JP2002133512A - Automatic vending machine for software - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a time required for a purchaser to receive an article. SOLUTION: A lot of softwares as articles is stored in a storage part 2, a data of the article selected by an input device 7 is read out from the storage device 2 to be written in a raw disk taken out from a raw disk storage device 10 by a data writing/erasing device 13, to be carried outsides. As to the articles for which a large sales amount is predicted, the disk data is preliminarily written in the disk to be stored in a recoreded disk storage device 12. When the article is selected, the corresponding recorded disk is taken out from the recorded disk storage device 12 to be carried outsides.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a software vending machine which sells software such as music software, game software, personal computer software, and electronic books as commodities.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a software vending machine,
JP-A-8-202940 (G07F17 / 00), JP-A-8-272864 (G07F17 / 00), JP-A-10-188128 (G07F17 / 0
As shown in (0) and the like, music software vending machines for selling music software have been developed. In these vending machines, the host computer stores the data as commodities online and related information in a storage device in the vending machine, a purchaser selects a product from a panel, and stores data of the selected commodities in the storage device. And write them to raw mini-discs and sell them.

[0003] By using such a vending machine, a purchaser can easily obtain only music that suits his or her taste from a variety of prepared music software.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional software vending machine, it is necessary to select a desired product and then write the data to a mini-disc or the like. The time is always required, and the buyer has to wait a relatively long time before receiving the product.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to solve such a problem, that is, to shorten the time required for a purchaser to receive a product.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a software vending machine according to claim 1 inputs a storage device for storing a large number of software as commodities and selection information of commodities to be purchased. An input device, a storage device for a raw recording medium for storing a raw recording medium on which no data is written, and reading product data from the storage device onto a recording medium taken out from the storage device for the raw recording medium. A data writer for writing, a storage device for a recorded recording medium for storing a recording medium in which data of a large number of products to be sold are written in advance by the data writer, and a control for controlling each of the devices The control unit is configured to, when the input device selects the product for which the large number of sales is predicted, store the corresponding recording medium from the storage device for the recorded recording medium. And controls to sell is taken out. In this way, the time until the buyer receives the product can be shortened.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the software vending machine, the control unit becomes out of date due to outdated contents of the recording medium stored in the storage device for the recorded recording medium. It is characterized in that control is performed so that the data of the recorded product is erased and returned to the raw recording medium storage device. In this case, the storage device for the recorded recording medium can be used efficiently.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software vending machine including a communication control circuit for receiving data online from a host computer, wherein the control unit comprises:
The method is characterized in that, based on data received from the host computer, the plurality of products whose sales are predicted and the products whose sales are no longer expected are selected. In this way, accurate prediction can be made based on abundant data.

[0009] The software vending machine according to claim 4 is characterized in that the product is music software. In this way, the best-selling music software can be purchased in a short time.

[0010] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the software vending machine, the product is game software. In this way, the best selling game software can be purchased in a short time.

Further, the software vending machine according to claim 6 is characterized in that the product is personal computer software. In this way, the best-selling personal computer software can be purchased in a short time.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the software vending machine, the product is an electronic book or an electronic newspaper. In this manner, the best-selling electronic book or electronic newspaper can be purchased in a short time.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. The control unit 1 controls the operation of the entire system. The storage device 2 stores a large number of data as commodities and their related information. The communication control circuit 3 communicates with the host computer 16 via the modem 4 and the communication line 15 to update the product data and the related information stored in the storage device 2 to the latest one, and to perform various managements. It is for exchanging information.

The display device 5 is for displaying a product selection screen or the like at the time of product purchase on a display device. Playback device 6
Is for reproducing the original data when listening to music software or the like. The input device 7 is for inputting information necessary for selecting a product when purchasing a product. The money handling device 8 is for identifying and taking in money entered as a fee. Card processing device 9
Is for processing a card when paying a fee by a credit card, an IC card, or the like.

The raw disk storage device 10 is for storing a raw disk on which no data is written. As the disc, for example, a mini disc can be used. The disk receiving device 11 is for receiving a user disk when a purchaser records data on the user disk. The recorded disk storage device 12 is for storing a disk in which a large number of product data whose sales are predicted are written in advance.

