JP2016091442A - vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow a plurality of persons to print pictures or the like they like on commodities on site and purchase the commodities.CONSTITUTION: A vending machine comprises customer operation units provided on a plurality of respective surfaces (1A-1D), and allows a plurality of customers to simultaneously operate at the respective customer operation units. A customer inputs a desired image from a customer operation unit by taking it with an electronic camera, bringing it stored in a medium, or transmitting it from a terminal. The vending machine prints the input image on a customer print region of a yet-to-be-completed commodity to complete the commodity, and supplies it to the customer from a take-out port corresponding to the customer operation unit operated by the customer. Ready-made images stored in a memory in the vending machine may be also printed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a print-on-demand vending machine.

  Vending machines that sell products desired by customers in response to operations of customers (consumers, users) are already well known. Recently, with the development of various electronic devices and communication networks, vending machines with new functions have been proposed.

  For example, Patent Document 1 describes a vending machine that includes a visual system including a camera, detects a specific logo batch worn by the consumer, and interacts with the consumer in response thereto. .

  The vending machine described in Patent Document 2 receives and displays promotional advertisement content via a network, and outputs a privilege and a processing result generated when an authenticated member participates in the promotional advertisement.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a photo vending machine capable of executing both photo printing and smooth relief processing with a single machine.

  U.S. Patent No. 6,057,031 describes an apparatus and method for preparing a container having a customized design, which allows a consumer to interact with the apparatus to customize at least one aspect of a virtual white pack. It provides an interface means that allows a created design to be created through the selection and placement of design elements. However, this technology does not produce or sell products, but only a part of the consumer design the virtual white pack. Patent Document 4 does not disclose a vending machine.

  In other words, even if a package is designed, the creation of the package with that design (including printing of the design) and filling of the contents must be done at the factory, and the product should be obtained immediately on the spot when the design is completed. I can't. It takes time for manufacturing, time for delivery, and additional delivery costs.

JP 2001-76227 A JP2012-53875 JP 2010-173299 A Special table 2010-532733

  The present invention provides a vending machine that can complete a product (product) on which desired information is printed on at least a part of the surface of an unfinished product (semi-finished product) and immediately deliver it to a customer. To do.

  In particular, the present invention provides a vending machine suitable for a plurality of customers to operate simultaneously.

  The vending machine according to the present invention comprises an incomplete product storage means for storing an incomplete product in which a customer print area is provided on at least a part of the surface, a print information input unit for the customer to input desired print information, and a product Information is printed by a plurality of customer operation units including outlets, a printing unit for printing information represented by the printing information input by the printing information input unit in a customer printing area of an unfinished product, and the printing unit The product supply means for supplying the completed product to the product outlet corresponding to the print information input unit that has input the information. The plurality of customer operation units are provided separately so that a plurality of customers can operate.

  The vending machine according to the present invention is installed especially in sightseeing spots, accommodation facilities such as hotels, amusement facilities, theme parks, event venues, movie theaters, concert halls, etc. Since the products shown can be manufactured (finished) and supplied on the spot, they can be used as vending machines for new forms of souvenirs and souvenirs.

  An unfinished product is an unfinished product in the sense that there is room for the customer to print the desired information (such as images containing text) because a customer print area is provided on at least a part of the surface. It is. The product includes the packaging container itself.

  The vending machine according to the present invention prints and completes an image desired by the customer on at least a part of the surface of the unfinished product, and provides the completed product to the customer. The customer print area for unfinished products is not limited to an area that remains as a fabric or white, but may be any area that can print some image on it. For example, it may be an area that is colored to the extent that it does not interfere with the printing of an image, or an area in which the background has already been printed. Therefore, the customer print area may not be clearly separated from other areas. In the most extreme form, the customer print area may be continuous with the area on which other patterns, designs, etc. are printed, and the product may be uncomfortable without adding special image printing to it. . Even in this case, if the customer's desired image is printed on a part of the product packaging container (customer print area), it will have a better appearance and a souvenir souvenir meaning. Completeness increases. In this sense, the product before the image desired by the customer is printed is an incomplete product even if the product does not feel uncomfortable even if the image is not printed. The customer print area can be said to be an area where the customer can print arbitrarily, a printable customer area, a customer self-expression area, and the like.

