JP2002074490A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article of optimum temperature, corresponding to its time of selling and to avoid conducting temperature control over articles for sale which number more than necessary. SOLUTION: Predicted pedestrian traffic information, weather forecast information, etc., are inputted from a vending machine managing computer 40, outside air temperature and outside air humidity after a specific time elapses are predicted, and the optimum temperature for sales articles is determined according to them. According to the pedestrian traffic information, and outside- air temperature and humidity, the number of sales articles to be sold during the specific time interval is predicted. Then the number of sales articles corresponding to the predicted sale quantity are stored in a lower-stage rack part 6B and a cooling machine 4a or heater 4b, a fan motor 4c, etc., are controlled to adjust the temperature in the lower-stage rack part 6B to the determined optimum temperature. Consequently, only the articles which are stored in the lower-stage rack part 6B by the number corresponding to the predicted sale quantity are controlled to be at the optimum temperature.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine in which the temperature of a canned beverage or the like is controlled to be hot or cold for sale, and in particular, only a required number of beverages are adjusted to an optimum temperature. Related to vending machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various vending machines for canned beverages and the like have been proposed. For example, the temperature of canned beverages is switched between hot and cold depending on the season, and cold in summer and hot in winter. There is known a device that adjusts the temperature. In cup-type vending machines, etc.,
Set the sales temperature of the beverage according to the actual temperature, humidity, etc.,
There are also proposals for providing a beverage having a temperature suitable for the current environment.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional vending machine, since the temperature is adjusted to hot or cold depending on the season, for example, when the temperature is relatively low in summer, etc. Hot beverages are preferred, but vending machines sell only cold beverages in the summer, and there is a problem that it is not possible to provide beverages that meet the user's wishes.

In order to avoid this, a method of adjusting the temperature to a temperature suitable for the current temperature and humidity, such as a cup-type beverage vending machine, may be considered. However, if the temperature is adjusted according to the current temperature, the temperature adjustment will be started when the temperature actually decreases. Such a control method has no problem in the case of a cup-type beverage, but in the case of a canned beverage or the like, since it takes time until the temperature adjustment is completed, a sufficiently hot beverage or a sufficiently cold beverage is provided immediately. May not be possible.

Conventionally, in a vending machine, all canned beverages in the vending machine are heated or cooled, and in order to maintain quality, heating and cooling are not performed as much as possible. Is preferred. Therefore, instead of heating or cooling all canned beverages in the vending machine, for example, by heating or cooling only a part of the storage amount, such as the quantity according to the sales situation at the installation location, power saving etc. Some arrangements have been proposed.

[0006] However, for example, when there is a large-scale gathering near the place where the vending machine is installed, the number of people increases, and it is expected that the sales volume will increase more than usual. Because the machine adjusts the temperature according to the sales volume in normal traffic,
In some cases, there is a problem that a beverage whose temperature has been adjusted may be out of stock, and a beverage whose temperature has not been sufficiently adjusted may be provided.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional unsolved problems, and predicts the sales environment of a vending machine, and in accordance with the prediction, a purchaser selects a required number of products, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine capable of adjusting and providing an optimum temperature at the time of purchase.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a vending machine according to a first aspect of the present invention is a vending machine in which a product is adjusted in temperature and sold. Weather forecast information input means for inputting weather forecast information of the installation location, and suitable selling temperature determining means for determining a suitable selling temperature of the product after a predetermined time based on the weather forecast information input by the weather forecast information input means; Temperature adjusting means for adjusting the product temperature so as to have an appropriate selling temperature determined by the appropriate selling temperature determining means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine wherein a sales environment condition detecting means for detecting a sales environment condition of the vending machine, wherein the sales environment condition detecting means detects the sales environment condition of the vending machine. A weather forecast information input unit for inputting weather forecast information of a vending machine installation location, and a database representing a suitable temperature for selling the product according to the sales environment condition,
Suitable selling temperature determining means for determining a suitable selling temperature of the product after a predetermined time based on the selling environment condition detected by the selling environment condition detecting means, the weather forecast information input by the weather forecast information input means and the database, Temperature adjusting means for adjusting the product temperature so as to have an appropriate selling temperature determined by the appropriate selling temperature determining means.

