KR102512510B1 - Auto device for subdividing and selling liquid and its operation method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is liquid so that a container accommodating liquid raw materials such as shampoo, conditioner, hair care, body wash, body care made of gel or oil, skin care, dental care, cleaning detergent, fabric softener, dish detergent can be reused, It relates to a liquid subdivision automatic vending machine that refills only raw materials and a method of operating the same.
To this end, the present invention is a liquid storage container for storing the liquid, a storage container weighing device for measuring the weight of the liquid storage container, a pump connected to the liquid storage container to pump the liquid, and connected to the pump A nozzle for spraying the pumped liquid, a customer container for accommodating the liquid sprayed from the nozzle, a customer container weighing device for measuring the weight of the customer container, and a customer container recognition unit for recognizing the customer container; and a control unit receiving signals from the storage container weight measuring device, the customer container weight measuring device, and the customer container recognition unit, and controlling the pump.

Description

Automatic device for subdividing and selling liquid and its operation method {Auto device for subdividing and selling liquid and its operation method}

The present invention relates to a liquid subdivision vending machine and an operating method thereof, and more particularly, to shampoo, conditioner, hair care, body wash, body care made of gel or oil, skin care, dental care, cleaning detergent, fabric softener, The present invention relates to a liquid subdivision automatic vending device for refilling only liquid ingredients so that a container accommodating liquid ingredients such as dish detergent can be reused, and an operating method thereof.

In general, shampoo, conditioner, hair care, body wash, body care made of gel or oil, skin care, dental care, cleaning detergent, fabric softener, kitchen detergent, etc. are mainly made up of liquid and are accommodated in PET containers and sold to consumers. , At this time, the amount of liquid contained in the PET container is determined according to the size of the PET container, and after the contained liquid is consumed, the liquid contained in the new PET container must be repurchased. It is becoming.

As such, recycling of empty PET containers separated and collected after the liquid phase is exhausted has a problem in that recycling costs are high because the recycling process goes through a crushing process, a melting decomposition process, and a purification process.

Accordingly, when empty PET containers are incinerated in order to reduce recycling costs, various harmful gases are discharged to pollute the atmospheric environment, and when empty PET containers are buried, the problem of soil contamination is derived.

In addition, the PET container may be provided with a dispenser function for the purpose of conveniently using the liquid substance by the consumer.

Accordingly, not only the material cost and process cost of the PET container itself, but also the manufacturing cost increases due to the dispenser configuration provided in the PET container, and the consumer price also increases sequentially, so consumers use PET containers for liquid Not only do you have to pay a high price to purchase it, but you also have to repeat it every time you run out of liquid, which is economically and environmentally burdensome.

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-2155679 (Title of Invention: System and Method for Providing Refill Service, Publication Date: 2020.09.15)

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention reuses a container that accommodates shampoo, conditioner, hair care, body wash, body care made of gel or oil, skin care, dental care, cleaning detergent, fabric softener, kitchen detergent, etc. In order to do so, a liquid subdivided automatic vending machine and an operation method thereof are provided, which can reduce the use of plastic by allowing only liquid raw materials to be refilled.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a liquid storage container for storing the liquid, a storage container weighing device for measuring the weight of the liquid storage container, a pump connected to the liquid storage container for pumping the liquid, A nozzle connected to the pump to spray the pumped liquid, a customer container accommodating the liquid sprayed from the nozzle, a customer container weighing device for measuring the weight of the customer container, and a customer recognizing the customer container It provides a liquid subdivision vending device comprising a container recognition unit, a control unit that receives signals from the storage container weight measuring device, the customer container weight measuring device, and the customer container recognition unit, and controls the pump.

Here, it may further include a liquid subdivided status display and a display through which the customer can input a selection.

