CN107862794B - Self-service vending machine capable of automatically replenishing goods and implementation method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a self-service vending machine capable of automatically replenishing goods and an implementation method, and relates to the technical field of self-service vending machines. A self-service vending machine capable of automatic replenishment, comprising an overground part and an underground part; the above-ground part comprises at least one vending machine, the underground portion includes an underground cargo tank, a cargo conveying system is arranged between the vending machine and the warehouse; the vending machine is provided with a goods taking port and a goods supplementing port, the replenishment port is connected with the cargo conveying system to be used as a replenishment port of a cargo warehouse, goods are transported by the goods transport system and are transferred to each other between the warehouse and the vending machine. The invention saves the labor cost of the self-service vending machine, improves the vending efficiency of the self-service vending machine, and reduces the demand of the self-service vending machine on the ground land area.

Description

Self-service vending machine capable of automatically replenishing goods and implementation method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of self-service vending machines.

Background

The self-service vending machine (vending machine) is welcomed by people because the automatic vending machine realizes 24-hour all-weather and unattended automatic vending, and provides great convenience for people to purchase goods.

The vending machine on the market at present mainly sells some beverages, dried snack foods and some commodities with longer shelf life and lower value, and the varieties and the storage capacities of the vending machine are less.

The existing vending machine is required to be in a manual goods supplementing mode, workers are required to timely supplement goods to the vending machine by the aid of the manual goods supplementing mode, however, due to the fact that the distribution range of the vending machine is relatively large, distribution is relatively dispersed, the goods supplementing workers cannot timely supplement goods to the vending machine, so that vending actions of some vending machines cannot be conducted, the existing resources are wasted, manpower and material resources are wasted due to the fact that goods supplementing is conducted manually, and vending efficiency of the vending machine is affected.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims at: overcomes the defects of the prior art and provides a self-service vending machine capable of automatically replenishing goods and an implementation method. The self-service vending machine is provided with the goods taking port and the goods supplementing port, and meanwhile, goods can be timely supplemented to the overground vending machine through the buried goods warehouse, so that the storage capacity is increased, a large amount of occupied ground area is avoided, the labor cost of the self-service vending machine is saved, the vending efficiency of the self-service vending machine is improved, and the ground area requirement of the self-service vending machine is reduced.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions.

A self-service vending machine capable of automatic replenishment, comprising an overground part and an underground part;

the above-ground part comprises at least one vending machine, the underground part comprises an underground warehouse, and a cargo conveying system is arranged between the vending machine and the warehouse;

the vending machine is provided with a goods taking port and a goods supplementing port, the goods supplementing port is connected with a goods conveying system to serve as a goods supplementing port of the goods warehouse, and goods are conveyed between the goods warehouse and the vending machine through the goods conveying system.

Further, the goods taking port and the goods supplementing port adopt the same opening.

Further, the cargo delivery system includes at least one robot having a robotic arm; goods in the goods warehouse are delivered to the vending machine through the mechanical arm, and goods in the goods supplementing port are delivered to the goods warehouse for storage.

Further, the cargo conveying system comprises two independently operated cargo conveying lines, wherein the first cargo conveying line is used for conveying cargoes from the cargo warehouse to the vending machine, and the second cargo conveying line is used for conveying cargoes from the cargo replenishment port to the cargo warehouse.

Further, the vending machine comprises a vending machine main body, wherein the vending machine main body is provided with a glass door, a vending control panel and a goods taking port, a vending bin is arranged on the inner side of the glass door, and products to be sold are placed in the vending bin; the goods taking port is arranged below the vending bin, and products fall into the goods taking port from the vending bin after being selected by consumers.

Further, the lower part of the vending machine is provided with a goods accommodating cavity, the outer side of the goods accommodating cavity is provided with an opening, and the opening is used as a goods taking opening and a goods supplementing opening; two through holes are formed in the inner wall of the goods accommodating cavity, the first through hole is communicated with the vending machine on the ground, and the second through hole is communicated with the buried goods warehouse.

