NL2011491C2

NL2011491C2 - A trolley; and a method for cleaning.

Info

Publication number: NL2011491C2
Application number: NL2011491A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Daphne Danielle Swakhoven-Evers; David Charles Hudsmith; Ingrid Elisabeth Wilhelmina Maria Gerasimou-Jansen
Original assignee: Alpheios Internat B V
Priority date: 2013-09-23
Filing date: 2013-09-23
Publication date: 2015-03-24

Description

A trolley; and a method for cleaning

The present invention relates to a trolley comprising - at least three wheels for moving the trolley around; and - a storage compartment delimited by a plurality of walls, the plurality of walls comprising - an upright first wall comprising a door, and - a second wall adjacent to the first wall; wherein the door - is capable of being rotated about an axis from a first position wherein the storage compartment is closed to a second position wherein said storage compartment is open, and - comprises i) a first face that faces the interior of the storage compartment when the door is in the first position, and ii) a second face that faces away from the interior of the storage compartment when said door is in the first position; and wherein when the door is in the second position, the second face of said door faces the second wall of the storage compartment. A trolley according to the preamble is known in the art. It is suitable for transporting one or more items for cleaning such as a cleaning tool (e.g. a mop or a floor-cloth) and/or water to a location to be cleaned, and/or from a cleaned location. The trolley comprises a storage compartment for storing the items for cleaning and to reduce accessibility to said items for cleaning when the trolley is not being used. Of course, the trolley may comprise a lock to make access even harder. The known trolley has a door capable of rotating over 270°. Because the door faces the second wall of the storage container in the second position, it is basically parallel to said second wall and it occupies little space. A problem is that even if the door is in the second position, i.e. with the person having full access to the interior of the storage compartment, items for cleaning may not be easily accessible to said person in charge of cleaning.

The object of the present invention is to provide a trolley according a preamble that allows for reduced access to the storage compartment when the trolley is not in use but that reduces the problem.

To this end, a trolley according to the preamble is characterized in that the first face of the door comprises means for holding a cleaning item, and the trolley comprises at least one element chosen from i) one or more doors and ii) a lid, and all elements are capable of interlocking so as to allow a single lock for locking all doors in the first position and to block opening of any of the elements.

When the door is in the first position, access to the means is limited because the first face faces the lumen of the storage compartment. However, when the door is in the second position, the trolley is a work station for cleaning and the person in charge of cleaning has very convenient access to cleaning items held by the means for holding the cleaning items, because opening the door moves the cleaning items out of the storage compartment. The trolley can be moved to a location to be cleaned (or from a cleaned location) with the door open or closed. Moving the trolley with the door open without substantially being hindered by it is convenient when cleaning has to be done at more than one location or over a long distance: It is not necessary to close the door when relocating the trolley. Thus the job of the person in charge of cleaning is facilitated. Closing the door hides the cleaning items without further effort.

With the lock, less casual access to any items held by the means for holding cleaning items is reduced in a easy way. If there is only one door, the term "all doors" means said door. The interlocking increases the convenience for the user. Interlocking for two adjacent doors is for example achieved if the second door has a flange that is covered by the first door when both doors are in the first position. The top wall may comprise a lid that hinges about an axis parallel to the base of the trolley, near a wall opposite of the wall of the door. The lid may comprise a male protrusion and the door may comprise a complementary female hole for receiving said male protrusion when the lid is in a closed position and the door is brought to the first position. Then, with the door in the first position, the lid is prevented from being lifted. If the door is locked in the first position using the lock, the storage compartment is not accessible via the lid either.

The means may comprise an organ for attaching a mop or a broom (in particular a telescopic stick thereof); a tray for placing a floor-cloth and/or cleaning agent; a hook for attaching a bag with supplies; an organ for holding a liquid reservoir for transporting a liquid such as water to a location to be cleaned etc, an organ for holding a dustbin and brush, an organ for holding a roll of cloth/paper. The means may also comprise a non-removable reservoir for water and/or detergent. The organs may comprise, chosen independently, a hook, a strap or a clamp. The first face preferably comprises at least two different means for holding a cleaning item, allowing for more diverse cleaning operations to be performed with the at least two cleaning items easily available.

The dimensions of a trolley according to the invention do not significantly vary for the door in the first position or in the second position. The width of the door is in general between 0.4-1.5x the width of the second wall, preferably between 0.45 and 1.2x and more preferably between 0.9 and 1.05x the width of the second wall. The axis of rotation of the door will in general be transverse to the horizontal (or more accurately, to the base of the trolley as defined by its wheels), although said axis might be also transverse to the normal of said base. The term upright means transverse to the base of the trolley defined by its wheels. In general, the number of wheels will be 4, and usually at most two wheels will not be swivel-wheels.

