Patent Publication Number: US-2020288883-A1

Title: Bagging systems having rotation mechanisms

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The presently disclosed subject matter relates generally to retail checkout systems and equipment. Particularly, the presently disclosed subject matter relates to bagging systems having rotation mechanisms. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In retail environments, such as grocery stores and other “brick and mortar” stores, customers typically shop within a store and subsequently proceed to checkout for purchase of items at a point of sale (POS) terminal. The POS terminal may operate to conduct a self-checkout purchase transaction with the customer, or the POS terminal may operate to conduct a purchase transaction with the customer with assistance of store personnel. Such purchase transactions typically involve scanning a bar code of each item for purchase by the customer in order to calculate and display a total amount owed by the customer for the products. Subsequently, a purchase transaction for the customer may be completed after entry of payment information by the customer or store personnel. 
     Many POS terminals include one or more supports for holding shopping bags in place while either the customer or store personnel places items in the shopping bags. In many instances, shopping bags are plastic bags supplied by the retailer. Alternatively, the shopping bags may be made of paper. In some other instances, reusable shopping bags are brought into the store by the customer. Such bags are typically made of durable material such as cloth or polyester material. Often shopping bags are prone to at least partially collapse such that it becomes difficult for the customer or store personnel to place items in the bag. To address this issue, various bag supports, platforms, and various other systems have been developed to hold bags open and otherwise make it easier and more efficient for customer and store personnel to bag items. Although advancements have been made in these areas, there is a continuing need to improve shopping bag holders and systems in order to improve checkout efficiency and improve customer satisfaction. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Having thus described the presently disclosed subject matter in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying Drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of an example POS system including a bagging system in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the example POS system  100  shown in  FIG. 1  with the bag supports being rotated to a different position than shown in  FIG. 1  in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of the example bag support shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a top plan view of an example POS system including a bagging system affixed to a carousel in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of another example bag support in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     SUMMARY 
     The presently disclosed subject matter provides bagging systems having rotation mechanisms. According to an aspect, a bagging system includes a base that defines an area for placement of a shopping bag. The bagging system also includes a bag support attached to the base and positioned to support the shopping bag in the defined area. Further, the bagging system includes a rotation mechanism that rotatably attaches the bag support to the base with an axis of rotation that is vertically aligned with the bag support. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description is made with reference to the figures. Exemplary embodiments are described to illustrate the disclosure, not to limit its scope, which is defined by the claims. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a number of equivalent variations in the description that follows. 
     Articles “a” and “an” are used herein to refer to one or to more than one (i.e. at least one) of the grammatical object of the article. By way of example, “an element” means at least one element and can include more than one element. 
     “About” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical endpoint by providing that a given value may be “slightly above” or “slightly below” the endpoint without affecting the desired result. 
     The use herein of the terms “including,” “comprising,” or “having,” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the elements listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional elements. Embodiments recited as “including,” “comprising,” or “having” certain elements are also contemplated as “consisting essentially of” and “consisting” of those certain elements. 
     Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. For example, if a range is stated as between 1%-50%, it is intended that values such as between 2%-40%, 10%-30%, or 1%-3%, etc. are expressly enumerated in this specification. These are only examples of what is specifically intended, and all possible combinations of numerical values between and including the lowest value and the highest value enumerated are to be considered to be expressly stated in this disclosure. 
     Unless otherwise defined, all technical terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a top view of an example POS system  100  including a bagging system in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, the POS system  100  is a self-checkout POS system, but it should be understood by those of skill in the art that the bagging system may similarly be used in a POS system that is configured for checkout with assistance by store personnel. The POS system  100  may be one of several POS systems  100  located in a store for use by customers to conduct purchase transactions for items within the store. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , direction arrow  102  indicates the general direction of movement of a customer  104  in front of the POS system  100  when using the POS system  100  to conduct a purchase transaction for purchase of one or more items from a store. After shopping and selecting item(s) for purchase, the customer  104  may either carry the item(s) by hand or in a shopping basket or bag, or use a shopping cart to carry the item(s) to the POS system  100  for conducting the purchase transaction. The POS system  100  may include a platform  106  upon which the customer  104  may place some or all of the item(s). The platform  106  may be positioned conveniently for the customer  104  prior to the customer  104  scanning bar codes on the items or manually entering in identifiers for the items into the POS system  100 . 
