HK1109116A - Collapsible supporting structure - Google Patents

Description

Collapsible supporting structure

This application is a divisional application entitled "collapsible support Structure" filed as Marek Gauss, filed as 8/13/2003, and filed as 03826586.9 (International application No. PCT/AU 2003/001025).

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a collapsible supporting structure for supporting articles such as golf carts, strollers, push-chair carts, hand carts, and shopping carts. However, it is not limited to such wheeled structures, but may be used in other collapsible structures where it is desirable to support a heavy object. This specification is a division of my parent specification No.2004-571201 and is directed to those mentioned in the previous specification but not claimed.

Background

People often need to bear various heavy objects in various occasions. The various structures that can accomplish the support of a load can be large, bulky and cumbersome to use and, therefore, not easily carried elsewhere.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a structure which can support a load and which can be easily transported.

Disclosure of Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a collapsible supporting structure having:

an installation body;

a plurality of arms extending upwardly from the mounting body; and

a plurality of wheeled front and rear support legs, wherein at least some of the front and rear legs and arms are pivotally mounted to the mounting body so as to be pivotable about the mounting body to enable each point on said some of the front and rear legs and arms to be moved in a front and rear upright plane between an operative configuration and a folded configuration in which the front and rear legs and arms are substantially coextensive,

wherein the arm has an extended configuration for use and a retracted configuration wherein the retracted configuration causes the overall length of the arm to be reduced such that in the retracted configuration the length of the arm is approximately the length of either of the front and rear legs.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a collapsible supporting structure having:

an installation body;

a plurality of arms extending upwardly from the mounting body; and

a plurality of wheeled front and rear support legs, wherein at least some of the front and rear legs and arms are pivotally mounted to the mounting body so as to be pivotable about the mounting body to enable each point on said some of the front and rear legs and arms to be moved in a front and rear upright plane between an operative configuration and a folded configuration in which the front and rear legs and arms are substantially coextensive,

wherein the arms are foldable such that in the folded configuration, the resulting length of the arms approximates the length of either of the front and rear legs.

More preferably, the arm is folded approximately midway along its length.

In most preferred forms of the invention, the rear legs and arms are pivotable about the mounting body and the front legs are fixed to the mounting body. More preferably, the rear legs are pivotable in a first rotational direction and the arms are pivotable in a second, opposite rotational direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a collapsible supporting structure having:

an installation body;

a plurality of arms extending upwardly from the mounting body; and

a plurality of wheeled front and rear support legs, wherein at least some of the front and rear legs and arms are pivotally mounted to the mounting body so as to be pivotable about the mounting body and respective transverse axes between an operative configuration and a folded configuration in which the front and rear legs and arms are substantially coextensive,

wherein the arm has an extended configuration for use and a retracted configuration wherein the retracted configuration causes the overall length of the arm to be reduced such that in the retracted configuration the length of the arm is approximately the length of either of the front and rear legs.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a collapsible supporting structure having:

an installation body;

a plurality of arms extending upwardly from the mounting body; and

a plurality of wheeled front and rear support legs, wherein at least some of the front and rear legs and arms are pivotally mounted to the mounting body so as to be pivotable about the mounting body and respective transverse axes between an operative configuration and a folded configuration in which the front and rear legs and arms are substantially coextensive, and wherein the arms are foldable along their lengths substantially midway.

Drawings

For an easier understanding of the invention, reference will now be made to figures 8 to 10, by way of some examples only. However, the description of FIGS. 1-7 in the parent case will remain for completeness.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a collapsible support structure in an open configuration;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the collapsible support structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the collapsible support structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the collapsible support structure in a closed, collapsed configuration;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the collapsible support structure of FIG. 4 in a closed, collapsed configuration;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the collapsible support structure of FIG. 1 in a closed, collapsed configuration;

figures 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 are vertical sectional views of the collapsible support structure of figure 1 around the mounting body in various stages of operation of the folding mechanism;

figures 8, 9 and 10 illustrate a collapsible support structure according to the present invention having a different folding configuration than the embodiment shown in figures 1-7 which does not require a rotation mechanism.

Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a collapsible support structure in the form of a stroller or pushchair 11.

