AU773034B2 - A trolley - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

(ORIGINAL)

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C.

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a Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: MINWA (AUST) PTY. LTD.

WALLY SIENKIEWICZ MALCOLM TAYLOR SANDERCOCK COWIE 69 Robinson Street, DANDENONG VIC 3175 A TROLLEY Details of Associated Provisional Application(s): No(s): Australian Provisional Application No. PQ3281 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 2000- I0-05.AA300minwa, filewpd, I laa.

TITLE: A TROLLEY FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a trolley. In particular, the present invention is a trolley which is suitable for carrying and storing cartons which are packed with goods.

2OOOl-0-0,A:\3OOmiflwacompletew-Pd. I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Wagons and trolleys of various types are used for the movement and storage of goods which are packed into cartons. However, cartons of goods are of various sizes, so it is not feasible to cater for all possible sizes (and combinations of sizes) of cartons withjust one invariable configuration of trolley.

The variability of sizes and weights of cartons of products also makes it desirable to have a carton trolley which can be loaded, moved, stored and unloaded with low risk of injury to workers.

The present invention accordingly aims to provide a carton trolley which is of variable configuration.

The present invention also aims to provide a trolley which reduces the risk of injury to workers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention accordingly provides a trolley including:a base frame; an upright frame which is mounted to the base frame adjacent to an edge of the base frame; a base tray which is pivotally mounted for rotation about an axis between a first position in which the base tray lies on the base frame and a second position in which the base tray may extend substantially parallel to the upright frame; and two first side wall panels, each of which is pivotally mounted to the upright frame for ••rotation about axes which are substantially parallel to the upright frame for movement between a first position in which the panels are adjacent opposed sides of the base tray and a second position wherein the panels are adjacent the upright frame characterised in that the trolley further includes two second side wall panels, each of which second panels are pivotally mounted to an edge of a first side wall panel which is remote from the mounting of the first side wall panel to the upright frame, wherein each second panel is rotatable between a position in which the second panel is substantially co-linear with the 2004-03-17A:490nminwa.spc.wpd,2 -3first panel and a position in which the second panel is adjacent the first panel.

It is preferred that an edge of each second side wall panel remote from the pivotal mounting of the second side wall panel to the first side wall panel includes a region which may be grasped by the hand of an operator to form a handle.

It is further preferred that the trolley includes a gate which has a latch, which gate is pivotally mounted to the upright frame and which is latchable by a latch in a position in which the gate forms a side wall of the trolley between the two first side wall panels.

It is preferred that the gate and each side wall panel be in the form of a frame which is shaped from tubular material and parallel wires which extend substantially in the upright direction and which have their ends fixed within the frame.

It is preferred that the latch of the gate include a substantially 'U-shaped' latch bar which is moveable between:a position in which the free ends of the protrude through holes in the frame of the gate into aligned holes in the upright frame to latch the gate in place; and i a position in which the free ends of the do not protrude into these holes in the :upright frame.

It is preferred that the trolley includes at least one latch which is adapted to retain a side o 2004-03- 17,A:\490minwa.spec.wpd,3 wall panel in the position adjacent opposed sides of the base tray, which latch includes:a latch bar which is mounted on the base tray to extend substantially perpendicularly to the base tray; and a substantially 'C-shaped' retainer which is mounted for sliding movement on two adjacent parallel wires of a side panel to and from a position in which the latch bar is captured within the retainer.

10 It is preferred that the trolley includes a shelf which is pivotally mounted to the upright frame for movement about a horizontal axis between a first position in which the shelf extends substantially parallel to the base frame and a second position in which the shelf extends substantially perpendicular to the base frame.

It is preferred that the mounting of the shelf to the upright frame be in the form of a horizontally extending hinge pin which extends through slots which are adjacent to two opposed sides of the shelf, which slots extend substantially parallel to those opposed sides, to allow both sliding and pivoting movement of the shelf relative to the hinge pin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a trolley according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a rear elevational view of the trolley of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the trolley of Figure 1 showing components of the trolley in a first configuration.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the trolley of Figure 1 showing components of the trolley in a second configuration.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the trolley of Figure 1 showing components of the trolley in 2000-1 0-0S.A\300minwa.compIte.wpd,4 S. a third configuration.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the trolley of Figure Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view on the line 7-7 of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a detail view in the region of arrow 8 of Figure 1.

