Cargo Cart With Wider Front Wheels for Easier Nesting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional wheeled carts, such as grocery and hotel luggage carts, suffer from limited cargo space due to their design, which restricts access and nesting capabilities, leading to inconvenience and reduced revenue for stores and customers.
Innovation Solution
Reversing the wheel and shelf arrangement to place front wheels laterally wider than rear wheels, allowing for a larger, unobstructed bottom shelf and improved nesting, with features like adjustable handles and additional storage options.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional cart design with rear wheels wider than front wheels is used, then nesting capability is improved, but cargo space and accessibility are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional wheel arrangement by placing the front wheels wider than the rear wheels, reversing the conventional design. This inversion allows the bottom shelf to extend fully to the front of the cart without being blocked by rear wheel positioning, thereby maximizing cargo space while still enabling nesting capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the dimensional relationship between front and rear wheels from the traditional configuration to a new configuration where front wheels are positioned laterally wider. This dimensional change creates additional space for the bottom shelf and improves accessibility to the cargo area.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional cart design with restricted rear access is used, then nesting capability is improved, but loading accessibility is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional design by positioning the wider wheels at the front rather than the rear. This inversion removes the obstruction to rear access that plagues traditional designs, allowing customers to easily reach into and access items on the bottom shelf from the rear of the cart.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent design anticipates the need for rear accessibility by configuring the wheel and shelf arrangement before the customer needs to access the cart. The bottom shelf is positioned and sized in advance to ensure full rear access, preventing the need for customers to maneuver around obstructions.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional cart design with tapered bottom shelf is used, then nesting capability is improved, but cargo capacity is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional tapered shelf design by making the bottom shelf parallel-sided or expanding toward the front rather than tapering. This inversion, combined with the wider front wheel positioning, maximizes the volume available for cargo while still allowing nesting when carts are not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains nesting capability through a modified design where the bottom shelf and wheel arrangement allow carts to nest efficiently. The nesting function is preserved through careful design of the frame and wheel positioning, while the cargo area is optimized for maximum capacity.
Data Source
AI summary
A wheeled, pushable cart for transporting cargo that when not in use can be stacked or nested in telescoping fashion, and which can be used with carts having a base frame to which the wheels are attached, and various components, which can include one or more baskets, that are attached to the base frame. The manner in which the wheels are attached and arranged, and the orientation of the base frame, provide for increased storage and ease of access to the base frame and bottom shelf from the rear of the cart, and easy nesting (also referred to as stacking) of multiple carts in telescoping fashion when the carts are not in use.