The technical problem From the very first appearance of the large supermarkets and shopping centres that are usually sited outside the city centre, the access to which is via vast parking lots, and within which it is necessary to walk for kilometres in order to see the products, there has been the problem of how to facilitate shopping for mildly disabled persons-disabled either because of age, or sickness, injury and so on.

This problem has never been solved, and the aged and the infirm, though with regret, have resigned themselves to not shopping in such facilities.

While fully recognised invalids can make use of wheelchairs, normal persons of advanced years, and others who find it difficult, for whatever reason, even if only because of pure tiredness, to do so much walking, decide a priori that such stores are not for them.

The result of this is that such persons are socially and functionally discriminated against, feel offended and neglected (they are ruthlessly excluded from the so called"family shopping").

As the human lifespan is being constantly prolonged, and the birth rate is falling in developed countries, the average age of the population is constantly on the rise, and the segment of the population made up of the elderly is always expanding. It is necessary to devote much greater care to making sure that the lives of the elderly are as fulfilled and qualitative as possible, so that those who are no longer in top physical condition can still feel active members of contemporary society. In today's society in developed countries, keeping up with constant advances in science, technology and technical matters depends to a great deal on being informed about the new products through which such novelties are actually made available to the consumer. Observing and studying the articles on offer in the shops is one of the ways of keeping abreast of the updating of the commercialised, consumer world of today. And nowhere is it

possible to observe and evaluate the products on offer so freely as in the great shopping centres and hypermarkets, where everything that is offered is available for the customers not only to see but also to feel and smell ; and this is not to mention all the ancillary information that accompanies this kind of selling. The sheer quantity of material displayed forces the shopper to be carefully observant, to compare items and study new variations of earlier products, as well as compare the way articles are priced. All in all, this kind of shopping, apart from being entertaining, is usually also a mental exercise, which persons of advanced age can benefit from a great deal, but which is at the moment inaccessible to them for the practical reason that they are insufficiently mobile to visit such centres. In fact, it is actually rather incredible that this should be the case. Older persons or slightly physically disabled persons have so far been helped to walk around shops only with a stick or with a wheelchair-both of which aids are, each in its own way, unacceptable.

The invention under consideration addresses this problem in a simple way. Here it is necessary to mention a positive psychic factor: the trolley concerned can be used by persons of any age, and looks fun, aesthetically attractive and quite normal-quite different from the wheelchairs so far provided, in which a great many elderly people would not allow themselves to be seated since they do not want to feel real invalids.

From the point of view of the sales outlet, the absence of quite a large portion of the population from their premises undoubtedly means smaller earnings.

Since today's commerce and the development of items for the market depend to a large extent on feedback, it is clear that because of this problem this feedback is inadequate where physically slightly handicapped or disabled persons or persons of advanced years are concerned. Not only is there inadequate consideration of this fact-to date, it has not even been realised by anyone. Thus, enhanced feedback from such persons might on the one hand be of use to producers, as information about the needs of this segment of the population, which should result in better and more functional products-and on the other hand, traders should be able to increase their revenue and enhance the range of goods on offer, especially if we take into consideration the fact that older persons are, in the developed world, increasingly prosperous, and that they can have a very

significant purchasing power, which they frequently cannot mobilise since they cannot get physical access to the articles on sale.

The state of the technoloav So far, this problem has been addressed only in a very minor way, with fully disabled persons sometimes being supplied with wheelchairs. There is also a more recent variation of a trolley for older persons that has, on the rear side, for the person that is the person pushing it, a small auxiliary seat as provisional or temporary resting place. But this person still has to cover the same distance on foot as the other purchasers. Thus the essence of the problem has so far been neither defined nor addressed by any suggestion or invention.

The invention described in this patent application has for the first time in a constructive and humane way addressed this problem and provided a satisfactory solution for it. Not only can slightly physically disabled and elderly persons be enabled to enjoy shopping, but the company of a probably younger and certainly more agile person is assumed, and the person providing the company will feel a degree of satisfaction and fulfilment at being able to please another person without having to put in a very high level of engagement.

