TRAILER COMBINATION

Abstract: A trailer (7) coupled at the rear of a hand-pushed carriage (2) for transporting a passenger or goods has a triangular shape or comprises a recess (fig. 21) in order to prevent the person pushing the combination from bumping against the trailer.

Description: TRAILER COMBINATION The invention relates to a trailer combination as according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a trailer combination is known as a child' s perambulator with a trailer which engages for pivoting on the rigid rear axle thereof and which is supported by two wheels disposed under the rear corners thereof. The legs of the person pushing this combination bump against the trailer. The invention obviates this drawback in that the passenger/goods load receiver is triangular, wherein two front corners of the triangular load receiver are arranged at the front and one rear corner on the rear end of the load receiver, wherein only one rolling mechanism pivotable on a standing axis is present which is arranged on said rear corner, or in that the load receiver has a leg recess in the centre where the load receiver protrudes less far to the rear in the centre at its rear end than on either side of the centre, wherein on either side of the centre a rolling mechanism pivotable on a standing axis is arranged on the rear end of the load receiver. The invention also provides a trailer combination as according to claim 4. A trailer combination with a hand- pushed carriage without rigid rear axle and a trailer releasably connectable thereto is still found to be realizable according to the invention. Mentioned and other features will be elucidated in the following description with reference to drawings, in which : Figures 1 and 2 show a schematic top view and side view of the bottom part of a trailer combination accord- ing to the invention; Figures 3 and 4 show perspective views of a trailer combination according to the invention with the trailer in travel position respectively in upward pivoted position; Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a trailer combination according to the invention; Figure 6 is a side view in collapsed situation of the hand-pushed carriage of figure 5; Figure 7 is an exploded view of the trailer of figure 5; Figure 8 shows detail VIII of figure 7 on larger scale; Figure 9 shows a cross-section along plane IX-IX of figure 7; Figures 10 and 11 show other trailer combinations according to the invention; Figures 12, 14, 15 and 18 show in each case a dif- ferent passenger/goods load receiver for a trailer according to the invention; Figure 13 shows detail XIII of figure 12 on larger scale; Figures 16 and 17 show views of the load receiver of figure 15 in folded-up situation; Figures 19 and 20 show a cross-section along line XX of figure 18 in different situations; and Figure 21 shows another trailer according to the invention. The trailer combination 1 of figures 1 and 2 pushed forward in arrow direction 41 comprises a hand-pushed carriage 2 for transporting a child, a so-called perambulator, of which only the lower part and handle 3 are drawn and which comprises a frame 4 with a rigid rear axle 5 on which a passenger/goods load receiver 6 of a trailer 7 engages pivotally by means of resilient fingers 8. Load receiver 6 is substantially triangular and supports with its rear part 9 on a castor 11 arranged substantially in the central longitudinal plane 10. The fork 12 thereof rotates on a standing axis 13 and inclines downward and forward with a small angle of inclination a in the order of magnitude of 3-15°, preferably between 5 and 10°. The ergonomic configuration of rear part 9, and thereby of the rear end of trailer 7, does not obstruct the forward progress of a person pushing the trailer combination, or hardly so. The feet 14 move adjacently of and/or under the load receiver 6 adjacently of the castor 11 on either side thereof, while the legs do not bump against load receiver 6 and the person can still hold the handle 3 without bending too far forward. Within the width m of the paths of movement n of fingers 8 (or other engaging members in subsequent variants) space is left clear adjacently of the rear part 9 of load receiver 6 for the shins of the person pushing the combination 1. Load receiver 6 can carry a second child standing or other load or take the form of a child's seat or a container of substantially triangular shape. The width b of trailer 7 is small at the location of the ground support position of castor 11, preferably substantially smaller than the width c_ of the path 15 between footprints 14. In a position pivoted upward on the axle the trailer 7 can be fixed to a container 32 or a handle 3 or other element of hand-pushed carriage 2. Trailer combination 1 of figures 3 and 4 has coupling means 16 consisting of mounting arms 18 connected fixedly to rear legs 17. Trailer 7 is connected to arms 18 for pivoting on a horizontal transverse axis 19. Axis 19 preferably lies only a short distance d behind the vertical transverse plane e through the support position of rear wheels 20 of hand-pushed carriage 2, but preferably in this plane e or even in front of it so as to prevent the light hand-pushed carriage 2 tipping over backwards. The upward folded trailer 7 is held fixedly on