WO1998028178A1

WO1998028178A1 - Supermarket trolley

Info

Publication number: WO1998028178A1
Application number: PCT/ES1997/000311
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gerardo Segura De Luna
Original assignee: Policad Industrial, S.L.
Priority date: 1996-12-23
Filing date: 1997-12-23
Publication date: 1998-07-02
Also published as: ES1035998U; JP2000505762A; JP3967775B2

Abstract

Supermarket trolley comprised of a load basket (1) and a support base (2) to which are incorporated the casters (3), the basket (1) being provided with a rear wall (4) which is rockingly mounted with respect to a higher hinge (5), characterized in that, between the tiltable rear wall (4) and the side walls of the basket (1), there are included, at the lower part, plates (7) which cover the hollows (6) remaining at the sides of said tiltable wall (4), said plates (7) being hingedly mounted by rotary fitting of a cylindrical conformation (8) of each plate (7) onto an axis-rod (9) of the basket (1), with the possibility of recovering said plate (7) by rocking, said plates (7) remaining against the side walls of the basket (1), inside the latter.

Description

SUPERMARKET CAR

In supermarkets and similar establishments, the provision of cars at the service of customers is conventional, to facilitate the collection and transfer of products purchased.

These cars have been made generally by metal structures, based on bars and welded rods, this solution that has recently been overcome by plastic constructions. The present invention refers to a supermarket cart of the type of plastic. These cars have a rear wall of the cargo basket in an assembly that allows its tilting with respect to an upper joint, thus allowing the insertion of a car in another during the parking of the same; so that the cars occupy a minimum space. The loading cart of the carriages also requires a configuration in narrowing towards the front, so that the insertion between the carriages is possible, which makes it necessary for the rear tiltable wall of the basket to have a narrowing of its dimension in width towards down. Due to the narrowing of the tiltable rear wall of the basket, lower openings originate between the edges of said wall and the side walls of the basket, through which objects of the load that is housed inside can escape.

To avoid these openings, a solution based on square pieces is already known, as described in the Spanish Patent 9400444/7 of the applicant.

On the other hand, in the aforementioned tiltable rear wall of the cart of the carts, a seat for small children, usually formed by two plates that form a folding and folding set determinant of the mentioned seat. These seats result in poorly known known embodiments, because maintenance in the deployed position is only determined by the stop retention established by the two parts that make up the seat.

In another order, we find that various attempts have been made to arrange publicity in these cars, but none of these attempts have given a satisfactory end result.

Indeed, in the case of metal cars, it is not possible to hang advertising outside the side walls of the basket, because this prevents the penetration of one basket into another, when a car is placed behind another in its storage.

This forces that in these metallic cars only the advertising in the front of their basket can go, which is not enough and therefore this solution has not been accepted. In the case of plastic cars, the advertising posters are placed superimposed on the walls of the baskets, held by any suitable means. This determines an outstanding disposition with respect to the mentioned walls, giving rise to the possibility of hooks in the handling of the cars and friction in the insertion between them, the advertising posters suffering a rapid deterioration; Therefore, this solution has not been properly accepted. In accordance with the present invention, a new car of the type indicated is proposed, which is developed according to an embodiment that provides constructive and functional and advantageous characteristics, effectively solving all the aforementioned problems and disadvantages of carriages. That guy currently known.

This carriage object of the invention is constituted by a single-piece plastic body that defines the loading basket and the support base to which the support wheels are coupled, the basket also comprising a tiltable rear wall, with the peculiarity that inferiorly between said tiltable wall and the side walls are incorporated platelets that close the resulting lower gaps between said mentioned tiltable wall and the side walls, said platelets being arranged in a hinged assembly that allows its folding against the side walls to enable the insertion of the cars, with a tendency however to self-position those platelets in the closed position of the mentioned holes.

In this carriage object of the invention, the contour walls of the basket are further defined with protruding ribs towards the outside. Thanks to these ribs, the walls of the basket acquire the necessary consistency, resulting in a completely smooth surface on the inside, while externally recessed areas are determined for the placement of advertising posters in a protected arrangement, which does not receive bumps when the basket is inserted of a car inside the basket of another car.

In the upper part of the side walls of the basket, two step-shaped recesses are provided, in which lateral wings of the seat back plate for children are housed, thus determining stops that keep the back of the seat stably for children in the position of use of it.

The carriage support base is provided with a rear extension that exceeds the vertical plane of the rear of the basket, incorporating the wheels of ] support later in this extension, which achieves a provision that reduces the possibility of overturning the car, towards its rear.

