CA2153836A1 - Forwarldy inclined over-the-counter shopping cart - Google Patents
Forwarldy inclined over-the-counter shopping cartInfo
- Publication number
- CA2153836A1 CA2153836A1 CA002153836A CA2153836A CA2153836A1 CA 2153836 A1 CA2153836 A1 CA 2153836A1 CA 002153836 A CA002153836 A CA 002153836A CA 2153836 A CA2153836 A CA 2153836A CA 2153836 A1 CA2153836 A1 CA 2153836A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- basket
- shopping cart
- bottom wall
- frame
- backrest
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
- 238000006073 displacement reaction Methods 0.000 claims description 7
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000000284 resting effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000007599 discharging Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000000717 retained effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000007257 malfunction Effects 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B62—LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS
- B62B—HAND-PROPELLED VEHICLES, e.g. HAND CARTS OR PERAMBULATORS; SLEDGES
- B62B3/00—Hand carts having more than one axis carrying transport wheels; Steering devices therefor; Equipment therefor
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
- Transportation (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Handcart (AREA)
Abstract
An over-the-counter shopping cart having a merchandise carrying basket supported elevated by a structural frame which is displaceable on casters by pushing a handle rearwardly of the basket. The basket is inclined forwardly and is wider at the front end than the rear end. The basket also has a hinged front gate and the top surface of the bottom wall as well as the top surface of the front gate are provided with projecting ribs to facilitate sliding of merchandise disposed thereon towards the front gate. The bottom wall of the basket slopes forwardly at a predetermined angle in the range of from 5° to 7° to provide ease of sliding of the merchandise. The frame also permits close nesting of the baskets with one another.
Description
- 1 - 2l5383~
FORWARDLY INCLINED OVER-THE-COUNTER
SHOPPING CART
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an over-the-counter shopping cart having a forwardly inclined bottom wall, an enlarged front end, an improved support frame permitting the transportation of heavy loads and close nesting of carts, and an improved baby seat compartment.
BACKGROUND ART
The over-the-counter shopping cart of the present invention is an improved cart of the type described in U.S.
Patent 3,751,059 issued August 7, 1973. That cart was designed whereby to replace conventional cantilevered shopping carts wherein the basket is hinged upwardly on the frame to permit close nesting. A disadvantage of the cantilevered shopping carts is that the baskets are difficult to hinge upwardly to permit nesting and are dangerous should the basket accidentally fall from its upright nested position. A still further disadvantage of cantilevered shopping carts is that because the basket is constructed in two parts and operated on a hinge it often necessitates repair and most often people do not take the time and bother of lifting the large front basket of the cart to its nesting position resulting in many shopping carts being left unattended and occupying a larger floor space than conventional nestable carts. These carts are also bothersome to customers and to the supermarket proprietors because of their difficulty to nest. Also, these conventional carts have their baskets horizontally disposed and heavy large merchandise is often difficult to remove as they must be lifted out of the carrying basket when positioned adjacent a merchandise processing station operated by a cashier.
_ 2 SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is a feature of the present invention to provide an improved over-the-counter shopping cart which substantially eliminates the above-mentioned disadvantages.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an improved over-the-counter shopping cart of the type described in the aforementioned U.S. patent and which facilitates the sliding removal of merchandise from its basket and further provides improved nesting and structural rigidity.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an improved over-the-counter shopping cart having a novel baby seat compartment which is automatically actuable to automatically and securely obstruct the leg holes in the rear wall of the cart to prevent merchandise from falling through the leg holes and to further prevent the seat plate from being positioned out of obstructing engagement with the leg holes when the backrest is collapsed.
