APPARATUS OF CONTAINMENT AND TRANSPORT OF OBJECTS

Abstract

Apparatus (1) of containment and transport of objects comprising a main hollow body (2) provided with outer side walls (2a) and a pair of gripping and support elements (3) coupled to said outer side walls (2a). Each gripping and support element (3) is configured to rotate on the outer side walls (2a) independently from the other gripping and support element (3), thus switching from a first vertical position in which each gripping and support element (3) is fixed to the main hollow body (2) to a second vertical position rotated of 180° from the first vertical position, in which each gripping and support element (3) is laying down on the ground.

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus of containment and transport of objects.

In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus of containment and transport of objects, for example a basket for clothes, or like a basket for toys, or any other type of household object.

Typically, in a domestic environment, and more specifically in the case of clothes that are discharged from the washing machine, or from the dryer, and are put directly in a container, usually a basket. Then, this basket must be lifted and transported in other environments to hang out the clothes or iron them, usually at a certain height from the ground. A similar situation occurs for storing or take toys or any other type of object into or from a basket.

To perform each of these operations it is necessary that an user should stoop down and get up many times to take from the basket or put into the objects, such as one article per time, specifically in the case of clothes. The need to repeat these movements many times, for example to empty the washing machine, to stretch out and subsequently to iron the laundry, or to collect from the ground toys and store them into a basket, makes these daily operations particularly hard and slow.

As it is known, there are different types of household apparatuses suitable to contain and transport objects, for example clothes. Some of these known apparatuses have mobile supports which allow the raising of the basket with respect to the ground, if necessary.

For example, the patent application U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,414 describes a basket for clothes with a support bracket. These brackets are foldable from an open position of support to a rest position in a cavity formed on the basket bottom. In the rest position the brackets are coplanar.

However, although this basket has folding support brackets that allow the elevation, does not facilitate in any way the transportation and the lifting of the basket itself and of its contents.

Therefore the known apparatuses haven't structures allowing to perform conveniently and easily such lifting operations and to support the basket elevated from the ground.

Scope of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of containment and transport of objects, which can be raised and/or over headed with respect to the ground in practical, simple and economical way, therefore to overcome the limitations that influence the current apparatuses with reference to the known technique.

According to the present invention, an apparatus of containment and transport of objects is provided, as defined in claim 1.

For a better understanding of the present invention a preferred embodiment is now described, purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic three-dimensional view of an apparatus of containment and transport of objects, in a laying configuration on the ground, according the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic three-dimensional bottom view of the apparatus of an apparatus of containment and transport of objects, in the laying configuration on the ground, according to the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic front view with a magnification of a lateral detail of the apparatus of containment and transport of objects, in the rest laying configuration on the ground, according to the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic three-dimensional view of the apparatus of containment and transport of objects, in the phase of transitions from the rest laying configuration to a configuration of lifting from the ground, according to the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a three-dimensional schematic view of a gripping and support element of the apparatus of containment and transport of objects, in the phase of transition from the laying configuration to the configuration of lifting from the ground, according to the invention;

FIGS. 6A-6B show prospective views of hooking means of the gripping and support element in a seat of a lower portion of the apparatus of containment and transport of objects, in the locking phase in the configuration of lifting from the ground, according to the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a three-dimensional schematic view of the apparatus of containment and transport of objects, in the configuration of lifting from the ground, according to the invention;

FIGS. 8A-8B show three-dimensional schematic views of a locking tooth of the gripping and support elements of the apparatus of containment and transport of objects, according to the invention.

With reference to these figures, and in particular to FIG. 1, an apparatus of containment and transport of objects is shown, according to the invention. More in details, the apparatus of containment and transport of objects 1 comprises a main body 2 and a pair of gripping and support elements 3 placed on the sides of the main body 2. More precisely, the main body 2 is a hollow body used to contain objects, such as a basket for clothes or toys or magazines, comprising a bottom 4 and a cavity 5.

Advantageously according to the invention, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the gripping and support elements 3 can be in a position of being hooked to the external side walls of the main body 2, in a first closed configuration in which the apparatus 1 is in configuration of laying on the ground, in which these gripping and support elements 3 act as convenient handles for gripping the apparatus 1 from the ground.

As better shown in FIG. 2, according to an aspect of the invention, the gripping and support elements 3 comprise a first upper grip and support portion 3a and a second lower portion 3b connected to the side edges of the lower surface of the bottom 4 of the main body 2.

