Abstract:
A construction for checkout counters useful with security and payment equipment which permits a customer to conduct price scans and enter payment without the assistance of a cashier includes intake, security and packaging modules, with the security module having an internal recess adapted to support required security equipment. Access to the internal recess is facilitated with sidewall ports covered by access panels which can be removed without access to the internal recess. A facile two-part transfer plate assembly is provided at the intake end of the security module, and a rigid slotted construction for lateral cross braces is also employed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to checkout counters of the type used in supermarkets, department stores and other retail facilities. In particular, the present invention relates to checkout counters designed for use with security and payment equipment which permits a customer to conduct price scans and enter payment without the assistance of a cashier. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The prior art teaches a variety of constructions for checkout counters of the type used in supermarkets, department stores and similar retail facilities. Generally, a checkout counter is characterized by an elongated counter having a horizontal conveyor for moving articles from an intake end to a cashier&#39;s location. Typically, a uniform price code (UPC) reader is embedded in the counter adjacent the cashier&#39;s location at the discharge end of the conveyor. The counter usually also includes a package area rearwardly from the cashier&#39;s location. Such checkout counters are constructed from modules which are made separately by the manufacturer and then assembled together during installation at the retail facility. Of course, the type of checkout counter described above is designed for use by a full-time cashier. 
     Recently, there have been suggestions for the use of checkout counters which permit the customer to conduct the UPC price scans and enter payment entirely without the assistance of a cashier. One such self-checkout counter is marketed by Productivity Solutions Incorporated of Jacksonville, Florida. Self-checkout counters have unusual requirements. For example, special security equipment must be supported by the counter above and below the conveyor and counter surface. The security equipment presently used in these applications is significantly more sensitive than the electric motors, belt drives and the like within a conventional checkout counter, and therefore the construction of a self-checkout counter must be both rigid and not susceptible to misalignment. Further, the security equipment used in self-checkout counters requires periodic calibration and maintenance, and ease of access to the internal security equipment is an important factor. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a facile modular self-checkout counter construction which, when the modules are assembled together, provides the desired rigidity and which is also not susceptible to misalignment. Further, the self-checkout counter construction of the present invention permits access to the internal recesses of the counter to permit calibration and maintenance of security equipment located therein. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the present invention utilizes three separate modules: an intake module, a security module and a packaging module. The intake module is provided with a recess extending through the top surface thereof and which is dimensioned to receive a conventional UPC reader, in order to permit the customer to enter pricing information for articles being purchased by the customer. The intake module is attached to the forward end of the security module, with the security module supporting a conveyor for receiving articles passed across the UPC reader by the customer. The security module includes a recess below the conveyor for receiving sensitive security equipment and an upper bracket for receiving similar security equipment. The security equipment is designed to monitor the articles passing across the conveyor to insure that the articles are in fact those scanned by the customer with the UPC reader at the intake module. The conveyor then passes articles scanned by the customer and verified in the security module onto a top surface of the packaging module. 
     The security module is provided with a number of important features in accordance with the present invention. For example, the security module includes a support surface at the bottom of the interior recess which is specifically designed to support sensitive security equipment such as a load cell or the like which are used in such applications to monitor and verify articles being purchased by the consumer. In order to permit ready access to the internal security equipment, the sides of the security module are provided with access ports which in turn are covered by exterior accent panels. The accent panels are removably fixed to the sides of the security module with special purpose fasteners that permit removal of the accent panels without access to the interior recess of the security module. All cross-bracing of the modules, including the security module, are carried out utilizing an offset dado feature which permits the flat bottom of each cross brace to be precisely located without concern for later misalignment. The security module adjacent the intake to the conveyor is also provided with a transfer plate assembly formed from two interlocking members. The construction of the transfer plate assembly provides a safe and facile transition for articles being passed onto the intake end of the conveyor. 
     Other important features of the self-checkout counter construction of the present invention will be understood from the drawings and the detailed description which follow next. 
    
    
     THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the self-checkout counter construction of the present invention, with a portion of the conveyor partially cut away and with a portion of the security equipment shown in dashed lines. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the self-checkout counter construction shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the security module for the checkout counter construction of the present invention, with the top conveyor and the security equipment removed. 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 are cut away perspective views illustrating a construction detail used in the checkout counter construction of FIGS. 1 and 2. 
     FIGS. 6 and 7 are a perspective view and a cross section, respectively, of a portion of the security module shown in FIG. 3; the view of FIG. 7 is taken along the line 7--7. 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a specialized fastener used with the construction of the present invention, with a portion of the associated side and accent panel cut away. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A preferred embodiment of a self-checkout counter construction in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawing. It will of course be understood by those skilled in the art that a number of variations in the construction may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. 
     The checkout counter construction shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is referred to generally using the reference numeral 10. The counter 10 includes a forward end 12 and a rearward end 14. An intake module 16 is positioned at the forward end 12 and is attached at the intake end 36 of a security module 34. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the intake module 16 includes a top surface 18 and a bottom surface 20, the intake module 16 being dimensioned between the top and bottom surfaces 18, 20 in such a manner that the top surface 18 lies generally in the plane of a conveyor 62 extending across the top surface 42 of the security module 34. The bottom surface 20 of the intake module 16 is dimensioned above the floor upon which the remainder of the counter 10 rests. 
