Trolley baseplate and trolley using the same

Abstract

Disclosed is a trolley baseplate including a plate body having a head end and a tail end, a first locking mechanism on the plate body adjacent to the head end and a second locking mechanism on the plate body adjacent to the tail end. The second locking mechanism is placed corresponding to the first locking mechanism and the structures of the two locking mechanism are fitting. When front and back trolleys are concatenated, the tail end of the front trolley and the head end of the back trolley can be locked to each other by means of the first locking mechanism and the second locking mechanism. The trolleys with the above structures can be concatenated more conveniently, and are not liable to overturn upon sudden braking or turning, which can effectively shorten the time for the staff to fasten two trolleys together.

Claims

1. A base plate of a trolley comprising: a plate body having a head end and a tail end; a first locking mechanism provided on the plate body adjacent to the head end; and a second locking mechanism provided on the plate body adjacent to the tail end; wherein the first locking mechanism and second locking mechanism are structured such that the second locking mechanism receives the first locking mechanism partially within its boundaries to produce a nesting relation, wherein the first locking mechanism comprises an arc latch, and the second locking mechanism comprises a slope piece having an ascending slope relatively close to the tail end and a descending slope relatively far away from the tail end, the arc latch locating at substantially the same level as a position of the slope piece.

2. The base plate of a trolley according to claim 1, wherein a width of the tail end is greater than that of the head end, an accommodating space is formed at the tail end, and the plate body includes two side portions, the first locking mechanism being provided on an outer wall of at least one of the two side portions, and the second locking mechanism being provided on an inner wall of a side portion where the first locking mechanism locates.

3. The base plate of a trolley according to claim 2, wherein the first locking mechanism comprises a limiting piece protruding laterally outwardly from the side portion, and the second locking mechanism comprises a limiting groove, the positions of the limiting piece and the limiting groove being substantially located at the same level with a consistent length direction, the maximum lateral width of the limiting piece being smaller than or equal to a difference between the width of the tail end and a width of the head end, and the length of the limiting groove being greater than or equal to the length of the limiting piece.

4. The base plate of a trolley according to claim 1, wherein a gradient of the ascending slope is smaller than or equal to that of the descending slope.

5. The according to claim 4, wherein the arc latch has a lower first height and a higher second height with respect to the plate body and tends to stay at the first height; and the arc latch tends to be maintained at the first height by means of an elastic device or its own flexibility.

6. The base plate of a trolley according to claim 5, wherein the slope piece has a lower third height and a higher fourth height with respect to the plate body and tends to stay at the fourth height; and the slope piece tends to be kept at the fourth height by means of an elastic device or its own flexibility.

7. A trolley comprising: a base plate including: a plate body having a head end and a tail end; a first locking mechanism provided on the plate body adjacent to the head end; and a second locking mechanism provided on the plate body adjacent to the tail end; wherein the first locking mechanism and second locking mechanism are structured such that the second locking mechanism receives the first locking mechanism partially within its boundaries to produce a nesting relation, a player support provided above the plate body; a frame body with one end connected to the player support and the other end fixedly connected to a head end of the plate body; and a multimedia player provided on the player support, the multimedia player being capable of rotating with respect to the player support.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a structural schematic view showing a multimedia trolley according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion A (a first locking mechanism) of the trolley shown in FIG. 1;

(3) FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion B (a second locking mechanism) of the trolley shown in FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 4A is a schematic view showing a front connection end of a charging connector located on the bottom of a baseplate;

(5) FIG. 4B is a schematic view showing a back connection end of the charging connector located on the bottom of the baseplate;

(6) FIG. 5A is a schematic view showing an arc latch being located on an ascending slope of a slope piece when front and back trolleys are locked together;

(7) FIG. 5B is a schematic view of the positions of the baseplate and the charging connector when the arc latch is in the state shown in FIG. 5A;

(8) FIG. 6A is a schematic view showing the arc latch being located on a smooth portion of the slope piece when front and back trolleys are locked together;

(9) FIG. 6B is a schematic view of the positions of the baseplate and the charging connector when the arc latch is in the state shown in FIG. 6A;

(10) FIG. 7A is a schematic view showing the arc latch being located on a descending slope of the slope piece when front and back trolleys are locked together; and

