Shopping Cart Lifting Unit for Scanning Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shopping carts equipped with scanners often face issues where products placed close to the scanner can hinder the reading of other products or cause repeated scanning due to overlapping positions.
Innovation Solution
The cart incorporates a lifting unit controlled by a controller that lowers the holding portion when a product is detected to be continuously imaged for a predetermined time, preventing interference and ensuring accurate scanning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If products are placed in the cart, then the cart can carry more items, but products near the scanner may hinder reading of other products or cause repeated scanning
Solution Approach 1:
The holding portion is made movable through a lifting unit that can raise and lower it. The controller automatically adjusts the height of the holding portion based on detected product information, dynamically optimizing the scanning environment while maintaining the ability to carry multiple products.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection of product information before scanning. When a product is detected near the scanner, the controller proactively adjusts the holding portion height to prevent scanning interference, rather than waiting for the problem to occur.
2Reliability
If the holding portion is lowered to prevent product interference with scanning, then scanning accuracy improves, but products may fall from the cart
Solution Approach 1:
The controller continuously monitors product information and scanning conditions, providing real-time feedback to adjust the holding portion height. This closed-loop control ensures the holding portion is lowered only when necessary for scanning accuracy and raised when products need stability, preventing product drops.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the height parameter of the holding portion dynamically based on scanning requirements and product detection. By adjusting this single parameter, the system optimizes both scanning accuracy and product stability without compromising either function.
3Reliability
If a lifting unit is added to adjust the holding portion height, then scanning reliability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lifting unit serves multiple functions: it adjusts the holding portion height for optimal scanning, maintains product stability, and prevents product interference with the scanner. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate mechanisms, thereby limiting the increase in overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller automatically detects product information and autonomously adjusts the holding portion height without user intervention. This self-service capability eliminates the need for manual operation mechanisms and simplifies the user interface, offsetting the added complexity of the lifting unit.
Data Source
AI summary
A cart includes a frame, a holding portion supported by the frame and in which a product is stored, a lifting unit configured to raise and lower the holding portion, an imaging device directed towards an inside of the holding portion, and a controller. The controller is configured to acquire an image of a product captured by the imaging device, determine whether the product has been continuously imaged by the imaging device over a predetermined time period, and upon determining that the product has been imaged over the predetermined time period, control the lifting unit to lower the holding portion.