In addition, the control unit may further include controlling the pump by reflecting the customer's selection on the display. In addition, the method of operating the automatic liquid portion vending device according to the present invention described above In the method, a container purchase confirmation step of confirming the purchase of the customer container, a refill preparation step of confirming the conditions for injecting the liquid into the customer container, and the customer container and the liquid or the purchase amount of the liquid A purchase amount confirmation step to check, a refill step of injecting the liquid into the customer container, a refill completion confirmation step of confirming completion of the injection of the liquid into the customer container, and the customer container and the liquid or the liquid It provides a method of operating a liquid subdivision automatic vending machine comprising a step of outputting a refill statement for outputting a purchase record.

Here, the refill preparation step includes a contaminant confirmation step for confirming whether the customer container is contaminated, a customer container recognition step for recognizing the customer container, and a remaining liquid check step for confirming whether residual liquid remains in the customer container. can include

In addition, in the remaining liquid confirmation step, it is possible to determine whether residual liquid remains in the customer container by receiving a signal from the customer container weighing device.

The liquid subdivided vending machine and its operating method according to the present invention have the following effects.

First, only liquid ingredients can be refilled so that containers that accommodate shampoo, conditioner, hair care, body wash, body care made of gel or oil, skin care, dental care, cleaning detergent, fabric softener, dish detergent, etc. can be reused. This has the advantage of reducing the use of plastic.

Second, there is an advantage in that a small amount of the liquid raw material to be refilled can be purchased using an existing container.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a liquid subdivision vending machine according to the present invention.
2 is a diagram showing the steps of a method of operating a liquid subdivided vending machine according to the present invention.
3 is a view showing an example of the container purchase confirmation step of the operation method of the liquid subdivided vending machine according to the present invention.
4 is a diagram showing an example of a contaminant confirmation step of a method of operating a liquid subdivided vending machine according to the present invention.
5 and 6 are diagrams showing an example of the customer container recognition step of the operating method of the liquid subdivision automatic vending device according to the present invention.
7 is a view showing an example of the remaining liquid confirmation step of the operation method of the liquid subdivision vending machine according to the present invention.
8 is a diagram showing an example of a purchase amount confirmation step of the operating method of a liquid subdivided vending machine according to the present invention.
9 is a diagram showing an example of a refilling step of a method of operating a liquid subdivided vending machine according to the present invention.
10 is a diagram showing an example of the refill completion confirmation step of the operation method of the liquid subdivided vending machine according to the present invention.
11 is a diagram showing an example of a refill statement output step of a method for operating a liquid subdivided vending machine according to the present invention.
12 is a diagram showing an example of a guide message output from the display of the automatic vending machine for portioned liquid according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention in which the above-described problem to be solved can be specifically realized will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present embodiments, the same names and the same reference numerals are used for the same components, and additional descriptions accordingly are omitted below.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a liquid subdivision vending machine according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid subdivision vending machine according to the present invention includes a liquid storage container 100, a storage container weight It includes a measuring device 200, a pump 300, a nozzle 400, a customer container 500, a customer container weight measuring device 600, a customer container recognition unit 700, and a control unit 800.

The liquid storage container 100 stores liquid to be refilled therein, and the liquid may be all types of liquid to be refilled, such as detergent, fabric softener, beverage, oil, and soy sauce.

The storage container weighing device 200 measures the weight of the liquid storage container 100 and is configured to check how much of the liquid stored in the liquid storage container 100 remains.

For example, the storage container weighing device 200 is composed of a load cell and is disposed under the liquid storage container 100 to measure the weight of the liquid storage container 100, or as a spring scale. configured, and disposed on the top or bottom of the liquid storage container 100 to measure the weight of the liquid storage container 100.

In addition, the storage container weighing device 200 may be configured as a means capable of measuring the capacity or volume of the liquid remaining in the liquid storage container 100, and based on this, the liquid storage container 100 to be able to calculate the weight of

For example, the storage container weighing device 200 is composed of a 3D scanner, measures the volume of the liquid accommodated in the liquid storage container 100, and converts the weight of the liquid by the measured volume, thereby weighing can also be derived. At this time, in order to measure the volume of the liquid stored in the liquid storage container 100, the liquid storage container 100 is preferably made of a transparent material.