In the present invention, the term "facing" means that the door is at an angle to the second wall of less than 20°, and preferably less than 10° such as parallel to said second wall. Thus, the person in charge of cleaning is not or not substantially hindered by the door being open, said person having full access to the storage compartment.

According to an important embodiment, the second wall is an upright wall.

According to a favourable embodiment, the width of the door is less than 1. lx the width of the second wall.

Thus, the width of the trolley is substantially the same whether the door is in the first position or in the second position. The trolley will still be able to pass through doors.

According to a favourable embodiment, the trolley comprises fastening means for fastening the door in the second position.

Thus, the door does not swing or rotates back to the first position when the trolley is being moved to a different location. Fastening means that can be used are for example magnet comprised in the door and in the face that faces the second face of the door in the second position thereof, a hook, etc.

According to a favourable embodiment, the door is a first door and the trolley comprises i) a second door, and ii) a third wall adjacent to the first wall; wherein the second door - is capable of being rotated about an axis from a first position wherein the storage compartment is closed to a second position wherein said storage compartment is open, and - comprises i) a first face that faces the interior of the storage compartment when the second door is in the first position, and ii) a second face that faces away from the interior of the storage compartment when said second door is in the first position; and wherein when the second door is in the second position, the second face of said second door faces the third wall of the storage compartment.

Thus, the interior of the container is accessible from two different doors. The same wall (e.g. first wall) may comprise both the first door and the second door. Another possibility is that a fourth wall adjacent to the third wall and the second wall comprises said second door while the first wall comprises the first door, said first and fourth walls being opposite to each other. The second door may also comprise means for holding cleaning items. For example, the first door may hold cleaning items for "dry" cleaning, whereas the second door may hold cleaning items for "wet" cleaning. For "dry" cleaning, there are preferably at two means for holding cleaning items, in particular an organ for holding a broom or feather duster; and a means for a supply of cloth and/or a roll of paper/cloth. For "wet" cleaning, there are preferably at two means for holding cleaning items, in particular an organ for holding a mop and an organ for holding a reservoir/liquid dispenser.

According to a favourable embodiment, the first wall also comprises the second door.

Thus, a trolley with larger yet well accessible storage compartment can be provided. In particular it may allow for one big access opening to the storage compartment.

According to a favourable embodiment, the storage compartment delimited by the plurality of walls has a parallelepiped shape.

This is a convenient trolley with a relatively large storage compartment for transporting items. The term parallelepiped shape means that said storage compartment is delimited by six walls, the walls having preferably a square or rectangle shape, four walls being upright (transverse to the base of the trolley defined by the lower side of the wheels), a bottom wall and a top wall.

According to a favourable embodiment, the storage compartment of the trolley comprises a container provided with wheels.

The container may be a trash can or a container for laundry, allowing the content of the container to be carted off to the desired destination .

According to a favourable embodiment, the trolley comprises at the side of the second wall a handle.

Preferably there is also a handle at the side of the third wall, allowing the trolley to be pushed (or pulled) from either of these sides easily when the door or doors are open. This facilitates cleaning, e.g. cleaning over a large distance or at different locations .

The present invention will now be illustrated with reference to the drawing where

Fig. la shows a trolley according to an embodiment of the invention comprising two doors in a first position;

Fig. lb shows a cross-sectional top view of the trolley depicted in Fig. la when the two doors are in the first position;

Fig. 2a shows the trolley depicted in Fig. la when the two doors are in a second position;

Fig. 2b shows a cross-sectional top view of the trolley depicted in Fig. la when the two doors are in the second position;

Fig. 3 shows the trolley depicted in Fig. la when the two doors are in an intermediate position between the first position and the second position;

Fig. 4 shows a different embodiment of the trolley comprising two articulated lids on a top wall of the storage compartment, the lids being closed;

Fig. 5 shows the trolley depicted in Fig. 4 when the articulated lids are not closed; and

Fig. 6 shows a sectional lateral view of the trolley depicted in Fig. 4 when the articulated lids are closed.

Fig. la depicts a trolley 100 according to a first embodiment of the invention and Fig. lb depicts a cross-sectional top view of the trolley 100 depicted in Fig. la. The trolley 100 comprises a storage compartment 101, a handle 102' and 102" and wheels 103.

