JP2002133499A - Communication control method for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately select a different communication method in a series of communication. SOLUTION: A main control part 201 and plural terminal control parts are connected by a signal line SYN, a signal line SD, a signal line RD and a control line CT. The signal line SYN is a signal line for informing of a communication start by a polling method from the main control part 201 to the terminal control parts and becomes a low level by a constant time A. The signal line SD is a signal line for transmitting data by the polling method from the main control part 201 to the terminal control parts. The signal line RD is a signal line for transmitting data by the polling method from the terminal control parts to the main control part 201, or transmitting/receiving data by a contention method between the main control part 201 and the terminal control parts. The control line CT is a signal line for informing of execution of the communication of the polling method from the main control part 201 to the terminal control parts, or confirming execution of the communication of the contention method between the main control part 201 and the terminal control parts.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication control method for a vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a front view of a vending machine for selling, for example, canned beverages.

In FIG. 4, a front door 1 is opened and closed by using a left side end of a vending machine as a support shaft.
It is unlocked and opened when refilling canned beverages and locked and closed when selling normally. Panel 2
It is a transparent resin plate for confirming a plurality of types of canned beverage samples 3 displayed inside. That is, the user can select a desired canned beverage to purchase by looking over a plurality of types of canned beverage samples 3 through the panel 2. The coin insertion slot 4 is a portion where a user inserts coins, and the inserted coins are supplied to a coin mechanism inside the vending machine. The bill insertion slot 5 is a part into which a user inserts a bill, and the inserted bill is supplied to a building bar inside the vending machine. The card insertion slot 6 is a portion where a user inserts a prepaid card or a postpaid card, and the inserted card is supplied to a card reading section inside the vending machine. The display unit 7 displays an inserted coin amount, an inserted bill amount, and the like. The product selection button 8 has a built-in lamp for selling and a lamp sold out, and is provided on the panel 2 corresponding to each of the canned beverage samples 3. The vending lamp corresponds to the canned drink only when the canned beverage is stored in the column inside the vending machine when a user inserts a coin or inserts a bill for purchasing at least one canned beverage. Lights up. When a predetermined column inside the vending machine is emptied, the sold-out lamp always lights up corresponding to the canned beverage. When the merchandise selection button 8 with the available lamp on is pressed, the canned beverage corresponding to the canned beverage sample 3 is carried out to the commodity outlet 9. The return lever 10 is for returning inserted coins from the return port 11 or returning change from the inserted coins or inserted bills after subtracting the purchase price of canned beverages from the return port 11.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the vending machine shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, a main control section 101 controls the vending machine, and includes a ROM, a CPU, an R
AM and peripheral circuits (such as a timer). More specifically, the ROM stores program data for controlling a plurality of terminal control units, which will be described later, in advance, and the CPU controls the plurality of terminal control units in accordance with the result of decoding the program data read from the ROM. The RAM is for writing or reading the results of calculations by the CPU and various data from a plurality of terminal controllers. In terms of hardware, ROM is
A non-volatile memory such as a mask ROM for burning and fixing data in a manufacturing process, an EPROM for repeatedly writing and reading data by erasing data with ultraviolet rays, and an EEPROM (including a flash memory) for repeatedly writing and reading data by electrically erasing data. Memory. The CPU includes a program counter for designating the execution address of the ROM, an instruction decoder for decoding the contents read from the ROM, an arithmetic and logic unit for performing a logical operation, an accumulator for temporarily storing arithmetic data, and the like. The RAM is a volatile memory such as an SRAM, and has a backup power supply (battery) for retaining stored contents. The coin processing control unit 102, the bill processing control unit 103, the card processing control unit 104, the customer service control unit 105, and the sales control unit 106 correspond to a plurality of terminal control units, and are similar in hardware to the main control unit 101. It comprises a ROM, a CPU, a RAM and the like. Coin mechanism 10
Numeral 7 is provided with a change-out sensor for detecting change-out, receiving coins inserted from the coin insertion slot 4 and returning change from the return opening 11 as necessary. The coin processing control unit 102 controls the coin mechanism 107 to determine the denomination and true / false of the inserted coin, calculate the number of denominations, store excess coins in a safe, pay out change, and the like. Like the coin mechanism 107, the bill burr 108 is provided with a bill-of-bill sensor that detects a bill-of-bill expiration, receives a bill inserted from the bill insertion slot 5, and returns a bill from the bill insertion slot 5 as necessary. is there. The bill processing control unit 103 controls the building burr 108 to determine the denomination of the inserted bill, whether the bill is true or false, etc.
Calculation of the number of denominations, payout of bills, and the like are performed. The coin processing control unit 102 and the bill processing control unit 1
03, each time coin insertion and bill insertion are performed,
Perform processing operations. When the card reading unit 109 receives the inserted card from the card insertion slot 6 and corresponds to the prepaid card, the card reading unit 109 rewrites the written balance information to the balance information obtained by subtracting the sales amount of the canned beverage, and corresponds to the postpaid card. It reads user identification information.
The card processing control unit 104 controls the card reading unit 109. That is, when the card reading unit 109 corresponds to a prepaid card, the card processing control unit 104 performs a subtraction process for subtracting the written balance information from the sales amount of the canned beverage to obtain balance information. Reading unit 109
Reads the user's identification information and sends it to an external centralized management computer when the device supports a postpaid card. When the central management computer determines that the identification information is valid, it transmits a sales permit signal to the vending machine. The vending machine turns on the sellable lamp in the product selection button 8 by receiving the sale permission signal. Customer Service Department 110
Is provided with a display section 7, a plurality of product selection buttons 8 provided corresponding to a plurality of types of canned beverage samples 3, and a lamp indicating that the product is on sale, discontinued, or out of change. The remote controller 111 is detachably provided on the back of the front door 1,
This is an operation input when the rootman performs column setting, amount setting, and the like. The customer service control unit 105 includes the customer service unit 11
0, and transmits the input information from the remote controller 111 to the main control unit 101. That is, the customer service control unit 10
5 illuminates a lamp indicating that the product is on sale, discontinued, or runs out of change, illuminates a sellable lamp or sold-out lamp for each sold beverage, according to a customer service instruction regarding canned beverage sales from the main control unit 101, and furthermore, , It detects which one of the plurality of product selection buttons 8 has been pressed, and transmits a detection signal at this time to the main control unit 101. Sales organization 112
Is to carry out a canned beverage desired by the user to the product outlet 9. The sales control unit 106 includes a sales organization 112
In accordance with the sales instruction from the main control unit 101 in response to the detection signal from the customer service control unit 105, and transports the product desired by the user to the product outlet 9.