container 32 with an elastic loop 21. In the trailer combination 1 of figures 5-9 the trailer 7 is coupled to the rear legs 17 of the hand- pushed carriage 2 embodied as collapsible child's pushchair. All frame elements extending in transverse direc- tion can herein be folded or creased such that both front legs 22 and both rear legs 17 can be moved toward each other to effect the collapsed situation of figure 6. A trailer can nevertheless still be coupled hereto, this by means of coupling means 16 comprising a coupling arm 23 fixed to each rear leg 17 by means of a clamp 24 and a V- shaped spring 25 which is built into trailer 7 and of which both outward springing ends 26 are placed through transverse slots 27 of the front edge 28 of the triangular load receiver 6 and each of which have a hook 29 spot-welded thereon which engages through a key hole 30 of a coupling arm 23. A bolt 31 protrudes through the rear part of load receiver 6 into the fork 12 and encloses spring 25. By squeezing the ends 26 toward each other the hooks 29 can be released from key holes 30 and the trailer 7 can thus be disconnected. Hand-pushed carriage 2 can then be folded up. In the variants of figures 10 and 11 each coupling arm 23, in any case at least one thereof, consists of springs which are fixedly clamped to rear legs 17 and which are tensioned toward each other (fig. 10) or away from each other (fig. 11) . Their hooking, pin-shaped ends 33 engage through pivot holes of ears 34 of load receiver 6 and can be disconnected by elastic bending of these coupling arms 23 away from respectively toward each other. In figure 11 load receiver 6 has a right-angled triangular shape with rounded rear corner 50, wherein the pushing person places both feet 14 on the same side of wheel 11 without being obstructed. Load receiver 6 of figure 12 has on each front corner 49 a hook 29 which engages in a key hole 30 of a coupling arm 23. At least one hook 29 is mounted on a resilient lip 36. Load receiver 6 preferably has a rough carrying surface (fig. 14) . Load receiver 6 optionally consists of a foldable platform, for instance of two strips 37 mutually connected to each other for pivoting on bolt 31 and a cloth 38 tensioned therebetween (fig. 15-17) . Load receiver 6 of figures 18-20 consists of three parts which are mutually connected by means of hinges 39 and which, as cloth 38, enables load receiver 6 to remain permanently coupled to hand-pushed carriage 2 whether or not this latter is situated in the collapsed situation of figure Trailer 7 of figure 21 is not triangular and has the option of being coupled by means of its W-shaped spring 25 and hooks 29 to coupling arms 23 of a collapsible hand-pushed carriage of figure 6. Load receiver 6 has on its rear end in the centre a leg recess 51 since load receiver 6 extends less far to the rear in the centre than on either side of the centre. A castor 11 is arranged on each of the two rear corners 50. For a child' s perambulator and/or pushchair as hand- pushed carriage 2, the horizontal position f between the support position of castor 11 and the coupling position of hand-pushed carriage 2 is between 100 and 20 cm, preferably between 80 and 30 cm and more preferably between 70 and 40 cm, the width b of the load receiver at the position of the castor is between 50 and 10 cm, preferably between 40 and 15 cm and more preferably between 30 and 20 cm, the width k of the front edge of the triangular platform of the load receiver is between 70 and 25 cm, preferably between 60 and 30 cm and more preferably between 50 and 35 cm, and the height h of the load carrier is between 40 and 5 cm, preferably between 30 and 10 cm and more preferably between 25 and 15 cm. The child's perambulator and/or pushchair has little weight, for instance between 20 and 5 kg, and the trailer 7 according to the invention weighs between 10 and 2 kg, preferably between 5 and 2 kg and more preferably between 3 and 2 kg. In the described combinations 1 the load receiver 6 of trailer 7 has a configuration such that, within the space w bounded by the wheel tracks 48 of hand-pushed carriage 2 or more preferably still within the space m bounded by the paths of movement n of the support members of trailer 7 on hand-pushed carriage 2, space for at least one shin of the person pushing trailer combination 1 is left clear adjacently of at least one rear part of load receiver 6. Figures 10 and 11 each show that a blocking element 45 is mounted on each or at least one coupling arm 23 such that an ear 34 moves in each case against a blocking element 45 if for instance a child standing on trailer 7 pulls the hand-pushed carriage 2 towards himself. Tipping over backwards of hand-pushed carriage 2 , in which for instance a baby is lying, is thus prevented. Such a blocking device is likewise present in the embodiments of the other figures. In figures 4-9 a blocking element 45 is fixedly attached to each coupling arm 23, which element engages under a protruding end 47 of spring 25. In order to enable upward pivoting of trailer 7 against hand-pushed carriage 2 the spring 25 respectively each resilient coupling arm 23 is slightly displaced counter to spring action so that blocking element 45 disengages and upward pivoting on hooks 29 respectively pins 33 is possible.