Further, when the buried warehouse is positioned underground, the upper surface of the buried warehouse is leveled with the ground; the upper surface of storehouse is provided with the manhole, the manhole is arranged in the maintenance personal gets into buried storehouse.

Further, the above-ground part is provided with a guide rail along which the vending machine of the above-ground part can slide; the manhole is arranged below the vending machine, and the vending machine is exposed after sliding.

Further, a ventilation system is arranged in the buried goods warehouse and comprises a circulating cold air device, a refrigerating unit, a circulating air pump and an automatic control device which are assembled together.

Further, the underground section also includes a lift system to drive the cargo bin up above the ground or down to the ground.

Further, a purchase triggering area for collecting purchase information of the user is arranged on the vending machine on the overground part, and the purchase triggering area comprises one or more of a card swiping structure, a biological identification structure, a mobile phone identification structure, a bar code scanner and an RFID card reader.

Further, the overground part is also provided with a garbage throwing port, the underground part is provided with a garbage bin, and the garbage throwing port is connected with the garbage bin.

The invention also provides a replenishment implementation method of the self-service vending machine, wherein the replenishment of the vending machine on the overground part is carried out as follows,

collecting information that goods in the vending machine of the overground parts are sold;

and starting the cargo conveying system to convey the new cargo in the buried cargo space from the cargo space to the vending machine.

Further, the steps of replenishing the buried warehouse are as follows,

collecting information of goods placed in a goods supplementing port of the vending machine;

and starting the cargo conveying system to convey the placed cargoes into the cargo warehouse from the cargo supplementing port.

Compared with the prior art, the invention adopts the technical proposal, and has the following advantages and positive effects by way of example and not limitation: the self-service vending machine of the invention is provided with the goods taking port and the goods supplementing port, and can supplement goods to the vending machine on the ground in time through the buried goods warehouse, thereby increasing the storage capacity and simultaneously avoiding occupying a large amount of ground area, not only saving the human cost of self-service vending machine, improved self-service vending machine's vending efficiency, still reduced self-service vending machine's demand to ground area.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a vending machine with a pick-up port and a replenishment port separately provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a vending machine with a goods taking port and a goods replenishment port in a combined arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a pick-up port/replenishment port according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a vending machine with a garbage recycling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the vending machine of fig. 5 raised relative to the ground.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a vending machine with a solar power generation structure and an access hole according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a vending machine with hidden access holes according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a method for restocking an above-ground vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a method for restocking a buried warehouse according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The labels in the figures are as follows:

a vending machine 100;

vending machine 110, pick-up port 111, replenishment port 112, glass door 113, vending control panel 114, purchase trigger zone 114a, operation key 114b, vending bin 115, first through hole 116, second through hole 117, baffle 118, protrusion 118a, and slope 119; warehouse 120, shelves 121; a lifting system 130; a cargo conveyance system 140; a waste inlet 150, a waste bin 160, and a replaceable waste collection container 161; a solar power generation panel 170; a manhole 180; a guide rail 190;

product 200;

robot 300.

Detailed Description

The invention provides a self-service vending machine capable of automatically replenishing goods and an implementation method thereof, which are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and the specific embodiments. It should be noted that the technical features or combinations of technical features described in the following embodiments should not be regarded as being isolated, and they may be combined with each other to achieve a better technical effect. In the drawings of the embodiments described below, like reference numerals appearing in the various drawings represent like features or components and are applicable to the various embodiments.

It should be noted that the structures, proportions, sizes and the like shown in the drawings attached to the present specification are for understanding and reading only in conjunction with the disclosure, and are not intended to limit the applicable scope of the invention, and any structural modification, change in proportion or adjustment of size should fall within the scope of the disclosure without affecting the efficacy and achievement of the present invention. The scope of the preferred embodiments of the present invention includes additional implementations in which functions may be performed in a substantially simultaneous manner or in an opposite order, not in the order shown or discussed, including in accordance with the functions involved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art to which the embodiments of the present invention pertains.

Examples

Referring to fig. 1, a self-service vending machine capable of automatically restocking is provided in this embodiment.

The vending machine 100 includes an above-ground portion and an below-ground portion.

