Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to hand carts, and more
particularly to the type of cart that is used in grocery and variety
stores for carrying the merchandise that has been selected
for purchase.
The cart now commonly used in grocery and variety stores
in North America has a trapazoidal lower frame that is
supported on four wheels, including two caster wheels, an
upright frame at the rear end with a transverse handle, and
a forwardly tapered basket cantlevered to the front on the
upright rear frame. The rear wall of the basket is pivotally
mounted at the top to swing up to the front, enabling the
nesting of one cart into the rear of another. The cart
usually includes additional provision for the seating of a
child at the rear of the cart, facing the person pushing the
cart.
Carts of this sort have met with the general acceptance
by the public, but they leave much to be desired from the point
of view of the store owner or manager. The average service life
of a cart is rather short, while the cost of initial purchase and
the cost of any necessary repairs are quite high.
Another known desideratum is that of automating the
check-out procedure in grocery stores and the like. The known
carts do not lend themselves to this in any readily apparent way,
as the merchandise is generally deposited in somewhat disorderly
piles within the basket of the cart, so that it must be removed
from the cart manually for deposit on a check-out counter.
The present invention aims at the provision of a hand
cart that is more satisfactory from the point of view of cost of
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manufacture and repair and lends itself to use with automated
check-out counters.
According to the present invention there is provided
a hand cart having front and top sides that are unobstructed
by transverse elements of the cart, said cart comprising:
a pair of side frames, spaced laterally from one
another and converging towards the front of the cart so as to
permit nesting of the cart into the rear of another cart of
similar configuration;
means interconnecting the side frames adjacent the front
of the cart, at the bottom of the side frames;
means interconnecting the side frames at the rear of
the cart and extending transversely of the cart at a level
substantially no lower than the uppermost extent of the
side frames so as to permit passage thereunder of the side
frames of another cart of similar configuration;
at least one inner basket support comprising a pair
of laterally spaced parallel rails spaced inwardly from
respective ones of the side frames and sloping from front to rear
of the cart, said rails being connected to the respective side frames
at the front of the cart; and
suspension means suspending the rails from the
side frames at the rear of the cart, said suspension means being
configured and positioned to permit the passage thereunder and
to either side thereof of the side frames and basket support of
another cart of similar configuration.
Preferably, the cart includes two basket supports,
vertically spaced.
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The cart is designed for use with removable baskets
which may, for example, be injection molded of a plastics material.
The amount of metal and metal work involved in the completed
cart is thus drastically reduced, commensurately reducing
the manufacturing costs.
Because the front and top of the cart are open, it
lends itself to use with an automated check-out counter since a
conveyor may be inserted below baskets on the lowermost
basket support to lift them and to convey them to the operator
of a cash register. The conveyor may then be elevated to a
position in engagement with baskets on the upper basket support
to remove them from the basket support for delivery to the
cash register operator.
Preferred embodiments of the cart are designed fox easy
assembly, so that the carts can be shipped in a knocked down state
and quickly assembled at the point of delivery.
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cart;
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the cart of Figure l;
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the cart;
Figure 4 is a rear elevation of the cart;
Figure 5 is a plan view of the cart;
Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of a connector
used in assemblying the cart;
Figure 7 is a perspective view of the cart with baskets
mounted on it; and
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Figures 8 and 9 are side elevation and plan views
respectively showing two nested carts.
Referring to the drawings there is illustrated a
cart 10 with an open front side 12 and an open top side 14. The
cart has a pair of identical side frames 16, each formed from
a single bent metal tube. Each side frame has an upper
section 18 that slopes downwardly from the back of the cart
to the front, a front upright section 20, an horizontal
bottom section 22 and rear upright section 24. The rear
upright section 24 has a bottom part 26 that curves to the rear and
then slopes forwardly from the bottom up. The ends of the
tube constituting the side frame meet at the junction between
upper section 18 and the rear upright section 24. At that
point they are connected to each other, to a cross bar 28
extending across the cart to the other side frame and to a
handle 30 that extends upwardly from the corners of the side
frames into a rearwardly projecting, relatively wide, U-
shaped handle section.
Adjacent the front of the cart, the side frames 16
are joined by two cross bars, a front cross bar 32 and a
cross bar 34 to the rear of cross bar 32.
As can most readily be observed from Figure 5, the
side frames 16 converge towards the front end of the cart.
The front cross bar 32 carries two front caster wheels 36
adjacent its respective ends where it is joined to the side frames
16. Each of the side frames 16 carries a rear caster wheel
38, positioned at the rear end of the bottom section 22.
The bottom part 26 of the rear upright 24 provides for a
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rearwards extension of the bottom section 22 so that the
caster wheel 38 can be positioned sufficiently far to the
rear for stability.
Within the confines of the side frames are two inner
basket support assemblies 40 and 41. The upper assembly 40 includes
an upper U-shaped element 42 with a base section 44 extending
laterally of the cart at a position slightly forwardly the
cross bar 28, and parallel rails 46 extending from the base
section 44 to the front oE the cart. The rails 46 slope
downwardly to the front at the same angle as the upper
sections 18 of the side frame 16. At the front of the cart,
the rails 46 curve at 48 outwardly to positions immediately
in front of the respective front upright sections 20. At
that point the rails merge, via downwards curves 50 into end
sections 52 extending along the front of the respective
uprights 20 and attached thereto. The other basket support
assembly 41 is a lower U-shaped element 54 of the same construction
as element 42, but inverted in the assembled cart. Thus, the end
sections 53 of the lower element 54 curve inwardly at 55
and then rearwardly at 56 to provide a pair of parallel lower
rails 58 directly below and parallel to the respective rails
46 of the upper assembly. The lower rails 58 merge into an
horizontal base section 60 parallel to, and directly below
the base section 44 of the upper assembly.