The support wheels of the carriage are mounted by means of a compression device of an elastic bushing which, when expanded, is compressed, allowing a quick and safe assembly of those wheels with respect to the carriage base; resulting in disassembly with equal ease. Q For all these reasons, this car which is the object of the invention has very advantageous characteristics, with respect to known cars of the same type.

Figure 1 shows a side elevation view of the carriage object of the present invention. 5 Figure 2 is a front view of the carriage, with a half sectioned according to indication II-II indicated in the previous figure.

Figure 3 is a view of the car from the rear. 0 Figure 4 is a top plan view of the car, with a half sectioned according to indication IV-IV indicated in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a sectional side view of the car body, without the tiltable wall of the rear part of the basket.

Figure 6 represents half a top plan view of the carriage base, coinciding with the plane of the VI-Vi section indicated in Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a half view representation in Q lower floor of the carriage base.

Figure 8 is an enlarged front view of a plate used to cover the holes in the lower part between the rear tilting wall and the side walls of the cart. 5 Figure 9 is a side view of the platelet represented in figure 8.

Figure 10 is a view corresponding to section X-X indicated in Figure 8.

Figure 11 is a view of the platelet assembly of Figure 8, in the stable position corresponding to the closure of the application hole.

Figure 12 is a view of the same previous arrangement, with the plate in the position where it is removed to the side. Figure 13 is a detail corresponding to a partial perspective of the upper part of the car, the stops can be observed on the sides for the maintenance of the back of the child seat, in the deployed position. Figure 14 is an enlarged detail corresponding to the assembly section of one of the wheels of the car.

The object of the invention is a car available in supermarkets and similar establishments. In accordance with the present invention, this car is constituted by a single-piece plastic body that includes the load basket (1) and a supporting base (2) in which the corresponding support wheels (3) for the carriage movement are coupled .

As in conventional cars of this type, the cargo basket (1) comprises a rear wall (4) arranged in a swiveling assembly with respect to an upper joint (5), thus enabling the insertion of some cars in others in the parking lot. the same. For this, the basket (1) also determines a configuration that narrows towards the front, in order to make possible the aforementioned insertion of the carriages.

This configuration of the basket (1) determines that the rear tilting wall (4) must have a narrowed down shape, so that its Dimension in width allows you to swing around the inside of the basket (1), when you insert the basket (1) of a car into the basket (1) of another.

This results in that inferiorly between the aforementioned rear tilting wall (4) and the side walls of the basket (1) there are some gaps (6), through which the products of the load that are housed inside the interior can fall. basket (1).

To solve this problem, platelets are incorporated in the carriage of the present invention

(7) coinciding at a certain height with the mentioned recesses (6), so that they are thus covered in their part of greater width, preventing the objects of the load from being able to exit through said recesses (6).

These platelets (7) are fastened through a hinged assembly. For this there is a laterally open cylindrical conformation (8) that said platelets

(7) own on an edge; so that this cylindrical conformation (8) fits on a corresponding rod

(9) clamping set on the car's one-piece body.

The aforementioned cylindrical conformation (8) of the platelets (7) is defined with a chamfer (10) at the bottom, while the rods (9) for mounting these platelets (7) are defined between a pair of tabs ( 11) and (12), the lower one (12) being in an inclined position, preferably with the same chamfer inclination (10) of the cylindrical conformations (8) of the platelets (7).

Under such conditions, said platelets (7) tend to be positioned in the assembly in a stable situation determined by the coincidence of the chamfer inclination (10) of the conformations (8) with the lower inclined tongue (12) of the stems (9). ) , is according - 7 -

depicted in figure 11; situation that is planned so that the platelets (7) are covering the holes (6) in the function for which they are intended, that is to avoid that the holes (6) leave

5 products housed in the basket (1).

From that closed position of said platelets (7), they can swing towards the side walls of the basket (1), thus being removed; so that they do not prevent or hinder the insertion between Q the baskets (1) ^" of the carriages, with the particularity that thanks to the inclined planes of the chamfer (10) and of the tongue (12) when the rotation of said platelets occurs (7) these are forced to ascend, as can be seen in Figure 12, thus leaving the 5 platelets (7) in an unstable position that makes the said platelets (7) tend to return themselves to the lower stable position of closing when they are free.

Thus, when the basket (1) of a 0 carriage is removed from the inside of the basket (1) of the front carriage, the platelets (7) automatically return to the closed position by themselves, thus always ensuring the closing of the gaps (6).