Statement of the essence of the invention The primary objective of this invention is to enable persons with any kind of minor physical handicap or disability, from ordinary tiredness onwards, to have access to and shop in various kinds of large shops, supermarkets and hypermarkets.

The secondary objective of the invention under consideration is to enable traders or shopkeepers to open their doors to a whole segment of consumers that has so far been excluded from this market.

The next objective of the invention is to lead the population towards the creation of a more humane society, in which older persons and persons with slight physical handicaps will be treated in a more humane way and considered normal, allowing them to function more normally.

This objective will be accomplished through a certain amount of public relations, in which the invention under consideration will be able to the maximum to foster more humane relations in society.

The further aim of the invention is to get the generations closer together, enabling them to go on shopping trips together, and so to consult and confer with each other the more.

The next aim of the invention is to offer older and partially infirm persons an active participation in the consumer chain, and to let them become acquainted with the technical, technological and other innovations and achievements that are directly reflected in consumer products.

The further objective of this objective is to encourage the elderly and the mildly handicapped to make the mental effort involved in making purchasing decisions and taking part in them-whether this is purchasing for their own needs or for the needs of the whole family.

An additional objective of this invention is to make shopkeepers and traders better and more directly informed about the needs and desires of this segment of the population.

Additional objectives and advantages of the invention will be shown in the description that follows, and will in part be discovered through the actual application of the invention.

The shopping trolley with a seat and a footrest for a person who is not the person pushing the trolley is a new application of already known technical elements. The invention includes, in the front part-that is, the part away from the side of the person who is doing the pushing-a seat for one person (not pushing the trolley, but being pushed by another person), of wood or plastic, which when it is being sat upon activates a blocking mechanism; a backrest behind the seat (also the side of the basket element), which folds so as to facilitate the unhindered usual stacking or nesting of trolleys one inside another during storage; handles, or armrests, on both sides of the trolley ; a simple safety belt housed inside a discreet housing on the right hand side of the armrests that is stretched over the passenger and fastened on the left hand side; and a footrest in front of the said seat, which is equipped with an automatic brake (blocking mechanism) so that the wheels cannot move the moment someone puts his or her feet on the footrest; and a simple de-blocking mechanism; and an additional shallow basket, which is seated in the framework or bearer below the main basket and above the wheels ; and a hook for suspending a walking stick, entering into the volume of the large

basket and fastened to the upper edge, behind the upper edge of the left hand side of the backrest of the seat.

This invention presupposes several variants, which apart from the above also contain, added individually or in combinations, the following elements : an additional shopping basket for the person in the seat, fastened onto the right armrest of the seat and opening outwards on the principle of the children's seat in classic trolleys ; and an additional child's seat fastened to the rear part of the frame of the large basket; and elements of intelligent trolleys built into the push- bar, the upper frame of the large basket, or into the armrest of the seat.

A short description of the drawinqs.

The accompanying drawings, which are included in the description and constitute a part of the description of the invention, illustrate the best ways considered so far for the execution of the invention, and help to explain the basic principles of the invention.

Figure 1 is a three-dimensional view of the trolley that constitutes the said invention, constructed according to this invention in the basic constructional variant.

Figure 2 is a three-dimensional view of the trolley in the second constructional variant, which, apart from the said elements, also contains an additional shopping basket for the person in the trolley, fastened firmly to the right armrest of the seat and the right side of the frame of the large basket, or moveably, over hooks on the upper frame of the seat and the large basket and opening outwards, functioning like the usual child's seat, and folding to enable easy stacking of the trolley.

Figure 2a is an auxiliary picture that gives a close-up image of the additional shopping basket for the person in the trolley, and shows the strut with hooks for simple suspension of the basket on the lower right side of the frame of seat and basket.

Figure 3 is a three-dimensional view of the said trolley, in a subsequent constructional variant, which also contains, apart from the elements given in the upper variants under numbers 1-9, a folding seat for a child according to the usual standards and principles, fastened to the rear frame and surface of the trolley.

Figure 4 is the three dimensional view of the said trolley in a further constructional variant, which contains, apart from the elements stated in Figure 1, elements of an intelligent trolley, such as a mechanism for reading product codes (built into the push-bar of the trolley, or in the upper frame of the large basket, or into the armrest of the seat).

