U.S. patent application number 09/767678 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-25 for collapsible handcart.
Invention is credited to Tsai, James.
Application Number | 20020096861 09/767678 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25080221 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020096861 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tsai, James |
July 25, 2002 |
COLLAPSIBLE HANDCART
Abstract
A collapsible handcart includes a main member equipped with a
handgrip; a carrier member pivoted to the main member and turned
between an extended position for supporting articles and a
collapsed position attached to the main member; two wheeled
assembles respectively pivoted two the main member at two sides and
turned upwards and downwards between a collapsed position and an
operative position, the wheeled assembles each comprising a leg
with the proximal end pivoted at the main member, a wheeled
carriage pivoted to the distal end of the leg, and a wheel pivoted
to the wheeled carriage; and two gear sets respectively coupled
between the main member and the legs of the wheeled assembles and
adapted to drive the wheeled assembles to turn between the
operative position and the collapsed position when turning the
carrier member between the extended position and the collapsed
position.
Inventors: |
Tsai, James; (Taichung
Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BROWDY AND NEIMARK, P.L.L.C.
624 NINTH STREET, NW
SUITE 300
WASHINGTON
DC
20001-5303
US
|
Family ID: |
25080221 |
Appl. No.: |
09/767678 |
Filed: |
January 24, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
280/639 ;
280/641 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B62B 1/125 20130101;
B62B 2205/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
280/639 ;
280/641 |
International
Class: |
B62B 001/00 |
Claims
What the invention claimed is:
1. A collapsible handcart comprising: a main member has a handgrip;
a carrier member, with one end pivoted to the bottom side of said
main member for turning said carrier member between a extended
position in which said carrier member is turned downwards a
predetermined angle for supporting an article, and a collapsed
position in which said carrier member is turned upwards to attach
to said main member; two wheeled assembles, each of which comprises
a leg, a wheeled carriage and a wheel, wherein said wheel is
pivoted on said wheeled carriage and said wheeled carriage is
provided on the distal end of said leg; said legs of said wheeled
assemblies with the proximal ends pivoted at said main member,
whereby said two wheeled assemblies can be turn upwards to a
collapsed position, in which said wheeled assemblies are attached
to said main member; and said wheeled assemblies can be turn
downward exceed 90 degrees to an operative position; two gear sets
respectively coupled between said main member and the legs of said
wheeled assembles for driving said wheeled assembles to turn
between the operative position and the collapsed position when
turning said carrier member between the extended position and the
collapsed position.
2. The collapsible handcart of claim 1, wherein said wheeled
carriages of said wheeled assemblies are pivoted to the distal ends
of said legs of said wheeled assemblies respectively, and turned
outwards and inwards relative to the legs between an operative
position and a received position, and said main member comprises
two trigger devices adapted to press said wheeled carriages of said
wheeled assembles to turn to the received positions when wheeled
assembles are turned to the collapsed position.
3. The collapsible handcart of claim 2, wherein each of said
wheeled assemble further comprise a spring, which with two ends
against at the respective leg and the respective wheeled carriage
and adapted to hold the respective wheeled carriage in the
operative position.
4. The collapsible handcart of claim 1, wherein said wheeled
assembles are respectively pivoted to two opposite lateral sides of
said main member, and turned downwards to the extended position or
upwards to the received position.
5. The collapsible handcart of claim 1, wherein said wheeled
assembles are respectively pivoted to a back side of said main
member, and turned downwards to the extended position or upwards to
the received position.
6. The collapsible handcart of claim 1, wherein said main member
comprises two wheeled seats for receiving said wheeled assemblies
when said wheeled assemblies are turned to the collapsed
positions.
7. The collapsible handcart of claim 1, wherein further comprises a
retractable rod provided at said main member, said handgrip is
provided at the top end of said retractable rod.
8. The collapsible handcart of claim 6, wherein said handle
assembly further comprises a control button installed in said
handgrip and adapted to control operation of said retractable
rod.
9. The collapsible handcart of claim 1 further comprises a stand
pivoted to the bottom side of said carrier member, and turned
relative to said carrier member between an extended position and a
received position.
10. The collapsible handcart of claim 8 further comprises a link
coupled between said stand and said main member, and adapted to
pull said stand to the received position when said carrier member
is turned upwards to the collapsed position and to push said stand
to the extended position when said carrier member is turned
downwards to the extended position.
11. The collapsible handcart of claim 1, wherein said carrier
member comprises two lock potions and adapted for securing to a
part of said main member when said carrier member is turned upwards
to the collapsed position.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a handcart and, more
particularly, to a collapsible handcart with a new way of
collapsing the wheels.
[0002] Most of the collapsible handcart, in present market, the way
and mechanism of collapsing the wheels is like U.S. Pat. No.
