GB2403933A

GB2403933A - Towing assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2403933A
Application number: GB0316179A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher Caborn; Steve Mather
Original assignee: Mastermover International Ltd
Current assignee: Mastermover International Ltd
Priority date: 2003-07-10
Filing date: 2003-07-10
Publication date: 2005-01-19
Also published as: GB0316179D0

Abstract

Towing assembly 10 for moving supermarket roll cages (fig 4). The assembly having a pair of ground engaging wheels 12 mounted on an axle 14, a handle means 16 having a grip portion 18 is secured to the axle 14, a catch assembly 24 is slidably and rotatably attached to the handle 16. The catch comprises a collar 26, a cross member 28 and two catch members 30 that are secured to the cross member 28, engagement sections 32 engage with a portion of the item to be towed.. A biassing means preferably in the form of a spring (36, fig 2) is located on the handle bellow the collar 26 of the catch 24. The spring 36 holds the catch 24 in a first position in which it abuts a stop member (22) this stops the catch 24 from rotating around the handle 16, when the catch 24 is engaged with the item to be towed the catch 24 is moved out of abutment with the stop (22) and the catch is free to rotate about the handle 16.

Description

Title: Towing Assembly s

Description of Invention

The invention relates to a towing assembly and in particular to a pedestrian operated and powered towing assembly adapted for towing items such as supermarket cage trolleys of the kind used by staff to move stock into the store for restocking of the shelves.

Supermarket cage trolleys generally have four ground engaging wheels, two at the front which steer and two at the rear which do not steer. They also A. have two or three mesh sides generally over a meter tall which give them their are.....

cage like appearance and hence their name. When fully loaded they can obviously be quite heavy. If they are moved by a single person without..

additional equipment this is done by the person gripping uprights at the front of Àe the two sides and pulling whilst walking backwards. Clearly this is by no means À. ,.

ideal as the person moving the cage trolley cannot see clearly where they are going, and hence accidents are not uncommon.

Various ideas have been tired to seek to improve the situation. Straps have been provided which clip onto the uprights at each side of the front of the cage such that the person has a single item to grip and pull. This was intended to permit the person moving the trolley to face more forwardly whilst moving the trolley, but the trolleys are difficult to steer using this system and it has not been found to be satisfactory. Powered tugs are also known (such as those manufactured and sold by the applicant) but they are quite bulky and are not suitable for use in all environments. They are therefore often used in stock rooms and warehouses but much less commonly on the shop floor.

It is an object of the present application to provide a towing assembly which mitigates the above described problems.

According to the present invention there is provided a towing assembly having: a) a pair of ground engaging wheels rotatably mounted on an axle; b) a handle secured to the axle at a lower end and in use extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom to a grip portion at an upper end; c) a catch assembly slidably and rotatably mounted on the handle; d) biasing means biasing the catch assembly to a first position but which can be overcome to permit the catch assembly to slide down the handle to a second position; and..

e) a stop member on the handle which prevents the catch assembly rotating.

on the handle when the catch assembly is in the first position.

Conveniently the handle has a first portion which in use extends Àe upwardly from the axle and a second portion which in use extends upwardly À.: and rearwardly from the first portion. À À.

Preferably the catch assembly is slidably and rotatably mounted on the.. . Àe.- first portion of the handle.

The handle may further include a web portion secured to and extending downwardly from the second handle portion, and carrying the stop member at a lower end thereof.

The catch assembly may include: a) a collar slidably and rotatably mounted on the handle; b) a cross member extending to either side of the collar and against which the stop member engages when the catch assembly is in the first position, and c) at least one catch member secured to an end of the cross member and extending forwardly from the collar and including an engagement formation specifically adapted to engage a portion of an item to be towed.

Preferably the biasing means comprises a helical spring mounted on the first handle portion below the catch assembly and compressible to permit the catch assembly to slide down the handle to the second position.

Advantageously the or each catch member has a flat on a lower surface thereof which enables the towing assembly to rest when not in use on the ground with the ground engaging wheels and flat(s) also on the ground with the second handle portion approximately upright.

The towing assembly may be specifically adapted to tow a trolley having four ground engaging wheels by engaging the engagement formation with a portion of the trolley such that: a) a proportion of the weight of the trolley is transferred from two of the À À ground engaging wheels of the trolley to the two ground engaging wheels of the towing assembly, and b) the catch assembly is pushed against the bias of the biasing means from the first position to the second position.

