GB2180508A - A portable container trolley - Google Patents

Abstract

Five 'U' shaped rigid frame members 2,4,6,8 and 10 are pivotally secured together enable the trolley to be erected to a stable condition for use, or collapsed to a compact form when not in use; two pairs of ground engaging wheels 20, are secured one each to the frame members 2, and 4; a deep container 35, made of a flexible material is suspended from a horizontal frame member 8, to hang within the frame and an inverted frame member 10, extends upwardly from the frame to provide a convenient handle by which the trolley can be readily propelled along the ground. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A container trolley TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND ART This invention relates to a container trolley and in particular to a container trolley having a frame supporting a container in which goods can be carried and capable of being propelled on ground engaging wheels by a pedestrian user. The invention relates especially to container trolleys adapted for use in carrying shopping (although it will be realised that any such trolley is capable of other uses such as in gardening) and capable of being compacted when not in use to be more easily stored or carried.

One example of a container trolley is disclosed in British Patent Application No.

2,133,622 entitled "Folding wheeled carrier for parcels". This Patent Application discloses a container constructed of a plurality of rigid side, end and base panel parts. When opened up the container side, end and base panel parts are secured together by engaging means to form a rigid container having an open top.

The container is supported by a collapsible frame provided with four ground engaging wheels. To compact the carrier it is necessary first to disengage the side, end and base panel parts from each other so that the frame and container may be folded. The disadvantages of this carrier are that the rigid container panels are likely to be relatively heavy to provide sufficient strength for the purpose intended and it is likely to prove a relatively awkward procedure to operate the container panel engaging means when it is desired to unfold or fold up the carrier.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a container trolley which is of inexpensive and lightweight construction and is capable of being easily folded or unfolded to or from a compact form in a manner which alleviates the disadvantages of the prior art as previously described.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION AND ADVAN TAGES According to the present invention there is provided a portable container trolley comprising a frame constructed of a plurality of frame members pivotally secured together to enable the frame to be folded to compact form when not in use, or unfolded for use, the frame members engaging with each other when unfolded so that the frame has an inherently stable condition; a deep container of flexible material carried by the frame and suspended therefrom when unfolded to enable articles to be carried in the container, and ground engaging wheels mounted on the frame on which the container trolley is displaceable when the frame is unfolded.

It is envisaged that the frame of the container trolley will be constructed of a plurality of rigid members pivotally secured together so that when unfolded the flexible container will adopt a suspended condition from one or more of the frame members to which it is secured to present an open top. The construction of the frame is such that the weight of the frame, container and any articles carried therein will tend to maintain the frame in the unfolded and stable position. This frame construction has the advantage over the previously described prior art that no manually engaging means need to be operated between the frame members to prevent the frame collapsing when unfolded.In a preferred embodiment of the invention the frame has five substantially "U" shaped members (preferably made of tubular aluminium to provide a lightweight structure) and two pairs (front and rear) of ground engaging wheels to provide a stable support for the container trolley when unfolded. The five "U" shaped members are pivotally connected together as a parallelogram linkage which permits the frame to be readily folded or unfolded as a simple movement and when unfolded one of the "U"shaped members provides an upstanding handle for the trolley by which it may be readily propelled along the ground. In this latter condition a second of the "U" members is disposed in a substantially horizontal plane and provides an upper support along which the mouth of the container is secured to present an open top through which articles are inserted into the container.The container is suspended from the aforementioned upper support and preferably hangs over the major part of the height of the trolley which extends below the upper support. Third and fourth of the "U" members are pivotally connected to and extend downwardly from the upper support to carry the front and rear wheels while the fifth "U" member is disposed below and substantially parallel to the upper support and is pivotally connected to the third and fourth "U" members to effect the parallelogram linkage.

The container is made of a flexible material such as nylon sheeting and preferably a substantially rectangular base panel upwardly from which extend side and end panels by means of which the container is suspended from the frame. The container being of a flexible material is lightweight and can readily fold with the frame. Preferably the frame maintains the container shape and keeps the top of the container open when the container trolley is unfolded. The container may be provided with a fastenable flexible cover for the open top to protect it contents.

DRA WINGS One embodiment of a container trolley constructed in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the container trolley unfolded and ready for use, and Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the container trolley folded to compact form for storage or carrying.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS As best seen in Fig. 1, the container trolley has a foldable frame formed as a parallelogram linkage comprising five generally "U" shaped members 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, each having two generally co-extensive parallel limbs 2a, 2b, 4a, 4b, 6a, 6b, 8a, 8b and 10a, 10b respectively. The limbs of each "U" shaped member are connected together at adjacent ends of the limbs by link members 2c, 4c, 6c, Sc and 10c respectively, each link member being substantially perpendicular to the limb members. The "U" shaped members 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 are each formed from a single piece of aluminium tubing (however, it should be realised that these members could be made of other material, for example a plastics and have a non-tubular cross-section).

"U" shaped members 2 and 4 have their link members 2c and 4c parallel to each other and adjacent the ground. A rear axle bearing tube 12 and a front axle bearing tube 14 is secured, to the link members 2c and 4c respectively to be parallel therewith. The axle bearing tubes 12 and 14 carry rear and front axles 16 and 18 respectively on which four ground engaging wheels 20 are mounted. The limb members 2a, 2b and 4a, 4b of the Ushaped members 2 and 4 respectively extend upwardly and the members 2 and 4 converge so that the distance between the upper ends of the limbs 2a, 2b and 4a, 4b is less than that between the link members 2c and 4c.

