WO2009033988A1

WO2009033988A1 - Apparatus for sorting alternately the purchased products into one of the two areas of the usually splayed end part of a checkout counter

Info

Publication number: WO2009033988A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/061606
Authority: WO
Inventors: Antonio Mugnoz
Original assignee: Cefla Societa' Cooperativa
Priority date: 2007-09-13
Filing date: 2008-09-03
Publication date: 2009-03-19
Also published as: UA98669C2; RU2470566C2; EP2187786A1; ITBO20070620A1; RU2010114567A

Abstract

Apparatus for sorting alternately the purchased products into one of the two areas of the usually splayed end part (4) of a checkout counter in shops, supermarkets, hypermarkets or other trading premises, of the type where the customers themselves place inside bags the merchandise purchased and which are provided for this purpose with an end part (4) which is usually splayed and in the form of a chute, ending in two areas (104, 204) where the customers stand in succession in order to collect and place inside bags the products handled by the cashier, these areas being divided from each other by at least one longitudinal central guide (5), characterized in that, in the top part of this chute, a portion of its inclined bottom (7) is formed or covered by a circular plate (9) connected to means (10) for rotation in both directions which are controlled, for example, by any selective action of the cashier, depending on whether the products are assigned to one or other of the said two end collecting areas (104, 204), all of which being designed so that the cashier places the products on the part of this plate (9) closest to him/her, said plate with the rotational movement accompanying downwards the said products which are dislodged from the plate owing to the effect of gravity and/or the centrifugal force and/or cooperation with the said central guide (5) and accumulate in the end part of the area to which they are assigned.

Description

TITLE:

"Apparatus for sorting alternately the purchased products into one of the two areas of the usually splayed end part of a checkout counter"

DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to checkout counters in shops, supermarkets, hypermarkets or other trading premises where the customers themselves place inside bags the merchandise purchased. The end part of these checkout counters is usually splayed and in the form of a chute so as to be able to form two areas where the customers stand in succession in order to collect and place inside bags the products which have been checked by the cashier. This end zone of the checkout counter is provided with a central deviating guide, the section of which close to the cash till is pivotable and can be moved by the cashier so as to rest against one or other of the two side shoulders of the initial part of the said chute so that the sold merchandise can be sorted alternately into one of the said two end areas. In some counters the bottom of the said splayed end part of the counter is provided in a central position with a conveyor belt which assists the cashier in his/her work and conveys the products delicately into one of the two areas allocated by the said central deviating guide. This solution is costly, complex and difficult to maintain and results in the products accumulating in the end zones of the conveyor which cannot be designed with a splayed form. The invention aims to overcome these drawbacks of the known art with an apparatus as described in the accompanying Claim 1 and subsequent dependent claims, the characteristic features and advantages of which will become clear from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof illustrated purely by way of a non-limiting example in the figures of the accompanying sets of drawings in which:

- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a checkout counter with the sorting apparatus according to the invention; - Fig. 2 shows further details of the deviating apparatus sectioned along the line M-Il of Figure 1 ;

- Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show different profiles of the adjacent zones of the apparatus in question which perform a relative movement and which are included in the encircled zone indicated by X in Figure 2.

