JP2002092722A - Control method for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control method for an automatic vending machine capable of switching to cooling operation when a partition plate is not opened or closed normally and preventing sales of commodities insufficiently cooled or heated. SOLUTION: Since open and close states of the partition plate 6 are confirmed by an opening detection switch 40 and a closing detection switch 41, and if the partition plate 6 is not in the closed state when it should be in the closed state, heating operation of an upper chamber (heating chamber) 7 is stopped and only the cooling operation of a lower chamber (cooling chamber) 8 is performed, heating operation in a state without heating insulation can be prevented and insufficient heating and cooling of merchandise can be prevented. Accordingly, the sales of the commodities insufficiently cooled or heated can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a vending machine which opens and closes a partition at different temperature zones by dividing the inside of a refrigerator into a plurality of chambers at the time of selling the product.
The present invention relates to a vending machine control method capable of preventing sale of incompletely cooled or heated commodities when a partition plate is not normally opened and closed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to stimulate a vending machine user's willingness to purchase a product, a front door or a heat-insulating inner door of a main body case is formed as a transparent door so that the product in the warehouse and its selling operation can be visually observed from outside. Various vending machines configured so as to be provided are provided. An example of such a vending machine is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-302140 by the present applicant.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-302140, and FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view showing the inside of a main body case. First, the overall configuration of the vending machine will be described with reference to FIG. The main body case 1 is for storing and preserving commodities and carrying them out as needed. The outer door 2 having a transparent plate 2a and the transparent plate 3
and an inner door 3 having a. Further, the main body case 1 is provided with a product storage rack 4 in which racks 4a for storing products arranged in a front and rear row are arranged vertically and horizontally.

The product storage rack 4 is composed of a box rack 4a, a spiral rack (not shown), a conveyor rack (not shown), and the like, which are formed so as to send out products forward based on a sales command. Each rack 4a
Are mounted on a plurality of shelves 5 provided in the main body case 1.

[0005] Further, in the interior of the main body case 1, a partition plate 6 as an insulating panel is provided in order to divide the storage temperature zone of commodities (for example, into two compartments for hot beverages and cold beverages).
Thus, the upper chamber 7 and the lower chamber 8 are insulated from each other. The partition plate 6 is closed in a normal sales standby state, and when a bucket 10 of an XY transport mechanism 9 described later moves above the partition plate 6 according to a sales command and receives goods from the rack 4a. , And is closed when it moves below the partition plate 6 after receiving the product. The partition plate 6 is opened and closed by a partition plate opening / closing mechanism (not shown), and the open / closed state is detected at the time of product sale by a detection switch (not shown).

[0006] Inside the inner door 3, an XY transport mechanism 9 having the front surface of each rack 4a as an XY coordinate plane is provided.
Although not shown in detail, the XY transport mechanism 9 includes an X-axis transport mechanism that horizontally moves a bucket 10 that receives a product delivered from the box rack 4a,
It comprises a Y-axis transport mechanism that moves the axis transport mechanism in the vertical direction, and is controlled by the control unit.

[0007] The bucket 10 that has received the goods delivered from the rack is mounted on the XY transport mechanism 9 formed as described above.
Thus, the product is moved to the vicinity of the lower central portion, and the product is carried out from the product outlet 33 of the outer door 2 through the flapper 32 of the inner door 3.

[0008]

However, the conventional method of controlling a vending machine requires a heating and cooling operation even if the partition plate 6 is not completely closed for some reason and insulation cannot be maintained. , There is a problem that a product with incomplete cooling or heating is sold.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and when the opening and closing of a partition plate is not performed normally, the operation is switched to a cooling operation to prevent the sale of an incompletely cooled or heated product. An object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine control method.

Further, the present invention provides a control method of a vending machine which can stop the sale of the product in the heating chamber when the opening and closing of the partition plate is not performed normally and can prevent the sale of the product incompletely heated. The purpose is to provide.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine control method according to the present invention, wherein the inside of a refrigerator is divided into a heating room and a cooling room and different temperature zones are provided. A vending machine control method for opening and closing a partition plate to be opened and closed at the time of sale of a product, wherein the open / closed state of the partition plate is confirmed by a detecting means, and if the closed state is not established when it should be closed, the heating chamber Is stopped, and only the cooling operation of the cooling chamber is performed.

In the following, a partition plate whose interior can be freely opened and closed
The description will be made assuming that the compartment is divided into an upper room for storing hot products and a lower room for storing cold products. First, it is determined whether or not the operation of the partition plate is abnormal based on a drive command from the control unit of the opening / closing motor for the partition plate and output results of the open detection unit and the close detection unit. Then, when it is determined that the operation of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism is abnormal, it is determined whether or not the upper chamber is set to the hot setting.

