JP2000113296A - Method for controlling light source in vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve usage property by efficiently consume power by means of a light source and properly executing illumination at the time of usage. SOLUTION: The light source 32 is arranged to respectively illuminate merchandise samples and selecting buttons 24 or the like at night in the merchandise sample exhibition shelf of a vending machine 21. The vending machine 21 is provided with a control part 33. An operation panel 42 for inputting date data of the summer solstice, on/off time data at that time, date data of the winder solstice and on/off time data at that time and the light source 43 or the like are connected to the control part 33 and it is provided with a CPU 38, a timer having a calendar function and a memory 41 storing data which are inputted from the operation panel 42.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a light source provided on a product display shelf of a vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the following description, a vending machine for selling products such as cigarettes will be described. In such a vending machine, a sample of a product to be sold is displayed on one or more stages of product display shelves with a transparent plate installed on the front surface. Such product display shelves can be used to illuminate product samples at night, or to illuminate multiple selection buttons and the like arranged on the front of the vending machine to select products for purchase, such as fluorescent lights. Light sources are installed.

Since this light source is used for nighttime illumination as described above, the light source is turned off during a relatively bright period from sunrise to sunset, and even in the middle when the device is installed at night or in a relatively dark place. Need to be lit.

In a model in which an optical sensor is used for such on / off control of a light source, the above-described on / off control can be realized by setting a predetermined threshold value for the luminous intensity detected by the optical sensor. it can. On the other hand, in a model that does not use an optical sensor, control is performed to turn on the light in a time period from a predetermined time to a predetermined time, and to turn off the light in other time periods.

[0005]

In such a conventional vending machine which does not use an optical sensor, the on / off control of the light source is performed based on a preset lighting time period and a lighting time period. Unable to cope with changes in the sunshine duration due to the four seasons and the difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time depending on the installation area.Lights up even if it is relatively bright and wastes power consumption, or turns off even when the surroundings are dark. This causes inconvenience in use and low usability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of power consumption by a light source, and to provide an automatic lighting system which is appropriately illuminated at the time of use and has greatly improved usability. An object of the present invention is to provide a light source control method for a vending machine.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a light source control method for a vending machine for controlling on / off of a light source housed in a product display shelf. The reference on / off time data and the date / time data respectively corresponding to the reference on / off time data are read from the storage unit, and the on / off time of the current date and time are calculated from the date / time data and the reference on / off time data, On / off of the light source is controlled based on the calculation result.

In the present invention, the plurality of reference on / off time data and the date / time data corresponding thereto are respectively the on / off time of the light source at the summer solstice and the winter solstice, and the date / time data of the summer solstice and the winter solstice. Each may be chosen.

In the present invention, the plurality of reference on / off time data and the date / time data respectively corresponding to the reference on / off time data include an on / off time data corresponding to a desired longest lighting time and a date / time data corresponding thereto. On / off time data corresponding to a desired shortest lighting time and date / time data corresponding thereto may be selected.

[0010]

According to the present invention, the light source of the vending machine is provided with a plurality of reference on / off time data relating to the on time and off time of the light source set in the storage means, and date and time respectively corresponding to the reference on / off time data. On / off is controlled by calculating the on / off time of the current date and time based on the data.

Therefore, according to the present invention, based on the natural phenomenon of repeating the cycle from the longest sunshine time to the shortest sunshine time and then returning to the longest sunshine time throughout the year, the date and time of the longest sunshine time and the shortest sunshine time The on / off time of the light source according to the sunshine time at an arbitrary date and time between the date and time can be calculated by the approximate calculation.

Thus, even if the vending machine is not equipped with an optical sensor for detecting the amount of light in the surroundings, the light source is turned on in a time zone substantially coincident with the time zone in which illumination is required, and the light source is turned on in the remaining time zone. Can be realized.

Therefore, in the present invention, by setting the on / off time data and the date and time data as appropriate, it is possible to cope with the change in the sunshine time due to the four seasons and the difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time depending on the installation area. The on / off control of the light source can be performed, and the problem that the light source remains lit even when the surroundings become bright can be prevented, and power consumption can be improved. In addition, lighting is appropriately performed in a time zone when the surroundings are dark, and usability is improved.

