TWI771665B - Vending machine systems and vending machines - Google Patents

Abstract

A vending machine system and a vending machine, the vending machine comprising a vending machine table and a control device. The management and control device can read and analyze the commodity information of the commodities stored in the vending machine, so as to compare the commodities whose remaining days to expiration are less than or equal to a threshold, and establish spot commodity data accordingly, and according to the cloud host for the commodities The promotion setting data created by the spot commodity data controls the vending machine to adjust the selling price of the corresponding commodity to the promotion price. Through the vending machine, the commodity information of the commodity can be read and analyzed, and the spot commodity data can be established, and the design of the product can be promoted according to the promotion setting data, so that the vending machine can automatically control the shelf life of the vending product and facilitate the targeting of the spot commodity. Run promotions that help reduce the number of items that are destroyed due to expiration.

Description

Vending machine systems and vending machines

The present invention relates to a shopping device, in particular to a vending machine system.

A vending machine is a fairly common commodity vending machine. It has been widely installed in public places such as stations, airports, hospitals, parks, sports fields, and even the main equipment of some unmanned stores. It can accommodate a variety of commodities for consumers to pay for and choose purchase.

Although the vending machine can store a large number of products and does not need the staff to keep watch at all times, when the vending machine sells products with a short shelf life, such as fresh juice, fresh milk drinks or products, and food products such as meals, it must be kept at all times. Send staff to check whether the products are about to expire or have expired, and replace the products that are about to expire or have expired to ensure that no consumers will buy expired products. However, the practice of frequently dispatching staff to check whether the goods sold by the vending machine are expired is not only labor-intensive, but also the practice of throwing away the ready-made goods will lead to the problem of wasting food.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine that ameliorates at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art.

Therefore, the vending machine of the present invention is suitable for selling a plurality of commodities, and can be connected with a cloud host signal. Each product has a product tag storing product information. The vending machine includes a vending machine for accommodating the commodities and operable to pay for and release the purchased commodities, and a control device for signal connection to the vending machine and for signal connection to the cloud host.

The management and control device can receive a promotion setting data created by the cloud host for a spot commodity data, and includes a tag reader for reading the commodity information of the commodity tag of each commodity accommodated in the vending machine Take the module, a deadline control module that can be operated to set a deadline threshold, and a sales control module. The period control module can analyze a storage period in each commodity information according to the period threshold, to compare each commodity information whose expiration date of the storage period is less than or equal to the period threshold, and collect the expiration date The commodity information whose remaining days are less than or equal to the threshold period is used to create the spot commodity data, and send the spot commodity data to the cloud host. The sales control module can control the vending machine to adjust the selling price of each corresponding product to the corresponding promotional price according to the promotion setting data.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine system that ameliorates at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art.

Therefore, the vending machine system of the present invention is suitable for selling a plurality of commodities, and each commodity has a commodity label storing commodity information. The vending machine system includes a vending machine and a cloud host whose signal is connected to the vending machine. The vending machine includes a vending machine for accommodating the commodities and operable to pay for and release the purchased commodities, and a signal connected to the vending machine and capable of receiving data from the cloud host for a spot commodity Created a control device for promotion setting data.

The control device includes a label reading module for reading the commodity information of the commodity label of each commodity accommodated in the vending machine, an expiration date control module operable to set a threshold for expiration, and A sales control module. The period control module can analyze a storage period in each commodity information according to the period threshold, to compare each commodity information whose expiration date of the storage period is less than or equal to the period threshold, and collect the expiration date The commodity information whose remaining days are less than or equal to the threshold period is used to create the spot commodity data, and send the spot commodity data to the cloud host. The sales control module can control the vending machine to adjust the selling price of each corresponding commodity to the corresponding promotional price according to the promotion setting data.

The cloud host can receive the spot commodity data transmitted by the vending machine, and includes a cloud management and control module for connecting and logging in the electronic device, and the cloud management module has an operable for the spot commodity Each product information in the product data sets a promotion setting interface with a promotion price, and the cloud management module will collect the product information with the promotion price set in the promotion setting interface to create the promotion setting data.