[0010] In the invention according to claim 1 or 2, for example, weather forecast information from an externally provided management device or the like is input by the weather forecast information input means, and based on the input weather forecast information. The appropriate selling temperature of the product after a predetermined time is determined. Then, the commodity temperature is adjusted so as to be the determined appropriate selling temperature. Therefore, if the product temperature is adjusted so that the product temperature becomes suitable for sale by a predetermined time, the product temperature is suitable for sale after a predetermined time. It is possible to obtain a product, for example, a beverage, which is adjusted to a temperature corresponding to the temperature, and to taste the product deliciously.

In particular, in the invention according to claim 2, a database is provided in which the optimum temperature of the product in the environment conditions such as the outside temperature and the outside humidity of the vending machine installation location and the time, season and the like are set. In order to detect the environmental situation of, for example, to predict the environmental situation after a predetermined time from the current environmental situation and weather forecast information and to detect the optimal temperature corresponding thereto based on the database,
It is possible to easily set the optimum temperature.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine for adjusting the temperature of a product, wherein the vending machine is used to input future traffic information around the vending machine. And an adjusted product number determining means for predicting the number of product sales after a predetermined time based on the traffic information input by the traffic information input means and determining the number of products to be temperature-adjusted based on the predicted product sales amount; Temperature and product number adjusting means for adjusting the temperature of the product only for the number of products determined by the product number determining means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine which adjusts a product temperature and sells the vending machine, wherein a sales environment status detecting means for detecting a sales environment status of the vending machine; Traffic information input means for inputting future traffic information around the vending machine, past data indicating past sales status in the sales environment status, sales environment status detected by the sales environment status detection means, Adjusted product number determining means for predicting the number of product sales after a predetermined time based on the traffic information input by the street information input means and the past data and determining the number of products to be temperature-adjusted based on the predicted product sales number, Temperature and product number adjusting means for adjusting the temperature of the product only for the number of products determined by the number determining means.

[0014] In the invention according to claim 3 or 4, for example, future traffic information around the vending machine is input from an external management device or the like, and a predetermined time is determined based on the input traffic information. The number of commodities to be sold later is predicted, and the number of commodities to be subjected to temperature adjustment is determined based on this, and only the commodities of the determined number of commodities are temperature-adjusted. Therefore, only the required number of commodities are temperature-adjusted, so that the temperature adjustment of unnecessary commodities is avoided.

[0015] In particular, in the invention according to claim 4, the sales environment condition such as the outside air temperature, the outside air humidity, the time, and the season of the vending machine is detected. Since the number of product sales after a predetermined time is predicted based on the information, it is possible to predict the exact number of sales. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the second or fourth aspect, the sales status of the product and the sales detected by the sales environment status detection unit when the product is sold. It is characterized by comprising a sales information collecting means for storing in the storage means in association with the environmental situation.

Further, the vending machine according to claim 6, wherein the history information transmitting means for transmitting the storage information stored in said storage means as sales history information to be transmitted to a management device for managing the operation status of said vending machine. It is characterized by having. In the invention according to claim 5 or claim 6, for example, a sales situation such as the number of sold products and a sales type is associated with a sales environment situation such as outside temperature, outside air humidity, time and season when the product is sold. In the storage means. Therefore, it is possible to create a database of sales trends in the sales environment conditions from these information.
Further, by managing these databases with the management device, it becomes possible to change or replenish the type of product to be sold at an appropriate timing, for example.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a beverage vending machine to which the present invention is applied. The details are described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-30138 previously proposed by the present applicant, and will be briefly described here.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a cabinet serving as a heat-insulating housing, 2 denotes a display room for selling products, a coin mechanism, a whole outside door equipped with a selling operation unit such as a product selection button, 2a
Is a product outlet provided at the lower part of the outer door 2, 3 is an insulated inner door,
4 is a cooler 4a disposed at the bottom of the cabinet 1
A cooling / heating unit 5, which is an assembly of the electric heater 4b, the fan 4c, and the wind tunnel 4d, is a product carry-out chute connected to the product take-out port 2a. A serpentine type product storage rack unit 6 is housed by combining the shutter device 8.

