WO2018137136A1 - Vending machine and operation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a vending machine and an operation method thereof. The vending machine comprises a camera (120) connected to a processor (140). The processor (140) is connected to a backend server (20) by means of a network. The camera (120) acquires real-time image information of commodities for sale displayed on a shelf and transmits the same to the backend server (20) by means of the processor (140). The camera (120) acquires the real-time image information of the commodities for sale displayed on the shelf, and identifies a category and a first quantity of a first commodity for sale on the shelf. The backend server (20) determines, according to the category and the first quantity of the first commodity, a category and a quantity of a withdrawn commodity to calculate a payment amount. The above vending machine and the operation method thereof reduce operation complexity for a user in a purchase process and lower the requirement on maintenance.

Description

Vending machine and operating method thereof Technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of vending machines, in particular to a vending machine and a running method thereof.

Background technique

Vending machines are common equipment for commercial automation. They are not limited by time and place, saving manpower and facilitating transactions.

At present, vending machines on the market mainly purchase in the form of first payment and pick-up, and the products for sale are displayed on the shelves. The user selects the corresponding products through certain operation methods, and then completes the coin or other payment form. After the payment, the vending machine releases the merchandise purchased by the user. The vending machine of this structure needs to display the merchandise, so the shelf capacity is small, the freight lane cost is high, and the user needs to select the merchandise and then perform one. The series operation can then complete the payment, and for vending machine maintenance personnel, when replenishing the merchandise, it is necessary to strictly place the merchandise on the designated position on the shelf. Once placed incorrectly, the actual transaction merchandise will be In the case of inconsistent purchases by users, it is easy to cause trading risks.

It can be seen that the existing vending machine has a large freight yard cost, and has the defects that the user purchase process is complicated and the maintenance requirements are high.

Summary of the invention

Based on this, it is necessary to provide a vending machine and a running method thereof for the technical defects of the above-mentioned existing vending machines, which have a large freight yard cost, and reduce the freight yard cost.

A vending machine includes a box body and a built-in shelf thereof, wherein the box body is provided with a camera;

The camera is connected to a processor, and the processor is connected to the background server through a network;

The camera captures real-time image information of the goods for sale on the shelf, and sends the information to the background server through the processor;

The camera captures real-time image information of the goods for sale on the shelf, and identifies the first item for sale and the first quantity on the shelf according to the real-time image information;

The background server determines the type and quantity of the extracted goods for sale according to the first item for sale and the first quantity, and performs settlement according to the type and quantity of the item for sale.

A method for operating a vending machine based on the above, comprising:

The mobile intelligent terminal accesses the background server by using the account, and the background server initiates a shopping process, acquires the extracted types and quantities of the goods for sale, and performs a settlement process on the account according to the type and quantity of the products for sale.

The vending machine of the present invention and the operating method thereof use the camera on the upper part of the shelf to acquire image data of the goods for sale, and the background server uses the image data to identify and calculate the type and quantity of the goods for sale, and reduce the cost of the goods lane. Increase the shelf capacity, but also reduce the complexity of the user's purchase process and reduce maintenance requirements.

DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a partial structural schematic view of a vending machine of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a shelf of an embodiment;

Fig. 3 is a circuit configuration diagram of a vending machine of an embodiment.

detailed description

Embodiments of the vending machine of the present invention and its operating method will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1 , FIG. 1 is a partial schematic structural view of a vending machine according to the present invention, which mainly includes a cabinet 10 and a built-in shelf 110 therein. The camera 10 is provided with a camera 120; the camera 120 is connected to the processing. The processor 140 is connected to the background server 20 through a network; wherein the location of the camera 120 can be selected according to actual needs;

The camera 120 captures real-time image information of the goods for sale on the shelf 110, and identifies the first type of goods for sale and the first quantity on the shelf 110 according to the real-time image information;

The background server 20 determines the type and quantity of the goods for sale extracted according to the first type of goods for sale and the first quantity, and performs settlement according to the type and quantity of the items for sale.

In the above technical solution, the vending machine uses the picture information of the appearance of the goods for sale as the identification basis, and the solution of the above embodiment is different from the manner in which the conventional vending machine extracts the goods for sale, and the box 10 can be opened for sale by opening the door. The way of the goods, the way the user directly extracts the goods by opening the door, thereby reducing the cost of the goods lane, and avoiding the way of fixing the goods in a fixed position in the conventional manner, and reducing the maintenance requirements.

In the above technical solution, the real-time image information may be a static picture or a dynamic video. When real-time image information is used to identify the type and quantity of goods for sale, an image comparison method based on still pictures may be employed, that is, a static picture The film is compared with pre-stored pictures for sale, and can also be identified by video recognition based on dynamic video.

As an embodiment, since the vending machine needs to be networked to the background server 20 for order settlement, the identification process execution process may be completed locally at the vending machine or on the server side.

Considering that the current hardware functions are becoming more and more powerful, if the image of the limited item for sale is processed, the local processor 140 does not need a very strong capability, and it can be considered to perform the recognition process on the processor 140, that is, the processor 140 pairs the real-time image. The information is processed to identify the first item of merchandise for sale and the first quantity of the item for sale, and send it to the background server 20; thus the hardware cost is not high, and the central processing pressure of the background server 20 can also be reduced. , reducing the requirements on network bandwidth.

In addition, if a large number of categories of goods for sale are considered, all information processing can be completed on the background server 20; that is, the processor 140 transmits the real-time image information to the background server 20; the background server 20 performs arithmetic processing on the real-time image information. A first sale item category and a first quantity of the item for sale are identified and settled.

As an embodiment, the vending machine local and background server 20 may also be combined with the identification scheme, that is, the processor 140 extracts the feature vector of the map from the real-time image information, and then sends the feature vector to the background server 20; The server 20 calculates the feature vector and the pre-stored product image for sale, and identifies the first item of the item for sale and the first quantity of the item for sale. In the technical solution, the processor 140 processes the data semi-finished product. Through the network transmission to the background server 20 for comparison, the amount of data transmission is small, which not only reduces the hardware requirements for the processor 140, but also reduces the network bandwidth requirements.

The above embodiment provides three solutions. The user of the patent can comprehensively evaluate and select the corresponding solution according to the network condition, the database size, the vending machine local and the background server 20 end hardware processing capability.

As an embodiment, the scheme of the vending machine of the present invention can also be set as follows:

The vending machine includes a cabinet 10 and a built-in shelf 110, a bottom of the shelf 110 is provided with a camera 120, and a gravity sensor 130 is disposed at the bottom of the shelf 110;

The camera 120 and the gravity sensor 130 are respectively connected to the processor 140, the processor 140 is connected to the background server 20 through a network;

The camera 120 captures real-time image information of the goods for sale on the shelf 110, and sends it to the background server 20 through the processor 140;

The gravity sensor 130 detects the change weight of the shelf 110 before and after the item for sale is sent to the background server 20 by the processor 140;

The background server 20 calculates the real-time image information and the for-preferred product image pre-existing in the background server 20, and identifies the first for-sell item category and the first quantity on the shelf 110; according to the change weight and pre-existence Determining, by the background server 20, the weight of each type of item for sale, determining the second type and the second quantity of the item for sale; determining, according to the first item of the item for sale and the first quantity, and the second category and the second quantity The type and quantity of goods for sale.

The type and quantity of the goods for sale on the shelf 110 can be identified by the real-time image information; the type and quantity of the goods for sale can also be determined by using the changed weight; and the types of goods for sale finally determined by using the above two identification results And quantity, which improves the accuracy of recognition.

As an embodiment, the vending machine of the present invention may further include a control lock 150 mounted on the door of the cabinet 10, the control lock 150 being coupled to the processor 140; wherein the control lock 150 may be magnetically locked or electrically inserted. Lock or electric lock, etc. The background server 20 controls the opening of the door of the cabinet 10 by the processor 140 and detects a door closing signal.

As an embodiment, referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a shelf of an embodiment. The number of the cameras 120 may be four, which are respectively installed at four corner positions on the shelf 110, and the shelf 110 is taken from four angles. Real-time image information of the goods sold.

As an embodiment, the vending machine of the present invention may further include an on-beam photoelectric sensor 160 disposed in front of the shelf 110, the pair of photoelectric sensors 160 being disposed on both sides of the shelf 110 for detecting a blocking signal and detecting Upon the blocking signal, a signal is sent to the processor 140, which turns on the camera 120 and the gravity sensor 130.

As an embodiment, the vending machine of the present invention may further include a two-dimensional code tag 310 disposed outside the casing 10, the user scanning the two-dimensional code tag 310 using the mobile intelligent terminal, accessing the background server 20, and performing the settlement by the background server 20. The process; through the two-dimensional code tag 310, the mobile intelligent terminal can be quickly accessed and operated.

The vending machine may also include a card swiping machine 320 disposed outside the cabinet 10 for reading user card information, accessing the background server 20, and the background server 20 performing a settlement process.

