WO2000021818A1

WO2000021818A1 - Improvements in and relating to foldable wheeled trolleys

Info

Publication number: WO2000021818A1
Application number: PCT/GB1999/003394
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frank Lowenstein
Original assignee: Nan Zong Japan Co., Ltd.; Carter, Gerald
Priority date: 1998-10-13
Filing date: 1999-10-12
Publication date: 2000-04-20
Also published as: GB2342623B; GB2342623A; AU6219399A; CN2550995Y; AR020805A1; GB9822192D0

Abstract

A foldable wheeled trolley comprises a support body (7) having handle means (1) at or adjacent one end and a pair of hinged legs (2), the legs being hinged at their upper ends to fan out from a stored position wherein they lie adjacent each other to an open position wherein they are splayed apart, a wheel (3) mounted for rotation at the free end of each leg, and a pair of arms (4), each arm being hinged at one end to the free end of a respective leg and being moveable from a stored position adjacent to the leg to an open position substantially at right angles to the plane of movement of the legs, in which position the arms are able to support an item to be carried, such as luggage, characterised in that the other end of each of the arms are hinged together (8, 9) to thereby provide a substantially triangular support platform for an iten to be carried.

Description

Improvements in and relating to foldable wheeled trolleys

This invention relates to foldable wheeled trolleys of the type which may be opened out for use in carrying items such as luggage.

According to the invention there is provided a foldable wheeled trolley

comprising a support body having handle means at or adjacent one end and a pair of hinged legs, the legs being hinged at their upper ends to fan out from a stored position wherein they lie adjacent each other to an open position wherein they are splayed apart, a wheel mounted for rotation at the free end of each leg, and a pair of arms, each arm being hinged at one end to the free end of a respective leg and being moveable from a

stored position adjacent to the leg to an open position substantially at right angles to the plane of movement of the legs, in which position the arms are able to support an item to be carried, such as luggage, characterised in that the other end of each of the arms are hinged together to thereby provide a substantially triangular support platform for an item

to be carried.

Conveniently, each arm comprises or includes a foldable support member

foldable outwardly from a stored position adjacent the arm to an open position, providing

further support to an item to be carried.

Preferably, each support member is substantially triangular and hinged

such that when folded outwards for use they collectively define a substantially parallel

structure extending beyond the triangular support platform defined by the arms when the arms are in their open position.

According to a second aspect of the invention the trolley includes a plurality of telescopic sections between the support body and the handle, each being openable from a stored position with respect to an adjacent telescopable section and

incorporating therebetween a locking mechanism for locking adjacent telescopic sections in position for use when extended from their stored positions, the locking mechanism for

the telescopable section adjacent the handle including an actuating rod for unlocking the last telescopic section from the preceding one.

The invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying

drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a folded wheeled trolley, Figure 2 is a side view of the wheeled trolley of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a rear view of the trolley of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a front view of the trolley of Figure 1 shown partially opened,

Figure 5 is a plan view of the arms of the trolley in their fully opened position,

Figure 6 is a front view of the trolley of Figure 1 shown fully opened,

Figure 7 is a perspective view from the front and one side of the fully

opened trolley of Figure 6,

Figure 8 is a sectional detailed view showing the locking and unlocking

mechanism for the handle means of the trolley of Figure 1 and

Figure 9 is a sectional side view showing the locking mechanism of Figure Referring firstly to Figures 1 to 3, there is shown a foldable wheeled trolley

in its completely folded or closed state, the trolley comprising or including a handle 1, a

pair of legs 2, each having a wheel 3 at the lower end axially offset with respect to each other, and a pair of arms 4 secured to the legs 2 via hinges 5 (shown in Figure 3) such that they can be opened outwards in the direction shown arrowed in Figure 2. On the rear of

each of the legs 2 are respective pairs of hook formations 6 around which elastic cord or similar attachment means may be wound for storage.

Referring next to Figure 4, this shows the trolley in its partly opened state

in which the legs 2 have been splayed outwards in the direction arrowed as a result of being hingeably mounted at their upper ends to a generally planar support body 7 about which the legs surround when in the stored position shown in Figures 1 to 3. Stop members (not shown) ensure the legs 2 can only splay outwards to the limit shown, such

that the axes of rotation of the wheels 3 coincide. In addition, the arms 4 have been hinged

downwards generally at right angles to the plain of movement of the legs 2 by virtue of

the hinges 5 to assume a triangular configuration shown more clearly with reference to

Figure 5.