The above-ground portion includes at least one vending machine 110; the underground portion includes an underground compartment 120, and a cargo delivery system is disposed between the vending machine 110 and the compartment 120.

The vending machine 110 is provided with a goods taking port 111 and a goods supplementing port 112, and the goods supplementing port 112 is connected with a goods conveying system to serve as a goods supplementing port of the goods warehouse 120; goods are transferred between the bin 120 and the vending machine 110 by the goods delivery system.

The vending machine 110 may be any of a variety of conventional vending machines and intelligent vending machines known in the art, such as a beverage vending machine, a food vending machine, a combination vending machine, etc. When the automatic vending machine is used, a purchaser can pay by throwing money or rinsing an IC card or a mobile phone, and the automatic vending machine can realize a plurality of functions of shipment, change, induction, LED display and the like. The existing vending machine mainly comprises a spring goods way vending machine, a serpentine goods way vending machine, a push rod goods way vending machine, a crawler type goods way vending machine and a grid vending machine according to the goods way type of the machine. The above-ground vending machine 110 of the present invention may be any one or more of those described above.

Preferably, referring to fig. 2, the above-ground vending machine 110 includes a vending machine main body, on which a glass door 113, a vending control panel 114, and a pick-up port 111 and a restocking port 112 are mounted.

A plurality of vending bins 115 are arranged on the inner side of the glass door 113, and products 200 to be sold are placed in the vending bins 115; the goods taking port 111 is arranged below the vending bin 115, and the product 200 can fall into the goods taking port 111 from the vending bin 115 after being selected by a consumer. By way of example and not limitation, a push rod type vending machine is exemplified, for example, a push rod is arranged at the rear of the vending bin 115, when a user selects one vending bin 115, the push rod in the vending bin 115 pushes the product 200 on the vending bin 115 forward a certain distance, and the product 200 placed at the forefront can be pushed out of the vending bin 115 and falls into the goods taking port 111 from the gap between the vending bin and the glass door 113.

Preferably, the restocking port 112 is provided on a side of the vending machine body. When restocking is required, after the cargo is put into the restocking port 112, the cargo can be transferred to the cargo warehouse 120 through the restocking port by the cargo conveying system.

In this embodiment, the vending machine 110 is further provided with a purchase triggering area 114a for collecting purchase information of the user. The purchase trigger 114a is preferably a portion of the vending control panel 114. The purchase triggering area can comprise one or more of a card swiping structure, a biological identification structure, a mobile phone identification structure, a bar code scanner and an RFID card reader, and a user (purchaser) can purchase products in a mode of card swiping, mobile phone swiping, code scanning, face identification, fingerprint identification and the like.

With continued reference to fig. 2, the vending control panel 114 may further be provided with an operation key 114b as needed, and the operation key 114b may be, by way of example and not limitation, a keyboard for a user to input numbers and/or a primary-secondary combination, a product number for vending, a password for payment, etc.

Referring to fig. 3, in another implementation manner of this embodiment, the pick-up port 111 and the restocking port 112 both use the same opening. I.e. the opening is the opening for the purchaser to pick up and the opening for the supplier to restock.

Preferably, referring to fig. 4, a goods accommodating cavity is provided on the vending machine 110, and an opening (corresponding to the user setting) is provided on the outer side of the goods accommodating cavity, and the opening serves as a goods taking port 111 and a goods supplementing port 112. The goods accommodating cavity is provided with an inner wall, and two through holes are formed in the inner wall. Preferably, the first through hole 116 is disposed on the upper side wall of the goods accommodating cavity, the first through hole 116 is communicated with the upper part of the vending machine 110 (the cavity for accommodating goods), and the product 200 on the vending bin 115 can fall into the opening through the first through hole 116 after being pushed out.

The second through-hole 117 communicates with the buried cargo compartment 120, and cargo placed in the opening can pass through the second through-hole 117 and then enter the cargo compartment, and then be further transferred to a designated location in the cargo compartment 120 by the cargo conveyor system.

