AU2016100993A4 - A Trolley Base - Google Patents

Abstract

The trolley base 1 includes eight elongate members 2, which together define a platform 3. The upper side of the platform 3 is adapted to support a trolley body 5, such as a cage or the like. The lower side of the platform 3 has four caster wheels mounted upon plates that are disposed on the inside of each corner of the platform 3. The lower side of the platform 3 has formations in the form of indentations 15 that are shaped so as to engage with a racking structure. The lower side of the platform 3 also has formations in the form of a pair of openings 17 that are shaped to so as to be engagable by forklift tynes. Fig. 7

Description

A TROLLEY BASE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a trolley base. Embodiments of the present invention find application, though not exclusively, in the storage and transport of various materials and/or objects.

BACKGROUND ART

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed in Australia or elsewhere before the priority date of this application.

It is known to provide trolleys configured with a wheeled base supporting a cage, shelving or the like. It has been appreciated by the inventor of the present application that although such prior art trolleys may work well when considered in isolation, they are typically unsuited to function as an integral part of a racking or warehousing-type system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome, or substantially ameliorate, one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

The present invention provides a trolley base including: a platform defining a upper side and a lower side, the upper side being attached to, or being adapted to support, a trolley body and the lower side having a plurality of wheels disposed thereon; and the lower side of the platform having formations shaped for engagement with a racking structure.

In one embodiment the racking structure is a pair of parallel spaced apart racking bars and the formations are indentations being spaced apart so as to correspond to the spacing of the racking bars. When this embodiment of the trolley base is positioned upon the racking bars, at least one of the wheels is positioned outboard of each of the racking bars.

In one embodiment the lower side of the platform has formations shaped for engagement by forklift tynes such that, in use, the engagement is capable of resisting tilting of the trolley base whilst the trolley base is being supported on the tynes.

Preferably a foot operable locking lever is disposed intermediate at least two of the wheels, the lever defining a locked position in which rotation of at least two wheels is locked and an unlocked position in which said wheels are free to rotate.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, provided by way of example only, together with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Figure lisa perspective view of the trolley base according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a left hand side view of the embodiment of figure 1 showing it resting upon a standard pallet racking structure;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the trolley base having a cage installed thereupon;

Figure 4 is a left hand side view of two embodiments of the trolley base being stacked one upon the other;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the trolley base having a cage installed thereupon; Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of the arrangment shown in figure 5; Figure 7 is a perspective view of an alternative cage arrangement;

Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view of the arrangment of figure 7;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of another cage arrangement; and

Figure 10 is an exploded perspective view of the arrangment shown in figure 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

As shown for example in fig 1, the trolley base 1 includes eight elongate members 2, which together define a platform 3. The upper side of the platform 3 is adapted to support a trolley body 5, such as a cage or the like. Figures 5, 7 and 9 illustrate the trolley base 1 supporting various configurations of trolley cages 5. In each case four vertical uprights 6 are supported within the four hollow vertical supports 7 that are disposed at each comer of the platform 3.

The lower side of the platform 3 has four caster wheels mounted upon plates that are disposed on the inside of each comer of the platform 3. The two front wheels 8 are mounted so as to swivel; whereas the two rear wheels 9 are mounted such that their axes of rotation are fixed relative to the trolley base 1. This allows the trolley to be maneuvered by pushing the trolley in the general direction of the fixed rear wheels 9 whilst the swivel-mounted front wheels 8 allow the trolley to be steered. A foot operable dual wheel locking lever 10 is disposed intermediate the two front wheels 8. Movement of the lever 10 rotates rod 11, which is connected at either end to a pair of brake mechanisms 12 that operate on the two front wheels 8 respectively. Depressing the lever 10 to the locked position causes the brake mechanisms 12 to lock, or at least resist, rotation of their respective front wheel 8. In other words, the single action of moving the lever 10 results in the locking of two wheels 8. Lifting the lever 10 to the unlocked position releases the brake mechanisms, thereby allowing the front wheels 8 to roll freely. Directional locks 34 are respectively provided on each of the front wheels 8. When actuated, they stop, or at least inhibit, swiveling of the front wheels 8.