The contour walls of the basket (1) by the sides and the front, are defined with about 5 ribs (13) protruding outwards. Thanks to these ribs (13), the contour of the basket (1) acquires an adequate consistency, resulting in the walls with a smooth bottom plane and an outer relief plane defined by the ridges of the ribs (13), which allows the determination of areas tucked in (14) by said outer part, for the placement in these areas tucked (14) of advertising posters. In this way, by placing a basket (1) _^ r inside the basket (1) of another car, the posters advertising are safe from friction, due to their location with respect to the outer plane defined by the ribs (13); while the inner surface of the walls is perfectly smooth, allowing the insertion of a basket (1) in the basket

(1) of the car in front.

In each enclosed area (14) intended for the incorporation of advertising, there is at least one hole (15) through to the inside of the basket (1), through which it is possible to act with any sharp element to exert a thrust. outwards on the advertising posters that are placed, allowing to easily start the extraction of said posters for their removal. The smooth surface of the walls inside the basket (1) also allows advertising posters on the inner side to be incorporated on the front end wall, so that they are visible to the person who Take the car

In the rear tiltable wall (4) a child seat consisting of two plates (17) and

(18) related to each other by means of a sliding coupling and articulated both on said wall (4); in the determination of a folding and folding set between two collection and use positions. One of the plates (17) constitutes the seat base, while the other (18) is constituted as a backrest. The aforementioned back plate (18) has lateral fins (19) in the upper part. These fins

(19) correspond to recesses (20) in the form of steps defined by the inside of the side walls of the basket (1), in this way determining stops that allow a firm support of the backrest (18) in the deployed position of the seat, thus maintaining said position, as seen in Figure 13.

The incorporation of the wheels (3) in the base (2) of the carriage is established by means of a coupling, formed by a rod (21) with a widened head (22) at one end and thread for the incorporation of a nut ( 23) at the other end, said rod (21) passing axially through a cylindrical bushing (24) of elastic material and through the corresponding support (25) of the respective wheel (3).

Thus, to mount the wheels (3) on the base (2) of the car, it is only necessary to insert the bushing assembly (24) with the rod (21) axially incorporated through it, in a housing (26) defined in the base (2), as shown in figure 14, for once the insertion is made, tighten the nut (23). When tightening the nut (23), the rod (21) is pulled causing a widening of the bushing (24) that is pressed against the wall of the housing (26), which ensures that the wheel is secured (3).

The disassembly is effective in turn with the same ease, since it is only necessary to loosen the nut (23), so that by stopping compressing the rod (21) axially to the elastic bushing (24), it recovers its original shape leaving to press against the wall of the housing (26). This results in the possibility of replacing any of the wheels (3) of the car very easily, when necessary.

In accordance with a particular feature of the invention, the base (2) of the carriage is formed by a rear extension (27) that goes beyond the rear vertical plane of the basket (1), the support wheels (3) leaving that part rear incorporated in the mentioned extension (27), which determines an extension of the longitudinal space between the supports of the car, leaving the center of gravity at a greater distance from said supports, thereby achieving greater stability of the car, reducing the possibility of overturning by the effort of the thrust exerted on the handlebar (16), by the user of the car, which in many cases makes a downward push that tends to cause the car to overturn.

Claims

CLAIMS 1.- Supermarket cart, of those constituted by a load basket (1) and a support base (2) on which the support wheels (3) are incorporated, the basket (1) provided with a wall rear (4) which is arranged in a tilting assembly with respect to an upper joint (5), characterized in that between the rear swingable wall (4) and the side walls of the basket (1) platelets (7) that cover the lower part are included gaps (6) that remain on the sides of said tiltable wall (4), these platelets (7) being arranged in a hinged assembly, by means of rotating engagement of a cylindrical conformation (8) of each platelet (7) on a shaft-shaft ( 9) of the basket (1), with the possibility of collecting the platelets (7), by tilting it, leaving the platelets (7) arranged against the side walls of the basket (1), inside the latter.

2. - Supermarket cart, in all according to the first claim, characterized in that the basket

(1) and the support base (2) are constituted by a single-piece plastic body, which on the contour walls of the basket (1) defines ribs (13) protruding towards the outside; these ribs (13) define, in relation to their outer edge, a plane further out of the general wall of said walls, in the determination of some areas (14) tucked in relation to said outer plane, for incorporation into these tucked areas (14) of advertising posters; and because in this way, despite the existence of these tucked areas (14) the inside of the walls of the basket (1) is a smooth surface.

