Patent ID: 6224072
Filing Date: 2001-05-01
Classification: B62B,Y10T

Abstract:
A household cart capable of being in a stowed position, the cart when in use being capable of carrying household items and when in the stowed position being small enough to fit into a trunk of an automobile, the cart comprising a base having a substantially planar face for carrying household items when the cart is in use, the base having front, back and side edges and carrying two wheels adjacent the back edge and at least one wheel adjacent the front edge; a handle including plural holders for carrying household items and for pushing and pulling the cart when the cart is in use, the handle having a bent upper portion; the base including (a) first and second receptacles positioned as a single pair of receptacles extending along a substantially central longitudinal axis of the base for selectively receiving first and second opposed legs of the handle when the cart is in use and (b) third and fourth receptacles positioned as a single pair of receptacles extending along a line extending transverse to the longitudinal axis in proximity to the back edge of the base for selectively receiving the first and second opposed legs of the handle when the cart is in use; the legs having a fixed separation; the handle legs being engageable in and removable from the first and second receptacles when in a first position, the handle legs being engageable in and removable from the third and fourth receptacles when in a second position, and a locking mechanism for selectively holding the handle legs in an expanded position when the cart is in use and for holding the handle legs in a retracted position when the cart is stowed; the handle, when the cart is in the stowed position, being secured to the base so the legs extend (a) longitudinally in a plane substantially parallel to the planar face of the edges and (b) in substantially the same direction as a pair of side edges of the base.