According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides an over-the-counter shopping cart having an open-top-end merchandise-carrying basket supported elevated by a frame having casters in a lower end for displacing the cart on a ground surface. A handle is provided in a rear end of the basket for moving the cart over the ground surface. The basket has a bottom wall, opposed diverging side walls, a rear wall and a forwardly hinging front gate in a front end of the basket. The bottom wall has ribs projecting on a top surface thereof and extending horizontally from the rear wall to the front gate to facilitate the sliding of merchandise disposed thereon toward the front gate. The bottom wall also slopes downwardly from the rear wall to the front gate at a predetermined angle in the range of from 5 to 7 to further facilitate the discharge of merchandise by sliding the merchandise on the top surface of the bottom wall.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
5Figure 1 is a partly fragmented perspective view of the over-the-counter shopping cart of the present invention;
Figure 2 is side view, partly fragmented, of the shopping cart of Figure 1 showing a modification to the support frame;
10Figure 3 is a top, partly fragmented view of the shopping cart illustrating a further modified frame;
Figure 4 is a side view of the shopping cart of Figure 1 illustrating how it nests with other carts of the same type;
15Figure 5 is a fragmented perspective view showing the construction of the baby seat compartment;
Figures 6, 7 and 8 are sectional side views showing the operation of the backrest in relation to the seat plate;
and 20Figure 9 is a simplified view showing the hinged bracket of the hinged front gate illustrating its operation.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figure 1, there is shown generally at 10 the over-the-counter shopping cart of the present invention. As herein shown the shopping cart has an open top end merchandise carrying basket 11 supported elevated above a ground surface by a frame 13. Casters 14 are secured under the lower horizontal frame section 15 and a handlebar 16 projects rearwardly of the shopping basket 11 to displace the shopping cart 10 over a ground surface.
As herein shown, the open top end merchandise carrying basket 11 has a bottom wall 17, opposed diverging side walls 18, a rear wall 19 and a hinged front gate 20. A
baby seat compartment 21 is defined in a rear end section of the shopping basket between the rear wall 19 and a hinged _ 4 _ 2153836 backrest 22. A hinged seat plate 23 is spring-biased against leg holes 24 provided in the rear wall 19.
As better seen in Figure 2, the bottom wall 17 of the basket 11 slopes downwardly towards the front end at a 5 predetermined angle. This angle is within the range of from about 5 to 7 and this facilitates the discharge of merchandise, such as 25 resting on the bottom wall by sliding motion thereof towards the hinged front gate. As herein shown, the basket is constructed of wire rods 26 welded 10 together to form a meshing. Preferably, the bottom wall slopes at an angle of about 7. It has been found that a sloping angle within the specified range is an important factor of this cart. If the angle is too steep the merchandise slides forwardly and obstructs the front gate. If 15 the shopping angle is not enough, it does not facilitate sliding of the merchandise. It is intended with this type of cart that the customer slides the merchandise to the counter top for scanning by the cash operator.
As can be better seen in Figure 3, the diverging 20 side walls form a shopping basket which is wider at the front end 27 than the rear end 28. The bottom wall 17 of the basket is provided with straight wire rods 17' extending longitudinally thereof and protruding inside the basket top surface to constitute sliding ribs on which the merchandise is 25 disposed. Similarly, the wire rods 20' in the front gate 20 extend in the same direction as the wire rods 17' in the bottom wall 17 and are disposed on the inner surface of the hinged gate 20 whereby when the hinged gate rests on a station counter (not shown) the ribs will all extend in the same 30 direction providing ease of sliding motion for the articles, and particularly heavy articles, contained within the basket.
The elongated side rods 11' provided in the side walls 11 also extend longitudinally whereby the vertical rods 11' do not provide any obstruction to goods that may be resting against 35 the side wall. Because the customer stands to one side of the cart when discharging it, he will be prone to pull merchandise against a side wall while discharging the basket. Still further, the vertical rods 22' in the rear wall of the hinged backrest 22 also extend in the same direction as the rods 17' on the bottom wall of the basket. It can therefore be appreciated that any goods contained within the basket will slide easily out of the basket and without the goods being damaged by burrs and welds of the wire rods as the junctures and welds are now located outwardly of the basket. Plastic strip guards 29 are also disposed over the top edge of the side walls 11 to protect the person at the processing station against any burrs or rough edges one normally finds in these top edges at the weld junctions of the wire rods.
As shown in Figure 4, the shopping carts 10 are conventionally nestable with one another. As herein shown, the wide front end 27 of shopping cart 10' is nested within the narrower rear end 28 of a forward shopping cart 10' with the engaged hinged front gate 20 of the shopping cart 10 having been automatically collapsed inwardly over its bottom wall 17 by obstruction with the rear end 25 of the forward shopping cart 10'. To re-engage the front gate 20 it is merely necessary to lift it up and it will fall automatically in engagement.
