GB2498509A

GB2498509A - A trolley system

Info

Publication number: GB2498509A
Application number: GB1118770.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Thomas Corlett; Peter Corlett
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-10-31
Filing date: 2011-10-31
Publication date: 2013-07-24
Also published as: GB201118770D0

Abstract

A trolley system comprises a plurality of trolleys, each trolley having an electronic device 2 and a battery 4 providing electrical power for the device 2, and first and second electrical connectors 5, 6 electrically connected to each other and via a charging connection to the battery 4, said first electrical connector 6 on a first trolley being electrically connectable with said second connector 5 on a second trolley; and a charging station having a power source providing a charging current supply to at least one charging electrical connector electrically connectible with the second electrical connector 5 on the first trolley, whereby, when the first trolley is connected to the charging station and one or more trolleys are connected in turn through the first trolley, a charging current is supplied to the battery 4 on each trolley.

Description

A TROLLEY SYSTEM

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a system comprising a plurality of trolleys, for example shopping trolleys, each with a battery-powered electronic device thereon, and a charging station for simultaneously recharging a battery on each of a plurality of trolleys connected thereto.

Background to the Invention

Many businesses rely on successful advertising in order to attract cus- tomers and maintain sales volumes. Supermarkets in particular spend a signifi- cant amount of money each year advertising those products which are the sub-ject of special offers and/or seasonal products.

A substantial proportion of advertising by supermarkets is focused through the media such as radio, television and the press. Most supermarkets will additionally focus on in store advertising in order to entice and engage the customer at the time they are actually shopping and hence in theory potentially increasing the amount they will spend.

Traditional in store advertising such as banners, posters or displays is quite limited in its effectiveness as such advertising means are geographically restricted to just the local area of the store where they are situated. In recent years, portable advertising devices have been developed which mount on the handles of supermarket trolleys.

A supermarket trolley typically consists of a wireframe enclosure having an open top face, supported on at least three wheels. At least one wheel will typically be pivotal in order to allow steering of the trolley and some form of handle will be provided in order for the trolley to be conveniently pushed or pulled. Usually, the end of the trolley opposite to the handle will have a hinged face allowing entry of another trolley. This provides for an effective storage solu-tion.

While not yet in common use in the United Kingdom, the use of portable advertising devices on supermarket trolleys is increasing in other technological-ly aware countries such as the United States and Japan.

The functionality of portable advertising devices varies. At one extreme, the device may be quite simple with a rotating display offering several different advertisements which can be rotated at set intervals. At the other extreme, a flat screen display with WIFI capability could be provided which can receive and display varying offers depending on which aisle the customer is currently locat-ed. WIFI is a network protocol which enables data to be sent wirelessly between two or more devices connected to the same network.

Such devices are well known. GB 2444965 for example, discloses a portable advertising device having an LCD display. Based on the location within the store, the device displays different offers depending on the customers loca-tion. This document discloses the use of GFS to provide location services. WIFI could equally be used and indeed may be more reliable than GAS due to poten-tial building interference. GPS is a triangulation locator system using up to four satellites in high Earth orbit to pinpoint the location of a receiver to an accuracy of around 10-300 metres. The relatively poor accuracy of OPS perhaps would limit the effectiveness of a GAS receiver in a supermarket.

Charging the battery on a high number of portable devices poses its own challenge. It would not be convenient to individually plug charging cables into each and every trolley. You could also not expect the customer to plug the charging cable in after he has finished using the trolley.

US5773954 discloses a potential solution to this problem. The trolleys are fitted with a male electrical contact running longitudinally along the entire length of the trolley. The male contact inserts into a female channel located on the side walls of a charging station. The contact between the two charging components provides the necessary electrical interface to charge a battery.

This approach has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, the charging inter- face is exposed providing for the possibility of electric shock. Additionally, port-able electronic devices are common targets for thieves as they are easy to steal. US2009058357 describes a similar charging system. The charging sys- tems disclosed in US5773954 and US2009058357 have no provision for pre-venting theft of the trolleys. Additionally, such systems would necessitate a new trolley design to allow continued nesting of trolleys and therefore could not be fitted retrospectively to most trolleys used today.

The most common anti-theft system used for supermarket trolleys today is the coin operated lock. Each trolley has a locking mechanism and a locking chain. A trolley park is provided having a fixed bollard to which is attached a fixed locking chain. The first trolley parked has the fixed locking chain inserted into its locking mechanism thus securing the trolley into position until a coin is inserted into the trolleys locking mechanism. Inserting the coin into the trolleys locking mechanism causes the locking chain from the trolley in front or bollard to be released from the locking mechanism thus freeing the trolley for use. It is common for tokens the same size as the relevant coins to be used to release such coin release locking mechanisms.

