A trolley has a pair of front and a pair of rear wheels disposed symmetrically on a chassis relative to a longitudinal axis thereof for ground engaging rotation in a common plane. The chassis incorporates a guide wheel located intermediate the front and rear wheels for ground engaging rotation about a horizontal lateral axis disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axis; a mounting for the guide wheel comprising an arm having a first end, a seocnd end and a section intermediate these ends, the first end bearing the guide wheel; the intermediate section incorporating an attachment to the chassis enabling the guide wheel to be displaced angularly about an axis parallel to the lateral axis, a resilient loading mechanism acting to resiliently bias the guide wheel, by way of the mounting, downwardly into ground engagement in the common plane; and a raising device for the guide wheel acting by way of the mounting such that, on the trolley being closely stacked with a similar trolley, the raising device causes the guide wheel to be raised out of ground engagement.
A guide wheel assembly adapted to retrofit a shopping cart having a guide wheel capable of only rotating in the intended direction of travel of the shopping cart and a flexible one piece mechanism possessing strong material memory such that constant contact between the guide wheel and a traveling surface is maintained. The guide wheel assembly is configured to allow the nesting of multiple carts.
An anti-theft system for a shopping cart includes a mounting structure for supporting anti-theft apparatus on the cart, the mounting structure being secured to the base frame of the cart. The anti-theft apparatus is removably carried by the mounting structure, with the anti-theft apparatus including a collapsible front suspension assembly having a housing; a first set of casters mounted to the housing, retractable pin elements carried by the housing and engagable with the mounting structure for maintaining the front suspension assembly in operative mode in which the first set of casters engage a supporting surface, a sensor assembly for detecting an activation signal and actuating the retractable pin elements to cause retraction of the pin elements and render the front suspension assembly inoperative, and a second set of casters fixed to the shopping cart base frame for preventing the cart from moving in a linear direction when the front suspension assembly is rendered inoperative.
A trolley includes a front wheel assemblie (12) and a rear wheel assembly both assemblies mounted on a trolley frame. The front wheel assembly (12) includes a fixed wheel assembly (24) to aid control of the trolley. In one form the front wheel assembly (12) includes a pair of swivel castors (18) and a fixed wheel assembly (24) disposed between the castors (18). The front wheel assembly (12) is designed so that when the castors (18) swivel from their orientation for forward travel, the fixed wheel assembly (24) is caused to be lifted off the ground. The trolley also includes a camming device which is operative to lift the front wheel assembly (12) off the ground when the trolley is moved into a nested configuration with a like trolley.
A creeper for supporting the body of a worker and facilitating movement of the worker under and around an object such as an automobile. The creeper comprises a platform having a top surface and an underside, and four corner casters mounted on the underside of the platform for spacing the platform above a generally flat horizontal floor and for facilitating rolling of the platform on the floor. The casters are so spaced with respect to the platform that lines connecting adjacent casters define a quadrangle with a corresponding caster at each corner of the quadrangle. A fifth caster is mounted on the underside of said platform within said quadrangle.
A wheeled cart has a generally flat base platform with a plurality of wheels supporting the platform above the ground. A handle frame extends upwardly from the rear end of the cart. The platform has a plurality of spaced, upwardly facing supports for releasably mounting accessories on the platform to extend upwardly from the platform. Accessories are provided for conversion of the cart between stocking and other purposes, including at least one horizontal support panel for supporting items at a location spaced above the platform and at least one vertical support frame for holding items at predetermined locations on the platform.