U-shaped members 6 and 8 overlie each other in spaced horizontal planes and have their link members 6c and Sc disposed towards the front axle 18. The upper ends of the limb members 2a, 2b and 4a, 4b are pivoted at 22 on the limb members 8a and 8b.

The limb members 8a and 8b extend rearwardly over the rear axle 16 and beyond the pivot 22 which links the limb members 2a and 2b to the limb members 8a and 8b. The limb members 6a and 6b are pivotally secured at 24 to the limb members 4a and 4b respectively.

Two small links 26a and 26b are pivotally mounted at 28a and 28b respectively to the limb members 2a and 2b at positions slightly below the height at which the ends of limb members 6a and 6b intersect the limb members 2a and 2b. The links 26a and 26b extend upwardly from the pivots 28a and 28b substantially parallel and adjacent to the limb members 2a and 2n. The ends of the limb members 6a and 6b are secured together by a rigid strut 30 which also pivotally connects those ends to the respectively adjacent links 26a and 26b. The limbs 6a and 6b are pivotally secured to the small links 26a and 26b rearwardly of the limb members 2a and 2b and above the pivots 28a and 28b.The ends of the strut 30 extend through the links 26a and 26b to abut the limb members 2a and 2b and thereby restrict the pivotal motion of the links 26a and 26b about the pivots 28a and 28b when the trolley is unfolded.

The U-shaped member 10 is secured at the free ends of its limb members 10a and-10b by pivots 32a and 32b to the small links 26a and 26b respectively at positions above the strut 30. The limb members 10a and 1Qb extend upwardly from the pivots 32a and 32b and are pivotally mounted at 34a and 34b to the free ends of the limb members 8a and 8b.

The link member 10c provides a handle by means of which the container trolley can conveniently be pushed along the ground by a user.

The trolley has an open topped container generally indicated at 35 of a flexible material (such as a nylon sheet) and comprising opposed side panels 36, a rear end panel 37 and a front end panel 38 which extend upwardly from a base panel (not shown). The upper edges of side panels 36 and front end panel 38 are folded over to form sleeves 40 and 41 respectively within which the limb members 8a and 8b and link member Sc are received. The upper frame member 8 thus provides a support from which the container 35 is suspended within the general configuration of the unfolded frame to present the open top. Sleeves 42 and 44 are attached to the side panels 36 adjacent to the base panel and slidably receive the limb members 2a, 2b and 4a, 4b respectively to assist in holding the container extended within the frame.

The geometrical arrangement of the container trolley framework as above described is such that no means of locking the frame in the unfolded position (as shown in Fig. 1) is required. This is because the weight of the frame, container and any goods carried within the container cause the frame to adopt a self locking and stable configuration when rested on all four ground engaging wheels.

The container can be readily folded to compact form for storage or carriage as shown in Fig. 2 by moving the link member 10c towards the link member 8c. This action displaces the pivoted links 26a, 26b over top dead centre about the pivots 28a, 28b and the parallelogram linkage to collapse while the flexible container 35 folds up within the frame members (as permitted by the sleeves 42 and 44 sliding along the respective limb members 2a, 2b and 4a, 4b).

If required reinforcing straps (not shown) can be provided on the limbs 8a, 8b of the frame member 8 to extend beneath the container 35 and thereby support the container for increased loading. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that when unfolded the container 35 has a depth below the frame member 8 which extends over the major part of the height of the member 8 above ground; indeed the bottom of the container 35 can have a very small ground clearance so that the capacity of the container may be considerable for the size of the frame.

Claims (8)

1. A portable container trolley comprising a frame constructed of a plurality of frame members pivotally secured together to enable the frame to be folded to compact form when not in use, or unfolded for use, the frame has an inherently stable condition; a deep container of flexible material carried by the frame and suspended therefrom when unfolded to enable articles to be carried in the container, and ground engaging wheels mounted on the frame on which the container trolley is displacable when the frame is unfolded.

2. A trolley as claimed in claim 1 in which the frame comprises four substantially 'U' shaped frame members each having two substantially parallel co-extensive limbs rigidly secured together by a link; said frame in an unfolded condition having first and second members disposed towards the front and rear of the trolley respectively, with their respective limbs extending generally upwardly, a third frame member disposed substantially horizontally, and having its limbs pivotally secured toward the uppermost extremities of the limbs of the first and second frame members to overlie a vertically spaced fourth frame member disposed substantially horizontally and having its limbs pivotally secured to the limbs of the first and second frame members, to provide a stable frame configuration when the wheels, secured to the first and second frame members, engage the ground.

3. A trolley as claimed in claim 2 wherein a fifth 'U' shaped frame member is pivotally secured to the third and fourth frame members so that when the frame is in the unfolded condition the fifth frame member is inverted and extends generally upwardly to provide a handle by which the trolley can be propelled.

4. A trolley as claimed in either claim 2 or claim 3 in which the container is suspended from the third frame member, which member ensures that an upwardly facing mouth of the container is maintained open.

5. A trolley as claimed in claim 4 in which the container is secured to the limbs of the first and second frame members for sliding displacement along said members.

6. A trolley as claimed in either claim 4 or claim 5 in which the container is of sufficient depth to extend to a small ground clearance.

7. A trolley as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 6 in which the container is provided with a cover capable of closing the mouth.

8. A trolley substantially as claimed in claim 1 and as herein described with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings.