JPS61136193A - Automatic settlement controller for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic payment control device for a vending machine, and in particular, in a vending machine that is capable of continuous vending, the present invention relates to an automatic payment control device for a vending machine. In such cases, change is paid out more quickly.

[Conventional technology]

In conventional vending machines that allow continuous sales, after a product is sold (taken out), the remaining amount is calculated by subtracting the selling price from the input amount, and it is determined whether the next product can be sold using this remaining amount. However, if the sale is not possible, the remaining amount is automatically paid out as change for automatic settlement.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

For this reason, there is a problem in that the longer it takes for the goods to be taken out, the longer the change will be paid out, and the customer will have to wait until then.

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, before a product is selected, it is determined that there is no selling price at which it can be sold based on the difference between the input amount and the selling price (that is, the remaining amount if the product at this selling price were sold). Provide a means of determining the selling price,
When a product that can be sold with the input amount is selected, and the judgment result of the judgment means regarding the selling price of this selected product indicates that there is no selling price, the selected product is carried out at the same time. The above-mentioned problem is solved by dispensing change.

[Effect]

In the present invention, as with conventionally known devices, each selling price is compared with the input amount to determine whether or not the product can be sold.At this time, for each selling price,
The remaining amount (difference between the input amount and the selling price) is calculated if the product at that selling price were sold, and it is also determined that there is no selling price that can be sold with this remaining amount. Therefore, when a product that can be sold with the input amount is selected, it is known whether or not there is no selling price for this product with the remaining sales amount, so when there is no selling price that can be sold with the remaining amount, Change can be paid out at the same time as the selected product is taken out.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a sales control device using a microcomputer; 2 is a sales control device that sorts input coins, sends out coin signals for each denomination, and operates a return lever (not shown) when a customer requests a return of the input amount or payment. Then, a coin sorting device outputs the signal (return command signal), 3 is a change dispensing device, 4 is a product selection switch, and 5 is a product delivery device.

A RAM is provided within the sales control device 1, and this RAM is provided with an area for storing the contents shown in Figure 4. In the figure, 401 is an area for storing a preset price or a plurality of sales prices, 402 is an area for storing the input amount or the remaining amount after sales, and 403 is an area 40
1 is an area for storing whether or not each sales price can be sold at the amount stored in the area 402 as a sellable flag for each sales price, and 404 is the amount obtained by subtracting the sales price from the amount stored in the area 402. An area that stores the fact that there is no sales price available for sale as a settlement flag for each sales price,
Reference numeral 405 denotes a buffer area that is often used for determining whether or not a product can be sold.

Next, the operation of the embodiment having such a configuration will be explained with reference to the flowchart lc shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the above figure, when the power is turned on, initial settings are performed and then the process proceeds to step 101. Step 101゜102
Then, the amount to be inserted is calculated based on the coin signal from the coin sorting device 2, stored in the area 402, and the process proceeds to step 103. In step 103, it is determined whether or not each item in the area 401 can be sold, as shown in FIG. 2, for each sales price.

That is, in FIG. 2, in step 201, the area 40
Compare the amount in step 2 with the sales price to determine whether the sale is possible, and if the sale is possible, proceed to step 202 and proceed to area 403.
The corresponding sellable flag is set, and if the sale is not possible, the process proceeds to step 206 and the corresponding sellable flag is reset. At this time, various well-known methods can be used to determine whether or not the product can be sold.
It is preferable to use the method described in No. 342, since it is possible to repay the price even if a malfunction such as a jammed product occurs after automatic payment. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the sellable flag is reset for items that are sold out.

Next, in step 203, an amount is calculated by subtracting the selling price from the amount in area 402, this amount is stored in buffer area 405, and the process proceeds to step 204.

In step 204, it is determined that there is no sales price that can be sold at the amount in area 405 among the sales prices in area 401, and if there is no sales price that can be sold, the process proceeds to step 205 and the corresponding settlement flag in area 404 is set. otherwise, proceed to step 207 and reset the corresponding settlement flag. In order to determine that there is no sales price that can be sold, it is determined in the same manner as step 201 whether or not all the sales prices in the area 401 can be sold at the amount (remaining amount) in the area 405. Although K may determine that there is no item that can be sold, the minimum selling price of the area 401 is determined, and the amount (remaining amount) of the area 405 is determined from this minimum price. It is practically sufficient to determine that there is no available selling price by determining that there is a small amount.

That is, in this case, when the amount (remaining amount) in the area 405 is larger than the minimum price, there may be cases where there is no available selling price due to lack of change, but such cases are extremely rare and do not pose a problem in practice.

Next, returning to FIG. 1, after determining whether the coin can be sold in step 103, in step 104, it is determined whether the above-mentioned return command signal from the coin sorting device 2 is input and round. The process proceeds to step 109, and if no input is made, the process proceeds to step 105. In step 105, it is determined whether or not a product has been selected by operating the product selection switch 4. If the product is selected, the process proceeds to step 106; if not, the process returns to step 101. In step 106, it is determined whether the selected product is sellable or not based on whether the sellable flag in area 403 is set. If the product is sellable, the process proceeds to step 107; if not, step 10 Back to Yu. In step 10'7, it is determined whether or not the payment flag in area 404 is set for the selected product, and if it is not set, step I11
, 11, after driving the product delivery device 5 to transport the selected product, the selling price of the selected (carried out) product is subtracted from the amount in the area 402, and the remaining amount is stored in the area 402. Then, the process returns to step 101 and the next product can be sold at this remaining amount. Further, if the settlement flag is set, it means that there is no item that can be sold for the remaining amount, so the process proceeds to step 110 and the product delivery device 5
At the same time, the process proceeds to step 108 to subtract the sales price of the selected product from the amount in area 402 and store the remaining amount in area 402.In step 109, the amount in area 402 is stored. Change dispensing device 3
is driven to pay out, and the process returns to step 101. Here, change dispensing in step 109 and product delivery in step 110 are controlled to be performed simultaneously, but this simultaneous control is achieved by executing one (for example, change dispensing) in a normal main program, The other step (for example, product removal) can be easily accomplished by setting the timer interrupt processing program to be executed at predetermined intervals (for example, every 2 ms).

As described above, in step 103, it is determined whether each selling price is 4-saleable based on the input amount at that time (or the balance after the sale), and for each selling price, the product at that selling price is determined. Since it has also been determined that there are no products that can be sold at the remaining amount when the item is sold, steps 105, 106, and 107 are performed based on this determination result.
When a product that can be sold is selected and there is no product that can be sold with the remaining amount, the change is paid out at the same time as the product is taken out in steps 110 and 109 (automatic settlement), thereby making the change payout period earlier. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention as described above, before selecting a product, it is determined for each sales price that there is no product that can be sold for the remaining amount if the product at that sales price were sold,
After selecting an item, if there is no item that can be sold for the remaining amount based on the determination result, change is paid out at the same time as the selected item is taken out, so change is paid out more quickly than with conventional devices. This has the effect of reducing customer waiting time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are flowcharts showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment,
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the main storage areas of the RAM of the embodiment. 1... Sales control device, 2... Coin sorting device, 3...
Change dispensing device, 4...Product selection switch, 5...Product delivery device, 401...Sales price storage area, 402...
- Input amount storage area, 403...Sellable flag storage area, Book 04...Settlement flag storage area, 405...Buffer area. Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) means for calculating an input amount, means for setting one or more selling prices, and a first determining means for determining whether or not the sales price can be sold at the input amount for each sales price; , a second determining means for determining for each selling price that there is no selling price among the one or more selling prices at which the sale can be made for the difference between the input amount and the selling price; and the first determining means When a product with a sales price for which the judgment result is that it can be sold is selected, and the judgment result of the second judgment means for the sales price indicates that there is no sales price at which it can be sold, the selection 1. An automatic payment control device for a vending machine, comprising a control means for dispensing change at the same time as products are taken out.