Multiple trolleys can be connected together by nesting them within one another and inserting the chain release from one trolley into the locking mecha-nism of the trolley behind. This has been found to be an effective theft deterrent of supermarket trolleys. US20060108195 describes one of many similar coin release locking mechanisms used today.

Alternative methods of releasing the locking mechanism on trolleys have been used previously including incorporating a pin device which releases a trol-ley when a customer enters a pre-registered pin into a keypad, and a card swipe device which releases a trolley when a customer swipes a credit or debit card through a card reader. Arguably, such methods may be more appropriate for a trolley equipped with an electronic device as failure to return could trigger an automatic charge and/or theft report.

Given the potential effectiveness of advertising directly to customers while they are shopping, there is a need to provide the necessary infrastructure to provide a reliable power source for any number of electrical devices which may be mounted on trolleys of various types. Considering the huge quantity of trolleys and thus trolley parks currently in existence, it would be preferable for any solution to be retrospectively fitted in order to prevent a huge volume of waste trolleys and associated materials.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides for, a trolley system, comprising: a plurality of trolleys, each trolley having an electronic device and a bat-tery providing electrical power for the device, and first and second electrical connectors electrically connected to each other and via a charging connection to the battery, said first electrical connector on a first trolley being electrically connectable with said second connector on a second trolley; and a charging station having a power source providing a charging current supply to at least one charging electrical connector electrically connectible with the second electrical connector on the first trolley, whereby, when the first trol-ley is connected to the charging station and one or more trolleys are connected in turn through the first trolley, a charging current is supplied to the battery on each trolley.

The embodiment of the present invention provides advantages over the charging solutions acknowledged above. The combination of a battery charging unit within a locking mechanism provides for the apparatus of the invention to be retrospectively fitted to existing trolleys and corresponding trolley parks.

The particular combination of a locking mechanism with a battery charg- ing unit further provides for a level of theft prevention. Different methods of re- leasing the locking mechanism may be used. At a basic level, a simple coin re-lease locking mechanism could be used. It would also be possible and perhaps advantageous to use a pin number or credit card swipe system which charges the user the value of the trolley and/or triggers a theft report if it is not returned within a specified time limit, perhaps 12 hours.

The preferred embodiment, described below, requires for each trolley to be electrically connected in parallel to the charging station. This ensures that each connected trolley receives an identical charge. Each time the trolley is re-turned by a customer, it would receive a top up charge but it would be beneficial to make sure each stack of trolleys is charged for a minimum time each day to ensure continuous service. The batteries are capable of 12 hours continuous use but in today's culture, with supermarkets open 24 hours a day, strategic cir-culation of trolleys may be required.

Preferably, charging the trolleys batteries will occur as a result of a mains electrical supply being manipulated and supplied to the trolleys at the charging station. Alternative energy means may also be used to provide clean, free elec-tricity. Solar panels, wind turbines and friction drives are just several examples of electricity generation apparatus that could be used.

It is envisaged that the apparatus of the invention may be used for a number of applications. The preferred embodiment described below provides for the use of a portable display device having WIFI or GPS capability to display different offers on the screen depending on the customers' location in the store.

Numerous other applications could be used in conjunction with the appa-ratus including but not limited to: GPS location tracker, Warehouse picking scanner, point of sale device and motorised trolleys.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the inven-tion: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a coin release locking mechanism combined with apparatus for charging a battery used for powering a portable electrical device fitted to a trolley.

Figure 2 is an illustrative view of a base charging station.

Detailed Description of the Illustrated Embodiment

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a diagrammatic layout of the apparatus making up the charging interface. A conventional supermarket trolley having a handle 1 is fitted with a portable, battery operated display de-vice 2 having wiring 3 from the display device 2, routed through the handle 1.

One or more rechargeable batteries 4 may be provided either in the handle 2 or contained within a separate enclosure, preferably a locking mechanism com-bined with a charging unit 5.

The wiring 3 from the display device 2 to the battery or batteries 4 con-sists of two wires, one positive and one negative. Each wire is provided with male terminals (not shown) to connect into corresponding female sockets (not shown) on the display device 2. The hole (not shown) into the handle 1 through which the wiring 3 passes is smaller than the diameter of the male terminals.

Alternatively, a rubber grommet could be provided to prevent the terminals from disappearing within the handle 1.

The battery or batteries 4 are electrically connected to the charging unit 5 which is mounted on the trolley handle 2. Preferably, the charging unit 5 will in- corporate a standard coin release locking mechanism as commonly used to de-ter theft of supermarket trolleys around the world. The illustrated embodiment shows the use of a coin release locking mechanism but it will be appreciated that other locking mechanisms could also feasibly be used such as electronic release locks. Known examples include locks releasable by entering a pin num-ber and/or by swiping a payment card through a card reader.

