Shopping cart theft prevention system
First Claim
1. A system for preventing theft of a shopping cart from a parking lot of an establishment where the carts are used, the lot having at least one entrance and exit driveway, the system comprising:
- triggering means mounted on the shopping cart;
sensor means substantially buried below the surface of the driveway for generating a signal in response to passage of the cart with said triggering means over the sensor means, said sensor means extending generally transversely with respect to and substantially completely across the driveway; and
means for issuing a warning in response to the signal generated by said sensor means.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A shopping cart security system assists in preventing the theft of a shopping cart from a parking lot of an establishment where the carts are used. The parking lot has at least one entrance and exit driveway. The system includes a magnet mounted on the shopping cart and an actuator buried below the surface of the driveway for generating a signal in response to passage of the cart with the magnet over the driveway. The actuator extends generally transversely with respect to and substantially completely across the driveway. An alarm issues a warning in response to the signal generated by the actuator. Also, a system for monitoring unauthorized entry into a restricted area having a door, a magnet carried by the door and an actuator controlled by the magnet for signalling opening of the door.
70 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A system for preventing theft of a shopping cart from a parking lot of an establishment where the carts are used, the lot having at least one entrance and exit driveway, the system comprising:
-
triggering means mounted on the shopping cart; sensor means substantially buried below the surface of the driveway for generating a signal in response to passage of the cart with said triggering means over the sensor means, said sensor means extending generally transversely with respect to and substantially completely across the driveway; and means for issuing a warning in response to the signal generated by said sensor means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A system for preventing theft of a device from a substantially confined area, the area having at least one entrance and exit passageway, the system comprising:
-
triggering means mounted on the device; passageway substantially buried below the surface of the sensor means for generating a signal in response to passage of the device with the triggering means over the sensor means, said sensor means extending generally transversely with respect to and substantially completely across the passageway; means for issuing a warning in response to the signal generated by said sensor means; wherein said triggering means comprises a magnet and said sensor means comprises an elongate, magnetically responsive, actuator means activated upon passage of a device having a magnet at any point along the width of the passageway; wherein the magnetically responsive actuator means comprises a protective outer shell member and a plurality of elongate reed switches arranged in an end to end relation within the shell member, said reed switches being electrically connected in parallel such that said strip generates the signal upon passage of a device having a magnet over any one of the reed switches; wherein the actuator means is buried below the surface of the passageway generally parallel to the surface; means at the entrance and exit passageway for transmitting the signal generated by said sensor means above the surface and means for receiving the transmitted signal and issuing the warning in response thereto at a remote location from the entrance and exit passageway; and means for latching the signal generated by said sensor means to provide sufficient time for generating the power necessary to operate said transmitting means. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
-
Specification