  Inputting an image includes selecting one or more of the images when there are a plurality of images. Therefore, a mode in which two or more images are combined or printed at a plurality of separate locations (a plurality of customer print areas) is also included. The image may include letters, numbers and symbols.

  Printing an image includes not only displaying (printing) the image directly on the unfinished product with ink or the like, but also attaching a paper (for example, sticker paper) representing (printing) the image.

  In this way, according to the vending machine of the present invention, a product on which an image desired by the customer is printed on at least a part of the surface can be completed on the spot and supplied to the customer.

  The vending machine according to the present invention has a plurality of customer operation surfaces, and a plurality of customers can simultaneously input print information. Since the input of the print information is for the customer to input a favorite image, it takes time, including taking a picture, inputting an image from a recording medium, and selecting an image. Since a plurality of customers can input print information on a plurality of customer operation surfaces, the waiting time is eliminated or shortened as compared with the case where there is only one customer operation surface. Of course, products that have been printed with the information are supplied to the product outlet corresponding to the customer's operation surface that entered the information, so the customer can obtain the product on which the information entered and determined is printed. it can.

  In one embodiment, the vending machine according to the present invention further includes a housing having a plurality of surfaces, the plurality of customer operation units are provided on the plurality of surfaces, respectively, and a print information input unit and a corresponding product outlet are provided. It is provided so that it can be operated on the same surface.

  In a preferred embodiment, the product supply means stores a correspondence relationship between the information input by the print information input unit and the product outlet to which the product printed with the information is printed, and controls the product supply. It has. Thereby, the correspondence relationship between the print information input unit and the product outlet is clarified.

  In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises value receiving means for receiving a value corresponding to the total price of the goods that the customer desires to purchase, wherein the goods supplying means is configured to receive the price of the product desired by the customer. After accepting the value equivalent to the total amount or more, supply the finished product. Preferably, the printing unit starts printing after accepting a value corresponding to the total amount or more.

  In one embodiment, the value receiving means receives at least the money processing means for checking the inserted cash and releasing the necessary change and / or data representing electronic money (a barcode printed on a ticket or the like). Electronic money processing means).

  In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises number input means for allowing the customer to input the number of products that the customer desires to purchase, or further includes product type selection means for selecting a product desired by the customer from a plurality of types of products. It is desirable to prepare.

  In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus further comprises moving means for moving at least one of the unfinished product stored in the unfinished product storage means or the printing means to a position suitable for printing by the printing means.

  The print information input means, when the print information is image information (including characters, numbers, etc.), digital image data from an electronic photographing means such as an electronic camera, a digital storage medium such as a USB memory or an SD card. Any one of, or two, a means for receiving a digital signal including digital image data transmitted from a portable terminal device, and a means for displaying and selecting a plurality of pre-stored images stored in advance in the storage means It can comprise by the above predetermined combination.

  Therefore, the customer can take a picture on the spot or bring a pre-made image for printing. Furthermore, it is possible to use a pre-made image specific to the place where the vending machine is installed.

  Finally, it is preferable to display the information (image) to be printed so that the customer can confirm it.

  Further, it is preferable that processing desired by the customer, for example, addition of a frame, addition of characters, addition of a background, combination of a plurality of images, and the like can be performed on the selected image.

The perspective view of a vending machine. The perspective view which shows the other Example of a vending machine. The perspective view of an incomplete product. The perspective view of a finished product. The block diagram which shows the electric constitution of a vending machine. The top view which shows a part of example of a goods conveyance mechanism. The flowchart which shows the whole operation | movement in a vending machine. The flowchart which shows the detail of operation | movement in a vending machine. The status table which shows a process progress state is shown. An image input method selection screen is shown. A screen during shooting is shown. The genre selection screen of a ready-made image is shown. The selection screen of a ready-made image is shown. A confirmation screen is shown.

  FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a print-on-demand vending machine.