(11) FIG. 7B is a schematic view of the positions of the baseplate and the charging connector when the arc latch is in the state shown in FIG. 7A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(12) FIG. 1 shows a multimedia trolley having locking mechanisms according to an embodiment of the present invention. The trolley includes a baseplate 6, a frame body 1, a player support 3, a charging connector 4 provided on the bottom of the baseplate 6 (not shown in FIG. 1 but can be referred in FIGS. 4A to 7B) and a multimedia player 5 hinged to the player support 3. The frame body 1 has an upper plug terminal 11 and a lower plug terminal 12. The player support 3 is inserted into the frame body 1 through the upper plug terminal 11 and then fastened with a pop rivet. The baseplate 6 is inserted into the frame body 1 through the lower plug terminal 12 and fastened with a pop rivet. By means of such a connection, welding points can be avoided to expose, so that the trolley as a whole has better appearance and is easy to disassemble and transport. The display plane of the multimedia player 5 is generally arranged upwardly and is rotatable with respect to the player support 3 within a certain angle range to facilitate viewing by the user from different perspectives.

(13) As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the baseplate 6 having wheels includes a plate body 2. Two opposite first locking mechanisms are provided on two sides adjacent to the head end of the plate body 2 and two opposite second locking mechanisms are provided on two sides adjacent to the tail end of the plate body 2. The structures of the first locking mechanism and the second locking mechanism are adaptive to each other and are placed correspondingly. The first locking mechanism is a male locking mechanism and the second locking mechanism is a female locking mechanism. The first locking mechanism includes a limiting piece 24 and an arc latch 21, and the second locking mechanism includes a limiting groove 23 and a slope piece 22, both of which will be described below in detail. Accordingly, when two trolleys are concatenated front and back, the first locking mechanism and the second locking mechanism cooperate with each other so that the two trolleys are fixed together.

(14) Further, the width of the tail end of the plate body 2 is bigger than that of the head end of the plate body 2, and the tail end of the plate body 2 is formed with an accommodating space. The plate body 2 includes a left side portion and a right side portion. The first locking mechanism is provided on an outer wall of at least one of the two side portions and the second locking mechanism is provided on an inner wall of a side portion where the first locking mechanism locates. As such, the first locking mechanism and the second locking mechanism are arranged in pairs.

(15) Referring to FIGS. 4A to 7B, the charging connector 4 includes an arc copper piece 41 arranged on the lower surface of the head end of the plate body 2 and a laminar copper piece 42 arranged on the upper surface of the tail end of the plate body 2.

(16) The limiting piece 24 of the first locking mechanism is provided on the outer wall of the side portion of the plate body 2, which is formed as an arc protrusion. The limiting groove 23 of the second locking mechanism is provided on the inner wall of the side portion of the plate body 2 as a recess going through or not going through the inner wall. The positions of the limiting piece 24 and the limiting groove 23 are substantially at the same level and the length directions thereof are consistent with each other. The maximum lateral width of the limiting piece 24 is smaller than or equal to the difference between the width of the tail end of the plate body 2 and the width of the head end of the plate body 2. The groove length of the limiting groove 23 is greater than or equal to the length of the limiting piece 24. The height of the limiting groove 23 is bigger than the thickness of the limiting piece 24 and smaller than the thickness of the side portion of the plate body 2. When the head end of the back trolley enters into the accommodating space at the tail end of the front trolley, the limiting piece 24 of the back trolley enters into the limiting groove 23 of the front trolley so as to lock the front and back trolleys to each other and further to restrict the depth of the back trolley's entering into the accommodating space of the front trolley.

(17) The arc latch 21 of the first locking mechanism is provided on the outer wall of the side portion of the plate body 2, which is shown as a downwardly extending protrusion. The slope piece 22 of the second locking mechanism is provided on the inner wall of the side portion of the plate body 2, which is shown as a slope block having a substantially trapezoidal cross-section. The slope piece 22 at least has an ascending slope 223 relatively close to the tail end of the plate body 2 and a descending slope 221 relatively far away from the tail end of the plate body 2. The gradient of the ascending slope 223 is smaller than or equal to that of the descending slope 221. The position of the arc latch 21 is substantially located at the same level as the position of the slope piece 22. In this embodiment, the slope piece 22 further provides a smooth middle portion 222 located between the ascending slope 223 and descending slope 221.

