Land vehicles – Wheeled – Coasters
Patent
1996-03-19
1998-10-13
Johnson, Brian L.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Coasters
280 38, 280 4719, 280 4735, B62M 100
Patent
active
058201467
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a multi-functional roller cart for transporting passengers and/or packages, having a stepboard, at least two rollers which are forward with respect to the direction of travel, at least one rear roller, and a support and draw bar disposed on the stepboard.
2. Description of Prior Art
Roller boards, also known as skateboards, are mainly used by young people for travel and as a toy. In general they have two front and two rear rollers, wherein each roller pair is connected with a movable wheel shaft. Such roller boards are small and are very maneuverable because of the special seating of the wheel shafts. In addition, they also allow rapid movement even over territory with little free space in which bicycles, for example, could no longer be used. However, a disadvantage of these roller boards is that they require the user to have a certain dexterity and training.
The advantages of these roller boards as means for general passenger transport have already been noted, so that roller boards are already known which can also be used by untrained people. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,647 and French Patent Reference 2,467,003 disclose roller boards having a guide bar on which the rider supports himself and by which he can determine the direction of travel. The propulsion of the roller board takes place either by the power of his own body by propelling with a foot against the ground, or by a drive motor disposed on the roller board.
Although with this the roller board can be employed as generally usable transportation, it still has considerable disadvantages. In most cases there is the desire of simultaneously transporting packages. For this reason roller devices are employed in storage facilities which are designed analogously with the known two-wheeled scooter for children and have support surfaces for transporting packages. Some known roller devices even have three wheels, wherein two are disposed in front and one in the rear. However, these roller devices are relatively large, clumsy and considerably less maneuverable than the above described roller boards.
A three-wheeled roller device or trottinett with a guide bar is known from German Patent Reference 35 37 522, which makes the transportation of packages possible. This roller device has one wheel in front and two in the rear. The guide bar is pivotally mounted in a joint, so that in the vertical position it is used as a guide bar of a passenger transport medium, and in the inclined position is used as the draw bar of a package hand cart, wherein the stepboard of the roller device is used as a support surface for the packages. The guide bar can furthermore be completely pivoted down, so that the roller device can be folded together and easily carried.
However, such known roller device is also clumsy when functioning as a package cart and can hardly be used on pedestrian walks or shopping streets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore one object of this invention to create a transport medium for passengers and/or package transport which is easy to operate, maneuverable, easily folded and particularly useful for package transport even in narrow passages.
The above and other objects are achieved with a multi-functional roller cart having a stepboard, at least two front rollers, at least one rear roller and a support and draw bar that pivots with respect to the stepboard to a folded-up position that is generally parallel to a plane of the stepboard. At least one carrier surface receives packages when in a partially folded state, and the front rollers are positioned approximately flush or extend forward of the stepboard so that when in a folded-up position the cart can be moved or rolled using the two front rollers.
Further advantageous embodiments are described below in more detail.
The roller cart of this invention can be multi-functionally employed and is just as maneuverable as known roller boards. On one hand, the roller cart of this invention can be employed purely as a pas
REFERENCES:
patent: 1289361 (1918-12-01), Bastman
patent: 2419422 (1947-04-01), Schulein
patent: 2582143 (1952-01-01), Maas
patent: 2693968 (1954-11-01), Bateman et al.
patent: 2715533 (1955-08-01), Strausburg
patent: 3785669 (1974-01-01), Doheny
patent: 4167225 (1979-09-01), Fragoso
patent: 4274647 (1981-06-01), Drake, Jr.
patent: 4802681 (1989-02-01), Hung
patent: 5033759 (1991-07-01), Wix
Johnson Brian L.
Vanaman Frank
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