  In other words, this vending machine is arranged in the customer printing area 3 provided on a part of the surface of the packaging container 2A of the unfinished product 1A as shown in FIG. 3 (or the surface of the unfinished product itself), as shown in FIG. As shown, according to the instructions of the customer who wants to purchase the product, the customer's original image (information) is printed on the spot in real time to complete the product 1 (packaging container 2). 1 is supplied to the customer.

  The finished product 1 is most generally composed of its three-dimensional packaging container (box, carton) 2 and contents such as confectionery (substantial product) contained (contained) in the packaging container 2. . The incomplete product 1A is incomplete in the sense that the customer printing area 3 is left on a part of the surface of the packaging container 2A, and the contents are already accommodated in the packaging container 2A and sealed. . If any image (including characters, symbols, numbers, etc.) is printed on the customer printing area 3 of the packaging container 2A, the printing is completed. In some cases, the product itself (substantial product itself corresponding to the above contents, one wrapped in shrink wrap, etc.), the packaging container itself, etc. may be the product.

  Here, the term customer print area 3 means an area reserved for printing an image desired by the customer (print area, customer area, customer print area), and remains as white or white. In some cases, this is not a limitation. For example, the region 3 may be colored with a light color. In some cases, a background image may be printed in advance. The shape of the customer print area 3 is arbitrary. It may be a square as shown (with or without rounded corners), a circle, an ellipse, a triangle, or another polygon. The boundary between the customer printing area 3 and the other area may not be clear on the surface of the incomplete packaging container 2A (incomplete product). The image desired by the customer may be printed over the entire surface of the region 3, or only a part of the region 3 may be projected. The printing of the image desired by the customer may be part or all of one side of the packaging container (the surface of the unfinished product) as shown. In addition, if possible, it may extend over two or more sides.

  In this embodiment, the vending machine 10 is a box type and includes a rectangular parallelepiped housing 11. In addition to the upper surface and the lower surface, the housing 11 has four side surfaces (generally including surfaces called a front surface and a back surface) formed of vertical planes. These surfaces are called customer operation surfaces (operation panels) (customer operation units), and are represented by reference numerals 11A, 11B, 11C, and 11D. Since there are four customer operation surfaces, four customers can operate the vending machine 10 at the same time (particularly, an input operation for information desired to be printed on the surface of an unfinished product).

  The customer operating surface of the vending machine can be provided in various forms. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, in the case of a vending machine 10A installed in front of a wall 60, since a customer operation surface cannot be provided on a surface (generally called a back surface) in contact with the wall 60, more When providing a customer operation surface, the surface corresponding to the front of the vending machine 10A may be widened and two customer operation surfaces 11A and 11B may be arranged.

  FIG. 5 shows the electrical configuration of the vending machine 10. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, since the configuration regarding the four customer operation surfaces 11A, 11B, 11C, and 11D is the same (the same applies to FIG. 2), only the customer operation surface 11A will be described.

  1 and 5, a touch screen device 12 is provided on a customer operation surface (typically 11A) of the vending machine 10. In this specification, a touch screen (device) refers to a display device that can display an image, such as a liquid crystal display device, and a touch (touch) on a display screen of the display device. (Other members may be in contact with each other) and a position input device that detects the contacted position, and the information expressed on the display device by a combination of images, characters, symbols, numbers, etc. Is displayed to indicate the customer's opinion (user) 's opinion and contents to be entered or selected (information) and the position (range) to be touched, and the customer's opinion and hope according to the touched position Etc. can be captured (input). The touch screen device 12 has information display and information input functions. Hereinafter, the touch screen device 12 or a display screen thereof is simply referred to as a touch screen 12.

  The vending machine 10 starts an operation related to the customer operation surface in response to a person coming before the customer operation surface. Therefore, a human sensor 14 is provided on each customer operation surface of the vending machine 10.

  An electronic camera (moving image or still image) 13 is provided on the touch screen 12, and its lens faces outward (front) of each customer operation surface. The electronic camera 13 photographs the customer standing in front of the customer operation surface, and generates image data represented in the customer print area 3 of the incomplete packaging container 2A.

  Data representing an image to be printed on the customer print area 3 of the unfinished packaging container 2A can be input not only by the electronic camera 13 but also by various methods. The customer can store the image data in a portable recording medium (SD card, USB memory, etc.) in advance and input it to the vending machine 10. In order to cope with this, a media reader 20 is provided in the vending machine. An SD card insertion slot 21 and a USB memory connector (a cover for covering the connector is indicated by reference numeral 22) are provided on the customer operation surface of the vending machine.

  Furthermore, the image data can be transmitted from a portable terminal or the like. The vending machine 10 is provided with a wireless communication device 23 for receiving image data transmitted from a portable terminal using infrared rays or radio waves.

  Image data from a portable terminal or the like can also be received via a network such as the Internet. A communication device 34 is provided for communication with the customer's mobile terminal and communication with the center server and the like.

  The image printed on the customer print area of the incomplete packaging container 2A may be a ready-made image created in advance. A plurality of images are prepared, and the reduced images are displayed on the touch screen 12 to be selected by the customer as will be described later. A vending machine 10 is provided with a memory device 31 for storing ready-made image data. The memory device 31 stores various data (information) necessary for the operation of the vending machine other than the image data.

  On the front right side of the vending machine 10, there are provided a bill insertion slot 16, a coin insertion slot 17, a change (banknote) delivery outlet 18, and a change (coin) discharge slot 19 related to a money processing device (money handling device) 15. ing. The money processing device 15 checks (authenticates) the bills inserted into the insertion slot 16 and counts the total amount thereof, checks the coins inserted into the insertion port 17 and counts the total amount. Further, necessary change is discharged to the outlet 18 and the outlet 19 by bills or coins.

  Payment or settlement of goods can be made not only with cash but also with electronic money or barcode. Electronic money can now be received by communication with an IC card or a portable terminal. An IC card reader 24 is provided for receiving electronic money. In general, since a non-contact type IC card is often used, a point (also indicated by reference numeral 24) where a coil for transmission / reception is approached is provided on the front surface of the vending machine. Of course, it is possible to make it compatible with contact communication and infrared communication. The bar code indicates that the amusement facility, theme park, event venue, etc. (admission ticket) or other media has been paid, the price is included, and the bar code reader 25 that reads the bar code It is provided on the customer operation surface of the vending machine 10.

  At the lower part of each customer operation surface of the vending machine 10, a finished product outlet (discharge port, discharge port) 35 is provided. The customer inputs (determines) information (image) desired to be printed on the unfinished product 2A using the touch panel 12 or the like provided on the customer operation surface. The product 1 completed by printing the input (determined) information in the customer print area 3 is sent to a product outlet 35 provided on the customer operation surface where the printed information is input. That is, the customer inputs (determines) the print information by an operation on any one of the customer operation surfaces 1A to 1D, and receives the finished product released to the outlet 35 provided on the same operation surface.

  The overall operation of the vending machine 10 is controlled by the control device 30. The control device 30 is mainly configured by a computer.

  The above-described communication device 34, memory 31, and electronic camera 13, human sensor 14, media reader 20, wireless communication device 23, IC card reader 24, bar code reader 25, money provided in connection with each customer operation surface The processing device 15 and the touch screen 12 are electrically connected to the control device 30.

  A printer 32 is provided to print an image on the customer print area 3 of the unfinished product 2A, and is connected to the control device 30.

  In this embodiment, an ink jet printer or a sublimation transfer printer is used as the printer (printing apparatus) 32. However, the type and type of the printer (printing apparatus) are not limited as long as an image (a color image is preferable) can be printed. It is also assumed that the concept of printing an image on the customer printing area includes bonding (sealing) the sticker paper on which the image is printed to the customer printing area 3 of the unfinished container 2A.

  Further, the vending machine 10 is provided with a product transport mechanism 33 and is controlled by the control device 30.

  An example of the commodity transport mechanism 33 is shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that an inkjet printer 32 is used. A large number of unfinished products 1A are stacked (stacked) and stored in a storage location (hangar, storage box) 36. The storage place 36 is located, for example, above the outlet 35 of the customer operation surface 11B, and a conveyor (for example, a belt conveyor) 41 is arranged from the lower part of the storage place 36 toward the customer operation surface 11C. . From the middle of the conveyor 41, the conveyor 42 is provided in the direction of the customer operation surface 11A, the conveyors 43 and 44 are provided in the direction of the customer operation surface 11B, and the conveyor 45 is provided in the direction of the customer operation surface 11D. It has been. Pushers (push bars) 51, 52, 53, 54 are provided at the branching points or turning points of the conveyors. The printer 32 is arranged and fixed above the conveyor 41 in front of the unfinished product storage location 36. A dryer that dries the ink of the printed image with slightly hot air can be disposed in the printer 32, in front of the printer 32 in the product conveyance direction, or in the middle of each conveyor.