Referring again to Figures 1 to 4, there will be described the construction of the frame 13. As herein shown, the frame is a tubular structural welded frame having a lower horizontal U-shaped section 15 and a rear intermediate elevated frame 30 formed integral extending through about mid-length of the lower frame section 15. It has a pair of transverse spaced top support rods 31 and 31', each secured adjacent an end of a bridge portion 32 of the intermediate elevated frame 30. A first forwardly inclined tubular top frame 33, herein constituted by an inverted U-shaped frame having opposed parallel straight rods 34 and a transverse interconnecting rod 35, is secured at a top end across the bottom wall 17 of the basket and between a pair of side brackets 35. The first forwardly inclined tubular top frame 33 is spaced from the front end 27 approximately one-third the length of the basket and secured at a bottom end substantially 2l53836 _ 6 across the rearward transverse support rod 31'. A second forwardly inclined tubular top frame 36 is similarly constructed and secured in a top end across the bottom wall of the basket between the front side brackets 35 and disposed substantially across the front edge of the bottom wall. It is connected at its lower ends substantially across the front transverse support rod 31. This provides for a very rigid frame capable of supporting several hundreds of pounds of merchandise in the basket.
As shown in Figure 2, the forwardly inclined frame 36' may be bent to define a base section 37 extending from the forward transverse support rod 31 upwardly to meet and connect with the first forwardly inclined tubular top frame 33 and then angled forwardly in a section 38 to terminate below the bottom wall at the front end 27 of the basket. As better seen in Figure 2, the front end of the side bracket 35 has a forward hinged bracket section 40 to which the front gate 20 is hingedly supported for forward and rearward pivotal displacement.
With reference to Figure 9, it can be seen that the hinge bracket 40 is provided with an angled guide slot 41 and a gate retaining slot 42 provided in a top end. A guide edge 43 is formed inwardly in the bracket below the gate retaining slot 42. The front gate 20 has a side wire rod 44 provided with the loop rod 45 which is engaged by the hinged bracket 40 with the lower leg 45' of the loop 45 retained captive within the guide slot 41. When the gate 20 is in its collapsed position, as shown in phantom lines at 46 resting on the top guide rods 17' of the basket bottom wall 17, the top leg 45"
of the loop is disposed close to the guide edge 45. By lifting the front gate in the direction of arrow 47, the top leg 45" will slide over the guide edge 43 and enter into the hinged bracket. The front gate is retained by the gate retaining slot 42 at an angle as shown herein. There is no engagement with the side walls. The gate is collapsed to its position at 46 by the nesting of the cart or simply by pushing the front gate 20 inwardly of the cart with the hand.
_ _ 7 _ 21 53 836 In order to disengage the front gate for unloading merchandise, it is merely necessary to pull the gate back a list to disengage the top leg 45" of the loop and to lift the gate until the bottom leg 45' is at the top of the guide slot 41 to clear the finger 48 of the hinged bracket 40 and to hinge the gate forwardly to rest over a countertop at a processing station or else to leave it hang freely downwardly as shown in phantom lines at 49. In order to nest the carts, the gate must be at its engaged upward position as shown at 20 or collapsed on the basket bottom wall.
Referring now to Figures 5 to 8, there will be described the construction and operation of the baby seat compartment. As previously described, the baby seat compartment is defined between the rear wall 19 and the backrest 22 which is pivotally secured to pivot rod 50 by a loop 51 formed in two opposed vertical wire rods 52. The pivot rod 50 forms part of the shopping cart basket bottom wall. The seat plate 23 is hinged at a lower edge 53 to a hinge rod 54 secured in a lower edge of the rear wall 19. A
coil spring 55 biases the seat plate 23 upwardly against the leg holes 24 formed in the rear wall 19. Accordingly, as the seat plate 23 is pushed inwardly within the cart, it will have a spring force urging it back against the leg holes.
As herein shown, a seat plate engageable frame 56 is formed by a U-shaped wire rod having opposed side rod sections 57 and a transverse interconnecting end rod 60. The side rod sections 57 are looped at a free end 58 to a transverse hinge rod 59 forming part of the backrest 22. The frame 56 is slidingly displaceable over a rear portion of the bottom wall 17 of the basket 11 adjacent the rear wall 19. As better seen in Figures 6 and 7, an arresting rod 61 is secured on the rear side of the backrest 22 and abuts with the top rod 17' of the bottom wall to prevent the backrest from hinging forwardly beyond a predetermined plane as shown in Figure 6. Also, when the seat plate 23 is in its engaged seating position, as again shown in Figure 6, it also arrests the backrest from forward movement. Furthermore, the weight of an infant seated on the seat plate also prevents the backrest from hinging forwardly or collapsing rearwardly due to transverse rod 64.
