1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shopping carts and carrying devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a personal shopping cart having an independently wheeled basket that is attachable to a separate store cart for collecting and purchasing goods, whereafter the basket is separated for transporting and handling the goods during transit outside of the store.
It is well understood that shopping carts are devices provided for common use when shopping in department stores, groceries stores and other markets for the collection and transport of goods. These devices employ a wheeled frame supporting a basket area for item collection, wherein the user is not required to hand-carry the items individually or physically support a basket while shopping. Once the items are purchased, the cart is either left in the store or taken to the user's vehicle for unloading. The purchased items are generally organized in grocery bags and placed into the truck or interior of the vehicle in a loose and unsupported manner. After transporting the purchased items to the desired destination, the items must be individually lifted and transported from the vehicle, generally into a user's home or other destination where the items can be stored or utilized immediately.
Several aspects of this process are problematic for the user and for the purchased items themselves. First, the loose transport of these items allows the items to freely shift within the vehicle, leading to damaged or spilled contents due to lack of adequate support. Store bags are generally plastic or paper bags having very little means of lateral support for items placed therein; the items are therefore left insufficiently supported shifts in transporting vehicle momentum. Second, handling and supporting all of the items once the user has left the store or when transferred the items from the cart is burdensome, particularly if many items are purchased or if the user is not able to take their vehicle directly to the their intended destination (i.e. to an urban apartment or to an event away from parking). Finally, communal shopping carts are sometimes not well maintained or are left uncovered, leading to the cart becoming dirty and unsanitary. The placement of food products directly into such a shopping cart is hazardous if the cart is not clean, and can lead to illness of the user. Further still, general products placed within a dirtied cart, such as clothes or other items, can become soiled prior to their purchase. A solution to these issues related to common store carts is required, and one that provides a means of collecting and transporting products within the store and during transport therefrom.
The present invention discloses a new shopping cart system that is separable into a wheeled basket and a wheeled cart. The two assemblies are affixable to one another, whereby the basket is user-owned and the cart is store-owned. The basket provides a means of supporting purchased goods within the store, during transit and during transport to the intended destination, such as in the home or outdoor event. The basket is independently wheeled and can be pulled or lifted as desired. When in the store, the basket attaches to and is supported by a cart assembly, which supports the basket in an elevated position as is customary for grocery store carts having elevated baskets above the floor surface. The cart is left at the store and used only when shopping, allowing the basket to be cleaned and maintained by the user, and separating the communal cart aspect from directly contact with the purchased goods. The system therefore provides a means of handling, supporting and maintaining a cleanly environment for purchased and transported goods from a store.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to grocery carts and separable basket and cart systems. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications, and generally relate to stackable basket devices, means of covering or segregating an existing grocery cart or collapsible basket devices. No device provides a separable basket and cart system as disclosed in the present invention. The forgoing is a list of devices deemed most relevant to the present disclosure, which are herein described for the purposes of highlighting and differentiating the unique aspects of the present invention, and further highlighting the drawbacks existing in the prior art.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,798 to Lucas discloses a reusable and collapsible container having a rectangular base and four substantially rectangular walls. The sides and ends folds foldably joint to the perimeter of the base, while each side foldably joins to adjacent sides and includes a forty-five degree fold line therealong. The sides and base form a collapsible state and deployable state, wherein the deployable state provides an open-top container for storage of articles, particularly for use with a shopping cart and for containing groceries within the container rather than loosely within the shopping cart. The Lucas device, while providing a novel collapsible container, fails to contemplate a shopping basket that is removable from a rolling cart, wherein the basket provides a grocery store shopper with an easy means of transporting purchased goods from the grocery store and into the home.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,329 to Smith is another such device that discloses a collapsible shopping cart having front and rear sides connecting to a lower frame at pivot points, which allows the sides to fold downward against the lower frame and into a collapsed state. The lower frame includes four wheels and a user push handle extending upward, as with a standard shopping cart. Horizontal arms along the upper portion of the cart provide an upper frame for the cart having sides that attach at one end at a pivot point with the front of the cart and at second end via hooks that secure the horizontal members to the rear of the cart. When the hooks are disconnected, the lower and upper frame collapse into a condensed state, while the basket is comprised of a mesh material to conform to the shape of the collapsed or opened cart. The Smith device, while disclosing a collapsible shopping cart, does not include the structural elements and features of the present basket and cart assembly of the present invention.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,527 to Soriano discloses a shopping cart having a basket and a roller support. The basket dismountable from its support to be stowed into a vehicle separately, while otherwise the basket is mounted by two lateral arms on a rolling support. Two parallel arms form deformable parallelogram system supporting the basket therebetween. The device provides a means to easily load the basket contents into a vehicle trunk by way of rotation and disconnection of the parallel arms. The Soriano device, while disclosing several embodiments for the purpose of supporting and loading groceries into a vehicle, fails to contemplate the structure or spirit of the present invention, which includes a separable basket and cart system, whereby the cart includes elements that facilitate support and carriage of grocery items outside of the store and the cart provides a means to support the basket while shopping.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,578 to Davidson discloses a shopping cart and container that comprises a wheeled base, an upwardly extending frame and at least one rack carried by the frame that includes a shelf for supporting at least one container. The containers are releasable securable to the shelf, thereby allowing the containers to be removed from the cart and handled independently. The preferred embodiment of the cart includes an upper and lower rack separated by a height greater than the height of the containers. The Davidson device provides an upstanding container support having a plurality of tiered racks, whereby the assembly is supported by roller wheels for wheeled support while shopping. The device does not disclose an elongated cart for supporting a large, independently wheel basket for both in-store shopping and handling when at home or outside of the store, independent of the cart support.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,394 to Lauto discloses a modular material carrying vehicle having a plurality of separable and stackable storage compartments. The compartments are releasably maintained in an upright and stacked configuration via a pair of elongated and tubular supports, which connect to a bottom panel having at set of roller wheels attached thereto. The tubular members enter through the base of each stacked compartment to retain their position once installed, while the wheeled base allows the plurality of stacked compartments to be moved while shopping or collecting items for placement into the compartments. The Lauto invention provides a cart with a means to secure a plurality of storage compartments stacked vertically upon one another. The present invention provides a separable and collapsible grocery basket that is adapted to be supported by a wheeled cart when in the store and independently handled when away from the store.