  As will be described later, when input (decision) of a print image by a customer, processing of an image, or confirmation by a customer is completed on one of the customer operation surfaces, or when payment of the price is completed, the unfinished product 1A is stored in the storage location 36. Is taken out and placed on the conveyor 41 (for example, the lowest one of the stacked unfinished products is pushed out toward the conveyor 41 by the pusher). While the unfinished product 1A is being transported on the conveyor 41 (with the position and orientation being adjusted), the printer 32 prints a print image determined by the customer in the print area on the surface. Printing may be performed after the conveyor 41 is stopped and the unfinished product 1A is positioned.

  The product completed by completing the printing of the print image in the print area is conveyed toward the outlet provided on the customer operation surface used for determining the print image. For example, when a print image is input (confirmed) on the customer operation surface 11A, the product is transferred from the conveyor 41 to the conveyor 42 by the pusher 51, and sent to the outlet 35 of the operation surface 11A. The product on which the image input by the operation on the customer operation surface 11B is printed is pushed from the conveyor 41 by the pusher 52 and transferred onto the conveyor 43, and further transferred onto the conveyor 44 by the pusher 53 to remove the operation surface 11B. It is discharged to the outlet 35. The image is determined by the customer operation on the customer operation surface 11C, and the product on which the image is printed is conveyed as it is by the conveyor 41 and discharged to the outlet 35 of the operation surface 11C. Further, the product on which the image confirmed by the customer operation on the customer operation surface 11D is printed is moved from the conveyor 41 to the conveyor 45 by the pusher 54, and sent to the outlet 35 on the operation surface 11D. The product can be sent from each conveyor to the outlet 35 by simply dropping the product from the end of the conveyor to the outlet 35.

  The printing information (image) desired by the customer is entered and confirmed (including processing) by photographing the customer with the camera 13 or selecting an image, characters, numbers, etc. desired by the customer. Generally, it takes a longer time to print this image on a single product by the printer 32. Since there are four customer operation surfaces, a plurality of customers can input print images on these operation surfaces. Compared to the case where there is only one operation surface, there is no need to wait until the previous customer's image input operation is completed. Of course, a plurality of printers may be provided if necessary. The number of customer operation surfaces and the number of printers can be appropriately determined by design. A storage place for storing a plurality of types of unfinished products can be provided, and the unfinished products designated according to the customer's selection can be taken out and sent to the printer. When one customer purchases a plurality of products, the printing of the printed image on the unfinished product may be repeated. The product can be transported and discharged to the outlet by using air pressure or sliding on an inclined surface with its own weight.

  FIG. 7 shows a procedure of processing mainly executed by the control device 30. Processing (routines) related to the customer operation surfaces 11A, 11B, 11C, and 11D (A surface, B surface, C surface, and D surface) are performed in parallel. Since these parallel processes are the same, only the process (routine) on the operation surface 11A is shown. Also, the printing process (routine) and the management process (routine) are performed in parallel. FIG. 9 shows a table for managing the progress of processing on each operation surface 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D. This table is created by status management processing (S31). A circle indicates that the process has been completed. Corresponding to each operation surface, images determined by customer operations on the operation surface are also managed by file names or routes. FIG. 8 shows details of the merchandise and image confirmation (S12), image processing, and confirmation (S13) processes in FIG.

  With reference to these figures, the processing related to each customer operation surface can be activated due to various factors (S11). For example, when the human sensor 14 detects that a person is present in front of the customer operation surface of the vending machine 10, the operation is started. A transaction disclosure button may be displayed on the touch screen 12, and the operation may be started in response to the touch of the button. Furthermore, it is detected that a customer has inserted a bill into the insertion slot 16, a coin is inserted into the insertion slot 17, a barcode is read by the barcode reader 25, or the result of logical sum or logical product of these. It can also be activated by such as.