     The intake module 16 includes a recess 22 extending from the top surface 18 interiorly, the recess 22 being dimensioned to receive a UPC reader in a conventional manner. The intake module 16 further includes a recess defined by walls 24, 28, which recess adapts to receive the front end of a shopping cart. 
     The security module 34 is defined by the intake end 36 and a. rearward end 40 between which extend sidewalls 44 and 46. The sidewalls 44 and 46 together with the top 42 of the security module 34 enclose an internal recess 48 which is adapted to receive security equipment, an example of which is shown as a load cell LC by dashed lines in FIG. 1. 
     Now referring to FIGS. 1-3, the sidewalls 44 and 46 of the security module 34 include plural access ports 50 which communicate with the internal recess 48. In order to cover the access ports 50, there is provided a pair of accent panels 52, 54 each of which is fixed along the outside of a corresponding sidewall 44, 46 with special fasteners 56 which permit the access panels 52, 54 to be quickly removed without access to the internal recess 48. The details regarding these special fasteners 56 is discussed below with respect to FIG. 8. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, a conveyor 62 is provided which extends along the top surface 42 of the security module 34 and terminates at a discharge end 72 of a packaging module 70, as is discussed further below. A transfer plate assembly 60 is provided at the intake end 36 of the security module 34 (note FIGS. 1 and 3). The details of the transfer assembly are described below with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. 
     With specific reference to FIG. 3, the security module 34 also includes a security equipment support platform 64 which is removably mounted at the bottom of the internal recess 48. Because of the sensitive nature of the load cell LC and other security equipment that may be used in self-checkout counters to which the present invention is directed, this platform is imparted with close tolerances, and is easily removed from the security module 34 with fasteners 74 extending through the platform 64. 
     The counter construction 10 further includes a packaging module 70 having a forward end 76 abutting the rearward end 40 of the security module 34, the packaging module 70 further including a rearward end 78. The packaging module 70 includes opposing sidewalls 80, 82, with like accent panels 84, 86 attached to respective ones of the sidewalls 80, 82. The conveyor 62 extends to the discharge end 72 of the packaging module 70 in order to pass the customer&#39;s merchandise on to a packaging surface 88 of the packaging module. 
     It is customary in the construction of prior art checkout counters to provide lateral cross-braces extending between opposing sides in order to impart rigidity to the construction. It has not in the past been necessary to be overly concerned with the stability of the joint between the cross-brace and the sides in such prior art checkout counter constructions. However, in the particular self-checkout application to which the construction 10 of the present invention is directed, stability, rigidity and dimensional preciseness becomes much more critical because of the sensitive nature of load cell LC and other security equipment. Accordingly, the construction 10 of the present invention employs a T-ear offset dado construction at the bottom of each cross-brace sidewall interface in order to achieve these desired characteristics. This construction feature is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and described next. 
     In FIGS. 4 and 5, the interface construction of a brace member 100 with the sidewall 46 of the security module 34 is shown by way of example. It will of course be understood that the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 has applicability for the lateral braces used in the security and packaging modules 34, 70 in the construction 10. 
     As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the brace member 100 has a generally rectangular cross-section. The sidewall 46 is provided with an implemented T-ear offset dado construction with an elongated slot 91 having sidewalls 92, 93, the dimension between which corresponds to the cross-sectional dimension of the rectangular brace 100. At the bottom of the slot 91, there is provided a flat bottom surface 94 achieved by drilling or routing lobes 96, 98 in order to define the flat surface 94. The slot 91 represented by sidewalls 92, 93 and bottom 94 are thus carefully dimensioned to correspond to the cross-section of the brace member 100, with the bottom 104 of the brace positioned against the flat bottom 94, as shown in FIG. 5. This construction provides an unexpectedly high increase in strength and dimensional rigidity with respect to joints using normal rounded corner dado constructions, and thus imparts the desired characteristics for the particular application of the checkout construction 10 of the present invention. 
     Details regarding the transfer plate assembly of FIGS. 1-3 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. 
     The transfer plate assembly 60 includes a first, horizontal plate 65 having a slot 67 therein, and a second plate 61 having an angle portion defined by two generally 90° bends 63A and 63B so as to be fitted loosely within the slot 67. The forward extremity 66 of the second plate 61 is dimensioned to abut a recess 69 in the inside surface of intake end 36 of the security module 34 when the rearward end 68 of the second plate 61 is suspended above the conveyor 62; however, the construction of the bends 63A, 63B and the slot 67 permits the rearward extremity 68 of the second plate 61 to be easily rotated upwardly away from the conveyor, in the event that merchandise or a consumer&#39;s fingers become inadvertently lodged between the rearward extremity and the conveyor 62. 
     The specialized fastener 56 described above with reference to FIG. 3 is shown in detail in FIG. 8. The fastener 56 in FIG. 8 is shown associated with sidewall 44 and accent panel 54 (both of which are cut away) of the security module 34. The fastener 56 includes a back plate 53 with extending barbs 57 and a tubular projection 55, with the projection 55 having an internal threaded bore dimensioned to receive a machine bolt 59. The back plate 53 is flush with the inside surface of the sidewall 44, with the barbs 57 extending into the sidewall. Removal of the machine bolt 59 in turn permits removal of the accent panel 54 so that the internal recess 48 may be accessed through the ports 50, as described above. 
     It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a facile modular self-checkout counter construction which imparts the desired stability and rigidity and is not susceptible to misalignment. Further, the construction of the present invention permits easy access to the internal recess for maintenance of the security equipment located therein.