Abstract:
The present invention is a uniquely-engineered stepping stool that elegantly connects to a shopping cart via a double-socket C-clamp. The invention features “kick up legs” with an arched crossbar for a shopper&#39;s foot and a double-socket C-clamp comprising square-shaped polyurethane memory foam teeth along its inner apertures to connect to a shopping cart&#39;s rear bottom bar. The uniquely engineered C-clamp acts as a hinge, allowing the shopper to rotate the stool around a shopping cart&#39;s rear-base bar to easily stowe the stool along the shopping cart&#39;s bottom base rack or to stowe the stool against the cart&#39;s rear wall. The clamp is also engineered to easily detach from the cart so the stool may be used independently. The stool has channels and torsion springs in its undercarriage so the legs fold up into the stool&#39;s housing, forming a single, portable unit.

Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The invention is a stepping stool fashioned to clamp onto, and to fit up against or into, a standard shopping cart (or similar storage-vehicle such as a rolling baby carriage) to transport goods and sundries. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Shopping carts with internal baskets are used widely in supermarkets, department stores and in open markets. Shopping carts generally comprise front wheels attached to a base via a caster assembly positioned on a pivoting shaft so the customer may turn the cart by applying a gentle forward force on the handgrip. The rear wheels usually roll solely forward on an axle parallel to that of the front shaft. 
     Stepping stools are commonly found within supermarkets, but are rarely found inside, or connected to, the shopping carts that are readily available to customers. Therefore, customers who can&#39;t easily reach the “top shelf” must usually call for assistance. 
     Items on the “top shelf” of common supermarkets are surprisingly not totally out of reach, and usually require a stepping stool raised only to 6-10″. Stepping stools are customarily small and low enough to the ground to be fully utilized used in a single step (usually making multi-step stools unnecessary). 
     While folding step ladders are taller, they are generally to bulky to effectively fit inside a shopping cart, and also too large to lay flat against the shopping cart&#39;s base (base-rack). Step ladders are also too bulky to effectively “clamp and conceal” within a shopping cart. 
     Some supermarkets offer folding hand trucks featuring dolly configurations, optionally offering a dolly coupled to the cart&#39;s front frame. Unfortunately, these hand trucks can be used only to transport large items, and they do not help the typical customer who simply needs an “easy pull-out step stool” to reach top-shelf items. 
     The present invention allows the customer to “fold out” the step stool from its “stored-position” (collapsed, folded and resting flush with the back of the shopping cart OR fully collapsed and resting atop/along the cart&#39;s base rack), then fold out the “kick-up legs” with arched connecting bar. The “kick up legs” feature rubber-type stoppers for braking-and-anchoring against the store floor, then [after using the stool to reach their desired item] lifting the “kick-up legs” with their uniquely-arched connecting bar; then the customer may alternatively “rotate-up” the stool back to its stored position by rotating/turning the stool around the cart&#39;s rear-side base bar using the stool&#39;s uniquely-designed “foam-teeth C clamp,” as a hinge, or the customer may alternatively un-clamp the stool from the cart with a relatively gentle pull, then fold-up the kick-up legs, then lay the entire stool [now flat like a folding table in its fully-collapsed-state] flat against the cart&#39;s base bottom rack. 
     The stepping stool&#39;s utility is enhanced by its portability between the base of the shopping cart, the floor, and [by easily unclamping] use anywhere else the customer wishes to use it (even at home). The stool therefore goes wherever the shopping cart goes, and the customer can unfold-&amp;-rotate it out again for future use. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side-profile views of the preferred embodiment.  FIG. 1  shows the invention with the step stool in its deployed “stool” position. 
         FIGS. 2A and 2B  shows the invention with the step stool in its partially-folded state, ready to be stored. 
         FIG. 3A  shows the invention in its intermediary “crunched” position, wherein the shopper has pushed the partially-folded stool toward the cart, and may now choose between “rotating it up” against the back of the cart, or further “crunching” the stool until it rests along the cart&#39;s bottom rack, or de-clamping the stool so it may lie (unattached) across the cart&#39;s bottom rack. 
         FIG. 3B  shows the duplicate view as  FIG. 3A  without the shopping cart. 
         FIGS. 4A and 4B  show the invention in its completely collapsed/folded state, either connected to the cart&#39;s back rear bar or laying (attached or unattached) along the cart&#39;s base rack. 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  show the preferred embodiment of the invention stowed up/against the rear of the cart. 
         FIG. 6  shows an enlarged rear, inverted view of the invention  100 &#39;s distal legs  130  and C-clamps  134 . 