The serpentine-type product storage rack section 6
As is well known, a meandering product path (column) is formed by arranging arc-shaped rail segments between left and right rack side plates. The top tray 7 is provided with a bend mechanism on the lower discharge end side. Further, the serpentine-type product storage rack portion 6 has a product storage portion that is divided into an upper rack portion 6A and a lower rack portion 6B, and has a heat insulating structure between the upper rack portion 6A and the lower rack portion 6B. Shutter device 8 is inserted.

Thus, the shutter device 8 is used as a partition for heat insulation, and the inside of the cabinet 1 is kept cool or heated, and the upper half region (close to normal temperature) which is shielded from the lower half region. ). The lower delivery end of the lower rack portion 6B is provided with an adjustable product that faces a product delivery mechanism 9 and an outer mechanism, which operate according to a product sales command for each column, across a product path, similarly to a normal serpentine type product storage rack. A passage width regulating plate 10 of a type is built in, and a product detection switch 11 for detecting a product passing therethrough is provided for each column at the upper end entrance side of the rack, and the actuator piece is provided in the product passage. Sticking out.

On the other hand, at the lower end of the upper rack portion 6A, a product delivery mechanism 12 having the same mechanism as that of the product carrying-out device 9 and an adjustable passage width regulating plate 13 are incorporated for each column. The upper end of the column communicates with the rear end of the top tray 7. The commodity delivery mechanism 12 is controlled independently of the commodity carrying-out mechanism 9 provided in the lower rack section 6B, and operates based on a commodity supply instruction different from a commodity sales instruction.

The shutter device 8 is provided with a shutter mounting frame 8a having a length in the front-rear direction corresponding to the depth dimension of the cabinet 1 and a width corresponding to the column width of the product storage rack 6, for storing the products stored in the front and rear rows. It consists of an assembly of a partition plate 8b of heat insulating material arranged on the mounting frame in accordance with the columns of the rack 6, and a swing-open type heat insulating shutter 8c pivotally supported by the mounting frame 8a corresponding to each column. The adiabatic shutter 8c is made of, for example, a hard resin having low electrothermal properties, and is supported downward in a double-opening manner as a set of two sheets. The supporting shaft is provided with an urging spring (not shown), This constitutes a return type shutter.

Then, the product 14 is placed on the heat insulating shutter 8c.
Falls off from above and lands, the shutter 8c is opened downward by the weight of the product 14, and the product 14 passes through the shutters 8c and falls downward. With such a configuration, the cool air or warm air that has exchanged heat with the cooler 4a or the heater 4b is circulated through the inside of the refrigerator by the fan 4c, and the products 14 stored in the lower rack portion 6B of the product storage rack 6. Is kept cool or warmed.
At this time, since each adiabatic shutter 8c of the shutter device 8 is closed, cool air or warm air circulates only through the region of the lower rack 6B and actively cools or heats this region. Since the area of the upper rack 6A is blocked by the shutter device 8 and the cool air or the warm air does not flow, it is maintained at a temperature close to normal temperature as compared with the area of the lower rack 6B.

When a product is sold and a sales command is output from a sales control device (not shown), the product unloading mechanism 9 mounted on the designated column of the lower rack 6B is operated based on the command, and the lowest order is performed. Are dropped down and carried out, and are carried out to the goods outlet 2a via the goods carrying-out shooter 5. Then, when the stock quantity of the goods stored in the column of the lower rack 6B decreases as the sales of the goods progress, the goods sending mechanism 12 of the upper rack 6A operates based on the goods supply command from the temperature control device 20. The required number of the products 14 stocked in the upper rack 6A are sequentially sent out, and the products 14 delivered by this operation are sent out.
Falls on the shutter device 8 and the heat insulating shutter 8c
To open the lower rack portion 6B and replenish. The adiabatic shutter 8c closes again after passing the product to close the shutter passage. Then, the product 14 is moved to the lower rack 6B.
, The product detection switch 11 operates, and its signal is taken into the temperature control device 20 and counted.

