A smart cabinet for recycling packaging boxes

Abstract

This invention discloses an intelligent cabinet for recycling packaging boxes, comprising a cabinet body, an automatic packaging box recycling control device disposed within the cabinet body, and a recycling mechanism electrically connected to the automatic packaging box recycling control device for performing the packaging box recycling action. The cabinet body is provided with a recycling port and a recycling switch, the recycling switch being electrically connected to the automatic packaging box recycling control device. When a user turns on the recycling switch and inserts a packaging box into the cabinet body through the recycling port, a sensor disposed within the cabinet body detects the insertion of the packaging box. Upon detection, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the recycling mechanism to automatically perform the packaging box recycling action, neatly stacking the recycled packaging boxes in a stacking area within the cabinet body. This invention enables automatic recycling of packaging boxes and has strong practicality and application value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of packaging box recycling technology, and specifically to an intelligent cabinet for recycling packaging boxes. Background Technology

[0002] Nowadays, people are accustomed to shopping online. According to statistics from relevant organizations, the number of online shoppers in my country has exceeded 800 million, and the annual number of express parcels has exceeded 50 billion. These parcels are mostly packed in cardboard boxes, and after receiving the packages, people are used to throwing the boxes into the trash can, making it difficult for environmental protection departments to uniformly recycle and reuse these boxes. Although automatic waste sorting and recycling equipment has appeared on the market that can recycle cardboard boxes, people need to manually compress the boxes when using these equipment, and then throw them into the sorting bins like other waste. Although the sorting bins are large, the manual compression is ineffective, and the large bins can only hold a small number of discarded cardboard boxes. Moreover, the recycled cardboard boxes are piled up haphazardly in the sorting bins, causing great inconvenience to recycling personnel. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this invention is to provide a simple and practical intelligent cabinet for automatic recycling of packaging boxes, so as to solve the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0004] To achieve this objective, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: A smart cabinet for recycling packaging boxes is provided, comprising a cabinet body, an automatic packaging box recycling control device disposed within the cabinet body, and a recycling mechanism electrically connected to the automatic packaging box recycling control device for performing packaging box recycling actions. The cabinet body is provided with a recycling port and a recycling switch. The recycling switch is electrically connected to the automatic packaging box recycling control device. When a user opens the recycling switch and inserts a discarded packaging box into the cabinet body through the recycling port, a sensor disposed within the cabinet body detects the insertion of the packaging box. Upon detection, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the recycling mechanism to automatically perform the packaging box recycling action and neatly stack the recycled packaging boxes in the stacking area within the cabinet body. The cabinet body also has a cabinet door, which can be opened by recycling personnel to remove the recycled packaging boxes from the cabinet body.

[0005] The recycling port is elongated and has a guide plate that is inclined at a 45° angle toward the inside of the cabinet along its upper edge.

[0006] The recycling port is located on the front side panel of the cabinet. The front side panel also includes a lift-up shelf and a pressure plate for pressing down on the packaging box. The lift-up shelf is positioned below the recycling port, and the pressure plate is positioned above the recycling port. The recycling mechanism includes a lift-up shelf drive mechanism and a pressure plate drive mechanism. When the user presses the recycling switch, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the lift-up shelf drive mechanism to automatically flip the lift-up shelf to a horizontal position. When a sensor inside the cabinet detects the packaging box placed on the lift-up shelf, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the pressure plate drive mechanism to automatically flip down and press down on the pressure plate to press down on the packaging box.

[0007] The recycling port is located on the front side panel of the cabinet. The front side panel is also equipped with a pull-out shelf and a pressure plate for pressing the packaging box. The pull-out shelf can be pulled back and forth in the recycling port and fixed horizontally. The pressure plate is located above the recycling port. When a sensor inside the cabinet senses the packaging box placed on the pull-out shelf, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the pressure plate drive mechanism to drive the pressure plate to automatically flip down and press the packaging box.

[0008] The sensing device for detecting whether the packaging box has been inserted into the cabinet is an infrared sensor located inside the recycling port.