In order to prevent the product 200 on the vending bin 115 from falling into the second through hole 117 after falling into the opening, as shown in fig. 4, a baffle 118 is disposed below the first through hole 116, and the product 200 falls onto the baffle 118 from the first through hole 116, and at the same time, a protrusion 118a may be disposed on the baffle 118, where the probability that the product accidentally falls into the second through hole from the baffle 118 may be reduced by the protrusion 118 a.

To facilitate replenishment, the replenishment product is quickly introduced into the second through opening 117, and the cargo receiving chamber is further provided with a ramp 119.

It should be noted that the structure of the cargo accommodating cavity is by way of example and not limitation, and other structures may be adopted. For example, instead of the shutter 118, a movable door may be provided in the second through hole 117, and a control circuit of the movable door may be connected to a button provided with an operation right. For the restocking personnel with operation authority, the movable door on the second through hole 117 can be started to be opened by the operation button before restocking, so that the input goods can enter the warehouse through the second through hole 117. And for the person who purchases the product, the movable door is in a closed state because the person does not have the right to open the movable door, and the product cannot fall into a warehouse when the person purchases the product.

In this embodiment, the cargo transferring system 140 may be a robot. Referring to fig. 5, it includes at least one robot 300, the robot 300 having a robot arm; the goods in the goods warehouse 120 are delivered to the vending machine 110 through the mechanical arm, and the goods in the goods supplementing port 112 are delivered to the goods warehouse 120 for storage.

In another implementation of this embodiment, the cargo delivery system 140 may include two independently operated cargo delivery lines, a first cargo delivery line for delivering cargo from the cargo bay 120 into the vending machine 110 and a second cargo delivery line for delivering cargo from the restocking port 112 into the cargo bay 120.

The cargo conveyor line may be an open or closed conveyor line. Taking a first cargo conveyor line as an example and not by way of limitation, such as a conveyor line comprising a conveyor belt and a conduit enclosing the conveyor belt (closed conveyor line), one end of the conveyor belt is connected to a shelf in the bin and the other end of the conveyor belt is connected to a vending bin of the vending machine, and when an instruction for replenishment is acquired, the conveyor belt is activated to operate to deliver a new product from the shelf to the vending bin of the vending machine.

Preferably, the cargo conveyor system 140 includes a plurality of different parallel conveyor lines, each for outputting a particular type of product.

With continued reference to fig. 5, the above-ground part of the self-service vending machine is further provided with a garbage throwing port 150, the below-ground part is provided with a garbage bin 160, and the garbage throwing port 150 is connected with the garbage bin 160.

The garbage bin 160 is provided with a replaceable garbage collection container 161, and the replaceable garbage collection container 161 is detachably arranged in the garbage bin 160 and is communicated with a garbage throwing port of the overground part. After the user puts in the garbage from the garbage input port 150, the garbage enters the underground replaceable garbage collection container 161.

Preferably, the underground portion further comprises a lifting system 130, wherein the lifting system 130 is used for driving the warehouse lift 120 to rise above the ground or fall to the ground; and the lifting system 130 is capable of controlling the lifting of the refuse bin 160 from above the ground or to below the ground.

The lifting system 130 may be a hydraulic lifting device. The hydraulic lifting device may include hydraulic lifting bars disposed on both sides of the buried cargo compartment 120, and one or more hydraulic lifting bars may be disposed on each side. Specifically, the hydraulic lifting rod comprises a hydraulic cylinder and a piston rod, the lower end of the hydraulic cylinder is fixed under the ground, and the piston rod of the hydraulic lifting rod is connected with the protruding edge of the warehouse body of the buried warehouse 120. The control piston rod can lift the cargo compartment 120 from the ground when extended and retract the cargo compartment 120 from the ground to the ground when retracted.

Preferably, the buried cargo compartment 120 is located under the ground, and the upper surface of the cargo compartment 120 is preferably level with the ground. Thus, the influence of the vending machine on the appearance of the ground in the area is reduced.

In another implementation of this embodiment, the lifting system 130 may also be a scissor lifting device. The scissor lift is preferably mounted below the cargo bay 120. The scissors fork lifting device comprises a foldable support and a driving device, wherein the foldable support comprises one or more X-shaped connecting rod assembly units, the X-shaped connecting rod assembly units are sequentially hinged in the vertical direction, and the output end of the driving device is connected with the foldable support to control the foldable support to be folded or unfolded vertically.

