Patent ID: 6220379
Filing Date: 2001-04-24
Classification: B60K,B60L,B62B,B62D,Y02P,Y02T

Abstract:
A vehicle for moving shopping carts, comprising:(a) a chassis supported by at least two wheels;(b) a shopping cart coupler mounted to the chassis releasably attaching at least one shopping cart or a shopping cart train;(c) an electric motor supported by said chassis powering said vehicle in response to a drive signal;(d) a control panel having a mode selector selecting between a plurality of operational modes, including a manual mode and a remote mode;(e) at least one remote control device generating and transmitting an operator signal to operate the vehicle in the remote mode, the operator signal including a target speed value;(f) a manual control device generating and transmitting an operator signal and a stop signal to operate the vehicle in the manual mode;(g) a receiver on the vehicle communicating with the remote control device to operate the vehicle in the remote mode;(h) a controller on the vehicle controlling vehicle movement in response to the operator signal, said controller comprising:i. a signal receiver connected to the receiver, the signal receiver receiving the operator signal;ii. a motor switching circuit generating a motor interface signal in response to the operator signal;iii. a motor interface circuit receiving the motor interface signal from the motor switching circuit and generating a drive signal to power the motor;iv. a speed sensing circuit generating a present speed signal; andv. a speed regulating circuit coupled to the motor interface circuit, wherein the speed regulating circuit is operative to modify the drive signals in response to changes in the present speed signal such that the present speed signal approaches one of the at least one target speed, whereby the speed of the vehicle tends to be maintained substantially constant during the attachment and release of the one or more shopping carts or shopping cart trains coupled to the vehicle(i) a brake controller operative to drive the electric motor in an opposite direction in response to the stop signal.