[0009] The recycling mechanism includes a recycling transmission mechanism, which comprises an upper conveyor belt, a lower conveyor belt, and a transmission motor. The upper and lower conveyor belts are connected by gear meshing. The transmission motor is electrically connected to the automatic control device for recycling packaging boxes. The transmission motor drives the upper conveyor belt to work, and the upper conveyor belt drives the lower conveyor belt to work through the gears. The packaging box enters from the recycling port into the gap between the upper and lower conveyor belts, which are arranged vertically, and is conveyed to the stacking area inside the cabinet under the action of transmission force.

[0010] The vertical gaps at both ends of the upper and lower conveyor belts are greater than the vertical gaps in the middle area.

[0011] An optical fiber sensor for sensing the packaging box is installed at the end of the upper or lower conveyor belt, and the optical fiber sensor is electrically connected to the automatic control device for packaging box recycling.

[0012] The stacking area includes an automatic pressing device for pressing the packaging boxes stacked thereon. The automatic pressing device includes a first automatic pressing device disposed inside the cabinet and a second automatic pressing device disposed opposite to the first automatic pressing device. The first or second automatic pressing device includes a pressing motor, a slide rail, and a pressing plate. The pressing motor is electrically connected to the automatic packaging box recycling control device. When the fiber optic sensor detects the packaging box, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the starting of the pressing motor. The pressing motor drives the pressing plate to slide downward on the slide rail to press the packaging boxes stacked in the stacking area.

[0013] The cabinet is equipped with an RFID radio frequency identification device, which is electrically connected to the automatic control device for packaging box recycling. After the RFID radio frequency identification device identifies the RFID electronic tag affixed to the packaging box, it sends the identified packaging box information to the automatic control device for packaging box recycling.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effect of the present invention is that the intelligent cabinet can realize the automatic recycling of packaging boxes, and can automatically identify the type of packaging boxes recycled and count the number of recycled boxes, which has strong practicality and promotion application value. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the smart cabinet according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 ;

[0016] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the smart cabinet according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 ;

[0017] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the smart cabinet according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 ;

[0018] Figure 4 Is Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the recycling port on the smart cabinet shown;

[0019] Figure 5 It is set in Figure 2 The diagram shows the process of the intelligent cabinet's front panel, where the lifting shelf and the lower pressure plate work together with the recycling port to recycle the packaging box.

[0020] Figure 6 It is set in Figure 3 The diagram shows the process of the pull-out shelf and the pressure plate on the front panel of the smart cabinet working together with the recycling port to recycle the packaging box.

[0021] Figure 7 It is a three-dimensional structure of the recycling transmission mechanism installed inside the smart cabinet. Figure 1 ;

[0022] Figure 8 It is the three-dimensional structure of the said recycling transmission mechanism Figure 2 ;

[0023] Figure 9 This is a side view of the recycling transmission mechanism;

[0024] Figure 10 This is a structural schematic diagram of the automatic pressing device installed in the stacking area inside the smart cabinet.

[0025] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram showing the RFID radio frequency identification device installed inside the smart cabinet.

[0026] Figure 12 This is a rear view of the smart cabinet after the cabinet door is opened. Detailed Implementation

[0027] The specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. The following examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

[0028] The smart cabinet provided in this embodiment is used for the automatic recycling of packaging boxes, such as express delivery boxes, especially honeycomb-style boxes. The smart cabinet is preferably rectangular in shape, and its length, width, and height dimensions can be determined according to the size of the boxes to be recycled. In this embodiment, the dimensions are preferably 600×400×350mm. The cabinet body is preferably made of metal, but other materials such as plastic can also be used to reduce manufacturing costs.

[0029] The intelligent cabinet for recycling packaging boxes provided in this embodiment, such as... Figure 1 , Figure 7 , Figure 10 and Figure 12As shown, the device includes a cabinet 1 and an automatic control device for packaging box recycling (preferably a PLC controller, such as a Siemens S7-200 PLC controller) installed inside the cabinet, as well as a recycling mechanism electrically connected to the automatic control device for performing packaging box recycling. The cabinet 1 has a recycling port 11 and a recycling switch 12. The recycling switch 12 is electrically connected to the automatic control device. When the user turns on the recycling switch 12 and inserts a packaging box into the cabinet 1 through the recycling port 11, a sensor 2 installed inside the cabinet 1 senses the insertion and sends a signal to the automatic control device. Based on the received signal, the automatic control device controls the recycling mechanism to automatically perform the packaging box recycling action and neatly stacks the recycled packaging boxes in the stacking area 100 inside the cabinet 1.

