Land vehicles – Wheeled – Stable vehicles – handle-propelled
Patent
1998-02-19
1999-11-09
Camby, Richard M.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Stable vehicles, handle-propelled
280 4735, 280 793, 188 19, B62B 300
Patent
active
059799170
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a service cart or trolley and then particularly to a catering cart or trolley for use in confined spaces such as the aisles of passenger aircraft and railway diners, wherein the cart is adapted for connection to another similar cart and is provided with four wheels, of which at least two can be locked with the aid of a toothed rack which can be swung into engagement with a toothed wheel fixedly mounted on a respective wheel and which is maneuverable with the aid of a pedal located on the serving side of the cart, through the medium of a brake rod.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The catering carts of the kind intended here can be attended to from two opposite directions and are normally designed to carry food trays placed from the bottom of the trolley and upwards, although the carts may alternatively be designed for other purposes. The known catering carts, however, are encumbered with certain drawbacks. For instance, because they shall be attended from both ends of the cart they have a length which corresponds to twice the length of a food tray. Another drawback is that the personnel in attendance are forced to bend or squat in order to reach trays located at the bottom of the trolley. This is an uncomfortable task and is liable to result in bodily wear and tear in the passage of time. Even when the cart is loaded from only one side, i.e. does not require the presence of two attendants, it is still necessary to attend to the cart as a whole, for instance in an aircraft. Such handling involves unnecessarily tiresome work on the part of the personnel involved. Applicant's parallel Patent Application 9601579-7 relates to a catering cart construction which enables two such carts to be mutually coupled to provide a cart of "twice the length".
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to facilitate the work of personnel attending to a cart of this kind, and particularly to enable two mutually coupled carts to be attended from only one side thereof, and also to enable the mutually coupled carts to be braked effectively. This is achieved with an inventive catering cart having the characteristic features set forth in the following Claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to an exemplifying embodiment thereof and also with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a catering cart or trolley which is to be coupled to another such cart or trolley in accordance with FIG. 2;
FIG.3 illustrates schematically a brake arrangement included in respective carts;
FIG. 4 illustrates the respective brake arrangements in mutual coaction when the carts are coupled together;
FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the actual wheel brake;
FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the brake arrangement;
FIG. 7 illustrates schematically coupling elements included therein; and
FIG. 8 illustrates positioning of the coupling elements in FIG. 7 in the catering cart.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 illustrates schematically an inventive catering cart comprising two sides 1, a front 2, a back 3, and a top 4. The cart is movable on four wheels, of which the rear wheels 5 are casters. The cart interior is accessible from the front 2 of the cart, through an opening in the upper half of said cart, said opening being closable by means of a shutter or flap (not shown in the Figure). The reference numeral 6 identifies trays intended for serving pre-packed meals in aircraft, for instance.
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of two catering carts positioned back-to-back in order to be coupled together. When the catering carts are coupled back-to-back there is obtained a catering cart which is accessible from both sides 2 and which can be used for passenger service in the cabin of an aircraft, for instance. This coupling facility enables the easily maneuvered, single catering cart earlier described to be convert
REFERENCES:
patent: 3861702 (1975-01-01), Wilson
patent: 4697711 (1987-10-01), Noren
patent: 4875696 (1989-10-01), Welch et al.
patent: 4948154 (1990-08-01), Guggenhein
patent: 5482299 (1996-01-01), Maddox
patent: 5566961 (1996-10-01), Snell et al.
Thogersen Lars Hojgaard
Toft Nils
Camby Richard M.
Scandinavian Airline Systems
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