The structure includes a mounting body 15 and two elongated rear support legs 18 and 19 and a front support leg 20. The support legs are pivotally connected to and extend from the mounting body 15 and are attached to each respective distal end substantially in an equiangular arrangement with the ground engaging wheels 21. The arrangement of the support legs 18 and 19 in the support position as shown in fig. 1 is an arrangement that flares away from the rear of the mounting body 15, with the front support leg extending directly in front of the mounting body 15. The two rear support legs 8, 19 extend from the rear of the mounting body 15 at symmetrically opposite angles so that the three legs provide a tripod-like load support. The rear support leg extends outwardly and partially downwardly in a linear arrangement to an arcuate knee 23 having a cylindrical, generally vertical lower leg 24. A sleeve 25 fixedly mounted between the two parallel ground engaging wheels 21 grips the end of the lower leg 24 while allowing the wheels to rotate about the lower leg. The front support leg 20 has a planar cross shape with the cross base pivotally connected to the mounting body 15. At the distal end, two adjacent parallel ground-engaging wheels 21 on a pivoting mount 28 are mounted on a cylindrical wheel post 29, the wheel post 29 extending from a lower portion of the support leg 20. The cross member, which forms a cross shape, is located on an upper surface and acts as a leg rest 30.

The mounting body 15 is a generally parallelepiped having generally parallel planar front and rear surfaces, having a height and width greater than a depth, with opposite outwardly curved top and bottom sides. The internal structure of the mounting body is honeycomb-shaped to provide strength suitable for forming a supporting central body that can receive weight from the structure mounted thereon and transfer the weight to the support legs and ground engaging wheels.

The mounting of the support legs 18, 19, 20 to the mounting body 15 is achieved by a connecting device with two operating systems. The first operating system of the connecting device is a rotating device and the second operating system is a pivoting system.

The rotating means comprises a rotating cylindrical disk 41 mounted in the center of the mounting body 15, the rotating cylindrical disk 41 having planar circular front and rear surfaces which are substantially coplanar with the front and rear surfaces of the mounting body 15, respectively. The rotating disc 41 is rotatable within the mounting body about an axis perpendicular to the front surface of the mounting disc and mounting block.

One end of each support leg 18, 19 and 20 is connected to a rotating disc 41 to allow each support leg to rotate. At least one support leg is mounted on each side of the disk of the mounting body to allow simultaneous rotation of the attached support legs. The disk has two portions each having an outer surface and an interconnecting portion. The rotation means is mounted in an inner cavity in the mounting body with the two interconnecting parts engaging each other in the inner cavity and the two outer surfaces being visible from the outside of the mounting body and enabling the support legs to be attached thereto.

The rotation means enables simultaneous rotation of the legs on each side of the mounting body. The rotation means may comprise locking means to selectively allow simultaneous rotation, or separate rotation, or independent rotation.

The second operating system, which is a pivoting system, comprises a pivoting device, making the connection of the support legs 18, 19 and 20 integral with the rotating disc 41. The pivoting means for the front support leg 20 comprises a U-shaped pivot guard bracket having a flat central portion attached to the front surface of the turn disc 41. A pivot pin 52 extends between the U-shaped pivot guard bracket and the connection through the cross-shaped front support leg 20 to allow pivotal movement. The pivot guard also performs the function of limiting lateral bending of the front support leg 20 and also includes a limit shoulder block 53 to limit the amount of pivoting of the support leg 20 in a direction relative to the mounting body 15. In this way, the pivoting means allows the support legs to pivot to the desired splayed support position while allowing the support legs to move in towards the mounting body.

The supported structure supported by the mounting body 15 and the support legs 18, 19 and 20 and wheels 21 is based on upwardly extending arms 35 and 36 mounted on the mounting body. The mounting body 15 has, in addition to the central rotary disc 41, lateral sheaths 45 and 46 on each side of the mounting body, which have substantially the same height and depth as the mounting body 15. The internal cavity of the side sheaths is substantially V-shaped with a pivot pin near the bottom to connect to and pivotally hold the bottom of the upright elongated arms 35 and 36 so that the upright arms can pivot from a position beside one side of the V-shape to a position beside the other side of the V-shape.

