JP2000298760A - Vending machine controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the number of wirings by exchanging or changing only part of components even, when a failure is generated in one part of the components or design needs changing. SOLUTION: A cooling/heating control part 2 for controlling the cooling/ heating of a vending machine and a selling control part for controlling a selling mechanism in a terminal control part are separated so as to be turned into different control parts, and the selling control part is divided into a plurality of selling control parts 3-1-5-3 so that one or more selling mechanisms can be controlled by each selling control part. The selling control part is divided into a plurality of rows constituted of one or a plurality of selling control parts, and a main control part 1 is commonly connected through a signal line 6 with all the selling control parts, and the selling control parts in each row are serially connected from the main control part 1 through a control line 7. Then, row address setting circuits 3A, 4A, and 5A provided on the substrate of the cooling/heating control part 2 are connected with the selling control parts 3-3, 4-3, and 5-3 at the tail parts in the rows.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises a terminal control section for controlling each section of a vending machine, and a main control section for integrally controlling the terminal control sections while communicating with them. The present invention relates to a vending machine control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of a conventional vending machine. The input control unit 21 is connected to a keyboard and a data display (not shown), and performs various data settings by operating the keyboard while displaying necessary items on the data display. The sales / cooling / heat control unit 22 controls a product unloading mechanism that unloads products by operating a bend solenoid (not shown) provided at a lower end of each product storage column, or is provided in each product storage column. The on / off state of a sold-out switch (not shown) is detected, and a cooling unit, a heating heater, a fan motor, and the like are controlled based on an output of a temperature sensor provided in the refrigerator.

The display control unit 23 controls the display of an amount indicator (not shown), detects a switch of a product selection button (not shown), and controls a sale enable lamp and a sold-out lamp attached to the product selection button. Performs blink control and the like. The coin processing control unit 24 identifies the coin inserted into the coin insertion slot, and notifies the main control unit 1 of the result. The main control unit 1 performs overall control while performing communication with terminal control units such as the input control unit 21, the sales / cooling heat control unit 22, the display control unit 23, and the coin processing control unit 24. In a conventional vending machine, control is performed by such a control device.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional vending machine control device, the merchandise unloading mechanism and the cooling / heating mechanism are controlled by one sales / cooling / heating control section 22, and some of the components are included therein. However, if a failure occurs, the board in which it is incorporated must be replaced at once, and even if there is a design change due to a partial specification change, the board itself must be changed. However, there is a problem that the cost increases. Further, since the wiring is concentrated on one substrate from each part, there is a problem that a very large number of harnesses must be processed at one place.

[0005] The present invention solves such a problem, and even if a failure occurs in some parts or a design change is required, only a part needs to be replaced or changed. It is an object of the present invention to reduce the number of wirings.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine control apparatus comprising: a plurality of terminal control units for controlling respective units of a vending machine; A main control unit that controls and controls them while communicating between them, a signal line for communication between the terminal control unit and the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the operation of the terminal control unit Vending machine control device having a control line for performing a vending machine storage, wherein the vending machine control device for controlling the vending machine storage in the vending machine storage and the vending machine control device for controlling the vending mechanism are separate. A control unit is provided, and the sales control unit is divided into a plurality of control units, each of which controls one or a plurality of sales mechanisms. In this case, even if a failure occurs in some parts or a design change is required, only a part needs to be replaced or changed, and the number of wirings can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine control apparatus, the sales control section is divided into a plurality of rows each including one or a plurality of sales control sections, and the last sales control section in the row. Is connected to the column address setting means, the signal line connects the main control unit and all the sales control units in common, and the control line controls the sales control unit of each column from the main control unit. It is characterized by being connected in series. This makes it possible to automatically set an address to the sales control unit using the control line and the column address setting means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the vending machine control device is characterized in that the column address setting means is provided on the same substrate as the cooling / heating control unit. This way,
Even if each sales control section is arranged in a deep place near the sales organization, the column address setting means can be provided in another place, and the operation at the time of changing the setting is facilitated. In addition, it can be provided on the same substrate as the cooling / heating control unit, and the cost can be reduced.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vending machine control device according to the present invention. The cooling and heating control unit 2 that controls the cooling and heating in the vending machine storage and the sales control unit that controls the selling mechanism are separate control units. Among them, the cooling / heating control unit 2
Controls the cooling unit, heating heater, fan motor, etc. The sales control unit includes a plurality of sales control units 3-1 to 5
-3, each of which controls one or more vending machines. That is, a bend solenoid (not shown) provided at the lower end of each product storage column is operated to control a product discharge mechanism for discharging products, or a sold-out switch (see FIG. Not shown)
For example, the on / off state of is detected.

The sales control units 3-1 to 5-3 are grouped by rows of vending machine racks and the like to form rows for each group. Then, the main control unit 1 and all the sales control units 3
−1 to 5-3 are commonly connected by a signal line 6, and the sales control units in each column from the main control unit 1 are connected in series by a control line 7. The last sales control units 3-3, 4-3, and 5-3 have column address setting circuits 3A,
4A and 5A are connected.

The column address setting circuits 3A, 4A, 5A
Utilizing the substrate on which the thermal control unit 2 is mounted, the thermal control unit 2 is provided thereon. The specific configuration is
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a circuit is configured by a dip switch and a resistor, and each column address setting circuit 3A, 4A, 5
By changing the setting of the dip switch for each A, different voltages are applied to the sales controllers 3-3, 4-3, and 5-3.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit example of each sales control unit.
In FIG. 3, reference numerals 11 and 12 denote input-side and output-side control line connectors, 13 and 14 denote signal line connectors, 15 denotes a column number setting resistor, and 16-1 and 16-2.
Is a bend solenoid, 17-1 and 17-2 are sold-out switches, and 18-1 and 18-2 are temperature sensors.