An embodiment of a towing assembly according to the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a towing assembly according to the invention when not in use, Figure 2 is a partial side view of the towing assembly of Figure 1 when not in use; Figure 3 is a front view of the towing assembly of Figure 1 when not in use, and Figure 4 is a partial side view of the towing assembly of Figure 1 when in use towing a cage trolley.

Referring now to the Figures a towing assembly 10 has a pair of ground engaging wheels 12 rotatably mounted on an axle 14. A handle 16 comprises a first portion 16a which is rigidly secured to the axle 14 and extends upwardly therefrom (when the towing assembly is in it's in use orientation as shown in Figure 1), and a second portion 16_ which is integral with the first portion and extends upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. At the upper end of the second handle portion 16b there is a grip portion 18 adapted to be gripped by a hand of the operator during use. Conveniently the grip portion 18 is substantially horizontal as this is the best orientation for the operator.

The handle 16 further includes a web portion 20 secured primarily to the bottom of the second handle portion 16b and extending downwardly therefrom, but also extending just onto the first handle portion 16a. The web portion 20 provides strengthening for the handle portions 16a and 16_ primarily in the area of the join of these two portions. The web portion 20 also has secured to it, À À towards it's bottom end, a stop member 22 which extends laterally to either side. . À À of the web portion 20 by a few millimetres. The purpose ofthe stop member 22 will become clear below. Àe

The towing assembly 10 further includes a catch assembly 24 which À comprises a collar 26 slidably and rotatably mounted on the first handle portion.. . . . . 16_, a cross member 28 secured to and extending laterally to either side of the collar 26, two catch members 30 each secured to, or adjacent to, an end of the cross member 28 and extending forwardly therefrom. The catch members 30 each include an engagement formation 32 specifically adapted for engagement with a portion of the item to be towed. In this case the towing assembly 10 is for towing of a cage trolley of the kind used in supermarkets and the engagement formation is specifically adapted to engage with a frame member of a cage trolley as used by a particular supermarket chain and takes the form of an upwardly open hook. The form of the engagement formation 32 will vary as necessary for secure engagement with a portion of the particular item to be towed by the towing assembly concerned.

The two catch members 30 also have another feature of practical importance, that being a flat 34 on a lower front edge thereof. This is of use when the towing assembly 10 is not in use, as it permits the towing assembly 10 to rest on the ground in a stable condition using a minimum footprint, by resting on the two ground engaging wheels 12 and the two flats 34. This can be seen by viewing Figure 2 with the chain line referenced G horizontal.

The towing assembly finally includes a biasing means in the form of a helical spring 36 which is located on the first handle portion 16_ below the collar 26 of the catch assembly 24. The spring 36 biases the catch assembly 24 upwards to a first position, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, in which the stop member 22 abuts the cross member 28 of the catch assembly 24 thus preventing lo the catch assembly 24 rotating on the first handle portion 16_. However, if the bias of the spring 36 is overcome then the catch assembly 24 slides down the À first handle portion 16a to a second position, shown in Figure 4, in which the cross member 28 of the catch assembly 24 is clear of the stop member 22 and the catch assembly 24 can rotate on the first handle portion 16a. Àe

The first and second handle portions 16a and 16_, and the grip portion 18, are manufactured from steel tube, preferably a single piece bent as. . necessary rather than several pieces welded together, although the later À I approach may be used if required. The web portion 20 conveniently comprises a piece of steel sheet welded to the handle portions 16a and 16b. The grip portion 18 may be provided with a grip cover, as shown in the drawings, to provide a more comfortable surface for the operator to grip, and one on which the operator's hand is less likely to slip, thus it may be textured and may be made of rubber or like material.

The collar 26 of the catch assembly 24 is conveniently formed from steel tube of a suitable internal diameter to be a sliding fit on the tube of the first handle portion 16_. The cross member 28 and catch members 30 are most conveniently also formed from steel such that the components of the catch assembly 24 can be welded together.

The axle 14 is also most likely to be made from steel, either bar or tube depending on the manner by which the ground engaging wheels 12 are rotatably mounted thereon. Preferably the axle 14 includes a socket in it's mid section for receipt of the lower end of the first handle portion 16 and a means to secure it there. Alternatively, after the catch assembly 24 and spring 36 have been placed on the first handle portion 16_ it is possible that the first handle portion 16a could be welded to the axle 14.

Although the materials from which the towing assembly 10 is manufactured have been described above it will be clear that it can in fact be manufactured from any suitable materials and using any appropriate techniques.

