest on a support surface then it detaches from the trolley.

6. A trolley according to any one of the previous claims i which the trolley is foldable in that the first framework is pivotable with respect to the frame so that it can be folded down thereon two and locking means are provided to immobilise the pivot.

7. A trolley according to any one of claims 2 to 6 in which the cantilever arms are pivotable with respect to the further framework through approximately 2700 from a position of use in which they generally extend horizontally and perpendicular to the further framework to a storage position in which they lie generally parallel to and alongside the first framework.

8. A trolley according to any one of the claims 2 to 7, in which the further framework telescopically extends generally vertically in the first framework.

9. A trolley according to any one of the previous claims in which the load container is a basket.

10. A wheeled trolley capable of supporting a load container substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.