The lower side of the platform 3 has formations 13 that are shaped so as to engage with a racking structure. More specifically, racking structure is a pair of parallel racking bars 14, cross sections of which are illustrated in figure 2. The racking bars 14 are spaced apart by a standard separation distance of 840 mm (measured between the outer surfaces of each beam). This is a standard racking structure which is typically used in many jurisdictions, including Australia, for the racking of pallets. When used with this type of racking structure, the formations 13 are in the form of indentations 15 that are spaced apart by a distance that corresponds to the spacing of the racking bars 14.

Putting the trolley base 1 onto the racking entails firstly actuating the directional locks 34 so as to lock the swiveling of the front wheels 8 so that they face outwardly, as shown for example in figure 2. The trolley base 1 is positioned, typically with the use of a forklift, such that the indentations 15 are substantially aligned immediately above the racking bars 14. The trolley base 1 is then lowered such that the indentations 15 rest upon the upper surface of the racking bars 14, as illustrated in figure 2. When the trolley base 1 is thus positioned upon the racking bars 14, each of the wheels 8 and 9 are positioned outboard of each of the racking bars 14. More specifically, with reference to figure 2, the two front wheels 8 are positioned to the left hand side of the left racking bar 14 and the two rear wheels 9 are positioned to the right hand side of the right racking bar 14. This positioning of the wheels 8 and 9 yields two advantages. Firstly, if there is a slight mis-alignment when lowering the trolley base 1 onto the racking bars 14 (and provided that the centre of the wheel 8 or 9 remains outboard of the racking bar 14) then the wheel will rotate so as to shift the trolley base 1 in a direction towards proper alignment. Of course, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this will not work if the mis-alignment is bad enough that one of the racking bars 14 is positioned on the inboard side of the centre of the wheel 8 or 9.

The second advantage associated with the outboard placement of the wheels 8 and 9 as shown in figure 2 is that the wheels help the trolley base to resist accidental knocking of the trolley base 1 off the racking bars 14, for example due to an accidental impact. This is in addition to the resistance provided by the indentations 15. If an impact is sufficiently strong so as to cause displacement of the trolley base 1 such that one pair of wheels 8 or 9 is displaced towards a racking bar 14, then one or more of those wheels will impact upon the racking bar 14, which helps to stop the displacement and thereby retain the trolley base 1 safely upon the racking bars 14. Of course, this is not a fail-safe arrangement, because a sufficiently strong impact could still topple the trolley base 1 from the racking bars 14, however an increase to the toppling resistance is nevertheless advantageous.

For one of the particularly preferred embodiments, the trolley base 1 is sized so as to substantially match the sizing of a standard pallet. The wheels 8 and 9 are mounted so as to remain inside the approximately pallet-sized footprint of the trolley base 1. Adherence to a standard pallet sizing provides benefits for the storage and transportation of the trolley. For compliance with Australian standards, for example, the trolley base 1 preferably has a width and depth of between 1140 mm and 1200 mm. In the preferred embodiment, the width and depth are each 1170 mm. Another embodiment has a double width of between 2280 mm and 2400 mm.

It will be appreciated that other jurisdictions may have other standard dimensions, both for standard racking structures and/or for standard pallet sizes. This may, in some cases, require the wheels 8 and 9 to be positioned differently from what is shown in the figures. For example, if designing an embodiment of the invention to function in a jurisdiction in which the standard separation distance between the racking bars is greater than that depicted in the figures, then it may be necessary to position the wheels such that they are inboard of the racking bars when the trolley base is racked. However, such an embodiment would not exhibit the above-mentioned advantages yielded by an outboard wheel positioning.

The lower side of the platform 3 also has formations 16 shaped so as to be engagable by forklift tynes. More specifically, these formations 16 are in the form of a pair of openings 17 that are sized so as to receive the forklift tynes. A pair of such openings 17 is provided upon each of the four sides of the trolley base 1. This allows the tynes of a forklift to be inserted into the openings 17 on any of the four sides. The forklift tynes are then extended along the underside of the trolley base 1. This enables the forklift tynes to securely engage with the trolley base, thereby enabling the trolley base 1 to be lifted and transported by the forklift.

Each of the openings 17 is generally rectangular in shape and therefore fully surrounds a tyne that has been inserted therein. This promotes safety by resisting tilting of the trolley whilst it is being supported on the tynes, which minimises the risk that the trolley could fall off the tynes whilst being lifted by the forklift. More particularly, whilst the trolley base is resting upon the forklift tynes, the upper sides of the openings 17 engage the upper surfaces of the forklift tynes. However, if the trolley base 1 were to commence tilting, for example due to a shifting or imbalanced load, or due to an impact, at least one of the lower sides of one of the openings 17 would engage a lower surface of one the forklift tynes and this would resist the tilting.