  The customer selects a product (if there are a plurality of products), inputs a print image, and confirms (details will be described later) on a specific customer operation surface using the touch screen 12 or the like (S12). The image is processed as necessary (details will be described later) (S13). As a result, the image to be printed is fixed, and the processing (routine) on the customer operation surface gives a print instruction to the print routine together with the notification of the fixed image data (file or route) (YES in S14 and S21). .

  In response to the print instruction, the printing process (routine) takes out one product from the unfinished product storage location 36 (S22), and prints the designated image (information) by the printer 32 (S23). The product printed on the outlet 35 of the customer operation surface corresponding to the customer operation surface processing (routine) given the instruction is discharged (supplied) (S24). When printing of a plurality of products is instructed, the processes of S22 to S24 are repeated.

  When the customer operation surface processing (routine) outputs a print instruction, it displays on the touch screen 12 that printing is in progress. Further, before the printing instruction is output or after the printing instruction is output, the payment adjustment process is performed (S15). For example, the customer selects on the touch screen 12 whether to pay in cash, pay in electronic money, or pay in bar code. In the case of cash payment, the inserted cash is checked by the cash processing device 15 and the total amount is calculated. Calculate and release any change. In the case of electronic money payment, data representing the value of electronic money is received through the IC card reader 24 or the like. In the case of bar code payment, the bar code reader 25 reads the bar code for confirmation. When the printed product is discharged to the outlet 35, a message to that effect is displayed on the touch screen 12 (S16).

  Since the processes (routines) on the customer operation surfaces 11A to 11D are performed in parallel, the status management process S31 manages the progress of the processes related to the customer operation surfaces by writing them in the status table. Based on this status table, the printing routine determines a predetermined number of products on each operation surface according to the order of input (output) of print instructions, the number of products to be printed, the progress status on each customer operation surface, and the like. Determine the order of printing instructed so that the time until is released is as short as possible.

  Referring to FIG. 8, after selection of the product type and number is completed, image input and confirmation processing is performed. First, a screen as shown in FIG. 10 for selecting an input method of image data to be printed in the customer print area 3 of the unfinished product 1A is displayed on the touch screen 12 (S41).

  As described above, the image data input method includes photographing by the electronic camera 13, reading from a recording medium, transmission from a portable terminal, and selection from a ready-made image. The customer selects one of the input methods by touching the character area indicating each method (YES in S42).

  When shooting by the electronic camera 13 is selected, shooting is performed (see FIG. 11) (S43). You may shoot when a certain amount of time has passed since you selected to shoot with the electronic camera, or you may display a shoot button, shoot after a certain amount of time has elapsed after the button is pressed, However, the customer may be notified of the shooting timing. You may display on the touch screen the image which the camera has in view. If necessary, a plurality of photographs may be taken and one of them may be selected.

  When it is selected to input an image stored in the recording medium (medium), it is guided that the recording medium brought by the customer should be read, and the image stored in the recording medium is read by the media reader 20 or Reading is performed by the wireless communication device 23 (S44). The read image is displayed on the touch screen 12 to prompt the customer for confirmation, or when there are a plurality of read images, a reduced image of the image is displayed (see FIG. 13), and one (or combination) of them is displayed. In such a case, the user is prompted to select two or more images, and finally determines one (or two or more) images to be used (selected by the customer).

  When the customer selects an input method for transmitting image data from a portable terminal, the wireless communication device 23 or the communication device 34 receives the image data transmitted from the terminal and displays the received image on the touch screen. In the same manner as above, the customer confirms or selects the image, and finally determines an image to be used (S45).

  When the customer selects a ready-made image, for example, the following processing (S46) is performed.

  When there are a plurality of genres (categories) of ready-made images, the genres are displayed as shown in FIG. The landscape is, for example, an image of a landscape such as a tourist spot, the event is an image of an event such as a festival in a tourist spot, and the character is, for example, an image of a character in a tourist spot or a theme park. When the customer selects any one, the reduced images (thumbnail images) of the images stored in the memory device 32 in the selected genre are displayed side by side as shown in FIG. This image list display can be scrolled. Since the customer selects one or more (when combined) from the displayed images, the image to be used is finally determined.

