A vending machine with a curved exterior shape is disclosed. Some embodiments of the vending machine are circular in design, and include a transparent upper housing that allows customers to see into the interior of the vending machine. Products for vending may be stored in a non-transparent lower housing. A centrally-located product delivery system transports products for vending from the lower housing to delivery portals located on the upper housing. The product delivery system is able to move along a vertical line and rotate through the horizontal plane and can deliver products from any portion of the lower housing to any delivery portals located on the upper housing.

A device for the accurate and efficient handling of objects, in particular packages, comprises a pick up group consisting of at least one toothed carrier bar and adapted to rotate according to two limit positions; in one of said positions, the bar disengages the packages; a handling group is provided, such as a main comb, with the function of moving the packages by pushing them when the carrier bar is in the working position.

A store includes: a selling apparatus configured to display product information to a user visiting a store and sell a product; and an automatic warehouse configured to store the product sold by the selling apparatus and convey the product to a take-out port. The automatic warehouse includes: a shelf including a plurality of belt conveyors, each of the belt conveyors constituting a shelf plate; and an elevator configured to move up and down with respect to the belt conveyors, and accommodate the product conveyed from a belt conveyor. The shelf includes an ejection port provided on the elevator side to eject the product from the shelf, and a supply port provided on a side opposite to the elevator side to supply the product to the shelf. When the product is supplied from the supply port, the belt conveyor moves a belt of the belt conveyor toward the ejection port.

An automated temperature-controlled outdoor terminal for storage and handover of online grocery orders allowing simultaneous operation of two transactions and a method to operate the terminal is described here.

This disclosure includes a parcel terminal that may include a shelving unit comprising a plurality of shelves that are separated by respective predetermined distances along a dimension of the unit. In an embodiment, the plurality of shelves may be evenly spaced. The parcel terminal may further include a receptable for receiving a parcel from a user, a loader configured to transfer the parcel from the receptacle to a shelf on the shelving unit, and an electronic controller in electronic communication with the loader. The electronic controller may be configured to determine a number of open shelves required to accommodate the parcel based on a size of the parcel and on the respective predetermined distances, to select a set of shelves having at least the required number of open shelves, and to initiate a movement of the loader so as to place the parcel within the selected set of shelves.

This disclosure includes a parcel terminal that may include a shelving unit comprising a plurality of shelves that are separated by respective predetermined distances along a dimension of the unit. In an embodiment, the plurality of shelves may be evenly spaced. The parcel terminal may further include a receptable for receiving a parcel from a user, a loader configured to transfer the parcel from the receptacle to a shelf on the shelving unit, and an electronic controller in electronic communication with the loader. The electronic controller may be configured to determine a number of open shelves required to accommodate the parcel based on a size of the parcel and on the respective predetermined distances, to select a set of shelves having at least the required number of open shelves, and to initiate a movement of the loader so as to place the parcel within the selected set of shelves.

The present disclosure provides a driving device, a bucket and a vending machine. The driving device comprises a base, a motor arranged on the base, a transmission mechanism in transmission connection with the output shaft of the motor and a power output wheel in transmission connection with the transmission mechanism; the transmission mechanism is configured to drive the power output wheel to rotate and to move from a first position to a second position when the output shaft of the motor rotates in a first preset direction; the transmission mechanism is also configured to drive the power output wheel to move from the second position to the first position when the output shaft of the motor rotates in a second preset direction; wherein the first preset direction is opposite to the second preset direction.

An automatic vending machine includes a product housing rack including a plurality of product housing shelves that are disposed in an up-down direction, a plurality of product housing paths corresponding to the plurality of product housing shelves, each product housing path being defined in the corresponding product housing shelf and configured to house products, a plurality of product discharge devices corresponding to the plurality of product housing shelves and the plurality of product housing paths, each product discharge device being configured to separate and discharge, one by one, the products that are housed in the corresponding product housing path. The product housing shelf includes a front side shelf member and a back side shelf member that are divided in the front-back direction, supported by support members, and detachably coupled with each other so that the front side shelf member is sandwiched by the back side shelf member.

An unmanned store system includes: a selling apparatus configured to sell a product to a user visiting an unmanned store; as automatic warehouse configured to store the product sold by the selling apparatus; and a management server configured to manage the product stored in the automatic warehouse. The selling apparatus displays product information of the product stored in the automatic warehouse and a code image including a request for settlement of the product, corresponding the product information to the core image. When the settlement is made in response to the request for settlement included the code image, the management server transmits a conveyance command to the automatic warehouse to convey the product to the selling apparatus. The automatic warehouse conveys the product to the selling apparatus, based on the conveyance command transmitted from the management server.

A retail merchandise pusher is configured for sliding along a pusher assembly track. The pusher assembly is mountable to a retail merchandise shelf. The pusher includes a housing, a spring drum rotatably mounted within the housing, and a coil spring mounted to the spring drum. The coil spring is coilable and uncoilable upon rotation of the spring drum. A controller is coupled to a sensor arrangement within the housing. The sensor arrangement has a spring drum sensor for detecting rotation of the spring drum. A direction sensor detects a direction of rotation of the spring drum. An incremental distance sensor detects incremental movement of the pusher. The controller is configured to calculate, based on data from the sensor arrangement, a total distance and direction of travel by the pusher, and to generate an alarm when the pusher travels more than a threshold distance within a predetermined period of time.