WO1999007246A1

WO1999007246A1 - Transport device

Info

Publication number: WO1999007246A1
Application number: PCT/GB1998/002414
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thomas George Huggins
Original assignee: Thomas George Huggins
Priority date: 1997-08-12
Filing date: 1998-08-11
Publication date: 1999-02-18
Also published as: GB9717117D0; GB2328182A

Abstract

A closable transport device (1) has a carriage portion (2) defining a receptacle for articles to be carried, the carriage portion comprising elongate slide means (15), and the device further comprising a closure means (3) and rotatable wheels (11) that are so mounted that they extend beyond the envelope of the carriage portion in at least one direction.

Description

Transport device

The present invention relates to transport devices that are suitable for transporting articles along a variety of different surfaces.

The use of transport devices having slides is well-known. For example, the use of sleds, pulled by animals or by human beings, is common especially in countries where the ground is covered by snow for significant periods. Sleds are an efficient mode of transport on snow, but are generally unsuitable for use on hard surfaces, such as roads.

Sleds have also been suggested for use on sandy surfaces, for example, on the beach, where the user may wish to carry fishing gear, beach accessories or the like along the beach to a desired destination. US Patent Specification Nos. 4,863,075 and 5,222,748 describe beach sleds in which, in addition to slide means, there are provided wheels which assist with transport of the sled on hard surfaces. The construction of the beach sleds described in those documents is, however, complicated. In use of the sled of US 4,863,075, it is necessary to attach the wheels to the sled runners on reaching a hard surface and to detach them on returning to a soft surface. Further, those previously known beach sleds are not closable; thus they are not watertight and, on uneven ground, there is a risk that items will fall out. The present invention provides a closable transport device having a carriage portion defining a receptacle for receiving articles to be carried and comprising elongate slide means, closure means for said receptacle, and rotatable wheels that are so mounted that they extend beyond the envelope of the carriage portion in at least one direction.

The transport device of the present invention provides an efficient way of transporting items simply and securely over both hard and soft ground.

Advantageously, the slide means are integrally formed with the rest of the carriage portion. The slide means may be elongate raised areas on an outer surface of the carriage portion. Instead, the slide means may be provided by elongate areas on an outer surface of the carriage portion that are separated from one another by a plurality of elongate recessed areas. Preferably, there are at least two elongate raised areas. Instead, there may be at least one recessed area, there extending laterally of the or each recessed area an elongate portion of the base of the carriage portion. The use of raised areas or recessed areas to provide slide means enables the device to be manufactured in a simple manner. For example, the carriage portion may be manufactured in a single piece by, for example, injection moulding or vacuum forming. Preferably, the carriage portion is manufactured by vacuum forming. The device may be made of any suitable material such as pressed aluminium or, in the case where manufacture is by injection moulding, glass fibre composite materials are especially suitable. As mentioned above, the rotatable wheels (of which there are preferably two) are so mounted that they extend beyond the envelope of the carriage portion in at least one direction. As a result, when the device is used on a hard surface, it can be propelled forwards in such a manner that the carriage portion is clear of the ground. Advantageously, a portion of the circumference of the wheel is from 0.5 to 5cm, and preferably from 1 to 3cm, beyond the base of the carriage portion. Advantageously, there are first and second handle means, the first handle means being so arranged that when it is used for towing the device the slide means does not contact a surface on which the device is being towed, and the second handle means being so arranged that when it is used for towing the device the slide means are in contact with a surface on which the device is being towed.

The second handle means may comprise an elongate flexible element. The first handle means is advantageously integrally formed with the carrying portion.

Advantageously there are two wheels, located laterally at opposite rear corners of the device. The wheels may be mounted on a common axle, a central portion of the axle being located within the carriage portion. That arrangement is advantageous in that a substantial part of the axle is protected from rough surfaces over which the device may travel, and the likelihood of blockages due to mud, sand or other contaminants may be reduced.

Preferably each of the carriage portion and the closure means is formed in one piece. The carriage portion and the closure means are each advantageously formed from plastics materials, for example, by injection moulding. ABS (acrylonitride-butadiene-styrene) copolymers are especially suitable plastics materials. Other suitable plastics materials are, for example, polypropylene, polyamide. These plastic materials may contain glass fibre. Alternatively, the carriage portion and closure means may be formed from aluminium.

Preferably, the closure means is a rigid lid attached to the carriage portion by one or more hinges which are preferably located at the rear of the device.

