Display element for attaching advertising to the handle of a shopping cart

The invention relates to a display element for attaching advertising to the handle of a shopping cart or the like. The display element includes a base body having a recess for inserting advertising media in a flat manner and fastening elements for fastening the display element on the handle bar, or the handle bar mounts, of a shopping cart. The display element is made of half shell-shaped parts, which in the joined state surround the handle bar, or the handle bar mount, in the shape of an enclosed box profile. The half shell-shaped parts are non-positively or positively connected to the handle bar.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a display element for attaching advertisements to the handle of a shopping cart or the like, comprising a basic body having a recess for inserting an advertising medium such that it is flat, and fastening elements for fastening the display element to the handlebar or handlebar brackets of a shopping cart.

PRIOR ART

A display element of said type is known from WO 0057543 A1.

The display element described therein is universally highly suitable for being retroactively fitted to a handlebar of a shopping cart. The display element has, symmetrically in the region of the longitudinal axis, a channel-like recess which is open at one side. Fitting can be carried out easily and quickly. After the known display element is fitted, the handlebar runs in a well-integrated manner in said channel-like recess which is open at one side, and does not interfere in the use of the shopping cart.

It has been found that there is a demand for ever larger advertising surfaces, and for such large advertising surfaces, it is not possible to simply enlarge the form of the known display element in scalar fashion, because this can result in problems with regard to general stability and also because the display element which has been enlarged in scalar fashion can no longer be fitted to all types of shopping cart without interfering in the use of the shopping cart.

If the known display element is enlarged in scalar fashion, it correspondingly projects a considerable distance laterally at both sides of the handlebar. In a standard situation of use of the shopping cart, when the edge of the display element is gripped in order to push or pull the shopping cart, large forces are generated which can lead to damage occurring at the mechanically weakest point of the display element, specifically where the channel-like recess which is provided for receiving the handlebar runs.

Different types of shopping carts have different geometrical relationships with regard to the distance of the handlebar from moving parts of the shopping cart, for example the basket flap or child seat. It is correspondingly no longer possible for a display element which has been enlarged in scalar fashion to be fitted generally to all types of shopping cart in such a way that the handlebar can run in a recess symmetrically in the region of the longitudinal axis of the display element.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Technical Object

The object of the present invention is to create a display element which provides a large advertising surface, which is sufficiently stable and designed such that a further region in each case adjacent to the longitudinal axis can be used to receive the handlebar, and which can also be fitted quickly and easily.

Technical Solution

The considerations which led to the solution according to the invention embraced the realization that a display element which has a closed box profile which completely surrounds the handlebar in the assembled state has a corresponding degree of stability, and a display element is easy and simple to fit if it is composed of individual parts which in each case surround the handlebar for example in the manner of half-shells and are then placed in positively locking engagement. After the two half-shells are joined together, they form a dimensionally stable box-like profile, in the interior of which the handlebar runs.

Here, the box-like profile is shaped in the interior so as to tightly surround the handlebar and thereby produce good mechanical contact with the handlebar.

Advantageous Effects

By means of the design according to the invention of the new display element, it is possible to use display elements with a large surface on a multiplicity of types of shopping cart.

FIG. 1shows a side part2and the central part3of the display element1in a perspective illustration. The side part2and the central part3and also a further side part2′, represented here merely by an arrow, are pushed one inside the other on the handle of a shopping cart, and thereby form a stable unit.

The side parts2and2′ have dovetail-shaped webs4which can be pushed into corresponding grooves5of the central part. The webs4and the corresponding grooves5may also have any other profile which is suitable for producing a stable connection between the side parts2,2′ and the central part3. The side parts2,2′ also have a recess6which can receive the handle of a shopping cart.

The display element1is fitted to the handle of a shopping cart firstly by placing the central part3on the handle of the shopping cart from below. The side part2is subsequently placed onto the handle of the shopping cart from above. The handle of the shopping cart is now situated in the recess6.

The central part3and the side part2are now connected to one another by virtue of the webs4being pushed into the grooves5. The unit, which is produced in this way, composed of side part2and central part3is held on the handle without further auxiliary means, which facilitates the subsequent fitting of the other side part2′.

The side part2′ is pushed onto the central part3from the other side. As is the case with the side part2, webs engage into grooves in order to produce a fixed connection.

In the example shown, the recess6in the side part2and2′ is illustrated as being precisely central. When the display element1is fully fitted, the handle of the shopping cart then runs symmetrically through the display element1in the region of the longitudinal axis.

For applications in which it is desirable for the handle of the shopping cart not to run centrally through the display element, it is provided that the recess6runs eccentrically in the side part. It is possible, for different types of shopping cart, to provide different side parts in which the recess6runs at a corresponding distance from the center. In this way, it is always possible for the display element1to be fitted in a manner suited to the specific type of shopping cart.

The handlebar then runs through the display element1asymmetrically in the region of the longitudinal axis. As a result of the possibility of varying the position of the recess in the side part2and2′, it is possible to position the display element in such a way that the edge cannot come into contact with moving functional parts, and that sufficient space is still provided for a child sitting in the child seat of the shopping cart.

In the assembled state, a stable profile composed of the side parts2and the central part3is produced by means of the web/groove connection. Forces acting on the edge9of the display element1are absorbed by the box-shaped profile, and only a short lever arm initially acts between the edge9and the side10of the box-shaped profile. To further increase stability, a plurality of struts11are provided in the side part2and in the central part3.

The box-shaped profile is connected to the handlebar by means of a screw connection or clamped connection. Rotational locking is provided in this way. In the case of a handle with an oval cross section and a correspondingly likewise oval recess6, the rotational locking is generated by positively locking engagement.

The side part2has an upper surface7and the central part3has two upper surfaces8. In the assembled state, the surfaces7and8provide a rest surface for printed material. The printed material is protected from environmental influences by a transparent cover (not shown here).

A groove12is provided at the edge region of the central part, into which groove12the transparent cover engages. It is likewise also possible for the side part2to have a groove12ainto which the cover then engages.

To fit the transparent cover, the latter is firstly arched and placed onto the surfaces8. Since the transparent cover assumes a planar form again on account of its elasticity, the edges of the transparent cover slide into the grooves12at the edge of the central part or alternatively under the grooves12aon the side part. In this way, the transparent cover is securely connected to the display element1and simultaneously fixes the printable material. The printable material is now situated under the cover and is protected against removal.

FIG. 2shows the display element1in the fully fitted state on the handle15of a shopping cart16. The transparent cover13under which the advertising surface14is situated is inserted substantially flush in the display element1, and on account of the fact that the cover13engages into the grooves12or12a, the cover13is well protected against willful removal.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The invention is industrially applicable in the field of advertising and information on a shopping cart, a luggage trolley or some other transport carriage.