Also, in the appropriate place of the vending machine 100, an outside air temperature sensor 31 for detecting outside air temperature, an outside air humidity sensor 32 for detecting outside air humidity, a timer 33 for detecting the current time and date, An internal temperature sensor 34 including a thermistor or the like for detecting the temperature in the lower rack 6B is provided.
Is input to

The temperature control device 20 controls the cooling / heating unit 4 and the product delivery mechanism 12, and manages the product temperature and the number of adjusted products for adjusting the temperature. As shown in the figure, a communication unit 21 for exchanging information with a vending machine management computer 40 via a public line network L, information from the vending machine management computer 40 input by the communication unit 21, an outside air temperature sensor 3
1. Based on the output signals of the outside air humidity sensor 32 and the timer 33, and a database stored in the storage unit 22 and representing the optimum temperature of each beverage with respect to the outside air temperature, the suitable temperature of the product and the number of products to be temperature-adjusted are estimated. The inference unit 23, the temperature control unit 24 that controls the cooler 4a, the heater 4b, and the fan motor 4c so as to have the product temperature estimated by the inference unit 23 based on the detection signal of the internal temperature sensor 34, and the inference unit 22 The commodity detection switch 1 provided for each column so that several pieces of temperature-adjusted commodities inferred in the above are stored in the lower rack 6B.
A quantity control unit 25 that controls the commodity sending mechanism 12 based on the detection signal from the control unit 1 is provided.

The vending machine management computer 40 comprises:
A plurality of vending machines 100 including the vending machine 100
Is a management computer for managing the operation status of the vending machine, for example, is disposed in a company building of a vending machine operator, and is connected to the vending machine 100 via a public line network L such as a mobile phone and a PHS. ing. The vending machine management computer 40 transmits to the temperature control device 20 traffic information near the installation location of the vending machine 100, weather forecast information after a predetermined time at the installation location, and past sales data. I do. According to the traffic information, for example, a concert or a large-scale gathering is scheduled to be performed near the installation location of the vending machine 100, and it is predicted that the traffic near the vending machine 100 will increase in the future. This is information that is expected to affect the number of vending machines 100 sold, such as information such as the number of customers who are expected to increase the number of products sold and the start and end times of meetings. Further, the past sales data is data such as the number and type of past products sold in a sales environment such as outside air temperature, outside air humidity, time, and season. The database stored in the storage unit 22 that transmits sales data indicating the correspondence of the sales situation of the product to the change in the outside air temperature and the outside air at a time after a predetermined time according to the predicted time of the temperature and the outside air humidity is: , The appropriate temperature for the temperature of each beverage stored in the vending machine 100. In other words, as mentioned above,
Since the temperature at which the beverage feels the most delicious is different, the appropriate beverage temperature for this temperature is set for each beverage type, and this is stored as a database.

The inference unit 23 estimates the suitable temperature for sale and the number of temperature-adjusted products, and when a product is sold, based on detection signals from various sensors, the outside air temperature, the outside air humidity, and the date and time at that time. The date and time are associated with the number of products for sale and the product type, and this is stored in the storage unit 22 as sales history information. The sales history information stored in the storage unit 22 is stored in the storage unit 22 via the public line network L at the time of a request from the vending machine management computer 40 or at a preset timing such as a predetermined interval. Output to the computer 40.

Then, the vending machine management computer 40
Then, this sales history information is collected, and a database of past sales data is generated using sales time, sales time, temperature, humidity, weather, and the like as parameters. Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 3 which shows an example of a processing procedure in the temperature control device 20.