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view along the line 9-9 of Figure 3.

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view along the line 9-9 of Figure 3 when the components of the trolley are in the configuration which is illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 11 is a cross-sectional view along the line 11-11 of Figure 6.

Figure 12 is a side elevational view of a trolley according to another embodiment of the present invention showing the components of the trolley in one configuration.

Figure 13 is a plan view of the trolley of Figure 12 showing the components of the trolley 20 in another configuration.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, preferred embodiments of it will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION A trolley which is indicated generally at 21 has a base frame 22 and an upright frame 23.

The base frame 22 includes a portion 24 fabricated from square section bar which has been bent into an open generally trapezoidal shape and a plate 26 which closes off the open side of the trapezoidal shape. A wheel 25 is fixed to the base frame 22 in a region adjacent each corner of that frame.

2000-1 O.5,A:\300minwa.complete.wpd,5 -6- The upright frame 23 includes four upright members 33, 28, 29 and 34 and cross members 31 and 32. The cross member 31 is connected between upright members 28 and 29 adjacent the base frame 22. The cross member 32 is connected to the ends of the four upright members 33, 28, 29 and 34 remote from the base frame 22.

Upright members 28 and 29 and the cross members 31 and 32 form a frame for a gate 36 which is hinged to upright member 29 by hinges 38 and 39. The gate 36 latches to the upright member with a latch which is indicated generally at 41. The construction of the latch 41 is such that it does not have any sharp or protruding components which can be 10 a hazard to the operator.

oo i The latch 41 includes a generally U-shaped latching member 41 which is slidably mounted in opposed channels 43 and 44. The U-shaped member 43 is biased by srfing 46 so that the free ends of the U are biased to protrude through diametrically disposed holes (not shown) through upright member 36 into aligned holes in upright member 28 S"when the gate 36 is latched in the 'closed' position. To open the gate, finger pressure is applied to the exposed base of the U-shaped latching member 41 so that it slides within the channels 43 and 44 against the bias of spring 46 and the free ends of the slide out .:oo.

of the holes in the upright member 28.

A base tray consisting of pivoted plate 47 and fixed plate 48 are mounted above the base frame 22. The pivoted plate 47 is hinged to base frame portion 24 by hinges 49 adjacent the upright frame 23 to allow rotation of the plate 47 between a substantially horizontal position such as is illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 and a substantially vertical position such as is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

The trolley 21 also includes substantially vertical side walls 51 and 52 on one side of the trolley and substantially vertical side walls 53 and 54 on the opposite side of the trolley.

The side wall 51 is pivotally mounted to the side wall 52 by hinges 56 to allow pivoting of the side wall 51 about a substantially vertical axis. The side wall 52 is in turn pivotally mounted to the upright frame 23 by hinges 57 which are attached to cross member 32 and to plate 26, allowing pivoting of the side wall 52 about a substantially vertical axis.

2000- 10-05.A:\30minwa.complete.wpd.6 -7- The side wall 54 is similarly pivotally mounted to the side wall 53 by hinges 59 to allow pivoting of the side wall 54 about a substantially vertical axis. The side wall 53 is in turn pivotally mounted to the upright frame 23 by hinges 58 which are attached to cross member 32 and to plate 26, allowing pivoting of the side wall 53 about a substantially vertical axis.

Each side wall 51, 52, 53 and 54 includes a number of longitudinally extending wires such as 55 which have their ends retained within a tubular framework such as frame of side wall 54. The retention of the ends of the wires 55 within the tubular framework 10 60 has the advantage, from the workplace safety point of view, that operators are protected from injury by sharp edges on the ends of the wires.

