Connecting structure of front and rear frame parts of a cart for people to ride on

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a cart for people to ride on, more particularly one whose frame is comprised of front and rear parts, which are separable from each other, and which are formed in such a manner as to be capable of being easily joined together.

[0003] 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Referring to FIG. 9, a conventional cart for people to ride on, especially for a handicapped person, includes front and rear frame parts 5 and 6 separable from each other, a front wheel 51 fitted to the front frame part 5, and two rear wheels 61 fitted to the rear frame part 6. The front frame part 5 has a transverse rod 52 at the rear end, an upright rod 53 at the rear end, and a pair of juxtaposed fitting protrusions 54 on an upper end of the upright rod 53. The fitting protrusions 54 have opposing through holes 541. The rear frame part 6 has a transverse rod 62 at the front end, an upright rod 63 projecting from an upper side of the transverse rod 62, trench-formed fitting portions 64 next to the transverse rod 62, and a fitting bar 65 projecting from a front side of the upright rod 63, which bar 65 has a through hole 651. Thus, the frame parts 5 and 6 can be joined together for use with the transverse rod 52 being held in the trench-formed fitting portions 64, and with the fitting bar 65 being joined to the fitting protrusions 54 by means of a pin 55, which is inserted through the holes 541 and 651, as shown in FIG. 11.

[0005] In connecting the frame parts 5 and 6 to each other, referring to FIG. 10, one moves the rear end of the front frame part 5 upwards with one hand, and moves the front end of the rear frame part 6 up with the other hand, and then he fits the transverse rod 52 into the trench-formed fitting portion 64, and positions the fitting bar 65 between the fitting protrusions 54. And, finally he inserting the pin 55 through the holes 541 and 651 while making the hole 651 aligned with the holes 541.

[0006] The above cart frame is found to have disadvantages as followings:

• [0007] 1. It is difficult for one to fit the transverse rod 52 into the trench-formed portion 64 and fit the fitting protrusions 54 onto the fitting bar 65 because with only the front wheel 51 being used as the support, the front frame part 5 is prone to tilt towards either one of two lateral sides thereof when the rear end is being moved upwards, as shown in FIG. 10.
• [0008] 2. It is not easy for one to align the holes 541 and 651. And, it is difficult for one to insert the pin 55 through the holes 541 and 651 while he is holding the rear ends of the frame parts 5 and 6 up such that the holes 541 and 651 are aligned.

[0009] It is a main object of the present invention to provide a frame of a cart to overcome the above disadvantages.

[0010] The frame includes front and rear parts, which respectively has a front wheel, and two rear wheels fitted thereto. The front and the rear parts are to be joined together with a rearmost transverse rod of the front part being fitted in front trench-formed fitting portions of the rear part, a rear upright rod of the front part being fitted in a fitting portion of the rear part plus with a locking unit on rear part being engaged with an engaging hole of the front part to secure the front part to the rear part. A support rod is pivoted to the rear part. In assembling the frame, the support rod is positioned upright for holding the rear part steady together with the rear wheels such that one can use two hands instead of only one to effectively prevent the front part, only supported with the front wheel, from tilting to one lateral side while moving the same to connect the same to the rear part.

[0023] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a preferred embodiment of a frame of a cart for single rider in the present invention includes a front part 1, and a rear part 2 separable from the front part 1. A front wheel 11 is fitted to the front frame part 1, and two rear wheels 21 are fitted to the rear part 2.

[0024] The front frame part 1 has a transverse rod 12 at a rear end thereof, and an upright rod 13 projecting upwards from a rear portion thereof, which is formed with an engaging hole 131 on a top.

[0025] The rear frame part 2 has a transverse rod 22 at a front end thereof, an upright rod 23 projecting upwards from an upper side of the transverse rod 22, trench-formed fitting portions 24 in front of the transverse rod 22, a fitting portion 25 projecting from a front side of the upright rod 23, a pivotal portion 27, and a locking unit 26 joined to a top of the fitting portion 25. The trench-formed fitting portions 24 have screw holes (not numbered) on front portions, and screw holes 241 on bottom portions thereof. The pivotal portion 27 has a stopping section 28 facing rearwards at a lower end.