By way of example and not limitation, each X-shaped linkage assembly unit is comprised of two centrally hinged rods. Referring to fig. 5, taking 2X-shaped link assembly units as an example, the 2X-shaped link assembly units are sequentially hinged by shafts in a vertical direction to form a foldable bracket, and typically, two upper ends of a lower X-shaped link assembly are respectively hinged with two lower ends of a corresponding upper X-shaped link assembly by shafts.

The two lower ends of the lower X-shaped connecting rod assembly are arranged on the foundation, preferably, one lower end is fixedly connected with the foundation, the other lower end is slidably connected with a sliding rod, the sliding rod is fixedly arranged on the foundation, the sliding connection mode is that the lower end is arranged as a ring, the ring is sleeved on the sliding rod, or the lower end is arranged as a pulley or a ball, a sliding groove is arranged on the sliding rod corresponding to the pulley or the ball, the lower end is connected with the output end of a motor, and the lower end is controlled to slide on the sliding rod through the motor so as to control lifting. Correspondingly, two upper ends of the upper X-shaped connecting rod assembly are installed on the warehouse 120, one upper end is fixedly connected with the warehouse 120, the other upper end is slidably connected with a sliding rod, the sliding rod is fixedly installed on the carrying platform, and the sliding connection mode is similar to that of the lower X-shaped connecting rod assembly.

Referring to fig. 6, a schematic view of the lifting of the cargo compartment 120 above the ground is shown with the lift system 130. Preferably, in this embodiment, an opening/closing door is provided on the buried cargo compartment 120, and when the cargo compartment 120 is lifted above the ground, after the opening/closing door is opened, the service provider can supplement the cargo in the cargo compartment 120.

In another implementation of this embodiment, the lifting system 130 may also be a screw lift. The screw rod lifter comprises a screw rod, a lifting block which is in threaded fit with the screw rod and can move up and down along the screw rod, and a driving device for driving the screw rod to rotate; the lifting block of the lifting mechanism is connected with the warehouse, and the warehouse is driven to rise or fall by the up-and-down movement of the lifting block on the screw rod.

The drive means, typically a motor. The typical method of controlling the lifting of the cargo compartment 120 using a screw lift is as follows: the lead screw is installed on the ground, lead screw lower extreme and motor output shaft are provided with the elevating block with lead screw thread fit on the lead screw, the elevating block is connected with goods storehouse 120, and the lead screw upper end sets up the roof. When the lifting device is implemented, the motor is started to rotate in the forward direction, the motor drives the screw rod to rotate through the coupler, the lifting block ascends on the screw rod, and the cargo warehouse 120 ascends along with the lifting block to finish the lifting movement of the cargo warehouse 120; the motor is started to reversely rotate, the motor drives the screw rod to rotate through the coupler, the lifting block descends on the screw rod, the cargo warehouse 120 descends along with the lifting block, and descending of the cargo warehouse 120 is completed. Considering the security, when connecting lead screw and motor output shaft through the shaft coupling, still can set up the safety block as required between lifting block and motor output shaft, the safety block avoids causing the potential safety hazard as limit structure.

Meanwhile, after the user puts in the garbage from the garbage putting port 150, the garbage enters the underground replaceable garbage collection container 161. When the waste in the replaceable waste container 161 is full or a predetermined waste disposal time has been reached, the lifting system 130 may control the lifting of the waste bin 160 above the ground, as shown in fig. 6, and the disposal personnel then remove the replaceable waste container 161 from the waste bin and replace it with a new, clean, replaceable waste container 161.

By arranging the buried garbage collection structure, the occupied area is avoided, and the land resource is saved. Considering deodorization, the gravity induction opening and closing flap door can be further arranged at the garbage throwing port 150, and the flap door is closed when garbage is thrown, so that peculiar smell in the garbage bin 160 is prevented from being transmitted from the garbage throwing port 150.

