阅读说明：本技术 一种自动售货机及其货道高度检测方法 (automatic vending machine and goods channel height detection method thereof ) 是由 周冲 张春光 许加波 姜天信 王春涛 于 2018-06-11 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及自动售货技术领域,公开了一种自动售货机及其货道高度检测方法。货道高度检测方法包括根据目标货道的初始位置获取所述目标货道的校正位置,控制货斗移动至目标货道的校正位置,再控制货斗由目标货道的校正位置向目标货道的初始位置移动,并在货斗向目标货道的初始位置移动过程中通过检测装置的信号确定目标货道的高度。通过本发明的自动售货机的货道高度检测方法,可以在货道的高度发生变化时准确获知货道的实际高度,从而基于货道的实际高度,能够使货斗的高度与货道的高度满足一定的要求,从而保证出货正常,这样,即可解决由于货道高度不确定所导致的出货异常的问题。本发明的自动售货机用于实现上述的方法。(the invention relates to the technical field of automatic vending, and discloses an automatic vending machine and a goods channel height detection method thereof. The method for detecting the height of the goods channel comprises the steps of obtaining a correction position of the target goods channel according to an initial position of the target goods channel, controlling the goods hopper to move to the correction position of the target goods channel, then controlling the goods hopper to move from the correction position of the target goods channel to the initial position of the target goods channel, and determining the height of the target goods channel through a signal of a detection device in the process that the goods hopper moves to the initial position of the target goods channel. The method for detecting the height of the goods channel of the vending machine can accurately acquire the actual height of the goods channel when the height of the goods channel changes, so that the height of the goods hopper and the height of the goods channel can meet certain requirements based on the actual height of the goods channel, the normal goods delivery is ensured, and the problem of abnormal goods delivery caused by uncertain height of the goods channel can be solved. The vending machine of the invention is used for realizing the method.)

1. The utility model provides a goods way height detection method, is applied to automatic vending machine, and automatic vending machine includes the cabinet body, internal goods fill, be used for driving of the internal actuating mechanism and a plurality of goods way that are used for storing commodity that are provided with of cabinet, its characterized in that, automatic vending machine still including set up in the detection device of goods fill, detection device is used for detecting the position relation between goods fill and the target goods way, goods way height detection method includes:

Acquiring an initial position of the target cargo channel;

Acquiring a correction position of the target cargo channel according to the initial position of the target cargo channel;

Controlling the bucket to move to the correction position of the target cargo channel;

And controlling the bucket to move from the correction position of the target cargo channel to the initial position of the target cargo channel, and determining the height of the target cargo channel through signals output by the detection device in the process of moving the bucket.

2. the method of claim 1, wherein:

the corrected position of the target lane is lower than the initial position of the target lane.

3. The method for detecting the height of the cargo way according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of cargo ways are arranged in at least two layers, and each cargo way comprises a supporting plate for supporting a commodity;

the corrected position of the target cargo way is positioned right below the initial position of the target cargo way, and the height difference between the corrected position of the target cargo way and the initial position of the target cargo way is a first preset value DH 1;

When the target lane is the lowest lane, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H1/2 and DH1 < H1, H1 is the distance from the supporting plate of the said target cargo way to the bottom plate of the said cabinet, when the said target cargo way is not the cargo way located at the lowest floor, the said first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H2/2 and DH1 < H2, H2 is the height of the accommodation space of the cargo channel below the target cargo channel.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the height of the target lane from the signal output by the detection device comprises:

When a first signal output by the detection device is received, determining the height position of the cargo bucket;

Determining the height of the target cargo channel according to the height position of the cargo hopper and the position relation between the cargo hopper and the target cargo channel when the first signal is received;

when the height difference between the cargo bucket and the target cargo channel is a second preset value, the detection device outputs the first signal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

and after the height of the target cargo channel is determined, updating the initial position of the target cargo channel according to the height of the target cargo channel.

6. The vending machine is characterized by further comprising a detection device arranged on the goods hopper, and the detection device is used for detecting the position relation between the goods hopper and a target goods channel;

The control device is used for acquiring an initial position of the target cargo channel, acquiring a correction position of the target cargo channel according to the initial position of the target cargo channel, controlling the bucket to move to the correction position of the target cargo channel, controlling the bucket to move from the correction position of the target cargo channel to the initial position of the target cargo channel, and determining the height of the target cargo channel through a signal output by the detection device in the moving process of the bucket.

7. the vending machine of claim 6, wherein:

The corrected position of the target lane is lower than the initial position of the target lane.

8. The vending machine of claim 7, wherein the plurality of lanes are arranged in at least two layers, each lane including a support plate for supporting merchandise;

The corrected position of the target cargo way is positioned right below the initial position of the target cargo way, and the height difference between the corrected position of the target cargo way and the initial position of the target cargo way is a first preset value DH 1; when the target lane is the lowest lane, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H1/2 and DH1 < H1, H1 is the distance from the supporting plate of the said target cargo way to the bottom plate of the said cabinet, when the said target cargo way is not the cargo way located at the lowest floor, the said first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H2/2 and DH1 < H2, H2 is the height of the accommodation space of the cargo channel below the target cargo channel.

9. The vending machine of claim 6, wherein:

The control device is used for determining the height position of the cargo bucket when receiving the first signal output by the detection device, and determining the height of the target cargo channel according to the height position of the cargo bucket and the position relation between the cargo bucket and the target cargo channel when receiving the first signal;

When the height difference between the cargo bucket and the target cargo channel is a second preset value, the detection device outputs the first signal.