As can be seen particularly in fig. 2, the attachment of the mounting body 15 to the support legs 18, 19 and 20 causes the mounting body and the co-linear upwardly extending arms 35, 36 to form an angle of inclination with respect to the ground engaging wheels 21 on a flat horizontal surface.

The vertically extending arms 35, 36 include lower arms 35a, 36a which are connected to and extend from the mounting body 15 and are connected to upper arms 35b, 36b by respective elbow joints 38 and are each topped by a handle 39. The elbow joint 38 and the shape of the upper arms 35b, 36b allow the upright arms to extend substantially in a plane formed by the angle of inclination of the mounting body 15.

A support frame 45 in the form of a seat is mounted on the upright arms 35, 36 for supporting a child or other load. This is provided by support posts 61, 62 hingedly mounted on the front of the arms 35, 36. The load may rest on the flexible or other rigid material extending between the posts 61, 62 and the flexible or other rigid material extending between the lower arms 35a, 36 a. However, a fixed structure such as an automobile baby seat or golf club bag can be fitted directly to the frame formed by the support posts and upright arms and even the support legs.

Looking in detail at the operation of the swivel arrangement, with reference to figures 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4, there is shown a collapsible structure having the parts of the mounting body 15, the mounting body 15 having a central cavity 42 in which a swivel disc 41 is mounted, the front and rear legs 18, 19 and 20 being attached to the front surface of the disc 41. Linear channels 81 extending on opposite sides of the centre of the disc 41 are located within the rotating disc, wherein are springs 82 which urge the plunger 81 along the linear channels in an outward direction. The plungers 82 thus extend beyond the circular cavities into adjacent collinear passages 84 extending into the V-shaped cavities of the side sheaths in which the upright arms are pivotally mounted. Spacer balls (spacer balls) 85 fit partially within adjacent collinear channels 84 and engage the plunger 82 on one side above the pivot connection and the upright arms 35, 36 on the other side. With this engagement, the flexing of the cross brace 77 and the pivotal convergence of the upright arms 35, 36 pushes the spacer balls 85 against the plungers so that at the innermost position of the upright arms 35, 36 within the V-shaped cavities of the side sheaths 45, 46 the plungers are just within the circular cavity 42 holding the rotating disc, thus allowing them to rotate.

To prevent the rotating disc 41 from rotating accidentally, a twist latch (twist lock)75 is mounted on the top surface of the mounting body 15 between the upright arms 35, 36 and has a first length with two abutment ends 76, wherein the first length is sufficient to engage the abutment ends 76 to the upright arms 35, 36 in a maximum converging position defined by the limits of movement within the V-shaped cavities of the side sheaths 45, 46. By allowing a twist latch having a smaller length to rotate thereby disengaging the upright arms, the arms can be pivotally converged and act against the spring loaded plunger 82 thereby allowing the rotary disk 41 to rotate and be attached to the front and rear support legs.

Thus, it can be seen that: the stroller or push chair 11 includes a plurality of elongated straight support legs 18, 19, 20 each connected to and extending from the mounting body 15. The legs are arranged with a front support leg 18 extending from the front of the mounting body 15 and two support legs 19, 20 extending from the rear of the mounting body 15. The stroller or push chair 11 further includes two straight upright arms 35, 36 with handles at the upper end and pivotally connected within the interior cavity of the mounting body 15.

Each of these parts is capable of rotation. The front support leg 20 can be pivotally moved from an outwardly splayed position to a position substantially adjacent the plane of the mounting body and upright arm. The limiting shoulder blocks prevent movement in one direction but allow movement in the other direction. If the plane of the mounting body 15 and the upright arms 35, 36 is designated b-b and the angle of inclination with respect to the vertical is b deg., the angle of the front support leg along a-a is the angle a deg. with respect to the plane b-b and is pivotally movable to co-extend substantially parallel to the plane b-b. The front support leg can also be rotated 180 deg. with the rotating disc 41 of the mounting body 15. In this way, the ground engaging wheels may extend from the lower side of the mounting body to be located on the upper side of the mounting body 15.