     The customer  104  may initiate the purchase transaction by interacting with a user interface  108  of the POS system  100 . For example, the user interface  108  may include a touchscreen display  110 , and the customer  104  may touch an area on the display  110  to initiate the purchase transaction. After initiating a purchase transaction, the POS system  100  includes a bar code scanner  112  that can be used by the customer  104  to scan items. The POS system  100  may include suitable hardware, software, and/or firmware for processing identifiers for the scanned items in order to process a purchase transaction for the items. 
     The POS system  100  includes a bagging system, generally designated  114 . Subsequent to scanning items, the customer  104  may place items in shopping bags at the bagging area and/or otherwise place the items at the bagging area while other items are scanned or the purchase transaction is completed (e.g., the customer interacts with the POS system  100  to pay for the items). Particularly, the bagging system  114  may include a base platform  116  having a top surface  118  that is substantially planar and horizontal. The top surface  118  is an area for placement of items after scanning or their identifiers have been entered for purchase of the items. 
     In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the bagging system  114  includes multiple bag supports  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C that are each rotatably attached to the base platform  116 . Alternative to the base platform  116 , the bag supports  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C may be attached to any other suitable type of base that can carry the bag supports. The bag supports  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C may be rotatably attached to the base platform  116  such that they can rotate about axes of rotation, generally designated  122 A,  122 B, and  122 C, respectively. In this example, the axes of rotation are perpendicular or at least nearly perpendicular to the top surface  118  of the base platform  116 . In other words, the axes of rotation extend upward or at least substantially upward from the plan view plan view of the system  100  shown in  FIG. 1 . Direction arrows  126 A,  126 B, and  126 C show respective directions of rotation by the bag supports  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C. To permit rotation about respective axes of rotation, a rotation mechanism (part of which is designated by references  128 A,  128 B, and  128 C) rotatably attaches respective bag supports  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C to the base platform  116 . 
     Each bag support  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C may include a lower platform  130  having a top surface where a shopping bag can be placed while being held by a frame  132 . Each frame  132  may have arms that extend over the top surface of the platform  130  for carrying a shopping bag. The arms may be configured for holding an upper portion of the shopping bag such that the bag is held open to facilitate a customer placing items in the shopping bag. 
     A bag support  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C may be easily rotatable by a customer such that the front of the bag support faces the customer  104 , thereby the customer  104  can more easily access a shopping bag held by the bag support. For example, the customer  104  may more easily be able to place items in the shopping bag and subsequently remove the shopping bag. Referring now to  FIG. 2 , this figure shows the POS system  100  of  FIG. 1  with the bag supports  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C being rotated to a different position than shown in  FIG. 1  in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the bag supports  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C have been rotated to a position such that they face the customer  104 . In this example, such positioning may be convenient for the customer  104 , because the customer  104  is at a position for using with the user interface  108 , display  110 , and bar code scanner  112 . Particularly, the arms  200  of the frames  132  extend in a direction towards the customer  104  (i.e., such that the bag supports  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C face the customer  104 ). 
     Subsequent to scanning items and placing items in the shopping bags, the customer  104  may complete the purchase transaction by interacting with the user interface  108  or a card reader  202  to provide debit card information or credit card information to pay for the items. A receipt for the purchase transaction may be printed by a printer  204 . Subsequently, the customer  104  may remove the shopping bags from the bag supports  120 A,  120 B, and  120 C and exit the store with the bagged, purchased items. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a side view of the example bag support  120 A shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 3 , this figure shows additional details about the bag support  120 , particularly additional details about the rotation mechanism  128 A in this example. The rotation mechanism  128 A rotatably attaches the bag support  120 A to the base platform  118  with the axis of rotation  122 A. The axis of rotation  122 A is aligned with the bag support  120  in a vertical direction indicated by double-headed arrow  300 . Arrow  302  indicates the direction that the bag support  120 A is facing, i.e., a direction where the arms  200  of the frame  132  extend. 