10. the vending machine of claim 6, wherein:

the control device is further used for updating the initial position of the target cargo channel according to the height of the target cargo channel after the height of the target cargo channel is determined.

Technical Field

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

Background

A vending machine is a commercial automation device for vending articles. The vending machine is more and more widely applied due to the characteristics of no time and place limitation, labor saving, convenient transaction and the like.

Disclosure of Invention

in view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine and a method for detecting a height of a goods channel thereof, so as to solve a problem of abnormal shipment caused by an uncertain height of the goods channel in the vending machine of the related art.

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

The embodiment of the invention provides a goods channel height detection method, which is applied to an automatic vending machine, wherein the automatic vending machine comprises a cabinet body, a goods hopper, a driving mechanism for driving the goods hopper to move, a plurality of goods channels for storing goods are arranged in the cabinet body, the automatic vending machine also comprises a detection device arranged on the goods hopper, the detection device is used for detecting the position relation between the goods hopper and a target goods channel, and the goods channel height detection method comprises the following steps:

Acquiring an initial position of a target cargo channel;

acquiring a correction position of the target cargo channel according to the initial position of the target cargo channel;

controlling the cargo bucket to move to the correction position of the target cargo channel;

and controlling the bucket to move from the correction position of the target cargo channel to the initial position of the target cargo channel, and determining the height of the target cargo channel through a signal output by the detection device in the moving process of the bucket.

further, the corrected position of the target lane is lower than the initial position of the target lane.

Furthermore, the plurality of goods channels are arranged in at least two layers, and each goods channel comprises a supporting plate for supporting goods;

the corrected position of the target cargo channel is positioned right below the initial position of the target cargo channel, and the height difference between the corrected position of the target cargo channel and the initial position of the target cargo channel is a first preset value DH 1;

when the target lane is the lane located at the lowermost layer, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H1/2 and DH1 < H1, H1 is the distance from the bottom plate of the cabinet to the supporting plate of the goal goods way, when the goal goods way is not located the goods way of the lowest floor, first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H2/2 and DH1 < H2, H2 is the height of the accommodation space of the lane under the target lane.

further, the step of determining the height of the target lane from the signal output by the detection device includes:

When a first signal output by the detection device is received, determining the height position of the cargo bucket;

Determining the height of the target cargo channel according to the height position of the cargo bucket and the position relation between the cargo bucket and the target cargo channel when the first signal is received;

when the height difference between the goods bucket and the target goods channel is a second preset value, the detection device outputs a first signal.

Furthermore, the goods bucket is provided with a loading plate for loading goods, when the height difference between the goods bucket and the target goods channel is a second preset value, the loading plate is lower than the supporting plate of the target goods channel, the height difference between the upper surface of the loading plate and the lower edge of the supporting plate of the target goods channel is a second preset value, and the second preset value is smaller than the first preset value.

Furthermore, after the height of the target cargo channel is determined, the initial position of the target cargo channel is updated according to the height of the target cargo channel.

Further, before obtaining the initial position of the target lane, the lane height detection method further includes: and determining a target goods channel according to the goods purchasing instruction.

the automatic vending machine is characterized by further comprising a detection device arranged on the goods bucket, and the detection device is used for detecting the position relation between the goods bucket and a target goods channel;

The control device is used for acquiring the initial position of the target cargo channel, acquiring the correction position of the target cargo channel according to the initial position of the target cargo channel, controlling the cargo hopper to move to the correction position of the target cargo channel, controlling the cargo hopper to move from the correction position of the target cargo channel to the initial position of the target cargo channel, and determining the height of the target cargo channel through a signal output by the detection device in the moving process of the cargo hopper.

Further, the corrected position of the target lane is lower than the initial position of the target lane.

Furthermore, the plurality of goods channels are arranged in at least two layers, and each goods channel comprises a supporting plate for supporting goods;

The corrected position of the target cargo channel is positioned right below the initial position of the target cargo channel, and the height difference between the corrected position of the target cargo channel and the initial position of the target cargo channel is a first preset value DH 1; when the target lane is the lane located at the lowermost layer, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H1/2 and DH1 < H1, H1 is the distance from the bottom plate of the cabinet to the supporting plate of the goal goods way, when the goal goods way is not located the goods way of the lowest floor, first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H2/2 and DH1 < H2, H2 is the height of the accommodation space of the lane under the target lane.

Further, the control device is used for determining the height position of the cargo bucket when receiving the first signal output by the detection device, and determining the height of the target cargo channel according to the height position of the cargo bucket and the position relation between the cargo bucket and the target cargo channel when receiving the first signal;

when the height difference between the goods bucket and the target goods channel is a second preset value, the detection device outputs a first signal.

Furthermore, the control device is also used for updating the initial position of the target cargo way according to the height of the target cargo way after the height of the target cargo way is determined.

Further, the control device is also used for determining the target goods channel according to the commodity purchasing instruction before acquiring the initial position of the target goods channel.

The embodiment of the invention has the beneficial effects that:

by the method for detecting the height of the goods channel, which is disclosed by the embodiment of the invention, the correction position of the target goods channel is obtained according to the initial position of the target goods channel, the bucket is controlled to move to the correction position of the target goods channel, then controlling the bucket to move from the correction position of the target cargo channel to the initial position of the target cargo channel, determining the height of the target cargo channel through signals of the detection device in the process that the bucket moves to the initial position of the target cargo channel, therefore, the method for detecting the height of the goods channel of the automatic vending machine can accurately acquire the actual height of the goods channel when the height of the goods channel changes, thereby enabling the height of the cargo bucket and the height of the cargo channel to meet certain requirements based on the actual height of the cargo channel, thereby guaranteeing normal shipment, and thus, the problem of abnormal shipment caused by uncertain height of the cargo channel can be solved.

