Patent Application
20120260699
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card for a trolley lock and, more particularly, to a card with an unlocking member, wherein the unlocking member is capable of releasing the trolley lock and can be conveniently folded in and unfolded out from the card.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hypermarkets usually provide trolleys at the entrance thereof to allow customers to carry their purchases therein. And in order to conveniently manage the shopping trolleys, a lock is conventionally disposed on a handle of each shopping trolley. A lock hole is provided in a front end of the lock, and a chain with a lock plate is disposed on a rear end of the lock. The lock plate of a shopping trolley can be inserted into the lock hole of another shopping trolley, allowing the two shopping trolleys to be joined together with the chain. Furthermore, a slot is disposed in the rear end of the lock to allow insertion of a coin. When the customer inserts a coin into the slot, the lock plate can be released. On the other hand, when the customer inserts the lock plate of another trolley into the lock hole of the shopping trolley, the coin can be pushed out of the trolley lock. However, since most wallets are not designed to store coins, it is common that the customers do not have coins with them when they go shopping in a hypermarket. Therefore, the customers have to go to information desk for money exchange, causing inconvenience thereof.
There has been card for storing coins disclosed by prior arts; however, the process of retrieving the coin from the card and/or storing the coin into the card is not convenient, and the coin inside of the card falls out easily.
Thus, an objective of the present invention is to provide a card for a trolley lock which includes an unlocking member capable of releasing the trolley lock. The unlocking member is pivotably connected to the card and can be conveniently folded into and unfolded out from the card.
To achieve this and other objectives, a card for a trolley lock of the present invention includes a card body and an unlocking member. The card body includes front and rear ends and a recess extending from the front end toward the rear end of the card body. The recess includes a first section adjacent to the front end of the card body. The card body further includes at least one first joining portion located in the first section of the recess. The unlocking member includes a shank portion and an unlocking portion extending outwards from an end of the shank portion and being of a coin shape. The shank portion includes at least one second joining portion which is pivotably engaged to the first joining portion of the card body so that the unlocking member is rotatable relative to the card body and moveable between a first position and a second position. When the unlocking member is in the first position, the unlocking portion is folded in the recess of the card body, and when the unlocking member is in the second position, the unlocking portion is unfolded out from the card body and adapted to be inserted into a slot of a trolley lock.
In a preferred form, the card body further includes an upper surface, and the recess extends from the front end of the upper surface toward but spaced from the rear end of the upper surface of the card body. The card body further includes two spaced sides, and the recess is disposed between the two sides of the card body. A notch is formed in the first section of the recess and extends from an outer end of the first section to the front end of the card body. The notch has a width defined by two notch walls. The card body includes two opposed first joining portions each being a pivot protruding from one of the notch walls. The unlocking member includes two second joining portions each being a slot provided in one of two lateral sides of the shank portion and pivotably engaged with one of the two pivots.
Preferably, the card body further includes at least one first positioning portion provided in the second section of the recess. The unlocking member further includes at least one second positioning portion disposed in one of two lateral side of the unlocking portion and engaged with the first positioning portion of the card body when the unlocking member is in the first position.
The present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments of this invention described in connection with the drawings.
The illustrative embodiments may best be described by reference to the accompanying drawings where:
A card for a trolley lock according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in
The card body 12 further includes a recess 26. In this embodiment, recess 26 is provided between two sides 24 of upper surface 16 of card body 12 and extends from the front end 20 of the card body 12 toward but spaced from the rear end 22 of the card body 12. The recess 26 includes a first section 28 adjacent to the front end 20 and a second section 30 having a round-coin shape. The card body 12 further includes at least one first positioning portion 32. According to the preferred form shown, the card body 12 includes two opposed, first positioning portions 32, and each first positioning portion 32 is a protrusion spot and disposed on a surrounding of the second section 30 of the recess 26. However, it can be appreciated that each first positioning portion 32 can also be disposed inside the second section 30 of the recess 26 or on a surrounding of the first section 28. Further, a notch 34 is formed in the recess 26 and extends from an outer end of the first section 28 to the front end 20 of the card body 12. A width of the notch 34 in the width direction is defined by two opposed notch walls 36. The card body 12 further includes at least one first joining portion 38. In the preferred embodiment, the card body 12 includes two opposed, first joining portions 38, and each first joining portion 38 is a pivot protruding from one of the notch walls 36 in the width direction.
The unlocking member 14 includes a shank portion 40 and an unlocking portion 42 spaced from the shank portion 40 in the length direction. The unlocking member 14 further includes two lateral sides 44 spaced in the width direction. In the preferred embodiment, the unlocking member 14 has approximately the same shape as the recess 26 of the card body 12 to allow the unlocking member 14 to fit with and received in the recess 26. Specifically, the shank portion 40 of the unlocking member 14 has a shape corresponding to the first section 28 of the recess 26, and the unlocking portion 42 of the unlocking member 14 has a shape corresponding to the coin shape of the second section 30 of the recess 26. The thickness of the unlocking member 14 is approximately the same as the depth of the recess 26, thereby allowing a top surface 45 of the unlocking member 14 to flush with the upper surface 16 of the card body 12 when the unlocking member 14 is received in the recess 26. The unlocking member 14 further includes two second joining portions 46 to pivotably join with the two first joining portions 38 of the card body 12, thereby allowing the unlocking member 14 to be moved relative to the card body 12 between a first position and a second position. In the embodiment, the second joining portions 46 are slots disposed in two lateral sides 44 of the shank portion 40 respectively. However, it can be appreciated that the two second joining portions 46 can be pivots and the two first joining portions 38 can be slots. When the unlocking member 14 is in the first position, the unlocking portion 42 is folded inside the recess 26 of the card body 12 (see
The card 10 can be stored inside the wallet or designed as a key ring for the users to carry around easily. When in use, rotate the unlocking member 14 to the second position to unfold it so that the unlocking portion 42 protrudes from the card body 12 (see
In practice, after inserting the unlocking portion 42 into the slot 54, the card body 12 can be rotated relative to the unlocking portion 42 to an appropriate angle, and therefore the information printed thereon can be shown to the customers, providing a good advertising effect. Or, the card body 12 can be printed of or stuck on a daily supplies list, thereby helping the user to purchase products he or she needs. Besides, the card 10 according to the preferred teachings of the present invention can be used as a free gift.
Thus since the invention disclosed herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or general characteristics thereof, some of which forms have been indicated, the embodiments described herein are to be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is to be indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.
