Patent ID: 7066485

Claim:
A wheeled carrier device comprising: a base member including a multiplicity of formed, upwardly projecting stub walls with a free upper edge, defining a side elevational profile and an outer perimeter; at least three wheels which provide rolling support to the base member of the carrier device; and a handle defining a formed grasping portion, secured to the carrier device; and at least three separate wheel assembly receiving cavities formed out of the device stub wall thickness, each cavity being defined by open space in the stub wall; at least three wheel assemblies, each wheel assembly including a plurality of support surfaces perpendicular to a base, defining a wheel assembly periphery and an interior cavity; the wheel assembly further includes both wheel assembly mounting means and wheel attaching means interconnected to at least one wheel; housed at least partially within the wheel assembly periphery are transversely disposed, oppositely extending mounting elements, which occupy adjacent portions of the carrier device base member, about which the wheel assembly pivots, and the at least one wheel includes an outer rim and a central hub, said hub including a transverse opening therein, and said wheel attaching means for the at least one wheel including at least one elongate wheel support element, said wheel support element including a transverse portion at a first portion received in said opening in said hub and forming an axle about which said wheel rotates, at least one uppermost portion extending orthogonally to said transverse portion and being affixed to the wheel assembly, said uppermost portion terminating in a second end, said wheel assembly including a terminal fixing means disposed proximate to the second end, which terminal fixing means secures said at least one wheel, and said elongate support element to the wheel assembly; and in the first operative position of the wheel assemblies each associated at least one wheel is orthogonal to the device base, the periphery of each wheel assembly substantially occupies one of said wheel assembly receiving cavities and at least one wheel rotates 360 degrees about at least one vertical axis defined by at least one elongate wheel support element supporting said at least one wheel, substantially below the underside periphery of the base, and in a second, stowed position of each wheel assembly, the outer stub wall profile is interrupted revealing a cavity, and each of the at least three wheels and their associated elongate wheel support elements are near to parallel with the device base, located within the device outer perimeter; and latching means which positively latch each wheel assembly against movement when in the first position, which latching means engages a portion of the carrier device base member and a portion of the wheel assembly.