Advantageously, the carriage portion may comprise partitions which are arranged to divide the receptacle into a plurality of conveniently sized or shaped storage areas. Especially advantageous, one or more of the storage areas may be further adapted, for example by the provision of thermal insulation to form a storage area for cold items. The partitions may be provided in the form of a deep tray which is capable of being lifted out of the receptacle with its contents.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a transport device according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the transport device of Fig. 1 with its lid raised; Fig. 3 is a view of the transport device of Fig. 1 from below; Fig. 4 is a side view of the transport device; Fig. 5 is a rear view of a part of the transport device; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the transport device with its second handle detached from its storage disposition;

Fig. 7 is a view of the transport device of Fig. 1 in use on a hard surface; Fig. 8 is a view of the transport device of Fig. 1 in use on a relatively soft surface, Fig. 9a is a perspective view of another transport device; and

Fig. 9b is a perspective view of the device of Fig. 9a with its second handle in the storage disposition. With reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, a transport device 1 comprises a body having a lower, carriage portion 2 and a lid 3. The carriage portion has a base 4, and two lateral walls 5, a front end wall 6 and a rear end wall 7 extending upwardly from the base to define a receptacle for receiving articles to be transported. The upper edges of the respective walls 5,6 and 7 define a continuous rim 8 (see Fig. 2). The upper edges of the walls are rolled outwardly such that a smooth rim of curved section is formed. A handle 9 extends outwardly from the front end wall 6, the handle 9 being of generally rectangular form in plan, enclosing an aperture to facilitate grasping of the handle in use. At the rear of the carriage portion, a recessed area 10 is provided in the exterior of the carriage portion at each lower rear corner, each of those recessed areas 10 being bounded at the front by a curved wall. In each of the opposed recessed areas 10 there is provided an aperture (not shown), those two apertures being arranged opposite one another. Wheels 11 , are mounted in respective recesses 10 and are connected to one another by an axle 12 which extends from first wheel 11 through a first aperture, yja the interior of the carriage portion 2 and the second aperture to second wheel 11. A channel 13 in the interior of the carriage portion at the rear end of the base 3 extending between the apertures partly encloses the axle 12. Each of the wheels 11 is so mounted that it extends beyond the envelope of the carriage portion in the downward direction at the rear end of the device. In the region of the handle 9, attachment means are provided for securing to the carriage portion a second handle 14 which, in the embodiment of Fig. 1 , comprises an elongate flexible portion 14a and a rigid handpiece 14b, as may be seen from Fig. 6.

With reference to Fig. 3, slide means in the form of two elongate raised areas 15 are provided on the exterior of the base of the carriage portion 2. As shown in Fig. 4, the two raised areas extend forwardly beyond the base 4 across a part of the front end wall 6. Whilst, in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 8, the slide means comprise two raised elongate areas, there may be, for example, three or more raised elongate areas. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, each of the wheels 11 extends beyond the raised areas 15 of the base 4.

The lid 3 has an upper wall 16 and lid lateral walls 17, a lid front end wall 18 and a lid rear end wall 19 extending downwardly from the upper wall 16, the lower edges of the walls 17,18 and 19 cooperating to form a continuous edge 20 which incorporates a depending flange 21. The flange 21 is of slightly larger circumference than the rim 8 of the carriage portion whereby, when the lid is located in the closed position on the carriage portion 2, the flange fits closely to the rim 8 to provide a substantially watertight closure. Snapfit clips (not shown) may be provided for retaining the lid in the closed position on the carriage portion. For example, there may be two snapfit clips fixedly attached to the front of the carriage portion.

The lid 3 includes a recessed area 22, which embraces a part of the rear end region of the upper wall 16 and a part of the upper end region of the rear end wall 19. The recessed area 22 is so shaped and configured that the rigid handpiece 14b of the second handle 14 can be received in snapfit fashion therein when not in use. The flexible portion 14a of the handle 14 is of such a length that, when the handpiece 14b is retained in the recessed area 22, the flexible portion 14a sits snugly against the upper wall 16 to restrain the flexible portion 14a from lateral movement. A shallow channel C in the lid 3 assists in retention of the flexible portion 14a when the handle 14 is not in use.

The recessed area 22 and channel C are more clearly visible in Fig. 6, in which the handle 14 is shown with the handpiece 14b detached from the recessed area 22 and ready for use. If desired, instead of the second handle 14 with flexible elongate portion 14a there may be provided a rigid handle, which may be pivotably mounted at the front of the carriage portion.