4,917,392 disclosed. The wheeled assembles of the collapsible
handcart each has a cam slot. When turning the carrier member of
the collapsed handcart outwards to the extended position, the
wheeled carriages are driven to turn to the extended position in
which the axes of rotation of the two wheels are in parallel to the
handcart. On the contrary, when the carrier member is turned
inwards to the collapsed position, the wheeled carriages are driven
to receive in the collapsed position in which the axes of rotation
of the two wheels are in orthogonal to the handcart. Such the way
of collapsing of the collapsible handcart is boring to the
consumers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The main object of the present invention is to provide an
innovative way of collapsing of a handcart.
[0004] According to the object of the present invention, the
collapsible handcart comprise a main member equipped with a
handgrip; a carrier member pivoted to the main member and turned
between an extended position for supporting an article and a
collapsed position attached to the main member; two wheeled
assemblies respectively pivoted two the main member at two sides
and turned upwards and downwards between a collapsed position and
an operative position; and two gear sets respectively coupled
between the main member and the wheeled assembles to drive the
wheeled assembles to turn between the operative position and the
collapsed position when turning the carrier member between the
extended position and the collapsed position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a collapsible handcart
according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0006] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the
present invention, showing the collapsible handcart extended
out.
[0007] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the collapsed status of
the collapsible handcart of the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0008] FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG.
3.
[0009] FIG. 5 illustrates the receiving of the wheeled assembles of
the collapsible handcart of the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0010] FIG. 6 illustrates the receiving of the wheeled assembles of
the collapsible handcart of the first embodiment of the present
invention (II).
[0011] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a collapsible handcart
according to a second embodiment of the present invention when
extended out.
[0012] FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the collapsed status of
the collapsible handcart of the second embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, a handcart 1 in accordance with a first
embodiment of the present invention is shown comprised of a main
member 10, two wheeled assembles 30, a carrier member 40, and two
gear sets 60.
[0014] The main member 10 comprises a rod seat 11 on the middle
near the bottom side thereof, a locating ring 12 on the middle of
the top side thereof. Two wheeled seats 14 at two opposite lateral
sides of the main member 10, two trigger devices 141 respectively
disposed in the wheeled seats 14 at the top (see FIG. 4). Two
receptacles 13 bilaterally disposed at the two sides of the bottom
end of the main member 10, two pivot slots 131 respectively
disposed at the back side of each receptacle 13, two through holes
132 respectively disposed at the front side of each receptacle 13.
Two axle caps 16 respectively mounted in the through holes 132,
each axle holder 16 comprising a bottom center pivot slot 161 and a
peripheral notch 162, and two pivot pins 15 of hexagonal
cross-section respectively mounted in the receptacles 13, each
pivot pin 15 having two round rods 151 respectively coupled to the
pivot slot 131 in one receptacle 13 and the pivot slot 161 of one
axle cap 16.
[0015] A retractable rod 21 is inserted through the locating ring
12 and fixedly fastened to the rod seat 11, which has a handgrip 22
at the top end, and a control button 221 installed in the top
handgrip 22 for unlocking control. After the control button 221 had
been depressed, the user can pull the handgrip 22 to move the
retractable rod 21 between the extended position and the received
position. The handgrip 22 comprises a base frame 222 fixedly
fastened to the retractable handle 21, and a handhold frame 223
pivoted to the base frame 22 and held in the downwardly extended
initial position by two torsional springs (not shown). When in use,
the handhold frame 223 is turned upwards for easy holding with the
hand. When released from the hand, the handhold frame 223 is
automatically returned to its initial position by the torsional
springs.
[0016] The wheeled assembles 30 each comprises a leg 31, a wheeled
carriage 32, and a wheel 33. The wheel 33 is pivoted to the wheeled
carriage 32 for free rotation. The wheeled carriage 32 is pivoted
to distal end of the leg 31. The proximal end of the leg 31 has a
hexagonal coupling hole 311 coupled to the pivot shaft 15 in one
receptacle 13 of the main member 10 for turning with the pivot
shaft 15. Each wheeled assemble 30 further comprises two torsional
spring 34, with two end against at the respective wheeled carriage
32 and the respective leg 31, and adapted to hold the wheeled
carriage 32 in the initial position shown in FIG. 2, as a operative
position, enabling the wheeled carriage 32 to be turned to the
received position shown in FIGS. 3 and 5.
[0017] The carrier member 40 comprises two caps 45 bilaterally
disposed at the rear side thereof and respectively covered on the
outer sides of the receptacles 13 of the main member 10, a
hexagonal axle hole 44 transversely disposed at the rear side
between the caps 45, two gear receptacles 43 respectively disposed
at the rear side between two distal ends of the hexagonal axle hole
44 and the caps 45 corresponding to the receptacles 13 of the main
member 10, an axle 41 mounted in the hexagonal axle hole 44 to
pivotally connect the carrier member 40 to the main member 10
between the receptacles 13 for enabling the carrier member 40 to be
turned downwards to the extended position shown in FIG. 2 for
supporting an article, or upwards to the collapsed position shown
in FIG. 3 where the carrier member 40 is closed attached to the
main member 10, and two retaining portions 46 bilaterally disposed
at the front side thereof and respectively curved upwards to lock
on the top end of the main member 10 for keeping the carrier member
40 at the received position.
