EP0598142A1 - Row length limiting device for supermarket trolleys - Google Patents

Abstract

In a row length limiting device for supermarket trolleys, in the form of a piece of additional equipment with controlling and blocking devices (30, 40, 50) associated with the known coin deposit systems (20) on one side, an external permanent magnet is arranged, as controlling element (30), at the end of a row of trolleys, the said permanent magnet interacting with the blocking elements (40, 50) on the coin deposit system (20) when the magnetic field (M) is crossed, in such a way that solely the operating states "Release" (ready for operation) or "Block" (not ready for operation) can be produced. Given appropriate positioning and dimensioning of these components, readiness for operation thus exists solely in the area of the row of trolleys. This contactless interaction is structurally simple to realise and can be securely protected against interference by third parties. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a device for delimiting shopping trolleys pushed into one another in rows between lateral guide elements, for use with coin deposit systems, the lateral guide elements on the one hand and each shopping trolley on the other hand having cooperating control and locking elements which only make it possible to couple a shopping trolley to the shopping trolley row when the shopping trolley exceeds a defined position (coupling position K) in the effective range of the control and locking elements.

Such a device is known for example from EP 0433751 A1, so that the explanation of the basic problem and the problems associated with it can be dispensed with here.

The previously known devices, as well as EP-0433751 A1, only show systems in which the cooperating control and locking elements are mechanically designed, in particular in the form of pivoting levers, locking bolts and the like, which are located in the insertion and removal area of the shopping trolleys, in particular on the lateral guide elements are arranged, and which are controlled by them themselves in a locking and a release position when removing and feeding a shopping cart. Such systems have already been introduced on the market and they fulfill the technical purpose of preventing the formation of excessively long shopping trolleys, but they require a relatively high mechanical outlay, in which disturbances naturally play a role that is not entirely negligible, and which inevitably results from the use of force ( Vandalism) can be overridden.

It is therefore an object of the invention to develop a generic device in such a way that it ensures greater functional and operational safety with a simple outlay and, moreover, its operation cannot be influenced by unauthorized persons.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the control elements are formed by at least one magnet and the locking elements can be brought into interaction with its magnetic field, the magnet and locking elements being arranged on the shopping cart and on the guide elements and being positioned relative to one another such that when a shopping cart is moved in Effective range of the magnetic field, the locking elements are movable between a locking position and a release position, and the release position can only be reached when the shopping cart reaches the coupling position K between the guide elements.

The main difference to the previously known solution is that it is a non-contact and contact-free interaction between control elements and locking elements, the mechanical loading in the previously known solutions, which naturally has to be accessible from the outside, is replaced by the magnetic interaction between control elements and blocking elements using a magnetic field.

Although fundamentally different variants of the arrangement and mutual influencing of control elements and blocking elements by means of the magnetic interaction principle are conceivable, a preferred embodiment of the invention consists in attaching the magnet to the lateral guide elements and the blocking elements within the coin deposit systems guided there, in such a way that when Passing the coin deposit systems past the magnet whose magnetic field controls the locking elements depending on the position of the shopping cart in its locking position or its release position. The arrangement of the locking elements themselves is advantageously chosen so that they directly or indirectly control the function of the coin deposit system in the sense that an activation of the coin deposit system, i.e. in particular the return of a deposit coin when a shopping cart is reconnected to a shopping range, can only take place if the Shopping carts can be pushed far enough into the (not yet filled) shopping cart row that under the effect of the magnetic field the blocking elements of the coin deposit system Allow the deposit coin to be released, for example by inserting a key provided by the adjacent shopping cart into the key slot of the coin deposit system and releasing the deposit coin there. In principle, however, the locking elements can be integrated into the housing of the coin deposit system in any shape and position, and the locking or release function can be carried out by intervening in movable, conventional functional parts, in adaptation to the individual type of coin deposit system used.

In the simplest case, the constructive design of the locking elements themselves and the conception of their two required positions, locking and release position, consists in the creation of a movement sequence of a functional part, the two end positions of which then define the locking position and the release position. This can involve swiveling movements, for example a predetermined angular range, but also shifting or combined swiveling-sliding movements, provided that the component used in the two end positions (under the influence of the magnetic field) that can be clearly reached perform the corresponding locking and release function can. Various constructive solutions can be used for this, for example balls, shafts, lifting cylinders, swivel arms and the like, without this being exhaustive.

A permanent magnet or an electromagnet can be used as the magnet, the latter possibly having the advantage that the entire system can be deactivated by switching off the power supply.

