U.S. patent application number 11/220562 was filed with the patent office on 2007-03-08 for securing structure of a seat of a cart for use by the elderly and handicapped persons.
Invention is credited to Chih-Sheng Chen, Yung-Shiang Lin.
Application Number | 20070052271 11/220562 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37829405 |
Filed Date | 2007-03-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070052271 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin; Yung-Shiang ; et
al. |
March 8, 2007 |
Securing structure of a seat of a cart for use by the elderly and
handicapped persons
Abstract
A cart includes a locating tube, a circular part, a bottom
plate, and a control rod; the locating tube is secured on a frame
of the cart; the circular part is secured at an upper end of the
locating tube, and it has several gaps on an edge; the bottom plate
is secured on a lower side of a seat, and it has a protruding part
on a lower side; the seat is supported on the locating tube with
the protruding part being held in the circular part; the control
rod is pivoted on the lower side of the bottom plate, and it is
normally in a first position and fitted in one of the gaps at a
front end thereof, which has slopes on two lateral sides so as to
become gradually narrower; the seat is angularly displaceable when
the control rod is disengaged from the circular part.
Inventors: |
Lin; Yung-Shiang;
(Shueishang Township, TW) ; Chen; Chih-Sheng;
(Chiayi City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE
3458 ELLICOTT CENTER DRIVE-SUITE 101
ELLICOTT CITY
MD
21043
US
|
Family ID: |
37829405 |
Appl. No.: |
11/220562 |
Filed: |
September 8, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
297/344.22 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61G 5/10 20130101; A61G
5/1059 20130101; A61G 5/1072 20130101; A61G 5/1091 20161101 |
Class at
Publication: |
297/344.22 |
International
Class: |
A47C 1/00 20060101
A47C001/00 |
Claims
1. An improvement on securing structure of a seat of a cart for use
by the elderly and handicapped persons, comprising a locating tube
inserted in and securely connected to an outer tube secured on an
upper side of a frame of a cart; a circular part secured at an
upper end of the locating tube; the circular part having a
plurality of gaps on an edge thereof; a bottom plate member secured
on a lower side of a seat of the cart; the bottom plate member
having a protruding part secured on a lower side; the seat being
supported on the locating tube with the protruding part of the
bottom plate member being held in the circular part; and a control
rod pivoted on the lower side of the bottom plate member; the
control rod having a front end; the control rod being normally in a
first position and fitted in a selected one of the gaps of the
circular part at the front end; the control rod being capable of
being pivoted upwards and disengaged from the circular part by
means of exerting an external force thereon; the control rod being
going to pivot back to the first position when one stops exerting
force thereon; the seat being angularly displaceable relative to
the circular part when the control rod is disengaged from the
circular part; the front end of the control rod being formed with
slopes on two lateral sides thereof so as to become gradually
narrower.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a securing structure of an
angularly displaceable seat of a cart for use by the elderly and
handicapped persons, more particularly one, which can prevent the
seat from hitting the associated part or producing noise to cause
discomfort and annoyance to the rider.
[0003] 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
[0004] In order for the elderly and the physically handicapped to
be easily seated on the seats of carts especially provided for use
by them, the seats are first angularly displaced so as to make the
front edges thereof face the left or the right direction. And, the
seats are turned back to the original orientation for the front
edges to face the front again after people are seated thereon from
the left or the right sides of the carts.
[0005] Referring to FIG. 6, a currently existing cart 4 for use by
the elderly and handicapped persons includes a frame, and a seat;
the frame has an outer tube 43 secured on an upper side, and a
locating tube 44 inserted in and secured to the outer tube 43; the
seat includes a bottom plate member 41, and a pivotal control rod
42 on a lower side of the bottom plate member 41. The bottom plate
member 41 has a protruding part 411 on a lower side thereof. The
pivotal control rod 42 is connected to a torsion spring so that it
is normally biased to a substantially horizontal position. The
locating tube 44 has a circular part 441 at an upper end, which has
a cavity 442 on a middle of an upper side thereof, and several gaps
443 on an edge thereof for receiving a front end of the pivotal
control rod 42. The seat is supported on the locating tube 44 with
the protruding part 411 being held in the cavity 442, and with the
pivotal control rod 42 being fitted in one of the gaps 443 of the
circular part 441 at the front end thereof; thus, the seat is
secured on top of the locating tube 44. Therefore, the orientation
of the seat can be changed after the pivotal control rod 42 is
pivoted away from the original horizontal position, thus allowing a
person to sit down on the seat from a left or a right side of the
cart.
