Support assembly for a plastic basket of a shopping cart

A shopping cart includes a basket made of plastic which is, at least partially, attached to a frame of the cart by a pair of basket supporting members. In a preferred embodiment each of the basket supporting members is a rod that includes a first end portion extending within an opening for supporting members. The opening is formed in an upper section of a respective side panel of the basket. A second end portion of the supporting member extends through a hole formed in a respective tubular post and downward within the tubular post. The second end portion of each of the basket supporting members may be retained within the tubular posts at a position spaced below the hole therein. By other embodiments the second end portion may be inserted into a tube member mounted on each tubular post, or may be wrapped around the tubular posts and then anchored on a cross member. An assembly process is described.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention pertains to shopping carts for use at supermarkets or 
the like and, more particularly, to an arrangement for supporting plastic 
baskets for such carts on the frames or chassis of the shopping carts. 
2. Description of Related Art 
Shopping carts used at supermarkets or the like are widely known in the art 
and generally include a basket supported upon a metal frame or chassis. 
The baskets for such carts typically are either formed from metal wires or 
molded plastic. Forming the baskets from plastic has numerous advantages 
since, for example, the baskets can be made lighter for ease of 
maneuverability, the plastic will not rust or corrode, and the baskets are 
less likely to cause damage to vehicles in the parking lot of a store 
using such baskets. 
Various different arrangements have been proposed in the art for supporting 
a plastic basket from a cart frame. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,774 
discloses a shopping cart having a plastic basket that is, at least 
partially, attached to a cart frame by a metal reinforcing ring that 
extends within a groove formed about the upper, outer perimeter of the 
basket and which is welded to upright tubular posts formed as part of the 
cart frame. With this arrangement, the plastic basket is essentially 
supported at an upper portion thereof in a cantilevered manner from the 
upright tubular posts. Additional supports also engage lower rearward 
portions of the basket. 
Because the reinforcing ring extends continuously along the entire upper 
perimeter of the basket, such an arrangement lends considerable strength 
and rigidity to the cart. However, a substantial amount of time and 
material is required to form and assemble such a reinforcing ring which 
inherently adds to the associated costs of the shopping cart. 
Based on this recognition, it is heretofore been proposed to minimizing 
material costs by utilizing a shortened support wire for interconnecting a 
top portion of a shopping basket to a cart frame, particularly for smaller 
and light-duty carts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,288 discloses a 
shopping cart having first and second spaced side panels wherein an upper 
rear portion of a plastic basket is attached to upstanding tubular posts 
by means of a support wire which is secured at one end to an upper rear 
portion of the first side panel the plastic basket, extends about the two 
laterally spaced upstanding tubular posts and has its other end secured to 
the upper rear portion of the second side panel of the basket. With such 
an arrangement, a portion of the support wire extends across the 
upstanding tubular posts generally parallel to and slightly spaced from a 
handle member of the cart defined by the tubular posts. Although some 
savings in materials for the support wire is achieved through the 
arrangement disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,288, this arrangement 
still utilizes a support wire having considerable length and also the 
portion of the support wire that extends across the upstanding tubular 
posts is somewhat aesthetically unappealing and can be undesireably 
engaged by a user of the cart, even when simply attempting to grasp the 
handle of the cart. 
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a support arrangement for use 
in attaching a plastic basket to a frame of a shopping cart which will not 
only minimize the materials used in order to reduce costs but which will 
be aesthetically appealing, easy to manufacture and extremely reliable. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the present invention, a shopping cart is provided that 
includes a basket made of plastic which is, at least partially, attached 
to a frame by a pair of basket supporting members. Preferably, each of the 
basket supporting members include a first end portion that extends within 
a receiving opening formed in an upper section of a respective side panel 
of the basket and a second end portion that extends through a hole formed 
in a respective tubular post and downward within the tubular post. The 
second end portion of each of the basket supporting members is retained 
within the tubular posts at a position spaced below the hole therein. The 
receiving opening in each of the side panels is aligned with a bore formed 
in the respective side panel and the first end portion of each of the 
basket supporting members is firmly seated in a respective side panel by 
extending within the corresponding bore. 