The present invention provides a full-sized shopping cart basket that is removable and securable to a cart assembly, whereby the two assemblies when joined provide a standard, full-sized shopping cart, and when separated the basket provides a means to transport and support purchased items during transit and over distances without carrying each item individually or lifting the basket over distances. It is submitted that the present invention is substantially divergent in design elements from the prior art, and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing shopping cart devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of shopping cart devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new, separable shopping cart system, wherein the same can be utilized for providing convenience for the user when collecting and supporting items while in the store and in transit therefrom, while personally maintaining the quality of the basket as a separable and user-owned assembly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved shopping cart device and system that has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a shopping cart device and system that includes a wheeled basket and wheeled cart, the basket being user-owned and connectable to a store-owned cart.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a shopping cart device and system that provides a user-owned basket that includes a wheeled base and a collapsible construction for reduced storage volume.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a shopping cart device and system that eliminates the need for communal shopping carts, whereby the user-owned basket is maintained by the user and taken to and from the store, and the store-owned cart supports the basket in an elevated position while shopping.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.
Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the shopping cart device and system. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for supporting purchased goods while in the store and in transit therefrom. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.
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The basket 11 and cart 12 assemblies are detachable and securable to one another by way of the fitment between the basket wheels 29 and the interior boundary of the cart basket frame 20. The wheels 29 are adapted to fit within the interior of the basket frame 20 and prevent lateral movement, while the weight of the basket 11 and height of the wheels 29 secures the two together vertically. The cross members 21 support the base surface 17 of the basket, allowing the two assemblies to be quickly separable to connected as desired when entering or leaving a store. The basket and cart assemblies can be attached as just described, or alternatively a further securement means may be included to ensure no relative movement when engaged with one another; however it is submitted that the two are securably connectable without further means of attachment. In a further embodiment of the basket, the sidewalls and end walls may be separable from one another and each be hingedly attached to the basket base 17. This allows the wall of the basket to fold into a planar, stowed state when not being used. The Tray 18 is further collapsible to facilitate storage and to retract this element when not desired, as is common in most grocery cart assemblies. While in use, this embodiment of the basket includes an end wall to sidewall connector along their boundary to maintain the position of the basket in a deployed, rectangular and open state.
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Overall it is desired to disclose a new and improved means and method of shopping, wherein personal baskets are taken to grocery stores and mated with a store-owned cart. In this way, the basket can be kept clean as desired by the user, and the items purchased from the store can be easily transported home without individual handling or undue physical output. It is common to find users carrying multiple grocery bags on both arms when unloading vehicles. The present invention intends to eliminate this burden by providing an easily transportable, personal basket that can be unloaded in the home and not at the store location.
When an individual is finished shopping at the grocery store, it is necessary to take the bags within a shopping cart to the car and unload each bag from the cart and into the car one by one. Once that person arrives home, the bags have to then be removed one by one and taken inside. Some of the bags may have overturned during transit, become damaged or damaging the car itself. Further still, for those users without a car or who cannot drive with their items directly to their home or other intended location, individual carrying of each bag is necessary. This process can be time consuming, strenuous and potentially harmful for the user, the products and the vehicle utilized to transport the items. The present invention saves time when loading the car after making a purchase, and further reduces time unloading the car after arriving home. The disclosed basket also allows the groceries to be easily transported home and over great distances if required. All the groceries stay upright and protected within the basket, and the overall process of shopping is improved to make the experience more pleasurable and less strenuous.
It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/529,319 filed on Aug. 31, 2011, entitled “Eazy Cart.” The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61529319 | Aug 2011 | US |