Cart locking and dispensing device
AssigneeFreetail Technologies Ltd.
InventorArye Levin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device for dispensing and locking carts disposed in a stack, comprising: a dual-lever mechanism, comprising: a locking lever which is blocking movement of a first cart of a plurality of carts disposed in a stack when in open position; a base adjacent to said locking lever which is movable forward and backward with respect to the stack; and a dispensing lever mounted on the base which is blocking movement of a second cart of the plurality of carts when in open position; and a drive belt driving the plurality of carts in parallel to movement of said base by moving forward and backward in coordination with the base.
Claims13
A method for accepting a cart into a cart stack, comprising:
- holding a first cart of a plurality of carts disposed in a stack by a locking lever, said locking lever is in an open position so said locking lever is blocking said first cart from being pulled backward to be removed from said stack;
- changing position of a dispensing lever from a closed position which allows a second cart to be added into the stack, to an open position wherein said dispensing lever is blocking said second cart from being pulled back out of said stack;
- changing position of said locking lever from said open position to a closed position;
- moving said dispensing lever forward to push said second cart into said stack;
- simultaneously driving said plurality of carts forward by a drive belt and moving said dispensing lever linearly forward with a base to push said second cart with said plurality of carts;
- changing position of said locking lever from said closed position to said open position so said locking lever is blocking said second cart from being pulled backward to be removed from said stack.
A method for dispensing a cart from a cart stack, comprising:
- holding a first cart of a plurality of carts disposed in a stack by a locking lever, said locking lever is at an open position so said locking lever is blocking said first cart from being pulled backward to be removed from said stack;
- changing position of a dispensing lever from a closed position to an open position;
- changing position of said locking lever from said open position to a closed position;
- driving said plurality of carts backward by a drive belt mechanically connected to at least one of said plurality of carts so said first cart is blocked by said dispensing lever from being pulled backward to be removed from said stack;
- changing position of said locking lever from said closed position to said open position so said locking lever is blocking a second cart from being pulled backward to be removed from said stack;
- and
- changing position of said dispensing lever from said open position to said closed position to allow said first cart to be pulled backward and be removed from said stack.
A device for dispensing and locking carts, comprising:
- a dual-lever mechanism adapted to lock a plurality of carts disposed in a locked stack, the dual-lever mechanism having:
- a locking lever and a dispensing lever, and
- a base adapted to move the dispensing lever linearly forward and backward with respect to the stack;
- wherein the dual-lever mechanism controls one or more engines to change separately each of a locking lever and a dispensing lever from blocking at least one of the plurality of carts from moving in an open position to not blocking any of the plurality of carts from moving in a closed position;
- a drive connected to a connection element adapted to be mechanically connected to at least one of the plurality of carts disposed in the locked stack;
- wherein the dual-lever mechanism is adapted to lock the stack when the locking lever is in the open position;
- wherein the dual-lever mechanism is:
- adapted to add a new cart at an end of the locked stack when the new cart is at an end of the locked stack by controlling the one or more engines to change interchangeably the levers from the open position to the closed position and
- adapted to move the base linearly in parallel to the stack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.