It should be noted that the foregoing manner is by way of example and not limitation, and the replaceable garbage collection container 161 may be omitted, and the lifted garbage bin 160 may be cleaned by a cleaning truck or a cleaning person when the garbage in the garbage bin 160 is fully piled or a predetermined garbage cleaning time is reached.

Although the lifting operation of the bin 120 and the garbage bin 160 is illustrated in fig. 6 as using the same lifting system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in practice, the bin 120 and the garbage bin 160 may also be lifted using separate lifting systems.

Referring to fig. 7, for another implementation of this embodiment, the above-ground part may be further provided with a solar power panel 170, and the solar power panel 170 can utilize solar power to supply power to various electric devices in the vending machine.

And, a manhole 180 is further provided on the upper surface of the warehouse 120, and the manhole 180 is used for a maintenance person to enter the buried warehouse.

Preferably, referring to fig. 8, the above-ground part is further provided with a guide rail 190, the bottom of the vending machine 110 of the above-ground part is mounted on the guide rail 190, and the vending machine 110 is capable of sliding along the guide rail 190. The manhole 180 is disposed below the vending machine 110, the vending machine 110 can expose the manhole 180 after sliding, and when the manhole is not needed, the vending machine 110 can be controlled to slide to an area above the manhole 180, so that the manhole 180 is hidden. Through setting up hidden manhole 180, not only be convenient for maintain the manhole, can also avoid non-staff to pass through manhole business turn over storehouse.

In this embodiment, a ventilation system may be further disposed in the buried cargo compartment. The ventilation system comprises a circulating cold air device, a refrigerating unit, a circulating air pump and an automatic control device which are assembled together.

By way of example and not limitation, one end of the circulating air chiller may be in communication with one end of the cargo compartment 120 via a gas conduit and the other end of the circulating air chiller may be in communication with one end of a circulating air pump via a gas conduit; the other end of the circulating air pump is communicated with the other end of the cargo warehouse 120 through an air pipeline; the air conditioning unit comprises a plurality of air conditioning units, the refrigerating tube is connected with a refrigerating evaporator arranged in the circulating cold air device; the automatic control device is connected with the refrigerating unit and the circulating air pump through an electric control line. A temperature sensor is arranged in the warehouse 120, and the temperature sensor is connected with an automatic control device through an electric signal wire.

When the temperature sensor detects that the temperature in the warehouse 120 exceeds the set range, the refrigerating unit and the circulating air pump can be controlled to operate through the electric control line, so that air in the warehouse 120 is cooled through the air pipeline (circulating air draft pipeline) by the circulating air cooling device, and is sent back to the warehouse 120 through the air pipeline (circulating air supply pipeline) for continuous circulating treatment until the temperature in the warehouse 120 is reduced to a proper value, and the temperature sensor sends a stop instruction through the automatic control device, so that the refrigerating unit and the circulating air pump stop working.

Referring to fig. 9, another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for performing restocking of the vending machine.

The steps of restocking the vending machine of the overground part are as follows:

s100, collecting information that goods in the vending machine of the overground parts are sold.

And S200, starting the cargo conveying system to convey the new cargo in the buried cargo warehouse from the cargo warehouse to the vending machine.

The vending machine includes an above-ground portion and an below-ground portion.

The above-ground portion comprising at least one vending machine; the underground part comprises an underground warehouse, and a cargo conveying system is arranged between the vending machine and the warehouse.

The vending machine is provided with a goods taking port and a goods supplementing port, and the goods supplementing port is connected with the goods conveying system to serve as a goods supplementing port of the goods warehouse; the goods are transferred between the bin and the vending machine by the goods delivery system.

The vending machine can be various traditional vending machines and intelligent vending machines in the prior art, such as a beverage vending machine, a food vending machine, a comprehensive vending machine and the like. When the automatic vending machine is used, a purchaser can pay by throwing money or rinsing an IC card or a mobile phone, and the automatic vending machine can realize a plurality of functions of shipment, change, induction, LED display and the like. The existing vending machine mainly comprises a spring goods way vending machine, a serpentine goods way vending machine, a push rod goods way vending machine, a crawler type goods way vending machine and a grid vending machine according to the goods way type of the machine.

