CN111833523A - Automatic vending machine and goods channel goods delivery method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of automatic vending, and discloses an automatic vending machine and a goods channel goods discharging method thereof. When the vending machine of the embodiment is used for delivering goods, the conveying mechanism is controlled to convey the goods towards the outlet of the goods channel at a first high speed, so that the delivering action has high efficiency, and when the target goods arranged at the foremost end of the goods channel are conveyed to a preset position close to the outlet of the goods channel, the conveying mechanism is controlled to deliver the target goods from the outlet of the goods channel at a second low speed, so that before the next goods behind the target goods are delivered out of the goods channel, the control device has enough time to judge that the goods are delivered out of the goods channel and stop continuously conveying the goods to the outlet of the goods channel, and the following goods can be prevented from rushing out of the goods channel due to inertia to a certain degree, so that the next goods in the goods channel can be effectively prevented from being delivered out of the goods channel mistakenly.

Description

Automatic vending machine and goods channel goods delivery method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of automatic vending, in particular to an automatic vending machine and a goods channel goods discharging method thereof.

Background

The related art discloses an automatic vending machine, which comprises a control device, a goods channel, a goods taking opening and a goods bucket for transporting goods between the goods channel and the goods taking opening, wherein under the condition that the automatic vending machine receives a purchase instruction of a user, the control device controls the goods bucket to move to a position opposite to an outlet of the goods channel and controls a conveying mechanism in the goods channel to convey goods to the outlet of the goods channel, so that the goods fall into the goods bucket, and then the control device controls the goods bucket to transport the goods to the goods taking opening for the user to take away.

In the related art vending machine, if two articles are closely attached to each other or the distance between the two articles is too small during the process of conveying the articles from the channel to the bucket, a problem of delivering the two articles out of the channel at a time may occur. This may result in the actual delivery of more items in the lane than the user purchased, resulting in loss to the merchant.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a goods channel delivery method of an automatic vending machine and the automatic vending machine, which are used for solving the technical problem that two goods are delivered out of a goods channel at a time due to the fact that the two goods are mutually attached or the distance between the two goods is too small.

The embodiment of the invention is realized by the following steps:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an automatic vending machine, where the automatic vending machine includes a goods channel, a conveying mechanism, a first detection mechanism, and a control device, where the goods channel is configured to store goods, the conveying mechanism is configured to convey goods in the goods channel, the first detection mechanism is configured to detect whether a target goods in the goods channel reaches a preset position of the goods channel, the control device is electrically connected to the conveying mechanism and the first detection mechanism, and the control device is configured to:

and controlling the conveying mechanism to convey the commodities to the outlet of the goods channel at a first speed, and controlling the conveying mechanism to convey the commodities to the outlet of the goods channel at a second speed until the goods channel is judged to be discharged, wherein the second speed is less than the first speed when the commodities are detected to reach the preset position.

In one embodiment of the invention, the vending machine comprises at least one layer of goods channels arranged in the vertical direction and at least one first detection mechanism, the first detection mechanism corresponds to the layer of the goods channels one by one, the first detection mechanism comprises a photoelectric sensor, and the photoelectric sensor is arranged to generate light paths passing through preset positions of all the goods channels of the layer corresponding to the first detection mechanism.

In one embodiment of the invention, the optical path generated by the photoelectric sensor of the first detection means is located downstream of the exit of all lanes of the corresponding level of the first detection means.

In one embodiment of the invention, the vending machine comprises a plurality of goods channels, the first detection mechanism comprises a plurality of photoelectric sensors, the photoelectric sensors are in one-to-one correspondence with the goods channels, and each photoelectric sensor is arranged to generate an optical path at a preset position of the corresponding goods channel.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the vending machine further includes a bucket configured to receive the target product sent from the outlet of the cargo channel, and a second detection mechanism configured to detect whether the target product reaches the bucket, the second detection mechanism being electrically connected to the control device, and the control device is further configured to:

when the goods are detected to reach the goods hopper, the goods outlet of the goods channel is judged to be finished, and the conveying mechanism is controlled to stop conveying work.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second detection mechanism comprises a photosensor disposed at the bucket, the second detection mechanism being arranged to generate an optical path between opposing sides of the entrance to the bucket.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second detection mechanism comprises a plurality of photosensors arranged in the bucket, the second detection mechanism being arranged to generate a plurality of light paths to form a light curtain covering the bucket entrance.

In one embodiment of the invention, the aisle includes a floor for carrying items of merchandise, and an end of the floor proximate to the aisle exit is higher than an end of the floor distal from the aisle exit.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a goods channel delivery method for a vending machine, where the vending machine includes a goods channel and a conveying mechanism, the goods channel is configured to store goods, the conveying mechanism is configured to convey the goods in the goods channel, and the goods channel delivery method includes:

controlling a conveying mechanism to convey the commodity to an outlet of the goods channel at a first speed;

and when the target commodity is detected to reach the preset position of the goods channel, controlling the conveying mechanism to convey the commodity to the outlet of the goods channel at a second speed until the goods channel is judged to be discharged, wherein the second speed is less than the first speed.

In one embodiment of the invention, the vending machine further comprises a bucket arranged to receive the goods delivered from the outlet of the goods channel, and the goods channel delivery method comprises:

and when the target commodity is detected to reach the goods hopper, judging that the goods outlet of the goods channel is finished, and controlling the conveying mechanism to stop conveying work.

The vending machine and the goods channel delivery method thereof provided by the embodiment of the invention have the beneficial effects that:

when the vending machine of the embodiment is used for delivering goods, the conveying mechanism is controlled to convey the goods towards the outlet of the goods channel at a first high speed, so that the delivering action has high efficiency, and when the target goods arranged at the foremost end of the goods channel are conveyed to a preset position close to the outlet of the goods channel, the conveying mechanism is controlled to deliver the target goods from the outlet of the goods channel at a second low speed, so that before the next goods behind the target goods are delivered out of the goods channel, the control device has enough time to judge that the goods delivery of the goods channel is finished and stop continuously conveying the goods to the outlet of the goods channel, and the following goods can be prevented from rushing out of the goods channel due to inertia to a certain degree, so that the next goods in the goods channel can be effectively prevented from being mistakenly delivered out of the goods channel.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and for those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without inventive efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, shown from a first perspective;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the vending machine of an embodiment of the present invention from a second perspective;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the components of a vending machine in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial schematic view of an outlet of a product channel of the vending machine in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the structure of a conveying mechanism of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, schematic view of the bucket of the vending machine in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a delivery device of the vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary schematic view of a delivery device of the vending machine in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a method for delivering goods from a goods channel of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Icon: 010-vending machines; 100-a cabinet body; 110-a cabinet door; 112-a goods taking port; 114-a pick-up door; 116-a transparent area; 200-cargo channel; 210-a backplane; 220-standing the plate; 230-a first detection mechanism; 300-a delivery device; 320-a cargo bucket; 330-bucket drive mechanism; 332-a guide rail; 334-a second electric machine; 336-a transmission member; 340-a second detection mechanism; 400-a conveying mechanism; 410-push plate; 420-a pusher drive assembly; 422-lead screw; 424-a first motor; 500-a human-computer interaction device; 600-control means.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. The components of embodiments of the present invention generally described and illustrated in the figures herein may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.

Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention, presented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, it need not be further defined and explained in subsequent figures.

In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings or orientations or positional relationships that the products of the present invention are usually placed in when used, and are only used for convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, but do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements indicated must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like are used merely to distinguish one description from another, and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, it should be further noted that, unless otherwise explicitly stated or limited, the terms "disposed," "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly and may include, for example, a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. Specific meanings of the above terms in the embodiments of the present invention can be understood in specific cases by those of ordinary skill in the art.

After receiving a purchase instruction of a user, the vending machine in the related art conveys a target commodity in the commodity channel to an outlet of the commodity channel through the conveying mechanism, and finally the commodity falls into the bucket from the outlet of the commodity channel and is taken away by the user. However, if the goods in the goods passage are closely attached to each other or the distance between two adjacent goods is too small, when the target goods purchased by the user are delivered from the goods passage, the following goods may be delivered into the bucket from the goods passage together with the target goods. The inventors have found that even if the conveying operation of the conveying mechanism is stopped at the first time after the target commodity is delivered from the commodity passage, the commodity after the target commodity may fall out from the outlet of the commodity passage due to inertia. This may result in the actual delivery of more items in the lane than the user purchased, resulting in loss to the merchant.

Therefore, the present application provides a vending machine 010 and a method for delivering goods through a goods channel of the vending machine 010, so as to improve the above problems. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vending machine 010 from a first perspective in an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the vending machine 010 from a second perspective in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 3 is a block diagram of the vending machine 010 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 1 to 3, the vending machine 010 of the embodiment of the invention includes a cabinet 100, a plurality of channels 200 disposed in the cabinet 100, a conveying mechanism 400, a first detecting mechanism 230, and a control device 600.

In the present embodiment, the cabinet 100 has a rectangular shape, an opening is formed at a front side (i.e., a side facing the direction a) of the cabinet 100, a cabinet door 110 is disposed at the opening of the cabinet 100, and the cabinet door 110 is hinged to the opening of the cabinet 100 and configured to open or close the opening of the cabinet 100. The cabinet door 110 is provided with a goods access opening 112 for a user to take out goods sent out from the goods passage 200 from the goods access opening 112. An access door 114 is provided at the access opening 112, and the access door 114 is configured to open or close the access opening 112. In addition, the cabinet door 110 is provided with a transparent area 116, the transparent area 116 may be made of tempered glass or organic glass, and a user may observe the goods inside the cabinet through the transparent area 116.

The lane 200 is configured to store goods. Optionally, a plurality of cargo lanes 200 are provided in the cabinet 100. Optionally, at least one layer of cargo channel 200 arranged in the up-down direction (i.e., vertical direction) is disposed in the cabinet 100. In the present embodiment, the plurality of lanes 200 in the cabinet 100 are arranged in M layers in the up-down direction and N rows in the left-right direction. The length of each goods channel 200 extends along the front-back direction, the goods channels 200 are parallel to each other, an outlet is arranged at one end of each goods channel 200 close to the cabinet door 110, the outlet of the goods channel 200 is opposite to the cabinet door 110, and goods contained in the goods channels 200 can be output from the outlet of the goods channel 200 under the driving of the conveying mechanism 400. Since the commodities stored in the lanes 200 may be arranged in the lanes 200 in the front-rear direction according to the convention, when the conveying mechanism 400 conveys the commodities in one lane 200 to the outlet of the lane 200, the commodities are sequentially sent out from the outlet of the lane 200 in the front-rear arrangement order. Note that the above-mentioned up-down direction is a direction indicated by an arrow ef in the drawing, the left-right direction is a direction indicated by an arrow cd in the drawing, and the front-back direction is a direction indicated by an arrow ab in the drawing.

Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged schematic view of an outlet of a cargo channel of an automatic vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and specifically, fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion IV in fig. 2, please refer to fig. 2 and 4, in this embodiment, each cargo channel 200 includes a bottom plate 210 for carrying goods and two vertical plates 220 spaced apart from the bottom plate 210. The two vertical plates 220 are parallel to each other and extend along the length direction of the cargo way 200. Alternatively, all lanes 200 on the same floor may share the same bottom plate 210, and two adjacent lanes 200 on the same floor may share the same vertical plate 220. Of course, in other alternative embodiments, the bottom plate 210 and the vertical plate 220 of each cargo way 200 can be separately arranged.

In order to prevent the goods arranged behind the target goods to be purchased from being possibly flushed out of the outlet of the cargo way 200 by inertia after the transportation of the goods is stopped, in the present embodiment, the end of the bottom plate 210 of the cargo way 200 close to the outlet of the cargo way 200 is slightly higher than the end far from the outlet of the cargo way 200. In this way, when the conveyance of the commodity is stopped, the displacement of the commodity originally arranged behind the target commodity due to inertia can be reduced or eliminated by the action of gravity after the conveyance of the commodity by the conveyance mechanism 400 is stopped, and therefore, the automatic vending machine 010 is prevented from conveying extra commodities to the user, and loss of the merchant is avoided. It should be understood that the target item presented herein refers to an item that the user determines is to purchase.

The conveying mechanism 400 is configured to convey the goods in the cargo way 200, and in particular, the conveying mechanism 400 is configured to convey the goods in the cargo way 200 to the outlet of the cargo way 200. Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a conveying mechanism 400 of an automatic vending machine 010 in an embodiment of the present invention, please refer to fig. 5, in this embodiment, the conveying mechanism 400 includes a push plate 410 and a push plate driving assembly 420, the push plate 410 and the push plate driving assembly 420 are both disposed in a cargo channel 200, and the push plate 410 can move along a length direction of the cargo channel 200 under the driving of the push plate driving assembly 420, so as to push commodities in the cargo channel 200 to move toward an outlet of the cargo channel 200. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the pusher drive assembly 420 includes a lead screw 422 extending along the length of the cargo way 200 and a first motor 424 that drives the lead screw 422 in rotation. The bottom plate 210 of the cargo way 200 has a sliding groove (the bottom plate 210 and the sliding groove are not shown in fig. 5) extending along the length direction of the cargo way 200, the sliding groove penetrates the bottom plate 210 in the up-down direction, the lower end of the push plate 410 has a matching portion with a screw hole, the matching portion passes through the sliding groove of the bottom plate 210 and is in threaded matching with the lead screw 422, so that when the lead screw 422 rotates, the push plate 410 can move along the sliding groove of the bottom plate 210, thereby pushing the goods to the outlet of the cargo way 200. Optionally, the first motor 424 is a dc motor. It is understood that in alternative embodiments of the present invention, the conveying mechanism 400 may also include a conveyor belt for supporting the goods and a conveyor belt driving assembly, wherein the conveyor belt driving assembly can drive the conveyor belt to move so as to drive the goods in the cargo way 200 to move towards the outlet of the cargo way 200.

The first detecting mechanism 230 is configured to detect whether or not a target commodity in the commodity way 200 reaches a preset position of the commodity way 200, and when the target commodity reaches the preset position, a commodity arranged behind the target commodity is still in the commodity way 200, wherein the target commodity is a commodity in the most front end (one end in the direction of arrow a) in the commodity way 200. Referring to fig. 2 and 4, in the present embodiment, the vending machine 010 includes at least one layer of channels 200 and at least one first detecting mechanism 230, the number of the layers of the channels 200 is equal to the number of the first detecting mechanisms 230, and the first detecting mechanisms 230 are in one-to-one correspondence with the layers of the channels 200, that is, the channels 200 located on one layer share one first detecting mechanism 230. Optionally, each first detection mechanism 230 includes a photoelectric sensor, which is specifically a correlation photoelectric sensor, and the optical path generated by the photoelectric sensor of each first detection mechanism 230 extends in the left-right direction and passes through preset positions of all the cargo ways 200 on the corresponding floor of the first detection mechanism 230. In this embodiment, the preset position of the cargo way 200 is located downstream of the outlet of the cargo way 200 and is spaced from the outlet of the cargo way 200 by a preset distance, correspondingly, the optical path generated by the photoelectric sensor of each first detection mechanism 230 is located downstream of the outlets of all the cargo ways 200 on the layer corresponding to the first detection mechanism 230, and when the target commodity reaches the preset position, the front end of the target commodity just contacts and blocks the optical path generated by the first detection mechanism 230. As can be seen from the above, the user can determine whether the target product is in a state of having fallen or a state of being mostly still in the cargo way 200 and supported by the bottom plate 210 of the cargo way 200 when the target product reaches the preset position by adjusting the position of the preset position relative to the outlet of the cargo way 200. It should be understood that, in the case where the preset distance between the optical path generated by the first detection mechanism 230 and the outlet of the cargo way 200 is smaller than half of the dimension of the product in the ab direction, and the position of the optical path is higher than the bottom plate 210, the target product does not fall from the cargo way 200 because its center of gravity is still in the cargo way 200 when it reaches the preset position. However, when the preset position is located downstream of the outlet of the cargo way 200 and below the bottom plate 210 (as shown in fig. 4), it is inevitable that the commodity is already in a falling state when the commodity reaches the preset position to block the light path. Since the optical path generated by the photoelectric sensor of the first detection mechanism 230 is located downstream of the outlet of the cargo channel 200, when the target commodity falls from the outlet of the cargo channel 200, the front end of the commodity arranged behind the target commodity does not reach the preset position, and therefore the optical path generated by the first detection mechanism 230 is not blocked.

In this embodiment, the first detection mechanism is commonly used by the cargo channels 200 on one floor, and the first detection mechanism includes a photoelectric sensor to detect whether the target commodity in each cargo channel 200 on the corresponding floor reaches the preset position, so that the number of sensors used can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. Of course, in other alternative embodiments, the first detection mechanism 230 may include a plurality of photoelectric sensors, which are in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of lanes 200, and each of the photoelectric sensors is configured to generate an optical path extending in the width direction of the lane 200 (i.e., the left-right direction indicated by the arrow cd) at a preset position of its corresponding lane 200.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the position of the preset position of the cargo way 200 relative to the outlet of the cargo way 200 may be adjusted according to actual needs, and the optical path generated by the photoelectric sensor of the first detection mechanism 230 is located at the preset position of the cargo way 200. For example, the predetermined position of the cargo way 200 is located upstream of the exit of the cargo way 200. Thus, if multiple lanes 200 on a single floor need to share a first detection mechanism 230, there are two alternative arrangements:

1) the optical path generated by the photoelectric sensor of the first detection mechanism 230 is located above the upper edge of the vertical plate 220 of each lane 200 of the layer. In this case, the height of the commodity stored in the cargo way 200 is higher than the height of the vertical plate 220 of the cargo way 200, so that the target commodity can block the light path generated by the photoelectric sensor of the first detection mechanism 230 when the target commodity reaches the preset position of the cargo way 200;

2) the optical path generated by the photoelectric sensor of the first detection mechanism 230 passes through the vertical plate 220 of each cargo way 200 of the layer. In this case, an opening may be formed in the vertical plate 220 of the cargo way 200 or the vertical plate 220 may have a high transparency so as to allow the optical path generated by the photoelectric sensor of the first detection mechanism 230 to pass through.

In this embodiment, the vending machine 010 further includes a bucket. The bucket is located between the cabinet door 110 and the outlet of the cargo channel 200, and the bucket can receive the commodities sent out from any one of the cargo channels 200 for the user to take out. In one embodiment, the bucket is movably disposed in the cabinet 100, the vending machine 010 further includes a bucket driving mechanism for driving the bucket to move, under the driving of the bucket driving mechanism, the bucket can complete the goods delivery operation from the outlet of the goods channel 200 to the goods access 112, and when the bucket delivers the goods to the position corresponding to the goods access 112, the user can take out the goods in the bucket through the goods access 112; in another embodiment, the bucket may be fixedly disposed at a position corresponding to the access opening 112, and receives the goods dropped from the exit of any of the lanes 200, so that the user can take out the goods in the bucket through the access opening 112.

Fig. 6 is a partially enlarged schematic view of a bucket of the vending machine 010 according to the embodiment of the present invention; fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a delivery device 300 of the vending machine 010 according to the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary schematic view of a delivery device of the vending machine in an embodiment of the present invention; wherein, fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a part VI in fig. 2; fig. 8 is an enlarged view of a portion VIII in fig. 7. Referring to fig. 6, 7 and 8 in combination with the above-mentioned drawings, the vending machine 010 of the embodiment further includes a delivery device 300, and the delivery device 300 includes a bucket 320 and a bucket driving mechanism 330 for driving the bucket 320 to move up and down. The bucket driving mechanism 330 in this embodiment includes two parallel guide rails 332 spaced apart from each other, a second motor 334, and a transmission member 336 drivingly connected between the second motor 334 and the bucket 320. The left and right sides of the bucket 320 are respectively matched with two guide rails 332 and can slide up and down relative to the guide rails 332, the second motor 334 can be a direct current motor, and the transmission part 336 can be a transmission belt or a chain. Under the driving of the bucket driving mechanism 330, the bucket 320 can move to the outlet of any layer of the goods passage 200 and receive the goods conveyed from the outlet of the layer of the goods passage 200, and the bucket 320 can also move to the position corresponding to the goods taking-out opening 112, so that the user can take out the goods in the bucket 320. It should be understood that in other alternative embodiments of the present invention, the bucket 320 may be configured to move in both horizontal and vertical directions, and to achieve this function, the bucket driving mechanism 330 may include two parts, namely a horizontal driving mechanism and a vertical driving mechanism, to drive the bucket 320 to move, in which case, the conveying mechanism 400 may also be partially disposed on the bucket 320, for example, the first motor 424 of the conveying mechanism 400 is disposed on the bucket 320, and when the bucket 320 moves to a position corresponding to one of the lanes 200, the first motor 424 is in transmission connection with the push plate 410 through a transmission assembly, so as to drive the push plate 410 to move to push the goods in the lane 200 to move. By such an arrangement, the number of motors of the conveying mechanism 400 can be reduced, and the cost of the vending machine 010 can be reduced.

In order to detect whether the target article reaches the bucket 320, the vending machine 010 further includes a second detection mechanism 340, and the second detection mechanism 340 is configured to detect whether the target article reaches the bucket 320. Specifically, in this embodiment, the second detection mechanism 340 includes an electric sensor, which is disposed at the entrance of the bucket 320, and the second detection mechanism 340 is configured to generate an optical path between two opposite sides of the entrance of the bucket 320 to detect whether the target commodity enters the bucket 320 from the entrance of the bucket 320, and the target commodity reaches the bucket 320 under the condition that the commodity enters the bucket 320 from the entrance of the bucket 320, and the target commodity reaching the bucket 320 may further serve as a condition for determining that the shipment of the cargo channel is completed. In this embodiment, the second detecting mechanism 340 includes a plurality of opposite photoelectric sensors disposed at the entrance of the bucket 320, and a plurality of light paths formed by the opposite photoelectric sensors form a light curtain covering the entrance of the bucket 320, so as to ensure that at least one light path of the light curtain is inevitably blocked when the goods enter the bucket 320 from the entrance of the bucket 320.

In the present embodiment, the photosensors selected by the first detection unit 230 and the second detection unit 340 may be commercially available photosensors. The detection principle of the first detection mechanism 230 and the second detection mechanism 340 is the same: the receiving end may send different signals in both cases of receiving or not receiving the optical signal, and the control device 600 may determine whether the optical path generated by the corresponding photoelectric sensor is blocked according to the different signals sent by the receiving end, so as to determine whether the commodity reaches the corresponding position. In other embodiments of the present invention, the photosensors of the first and second detection mechanisms 230, 340 can also be reflective photosensors.

It should be noted that, in another embodiment of the present invention, the vending machine 010 may also use the first detecting mechanism 230 to determine whether the goods channel is finished without the second detecting mechanism 340 located in the bucket 320. For example, when the target commodity blocks the optical path of the first detection mechanism 230, it is determined that the target commodity reaches the preset position, and when the blocked state of the optical path of the first detection mechanism 230 is recovered to the unblocked state, it may be determined that the shipment of the cargo channel is completed.

In this embodiment, the vending machine 010 further includes a human-computer interaction device 500, where the human-computer interaction device 500 is configured to receive a purchase instruction input by a user, and the purchase instruction may be used to determine a target commodity to be purchased by the user and a target goods channel 200 where the target commodity is located. The human-computer interaction device 500 may comprise a display screen, a touch screen, a keyboard, a speaker, and the like. The user can input a purchase instruction through a touch screen, a keyboard and other devices, and can receive related prompt information sent by the vending machine 010 through a display screen, a loudspeaker and other devices.

The control device 600 is electrically connected to the conveying mechanism 400, the first detection mechanism 230, the second detection mechanism 340 and the human-computer interaction device 500. The human-computer interaction device 500 sends the received purchase instruction to the control device 600, after the control device 600 determines the target commodity channel 200 where the target commodity is located according to the purchase instruction, the control device 400 can be controlled to convey the commodity to the outlet of the commodity channel 200 at a first speed, when the target commodity is detected to reach the preset position, the control device 400 is controlled to convey the commodity to the outlet of the target commodity channel 200 at a second speed until the commodity outlet of the commodity channel 200 is judged to be finished, wherein the second speed is smaller than the first speed.

Specifically, when the optical path of the first detecting mechanism 230 is blocked by the target product, the signal sent by the first detecting mechanism 230 to the control device 600 changes, and the control device 600 accordingly determines that the target product reaches the preset position, and then reduces the conveying speed of the product from the first speed to the second speed. Further, when the second detecting mechanism 340 detects that the target product falls into the bucket 320, it is determined that the delivery from the delivery channel 200 is finished, and the conveying mechanism 400 is controlled to stop conveying. Therefore, after the target commodity reaches the preset position, the conveying mechanism 400 can convey the commodity relatively slowly, so that the commodity behind the target commodity cannot be sent out of the outlet of the commodity channel 200 due to overlarge speed or flushed out of the outlet of the commodity channel 200 along with inertia before the commodity conveying of the commodity channel 200 is judged to be finished and stopped, and therefore loss of merchants is avoided.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a cargo channel shipping method of the vending machine 010 according to the embodiment of the present invention, where the cargo channel shipping method is applied to the vending machine 010 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The goods way delivery method comprises the following steps:

and S200, controlling a conveying mechanism to convey the commodity to an outlet of the goods channel at a first speed.

Taking the vending machine 010 provided in the embodiment of the present invention as an example, after the human-computer interaction device 500 receives a purchase instruction input by a user, the control device 600 determines a target product to be purchased by the user and the target track 200 where the target product is located by analyzing the purchase instruction input by the user. Then the control device 600 controls the conveying mechanism 400 corresponding to the target cargo way 200 to start working, the first motor 424 in the target cargo way 200 drives the push plate 410 to start moving towards the outlet direction of the cargo way 200 at a first speed, optionally, the first motor 424 is a direct current motor, and the moving speed of the push plate 410 can be controlled by controlling the power of the first motor. All the commodities in the target commodity channel 200 are conveyed to the outlet of the target commodity channel 200 at a first speed under the pushing action of the push plate 410, wherein the commodity which is arranged in the length direction of the commodity channel 200 and is closest to the outlet of the target commodity channel 200 is the target commodity.

And S400, when the target commodity is detected to reach the preset position of the goods channel, controlling the conveying mechanism to convey the commodity to the outlet of the goods channel at a second speed until the goods channel is judged to be delivered, wherein the second speed is less than the first speed.

Taking the vending machine 010 provided in the embodiment of the present invention as an example, when the target commodity is conveyed at the first speed, the photoelectric sensor of the first detection mechanism 230 is in an operating state, and when the target commodity contacts and blocks the optical path generated by the first detection mechanism 230, the control device 600 determines that the target commodity reaches the preset position. In the embodiment of the present invention, as seen in fig. 4, the optical path of the first detection mechanism 230 is located downstream of the exit of the target cargo way 200, and when the target cargo reaches the preset position, a part of the target cargo will extend out of the cargo way 200. At this time, the control device 600 controls the moving speed of the pushing plate 410 to be reduced to the second speed by reducing the driving power of the first motor, so that the pushing plate 410 can be made to continue to convey the goods in the cargo way 200 at a slower speed (slower than the first speed).

Further, when it is detected that the target commodity reaches the bucket 320, the control device 600 determines that the shipment from the cargo channel is completed, and controls the conveying mechanism 400 to stop the conveying operation. Specifically, in the present embodiment, when the second detection mechanism 340 detects that the target product has fallen into the bucket 320 from the entrance of the bucket 320, the control device 600 determines that the shipment from the cargo channel is finished. Since the conveying mechanism 400 conveys the target product at a slower speed during the falling process of the target product, the product behind the target product is difficult to be conveyed to the delivery passage 200 or to a preset position before the target product falls to the entrance of the bucket 320, and is difficult to flush out the delivery passage 200 due to inertia, so that the delivery passage delivery method is beneficial to ensure that the following product is not mistakenly delivered out of the delivery passage 200. When the conveying mechanism 400 stops operating, the following article has not reached the preset position, and therefore it is ensured that the following article will also undergo the process of being conveyed at both the first speed and the second speed when being conveyed as the target article thereafter.

It should be understood that, in other embodiments of the present invention, in the case where the vending machine 010 does not include the second detection mechanism 340, the control device 600 may also use the condition that the optical path blocked state of the first detection mechanism 230 is changed to the unblocked state as the condition for determining the end of shipment of the cargo channel. Taking the embodiment in which the optical path of the first detection mechanism 230 is located downstream of the exit of the cargo way 200 as an example, when the target product moves out of the exit of the cargo way 200 at the second speed, the optical path of the first detection mechanism 230 is in a blocked state. When the center of gravity of the target commodity moves out of the outlet of the cargo way 200, the target commodity falls under the action of gravity, the optical path of the first detection mechanism 230 goes through the process of returning from the blocking state to the non-blocking state, and at this time, the control device 600 determines that the cargo way is finished discharging, and then controls the conveying mechanism 400 to stop conveying. Even if the commodities behind the target commodity are tightly attached to the target commodity before the target commodity falls, when the target commodity falls from the opening of the target commodity channel 200 due to gravity, the following commodities still do not reach the preset position, and the light path of the first detection mechanism 230 is not blocked. Therefore, the control device 600 can determine that the shipment of the cargo path is completed by returning the blocked state of the optical path of the first detection means 230 to the unblocked state, and stop the operation of the conveyance mechanism 400.

According to the goods channel delivery method of the self-delivery vending machine provided by the embodiment of the invention, when a system receives a goods purchase instruction, the conveying mechanism is controlled to convey goods at the outlet of the goods channel at the first higher speed, so that the delivery action has higher efficiency, and when the goods are conveyed to the preset position close to the outlet of the goods channel, the conveying mechanism is controlled to deliver the target goods from the target goods channel at the second lower speed, so that the next goods in the goods channel can be effectively prevented from being delivered out of the goods channel by mistake.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. An automatic vending machine, characterized by, including goods way, conveying mechanism, first detection mechanism and controlling means, the goods way is set up as depositing commodity, conveying mechanism is set up as carrying the commodity in the goods way, first detection mechanism is set up as detecting whether target commodity in the goods way reaches the preset position of goods way, controlling means with conveying mechanism and first detection mechanism electricity respectively are connected, controlling means is set up as:

and controlling the conveying mechanism to convey the commodities to the outlet of the goods channel at a first speed, and controlling the conveying mechanism to convey the commodities to the outlet of the goods channel at a second speed when the target commodities are detected to reach the preset position of the goods channel until the goods channel is judged to be delivered, wherein the second speed is less than the first speed.

2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine comprises at least one layer of said channels arranged in a vertical direction and at least one of said first detection means, said first detection means corresponding one-to-one to a layer of said channels, said first detection means comprising a photoelectric sensor arranged to generate light paths passing through said preset positions of all channels of a layer to which said first detection means corresponds.

3. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the optical path generated by the photoelectric sensor of the first detection means is located downstream of the outlets of all the lanes of the corresponding level of the first detection means.

4. The vending machine of claim 1, wherein the vending machine comprises a plurality of said channels, and wherein the first detection mechanism comprises a plurality of photoelectric sensors in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of channels, each photoelectric sensor being arranged to generate an optical path at a predetermined location of its corresponding channel.

5. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a bucket arranged to receive the target product delivered from the outlet of the cargo channel, and a second detection mechanism arranged to detect whether the target product reaches the bucket, the second detection mechanism being electrically connected to the control device, the control device being further arranged to:

and when the commodity is detected to reach the cargo bucket, judging that the delivery of the cargo channel is finished, and controlling the conveying mechanism to stop conveying.

6. The vending machine of claim 5, wherein the second detection mechanism comprises a photosensor disposed at the bucket, the second detection mechanism being configured to generate a light path between opposing sides of the entrance of the bucket.

7. The vending machine of claim 6, wherein the second detection mechanism comprises a plurality of photoelectric sensors disposed in the bucket, the second detection mechanism being configured to generate a plurality of light paths to form a light curtain covering the bucket entrance.

8. The vending machine of any of claims 1-7, wherein the channel comprises a floor for carrying the items of merchandise, an end of the floor proximate the channel outlet being higher than an end of the floor distal from the channel outlet.

9. A method of delivering goods from a goods passage of a vending machine, the vending machine comprising a goods passage configured to store goods and a conveying mechanism configured to convey the goods within the goods passage, the method comprising:

controlling a conveying mechanism to convey the goods to an outlet of the goods channel at a first speed;

and when the target commodity is detected to reach the preset position of the commodity channel, controlling a conveying mechanism to convey the commodity to an outlet of the commodity channel at a second speed until the commodity channel is judged to be discharged, wherein the second speed is less than the first speed.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the vending machine further comprises a bucket configured to receive the product delivered from the outlet of the channel, the method comprising:

and when the target commodity is detected to reach the goods bucket, judging that the goods delivery from the goods channel is finished, and controlling the conveying mechanism to stop conveying.

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