The data writing / erasing device 13 writes product data on a raw mini disk taken out from the raw disk storage device 10 or on a user disk received by the disk receiving device 11, or writes the product data on the recorded disk storage device 12. This is for erasing stored and old disk data. The disk transport device 14 includes a raw disk storage device 10, a recorded disk storage device 12,
The disk is transported between the data writing / erasing device 13 and the disk exit.

Next, the basic operation of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of one embodiment of the present invention. Step 1: In the standby state, the control unit 1 instructs the display device 5 to display a product selection screen on an image display described later. Step 2: It is determined whether or not there is an input for selecting a product from the input device 7. Step 3: If there is an input, it is determined whether or not the selected one is already recorded on the disc.

Step 4: If the selected item is not the one already recorded on the disc, the display device 5 is instructed to display a screen for searching for a desired product. Step 5: In response to the search input from the input device 7, the storage device 2 is searched. At that time, if it is not in the storage device 2, it inquires of the host computer 16 via the communication line 15.

Step 6: It is determined whether or not the selection of the product has been completed. Step 7: When finished, the display device 5 is instructed to display the charge to be charged. Step 8: The display device 5 displays a screen for asking the purchaser whether to use his / her own disk, and then receives an input from the input device 7 to use the purchaser's disk. It is determined whether or not.

Step 9: When using the disk of the purchaser, it is determined whether or not the disk has been inserted. Step 10: If you do not use the buyer's disc,
It is determined whether or not the selected product is already recorded on the disc. Step 11: whether the disc was inserted in step 9
If the data has not been recorded in step 10, the data writing / erasing device 13 is instructed to write data to the inserted disk or the raw disk taken out from the raw disk storage device 10. Step 12: A command is issued to the disk transport device 14 to carry out the disk from the vending machine.

Next, the software vending machine of the present invention will be specifically described. FIG. 3 is an external view showing an example of the software vending machine of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an internal structural diagram thereof. In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numerals 8 to 14 correspond to those in FIG.
RT, LCD, etc., an image display having a touch-type input device on its surface, 23 is a speaker, 24 is a coin return slot, 25 is a disc exit, 26 is a raw disc, 27
Is a recorded disk.

A large number of raw disks 26 on which data has not been recorded are stored in the raw disk storage device 10. The products for which a large number of sales are predicted are recorded on a disk in advance and stored in the recorded disk storage device 12 for each product. At this time, the data writing / erasing device 13 reads the data of the corresponding product from the storage device 2 described above and writes the data on the raw disk taken out from the raw disk storage device 10. The prediction of whether or not a large number of sales can be expected is made based on the data obtained by summarizing the sales situation in each place from the above-mentioned host computer 16 as needed. The contents of the storage device 2 are updated by receiving the latest product data from the host computer 16 as needed.

During standby, a product selection screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the image display 22. “Music”, “game”, “PC”, and “book” on the screen are touch-type buttons for selecting the type of software, and the screen can be switched by touching them. In addition, No. 1 to No. 10, a large number of sales are expected,
This is a selection button for a product stored in the recorded disk storage device 12, and a product to be purchased is selected by touching any of the buttons.

On the other hand, No. 1 to No. If you want a product other than 10, touch the "Search" button.
Is displayed as shown in FIG. In this search screen, a desired product is designated by inputting the product name by touching the kana character one character at a time.

After selecting a product on the screen of FIG. 5 or specifying a product on the screen of FIG. 6 as described above, when you want to see detailed information on each product or to listen to music software, By touching the "information" button, detailed information of the product is displayed on the image display 22, or a song is played from the speaker 23. Then, if the product is acceptable, the user touches the "OK" button.

When the "OK" button is touched, a confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. If the displayed content is acceptable, touching the “OK” button displays a user carry-in disk use confirmation screen as shown in FIG. The purchaser selects whether to use the disc brought by himself or the disc prepared in the vending machine, and in the former case, touches the “YES” button and then puts the disc in the disc receiving device 11. Insert As a result, the data of the desired product is recorded on the inserted disc and comes out.

