Patent ID: 11945490
Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A shopping cart, comprising:
wheels;
an imaging unit configured to acquire images of a surface at a location of the shopping cart; and
a controller configured to:
detect a limitation pattern in images acquired by the imaging unit, the limitation pattern being on the surface at a boundary between a first area and a second area;
determine based on the detected limitation pattern whether the shopping cart has been moved from the first area to the second area or from the second area to the first area; and
control mobility of the shopping cart based on whether the shopping cart has been moved from the first area to the second area or from the second area to the first area, wherein
the mobility of the shopping cart is controlled by locking or unlocking of the wheels, and
the locking of the wheels can be performed in a stepwise manner such that mobility of the shopping cart is gradually reduced from a fully mobile state to an immobile state.