COLLAPSIBLE TROLLEY

Abstract: A collapsible trolley (1) which comprises an elongate body (3) having a lower end (5) and an upper end (7) including a handle (9), and a pair of pivotable legs (11) adjacent the body's lower end (5). The legs (11) are movable between a position lying alongside the body (3) and a position in which the free ends of the legs (11) fan out from the body (3). A pair of wheeled arms (13) are pivotably mounted to the ends of the respective legs (11) and movable between a storage position lying substantially alongside the respective legs (11) and an operating position extending at right angles to the corresponding legs (11) for supporting luggage. The arms (13) are each jointed to a respective end of a foldable support member (17) such that when they are in their stored position the support member (17) lies substantially alongside the arms (13), and when the arms (13) are in their operating position the support member (17) is straight and in such a position prevents or inhibits the arms from moving relative to each other when the trolley (1) is carrying a load.

Description: COLLAPSIBLE TROLLEY The present invention relates to a collapsible trolley and in particular to a collapsible trolley for carrying luggage or the like International Patent Application No. PCT/GB92/01670 ( Publication No WO 93/05993 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . discloses a collapsible trolley for luggage, which trolley comprises an elongate body ha\ _ng a lower end and an upper end including a handle, a pair of pivotable legs adjacent the lower end of the body, the legs being movable relative to the body between a position in which they lie substantially alongside the body and a position in which the free ends of the legs fan out from the body, and a pair of arms each being pivotably mounted to the end of a respective leg and movable between a stored position where the arm lies substantially alongside the respective leg and an operable position substantially at right angles to a plane co-incident with the legs and the elongate body, in which position the arms are able to support luggage when the trolley is tilted during use. Each arm is further provided with a wheel which protrudes from the end thereof adjacent to the leg such that when the arms are in their operable position and the trolley is tilted, the arms are also tilted and luggage carried thereon is supported by the legs With such a known kind of trolley, it is found that when the luggage carried on the trolley is very heavy, the arms may be caused to move relative to each other, e g the free ends of the respective arms may be caused to come closer to each other This may strain one or more or the pivot points and thus shorten the life of the luggage trolley. It has been proposed to overcome this problem by providing a separate foldable support device having an engaging means at its either end for engagement with a respective arm While such an arrangement could substantially overcome the problem of possible relative movement of the arms when the load carried by the luggage trolley is heavy, the arms could only be moved to their stored position after the support device is first detached. It is also necessary to store both the trolley and the support device and it is possible that the support device may be mislaid or lost Another disadvantage is that the trolley and the support device have to be assembled together prior to use, which can be an inconvenience to the user It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved collapsible trolley wherein the aforesaid shortcomings are obviated According to the invention, there is provided a collapsible trolley comprising an elongate body having a lower end and an upper end including a handle, a pair of pivotable legs adjacent the lower end of the body, the legs being movable relative - 2 - to the body between a position in which they lie substantially alongside the bodv and a position in which the free ends of the legs fan out from the body, and a pair of arms each being pivotably mounted to the end of a respective leg and movable between a stored position wherein the arm lies substantially alongside the respective leg and an operable position substantially at right angles to a plane co-incident with the legs and the elongate body, in which position the arms are able to support luggage when the trolley is tilted during use, each arm being further provided with a wheel at or near the end thereof adjacent to the leg such that when the arms are in their operable position and the trolley is tilted. the arms are also tilted and luggage carried thereon is supported by the wheels, characterized in that the arms are each jointed to a respective end of a foldable support member such that when the arms are in their stored position the support member lies substantially alongside the arms, and when the arms are in their operable position, the support member is substantially straight and in such a position prevents or inhibits the arms from moving relative to each other when a load is being carried by the trolley. Each arm of the collapsible trolley is preferably jointed to a respective end of the support member via a universal joint. The support member may conveniently be foldable by a hinge and the area - . - adjacent the hinge may be substantially circular to provide reinforcement thereof The hinge is preferably provided with a locking mechanism to prevent the support member from collapsing in on itself when a load is being carried. The foldable support member may be further provided with a plurality of gripping ridges for gripping luggage carried by the trolley. The invention will now be described in more detail by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein - Fig 1 is a perspective view of a luggage trolley incorporating the present invention; Fig 2 is a pan perspective view showing the foldable support member and the arms in their operable position; Fig. 3 is a part perspective view showing the foldable support member and the arms when the legs lie substantially alongside the elongate body, and Fig 4 is a part sectional view of a locking mechanism for the support member Referring to Fig 1 , there is shown a collapsible trolley 1 in its fully extended position The trolley 1 comprises a telescopable rectangular section hollow body 3 having a lower end 5 and an upper end 7 provided with a handle 9 A pair of - 4 - pivotable legs 1 1 are provided adjacent the lower end 5 of the trolley 1 In a manner described in more detail in International Publication No WO 93 '05993. the legs 1 1 may move between a position wherein they lie substantially alongside the body 3 on either side of the lower end 5 and a position wherein the free ends