The storage container weighing device 200 measures the weight of the liquid contained in the liquid storage container 100 so that it is possible to determine how much capacity of the liquid remains in the liquid storage container 100, through which A situation in which the liquid can not be refilled into the customer container 500 because the liquid is exhausted in the liquid storage container 100 can be prevented in advance.

The pump 300 is connected to the liquid storage container 100 to pump the liquid, and the nozzle 400 is connected to the pump 300 to transfer the pumped liquid from the liquid storage container 100. It is sprayed into the customer container 500 to be described later.

The customer container 500 is reusable, and accommodates the liquid sprayed through the nozzle 400, and an identification code for distinguishing the type of the customer container 500 is attached to the customer container 500. At this time, the recognition code may be composed of a QR code, a barcode, and the like.

The customer container weight measuring device 600 measures the weight of the customer container 500. The means of the customer container weight measuring device 600 may be the same as the means of the above-described storage container weight measuring device 200, and the customer container weight measuring device 600 measures the weight of the customer container 500, Detects whether or not liquid remains in the customer container 500 and the remaining amount.

The customer container recognition unit 700 recognizes the customer container 500 by recognizing the recognition code attached to the customer container 500, and the customer container recognition unit 700 can recognize the recognition code. It may consist of a camera or a reader such as a scanner.

The controller 800 receives signals from the customer container recognition unit 700, the storage container weight measuring device 200, and the customer container weight measuring device 600, and controls the pump 300.

For example, the controller 800 receives from the customer container recognition unit 700 container determination information for determining whether the container recognized by the customer container recognition unit 700 is the customer container 500 or not.

In addition, the control unit 800 receives weight information of the liquid storage container 100 from the storage container weighing device 200 and checks the remaining amount of the liquid contained in the storage container.

In addition, the control unit 800 receives weight information of the customer container 500 from the customer container weight measuring device 600 and checks the remaining amount of the liquid contained in the customer container 500.

Here, the liquid portioned vending machine according to the present invention may further include a display 900, which displays the liquid portioned current status and allows the customer to input a selection.

For example, when the control unit 800 determines that the container recognized by the customer container recognition unit 700 through the container identification information is not the customer container 500, the liquid subdivision automatic sales according to the present invention The control unit 800 generates a command to transmit a purchase guide screen for guiding the purchase of the customer container 500 so that the customer using the device can purchase the customer container 500, and displays the customer container 500 on the display 900. A purchase guide screen may be transmitted.

In addition, when the remaining amount of the liquid accommodated in the liquid storage container 100 is less than or equal to the standard remaining amount, the control unit 800 informs the manager who manages the liquid subdivision vending device according to the present invention the remaining amount of the liquid contained in the storage container. Not only guides information so that the storage container can be filled with the liquid, but also allows the display 900 to transmit information on the remaining amount of the liquid contained in the storage container, so that the customer can smoothly refill the liquid. let it be

At this time, the control unit 800 may transmit a guide screen for guiding to discard the remaining liquid in the customer container 500 through the display 900, or the remaining liquid in the customer container 500 may be transmitted. A screen for selecting the amount of liquid to be refilled may be displayed so that the liquid can be refilled by an amount other than the amount.

Here, in the controller 800, a date when the customer recognized the customer container 500 in the past may be stored, and the period from the past date when the customer container 500 was recognized to the present is the expiration date of the liquid. If it is outside the expiration date, information on the expiration date and a guide screen for guiding to discard the remaining liquid in the customer container 500 are sent, and if the expiration date is not exceeded, the remaining liquid in the customer container 500 is displayed through the display 900. A screen for selecting to refill the liquid in an amount other than the amount may be transmitted.

