Personal shopping cart and method of use
OwnerJason Gardnerinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A shopping cart basket comprises one or more modular baskets couplable to a bottom basket having a plurality of wheels extending downwardly to allow the shopping cart basket to roll. Each of the modular baskets has a foldable bottom wall that can act as a bottom of a separate basket or can be folded against a side wall of the modular basket. The modular baskets could be used to hold items within a smaller compartment, and can be combined with the bottom basket to form a roll-able shopping cart having a larger compartment. Such a cart is advantageously used in a store, such as a grocery store, a retail shopping mall, or a home improvement store.
Claims15
A shopping cart, the cart comprising:
- a bottom basket having a bottom wall, front side wall, left side wall, right side wall and rear sidewall with each of the front, left, right, rear side walls extending from the bottom wall for forming a fully enclosed enclosure accessible from a top opening, the bottom basket having a plurality of wheels attached to the bottom basket extending downwardly to roll the shopping cart on a ground;
- a top basket removably stackable on top of the bottom basket, the top basket having a plurality of side walls and a bottom most wall, the bottom most wall of the top basket having a first panel pivotable between retracted and deployed positions at a first hinge, the first hinge disposed at the lower most edge portions of one of the plurality of side walls of the top basket, in the deployed position, the first panel is capable of supporting an object in the top basket, and in the retracted position, the first panel is traversed out of the way so that an object can be passed through an access pathway defined by upper most and lower most peripheries of the plurality of side walls of the top basket into the bottom basket;
- and
- a handle attached to the top basket to steer the shopping cart.
A method of using a shopping cart, the method comprising the steps of:
- stacking a top basket on top of a bottom basket;
- pivoting a first panel of a bottom most wall of the top basket to a retracted position wherein the first panel of the bottom wall of the top basket being pivotally attached to bottom most edge portions of a plurality of sidewalls of the top basket and being generally perpendicular to the plurality of sidewalls of the top basket in the retracted position;
- retaining the first panel of the bottom wall of the top basket in the retracted position;
- pushing a handle attached to the top basket to roll the shopping cart around an area;
- passing a first object through an access pathway defined by plurality of sidewalls of the top basket into an interior space of the bottom basket which is disposed under the top basket;
- transitioning the first panel of the bottom wall of the top basket to a deployed position wherein the first panel is perpendicular to the plurality of sidewalls of the top basket;
- placing a second object on the bottom wall of the top basket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.