In the present invention, the plurality of reference on / off time data and the corresponding date / time data are respectively set to the on / off time of the light source at the summer solstice and winter solstice, and the date / time data of the summer solstice and winter solstice. When selected, since the summer solstice is a date and time substantially corresponding to the above-described longest sunshine time, and the winter solstice is a date and time substantially corresponding to the above-mentioned shortest sunshine time, it is possible to achieve the same effect as the above-described effect.

Further, in the present invention, the plurality of reference on / off time data and the date / time data respectively corresponding to the reference on / off time data include an on / off time data corresponding to a desired longest lighting time and a date / time data corresponding thereto. When the on / off time data corresponding to the desired shortest lighting time and the corresponding date / time data are respectively selected, for example, the difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time between Hokkaido and Okinawa, or the mountain area and the plain area The on / off time data and the date and time data corresponding to the difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time can be set, and the on / off time of the light source corresponding to the change in the sunshine time due to the four seasons can be set. In addition to the control, the on / off time of the light source can be set according to the difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time in the installation area.

Thus, in addition to the above-described effects, high-precision on / off control corresponding to regional differences can be performed.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments. 1 to 5 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electric configuration of a vending machine 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the vending machine 21, and FIGS. FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the operation of the vending machine 21.

Hereinafter, an external configuration of the vending machine 21 will be described with reference to FIG. Vending machine 2 of the present embodiment
1 sells a product such as a cigarette as an example, and a plurality of display shelves 23 are provided on the front of the front door 22, and each display shelf 23 illuminates a product sample at night. And a plurality of selection buttons 2 arranged on the front of the vending machine 21 for selecting a product to be purchased or purchased.
Light sources 43 such as fluorescent lamps are provided to illuminate 4 and the like.

On the front face of the front door 22, a selection button 24 for the commodity, a bill insertion slot 25, a coin insertion slot 26, a money amount indicator 27 for displaying the amount of money inserted, and a return operated when change is refunded. A lever 28, a return port 29 for returning change, and a product outlet 30 are provided. The selection button 24 includes a sold-out lamp 31 for displaying a sold-out state, and a sellable lamp 32 for identifying whether or not the product selected according to the inserted amount can be sold.

Hereinafter, the electrical configuration of the vending machine 21 will be described with reference to FIG. The vending machine 21 is provided with a control unit 33 realized by a microcomputer or the like as an example. The control unit 33 is connected to a plurality of columns 34 having the above-described configuration and arranged inside the front door 22. Then, the product is carried out of each column 34. Inside the column 34, box-shaped products such as cigarettes are stacked and stored, for example, and column numbers 1 to n are set for each column 34. The selection button 24 on the front surface of the front door 22, the sold-out lamp 31 and the sellable lamp 32 built in each selection button 24 as described above.
Are also connected to the control unit 33, respectively.

The control section 33 includes a transport mechanism 35 for carrying out the products taken out of the respective columns 34 to the take-out port 30, a bill burr 36 for receiving inserted bills, and a receiving process for inserted coins. , An operation panel 42 used to input various amounts of data relating to the amount indicator 27 and products to the control unit 33, and the light sources 43. The control unit 33 includes a CPU (central control unit) 38 for performing data processing including calculations, an I / O port 39 used for inputting and outputting data and signals to and from the outside, a timer 40 having a calendar function, and the operation panel. A memory 41 for storing data input from the memory 42 is provided.

The control operation of the light source 43 of the vending machine 21 will be described below with reference to FIGS.
In the present embodiment, in order to control the light source 43 to be appropriately turned on and off, the date and time data when the daytime from sunrise to sunset is the longest throughout the year at the place where the vending machine 21 is installed. The on / off time data of the light source 43 at that time, the date and time data of the month and day when the daytime is the shortest, and the on / off time data of the light source 43 at that time are set from the operation panel 42. In this embodiment, the summer solstice and the winter solstice are adopted as the cases where the daytime is the longest and the shortest. The summer solstice and winter solstice are not necessarily the longest or shortest daylight hours throughout the year, but are easy to understand as data to be set, and may be approximately the same as the longest daytime or shortest daylight time.

This setting operation is shown in the flowchart of FIG. Hereinafter, FIG. 5 is also referred to. In step a1 of FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not a setting key such as the date and time data is to be input from the operation panel 42. If this determination is affirmative, at step a2, the summer solstice (P
1) The date and time data D1 and the vending machine 2 at that time
On / off time data (t11, t1) of an on time t11 at which the light source 43 should be turned on and an off time t12 at which the light source 43 should be turned off corresponding to the degree of sunshine in the installation area of No. 1
2) is input. Next, in step a3, the winter solstice (P
2) The date and time data D2 and the vending machine 2 at that time
On / off time data (t21, t2) of an on time t21 at which the light source 43 should be turned on and an off time t22 at which the light source 43 should be turned off corresponding to the degree of sunshine in the installation area of No. 1
2) is input. Each input data is stored in the memory 41. This ends the data setting operation. On the other hand, if the determination in step a1 is negative, the processing in steps a2 and a3 is not performed, and the setting operation ends.

The on / off control of the light source 43 based on the set on / off time data and date / time data is schematically shown in the flowchart of FIG. In step b1 in FIG. 4, the CPU 38 of the control unit 42 reads the current date and time data D3 from the timer 40 having the calendar function. In step b2, the current date and time data D
From 3, the on / off time at which the light source 43 should be turned on / off at present is calculated. This calculation is performed as follows.

Based on each data input in the setting process shown in FIG. 3, a straight line L1 is determined as an example shown in FIG. 5 connecting points P1 and P2 in FIG. That is, CPU
38 generates a linear function indicated by a straight line L1 passing through points P1 and P2 on the graph of FIG. By substituting the current date / time data D3 into this function, the current on / off time data (tp1, tp2) (tp1; on-time data, tp2; off-time data) is calculated by a linear proportional operation. In step b3, the control unit 42 of the vending machine 21 turns on the light source 43 at the on time tp1 based on the calculated on / off time data, and sets the off time t
At p2, control to turn off the light source 43 is executed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the date and time of the summer solstice and the date of the winter solstice are based on the natural phenomenon in which the sunshine time repeats the cycle from the longest sunshine time to the shortest sunshine time and then back to the longest sunshine time throughout the year. The on / off time of the light source according to the sunshine time of an arbitrary date and time between the date and time is calculated by an approximate calculation. Thus, even if the vending machine 21 is not equipped with an optical sensor for detecting the amount of light in the surroundings, the light source 43 is turned on in a time period substantially coinciding with the time period in which illumination is required, and the light source 43 is turned on in the remaining time period. Can be realized.

Therefore, in the vending machine 21 of this embodiment,
By setting the preset on / off time data and date / time data of the light source 43 as the case of summer solstice and winter solstice, it is possible to control the light source 43 on / off in response to a change in the sunshine time due to the four seasons, The problem that the light source 43 remains lit even when the surroundings become brighter is prevented, and power consumption can be made more efficient. In addition, lighting is appropriately performed in a time zone when the surroundings are dark, and usability is improved.

In the present invention, the longest daytime date and time data and the on / off time data at that time, and the shortest daytime date and time data and the on / off time data at that time are the summer solstice as in the above embodiment. And data from the winter solstice. This is because it is easily assumed that the time period during which lighting is required differs depending on the installation area and installation environment of the vending machine 21. Therefore, in such a case, the date and time data of the longest daytime and the on / off time data at that time, and the date and time data of the shortest daytime and the on / off time data at that time are determined by setting the vending machine 21 Data in a mode suitable for the environment and installation area is input.

In this case, the light source 43 can be controlled to be turned on / off in accordance with the difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time due to the installation area and the like. In addition, more accurate on / off control can be performed.

Further, any time between the date and time data of the longest daytime and the on / off time data at that time and the date and time data of the shortest daytime and the on / off time data at that time shown in the graph of FIG. The function for calculating the on / off time data at the date and time is not limited to the linear function in the above-described embodiment, but may be a secondary or higher-order curve determined based on the length of a daily intermediate time measured throughout the year. Of course, it may be possible.

The embodiments described above are merely examples of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention. The present invention
The present invention has a wide variety of modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the light source of the vending machine includes a plurality of reference on / off time data and a reference on / off time concerning the on time and off time of the light source set in the storage means. The on / off time of the current date and time is calculated based on the date and time data respectively corresponding to the data, and the on / off is controlled.

Therefore, according to the present invention, based on a natural phenomenon in which the sunshine time repeats a cycle from the longest sunshine time to the shortest sunshine time and then returns to the longest sunshine time throughout the year, the date and time of the longest sunshine time and the shortest sunshine time The on / off time of the light source according to the sunshine time at an arbitrary date and time between the date and time can be calculated by the approximate calculation.

Accordingly, even if the vending machine is not equipped with an optical sensor for detecting the amount of light in the surroundings, the light source is turned on in a time period substantially matching the time period in which illumination is required, and the light source is turned on in the remaining time period. Can be realized.

Therefore, in the present invention, by setting the on / off time data and the date and time data as appropriate, it is possible to cope with a change in the sunshine time due to the four seasons and a difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time depending on the installation area. The on / off control of the light source can be performed, and the problem that the light source remains lit even when the surroundings become bright can be prevented, and power consumption can be improved. In addition, lighting is appropriately performed in a time zone when the surroundings are dark, and usability is improved.

In the present invention, the plurality of reference on / off time data and the corresponding date / time data are respectively set to the on / off time of the light source at the summer solstice and winter solstice, and the date / time data of the summer solstice and winter solstice. When selected, since the summer solstice is a date and time substantially corresponding to the above-described longest sunshine time, and the winter solstice is a date and time substantially corresponding to the above-mentioned shortest sunshine time, it is possible to achieve the same effect as the above-described effect.

In the present invention, the plurality of reference on / off time data and the date / time data respectively corresponding to the reference on / off time data are the on / off time data corresponding to a desired longest lighting time, the date / time data corresponding thereto, and When the on / off time data corresponding to the desired shortest lighting time and the corresponding date / time data are respectively selected, for example, the difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time between Hokkaido and Okinawa, or the mountain area and the plain area The on / off time data and the date and time data corresponding to the difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time can be set, and the on / off time of the light source corresponding to the change in the sunshine time due to the four seasons can be set. In addition to the control, the on / off time of the light source can be set according to the difference between the sunrise time and the sunset time in the installation area.

Thus, in addition to the above-described functions and effects, it is possible to perform high-precision on / off control corresponding to regional differences.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a vending machine 21 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the vending machine 21. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a data setting operation of the vending machine 21.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a light source control operation of the vending machine 21.

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating an operation of the vending machine 21.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 vending machine 23 display shelf 33 control unit 38 CPU 40 timer 41 memory 42 operation panel 43 light source

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for controlling on / off of a light source stored in a product display shelf, comprising: a plurality of reference on / off time data relating to an on time and an off time of the light source; and a reference on / off time data. The date and time data respectively corresponding to the above are read out from the storage means, and the on / off time of the current date and time are calculated from the date and time data and the reference on / off time data, and the on / off of the light source is determined based on the calculation result. Light source control method for vending machines to be controlled. 2. The plurality of reference on / off time data and the corresponding date / time data are respectively selected as the on / off time of the light source at the summer solstice and winter solstice and the date / time data of the summer solstice and winter solstice. The light source control method for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein 3. The on / off time data corresponding to a desired maximum lighting time, the date / time data corresponding to the desired on / off time data, and the desired shortest lighting time, respectively. On time response
2. The light source control method for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the off-time data and the corresponding date and time data are respectively selected.