US2766049A

US2766049A - Nesting shopping cart

Info

Publication number: US2766049A
Application number: US383724A
Authority: US
Inventors: George A Just; Lansing P Shield
Original assignee: GRAND UNION CO
Current assignee: GRAND UNION CO
Priority date: 1953-10-02
Filing date: 1953-10-02
Publication date: 1956-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 1973-10-09

Description

' 1956 G. A. JUST ETAL NESTING SHOPPING CART 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 2, 1953 FIGZ INVENTORS GEORGE A. JUST LANSING P SHIELD ATTORNEY w MW J 2 1956 G. A. JUST ETAL NESTING SHOPPING CART 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 2, 1953 INVENTORS GEORGE A JUST FIG6 BY LANSING P SHIELD ;vv7 ATTORNEY 2,766,049 NESTING SHQPPTNG CART George A. Just, Scarsdale, N. Y., and Lansing P. Shield,

Saddle River, N. Company, ware Application October 2,' 1953, Serial No.

Claims. (Cl. 28t9-33.99)

3., assignors to The Grand Union East Paterson, N. 5., a corporation of Dela- This invention relates to wheeled market baskets or carriers of the type used in self-service stores to enable customers to select and gather together articles they wish to purchase so they may be brought to a checking station for packing and payment.

The carriers heretofore used for this purpose take up a great deal of space near the entrance of the store in which they are employed and they frequently become so jumbled together that it is diilicult for customers and clerks to find a passage about the carriers. Some prior carriers have been constructed with longitudinally tapered baskets having their rear and larger end walls movable to allow one basket to be pushed lengthwise into another for nesting together. However in such constructions, the basket projects forward from a vertical support at the rear of the Wheeled base and in order to prevent tilting of the carrier when loaded, the base and support must necessarily be of heavy construction. Such tapered construction also limits the weight and may be nested in a space of only 2 to 4 inches without jamming or interlocking.

The present invention relates to modifications or im- Another object of the invention is to provide an improved type of carrier wherein the basket of the carrier is tiltable sideways into position for nesting with other carriers.

precludes accidental Patented Got. 9, 1956 An additional object of the invention is to provide a vet and horizontal carrying position.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improve nesting easily in a limited space to manufacture while providing baskets.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will appear from the following description thereof in which reference is made to the figures of the and which is economical a stable support for the In the drawings:

Fig. l is a wheeled Fig. 2 is a plan view showing four carriers of the type shown in Fig. 1 arranged in nested relation;

Fig. 3 is an end view of a pair of carriers of the type shown in Fig. 1 arranged in nested relation;

Fig. 4 is a detailed view illustrating a preferred type of adapted for use in the construction of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detailed view of a typical pivot device which may be employed in the construction shown in the drawings; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

in that form of the invention of light material.

greater than the distance between legs 28. spaced legs 25 of one carrier therefore are capable of receiving the lesser spaced legs 28 of another carrier therebetween permitting nesting of the carriers by lateral or the carrier upon such sideways movement of one carrier with respect to another. The sides and ends of the baskets same direction may relation by sideways other.

The baskets are preferably formed of Wire or other strong lightweight material.

be nested together in space saving movement of one carrier toward anlimited in capacity. In contrast to such tapered constructions, the length of the base tion, and, therefore, are

and of the basket 16 may be increased as desired to increase the capacity of the basket. The pivot pins 18 and 29 about which the basket is movable on the

supports

12 and 14 are mounted at the opposite ends of the basket and rigidly secured in place by

mounting plates

32 and 34, respectively. The mounting plates illustrated extend downward from the upper reinforced edge 36 of the basket. The pivot pins 18 and are preferably positioned slightly below the center of gravity of the empty basket assembly. These pins are also positioned slightly to one side of the center of gravity on the side toward which the basket tilts, the direction of tilting being controlled by the arcuate surface 52 referred to below. With this construction the basket may be tilted easily when empty and will be substantially centered with respect to the supporting

arms

12 and 14 when moved to the nesting position as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The reinforced edge 36 preferably also is extended upward or outward at opposite ends of the basket to provide a convenient handle for pushing or pulling the basket as it is moved from place to place in the store in collecting the merchandise to be purchased.