It can be seen that the seat plate 23 is also provided with a catch 62 protruding from a rear surface thereof and at a predetermined location whereby to engage with a transverse engageable wire rod 63 welded between the wire rods 57 of the seat plate engageable frame 56 when positioned in a downward position as shown in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 7, a further transverse seat plate abutment rod 64 is secured across the side rod sections 57 and spaced inwardly towards the backrest for release abutment of the catch 62 from its engagement with the rod 63 by forward movement of the backrest in the direction of arrow 65. The abutment rod 64 permits the hinge seat plate to return to its obstructing position against the rear wall prior to the backrest 22 collapsing over the basket bottom wall. This feature prevents entanglement of the various movable elements of the baby seat compartment and namely the back seat, the frame 56 and the backrest 22. As can be appreciated, the cart 62 permits the seat plate 23 to be engaged over the bottom wall 17 of the basket in the baby seat compartment whilst the hands of the person are free to place a child in the baby seat compartment.
It can also be seen that a projecting handle 70 is formed or connected to a top edge 71 of the backrest 22 and disposed at least centrally therealong. The handle extends substantially horizontally towards the basket front end when the backrest is in a position of use. This handle has two purposes, one being to retract the backrest to a position of use or to displace the backrest to a position of non-use and furthermore to obstruct the seat plate 23 when the backrest 22 is collapsed, as shown in Figure 8. This permits the basket to be used in totality to carry merchandise while preventing the leg holes 24 to become unobstructed by displacement of the seat plate in the direction of arrow 73. This is particularly useful when the seat plate 23 is not of the spring-bias type or if the spring 55 malfunctions. The baby seat compartment as herein described and particularly the backrest construction 2l53836 is much more simple than that as described in U.S. Patent 3,751,059 and provides numerous advantages thereover. The support frame also provides more rigidity and stability to the basket and can support heavy loads as is also illustrated in Figures 1 to 4. A lower basket 80 may be secured to the frame in a rear portion thereof and substantially in part or close alignment with the space 81 between the rear wall 19 and the handle bars 16 whereby elongated objects can be supported vertically by the lower basket 80 and projecting through this opening 81, as described in another pending patent application to the Applicant.
It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obvious modifications of the preferred embodiment and its modifications described herein, provided such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.
FORWARDLY INCLINED OVER-THE-COUNTER
SHOPPING CART
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an over-the-counter shopping cart having a forwardly inclined bottom wall, an enlarged front end, an improved support frame permitting the transportation of heavy loads and close nesting of carts, and an improved baby seat compartment.
BACKGROUND ART
The over-the-counter shopping cart of the present invention is an improved cart of the type described in U.S.
Patent 3,751,059 issued August 7, 1973. That cart was designed whereby to replace conventional cantilevered shopping carts wherein the basket is hinged upwardly on the frame to permit close nesting. A disadvantage of the cantilevered shopping carts is that the baskets are difficult to hinge upwardly to permit nesting and are dangerous should the basket accidentally fall from its upright nested position. A still further disadvantage of cantilevered shopping carts is that because the basket is constructed in two parts and operated on a hinge it often necessitates repair and most often people do not take the time and bother of lifting the large front basket of the cart to its nesting position resulting in many shopping carts being left unattended and occupying a larger floor space than conventional nestable carts. These carts are also bothersome to customers and to the supermarket proprietors because of their difficulty to nest. Also, these conventional carts have their baskets horizontally disposed and heavy large merchandise is often difficult to remove as they must be lifted out of the carrying basket when positioned adjacent a merchandise processing station operated by a cashier.
_ 2 SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is a feature of the present invention to provide an improved over-the-counter shopping cart which substantially eliminates the above-mentioned disadvantages.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an improved over-the-counter shopping cart of the type described in the aforementioned U.S. patent and which facilitates the sliding removal of merchandise from its basket and further provides improved nesting and structural rigidity.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an improved over-the-counter shopping cart having a novel baby seat compartment which is automatically actuable to automatically and securely obstruct the leg holes in the rear wall of the cart to prevent merchandise from falling through the leg holes and to further prevent the seat plate from being positioned out of obstructing engagement with the leg holes when the backrest is collapsed.
According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides an over-the-counter shopping cart having an open-top-end merchandise-carrying basket supported elevated by a frame having casters in a lower end for displacing the cart on a ground surface. A handle is provided in a rear end of the basket for moving the cart over the ground surface. The basket has a bottom wall, opposed diverging side walls, a rear wall and a forwardly hinging front gate in a front end of the basket. The bottom wall has ribs projecting on a top surface thereof and extending horizontally from the rear wall to the front gate to facilitate the sliding of merchandise disposed thereon toward the front gate. The bottom wall also slopes downwardly from the rear wall to the front gate at a predetermined angle in the range of from 5 to 7 to further facilitate the discharge of merchandise by sliding the merchandise on the top surface of the bottom wall.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
5Figure 1 is a partly fragmented perspective view of the over-the-counter shopping cart of the present invention;
Figure 2 is side view, partly fragmented, of the shopping cart of Figure 1 showing a modification to the support frame;
10Figure 3 is a top, partly fragmented view of the shopping cart illustrating a further modified frame;
Figure 4 is a side view of the shopping cart of Figure 1 illustrating how it nests with other carts of the same type;
15Figure 5 is a fragmented perspective view showing the construction of the baby seat compartment;
Figures 6, 7 and 8 are sectional side views showing the operation of the backrest in relation to the seat plate;
and 20Figure 9 is a simplified view showing the hinged bracket of the hinged front gate illustrating its operation.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figure 1, there is shown generally at 10 the over-the-counter shopping cart of the present invention. As herein shown the shopping cart has an open top end merchandise carrying basket 11 supported elevated above a ground surface by a frame 13. Casters 14 are secured under the lower horizontal frame section 15 and a handlebar 16 projects rearwardly of the shopping basket 11 to displace the shopping cart 10 over a ground surface.
As herein shown, the open top end merchandise carrying basket 11 has a bottom wall 17, opposed diverging side walls 18, a rear wall 19 and a hinged front gate 20. A
baby seat compartment 21 is defined in a rear end section of the shopping basket between the rear wall 19 and a hinged _ 4 _ 2153836 backrest 22. A hinged seat plate 23 is spring-biased against leg holes 24 provided in the rear wall 19.
As better seen in Figure 2, the bottom wall 17 of the basket 11 slopes downwardly towards the front end at a 5 predetermined angle. This angle is within the range of from about 5 to 7 and this facilitates the discharge of merchandise, such as 25 resting on the bottom wall by sliding motion thereof towards the hinged front gate. As herein shown, the basket is constructed of wire rods 26 welded 10 together to form a meshing. Preferably, the bottom wall slopes at an angle of about 7. It has been found that a sloping angle within the specified range is an important factor of this cart. If the angle is too steep the merchandise slides forwardly and obstructs the front gate. If 15 the shopping angle is not enough, it does not facilitate sliding of the merchandise. It is intended with this type of cart that the customer slides the merchandise to the counter top for scanning by the cash operator.
As can be better seen in Figure 3, the diverging 20 side walls form a shopping basket which is wider at the front end 27 than the rear end 28. The bottom wall 17 of the basket is provided with straight wire rods 17' extending longitudinally thereof and protruding inside the basket top surface to constitute sliding ribs on which the merchandise is 25 disposed. Similarly, the wire rods 20' in the front gate 20 extend in the same direction as the wire rods 17' in the bottom wall 17 and are disposed on the inner surface of the hinged gate 20 whereby when the hinged gate rests on a station counter (not shown) the ribs will all extend in the same 30 direction providing ease of sliding motion for the articles, and particularly heavy articles, contained within the basket.
The elongated side rods 11' provided in the side walls 11 also extend longitudinally whereby the vertical rods 11' do not provide any obstruction to goods that may be resting against 35 the side wall. Because the customer stands to one side of the cart when discharging it, he will be prone to pull merchandise against a side wall while discharging the basket. Still further, the vertical rods 22' in the rear wall of the hinged backrest 22 also extend in the same direction as the rods 17' on the bottom wall of the basket. It can therefore be appreciated that any goods contained within the basket will slide easily out of the basket and without the goods being damaged by burrs and welds of the wire rods as the junctures and welds are now located outwardly of the basket. Plastic strip guards 29 are also disposed over the top edge of the side walls 11 to protect the person at the processing station against any burrs or rough edges one normally finds in these top edges at the weld junctions of the wire rods.
As shown in Figure 4, the shopping carts 10 are conventionally nestable with one another. As herein shown, the wide front end 27 of shopping cart 10' is nested within the narrower rear end 28 of a forward shopping cart 10' with the engaged hinged front gate 20 of the shopping cart 10 having been automatically collapsed inwardly over its bottom wall 17 by obstruction with the rear end 25 of the forward shopping cart 10'. To re-engage the front gate 20 it is merely necessary to lift it up and it will fall automatically in engagement.