As shown in figure 4, the trolley bases 1 are stackable upon each other. This assists to minimise the space required to store and transport a plurality of the trolley bases 1. They stack so that the bottom of the hollow vertical support 7 of the upper trolley base 1 rests upon the top of the hollow vertical support 7 of the lower trolley base 1. This allows the weight of the upper trolley base 1 to be securely supported by the lower trolley base 1, which can be particularly important if it is desired to stack a large number of the trolley bases 1 upon each other. A variety of trolley bodies may be attached to the trolley base 1. As shown in figures 5 and 6, a trolley body 5 in the form of a cage includes left and right sides 18 and 19, along with middle partition 20. A number of shelves 21 may be hooked into the front and rear of the cage at adjustable heights. Each of these shelves includes a horizontal portion 22 upon which items may rest and a vertical portion 23, which partially encloses the front or rear of the trolley cage when the shelves are inserted as shown in figure 5. The vertical portions 23 of the shelves are hingedly connected to the horizontal portions 22 by connectors 24. The vertical portions 23 are retained in place by latches 33, which can be moved so as to allow the vertical portions 23 to be rotated out of the way to provide access to the horizontal portions 22 of the shelves. Although not shown on figures 5 and 6, a front and/or a rear door may also be provided upon this embodiment to retain contents within the trolley in addition to the partial blockage provided by the vertical portions 23. This may be advantageous if the trolley is likely to be handled by a forklift whilst containing contents, due to the risk that the trolley may be tilted, swung around or jolted by the forklift.

Another cage configuration is illustrated in figures 7 and 8. It includes a door 25 that is mounted at hinges 26. It also features left and right side walls 27 and 28, a central divider 29, four shelves 30 and a top 31. Yet another cage configuration is illustrated in figures 9 and 10. It is similar to the configuration illustrated in figures 7 and 8 except the central divider has been dispensed with and the shelves 32 extend across the full width of the unit. Some cage configurations also features front and rear doors that are hingedly connected to the front and rear comers of the cage to enable ready access from the front and the back of the trolley. The hinges are designed such that the door can be rotated away from the cage by approximately 210°. Additionally, the hinges allow the doors to be lifted straight off the hinges when the doors are open to at least approximately 30°. However, when the doors are closed, or only open to a small degree, they are restrained from being lifted off the hinges.

The trolley cages are preferably designed as so-called “knock down” structures. In other words, that they can be disassembled to allow the various parts to be stored in a more space efficient manner.

Whilst the illustrated embodiments are shown having trolley bodies 5 formed by wire cages, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of trolley bodies may be used, such as ones having solid side walls, dividers, shelves, etc. Additionally, it will be appreciated that a range of materials may be used, such as sheet metals, plastics, and other materials. Some embodiments are rated to hold a total capacity of up to 1000kg, although it will be appreciated that this will depend upon the materials and construction techniques adopted.

The provision of the racking engaging formations 13 and the tyne engaging formations 16 on the trolley base 1 advantageously allows the trolley to function more effectively as an integral part of a racking or warehousing system. They allow the trolley to be readily lifted using a forklift and placed onto, and removed from, a standard racking structure.

While a number of preferred embodiments have been described, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (5)

1. THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

   1. A trolley base including: a platform defining a upper side and a lower side, the upper side being attached to, or being adapted to support, a trolley body and the lower side having a plurality of wheels disposed thereon; and the lower side of the platform having formations shaped for engagement with a racking structure.
2. 2. A trolley base according to claim 1 wherein the racking structure is a pair of parallel spaced apart racking bars and wherein the formations are indentations being spaced apart so as to correspond to the spacing of the racking bars.
3. 3. A trolley base according to claim 2 wherein, when the trolley base is positioned upon the racking bars, at least one of the wheels is positioned outboard of each of the racking bars.
4. 4. A trolley base according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the lower side of the platform has formations shaped for engagement by forklift tynes such that, in use, the engagement is capable of resisting tilting of the trolley base whilst the trolley base is being supported on the tynes.
5. 5. A trolley base according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a foot operable locking lever is disposed intermediate at least two of the wheels, the lever defining a locked position in which rotation of at least two wheels is locked and an unlocked position in which said wheels are free to rotate.