Abstract:
A wheeled shopping cart with a rotatable rear panel or side is provided with a field-installable, field removable nest wire. Removing the nest wire enables the front portion of the wheeled shopping cart to be more compactly telescoped into the rotatable rear panel of another, similar shopping cart, the nest wire of which is removed. Installing the nest wire post-manufacture and at the location where the cart will be used enables multiple carts to be nested or telescoped into each other, more compactly than would be possible with the nest wire installed.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Shopping carts, which are comprised of a wheeled frame to which a wire-mesh basket is affixed, are relatively light but nevertheless bulky. While they are designed to be telescoped together, i.e., placing the front end of the basket into a movable rear panel, wire-mesh shopping carts are relatively difficult to economically package and ship in their assembled state. A method and apparatus for facilitating the shipment of frame and basket portions in a reduced-size state would be an improvement over the prior art. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0002]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a prior art shopping cart; 
           [0003]      FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B  are side and top views respectively of shopping carts nested together with a nest wire installed on each cart; 
           [0004]      FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  are side and top views respectively of shopping carts nested together without a nest wire on any of the carts; 
           [0005]      FIG. 4  is an isolated perspective view of a tubular frame for a shopping cart showing the attachment of a nest wire that is field installable and field removable; 
           [0006]      FIG. 5A  is a side view of the frame shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0007]      FIG. 5B  is a isolated view of detail C shown in  FIG. 5A ; 
           [0008]      FIG. 6A  is a top view of a field-installable and removable nest wire; 
           [0009]      FIG. 6B  is a side view of a field-installable and removable nest wire shown in  FIG. 6A ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 7  is an isolated view of one end of a field-installable and removable nest wire and a nest wire click lock that is configured to be attached to a frame and to receive one end of the field-installable nest wire; 
           [0011]      FIG. 8A  is an exploded view of the field-installable and removable nest wire positioned for placement into click locks; 
           [0012]      FIG. 8B  is an assembled view showing the field-installable and replaceable nest wire installed into the click locks; 
           [0013]      FIG. 9A  is a perspective view of a nest wire showing both ends installed in a click lock; 
           [0014]      FIG. 9B  is an isolated view of a click lock showing a retaining clip; 
           [0015]      FIG. 10A  is a top view of a click lock; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 10B  is a side view of a click lock. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a shopping cart  100 . The cart  100  is comprised of a basket portion  102  attached to a frame portion  104 . The frame portion  104  is provided with wheels  106 , which allow the cart  100  to be wheeled about. 
         [0018]    The basket portion  102  has a rear panel or door  108 , the bottom  110  of which is able to pivot upwardly, when the rear panel  108  rotates around hinges  112  that are provided to the rear panel  108  near the top  107  of the basket  102 . The hinges  112  are depicted in the figure as being in front of a user handle  114 . The rear panel  108  is thus able to rotate upwardly or forwardly in a clockwise direction as shown in  FIG. 1  to allow multiple carts  100  to be nested one inside the other. 
         [0019]    Nesting carts  100  inside each other enables several of them to be stored in a smaller area than would otherwise be required to store the carts, end-to-end, i.e., with the front panel  109  of one cart  100  rested or abutting against the back panel  108  of another cart. When carts are nested, the front end  109  of one cart  100  is pushed into the back panel  108  of a second cart, which causes the back panel  108  of the second cart to rotate around the aforementioned hinges  112 . In so doing, an upright tubular portion  118  of the frame  104  of a first cart will abut or run into a nest wire  116  of the cart in front of it. The nest wire  116  thus limits the distance into which one cart can be pushed into another. 
         [0020]      FIG. 2A  is a side view of several carts  100 - 1  through  100 - 5  nested together. The front panel  109  of each of the first four carts  100 - 1  through  100 - 4  is pushed into or nested into the rear panel  108  of the second cart  100 - 2  through fifth cart  100 - 5 . 
         [0021]    Pushing the front panel  109  of a first cart too far into the rear panel  108  of a second cart can be problematic because carts that are too tightly nested can be difficult to separate. Prior art carts are therefore manufactured to limit the distance by which the carts are able to be nested into each other. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , a field-installable, field-removable nest wire  116  attached to the inclined rear tubes  117  of the frame portion  104 , stops the upright tubes  118  of a cart inserted into the rear panel  108 . As used herein, a nest distance  202  (See  FIG. 2 .) is considered to be the distance between a nest wire  116  and tubes  118  of frame that will abut or stop against the nest wire  116  of a cart.  FIG. 2B  is a top view of the five nested baskets, which are identified by reference numerals  100 - 1  through  100 - 5 . 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIG. 2A , the nest distance  202  with a nest wire  116  installed on each basket is about 13 inches. As shown in  FIG. 2B , the overall length of five nested carts with a nest wire installed on each basket is about 90.6 inches. 
         [0024]      FIG. 3A  depicts the same five carts of  FIGS. 2A and 2B , nested together without a nest wire on any of the frames. When the nest wire  116  is removed from each cart  100 - 1  through  100 - 5 , the same five carts  100 - 1  through  100 - 5  can be nested more closely together. The nest distance  202  without the nest wire  116  installed on each of the frames  104  is reduced to about 8.5 to about 9 inches. Nesting the carts without a nest wire thus reduces the nest distance  202  by about thirty-five percent. 
         [0025]      FIG. 3B  is a top view of the nesting of the five carts shown in  FIG. 3A . The overall length of five nested carts is reduced to just over seventy-two inches. Removing the nest wire  116  from a shopping cart thus significantly reduces nest distance  202 . Removing the nest wire  116  also significantly reduces the overall length of two or more nested carts. 