  Since the ready-made image can be used as the background image of the image that has been input and determined in S43 to S45, the same processing as S46 may be included in the next image processing (S47).

  As described above, when one or more images are determined, the processing is performed as necessary (S47). For example, selection of image frames, selection of marks to be added, selection of accessories, selection of background images, cropping and placement of images when combining multiple images, selection of characters to be added (in the case of handwritten characters) For example, a handwritten character image is taken in).

  The finally created image is displayed on the touch screen 12 for confirmation as shown in FIG. 14 (S48). It is preferable to display the image of the finished product. The confirmation image shown in FIG. 14 is a combination of the background image B and the image S taken by the electronic camera 13. If the customer touches the confirmation button (YES in S49), the process proceeds to the next. If necessary, a cancel button or a redo button may be provided to cancel or redo.

  A monitor for detecting the remaining number of unfinished products stored, a monitor for the remaining amount of ink in the printer, etc. are provided. Replenishment of appropriate unfinished products, ink replacement, etc. according to the signals from these monitors It is recommended to introduce vending machines.

  Vending machines such as those described above are located in sightseeing spots, hotels, amusement facilities, theme parks, event venues, movie theaters, concert venues, etc. It is a vending machine.

1 Completed Product 1A Incomplete Product 2 Completed Packaging Container 2A Incomplete Packaging Container 3 Customer Printing Area
10,10A vending machine
11 Housing (box)
11A, 11B, 11C, 11D Customer operation surface
12 touch screen
13 Electronic camera
15 Money processing equipment
20 Media reader
23 Wireless communication device
30 Control unit
32 Printer
33 Transport mechanism
35 Product outlet
36 Incomplete product storage location
41, 42, 43, 44, 45 conveyor
51, 52, 53, 54 Pusher

Claims (12)

Incomplete product storage means for storing an incomplete product in which a customer print area is provided on at least a part of the surface;
A plurality of customer operation units including a print information input unit and a product outlet for a customer to input desired print information;
Printing means for printing the information represented by the printing information input by the printing information input section in the customer print area of the incomplete product, and inputting the information for the product completed by printing the information by the printing means Product supply means for supplying to the product outlet corresponding to the printed information input section,
Vending machine equipped with. A housing having a plurality of surfaces;
The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of customer operation units are provided on a plurality of surfaces, respectively, and the print information input unit and the corresponding product take-out port are provided to be operable on the same surface. The product supply means includes control means for controlling the supply of the product by storing the correspondence between the information input by the print information input unit and the product outlet to which the product printed with the information is to be supplied,
The vending machine according to claim 1 or 2. A value receiving means for receiving a value corresponding to the total price of the products that the customer wishes to purchase;
The product supply means supplies the finished product after the value receiving means accepts a value corresponding to the total price of the price of the product desired by the customer;
The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising number input means for allowing a customer to input the number of products that the customer desires to purchase.   The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a product type selection means for selecting a product desired by the customer from a plurality of types of products.   7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a moving unit that moves at least one of the incomplete product stored in the incomplete product storage unit and the printing unit to a position suitable for printing by the printing unit. Vending machine as described in. The print information input unit displays electronic photographing means, digital image data fetching means from a digital storage medium, digital signal receiving means including digital data to be transmitted, and a plurality of information stored in advance in the storage means. Consisting of one or more means selected from the group consisting of means for selecting
The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7. Confirmation means for displaying the information entered by the print information input unit and requesting confirmation input from the customer,
The printing means prints the information for which confirmation has been entered,
The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 8. An information processing means for processing data of information input by the print information input unit;
The printing means prints information processed by the processing means;
The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 9. Further comprising confirmation means for displaying the information processed by the information processing means and requesting input confirmation from the customer;
The printing means prints the information for which confirmation has been entered,
The vending machine according to claim 10.   5. The automatic value receiving apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the value receiving means includes money processing means for checking the inserted cash and releasing necessary change, and / or electronic money processing means for receiving at least data representing electronic money. Vending machine.

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