3. - Supermarket cart, in all according to the first claim characterized in that in the ¹ tiltable rear wall (4) of the basket (1) incorporates a child seat formed by two plates (17) and (18) coupled together and articulated with respect to the aforementioned rear wall (4), in a ° arrangement folding and unfolding, the plate (18) corresponding to the backrest with lateral fins (19) being provided, in its upper area; these fins (19) correspond to some recesses (20) defined by the interior of the side walls of the basket (1), in the 0 determination of some stops that ensure the deployed position of the seat.

4. - Supermarket car, in all according to the first claim, characterized in that the assembly of the wheels (3) with respect to the base (2) of the car is established by means of a coupling formed by a rod (21) that passes axially through a cylindrical bushing (24) of elastic material; in said rod (21) a nut (23) is threaded, which when threaded pulls the rod (21), the latter causing the expansion in width of the bushing (24) and the consequent tightening of the bushing inside a housing (26) at the base (2), which establishes the fixation of the wheel (3).

5. - Supermarket cart, in all according to the first claim, characterized in that the base

(2) of the body of the carriage determines an extension (27) backwards, exceeding the vertical plane of the rear part of the cargo basket (1), incorporating in said extension (27) the corresponding wheels (3) of the rear of the car, with which you get a delay of the supports in that back, to avoid the overturning of the car towards its rear area.

6. - Supermarket cart, in all according to the first claim characterized in that the cylindrical conformation (8) of each platelet (7) defines an inclined chamfer (10) in correspondence with the inclination of a lower tongue (12) in which the stem-shaft (9) is finished; so that the correspondence between the inclined planes of the chamfer (10) and of the tongue (12), causes the platelet (7) to move upwards when it tilts from the closed to the withdrawn position, in which it is attached on the inside of the wall of the basket (1) and also, when removing the basket (1) from the inside of another car, the correspondence of such inclined planes causes each platelet (7) to self-position, tilting automatically and by itself from the withdrawal position to the closing position.

MODIFIED CLAIMS

[received by the International Bureau on May 29, 1998 (05/29/98); claim 6 is deleted; modified claims 1, 2 and 3; other claims do not change (2 pages)]

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N E S

one . - Supermarket cart, consisting of a load basket (1) and a support base (2) on which the support wheels (3) are incorporated, the basket (1) provided with a rear wall (4) ) which is arranged in a swingarm assembly with respect to an upper joint (5), incorporating platelets (7) that cover the gaps (6) that are left between the tiltable rear wall (4) and the side walls of the basket (1) the sides of said tiltable wall (4), in its lower part; these platelets (7) are hinged, by means of a rotating socket of a cylindrical conformation

(8) of each platelet (7) on a rod-shaft (9) of the basket (1); characterized in that each shaft-shaft (9) extends between a pair of tongues (11 and 12) which next to it are determined in the single piece body of the basket inside it, the lower tongue (12) being in disposition inclined at an angle in correspondence with that of a chamfer (10) in which each cylindrical conformation is inferiorly finished

(8).

2. - Supermarket cart, in all according to the first claim, characterized in that the basket (1) that constitutes a single-piece plastic body together with the support base (2), defines ribs (13) protruding towards the part Exterior; these ribs

(13) delimit zones (14) tucked in relation to the outer plane of the walls of the basket (1), for the incorporation in these tucked zones (14) of advertising posters; all of this so that despite the existence of these tucked areas (14) the inside of the walls of the basket (1) is a smooth surface.

3. - Supermarket cart, in all according to the first claim that being of the type of carts that on the rear swingable wall (4) of the basket (1) incorporate a child seat formed by two plates (17) and (18) coupled to each other and articulated with respect to the aforementioned rear wall (4) is characterized in that the plate (18) corresponding to the backrest forms itself, in its part upper lateral fins (19); these fins (19) correspond to some recesses (20) defined by the inside of the side walls of the basket (1), in this way determining some stops that ensure the deployed position of the seat. . - Supermarket car, in all according to the first claim, characterized in that the assembly of the wheels (3) with respect to the base (2) of the car is established by means of a coupling formed by a rod (21) that passes axially to through a cylindrical bushing (24) of elastic material; in said rod (21) a nut (23) is threaded, which when threaded pulls the rod (21), the latter causing the expansion in width of the bushing (24) and the consequent tightening thereof in a housing (26 ) on the base (2), which establishes the fixation of the wheel (3).

5. - Supermarket cart, in all according to the first claim, characterized in that the base (2) of the car body determines an extension (27) backwards, exceeding the vertical plane of the rear part of the basket (1) of load, incorporating in said extension (27) the corresponding wheels (3) of the rear of the car, with which a delay of the supports in that rear part is obtained, to avoid the overturning of the car towards its rear area.

MODIFIED SHEET (ARTICUL019)