In Figure 1 , B indicates in continuous lines a checkout counter provided with an initial conveyor belt 1 which moves with its upper section in the direction of the arrow 2 and on which the purchased products are deposited by the customer and are conveyed by the same conveyor into the middle part 3 of the said counter where the operator Q is positioned and where the cash till 103, the scanner 203 for reading the barcodes on the products and the keyboard 303 are situated. 4 denotes the splayed end part of the checkout counter which is divided into two areas 104 and 204 by a central guide 5 which is partly fixed and which has an end section 105 pivoting about a vertical pin 6 and which at one end extends into a position close to the operator Q so that it may be gripped by the latter and moved into one of the two positions shown in continuous lines and in broken lines so as to enable the merchandise handled by the operator to be channelled towards one or other of the two areas 104 or 204 which communicate with the middle part 3 of the checkout counter. The bottom of the initial part of the end section 4 of the checkout counter, in the portion indicated by 7 and lying between the lines 107 and 207, is suitably inclined downwards, with the slope towards the line 207, while the remaining part of the bottom of the said section 4 may be horizontal. The end section 4 of the checkout counter is obviously surrounded by suitable known retaining and protective side shoulders 8. According to the invention, a round plate 9 is positioned in the highest part of the said bottom wall 7, said plate replacing or covering a corresponding portion of the said bottom surface 7 and being connected to any supporting and rotating means 10 which can be operated so as to rotate it in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction, as indicated in Figure 1 by the arrow F1 or the arrow F2, respectively. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the electric console for controlling operation of the checkout counter, to which for example the motor of the initial conveyor 1 , the pushbutton unit 12 and/or any other means are connected, is connected to the said drive unit 10 and to sensors or microswitches 13, 113 which are, for example, tripped by a cam 14 fixed on the pivoting pin 6 of the deviating guide 105 so as to be operated alternately depending on the position of this deviating guide. When the deviating guide is in the position shown in continuous lines in Figure 1 , the cam 14 trips the microswitch 13 which communicates to the console 11 this position of the guide 105 and the console supplies power to the unit 10 so that the plate 9 rotates in the direction for conveying the products towards the area 204. In fact, the products which are positioned by the operator Q in the uppermost part of the plate 9 are conveyed by the latter downwards and, owing to the effect of the centrifugal force and gravity, are dislodged from the said plate and converge towards the bottom end part of the area 204. Particularly light products could remain on the plate 9, but will be inevitably conveyed downwards when the deviator guide 105 is moved into the position shown in broken lines. In order to ensure removal also of these light products, reversal in rotation of the drive unit 10 may be performed with a suitable delay with respect to tripping of the microswitches 13, 113 so that the plate will continue to rotate in one direction at least until the deviator guide 105 has completed the pivoting movement, tripping the other of said microswitches. When the deviator guide 105 is moved by the operator into the position shown in broken lines, the plate 9 is rotated in synchronism in the anticlockwise direction F2 suitable for transferring the products into the area 104. The rotation of the plate 9 may be interrupted at any time by the operator Q by means of a special control element provided for example on the pushbutton unit 12. It is understood that the arrangement of the pivoting point 6 with respect to the plate 9, as shown in Figure 1 , is purely indicative and non-limiting and may therefore be modified depending on the result of experimental tests. The present patent application is intended to protect sorting of the products into the end part of a checkout counter by means of a plate with a dual direction of rotation as described above, which is preferably inclined and preferably co-operates with a deviating guide, independently of the constructional and assembly details of such an apparatus. The description of a particularly functional, simple and reliable embodiment of the apparatus is now described. From the figures it can be seen that the plate 9 is seated, for example in a co-planar manner, inside a hole 15 formed in the bottom surface 7 and is fixed coaxially on a thrust bearing of suitable radius 16 which is in turn supported by the upper flange 117 of a cup-shaped support 17 which, via adjustable means 18 and 19, is fixed, with the possibility of adjustment vertically and horizontally, on at least one cross-member or on special brackets 20 in turn fixed by means 21 of any suitable type to the sections 108 which form the aforementioned side shoulders 8 of the checkout counter. The support 17, which may have a laterally open form, contains the gear motor 10 which, by means of its shaft 110, transmits the rotational movement to a coupling 22 which is fixed axially to the bottom side of the plate 9 which, along the section occupied by this coupling, may be provided with special radial reinforcing ribs 109, such that the connection between the said coupling 22 and the shaft of the gear motor 10 may be achieved with a degree of axial freedom. Overall, this solution allows precise and rapid positioning of the plate 9 and the associated drive system and allows equally simple and rapid disassembly of the whole unit for any ordinary or extraordinary maintenance requirements. In order to prevent the penetration of sheet-like objects or other foreign bodies into the small open zone existing between the hole 15 and the perimeter of the plate 9, as indicated by X in Figure 2, this zone may be designed with an elongated and oblique form as indicated by X3 in Figure 3 or with a zigzag form as indicated by X4 in Figure 4 or by X5 in Figure 5 where the plate 9 is provided with an upper lip which protrudes from the said hole 15 and is arranged on top of the surface 7. It is understood that the description refers to a preferred embodiment of the invention to which numerous variations and modifications of a constructional nature may be made and which, for example, consist in providing the plate 9 with a slight conicity at the top so that the products tend to be arranged on the periphery of this plate and may therefore be more easily dislodged from it, all of which moreover without departing from the underlying principle of the invention, as explained above, as illustrated and as claimed below. The protection of the invention must be understood as being extended also to checkout counters with a form different from that shown in continuous lines and indicated by B in Figure 1 , for example also to checkout counters of the known type, having a form in plan view indicated by B' and in broken lines in the same Figure 1.