Any suitable type of locking device 22 may be used to hold the basket 16 in its horizontal position. However, the construction illustrated includes a locking plate 38 mounted on the upper end of the vertical supporting arm 12 and provided with a vertically extending pivot slot 48 designed to receive the pivot pin 18 on the mounting plate 32. A locking slot 42 is also formed in the locking plate 33 and located below the pivot slot 40 in position to receive a locking pin 44 fixedly secured to the mounting plate 32 below the pivot pin 18. The locking slot 42 is formed with a laterally extending open end through which the locking pin 44 is movable and by which it is guided as the basket is tilted about the pivot pin 18 in moving from the dotted line position to the full line position of Fig. 4. The inner end of the locking slot 42 extends vertically as indicated at 46 and is designed to receive the locking pin 44 on movement of the basket to a horizontal position corresponding to the full line position of the elements shown in Fig. 4. When so moved the locking pin will drop downwardly into the vertical locking portion 46 of slot 42 while the pivot pin 18 will move downward in the pivot slot 40. When thus located the pivot pin and locking pin cooperate to hold the basket 16 locked in its horizontal carrying position no matter what load is placed in the basket. Moreover, the heavier the load in the basket the more difficult it is to move the basket out of its locking position. Therefore, it is almost impossible for any accidental movement of the basket to cause tilting thereof.

The vertically extending supporting arm 14 at the opposite end of the base 10 is provided with a pivot plate 48 which receives the pivot pin 26) on the mounting plate 34 secured to the basket 16. A guide pin 50 is also secured to the mounting plate 34 and projects therefrom into position to move along the arcuate surface 52 of the pivot plate 43. The abutment 54 at the lower end of the arcuate surface 52 is engageable by the guide pin 50 to limit movement of the basket toward its horizontal carrying position whereas abutment 56 at the upper end of the arcuate surface 52 is engageable by the guide pin 50 to limit movement of the basket toward its lateral nesting position.

In using the carrier described the customer merely pulls the carrier sideways from its nested position with the other carriers and tilts the basket to a horizontal position. The tilting of the basket causes locking pin 44 to move downward and inward from the dotted line position of Fig. 4 until it strikes the lower laterally opening side of the locking slot 42 in the locking plate 38. Upon completion of the pivotal movement of the basket the locking pin moves inward along the lower edge of the locking slot until it enters the vertical portion 46 whereupon the basket is free to drop by gravity into locked position by downward movement of the pivot 18 in the pivot slot 40. During such pivotal movement of the basket the pivot pin 20 at the opposite end of the basket rotates with respect to pivot plate 48 while guide pin 50 travels over the arcuate surface 52 of the pivot plate until it engages abut- V ment 5 The basket is then ready for use and is rigidly d ll held against tilting movement. Moreover, the basket is positively supported at both ends so that it will not sag even when heavily loaded with merchandise and it is moved to its locking position by the weight of the articles placed on the basket. The base of the carrier with its outwardly spreading

legs

26 and 28 provides a well balanced mounting for the basket as it is moved about from place to place in collecting the articles which the customer wishes to purchase.

When the customer has made the desired purchases and the carrier has been emptied at the checking station, the carrier is ready to be returned to its nested relation with other carriers. The clerk then grasps the basket at or near the center of the locking end and lifts it until locking pin 44 is raised above the vertical portion 46 of the locking slot. At the same time the pivot pin 18 is raised to the upper end of the pivot slot 4%). The basket is thus released and rotates by gravity to the nesting position wherein the guide pin 59 at the other end of the basket engages the upper abutment 55. The basket then hangs in nesting position on its side. The clerk thereafter pushes the carrier sideways toward other nested carriers whereupon the lesser spaced legs 23 pass between the wider spaced legs 26 of another carrier causing the basket 16 to nest within the basket of the other carrier. The construction thus provided is such that each carrier will nest in less than three inches with no interlocking of one carrier with another so that they are easily separated for reuse when desired.

