Ready-to-cook food vending device having vertically elevatable touchscreen

Abstract

A ready-to-cook food vending device having a vertically elevatable touchscreen according to the present invention comprises: a body unit including a housing part, one surface of which is open such that same has a multi-stage storage area in which a plurality of ready-to-cook foods are stored, and a door part configured to open / close the storage area in a sliding manner; a cold heat providing unit disposed inside the housing part to provide cold heat to ready-to-cook foods stored in the storage area; an elevating unit disposed on a side of one surface of the housing part where the door part is located, and configured to move up / down in the vertical direction according to a control signal; a touchscreen-type purchase operation unit, one area of the rear surface of which is coupled to the elevating part, and which is used to output information of ready-to-cook food and input purchase requests; a sensing unit located on the upper part of the housing part facing the door part to sense objects approaching the door part; and a controller for controlling the cooling unit, the elevating unit, the purchase operation unit, and the sensing part, and controlling vertical upward / downward movements of the elevating unit according to the result of sensing by the sensing part.

Description

Convenience food vending machine equipped with a vertical lifting touchscreen

[0001] The present invention relates to a sales device for ready-to-eat food equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen.

[0002]

[0003] In response to the modern need to easily consume the food they desire, the demand for convenient ready-to-eat foods, which are easy to store and can be conveniently prepared using heating methods such as microwave ovens, is rapidly increasing.

[0004] These ready-to-eat foods were generally sold by being placed in refrigerators or freezers at supermarkets or convenience stores, but recently, they are also being sold in unmanned stores, which can reduce labor costs compared to existing manned stores.

[0005] Meanwhile, since a store in the form of a physical store must be operated even in the case of an unmanned store, selling ready-to-eat food using an automatic vending machine that does not require a store form is a method to minimize operating costs. As part of this method, Korean Published Patent Application No. 10-2020-0125311 (Application Date: April 26, 2019; Publication Date: November 4, 2020; hereinafter referred to as "prior art") disclosed a vending machine for selling refrigerated products having multiple storage spaces in which refrigerated products are individually stored, and the door of the storage space is opened so that the refrigerated product can be retrieved through the selection and payment of the storage space.

[0006] However, in conventional technology, the means for product selection and payment by the buyer is placed in a fixed form in a separate area outside the storage area, and for buyers of various heights or those using wheelchairs, there was a problem in that product selection and payment itself were difficult due to the height of the means.

[0007]

[0008] The present invention aims to provide a ready-to-cook food sales device equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen to solve the aforementioned problems.

[0009]

[0010] A sales device for ready-to-eat food equipped with a vertical lifting touchscreen according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a body portion having a housing portion having a multi-stage storage area in which a plurality of ready-to-eat foods are stored with one side open, and a door portion that opens and closes the storage area in a sliding manner; a cooling portion disposed inside the housing portion to provide cooling to the ready-to-eat foods stored in the storage area; a lifting portion disposed on the side of one side of the housing portion where the door portion is located and which moves up and down in a vertical direction according to a control signal; a purchase operation portion in the form of a touchscreen, in which a rear portion is coupled to the lifting portion and outputs information on the ready-to-eat foods and performs input for purchase requests; a detection portion located on the upper part of the housing portion facing the door portion to detect an object approaching the door portion; and a control portion that controls the cooling portion, the lifting portion, the purchase operation portion, and the detection portion, and controls the vertical lifting of the lifting portion according to the detection result of the detection portion.

[0011] At this time, the sensing unit is characterized by including: a sensing part provided as an approach detection sensor that detects an object approaching the door part; and a shooting part that photographs a preset front area of ​​the door part according to the sensing result of the sensing part.

[0012] In addition, the control unit is characterized by including: a detection unit that detects a face shape within an image captured from the capturing unit; and a control unit that controls the cooling unit, the lifting unit, the purchasing operation unit, and the detection unit.

[0013] In addition, the detection portion is characterized by detecting the face shape of an object from the pixel range formed by the object only when the range formed by the pixel area of ​​the object within the image captured by the capturing portion is greater than or equal to a predetermined reference value.

