Limitation of the length of rows of supermarket trolleys

A device for confining shopping carts (10) which are pushed together in a row between lateral guide elements (11A, 11B), the lateral guide elements (11A, 11B) defining a cart storage area, which has a connecting location (K), said device comprising:

• a plurality of coin deposit systems (20) each mounted on a respective cart (10);
• and
• control and locking means (30, 40 50) mounted on the carts (10) and on at least one guide element (11A, 11B) for connecting a first cart (10) to a second cart (10) which is already in the cart storage area when the first cart (10) moves past the connecting location (K0 and into the cart storage area, wherein
• said control and locking means (30, 40 50) comprise at least one magnet (30) which produces a magnetic field (M) and a plurality of locking elements (40, 50) each associated with a respective coin deposit system (20);
• each said locking element (40, 50) is movable between a locking position for retaining a coin previously deposited in the associated coin deposit system (20) and a release position for releasing a coin previously deposited in the associated coin deposit system (20);
• and
• each said locking element (40, 50) is mounted to move through the magnetic field (M) produced by said magnet (30) when the cart (10) on which an associated coin deposit system (20) is mounted moves past the connecting location (K), and each said locking element (40, 50) is responsive to the magnetic field (M) for movement between the locking and release positions and for movement to the release position only when the cart (10) on which the associated coin deposit system (20) is mounted moves past the connecting location (K) and into the cart storage area.