Systems and methods for controlling checkout belt speed

A method for controlling a speed of a belt at a point-of-sale terminal, the method comprising:

• sensing, via a sensor disposed with respect to a belt, a distance between an item on the belt at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal and a cashier area of the POS terminal, a proximal end of the POS terminal being closer to the cashier area than a distal end of the POS terminal, wherein the belt is for moving the item from the distal end of the POS terminal toward the proximal end of the POS terminal via a drive motor in electrical communication with the POS terminal operative to drive the belt;
• and
• controlling, via a processor associated with the POS terminal, the drive motor to adjust the speed of the belt in response to the distance between the item and the proximal end of the POS terminal.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processing device, wherein execution of the instructions causes the processing device to implement a method for controlling a speed of a belt at a point-of-sale terminal, the method comprising:

• sensing, via a sensor disposed with respect to a belt, a distance between an item on the belt at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal and a cashier area of the POS terminal, a proximal end of the POS terminal being closer to the cashier area than a distal end of the POS terminal, wherein the belt is for moving the item from the distal end of the POS terminal toward the proximal end of the POS terminal via a drive motor in electrical communication with the POS terminal operative to drive the belt;
• and
• controlling, via the processor device, the drive motor to adjust the speed of the belt in response to the distance between the item and the proximal end of the POS terminal.

A system for controlling a speed of a belt at a point-of-sale terminal, the system comprising:

• means for sensing a distance between an item on the belt at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal and a cashier area of the POS terminal, a proximal end of the POS terminal being closer to the cashier area than a distal end of the POS terminal, wherein the belt is for moving the item from the distal end of the POS terminal toward the proximal end of the POS terminal via a drive motor in electrical communication with the POS terminal operative to drive the belt;
• and
• means for controlling the drive motor to adjust the speed of the belt in response to the distance between the item and the proximal end of the POS terminal.