JPH07160935A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an automatic vending machine in which number of inventory commodities is simply and accurately confirmed. CONSTITUTION:The automatic vending machine 10 has a microcomputer 26 in its inside and an operation box 28 having a ten-key and various function setting keys is connected to the microcomputer 26 via an I/O port 38. A display section 29 is provided on the operation box 28. Furthermore, a position sensor 51 provided on each column 12 is connected respectively to the microcomputer 26. Both upper and lower ends of each column 12 are open and the position sensor 51 is arranged to the upper opening of each column 12. The position sensor 51 emits an ultrasonic wave or an infrared ray or the like, for example, to sense a distance L1 between the position sensor 51 and a commodity at the uppermost part of commodities 52 stacked in the column 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to vending machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is extremely important in terms of sales management to regularly check the number of products sold by an automatic vending machine. Such confirmation work is performed when the products sold by the vending machine are regularly replenished.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a column 1 of a conventional vending machine. In the conventional vending machine, the number of columns 1 corresponding to the types of products sold inside is arranged. A plurality of products 2 are stacked and stored inside each column 1, and the lower side of the column 1 is open.
Limit switches 3 are arranged below each column 1. The limit switch 3 can detect whether a product is stored in the column 1 or is sold out. Limit switch 3 is column 1
While it is detected that the product 2 remains therein, the salable lamp for each product on the front surface of the vending machine is turned on in accordance with the input amount. Limit switch 3 is column 1
When it is detected that the product 2 therein is sold out, the sold-out lamp arranged for each product on the front surface of the vending machine is constantly turned on.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a process for replenishing products in the conventional technique, FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a process at the time of normal sale, and FIG. 8 is a flow chart for confirming the stock quantity. It is a flowchart which shows the process of.
When replenishing merchandise, in step a1, the data input device in the operation box provided inside the vending machine is operated to manually input the replenishment number N for each merchandise to be replenished. . A display device is arranged in the operation box. In step a2, the replenishment number N is added to the variable BUF representing the current inventory number of each product to obtain a new inventory number BUF.

Next, during the normal sale operation of the product, FIG.
In step b1 of, the product quantity BUF is decremented by -1. When it is desired to confirm the stock quantity of each product, in step c1 of FIG. 8, the data input device of the operation box is operated to set the operation mode of the vending machine to the stock quantity confirmation mode. The display device displays the inventory quantity BUF for a given column 1. By repeating such an operation for the column 1 requiring confirmation, it is possible to confirm the inventory quantity in all the columns 1.

[0006]

In the prior art as described above, when replenishing products, it is necessary to manually input the number of replenished products for each column 1, which is troublesome and There was a problem that input errors were likely to occur.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it can be remarkably easily performed when confirming the inventory quantity of a product, and the accurate inventory quantity can be confirmed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine capable of

[0008]

The vending machine according to the present invention comprises:
The products are stacked and stored, the storage member having an upper opening and the position of the topmost product of the products stored in the storage unit located above the storage member are detected, and the detected position is dealt with. Position detecting means for outputting a position signal, and calculating means for calculating at least one of the number of sold products or the number of stocks remaining in the storage member based on the position signal. Display means for displaying at least one of the number of products sold and the number of stocks,
Thereby, the above object is achieved.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the products to be sold are stacked and stored in the storage member. The position detecting means disposed above the storage member detects the position of the uppermost product stored in the storage unit and outputs a position signal corresponding to the detected position. Based on the position signal, the calculating means calculates at least one of the number of products sold and the number of stocks remaining in the storage member.
At least one of the calculated sales number and inventory number of the product is displayed by the display means. As a result, it is possible to automatically check the number of products to be replenished in the storage unit as the sales number, eliminating the need to manually input the number of products to be replenished, and the confirmation operation is remarkably improved. It becomes easy. Furthermore, since the number of sales is not confirmed manually,
It is possible to prevent an input error from occurring due to manual input.

[0010]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below with reference to examples. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a sectional view of a column 12 of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the vending machine 10, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the vending machine 10. Inside the vending machine 10, a number of columns 12 corresponding to the types of products to be sold are arranged. Each column 12 is open at both upper and lower ends, and new products are replenished from the upper end,
Merchandise sold from the lower end is taken out by a transport mechanism (not shown).

On the front door 30 of the machine body of the vending machine 10,
A display window 40 for displaying samples of products to be sold is provided, and a plurality of sellable lamps 18 are provided below the display window 40 for each type of product. Below each of the sellable lamps 18, a plurality of selection buttons 14 for the purchaser to select a product are provided for each type of product. Below the selection buttons 14, a plurality of sold-out lamps 16 are provided for each type of product. When the product in the column 12 is out of stock, the sold-out lamp 16 corresponding to the product is immediately turned on, and the lighting is continued until the product is replenished.

