Authors:
Edward Vitek, Hye Suk Makley, Robert Myers
Abstract:
In the Self-Checkout bagging area, a scale is present on the bagging surface for scanned items. This idea provides a different method of weighing the items scanned, by using a stain gauge system along the bag rack arms, where bags are held.
Background:
Current self-checkout products use scaled bagging cabinets to verify that the weight of purchased products match the expected weight of items that have been scanned. These cabinets are of fixed size and can either be too small for the number of items being purchased or occupy larger floor space than needed when only a few items are purchased. What is needed is a flexible system that requires a smaller footprint in the store but is expandable when needed.
Description:
The bagging units of current self-checkout products utilize wire form bagging racks on a scaled platform. Systems designed to accommodate a large number of purchased items require a larger platform and therefore more floor space in the store. A previous TGCS disclosure describes a design where the bagging racks are extendable and can utilize space beyond the fixed area of the bagging cabinet. This design still requires a fixed scaled cabinet that occupies floor space. This invention removes the scaled base cabinet and instead uses strain gauges in the bagging rack arms themselves. Like the previous disclosure, the arms may be extendable and may be mounted to a rotating carousel, a fixed pole, or to a wall. The arms can be extended or rotated as required and when not needed do not occupy floor space.
Enabling Technology:
US patents 8436261 and 2597751 describe means to measure weight on a cantilevered beam independent of the location of the weight on the beam.
TGCS Reference 1411