[0014] Furthermore, the control unit is characterized by controlling the vertical lifting height of the lifting unit according to the area in which a face shape is detected through the detection unit within the image captured from the shooting unit.

[0015] In addition, the control unit further comprises: a division portion that divides an image captured from the capturing portion into at least two regions based on the vertical direction; and a storage portion in which lifting information is stored in which the lifting portion is matched with a lifting height control value for each region within the captured image divided by the division portion.

[0016] In addition, the control unit is characterized by identifying the area where a face shape is detected from the detection unit among the areas separated from the separation unit, and controlling the vertical lifting of the lifting unit through the lifting information stored in the storage unit.

[0017] In addition, the above-mentioned shooting portion is characterized by being provided with an image sensor combined with a wide-angle lens.

[0018]

[0019] The vending device for ready-to-eat food equipped with a vertical lifting touchscreen according to the present invention has the effect of providing convenience for the operation and payment of ready-to-eat food for buyers of various heights as well as buyers using wheelchairs, by confirming whether an object located in front of the door part is a buyer (=human body) through a captured image, and by positioning a purchase operation unit that performs the selection and payment of ready-to-eat food according to the height of the buyer's face in the image at an operation position suitable for the buyer to proceed with the purchase.

[0020]

[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates a ready-to-cook food sales device equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 2 partially illustrates the lifting section and the purchasing operation section of a ready-to-eat food sales device equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate an example of height adjustment of a purchasing operation unit through a control unit of a ready-to-cook food sales device equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0024]

[0025] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a ready-to-cook food sales device equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0026] Identical reference numerals in each drawing indicate identical components. Furthermore, specific structural or functional descriptions regarding embodiments of the present invention are illustrative merely for the purpose of explaining embodiments according to the present invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as generally understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant technology, and unless explicitly defined in this specification, it is preferable not to interpret them in an ideal or overly formal sense.

[0027]

[0028] FIG. 1 illustrates a ready-to-eat food sales device equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 partially illustrates the lifting section and the purchasing operation section of a ready-to-eat food sales device equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a ready-to-eat food sales device (100) equipped with a vertical lifting touchscreen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is provided in the form of a conventional refrigerator or freezer dedicated to ready-to-eat food, having a storage area for storing a plurality of ready-to-eat foods (R) provided with a 2-way sliding door, and a touchscreen-type device is placed on the front so that when a buyer selects and purchases a ready-to-eat food (R) by operation, the door is opened so that the buyer can take out and take the ready-to-eat food (R). The device may include a body part (110), a cooling / heating part (120), a lifting part (130), a purchase operation part (140), a detection part (150), and a control part (160).

[0030] The body portion (110) may include a housing portion (112) having a multi-stage storage area in which a plurality of convenient ready-to-cook foods (R) are stored with one side open, and a pair of door portions (114) that open and close the storage area in a sliding manner, with the area excluding the rim portion made of a transparent material. At this time, the door portions (114) may be provided in a form in which a packing member (not shown) is applied to the sliding area and the area in contact with the housing portion (112) to prevent cold heat from the storage area from leaking out to the outside or external heat from entering into the inside, and the housing portion (112) and the pair of door portions (114) may have the shape of a conventional refrigerator dedicated to convenient ready-to-cook foods equipped with a 2-way sliding door. At this time, a rod-shaped guide beam (B) parallel to the longitudinal direction of the housing portion (112) may be attached to the outer center of the area where a pair of door portions (114) are joined to the housing portion (112). The guide beam (B) is provided to guide the vertical lifting direction of the lifting portion (130) while supporting the lifting portion (130) so that the purchasing operation portion (140) does not shake during vertical lifting by the lifting portion (130) of the purchasing operation portion (140) described later.

[0031] Additionally, the body part (110) may further include a locking part (not shown) in the form of an electronic locking device that locks or unlocks the door part (114) only when the selection and payment of the ready-to-cook food (R) are completed, according to the control of the control part (170) to be described later.

