Patent ID: 7445126

Claim:
A produce display comprising: a bin sized to contain a collection of produce, the bin having an interior space with access from above the bin; a shelf positioned within the interior space and sized to support the collection of produce; support members movably linked to one another to form a scissor lift and movably coupled to the shelf to adjust the vertical height for the shelf between a lower position and an upper position; a motor with a shaft; a converter, the converter configured to translate rotational motion into linear motion, the converter linked to the motor and to at least one of the support members to move the at least one support member and consequently the support members to raise the shelf when the shaft of the motor rotates in a first rotational direction; a light source positioned to project light across at least one of the following: a portion of the interior space and a portion of space above the interior space; a light receiver positioned to receive the light projected from the light source unless the collection of produce supported by the shelf is positioned to obstruct the light from reaching the light receiver; and a controller configured to activate the motor to rotate the shaft in the first rotational direction to raise the shelf when the light receiver receives the light and the shelf is below the upper position.