         FIG. 7  shows an enlarged side view of the unique foam “double-socket” C-clamp of the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIGS. 8 and 9  show an aerial perspective view of the invention&#39;s housing unit, non-slip pad mat, and an underside, inverted view of the padded mat plugs and sockets for positioning, and the grooved indentation in the housing to receive the padded mat. In the embodiment shown, the housing unit&#39;s top side features a recessed area with socket spaces wherein the corresponding padded mat&#39;s plugs fit. The top area of the housing unit is generally “tray shaped,” to allow for positioning of the padded mat. 
         FIG. 10  shows an enlarged rear, inverted view of the invention  100 &#39;s proximal “kick up legs”  140  with arched connecting bar  145 , or “kick up lip.” 
     
    
    
     DEFINITIONS 
     C-Clamp: Means for detachably engaging the stepping stool with the shopping cart. The preferred embodiment is a “double socket C-clamp,” which has two apertures to engage and hold either a smaller or a larger shopping cart rear base rod. While most C-clamps have tightening screws, the C-clamp of the instant invention features “memory foam teeth,” which effectively secure the stool to the cart without requiring a tightening screw. The remainder of the clamp may be steel or cast iron, as in generic workshop C-clamps. 
     Double-socket C-Clamp: a C-clamp with two apertures for holding larger or smaller items in one of its two apertures. 
     Foam-style teeth: The teeth of the C-clamp, which have similar density and viscosity to polyurethane memory foam, but may be comprised of any substance that safely grips and detaches from a shopping cart bar by simply applying force (without the need for screws or additional fastening means). 
     Indented Groove: the beveled recess of the stool&#39;s housing unit&#39;s top, wherein the padded mat rests, also called the “recessed top tray region.” 
     Nonslip stopper: An anti-skid gripper pad, customarily comprised of rubber. This is the tread portion of the cart&#39;s proximal legs&#39; bottoms. These stoppers provide braking means for the shopping cart when a shopper places her weight on the stepping stool&#39;s top mat-platform. 
     Padded mat: the top piece of the stool which forms its planar platform for stepping. The mat is comprised of a nonslip anti-skid padding, customarily rubber. The mat may further comprise “bots dots” for further anti-skid functioning. “Padded” is herein a colloquial term for the top nonslip surface; no additional soft or pneumatic pad is necessary. 
     Standard Shopping Cart: A generic “supermarket” shopping cart with a storage area customarily comprised of a relatively narrow front [distal] end, a relatively wide rear [proximal] end, and wheel base with a rear bottom bar (also called the rear bottom cross bar) near the shopper&#39;s feet. The rear bottom cross bar is customarily a metal rod which supports the shopping cart&#39;s rear wheel struts. 
     “Top shelf”: herein used only colloquially; the stool is useful any time a shopper wishes to reach an item higher than shoulder-level. The stool may be used for any purpose for which step stools are needed. 
     Torsion Spring: a spring that works by twisting such that, when force is applied, its stored mechanical energy is converted to kinetic energy moving an object around a torsion bar or coil. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the Summary above and in this Detailed Description, and the claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features (including method steps) of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim, that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combination with and/or in the context of other particular aspects and embodiments of the invention. 
     Certain terminology and derivations thereof may be used in the following description for convenience in reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, words such as “upward,” “downward,” “left,” and “right” would refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made unless otherwise stated. Similarly, words such as “inward” and “outward” would refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of a device or area and designated parts thereof. References in the singular tense include the plural, and vice versa, unless otherwise noted. 
     The term “comprises” and grammatical equivalents thereof are used herein to mean that other components, ingredients, steps, among others, are optionally present. For example, an article “comprising” (or “which comprises”) components A, B and C can consist of (i.e., contain only) components A, B and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C but also contain one or more other components. 
     Where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more other steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility). 
     The term “at least” followed by a number is used herein to denote the start of a range beginning with that number (which may be a range having an upper limit or no upper limit, depending on the variable being defined). For example, “at least 1” means 1 or more than 
     1. The term “at most” followed by a number (which may be a range having 1 or 0 as its lower limit, or a range having no lower limit, depending upon the variable being defined). For example, “at most 4” means 4 or less than 4, and “at most 40%” means 40% or less than 40%. When, in this specification, a range is given as “(a first number) to (a second number)” or “(a first number) 
     −(a second number),” this means a range whose limit is the second number. For example, 25 to 100 mm means a range whose lower limit is 25 mm and upper limit is 100 mm. 
     Aspects of the disclosed invention may be embodied as a system, method or process, or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the disclosed invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the disclosed invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon. 
     Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35. U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6. Specifically, the use of “step of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6. 
     In all embodiments, when the customer wants to use the stool, it can be rotated, or “flipped,” into position by merely grabbing the proximal “kick up legs,” with one&#39;s foot and pulling upward-and-outward so that the entire stool pivots, or rotates, around the cart&#39;s rear-base-bar using the C-clamp as a hinge. The stool is deployed, or “rotated-out” until the slide-resistant floor pads on bottom of each leg are flush with the floor. The non-slip floor pads also function as a cart-brake to further secure customer safety. 