If the upper chamber is set to the hot setting, the heating device in the upper chamber is stopped, the fan in the refrigerator is stopped, and a standby state is set. That is, the heating operation of the upper chamber is stopped and switched to the cooling operation. If the upper chamber is not set to the hot setting, that is, if the upper chamber and the lower chamber are set to the cold setting, there is no necessity of the heat insulating section by the partition plate.

In the case where the operation of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism is abnormal as described above, the heating operation and the cooling operation are not performed at the same time, and the operation is switched to the cooling operation. And prevent insufficient heating and cooling of the product.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the sale of a product whose cooling or heating is incomplete. In addition, since simultaneous operation of heating and cooling in a state where the heat insulation of the upper chamber and the lower chamber is lost can be prevented, energy loss for heating and cooling can be prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine control method for opening and closing a partition plate in which a compartment is divided into a heating room and a cooling room and has different temperature zones when selling a product. The control method of, confirming the open and closed state of the partition plate by the detection means, stop selling products in the heating chamber when it is not closed when it should be closed,
Only the products in the cooling room are sold.

Hereinafter, a partition plate whose interior can be freely opened and closed
The description will be made assuming that the compartment is divided into an upper room for storing hot products and a lower room for storing cold products. First, it is determined whether or not the operation of the partition plate is abnormal based on a drive command from the control unit of the opening / closing motor for the partition plate and output results of the open detection unit and the close detection unit.

If it is determined that the operation of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism is abnormal, the sold-out data in the column above the partition plate is forcibly set, and the system enters a standby state. That is,
When the operation of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism is determined to be abnormal, sales of hot products in the upper room were stopped and only cold products in the lower room were sold, preventing the sales of hot products with incomplete heating. it can.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a vending machine control method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited by the embodiment.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a vending machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views schematically showing a configuration inside a main body case, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation | movement after opening / closing abnormality. In the following description, members that are the same as or correspond to those already described are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted. Only different points will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the open detection switch 40 and the close detection switch 41 are for detecting the open / closed state of the partition plate 6, respectively. The H / C switch 42 is for switching the temperature zone of the upper chamber 7 or the lower chamber 8 to hot or cold. The inner door switch 43 is for detecting the open / closed state of the inner door 3.

The hot air heated by the heating device 44 is circulated in the upper chamber 7 by the internal fan 45, and the temperature of the upper chamber 7 is detected by an internal temperature sensor 46. A condenser 47, a solenoid valve 48, and an evaporator 4 constituting a refrigeration cycle device are provided at a lower portion of the main body case 1.
9, an internal fan 50 and the like are provided. The temperature of the evaporator 49 is detected by the evaporator temperature sensor 51 and the lower chamber 8 is detected.
Is detected by the internal temperature sensor 52.

The partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60 includes an opening / closing motor 61 for driving a driving mechanism (not shown) for the partition plate 6, and a partition plate 6.
An open detection switch 40 for detecting the open state of the partition plate 6 and a close detection switch 41 for detecting the closed state of the partition plate 6 are provided.
The partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60, the H / C changeover switch 42, and the inner door switch 43 include a main body control unit 5 that controls these switches.
8 is connected. The main control unit 58 is connected to a main control unit 55 that controls the entire vending machine by a communication line 59. Although illustrations are omitted, X-
The Y transport mechanism 9 is also connected to the main body control unit 58.

FIG. 4 shows the control operation of the vending machine.
It will be described based on. Subsequent processing (step S10) when the partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60 becomes abnormal will be described. It is determined whether the operation of the partition plate 6 is abnormal based on the drive command of the opening / closing motor 61 by the main body control unit 58 and the output results of the open detection switch 40 and the close detection switch 41. When it is determined that the operation of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60 is abnormal (step S11), it is determined whether the upper chamber 7 is set to the hot setting (step S12).

If the upper chamber 7 is set to the hot setting (Yes at step S12), the heating device 44 is stopped (step S1).
3) Stop the inside fan 45 (step S14),
A standby state is set (step S15). That is, the heating operation is stopped and switched to the cooling operation.

On the other hand, if the upper chamber 7 is not set to the hot setting (No at Step S12), that is, if the upper chamber 7 and the lower chamber 8 are set to the cold setting, there is no necessity of the heat insulating section by the partition plate 6, so the apparatus stands by. State (step S
15).

When the operation of the partitioning plate opening / closing mechanism 60 is abnormal as described above, the heating operation and the cooling operation are not performed at the same time, and the operation is switched to the cooling operation. Prevent the heating operation in the broken state,
Prevent inadequate product heating and product cooling.