The vending machine of the embodiment of the invention determines the relative position relationship between the goods bucket and the target goods channel by using the detection device, and can realize the goods channel height detection method by combining each module, thereby having the advantages explained by the method.

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 an external configuration of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an internal structure of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

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

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

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of a bucket of a vending machine provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic coordinate diagram of a cross-section of a storage device of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method for detecting a height of a goods channel of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a detailed flowchart of step S500 in the embodiment of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of another method for detecting the height of a cargo way according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a control device of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a calculation module in the embodiment of FIG. 10.

Icon: 010-vending machines; 100-a cabinet; 110-a cabinet body; 112-origin of coordinates; 120-a cabinet door; 121-a goods taking port; 200-a storage device; 210-a cargo way; 2101-target lane; 2102-a first lane; 211-article conveying means; 212-a support plate; 213-a separator; 214-a detection member; 215-center point; 216 — corrected position of target lane; 220-a pedestal; 300-a delivery device; 310-a cargo bucket; 311-a carrier plate; 320-bucket drive mechanism; 321-a horizontal driving mechanism; 322-a vertical drive mechanism; 400-a detection device; 410-a sensor; 500-a storage 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 "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on 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 in a specific orientation, and be operated, 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.

Furthermore, the terms "horizontal", "vertical" and the like do not imply that the components are required to be absolutely horizontal or pendant, but rather may be slightly inclined. For example, "horizontal" merely means that the direction is more horizontal than "vertical" and does not mean that the structure must be perfectly horizontal, but may be slightly inclined.

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; can be mechanically or electrically connected; 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.

the technical scheme of the invention is further explained by the specific implementation mode in combination with the attached drawings.

Fig. 1 and fig. 2 are schematic structural diagrams of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 3 is a block diagram of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 1 to fig. 3.

as shown in fig. 1 to 3, the vending machine 010 of the present embodiment includes a cabinet 100, a storing device 200, a delivery device 300, a detection device 400, a storage device 500, and a control device 600.

As shown in fig. 1, the cabinet 100 includes a cabinet body 110 and a cabinet door 120, the cabinet body 110 is movably connected to the cabinet door 120, the cabinet body 110 includes an opening (not shown in the figure), and the cabinet door 120 can move relative to the opening of the cabinet body 110 to open or close the cabinet body 110. The cabinet door 120 is provided with a goods access opening 121 through which a user can take out goods.

The storage device 200 is configured to receive merchandise for sale. As shown in fig. 2, the storage device 200 is disposed inside the cabinet 110, the storage device 200 is disposed opposite to the cabinet door 120 at an interval, the storage device 200 includes a plurality of lanes 210 for accommodating goods, the lanes 210 are M layers in the up-down direction (i.e., the direction indicated by the arrow cd), and are arranged in N rows in the left-right direction (i.e., the direction indicated by the arrow ab), and the length direction of the lanes 210 extends in the front-back direction (i.e., the direction indicated by the arrow ef). An outlet is arranged at one end of the goods passage 210 close to the cabinet door 120, the outlet of the goods passage 210 is opposite to the cabinet door 120, a goods conveying mechanism 211 is arranged in the goods passage 210, and goods contained in the goods passage 210 can be output from the outlet of the goods passage 210 under the driving of the goods conveying mechanism 211. As shown in fig. 2, in the present embodiment, the storage device 200 includes sixty-six lanes 210, the sixty-six lanes 210 are arranged in six layers along the vertical direction and eleven rows along the horizontal direction, the storage device 200 further includes a base frame 220, the base frame 220 is located between the lowest lane 210 and a bottom plate (not shown) of the cabinet 110, and the base frame 220 is used for supporting the lanes 210. Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged view of a cargo channel 210 of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 4, the cargo channel 210 includes a support plate 212, and partitions 213 spaced above the support plate 212 in the left-right direction. A cargo channel 210 for accommodating goods is formed between the supporting plate 212 and two adjacent partitions 213. In this embodiment, the plurality of lanes 210 located at the same level share one support plate 212.

the delivery device 300 is configured to transport the goods between the storage device 200 and the access opening 121. As shown in fig. 2, the delivery device 300 is located between the cabinet door 120 and the storage device 200. The delivery device 300 includes a bucket 310 and a bucket driving mechanism 320, wherein an outlet is provided at one end of the bucket 310 close to the cabinet door 120, and an inlet is provided at one end of the bucket 310 close to the cargo passage 210. The bucket driving mechanism 320 includes a horizontal driving mechanism 321 and a vertical driving mechanism 322, the horizontal driving mechanism 321 includes a horizontal bracket (not shown in the figure) and a first power assembly (not shown in the figure), the vertical driving mechanism 322 includes a vertical bracket (not shown in the figure) and a second power assembly (not shown in the figure), the bucket 310 is in transmission connection with the vertical bracket, the second power assembly is disposed between the shelf 310 and the vertical bracket to drive the bucket 310 to move on the vertical bracket in the up-down direction, the vertical bracket is in transmission connection with the horizontal bracket, the first power assembly is disposed between the vertical bracket and the horizontal bracket to drive the vertical bracket to carry the bucket 310 to move on the horizontal bracket in the left-right direction, so that the bucket driving mechanism 320 can drive the bucket 310 to move in the up-down direction and/or in the left-right direction to make the inlet of the bucket 310 opposite to the outlet of any one of the cargo way 210, or the outlet of the bucket 310 is opposite to the access port 121. When the entrance of the bucket 310 is opposite to the exit of any one of the channels 210, the goods in the channel 210 can be fed into the bucket 310; when the outlet of the bucket 310 is opposite to the access port 121, the user can access the goods in the bucket 310 through the access port 121.