The effect of the present invention is that: through the control device of the vending machine, the commodity information of the commodity can be automatically read and immediate commodity data can be established, and the design of the vending machine's promotion commodity can be managed and controlled according to the promotion setting data, which is helpful for automatic real-time commodity control. Controlling the shelf life of all products sold by the vending machine and facilitating promotions for immediate products will help reduce the number of products that are destroyed due to expiration.

Before the present invention is described in detail, it should be noted that in the following description, similar elements are designated by the same reference numerals.

1, 2, and 3, the embodiment of the vending machine system 200 of the present invention is suitable for accommodating and selling a plurality of commodities 900, each commodity 900 having a commodity label 901 storing commodity information. The commodity 900 is, for example, but not limited to, fruit juice, fresh dairy products, meals, and other foods with a shelf life, as well as other items with a shelf life or a limited use period. In this embodiment, the commodity tag 901 is an RFID tag, and the commodity information content is, for example, but not limited to, an item number, a manufacturing date, and a shelf life that are sufficient to distinguish the types of the commodities 900 .

The vending machine system 200 includes a vending machine 3 , and a cloud host 4 which is connected to the vending machine 3 by a signal and can communicate with an electronic device 800 . The vending machine 3 and the cloud host 4 can be connected to transmit data through wired communication technology and/or wireless communication technology, such as but not limited to known wireless network technologies such as Bluetooth, WIFI, and 4G , 5G and other mobile communication network technologies. Since the communication method between the vending machine 3 and the cloud host 4 is the conventional technology and there are many types, it will not be described in detail.

The vending machine 3 includes a vending machine 31 capable of classifying and accommodating various commodities 900 for payment and purchase, and a control device 32 installed on the vending machine 31 and signally connected to the vending machine 31 . Communication between the machine 31 and the control device 32 can be performed through wired communication technology and/or currently known wireless communication technology.

The vending machine 31 can be used for the commodities 900 to be arranged in a plurality of groups to form a plurality of commodity groups, and has a plurality of display modules 311 corresponding to the corresponding commodity groups. After the consumer completes the payment, the vending machine 31 causes the display modules 311 corresponding to all commodity groups that match the paid amount to display the message that can be purchased, and will be displayed in one of the commodity groups that can be purchased. When purchasing, release one of the purchased product groups in order. The vending machine 31 can be used for payment by inserting physical currency, swiping a credit card, contacting an electronic wallet, and/or paying for virtual currency on the Internet. Since the vending machine 31 can be used for payment, purchase of commodities 900 , and release of the purchased commodities 900 are all conventional techniques and there are many ways, so they will not be described in detail.

The control device 32 includes a label reading module 321 , a term management module 322 , and a sales management module 323 . In this embodiment, the label reading module 321 senses and reads the commodity information of the commodity labels 901 of all commodities 900 contained in the vending machine 31 through RFID technology.

The expiration date control module 322 can be operated to set a threshold value, and will analyze the storage period in the commodity information according to the threshold value, so as to compare the remaining days of the expiration date of the storage period less than or equal to the threshold value. For each commodity 900 , the commodity information of all commodities 900 whose remaining days to expiration is less than or equal to the period threshold is aggregated to create a spot commodity data, and the spot commodity data is transmitted to the cloud host 4 . The content of the immediate commodity data is, for example, but not limited to, the item number in each commodity information, the shelf life and the corresponding remaining days of expiration, etc., and when implemented, the machine number of the vending machine 31 may be further entrained and setting location data, etc.

The sales control module 323 can set a predetermined price for each commodity group, and controls the vending machine 31 to display the corresponding predetermined price on the display modules 311 respectively, and enables the vending machine 31 to display the corresponding predetermined price respectively. According to the predetermined price set by each marking module 311, the payment amount is compared and the corresponding commodity group is provided for purchase.