o S""As shown in the plan views Figures 4 and 5, the hinge axis of hinges 58 is located closer to gate 36 than is the hinge axis of hinge 57. This allows the nesting of side walls 53 and 54 within the space defined by folded side walls 51 and 52 and the gate 36 when those side walls are in the folded position illustrated in Figure As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the opposite sides of the pivoted base plate 47 carry upstanding stops 62, 63, 64 and 66 to prevent further pivoting of the side walls 51, 52, •"20 53 and 54 past the positions in which they are illustrated in Figures 1,2 and 3. As shown in Figures 1 and 8, a substantially 'C-shaped' catch 67 is slidably mounted on two adjacent vertical wires of side wall 54. When the side wall is 54 are in the position illustrated in these Figures, the catch 67 aligns with the stop 63 and can slide onto that stop to retain side wall 54 in the position which is illustrated. A similar catch which is not illustrated in the drawings can slide onto stop 66 to retain side wall 51 in the position illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

The trolley 21 includes a shelf 71 which is pivotally mounted in the trolley at a position which is between the base frame 22 and the top of the trolley. The shelf 71 is pivotable between a lower, substantially horizontal, position (such as is shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 9) and a substantially vertical position (such as is shown in Figures 4, 5, 6 and The pivotal movement of shelf 71 is enabled by a sliding hinge which is illustrated in 2000- I.0SA\300miwa.c4JmpIccwpd,7 -8detail in Figures 9 and 10. The sliding hinge includes a broad U-shaped component 72 which is fixed to the underside of shelf 71. A rod 73 which is fixed to opposed sides of the upright frame 23 passes through the space 74 which is defined between the shelf 71 and the component 72. When the shelf71 is in the position illustrated in Figure 9, it can be pivoted about rod 73 in the direction of arrow 76. When the shelf71 has been pivoted into a substantially vertical position, it can then slide downwards until it is in the position which is illustrated in Figure 10 in which the rod 73 is bearing against the then uppermost arm of the U-shaped component 72.

When the shelf 71 is in the position illustrated in Figure 10, it cannot inadvertently rotate back into the position illustrated in Figure 9 because the end 77 of the shelf71 is bearing against the frame of the gate 36. In order to pivot the shelf 71 into the horizontal ~position, it must first be lifted vertically from the position which is illustrated in Figure and then rotated counter to the direction of the arrow 76.

STongues 78 are provided on opposite sides of shelf71 to support that shelf in the position illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 9. When the shelf is in this position, the tongues 78 rest on horizontal structural members 79 of side walls 52 and 53.

".20 The free vertical edges of side walls 51 and 54 are shaped to form handles 81 at a height 2 which is convenient to operators of the trolley 21.

Another preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figures 12 and 13. In these figures, components of the embodiment which are similar to the components of the embodiment of Figures 1 to 11 carry the same reference numerals.

According to the embodiment of Figures 12 and 13, the hinges 59 which pivotally mount the vertical side wall 54 to the vertical side wall 53 also allow upwards translational movement of wall 54 relative to wall 53 as shown in Figure 12. The hinges 58 which pivotally mount the side wall 53 to the upright frame 23 similarly also allow upwards translational movement of the wall 53 relative to the frame 23 as is shown dotted outline in Figure 2.

2000- O05.,A:\3OOminwa.compIctc..pd.8 The hinges 56 which mount side wall 51 to side wall 52, and the hinges 57 which mount side wall 52 to frame 23, similarly allow both pivotal and translational movement.

The facility to lift the side walls 51, 52, 53 and 54 which is provided by hinges 56, 57, 58 and 59 according to this embodiment allows those side walls to be swung outwards over the slops 62, 63, 64 and 66 into configurations such as are shown in Figure 13. The consequent clearance at the sides of the trolley permits loading of cartons onto the trolley from those sides. This feature is particularly advantageous in loading large cartons onto the trolley.

According to alternative embodiments of the invention which are not illustrated, a sheet metal card holder is fixed to a wall of the trolley. In such embodiments, the edges of the °o sheet metal are rounded to reduce risk of injury to the operator.

As illustrated in Figures 1 to 6, the trolley can be configured to accommodate various Ssizes combinations of cartons. In the configuration of Figures 1, 2 and 3 loads can be placed on the base tray 47 and on the shelf 71. When the trolley is in this configuration, it can be loaded and unloaded from the front open area defined by side walls 51 and 54, or by opening the gate 36. Pivoting of the shelf71 into the substantially vertical position •20 without moving the side walls 51, 52, 53 and 54 from the positions illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 allows the placement of cartons on the base tray 47 without interference with the shelf 71. Folding of the side wall 51, 52, 53 and 54 as illustrated in Figure 4 allows placement of cartons on the base tray 47 without interference from those side walls.