[0030] like Figure 12 As shown, cabinet 1 is also equipped with cabinet door 3, which can be opened by recycling personnel to take out the recycled packaging boxes from cabinet 1.

[0031] The smart cabinet provided in this embodiment has three different recycling port structures. The first recycling port structure is as follows: Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, the recycling port 11 is elongated, and a guide plate 111 inclined at a 45° angle towards the inside of the cabinet 1 is provided along the upper edge of the elongated recycling port 11. Guide plates extending into the inside of the cabinet 1 are also provided on both sides of the recycling port 11. The guide plates 111 are provided to make it easier to insert the packaging box into the recycling port 11.

[0032] Figure 5 It is set in Figure 2 The diagram shown illustrates the process of the intelligent cabinet's front panel, where a lift-up shelf and a pressure plate work together with a recycling port to collect packaging boxes. Figure 5 As shown, the second type of recycling port structure includes a recycling port 11 disposed on the front panel 13 of the cabinet 1, a liftable shelf 131 disposed on the front panel 13, and a pressure plate 132 for pressing the packaging box. More specifically, the liftable shelf is disposed below the recycling port, and the pressure plate is disposed above the recycling port.

[0033] The recycling mechanism includes a lifting shelf drive mechanism and a lower pressure plate drive mechanism, such as... Figure 5As shown, after the user presses the recycling switch 12, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the lifting shelf drive mechanism to drive the lifting shelf 131 to automatically flip up to a horizontal position. Then, the user places the waste packaging box on the lifting shelf 131 and pushes the packaging box into the cabinet 1. After the sensor 2 installed in the cabinet 1 senses that a packaging box has been inserted, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the pressure plate drive mechanism to work according to the sensing signal sent by the sensor to drive the pressure plate 132 to flip down and flatten the packaging box before conveying it to the stacking area 100 in the cabinet 1.

[0034] Figure 6 It is set in Figure 3 The diagram shows the process of the pull-out shelf 133 and the pressure plate 132 on the front panel 13 of the smart cabinet, working in conjunction with the recycling port 11 to recycle packaging boxes. Figure 6 As shown, the third type of recycling port structure includes a recycling port 11 located on the front panel 13 of the cabinet 1, a pull-out shelf 133 also located on the front panel 13 of the cabinet 1, and a lower pressure plate 132 for pressing the packaging box. The pull-out shelf 133 can be pulled back and forth in the recycling port 11 and fixed horizontally. The lower pressure plate 132 is located above the recycling port 11.

[0035] The recycling mechanism includes a pressure plate drive mechanism. When a packaging box needs to be recycled into the smart cabinet, the user first pulls out the pull-out shelf 133 from the recycling port 11, then presses the recycling switch 12 and places the packaging box on the pull-out shelf 133, pushing it forcefully into the cabinet 1. When the sensor 2 installed in the cabinet 1 detects a packaging box being inserted, it sends a sensing signal to the automatic packaging box recycling control device. Based on the received sensing signal, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the pressure plate drive mechanism to drive the pressure plate 132 to automatically flip down, flattening the packaging box before conveying it to the stacking area 100 inside the cabinet 1. After recycling is completed, the user pushes the pull-out shelf 133 back into the recycling port 11, and the pull-out shelf 133 returns to its initial state.

[0036] In the above technical solution, the sensing device 2 for detecting whether a package has been inserted into the cabinet 1 is an infrared sensor installed inside the recycling port 11. The distance between the infrared sensor and the recycling port 11 can be reasonably set according to the sensing sensitivity requirements.

[0037] The following describes the specific structure of the recycling mechanism installed inside the smart cabinet 1. The recycling mechanism includes a recycling transmission mechanism. Figures 7-9 A schematic diagram of the recycling transmission mechanism is shown, such as... Figure 7 , 8As shown in Figure 9, the recycling transmission mechanism includes an upper conveyor belt 4, a lower conveyor belt 5, and a transmission motor 6. The upper conveyor belt 4 and the lower conveyor belt 5 are connected by gears 7. The transmission motor 6 is electrically connected to the automatic control device for packaging box recycling. When the sensing device 2 senses that a packaging box is being inserted into the cabinet 1, the automatic control device for packaging box recycling generates a transmission motor drive signal based on the sensing signal sent by the sensing device 2 and sends it to the transmission motor 6. The transmission motor 6 drives the upper conveyor belt 4 to work according to the received drive signal. The upper conveyor belt 4 drives the lower conveyor belt 5 to work through the gears 7. The packaging box enters the gap between the upper conveyor belt 4 and the lower conveyor belt 5 through the recycling port 11 and is conveyed to the packaging box stacking area 100 inside the cabinet 1 under the action of the transmission force.

