JP2001221671A - Liquid-selling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid-selling apparatus, in which a liquid is sold by a self-service system and in which a seller can demand the payment of the amount of money for the liquid, corresponding to a poured amount without having the owner monitor the customer operation. SOLUTION: A beer-selling apparatus is constituted of a beer barrel 1 which houses beer. The apparatus is constituted of a pouring tube 1a and a cock 1b, by which beer in an arbitrary amount requested by a customer is extracted from the beer barrel 1. The apparatus is constituted of a control unit 2 or the like, which computes the poured amount of the beer on the basis of an output signal from an ultrasonic transducer part 2a and by which a slip 23 with a printed poured amount is output from a printer 2k.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid vending apparatus for discharging liquid in a liquid tank and selling the liquid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, a liquid selling method in which a liquid stored in a liquid tank such as a liquid tank is poured out and weighed (measured) has been widely used. For example, in a restaurant, beer is sold in bulk by dividing beer in a beer barrel serving as a liquid tank into mugs or the like.

[0003] In such a mass selling of liquids, the seller usually dispenses the liquid from the liquid tank and sells the liquid. However, if a so-called self-service system is adopted in which the liquid is freely poured out and sold to the customer, the liquid is sold. You can save time and effort.

[0004]

However, when the self-service system is adopted, there arises a problem that it is necessary to monitor the dispensing work of the customer so that the dispensing amount is not falsified and reported.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and sells liquid in a self-service manner, and does not perform a customer monitoring operation on the liquid, and the liquid corresponding to the amount to be dispensed is not required. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid dispensing apparatus capable of charging an amount.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a liquid tank for storing a liquid, and a discharging means for extracting an arbitrary amount of liquid required by a customer from the liquid tank. Dispensing information acquiring means for acquiring information useful for calculating a liquid dispensing amount from the liquid tank; and calculating means for computing the liquid dispensing amount based on an output signal from the dispensing information acquiring means. When,
Information output means for outputting information on the liquid ejection amount based on an output signal from the calculation means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the liquid selling apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the information output means includes a slip output means for outputting a slip of the liquid dispensing amount. is there.

In the liquid selling device according to the first or second aspect, an arbitrary amount of liquid desired by the customer can be extracted from the liquid tank by the discharging means and sold in a self-service manner. Further, the calculating means calculates the liquid dispensing amount based on the output signal from the dispensing information obtaining means, and outputs this from the information output means. The liquid seller using the liquid vending apparatus having such a configuration obtains the information on the liquid dispensing amount output from the information output means, and multiplies the information by the unit price of the liquid to calculate the liquid amount. The liquid amount can be charged to the customer without performing the monitoring operation.

In particular, in the liquid selling apparatus according to the second aspect, a slip output means is provided as the information output means, and a slip of the liquid discharge amount is output from the slip output means. If the customer who has received this slip moves to the checkout station, for example, moves to the installation location of the liquid vending device to visually check the liquid dispensing amount displayed on the display means that is the information output means.
It is possible to omit the seller's moving operation for confirming the liquid discharge amount.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid tank for storing a liquid, data storage means for storing unit price data of the liquid,
A pouring means for extracting an arbitrary amount of liquid required by the customer from the liquid tank, a pouring information obtaining means for obtaining information useful for calculating a liquid pouring amount from the liquid tank, the data storage means, Calculating means for calculating a liquid amount, which is a result of multiplying the liquid dispensing amount and the unit price data, based on an output signal from the dispensing information obtaining means; Payment request means for making a payment request to the user.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the liquid selling apparatus according to the third aspect, a slip output means for outputting a slip of the liquid amount is provided as the payment request means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the liquid selling device according to the third aspect, wherein the payment means is a cash accepting means for accepting cash and outputting an acceptance signal to the arithmetic means; Liquid supply means for supplying change to the customer on the basis of an output signal from the apparatus, and liquid dispensing by the dispensing means based on the output signal from the arithmetic means regardless of the operation of the customer. And a pouring end signal output means for receiving a signal indicating the end of pouring by the customer and outputting the signal to the calculating means as a pouring end signal, wherein the calculating means outputs the receiving signal. When the detection is detected, the dispensing stop means releases the dispensing stop function, and when the liquid amount of money equal to the received amount is calculated or the dispensing end signal is detected, the dispensing stop function is determined. Demonstrated It is characterized in carrying out the calculation process to pay minute change obtained by subtracting the liquid amount from the receiving deposit amount in 該釣 Qian payment means Te.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the liquid selling apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein, as the billing means, a valuable property receiving means for receiving a valuable property instead of cash and outputting an acceptance signal to the arithmetic means. And payment request processing means for executing a payment request processing for the valuable property based on the output signal from the calculation means, and based on the output signal from the calculation means regardless of the operation of the customer. Means for stopping the liquid pouring by the pouring means, and a pouring end signal output means for receiving the customer's pouring end signal and outputting the signal to the calculating means as a pouring end signal, When the calculating means detects the reception signal, the calculating means causes the pouring stop means to release the pouring stop function and calculates the payment limit of the valuable property, and the liquid amount equal to the payment limit is calculated. When calculating the amount or detecting the end-of-dispensing signal, an operation process is performed in which the dispensing stop function is performed to cause the billing means to perform the billing process for the liquid amount. It is characterized by the following.