Referring again to Figures 1 to 4, there will be described the construction of the frame 13. As herein shown, the frame is a tubular structural welded frame having a lower horizontal U-shaped section 15 and a rear intermediate elevated frame 30 formed integral extending through about mid-length of the lower frame section 15. It has a pair of transverse spaced top support rods 31 and 31', each secured adjacent an end of a bridge portion 32 of the intermediate elevated frame 30. A first forwardly inclined tubular top frame 33, herein constituted by an inverted U-shaped frame having opposed parallel straight rods 34 and a transverse interconnecting rod 35, is secured at a top end across the bottom wall 17 of the basket and between a pair of side brackets 35. The first forwardly inclined tubular top frame 33 is spaced from the front end 27 approximately one-third the length of the basket and secured at a bottom end substantially 2l53836 _ 6 across the rearward transverse support rod 31'. A second forwardly inclined tubular top frame 36 is similarly constructed and secured in a top end across the bottom wall of the basket between the front side brackets 35 and disposed substantially across the front edge of the bottom wall. It is connected at its lower ends substantially across the front transverse support rod 31. This provides for a very rigid frame capable of supporting several hundreds of pounds of merchandise in the basket.
As shown in Figure 2, the forwardly inclined frame 36' may be bent to define a base section 37 extending from the forward transverse support rod 31 upwardly to meet and connect with the first forwardly inclined tubular top frame 33 and then angled forwardly in a section 38 to terminate below the bottom wall at the front end 27 of the basket. As better seen in Figure 2, the front end of the side bracket 35 has a forward hinged bracket section 40 to which the front gate 20 is hingedly supported for forward and rearward pivotal displacement.
With reference to Figure 9, it can be seen that the hinge bracket 40 is provided with an angled guide slot 41 and a gate retaining slot 42 provided in a top end. A guide edge 43 is formed inwardly in the bracket below the gate retaining slot 42. The front gate 20 has a side wire rod 44 provided with the loop rod 45 which is engaged by the hinged bracket 40 with the lower leg 45' of the loop 45 retained captive within the guide slot 41. When the gate 20 is in its collapsed position, as shown in phantom lines at 46 resting on the top guide rods 17' of the basket bottom wall 17, the top leg 45"
of the loop is disposed close to the guide edge 45. By lifting the front gate in the direction of arrow 47, the top leg 45" will slide over the guide edge 43 and enter into the hinged bracket. The front gate is retained by the gate retaining slot 42 at an angle as shown herein. There is no engagement with the side walls. The gate is collapsed to its position at 46 by the nesting of the cart or simply by pushing the front gate 20 inwardly of the cart with the hand.
_ _ 7 _ 21 53 836 In order to disengage the front gate for unloading merchandise, it is merely necessary to pull the gate back a list to disengage the top leg 45" of the loop and to lift the gate until the bottom leg 45' is at the top of the guide slot 41 to clear the finger 48 of the hinged bracket 40 and to hinge the gate forwardly to rest over a countertop at a processing station or else to leave it hang freely downwardly as shown in phantom lines at 49. In order to nest the carts, the gate must be at its engaged upward position as shown at 20 or collapsed on the basket bottom wall.
Referring now to Figures 5 to 8, there will be described the construction and operation of the baby seat compartment. As previously described, the baby seat compartment is defined between the rear wall 19 and the backrest 22 which is pivotally secured to pivot rod 50 by a loop 51 formed in two opposed vertical wire rods 52. The pivot rod 50 forms part of the shopping cart basket bottom wall. The seat plate 23 is hinged at a lower edge 53 to a hinge rod 54 secured in a lower edge of the rear wall 19. A
coil spring 55 biases the seat plate 23 upwardly against the leg holes 24 formed in the rear wall 19. Accordingly, as the seat plate 23 is pushed inwardly within the cart, it will have a spring force urging it back against the leg holes.
As herein shown, a seat plate engageable frame 56 is formed by a U-shaped wire rod having opposed side rod sections 57 and a transverse interconnecting end rod 60. The side rod sections 57 are looped at a free end 58 to a transverse hinge rod 59 forming part of the backrest 22. The frame 56 is slidingly displaceable over a rear portion of the bottom wall 17 of the basket 11 adjacent the rear wall 19. As better seen in Figures 6 and 7, an arresting rod 61 is secured on the rear side of the backrest 22 and abuts with the top rod 17' of the bottom wall to prevent the backrest from hinging forwardly beyond a predetermined plane as shown in Figure 6. Also, when the seat plate 23 is in its engaged seating position, as again shown in Figure 6, it also arrests the backrest from forward movement. Furthermore, the weight of an infant seated on the seat plate also prevents the backrest from hinging forwardly or collapsing rearwardly due to transverse rod 64.
