There are numerous commercialized household carts for carrying household items, such as groceries, beverages and some items of wearing apparel. These prior art household carts have frequently included a pair of wheels mounted on a basket. A handle, frequently having an inverted U shape, usually extends from the basket and, in certain configurations, telescopes with respect to the basket. Some of the baskets are foldable, for ease of storage in automotive vehicles and residences. The typical prior household carts have limited volumetric and weight capacity. In addition, they are not usually adapted to carry elongated clothing articles, such as pants, suits or skirts, without folding and/or compressing the articles against each other. Since several of these articles of clothing are frequently on hangers while transported to a residence from a cleaning establishment, the present household carts are rarely used by householders for such articles. Certainly, a householder does not want his or her clothing folded and compressed after being commercially pressed. The prior art household carts have generally been incapable of carrying substantial loads, such as kitchen, laundry room or basement "white" appliances. Also, the prior art household carts have generally been difficult to manage on steps or street curbs.
Because of these problems, the prior art household carts have met with only limited success. Consequently, the vast majority of householders transport household items between their automotive vehicles and residence by hand. This frequently necessitates several back and forth trips. When a householder transports clothing articles, such as topcoats, full length dresses, suits, pants and skirts, from an automotive vehicle to a residence, the householder usually grasps a large number of hangers and slings the clothing over his or her shoulder, causing significant hand pain. In addition, the clothing articles are compressed together and the expense of commercial pressing is, to a certain extent, wasted. There is, to our knowledge, no currently available household cart capable of carrying garments on hangers, simultaneously with carrying other items, such as groceries, particularly heavy items such as cases of beverages. Further, many household carts of which we are aware are relatively expensive and difficult to maneuver.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved, relatively inexpensive and highly flexible household cart having the capability of carrying many different types of household items.
Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved relatively inexpensive household cart having a handle which can be positioned in several different positions on the cart.
A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved household cart that can be easily stowed in a trunk (i.e., a boot in the United Kingdom) of an automobile.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a new and improved household cart including a handle having plural operative positions and which can be stowed on the cart so the cart can be easily stored in a relatively small volume, such as an automobile trunk or behind a door or in a closet of a residence.
An added object of the invention is to provide a new and improved household cart including a handle selectively having relatively short and long lengths, selectively enabling the cart to (1) be easily stowed and (2) carry relatively large clothing apparel items, such as topcoats, full length dresses, suits, pants and skirts.
A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved household cart which can easily be wheeled about a kitchen and is arranged so items to be stored in kitchen receptacles, such as cabinets and refrigerators, can easily be removed from the cart, without bending.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a new and improved household cart having a handle for carrying household items, wherein the handle is positioned relative to wheels of the cart to minimize the likelihood of cart tipping.
A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved household cart having a base for securely carrying relatively heavy articles, such as beverage cases and watermelons, as well as heavier household articles such as refrigerators, and having a handle for carrying other household items.