(18) The positional relationship between the slope piece 22 and the arc latch 21 when two trolleys are locked and the position of the charging connector 4 in the corresponding state are shown in FIGS. 5A to 7B.

(19) When two front and back trolleys are locked, the back trolley gradually closes to the front trolley. As shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the arc latch 21 of the back trolley slides on the ascending slope 223 of the slope piece 22 of the front trolley and the plate body 2 of the back trolley tends to be slightly lifted. The arc copper piece 41 provided at the head end of the plate body 2 of the back trolley does not contact the laminar copper piece 42 provided at the tail end of the plate body 2 of the front trolley.

(20) As shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, as the back trolley further moves forward, the arc latch 21 of the back trolley slides on the smooth middle portion 222 of the slope piece 22 of the front trolley. The head end of the plate body 2 of the back trolley is lifted upward. The arc copper piece 41 provided at the head end of the plate body 2 of the back trolley does not contact with the laminar copper piece 42 provided at the tail end of the plate body 2 of the front trolley.

(21) As shown in FIG. 7A an FIG. 7B, when the head end of the plate body 2 of the back trolley completely enters into the accommodating space of the tail end of the plate body of the front trolley, the arc latch 21 of the back trolley slides on the descending slope 221 of the slope piece 22 of the front trolley, and eventually disengages from the descending slope 221. At this moment, the head end of the plate body 2 of the back trolley is slightly inclined downward. The arc copper piece 41 provided on the head end of the plate body 2 of the back trolley brings into instantaneous contact with the laminar copper piece 42 provided on the tail end of the plate body 2 of the front trolley. By means of this arrangement, deformation and even damage of the arc copper piece 41 and the laminar copper piece 42 resulting from being rubbed against each other during the concatenating process of the front and back trolleys can be avoided.

(22) Due to provision of the ascending slope 223, the smooth middle portion 222 and the descending slope 221, and the gradient of the ascending slope 223 being equal to or smaller than that of the descending slope 221, an operator can easily determine the relative positions of the front and back trolleys according to the inclination direction of the plate body 2 and the magnitude of the force applied to push the back trolley and then complete the concatenating of the front and back trolleys relatively fast to fasten them together. It should be understood that the limiting groove 23 of the front trolley and the limiting piece 24 of the back trolley are simultaneously locked to each other during the completion of the concatenating process of FIGS. 5A to 7B.

(23) A person skilled in the art can undoubtedly apply such a locking mechanism to more than two trolleys having the same structure as described above to complete the concatenating and fastening of a plurality of trolleys within a short time. The charging connectors 4 of the concatenated and locked trolleys form a series circuit and can be quickly charged. The charging connector 4 mentioned in the present invention may use the electrical connector as disclosed in Chinese Utility Model Patent (Patent Application No. 201320614839.5) filed by the same applicant, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

(24) By using the trolley according to the present invention, an operator can easily push a plurality of trolleys which concatenated front and back to a charging area without repeatedly adjusting the mutual positions of the front trolley and the back trolley or repeatedly checking whether or not the charging connector 4 is reliably connected, which can effectively prevent two trolleys concatenated from overturning, separation or instable circuit connection during moving due to lack of a locking mechanism.

(25) In another embodiment of the present invention, in order to avoid rigid contact between the arc latch 21 and the slope piece 22, one of the arc latch 21 and the slope piece 22 can move within a certain range when the other is pressed by installing an elastic device. For example, the arc latch 21 has a lower first height and a higher second height relative to the plate body 2 and the arc latch 21 tends to be maintained at the first height by means of the elastic device or its own flexibility, so that when the arc latch 21 contacts the slope piece 22, the arc latch 21 moves without rigid collision or friction with the slope piece 22 which may shorten service life. Of course, it shall be understood by those skilled in the art that an opposing arrangement may also be adopted. For example, the slope piece 22 has a lower third height and a higher fourth height relative to the plate body 2. The slope piece 22 tends to be maintained at the fourth height by means of an elastic device or its own flexibility, both of which can contribute to prolonging the service life and thereby reducing the maintenance cost.

(26) Various embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. It shall be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, changes and variations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The scope of the claims shall be construed in its entirety and within the broadest scope consistent with the description and not limited to the examples or the embodiments described in detail.