In the vending machine management computer 40, at a preset timing, the weather forecast information after a predetermined time in the installation area of the vending machine 100, the presence or absence of a rally held near the vending machine 100, and the like. Vending machine 10
Passenger forecast information such as the predicted number of people with zero traffic, the time at which the traffic is predicted, and past sales data corresponding to the sales environment such as temperature, humidity, time, season, etc. based on past sales history Among them, for example, the sales data corresponding to the sales environment such as the time after a predetermined time, the current season, and the like are transmitted to the temperature control device 20 via the public network L.
Such information is sufficient for the vending machine 100 to adjust the product temperature by the time when the weather forecast information changes the weather, and when the traffic forecast information indicates that there is a traffic. It is transmitted before the time point, for example, at regular time intervals.

In the temperature control device 20, when the communication information is received by the communication unit 21 via the public line network L, it is output to the inference unit 23. When the communication information is input, the inference unit 23 reads detection signals of various sensors together with the communication information, and proceeds from step S1 to step S2.
Outside temperature sensor 3 provided at the appropriate place of vending machine 100
1. Based on the detection signals from the outside air humidity sensor 32 and the timer 33 and the input weather forecast information, an outside air temperature and outside air humidity are predicted after a predetermined time, for example, one hour, and are stored in a predetermined storage area. It is stored (step S2).

Then, based on these environmental conditions, based on the database stored in the storage unit 22, the current outside air temperature and the outside air humidity, the current time, and the optimum temperature of the beverage in the current season are determined. (Step S3). Further, a temperature adjustment completion time, which is a time when heating and cooling are completed, is determined. Further, of the environmental conditions after the predetermined time predicted in step S2 and the current sales time and the past sales data corresponding to the time after the predetermined time from the current time notified by the communication information, the environmental conditions predicted in step S2 are used. The number of products to be sold after a predetermined time is predicted for each product type based on the sales data corresponding to, and the traffic information notified by the communication information, and based on this, the number of products to be temperature-adjusted is determined. (Step S4).

That is, when the traffic is predicted to be larger than usual, the number of sales is predicted to increase, and when the traffic is normal, the sales number is predicted to be normal. Then, in the temperature control unit 24, the inside temperature sensor 3
4, the cooling device 4a or the heater 4b such that the temperature in the lower rack 6B becomes the optimum temperature predicted in step S3 by the time when the temperature adjustment is completed.
And drive control of the fan motor 4c (step S
5).

Further, the quantity control unit 25 detects the current number of products in the lower rack 6B based on the detection signal from the product detection switch 11 provided for each column, and determines the number of products in the lower rack 6B. Operates the product sending mechanism 12 so that the number of products predicted in step S4 is reached (step S4).
6). That is, a product supply command is output to the product delivery mechanism 12, whereby the product delivery mechanism 12 is operated, and the product stored in the upper rack 6A is transferred to the lower rack 6B through the shutter device 8. The quantity control unit 25 manages the number of items stored in the lower rack unit 6B for each column based on the detection signal from the product detection switch 11,
Until this reaches the number of products predicted in step S4, the product delivery mechanism 12 is operated to transfer the required number of products to the lower rack 6B.

As a result, the lower rack portion 6B stores the number of products predicted in step S4, and the temperatures of these products are predicted by the predetermined time after the current time and the time after the predetermined time. The temperature is adjusted to the optimum temperature according to the outside air temperature and the outside air humidity. Then, when the user purchases the product at the vending machine 100, the selected product is carried out, and at the same time, the purchased type, the number of purchases, the time at the time of purchase, the outside temperature, the outside air humidity, the season, etc. And sales environment information at this time,
The sales history is stored in the storage unit 22 (sales information collecting means).

The vending machine management computer 40
The sales history information stored in the storage unit 22 is transmitted from the communication unit 21 to the vending machine management computer 40 via the public communication network L at a predetermined timing such as when there is a request from the vending machine management computer 40.
(History information transmitting means). Thus, the vending machine management computer 40 analyzes the sales trend or the product replenishment timing based on the sales history information collected from the vending machine 100.