Control line connectors 11 and 12
Is connected to a control line connected to the sales control section before and after the row, and the signal line connectors 13 and 14 are connected to the signal line 6 before and after. The column number setting resistor 15 is
This is for setting the number of columns sharing control in the sales control unit by a resistance value. Bend solenoid 16-
Nos. 1 and 16-2 are for carrying out products one by one from each column. Sold out switch 17-1, 1
7-2 is a switch for detecting that the product in the corresponding column has been sold out. Temperature sensor 18-1,
18-2 is for detecting the inside temperature of the vending machine and controlling the cooling / heating mechanism based on the detected value.
Therefore, although the sales control unit is originally required for the cooling / heating control unit 2, the sales control unit is provided in the vicinity of each of the columns arranged in each of the refrigerators, so that the temperature sensor 18-
1, 18-2 are connected to a nearby sales control unit, and the detected values are sent from the sales control unit to the cooling / heating control unit 2 via the signal line 6.

Each of the sales control units 3-1 to 3-3 and 4-1 to 4
-3, 5-1 to 5-3 all operate by the same program. Then, when the power of the vending machine is turned on, an address for specifying each control unit is set in each terminal control unit using the column address setting circuits 3A, 4A, 5A and the control line 7. Next, a procedure for setting an address to each terminal control unit will be described.

After turning on the power of the vending machine, the main control unit 1 sets the level of the control line 7 to H (high), and confirms a response to each terminal control unit. At this time, the number is determined in accordance with the magnitude of the voltage determined by the resistance values of the column address setting circuits 3A, 4A, 5A, and the response is made to the first voltage.

On the other hand, for example, the sales control unit 3-3
If the voltage determined by the resistance value of the column address setting circuit 3A connected to is the first voltage, the sales control unit 3-3 sends the signal to the main control unit 1 through the signal line 6 Of the address is 1, and the number of columns NC3 for which the control is shared. At the same time, the control line 7 connected to the immediately preceding sales control unit 3-2 is switched to the L (low) level to enable the sales control unit 3-2. Of course, the other terminal control units do not respond at all, and the control line 7 does not respond.
Remains H.

The main controller 1 checks the response again. On the other hand, only the sales control unit 3-2 which is ready to respond at that time responds. Then, the main control unit 1 adds the number of columns NC3 of the sales control unit 3-3 to the address "1" of the sales control unit 3-3 for the sales control unit 3-2 to which the response has been made. The number (1 + NC3) is notified. On the other hand, the sales control unit 3-2 informs the number of columns NC2 owned by the sales control unit 3-2 and switches the control line 7 connected to the immediately preceding sales control unit 3-1 to L level. And the sales control unit 3-1
Operable.

Similarly, when the address is set in the sales control section 3-1 and the control line 7 is set to L, the main control section 1 confirms that the address setting of the column is completed. Therefore, there is no need for a line for notifying the main control unit 1 from the terminal control unit at the end of the column. Then, the voltage level determined by the resistance values of the column address setting circuits 3A, 4A, 5A is made to respond to the voltage of the second voltage, and the addresses of all the terminal control units are set in the same manner. In this way, when the address setting of all the terminal control units is completed, the normal operation is started.

[0019]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. In other words, the vending machine control device according to claim 1 is configured such that, among the terminal control units, a cooling control unit that controls cooling and heating in a vending machine storage and a sales control unit that controls a sales mechanism are separate control units. ,
Further, the sales control unit is divided into a plurality of control units, each of which controls one or a plurality of sales mechanisms. As a result, even if a failure occurs in some parts or a design change is required, only a part needs to be replaced or changed, and the number of wiring from each sales control unit is reduced. can do.

In the vending machine control device according to the second aspect, the sales control unit is divided into a plurality of columns each including one or a plurality of sales control units, and the main control unit and all of the sales control units are separated from each other. In addition to the common connection by signal lines, the main control unit connected the sales control units of each column in series by control lines, respectively, and the sales control unit at the end of the column to the column address setting means. As a result, it is possible to automatically set the address to the sales control unit using the control line and the column address setting means.

Further, in the vending machine control device according to the third aspect, since the column address setting means is provided on the same substrate as the cooling / heating control unit, each sales control unit is disposed in a deep place near the sales mechanism. Even so, the column address setting means can be provided in another place, and the operation at the time of changing the setting becomes easy. In addition, it can be provided on the same substrate as the cooling / heating control unit, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vending machine control device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a column address setting circuit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a circuit example of a sales control unit;

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of a conventional vending machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 ... signal line 7 ... control line 11, 12 ... control line connector 13, 14 ... signal line connector 15 ... bend solenoid 16 ... sold-out switch 17 ... column number setting resistor 18, 19 ... temperature sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of terminal control units for controlling each unit of a vending machine, a main control unit for controlling the terminal control units while controlling them, and a main control unit for controlling the terminal control units. A vending machine control device having a signal line for performing communication between the control unit and a control line for controlling the operation of the terminal control unit by the main control unit, wherein the terminal control unit includes: The cooling and heating control unit for controlling the cooling and heating in the vending machine warehouse and the sales control unit for controlling the sales mechanism are separate control units, and the sales control unit is divided into a plurality of control units, each of which is one or more. A vending machine control device characterized by controlling a plurality of vending mechanisms. 2. The sales control section is divided into a plurality of columns each including one or a plurality of sales control sections, and a column address setting means is connected to a last sales control section of the columns, and the signal line 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the main control unit and all the sales control units are connected in common, and the control line connects the sales control units in each column from the main control unit in series. Vending machine control equipment. 3. The vending machine control device according to claim 2, wherein said column address setting means is provided on the same substrate as said cooling / heating control unit.