Patent ID: 6293369
Filing Date: 2001-09-25
Classification: B62B,F16D

Abstract:
A shopping cart locking system for precluding inadvertent rolling of wheeled shopping carts comprising, in combination:a shopping cart having a basket for supporting items to be transported, the shopping cart also having a frame with a four-cornered base coupled with respect to the basket with an upwardly extending handle at the upper end thereof and having four rotatable wheels at the bottom thereof;a locking assembly including a generally cylindrical vertical retainer with a vertically extending axial slot along a first edge thereof secured to the frame above one wheel with an adhesive coupling the cylindrical retainer to the frame, the cylindrical retainer having a rigid bracket secured by rivets at spaced locations of the retainer along a second edge thereof opposite from the slot, the bracket having a clevis at a lower extent thereof with horizontal apertures there through and a first vertical space there between, the bracket also having an upper member with two forwardly extending fingers to define a second vertical space there between vertically aligned with the first space between the clevis and shields extending upwardly and downwardly from the retainer;a foot formed of an elastomeric material selected from the class of elastomeric materials including plastic and rubber, natural or synthetic, or blends thereof, the foot having a lower end with teeth, the foot being selectively positionable between an upper inactive orientation and a lower orientation in frictional braking contact with a wheel there below, the foot having an upper end with a generally rectangular recess and a knob extending laterally from the foot to assist a user in raising and lowering of the foot; anda joining leg with a length of between about 4 and 12 inches and having an upper end with an aperture located between the first space of the clevis with a first pin rotatably coupling the leg to the clevis, the leg having a lower end extending into the recess of the foot and a coupling pin coupling the leg and the foot through an aperture in the leg and an aperture in the foot for pivotal coupling there between whereby pivoting of the leg upwardly to an upper orientation into the space between the fingers will frictionally restrain the leg and foot to allow free movement of the shopping cart but prevent movement of the leg downwardly, the leg also movable to a downward orientation with the foot in contact with the wheel to preclude inadvertent movement of the wheel and shopping cart.