| 摘要 |
A collection, storage and dispensing system for shopping carts including an elongated tubular conduit sized to allow a shopping cart to rollably pass therethrough. The conduit includes a sloped first end section defining an entrance opening through which shopping carts enter the system, a generally horizontal mid section, and a sloping second end section which defines an exit opening through which shopping carts exit the system. The mid section is preferably buried below grade, but may also be elevated above a parking lot surface of a store for vehicles to drive beneath, A floor is provided within the conduit atop which shopping carts roll. An elongated slender guide engaging probe is connected to each shopping cart which both laterally guides the carts by slidably engagement into a guide channel longitudinally in the floor and is pullably engaged onto a chain-type conveyor in one end section which is upwardly sloped. The entrance opening is positioned at grade level of a store parking area while the exit opening is positioned within the store at floor level. A denester interactive with each of the probes is provided as the carts tend to wedge together. Multiple entrance openings are provided, along with an optical comparator to insure that only proper shopping carts enter the system. |
