Vending machine and merchandise pick-and-place method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a vending machine, the vending machine comprises a cabinet, which is provided with a pick-up desk on the front end, and a shelf which is provided with a plurality of placement locations for placing commodities, wherein each placement location corresponds to a different encoding, at least one set of supply system, which includes a feeding mechanism and a replaceable supply box, is arranged under the shelf, a pick-up mechanism is arranged above the shelf, and the pick-up mechanism comprises a robot manipulator which can pick up the commodities on the feeding mechanism to the shelf for replenishment and can further grab any commodity placed on the shelf to the pick-up desk for consumers to choose. The invention further discloses two kinds of merchandise pick-and-place method of the vending machine. The vending machine has the advantages that the shopping experience of 'What you see is what you get' is achieved and the workload of operators putting goods on the shelf is reduced through the automatically feeding of the feeding mechanism and the replaceable supply box, saving time and effort.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the field of automatic vending, in particular to an automatic vending machine and a method for picking and placing commodities therefrom. Background technique [0002] A vending machine (Vending Machine, VEM) is a machine that can automatically pay according to the coins put in. Vending machines are common equipment for commercial automation. They are not limited by time and place, can save manpower and facilitate transactions. It is a new form of commercial retail, also known as a 24-hour micro supermarket. It can be divided into three types: beverage vending machines, food vending machines, and comprehensive vending machines. [0003] At present, with the gradual development and maturity of vending machine technology, the application range of vending machines is getting wider and wider. However, the outlets of vending machines in the prior art are generally set under the machine, and consumers have to bend down to get the g...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0003] At present, with the gradual development and maturity of vending machine technology, the application range of vending machines is getting wider and wider. However, the outlets of vending machines in the prior art are generally set under the machine, and consumers have to bend down to get the goods. After the goods on the shelves are exhausted, the replenishment is not timely and the efficiency is low. At the same time, they cannot choose the goods they fancy according to their own wishes, especially some fruit and vegetable vending machines. Consumers cannot choose their favorite products according to the freshness of the goods on the shelves. It is impossible to achieve a WYSIWYG shopping experience. Once the goods are exhausted, operators need to replenish them manually, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

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