When the goods need to be replenished, after the goods are put into the goods replenishing port, the goods can be conveyed into the goods warehouse through the goods replenishing port by the goods conveying system.

The cargo conveyance system may employ a robot including at least one robot having a robotic arm; goods in the goods warehouse are delivered to the vending machine through the mechanical arm, and goods in the goods supplementing port are delivered to the goods warehouse for storage.

The cargo delivery system may further include two independently operable cargo delivery lines, a first cargo delivery line for delivering cargo from the cargo bay to the vending machine, and a second cargo delivery line for delivering cargo from the replenishment port to the cargo bay. Preferably, the cargo conveyor system comprises a plurality of different parallel conveyor lines, each for outputting a particular type of product.

Referring to fig. 10, the steps for restocking a buried warehouse are as follows:

s110, collecting information of goods placed in a goods supplementing port of the vending machine.

The message may be, by way of example and not limitation, a message of the placement of the goods collected by a camera provided in the replenishment port, or a message of the placement of the goods collected by a gravity sensor provided in the replenishment port.

S210, starting the cargo conveying system to convey the placed cargoes into the cargo warehouse from the cargo replenishment port.

Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: identifying the placed goods and judging the type corresponding to the goods; and acquiring a storage area of the type of goods in the warehouse, and transmitting the goods to the storage area for placement.

In this embodiment, the pick-up port and the replenishment port may be the same opening. I.e. the opening is the opening for the purchaser to pick up and the opening for the supplier to restock.

Preferably, a goods accommodating cavity is arranged on the vending machine, an opening (corresponding to the setting of a user) is arranged on the outer side of the goods accommodating cavity, and the opening is used as a goods taking port and a goods supplementing port. The goods accommodating cavity is provided with an inner wall, and two through holes are formed in the inner wall. As a preferred solution, the first through hole is arranged on the upper side wall of the goods accommodating cavity, the first through hole is communicated with the upper part of the vending machine (the cavity for accommodating goods), and the product on the vending bin can fall into the opening through the first through hole after being pushed out.

The second through hole is communicated with the buried cargo warehouse, and the cargo placed in the opening can enter the cargo warehouse through the second through hole and then be further conveyed to a specified position in the cargo warehouse by the cargo conveying system. In order to avoid selling the product on the storehouse and getting into the second through-hole after falling into the opening, be provided with the baffle in the below of first through-hole, the product falls into on the baffle from first through-hole, simultaneously, can also set up the arch on the baffle, the arch can reduce the product and fall into the probability of second through-hole from the baffle accident. For the benefit of the replenishment, the quick entering second through hole of replenishment goods, the goods holds the chamber and still is provided with the slope.

It should be noted that the structure of the cargo accommodating cavity is by way of example and not limitation, and other structures may be adopted. For example, instead of a baffle, a movable door may be disposed on the second through hole, and a control circuit of the movable door may be connected to a button provided with an operation right. For the replenishment personnel with operation authority, the movable door on the second through hole can be started to be opened by the operation button before replenishment, so that the input goods can enter the warehouse through the second through hole. And for the person who purchases the product, the movable door is in a closed state because the person does not have the right to open the movable door, and the product cannot fall into a warehouse when the person purchases the product.

Other structures in the vending machine may refer to the descriptions in the foregoing embodiments, and are not described herein.

In the above description, the components may be selectively and operatively combined in any number within the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, terms like "comprising," "including," and "having" should be construed by default as inclusive or open-ended, rather than exclusive or closed-ended, unless expressly defined to the contrary. All technical, scientific, or other terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Common terms found in dictionaries should not be too idealized or too unrealistically interpreted in the context of the relevant technical document unless the present disclosure explicitly defines them as such.