Figs. 9a and 9b show another form of transport device which provides a deeper interior within the carriage portion. In Figs. 9a and 9b the same reference numerals have been used as in Figs. 1 to 8, although the corresponding parts may be of slightly different configuration. The lateral walls 5 of the carriage portion 2 are deeper than those of the device of Fig. 1 , whilst the lateral wall 17 of the lid are relatively shallow. As a result, the carriage portion 2 provides a greater capacity. For the purposes of closure of the device of Figs. 9a and 9b a lock may be provided at the front of the device. That lock, which is not shown in Figs. 9 and 9b, may be so located that, when the lid is closed and the handle placed in the storage disposition as in Fig. 9b, the lock is hidden from view by the flexible portion or strap 14a. Thus, a lock means may advantageously be located at a central position on the front end wall 18 of the lid for engaging with correspondingly located lock means on the front wall of the carriage portion. By virtue of its shape, the lid of the device is able to effect a substantially watertight closure of the device, the lower edges of the lateral walls 17 of the lid sitting snugly against the upper edges of the lateral walls 5 of the carriage portion 2. The transport device may expediently be pulled along hard surfaces by means of the first handle 8, the transport device then resting on the wheels 1 1 , as shown in Fig. 7, the base 4 of the carriage portion 2 including slide means 15 being clear of the ground. On soft ground, for example, sand, the transporter can be dragged along the surface as shown in Fig. 8, the elongate raised areas 15 acting as slide means. The wheels 1 1 may contact the ground, but are prevented by the contact of the slide means 15 with the ground from sinking deeply into the soft surface. On the other hand, if during the dragging action a harder portion of ground is encountered, the wheels can immediately begin to turn, facilitating the forward movement of the device.

It is a particular advantage of the transport device of the invention that the lid and the carriage portion can each be formed as a respective integral piece. For example, the lid and carriage portion are each advantageously formed from a plastics material, for example, of a suitable ABS copolymer, by injection moulding.

In one advantageous form of the invention a pair of spaced protrusions 23 are provided on a rear wall of the carriage portion and/or of the closure means (in the embodiment described a pair of protrusions is provided on each of the lid rear end wall 19 and the rear wall 7 of the carriage portion, as may be seen from Figs. 3 to 5). The protrusions 23 are so configured that, if the transport device is tipped such that it rests on its rear end, the device is able to stand on that end without support.

Typical dimensions of the transport device of Fig. 1 are as follows: Width = 525mm.

Length (not including the handle 9) = 950mm.

Depth of the carriage portion (that is, distance between the plane of the upper surface 8 and the plane of the base 4) = 185mm.

Depth of the lid (that is, distance from the plane of the upper wall 16 to the top of the flange 21 ) - 125mm. Vertical depth of the flange 21 = 25mm. Diameter of wheels, 11 = 125mm. Thickness of wheels, 11 = 35mm.

Claims

1. A closable transport device having a carriage portion defining a receptacle for receiving articles to be carried and comprising elongate slide means, closure means for said receptacle, and rotatable wheels that are so mounted that they extend beyond the envelope of the carriage portion in at least one direction.

2. A transport device as claimed in claim 1 , in which the slide means are integrally formed with the rest of the carriage portion.

3. A transport device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the slide means are a plurality of elongate raised areas on an outer surface of the carriage portion.

4. A transport device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the slide means are provided by elongate areas on an outer surface of the carrying portion that are separated from one another by a plurality of elongate recessed areas.

5. A transport device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which there are first and second handle means, the first handle means being so arranged that when it is used for towing the device the slide means do not contact a surface on which the device is being towed, and the second handle means being so arranged that when it is used for towing the device the slide means are in contact with a surface on which the device is being towed.

6. A transport device as claimed in claim 5, in which the second handle means comprises an elongate flexible element.

7. A transport device as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, in which the first handle means is integrally formed with the carriage portion.

8. A transport device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the wheels are mounted on a common axle, a central portion of the axle being located within the carriage portion.

9. A transport device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, in which the carriage portion and the closure means are each formed in one piece.

10. A transport device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, in which the carriage portion and the closure means have each been formed by injection moulding.

11. A transport device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, in which the closure means is a rigid lid attached to the carriage portion by one or more hinges.

12. A transport device as claimed in claim 11 , in which the lid may be retained in the closed position by one or more snapfit clips.

13. A transport device means as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 , in which the carriage portion comprises partitions which are arranged to divide the receptacle into a plurality of storage areas.

14. A transport device as claimed in claim 13 in which one or more of the storage areas are thermally insulated.

15. A transport device substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figs. 1 to 8.