In the latter case, the "NO" button is touched. As a result, when a large number of products whose sales are predicted are selected on the screen of FIG. 5, the corresponding recorded disk 27 is taken out from the recorded disk storage device 12, and
It is carried out from the disk carry-out port 25. In this way, products that sell well are carried out without spending time for recording, so that the purchaser can obtain the products in a short time.

On the other hand, when a product is designated on the screen shown in FIG. 6, the raw disk 26 is taken out from the raw disk storage device 10 and sent to the data writing / erasing device 13 where the data of the desired product is recorded. Afterwards, the disk exit 25
Come out of.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which a mini disk is used as a recording medium. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other recording media such as a magneto-optical disk and a memory card can be used.

[0030]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. In other words, the software vending machine according to the first aspect of the present invention writes and stores in advance a plurality of product data items expected to be sold on a recording medium, and when the products are sold, the corresponding data is stored in the storage device. The recording medium was taken out and sold. As a result, the time until the buyer receives the merchandise for the hot-selling merchandise can be extremely reduced.

A software vending machine according to a second aspect of the present invention records a product whose contents are old and cannot be sold anymore among the recording media stored in the storage device for the recorded recording media. In some cases, the data is erased and returned to the storage device for the raw recording medium, so that the storage device for the recorded recording medium can be used efficiently.

Further, the software vending machine according to the third aspect is configured to select, based on the data received from the host computer, the products for which the large number of sales are predicted and the products for which the sales are no longer expected. Precise predictions can be made based on a wealth of data.

Further, since the software vending machine according to the fourth aspect sells music software, the best selling music software can be purchased in a short time.

The software vending machine according to the fifth aspect sells game software, so that the best selling game software can be purchased in a short time.

The software vending machine according to claim 6 sells personal computer software.
You can purchase top-selling PC software in a short time.

Further, since the software vending machine according to the seventh aspect sells an electronic book or an electronic newspaper, it is possible to purchase a popular electronic book or an electronic newspaper in a short time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing an example of a software vending machine of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an internal structural view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a display example of a product selection screen.

FIG. 6 is a display example of a product search screen.

FIG. 7 is a display example of a confirmation screen.

FIG. 8 is a display example of a user brought-in disk use confirmation screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control part 2 ... Storage device 8 ... Money processing device 9 ... Card processing device 10 ... Raw disk storage device 11 ... Disk receiving device 12 ... Recorded disk storage device 13 ... Data writing / erasing device 14 ... Disk transport device 15 … Communication line 16… Host computer 21… Price indicator 22… Image display 23… Speaker 24… Coin return slot 25… Disc exit 26… Raw disc 27… Recorded disc

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A storage device for storing a large number of software products, an input device for inputting selection information of a product to be purchased, and a storage for a raw recording medium for storing a raw recording medium on which no data is written. An apparatus, a data writer for reading and writing merchandise data from the storage device to a recording medium taken out of the storage device for raw recording media, and a data writer for writing data of a number of merchandise to be sold A storage device for a recorded recording medium that stores a recording medium that has been written in advance, and a control unit that controls each of the devices, wherein the control unit is configured to predict the large number of products to be sold by the input device. When a is selected, a software vending machine is controlled to take out the relevant recording medium from the storage device for recorded recording media and sell it. 2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit deletes data of a recording medium stored in the storage device for the recorded recording medium, which records a product whose contents are out of date and cannot be expected to be sold. 2. The software vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine is controlled to return to the raw recording medium storage device. 3. A communication control circuit for receiving data on-line from a host computer, wherein the control unit is configured to be unable to anticipate the products whose sales are predicted and sales based on the data received from the host computer. 3. The product according to claim 1, wherein said product is sorted.
Software vending machine as described. 4. The software vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the product is music software. 5. The software vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the merchandise is game software. 6. The software vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the product is personal computer software. 7. The software vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the product is an electronic book or an electronic newspaper.