Figur 1 und 2:

Eine schematische Darstellung einer Einkaufswagenreihe in Aufsicht und Vorderansicht mit der erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung,

Figur 2 und 3:

eine Prinzipdarstellung der Ausgestaltung eines Steuerelementes im Zusammenwirken mit einem Magneten,

Figur 5A und B:

zwei Schnittdarstellungen durch eine zweite Variante eines Sperrelementes, und

Figur 6:

der Einsatz des Sperrelementes nach Figur 5A und B in einem Münzpfandsystem.

Further refinements can be found in the subclaims. Exemplary embodiments of the device according to the invention are explained with reference to drawings, in which:

Figure 1 and 2:

A schematic representation of a shopping cart row in top view and front view the device according to the invention,

Figure 2 and 3:

2 shows a basic illustration of the design of a control element in cooperation with a magnet,

Figure 5A and B:

two sectional views through a second variant of a locking element, and

Figure 6:

the use of the locking element according to Figure 5A and B in a coin deposit system.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a top view and a front view of a row of shopping carts consisting of several shopping carts 10, which are coupled to one another between lateral guide elements 11A, 11B, for which purpose the keys 20A of coin deposit systems 20 arranged laterally next to the handle are inserted into the respective adjacent coin deposit system 20 must be removed in order to remove the deposit coin or, conversely, a coin must be inserted as a deposit in order to remove the associated key and to release the shopping cart from the row for removal. It is desirable that this function is only guaranteed if the last shopping cart 10 has reached a coupling position K within the area between the lateral guide elements 11A, 11B, that is, if only in this position can a recoupling be carried out with the return of the deposit coin. In order to achieve this, the invention provides that a magnet 30 is arranged at the same height as the coin deposit systems 20 and on the side guide element 11A immediately adjacent to it, the magnetic field M of which is strong enough to such components in the coin deposit systems 20 that are responsive to magnetic interaction to act that these function as blocking elements, ie that depending on the position of the respective coin deposit system 20 relative to the magnet 30 or to its magnetic field M, these blocking elements selectively control these functions. Here, the locking elements and their interaction be designed with the magnetic field M so that its release position (ie deposit coin return when recoupling) is only reached when the shopping cart 10 is located behind the coupling position K, that is in the desired position between the two lateral guide elements 11A, 11B. When a shopping cart 10 (double arrow P in FIG. 1) passes through the magnetic field M, depending on the direction of the passage, a switching process is triggered within the coin deposit system that is moving past, the result of which is that the coin deposit system is only in the release position when the associated shopping cart is in proper condition is inside the shopping cart row and behind the coupling position K, but that in all other positions outside this area the coin deposit system is deactivated by the magnetically operating locking elements.

The action of the magnetic field in detail is illustrated in the drawings by the arcuate lines, but this has nothing to do with the field lines actually present and their course, these of course depend on the shape and strength of the magnet used and the blocking element used.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show how this principle is to be implemented, FIG. 3 representing the release position and FIG. 4 the blocking position:
For the sake of simplicity, only the components essential to the invention have been illustrated here using a rough example: inside the coin deposit system 20 there is a shaft 21 through which, for example, the coin itself or the key 20A can be inserted and / or removed and the coin deposit system can thus be actuated . By definition, as described above, this function should now either be prevented (shopping cart outside the coupling position) or allowed (shopping cart behind the coupling line K). For this purpose, a blocking element in the form of a toggle switch 40 with a The axis of rotation is mounted so that it can be pivoted through an angular range of approximately 90 ° perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, such that one end 42 in the release position (FIG. 3) does not impair the shaft 21, but in the locked position (FIG. 4) protrudes into the shaft 21 and the passage a key or a coin is blocked by this slot. In order to achieve this, the other end 41 of the toggle switch 40 is, for example, itself provided with a magnet which interacts appropriately with the magnetic field M of the stationary magnet 30, the two magnets in the illustrated embodiment attracting one another in order to achieve the desired function . It is also easy to imagine that under this condition, when the coin deposit system 20 is moved in the plane of the drawing from the release position of FIG. 3 to the locked position of FIG. 4, the rocker arm 40, attracted by the magnet 30, this 90 ° pivoting movement from the release of the shaft 21 performs its blocking, that is to say precisely when the shopping cart belonging to this coin deposit system passes the magnet 30 in the area of the coupling position K.

