CHECK STAND WITH A TWO BELTED INPUT AND A SLIDABLE SCANNER

• US 20080302607A1
• Filed: 12/03/2007
• Published: 12/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Royston LLC (SRR Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Royston LLC (SRR Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Kaplan, Eric, Notheis, Michael S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,967,112 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 186/61
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 9/04 Check-out counters, e.g. for self-service stores

Abstract

This invention provides a high-volume check stand with a front transport that has two belted input conveyors so that a customer can load one belt while the cashier is checking out products purchased by a second customer on the second belt. This two belt module has a flush rear end to which is attached a scanner that can be slid from one belt to the other. Preferably this check stand has an output module which has two belts and two rollers so that the check stand can use a bagger on each side for bagging the items, to speed checkout time. Embodiments of this check stand may have an output module that is a carousel or a turntable. It could also have any combination of one or two conveyor belts and one or two rollers on an incline for use in packing the products. A scanner is placed between the flush rear end of the front transport and the flush front end of the output module. The scanner has means for either being slid transversely or rotated by the cashier between one belted conveyor and the other conveyer so that the cashier can move from scanning products on one conveyor to the other.

Claims

1. A checkstand for a store where shoppers pay for their purchases, comprising:

a front transport having a front end and a rear end joined by two sides and a bottom support for resting on the floor, said front transport having two conveyor assemblies resting on the bottom support, each conveyor assembly having a conveyor belt upon which a shopper in a store places items to be purchased at the front end of the front transport for transport to the rear end of the front transport, each conveyor assembly having a motor and rollers for moving the belt from the front to the rear of the front transport;

a lead-in module with a front end and rear end and having a conveyor assembly with a conveyor belt for transport of items from each of conveyor belts on the front transport with the front of said lead-in module located adjacent to the rear of the front transport;

a scanning module located adjacent to the rear end of the lead-in module having a scanner for scanning items taken off of the conveyor belt on the lead-in module;

said checkstand having a mechanical diverter to control the movement of items from the two conveyors on the front transport to the lead-in module for proper alignment with the scanner for scanning the items; and

a rear module located adjacent to the scanning module to which items scanned are moved for pick-up by a shopper.

2. The checkstand of claim 1, wherein the rear module comprises two conveyor belts.

3. The checkstand of claim 2, further comprising a rear diverter operative to align scanned items with one or the other of the two rear transport conveyor belts.

4. The checkstand of claim 3, wherein the rear diverter is a single moving V-shaped diverter.

5. The checkstand of claim 1, wherein the mechanical diverter is a funnel convex diverter.

6. The checkstand of claim 1, wherein the mechanical diverter is a stationary convex diverter.

7. The checkstand of claim 1, wherein the mechanical diverter is a single moving V-shaped diverter.

8. The checkstand of claim 1, wherein the rear module comprises two turntables.

9. A checkstand for a store where shoppers pay for their purchases, comprising:

a front transport having a front end and a rear end joined by two sides and a bottom support for resting on the floor, said front transport having two conveyor assemblies resting on the bottom support, each conveyor assembly having a conveyor belt upon which a shopper in a store places items to be purchased at the front end of the front transport for transport to the rear end of the front transport, each conveyor assembly having a motor and rollers for moving the belt from the front to the rear of the front transport;

a scanning module located adjacent to the rear end of the front transport having a scanner for scanning items taken off either of the conveyor belts on the front transport, said scanner being manually movable between the two conveyor belts so that the scanning module is closer to the conveyor belt from which items are to be removed and scanned; and

a rear module located adjacent to the scanning module to which items scanned are moved for pick-up by a shopper.

10. The checkstand of claim 9 in which the scanning module can be manually slid between the sides of the front transport from alignment with one conveyor belt to alignment with the other conveyor belt.

11. The checkstand of claim 10, further comprising an engagement lock to hold the scanning module in alignment with one or the other conveyor belt.

12. The checkstand of claim 9 in which the scanning module can be manually rotated so the scanning module can be brought into alignment with either of the front transport conveyor belts.

13. The checkstand of claim 12, wherein the scanning module rotates a maximum of 180 degrees.

14. The checkstand of claim 12, further comprising an engagement lock to hold the scanning module in alignment with one or the other conveyor belt.

15. The checkstand of claim 9 wherein the rear module comprises two rear conveyor belts.

16. The checkstand of claim 15 wherein the scanning module can be manually slid between the sides of the rear transport, from alignment with one rear conveyor belt to alignment with the other rear conveyor belt.

17. The checkstand of claim 15 in which the scanning module can be manually rotated so the scanning module can be brought into alignment with either of the rear conveyor belts.

18. The checkstand of claim 9, wherein the rear module comprises two turntables.