Land vehicles – Wheeled – Nesting vehicles
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-19
2001-03-20
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Nesting vehicles
C280S047120, C280S047170, C280S047340, C280S047350, C280S079110, C280S079300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06203029
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to flat bed or platform carts in which a horizontal, wheeled bed or platform has a handle projecting upwardly from its rear end, and is particularly concerned with a nestable flat bed cart.
Flat bed or platform carts are used in stores such as hardware stores and the like selling relatively large items. Customers can readily place such items on the open, flat bed or platform of the cart in order to transport them to the cashier and then to their vehicles. One problem with flat bed carts is that they take up a considerable amount of storage space when not in use, and no effective arrangement for nesting such carts has been devised up to now.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,816 of Vom Braucke et al., a platform cart is described in which the handle can be folded forwardly onto the platform for storage, and carts can be stacked on top of each other for storage. However, this is not particularly convenient when a cart is to be removed from its stacked condition, or for moving a stack of carts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved flat bed cart which is nestable and has a flat and level deck portion or platform.
According to the present invention, a flat bed cart is provided which comprises a flat platform having a front end, a rear end, and a central longitudinal axis, a plurality of wheels supporting the platform, and an upwardly extending handle frame mounted at the rear end of the platform. The platform has a forward, fixed deck portion and rear, liftable deck portion having a forward end hinged to the fixed deck portion for rotation about a horizontal hinge axis extending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the platform, and a rear end which rests freely on a support bar in the handle frame.
When the forward end of a first cart is pushed into the rear end of a second cart, the liftable deck portion of the second cart will be lifted up to allow the fixed deck portion of the first cart to engage beneath the lifted deck portion. Another cart can then be nested into the rear end of the first cart in a similar manner. This will considerably reduce storage space requirements.
The fixed and liftable deck portions are preferably secured together by means of a double hinge mechanism, with an intermediate platform section between the fixed and liftable deck portions and secured to the respective deck portions by respective first and second parallel hinges. With this arrangement, the liftable deck portion is substantially horizontal when lifted by a second cart nested into the rear end of the platform. The arrangement is such that the deck or platform is flat and level when the cart is in use or not nested for storage.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the platform or bed of the cart has a rigid peripheral frame, preferably of tubular bar or rod construction, extending around the forward end and opposite sides of the platform, with the frame being open at the rear end of the cart for receiving the forward end of the platform of another cart. The opposite sides of the frame taper outwardly from the forward end to the rear end of the platform. Thus, the forward end of each platform is narrower than the rear end, so that it can be readily nested into the open rear end of the platform frame of another cart. The fixed and liftable deck portions are mounted in the frame and may be of wire mesh or other construction.
Preferably, the cart has a caster lifting portion beneath the platform for lifting up the front casters of a platform nested into the rear of the cart. This ensures that a row of nested carts can be pushed and steered from one place to another, since only the front, steering or swivel casters of the forward cart in the row will engage the ground for steering purposes.
The flat bed cart of this invention is easily nestable for storage, and nested carts can be readily separated as required for use. When a plurality of flat bed carts are nested together, they will take up significantly less storage space than would an equivalent number of non-nestable flat bed carts.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2764419 (1956-09-01), Enders
patent: 2903269 (1959-09-01), Hennion
patent: 2918294 (1959-12-01), Hennion
patent: 3224787 (1965-12-01), Andersen
patent: 3497234 (1970-02-01), Schray
patent: 3534973 (1970-10-01), Elliott
patent: 3818111 (1974-06-01), Ruger
patent: 4850604 (1989-07-01), Marchand et al.
patent: 5299816 (1994-04-01), Vom Braucke et al.
patent: 5556118 (1996-09-01), Kern et al.
patent: 5558359 (1996-09-01), Phears
patent: 0 352 647 (1990-01-01), None
patent: 8500419 (1986-09-01), None
Brown Martin Haller & McClain
Mai Lanna
To Toan
LandOfFree
Nestable flat bed cart does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Nestable flat bed cart, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Nestable flat bed cart will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2458246