Also in the liquid selling apparatus according to the third, fourth, fifth or sixth aspect, an arbitrary amount of liquid desired by the customer can be extracted from the liquid tank by the pouring means and sold in a self-service manner. Further, in these liquid selling devices, the calculating means calculates the liquid amount based on the output signals from the data storage means and the dispensing information obtaining means, and causes the billing means to execute a predetermined process based on the calculation result. By this process, for example, a billing slip is output, a process of deducting a liquid amount from cash or a prepaid card received in advance, a billing process for a credit card issuer received in advance is performed. A request for payment is made, for example. A liquid seller using the liquid vending apparatus having such a configuration can charge a customer for a liquid amount without performing a customer monitoring operation. Further, the liquid amount can be charged to the customer without performing the liquid amount calculation operation of calculating the liquid amount by multiplying the liquid dispensed amount and the liquid unit price.

In particular, the liquid selling apparatus according to claim 4 is provided with a slip output means as the payment request means, and outputs a slip of the liquid amount from the slip output means. If the customer who has received this slip moves to the checkout station, for example, the customer moves to the installation location of the liquid vending device to view the liquid amount displayed on the display means, which is the billing means. It is possible to omit the seller's moving operation for confirmation.

In the liquid dispensing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, when cash is received from the cash receiving means, the dispensing stop function of the dispensing stop means is released to start self-service liquid sales. After the liquid is started to be sold in this way, if the same amount of liquid as the received cash is extracted, or if the customer gives a signal to end the dispensing, the dispensing stop means of the dispensing stop means. To stop liquid dispensing and liquid sales. Then, a change in which the liquid amount is subtracted from the received amount is supplied from the change supply means to perform the settlement. In the liquid selling apparatus having such a configuration, liquid settlement processing can be performed on behalf of the seller.

In the liquid selling apparatus according to the present invention, when a valuable resource such as a prepaid card or a credit card is received by a valuable resource receiving means, the payment limit of the valuable resource is calculated. The dispensing stop function of the dispensing stop means is released to start self-service liquid sales. After the liquid has been sold in this way, if the same amount of liquid as the above-mentioned payment limit is extracted or if the customer gives a signal to end the dispensing, the dispensing stop means stops dispensing. The function stops liquid dispensing and stops liquid sales. Then, for example, a payment request process such as performing a process of deducting the liquid amount from the balance of the prepaid card or performing a charging process for the issuer of the credit card is performed by the payment requesting means,
Settle the liquid that has been dispensed. The liquid dispensing apparatus having such a configuration can also perform liquid settlement processing on behalf of the seller.

[0018] The invention of claim 7 is based on claims 1, 2, 3,
In the liquid dispensing apparatus according to any one of 4, 5, and 6, an ultrasonic liquid level sensor having an ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving unit mounted on an outer surface of a bottom wall of the liquid tank is provided as the dispensing information acquiring means. It is assumed that.

In this liquid vending apparatus, an ultrasonic liquid level sensor having an ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving section mounted on the outer surface of the bottom wall of the liquid tank is provided as the dispensing information output means.
Such an ultrasonic type liquid level sensor can be maintained without installing the whole of the ultrasonic liquid level sensor outside the liquid tank. On the other hand, if a float-type sensor or the like that needs to be put in and out of the liquid tank during maintenance is used as the pouring information output means, the liquid may be discharged due to foreign matter contamination at the time of putting in and out, or contamination of the pouring information output means itself. Contamination may occur.

In the liquid dispensing apparatus according to the first or third aspect, "operation" means not only a calculation process for calculating a solution based on a calculation formula but also a data satisfying a predetermined condition from a plurality of data groups. This is a concept that also includes a specific process of searching for and specifying, a signal conversion process for converting information into a signal, a program decoding process for decoding a program, and the like.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a beer vending machine used in a beer hall will be described as a first embodiment of a liquid vending apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the beer selling device together with a table in a beer hall. In FIG. 1, this beer selling device includes a control unit 2 having an ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving unit 2a, a display unit 2c, an operation unit 2d, a printer 2k, and the like, and a beer barrel 1 as a liquid tank.
And is placed on the table 20.

The above-mentioned beer barrel 1 is provided with a beer discharging pipe 1a, a discharging means comprising a cock 1b attached thereto, and a beer cooling device (not shown).
The beer in the barrel is kept cool at the temperature at which it can be drunk.

At the side of the table 20, a refrigerator (not shown) is installed. At this beer hall, a customer takes out the mug 21 cooled in the refrigerator and operates the cock 1b of the beer barrel 1 to remove the jug 21. The beer is freely poured into the mug 21 and drinks. With such a mechanism, it is possible to drink beer while pouring the beer little by little into the mug 21 in order to avoid a situation where the user has to drink the warm beer warmed at room temperature. Also, beer mug 2
It is possible to purchase only a desired amount of beer, such as drinking only half a cup.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main circuit of the control unit 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the control unit 2 includes an arithmetic processing circuit 2b, a storage circuit 2e, a reference frequency generation circuit 2f, a transmission / reception unit 2a, a display unit 2c, an operation unit 2d, a printer 2k, and the like. Wave control circuit 2
g, a sensor drive circuit 2h, a preamplifier circuit 2i, a reflected wave detection circuit 2j, and the like.

The arithmetic processing circuit 2b as arithmetic means
Is composed of a CPU or the like, and includes the operation unit 2d, the storage circuit 2
e, performs arithmetic processing based on signals sent from the reflected wave detection circuit 2j and the like, and outputs signals to the display unit 2c, the storage circuit 2e, the printer 2k and the like. At a predetermined timing, a pulse signal as shown in FIG. 3B is transmitted to the transmission control circuit 2g, and the timekeeping operation is started. In addition, this timekeeping calculation process
This is performed based on the number of clock pulses received from a clock pulse generation circuit (not shown).

The display section 2c as the information output means includes:
It is composed of a liquid crystal panel or the like and displays various information based on signals sent from the arithmetic processing circuit 2b.

The printer 2k as information output means prints out a slip 23 on which predetermined information is printed based on a signal sent from the arithmetic processing circuit 2b.

The operation section 2d has a plurality of data input keys (not shown), and outputs a signal corresponding to the pressed data input key to the arithmetic processing circuit 2b.

The above-mentioned storage circuit 2e as data storage means
Has a data storage medium such as a RAM, a ROM, and a hard disk (not shown), and stores various information based on signals output from the arithmetic processing circuit 2b.

The above-mentioned reference frequency generating circuit 2f is shown in FIG.
A reference pulse signal of a predetermined frequency as shown in (a) is output to the transmission control circuit 2g.

As shown in the output waveform of FIG. 3 (c), the transmission control circuit 2g outputs the signal from the reference frequency generation circuit 2f only when receiving the pulse signal output from the arithmetic processing circuit 2b. It has a function as a gate circuit for transmitting the reference pulse signal to the sensor drive circuit 2h. The reference pulse signal from the transmission control circuit 2g is transmitted to the sensor drive circuit 2g.
After being amplified by h, the signal is output to the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving unit 2a.

The ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving section 2a has a vibrator 2m and a wave receiving section 2n, and is fixed to the outer surface of the bottom wall 1c of the beer barrel 1, as shown in FIG. The vibrator 2m converts the pulse signal from the sensor drive circuit 2h into an ultrasonic wave and outputs the ultrasonic wave. The output ultrasonic wave is applied to the bottom wall 1c.
And the beer 22 in contact with the beer 22 and is reflected at the beer liquid level. And this liquid level reflected wave is beer 22
And the bottom wall 1c, and then to the receiving part 2n of the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving part 2a. The wave receiving section 2n converts the received liquid-surface reflected wave into a reflected pulse signal as shown in S1 of FIG.

The preamplifier circuit 2i amplifies the reflected pulse signal output from the wave receiving section 2n and outputs it to the reflected wave detecting circuit 2j.

The reflected wave detection circuit 2j has a detection circuit for detecting a pulse signal having a predetermined intensity or more. When the reflected pulse signal from the preamplifier circuit 2i is detected, a detection signal as shown in FIG. The signal is processed by the arithmetic processing circuit 2b.
Output to Further, even if a multiple reflection pulse signal related to the multiple reflection wave as shown in S2 of FIG. 3D is detected, a detection signal for this is not output to the arithmetic processing circuit 2b. Note that the multiple reflection wave is generated by the liquid surface reflection wave being repeatedly reflected between the bottom wall 1c and the liquid surface.

When the arithmetic processing circuit 2b detects the detection signal output from the reflected wave detection circuit 2j, the arithmetic processing circuit 2b stops the timing arithmetic processing and returns the reflection signal required from transmission of the pulse signal to reception of the detection signal. Wave detection time T (Fig. 3
(See (e)).

The distance L1 from the tip of the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving section 2a shown in FIG. 4 to the beer liquid level in the beer barrel 1 can be obtained by the following equation (1). The liquid level L2, which is the distance from the inner surface of the bottom wall 1c of the beer barrel 1 to the liquid level of the beer, can be obtained by the following equation (2).

## EQU1 ## distance L1 = transmission speed V of ultrasonic wave in beer 22 × reflected wave detection time T / 2

## EQU2 ## Liquid level L2 = distance L1-thickness t of bottom wall 1c

Here, the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the vibrator 2m to the bottom wall 1c of the beer barrel 1 is first transmitted to the bottom wall 1c.
It reaches the boundary between c and the beer 22 in contact with the inner surface of c. Since there is a difference in acoustic impedance between the solid bottom wall 1c and the liquid beer 22, ultrasonic waves are hardly transmitted from the bottom wall 19c to the beer 18. However,
About 10% of the ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the beer 22 and reaches the beer liquid level. Above this beer liquid level, air having an acoustic impedance difference of about 3600 times that of the beer 22 exists, and most of the ultrasonic waves (about 99.95%) reaching the beer liquid level This difference reflects at the beer liquid level. Then, the light is transmitted to the beer 11 and the bottom wall 1c in a direction opposite to that before the reflection, and is received by the wave receiving unit 101b. The arithmetic processing circuit 102 measures the reflected wave detection time T required for the transmission and reception of the ultrasonic wave transmitted through the bottom wall 19c and the beer 18 in this manner, and based on this, the liquid level L2 Can be calculated. The wave is received by the wave receiving unit 2n. The arithmetic processing circuit 2b includes:
In this way, the reflected wave detection time T required from the transmission of the ultrasonic wave transmitted through the bottom wall 1c and the beer 22 to the reception of the ultrasonic wave can be measured, and the liquid level L2 can be calculated based on this. is there. Therefore, the control unit 2 of the present beer vending apparatus has a function as an ultrasonic liquid level sensor.