The storage compartment 101 is defined by 6 walls forming a rectangular cuboid, which is used for storing the cleaning items: a first wall 110 comprising a first door 171 and a second door 172, a second wall 120 and a third wall 130 adjacent to the first wall 110, a fourth wall 140 opposite to said first wall 110, a fifth wall 150 defining the top of the compartment 101, the fifth wall 150 being adjacent to the first wall 110, and a sixth wall 160 forming the base of the storing compartment 101, the sixth wall being transverse to the first wall 110.

Fig. la and Fig. lb show the trolley 100 when said first door 171 and second door 172 are in a first position, wherein the doors are closed and so is the storage compartment 101. Each door comprises respectively a first face 111' and 111" facing the interior of the storage compartment 101 in said first position and a second face 112' and 112" facing away from the interior of the storage compartment in said first position.

The first door 171 and the second door 172 are hinged and thus capable of rotating as will be explained later.

The storage compartment 101 has been dimensioned such that the widths of the first door 171 and the second door 172 correspond to the width of the second wall 120 and third wall 130 respectively.

Fig. lb also shows that the first door 171 comprises a flange 115 that protrudes from the first face 111' towards the the first face 111" of the second door 172. This feature will be explained later.

Fig. 2a depicts the trolley 100 shown in Fig. la when the first door 171 and the second door 172 are in a second position (the doors are fully open) and Fig. 2b depicts a cross-sectional top view of shown trolley 100 shown in Fig. 2a. The first door 171 has rotated clockwise about an axis A towards the second wall 120 and the second door 172 has rotated anticlockwise about an axis B towards the third wall 130. Therefore, when the doors are in the second position, the first face 111' and 111" are facing away the interior of the storage compartment 101 and the second face 112' and 112" face their respective adjacent walls (see also Fig. 2b). The handle 102' and 102" are designed such that they do not prevent the rotation of said first door 171 and second door 172 about the axis A and B respectively.

Fig. 2a also shows the first face 111" of the second door 172 comprising means 213 to carry one or more cleaning items, such as a mop or a reservoir 214 for storing a cleaning liquid. This makes them readily available to a person charged with cleaning (the means and the cleaning items are not shown in Fig. lb for the sake of clarity). The first face 111' of the first door 171 (not shown) also comprises means 213. The interior of the storage compartment 101 also contains shelves 280 comprising sub-compartments 281 capable of being pulled out, boxes 282, etc for storing cleaning items.

Fig. 2b depicts a cross-sectional top view of the trolley 100 shown in Fig. la when the first door 171 and the second door 172 are in the second position. The second face 112' and 112" are facing the second wall 120 and third wall 130 respectively. The first door 171 and the second door 172 further comprise magnets 209' and 209" respectively as fastening means 209, said magnets 209 working in cooperation with magnets 209''' present in the second wall 120 and the third wall 130. A ferro-magnetic face of said doors may also be used to fasten the first door 171 and the second door 172 to magnets 209'''.

Fig. 3 depicts the trolley 100 shown in Fig. la when the first door 171 and the second door 172 are respectively in an intermediate position between the first position and the second position. This intermediate position is achieved by rotating the first door 171 clockwise about the axis A and the second door 172 anticlockwise about the axis B. Fig. 3 shows means 213 comprised at the first face 111' of the first door to carry one or more cleaning items and also a latch 117 in the first face 111" of the second door 172 that cooperates with the lock 116 to lock the second door 172, although this feature will be explained later.

Fig. 3 shows various cleaning items, such as a roll of paper, a dustbin, a swiffer broom for "dry" cleaning held at the first face 111 of the first door 171, and mops held by their (telescopic) sticks and water held by a reservoir by the second door 172 for "wet" cleaning.

Fig. 4 depicts a second embodiment of the invention, the trolley 100 comprising all the features described in Fig. la (for the sake of clarity these features will not be explained again) as well as a first articulated lid 481 and a second articulated lid 482 in a closed position. The two articulated lids are comprised in the fifth wall 150, said fifth wall 150 comprising a first edge 491 relatively close to the first wall 110 and a second edge 492 parallel to the first edge 491 and relatively close to the fourth wall 140 (not shown). The first articulated lid 481 comprises a first sub-wall 441' hinged to a second sub-wall 442' , said second sub-wall being hinged to the fourth wall 140 at an area close to the second edge 492. In the same way, the second articulated lid 482 comprises a first sub-wall 441" hinged to a second sub-wall 442", said second sub-wall 442" hinged to the fourth wall 140 at an area close to said second edge 492.

