Nestable cart
AssigneeCornelius, Inc.
InventorRonald L. Rosa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A nestable merchandise cart including a rear frame and hinged side frames which pivot outwardly until limit stops are engaged, and a movable shelf which, when in place to support a load, locks the side frames into positions generally perpendicular to the rear frame. The shelf can be raised and stored, which releases the side frames to pivot outwardly and form a tapered nest into which a like cart will fit nestingly. The side frames may be biased outwardly by springs and pivot outwardly automatically when the shelf is raised, and may also pivot inwardly against the rear frame to a collapsed position suitable for high density packing and shipment of the cart.
Claims16
A nestable merchandise cart comprising:
- a. an upright rear frame of generally rectangular shape;
- b. a pair of vertical side frames disposed at the front of the rear frame and respectively connected by vertical axis hinges to opposite side portions of the rear frame, the side frames being pivotable about a respective vertical axis from a normal position generally perpendicular to the rear frame to a nesting position forming an opening acutely divergent from the rear frame;
- c. a shelf, connected by a horizontal axis hinge to one of the frames, and pivotable between a normally horizontal load carrying position between the side frames and a vertical storage position generally parallel and adjacent to the one frame;
- d. means engageably operable between the shelf and the side frames for locking the side frames generally perpendicular to the rear frame when the shelf is in the horizontal position;
- and
- e. means affixed on the rear and side frames and operable for limiting outward pivotal movement of the side frames to the nesting position, the limit means for each side frame comprising
- 1. a pin mounted on one of the side and rear frames, and
- 2. a pin stop mounted on the other of the side and rear frames, the pin and pin stop being positioned for abutting against each other when the respective side frame is in the nesting position.
A nestable merchandise cart comprising:
- a. an upright rear frame of generally rectangular shape;
- b. a pair of vertical side frames disposed at the front of the rear frame and respectively connected by vertical axis hinges to opposite side portions of the rear frame, the side frames being outwardly pivotable about a respective vertical axis from a normal position generally perpendicular to the rear frame to a nesting position forming an opening acutely divergent from the rear frame;
- c. a shelf connected by a horizontal axis hinge to one of the frames and pivotable between a normally horizontal load carrying position between the side frames and a vertical storage position generally parallel and adjacent to the one frame;
- d. means engagably operable between the shelf and the side frames for locking the side frames generally perpendicular to the rear frame when the shelf is in the horizontal position;
- e. means affixed to the frames and operable for limiting outward pivotal movement of the side frames;
- and
- f. means attached to each side frame respectively, and reactively from each side frame to one of the other frames for resiliently biasing the side frames pivotally outward about a respective vertical hinge axis from the normal position to the nesting position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.