In addition, the display 900 allows the customer to input a selection. For example, the display 900 allows the customer to purchase the customer container 500 when the customer does not have the customer container 500. The customer may be induced to purchase the customer container 500 by sending a guide screen that allows the customer to purchase the customer container 500, and the display 900 transmits an option for the amount of liquid to be refilled in the customer container 500, thereby sending the customer The amount of liquid to be refilled in the customer container 500 may be determined.

The customer determines the amount of liquid to be refilled in the customer container 500, and the control unit 800 controls the pump 300 by reflecting the customer's selection, so that the customer container is discharged from the nozzle 400. The amount of the liquid sprayed to 500 can be adjusted.

In addition, the automatic liquid subdivision vending device according to the present invention may further include a contaminant check unit for checking contaminants in the customer container 500.

That is, before refilling the liquid, the contaminant identification unit photographs the inlet where the liquid is refilled into the customer container 500 to determine whether the inside of the customer container 500 is contaminated or the inlet of the customer container 500. Check whether foreign matter is present.

When the contaminant confirmation unit determines that there is a contaminant in the customer container 500, the controller 800 generates a container replacement command so that the display 900 transmits a replacement guidance screen for the customer container 500. can

Figure 2 is a diagram showing the steps of the operation method of the liquid subdivision vending machine according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. ), refill preparation step (S200), purchase amount confirmation step (S300), refill step (S400), refill completion confirmation step (S500) and refill statement output step (S600).

The operation method of the liquid subdivision vending machine according to the present invention described later will be described based on an example of refilling laundry detergent. , Hair care, body wash, body care made of gel or oil, skin care, dental care, cleaning detergent, fabric softener, kitchen detergent, etc. It can be used when refilling liquid raw materials that can be reused. .

In the container purchase confirmation step (S100), the customer confirms whether or not to purchase the customer container 500.

In the container purchase confirmation step (S100), the display 900 transmits a guide screen for confirming whether the customer container 500 is purchased, and the display 900 transmits a purchase of the customer container 500 as shown in FIG. Not only the price and whether or not to purchase, but also content for selecting the type of customer container 500 for each capacity may be transmitted.

The screen shown in FIG. 3 is transmitted to the display 900, and at the same time, a voice guide saying 'Do you want to purchase a new laundry detergent refill container?' can be transmitted simultaneously.

In the refill preparation step (S200), conditions for injecting the liquid into the customer container 500 are checked. Specifically, the refill preparation step (S200) includes a contaminant check step (S220), a customer container recognition step ( S210) and the remaining liquid check step (S230).

In the contaminant confirmation step (S220), the contaminant confirmation unit checks whether or not contaminants exist in the customer container 500.

In the contaminant checking step (S220), as shown in FIG. 4, the lid of the customer container 500 is separated, and the contaminant checking unit checks whether or not there is a contaminant in the customer container 500. The display 900 transmits a screen guiding the user to approach the customer container 500.

The screen shown in FIG. 4 is transmitted to the display 900, and at the same time, the voice guidance of 'After separating the lid from the refill container (customer container 500), check for contamination and foreign substances inside the container' and 'Inside the container' If there is contamination or foreign substances in the detergent, the refilled detergent may deteriorate.' voice guidance can be sent sequentially.

Although not shown in the drawing, when contamination is confirmed in the customer container 500 in the contaminant confirmation step (S220), the display 900, as shown in FIG. 3, allows the customer to purchase a new customer container 500. It is possible to guide the purchase of the customer container 500 so as to be.

In the customer container recognition step (S210), the customer container recognition unit 700 recognizes the customer container 500 by recognizing the recognition code attached to the customer container 500.

First, the screen shown in FIG. 5 is transmitted to the display 900, and at the same time, the voice guidance of 'Put the refill container (customer container 500) in according to the order of guidance and instructions below and press the confirmation button', It enables simultaneous transmission of the voice guidance of 'You cannot use a container that has not been recognized by the QR code (recognition code).'