In addition, the vending machine may further include a biological information collection device 330 disposed outside the cabinet 10 for collecting biometric information of the user, accessing the background server 20, and the background server 20 performing a settlement process; wherein the biometric information includes Fingerprint information, palm print information, palm vein information, finger vein information, eye red film information, or face information.

As an embodiment, the shelf 110 is a multi-layer shelf 110, and a camera 120 is disposed on each shelf 110 and The gravity sensor 130 is separately designed by multiple layers, so that in actual use, when the user selects a product for sale on a certain shelf 110, the detection on the other shelves 110 is not triggered, thereby improving the processing speed and enabling rapid processing. inventory.

Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a vending machine of an embodiment. The main circuit portion of the vending machine includes a processor 140, and a camera 120, a gravity sensor 130, and a control lock 150 respectively connected to the processor 140; The processor 140 connects to the background server 20 through the network to implement data processing and forwarding control functions; the background server 20 can connect to multiple vending machines.

Based on the above vending machine, the operating method of the vending machine provided by the present invention includes the following:

The mobile intelligent terminal accesses the background server 20 by using the account, and the background server 20 initiates a shopping process, acquires the extracted types and quantities of goods for sale, and performs a settlement process on the account.

Further, the mobile intelligent terminal may scan the two-dimensional code tag 310 disposed outside the box 10, log in and access the background server 20 by using the account, and the background server 20 starts the settlement process. The mobile smart terminal can be a smart phone, a tablet or a PDA.

Taking biometric information collection as an example, through the fingerprint identifier, the user uses the personal fingerprint, enters the fingerprint information and sends it to the background server, or through the face recognizer, the user recognizes the face information and sends the face information to the background server.

Take the credit card machine as an example, it can be a credit card machine such as a bank card, a transportation card, or a company employee card.

In the foregoing embodiment, for the background server 20, the client software of the type such as Alipay, WeChat, Bank APP, and various dedicated APPs may be used for settlement, and details are not described herein again.

Further, after the background server 20 starts the settlement process, the door 140 is sent by the processor 140, and the processor 140 opens the control lock 150 installed on the door of the box 10.

Further, the background server 20 obtains the door closing signal of the door 10 through the processor 140, and after obtaining the door closing signal, settles the account according to the type and quantity of the goods for sale.

As an application example, the vending machine works as follows:

Assuming that the vending machine has multiple layers, the user scans the two-dimensional code label 310 through the payment tool. After the door of the box 10 is opened, the user reaches out to a certain shelf 110 to select the item for sale, and the hand passes through the opposite side of the shelf 110. When the photoelectric sensor 160 is used, the camera 120 at the top of the shelf 110 and the gravity sensor 130 at the bottom of the shelf 110 start to work. If the user takes one or more of the items for sale, the camera 110 captures real-time image information, and the background server 20 identifies the shelf. 110 The type and quantity of the goods for sale, and detecting the door signal of the vending authority. When the door is detected to be closed, the background server 20 starts the settlement process by comparing the type and quantity of the goods for sale before and after the door is opened, and gravity The sensor 130 calculates the change of gravity occurring before and after closing the door, confirms the type and quantity of the goods for sale extracted by the user, and avoids the calculation error of the image recognition sensor caused by the disorder of the goods for sale; the background server 20 determines the goods for sale by the user. And the amount, calculate the amount of the payment, and deduct the money from the account to complete the purchase.

According to the vending machine provided by the embodiment of the present invention, as an application example, the shopping flow can be as follows:

1) The user activates the payment tool by using the held mobile intelligent terminal;

2) Scan the QR code tag 310 by using the payment tool, log in to the background server 20, and register as a member;

3) scanning the two-dimensional code label 310 again, starting the shopping process, and the background server 20 sends a control signal to control the control lock 150 to open the door of the box 10;

4) The user selects the item for sale;

5) The user closes the door after selecting the item for sale, and the processor 140 detects the door closing signal and sends it to the background server 20. After receiving the door closing signal, the background server 20 performs settlement and deducts the payment by the payment instrument.

The mobile intelligent terminal in the embodiment of the present invention may be any terminal device such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, or a PDA; the payment tool may use a payment tool such as Alipay or WeChat.

