I was down in Orlando for a week, the Walmart had shopping carts that had
wheels that locked up if you left the lot. (must be a good area) The wheel
must have some sort of electronic sensor in it that puts the brake on once
out of range of something.

I am making a floating island for my kitchen (wife and I can't agree where
to put it) I will be welding up the frame and finshing with wood doors, I
have been thinking of what type of wheels/casters to use so it looks good
and stays put when you want it. When at Walmart I was racing back to the car
with my 3 year old in the cart and it just STOPPED, about tossing the kid
out and my back all at once. So I then read the warning on the cart about
going to far from the store, it says once beyond the lot the wheels lock so
don't waste your time stealing me. This would be great for my project, I
could just have a on/off switch to activate the brake. Has anyone seen
these? Can they be bought? Not sure what the normal postion is locked or
unlocked, I would think it would need some sort of battery that my wear out
if left in the locked position most of the time.

"wayne mak" wrote

I was down in Orlando for a week, the Walmart had shopping carts that had
wheels that locked up if you left the lot. (must be a good area) The wheel
must have some sort of electronic sensor in it that puts the brake on once
out of range of something.

I am making a floating island for my kitchen (wife and I can't agree where
to put it) I will be welding up the frame and finshing with wood doors, I
have been thinking of what type of wheels/casters to use so it looks good
and stays put when you want it. When at Walmart I was racing back to the
car with my 3 year old in the cart and it just STOPPED, about tossing the
kid out and my back all at once. So I then read the warning on the cart
about going to far from the store, it says once beyond the lot the wheels
lock so don't waste your time stealing me. This would be great for my
project, I could just have a on/off switch to activate the brake. Has
anyone seen these? Can they be bought? Not sure what the normal postion is
locked or unlocked, I would think it would need some sort of battery that
my wear out if left in the locked position most of the time.

Far be it for me to suggest anything illegal....................., but, it
seems that Walmart has some of these casters located conveniently in their
parking lots.

Maybe you can do a google search on shopping carts and come up with
something.

Even if I did "test" them at home I would need the releasing signal not sure
whats doing that.
"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...

"wayne mak" wrote

I was down in Orlando for a week, the Walmart had shopping carts that had
wheels that locked up if you left the lot. (must be a good area) The wheel
must have some sort of electronic sensor in it that puts the brake on once
out of range of something.

I am making a floating island for my kitchen (wife and I can't agree
where to put it) I will be welding up the frame and finshing with wood
doors, I have been thinking of what type of wheels/casters to use so it
looks good and stays put when you want it. When at Walmart I was racing
back to the car with my 3 year old in the cart and it just STOPPED, about
tossing the kid out and my back all at once. So I then read the warning
on the cart about going to far from the store, it says once beyond the
lot the wheels lock so don't waste your time stealing me. This would be
great for my project, I could just have a on/off switch to activate the
brake. Has anyone seen these? Can they be bought? Not sure what the
normal postion is locked or unlocked, I would think it would need some
sort of battery that my wear out if left in the locked position most of
the time.

Far be it for me to suggest anything illegal....................., but, it
seems that Walmart has some of these casters located conveniently in their
parking lots.

Maybe you can do a google search on shopping carts and come up with
something.

"wayne mak" wrote in message
...
I was down in Orlando for a week, the Walmart had shopping carts that had
wheels that locked up if you left the lot. (must be a good area) The wheel
must have some sort of electronic sensor in it that puts the brake on once
out of range of something.

I am making a floating island for my kitchen (wife and I can't agree where
to put it) I will be welding up the frame and finshing with wood doors, I
have been thinking of what type of wheels/casters to use so it looks good
and stays put when you want it. When at Walmart I was racing back to the
car with my 3 year old in the cart and it just STOPPED, about tossing the
kid out and my back all at once. So I then read the warning on the cart
about going to far from the store, it says once beyond the lot the wheels
lock so don't waste your time stealing me. This would be great for my
project, I could just have a on/off switch to activate the brake. Has
anyone seen these? Can they be bought? Not sure what the normal postion is
locked or unlocked, I would think it would need some sort of battery that
my wear out if left in the locked position most of the time.


Seriously, that is a reminder not to take the cart. The cart is not heavy
enough, even loaded down, for the wheel brake to keep you from leaving the
parking lot with it. I find most wheel locks of this sort effective in
braking the wheel but not to prevent the wheel from skidding across a
surface.

"Leon" wrote in message
et...

"wayne mak" wrote in message
...
I was down in Orlando for a week, the Walmart had shopping carts that had
(SNIP)

Can't offer anything useful about locking shopping cart wheels, however,
many of us have small shops that force us to put shop machines on wheels so
they can be moved to make room to work. This then creates the problem of
how to anchor the machine when we want to use it. Some kind of wheel locks
may be okay for certain situations but as Leon indicates a locked wheel may
not provide enough friction to prevent sliding. Three of my machines are on
wheels and they each have a different method of anchoring them in place
without locking the wheels:

On my lathe the casters are on a hinged beam that allows them to be
unlatched so they can swing up and allow the feet of the lathe stand to sit
on the floor.

My stand for the planer has wheels mounted slightly behind and slightly
above floor level. To move the planer I pick up the front which causes the
rear legs to raise off the floor. (like a wheel barrow)

My router table has a 3/4" plywood board fastened to the skirt board of the
table with a piano hinge. When raised to horizontal this leaf is at a
height that will just slide over the top of my work bench/assembly table.
My bench has many tee nuts in the top which are used to anchor cleats (bench
dogs) etc. The plywood leaf is bolted to the table using two of the tee
nuts. The weight and mass of the bench provides a very effective anchor for
the router table.

Perhaps others have come up with ways to anchor things on wheels that they
might share.

Earl Creel

On Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:31:24 -0600, "Earl Creel"
wrote:


"Leon" wrote in message
. net...

"wayne mak" wrote in message
...
I was down in Orlando for a week, the Walmart had shopping carts that had
(SNIP)

On my lathe the casters are on a hinged beam that allows them to be
unlatched so they can swing up and allow the feet of the lathe stand to sit
on the floor.

My stand for the planer has wheels mounted slightly behind and slightly
above floor level. To move the planer I pick up the front which causes the
rear legs to raise off the floor. (like a wheel barrow)

My router table has a 3/4" plywood board fastened to the skirt board of the
table with a piano hinge. When raised to horizontal this leaf is at a
height that will just slide over the top of my work bench/assembly table.
My bench has many tee nuts in the top which are used to anchor cleats (bench
dogs) etc. The plywood leaf is bolted to the table using two of the tee
nuts. The weight and mass of the bench provides a very effective anchor for
the router table.

Perhaps others have come up with ways to anchor things on wheels that they
might share.

Earl Creel

The shopping carts have to be unlocked with a special tool. They lock
when they get close to a transmitter mounted in the same pillars used
to detect the departure of theft prevention devices used in the
merchandise. That releases a spring loaded brake. The brake has to be
reset with a specific tool. The Target at the local mall has them on
the doorway into the mall, but not on the outside exit. The mall
management doesn't want the carts wandering around the halls.

I used to have a typing table with a different option. It had castors
near the corners, two fixed and two free. There was a lever inside the
right side panel that raised and lowered four feet through rotating
cams, locking them down with a roller in a notch on each cam. The feet
were also threaded so they could be adjusted once they were in place.

It would probably be easier to put the castors on a rotating block
with a hinge or off-center pivot that would keep the block square when
there was weight on the wheels. Just lift the side and kick the block
and wheels back out of the way to let it sit down on the feet.

Bob McConnell
N2SPP