Abstract: A work station in a manufacturing facility includes a cart having four wheels that moves on a floor in the manufacturing facility to deliver parts to the work station. A magnetic locking system for locking the cart at the work station includes a base attached to the floor at the work station, the base having a vertical wall, an electromagnet extending outward perpendicularly from the vertical wall, a damper having a cylinder extending outward perpendicularly from the vertical wall and a piston movable within the cylinder along a horizontal axis through the cylinder and perpendicular to the vertical wall for slowing the cart as the cart approaches the electromagnet, and a limit switch for detecting the cart being adjacent to the vertical wall.

Abstract: A stocking cart conveyance may include three tiers, wherein the lower and middle tiers are substantially full length and the upper tier is substantially shorter to improve user sight lines, cart maneuverability, and/or accessibility to items in the middle tier. The upper tier in illustrative embodiments may be approximately 70-80% of the length of the full length tier(s) so as to maintain significant storage volume while still providing improved access, maneuverability, or sight lines. The upper tier may optionally be hinged so as to further improve user accessibility to items placed on the second tier. In illustrative embodiments the carts may longitudinally nest into one another to reduce the space needed to store the carts, and in certain embodiments the carts may be configured to nest when the upper tiers are in an upright position.

Abstract: The invention is directed to an unloading system for shopping carts wherein a conveyor device is disposed in the entry area of a cash register or scanning apparatus, and acts on the products lying randomly in the shopping cart to subject them to a transporting motion in a defined unloading direction, whereby a side wall of the basket in this direction is to be opened.