U.S. patent application number 15/835699 was filed with the patent office on 2018-04-12 for trolley baseplate and trolley using the same.
This patent application is currently assigned to CHIGOO INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is CHIGOO INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Tao CHEN, Rong HAN, Chuanrong PAN.
Application Number | 20180099685 15/835699 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 52535130 |
Filed Date | 2018-04-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180099685 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHEN; Tao ; et al. |
April 12, 2018 |
TROLLEY BASEPLATE AND TROLLEY USING THE SAME
Abstract
Disclosed is a trolley baseplate including a plate body having a
head end and a tail end, a first locking mechanism on the plate
body adjacent to the head end and a second locking mechanism on the
plate body adjacent to the tail end. The second locking mechanism
is placed corresponding to the first locking mechanism and the
structures of the two locking mechanism are fitting. When front and
back trolleys are concatenated, the tail end of the front trolley
and the head end of the back trolley can be locked to each other by
means of the first locking mechanism and the second locking
mechanism. The trolleys with the above structures can be
concatenated more conveniently, and are not liable to overturn upon
sudden braking or turning, which can effectively shorten the time
for the staff to fasten two trolleys together.
Inventors: |
CHEN; Tao; (Wuxi, CN)
; PAN; Chuanrong; (Wuxi, CN) ; HAN; Rong;
(Wuxi, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
CHIGOO INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. |
Wuxi |
|
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
CHIGOO INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY CO.,
LTD.
Wuxi
CN
|
Family ID: |
52535130 |
Appl. No.: |
15/835699 |
Filed: |
December 8, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
15513169 |
Mar 22, 2017 |
|
|
|
PCT/CN2015/090537 |
Sep 24, 2015 |
|
|
|
15835699 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H02J 7/0045 20130101;
B62B 3/1404 20130101; B62B 3/1468 20130101; Y02T 10/7005 20130101;
B60L 2200/22 20130101; B60L 53/16 20190201; B62B 3/1416 20130101;
B62B 3/1424 20130101; Y02T 10/7072 20130101; Y02T 10/70 20130101;
Y02T 90/14 20130101; B62B 5/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B62B 3/14 20060101
B62B003/14; H02J 7/00 20060101 H02J007/00; B62B 5/00 20060101
B62B005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 25, 2014 |
CN |
201420557929.X |
Claims
1. A multimedia trolley with a limiting device comprising: a frame
body, a player support, a baseplate and a charging connector, one
end of the frame body being connected to the player support, the
other end of the frame body being connected to the baseplate, the
charging connector being provided at the bottom of the baseplate,
the baseplate being provided with an arc latch and a slope piece,
and each of the arc latch and the slope piece having a structure
adaptive to each other.
2. The multimedia trolley with a limiting device according to claim
1, wherein the arc latch is provided at the head end of the
baseplate and the slope piece is provided at the tail end of the
baseplate; and the arc latch is a protrusion formed toward the
bottom of the baseplate; and the cross section of the slope piece
is a trapezoid with a narrow upper portion and a wide lower
portion, the upper surface of the slope piece being forming a
projection, and the whole remaining surface of the slope piece
being flat.
3. (canceled)
4. The multimedia trolley with a limiting device according to claim
2, wherein the upper surface of the slope piece comprises an
ascending slope, a middle portion and a descending slope, the
ascending slope and the descending slope of the slope piece both
having an inclination angle, the inclination angle of the ascending
slope being greater than that of the descending slope, and the
middle portion being a platform.
5. The multimedia trolley with a limiting device according to claim
1, wherein the baseplate is further provided with a limiting groove
and a limiting piece, the structures of the limiting groove and the
limiting piece being fitted to each other, the limiting piece being
arranged at the head end of the baseplate and the limiting groove
being arranged at the tail end of the baseplate.
6. The multimedia trolley with a limiting device according to claim
5, wherein the limiting piece is provided above the arc latch and
includes a projection extending toward the outside of the
baseplate, and the limiting groove locates above the slope
piece.
7. (canceled)
8. The multimedia trolley with a limiting device according to claim
6, wherein the charging connector has a front end and a rear end,
both of the front and rear ends of the charging connector being
provided with a conductive member; and two or more of the
multimedia trolleys with a limiting device are concatenated front
and back, when the arc latch of a front trolley slides on the
ascending slope of the slope piece of a back trolley, the
conductive member on the rear end of the charging connector of the
front trolley and the conductive member on the front end of the
charging connector of the back trolley are not in contact; when the
arc latch of a front trolley slides on the middle portion of the
slop piece of a back trolley, the conductive member on the rear end
of the charging connector of the front trolley and the conductive
member on the front end of the charging connector of the back
trolley are not in contact; and when the arc latch of a front
trolley slides on the descending slope of the slope piece of a back
trolley, the conductive member on the rear end of the charging
connector of the front trolley and the conductive member on the
front end of the charging connector of the back trolley are in
close contact.
