Patent ID: 7494135

Claim:
A shopping vehicle comprising: a wheeled chassis supporting: a main cart including a front portion, a rear portion, a basket, and a tray, the tray vertically spaced from and positioned below the basket; and a utility portion extending rearward from the rear portion of the main cart and including: a generally horizontal platform extending in generally the same plane as the tray of the main cart and adjacent to the tray of the main cart to define a substantially continuous loading surface extending on both the tray of the main cart and the generally horizontal platform of the utility portion; a support structure spaced from the rear portion of the main cart and extending generally vertically upward from and generally perpendicular to the generally horizontal platform, wherein the generally horizontal platform and the support structure of the utility portion in combination with the rear portion of the main cart together define a first cargo zone; and a panel pivotally mounted to the support structure for pivotal movement between a first position in which the panel is in a generally vertical position and generally parallel to the support structure to further define the first cargo zone and a second position in which the panel is in a generally horizontal position spaced vertically above the platform and generally perpendicular to the support structure to facilitate nesting of other carts relative to the utility portion of the shopping vehicle, the panel comprising a seat assembly including: a backrest pivotally mounted to the support structure via a first pivot mechanism; and a seat portion pivotally mounted to the backrest via a second pivot mechanism, the seat portion being pivotally movable between a generally horizontal seating position and a generally vertical storage position in which the seat portion is releasably lockable via the second pivot mechanism into the storage position.