Therefore, the user can use the vending machine 1
00, the product temperature is controlled to an appropriate temperature in accordance with the time, time, outside temperature, and outside humidity at the time of purchase. Thus, it is possible to obtain a product adjusted to the optimum temperature according to the time and the season, and to taste the purchased beverage deliciously.

At this time, the outside air temperature and the like after a predetermined time are predicted, and the temperature is controlled so that the temperature adjustment is completed by the predetermined time. Since the temperature is surely adjusted to the optimum temperature, the user can always obtain a product adjusted to the optimum temperature. In addition, since the required number of temperature adjustments are made by estimating the number of sales, unnecessary energy consumption can be avoided. In addition, beverages without temperature adjustment are stored at room temperature, so that beverage deterioration Can be prevented.

The forecast of the number of sales is made based on past sales data corresponding to the sales season, the sales time after a predetermined time, the outside temperature and the outside humidity after a predetermined time, and It is possible to predict the exact number of sales according to the usage situation. Further, at this time, the traffic prediction information is input, and the number of sales is predicted in consideration of the traffic information. For example, when there are more traffic than usual, this is taken into consideration. Therefore, even if the number of users is higher than usual, it is possible to provide a product adjusted to the optimum temperature even if the number of users is larger than usual. Conversely, if it is predicted that there will be little traffic, the temperature adjustment of the product will be performed less than usual in consideration of this, so that unnecessary temperature adjustment can be avoided, To that extent, it is possible to avoid quality deterioration of the product.

Further, since the vending machine 100 collects the sales history and transmits it to the vending machine management computer 40, the vending machine management computer 40
Then, the sales trend of the vending machine 100 managed can be estimated, and the replenishment timing can be easily recognized. In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the number of customers, the start and end times of the gathering, and the like are transmitted as the traffic information, but the types of products to be purchased may be uneven depending on the customer group. For example, a customer class predicted to participate in the gathering may also be transmitted. Also, if the vending machine 100 is installed in front of the station, if there are many people in the morning and evening, and if there are many students, information such as the holiday period may be transmitted. It is effective to transmit information that affects the number of vending machines 100 sold.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the past sales data is used to manage the sales status according to the time, timing, outside temperature, and outside humidity after a predetermined time. The number of customers
The information may be managed in association with a predicted customer class or the like. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the vending machine 100 in which the number of products can be adjusted one by one has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
Any vending machine that can control only a part of the same product within 0 can be applied.

For example, the present invention can be applied to a vending machine in which the number of commodities to be temperature-adjusted is changed by changing the air volume of a fan, such as only the lower part of the refrigerator, only the lower half of the refrigerator, or the whole of the refrigerator. In this case, the air volume may be changed according to the predicted number of product adjustment products. In the above-described embodiment, the case where past sales data is input from the vending machine management computer 40 has been described.
Within 0, past sales data may be managed.

In the above embodiment, the communication unit 2
1 corresponds to the weather forecast information input means and the traffic information input means, the processing of step S3 in FIG. 3 corresponds to the suitable selling temperature determining means, the temperature control unit 24 corresponds to the temperature adjusting means, and the outside air temperature sensor 31, The outside air humidity sensor 32 and the timer 33 correspond to the sales environment condition detecting means, and the processing in step S4 in FIG.
And the temperature control unit 24 corresponds to a temperature and number-of-products adjusting means.

[0044]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
According to the vending machine according to the second aspect, the suitable selling temperature of the product according to the selling environment such as the outside air temperature and the outside air humidity after a predetermined time is estimated, and the product temperature is adjusted to be the selling suitable temperature. By doing so, the purchaser can purchase the product adjusted to the optimal temperature according to the sales environment at the time of purchase.

In particular, according to the vending machine according to the second aspect, the optimum temperature is determined based on a preset database, so that the optimum temperature can be accurately set. Further, according to the vending machine according to claim 3 or 4, since the temperature is adjusted only by the number of products according to the traffic information after a predetermined time and the number of products sold based on the sales environment, It is possible to avoid temperature adjustment of unnecessarily commodities, and to avoid deterioration in quality of commodities.