The front door 30 is further provided with a coin slot 41 and a bill slot 42. The coin type inserted into the insertion slot 41 is identified by the coin mech 20 in terms of denomination and each denomination, and the bill inserted from the insertion slot 42 is identified by the bilberry 22 in denomination and denomination. And are identified. The total amount of money inserted from the insertion ports 41 and 42 is displayed by the amount display 25. When the purchaser requests the withdrawal of change in the middle of the purchase operation by the purchaser, when the return lever 39 is operated, the microcomputer (hereinafter, microcomputer) 26 included in the vending machine 10 pays the remaining amount. After the calculation, the coin mech 20 and the bill burr 22 are controlled, and coins are paid out so that the necessary balance is reached. The coin is the front door 3
It falls to the payout opening 43 provided below 0. The front door 30 is provided with a keyhole 24 for unlocking and locking the front door 30.

The vending machine 10 includes a microcomputer 26 therein, and the microcomputer 26 includes a microprocessor (hereinafter, CPU) 37, an I / O port 38, a memory 36 and a timer 35. The selection button 14 and the like are connected to the microcomputer 26 via an I / O port 38, and an operation box 28 including a numeric keypad and various function setting keys is further connected. A display unit 29 is provided in the operation box 28. In addition, the microcomputer 26
A position sensor 51 provided for each column 12 is connected to each column, as described later.

In the vending machine 10 of this embodiment, each column 12 is open at both upper and lower ends as described above, and the transport mechanism 52 is arranged at the opening at the lower end of each column 12. ing. Position sensors 51 are arranged in the openings at the upper ends of the columns 12, respectively. Position sensor 5
1 emits ultrasonic waves or infrared rays, for example, and can detect the distance L1 between the position sensor 51 and the uppermost product of the products 52 stacked in the column 12. In this embodiment, if the product 52 is a cigarette, the thickness of the cigarette box for each column 12 is predetermined.
Therefore, from the distance L1 and the thickness of the box, the microcomputer 26
Can calculate the quantity of sold commodities corresponding to the distance L1.

The operation of the vending machine 10 will be described below. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the vending machine 10 of this embodiment. It is assumed that the stock quantity or sales quantity is confirmed when replenishing goods.
In this case, when the operation mode of the vending machine 10 is set to the quantity confirmation mode by the operation box 28, as shown in FIG.
When the determination at step d1 is affirmative, the microcomputer 26 drives the position sensor 51 to measure the distance L1 at step d2. The microcomputer 26 reads the distance signal from the position sensor 51. On the other hand, the memory 3 of the microcomputer 26
5, the thickness of the cigarette box in each column 12 is stored. According to these data, the microcomputer 26
The quantity of cigarettes corresponding to the distance L1, that is, the sales quantity n1 from the previous replenishment is calculated. At this time, if the sales quantity n1 is 0, it means that the column 12 is fully replenished with new products 53 or that the products have not been sold at all.

At step d3, the current inventory quantity n2
Is calculated. If the sales quantity n1 is 0, the microcomputer 26 inputs the numerical value of the sales quantity n1 to the inventory quantity n2. If the sales quantity n1 is not 0, the microcomputer determines a new inventory quantity n2 by subtracting the sales quantity n1 from the inventory quantity n2. In step d4, the sales quantity n
1 or the inventory quantity n2 is displayed on the display unit 29 of the operation box 28.
Is displayed in. Thereby, the sales amount and the stock amount of the vending machine 10 can be confirmed only by setting the vending machine 10 in the confirmation operation mode.

On the other hand, during the normal selling operation, the judgment at step d1 becomes negative, and the selling operation is performed at step d5. Here, every time a sales operation is performed,
The processing of increasing the sales quantity by +1 or the processing of decreasing the stock quantity by -1 is unnecessary for the purpose of confirming the sales quantity or the stock quantity.

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the operation of confirming at least either the sales quantity or the stock quantity of each column 12, the operation of manually inputting the replenishment quantity of the goods is performed. No longer needed. As a result, the confirmation operation is remarkably simple, and since manual input is no longer necessary, it is possible to prevent an input error due to manual input and perform accurate sales management.

[0019]

According to the vending machine of the present invention, at least one of the number of products sold or the number of products in stock indicates the position of the uppermost product of the products stored in the storage unit by the position detection means. It is calculated by being detected. At least one of the calculated sales number and inventory number of the product is displayed by the display means. As a result, it is possible to automatically check the number of products to be replenished in the storage unit as the sales number, eliminating the need to manually input the number of products to be replenished, and the confirmation operation is remarkably improved. It becomes easy. Furthermore, since the sales quantity is not confirmed manually, it is possible to prevent an input error due to manual input.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a column 12 of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the vending machine 10.

3 is a front view of the vending machine 10. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the vending machine 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a column 1 of a conventional vending machine.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process when replenishing a product in the conventional technique.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process during normal sale.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process for confirming the inventory quantity.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Vending Machine 12 Column 26 Microcomputer 28 Operation Box 29 Display 36 Memory 51 Position Sensor 53 Products

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage member that stores products in a stacked manner and has an upper opening, and detects the position of the top product of the products that are arranged above the storage member and stored in the storage unit. Position detecting means for outputting a position signal corresponding to the determined position, and calculating means for calculating at least one of the number of sold products and the number of stocks remaining in the storage member based on the position signal. And a display means for displaying at least one of the calculated number of sold products and the number of stocked products.