A coin release locking mechanism comprises two main components: i) the actual locking mechanism 5 into which U) a locking chain 6 inserts thus me-chanically connecting the two components together. The locking chain 6 can be released from the locking mechanism 5 by inserting a coin or token 7 into the opposite side of the locking mechanism 5 to the locking chain 6.

Electrical terminals are provided within the locking mechanism 5. These are permanently connected to a battery or batteries 4 and are provided with an electrical current to charge the battery or batteries 4 when the locking chain 6 is inserted into the locking mechanism 5. An electrical charge is only provided to the locking chain 6, when it is inserted correctly into a combined locking mech- anism and charging unit. An electrical current will not be provided should an at-tempt be made to insert a charged locking chain 6 into a standard locking mechanism.

Each locking mechanism 5 is provided with a locking chain 6 connecta-ble into the trolley behind. A further locking chain 7 is provided and permanently fixed to a bollard S or other permanent structure within the charging station. The charging station is supplied by a standard 240V A.C mains supply with cabling 9 entering directly into the bollard 8 or other permanent structure. Inside the bol-lard 8, a 5V D.C rectifier 10 converts the voltage of the mains supply from 240V A.C to 5V D.C.

The SV electrical charge is transferred from the bollard 8 to a first trolley by way of a 2 metre long electrical cable from the bollard. This electrical cable is contained within a locking chain 11. The electrical charge will only be trans- ferred to a trolley, when a connection is made inside the trolley locking mecha-nism 5 between the electrical contacts within the locking chain 6, 10 and those within the locking mechanism itself 5. All terminals are recessed within respec- tive components to prevent accidental contact and shorting. The electrical con-tacts within each locking mechanism 5 will be spring loaded with the electrical connection being made when the locking chain 6, 10 is firmly engaged within the locking mechanism 5. It will be appreciated that other connections could be used to provide an electrical interface between the locking mechanism 5 and the locking chain 6, 10.

Each trolley will preferably be connected in parallel to the bollard 8 locat- ed at the charging station. It will however be appreciated that one or more trol-leys could be connected in series or in a combination of series and parallel to the charging station.

Claims

<claim-text>CLAIMS1. A trolley system, comprising: a plurality of trolleys, each trolley having an electronic device and a bat-tery providing electrical power for the device, and first and second electrical connectors electrically connected to each other and via a charging connection to the battery, said first electrical connector on a first trolley being electrically connectable with said second connector on a second trolley; and a charging station having a power source providing a charging current supply to at least one charging electrical connector electrically connectible with the second electrical connector on the first trolley, whereby, when the first trol-ley is connected to the charging station and one or more trolleys are connected in turn through the first trolley, a charging current is supplied to the battery on each trolley.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. A system according to Claim 1, wherein said first electrical connectors each comprise an electrical cable terminated by a male connection.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. A system according to Claim 1, wherein said second electrical connect- ors each comprise a female connection having electrical contacts correspond-ing to the shape and position of pins on corresponding male connections on first connectors.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. A system according to either of claim 1 or 2, wherein said first electrical connector is an integral part of a flexible member.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. A system according to Claim 4, wherein said flexible member is con-structed from link elements.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. A system according to either of claim 4 or 5, wherein said flexible mem-ber is constructed from metal.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. A system according to either of claim 1 or 3, wherein said second electri-cal connector is an integral part of a protective housing.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. A system according to any of Claim 7, wherein said protective housing comprises a locking mechanism having means of locking to a flexible member.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. A system according to Claim 8, wherein said means of locking to a flexi-ble member comprise a slot in said protective housing corresponding to the shape of the termination of a flexible member and a lock engageable with said flexible member.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. A system according to either of claims 8 or 9, wherein said locking mechanism is released by the insertion of a pre-determined coin or token into a slot corresponding to the size and shape of said coin or token.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. A system according to either of claims 8 or 9, wherein said locking mechanism is released by the input of a pre-determined numeric or alphanu-meric pin on a keypad.</claim-text> <claim-text>12. A system according to either of claims 8 or 9, wherein said locking mechanism is released by swiping a payment card through a magnetic card reader.</claim-text> <claim-text>13. A system according to Claim 1, wherein said charging station comprises a charging post provided with a power supply, and a plurality of first electrical connectors.</claim-text> <claim-text>14. A system according to Claim 1, wherein said charging station comprises a plurality of charging posts, each charging post provided with a power supply and at least one first electrical connector connected to each respective charging post.</claim-text> <claim-text>15. A system according to either of claims 11 or 12, wherein said charging post is fixed in position.</claim-text> <claim-text>16. A system according to any of claims 1, 11 or 12 wherein said charging post is provided with a power source fed from a mains electricity supply.</claim-text> <claim-text>17. A system according to claim 15, wherein said mains electricity power source is converted to a low voltage power supply.</claim-text>