In addition, the sales control module 323 can also control the vending machine 31 to adjust the sales price of each corresponding product group according to a promotion setting data received from the cloud host 4, and to modify the corresponding labeling module 311 settings. The content of the promotion setting data is such as but not limited to the item number of each commodity 900 to be promoted, the quantity of the commodity 900 to be promoted, and the promotion price, such as but not limited to a specific promotion amount, Or buy one get one free. Furthermore, the sales control module 323 can also control the vending machine 31 to stop selling each corresponding commodity 900 according to a prohibition setting data received from the cloud host 4 .

The sales control module 323 will control the vending machine 31 to modify the sales price of each commodity group corresponding to the original predetermined price to the corresponding promotion price according to the content of the promotion setting data, and control the corresponding promotion price. The display module 311 displays the promotional price, and generates promotional messages, such as sound, light and/or images, for attracting consumers' attention. The sales control module 323 also analyzes the commodity information currently read by the label reading module 321 according to the promotion setting data, so as to compare the current commodity information to be purchased in each commodity group corresponding to the promotion setting data. The quantity of the commodity 900 adjusted to the promotion price is obtained to obtain a promotion quantity, and the vending machine 31 is controlled to display the promotion quantity on the corresponding display module 311 .

During the period when the vending machine 31 sells the commodity 900, the vending control module 323 will continue to receive and analyze the commodity information currently read by the tag reading module 321, so as to obtain the current promotion quantity, and determine when When the promotion quantity of a commodity group is reduced to zero, the vending machine 31 is controlled to modify the selling price of the commodity group from the promotion price to the corresponding predetermined price, and control the corresponding display module 311 to display corresponding to the predetermined price.

In this embodiment, the sales control module 323 determines and obtains the promotion quantity of the commodity 900 to be promoted in each commodity group by analyzing the commodity information currently read. In another embodiment, the sales control module 323 can also be changed to be triggered every time a commodity 900 is released from the vending machine 31 to count to obtain a sold quantity, so as to obtain the promotion. the sold quantity of the commodities 900 in each commodity group, and when it is determined that the sold quantity is increased to be equal to the corresponding promotion quantity, the vending machine 31 is controlled to modify the selling price of the corresponding commodity group from the promotion price is the corresponding predetermined price, and controls the corresponding display module 311 to display the corresponding predetermined price instead.

The cloud host 4 can be used by the administrator to log in through an electronic device 800 , and can receive the immediate commodity data transmitted by the vending machine 3 . The cloud host 4 includes a notification module 41 and a cloud management and control module 42 . The electronic device 800 may be a portable electronic device such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a smart watch and glasses, or a computer device such as a notebook computer or a desktop computer.

The notification module 41 will, when receiving the immediate commodity information, send the immediate commodity information to the electronic device 800 used by the administrator, so as to let the administrator know which commodities 900 sold by the vending machine 3 are about to expire .

The cloud management module 42 has a promotion setting interface 421 and a sales ban setting interface 422 . The promotion setting interface 421 is operable to set a promotion price for any commodity information in the immediate commodity data, and the ban sale setting interface 422 is operable to create a promotion price for any commodity information in the immediate commodity data Banned settings. The cloud management module 42 aggregates the information of each product in the promotion setting interface 421 that is set with the promotion price to create the promotion setting data, and aggregates the information in the sales prohibition setting interface 422 for which the prohibition setting is set. For each product information, a prohibited-sale setting data is created, and the promotion setting data and/or the prohibited-selling setting data are transmitted to the vending machine 3 .

In this embodiment, the tag 901 of each commodity 900 is an RFID tag, and the tag reading module 321 reads the commodity information of each tag 901 through RFID sensing technology. In one embodiment, the label 901 can also be changed to a barcode format, such as but not limited to a one-dimensional barcode, or a two-dimensional barcode such as a QR code, and the label reading module 321 can be changed to be readable through image analysis. The product information of each label 901 can be obtained by scanning and reading the product information of the label 901 of each product 900 placed in the vending machine 31 .