At this time, if the code recognized in the process of recognizing the recognition code by the customer container recognition unit 700 does not correspond to the recognition code, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the customer container recognition unit ( The display 900 transmits a screen informing that the container recognized by 700) is not the customer container 500, and at the same time, the voice guidance message of 'Error, it is not a refill exclusive container (customer container 500)' and ' A voice guidance message of 'Please check whether the laundry detergent container (customer container 500)' can be sent sequentially.

Alternatively, as shown in (b) of FIG. 6, when the customer container recognition unit 700 determines that the recognition code is damaged in the process of recognizing the recognition code, the customer container recognition unit 700 At the same time as the display 900 transmits a guide screen informing of the situation in which the recognition code is damaged so that the recognition code cannot be recognized, a voice guidance message of 'Error, QR code cannot be recognized' and 'QR code on the back of the container' (Recognition code) can be sent out sequentially and at the same time, along with the voice guidance of 'Receive a QR code sticker from the customer center and use it in the location of the container's QR code'.

In the remaining liquid checking step (S230), it is checked whether residual liquid remains in the customer container 500. That is, the customer container weighing device 600 checks whether or not liquid remains in the customer container 500 and the remaining amount through a signal obtained by measuring the weight of the customer container 500 .

When it is determined in the remaining liquid checking step (S230) that the customer container 500 has more than the standard amount of remaining liquid, as shown in FIG. 7, in the remaining liquid checking step (S230), the customer container 500 ), the display 900 transmits a screen informing that residual liquid remains in the container, and at the same time, a voice guidance message of 'error, laundry detergent remains in the container (customer container 500)' and 'container (customer container 500). If laundry detergent remains in the container 500, refilling is not possible.' voice guidance may be transmitted sequentially.

In the purchase amount checking step (S300), it is possible to check the customer container 500 and the liquid or the purchase amount of the liquid.

For example, when the customer purchases the customer container 500, as shown in (a) of FIG. 8, the refill container (customer container 500) and the refill capacity of the liquid , The display 900 transmits a screen for guiding the purchase amount for each item and the total purchase amount, and at the same time, a voice guidance message of 'Check the refill capacity and purchase amount' may be transmitted.

Alternatively, if the customer has not purchased the customer container 500, as shown in (b) of FIG. 8, the refill capacity of the liquid that the customer has purchased, the purchase amount for each category, and the total purchase amount are provided. At the same time as the display 900 transmits the screen of 'Please check the refill capacity and purchase amount', a voice guidance message may be transmitted.

In the refilling step (S400), the pump 300 pumps the liquid stored in the liquid storage container 100, and the nozzle 400 transfers the pumped liquid from the liquid storage container 100 to the customer container ( 500) to refill the liquid.

In the refill step (S400), as shown in (a) of FIG. 9, the display 900 transmits the refill start guide screen, and at the same time, 'Please check the precautions. Do you want to start refilling laundry detergent?' and 'Caution: due to the nature of refill products, refunds and exchanges are not possible due to simple change of mind, so please check again.' .

When the customer confirms the liquid purchase in (a) of FIG. 9, as shown in (b) of FIG. The display 900 can transmit.

In the refill completion confirmation step (S500), when all of the liquid is completely refilled into the customer container 500, the completion of the injection of the liquid into the customer container 500 is confirmed, and the refill completion status is notified to the customer.

In the refill completion confirmation step (S500), as shown in FIG. 10, the display 900 transmits a guide screen informing that the refill has been completed, and at the same time, 'Laundry detergent refill has been completed. As shown in the picture below, you can send out the voice guidance of 'Please remove the refill container' in the order of guidance.

In the step of outputting the refill statement (S600), a record of the customer container 500 and the liquid or the purchase of the liquid is output.

For example, when a customer purchases the customer container 500, the display 900 transmits a screen for outputting the refill statement and guiding where the refill statement should be attached to the customer container 500. At the same time, the voice guidance of 'Receive the laundry detergent refill (purchase) statement and paste it inside the dotted line on the front of the container' and the voice guidance of 'A refill (purchase) statement is required to confirm payment' are sent sequentially. can do.

