Cart for use with pedal-cycle or other tilt-cornering vehicle

1. A cart for supporting a load above an underlying surface, the cart being interchangeably usable as a front-wheel replacement for attachment to a front fork of a tilt-cornering vehicle and as a cart separate from the tilt-cornering vehicle, the cart comprising:

(a) a cart body configured for supporting the load;

(b) a pair of wheels deployed on opposing sides of said cart body;

(c) an adapter configured for releasably attaching said cart body to the front fork of the tilt-cornering vehicle such that said pair of wheels function as front wheels for the tilt-cornering vehicle, said adapter allowing release of said cart body from the front fork of the tilt-cornering vehicle for use of said cart body as a cart separate from the tilt-cornering vehicle;

(d) a tilt mechanism linking between said cart body and said wheels so as to transfer the load on the cart body through said wheels to the underlying surface, said tilt mechanism allowing lateral tilting of said cart body relative to the underlying surface for tilting together with the tilt-cornering vehicle; and

(e) a tilt lock associated with said tilt mechanism and selectively deployable to lock tilting of said cart body relative to the underlying surface so as to prevent lateral tilting of said cart body while being used as a cart separate from the tilt-cornering vehicle.

2. The cart of claim 1 , wherein said tilt mechanism is configured such that lateral tilting of said cart body generates a corresponding tilt of each of said wheels.

3. The cart of claim 1 , wherein said tilt mechanism comprises a parallelogram linkage linking between said cart body and said wheels.

4. The cart of claim 1 , further comprising a third wheel deployable to support the cart together with said pair of wheels as a free-standing cart.

5. The cart of claim 4 , wherein said third wheel is supported relative to said cart body by a retraction mechanism, said retraction mechanism being selectively deployable between a deployed state in which said third wheel supports the cart together with said pair of wheels as a free-standing cart and a retracted state in which said third wheel is removed from the underlying surface for use of the cart attached to a tilt-cornering vehicle.

6. The cart of claim 1 , further comprising a selectively deployable stand selectively deployable to an extended position in which said stand supports the cart together with said pair of wheels as a free-standing cart.

7. The cart of claim 1 , wherein said cart body comprises a modular mounting arrangement configured for supporting any one of a plurality of accessories.

8. The cart of claim 7 , wherein said plurality of accessories include at least one accessory selected from the group comprising: a child seat; a seat for a physically handicapped person; a shopping basket; a luggage rack; and a container.

9. The cart of claim 7 , wherein said mounting arrangement allows continuous adjustment of a height of attachment of said accessories.

10. The cart of claim 1 , wherein said cart body further comprises a retractable handle selectively deployable to allow pushing of the cart as a free-standing cart.

11. The cart of claim 1 , wherein said adapter and said tilt lock are configured such that attachment of said cart body to said adapter is effective to deploy said tilt lock from a locked state to an unlocked state, and detachment of said cart body from said adapter is effective to return said tilt lock to a locked state.

12. The cart of claim 1 , wherein said adapter comprises:

(a) a fork-end engagement for attachment to a fork-end of the front fork; and

(b) an arm projecting from said fork-end engagement, said arm being displaceable in an arcuate motion about said fork-end engagement.

13. The cart of claim 12 , wherein said arcuate motion of said arm operates a clamping mechanism of said fork-end engagement for selectively clamping and releasing said connection features of said cart body.

14. The cart of claim 12 , wherein an end of said arm includes at least part of a secondary clamping mechanism configured such that, when said arm assumes a raised position adjacent to the front fork, said secondary clamping mechanism clamps said cart body to the front fork.

15. The cart of claim 12 , wherein, in a lowered position of said arm, said adapter is configured to serves as a stand for supporting the front fork above the underlying surface.

16. A vehicle with a separable cart comprising:

(a) a tilt-cornering vehicle having a frame, a rear wheel, and a steerable front fork; and

(b) a cart according to claim 1 releasably attachable to said steerable front fork by said adapter,

wherein attachment of said cart to said tilt-cornering vehicle is solely via said steerable front fork without connection to said frame.