By this arrangement, the plastic basket is supported by a pair of spaced 
basket supporting members and only a small portion of the basket 
supporting members are visible such that an aesthetically appealing 
arrangement is provided. In addition, the length of the basket supporting 
members is quite short as compared to the prior art so that cost savings 
are achieved. Furthermore, the basket can be easily attached to a prepared 
cart frame by pre-inserting the basket supporting members within the 
tubular posts, inserting the first end portions of the basket supporting 
members in the respective receiving openings and bores of the side panels 
and shifting the assembly such that the second end portion of each of the 
basket supporting members slides down within the respective tubular posts, 
preferably until a retaining structure is engaged. 
In still further embodiments of the present invention, it has been 
recognized that the pair of shortened basket supporting member can also be 
arranged to attach the second end portion to the respective tubular posts 
by other means. For example, in one further embodiment of the present 
invention the second end portions are assembled into tubes mounted on the 
sides of the tubular posts. The alignment of these tubes is such as to 
attach the side panels of the plastic basket tightly to the upstanding 
tubular posts of the frame for the shopping cart. 
In a still further embodiment it has been found that the second end portion 
can be wrapped around each of the upstanding tubular posts and anchored 
around a cross member by way of a further bend at the end of the second 
end portion. Thus, a strengthened holding structure is achieved that 
realizes the features of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Initial reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 3 which depict a shopping cart 2, 
generally of the type used at supermarkets or the like, which utilizes the 
basket support arrangement of the present invention. The cart 2 is 
generally formed from a tubular frame or chassis 5 that includes a 
substantially U-shaped base 8 that is secured by rivets 11 to a pair of 
rear upstanding supports, one of which is shown at 14. Frame 5 further 
includes a pair of upstanding tubular posts 20 and 21 that are preferably 
formed as a single unit and are interconnected by means of a transversely 
extending handle member 23. At this point, it should be understood that 
upstanding tubular posts 20 and 21 could be readily formed as separate 
members and an auxiliary handle could extend therebetween or separate, 
laterally spaced handles could be provided. Each upstanding tubular post 
20, 21 includes an associated clenched end 28 which is fixedly secured to 
a respective rear upstanding support 14, preferably by a plurality of 
rivets 31. In addition, frame 5 includes an intermediate, upstanding 
support 35 as best shown in FIG. 1. Intermediate, upstanding support 35 is 
secured at its respective ends to base 8 such as by welding at location 
38. 
As is known in the art, frame 5 is supported by a plurality of wheel 
assemblies 40. Preferably, four wheel assemblies are provided, two forward 
castors 42 and two rear wheel units 44. Each wheel assembly 40 is 
supported by a U-shaped bracket 52. As is known in the art, each bracket 
52 for a respective castor 42 is adapted to pivot about a generally 
vertical axis such that castors 42 are permitted to swivel. In addition, 
each bracket 52 has extending between the U-shaped portion thereof a 
generally horizontally extending shaft 56 which defines an axis about 
which the individual wheels can rotate. 
