Check stand conveyor belt bottom extracted shopping bin

Abstract

A shopping bin which mounts crosswise on a shopping cart and is slidable onto the conveyor belt of a supermarket check stand. The bin mechanism holds the bottom of the bin in place and causes a door at the front of the bin to open as the conveyor belt moves the rest of the bin forward until the bottom of the bin has been mostly extracted, thus allowing the check stand conveyor to completely vacate the contents of the bin and send them to the checker and the item scanner.

Claims

1. A shopping bin comprising a front portion, a rear back portion, two sides and a slidable bottom in operable combination with a supermarket check stand table, its conveyor belt, item scanner and checker, said bin bottom being slidable to the rear of said bin to a position in which more than ninety percent of the surface area of said bottom resides to the rear of said bin and said bin bottom having a downward protruding tab at the rear of said bin bottom which engages the leading edge of said check stand table thus holding said slidable bin bottom in place while said check stand conveyor belt moves said bin toward said check stand scanner and checker causing the contents of said bin to be deposited upon said conveyor belt.

2. The shopping bin of claim 1 having a spring loaded hinged front door extending substantially across the width and height of said bin.

3. The shopping bin of claim 1 having a spring loaded hinged front door extending substantially across the width and height of said bin, the sides of said slidable bin bottom having slats in sliding communication with slots in said bin sides and said bin sides having tabs at the bottom of said sides overlapping the bottom of said bin door, said bin sides being flexible and allowing release of said spring loaded hinged bin door upon rearward movement of said slidable bin bottom which allows said flexible bin sides to spread apart.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows one bin cross-mounted on a cart prior to unloading and a second bin on the check stand conveyor in the process of having its contents unloaded by the check stand conveyor belt.

(2) FIG. 2 is a detailed drawing of inside the bin as viewed from the door end.

(3) FIG. 3 is a partial simplified isometric of the underside of the bin also as viewed from the door end.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(4) In FIG. 1 it can be seen that the shopping cart is about the same height as the check stand table so there is no need for the customer to lift the bin. Rather it is simply slid and rotated partially onto the check stand conveyor (2) and the conveyor then moves the bin into its unload position. The bin on the conveyor in FIG. 1 has been moved forward by the conveyor (2) while the bottom (1) of the bin is being held in place at the end of the check stand table. At this point the bottom (1) has been extracted enough to release the bin door (3) which is shown popped open and the bin's contents can be seen exiting out the front of the bin to the checker.

(5) The preferred embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 2. In this figure the bin of FIG. 1 in the unload position is shown in greater detail. The bottom (1) rides on rails (4) which are spaced from the bin sides to form a slot (5) on each side of the bin. Bottom side slats (6) ride in the slots (5) and a slanted side baffle on each side of the bin hold the bottom down as well as preventing items in the bin from hanging up on the rails (4). When the bottom (1) is in its fully forward position the slats (6) in the slots (5) hold the bin sides together with a tab (8) on each side overlapping the closed door and thus prevent it from opening. However when the bottom is extracted by the conveyor moving the bin forward the lower portions of the bin sides are freed to spread apart. The spring force of the spring loaded hinges (9) then pop the door (3) open. Bottom stops (not shown) prevent the bottom (1) from completely exiting the bin so that when the bin is emptied the checker simply closes the door and tilts the bin up which returns the bottom thus locking the door closed. The bin can then be placed in a nesting stack of bins. A back baffle (10) keeps items from hanging up on the portion of the bottom when the bottom is in its fully extracted position.

(6) While this is the preferred embodiment it should be herein noted that the bin need not even have a door. After the bottom has been extracted the customer or the checker can simply lift the bin shell and the still attached bottom up off the conveyor, thus depositing the bin contents on the conveyor. The problem with this approach is that the items are not deposited in an orderly fashion and it is possible for some items to hang up in the bin and then drop a considerable distance which would be a bad scenario for things like eggs. However such a bin could be acceptable in some retail outlet for non-food or non-breakable items.

(7) Also in this preferred embodiment there are other ways to keep the sides together at the front thus locking the door closed besides bottom slats in continuous slots the length of the bin. However if the slats were not there the items in a heavily loaded bin could force the bin sides to expand out allowing the bin bottom to slip down between the rails onto the conveyor. If the rails were wider to prevent this the likelihood of items hanging up on the rails is greatly increased, so the logical solution is the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2.

(8) It should also be noted that while the preferred embodiment releases the door automatically the door could be released manually. There could be applications wherein it would be advantages for the door to keep the contents contained until manual release by the checker.

(9) FIG. 3 is a partial simplified isometric of the underneath of the bin showing the bottom hold (11) which holds the bottom (1) at the rear of the check stand while the conveyor moves the rest of the bin forward.