Claims

1. Apparatus for sorting alternately the purchased products into one of the two areas of the usually splayed end part of a checkout counter in shops, supermarkets, hypermarkets or other trading premises, of the type where the customers themselves place inside bags the merchandise purchased and which are provided for this purpose with an end part (4) which is usually splayed and in the form of a chute, ending in two areas (104, 204) where the customers stand in succession in order to collect and place inside bags the products which have been checked by the cashier, these areas being divided from each other by at least one longitudinal central guide (5), characterized in that, in the top part of this chute, a portion of the inclined bottom is formed or covered by a circular plate (9) connected to means (10) for rotation in both directions which are controlled for example by any selective action of the cashier, depending on whether the products are assigned to one or other of the said two end collecting areas (104, 204), all of which being designed so that the cashier places the products on the part of this plate (9) closest to him/her, said plate with the rotational movement accompanying downwards the products which are dislodged from the plate owing to the effect of gravity and/or the centrifugal force and/or cooperation with the said central guide (5) and accumulate in the end part of the area to which they are assigned.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the said central longitudinal guide (5) terminates in the middle part of the checkout counter with a swing-like pivoting section (105), the free end of which is alternately moved by the cashier so as to rest against one or other of the two side shoulders of the initial part of the said chute, so that the sold merchandise can be sorted and better channelled alternately towards one of the said two end areas (104, 204); the said rotating plate (9) is situated underneath this deviating guide (105) which depending on which of the said areas the products are assigned to, assumes an intersecting position on the plate (9) so that most of the surface of the latter is available for receiving the products handled by the cashier and for transferring them downwards.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that it comprises sensors (13, 113) and/or other suitable means which, depending on the position of the said pivotable deviating guide (105), switch rotation of the said plate (9).

4. Apparatus according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the said plate (9) is seated inside a corresponding hole (15) formed in the bottom chute (7) of the said end part (4) of the checkout counter and does not project from this hole.

5. Apparatus according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the said plate (9) is seated inside a corresponding hole (15) formed in the bottom chute (7) of the said end part (4) of the checkout counter and projects from this hole with a widened portion which covers the said bottom chute.

6. Apparatus according to Claim 4, in which the opposite surfaces of the said hole (15) for seating the rotatable plate (9) and the perimeter of the said plate may have any linear, straight, inclined, broken or other configuration (X, X3, X4, X5) able to prevent insertion of sheet-like objects or other foreign bodies between the opposite surfaces movable relative to each other.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 , in which the said plate (9) may be characterized by a slight conicity at the top so that the products tend to be arranged on the periphery of this plate and are dislodged from it more easily.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 , characterized in that the said plate (9) is fixed coaxially onto a thrust bearing of suitable diameter (16) which is in turn supported by the upper flange (117) of a cup-shaped support (17) which is fixed by adjustable means (18, 19), with the possibility of adjustment, vertically and horizontally, on at least one cross-piece and/or on special brackets (20) in turn fixed by means (21 ) of any suitable type to the bottom and/or inner part of the sections (108) which form the side shoulders (8) of the checkout counter, the said support (17) housing internally the gear motor (10) with a dual direction of rotation which, via its shaft (110), transmits the rotation to a coupling (22) which is fixed axially to the bottom side of the said plate (9).

9. Apparatus according to Claim 8, characterized in that, along the section occupied by the said coupling (22), the said plate (9) may be provided with special radial reinforcing ribs (109) such that the connection between the coupling (22) and shaft of the gear motor (10) may also be performed with a degree of axial freedom.