Fig. 5 is a partial enlarged view of a bucket 310 of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 5, a loading plate 311 for loading goods is disposed in the bucket 310. When the inlet of the bucket 310 is opposite to the outlet of any one of the lanes 210 and receives goods from the lane 210, it is required that the height of the carrying plate 311 of the bucket 310 and the height of the supporting plate 212 of the lane 210 meet a preset requirement, and then the goods in the lane 210 can smoothly enter the bucket 310, for example, the upper surface of the carrying plate 311 of the bucket 310 and the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the lane 210 are required to be located on the same plane, so that the goods output from the lane 210 can be horizontally moved into the bucket 310, or the upper surface of the carrying plate 311 of the bucket 310 is required to be lower than the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the lane 210 by a set height, so that the goods output from the lane 210 can fall into the bucket 310. When the weight of the goods in the cargo way 210 is too large, the front end of the supporting plate 212 is pressed down, and the degree of pressing down of the supporting plate 212 is also affected by the weight of the goods, so that the height of the front end of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210 is uncertain, that is, the actual height of the cargo way 210 is uncertain. Since the actual height of the supporting plate 212 of the goods way 210 may not be consistent with the theoretical height, and the actual height of the supporting plate 212 of the goods way 210 is affected by the weight of the goods in the goods way 210 with uncertainty, when the goods way 210 outputs the goods to the goods bucket 310, the height of the loading plate 311 of the goods bucket 310 and the height of the supporting plate 212 of the goods way 210 may not meet the preset requirement, and then the goods in the goods way 210 enters the goods bucket 310 to be blocked, resulting in abnormal goods output.

to ameliorate this problem, the detection device 400 is configured to detect the height of the cargo way 210. Detection device 400 is disposed on bucket 310 and is movable with bucket 310. The sensing device 400 includes a sensor 410, and a sensing member 214 is provided at a front end of each of the channels 210 of the vending machine 010, and the sensor 410 is engaged with or disengaged from the sensing member 214 at the front end of the channel 210 when the sensing device 400 moves with the bucket 310. In both cases where the sensor 410 is engaged with the detecting member 214 and the sensor 410 is disengaged from the detecting member 214, the sensor 410 outputs different signals, for example, a first signal is output when the sensor 410 is engaged with the detecting member 214, and a second signal is output when the sensor 410 is disengaged from the detecting member 214, so that the engagement or disengagement of the sensor 410 with or from the detecting member 214 can be determined according to the signal output by the sensor 410. As shown in fig. 4, in the present embodiment, the detecting member 214 is attached to the front end of the partition 213. In other embodiments provided by the present invention, the detecting member 214 may be further disposed at the front end of the supporting plate 212.

It should be noted that, when the sensor 410 is matched with the detecting member 214 arranged at the front end of one cargo channel 210 and the sensor 410 outputs a first signal, the position relationship between the cargo bucket 310 and the cargo channel 210 meets a preset requirement, specifically, the height difference between the cargo bucket 310 and the cargo channel 210 is a second preset value, where the second preset value is greater than or equal to zero. Assuming that the height of the bucket 310 is represented by the height of the upper surface of the loading plate 311, and the height of the cargo way 210 is represented by the height of the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210, when the sensor 410 is engaged with the detecting member 214 arranged at the front end of one cargo way 210, the positional relationship between the upper surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 and the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210 satisfies a predetermined requirement, for example, the upper surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 and the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210 are located on the same plane, that is, the second predetermined value is equal to zero, or the upper surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 is lower than the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210 and the height difference between the two is a set value, that is, the second predetermined value is greater than zero, so that when the sensor 410 is engaged with the detecting member 214, the actual height of the cargo way 210 can be known through the positional relationship between the bucket 310 and, according to the actual height of the cargo way 210, the height of the bearing plate 311 of the cargo bucket 310 and the height of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210 can meet the preset requirement during cargo delivery, so that the cargo delivery is ensured to be normal, and thus, the problem of abnormal cargo delivery caused by uncertain actual height of the cargo way 210 can be solved.

The storage device 500 is configured to store a control program of the vending machine 010 and data and variables generated during the program operation, for example, the storage device 500 is configured to store parameters of an initial position of the bucket 310 and parameters of an initial position of each lane 210, and store a height difference between the initial position of each lane 210 and a corrected position of the lane 210. The initial position of the bucket 310 is a position where the bucket 310 is parked after the vending machine 010 is powered on and initialized and a user takes away commodities in the bucket 310; the position parameters of each cargo way 210 include a horizontal parameter and a vertical parameter of the cargo way 210, and optionally, the corrected position of each cargo way 210 is located below the initial position of the cargo way 210, and the height difference between the corrected position of each cargo way 210 and the initial position of the cargo way 210 is a first preset value DH1, wherein the first preset value DH1 is set to ensure that the front end of the support plate 212 is still located above the corrected position of the cargo way 210 even if the front end of the support plate 212 of the cargo way 210 is pressed down. Preferably, each lane 210 corresponds to a first preset value DH1, and when the lane 210 is the lowest lane, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H1/2 and DH1 < H1, wherein H1 is the distance between the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210 and the bottom plate of the cabinet 110, by so setting, the correcting position of the cargo way 210 along the up-down direction can be located at the position of the base frame 220; when the lane 210 is not the lane located at the lowermost layer, that is, there are other lanes 210 below the lane 210, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H2/2 and DH1 < H2, wherein H2 is the height of the receiving space of the cargo way 210 below the cargo way 210, by so arranging, the correct position of the cargo way 210 in the up-down direction can be located in the receiving space of the cargo way 210 below it. Of course, in other embodiments provided by the present invention, the correction position of each cargo way 210 may be located above the initial position of the cargo way 210.