[0032] The cooling unit (120) is positioned inside the housing unit (112) and can provide cooling to the ready-to-cook food (R) stored in the storage area under the control of the control unit (160) to be described later. A refrigerant existing in gaseous form at room temperature, a closed-loop pipe through which the refrigerant circulates, a radiator connected to the closed-loop of the pipe, and a compressor that sucks in and condenses the refrigerant and circulates it in liquid form on the closed-loop according to a control signal from a control unit (160) to be described later are combined, and the refrigerant in liquid form condensed by the compressor passes through the radiator and vaporizes to provide cold heat to the storage area of ​​the housing part (112). In some cases, a fan that transmits the cold heat generated from the radiator to the storage area under the control of the control unit (160) and a flow path structure connected to the storage area through which the cold heat transmitted by the fan moves may be further included.

[0033] In other words, the body part (110) and the cooling / heating part (120) can be provided in the form of a conventional refrigerator dedicated to ready-to-eat foods, equipped with a 2-way sliding door that maintains a plurality of ready-to-eat foods (R) stored in a multi-stage storage area in a refrigerated or frozen state according to the control of the control part (160) to be described later.

[0034] The lifting unit (130) is positioned on the front side of the housing unit (112) where the door unit (114) is located, and can be raised and lowered in a vertical direction according to a control signal. At this time, the lifting unit (130) may be provided in a form that includes an actuator unit (132) which is positioned vertically inside the housing unit (112) and is driven to be raised and lowered linearly in a vertical direction according to a control signal from the control unit (160), and a panel unit (134) which has one end connected to the driving end of the actuator unit (132) and the other end exposed to the outside of the housing unit (112) and is slidably connected in a vertical direction to a beam (B) positioned in the front center of the housing unit (112) facing the direction of joining a pair of door units (114). At this time, the panel portion (134) of the lifting portion (130) can be driven to be raised along the vertical direction of the door portion (114) by driving the actuator portion (132) in a manner that is spaced apart from the outer surface of the front door portion (114) of the pair of door portions (114) that are arranged alternately in the central part of the open area of ​​the housing portion (112), more specifically, in a manner that is spaced apart by a predetermined distance from the outer surface of the front door portion (114).

[0035] The purchase operation unit (140) may be configured such that a rear portion is coupled to the panel of the lifting unit (130) and a touchscreen portion (142) in the form of a touchscreen that outputs information on ready-to-cook food and performs input for purchase requests is coupled to one side of the touchscreen portion (142) and a recognition portion (144) that recognizes a payment method by being provided in the form of a 2D barcode scanner or a magnetic reader or a combination of both in response to a purchase request from the touchscreen portion (142).

[0036] The purchase control unit (140) may be positioned above the door portion (114) or in the upper area of ​​the door portion (114) so ​​that the purchaser can easily visually check or take out the ready-to-eat food (R) stored in the housing portion (112) after purchase, but if the height of the placement of the purchase control unit (140) is fixed, problems may arise where it is difficult to operate or make payments depending on the purchaser's height or whether they use a wheelchair.

[0037] As described above, the convenience food sales device (100) equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention may be provided with additional characteristic configurations in the sensing unit (150) and control unit (160) described later, in addition to the lifting unit (130) described above, so that a buyer can operate and make payments using the purchase operation unit (140) at various heights.

[0038] Below, with reference to the attached drawings, the technology for changing the operation and payment position of the buyer operation unit (140) for smooth operation and payment by the buyer will be explained in more detail.

[0039]

[0040] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate an example of height adjustment of a purchasing operation unit through a control unit of a ready-to-cook food sales device equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the sensing unit (150) is located on the upper part of the housing portion (112) facing the door portion (114) and can detect an object (O) approaching the door portion (114), and may include a sensing portion (152) and a shooting portion (154). The sensing portion (152) may be provided as an approach detection sensor that has a sensing area corresponding to the front area of ​​the door portion (114) and detects an object approaching the door portion (114), and the shooting portion (154) may be provided as an image sensor combined with a wide-angle lens that captures a preset front area of ​​the door portion (114) according to the sensing result of the sensing portion (152) of the door portion (114). The configuration of the detection unit (150) is configured to check whether the object (O) is a buyer, i.e., a human body, and the buyer's height only when the object (O) is located in front of the door portion (114) by the control unit (160) to be described later, and will be explained in more detail in the description of the configuration of the control unit (160).