As described herein, when the basket is tilted the open top thereof faces toward the side of the base from which the wider spaced legs extend. However, so long as all carriers are arranged for tilting of the baskets toward the same side of the base, the baskets and bases will nest effectively. it is therefore desirable to employ pivot and locking means for the basket which restrict the tilting movement in the same manner.

While the baskets used are preferably formed of heavy wire as described, they may be formed of flexible netting, fabric or other material. Moreover, any suitable or preferred type of basket pivoting and locking means may be used and the shape, style and construction of the base and basket support may be changed considerably if desired. In view thereof it should be understood that the particular embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing and described above is intended to be illustrative only and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A carrier comprising a base having two pairs of oppositely and downwardly extending legs thereon. one pair of said legs being spaced apart longitudinally of the base a greater distance than the other pair, permitting sideways nesting of said base with the base of another similar carrier, basket supporting means extending upward from said base, near the opposite ends thereof, an elongated basket pivotally mounted adjacent the opposite ends thereof on said basket supporting means for sideways pivotal movement toward one pair of said logs from a horizontal carrying position to a tilted nesting position, and means releasably holding said basket in said horizontal carrying position.

2. A carrier comprising a base having two pairs of oppositely and downwardly extending legs thereon, one pair of said legs being spaced apart longitudinally of the base a greater distance than the other pair, permitting sideways nesting of said base with the base of another similar carrier, spaced basket supporting means extending cooperating plvot means on the basket and supports near tion to a tilted nestin the longitudinal center line of the basket permitting sideon the basket and s ways tilting movement of the basket from a horizontal horizontal carrying carrying position to a tilted nesting position, and releas- Said basket and support for limiting movement of said able locking means for holding said basket in said horibasket toward said tilted nesting position. zontal carrying position. 57 A carrier having a base embodying a generally 3. A carrier comprising a base having two pairs of U-shaped basket supporting member having two pairs of oppositely and downwardly extending legs thereon one 1 oppositely and downwardly extending legs secured to the pair of said legs being spaced apart ongitudinally of the lower portion of said supporting member, one pair of said ase a greater distance than the other pair, permitting legs being attached on each side of sald supporting memsideways nesting of said base with the base of another her and the legs on one side of said supporting member similar carrier, spaced basket supporting means extending being spaced apart a distance greater than that separating upward from said base, near the ends thereof, a generally the other pair of legs to permit nesting of the base of one rectangular basket positioned between said supports coopcarrier with the base of another, a basket pivotally superating pivot means on the basket and supports located ported at its ends between the ends of the supporting near the longitudinal center line or" the basket permitting member, cooperating pin and slot locking means on said sideways tilting movement of the basket from a horizontal basket and supporting member for releasably locking said carrying position to a nesting position, releasable locking basket in a horizontal carrying position, and cooperating means for holding said basket in said horizontal carrying means on said basket and support for limiting movement position, and means restricting tilting movement of the of said basket toward a tilted nesting position wherein basket toward the side of the base from which extend the open top of the basket faces the side of the base from the wider spaced legs. which the wider spaced legs extend.

A carrier comprising a base comprising a generally U-shaped basket support, two pairs of oppositely and References Cited in the file of this Patellt downwardly extending legs secured to the lower portion of said support, one pair of said legs being spaced apart UNITED STATES PATENTS longitudinally of the base a greater distance than the 2,590,048 Sides Mar.18, 1952 other pair, said basket support including spaced upwardly 2,590,285 Wiltshire Mar. 25, 1952 extending arms positioned adjacent opposite ends of the 2,605,116 Alexander July 29, 1952