To sum up, through the control device 32 of the vending machine 3, the commodity information of all commodities 900 can be automatically read, and the design of the spot commodity data can be created for the commodity 900 that is about to expire, and the cloud host 4 can receive The spot commodity data is operable to establish the promotion setting data and the ban sale setting data for the commodity 900 in the spot commodity data, and to control the control device 32 according to the promotion setting data and the ban sale setting The design of the data management and control of the vending machine 31 for the promotion product 900 or the prohibited product 900, in addition to the automatic real-time control of the storage period of all the products 900 sold by the vending machine 3, it is also convenient for the administrator to perform remote monitoring through the electronic device 800. , and it is convenient for managers to conduct promotions for immediate commodities, which helps to reduce the number of commodities 900 destroyed due to expiration, and avoid waste of resources. It is a quite innovative and practical design of the vending machine system 200 . Therefore, the object of the present invention can be achieved indeed.

However, the above are only examples of the present invention, and should not limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the contents of the patent specification are still included in the scope of the present invention. within the scope of the invention patent.

200: Vending Machine System 3: Vending machine 31: Vending machine 311: Marking Module 32: Control device 321: Tag Reader Module 322: Deadline Control Module 323: Sales Control Module 4: Cloud hosting 41: Notification Module 42: Cloud control module 421: Promotion setting interface 422: Banned setting interface 800: Electronics 900: Commodity 901: Label

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the vending machine system of the present invention; Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of this embodiment; and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the embodiment, schematically illustrating a situation in which one label reading module reads commodity information of commodity labels of a plurality of commodities.

200: Vending Machine System

3: Vending machine

31: Vending machine

32: Control device

321: Tag Reader Module

322: Deadline Control Module

323: Sales Control Module

4: Cloud hosting

41: Notification Module

42: Cloud control module

421: Promotion setting interface

422: Banned setting interface

800: Electronics

Claims (12)