In the present beer selling apparatus, as shown in FIG. 4, the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving section 2a is mounted on the outer surface of the bottom wall 1c of the beer barrel 1. When this is mounted on the outer surface of the upper wall of the beer barrel 1, the calculation of the liquid level L2 becomes extremely difficult for the following reasons. That is, an air layer is usually interposed between the upper wall of the beer barrel 1 and the beer 22, and the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving unit 2a toward the outer surface of the upper wall of the beer barrel 1 is , Before reaching the beer 22. At this boundary, about 99.95% of the ultrasonic wave is reflected toward the ultrasonic sensor 101 due to a remarkable difference in acoustic impedance between the two. For this reason,
Of the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving section 2a, 0.
Only about 05 [%] can be transmitted to the air layer. Furthermore, a small amount of ultrasonic wave transmitted to the air layer is reflected at the liquid level of the beer, becomes a liquid level reflected wave, is reflected again at the boundary between the air layer and the upper wall, and cannot be transmitted to the upper wall. .
As a result, it becomes difficult for the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving unit 2a to receive the beer liquid level reflected wave, and as a result, it becomes difficult to calculate the liquid level L2.

The calculation result of the liquid level L2 can be used for calculating the remaining amount of beer SV in the beer barrel 1, as shown in the following equation (3).

## EQU00003 ## Beer residual value SV = bottom area of bottom wall 1c.times.liquid level L2.

However, if the internal space of the beer barrel 1 is not a columnar or regular polygonal column as shown in FIG.
May be a complex function such as a quadratic function or a cubic function instead of a linear function such as.

Further, since the internal space has a special shape, the relation between the remaining amount of beer SV and the liquid level L2 may not be represented by a function in some cases. However, even in such a case, each beer residual value SV and each liquid level L2
A beer remaining value SV is obtained by preparing a database in which the values are associated with each other and searching and specifying the beer remaining value SV corresponding to the measurement result of the liquid level L2 value from the database. Can be.

On the other hand, the customer beer dispensing amount SVr can be obtained by the following equation (4). In this equation, “initial remaining amount SVp”
Indicates the remaining beer value SV before the dispensing, as “the second-stage remaining value SV”.
"s" is the remaining beer value S after pouring (after order stop)
V.

## EQU4 ## Beer discharge amount SVr = initial remaining amount SVp-second
Periodic residual value SVs

Therefore, the arithmetic processing circuit 2b is configured to execute the following arithmetic processing. That is,
First, when an output signal from an initial amount storage key (not shown) of the operation unit 2d is detected, an initial state is calculated based on a calculation formula or a database stored in the storage circuit 2e and the acquired reflected wave detection time T. Is calculated as the initial remaining amount SVp.
e, and the beer dispensing amount SVr is displayed as zero on the display unit 2c. The second stage remaining value SVs is calculated by driving the vibrator 2m at a predetermined timing such as every elapse of a predetermined time.
e from the initial remaining amount value SVp stored in
The beer dispensing amount SVr obtained by subtracting the period remaining value SVr is displayed on the display unit 2c. By displaying the beer dispensing amount SVr in this manner, the beer dispensing amount can be visually recognized by the customer. Next, the operation unit 2d
When a signal from an order stop key (not shown) is detected, the beer dispensing amount SVr at this time is calculated and displayed on the display unit 2c. Then, the slip 23 on which the beer discharge amount SVr is printed is output from the printer 2k, the initial remaining amount SVp is updated to a value equivalent to the latest second period remaining value SVs, and the storage circuit 2e is updated. To memorize.

In a beer hall in which a liquid vending apparatus having the above-described arithmetic processing circuit 2b for performing such arithmetic processing is installed, the seller starts a self-service beer sale with the initial remaining amount SVp updated. Then, the check 23 printed out based on the order stop is presented to the customer at the checkout station. Then, if the beer amount is calculated by multiplying the beer discharge amount SVr described in the slip 23 by the beer unit price, the beer amount can be charged to the customer without performing customer monitoring work. . In addition, since the seller does not perform the customer monitoring work, it is possible to reduce the sense of restraint of the customer, brighten the atmosphere in the store, increase the customer's willingness to purchase, and increase the rate of attracting customers.

