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.

According to one embodiment, an information processing device includes a processing circuit having programmed instructions to: determine a cart location of a shopping cart that is moved by a customer and used for transportation of a merchandise purchased by the customer; and provide a notification for promoting a return of the shopping cart to a return area for returning the shopping cart in response to a determination that (i) the shopping cart is located in a place outside of the return area and (ii) a stay time of the shopping cart at the place outside the return area exceeds a threshold length of time.

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.

The invention relates to a passageway system with at least one foot element, with at least one blocking element which is mounted on the foot element and which is movable between at least one blocking position intended for at least partially blocking a passage and at least one release position releasing the passage, with a drive unit serving to move the at least one blocking element with a control of the drive unit, with a detection unit intended for the identifying detection of goods, and with interfaces to a data processing unit and optionally further components.

The invention is characterized in that at least one optical detection device is arranged on the at least one blocking element and is a component of the detection unit.

Methods and apparatus for monitoring remotely located objects with a system including at least one master data collection unit, remote sensor units, and a central data collection server are described. The master unit is configured to monitor any object, mobile or stationary, including monitoring multiple remote sensor units associated with the monitored objects. The master unit may be in a fixed location or attached to a mobile object. The master unit is configured for monitoring objects that enter and leave an area. The master unit may act as a parent controller for one or more child devices including remote sensors or monitors of measurable conditions including environmental conditions, substance identification, product identification, and/or biometric identification. The master unit may discover remote sensor units as they enter or leave the area where the master unit is located. The master unit can be remotely reprogrammed such as with authenticated instructions.

The invention relates to a fully automated sanitizing system (1) for shopping trolleys and the like. It provides an automated sanitization and disinfection process, divided into four phases, which guarantees the user to pick up the perfectly sanitized trolley without contact with third parties and steps for other hands, ready for its first use. The system (1) in question consists of an automated island to be placed in the parking area of supermarket or shopping center and consists of two adjacent units, one of which is intended for the storage of used trolleys where subsequently will carry out the sanitization cycle, the other destined to shelter and store the trolleys already sanitized and ready for collection in several rows. The sampling area has been designed in compliance with the anti distances aggregation. The use of this system (1) guarantees the almost total elimination of viral and bacterial loads on the trolleys.

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.

Methods and apparatus for providing a comprehensive decision support system to include predictions, recommendations with consequences and optimal follow-up actions in specific situations are described. Data is obtained from multiple disparate data sources, depending on the information deemed necessary for the situation being modeled. The decision support system provides a prediction or predictions and a recommendation or a choice of recommendations based on the correlative analysis and/or other analyses. Also described are methods and apparatus for developing application specific decision support models. The decision support model development process may include identifying multiple disparate data sources for retrieval of related information, selection of classification variables to be retrieved from the data sources, assignment of weights to each classification variable, selecting and/or defining rules, and selecting and/or defining analysis functions.

A dual directional gate that allows an object to move freely in one direction over the gate, but limits the removable of one object over the gate in the opposite direction. The gate assembly includes a blocking arm, a cam element and a protruding arm mounted on a rotating driver shaft. The gate assembly also includes a drive shaft parallel to said driver shaft. Mounted on the drive shaft is a latch mounted on the drive shaft with a proximal end that presses against the cam element and prevents rotation of the blocking arm towards the latch. Also mounted on the drive shaft is a biased follower rod with a distal end that contacts the protruding arm when rotated towards the drive shaft. The gate also includes a pivotally mounted sub-assembly coupled to a solenoid. When the solenoid is activated, the sub-assembly rotates which allows the latch to rotate and unblock the blocking arm and allow an object to forcibly move the blocking arm. Movement of the blocking arm causes the gate toy reset.

According to one embodiment, an information processing device includes a processing circuit having programmed instructions to: determine a cart location of a shopping cart that is moved by a customer and used for transportation of a merchandise purchased by the customer; and provide a notification for promoting a return of the shopping cart to a return area for returning the shopping cart in response to a determination that (i) the shopping cart is located in a place outside of the return area and (ii) a stay time of the shopping cart at the place outside the return area exceeds a threshold length of time.