Alternatively, when the customer has not purchased the customer container 500, the display 900 outputs the refill statement and displays a screen guiding where the refill statement should be attached to the customer container 500. At the same time, the voice guidance of 'Receive the laundry detergent refill (purchase) statement and paste it inside the dotted line on the back of the container' and the voice guidance of 'A refill (purchase) statement is required to confirm payment.' can

In addition, the liquid subdivision automatic vending device and its operating method according to the present invention, when the liquid is present in the liquid storage container 100 below the standard capacity or when other components other than the display 900 are out of order, FIG. 12 (a) As shown in ), a screen notifying a situation that the display 900 is preparing for service or a screen notifying a situation that the liquid storage container 100 is short of liquid, as shown in (b) of FIG. The display 900 can transmit.

In addition, the detailed description of the operating method of the automatic vending machine for subdivided liquids according to the present invention is omitted because it corresponds to the description of the vending machine for subdivided liquids according to the present invention.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific preferred embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. is possible and such variations are within the scope of the present invention.

100: liquid storage container
200: storage container weighing machine
300: pump
400: nozzle
500: customer container
600: customer container weighing machine
700: customer container recognition unit
800: control unit
900: display

Claims (6)

A liquid storage container in which liquid is stored;
a storage container weighing device for measuring the weight of the liquid storage container;
a pump connected to the liquid storage container to pump the liquid;
a nozzle connected to the pump to spray the pumped liquid;
a customer container accommodating the liquid sprayed from the nozzle;
A customer container weighing device for measuring the weight of the customer container;
Customer container recognition unit for recognizing the recognition code attached to the customer container;
a control unit receiving signals from the storage container weight measuring device, the customer container weight measuring device, and the customer container recognition unit, and controlling the pump;
A display that displays liquid portioning status and allows customers to enter selections; and
Including; contaminant confirmation unit for checking the contaminants of the customer container,
The controller stores the date of recognizing the customer container, and if the period from the past date when the customer container was recognized to the present is out of the expiration date of the liquid, the display displays the expiration date information and the remaining liquid in the customer container. Sends a guide screen to guide discarding, and if the expiration date is not out of date, the display sends a screen for selecting to refill the liquid by an amount other than the remaining liquid in the customer container,
When contamination is confirmed in the customer container by the contaminant check unit, the display transmits a screen for guiding purchase of the customer container so that a new customer container can be purchased,
When the customer container recognition unit determines that the recognition code is damaged in the process of recognizing the recognition code, the display transmits a guide screen notifying the situation in which the recognition code is damaged and at the same time transmits a screen for guiding re-issuance of the recognition code. A liquid subdivision vending machine characterized in that for doing. delete According to claim 1,
The control unit further comprises controlling the pump by reflecting the customer's selection on the display. In the operating method of the liquid subdivision vending machine operating the liquid subdivision vending machine of claim 1,
Container purchase confirmation step of confirming the purchase of the customer's container;
A refill preparation step of confirming conditions for injecting the liquid into the customer container;
a purchase amount confirmation step of confirming the purchase amount of the customer container and the liquid or the liquid;
A refill step of injecting the liquid into the customer container;
Refill completion confirmation step of confirming the completion of the injection of the liquid into the customer container; and
and a refill statement output step of outputting a record of the customer container and the liquid or the purchase of the liquid. According to claim 4,
The refill preparation step,
A customer container recognition step of recognizing the customer container;
Contaminant confirmation step of confirming whether the customer container is contaminated; and
A method of operating a liquid subdivision automatic vending machine comprising a residual liquid confirmation step of confirming whether residual liquid remains in the customer container. According to claim 5,
In the remaining liquid confirmation step, a signal is received from the customer container weighing device to confirm whether or not residual liquid remains in the customer container.

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