9.-24. (canceled)
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention generally relates to trolley or
handcart, and in particular to a trolley baseplate for preventing a
trolley from overturning and a multimedia trolley using the
same.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In public places with a large area and complex environment,
such as airport, it is difficult to accurately find and quickly
reach a destination due to the various miscellaneous indicators. At
present, small vehicles, such as multimedia trolleys equipped with
intelligent mobile service terminals or the like, are put in public
places for people to use. Theses multimedia trolleys can assist
people to transport goods and quickly guide people to reach their
destinations by using multimedia playing devices installed thereon,
thus providing convenience to the users. It is necessary to
frequently charge the battery of the mobile service terminal of a
trolley due to the frequent use of the multimedia trolley. Multiple
conventional multimedia trolleys are concatenated in tandem to form
a series circuit of charging connectors and then pushed to a
charging facility for simultaneous charging. Due to the fact that
the public places are always crowded with people, it may be
necessary to brake or turn suddenly when encountering obstacles
such as people or luggage. When the existing multiple multimedia
trolleys are pushed forward in a concatenated manner, as lacking of
a stop means between a front trolley and a back trolley , a sudden
brake or turn will cause the trolley to lean forward and even
overturn due to an unsteady gravity center of the trolley. Even
worse, this may also lead to damage of the multimedia player
installed on the trolley. In addition, when the trolleys are pushed
forward in a concatenated manner, how to accurately and reliably
connect the charging connectors of the front and back trolleys to
shorten the time for the staff to check the circuit is also a
problem demanding prompt solution.
SUMMARY
[0003] In view of the above defect in the prior art, the present
invention provides a trolley baseplate including: a plate body
having a head end and a tail end, a first locking mechanism
arranged on the plate body adjacent to the head end and a second
locking mechanism arranged on the plate body adjacent to the tail
end. The second locking mechanism is provided corresponding to the
position of the first locking mechanism and the configurations of
the two locking mechanism are complementary.
[0004] According to the present invention, when two trolleys are
connected in tandem, the tail end of the plate body of the front
trolley and the head end of the plate body of the back trolley can
be locked to each other by means of the first locking mechanism of
the back trolley and the second locking mechanism of the front
trolley. The trolleys having such a structure can be concatenated
front and back more conveniently, not easy to overturn during
sudden braking or turning, which can effectively shorten a time of
concatenating the front and back trolleys together by a staff.
[0005] In some embodiments of the present invention, the width of
the tail end is greater than that of the head end and the tail end
is formed with an accommodating space. The plate body includes two
side portions. The first locking mechanism is provided on an outer
wall of at least one of the two side portions and the second
locking mechanism is provided on an inner wall of a side portion
where the first locking mechanism locates.
[0006] In this embodiment, the tail end of the plate body has an
accommodating space. Therefore, when the front and back plate
bodies are placed in tandem, the head end of the back plate body
can enter into the tail end of the front plate body. That is, a
portion of the back plate body enters into the front plate body.
The second locking mechanism arranged on the inner wall of the side
portion of the front plate body and the first locking mechanism
arranged on the outer wall of the side portion of the back plate
body are locked to each other. An advantage of such a structure is
that it is easy to orientate the two plate bodies and push the back
plate body into the accommodating space of the front plate body,
and then locking can be completed by means of the first and second
locking mechanisms.
[0007] In order to make the fitting of the locking mechanism
simpler and more convenient, in some embodiments of the present
invention, the first locking mechanism is a male locking mechanism,
and the second locking mechanism is a female locking mechanism.
[0008] In some embodiments of the present invention, the first
locking mechanism includes a limiting piece protruding laterally
outwardly from the side portion and the second locking mechanism
includes a limiting groove. The positions of the limiting piece and
the limiting groove are substantially located at the same level
with a consistent length direction. The maximum lateral width of
the limiting piece is smaller than or equal to the difference
between the width of the tail end and the width of the head end,
and the length of the limiting groove is greater than or equal to
the length of the limiting piece.
[0009] In some embodiments of the present invention, the limiting
piece is an arc limiting piece, so that an operator can push the
limiting piece into the limiting groove without undue force, thus
effectively avoiding the wear and tear between the parts and
improving the service life.
