ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 7 -- United States Patent no. 12,596,135, issued on April 7, was assigned to Gatekeeper Systems Inc. (Foothill Ranch, Calif.).
"Wheel capable of detecting direction of rotation" was invented by Scott J. Carter (Seal Beach, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A wheel or wheel assembly for a non-motorized vehicle, such as a shopping cart, is disclosed that detects its direction of rotation. In one embodiment, the wheel assembly includes a plurality of magnets mounted to a rotating portion of the wheel, and includes a magnetic sensor, such as a tunneling magnetoresistance sensor, mounted to a non-rotating portion. As the wheel rotates the magnets produce a varying magnet...