In the present embodiment, the cross section of the storage device of the vending machine 010 is represented by using an XY rectangular coordinate system, and the position of each of the channels 210 is represented by using coordinates of the center point 215 on the upper side of the front end surface of the support plate 212 of the channel 210 in the XY rectangular coordinate system, that is, the position parameter of each of the channels 210 includes an X coordinate value and a Y coordinate value of the center point 215 corresponding to the channel 210. Fig. 6 is a schematic coordinate diagram of a cross section of a storage device of an automatic vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the cross section of the storage device 200 is a plane where outlets of the lanes 210 are located, and as shown in fig. 6, in this embodiment, an end point 112 of a lower right corner of a base frame 220 of the storage device 200 is taken as a coordinate origin, a positive direction of an X axis extends rightward along a left-right direction, and a positive direction of the Y axis extends upward along an up-down direction, sixty-six lanes 210 included in the automatic vending machine 010 are arranged in six layers along the Y direction and eleven columns along the X direction, an initial position of each lane 210 is expressed by using a coordinate value of a center point 215 on an upper side of a front end surface of a support plate 212 of the lane 210, and a parameter of the initial position of the lane 210, that is, an X coordinate value and a Y coordinate value of the center point 215 corresponding to. It should be noted that, in other embodiments provided by the present invention, the coordinate origin of the XY rectangular coordinate system may also be selectively set according to actual needs, for example, the end point of the lower left corner of the base frame 220 is used as the coordinate origin, and the position of the cargo way 210 may also adopt other representation manners according to actual needs, for example, the position of each cargo way 210 is represented by the left end point on the upper side of the front end surface of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210, or the position of each cargo way 210 is represented by the right end point on the upper side of the front end surface of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210.

The control device 600 is electrically connected to the storage device 200, the delivery device 300, the detection device 400 and the storage device 500, and the control device 600 is configured to control the operation of the storage device 200, the delivery device 300, the detection device 400 and the storage device 500 of the vending machine 010. For example, the control device 600 is configured to obtain a commodity purchase instruction input by a user, determine a target lane for accommodating a commodity according to the commodity to be purchased by the user, obtain a parameter of an initial position of the target lane stored in the storage device 500, and control the bucket driving mechanism 320 of the delivery device 300 to drive the bucket 310 to the initial position of the target lane according to the parameter of the initial position of the target lane, and control the commodity conveying mechanism 211 of the target lane to convey the commodity to be purchased by the user from the target lane to the bucket 310, and control the bucket driving mechanism 320 to drive the bucket 310 to the goods taking port 121, so that the user can take the commodity in the bucket 310 through the goods taking port 121; the control device 600 is further configured to obtain an initial position of the target track, obtain a corrected position of the target track according to the initial position of the target track, control the bucket driving mechanism 320 of the delivery device 300 to drive the bucket 310 to the corrected position of the target track, and control the bucket driving mechanism 320 to drive the bucket 310 to move from the corrected position of the target track to the initial position of the target track, and determine the height of the target track through a signal output by the detection device 400 disposed on the bucket 310 during the movement of the bucket 310.

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for detecting a height of a goods channel of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, which may be executed by the control device 600 of the vending machine 010 shown in fig. 3. As shown, the method comprises the following steps:

s200, acquiring the initial position of the target goods channel.

Taking the vending machine 010 of the present embodiment as an example, the parameters of the initial position of each lane are stored in the storage device 500, and after the control device 600 determines the target lane, the parameters of the initial position of the target lane are read from the storage device 500.

s300, acquiring the correction position of the target cargo channel according to the initial position of the target cargo channel.

And acquiring a corrected position of the target cargo way according to the initial position of the target cargo way, wherein optionally, the corrected position of the target cargo way is lower than the initial position of the target cargo way, further, the corrected position of the target cargo way is positioned right below the initial position of the target cargo way, and the height difference between the corrected position of the target cargo way and the initial position of the target cargo way is a first preset value DH 1. Of course, in other embodiments provided by the present invention, the corrected position of the target lane may also be higher than the initial position of the target lane, for example, the corrected position of the target lane is located right above the initial position of the target lane.

Taking the vending machine 010 of the embodiment of the present invention as an example, after the control device 600 obtains the parameter of the initial position of the target lane, the parameter of the corrected position of the target lane is determined according to the parameter of the initial position of the target lane. In the automatic vending machine 010 of the embodiment of the present invention, the corrected position of the target track is lower than the initial position of the target track, the vertical parameter of the corrected position of the target track is equal to the vertical parameter of the initial position of the target track minus the first preset value DH1, and the first preset value DH1 is set to ensure that the front end of the support plate 212 of the target track is still above the corrected position of the target track even if the front end of the support plate 212 is pressed down.