[0010] In some embodiments of the present invention, the first
locking mechanism includes an arc latch and the second locking
mechanism includes a slope piece having an ascending slope
relatively close to the tail end and a descending slope relatively
far away from the tail end. And the arc latch is provided
substantially at the same level as the position of the slope
piece.
[0011] In some embodiments of the present invention, the height of
the limiting groove is greater than the thickness of the limiting
piece and smaller than the thickness of the plate body.
[0012] Since the plate body is provided with a limiting piece, a
limiting groove, an arc latch and a slope piece, the shape of the
limiting groove needs to be adaptive to the shape of the slope or
the height of the limiting groove is slightly greater than the
thickness of the limiting piece, so that the limiting piece has a
certain rise and fall space.
[0013] In some embodiments of the present invention, the gradient
of the ascending slope is smaller than or equal to that of the
descending slope so that the arc latch can slide relatively
smoothly on the ascending slope and slide relatively fast on the
descending slope. The arc latch is eventually disengaged from the
descending slope and is locked by the slope piece.
[0014] In this process, the plate body will be slowly lifted and
then quickly fall. When the head end of the plate body is provided
with a downwardly projecting arc copper piece and the tail end of
the plate body is provided with a laminar copper piece as a
charging connecting part, the conductive copper piece of the back
trolley directly rests on the conductive copper piece of the front
trolley, therefore no friction will occur between the copper pieces
and then the copper pieces for electrical connection are
effectively prevented from being damaged.
[0015] In some embodiments of the present invention, the arc latch
has a smaller first height and a bigger second height with respect
to the plate body and tends to remain at the first height which is
smaller than the second height.
[0016] In some embodiments of the present invention, the arc latch
tends to be maintained at the first height by means of an elastic
device or its own flexibility.
[0017] In some embodiments of the present invention, the slope
piece has a smaller third height and a bigger fourth height with
respect to the plate body and tends to remain at the fourth
height.
[0018] In some embodiments of the present invention, the slope
piece tends to be maintained at the fourth height by means of an
elastic device or its own flexibility.
[0019] In order to avoid the rigid contact between the arc latch
and the slope piece, one of the arc latch and the slope piece can
be displaced within a certain range when the other is pressed by
installing an elastic device. The arc latch and the slope piece
themselves may also have some flexibility. With such structures,
occurrence of friction beyond the range of material tolerance
between the arc latch and the slope piece can be avoided, which
leads to reduced service life, thus reducing maintenance costs.
[0020] In addition, the present invention provides a trolley using
the above-described baseplate.
[0021] In some embodiments of the present invention, the trolley
includes a player support located above the plate body, a frame
body having one end connected to the player support and the other
end fixedly connected to a head end of the plate body, and a
multimedia player provided on the player support, the multimedia
player being capable of rotating with respect to the player
support.
[0022] The trolley provided by the present invention has a simple
structure, and the frame body, the baseplate and the player support
can be disassembled for convenient transportation. The locking
mechanisms on the baseplate of the trolley facilitate concatenating
of trolleys. When the trolleys are pushed to a charging area in a
concatenated manner, the locking mechanisms lock the front and back
trolleys together so that the trolleys are not prone to overturning
and separation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] FIG. 1 is a structural schematic view showing a multimedia
trolley according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion A (a first
locking mechanism) of the trolley shown in FIG. 1;
[0025] FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion B (a
second locking mechanism) of the trolley shown in FIG. 1;
[0026] FIG. 4A is a schematic view showing a front connection end
of a charging connector located on the bottom of a baseplate;
[0027] FIG. 4B is a schematic view showing a back connection end of
the charging connector located on the bottom of the baseplate;
[0028] FIG. 5A is a schematic view showing an arc latch being
located on an ascending slope of a slope piece when front and back
trolleys are locked together;
[0029] FIG. 5B is a schematic view of the positions of the
baseplate and the charging connector when the arc latch is in the
state shown in FIG. 5A;
[0030] FIG. 6A is a schematic view showing the arc latch being
located on a smooth portion of the slope piece when front and back
trolleys are locked together;
[0031] FIG. 6B is a schematic view of the positions of the
baseplate and the charging connector when the arc latch is in the
state shown in FIG. 6A;
[0032] FIG. 7A is a schematic view showing the arc latch being
located on a descending slope of the slope piece when front and
back trolleys are locked together; and
[0033] FIG. 7B is a schematic view of the positions of the
baseplate and the charging connector when the arc latch is in the
state shown in FIG. 7A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0034] FIG. 1 shows a multimedia trolley having locking mechanisms
according to an embodiment of the present invention. The trolley
includes a baseplate 6, a frame body 1, a player support 3, a
charging connector 4 provided on the bottom of the baseplate 6 (not
shown in FIG. 1 but can be referred in FIGS. 4A to 7B) and a
multimedia player 5 hinged to the player support 3. The frame body
1 has an upper plug terminal 11 and a lower plug terminal 12. The
player support 3 is inserted into the frame body 1 through the
upper plug terminal 11 and then fastened with a pop rivet. The
baseplate 6 is inserted into the frame body 1 through the lower
plug terminal 12 and fastened with a pop rivet. By means of such a
connection, welding points can be avoided to expose, so that the
trolley as a whole has better appearance and is easy to disassemble
and transport. The display plane of the multimedia player 5 is
generally arranged upwardly and is rotatable with respect to the
player support 3 within a certain angle range to facilitate viewing
by the user from different perspectives.