As described above, according to the vending machine control method according to the first embodiment, when the operation of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60 is abnormal, the operation is switched to the cooling operation, whereby the upper chamber 7 and the lower chamber 7 are switched. The heating operation in a state where the heat insulating property of the chamber 8 is lost can be prevented, and the sale of a product whose cooling or heating is incomplete can be prevented. Further, simultaneous operation of heating and cooling in a state where the heat insulation of the upper chamber 7 and the lower chamber 8 is lost can be prevented, so that energy loss for heating and cooling can be prevented.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of the vending machine according to the second embodiment after a partition plate opening / closing abnormality, and FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of column information. The overall configuration and the control device of the vending machine are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a duplicate description will be omitted.

The control operation of the vending machine will be described with reference to FIGS. Subsequent processing (step S20) when the partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60 becomes abnormal will be described. The drive command of the opening / closing motor 61 by the main body control unit 58 and the open detection switch 40 and the close detection switch 41
It is determined whether or not the operation of the partition plate 6 is abnormal based on the output result of.

When it is determined that the operation of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60 is abnormal (step S21), the operation of the column 4a above the partition plate 6 (for example, column numbers # 01 to # 12 in FIG. 6) corresponds. The sold-out data is forcibly set (step S22), and a standby state is set (step S23). That is, when the operation of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60 is determined to be abnormal, the sale of hot products in the upper room 7 is stopped, and only the cold products in the lower room 8 are sold.

As described above, according to the vending machine control method according to the second embodiment, when there is an abnormality in the operation of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60, the sale of hot goods in the upper chamber 7 is stopped. As a result, it is possible to prevent the sale of incompletely heated hot products.

[0033]

As described above, according to the method for controlling a vending machine according to the present invention (claim 1), a partition plate in which the inside of a refrigerator is divided into a heating room and a cooling room to have different temperature zones. A method for controlling a vending machine that opens and closes when a product is sold, wherein the open / closed state of the partition plate is checked by a detection unit, and the heating operation of the heating chamber is performed when the closed state is not established when it should be closed. Since the operation is stopped and only the cooling operation of the cooling chamber is performed, it is possible to prevent the heating operation in a state where the heat insulation of the heating chamber and the cooling chamber is lost, and to prevent insufficient product heating and product cooling. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the sale of a product whose cooling or heating is incomplete. In addition, since simultaneous operation of heating and cooling in a state where the heat insulation of the upper chamber and the lower chamber is lost can be prevented, energy loss for heating and cooling can be prevented.

Further, according to the vending machine control method of the present invention (claim 2), the partition is divided into a heating chamber and a cooling chamber, and a partition plate having different temperature zones is opened and closed at the time of selling the product. A method for controlling a vending machine, wherein the open / closed state of the partition plate is confirmed by a detecting means, and when the closed state is not established when the closed state should be attained, the selling of goods in the heating room is stopped, and the cooling room is stopped. Since only the products are sold, it is possible to prevent the sale of incompletely heated hot products.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a vending machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration inside a main body case.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration inside a main body case.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing operation after a partition plate opening / closing abnormality.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation after a partition plate opening / closing abnormality of the vending machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of column information.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional vending machine.

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view showing the inside of the main body case.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 2 Outer door 3 Inner door 4 Merchandise storage rack 4a Rack 5 Shelf 6 Partition plate 7 Upper room 8 Lower room 9 XY conveyance mechanism 10 Bucket 40 Open detection switch 41 Close detection switch 42 H / C changeover switch 43 Door door switch 44 Heating device 45, 50 Internal fan 46, 52 Internal temperature sensor 47 Condenser 55 Main control unit 58 Main unit control unit 59 Communication line 60 Partition plate opening / closing mechanism 61 Opening / closing motor

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshinari Ito 1-1-1, Tanabe-Shinda, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. 3E044 AA01 CA01 CB05 CC08 CC10 DB11 DB16 FB05 FB09 FB12 FB13

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine control method which opens and closes a partition plate which is divided into a heating chamber and a cooling chamber and has different temperature zones at the time of selling a product, wherein the open / close state of the partition plate is confirmed by a detecting means. And controlling the vending machine to stop the heating operation of the heating chamber when it is not in the closed state when it should be in the closed state, and to perform only the cooling operation in the cooling chamber. 2. A vending machine control method for opening and closing a partition at different temperature zones by dividing the inside of a refrigerator into a heating chamber and a cooling chamber at the time of selling a product, wherein the open / closed state of the partition is confirmed by a detecting means. A method of controlling a vending machine, characterized in that, when it should be in a closed state and not in a closed state, sales of products in a heating room are stopped and only products in a cooling room are sold.