     The top standing-platform (pad, mat) of the stool will then be parallel with the floor, and the customer may stand on it to reach desired “top shelf” items. The stool&#39;s top platform comprises a textured surface which increases friction and prevents customer sliding, even with particularly slippery shoe soles or with bare feet. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the legs are held into the stool by individual tension springs, or herein “torsion springs,” positioned inside spring housings by hooks and correspondingly-positioned foldable joints, wherein the joints are hinges which further “lock” the legs inside their corresponding housing channels when legs are so folded-inside. Each tension spring housing comprises a hook which holds each corresponding spring. When the each spring lifts its corresponding leg into its housing channel, the leg, when buttressed against the edge of each channel in the housing, locks the legs in place. 
     The C-clamp at the end of the legs comprises a memory foam (thermoplastic foam) so it can adapt to a spectrum of shopping cart rear-lower cross bar sizes and diameters. The foam allows for easy clamping and removal, as does the “double C-clamp” shape, which easily allows for engagement with both large and small diameter shopping-cart rear lower cross bars. The teeth, in the preferred embodiment, are substantially square shaped, for their unique ability (when comprised of thermoplastic foam) to hold and disengage from an object (herein a cart rod) with the application of minimal force. 
     The slip resistant tread atop the stool platform is its own piece, a padded mat with treaded top and comprising a series of connecting pegs along its bottom side. The T-shaped-pegs along the tread mat&#39;s bottom side, are positioned into the top of the stool by manually “popping them in” to their connecting sockets/recesses within the top of the stool&#39;s housing unit. The housing unit has an upper lip, or grooved, indented recessed region, in which the upper tread mat pad rests. 
       FIG. 1  depicts an embodiment of the invention  100  in its “rotated-out,” deployed anchored “unfolded” position, ready for the shopper to step on the upper platform tread  110  to reach the “top shelf.” The front, proximal legs  140  and rear, distal legs  130  have been deployed into their locked position. Rubber stoppers  144  at the end of the proximal legs  140  grip the ground. Inside the housing unit  120 , legs  130 ,  140  lock into the housing  120  by torsion springs  124  affixed to the housing  120  by hooks (not shown). The legs  130 ,  140  are pulled by the torsion springs  124  up into the housing channels  123  along leg hinges on a horizontal axle (not shown). 
     The unit  100  has a non-slip tread  110 , which is anchored to the unit via  120 . The C-clamp  132  is clamped to the shopping cart&#39;s lower-rear cross bar  202 . 
       FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B  depict an embodiment of the invention in process of being folded and stowed. The proximal legs  140  are shown folded up into their channels  123 . The tread plugs  112 , herein shaped substantially as “upside down capital T&#39;s,” fit into their corresponding housing sockets  122 , or recesses, to hold the tread pad  110 . The distal legs  130  clamp  134  onto to the shopping cart&#39;s bottom-rear cross bar  202 . The clamp  134  may also comprise a truss screw mechanism to attach the stool to the shopping cart in a more permanent fashion. 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  show the same embodiment of the invention in the “next” stage of folding/stowing. The distal legs  130  are herein shown further folded/folding up into the housing  120 . The shopper (not shown) has already folded the proximal legs  140  into the housing  120 , and the bulk of the unit  100  is in an intermediary stage, shown largely stowed between the cart&#39;s  202  base rack  204  and the cart&#39;s main container area. 
       FIG. 4A  shows the cart stowed (in this embodiment) completely stowed horizontally on the cart&#39;s base bottom rack  204 . If the cart is large enough (offering sufficient space between the base bottom rack  204  and the main cart container area, then the shopper need not “de-clamp” the clamp  134  from the cart&#39;s lower-rear cross bar  202  to achieve this stowing state. After stowing the proximal legs  140 , if the shopper continues to push the invention forward [toward the cart] in this scenario, the unit  100  will fit entirely in the open region above the cart&#39;s base bottom rack  204 . 
     The shopper can alternatively achieve this ‘fully stowed’ state by easily de-clamping the C-clamp  134  from the cart&#39;s lower-rear cross bar  202 . The Clamp&#39;s unique shape and features allow for this ease of de-clamping (shown in  FIG. 7 ). 
       FIG. 4B  shows the unit “as collapsed” in a simple, easily-stowed rectangular shape, with legs  130 ,  140  stowed into the unit&#39;s  100  housing  120 , said legs being fixed into their corresponding channels  123 . 