Each gripping and support element 3 is configured to rotate on the outer side walls 2a independently from the other gripping and support element 3, thus switching from a first vertical position in which each gripping and support element 3 is fixed to the main hollow body 2 to a second vertical position rotated of 180° from the first vertical position, in which each gripping and support element 3 is laying down on the ground.

In particular, as better shown in FIG. 3, the lower end 3c of the lower portion 3b are hinged to the external side walls 2a, in correspondence of lower corner seats 2b which accommodate the hinges 7. In addition, the lower portions 3b of the gripping and support elements 3 have internally a protrusion 8, for example a locking tooth, better shown in FIG. 8A, configured to be fit in a seat 8a better shown in FIG. 8B of the outer side walls 2a of the hollow body 2, when the gripping and support elements 3 are located in the closure configuration.

Alternatively, advantageously according to the invention, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the gripping and support elements 3 can be rotated outwards by 180° around the hinges 7 and thus arranged in a second open configuration in which the apparatus 1 is in the configuration of lifting from the ground. In this configuration, the first gripping and support element 3 connected to the left side of the apparatus 1 is configured to be rotated counterclockwise and the second gripping and support element 3 connected to the right side of the apparatus 1 is configured to be rotated clockwise, so that the gripping and support elements 3 result parallel to each other and rest on the ground with the upper portions 3a acting as a support to maintain the apparatus 1 in a raised position on the ground.

According to an aspect of the invention, as shown in FIG. 6, the lower ends of the lower portions 3b of the gripping and supporting elements 3 are externally provided with a protuberance 9, for example a further locking tooth, configured to be fit in a suitable seat 10 of outer surface of the bottom 4. With the protuberance 9 stably locked in the seat 10, the apparatus 1 is in the configuration of lifting from the ground.

According to an aspect of the invention, the apparatus of containment and transport of objects is made of plastics.

Therefore, advantageously according to the invention, to switch from the configuration of lifting from the ground to the laying down configuration it is sufficient to lift the main body 2 to allow the gripping and support elements 3 to unlock automatically the protuberance 9 from the seat by the weight effect, and rotate the gripping and supporting elements 3 to pass from the open to the closed configuration.

Advantageously according to the invention, the apparatus 1 has variable and adaptable height.

Advantageously according to the invention, the apparatus 1 is stable both in the configuration of laying on the ground and in the configuration of lifting from the ground.

Still advantageously according to the invention, the switch from one configuration to another one is carried out doing simple movements.

Therefore, the apparatus of containment and transport objects according to the invention allows to facilitate the operations of storing, transporting and handling the objects, such as clothes, toys, magazines and any other household object.

Another advantage of the apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to the invention is to be always stable.

In addition, the apparatus of containment and transport of objects is simply manufactured.

Finally, the apparatus of containment and transport of objects is cheap.

Finally it is clear that the apparatus of containment and transport of objects described and illustrated here can be modified and varied without departing from the protective scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1-7. (canceled)

8. The apparatus of containment and transport of objects comprising a main hollow body provided with outer side walls and a pair of gripping and support elements coupled to said outer side walls, each gripping and support element being configured to rotate on the outer side walls independently from the other gripping and support element, thus switching from a first vertical position in which each gripping and support element is fixed to the main hollow body to a second vertical position rotated of 180° from the first vertical position, in which each gripping and support element is laying down on the ground;

wherein each gripping and the support element comprises first upper gripping and support portion and second lower portion connected to the side edges of the bottom region of the main hollow body; and in that the lower ends of the second lower portions have an outer protuberance configured to fit in a seat of the outside surface of the bottom when each gripping and support element is in the second vertical position.

9. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 8, wherein said lower comprises inferior ends hinged to hinges housed in lower corner seats of said outer side walls.

10. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 8, wherein said lower portions have internally a protrusion configured to fit in a seat of the outer side walls when each gripping and support element is the first vertical position.

11. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 8, wherein it is height adjustable and adaptable.

12. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 8, wherein it is made of plastics.

13. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 9, wherein it is height adjustable and adaptable.

14. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 10, wherein it is height adjustable and adaptable.

15. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 9, wherein it is made of plastics.

16. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 10, wherein it is made of plastics.

17. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 11, wherein it is made of plastics.

18. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 13, wherein it is made of plastics.

19. An apparatus of containment and transport of objects according to claim 14, wherein it is made of plastics.