Further, the level parameter of the corrected position of the target lane is the same as the level parameter of the initial position of the target lane. Because the front end of the supporting plate 212 of the target cargo channel is pressed down by the commodity accommodated by the target cargo channel, the vertical position of the supporting plate 212 can be changed, and the horizontal position of the supporting plate 212 can not be changed, therefore, the horizontal parameter of the correction position of the target cargo channel is the same as the horizontal parameter of the initial position of the target cargo channel, the correction position of the target cargo channel can be positioned under the target cargo channel, and the cargo bucket 310 can accurately reach the position corresponding to the target cargo channel by driving the cargo bucket 310 to move upwards subsequently.

preferably, when the target lane is the lowest lane of the storage device 200, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H1/2 and DH1 < H1, wherein H1 is the distance between the supporting plate 212 of the target cargo way and the bottom plate of the cabinet 110, through setting up so that the correction position of the target cargo way in the up-down direction in this case is located at the position of the base frame 220; when the target lane is not the lowest lane of the storage device 200, that is, there are other lanes 210 below the target lane, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H2/2 and DH1 < H2, where H2 is the height of the accommodation space of the lane 210 (hereinafter referred to simply as the first lane) located below the target lane, by so arranging that the corrected position of the target lane in the up-down direction in this case is located within the accommodation space of the first lane.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the cross section of the storage device of the automatic vending machine 010 is expressed by using the XY rectangular coordinate system, the position of each lane 210 is expressed by using the coordinate value of the center point 215 of the upper side of the front end surface of the support plate 212 of the lane 210 in the XY rectangular coordinate system, as shown in fig. 6, the end point 112 of the lower right corner of the base frame 220 of the storage device 200 is taken as the coordinate origin, the positive direction of the X axis extends rightward in the left-right direction, the positive direction of the Y axis extends upward in the up-down direction, sixty-six lanes 210 included in the automatic vending machine 010 are arranged in eleven rows of six layers, the target lane 2101 is set to be located at the first layer from top to bottom, the lanes 210 located at the fourth row from left to right, the coordinate values of the initial position of the target lane stored in the storage device 500 are (X1, Y1), that is, the horizontal parameter of the target lane 2101, the position of the target lane is expressed by using the coordinate value of the center point 215 of the upper edge of the front end surface of the support plate 212 of the target lane in the XY rectangular coordinate system, and it is easy to know that the vertical parameter of the corrected position 216 of the target lane is Y2 — Y1-DH 1 according to the above principle. Further, the horizontal parameter of the corrected position 216 of the target lane is X2 ═ X1, that is, the corrected position of the target lane is located directly below the target lane 2101. Preferably, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > S/2 and DH1 < S, wherein S is the height of the accommodation space of the first cargo way 2102 located under the target cargo way 2101, by so setting, the corrected position of the target cargo way can be located at the lower part of the accommodation space of the first cargo way 2102.

it should be noted that, in other embodiments provided by the present invention, the coordinate origin of the XY rectangular coordinate system may also be selectively set according to actual needs, for example, the end point of the lower left corner of the base frame 220 of the storage device 200 is used as the coordinate origin, and the position of the cargo way 210 may also be represented by other representation manners according to actual needs, for example, the position of each cargo way 210 is represented by the left end point on the upper side of the front end surface of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210, or the position of each cargo way 210 is represented by the right end point on the upper side of the front end surface of the supporting plate 212 of the cargo way 210.

s400, controlling the bucket to move to the correction position of the target cargo channel.

After determining the corrected position of the target lane, the control device 600 controls the bucket driving mechanism 320 to drive the bucket 310 to the corrected position of the target lane, wherein the position parameters of the bucket 310 include a horizontal parameter and a vertical parameter of the bucket 310, when the bucket 310 reaches the corrected position of the target lane, the horizontal parameter of the bucket 310 is the same as the horizontal parameter of the corrected position of the target lane, and the vertical parameter of the bucket 310 is the same as the vertical parameter of the corrected position of the target lane. As shown in fig. 6, in the present embodiment, the position of the bucket 310 is represented by using coordinate values of the center point 312 of the upper edge of the rear end surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 in the XY rectangular coordinate system, and when the bucket 310 reaches the correction position of the target lane, the position coordinate values of the bucket 310 are (X1, Y2), that is, the coordinate values of the center point 312 of the upper edge of the rear end surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 are (X1, Y2).

preferably, after determining the corrected position of the target lane, the control device 600 controls the bucket driving mechanism 320 to drive the bucket 310 to move in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction simultaneously, so that the bucket 310 reaches the corrected position of the target lane quickly. In the embodiment of the present invention, when the control device 600 is powered on the vending machine 010 for initialization, and each time it is detected that the goods in the bucket 310 are taken away by the user, the bucket driving mechanism 320 is controlled to drive the bucket 310 to the initial position of the bucket 310, the lower right corner of the bucket 310 is located at the lower right corner of the base frame 220 of the storage device 200 when the bucket 310 is located at the initial position, that is, at the origin of coordinates 112 shown in fig. 6, and after the correction position of the target track is determined, the control device 600 controls the horizontal driving mechanism 321 to drive the vertical driving mechanism 321 to move the bucket 310 carried by the vertical driving mechanism 322 to the left, and controls the vertical driving mechanism 322 to drive the bucket 310 to move upward, so that the bucket 310 moves leftward in the horizontal direction and upward in the vertical direction at the same time, so that the bucket 310 can quickly reach the correction position of the target track, as shown in fig. 6, the bucket driving mechanism 320 drives the bucket 310 to move from the lower right corner of the base frame 220 of the storage device 200 To the correct position of the target lane.

It should be noted that in other embodiments provided by the present invention, the initial position of the bucket 310 may also be selectively set according to actual requirements, for example, when the bucket 310 is located at the initial position, the lower left corner of the bucket 310 is located at the lower left corner of the base frame 220 of the storage device 200, in this case, when the bucket 310 moves from the initial position to the correction position of the target cargo way, it is necessary to control the bucket 310 to move to the right in the horizontal direction and move to the upward in the vertical direction.