of the legs 1 1 fan out from the body 3, as shown in Fig 1 Each leg 1 1 is pivotably connected to a respective arm 3, on each of which is provided a wheel 15 at the rear end thereof A foldable support member in the form of a two-part hinged bar 17 is jointed at its ends to the arms 13 via a pair of coupling joints 19. The support bar 17 is foldable about a hinge 21 which is disposed halfway between the two coupling joints 19 To strengthen the bar 17, the area adjacent the hinge 21 is wider than the rest of the bar 17 and the horizontal cross section thereof about the plane of swivel has a substantially circular shape. Fig 2 shows in more detail the folding movement of the support bar 17 in operation While the solid lines show the position of the arms 13 and the bar 17 when the arms 13 are in their operable position, the dotted lines sho the support bar 17 in a part-folded position. It can be seen that while the support bar 17 is foldable in on itself about hinge 21 , the ends 23 of the bar 17 each pivot about an axis 25 provided by a respective coupling joint 19 Each coupling joint 19 is also swivellable on a respective pivot pin ( not shown ) by a relatively small angle, e.g. about 10 degrees above and below the horizontal plane, about an axis passing through each arm 13 and substantially parallel to the major axis thereof The coupling joints 19 therefore function as universal joints by means of which the support bar 17 is jointed to each arm 13. Fig 3 shows a part perspective view when the support bar 17 is fully folded in on itself and the legs 1 1 lie alongside the lower end 5 of the elongate bod> 3 A number of gripping ridges 27 are provided on the upper surface of the bar 17 for gripping luggage carried on the trolley 1 Turning now to Figure 4 there is shown a part-sectional view of a locking mechanism shown generally at 29 which incorporates as part thereof the hinge 21 In this embodiment of the invention the two halves of the support member 17 are interlinked and foldable in on themselves via the hinge 21 which can be locked to provide that when the support member 17 is in its fully extended and hence straight position the arms 13 are prevented from moving angularly with respect to each other. This is made possible by the provision of a spring loaded lock comprised of a finger or thumb operable member 31 which is connected via a screw 33 to a central bore in the hinge 21. A helical spring 35 is disposed therebetween so that member 31 is ordinarily biased away from the hinge 21 On the lower part of the hinge 21 is a generally annular chamber 37 which includes a part cuboid recess 39 constituting a locking formation The locking formation 39 is cooperable with a correspondingly shaped part cuboid locking protrusion 1 so that in the position shown each half of the support member 17 is prevented from swiveling movement about the major axis of the hinge 21. It will be apparent that upon depression of member 31 the recess 39 will disengage itself from protrusion 41 and thus permit support member 17 to be folded in on itself when the trolley is to be collapsed and stored It can therefore be seen that the present invention provides a neat arrangement by providing a collapsible trolley and complementary support device for the arms thereof in a single unit. By this arrangement, the problems associated with the prior art trolley can be overcome. It should be understood that the above only illustrates an embodiment bv which the present invention can be realized and that further modifications may be made to the above embodiment without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Claims: CLAIMS 1 A collapsible trolley comprising an elongate body having a lower end and an upper end including a handle, a pair of pivotable legs adjacent the lower end of the body, the legs being movable relative to the body between a position in which they lie substantially alongside the body and a position in which the free ends of the legs fan out from the body, and a pair of arms each being pivotably mounted to the end of a respective leg and movable between a stored position wherein the arm lies substantially alongside the respective leg and an operable position substantially at right angles to a plane co-incident with the legs and the elongate body, in which position the arms are able to support luggage when the trolley is tilted during use. each arm being further provided with a wheel at or near the end thereof adjacent to the leg such that when the arms are in their operable position and the trolley is tilted, the arms are also titled and luggage carried thereon is supported by the wheels CHARACTERISED IN THAT the arms are each jointed to a respective end of a foldable support member such that when the arms are in their stored position the support member lies substantially alongside the arms, and when the arms are in their operable position, the support member is substantially straight and in such position prevents or inhibits the arms from moving relative to each other when a load is being carried by the trolley. - 8 - SUB5T1TUTE SHEET RULE 26 2 A collapsible trolley according to Claim 1 further characterized in that each arm is jointed to a respective end of the support member via a universal joint 3 A collapsible trolley according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 further characterized in that the support member is foldable by means of a hinge. 4 A collapsible trolley according to Claim 3 further characterized in that the area of the support member adjacent the hinge is substantially circular about the axis of swivel of the hinge 5 A collapsible trolley according to any preceding claim further characterized in that the foldable support member includes a locking mechanism for releasably securing the support member in its operable position. 6. A collapsible trolley according to Claim 6 when in combination with Claim 3 or Claim 4 further characterized in that the locking mechanism comprises a spring loaded pin adjacent the hinge on or in one foldable part of the support member and adapted to in use slidingly engage a locking formation on or in the other foldable part of the support member such that when the pin is depressed the support member may be folded. 7 A collapsible trolley according to any preceding claim wherein the foldable support member is provided on its uppermost surfaces with a plurality of gripping ridges for gripping luggage carried on the trolley. 8 A collapsible trolley substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: LOWENSTEIN FRANK, LOWENSTEIN, FRANK
Applicants: LOWENSTEIN FRANK, UNITED SYSTEM LTD, LOWENSTEIN, FRANK, UNITED SYSTEM LIMITED
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B62B1
IPC codes: B62B1