[0018] A stand 51 is pivoted to the bottom side of the carrier
member 40 between the retaining portions 46. The link 52 has one
end pivoted to the stand 51, and the other end coupled to a
transverse rod (not shown) in a bottom opening 17 of the main
member 10. When turning the carrier member 40 downwards to the
extended position, the link 52 is forced to push the stand 51
outwards from the carrier member 40 to a particular angle shown in
FIG. 2, thus the handcart 1 can stand on a plane with the two
wheels 33 and the stand 51. When turning the carrier member 40
upwards to the collapsed position, the link 52 is driven to pull
the stand 51 backwards to the collapsed position shown in FIG. 3
where the stand 51 is closely attached to the bottom side of the
carrier member 40.
[0019] The gear sets 60 each comprise a first gear 61 and a second
gear 62 arranged at right angles. According to the present
preferred embodiment, the first gear 61 and the second gear 62 are
helical gears engaged together. The first gear 61 is a driving
gear. The second gear 62 is a driven gear. The first gears 61 of
the gear sets 60 are respectively revolvably mounted on the axle 41
in the gear receptacles 43, each having a hexagonal center through
hole 611 coupled to a respective hexagonal axle section 441 of the
axle 41. When turning the carrier member 40 relative to the main
member 10, the first gears 61 of the gear sets 60 are forced to
rotate the second gears 62 of the gear sets 60 respectively. The
second gears 62 of the gear sets 60 are respectively mounted on two
pivot shafts 15 of the main member 10 as shown in FIG. 4.
Therefore, the legs 31, the second gears 62 and the pivot shafts 15
can be rotated together. The first gears 61 and the second gears 62
are respectively engaged together, so that the gear sets 60 are
rotated when turning the carrier member 40 relative to the main
member 10.
[0020] According to the first embodiment of the present invention,
the axis of rotation of the carrier member 40 is perpendicular to
the axis of rotation of the wheeled assemblies 30, each gear set 60
is comprised of two helical gears 61 and 62 engaged together.
Alternatively, bevel gears or worm gears can be used instead of the
helical gears to achieve same effect.
[0021] Referring to FIG. 2, when turning the carrier member 40
downwards to the extended position as shown in FIG. 2, the legs of
the wheeled assemblies are driven by the gear sets to turn
downwards at the two opposite sides of the main member 10 to the
operative position, the wheeled carriages are hold down at the
operative position because of the torsional springs 34, and the
link 52 is forced to pull out the stand 51. Thereafter, the
handgrip 22 is pulled upwards to extend out the retractable handle
21. FIG. 2 shows the handcart 1 extended out.
[0022] When not in use, as shown in FIG. 3, the carrier member 40
is turned upwards to the collapsed position. At this time, the
wheeled assemblies 30 are driven by the two gear sets 60 to be
turned upwards to the collapsed position and received in the
wheeled seats 14 of the main member 10 as shown in FIG. 6, and the
link 52 is forced to pull back the stand 51. When received, the
retractable handle 21 is set back into the received position.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, before the wheeled assemblies 30
are totally received in the wheel seat 14 of the main member 10,
the wheeled carriages 32 are pressed by the trigger device 141
first, and the wheeled carriages 32 are turned to the received
position. Finally, accomplishing the collapsed status as shown in
FIG. 6. When turning the carrier member 60 to the extended
position, the wheeled carriages 32 are moved apart from the trigger
devices 141, and then forced outwards to the operative position by
the springs 34.
[0024] FIGS. 7 and 8 show a collapsible handcart 2 according to a
second embodiment of the present invention. According to this
alternate form, the collapsible handcart is comprised of a main
member 81, a retractable rod 82 with a handgrip 83, a carrier
member 84, a stand 85, two wheeled assembles 86, two first gears
and two second gears (not shown). The wheeled assembles 86
obliquely downwardly extended from the backside of the main member
81. The first gears and the second gears are spur gears
respectively engaged together. When turning the carrier member 84
downwards to the extended position, the wheeled assembles 86 are
turned upwards to the operative position shown in FIG. 7. On the
contrary, when turning the carrier member 84 upwards to the
collapsed position, the wheeled assembles 85 are turned downwards
to the collapsed position shown in FIG. 8.
[0025] As indicated above, the wheeled assembles support the
carrier member at a certain elevation so that the user can
conveniently pick up things from the carrier member without bending
the body.
[0026] It is to be understood that the drawings are designed for
purposes of illustration only, and are not intended for use as a
definition of the limits and scope of the invention disclosed.
* * * * *