[0038] To further compress the boxes and recover more boxes within the limited stacking area 100, preferably, as Figure 9 As shown, a clamping mechanism is provided at the middle position between the upper conveyor belt 4 and the lower conveyor belt 5. This clamping mechanism can be a clamping device that is controlled by an automatic packaging box recycling control device and can automatically generate clamping force. In order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the smart cabinet, in this embodiment, the vertical gap between the two ends of the upper conveyor belt 4 and the lower conveyor belt 5 is set to be greater than the vertical gap in the middle area (the vertical gap in the middle area is preferably 5mm). In this way, when the packaging box enters from one end between the upper and lower conveyor belts and is conveyed to the middle area of ​​the upper and lower conveyor belts, the packaging box is naturally clamped due to the narrowing of the vertical gap in the middle area, which reduces the manufacturing cost of the smart cabinet while ensuring the clamping effect.

[0039] To maximize the recycling of packaging boxes, this embodiment includes an automatic clamping device in the stacking area 100 of the cabinet for pressing down the packaging boxes stacked therein. Figure 10 A schematic diagram of the automatic stacking device is shown, as follows: Figure 10 As shown, the automatic pressing device includes a first automatic pressing device installed inside the cabinet 1 and a second automatic pressing device installed opposite to the first automatic pressing device. The first automatic pressing device or the second automatic pressing device includes a pressing motor 8, a slide rail 9 and a pressing plate 10. The pressing motor 8 is electrically connected to the automatic control device for recycling packaging boxes.

[0040] In order to sense when the packaging boxes are conveyed into the stacking area 100 and to promptly control the automatic pressing device to press the packaging boxes stacked in the stacking area 100 downwards, such as Figure 10As shown, in this embodiment, a fiber optic sensor 14 for sensing packaging boxes is preferably provided at the end of the upper conveyor belt 4 or the lower conveyor belt 5. The fiber optic sensor 14 is electrically connected to the automatic control device for packaging box recycling. When the fiber optic sensor 14 senses a packaging box, it sends a sensing signal to the automatic control device for packaging box recycling. The automatic control device for packaging box recycling generates a pressing motor drive signal based on the received sensing signal and sends it to the pressing motor 8. The pressing motor 8 drives the pressing plate 10 to slide downward on the slide rail 9 based on the received drive signal to press the packaging boxes stacked in the stacking area 100.

[0041] To improve the clamping effect, the first and second automatic clamping devices clamp the packaging boxes simultaneously.

[0042] To enable identification of the type of recycled packaging boxes, such as Figure 11 As shown, preferably, an RFID radio frequency identification device 15 is installed inside the cabinet 1 (preferably located below the lower conveyor belt 5). The RFID radio frequency identification device 15 is electrically connected to the automatic packaging box recycling control device. After the RFID radio frequency identification device 15 identifies the RFID electronic tag affixed to the packaging box, it sends the identified packaging box information to the automatic packaging box recycling control device. The automatic packaging box recycling control device can determine the type of packaging box based on the received packaging box information.

[0043] To count the recycled packaging boxes, a counting sensor can be installed in cabinet 1. The counting sensor is electrically connected to the automatic packaging box recycling control device. When a packaging box falls into the stacking area 100, the counting sensor counts as 1 and accumulates the count. The counting sensor sends the counting result to the automatic packaging box recycling control device.

[0044] Once the smart locker senses a package being inserted, it begins the recycling process. After the package is stacked in the stacking area inside the locker, if the smart locker does not sense another package being inserted within 30 seconds, it will automatically stop working, and the recycling mechanism will return to its initial state.

[0045] The automatic control device for packaging box recycling can communicate with external devices through a communication module to send the type of packaging boxes recycled and the recycling count results to the external devices at a remote end.