With the technical solution of the present invention, the user opens the door of the vending machine by operating the smart terminal, and the user can directly extract the goods for sale from the shelf without other operations, and after the goods are extracted, the user closes the door, and the background server can calculate The type and quantity of goods for sale extracted by the user are then billed and settled, and the automatic deduction transaction is convenient; the cost of the goods lane is reduced. And for the vending machine maintenance personnel, when the product is replenished, the merchandise placement does not need to be strictly placed on the designated position on the shelf, and even if it is placed at random, the actual transaction product is not inconsistent with the product purchased by the user. To avoid triggering trading risks.

The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. For the sake of brevity of description, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described. However, as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of these technical features, All should be considered as the scope of this manual.

The above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that a number of variations and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims (10)

A vending machine, comprising a box (10) and a built-in shelf (110), wherein the box (10) is provided with a camera (120); The camera (120) is connected to a processor (140), the processor (140) is connected to the background server (20) through a network; The camera (120) captures real-time image information of the item for sale on the shelf (110), and identifies the first item of the item for sale and the first quantity on the shelf (110) according to the real-time image information; The background server (20) determines the type and quantity of the extracted goods for sale according to the first item for sale and the first quantity, and performs settlement according to the type and quantity of the item for sale. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said processor (140) transmits real-time image information to a background server (20); and the background server (20) performs arithmetic processing on the real-time image information to identify said The first type of goods for sale and the first quantity of the goods for sale; or The processor (140) performs real-time image information row operation processing, identifies the first for-sell item category and the first quantity of the for-sold item for sale, and sends it to the background server (20); The real-time image information includes a static picture or a dynamic video; the method for processing the real-time image information line includes: comparing the static picture with the pre-stored product image for sale based on the static picture comparison manner, or based on the video The analysis method identifies the dynamic video. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the processor (140) extracts a feature vector of the map from the real-time image information, and then transmits the feature vector to the background server (20); The background server (20) operates the feature vector and the pre-stored product image for sale to identify the first item of the item for sale and the first quantity of the item for sale. The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the bottom of the shelf (110) is further provided with a gravity sensor (130), and the gravity sensor (130) is connected to the processor (140) ; The gravity sensor (130) detects the change weight of the shelf (110) before and after the item for sale is sent to the background server (20) through the processor (140); The background server (20) determines a second category and a second quantity of the goods for sale for sale according to the changed weight and the weight of the various types of goods for sale pre-stored in the background server (20); and according to the first Type of goods for sale And the first quantity and the second category and the second quantity determine the kind and quantity of goods for sale that are extracted. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a control lock (150) mounted on the door of the case (10), the control lock (150) being coupled to the processor (140); The control lock (150) adopts a magnetic lock, an electric lock or an electric lock. The background server (20) controls the opening of the cabinet (10) by a processor (140) and detects a door closing signal. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising an on-beam photoelectric sensor (160) disposed in front of the shelf (110), the through-beam photoelectric sensor (160) being disposed on the shelf (110) On both sides, for detecting a blocking signal, and when detecting the blocking signal, transmitting a signal to the processor (140), the processor (140) turning on the camera (120) and the gravity sensor (130). The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a two-dimensional code tag (310) disposed outside the case (10), the user scanning the two-dimensional code tag (310) using the mobile smart terminal, Accessing the background server (20), and the background server (20) performs the settlement process; or The utility model further comprises a card swiping machine (320) disposed outside the box body (10) for reading the user card swiping information, accessing the background server (20), and the background server (20) performing the settlement process; or The utility model further includes a biological information collecting device (330) disposed outside the cabinet (10) for collecting biological information of the user, accessing the background server (20), and the background server (20) performing a settlement process; wherein the biological information includes Fingerprint information, palm print information, palm vein information, finger vein information, eye red film information, or face information. The vending machine according to claim 4, wherein the shelf (110) is a multi-layer shelf (110), and a camera (120) and a gravity sensor (130) are respectively disposed on each shelf (110). A method of operating a vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises: The mobile intelligent terminal accesses the background server (20) by using an account, and the background server (20) initiates a shopping process, acquires the extracted types and quantities of goods for sale, and performs settlement on the account according to the type and quantity of the products for sale. Process. The operating method of the vending machine according to claim 9, wherein the mobile intelligent terminal scans a two-dimensional code tag (30) disposed outside the cabinet (10), and uses the account to log in to access the background server ( 20), The background server (20) starts the settlement process; After the background server (20) starts the settlement process, the door opening signal is sent by the processor (140), and the processor (140) opens the control lock (150) installed on the door of the box (10); The background server (20) obtains the door closing signal of the door (10) through the processor (140), and after the door closing signal is acquired, settles the account according to the type and quantity of the goods for sale extracted. .

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