A detailed description of at least one manner of producing the invention I shall discuss the details of the presumed production of the invention, several examples of which are illustrated in the appended drawings.

With reference to Figure 1, it can be seen that the invention under consideration consists of a classic shopping trolley as a basis. The size of the trolley can partially be adjusted to the sizes of existing products, which should greatly assist producers to reduce the costs to do with new moulds, designs and so on.

However, it is not possible to diverge very greatly from the dimensions stated here, which means that in any execution they will be proportionally similar, and the ratios of these dimensions will be particularly similar.

The greater part of this shopping trolley will remain a shopping basket (1), the front part of which (the surface opposite the push-bar of the trolley) is also the backrest (3) of the seat (2). This surface is slightly concave for more comfortable sitting, and with nesting storage of the trolley it will rotate 90§ upwards. The slightly concave seat (2) of known average dimensions for an adult person, continues into the footrest. On the right and left back points of the seat (2), in discreet housings, are the automatic spring-reeled right and left ends of the safety belt (5). Below the basket (1) and the seat (2-3), on the lower frame of the trolley, is an additional shallow basket (7). The lower frame of the trolley rests on three or more wheels (8) equipped with a blocking or braking mechanism, which comes on when weight is put on the footrest (6) or the seat (2). From the upper edge of the left side of the backrest (2), fastened to the edge of the basket, and intruding into the volume of the basket, is a hook for a walking-stick (9).

A second constructional variant of this trolley also contains, apart from all the elements stated above, an additional shopping basket (10) which will be used by the person in the trolley, and it is fastened to the frame of the right armrest (4) and to the lower part of the right side frame of the basket (1), and can, according to the already laid down and accepted principle of the child's seat of the classic

shopping trolley, be folded when the trolley is stacked or nested, and when wished will open outwards so that during opening the bottom of the basket is moved into a horizontal position.

The third constructional variant of the trolley under consideration contains a child's seat added to the elements in the first or the elements in the second variant, working according to the commonly accepted functional principles already established.

The fourth constructional variant contains elements, added to the elements in the first or second or third variants, of the so-called intelligent trolley (12), i. e., a mechanism for reading product bar-codes, which is built into the push-bar, or into the upper frame of the basket (1) or into the armrests (4) of this trolley.

Construction materials Steel or aluminium and plastic are envisaged for the manufacture of this trolley, or steel or aluminium and light wood, with the proviso that the material for making the seat and footrest has to be strong enough to take the weight of a fairly heavy person. Thus wood or plastic with a steel or aluminium framework are envisaged for the seat (2) and the backrest (3), and the footrest (6), while steel or aluminium are envisaged for the other parts of the trolley. Plastic is envisaged for the covering of the push-bar of the trolley, for the covering of the armrest (3) and for the bottom of the shopping basket (10) and the child's seat (11).

The manner of apolvinq the invention In this manner the invention constitutes a practical, lasting and useful device that can be economically produced, and which includes essential improvements on earlier known devices of this kind. It will be clear to experts that many variants and alterations to supermarket trolleys can be made according to this invention, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. ** Position markinqs Figure 1 1 Large shopping basket 2 Seat for the second person, who is not pushing the trolley 3 The front side, the surface of the basket and the backrest of the seat 4 The left, and the right armrest 5 Buckle/housing for the safety belt

6 Footrest 7 Additional basket for personal things or shopping 8 Wheels and braking or blocking mechanism 9 Hook for the easy suspension of a walking-stick Figure 2 1 Large shopping basket 2 Seat for the second person, who is not pushing the trolley 3 The front side, the surface of the basket, and the backrest of the seat 4 The left, and the right armrest 5 Buckle/box for the safety belt 6 Footrest 7 Additional shallow basket, for personal things or shopping 8 Wheels and blocking mechanism 9 Hook for the easy suspension of a walking-stick 10 Additional shopping basket for the person in the trolley Figure 2a 10 Additional folding shopping basket for the person in the trolley 10a Strut with hooks for hanging the basket onto the frame of the trolley Figure 3 1-9 As in Figure 1.

11 Additional seat for children Figure 4 1-9 As in Figure 1 12 Place for the mounting of intelligent-trolley elements