The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 19, 2022
Filed:
Apr. 17, 2019
Shandong New Beiyang Information Technology Co., Ltd., Shandong, CN;
Weihai New Beiyang Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Shandong, CN;
Liangliang Chang, Shandong, CN;
Xiangwei Chen, Shandong, CN;
Xuqiang Dong, Shandong, CN;
Yue Wang, Shandong, CN;
Zhigang Xu, Shandong, CN;
Tianxin Jiang, Shandong, CN;
SHANDONG NEW BEIYANG INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., Shandong, CN;
WEIHAI NEW BEIYANG DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., Shandong, CN;
Abstract
Provided are a method for detecting quantity of items and a vending machine. The vending machine includes: an item column configured to temporarily store items, where the item column includes an outlet; a shielding member configured to shield or open the outlet of the item column; and a driving device configured to drive the items in the item column to move toward the outlet of the item column. The method includes: controlling the shielding member to shield the outlet of the item column; driving the items in the item column to move until the items in the item column abut against each other; detecting a total length of all items in the item column; and calculating the quantity of items in the item column according to the total length of the all items and a length of a single item in the item column.