Although the exemplary aspects of the present disclosure have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing description is merely illustrative of preferred embodiments of the invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way, including additional implementations in which functions may be performed other than in the order shown or discussed. Any alterations and modifications of the present invention, which are made by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the above disclosure, are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (12)

1. Can automatic self-service vending machine of replenishment, its characterized in that: the vending machine comprises an overground part and an underground part;

the above-ground part comprises at least one vending machine, the underground part comprises an underground warehouse, and a cargo conveying system is arranged between the vending machine and the underground warehouse; the vending machine is provided with a vending bin, and goods to be sold are placed in the vending bin;

the vending machine is provided with a goods taking port and a goods supplementing port, the goods supplementing port is connected with a goods conveying system to serve as a goods supplementing inlet of the buried goods warehouse, and goods are conveyed between the buried goods warehouse and the vending machine through the goods conveying system;

the goods taking port and the goods supplementing port adopt the same opening; the lower part of the vending machine is provided with a goods accommodating cavity, the outer side of the goods accommodating cavity is provided with an opening, and the opening is used as a goods taking opening and a goods supplementing opening; the inner wall of the goods accommodating cavity is provided with two through holes, wherein the first through hole is communicated with the upper part of the vending machine, goods in the vending bin can fall into the opening through the first through hole after being pushed out for a purchaser to pick up the goods, a baffle is arranged below the first through hole so as to prevent the goods from entering the second through hole after falling into the opening, the goods falling from the first through hole fall onto the baffle, and a bulge is arranged on the baffle; the second through hole is communicated with the buried goods warehouse, and the goods placed in the opening can enter the buried goods warehouse through the second through hole and then be conveyed to the appointed position in the buried goods warehouse through the goods conveying system.

2. The vending machine of claim 1, wherein: the cargo delivery system includes at least one robot having a robotic arm; and delivering the goods in the buried goods warehouse to the vending machine through the mechanical arm, and delivering the goods in the goods supplementing port to the buried goods warehouse for storage.

3. The vending machine of claim 1, wherein: the goods conveying system comprises two independently operated goods conveying lines, wherein the first goods conveying line is used for conveying goods from the buried goods warehouse to the vending machine, and the second goods conveying line is used for conveying goods from the goods supplementing port to the buried goods warehouse.

4. The vending machine of claim 1, wherein: the vending machine comprises a vending machine main body, wherein a glass door, a vending control panel and a goods taking port are arranged on the vending machine main body, and the vending bin is arranged on the inner side of the glass door; the goods taking opening is arranged below the vending bin, and the goods fall into the goods taking opening from the vending bin after being selected by consumers.

5. The vending machine of claim 1, wherein: when the buried goods warehouse is positioned underground, the upper surface of the buried goods warehouse is leveled with the ground; the upper surface of buried goods storehouse is provided with the manhole, the manhole is arranged in the maintenance personnel gets into buried goods storehouse.

6. The vending machine of claim 5, wherein: the upper part is provided with a guide rail, and the vending machine of the upper part can slide along the guide rail; the manhole is arranged below the vending machine, and the vending machine is exposed after sliding.

7. The vending machine of claim 1, wherein: the underground warehouse is internally provided with a ventilation system, and the ventilation system comprises a circulating cold air device, a refrigerating unit, a circulating air pump and an automatic control device which are assembled together.

8. The vending machine of claim 1, wherein: the underground section also includes a lift system to drive the buried cargo compartment up above the ground or down to the ground.

9. The vending machine of claim 1, wherein: the vending machine of the overground part is provided with a purchase triggering area for collecting the purchase information of the user, and the purchase triggering area comprises one or more of a card swiping structure, a biological identification structure, a mobile phone identification structure, a bar code scanner and an RFID card reader.

10. The vending machine of claim 1, wherein: the above-ground part is also provided with a garbage throwing port, the underground part is provided with a garbage bin, and the garbage throwing port is connected with the garbage bin.

11. A method of restocking a vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the steps of restocking the vending machine on the ground are as follows,

collecting information that goods in the vending machine of the overground parts are sold;

and starting the goods conveying system to convey the new goods in the buried goods warehouse to the vending machine from the buried goods warehouse.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: the steps of replenishing the buried warehouse are as follows,

collecting information of goods placed in a goods supplementing port of the vending machine;

and starting the cargo conveying system to convey the placed cargoes into the buried cargo warehouse from the cargo supplementing port.