[0042] The control unit (160) controls the cooling unit (120), the lifting unit (130), the purchasing operation unit (140), and the detection unit (150), and can control the vertical lifting of the lifting unit (130) according to the detection result of the detection unit (150), and may include a detection part (162), a classification part (164), a storage part (166), and a control part (168).

[0043] The detection part (162) can detect a face shape (F) within an image captured from the shooting part (154) of the detection part (150). At this time, the detection part (162) can detect the shape of a human face within the image through image processing, and can determine whether the object (O) detected by the sensing part (152) is a human body by checking whether feature points corresponding to the eyes, nose, mouth, and facial contours of the face exist.

[0044] At this time, the detection part (162) performs detection of the face shape (F) of the object (O) from the pixel range formed by the object only when the range formed by the pixel area formed by the object in the image captured by the shooting part (164) is greater than or equal to a predetermined reference value, and minimizes the situation in which the object (O) detected by the sensing part (152) includes an image or shape similar to a real human face, and the object (O) is mistakenly judged to be a human body.

[0045] The dividing portion (164) can divide the image captured from the shooting portion (154) into at least two regions based on the vertical direction. At this time, based on the resolution of the image in the dividing portion (164), the image is divided into multiple regions (a1, a2) in units of Y-axis pixel height, as in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, the dividing portion (164) is described as dividing the image into two regions (a1, a2), but this is set for the sake of brevity of explanation and should be understood that in reality, it can be divided into more regions than this.

[0046] The storage portion (166) may store lifting information in which the lifting unit (130) is matched with a lifting height control value for each area within the captured video separated by the division portion (164). The storage portion (166) may be provided as a conventional storage medium, and the lifting information may store information such as the time for rotating the actuator portion (132) of the lifting unit (130) that lifts or lowers the purchasing unit (140) in the forward or reverse direction according to the height, so that the purchasing unit (140) is positioned at a height corresponding to each area in the area unit separated by the division portion (164), through data on the optimal operating position of the purchasing unit (140) obtained through repeated experiments by personnel with various heights and how much the purchasing unit (140) must be lowered from the default position to position the purchasing unit (140) at that position.

[0047] The control unit (168) can control the cooling unit (120), the lifting unit (130), the purchasing operation unit (140), and the detection unit (150), and can control the lifting of the lifting unit (160) through the lifting information stored in the storage unit (166) depending on which area among the areas separated by the separation unit (164) the face shape (F) of the object (O) detected by the detection unit (162) exists.

[0048] For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the sensing part (152) of the detection part (150) detects that an object (O) is approaching the front of the door part (114), the control part (166) controls the shooting part (154) to obtain an image of the object (O) that has approached the front of the door part (114). Afterwards, the detection part (162) detects a face shape (F) within the image obtained through the shooting part (154), and the control part (168) confirms that the area containing the face shape detected by the detection part (162) is located closer to the first area (a1) among the areas separated by the separation part (164), and controls the lifting part (130) through the lifting information stored in the storage part (166) to position the purchase operation part (140) at the first height (h1).

[0049] If, as in FIG. 4, a buyer (O) using a wheelchair approaches the door section (114) to purchase a ready-to-eat food (R), the control section (168) secures the front area of ​​the door section (114) through the shooting section (154) according to the object (O) detection result of the sensing section (152), confirms that the area where the face shape (F) is detected through the detection section (162) and the distinguishing section (164) is located closer to the second area (a2), and controls the lifting section (130) through the lifting information stored in the storage section (166) to position the purchase operation section (140) at the second height (h1).

[0050] Additionally, the control unit (168) may additionally perform a series of controls after payment is completed, such as controlling the lifting unit (130) to return the purchase operation unit (140) to its default position after providing the optimal operation and payment position of the purchase operation unit (140) for each buyer (O) in the example described above, and then unlocking the door unit (114) of the locking unit (not shown) so that when the return is complete, the buyer (O) can open the door unit (114) and take out the ready-to-cook food (R) stored in the storage area.