Cart 2 further includes a plastic basket 60. In the preferred embodiment, 
basket 60 is formed from polyethylene which is ideally suited for shopping 
carts since polyethylene is relatively strong and panels manufactured 
therefrom are flexible enough to absorb some deformation, such as caused 
by impact, without breaking. However, it should be recognized that other 
polymer materials having similar properties can also be used. Basket 60 
comprises two side panels 63 and 64, a front panel 66, a bottom panel 67 
and a rear panel 69. Side panels 63 and 64, front panel 66 and bottom 
panel 67 are preferably injection molded as a single, integral unit. On 
the other hand, rear panel 69 is preferably formed as a separate piece and 
is adapted to pivot relative to the remainder of basket 60 in a manner 
known in the art to provide for cart nesting. The entire basket 60 is 
preferably formed as an open latticework structure defined by multiple 
interesting web portions 70. Basket 60 is adapted to be supported by frame 
5 and directly engages upstanding tubular supports 14 and 15 and 
intermediate, upstanding support 35. In addition, an attachment member 72, 
preferably in the form of a rod, extends around upstanding tubular posts 
20 and 21 and is attached to side panels 63 and 64 in a manner also known 
in the art. For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that cart 
2 could also be provided with a pair of legholes (not shown) formed in 
rear panel 69 that are associated with a retractable seat assembly 
generally indicated at 73. As known in the art, retractable seat assembly 
73 is generally formed from a back portion 74 and a seat portion 75, all 
of which are pivotally interconnected to plastic basket 60. Since the 
structure and function of retractable seat assembly 73 is seen to be 
widely known the art, this assembly will not be further discussed in 
detail herein. 
The preferred support arrangement for plastic basket 60 further includes a 
pair of basket supporting members 78 and 79. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 
4, each basket supporting member 78, 79 includes a first end portion 82 
and a second end portion 84 which are interconnected by an intermediate 
portion 86. Second end portion 84 terminates in an in-turned terminal end 
89. In the preferred embodiment, first end portion 82 extends at an angle 
towards second end portion 84. As will be discussed more fully below, when 
interconnected between basket 60 and tubular frame 5, first end portion 82 
is shifted slightly further away from second end portion 84 such that this 
angle decreases and first and second end portions 82 and 84 are biased 
toward each other. 
As best shown in FIG. 2 with reference to upstanding tubular post 20, an 
upper portion (not separately labeled) of upstanding tubular post 20 is 
provided with a hole 94 that opens into upstanding tubular post 20. At a 
distance spaced below hole 94, upstanding tubular post 20 is provided in a 
preferred embodiment with a catch structure generally indicated at 97. In 
the preferred embodiment, catch structure 97 defines an internal catch 99 
which is punched into upstanding tubular post 20. As shown in FIGS. 1-3, 
the receiving opening 102 is formed in an upper, generally horizontal rail 
portion 104 of side panel 63. Receiving opening 102 is aligned with a bore 
107 that is defined within a thickened web 110 of the latticework 
structure defining side panel 63. Of course, as clearly shown in FIG. 3, 
side panel 64 and upstanding tubular post 21 are adapted to receive basket 
supporting member 79 in a corresponding manner to that described above 
with respect to the attachment of basket supporting member 78. 
The method of supporting plastic basket 60 from the laterally spaced, 
upstanding tubular posts 20 and 21 of cart 2 will now be described with 
particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Once tubular frame 5 is fully 
assembled, the second end portion 84 of each basket supporting member 78 
and 79 can be initially inserted within a respective hole 94 provided in 
the corresponding upstanding tubular post 20, 21. Once this initial 
insertion is made, basket 160 can be positioned and the first end portion 
82 of each of the basket supporting members 78 and 79 can be partially 
inserted in a respective receiving opening 102. Thereafter, as plastic 
basket 60 is moved downward and rearward to the position represented in 
these figures, basket supporting members 78 and 79 will continue to extend 
further downward into upstanding tubular posts 20 and 21, as well as 
within receiving openings 102 and bores 107. Basket supporting members 78 
and 79 will then become fully seated within bores 107 and further downward 
shifting of plastic basket 60 and basket supporting members 78 and 79 
relative to tubular frame 5 will cause the in-turned terminal end 89 of 
each basket supporting member 78, 79 to engage beneath a respective 
internal catch 99. This shifting process slightly forces first end portion 
82 and second end portion 84 of each basket supporting member 78, 79 to 
deflect away from each other such that a certain degree of spring loading 
is provided by each basket supporting member 78, 79 which causes in-turned 
terminal ends 89 to readily snap into engagement with catch structure 97 
and further biases plastic basket 60 into engagement with upstanding 
tubular posts 20 and 21. At this point, the rearmost portions (not 
labeled) of side panels 63 and 64 will be positioned against upstanding 
tubular posts 20 and 21 as clearly shown in FIGS. 1-3. When basket 
supporting members 78 and 79 are fully seated, plastic basket 60 will be 
positioned upon rear upstanding supports 14 and intermediate upstanding 
support 35. Attachment member 72 can then be secured to fully retain 
plastic basket 60 in the desired position. 