A vending machine is suitable for selling a plurality of commodities, and can be connected with a cloud host signal, each commodity has a commodity label storing commodity information, the commodity label is an RFID label, and the vending machine comprises: a vending machine table, It is used for accommodating the commodities, and can be operated to pay for and release the purchased commodities; and a control device, which is connected to the vending machine with a signal, and is used to connect the cloud host with a signal, and can receive the cloud host for a A promotion setting data established by the spot product data, and includes a label reading module for reading the product information of the product label of each product accommodated in the vending machine through a wireless induction method, a The expiration date control module can be used to set a threshold value for the operation, and can analyze a storage period in each product information according to the threshold value to compare the remaining days of the expiration date of the storage period is less than or equal to the threshold value. each commodity information, and compile the commodity information whose remaining days to expiration are less than or equal to the threshold to create the spot commodity data, and send the spot commodity data to the cloud host, together with a sales control module, which can According to the promotion setting data, the vending machine is controlled to adjust the selling price of each product corresponding to the corresponding promotion price. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine table can be used for arranging the commodities in a plurality of groups to form a plurality of commodity groups, and can be arranged according to Sorting and releasing one of the purchased product groups, and having a plurality of marking modules corresponding to the corresponding product groups, the sales control module will also control the vending machine to correspond to the corresponding product groups according to the promotion setting data. The display module corresponding to each commodity group displays the corresponding promotional price. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the sales control module further analyzes the commodity information currently read by the label reading module according to the promotion setting data, so as to compare with the promotion setting data The quantity of the product in each product group corresponding to the current promotion price to be adjusted to obtain a promotion quantity, and the vending machine will be controlled to display the promotion quantity in the display module corresponding to the commodity group. The vending machine according to claim 3, wherein the sales control module sets a plurality of predetermined prices corresponding to the corresponding commodity groups, and analyzes the commodity information currently read by the tag reading module , and when it is determined that the promotion quantity of one of the commodity groups corresponding to the promotion setting data is reduced to zero, the vending machine is controlled to display the corresponding predetermined price in the display module corresponding to the one of the commodity groups. The vending machine according to claim 3, wherein the vending control module is set with a plurality of predetermined prices corresponding to the corresponding commodity groups, and the vending machine is triggered and counted every time a commodity is released. A sold quantity, and the sales control module will control the vending machine to change to one of the products when it is determined that the sold quantity of one of the product groups corresponding to the promotion setting data is increased to be equal to the promotion quantity The display module corresponding to the group displays the corresponding predetermined price. A vending machine system suitable for vending multiple commodities, each commodity having A commodity label storing commodity information, the commodity label is an RFID tag, the vending machine system includes a vending machine, and a cloud host whose signal is connected to the vending machine and can be used to communicate with an electronic device, wherein: the vending machine It includes a vending machine for accommodating the commodities and can be operated to pay for and release the purchased commodities, and a signal to connect the vending machine and receive a message created by the cloud host for a spot commodity data. A control device for promotion setting data, the control device includes a label reading module for reading the commodity information of the commodity label of each commodity accommodated in the vending machine through wireless induction, and a period of time control is provided. The module can be used to set a period threshold, and can analyze a storage period in each product information according to the period threshold, so as to compare the remaining days of the expiration date of the storage period to be less than or equal to the period threshold. a commodity information, and assemble the commodity information whose expiration days are less than or equal to the threshold to create the spot commodity information, and send the spot commodity information to the cloud host, and a sales control module, which can be based on the The promotion setting data controls the vending machine to adjust the selling price of each corresponding commodity to the corresponding promotion price; the cloud host can receive the immediate commodity data transmitted by the vending machine, and includes a data for the electronic device to connect to. The cloud management and control module for online login operation, the cloud management and control module has a Each commodity information in the spot commodity data sets a promotion setting interface with a promotion price, and the cloud management module will collect the commodity information with the promotion price set in the promotion setting interface to create the promotion setting data. The vending machine system according to claim 6, wherein the vending machine can be used for arranging the commodities in a plurality of groups to form a plurality of commodity groups, and can release the purchased commodity groups in order One of them has a plurality of sign modules corresponding to the corresponding product groups, and the sales control module will also control the sign modules corresponding to each product group of the vending machine according to the promotion setting data. Displays the corresponding promotional price. The vending machine system of claim 7, wherein the sales control module further analyzes the commodity information currently read by the tag reading module according to the promotion setting data to compare with the promotion setting The quantity of the product in each product group corresponding to the data that is currently adjusted to the promotional price to obtain a promotional quantity, and will control the vending machine to display the promotional quantity in the display module corresponding to the product group . The vending machine system according to claim 8, wherein the vending control module sets a plurality of predetermined prices corresponding to the corresponding commodity groups, and analyzes the commodities currently read by the label reading module information, and when it is determined that the promotion quantity of one of the commodity groups corresponding to the promotion setting data is reduced to zero, the vending machine is controlled to display the corresponding predetermined price on the display module corresponding to the one of the commodity groups. The vending machine system according to claim 8, wherein the vending control module is set with a plurality of predetermined prices corresponding to the corresponding commodity groups, and will be set in the vending control module. Each time the vending machine releases a commodity, it is triggered and counted to obtain a sold quantity, and the vending control module will increase the sold quantity of one of the commodity groups corresponding to the promotion setting data to be equal to the promotion. When the quantity is determined, the vending machine is controlled to display the corresponding predetermined price on the display module corresponding to one of the commodity groups. The vending machine system according to claim 6, wherein the cloud management and control module further has a prohibition setting interface operable to set a prohibition setting for any commodity information in the spot commodity data, and the The cloud management and control module will aggregate the product information for which the prohibited sale setting is set in the prohibited sale setting interface, so as to generate a corresponding prohibited sale setting data, and transmit the prohibited sale setting data to the vending machine. The group will control the vending machine to stop selling the corresponding products according to the prohibition setting data. The vending machine system of claim 6 is suitable for communicating with an electronic device, wherein the cloud host further includes a notification module for sending the immediate commodity data to the electronic device.

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