Folding of the base tray 47 upwards into the substantially vertical position as illustrated in Figure 5 allows the placement of loads directly on the base frame 22.

2000-10-05SA;\300minwacomplte.wp49

Claims (4)

1. A trolley which includes a base frame; an upright frame which is mounted to the base frame adjacent to an edge of the base frame; a base tray which is pivotally mounted for rotation about an axis between a first position in which the base tray lies on the base frame and a second position in which the base tray may extend substantially parallel to the upright frame; and two first side wall panels, each of which is pivotally mounted to the upright frame for rotation about axes which are substantially parallel to the upright frame for movement between a first position in which the panels are adjacent opposed sides of the base tray and a second position wherein the panels are adjacent the upright frame characterised in that the trolley further includes two second side wall panels, each of which second panels are pivotally mounted to an edge of a first side wall panel which is remote from the mounting of the first side wall panel to the upright frame, wherein each second panel is rotatable between a position in which the second panel is Substantially co-linear with the first panel and a position in which the second panel is adjacent the first panel. i:

2. A trolley as claimed in Claim 1, which trolley further includes an edge of each second side wall panel remote from the pivotal mounting of the second side wall panel to the first side wall panel includes a region which may be grasped by the hand of an operator to form a handle. $@oo o oooo

3. A trolley as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which trolley further •°includes a gate which has a latch, which gate is pivotally mounted to the upright frame and which is latchable by the latch in a position in which the gate forms a i side wall of the trolley between the two first side wall panels.

4. A trolley as claimed in Claim 3 in which the gate and each side wall panel is in the form of a frame which is shaped from tubular material and parallel wires which extend substantially in the upright direction and which have their ends

2004-03-17,A:\490minwa.spec.wpd,10 -11- fixed within the frame. A trolley as claimed in Claim 3 or 4 in which the latch of the gate includes substantially 'U-shaped' latch bar which is moveable between:- a position in which the free ends of the protrude through holes in the frame of the gate into aligned holes in the upright frame to latch the gate in place; and a position in which the free ends of the do not protrude into these holes in the upright frame. 6. A trolley as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which trolley further includes at least one latch which adapted to retain a side wall panel in the position adjacent opposed sides of the base tray, which latch includes:- a latch bar which is mounted on the base tray to extend substantially perpendicularly to the base tray; and i 20 a substantially 'C-shaped' retainer which is mounted for sliding "movement on two adjacent parallel wires of a side panel to and from a position in which the latch bar is captured within the retainer. fe, 7. A trolley as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which trolley further o0oo includes a shelf which is pivotally mounted to the upright frame for movement about a horizontal axis between a first position in which the shelf extends 0 °-osubstantially parallel to the base frame and a second position in which the shelf o*oo °extends substantially perpendicular to the base frame. 0 0 8. A trolley as claimed in Claim 7 in which the mounting of the shelf to the upright frame is in the form of a horizontally extending hinge pin which extends through slots which are adjacent to two opposed sides of the shelf, which slots extend substantially parallel to those opposed sides, to allow both sliding and pivoting 2004-03-I7,A:\490minwa.spec.wpd, II -12- movement of the shelf relative to the hinge pin. 9. A trolley as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which at least one of the first side wall panels is additionally translationally mounted to the upright frame to allow movement of that first side wall panel upwards relative to the upright frame. A trolley as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which at least one of the second side wall panels is additionally translationally mounted to the adjacent first side wall panel to allow movement of that second side wall panel upwards relative to that first side wall panel. 11. A trolley substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 11 or Figures 12 and 13 of the drawings. Dated this 17 t h day of March, 2004 SANDERCOCK COWIE i. PATENT ATTORNEYS FOR 20 MINWA (AUST) PTY. LTD. *e*oo *o*O, o* oo *ooooo 2004-03-17,A:\490minwaspec.wpd, 12