Check-actuated control mechanisms – Including part locked by detent and released by check – And means to impart thrust to check to unlock part
Patent
1986-08-27
1988-08-30
Bartuska, F. J.
Check-actuated control mechanisms
Including part locked by detent and released by check
And means to impart thrust to check to unlock part
194905, G07F 1700
Patent
active
047669896
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
An object of the present invention is a removable attachment device intended in particular, but not exclusively, for stowing carts used by customers to make self-service purchases in large or medium-sized places such as supermarkets and hypermarkets.
It is known that after making their purchases and emtying the cart into their automobile trunk customers are in a hurry to leave and consequently not particularly motivated to return their cart to an appropriate place, set aside for this purpose, always assuming that they do not take the cart away in their automobile. As the stowing of the carts is left up to the public, they end up scattered about with the result that equipment and/or vehicles in the car park are damaged and persons may sometimes be injured. Because of this, personnel has to be specifically assigned to recovering and stowing the carts, which increases operating overhead. The present invention is based on the observation that with minimum effort on the part of each customer it is possible to limit the costs resulting from this lack of discipline. Exactly the same problem arises when a municipality makes available to the citizens of the town bicycles or other vehicles, which are usually left in the greatest possible disorder, and in railroad stations and airports in the case of baggage carts. At a more general level, the invention concerns the problem of returning to precise locations objects made temporarily available to the public free of charge. The objective is to render automatic the procedure known as the deposit system.
To this end there have already been proposed methods intended to promote the stowing of the objects whereby each of the vehicles is locked into a set of storage areas and each vehicle is fitted with a coin-operated device used to release an empty vehicle, the coin being returned when the vehicle is returned to one of the set of storage places. Devices operating by this method are described in the patents EP-A No. 0 070 997, WO-A No. 84 04835 and DE-A No. 33 03076, but these devices comprise complicated mechanisms and often tend to jam, especially in freezing weather, when there is an opening on the top of the unit.
A coin may equally well be replaced with a magnetic card or a token, for example, or on a more general level by any object having some value to carrier. The place in which the vehicles may be stored will be generally designated by the word "garage".
The invention concerns a device adapted to be fitted to a cart or the like comprising a casing attached to the cart adapted to release a key, to receive and to restore a coin by insertion of said key, characterized in that it comprises a plunger adapted to receive a coin spring-loaded by a return spring, the interior part of the plunger comprising a cam and a stub member the cam coming into contact with a part for releasing the key, the stub member coming into contact on displacement of the plunger with a locking lug attached to the casing.
When the coin is inserted into the plunger which is pushed inwards, the locking part is released and the vehicle is releasd. When it is returned to the garage, the insertion of a locking part releases the plunger and the coin may be extracted from it.
Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the following description of specific embodiments relating to the stowing of supermarket carts, given by way of non-limiting example only, and with reference to the drawings which show:
FIG. 1, a view of a device in accordance with the invention functioning with a coin;
FIG. 2, a partial view of the coupling between two carts before the rear cart is released;
FIG. 3, another embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4, a view of a cart garage.
In FIG. 1, the device included in a casing 1, of which only the contour is seen, is permanently fixed by the notch 13 to the handle of a cart. The device comprises a plunger 2 which is movable in translation. The plunger 2 is fastened to a cam 9 and spring-loaded by a return spring 8. The position shown in FIG. 1 is the loc
REFERENCES:
patent: 2753970 (1956-07-01), Breeler
patent: 3163277 (1964-12-01), Naef
patent: 4635782 (1987-01-01), Wieth et al.
patent: 4637507 (1987-01-01), Ricouard et al.
Loirat Jean-Yves
Maloeuvre Robert
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