         [0026]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a tubular frame  400  for a shopping cart having a field-installable and field-removable nest wire  402 . A field-installable nest wire  402  is one that can be installed onto the frame  400  of a shopping cart by hand, which means without tools or other special equipment. A field-removable nest wire  402  is one that can also be removed from the cart frame at any time after manufacture, by hand, i.e., without special tools or special equipment. 
         [0027]    The field installation of a nest wire  402  is provided in part by way of two “click locks”  404 , the shapes of which are configured to receive a nest wire  402  and which are reminiscent of a cylinder. The field-removability of a nest wire  402  is also provided by the click locks  404 . 
         [0028]    The click locks  404  are rigidly attached to the frame  400 , preferably by welding. They permit the nest wire  402  to be installed and removed without special tools. Stated another way, the nest wire installation and removal can be accomplished by hand or with only common tools that include pliers and a mallet or hammer. 
         [0029]      FIG. 5A  is a side view of the frame  400  shown in  FIG. 4 . A click lock  404  is welded to an inclined rear section  406  of the frame  400 .  FIG. 5B  is an isolated view of detail C showing the attachment of the click lock  404  to the inclined portion  406  of the frame  400 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 6A  is a top view of a U-shaped, field-installable, field-replaceable nest wire (nest wire)  402 .  FIG. 6B  is a side view of the nest wire  402 . The nest wire  402  has an overall length  408  defined as the distance between two, nest wire locking sections  410  that are located at each of the two ends  412  and  414 , of the wire  402 . The length  408  of the nest wire  402  corresponds to and is substantially equal to the space between two inclined portions  406  of a frame  400 .  FIG. 6A  shows that the nest wire locking sections  410  and an elongated center portion  411  are substantially co-planar.  FIG. 6B  shows that the nest wire  402  is substantially U-shaped. 
         [0031]      FIG. 7  is an isolated view of the second end  414  of the nest wire  402  shown in  FIGS. 6A and 6B . The locking section  410 , which is orthogonal to the center portion  411 , has an overall length “L” which in the preferred embodiment is between about two inches and about four inches. A far or distal end  416  of the locking section  410  is provided with a chamfer or taper to facilitate insertion of the locking section  410  into substantially circular opening  420  of a click lock  404 . A groove or slot  422  is cut or otherwise formed into a shank region  424  of the locking section  410 . The groove or slot  422  is configured to receive a locking pin  426 , after the locking section  410  is inserted into the click lock  404 . 
         [0032]    The locking pin  426  has a shape reminiscent of the Arabic letter “S.” The locking pin  426  has a first end  428  configured to fit into a slot or notch  430  formed through the bottom end of the click lock  404 . A somewhat rod-like second end  429  fits into a groove  431  formed into the body of the click lock and into a groove  422  formed into the locking section  410 . 
         [0033]    The locking pin  426  is sized, shaped and arranged to removably hold the locking section  410  of the nest wire  426  in the click lock  404 . As used herein, the term, “removably hold” means that the locking pin  426  can of course be installed into the click lock in order to hold the locking section  410  into the click lock  404 , however, the locking pin  426  is also removable from the click lock. Removing the locking pin  426  from the click lock  404  enables the nest wire to be removed from the click lock. 
         [0034]      FIG. 8A  is an exploded view of the U-shaped nest wire  402  positioned to be installed into click locks  404 . The locking pins  426  are shown as being located for insertion into the holes  430  into the click lock bodies.  FIG. 8B  is an assembled view of the nest wire  402  and click locks  404  and showing the nest wire  402  latched in place into the click locks  404 . 
         [0035]    Referring now to  FIG. 9 , there is shown a click lock  404  having the latching pin  426  installed therein. The rod-like second end  429  fits into a notch or groove  431  formed in the click lock body at the same time that it fits inside of the mating notch  422  formed into the shank portion  424  of the locking section  410 . The two notches  422  and  430  thus coincide with each other when the locking section  410  is properly installed into the click lock  404 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 10A  is a top view of a click lock  402 . The click lock  402  has an overall length  440  of approximately 4 inches, which is long enough to secure the locking section  410  of a nest wire  402 . The click lock has an inside diameter  442  just large enough to receive the substantially circular cross-sectioned nest wire. 
         [0037]      FIG. 10B  is a side view of the click lock  402 . An elongated hole  430  is formed into the side of the click lock body accompanied by a notch or slot  422 . 
         [0038]    Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the click locks  404  have shapes reminiscent of cylinders. The cylinder-shaped click locks  404  are provided with a hole  430  and a notch or slot  422  that receive a locking pin  426 . The locking pin  426  engages a nest wire  402  as well as the click lock  404 . Once installed in the click locks, the pins prevent the nest wires from being removed. 
         [0039]    While the preferred embodiment of the nest wire has a circular cross section, which mates with click locks having cylindrically-shaped interiors, alternate embodiments include nest wires with non-circular cross sections, examples of which include square, rectangular, triangular and elliptical cross sections. In other embodiments, a locking pin can be provided with a barb or an upset end configured to extend through slot  422 . This embodiment of the locking pin would resemble the Arabic letter “C.” 
         [0040]    While the materials for the nest wire and click lock are preferably metal, in alternate embodiments, one or both of them are made of plastic. In yet another embodiment, a factory-installed locking wire is installed in the click lock, the locking wire having an end bent 90 degrees and configured to trap the nest wire through the hole/slot  430  and provide sufficient spring tension across the  422  slot to retain the nest wire. 
         [0041]    The foregoing description is purposes of illustration only. The true scope of the invention is set forth in the appurtenant claims.