Mechanism for keeping shopping carts within a storage area
AssigneeWalmart Apollo, LLC
InventorsEhsan Nazarian, Behzad Nemati
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mechanism for keeping shopping carts within a storage area and a system for storing shopping carts are described herein. The mechanism includes a mechanical stop disposed at or near the ground at an opening of a storage area that is configured to store a plurality of shopping carts, the mechanical stop being moveable from an upward locked position to a downward unlocked position, the mechanical stop being configured to engage one or more wheels of a shopping cart to keep the shopping cart inside the storage area. The mechanism further includes a release mechanism operatively linked to the mechanical stop, the release mechanism being configured to move the mechanical stop from the upward locked position to the downward unlocked position.
Claims26
A mechanism for keeping shopping carts within a storage area, the mechanism comprising:
- a mechanical stop disposed at or near the ground at an opening of a storage area that is configured to store a plurality of shopping carts, the mechanical stop being moveable from an upward locked position to a downward unlocked position, the mechanical stop being configured to engage one or more wheels of a shopping cart to keep the shopping cart inside the storage area;
- a resilient member configured to be moveable from a first position, upwardly biasing the mechanical stop in the upward locked position, to a second position, moving the mechanical stop to the downward unlocked position;
- and
- a release mechanism operatively linked to the resilient member, the release mechanism being configured to move the resilient member between the first position and the second position, whereby the mechanical stop is moved between the upward locked position and the downward unlocked position.
A storage system for shopping carts comprising:
- a storage housing having an opening, the storage housing being configured to store a plurality of shopping carts;
- a mechanical stop disposed at or near the ground at an opening of the storage housing, the mechanical stop being moveable from an upward locked position to a downward unlocked position, the mechanical stop being configured to engage one or more wheels of a shopping cart to keep the shopping cart inside the storage housing;
- and
- a release mechanism operatively linked to the mechanical stop, the release mechanism being configured to move the mechanical stop from the upward locked position to the downward unlocked position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.