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Trailer combination (1) of a hand-pushed carriage (2) for transporting at least one child and a wheel means (11, 12) coupled thereto at the rear thereof by means of coupling means (8, 16) and a trailer (7) comprising a passenger/goods load receiver (6) , wherein the coupling means (8, 16) comprise two coupling devices (23, 24, 29) disposed on either side of the longitudinal central plane (10) of the hand-pushed carriage (2) , wherein the wheel means (11) comprise at least one rolling mechanism (11, 12) pivotable on a standing axis (13) and arranged on a rear end of the load receiver (6) remote from the coupling means (8, 16), wherein the load receiver (6) is disposed in a space (w) within the wheel tracks (48) of the hand-pushed carriage (2) , characterized in that the load receiver (6) is triangular, wherein two front corners (49) are arranged on the front side of the load receiver (6) and one rear corner (50) on the rear end of the load receiver (6) , wherein only one rolling mechanism (11, 12) pivotable on a standing axis (13) is present which is arranged on said rear corner (50) . 2. Trailer combination (1) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the width (b) of the trailer (7) at the location of the ground support position of a rear wheel (11) or pair of rear wheels is less than 30 cm, preferably less than 25 cm, more preferably less than 20 cm and most preferably less than 18 cm. 3. Trailer combination (1) of a hand-pushed carriage (2) for transporting at least one child and a wheel means (11, 12) coupled thereto at the rear thereof by means of coupling means (8, 16) and a trailer (7) comprising a passenger/goods load receiver (6), wherein the coupling means (8, 16) comprise two coupling devices (23, 24, 29) disposed on either side of the longitudinal central plane (10) of the hand-pushed carriage (2) , wherein the wheel means (11) comprise at least one rolling mechanism (11, 12) pivotable on a standing axis (13) and arranged on a rear end of the load receiver (6) remote from the coupling means (8, 16) , wherein the load receiver (6) is disposed in a space (w) within the wheel tracks (48) of the hand-pushed carriage (2) , characterized in that the load receiver (6) has a. leg recess (51) in the centre since at its rear end the load receiver (6) protrudes less far rearward in the centre than on either side of the centre and that on either side of the centre a rolling mechanism (11, 12) pivotable on a standing axis (13) is arranged on the rear end of the load receiver (6) . 4. Trailer combination (1) of a hand-pushed carriage (2) for transporting at least one child and a wheel means (11, 12) coupled thereto at the rear thereof by means of coupling means (8, 16) and a trailer (7) comprising a passenger/goods load receiver (6), wherein the coupling means (16) comprise coupling devices (23, 24, 29) disposed on either side of the longitudinal central plane (10) of the hand-pushed carriage (2) , wherein the wheel means (11, 12) comprise at least one rolling mechanism (11, 12) pivotable on a standing axis (13) and arranged on a rear end of the load receiver (6) remote from the coupling means (8, 16), characterized in that a coupling member (23, 24) of the coupling means (16) is fixedly connected to each of two rear legs (17) of the hand- pushed carriage (2) , that the load receiver (6) is connected to said coupling members (23, 24) for pivoting on a horizontal axis (19) and that the coupling means (16) comprise two coupling elements (26, 36, 33) arranged on the trailer (7) which are releasably connectable to the coupling members (23, 24) arranged on the two rear legs (17) of the hand-pushed carriage (2) . 5. Trailer combination (1) as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the frame (4) of the hand-pushed carriage (2) can be folded up such that in the folded-up situation the coupling member (23) and the wheels (20, 40) of the one side are situated closer to the coupling member (23) respectively the wheels (20, 40) of the other side than in the operational situation. 6. Trailer combination (1) as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the trailer (7) supports only at its rear end on a wheel (11) or a wheel pair and supports at its front side on the hand-pushed carriage (2) . 7. Trailer combination (1) as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the rear part of the trailer (7) has an ergonomic configuration which does not obstruct a person pushing the trailer combination (1) during normal forward progress, or hardly so. 8. Trailer combination (1) as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the coupling means (16) comprise spring means (25) which urge at least one coupling element (29) into its coupling position, which spring means (25) are formed for instance by a spring (25) of the trailer (2) . 9. Trailer (2) which is adapted to complete a trailer combination (1) as claimed in any of the foregoing claims . 10. Coupling device (16) which is adapted to form a trailer combination (1) as claimed in claims 1-8.

Inventors: DEROOST ROGEER JOZEF, DEROOST, ROGEER, JOZEF
Applicants: DEROOST ROGEER JOZEF, STUDERA N V, DEROOST, ROGEER, JOZEF, STUDERA N.V.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: B62B9
IPC codes: B62B5, B62B9