FIG. 5 shows a second exemplary embodiment of a locking element, the illustration of the magnet being omitted here:
A first, magnetic locking element 50A of elongated, rounded at its end faces is arranged in a V-shaped guide channel 51 such that it under the action of the magnetic field M its two "switching positions" by sliding back and forth in this guide channel 51 in the direction of shown arrows can be realized, the position shown hatched in Figure 5, the locking position S and the dashed position should represent the release position F. In contrast to the principle example of FIGS. 3 and 4, the magnetically sensitive first blocking element 50A does not directly act on a functional component of the coin deposit system 20, but in turn a second (usually non-magnetic) blocking element 50B, which in the exemplary embodiment is implemented as a ball, whereby this Loading so that in the release position F of the first magnetic locking element 50A, the second locking element 50B can also be in a release position F '(i.e. does not engage in the shaft 21), whereas when the first magnetic locking element 50A is switched under the effect of the Magnetic field M in its locking position S also by corresponding mechanical action, the second locking element 50B, the ball, is pressed out into a locking position S ', where it can then influence the functional components of the coin deposit system in the desired sense to lock the same.

FIG. 6 finally shows a concrete application of such an embodiment according to FIG. 5:
A longitudinal section through a conventional coin deposit system 20 (coin lock) is shown, in which the key 20A of the adjacent coin lock must be inserted into the key slot 21, where the key 20A then actuates locking devices 22 in its end position, which in particular actuates the coin for withdrawal in the withdrawal area E. release. These locking devices 22 are of conventional design with the aid of locking bolts, springs and the like and do not need to be explained in more detail here. It is crucial that the two locking elements 50A, 50B are arranged in the entrance area of the guide shaft 21, specifically in their locking position in FIG. 6. It can be seen immediately that the second locking element 50B protruding into the key slot 21 reduces the cross section of the key slot 21 to such an extent that the key 20A can no longer be fully inserted into the key slot 21, but in the locking position S shown on the second locking element 50B nudges. Thus, the key 20A can no longer actuate the locking device 22 for releasing the coin and it follows that outside the desired coupling position within the lateral guide elements 11A, 11B, removal of the deposit coin from the coin lock is reliably prevented. Only when the coin lock 20 is reinserted into an admissible coupling position under the action of the magnetic field M. the magnetic locking element 50A returns to its release position F (FIG. 5) and the second locking element 50B can then be pressed back under the action of the front shoulder of the key 20A into the space provided for it in the housing of the coin lock. The key can then be advanced to its front, dashed position, activate the locking device 22 for the coin and this can then be removed from the coin lock.

Claims (10)

Device for delimiting shopping carts (10) pushed into one another in rows between lateral guide elements (11A, 11B), for use with coin deposit systems (20), the lateral guide elements (11A, 11B) on the one hand and each shopping cart (10) on the other hand cooperating control and locking elements ( 30, 40, 50), which only make it possible to couple a shopping cart (10) to the row of shopping carts if the shopping cart (10) exceeds a defined position (coupling position K) in the effective range of the control and blocking elements (30, 40, 50) ,
characterized in that the control elements are formed by at least one magnet (30) and the blocking elements (40, 50) can be brought into interaction with its magnetic field (M), the magnet and blocking elements (30, 40, 50) on the shopping cart (10) and are arranged on the guide elements (11A, 11B) and are positioned relative to one another in such a way that when a shopping trolley (10) is moved in the effective range of the magnetic field (M), the blocking elements (40, 50) between a blocking position (S) and a release position (F ) are movable, and the release position can only be reached when the shopping cart (10) reaches the coupling position (K) between the guide elements (11A, 11B). Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnet (30) is a permanent magnet. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnet (30) is an electromagnet. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnet (30) in the entrance area of the guide elements (11A, 11B) is stationary and is arranged horizontally and / or vertically adaptable to the position of the coin deposit systems (20) of the shopping cart (10), and that Interlock elements (30, 40, 50) directly or indirectly in the function of the coin deposit systems (20). Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a blocking element is provided as a toggle switch (40) made of at least partially ferromagnetic material, in particular a permanent magnet, and in that the toggle switch (40) in the housing of the coin deposit system (20) between the release position and the blocking position below the Influence of the magnetic field (M) is kept freely movable. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that a first, magnetic blocking element (50A) is designed to be displaceable in a guide channel (51) exposed to the magnetic field (M), the guide channel (51) being the release position (F) and the blocking position (S) Are defined. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the first, magnetic locking element (50A) acts upon a separate, second locking element (50B) during its movement in the guide channel (51). Device according to claim 1, 5, 6 or 7, characterized in that the blocking element (40, 50A, 50B) in its blocking position blocks those parts (21) of the coin deposit system (20) which control and / or release the coin return. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the first or second locking element (50A, 50B) in its locking position (S, S ') reduces the cross section of the key shaft (21) of the coin deposit system (20) at least to such an extent that the key (20A ) can no longer be inserted up to the locking devices (22) for releasing the deposit coin. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the first or second locking element (50A, 50B) in its locking position locks the coin shaft directly against removal of the inserted coin.

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