     In this example, the rotation mechanism  128 A includes an axle  304  that aligns and turns with the axis of rotation  122 A. The axle  304  may be, for example, any suitable type of cylindrically-shaped object, such as a pin or bolt, for holding the bag support  120 A in place with respect to the base platform  118  but also permitting rotation of the bag support  120 A about the axis of rotation  122 A. Component  306  may attach an end of the axle  304  to the platform  130 . Component  308  may attach an end of the axle  304  to the base platform  118 . The rotation mechanism  128 A and its components (i.e., the axle  304  and components  306  and  308 ) are shown by broken lines to indicate that they are depicted in cross section. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a top plan view of an example POS system  400  including a bagging system  114  affixed to a carousel  402  in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 4 , the carousel  402  can turn in the direction of arrow  404  about an axis of rotation  406 . The carousel  402  can also turn in a direction that opposed the direction of arrow  404 . 
     Attached to the top of carousel  402  are bag supports  408 A,  408 B, and  408 C. The bag supports  408 A,  408 B, and  408 C are rotatable with respect to the carousel  402  along an axis of rotation  410 A,  410 B, and  410 C, respectively. The axis of rotation  406  of the carousel  402  is outside of vertical alignment with each bag support  408 A,  408 B, and  408 C. The customer  104  may thereby position the bag supports  408 A,  408 B, and  408 C in desired positions by rotating the bag supports about the carousel and/or individually rotating the bag supports about their respective axes of rotation. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a top view of another example bag support  500  in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 5 , the bag support  500  includes a lower platform  502  and a frame  504 . The bag support  500  also include a rotation mechanism  506  for rotatably attaching the bag support  500  to a base with an axis of rotation  508  vertically aligned with the bag support  500  in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     In accordance with embodiments, the bag support  500  may include a handle  510  attached to the platform  502  for assisting a customer to rotate the bag support  500  about the axis of rotation  508 . The handle  510  may be of any suitable shape and size. Further, the handle  510  may be attached to any suitable part of the bag support  500 , such as the frame  504 . 
     In accordance with embodiments, the bag support  500  may include a locking mechanism  512  configured to be placed in a position to hold the bag support  500  in a fixed position and to be removed from the position to release the bag support  500  for rotation about the axis of rotation  508 . The locking mechanism  512  may be pulled by the customer in the direction indicated by arrow  514  to release the bag support  500  such that it is free to rotate. By releasing the locking mechanism  512 , the locking mechanism  512  may return to a position for locking the bag support  500  in place and prevent rotation. The locking mechanism  512  may include a spring or other resilient member for returning the locking mechanism  512  to the position for locking the bag support  500  in place. A pin  516  may be part of the locking mechanism  512  and suitably controlled by the pull and release of the exposed part of the locking mechanism  512  to hold the bag support  500  in the fixed position. In this example, the exposed portion of the locking mechanism  512  is on the side of the platform in order to be clear of the area for placement of a shopping bag within the frame  504 . 
     In accordance with embodiments, the bag support  500  may include a detent configured to arrest rotation of the bag support at different angles about the axis of rotation  508 . For example, the platform  502  may include magnets  518  integrated therein and each configured to cause resistance to rotation of the bag support  500  about the axis of rotation  508  due to their attraction to one or more magnets (not shown) positioned with the fixed platform between the bag support  500 . The magnets  518  and the corresponding magnets beneath them may function as a detent to arrest rotation of the bag support  500  at different angles about the axis of rotation  508 . For example, the rotation of the bag support  500  may be arrested when it faces along one of the broken lines  520  that extends outward from the axis of rotation  508 . In this way, the bag support  500  is biased to stay in one of these spaced apart angles. In an example, the angles may be spaced apart from a neighboring angle at approximately the same angular spacing as shown in  FIG. 5 , or at irregular spacings. When the bag support  500  does not face along one of the broken lines  520 , it can freely rotate about the axis of rotation because the magnets are not aligned or substantially aligned to strongly attract one another for resisting rotation. 
     In examples disclosed herein, the top surface of the platform of a bag support is substantially square in shape. For example in  FIG. 5 , the area within the frame  504  is substantially square. However, it is noted that the area may alternatively be substantially circular or rectangular in shape. For example, the arms may be extended or shortened to form a rectangular shape as a top surface within the frame  504  for placement of a shopping bag. 
     In accordance with embodiments, a bagging system as disclosed herein may be configured with a scale for measuring a weight of items placed on the base and/or in a bag held by a bag support. The scale may provide the weight measurement to a computing device to determine if the items match or closely matches what was scanned. 
     The described features, structures, or characteristics disclosed herein may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the disclosed subject matter can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the disclosed subject matter. 
     While the embodiments have been described in connection with the various embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used, or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims.