CN116311669A - Vending machine and door assembly thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an automatic vending machine and a door assembly thereof, wherein the door assembly comprises a flexible door body and a preset track, and the flexible door body is used for opening or closing a goods taking port of the automatic vending machine; the preset track is used for guiding the flexible door body so that the flexible door body curls or releases the unfolding part or all along the preset track, and the flexible door body closes the goods taking opening at the unfolding part after the unfolding part or all is released. The vending machine has the door assembly described above. Due to the fact that the flexible door body which is curled or released along the preset track to open or close the goods taking port is arranged, when the goods taking port needs to be opened, the door body is driven by the driving device to curl along the preset track so as to open the goods taking port, the opened goods taking port is completely opened and is not blocked, a user can conveniently take goods, and therefore user experience is improved. Because the mode that the telescopic rod drives the door body to move is not adopted any more, the problem that the telescopic rod occupies the space of the goods taking port after the goods taking port is opened is avoided, and the problem that the vending machine is inconvenient to take goods in the prior art is solved.

Description

Vending machine and door assembly thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of automatic vending equipment, in particular to an automatic vending machine and a door assembly thereof.

Background

The pick ports of prior art vending machines are typically provided with a movable door panel and connect the door panel to a telescoping rod driven by a motor. When using, it is flexible by motor drive telescopic link to drive the door plant and remove, will get the goods mouth and open, the telescopic link occupies and gets goods mouth space, leads to the customer to take the goods inconvenient, and then can lead to user experience relatively poor.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the foregoing, the present invention has been made to provide a vending machine and a door assembly thereof that overcome or at least partially solve the foregoing problems, and can solve the problem that the vending machine is inconvenient to take goods, thereby achieving the effect of improving user experience.

Specifically, the present invention provides a door assembly for a vending machine, comprising:

the flexible door body is used for opening or closing a goods taking port of the vending machine;

the flexible door body is used for guiding the flexible door body to curl along the preset track or release the unfolding part or all, and the flexible door body closes the goods taking opening at the unfolding part after the unfolding part or all is released.

Optionally, the preset track includes:

the unfolding section extends along the length direction or the height direction of the goods taking port so that the flexible door body closes the goods taking port when being positioned in the unfolding section;

the storage section is connected with the unfolding section; the receiving section is at least partially curved so that the flexible door body opens the access opening and is received when crimped into the receiving section.

Optionally, the preset track is formed with a track groove, and one end of the flexible door body is located in the track groove, so that the flexible door body curls or releases a part or all of the expansion along the track groove.

Optionally, the storage section is an arc section with one end tangent to the unfolding section, and the length of the arc section is greater than that of the flexible door body.

Optionally, the storage section has a projection of a logarithmic spiral on a plane perpendicular to the flexible door body;

the storage section can be formed by extending the end part of the unfolding section from outside to inside according to a logarithmic spiral line.

Optionally, the door assembly further comprises:

a driving device configured to drive the flexible door body to curl or release to spread along a preset track;

the driving device comprises a motor, a gear and a rack;

the rack is made of flexible materials, the rack is arranged on the flexible door body, and the extending direction of the rack is the same as the unfolding direction of the flexible door body; the rack is meshed with the gear, and the gear is coaxially connected to the output end of the motor.

The invention also provides a vending machine, comprising:

the box body is provided with a goods taking cavity, and one side of the goods taking cavity is provided with a goods taking port communicated with the outside; and

the door assembly of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the door assembly is mounted in the pick-up chamber and is located at the pick-up port.

Optionally, the vending machine further comprises an infrared device configured to detect whether an item is within the access cavity.

Optionally, the box body comprises a main control box, and the goods taking cavity and the goods taking port are arranged on the main control box.

Optionally, the vending machine further comprises a transfer device;

the box body further comprises a cabinet, wherein the cabinet is used for placing and displaying commodities, and the main control box is communicated with the cabinet; the transfer device is used for transferring commodities in the cabinet to the commodity taking cavity.

In the vending machine and the door assembly thereof, as the flexible door body which is curled or released along the preset track to open or close the goods taking port is arranged, when the goods taking port is required to be opened, the door body is driven by the driving device to curl along the preset track so as to open the goods taking port, and the opened goods taking port is completely opened and not blocked, so that the goods taking of a user is facilitated, and the user experience is improved. Because the mode that the telescopic rod drives the door body to move is not adopted any more, the problem that the telescopic rod occupies the space of the goods taking port after the goods taking port is opened is avoided, and the problem that the vending machine is inconvenient to take goods in the prior art is solved.

Further, in the vending machine and the door assembly thereof, the storage section has a projection of a logarithmic spiral shape on a plane perpendicular to the flexible door body. Specifically, the storage section can be formed by extending the end part of the unfolding section from outside to inside according to a logarithmic spiral; that is, the outer end of the receiving section is connected with one end of the expanding section. The flexible door body is arranged in the storage section, and the flexible door body is rolled up after entering the storage section and is finally rolled into the storage section completely, so that the occupancy rate of the flexible door body in the state to the space is low. Meanwhile, the storage section is arranged according to the extension of the logarithmic spiral line, the storage section line is increased, and the flexible door body can move in a large enough space so as to completely open the goods taking port.

The above, as well as additional objectives, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a specific embodiment of the present invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Some specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter by way of example and not by way of limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts or portions. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a door assembly according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial block diagram of a door assembly according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic enlarged view of portion A of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a door assembly according to one embodiment of the invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a vending machine according to one embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

The vending machine and the door assembly thereof according to the embodiment of the present invention are described below with reference to fig. 1 to 5. In the description of the present embodiment, it should be understood that the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature, i.e. one or more such features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless specifically defined otherwise. When a feature "comprises or includes" a feature or some of its coverage, this indicates that other features are not excluded and may further include other features, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Unless specifically stated or limited otherwise, the terms "disposed," "mounted," "connected," "secured," "coupled," and the like should be construed broadly, as they may be connected, either permanently or removably, or integrally; can be mechanically or electrically connected; either directly or indirectly, through intermediaries, or both, may be in communication with each other or in interaction with each other, unless expressly defined otherwise. Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand the specific meaning of the terms described above in the present invention as the case may be.

Furthermore, in the description of the present embodiments, a first feature "above" or "below" a second feature may include the first and second features being in direct contact, or may include the first and second features not being in direct contact but being in contact through another feature therebetween. That is, in the description of the present embodiment, the first feature being "above", "over" and "upper" the second feature includes the first feature being directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature "under", "beneath", or "under" a second feature may be a first feature directly under or diagonally under the second feature, or simply indicate that the first feature is less level than the second feature.

In the description of the present embodiment, a description referring to the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "illustrative embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples," etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a door assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, and referring to fig. 2 to 5, the embodiment of the present invention provides a door assembly for a vending machine, including a flexible door body 100 and a preset track 300, the flexible door body 100 being used to open or close a goods taking port 411 of the vending machine; the preset rail 300 is used for guiding the flexible door body 100, so that the flexible door body 100 curls or releases the unfolding portion or all along the preset rail 300, and the flexible door body 100 closes the goods taking opening 411 at the unfolding portion after releasing the unfolding portion or all. The door assembly further includes a driving device 200, and the driving device 200 is configured to drive the flexible door body to curl or release along the preset track 300 to open or close the access opening 411. The flexible door body 100 in this embodiment is made of a flexible material that can be bent and deformed.

In this embodiment, when the goods taking port 411 needs to be opened, the driving device 200 drives the flexible door body 100 to curl along the preset track 300 so as to open the goods taking port 411, and the opened goods taking port 411 is completely opened and not blocked, so that the user can take goods conveniently, and the user experience is improved. Because the mode that the telescopic rod drives the door body to move is not adopted any more, the problem that the telescopic rod occupies the space of the goods taking port after the goods taking port 411 is opened is avoided, and the problem that the vending machine is inconvenient to take goods in the prior art is solved. When the door is closed, the driving device 200 drives the flexible door body 100 to be unfolded along the preset track 300, part or all of the flexible door body 100 is unfolded, and the unfolded part closes the goods taking opening 411. It should be noted that, the flexible door body in the embodiment of the present invention may be driven by an external driving device, and is not limited to the driving device 200 in the embodiment of the present invention.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the preset track 300 includes a receiving section 320, and the receiving section 320 is at least partially curved to open and receive the access 411 when the flexible door 100 is curled into the receiving section 320. Since the preset track 300 includes the at least partially curved receiving section 320, when the flexible door body 100 is positioned at the receiving section 320, the pickup opening 411 is opened on one hand to facilitate the user's pickup; on the other hand, the door 411 stored in the storage section 320 is limited by the storage section 320, so that the problem of hanging down to shield the goods taking port 411 does not occur; in addition, the structure of the storage section 320 can be set according to the inner space of the vending machine, so as to avoid the door assembly occupying more space, and the flexible door body 100 can be deformed in a bending manner, and can enter the storage section 320 after the change.

Further, the preset track 300 further includes an unfolding section 310, and the unfolding section 310 is connected with the storage section 320; the deployment section 310 extends along the length or height of the access opening 411 such that the flexible door 100 closes and seals the access opening 411 when positioned in the deployment section 310. Due to the arrangement of the unfolding section 310, on one hand, after the flexible door body 100 enters the unfolding section 310, part or all of the flexible door body is unfolded, and the unfolded part closes the goods taking opening 411; on the other hand, the flexible door 100 is limited by the expansion section and is not easily deformed, so that the loading port 411 can be sealed. If the expansion section 310 is not limited, the naturally hanging part of the flexible door body 100 can close the goods taking opening 411, but the flexible structure is not limited, so that the goods taking opening 411 cannot be sealed, and the safety of the vending machine cannot be guaranteed.

In some embodiments of the present invention, as shown in fig. 3, the preset rail 300 is formed with a rail groove 330, and one end of the flexible door body 100 is positioned in the rail groove 330 to curl or release a spread portion or all along the rail groove 330. By the arrangement, the flexible door body 100 can be inserted into the preset track 300, so that when the flexible door body 100 closes the goods taking opening 411, sealing of the goods taking opening 411 can be formed, and the safety of the vending machine is improved.

Further, the thickness of the flexible door body 100 is not less than the width of the track groove 330 at the deployment section 310 to avoid a gap between the flexible door body 100 and the track groove 330. Because the flexible door body 100 is flexible, deformation can occur when the door body is stressed, and particularly, the edge of the flexible door body 100 is easier to deform when the door body is stressed. After the thickness of the flexible door body 100 is not smaller than the width of the track groove 330 at the unfolding section 310, the flexible door body 100 is tightly attached to the track groove 330, and no gap exists between the flexible door body 100 and the track groove 330, so that the situation that the edge of the flexible door body 100 is pried and buckled is avoided, the edge of the flexible door body 100 is not easy to bear force, the deformation way of the flexible door body 100 is reduced, and the tightness of the flexible door body 100 to the goods taking opening 411 is improved.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the receiving section 320 is an arc section having one end tangent to the expanding section 310, and the length of the arc section is greater than the length of the flexible door 100. The arc section is tangent to the deployment section 310 so that the flexible door body 100 can smoothly enter the arc section from the deployment section 310; the length of the arc line is greater than that of the flexible door body 100, so that the flexible door body 100 can be ensured to completely enter the arc line from the unfolding section 310, and the goods taking opening 411 can be completely opened.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the receiving section 320 has a projection of a logarithmic spiral on a plane perpendicular to the flexible door body 100. Specifically, the receiving section 320 may be formed by extending the end of the expanding section 310 from outside to inside in a logarithmic spiral; that is, the outer end of the receiving section 320 is connected to one end of the expanding section 310. By the arrangement, the flexible door body 100 starts to roll after entering the containing section 320, and finally rolls into the containing section 320 completely, so that the occupancy rate of the flexible door body 100 to the space in the state is low. Meanwhile, the accommodating section 320 is arranged according to the logarithmic spiral extension, the molded line of the accommodating section 320 is increased, so that the flexible door body 100 can move in enough space to fully open the goods taking opening 411.

In some embodiments of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4, the driving device 200 includes a motor 210, a gear 220, and a rack 230, the motor 210 having an output end extending in a direction perpendicular to the deployment direction of the flexible door body 100; gear 220 is coaxially coupled to the output of motor 210; the rack 230 is made of flexible materials, the rack 230 is arranged on the flexible door body 100, and the extending direction of the rack 230 is the same as the unfolding direction of the flexible door body 100; rack 230 is meshed with gear 220. In application, the motor 210 rotates to drive the gear 220 to rotate, and the rack 230 meshed with the gear 220 moves under the drive of the gear 220, so that the flexible door body 100 moves. Specifically, the motor 210 is a reciprocating motor 210, so that the flexible door 100 can reciprocate to open and close the pickup opening 411.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a vending machine, as shown in fig. 5, which comprises a box body and the door assembly in any embodiment, so as to have all the effects of the door assembly. The box body is provided with a goods taking cavity 410, and one side of the goods taking cavity 410 is provided with a goods taking opening 411 communicated with the outside; the door assembly is mounted within the access cavity 410 at the location of the access opening 411.

In some embodiments of the invention, the vending machine further includes an infrared device configured to detect the presence of items within the access cavity 410. In application, if the infrared device detects that the goods are in the goods taking cavity 410, the driving device is triggered to drive the door to move, and the goods taking port 411 is opened, so that the user can take the goods. After the infrared device detects that the goods are taken away, the driving device drives the door body to move reversely until the goods taking opening 411 is completely closed.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the box body includes a main control box 400, and a cargo taking cavity 410 and a cargo taking port 411 are disposed on the main control box 400. Because the door assembly, the goods taking cavity 410 and the goods taking opening 411 are all arranged in the main control box provided with the main control unit, the installation area is avoided to be specially arranged for the door assembly, the goods taking cavity 410 and the goods taking opening 411, and the inner space of the vending machine is reasonably utilized.

In some embodiments of the invention, the vending machine further comprises a transfer device; the box body further comprises a cabinet, the cabinet is used for placing and displaying commodities, and the main control box 400 is communicated with the cabinet; the transfer device is used for transferring the goods in the cabinet to the goods taking cavity 410. The cabinet is provided with a first goods transfer port, the main control box 400 is provided with a second goods transfer port 412 matched with the first goods transfer port, and the second goods transfer port 412 is communicated with the goods taking cavity 410. When the goods are transferred by the transfer device, the driving device is triggered to drive the door body to move through the first goods transfer port or the second goods transfer port 412, so that the goods taking port 411 is opened, and the user can take away the goods transferred into the goods taking cavity 410. After the infrared device detects that the goods are taken away, the driving device drives the door body to move reversely until the goods taking opening 411 is completely closed.

It should be noted that, the transfer device in the embodiment of the present invention may be a mechanical device such as a mechanical arm in the prior art, which can be controlled to clamp or hold and drive the goods to move.

By now it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein in detail, many other variations or modifications of the invention consistent with the principles of the invention may be directly ascertained or inferred from the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be understood and deemed to cover all such other variations or modifications.

Claims (10)

1. A door assembly for a vending machine, comprising:

the flexible door body is used for opening or closing a goods taking port of the vending machine;

the flexible door body is used for guiding the flexible door body to curl along the preset track or release the unfolding part or all, and the flexible door body closes the goods taking opening at the unfolding part after the unfolding part or all is released.

2. The door assembly of claim 1, wherein the door assembly comprises a door assembly,

the preset track comprises:

the unfolding section extends along the length direction or the height direction of the goods taking port so that the flexible door body closes the goods taking port when being positioned in the unfolding section;

the storage section is connected with the unfolding section; the receiving section is at least partially curved so that the flexible door body opens the access opening and is received when crimped into the receiving section.

3. The door assembly of claim 1, wherein the door assembly comprises a door assembly,

the preset track is provided with a track groove, and one end of the flexible door body is positioned in the track groove, so that the flexible door body is curled or the unfolding part or the whole flexible door body is released along the track groove.

4. The door assembly of claim 2, wherein the door assembly comprises a door assembly,

the storage section is an arc section with one end tangent to the unfolding section, and the length of the arc section is greater than that of the flexible door body.

5. The door assembly of claim 2, wherein the door assembly comprises a door assembly,

the storage section is provided with a projection in a logarithmic spiral shape on a plane perpendicular to the flexible door body;

the storage section can be formed by extending the end part of the unfolding section from outside to inside according to a logarithmic spiral line.

6. The door assembly of claim 1, further comprising:

a driving device configured to drive the flexible door body to curl or release to spread along a preset track;

the driving device comprises a motor, a gear and a rack;

the rack is made of flexible materials, the rack is arranged on the flexible door body, and the extending direction of the rack is the same as the unfolding direction of the flexible door body; the rack is meshed with the gear, and the gear is coaxially connected to the output end of the motor.

7. A vending machine, comprising:

the box body is provided with a goods taking cavity, and one side of the goods taking cavity is provided with a goods taking port communicated with the outside;

a door assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, mounted within the access cavity at the location of the access opening.

8. The vending machine of claim 7, wherein,

the vending machine also includes an infrared device configured to detect whether an item is within the access cavity.

9. The vending machine of claim 7, wherein,

the box body comprises a main control box, and the goods taking cavity and the goods taking opening are arranged on the main control box.

10. The vending machine of claim 9, wherein the vending machine comprises,

the vending machine further comprises a transfer device;

the box body further comprises a cabinet, wherein the cabinet is used for placing and displaying commodities, and the main control box is communicated with the cabinet; the transfer device is used for transferring commodities in the cabinet to the commodity taking cavity.

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