The sections 52 and 53 meet end-to-end in front of up-
right sections 20 and are joined by an appropriate coupling, for
example a male to female fitting. A protective bumper 90 is
provided along the front of each front upright frame section 20
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and covers the associated sections 52 and 53.
The rails 46 and 58 are suspended from the side frames
16 at the rear of the cart by an X-frame 62. X-Frame 62 consists
of two curved rods 64 with parallel center seckions 66 joined
together. From sections 66, the rods curve upwardly and
outwardly to extend across the outer ends of base section
44 of the upper basket support 40. The ends of rods 64 extend
horizontally from the ends of base section 44 to seat in
apertures formed in upper sections 18 of the respective side
frames 16. The base section 44 of the upper basket support
is attached to the rods 64 of X-frame 62 where they cross.
Below the center sections 66, the rods 64 curve downwardly
and outwardly to lie along the back of base section 60 of
lower element 54, to which they are attached.
The ends of the side frames 16, the cross bar 28 and
the handles 30 are interconnected by a fitting 70 illustrated
most particularly in Figure 6. As illustrated in that Figure,
the fitting 70 has four cylindrical stubs 72, 74, 76 and 78
radiating from a common center. The stubs 72 and 78 are co-
axial, while the stubs 74 and 76 are perpendicular to each otherand to stubs 72 and 78. The stub 72 fits into the end of
rear upright front section 24, the stub 74 fits into the
rear end of upper frame section 18, the stub 76 fits into
the end of cross bar 28 and the stub 78 fits into the lowermost end
of handle 30. Adjacent the hub, the stubs are enlarged in
diameter to match the diameters of the elements being connected,
so that there is no significant discontinuity at the iunction
of the elements being joined. The stubs may be secured in
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place in the respective elements by set screws, rivets, welding,
or any other suitable means. The two fittings 70 are identical,
so as to minimize the number of parts that need to be manufactured
and the number of parts that need to be maintained for
servicing of the carts.
As illustrated in Figure 7, the cart is designed to
carry four shopping baskets 80 of an appropriate type. These are
preferably molded plastic baskets, although other types may be
used if desired. Two baskets are supported one in front of the
other on the upper rails 46 and likewise two baskets are supported
on the lower rails 58. As illustrated in Figure 7, a child
carrier 82 is supported on the cart on cross bar 28 and by handle
30. The illustrated carrier 82 is a molded element like
the baskets 80, with two openings 84 in one side wall as leg
openings. An additional basket 80 may be carried in place of
carrier 82 or may be inserted into the carrier as desired.
As noted in the foregoing, the side frames 16 converge
towards the front. This convergence is sufficient to enable the
nesting of one cart into another from the rear as shown in Figures
8 and 9. This nesting action is also accommodated by the slope
of the rails 46 and 58. Likewise, the slope of the upper
elements 18 is sufficient to permit the elements 18 of the
rear cart to fit under the cross bar 28 of the front cart.
To avoid excessive nesting engagement of the carts
and consequent jamming of one cart into another, the front
cross bar 32 and the cross bar 34 are arranged so that the front
cross bar 32 of the rear cart will engage the cross bar 34
of the front cart when there is still some play between the
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two carts.
In use, the cart is particularly suited to be used with
checkouts having automatic unloading conveyors. A conveyor may
be projected into the front of the cart, beneath the baskets on
the lower rails 58. The conveyor may then be raised to lift the
baskets off the rails and actuated to draw the baskets out of
the front of the cart. The conveyor may then be raised further
to lift the baskets 80 on the upper rails 46 and to withdraw
them from the front of the cart.
The use of a minimum of metal in the cart significantly
reduces its cost. The molded plastic baskets can be manufactured
at much less cost than a wire basket for a conventional cart,
which is a relatively complex welded wire cage.
Because the side frames 16 are identical, as are the
fittings 70, the basket support assemblies 40 and 41 and the
caster wheels 36 and 38, the cart requires a minimal number of
different parts. This is of considerable advantage from the
point of view of manufacturing costs. It also reduces the
number of spare parts that must be kept in stock for repairs.
The cart described in the foregoing is particularly
simple to assemble and can be stored or shipped in knocked-down
state. A complete cart consists of:
Two frames 16
Two fittings 70
Four casters 36, 38
Two bumpers 80
One cross-bar 32
One cross-bar 34
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One cross-bar 28
One handle 30
Two basket support assemblies 40, 41
One support X frame 62
and any assorted screws, bolts or rivets that may be required.
The only element of any bulk is the basket support, and it can
be nested with other basket supports for either shipping or
storage. The basket support may also be manufactured in a
number of seprate parts, if desired.
While one embodiment of the invention has been
described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that
other embodiments are possible and that the invention is not
to be considered limited to the illustrated and described
embodiment.
Thus, while the cart is illustrated in Figure 7 as
carrying four baskets, two in each of two basket supports, it is
to be understood that this is not a fixed characteristic of the
cart. Other numbers of baskets can be carried depending on the
dimensions of the basket and the basket support. Additionally, in
other embodiments, the cart may have a single basket support
or more than two.
It is also possible to "reverse" the cart so that the
open end is at the rear.