Next, FIG. 5 for explaining a beer selling apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the beer selling apparatus together with a table in a beer hall. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a main circuit of the control unit 2 of the beer selling apparatus. As shown in these figures, the beer vending apparatus of the second embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the beer vending apparatus of the first embodiment, except that an electromagnetic valve 2r is connected to the pouring pipe 1a of the beer barrel 1. Have. In place of the printer 2k, a prepaid card reader (hereinafter simply referred to as a card reader) 2p
It has.

The beer unit price as unit price data is stored in a storage circuit 2e as data storage means of the control unit 2.

The solenoid valve 2r serving as a pouring stop means opens and closes a valve (not shown) based on an output signal from the arithmetic processing circuit 2b of the control unit 2. This solenoid valve 2r
If the valve is closed by the customer, the cook 1
Irrespective of the operation of b, beer pouring from the pouring pipe 1a stops, and the customer cannot dispense beer.

The card reader 2p having functions as a valuable property receiving means and a payment request processing means uses the well-known technique to read the balance information read from the inserted prepaid card 24 as a balance signal and to execute the arithmetic processing circuit 2b.
Or the balance information is updated based on the output signal from the arithmetic processing circuit 2b. The prepaid card 24 may be issued independently by the seller so as to be valid only in the beer hall, or may be a general-purpose card issued by another service organization.

The arithmetic processing circuit 2b causes the storage circuit 2e to newly store or update and store the initial remaining amount value SVp in the same manner as in the first embodiment. When the balance signal from the card reader 2p is detected, first, the balance is determined based on the signal.
Then, when it is determined that the balance is equal to or greater than zero, a valve opening signal is output to the solenoid valve 2r. With this output, the customer can operate the cock 1b to pour beer. Next, the arithmetic processing circuit 2b calculates the beer discharge amount SVr at a predetermined timing by the same method as in the first embodiment. And this beer pouring amount SV
The beer amount is obtained by multiplying r with the beer unit price, the beer supply amount SVr and the beer amount are displayed on the display unit 2c, and the magnitude relationship between the balance and the beer amount is determined. Next, it is determined whether “the balance is smaller than or equal to the amount of beer” or the operation unit 2
When a signal from an order stop key (not shown) is detected, a valve closing signal is output to the solenoid valve 2r to stop beer dispensing. If “balance> beer amount”, an update signal for updating the balance to a value equivalent to the solution of “balance−beer amount” is output to the card reader 2p. If “balance ≦ beer amount”, an update signal for updating the balance to zero is output to the card reader 2p. Then, the initial remaining amount SVp is updated to a value equivalent to the latest second period remaining amount SVs and stored in the storage circuit 2e. Finally, a signal for discharging the prepaid card 24 is output to the card reader 2p, and the beer sale ends.

In the present liquid vending apparatus having the arithmetic processing circuit 2b for performing such arithmetic processing, beer settlement processing can be performed on behalf of the seller.

In each of the embodiments, the beer selling apparatus that sells beer in a self-service manner has been described. However, the soy sauce, soup, sauce, edible oil, gasoline, kerosene, light oil, juice, liquid chemical, organic solvent, etc. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to other liquid selling apparatuses that sell liquids in a self-service manner.

Also, the description has been given of the beer selling apparatus having the ultrasonic liquid level sensor as the dispensing information acquiring means. For example, the liquid level detecting apparatus having a plurality of electrodes and floats respectively installed at different liquid tank levels. Sensors, flow rate sensors that detect the liquid flow rate in the liquid extraction pipe, etc.
The present invention is also applicable to a liquid information display system provided with another dispensing information acquisition unit.

[0053]

According to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh aspect of the present invention, the liquid is sold in a self-service manner and the amount of the liquid is monitored without the customer monitoring the seller. Is excellent.

In particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, there is an excellent effect that the seller's moving operation for confirming the liquid dispensing amount can be omitted.

In particular, according to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects of the present invention, the liquid amount calculation operation of calculating the liquid amount by multiplying the liquid dispensed amount and the liquid unit price is not required. There is an excellent effect that a liquid amount can be charged to a customer.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 4, there is an excellent effect that the seller's moving operation for confirming the liquid amount can be omitted.