S500, controlling the bucket 310 to move from the correction position of the target channel to the initial position of the target channel, and determining the height of the target channel through a signal output by the detection device in the moving process of the bucket.

in the present embodiment, the bucket 310 is driven to move upwards, and during the movement of the bucket 310, the position relationship between the bucket 310 and the target lane is determined by the signal output by the detection device 400 disposed on the bucket 310, and the height of the target lane is determined by the height position of the bucket 310 and the position relationship between the bucket 310 and the target lane.

Fig. 8 is a detailed flowchart of step S500 in the embodiment of fig. 7. Specifically, step S500 may include the following steps:

S501, when the control device receives the first signal output by the detection device, determining the height position of the cargo bucket.

When the height difference between the goods bucket and the target goods channel is a second preset value, the detection device outputs a first signal. The control device 600 may obtain the position parameter of the bucket 310 in real time, for example, when the control device 600 is powered on and initialized in the vending machine 010, and after it is detected that the goods in the bucket 310 are taken away by the user each time, the bucket driving mechanism 320 is controlled to drive the bucket 310 to the initial position of the bucket 310, and then, the control device 600 may obtain the position parameter of the bucket 310 according to the initial position of the bucket 310 and the displacement amount of the bucket 310 in the process of moving the bucket 310 each time. For example, the coordinate values of the initial position of the bucket 310 are (X0, Y0), the control device 600 controls the horizontal driving mechanism 321 to drive the bucket 310 to move leftward along the horizontal direction by a displacement amount DX, controls the vertical driving mechanism 322 to drive the bucket 310 to move upward along the vertical direction by a displacement amount DY, and the coordinate values of the position of the moved bucket 310 are (X0-DX, Y0+ DY).

s502, determining the height of the target cargo channel according to the height position of the cargo bucket and the position relation between the cargo bucket and the target cargo channel when the control device receives the first signal.

Specifically, after the bucket 210 reaches the calibration position of the target track, the control device 600 controls the vertical driving mechanism 322 of the bucket driving mechanism 320 to drive the bucket 310 to move from the calibration position of the target track to the initial position of the target track, in this embodiment, the control device 600 controls the bucket 310 to move upwards, and during the movement of the bucket 310, the control device 600 detects a signal output by the sensor 410 arranged on the bucket 310 to determine whether the sensor 410 is matched with the detecting piece 214 located at the front end of the target track, as described above, in two cases of matching the sensor 410 with the detecting piece 214 and separating the sensor 410 from the detecting piece 214, the sensor 410 outputs different signals, for example, when the sensor 410 is matched with the detecting piece 214, a first signal is output. Optionally, when the sensor 410 is separated from the detecting element 214, a second signal is output, and the control device 600 can determine whether the sensor 410 is matched with the detecting element 214 according to the signal output by the sensor 410, for example, when the signal output by the sensor 410 changes from the second signal to the first signal, the control device 600 determines that the sensor 410 is matched with the detecting element 214. When the sensor 410 is matched with the detecting piece 214 of the target channel, the height difference between the bucket 310 and the target channel is a second preset value, and the position relation between the bucket 310 and the target channel meets the preset requirement. Satisfying the preset requirement may mean that the upper surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 and the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the target cargo way are located on the same plane; in addition, meeting the preset requirement may also mean that the upper surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 is lower than the second preset value of the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the target cargo way. It should be understood that the second preset value is zero when the upper surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 and the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the target cargo way are located on the same plane.

When the control device 600 determines that the sensor 410 is engaged with the detecting member 214, the control device 600 obtains the position parameter of the bucket 310, and determines the height of the target lane according to the height relationship between the bucket 310 and the target lane when the sensor 410 is engaged with the detecting member 214. As described above, the position of the bucket 310 is expressed using the coordinates of the center point 312 of the upper side of the rear end surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 in the XY rectangular coordinate system, and the control device 600 determines the height of the target lane according to the height relationship between the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 and the support plate 211 of the target lane when the sensor 410 is engaged with the detection member 214. For example, if the upper surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 is located on the same plane as the upper surface of the support plate 212 of the target lane when the sensor 410 is engaged with the detecting member 214, the height of the target lane is equal to the height of the bucket 310 at that time; for another example, if the upper surface of the loading plate 311 of the bucket 310 is lower than the upper surface of the supporting plate 212 of the target lane by a second preset value when the sensor 410 is engaged with the detecting member 214, the height of the target lane is equal to the sum of the height of the bucket 310 at this time and the second preset value.

In addition, as shown in step S200, when the target lane is the lowest lane of the storage device 200, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H1/2 and DH1 < H1, wherein H1 is the distance between the supporting plate 212 of the target lane and the bottom plate of the cabinet 110, and when the target lane is not the lowest lane of the storage device 200, the first preset value DH1 satisfies: DH1 > H2/2 and DH1 < H2, wherein H2 is the height of the accommodation space of the first lane located below the target lane, by so arranging that the first preset value DH1 can be made as close as possible to the actual position of the target lane under the condition that the front end of the support plate 212 of the target lane is located above the corrected position of the target lane even if the front end of the support plate 212 is depressed, the corrected position of the target lane is as far as possible from the initial position of the bucket 310, and since the bucket 310 can be controlled to move from the initial position to the corrected position of the target lane, the bucket 310 can be controlled to move in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction at the same time, and therefore, by so arranging, the stroke of the bucket 310 moving in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction at the same time can be made as long as possible, the stroke of the bucket 310 moving upward in the vertical direction can be made as short as possible, thereby shorten the total time that the goods way height detected, improve automatic vending machine's work efficiency.