The rear support legs 18, 19 can also be pivotally moved from an outwardly splayed position to a position substantially adjacent the plane of the mounting body and upright arms and rotated 180 deg. with the rotary disc 41 of the mounting body 15. That is, they can move from a line c-c at an angle c ° relative to the plane "b-b" and pivotally move to coextend substantially parallel to the plane "b-b".

The support posts 61, 62 extending from the lower arms 35a, 36a can be pivoted back to adjacent positions and are coextensive with the lower arms 35a, 36 a. They extend along a plane d-d substantially perpendicular to the plane b-b and are pivotally movable to co-extend substantially parallel to the plane b-b.

Upright arms 35, 36 extend upwardly from the mounting block 15 in the plane b-b. However, the V-shaped lumen of the outer sheath allows the upper arms 35, 36 to move convergently outward along line "e-e" as shown in FIG. 1, maintaining this spacing with the cross struts at the tip near the handle. However, due to the bending of the transverse strut at the predetermined central hinge, the upright arms 35, 36 can move towards each other at the top end while remaining substantially parallel. The upper arms 35b, 36b are also able to pivot at elbow joint 38 so as to be adjacent to and coextensive with lower arms 35a, 36a in plane "b-b". Upper arms 35b, 36b are pivotally rotatable 180 at elbow joint 38 to be substantially coextensive with lower arms 35a, 36a in or parallel to plane "b-b".

The inner side walls of the cavity of the mounting body 15 provide the maximum lateral divergence of the upstanding arms 35, 36 when in a supporting configuration in use. The pivotal connection allows the upright arms 35, 36 to converge to substantially coextend for a smaller volume shipping position. In use, the upright arms 35, 36 allow for the operability of the stroller or push chair 11.

In use, the stroller or push chair 11 is changeable from a first support position in which the support legs 18, 19, 20 extend in a first support direction and allow a load to be supported on the collapsible support structure, to a second transport position in which the support legs extend in a second transport direction substantially coextensive with the upright arms 35, 36 and allow ready transport. The mechanism for doing so is described in detail below.

Each support leg 18, 19, 20 is connected to a mounting body 15 by connecting means having rotating means and pivoting means such that the support leg can extend from the mounting body in a first splayed configuration in which it forms a support position for a load to a second configuration in which the support leg is pivoted inwardly to extend substantially alongside the mounting body and rotated such that the support leg extends substantially alongside the upright arm.

The rotation means allow the support legs 18, 19, 20 to be moved from the first support position to the second transport position by rotation. The amount of rotation may be up to 180 deg. to bring the first support position opposite the second transport position. This may allow the support legs 18, 19, 20 and the upright arms 35, 36 to be substantially coextensive, which significantly reduces the amount of space utilized by the stroller or push chair 11 in the collapsed shipping position as opposed to the in-use support position.

The pivoting means of the connecting means allow the attached support legs 18, 19, 20 to pivot from a support position inclined to the mounting body to a folded position adjacent to the mounting body.

One form of the regular steps of transitioning from a first support position allowing a load to be supported on the collapsible support structure to a second transport position can be represented by:

i. pivoting the support posts 61 about the pivotal connection to the lower arms 35a, 36a so as to be coextensive therewith;

turning the twist latch 75 on top of the mounting body 15 between the upright arms 35, 36 to allow them to pivot inwardly;

the relative operation of the latches is effected by the return of the spring-loaded plungers 82 into the circular cavity 42 in which the rotary disc 41 is mounted, whereby the transverse strut 77 between the curved upright arms 35, 36 converges towards each other into a substantially parallel relationship permitting rotation of the rotary disc 41;

simultaneously rotating the front and rear support legs 18, 19 and 20 by rotating the body-mounted rotating disc 41 so that the wheels no longer engage the ground, now splay upward relative to the normal use position;

v. by sliding a circumferential cover 54 along the front leg 20 away from the pivot guard 51 to allow pivotal rotation of the front support column from an outwardly splayed angle a from the upright arms 35, 36 so as to be parallel to and coextensive with the lower arms;

pivoting the rear support post from an outwardly flaring angle a ° from the upright arms 35, 36 by converging the support posts so as to be parallel to and coextensive with the lower arm; and

pivotally rotate the upper arms 35b, 36b about the elbow 38 so as to be parallel to and coextensive with the lower arms 35a, 36 a.

