GB2464201A

GB2464201A - Trolley with rear standing platform for child

Info

Publication number: GB2464201A
Application number: GB0917387A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ann Bernadette Murphy; Paul Johnson Bryce
Original assignee: AMBLING ROSE Ltd
Current assignee: AMBLING ROSE Ltd
Priority date: 2008-10-07
Filing date: 2009-10-05
Publication date: 2010-04-14
Also published as: GB0917387D0; GB0818286D0

Abstract

According to the invention, a child stand is provided to the rear of a supermarket, luggage, or shopping trolley allowing shopping or goods to be transported whilst providing a safe means for also transporting a small child in the standing position. The supermarket trolley illustrated (fig 1) has a stand at the rear that can be folded down for use by a child. The stand is hinged allowing it to be brought down to the horizontal in-use position and to be pushed up into the vertical not-in-use position. It also preferably springs back to the vertical when not in use. The platform is also preferably allowed to pivot a second time from the vertical not in-use position to the near horizontal stored position when stacked with another trolley. A luggage trolley and shopping trolley have also been designed to incorporate a child stand. The platform may be a wheeled board. Two platforms may be provided, one for each foot of a child.

Description

AN IMPROVED SUPERMARKET / LUGGAGE / SHOPPING TROLLEY

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a shopping trolley, supermarket trolley, luggage trolley or similar means of transporting goods, and in particular to a trolley also adapted to carry a young child or toddler.

Background to the Invention

The difficulties of shopping with children and babies are well known and readily observable in any High Street or at any supermarket. Whilst the child is still a baby or infant then the problem is not so great as the child essentially remains in place once lain down in a pram, pushchair, or supermarket trolley seat. However, when the child becomes a toddler, the child frequently no longer wants to remain seated but to establish a degree of independence by walking for himself. Similarly, slightly older children, now unable to be seated, are often very independent.

In a supermarket, the child can prove difficult to shop with if constantly going off touching goods. This can be dangerous for the child who may have an accident, damage goods, or get lost. When shopping with both an infant and small child greater difficulties can arise and the present invention facilitates greater control over the small child but in a flexible manner. Also when a degree of haste is required the pace at which a child walks can be a hindrance. Children within the ages of about 3 -8 years are often seen trying to get a ride on the traditional supermarket trolley by hanging on and standing on any bit of the frame they can reach. This can be particularly dangerous should the child slip off or crash into anything. Moreover, in the supenTnarket, with the freeing of the child seat a greater volume of goods capacity is available within the trolley.

Where luggage has to be transported, similar difficulties can arise with a toddler. To have the child under a flexible degree of control at these potentially dangerous situations is very important and it may be impracticable to push a pushchair as well as the luggage trolley.

On the High Street, the growing toddler may not want to travel in a traditional pushchair finding this too restrictive. Walking with a toddler and pushchair may not be too great a problem when a person has sufficient time or when the child is not tired, as any shopping can be put into the child's seat which thus functions as an additional carriage space. However, when a degree of haste is required the pace at which a child walks can be a hindrance. To this end, prior art pushchairs have been designed which can be fitted with a small platform on which the child can stand whilst the pushchair is pushed. The above situation is also however not fully satisfactory as the seat of a pushchair is not designed to take heavy loads and can be damaged by such. Moreover, pushchairs have only a relatively small volume of variable to retain goods. The frequently used means of hanging shopping bags from the handles of the pram or pushchair does have drawbacks: primarily that of rendering the pushchair unstable. For older children in particular there is often no need for a standard chair as a place to sit is less often required and older children may indeed resent being asked to sit in a pushchair.

The present invention therefore seeks to address the above problems by providing a means of transporting shopping or other goods whilst also making available a platform on which a child can stand.

The child riding on the platform should enjoy the experience more and be encouraged to develop a more responsible attitude being more under control yet still retaining some degree of freedom in that the child can dismount the platform easily if required.

With the formalising of this method of carrying the child on a properly designed non-slip platform, the child will be carried in a safer way.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which show by way of example only, embodiments of a trolley.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a view of an embodiment of a supermarket trolley with a child stand in the in-use position.

Figure 2 is a view of an embodiment of a supermarket trolley with a child stand retracted and not in use.

Figure 3 is a view of an embodiment of a supermarket trolley with a child stand shown stacked with another supermarket trolley.

Figure 4 is a view of the spring and arm assembly for automatically retracting the child stand.

Figure 5 is a view of an embodiment of a supermarket trolley with two stands, one for each foot, in the in-use position.

Figure 6 is a view of an embodiment of a supermarket trolley with two stands, one for each foot, in the folded-up position.

Figure 7 is a view of an embodiment of a luggage trolley with a child stand in the in-use position.

Figure 8 is a view of an embodiment of a luggage trolley with a child stand in the folded up position.

Figure 9 is a view of an embodiment of a luggage trolley with a child stand shown stacked with another luggage trolley.

Figure 10 is a view of an embodiment of a luggage trolley with two stands, one for each foot. It is shown with the stands in the process of being folded or unfolded -up for storage, down for in-use.

Figure 11 shows three views of an embodiment of a shopping trolley with a child stand in the in-use position from the front (ha) and from the rear (lic), and with the child stand retracted (1 ib).

Figure 12 shows three views of embodiments of child stands with a wheel: 12a is a cross section through the child stand showing an integral roller wheel with a cover bump' moulded with the stand; 12b is a top view of the stand looking through the cover; 12c is a cross section of a child stand with a caster.

Figure 13 shows an embodiment of each of the three trolleys, supermarket trolley, luggage trolley, and shopping trolley each with a child stand.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The trolleys as herein described are designed to enable a person to transport a volume of shopping or luggage and additionally, when required, also to provide a platform on which a child can stand. When a child accompanying the adult becomes tired therefore, or when a trip needs to be finished more rapidly, or when the adult needs closer observance of the child, the child can be pushed along with the trolley.

