Abstract:
A checkout counter construction and method employs a bag well feature using a cover member which is movable between a first, closed and latched position and a second, open position without using springs, pneumatic cylinders or any electrical connection, and in a manner which reduces the rate of movement of the cover member as it approaches the second position, in order to minimize any risk of injury.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This nonprovisional application claims the priority date of copending provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/196,616 filed on Apr. 13, 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, the benefit of its earlier filing date being claimed under to 37 C.F.R. §1.78(a)(4). 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention is related to checkout counters used in grocery stores and similar merchandising facilities, and in particular is related to checkout counter constructions and methods which provide a recessed bag well which permits the clerk to bag merchandise as it is being tallied.  
           [0003]    Checkout counter constructions providing a bag well feature have in the past used a variety of techniques for permitting the well to be bridged with a cover, so that when the bag well is not being used, the merchandise is passed further along to a discharge area where the merchandise may be bagged by an employee other than the checkout clerk. Prior art arrangements have included simple slide mechanisms, as well as covers which may be rotated into place using springs or pneumatic cylinders operated by the clerk.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The present invention is directed to a checkout counter construction and method employing a bag well feature using a cover member which is movable between a first, closed and latched position and a second, open position in a facile manner without using springs, pneumatic cylinders or any electrical connection. This objective is further achieved in a construction which reduces the rate of movement of the cover member as it approaches the second position, in order to minimize any risk of injury. These objectives are achieved utilizing a bracket, latch and tension plate assembly which relies upon the weight of the cover member and an associated base to rotate about a pivot axis upon operation of a simple latch release lever by the clerk. The bag well assembly may then be returned to the first position by simply pulling the cover member forward from the second position until again latched into the first position.  
           [0005]    Another aspect of the present invention is the construction of a bag well assembly which may be retrofitted into existing checkout counters without undue difficulties. This is achieved by recessing the rate of movement reduction assembly, the latch and the latch release elements into a side panel, so that the bag well assembly may be easily and simply inserted into an existing counter construction.  
           [0006]    In the preferred embodiment, the rate of movement reduction mechanism employs a facile construction in which a sloped tension plate, either alone or in combination with an associated friction pad, increases the friction against movement of the cover member as it is rotating from the first to the second position, to thereby reduce the rate of movement as the cover member rotates into the second position. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 is a top view of a checkout counter construction having a bag well feature in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 is a side view of the checkout counter shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 is a partially cut away perspective view of a bag well assembly in accordance with the present invention, with the bag well cover member in the first, closed position.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 is a perspective view, partially cut away, of a bag well assembly with the bag well cover member in the second, open position.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 is a perspective view, partially cut away, of a portion of the bag well assembly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 6 is a perspective view like that shown in FIG. 5, with a portion of the bracket  52  cut away to illustrate the latch raceway and latch recess features.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the latch, latch release and tension portions of the bag well assembly shown in FIGS.  3 - 6 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]    A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawing.  
         [0015]    First noting FIGS. 1 and 2, a checkout counter construction in accordance with the present invention is referred to generally by the reference numeral  10 . The checkout counter  10  is formed from an elongated counter  12  having a bottom  14  adapted to rest upon a support surface  16 , such as the floor of a supermarket, a retail establishment or similar commercial facility. The counter  12  is defined by first and second opposing sides  18 ,  20  extending from the bottom  14 , and a generally horizontal checkout surface  22  extending between the opposing sides  18 ,  20  from an intake area  24  to a discharge area  26 . The counter  12  also defines a clerk location  28  along a portion of the first side  18 .  
         [0016]    In accordance with the present invention, the counter  12  is provided with a bag well  30  adjacent the clerk location  28 , with the bag well  30  extending into the counter  12  from the checkout surface  22 . As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and  3 , the bag well  30  includes a cover member  32  having an upper surface which lies generally in the plane of the horizontal checkout surface  22  when the cover member  32  is in a first, closed position. A storage area  34  is positioned underneath the bag well  30  below a bag well bottom  37  and a front panel  35 . Typically, the bag well  30  is formed of a unitary assembly which is inserted into the counter  12  next to an electronic bar code scanner  36 , which is used by a clerk at the location  28  to identify the price of merchandise as it is moved across the checkout surface  22  (as shown in FIG. 1, a portion of the checkout surface including the intake area  24  is typically a horizontal conveyor).  
         [0017]    The details regarding the construction of the bag well  30  will now be described with reference to FIGS.  3 - 7 ; however, the relationship of the bag well assembly can also be further discerned with occasional reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 depicts the bag well assembly  30  with the cover member  32  in the first, closed position and with the upper surface of the cover member  32  generally forming a part of the checkout surface  22 . The bag well  30  is defined by opposing, generally parallel side panels  40 ,  42  which extend laterally between the first and second sides  18 ,  20  of the counter  12  (only the second side  20  is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4).  