From the above description, it should be readily apparent that the 
invention presents a simple, effective and cost efficient supporting 
arrangement for the plastic basket 60 of a shopping cart 2. In addition, 
since only intermediate portion 86 of each basket supporting member 78 and 
79 are visible following complete mounting of plastic basket 60 to tubular 
frame, 5, an aesthetically appealing supporting arrangement is provided. 
Although the intermediate portions 86 of basket supporting members 78 and 
79 are show n to be positioned atop the upper, generally horizontal rail 
portions 104 of side panels 63 and 64 in these figures, it is also 
possible to provide a cavity (not shown) within rail portions 104 in order 
to recess intermediate portions 86. 
A further embodiment of the present invention may be seen by way of FIG. 5 
in which a connection is provided between the sides 63 and 64 to the 
respective upstanding tubular posts 20 and 21. In this embodiment one side 
of the arrangement is shown although both sides will be the same. 
A shortened, generally U-shaped support member 45 is seen in FIG. 5 which 
maintains the construction in the same manner as described above. In this 
embodiment, however, the support member 45 is U-shaped with fastenings by 
legs 49 and 50, respectively, into a slot 46 in the side panel 64 and into 
a tube 47 fixed to the upstanding tubular post 21. Alternatively, the leg 
50 of the support member may be inserted into and held by the upstanding 
tubular post 21, similarly to that shown in FIG. 2. 
The legs 49 and 50 of the member 45 may be tensioned so that upon insertion 
into the respective slot 46 and tube 47, or post 21, the side panel 64 is 
held tightly by the post 21. The legs 49 and 50 are shown of different 
lengths, but may be formed of equal lengths or reversed lengths. 
Importantly, the support member is of minimal size and is virtually hidden 
in this construction so as to provide an aesthetically pleasent appearance 
while maintaining a strong construction. 
In the same manner, FIG. 6 shows a construction of the present invention 
where the support member 111 is used with a cross member 22 between the 
upstanding tubular posts 20 and 21, as shown above. In this embodiment, 
the basket support member 111 is formed with a leg 112 engaging slot 46. 
At its opposite end, the support member 111 includes a loop 113 around the 
tubular post 21 ending in a further loop 114 about the cross member 22. 
This construction also results in strong construction for holding the sides 
63 and 64 to the upstanding tubular posts 20 and 21. The leg 112 may be 
tensioned to pull the structures tight together where the other end of the 
member 111 is wrapped about the post and cross member. 
Although described with respect to a preferred embodiment of the invention, 
it should be readily understood that various changes and/or modifications 
to the present invention can be made without departing from the spirit 
thereof, such as seen in the second and third embodiments above. 
Further, even though the preferred embodiment described above incorporates 
a punched internal catch 99, it should be readily realized that other 
types of retaining arrangements could be utilized in accordance with the 
invention such as, for example, simply providing holes which extend 
through the upstanding tubular posts 20 and 21. Also, for some 
applications, a detent, friction catch or other equivalent to a catch 
structure 97 could be used, or friction alone between terminal end 89 and 
tubular post 20 could be used, to retain the basket supporting members 78 
and 79 in the tubular posts 20 and 21. Furthermore, other equivalents to 
the disclosed elements of the preferred embodiment of the invention could 
be substituted in accordance with known technical information. In general, 
the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following 
claims.