DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns anti-bacterial devices, and in particular it concerns a new handlebar for shopping carts.

Carts are known that are at the disposal of users that are going to shop inside supermarkets, shopping centres and stores.

Said carts comprise a metal wire basket with a base grid, and are provided with some plastic accessories like, for example, the padlock mounted on the handlebar of said carts.

Carts are also known that are made of a thermoformed material comprising a supporting structure on wheels and one or more fixed or extractable baskets. Said carts also comprise a flap element and some carts may also be equipped with a child carrier. Said carts also comprise a metal crossbar or handlebar thai is necessary to push the cart and that is generally customized with prints or logos identifying the supermarket or with other advertising messages in general

Said carts are used by all the customers entering the supermarket to shop, in particular, cart handlebars are held every day by a multitude of users, both children and adults.

This continuous and undiscriminaling use of the carts by users makes cart handlebars a receptacle for bacteria, mucus, blood etc.

Said bacterial forms may consist in most cases of fecal bacteria like .Listeria, Salmonella and Escherichia coli, that is, agents that cause several gastrointestinal and genitourinary diseases and, in the worst cases, even meningitis. Furthermore, the children that are seated on the cart's seat may rest their mouth on or even lick the cart's handlebar, with serious consequences for their health, and thev may also become vectors of bacteria, as they mav leave traces of saliva potentially contaminated by germs, or they may touch the cart with dirty hands after going to the toilet.

At present, the users who want to prevent the transmission of diseases are forced to clean said carts by means of cleansing toweieties or tissue paper or other devices or personal emergency items of clothing.

Scrupulous users, furthermore, once they have finished shopping and left the supermarket, are forced to go to the toilet to wash their hands or to resort to the use of products like Amuchma or other disinfectant/antibacterial products to eliminate the bacteria transmitted by cart's handlebar.

These methods for preventing the diffusion of bacteria have in most cases proved insufficient, in addition to being rather unpractical, and users, in order to avoid any waste of time, clean neither the cart nor their hands, with the evident risk of contagion and diffusion of infective diseases.

An ant i -bacterial plastic material based on polvamides with the addition of anti-bacterial agents is available on the market and this material is capable of reducing the growth of bacteria on surfaces and makes it possible to manage any risk situations in environments that are sensitive to the cross contamination of bacteria.

Said anti-bacterial agents based on polvamides properly mixed in the base material make it possible to create surfaces that fight and reduce the risk of diffusion of bacteria.

These methods, even if they are effective in reducing the risk of infections, do not eliminate this risk completely.

At present there are thousands of carts, already used in various supermarkets, which are provided with a potentially infected handlebar capable of cyclically transmitting infective diseases.

in order to resolve this problem, a new handlebar for shopping carts has been designed, which is provided with a centre core or tube, preferably made of metal, with an external cover made of a plastic material to which antimicrobial components for neutralizing bacteria have been added.

Said new handlebar, if applied simultaneously to ail the existing shopping carts, can rapidly interrupt the infective cycle generated by the old handlebars.

Said handlebar comprises a metallic or plastic base structure and is completely covered with a plastic material to which an effective silver-based anti-microbial component has been added, which neutralizes the bacteria generating ions that are able to make the daily use of the carts safe.

Said additives contained in the external cover made of a plastic material in turn contain sterilizing and anti-bacterial agents that prevent the diffusion of bacteria.

The effectiveness of the anti-bacterial action lasts for the entire life of the product and limits the degeneration of the plastic component, due to the presence of fungi and bacteria.

Said handlebars covered with said plastic material feel soft to the touch and their anatomical shape ensures better adhesion of the hand to the cart's handlebar.

Said cover extends over the entire handlebar of the cart, in such a way as not to leave any uncovered parts.

Said cover can also be made of a foam material that feels soft to the touch and preferably has an anatomical shape suited to ensure better adhesion of the hand to the cart's handlebar.

Said handlebar is thus applied to all the types of shopping cart equipped with a pushing handlebar and can be used in any type of supermarket.

The user, when he/she goes to the supermarket, will have at his/her disposal a cart that is already provided with an anti-bacterial handlebar.

Said handlebars covered with an anti-bacterial material can be applied in a permanent manner to every cart being manufactured.

This handlebars, furthermore, can be customized with the trademark or logo of the supermarket.

Said handlebars may also contain educational information messages that explain the characteristics and advantages of the service to the users and the children accompanying them.

The supermarkets or the stores that use the carts provided with said handlebars are more reliable and trustworthy for the user, as they offer an additional service that differentiates them from their competitors and helps retain customers, as the presence of these handlebars may become an additional reason for careful consumers for choosing a given supermarket.

Said type of carts provided with an anti -bacterial handlebar is certainly an obvious investment for the image of the supermarket and will be appreciated especially by female customers that are accompanied by their children when they go shopping.

According to the invention, said cover made of a plastic material with antibacterial agents can be applied once the cart has been manufactured and even removed, if necessary.

Said handlebar-shaped cover has an open cylindrical shape, in the form of a C, and is suited to be fitted around the metal handlebars of the already existing shopping carts.

Said new cover, if applied simultaneously to all the handlebars of the existing shopping carts, may rapidly interrupt the infective cycle generated by said handlebars.

Said cover is made of a plastic material with the addition of an effective silver-based anti-niicrobial component that neutralizes bacteria generating ions thai are able to make the daily use of the carts safe.

Said cover can be used to cover almost the entirety of the handlebar of the cart, so as not to leave any uncovered parts, or it can have a reduced length, in fact the same handlebar can be provided with one cover only or preferably with two covers, so as to cover the handlebar partially or completely.

Said cover, furthermore, can be purchased by the user and used more than once by fitting it onto the handlebar of the various carts before use and removing it when he/she has finished shopping.

Said cover can thus be used for all types of cart provided with a pushing handlebar and can be used in any type of supermarket.

The user, in fact, just needs to fit said cover onto the cart's crossbar and remove it when he/she has finished using said cart.

Said cover may also contain educational information messages that explain the characteristics and advantages of the service to the users and the children accompanying them.

The attached table is provided in order to illustrate correctly the operation of said handlebar.

Figure 1 shows the new handlebar (A) with the cover (R) made of a plastic material with the addition of an effective silver-based anti-mi crobial component that neutralizes bacteria.

Said handlebar (A) is cylindrical in shape and is usually applied to the cart in a permanent and fixed manner.

Said cover (R) of said handlebar (A), which is made of an anti- bacterial material, also comprises a series of knurls (Z) that ensure better adhesion of the hand to the handlebar (A).

Said cover (R) made of a plastic material can be customized with logos and information messages.

Figure 2 shows the new handlebar-shaped cover (D) made of a plastic materia! with the addition of an effective silver-based anti-microbial component suited to neutralize bacteria.

Said cover (R) is cylindrical in shape and comprises two openings (B) that allow said cover (R) to be fitted crosswise onto the handlebar- (A) of the cart. Said cover (R) also comprises a series of knurls (C) that ensure better adhesion of the hand on the cover (R).

At both ends of said cover (R) the edge is slightly raised so as to ensure better adhesion of the cover (R) to the cart.

Said cover (R) made of a plastic material can be customized with logos or information messages (D).

Figure 3 shows two covers (R) applied to the handlebar (A) of a cart.

Said cover, furthermore, makes it possible to drive the cart with more confidence, since its anatomical shape makes it easier for the user to hold the handlebar.

These are the schematic outlines that are sufficient to the expert to make the handlebar, consequently, in the construction stage variants are possible that do not affect the substance of the innovative concept described herein.

Therefore, with reference to the above description and the attached drawings, the following claims are expressed.