Plant selling device and control method thereof

• US 9,478,092 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2014
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: He, Lin, Feng, Xiaohua, Liu, Fei
• Primary Examiner(s): GOKHALE, PRASAD V
• Application Number:
  US14/429,990
• Publication Number:
  US 20160026164A1
• Time in Patent Office: 882 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2621 Conveyor, transfert line
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/165 using xyz-picker or multi-dimensional article picking arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/84 Greenhouse gas [GHG] management systems

Abstract

The present invention discloses a plant selling device and a control method thereof, by which a ripe plant to be sold can be moved from a plant growth room to a sales room according to the information in a purchase order after the purchase order is generated. According to the technical solution of the present invention, plant factory technology can be combined effectively with automatic plant selling so that plants are sold automatically after ripening, thus providing a more convenient mode of production and sale.

Claims

1. A plant selling device, comprising:

a plant growth room in which trays are provided, a plant to be sold growing in one of the trays before the plant is sold;

a sales room with an opening;

a conveyor; and

a central control unit, comprising;

a purchase order generating unit for generating a purchase order;

a movement control unit for controlling movements of the trays and the conveyor by moving the conveyor to the plant growth room, controlling the conveyor to acquire a ripe plant in the plant growth room and moving the conveyor carrying the plant to be sold to the sales room according to information in the purchase order;

a payment order generating unit for generating a payment order according to an actual weight of the plant moved to the sales room; and

an opening control unit for controlling the opening of the sales room to be opened after it is determined a purchaser has paid the payment order.

2. The device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a touch-sensitive display unit comprising;

a display unit for displaying information of purchasable plants; and

an input unit by which the purchaser chooses the purchasable plants,

wherein the purchase order generating unit generates the purchase order according to information input by the purchaser via the input unit of the touch-sensitive display unit.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein after the conveyor is moved into the plant growth room, the movement control unit controls the conveyor to acquire the tray carrying the ripe plant to be sold, and moves the tray along with the conveyor to the sales room after the tray is acquired.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein said conveyor is a manipulator, an elevator, a conveyor belt, or a combination thereof.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein a seeder, a growing environment control device and a monitor are further included in the plant growth room, and the central control unit further comprises:

a sowing control unit for, when it is determined that a tray provided in the plant growth room carries no plants, controlling the seeder to sow seeds in the tray carrying no plants according to an identification information of the tray;

a growing environment control unit for, when it is determined that a plant in the plant growth room requires an environmental adjustment, controlling the growing environment control device to provide plants in the plant growth room with a corresponding growing environment;

an image acquiring control unit for acquiring images of the plants in the plant growth room via the monitor; and

a growth phase determining unit for determining growth phases of the plants according to the images of the plants acquired by the image acquiring control unit.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein when it is determined that the plants in the plant growth room are ripe, the growing environment control unit controls the growing environment control device to provide the plants in the plant growth room with a fresh-keeping environment, and updates information of purchasable plants.

7. The device according to claim 5, wherein a collecting device is provided in the plant growth room, and

when it is determined that a plant in a tray within the plant growth room is unsuitable for sale, the movement control unit controls the movement of the tray to convey the plant in the tray into the collecting device, and updates information of purchasable plants.

8. The device according to claim 5, wherein separators are provided in the plant growth room to divide the plant growth room into a plurality of zones corresponding to different growth phases of the plants,

the movement control unit controls the movements of the trays within the plant growth room so as to, according to a growth phase of a plant in a tray, move the tray to a corresponding zone in the plurality of zones;

and

the growing environment control unit controls the growing environment control device to provide each zone with a corresponding growing environment or fresh-keeping environment.

9. A method for controlling a plant selling device, wherein the plant selling device comprises:

a plant growth room in which trays are provided, a plant to be sold growing in one of the trays before the plant is sold;

a sales room with an opening; and

a conveyor,

the method comprises the following steps of;

generating a purchase order;

controlling movements of the trays and the conveyor by moving the conveyor into the plant growth room, controlling the conveyor to acquire a ripe plant in the plant growth room and moving the conveyor carrying the plant to be sold to the sales room according to information in the purchase order;

generating a payment order according to an actual weight of the plant moved to the sales room; and

controlling the opening of the sales room to be opened after it is determined a purchaser has paid the payment order.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the plant selling device further comprises a display unit for displaying information of purchasable plants and an input unit by which the purchaser chooses the purchasable plants,

wherein in the step of generating a payment order, the purchase order is generated according to the information input by the purchaser via the input unit.

11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the following steps of:

controlling the conveyor to convey the empty tray back to the plant growth room, and updating information of purchasable plants after the purchaser has taken out the purchased plant;

or

controlling the conveyor to convey the tray carrying the plant back to the plant growth room after the purchaser has given up the purchase.

12. The method to claim 9, wherein a seeder, a growing environment control device and a monitor are further included in the plant growth room, and the method further comprises the following steps of:

controlling the seeder to sow seeds in a tray provided in the plant growth room according to an identification information of the tray when it is determined that the tray carries no plants;

controlling the growing environment control device to provide plants in the plant growth room with a corresponding growing environment;

acquiring images of the plants in the plant growth room via the monitor; and

determining growth phases of the plants according to the acquired images of the plants.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein it is determined that the plants in the plant growth room are ripe, the growing environment control device is controlled to provide the plants in the plant growth room with a fresh-keeping environment, and information of purchasable plants is updated.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein a collecting device is provided in the plant growth room, and the method further comprise the following steps of:

when it is determined that a plant in a tray within the plant growth room is unsuitable for sale, controlling the movement of the tray to convey the plant in the tray into the collecting device, and updating information of purchasable plants.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein separators are provided in the plant growth room to divide the plant growth room into a plurality of zones corresponding to different growth phases of the plants, and the method further comprising the following steps of:

controlling the movements of the trays within the plant growth room to move a tray to a corresponding zone in the plurality of zones according to a growth phase of a plant in the tray, and

controlling the growing environment control device to provide each zone with a corresponding growing environment or fresh-keeping environment.