[0035] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the baseplate 6 having wheels
includes a plate body 2. Two opposite first locking mechanisms are
provided on two sides adjacent to the head end of the plate body 2
and two opposite second locking mechanisms are provided on two
sides adjacent to the tail end of the plate body 2. The structures
of the first locking mechanism and the second locking mechanism are
adaptive to each other and are placed correspondingly. The first
locking mechanism is a male locking mechanism and the second
locking mechanism is a female locking mechanism. The first locking
mechanism includes a limiting piece 24 and an arc latch 21, and the
second locking mechanism includes a limiting groove 23 and a slope
piece 22, both of which will be described below in detail.
Accordingly, when two trolleys are concatenated front and back, the
first locking mechanism and the second locking mechanism cooperate
with each other so that the two trolleys are fixed together.
[0036] Further, the width of the tail end of the plate body 2 is
bigger than that of the head end of the plate body 2, and the tail
end of the plate body 2 is formed with an accommodating space. The
plate body 2 includes a left side portion and a right side portion.
The first locking mechanism is provided on an outer wall of at
least one of the two side portions and the second locking mechanism
is provided on an inner wall of a side portion where the first
locking mechanism locates. As such, the first locking mechanism and
the second locking mechanism are arranged in pairs.
[0037] Referring to FIGS. 4A to 7B, the charging connector 4
includes an arc copper piece 41 arranged on the lower surface of
the head end of the plate body 2 and a laminar copper piece 42
arranged on the upper surface of the tail end of the plate body
2.
[0038] The limiting piece 24 of the first locking mechanism is
provided on the outer wall of the side portion of the plate body 2,
which is formed as an arc protrusion. The limiting groove 23 of the
second locking mechanism is provided on the inner wall of the side
portion of the plate body 2 as a recess going through or not going
through the inner wall. The positions of the limiting piece 24 and
the limiting groove 23 are substantially at the same level and the
length directions thereof are consistent with each other. The
maximum lateral width of the limiting piece 24 is smaller than or
equal to the difference between the width of the tail end of the
plate body 2 and the width of the head end of the plate body 2. The
groove length of the limiting groove 23 is greater than or equal to
the length of the limiting piece 24. The height of the limiting
groove 23 is bigger than the thickness of the limiting piece 24 and
smaller than the thickness of the side portion of the plate body 2.
When the head end of the back trolley enters into the accommodating
space at the tail end of the front trolley, the limiting piece 24
of the back trolley enters into the limiting groove 23 of the front
trolley so as to lock the front and back trolleys to each other and
further to restrict the depth of the back trolley's entering into
the accommodating space of the front trolley.
[0039] The arc latch 21 of the first locking mechanism is provided
on the outer wall of the side portion of the plate body 2, which is
shown as a downwardly extending protrusion. The slope piece 22 of
the second locking mechanism is provided on the inner wall of the
side portion of the plate body 2, which is shown as a slope block
having a substantially trapezoidal cross-section. The slope piece
22 at least has an ascending slope 223 relatively close to the tail
end of the plate body 2 and a descending slope 221 relatively far
away from the tail end of the plate body 2. The gradient of the
ascending slope 223 is smaller than or equal to that of the
descending slope 221. The position of the arc latch 21 is
substantially located at the same level as the position of the
slope piece 22. In this embodiment, the slope piece 22 further
provides a smooth middle portion 222 located between the ascending
slope 223 and descending slope 221.
[0040] The positional relationship between the slope piece 22 and
the arc latch 21 when two trolleys are locked and the position of
the charging connector 4 in the corresponding state are shown in
FIGS. 5A to 7B.