In Figure 5, it will be seen that the free ends of the arms 4 are connected

by a plate 8 which incorporates hinge pins 9 extending into the free ends of the arms 4,

thereby connecting the arms together whilst allowing for their hinged ends to be splayed

apart in the manner as shown. As such, it will be apparent that items such as luggage borne by the arms 4 may become unstable and to overcome this problem a pair of

generally triangular rigid wire support arms 10 are provided, one for each arm 4, the free ends of each of which is received in hinges 11, 12 so that each support arm 10 can be folded from the position shown through substantially 180 degrees to occupy a storage

channel 13 nning diagonally across the inside of each arm 4. As such, when the support

arms 10 are not required, such as when the trolley is to be stored away after use, they can

be folded into their respective storage channels 13.

Turning now to Figures 6 and 7, the fully opened trolley is shown in which the handle 1 is shown fully extended on handle means comprising telescopable members

14a, 14b, and 14c, the latter itself being telescopably received within the support body 7.

As can be seen in Figure 7, one of the pairs of the support arms 10 is

shown in its outwardly hinged configuration so that when both are extended out for use they collectively constitute a substantially parallel platform for receiving items to be

carried, such as luggage.

Because the free ends of the arms 4 are connected by the plate 8 and hinge

pins 9 (shown in Figure 5) it will be apparent that relatively heavy loads can be carried by

the arms because they are effectively prevented from being splayed outwards, as would

normally be the case if they were each independent of the other. This configuration is extremely advantageous because a relative strong foldable trolley can therefore be made using lightweight materials, such as rigid plastics. The disadvantage of having a triangular

platform is essentially obviated by the use of the support arms 10 when in their folded out state as shown in Figure 5 and, partially, in Figure 7.

Turning now to Figures 8 and 9, those show the mechanism by which adjacent sections of the telescopable members 14a, 14b and 14c may be locked in their extended position as shown in Figure 6 and 7 for use and unlocked to assume the stored

position shown in Figure 4. The telescopable member 14a comprises a flattened tube closed at the top by a cap 15 adjacent handle 1 (not shown) and through which projects centrally a flanged activating button 16. Depending from the button 16 is a plunger rod 17 the lower end of which bears against a spring biased detent plunger 18 incorporating a pair of detents 19 each for receiving as steel ball 20. As can be seen in Figure 9, the

detent plunger 18 has a cam surface 21 and is biased by a pair of springs 22 to force the detent plunger 18 up against the plunger rod 17 whilst permitting downward axial

movement against the bias of the springs 22 in the direction shown arrowed. The springs 22 are each mounted on the inner surface of a flanged closure cap 23 which closes off the lower end of the telescopable member 14a.

The lower end of the telescopable member 14a and the upper end of the

telescopable member 14b are each provided with pairs of bores 24,25, each pair partially

receiving a respective ball 20 so that in the configuration shown in Figure 9 it will be

apparent that members 14a and 14b are effectively locked together. They can be unlocked

by downward pressure on the button 16 and consequent downward movement of the

plunger rod 17 and detent plunger 18 until each detent 19 is immediately behind a

respective ball 20, thereby allowing the telescopable member 14a to be telescoped into the

telescopable member 14b. In turn, the closure cap 23 at the lower end of the telescopable member 14a then effectively replaces the plunger rod 17 when bearing up against a further

detent plunger 18 (not shown) at the lower end of the telescopable member 14b, and so on, thereby allowing for the entire handle means to be telescoped inwardly by downward pressure on the button 16, in order to initially unlock the telescopable members 14a and

14b, and then downward pressure on the handle 1 to completely fold away the telescopable members 14a, 14b and 14c into the interior of the support body 7.

Claims

CLAEVΪS

Claim 1. A foldable wheeled trolley comprising a support body having handle means

at or adjacent one end and a pair of hinged legs, the legs being hinged at their upper ends to fan out from a stored position wherein they lie adjacent each other to an open position wherein they are splayed apart, a wheel mounted for rotation at the free end of each leg, and a pair of arms, each arm being hinged at one end to the free end of a respective leg

and being moveable from a stored position adjacent to the leg to an open position

substantially at right angles to the plane of movement of the legs, in which position the arms are able to support an item to be carried, such as luggage, characterised in that the

other end of each of the arms are hinged together to thereby provide a substantially triangular support platform for an item to be carried.

Claim 2. A trolley according to Claim 1 further characterised in that each arm

comprises or includes a foldable support member foldable outwardly from a stored

position adjacent the arm to an open position, providing further support to an item to be

carried.

Claim 3. A trolly according to Claim 2 further characterised in that each support

member is substantially triangular and hinged such that when folded outwards for use they

collectively define a substantially parallel structure extending beyond the triangular

support platform defined by the arms when the arms are in their open position.

Claim 4. A luggage trolley which includes a plurality of telescopic sections between a support body and a handle, each being openable from a stored position with respect to an adjacent telescopable section and incorporating therebetween a locking mechanism for locking adjacent telescopic sections in position for use when extended from their stored positions, the locking mechanism for the telescopable section adjacent the handle including

an actuating rod for unlocking the last telescopic section from the preceding one.