Unlike prior art trolleys without child stands, the present invention can also be used to safely carry a toddler or small child up to the age of about eight years, as well as, in the case of supermarket trolleys, if required, an infant in the child seat.

For the supermarket trolley: this is achieved, with reference to Figures 1-6 by means of a trolley with two main components: a wheeled frame and a retaining portion known as a basket, resting on the frame. In order to assist a user in providing motive force to the trolley, and to allow the standing child somewhere to hold on to, a handle bar is provided extending from the frame in a direction away from the basket.

The frame has a base made of a tubular metal or of plastic to provide sufficient strength to support the basket. Two sets of wheels at the front and rear of the frame respectively enable the trolley to be easily moved from location to location. Said wheels are castors attached to the frame. This represents the most common design of current supermarket trolleys.

For the luggage trolley: this is achieved, with reference to Figures 7 -10 by means of a trolley, consisting of a wheeled frame with a flat bed for luggage and an upright part to the rear. In order to assist a user in providing motive force to the trolley, and to allow the standing child somewhere to hold on to, a handle bar is provided extending from the upright section in a rearward direction. This can optionally have a brake system built into it or adjacent to it.

The wheeled frame is optionally made of a tubular metal or plastic to provide sufficient strength. A set of wheels at the rear of the frame and optionally one wheel, or a set of wheels, at the front enable the trolley to be easily moved from location to location. This represents the most common design of current luggage trolleys.

For the Shopping trolley: this is achieved with reference to figures 1 1(a, b, & c) by means of a shopping trolley comprising a retaining portion, to retain shopping or other goods, mounted on a wheeled frame, enabling the retaining means and goods to be transported; the frame including a rearward extending handle portion enabling the trolley to be pushed; the frame also preferably including a braking system; the frame supporting a platform on which a child can stand located to the rear of the retaining portion.

The retaining portion is preferably a bag, such as is incorporated onto conventional shopping trolleys to enable a large volume of goods to be transported. Optionally, the bag is detachably fixable to the frame enabling the bag and goods to be canied separately, for example into a house to unload shopping, and also to facilitate cleaning of the retaining portion. Preferably the bag includes one or more handles to facilitate the carrying. Conveniently, the platform is hinged allowing the platform to be stored against the retaining portion when not in use.

In the embodiments shown in Figures 1-3 supermarket trolley, 7-9 luggage trolley, and 11 (a, b, & c) shopping trolley, a platform is provided on which a child can stand for transportation. The platform is approximately the same width as the frame, but does not extend too far rearward of the frame to minimise interference with the user pushing the trolley. So that the platform can fold against the back of the frame or against the retaining portion, for example for storage purposes, the platform is optionally hingeably mounted to the frame by a pair of hinges. Figures 1-3 show the child stand in various positions on a supermarket trolley -in use (Figure 1); stored vertical when not in use (Figure 2); and stacked with another trolley (Figure 3).

Figure 4 shows the spring and arm assembly to optionally automatically retract the stand to remove any tripping hazard a stand might pose when not in use.

Figures 5, 6 and 10 show the stand split into two, one part for each of the child's feet.

The two parts of the stand optionally hinge to an upright position when not in use.

Although not illustrated, the stand split into two could also be optionally attached to a shopping trolley. These two stands could optionally hinge a second time turning a further 90 degrees around the vertical axis to store flat against the retaining portion in the vertical position. Figures 7-9 show the child stand in various positions on a luggage trolley -in use (Figure 7); folded up (Figure 8); and stacked with another trolley (Figure 9).

Figure 11 shows the child stand on a shopping trolley in the in-use position from the front (ha) and from the rear (lic), and with the child stand retracted (lib). As stated earlier, the child stand or stands are hinged and preferably sprung to allow automatic retraction to the not-in-use stored position. All of the trolleys, supermarket, luggage and shopping, can have a wheel or wheels on the underneath of the child stand to provide stability and manoeuvrability. An embodiment is shown in figures 12a and 12b where a roller wheel is built into the child stand. Figure 12c shows an embodiment of the child stand with a caster underneath.

It will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details described herein, which are given by way of example only, and that various modifications and alterations are possible within the scope of the invention.

Claims

Claims 1. A supermarket, luggage, or shopping trolley mounted on a wheeled frame enabling the retaining means and goods to be transported, the frame supporting a platform that extends rearward from the frame on which a child can stand located at the rear of the retaining portion.
2. A supermarket, luggage, or shopping trolley according to claim 1 that has a platform that can be unfolded from the vertical position to the in-use horizontal position and vice versa.
3. A supermarket, luggage, or shopping trolley according to claim 1 and 2 that has a platform that retracts automatically to the vertical position by means of springs when not in use.
4. A supermarket, luggage, or shopping trolley according to any of claims 1-3 that has a platform with a wheel or wheels to provide extra stability and manoeuvrability.
5. A supermarket trolley according to any of claims 1-4 that pivots a second time to a higher near horizontal position to allow close stacking with another trolley.
6. A supermarket, luggage, or shopping trolley mounted on a wheeled frame enabling the retaining means and goods to be transported, the frame supporting two platforms that extend rearward from the frame on which a child can stand located at the rear of the retaining portion, one foot on each platform.
7. A supermarket, luggage, or shopping trolley according to claim 6 that has two platforms that can be unfolded from the vertical position to the in-use horizontal position and vice versa.
8. A luggage, or shopping trolley according to claim 6 and 7 that has two platforms that extend rearward from the frame that optionally, from the not-in-use position, further fold around the vertical axis in the vertical position to store.