[0041] When two front and back trolleys are locked, the back
trolley gradually closes to the front trolley. As shown in FIG. 5A
and FIG. 5B, the arc latch 21 of the back trolley slides on the
ascending slope 223 of the slope piece 22 of the front trolley and
the plate body 2 of the back trolley tends to be slightly lifted.
The arc copper piece 41 provided at the head end of the plate body
2 of the back trolley does not contact the laminar copper piece 42
provided at the tail end of the plate body 2 of the front
trolley.
[0042] As shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, as the back trolley further
moves forward, the arc latch 21 of the back trolley slides on the
smooth middle portion 222 of the slope piece 22 of the front
trolley. The head end of the plate body 2 of the back trolley is
lifted upward. The arc copper piece 41 provided at the head end of
the plate body 2 of the back trolley does not contact with the
laminar copper piece 42 provided at the tail end of the plate body
2 of the front trolley.
[0043] As shown in FIG. 7A an FIG. 7B, when the head end of the
plate body 2 of the back trolley completely enters into the
accommodating space of the tail end of the plate body of the front
trolley, the arc latch 21 of the back trolley slides on the
descending slope 221 of the slope piece 22 of the front trolley,
and eventually disengages from the descending slope 221. At this
moment, the head end of the plate body 2 of the back trolley is
slightly inclined downward. The arc copper piece 41 provided on the
head end of the plate body 2 of the back trolley brings into
instantaneous contact with the laminar copper piece 42 provided on
the tail end of the plate body 2 of the front trolley. By means of
this arrangement, deformation and even damage of the arc copper
piece 41 and the laminar copper piece 42 resulting from being
rubbed against each other during the concatenating process of the
front and back trolleys can be avoided.
[0044] Due to provision of the ascending slope 223, the smooth
middle portion 222 and the descending slope 221, and the gradient
of the ascending slope 223 being equal to or smaller than that of
the descending slope 221, an operator can easily determine the
relative positions of the front and back trolleys according to the
inclination direction of the plate body 2 and the magnitude of the
force applied to push the back trolley and then complete the
concatenating of the front and back trolleys relatively fast to
fasten them together. It should be understood that the limiting
groove 23 of the front trolley and the limiting piece 24 of the
back trolley are simultaneously locked to each other during the
completion of the concatenating process of FIGS. 5A to 7B.
[0045] A person skilled in the art can undoubtedly apply such a
locking mechanism to more than two trolleys having the same
structure as described above to complete the concatenating and
fastening of a plurality of trolleys within a short time. The
charging connectors 4 of the concatenated and locked trolleys form
a series circuit and can be quickly charged. The charging connector
4 mentioned in the present invention may use the electrical
connector as disclosed in Chinese Utility Model Patent (Patent
Application No. 201320614839.5) filed by the same applicant, the
entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
[0046] By using the trolley according to the present invention, an
operator can easily push a plurality of trolleys which concatenated
front and back to a charging area without repeatedly adjusting the
mutual positions of the front trolley and the back trolley or
repeatedly checking whether or not the charging connector 4 is
reliably connected, which can effectively prevent two trolleys
concatenated from overturning, separation or instable circuit
connection during moving due to lack of a locking mechanism.
[0047] In another embodiment of the present invention, in order to
avoid rigid contact between the arc latch 21 and the slope piece
22, one of the arc latch 21 and the slope piece 22 can move within
a certain range when the other is pressed by installing an elastic
device. For example, the arc latch 21 has a lower first height and
a higher second height relative to the plate body 2 and the arc
latch 21 tends to be maintained at the first height by means of the
elastic device or its own flexibility, so that when the arc latch
21 contacts the slope piece 22, the arc latch 21 moves without
rigid collision or friction with the slope piece 22 which may
shorten service life. Of course, it shall be understood by those
skilled in the art that an opposing arrangement may also be
adopted. For example, the slope piece 22 has a lower third height
and a higher fourth height relative to the plate body 2. The slope
piece 22 tends to be maintained at the fourth height by means of an
elastic device or its own flexibility, both of which can contribute
to prolonging the service life and thereby reducing the maintenance
cost.
[0048] Various embodiments of the present invention have been
described in detail above. It shall be understood by those skilled
in the art that various modifications, changes and variations can
be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope of the
present invention as defined by the appended claims. The scope of
the claims shall be construed in its entirety and within the
broadest scope consistent with the description and not limited to
the examples or the embodiments described in detail.
* * * * *