[0046] Figure 12 The image shows a rear view of the smart cabinet after the door is opened. Once the number of recycled boxes reaches the cabinet's capacity, recycling personnel can open the door and remove the boxes.

[0047] In summary, the intelligent cabinet for recycling packaging boxes provided in this embodiment can automatically recycle packaging boxes, and can automatically identify the type of packaging boxes recycled and count the number of recycled boxes, which has strong practicality and promotional application value.

[0048] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A smart cabinet for recycling packaging boxes, characterized in that: The device includes a cabinet, an automatic control device for packaging box recycling housed within the cabinet, and a recycling mechanism electrically connected to the automatic control device for performing packaging box recycling. The cabinet has a recycling port and a recycling switch, which is electrically connected to the automatic control device. When a user turns on the recycling switch and inserts a discarded packaging box into the cabinet through the recycling port, a sensor inside the cabinet detects the insertion. Upon detection, the automatic control device then controls the recycling mechanism to automatically perform the packaging box recycling operation, neatly stacking the recycled packaging boxes in the stacking area within the cabinet. The cabinet is also equipped with a door, which can be opened by recycling personnel to take out the recycled packaging boxes from the cabinet. The recycling mechanism includes a recycling transmission mechanism, which includes an upper conveyor belt, a lower conveyor belt, and a transmission motor. The upper and lower conveyor belts are connected by gear meshing. The transmission motor is electrically connected to the automatic control device for recycling packaging boxes. The transmission motor drives the upper conveyor belt to work, and the upper conveyor belt drives the lower conveyor belt to work through the gears. The packaging box enters from the recycling port into the gap between the upper and lower conveyor belts, which are arranged vertically, and is conveyed to the stacking area inside the cabinet under the action of transmission force. The recycling port is located on the front side panel of the cabinet. The front side panel also includes a liftable shelf and a pressure plate. The liftable shelf is positioned below the recycling port, and the pressure plate is positioned above the recycling port. The recycling mechanism further includes a liftable shelf drive mechanism and a pressure plate drive mechanism. When the user presses the recycling switch, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the liftable shelf drive mechanism to automatically flip the liftable shelf to a horizontal position. When a sensor inside the cabinet detects a packaging box placed on the liftable shelf, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the pressure plate drive mechanism to automatically flip the pressure plate down and press the packaging box firmly. Alternatively, the recycling port can be located on the front side panel of the cabinet. The front side panel is also equipped with a pull-out shelf and a pressure plate. The pull-out shelf can be pulled out and fixed horizontally in the recycling port. The pressure plate is located above the recycling port. The recycling mechanism also includes a pressure plate drive mechanism. When a sensor inside the cabinet detects the packaging box placed on the pull-out shelf, the automatic packaging box recycling control device controls the pressure plate drive mechanism to drive the pressure plate to automatically flip down and press the packaging box. The sensor that detects whether a packaging box has been inserted into the cabinet is an infrared sensor located inside the recycling port.

2. The intelligent cabinet according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vertical gaps at both ends of the upper and lower conveyor belts are greater than the vertical gaps in the middle area.

3. The intelligent cabinet according to claim 2, characterized in that: An optical fiber sensor for sensing the packaging box is installed at the end of the upper conveyor belt or the lower conveyor belt. The optical fiber sensor is electrically connected to the automatic control device for packaging box recycling.

4. The intelligent cabinet according to claim 3, characterized in that: An automatic pressing device for pressing the packaging boxes stacked in the stacking area is provided. The automatic pressing device includes a first automatic pressing device disposed in the cabinet and a second automatic pressing device disposed opposite to the first automatic pressing device. The first automatic pressing device or the second automatic pressing device includes a pressing motor, a slide rail and a pressing plate. The pressing motor is electrically connected to the packaging box recycling automatic control device. When the fiber optic sensor senses the packaging box, the packaging box recycling automatic control device controls the starting of the pressing motor. The pressing motor drives the pressing plate to slide downward on the slide rail to press the packaging boxes stacked in the stacking area.

5. The intelligent cabinet according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cabinet is equipped with an RFID radio frequency identification device, which is electrically connected to the automatic control device for packaging box recycling. After the RFID radio frequency identification device identifies the RFID electronic tag affixed to the packaging box, it sends the identified packaging box information to the automatic control device for packaging box recycling.

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