[0006] Furthermore, in order for the pivotal control rod 42 to be
more easily fitted into the gaps 443, the front end of the pivotal
control rod 42 has a smaller width than the gaps 443. Consequently,
the pivotal control rod 42 will hit the circular part 441, and
produce noise when the cart moves along, causing discomfort and
annoyance to the rider.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The securing structure of the present invention includes a
locating tube, a circular part, a bottom plate member, and a
control rod. The locating tube is held in and securely connected to
an outer tube secured on an upper side of a frame of the cart. The
circular part is secured at an upper end of the locating tube, and
it has several gaps on an edge thereof. The bottom plate member is
secured on a lower side of a seat of the cart, and it has a
protruding part on a lower side thereof. The seat is supported on
the locating tube with the protruding part being held in the
circular part. The control rod is pivoted on the lower side of the
bottom plate member. The control rod is normally in a first
position and fitted in a selected one of the gaps of the circular
part at a front end thereof, and it can be pivoted upwards by means
of exerting an external force thereon; the control rod will pivot
back to the first position when there one stops exerting force
thereon. The seat is angularly displaceable when the control rod is
pivoted and disengaged from the circular part. The front end of the
control rod is formed with slopes on two lateral sides so as to
become gradually narrower.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The present invention will be better understood by referring
to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0009] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the securing
structure of a seat of a cart according to the present
invention,
[0010] FIG. 2 is a lateral section of the securing structure of the
invention,
[0011] FIG. 3 is a view of the present securing structure in use
(1),
[0012] FIG. 4 is a view of the present securing structure in use
(2),
[0013] FIG. 5 is a view of the present securing structure in use
(3), and
[0014] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional
securing structure of a seat of a cart.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of a cart
for use by the elderly and handicapped persons includes a seat 1,
and a locating tube 3.
[0016] The locating tube 3 is inserted in and securely connected to
an outer tube 2 secured on an upper side of a frame of the cart.
The seat 1 includes a bottom plate member 11, a protruding part 12
secured on a lower side of the bottom plate member 11, a pivotal
shaft 13 position under and supported with the bottom plate member
11, to the right of the protruding part 12, a torsion spring 14
positioned around the pivotal shaft 13, and a control rod 15. The
control rod 15 is securely connected to the pivotal shaft 13, and
biased to a first position by means of the torsion spring 14; thus,
the control rod 15 can be forced to move away from the first
position. The control rod 15 has a front end, which is formed with
slopes 151 on two lateral sides thereof so as to become gradually
narrower towards a bottom thereof.
[0017] The locating tube 3 has a circular part 31 at an upper end
thereof. The circular part 31 has a cavity 32 on a middle of an
upper side thereof, and several gaps 33 on an edge thereof for
receiving the front end of the control rod 15.
[0018] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, in assembly, the seat 1 is
supported on the locating tube 3 with the protruding part 12 being
held in the cavity 32, and with the control rod 15 being fitted in
one of the gaps 33 of the circular part 31 at the front end
thereof; thus, the seat 1 is secured on top of the locating tube 3.
And, the orientation of the seat 1 can be changed after the control
rod 15 is disengaged from the circular part 31 by means of
depressing the other end of the control rod 15 so as to pivot the
control rod 15 away from its first position, as shown in FIG. 3.
Consequently, a person is allowed to sit down on the seat 1 from a
left or a right side of the cart after the seat 1 is angularly
displaced away from its front-facing position by ninety degrees;
when the user stops depressing the other end of the control rod 15,
the control rod 15 will be biased back to its first position by the
torsion spring 14, and engage the circular part 31 again. Because
the front end of the control rod 15 becomes gradually narrower from
the top to the bottom, it can be more easily passed into the
corresponding gap 33 of the circular part 31. And, when the control
rod 15 is biased back to its first position by the torsion spring
14, it will be tightly fitted in the corresponding gap 33 to engage
the circular part 31 at the upper portion of the front end thereof,
leaving no space between the front end thereof and the circular
part 31, as shown in FIG. 4.
[0019] From the above description, it can be easily seen that
because of the securing structure of the present invention, the
seat will be prevented from hitting the circular part or producing
noise to cause discomfort and annoyance to the user when the user
is riding the cart.
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