[0051] Meanwhile, a sales device (100) for a ready-to-cook food equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention may further include a video output unit (170) arranged above the body part (140) and configured in the form of a monitor that outputs an advertisement video received from a server (not shown). At this time, the control unit (160) may further include a communication part (not shown) in the form of a wired / wireless communication module connected to a communication network and communicating, and the control part (168) receives output information stored in a plurality of advertisement videos and information regarding the order and number of advertisement video outputs from a server (not shown) through the communication part (not shown), stores it in a storage part (166), and enables the advertisement video to be output and played according to the output information.

[0052]

[0053] In other words, the convenience food vending device equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen according to the present invention confirms whether an object located in front of the door part is a buyer (=human body) through a captured image, and performs the purchase process by positioning a purchase operation unit that performs the selection and payment of convenience food according to the height of the buyer's face in the image at an operation position suitable for the buyer, thereby providing convenience for the operation and payment of convenience food not only for buyers of various heights but also for buyers using wheelchairs, etc.

[0054]

[0055] The embodiments of the present invention described above are disclosed for illustrative purposes only, and those skilled in the art with ordinary knowledge of the present invention may make various modifications, changes, and additions within the spirit and scope of the present invention, and such modifications, changes, and additions should be considered to fall within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A body part including a housing part having a multi-tiered storage area with one side open for storing multiple ready-to-cook foods, and a door part that opens and closes the storage area in a sliding manner; A cooling and heat providing part disposed inside the above housing portion and providing cooling and heat to a ready-to-cook food stored in a storage area; A lifting unit positioned on the side of one side of the housing portion where the door portion is located, and which moves up and down in a vertical direction according to a control signal; A purchase operation unit in the form of a touchscreen, wherein a rear portion is coupled to the lifting unit and outputs information on ready-to-cook food and performs input for purchase requests; A detection unit located on the upper part of the housing portion facing the door portion and detecting an object approaching the door portion; and A sales device for convenient ready-to-cook food equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen, characterized by including: a control unit that controls the cooling unit, lifting unit, purchasing operation unit, and sensing unit, and controls the vertical lifting of the lifting unit according to the detection result of the sensing unit.

2. In Paragraph 1, The above-mentioned sensing unit is, A sensing portion provided as an approach detection sensor that detects an object approaching the door portion; and A sales device for convenient ready-to-cook food equipped with a vertical lifting touchscreen, characterized by including a shooting part that photographs a preset front area of ​​the door part according to the sensing result of the sensing part.

3. In Paragraph 2, The above control unit is, A detection part that detects a face shape within an image captured from the above-mentioned capturing part; and A sales device for ready-to-eat food equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen, characterized by including a control section that controls the cooling section, lifting section, purchasing operation section, and sensing section.

4. In Paragraph 3, A sales device for ready-to-cook food equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen, characterized in that the detection part detects the face shape of an object from the pixel range formed by the object only when the range formed by the pixel area of ​​the object within the image captured by the shooting part is greater than or equal to a predetermined standard value.

5. In Paragraph 4, A sales device for convenient ready-to-cook food equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen, characterized in that the control unit controls the vertical lifting height of the lifting unit according to the area where a face shape is detected through the detection unit within the image captured from the shooting unit.

6. In Paragraph 5, The above control unit is, A dividing portion that divides an image captured from the above-mentioned capturing portion into at least two regions based on the vertical direction; and A sales device for convenient ready-to-cook food equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen, characterized by further including: a storage portion in which lifting information is stored in which the lifting height control value of the lifting portion is matched to each area within the captured image separated by the above-mentioned division portion.

7. In Paragraph 6, A sales device for convenient ready-to-cook food equipped with a vertical lifting type touchscreen, characterized in that the control part identifies an area where a face shape is detected from the detection part among the areas separated from the separation part, and controls the vertical lifting of the lifting part through lifting information stored in the storage part.

8. In Paragraph 2, A sales device for convenient ready-to-eat food equipped with a vertical lifting touchscreen, characterized in that the above-mentioned shooting part is provided with an image sensor combined with a wide-angle lens.

Images