[0026] Referring to FIGS. 4 to 6, the locking unit 26 includes a sleeve 261 secured on the top of the fitting portion 25, an engaging rod 263 passed through the sleeve 261, and a spring 262 positioned around the engaging rod 263 for biasing the engaging rod 263 downwards. An upper end of engaging rod 263 projects up from an upper opening of the sleeve 261 such that one can move the engaging rod 263 upwards to an unlocking position. The engaging rod 263 has a lower end 265, and an annular protrusion 264 near to the lower end 265. The spring 262 is positioned on an upper side of the annular protrusion 264, and can't fall out of the sleeve 261 from the upper opening of the same. The sleeve 261 has screw threads 266 on an inner side of the upper end thereof while the engaging rod 263 has screw threads 267 on an outer side of an upper portion thereof. Owing to the spring 262, the lower end 265 of the engaging rod 263 partially projects downwards from the fitting portion 25 with the screw threads 267 being adjacent to the screw threads 266, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0027] In addition, the rear frame part 2 has a support rod 3, which is pivoted to the pivotal portion 27, and which can be moved to a substantially upright position for holding the rear frame part 2 steady on the ground together with the rear wheels 21, in which position the support rod 3 touches the stopping section 28 of the pivotal portion 27. A spring 4 is connected with the pivotal portion 27 and the support rod 3 at two ends thereof so as to bias the support rod 3 to a substantially laid-down no-in-use position.

[0028] The method for connecting the front part 1 to the rear part 2 of the frame includes the steps of (1) moving the supporting rod 3 to the substantially upright position to make the rear part 2 held steady by means of the support rod 3 and the rear wheels 21 such that the front end of the rear part 2 is slightly higher than the rear end of the same as shown in FIG. 7, (2) moving the front part 1 such that the rear end of the same is slightly higher than the front end of the same while holding the front and the rear portions of the front part 1 with two hands to prevent the front part 1 from tilting to either one of the lateral sides, and fitting the transverse rod 12 into the trench-formed fitting portion 24, (3) making the upright rod 13 tilt towards the front side of the upright rod 23 (FIG. 4) such that the upright rod 23 tilts towards the upright rod 23 at the same time, and the upper end of the upright rod 13 is fitted in the fitting portion 25 for allowing the lower end 265 of the engaging rod 263 of the locking unit 26 to snap into the engaging hole 131 of the front frame part 1 to lock the front part 1 to the rear part 2 as shown in FIG. 5, (4) turn the engaging rod 263 so as to make the screw threads 267 of the same connected with the screw threads 266 of the sleeve 261 such that the engaging rod 263 can't be accidentally moved away from the locking position, as shown in FIG. 6, and (5) screwing bolts 242 through the holes 241 of the trench-formed fitting portions 24 to prop the transverse rod 12 up at a proper height, and screwing bolts (not numbered) through the holes of the front portion of the fitting portions 24 so that the bolts are tightly pressed against the transverse rod 13 to make the same firmly held in the trench-formed fitting portions 24; the support rod 27 will pivot slightly rearwards, and then will be biased to the substantially laid-down not-in-use position by the spring 4 while the upright rod 23 is tilting towards the upright rod 13 in the third step. After the engaging rod 263 is turned so as to make the screw threads 267 connected with the screw threads 266 in the fourth step, the lower end 265 of the engaging rod 263 will completely engage the engaging hole 131 on the upper end of the upright rod 13.

[0029] From the above description, it can be easily understood that the cart frame of the present invention has advantages as followings:

• [0030] 1. With the help of the rear wheels 21 and the support rod 3, the rear part 2 of the frame can be held steady on the ground even if one doesn't hold the rear part 2 with the hands. Therefore, one can use two hands to instead of only one to effectively prevent the front part 1, only supported on the front wheel, from tilting to one lateral side while moving the same to connect the same to the rear part. Consequently, the front and the rear parts can be easily joined.
• [0031] 2. The engaging rod 263 of the locking unit 26 will snap into the engaging hole 131 of the front part 1 automatically during the course of the upright rod 13 of the front part 1 is fitted to the fitting portion 25 of the rear part 2. Therefore, it won't take much labor or time to assemble the frame.