Fig. 5 depicts the trolley 100 shown in fig. 4 when the first articulated lid 481 is completely opened and the second articulated lid 482 is in a intermediate position. Therefore, the first articulated lid 481 and the second articulated lid 482 can be opened independently with respect to each other. The first sub-wall 441' and the second sub-wall 442' of the first articulated lid 481 are capable of rotating in opposite directions in a way that said first sub-wall 441' opposes the second sub-wall 442' when said first articulated lid 481 is opened (the same for the first sub-wall 441" and the second sub-wall 442" of the second articulated lid 482) to provide access to the interior of the storage compartment 101 through the fifth wall 150. The first sub-wall 441' and 441" comprise respectively a hook (not shown) protruding from an area close to the first edge 491. This feature will be explained later in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 depicts a sectional lateral view of the trolley 100 shown in fig. 4 through the second door 172 and the second articulated lid 482, each of them being closed. The first sub-wall 441" comprises a hook 543" that protrudes from an area close to the first edge 491. The hook 543" cooperates with a longitudinal flange 515" that protrudes from the first face 111" of the second door 172 in such a way that said longitudinal flange 515" is inserted into the hook 543" when said second articulated lid 482 is closed and the second door 172 is rotated to the first position (also closed). Thus, said second articulated lid 482 cannot be opened since the rotation of the first sub-wall 441" is not possible. The same principle is applicable for the the first articulated lid 481, wherein said first articulated lid 481 comprises a hook that cooperates with a longitudinal flange placed the first face 111' of the first door 171.

The first door 171 also comprises the flange 115 that protrudes from the first face 111' towards the first face 111" when the first door 171 and the second door 172 are in the first position (see Fig. la). Therefore, the first door 171 cannot rotate from said first position to the second position if the second door 172 is still in the first position. Consequently, the second door 172 is capable of blocking the rotation of the first door 171, the first articulated lid 481 and the second articulated lid 482. This is an advantage, since the latch 117 blocks the rotation of said second door 172 from the first position to the second position, the access to the interior of the storage compartment 101 being then locked with only one lock (in the present embodiment, the lock 116 that cooperates with the latch 117) .

Claims

A work cart (100) comprising - at least three wheels (103) for moving the work cart (100); and - a storage compartment (101) bounded by a plurality of walls, the plurality of walls comprising - a standing first wall (110) comprising a door (171), and - a second wall (120) adjacent to the first wall ( 110); wherein the door (171) - is capable of being rotated about an axis from a first position where the storage compartment (101) is closed to a second position wherein said storage compartment (101) is open, and - i) a first side (111) that faces the inside of the storage compartment (101) when the door (171) is in the first position, and ii) a second side (112) that faces away from the inside of the storage compartment (101) when said door (171) is in the first position; and wherein when the door (171) is in the second position, the second side (112) of said door (171) faces the second wall (120) of the storage compartment (101), characterized in that the first side (111) of the door (171) comprises means (213) for holding a cleaning article, and the work trolley (100) comprises at least one element selected from both i) one or more doors and ii) a lid, and all elements are capable of interlocking to allow a single lock (116) to close all doors in the first position and block the opening of any element.

The cart (100) of claim 1, wherein the width of the door (171) is less than 1.1 x the width of the second wall (120).

The trolley (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the work trolley (100) comprises fastening means (209) for securing the door (171) in the second position.

A trolley (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the door (171) is a first door (171) and the work trolley (100) i) comprises a second door (172), and ii) a third wall (130) adjacent to the first wall (110); wherein the second door (172) - is capable of being rotated about an axis from a first position where the storage compartment (101) is closed to a second position where said storage compartment (101) is open, and - i) a first includes side (111) that faces the inside of the storage compartment (101) when the second door (172) is in the first position, and ii) a second side (112) that is from the inside of the storage compartment (101) turned away when said second door (172) is in the first position; and wherein when the second door (172) is in the second position, the second side (112) of said second door (172) faces the third wall (130) of the storage compartment (101).

The cart (100) of claim 4, wherein the first wall (110) also comprises the second door (172).

A trolley (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the storage compartment (101) bounded by the plurality of walls has a parallelepiped shape.

A trolley (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the storage compartment (101) of the work trolley (100) comprises a holder provided with wheels (103).

A trolley (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the work trolley (100) comprises a handle (102) on the side of the second wall (120).