In particular, according to the fifth or sixth aspect of the invention, there is an excellent effect that liquid settlement processing can be performed on behalf of the seller.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 7, maintenance can be performed without taking the ultrasonic type liquid level sensor as the dispensing information output means into and out of the liquid tank. There is an excellent effect that the liquid can be stored in a sanitary manner without contaminating the liquid by contamination of the dispensing information output means itself.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a beer selling apparatus according to a first embodiment together with a table in a beer hall.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main circuit of the beer selling apparatus.

FIGS. 3A to 3E are waveform diagrams showing waveforms of respective signals in the main circuit.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving unit mounted on a bottom wall of a beer barrel.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a beer selling apparatus according to the first embodiment together with a table in a beer hall;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a main circuit of the beer selling apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beer barrel 1a Discharge pipe 1b Cock 1c Bottom wall 2 Control unit 2a Ultrasonic wave transmission / reception part 2b Arithmetic processing circuit 2c Display part 2d Operation part 2e Storage circuit 2f Reference frequency generation circuit 2g Wave transmission control circuit 2h Sensor drive circuit 2i Preamplifier Circuit 2j Reflected wave detection circuit 2k Printer 2m Vibrator 2n Wave receiving unit 2p Card reader 2r Solenoid valve 20 Table 21 Jug 22 Beer 23 Chit 24 Prepaid card

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A liquid tank for storing a liquid, a discharging means for extracting an arbitrary amount of liquid required by a customer from the liquid tank, and information useful for calculating a liquid discharging amount from the liquid tank. Dispensing information acquiring means, computing means for calculating the liquid dispensing amount based on an output signal from the dispensing information acquiring means, and information on the liquid dispensing amount based on an output signal from the computing means. And an information output means for outputting the information. 2. A liquid selling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said information output means includes a slip output means for outputting a slip of the liquid dispensing amount. 3. A liquid tank for storing a liquid, data storage means for storing unit price data of the liquid, a pouring means for extracting an arbitrary amount of liquid required by a customer from the liquid tank, and A dispensing information acquiring unit for acquiring information useful for calculating a liquid dispensing amount of the liquid storage unit and the liquid dispensing amount and the unit price data based on an output signal from the dispensing information acquiring unit. A liquid vending apparatus comprising: a calculating means for calculating a liquid amount as a multiplication result; and a billing means for billing the customer based on an output signal from the calculating means. 4. The liquid selling apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a slip output means for outputting a slip of the liquid amount as the payment request means. 5. A liquid selling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said claim means is a cash accepting means for accepting cash and outputting an acceptance signal to said arithmetic means, based on an output signal from said arithmetic means. A dispensing stop means for stopping the liquid dispensing by the dispensing means on the basis of an output signal from the arithmetic means irrespective of the operation of the customer; When,
Output means for receiving a signal indicating the end of dispensing of the customer and outputting the signal as an end signal to the operation means, wherein the operation means stops the dispensing when the operation means detects the acceptance signal. Means for canceling the pouring stop function, and when calculating the liquid amount equal to the received amount or detecting the pouring end signal, activates the pouring stop function and deducts the received amount from the received amount. A liquid vending apparatus, which carries out an arithmetic processing for causing the change supply means to supply a change corresponding to the liquid amount subtracted. 6. A liquid selling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said payment request means receives a valuable property instead of cash and outputs a reception signal to said calculation means. And a payment processing means for performing payment processing for the valuable property based on the output signal, and the liquid by the dispensing means based on the output signal from the calculation means regardless of the operation of the customer. A dispensing stop means for stopping dispensing; and a dispensing end signal output means for receiving a signal indicating the end of dispensing by the customer and outputting the signal as a dispensing end signal to the arithmetic means. If the signal is detected, the dispensing stop means cancels the dispensing stop function and calculates the payment limit of the valuable property, and calculates the liquid amount equal to the payment limit or Liquid sales characterized by performing a calculation process for causing the payment means to perform the payment processing for the liquid amount by exerting the discharge stop function when detecting the ending of the dispense signal. apparatus. 7. The liquid dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving section mounted on an outer surface of a bottom wall of the liquid tank as the dispensing information acquiring means. A liquid vending apparatus comprising an ultrasonic liquid level sensor.