in the method for detecting the height of the cargo channel, the correction position of the target cargo channel is obtained according to the initial position of the target cargo channel, the cargo hopper is controlled to move to the correction position of the target cargo channel, the cargo hopper is controlled to move from the correction position of the target cargo channel to the initial position of the target cargo channel, and the height of the target cargo channel is determined through a signal output by the detection device in the moving process of the cargo hopper. According to the method for detecting the height of the cargo channel, the cargo bucket is driven to the correction position of the target cargo channel at first, and the height of the target cargo channel is determined through a signal output by the detection device arranged on the cargo bucket in the process of driving the cargo bucket to move from the correction position of the target cargo channel to the initial position of the target cargo channel, so that the actual height of the cargo channel can be accurately obtained when the actual height of the cargo channel changes, the height of the cargo bucket and the height of the cargo channel can meet certain requirements (such as a loading plate of the cargo bucket and a supporting plate of the cargo channel are flush) based on the actual height of the cargo channel, normal cargo delivery is ensured, and the problem of abnormal cargo delivery caused by uncertain height of the cargo channel can be solved. Furthermore, in the method for detecting the height of the cargo way in the embodiment, after the correction position of the target cargo way is determined, the cargo bucket is controlled to move in the horizontal direction and move in the vertical direction simultaneously, so that the cargo bucket can quickly reach the correction position of the target cargo way, and the detection efficiency of the detection device is improved.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of another method for detecting a height of a channel of an automatic vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, which may be a preferred implementation manner of the embodiment shown in fig. 7, and as shown in the drawing, the present embodiment is different from the embodiment shown in fig. 7 in that the method for detecting a height of a channel further includes step S100 before step S200 and step S600 after step S500.

S100, determining a target goods channel according to the goods purchasing instruction.

After receiving a commodity purchase instruction input by the user, the control device 600 determines the commodity channel 210 for accommodating the commodity according to the commodity to be purchased by the user, and sets the commodity channel 210 as a target commodity channel.

S600, after the height of the target goods channel is determined, the initial position of the target goods channel is updated according to the height of the target goods channel.

After determining the height of the target lane, the control device 600 controls the storage device 500 to store the height position of the target lane. Preferably, the control device 600 updates the parameter of the initial position of the target lane stored in the storage device 500 according to the height of the target lane determined in step S500, so that when the flow of the lane height detection method is executed again, the control device 600 may determine the corrected position of the target lane according to the parameter of the initial position of the target lane recorded this time, or, so that the control device 600 may drive the bucket 310 to the position corresponding to the target lane according to the parameter of the initial position of the target lane recorded this time in the commodity selling process to receive the commodity output by the target lane.

Further, after determining the height of the target cargo way, the control device 600 drives the cargo bucket 310 to a position corresponding to the target cargo way according to the determined height of the target cargo way, so that the upper surface of the carrying plate 311 of the cargo bucket 310 and the upper surface of the supporting plate 211 of the target cargo way meet certain requirements, and then controls the commodity conveying mechanism 211 of the target cargo way to convey the commodity to be purchased by the user to the cargo bucket 310. By carrying out shipment after the height detection of the commodity passage, the height of the commodity passage can be detected in the commodity selling process.

In the method for detecting the height of the commodity channel of the vending machine, the target commodity channel is determined according to the commodity purchase instruction, and the height of the target commodity channel is detected, so that the height of the commodity channel can be detected in the commodity selling process through the method for detecting the height of the commodity channel of the vending machine, and the working efficiency of the vending machine is improved. In addition, in the method for detecting the height of the goods channel of the vending machine, the height of the target goods channel is recorded after the height of the target goods channel is determined, so that goods can be taken by the goods bucket according to the updated height of the goods channel in the subsequent goods selling process, and the problem of abnormal goods delivery caused by uncertain height of the goods channel is further solved.

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a control device of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. To implement the cargo way height detection method of the present embodiment, the control device 600 includes:

the calling module 610 is used for acquiring the initial position of the target cargo channel;

the correcting module 620 is used for acquiring the corrected position of the target cargo channel according to the initial position of the target cargo channel;

A first executing module 630, configured to control the bucket to move to the corrected position of the target cargo channel;

The second execution module 640 is used for controlling the bucket to move from the correction position of the target cargo channel to the initial position of the target cargo channel;

a calculating module 650 for determining the height of the target cargo channel through the signal output by the detecting device 600 in the process that the bucket moves from the corrected position of the target cargo channel to the initial position of the target cargo channel;

and the recording module is used for updating the initial position of the target cargo channel according to the height of the target cargo channel after the height of the target cargo channel is determined.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a calculation module in the embodiment of FIG. 10. Further, the calculation module 650 may include:

A receiving unit 651 for receiving the first signal output by the detecting device;

The positioning unit 652 is used for determining the height position of the cargo bucket when the receiving unit 651 receives the first signal;

The calculating unit 653 determines the height of the target channel according to the height position of the bucket and the position relationship between the bucket and the target channel when the control device receives the first signal.

when the height difference between the bucket 310 and the target channel is a second preset value, the detection device 400 sends a first signal to the control device 600. Optionally, when the sensor 410 on the bucket 310 is engaged with the detecting member 214 on the target track, the height difference between the bucket 310 and the target track is a second preset value, and when the sensor 410 is separated from the detecting member 214 on the target track, the sensor 410 sends a second signal to the control device 600.

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.