In particular, according to the vending machine according to the fourth aspect, since the number of sales after a predetermined time is predicted based on past sales data, the number of sales can be easily and accurately predicted. Further, according to the vending machine according to claim 5 or claim 6, the sales status such as the number of products sold and the type of sales,
Sales environment conditions such as outside air temperature, outside air humidity, time, and season when this product is sold are stored in the storage means in association with each other. By managing these sales histories, sales in each sales environment condition A database of trends can be created.

In particular, according to the vending machine according to the sixth aspect, since the management device manages the sales history information, it is possible to change or replenish the type of product to be sold at an appropriate timing. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a functional configuration of a control system of the vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in the temperature control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cabinet 4 Cooling / heating unit 4a Cooler 4b Heater 4c Fan motor 6A Upper rack 6B Lower rack 8 Shutter 8a Shutter mounting frame 8c Adiabatic shutter 9 Commodity unloading mechanism 11 Commodity detection switch 12 Commodity sending mechanism 14 Commodity 20 Temperature control Apparatus 21 Communication unit 22 Storage unit 23 Inference unit 24 Temperature control unit 25 Quantity control unit 31 Outside air temperature sensor 32 Outside air humidity sensor 33 Timer 34 Inside temperature sensor 40 Vending machine management computer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine in which a product temperature is adjusted and sold, wherein the weather forecast information input means for inputting weather forecast information of the vending machine installation location, and the weather forecast information input means input the weather forecast information input means. A suitable selling temperature determining means for determining a suitable selling temperature of the product after a predetermined time based on the weather forecast information, and a temperature adjusting means for adjusting the product temperature to be a suitable selling temperature determined by the suitable selling temperature determining means. A vending machine comprising: 2. A vending machine which sells products by adjusting the temperature of a product, wherein a sales environment condition detecting means for detecting a sales environment condition of the vending machine, and weather forecast information of a place where the vending machine is installed. A weather forecast information input unit to be input; a database representing a suitable selling temperature of the product according to the sales environment status; a sales environment status detected by the sales environment status detection unit; and a weather forecast input by the weather forecast information input unit. Selling appropriate temperature determining means for determining a suitable selling temperature of the product after a predetermined time based on the information and the database, and a temperature adjusting means for adjusting the product temperature to be the selling suitable temperature determined by the selling suitable temperature determining means, A vending machine comprising: 3. A vending machine in which a commodity temperature is adjusted and sold, wherein a traffic information input means for inputting future traffic information around the vending machine, and an input using the traffic information input means. Means for predicting the number of products to be sold after a predetermined time based on the traffic information, and determining the number of products to be subjected to temperature adjustment based on the predicted number of products, and only the number of products determined by the adjusted number of products determined A vending machine comprising: a temperature and number-of-products adjusting means for adjusting the temperature of the product. 4. A vending machine which is adapted to sell a product at a controlled temperature, comprising: a sales environment status detecting means for detecting a sales environment status of the vending machine; and future traffic information around the vending machine. Means for inputting the traffic information, past data representing the past sales status in the sales environment status, sales environment status detected by the sales environment status detection means, and traffic information input by the traffic information input means. And an adjusted product number determining means for predicting the number of sold products after a predetermined time based on the past data and determining the number of products to be subjected to temperature adjustment based on the predicted data, and only the number of products determined by the adjusted product number determining means. A vending machine comprising: means for adjusting the temperature of a product and a number of products. 5. A sales information collecting means for associating a sales quantity and a product type of the product with a sales environment status detected by the sales environment status detection device when the product is sold, and storing the sales environment status in a storage device. 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:
Or the vending machine according to 4. 6. A system according to claim 5, further comprising history information transmitting means for transmitting the storage information stored in said storage means as sales history information to be transmitted to a management device for managing the operation status of said vending machine. The vending machine described.