It will be apparent that some of these steps may take a different order.

The support frame 45 of the stroller or push chair 11 is a seating system that can be varied from a large volume support structure to a minimum volume transport structure. The support frame is mounted on upright arms 35, 36 of the stroller or push chair 11.

As shown in fig. 4-6, the collapsible support structure is shown in a collapsed shipping position.

Referring to fig. 8, 9 and 10, various forms of mounting the front and rear legs and upright arms from a central mounting body are shown so that the legs and arms can be moved to a substantially coextensive position to minimize carrying volume. This allows all of the front and rear legs and the upright arms to be rotated in a single plane so that they are coextensive. The choice of which parts are held in a fixed position and which other parts need to be rotated aside and substantially coextensive provides a variety of different versions of the embodiments described above.

It should be understood that the above description of the preferred embodiments is intended to be illustrative only. It does not limit the invention. It will be clear to the person skilled in the art that, without any innovations, there are also possible variants of the collapsible supporting structure, all of which are included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (11)

1. A collapsible supporting structure having:

an installation body;

an arm extending upwardly from the mounting body; and

wheeled front and rear support legs, wherein at least some of the front and rear legs and arms are pivotally mounted to the mounting body so as to be pivotable about the mounting body to enable each point on said some of the front and rear legs and arms to be moved in a front and rear upright plane between an operative configuration and a folded configuration in which the front and rear legs and arms are substantially coextensive,

wherein the arms have an extended configuration for use and a retracted configuration wherein the retracted configuration results in a reduction in the overall length of the arms such that in the retracted configuration the length of the arms is close to the length of either of the front and rear legs.

2. A collapsible supporting structure having:

an installation body;

an arm extending upwardly from the mounting body; and

wheeled front and rear support legs, wherein at least some of the front and rear legs and arms are pivotally mounted to the mounting body so as to be pivotable about the mounting body to enable each point on said some of the front and rear legs and arms to be moved in a front and rear upright plane between an operative configuration and a folded configuration in which the front and rear legs and arms are substantially coextensive,

wherein the arms are foldable such that in the folded configuration, the combined length of the arms approximates the length of either of the front and rear legs.

3. The collapsible supporting structure in accordance with claim 2 wherein the arms are folded approximately midway along their length.

4. The collapsible supporting structure in accordance with any one of the preceding claims wherein the rear legs and arms are pivotable about the mounting body.

5. The collapsible supporting structure in accordance with claim 4 wherein the front legs are secured to the mounting body.

6. The collapsible supporting structure in accordance with claim 4 or 5 wherein one or more of the rear legs are pivotable in a first rotational direction and the arms are pivotable in a second opposite rotational direction.

7. A collapsible supporting structure having:

an installation body;

an arm extending upwardly from the mounting body; and

wheeled front and rear support legs, wherein at least some of the front and rear legs and arms are pivotally mounted to the mounting body so as to be pivotable about the mounting body and respective transverse axes between an operative configuration and a folded configuration in which the front and rear legs and arms are substantially coextensive,

wherein the arms have an extended configuration for use and a retracted configuration wherein the retracted configuration results in a reduction in the overall length of the arms such that in the retracted configuration the length of the arms is close to the length of either of the front and rear legs.

8. A collapsible supporting structure having:

an installation body;

an arm extending upwardly from the mounting body; and

wheeled front and rear support legs, wherein at least some of the front and rear legs and arms are pivotally mounted to the mounting body so as to be pivotable about the mounting body and respective transverse axes between an operative configuration and a folded configuration in which the front and rear legs and arms are substantially coextensive, and wherein the arms are foldable along their lengths substantially midway.

9. The collapsible supporting structure in accordance with claim 8 wherein the arms are folded approximately midway along their length.

10. The collapsible supporting structure in accordance with any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein the rear legs and arms are pivotable about the mounting body.

11. The collapsible supporting structure in accordance with claim 10 wherein the front legs are secured to the mounting body.