Shopping Cart Bagging Station With Modular Cart-Mount Assembly

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Solution Overview

Problem

The need for a bagging station that can be mounted on a shopping cart arises due to the shift in shopping behavior with electronic purchasing and self-checkout, allowing customers to pay and bag products as they shop, necessitating bagging stations beyond traditional checkout locations.

Innovation Solution

A portable and lightweight shopping cart bagging station made from recyclable materials, such as cardboard, which can be assembled from a kit and includes a support bar, mounting structures, and a bag holder hook, allowing customers to easily couple and use the station on their shopping cart to hold and dispense shopping bags as needed.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a traditional stationary bagging station is used at checkout, then bagging function is provided, but customer mobility and convenience are reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebagging convenienceVSAvoidstation portability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSWeight of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The bagging station is divided into separate modular components including a support bar, mounting structures with hooks, and bag holders that can be independently assembled and attached to shopping carts. This segmentation enables the station to be easily detached and transferred between carts, solving the portability problem while maintaining full bagging functionality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The mounting structures incorporate adjustable and removable hooks that can be quickly attached to and detached from shopping cart handles. This dynamic design allows the bagging station to transition from a stationary fixture to a mobile attachment, enabling customers to move the bagging function throughout the store with their shopping cart.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Weight of moving object

If a portable bagging station is created, then customer mobility is improved, but structural stability may be compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestation portabilityVSAvoidmounting stability

Core Design Contradiction:

Weight of moving objectVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The mounting structures are designed with specialized hooks and attachment mechanisms that concentrate the connection force at specific points on the shopping cart handle. This localized quality ensures stable attachment at the connection points while keeping the overall structure lightweight and portable, resolving the contradiction between stability and portability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Productivity

If traditional checkout bagging is used, then bagging function is provided, but customer time and shopping flow are reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveshopping efficiencyVSAvoidcheckout time

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The portable bagging station enables customers to perform bagging actions preliminarily during their shopping journey rather than waiting until checkout. Customers can attach the station to their cart, bag items as they shop, and continue shopping without interruption, significantly reducing the time spent at checkout and improving overall shopping efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

4Reliability

If a permanent bagging station is installed, then bagging capability is provided, but adaptability to different locations is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebagging functionVSAvoidlocation flexibility

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The mounting structures are designed with universal compatibility to attach to various shopping cart types and configurations. The adjustable hooks and modular components can be positioned at different locations on the cart, allowing the bagging station to function reliably across multiple locations and cart types, thus achieving both reliability and adaptability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS10220866B2Shopping cart bagging station and method of forming the same

Publication Date: 2019.03.05 WALMART APOLLO LLC

AI summary

Disclosed is a shopping cart bagging station that couples to a shopping cart, and can be used by customers to bag their purchases as they shop. The shopping cart bagging station can be made from recyclable materials and is lightweight and portable. The shopping cart bagging station can be supplied as a kit, where the kit includes a sheet of rigid material, with each of the shopping cart elements outlined with perforated lines in the sheet of rigid material. The shopping cart bagging station is constructed by separating elements along the perforated lines, and then fitting the shopping cart bagging station elements together to form the shopping cart bagging station. The shopping cart bagging station elements fit together with slot joints formed by connecting slots in the elements. The customer can separate the shopping cart bagging station elements and construct the shopping cart bagging station themselves.