         [0019]    The bag well assembly  30  is depicted in FIGS. 4, 5 and  6  with the cover member  32  rotated into a second, open position which permits the clerk&#39;s access to the bag well. In the second, open position the bag well base  39  forms the bottom of the well, against which the clerk may place a bag to be filled with merchandise as it is checked out following passage across the scanner  36  in the checkout surface  22 . As is seen in FIGS.  4 - 6 , the bag well assembly  30  includes a pair of opposing brackets  44 ,  52  which are attached to the underside of the cover member  32  for the use of a corresponding angled flange  46 ,  54  and associated fasteners  48 ,  56 . The base  39  of the bag well  30  is fixed to and extends generally normal from the inside edge of the cover member  32 , and is also attached with the brackets  44 ,  52  as a unitary assembly. Each of the brackets  44 ,  52  are pivoted to the respective bracket at corresponding pivots  50 ,  58 .  
         [0020]    It will thus be understood from the above description and FIGS.  3 - 6  that when the bag well cover member  32  is in the first, closed position, the bag well is not accessible by the clerk for packaging merchandise; rather, the merchandise passes along the upper surface of the cover member  32  to the discharge area  26 . However, when the cover member  32  is rotated in the manner to be described in greater detail below to the second, open position (FIGS.  4 - 6 ), the clerk may place a bag in the well  30  against the base  39  and then package merchandise as it is passed across the scanner  36  on the checkout surface  22 . When the clerk no longer has a need for the bag well  30 , the cover member  32  may be returned to the first, closed position by grasping handle extension  33  (FIG. 4) and rotating the assembly about the pivots  50 ,  58  until the latch pin  82 , described below, is again engaged.  
         [0021]    As discussed above, it is desirable to provide a simple and facile mechanism for permitting rotation of the cover member  32  (together with the brackets  44 ,  52  and the base  39 ) from the first, closed position to the second, open position without the use of springs, pneumatic cylinders or electrical means. In doing so, however, it is also desirable to effectuate a rotation between the first and second positions in a manner which involves little risk of pinched fingers or similar injuries. To that end, there has been developed a simple and facile latch, release and tension mechanism which is referred to generally by reference numeral  60  in FIGS. 3, 4 and  7 .  
         [0022]    As is shown in the exploded view of FIG. 7, the latch and tension plate assembly  60  is fitted within recesses in the side panel  42 . These recesses include a relatively shallow routed recess  66  dimensioned to receive a tension plate  76 , the recess having an internal surface  67  corresponding to the slope of the tension plate  76  as described in greater detail below. A routed curved raceway  68  extends completely though the side panel  42  within the recess  66  and acts a guide for a latch pin  82  and bearing  84 , with the latch pin in turn extending through both the bracket  52  and a corresponding slot  80  in the tension plate  76 . A generally rectangular routed recess  70  extends from the surface  67  through the side panel  42 , and is dimensioned to receive a latch  90 . A routed latch arm recess  72  also extends through the side panel  42  and downwardly from the latch recess  70 ; the latch arm recess  72  is dimensioned to receive the latch arm  62  in such a manner that the latch release lever  64  extends laterally away from the side panel  42  and underneath the scanner unit  36  (see FIG. 2).  
         [0023]    Noting FIGS. 5 and 6, a friction plate  74  is fitted into a routed recess  75  along the inside surface of the side panel  42 .  
         [0024]    Referring again to FIGS. 6 and 7, the tension plate  76  is formed of three sections  77 ,  78  and  79 ; section  77  and  79  are somewhat parallel with each other, but do not lie in a common plane because of a relatively shallow slope or angular relationship of the intermediate panel  76 , so that there is a greater dimension between the surface  67  and tension plate section  79 , relative to the dimension between the surface  67  and tension plate section  77  when the tension plate  76  is mounted flush in the recess  66 . As is shown in FIG. 7, the tension plate  76  includes the curved slot  80  which generally corresponds to the raceway  68  and is dimensioned to receive the latch pin  82  and bearing  84  which are held in place with fastener  86  and washer  88 .  
         [0025]    With reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and  7 , it will be understood that the latch pin  82  extends through the bracket  52 , the raceway  68  and the slot  80 . The latch pin  82  remains in the first, closed position when engaged by the latch  90 , until operation of the latch release lever  64  causes the latch release  92  at latch  90  to release the latch pin  82 . The counter-balanced weight of the bag well assembly  30  causes the entire assembly to rotate around the pivots  44 ,  58  into the second, open position. As the latch pin  82  and bearing  84  move through the raceway  68  and the slot  80 , the combination of the friction pad  74  and the sloped configuration of the tension plate  76  serve to reduce the rate of movement of the entire bag well assembly, until the assembly fully arrives at the second position.  
         [0026]    With further reference to FIG. 7, the pivot  58  is effectuated with pivot pin  100  and outer and inner bushings  101 ,  102  which extend through opening  98  in side panel  42 . A similar arrangement defines pivot  50 .  
         [0027]    While the present invention has been described in the context of a preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made in the construction and methods described without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.