The operation of the towing assembly 10 will now be described in À Àe relation to towing a cage trolley 40 of the kind used in supermarkets which has. À À.

a base frame 42 and four wheels, a steering pair at the front 44 and a non steering pair at the rear (not shown). The towing assembly 10 is taken to the side of the cage trolley 40 to be towed on which the portion thereof to which the engagement formations 32 are adapted to engage is located. Thus in this case the towing assembly 10 is taken to the front of the cage trolley 40 where the front member 42a of the base frame 42 is the portion with which the engagement formations 32 ofthe catch members 30 are adapted to engage.

The grip portion 18 of the handle 16 is then raised up, thus lowering the front of the catch members 30 so that as the towing assembly 10 is moved forwards they can pass under the front member 42a of the base frame 42 of the trolley 40. The handle 16 is then lowered back down again such that the front member 42a of the base frame 42 of the trolley 40 is received in the engagement formations 32 and at least a proportion of the weight which was taken on the front steering wheels 44 of the cage trolley 40 is transferred to the ground engaging wheels 12 of the towing assembly 10. The weight transfer need not be complete but must be sufficient to overcome the bias of the spring 36 such that the catch assembly 24 slides down the first handle portion 16a to the second position. The front steering wheels 44 of the cage trolley 40 might leave the ground as shown in Figure 4, but they need not do so.

With the catch assembly 24 in the second position the catch assembly 24 is able to rotate around the first handle portion 16_ and thus the handle 16 of the towing assembly 10 can be pulled or pushed to one side or the other of it's original position (perpendicular to the front member 42_ of the base frame 42 of the trolley 40) in order to steer the combination of the towing assembly 10 and the cage trolley 40. A single operator can thus, using the towing assembly 10, move a full cage trolley 40, or indeed a nested line of such trolleys when empty, whilst walking forwards with full view of where they are going.

Furthermore steering the cage trolley 40 around is much less effort when using the towing assembly 10 then when simply pulling the cage trolley 40 by holding Onto the uprights to either side thereof.

Although a single embodiment of a towing assembly according to the invention has been described it will be clear that modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, the web portion 20 may be omitted if the handle 16 is sufficiently strong without it, provided that the stop member 22 is then provided by alternative means.

In the present specification "comprises" means "includes or consists of" and "comprising" means "including or consisting of".

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

1. A towing assembly having: a) a pair of ground engaging wheels rotatably mounted on an axle; b) a handle secured to the axle at a lower end and in use extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom to a grip portion at an upper end; c) a catch assembly slidably and rotatably mounted on the handle; d) biasing means biasing the catch assembly to a first position but which can be overcome to permit the catch assembly to slide down the handle to a second position; and e) a stop member on the handle which prevents the catch assembly rotating.

On the handle when the catch assembly is in the first position.

2. A towing assembly according to claim 1 characterized in that the handle has a first portion which in use extends upwardly from the axle and a second portion which in use extends upwardly and rearwardly from the first portion. À

3. A towing assembly according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that the catch assembly is slidably and rotatably mounted on the first portion of the handle.

4. A towing assembly according to claim 1, 2 or 3 characterized in that the handle further includes a web portion secured to and extending downwardly from the second handle portion, and carrying the stop member at a lower end thereof.

5. A towing assembly according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the catch assembly includes: a) a collar slidably and rotatably mounted on the handle, b) a cross member extending to either side of the collar and against which the stop member engages when the catch assembly is in the first position, and c) at least one catch member secured to, or adjacent to, an end of the cross member and extending forwardly from the collar and including an engagement formation specifically adapted to engage a portion of an item to be towed.

6. A towing assembly according to any one of claims 3 to S characterized in that the biasing means comprises a helical spring mounted on the first handle portion below the catch assembly and compressible to permit the catch assembly to slide down the handle to the second position. .. : À-.

À are:

7. A towing assembly according to claim 5 or 6 characterized in that the or each catch member has a flat on a lower surface thereof which enables the towing assembly to rest when not in use on the ground with the ground engaging wheels and the flat(s) also on the ground with the second handle À portion approximately upright. À . .

8. A towing assembly according to anyone of claims 5 to 7 characterized in that it is specifically adapted to tow a trolley having four ground engaging wheels by engaging the engagement formation with a portion of the trolley such that: a) a proportion of the weight of the trolley is transferred from two of the ground engaging wheels of the trolley to the two ground engaging wheels of the towing assembly, and b) the catch assembly is pushed against the bias of the biasing means from the first position to the second position.

9. A towing assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. Any novel feature or novel combination of features described herein and/or in the accompanying drawings. À À À À À- À À À À a

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