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The problems with shopping carts are:
* Wheels that go wobbly
* Difficulty in guiding/steering
* Lower frame that cripples fellow shoppers
* They get stolen
I thought about hovercraft-style levitation, but that'd require an engine and fan. Instead, I propose air-hockey-style
air-jets in the floor that lifts the cart. Sensors detect the position/presence of the cart and activate only the jets under the cart.
You get perfectly smooth, effortless travel and it can't easily be stolen from the lot.
Air Casters
http://www.aircaste...oducts-at-work.html
For those large shopping trips [Worldgineer, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
[link]
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Ah... I was hoping for an actual zero-g cart. 'Cos you know, in those orbiting supermarkets, groceries will just float right out. |
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I envisage a few
Marilyn-Monroe-standing-on-a-
grating moments
in this supermarket. |
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If the cart and floor were polarised magnets, it could float around on the magnetic field? |
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Given all the gook that gets spilled on the supermarket floor, putting air-jets in the floor would work for all of about maybe one day. I also foresee a problem with jets being deliberately rigged to go off when certainly people (particularly ones wearing short skirts) pass by. Sorry, fishbone. |
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(Though I do generally like the idea of air cushion shopping carts: would make for even more fun scooting down the aisles at high speed.) |
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"Cleaner to aisle 7 - spillage in the
custard aisle - aaagh -
gluh..."
I like the
idea of shopping trolley dance as a
competitive sport. For example,
here's a move which anyone can
try: When wheeling your trolley
down an aisle, give the back of the
trolley a sharp movement to the
left or right. The trolley will spin
through 360 deg and you can then
catch it. Children (sitting in the
trolley seat) love this. Note that
this only works with UK trolleys,
rather than US trolleys which have
fixed (non-steering) rear wheels. |
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hippo, have you been watching me? I do that 360º thing. |
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hippo: I dunno, it works for me. US supermarkets also generally tend to have really long wide down which you can race at top speed without bowling little OAPs over. |
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[drcurry] if the air jets are strong
enough, then spillage on the floor
wouldn't be a problem. in fac,t
they might help break up the
sheen of gunk and lead to easier
cleanup. |
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i like this. screwed up wheels on
shopping carts are a huge source
of minor irritation in my life. |
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//If the cart and floor were polarised magnets, it could float around on the magnetic field?// |
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Imagine every can in the supermarket stuck like barnacles to the floor. |
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//Though I do generally like the idea of air cushion shopping carts: would make for even more fun scooting down the aisles at high speed.)// |
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Combine this with the 360 degree spin and you could put on a performance of Swan Lake. |
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Lady in Red...She’s shopping with me... |
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[DrCurry] New York haas shopping
trolleys with steerable rear
wheels?
It is of course
axiomatic that shopping trolleys
should have a litttle platform on
the back which you can jump onto
once you've got up a bit of speed. |
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sweet. i wonder if you could throw custard in the air and watch it fly around so peacefully like that bag of oreos and those croissants...... Yum... (+) |
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