       FIG. 5A  shows a temporary positioning of the unit  100  if the shopper wishes to continue shopping and does not wish to completely stow the unit  100 . Herein shown, the front legs  130  of the unit  100  are only partially folded, allowing the unit  100  to remain diagonally positioned against the cart&#39;s rear bars, yet sufficiently off the floor to allow the shopper to continue rolling the cart without encumbrance to continue shopping. When the shopper wishes to reach another “top shelf” item, she can simply grab the proximal bottom corner of the unit  100 , grab and pull down/out the kick out legs  140  by their arched connecting bar  145  (the “kick up lip,”) until said legs are fully extended in their locked, deployed position, then drop said legs  140  and their rubber stoppers  144  against the floor, and then step on the stool as needed. The radius of the arched connecting bar  145  must be sufficient to accommodate at least a human toe and at most a large human foot, therefore between 3 inches and 14 inches. 
       FIG. 5B  shows the angle of the distal legs  130  and their maintained-connection to the cart&#39;s lower-rear cross bar  202 . The C-clamp  134  is uniquely shaped and engineered to maintain this connection while rotating into the position shown, allowing for secure storing while the shopper continues to roll the cart. 
       FIG. 6  shows a close-up view of the distal legs  130 . The hinge &amp; axle points  132  are herein generically shown, referencing the position where necessary spring, hinge and axle are positioned. The unique C-clamp  134  is also shown, further enlarged in  FIG. 7 . 
       FIG. 7  shows the C clamp in one embodiment of the invention. The distal legs&#39;  130  clamps  134  fit over the cart&#39;s lower-rear cross bar  202  via the clamp&#39;s  134  aperture  135 . The clamp  134  thus snaps over larger cross bars  202 , which rest in the clamp&#39;s  134  larger socket  136 . Smaller cart cross bars  202  (bars with more narrow diameters) therefore snap into the clamp&#39;s  134  smaller socket  137 . 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  show the non-slip mat pad  110  and its  110  connecting plugs  112 , which fit into their corresponding housing  120  sockets  122 . The entire pad  110  fits into an indentation in the main housing  120 , sufficiently recessed to securely hold the pad  110 . The undercarriage of the housing  120  is also vaguely shown, generally indicating the channels  123  wherein the legs  130 ,  140  retract and remain positioned when fixed. Inside the housing channels  123  are folding joint fastening means which connect the legs  130 ,  140  to the housing  120 . In the preferred embodiment, the folding joint fastening means comprise hooks, tension springs, and hinges positioned to help the legs  130 ,  140  fold up into the housing  120  with a minimal amount of force applied. 
       FIG. 10  shows a close-up view of the proximal legs  140 . The hinge &amp; axle points  142  are herein generically shown, referencing the position where necessary spring, hinge and axle are positioned. The unique arched cross bar  145  is featured, used as a “kick up lip” by the shopper to collapse the invention into its “stowed” state. 
     ALTERNATE EMBODIMENTS 
     
         
         
           
             The stool may also clamp permanently to the shopping cart via Truss-type clamp, with screws to more-permanently fix the stool to a shopping cart or supermarket shelf. 
             The C-clamp may also feature a slide-cover which makes it interchangeable with the “kick up legs,” thereby allowing the shopper to use the stool anywhere (without the shopping cart anchor). 
             The C-clamp may also comprise its own rubber stoppers along its outer edge, so that the distal legs also grip the ground as well as the proximal legs, so the shopper can completely disengage the stepping stool from the shopping cart and use the stool independently. In this embodiment, the C-clamp features a sliding cover, or tab, which covers the C-clamp&#39;s aperture to allow its corresponding leg to function independently and support weight as if the distal legs had no clamps. In this embodiment, the sliding cover, or tab, would also comprise nonslip padding on its bottom surface to maintain appropriate friction to prevent slippage. 
             The stepping stool housing unit&#39;s undercarriage may also comprise a chamber of at least 5 liters in volume, sufficiently sized and shaped for the shopper to disengage the stool from the cart and use the stool, when inverted, as a carrying container (a “shopping bag”) to hold grocery items. In this embodiment, the proximal and/or distal legs&#39; bottoms comprise at least one handle for the shopper to hold while shopping. 
             The stepping stool&#39;s clamp may be tailored to fit the lower shelf of a supermarket, such that the stool may securely function to help shoppers reach “top shelf” items when disengaged from any shopping cart. 
             The step stool with a Velcro™ strap which fastens the stool to a shopping cart&#39;s rear end. 
             The step stool wherein each C-clamp also has a hinge for tilting the stool. 
             The stool wherein the housing unit undercarriage further comprises tracks to allow a shopper to roll to stool into the shopping cart. 
             The stool wherein the legs telescopically fold to shrink and expand. 
             The stool wherein the top planar platform is hinged to allow shoppers to roll items into the shopping cart. 
             The stool, wherein the proximal legs&#39; bottom portion comprises a wheel caster mechanism to allow the invention, when disengaged from a shopping cart, to function as a rolling cart.