It can be seen that the seat plate 23 is also provided with a catch 62 protruding from a rear surface thereof and at a predetermined location whereby to engage with a transverse engageable wire rod 63 welded between the wire rods 57 of the seat plate engageable frame 56 when positioned in a downward position as shown in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 7, a further transverse seat plate abutment rod 64 is secured across the side rod sections 57 and spaced inwardly towards the backrest for release abutment of the catch 62 from its engagement with the rod 63 by forward movement of the backrest in the direction of arrow 65. The abutment rod 64 permits the hinge seat plate to return to its obstructing position against the rear wall prior to the backrest 22 collapsing over the basket bottom wall. This feature prevents entanglement of the various movable elements of the baby seat compartment and namely the back seat, the frame 56 and the backrest 22. As can be appreciated, the cart 62 permits the seat plate 23 to be engaged over the bottom wall 17 of the basket in the baby seat compartment whilst the hands of the person are free to place a child in the baby seat compartment.
It can also be seen that a projecting handle 70 is formed or connected to a top edge 71 of the backrest 22 and disposed at least centrally therealong. The handle extends substantially horizontally towards the basket front end when the backrest is in a position of use. This handle has two purposes, one being to retract the backrest to a position of use or to displace the backrest to a position of non-use and furthermore to obstruct the seat plate 23 when the backrest 22 is collapsed, as shown in Figure 8. This permits the basket to be used in totality to carry merchandise while preventing the leg holes 24 to become unobstructed by displacement of the seat plate in the direction of arrow 73. This is particularly useful when the seat plate 23 is not of the spring-bias type or if the spring 55 malfunctions. The baby seat compartment as herein described and particularly the backrest construction 2l53836 is much more simple than that as described in U.S. Patent 3,751,059 and provides numerous advantages thereover. The support frame also provides more rigidity and stability to the basket and can support heavy loads as is also illustrated in Figures 1 to 4. A lower basket 80 may be secured to the frame in a rear portion thereof and substantially in part or close alignment with the space 81 between the rear wall 19 and the handle bars 16 whereby elongated objects can be supported vertically by the lower basket 80 and projecting through this opening 81, as described in another pending patent application to the Applicant.
It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obvious modifications of the preferred embodiment and its modifications described herein, provided such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims (15)
1. An over-the-counter shopping cart having an open-top-end merchandise-carrying basket supported elevated by a frame having casters in a lower end for displacing said cart on a ground surface, a handle in a rear end of said basket for moving said cart over said ground surface; said basket having a bottom wall, opposed diverging side walls, a rear wall and a hinged front gate in a front end of said basket; said bottom wall having ribs projecting longitudinally on a top surface thereof and extending from said rear wall to said front gate to facilitate the sliding of merchandise disposed thereon toward said front gate, said bottom wall sloping downwardly from said rear wall to said front gate at a predetermined angle in the range of from 5° to 7° to further facilitate the discharge of merchandise by sliding same on said top surface of said bottom wall.
2. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bottom wall is angled at a sloping angle of about 7°.
3. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 1 wherein said forwardly hinging front gate has ribs projecting vertically and disposed over an inner surface thereof, said side walls also having longitudinal ribs projecting inwardly and disposed longitudinally from said rear end to said front end of said basket.
4. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 3 wherein said shopping cart carrying basket is constructed of a meshing of wire rods, said ribs of said bottom wall, side walls and front gate being constituted by straight wire rods.
5. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 4 wherein said basket is wider at said front end than at said rear end thereof, said shopping cart being nestable with other like shopping carts with said narrow rear end of a forwardmost cart received in said wider front end of a nesting shopping cart having its said front gate in an engaged upright or inwardly collapsed position, said front gate automatically collapsing on said bottom wall when said rear end of a nesting cart enters said rear end of said forwardmost shopping cart.
6. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 1 wherein said frame is a tubular structural frame having a horizontal lower frame section to which said casters are secured, a rear intermediate elevated frame extending to about mid-length of said lower frame section and having a pair of transverse spaced top support rods, a first forwardly inclined tubular top frame secured in a top end across said bottom wall of said basket spaced from said front end of said basket and secured at a bottom end substantially across a rear one of said pair of transverse spaced support rods, and a second forwardly inclined tubular top frame secured in a top end across said bottom wall of said basket at substantially a front edge of said basket and secured at a bottom end substantially across a front one of said pair of transverse spaces support rods, said tubular structural frame permitting close nesting of said carts and the support of heavy loads in said basket.
7. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 6 wherein said second forwardly inclined tubular top frame has a base section extending from said front one of said pair of transverse spaced support rods to meet and connect with said first forwardly inclined tubular top frame and then angled to said bottom wall of said basket.
8. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 6 wherein said first and second forwardly inclined tubular top frames are inverted U-shaped frames having an opposed parallel straight rod section and a straight transverse rod section.
9. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 6 wherein said first and second forwardly inclined tubular top frames are secured at said top ends thereof between a pair of side brackets, said side brackets having a forward hinge bracket section to which said front gate is hingedly supported for forward and rearward pivotal displacement.
10. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 1 wherein said basket is constructed from wire-rods, said rear wall being provided with leg holes therein, a hinged backrest pivotally connected at a lower end to a transverse wire rod of said basket bottom wall, a seat plate engageable frame pivotally connected to said backrest and slidingly displaceable over a rear portion of said bottom wall adjacent said rear wall, arresting means to prevent said hinged backrest from forward hinge displacement over said bottom wall, a seat plate spring biased over at least portions of said leg holes to obstruct same and hingeable inwardly over said seat plate engageable frame for releasable connection to said engageable frame, said seat plate being automatically disconnected from said engageable frame by displacing said hinged backrest a limited displacement toward said rear wall.
11. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 10 wherein said seat plate engageable frame has a transverse engageable wire rod for snap engagement with a catch formed in a rear surface of said seat plate, said engageable wire rod being displaced out of engagement to release said catch when said backrest is displaced toward said rear wall.
12. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 10 wherein said backrest has a handle formed in a top edge thereof and at least centrally located therealong, said handle extending substantially horizontally towards said basket front end when said backrest is in a position of use, said handle forming an abutment member to prevent said back plate from inwardly displacement to a position of use when said backrest is collapsed rearwardly over said basket bottom wall.
13. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 11 wherein said seat plate engageable frame is formed by a U-shaped wire rod having opposed side rod sections and a transverse interconnecting end rod, said side rod section being looped at a free end to a transverse hinge rod of said backrest.
14. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 13 wherein said transverse wire rod is connected across said side rod sections, there being a further transverse seat plate abutment rod spaced inwardly toward said backrest for release abutment of said catch after release by said forward hinge displacement of said backrest, said abutment rod permitting said hinged seat plate to return to its obstructing position against said rear wall prior to said backrest collapsing over said basket bottom wall.
15. A shopping cart as claimed in claim 14 wherein said seat plate has a coil spring urging same against said leg holes of said rear wall, said engageable wire rod maintaining said seat plate engaged substantially horizontally above said bottom wall of said basket to permit a person to use both hands to position an infant seated on said seat plate.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002153836A CA2153836A1 (en) | 1995-07-13 | 1995-07-13 | Forwarldy inclined over-the-counter shopping cart |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002153836A CA2153836A1 (en) | 1995-07-13 | 1995-07-13 | Forwarldy inclined over-the-counter shopping cart |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2153836A1 true CA2153836A1 (en) | 1997-01-14 |
Family
ID=4156219
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002153836A Abandoned CA2153836A1 (en) | 1995-07-13 | 1995-07-13 | Forwarldy inclined over-the-counter shopping cart |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2153836A1 (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US20220306176A1 (en) * | 2021-03-23 | 2022-09-29 | Global Industrial Distribution Inc. | Reinforced nesting shopping cart |
| US11958522B2 (en) * | 2021-03-23 | 2024-04-16 | Global Industrial Distribution Inc. | Stiffened nesting shopping cart |
-
1995
- 1995-07-13 CA CA002153836A patent/CA2153836A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US20220306176A1 (en) * | 2021-03-23 | 2022-09-29 | Global Industrial Distribution Inc. | Reinforced nesting shopping cart |
| US11724728B2 (en) * | 2021-03-23 | 2023-08-15 | Global Industrial Distribution Inc. | Reinforced nesting shopping cart |
| US11958522B2 (en) * | 2021-03-23 | 2024-04-16 | Global Industrial Distribution Inc. | Stiffened nesting shopping cart |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| FZDE | Dead |
Effective date: 19980713 |