The main control unit 101 and a plurality of terminal control units (coin processing control unit 102, bill processing control unit 103, card processing control unit 104, customer service control unit 105, sales control unit 1)
06), data transmission / reception is mainly performed using a communication method such as a polling method or a contention method. Here, the polling method is one in which the main control unit 101 has a preferential transmission right.
Asks a specific terminal control unit whether there is a transmission request, and then this specific terminal control unit transmits data to the main control unit 101 only when there is a transmission request. On the other hand, in the contention method, the main control unit 101 and a specific terminal control unit have equal transmission rights, and either the main control unit 101 or this specific terminal control unit transmits data before the other. When a request is made, or when one of the specific terminal control units makes a transmission request before the other, the data can be transmitted as it is.

[0007]

For example, if the number of product selection buttons 8 is increased in accordance with the increase in the type and number of products (canned drinks) handled by vending machines, the customer service control unit 1
Since the number of harnesses connecting the 05 and the customer service unit 110 increases to a considerable number (for example, several hundreds), wiring work of the harness becomes complicated, resulting in erroneous wiring or high cost. There was a problem.

Therefore, the customer service control unit 105 is connected to the display unit 7,
Product selection button 8, lamp for sale / discontinuation / out of change,
The number of harnesses can be reduced by subdividing the remote controller 111 into a plurality of terminal control units that independently control and performing data transmission and reception between the main control unit 101 and the plurality of terminal control units. it can.

More specifically, since the coin mechanism 107 generally has a high possibility of failure, the coin mechanism 107 is designed and produced as a single unit having compatibility so that it can be easily replaced in the market when a failure occurs. Therefore, the coin processing control unit 102 that controls the handling of money, the bill processing control unit 1
03, in order to simplify maintenance, the card processing control unit 104 and the like perform communication by a polling method, and a plurality of terminal control units obtained by subdividing the customer control unit 105 communicate by a contention method. The communication method was divided.

However, since the polling communication and the contention communication are performed independently, even if the customer control unit 105 is subdivided into a plurality of terminal control units, the coin processing control unit 102 and the bill processing control unit There is a problem that the number of harnesses used for the unit 103 and the card processing control unit 104 cannot be reduced sufficiently.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine communication control method that can execute different communication systems using the same signal line.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication control system for a vending machine, comprising: a plurality of terminal control units for controlling the sharing of each unit of the vending machine; and a main control unit for controlling the plurality of terminal control units. A method for transmitting and receiving data in different communication schemes,
This is performed using the same signal line interposed between the main control unit and the plurality of terminal control units.

A second aspect of the present invention is dependent on the first aspect, wherein the data transmission and reception in the different communication systems are continuously performed.

[0015] Claim 3 is dependent on claim 1 or 2,
The transmission and reception of data in the different communication schemes are performed at different communication speeds.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is dependent on any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the different communication schemes include: a polling scheme in which the main control unit has a higher transmission right than the plurality of terminal control units; A contention method in which the main control unit and the plurality of terminal control units have equal transmission rights.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is dependent on the fourth aspect, wherein the data transmission / reception in the different communication systems is performed using at least two of the polling system and the plurality of contention systems having different communication speeds. Things.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is dependent on the fifth aspect, and performs data transmission / reception for changing the communication speed by the contention system of a predetermined communication speed, thereby performing data transmission by the contention system of another communication speed. This allows transmission and reception.

A seventh aspect is according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, wherein the contention is performed by using a signal line for transmitting data from the plurality of terminal control units to the main control unit in the polling method. Data transmission and reception between the main control unit and the plurality of terminal control units are performed in a system.

An eighth aspect is dependent on any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein a control line for selecting the different communication system is provided.
It is provided between the main control unit and the plurality of terminal control units.

A ninth aspect of the present invention is dependent on the eighth aspect, wherein when the control line is at one level, data is transmitted / received by the polling method, and when the control line is at the other level, the data transmission / reception at a predetermined communication speed is performed. Data transmission and reception are performed by the contention method.

A tenth aspect of the invention is dependent on the ninth aspect, wherein data transmission / reception for changing a communication speed is performed by the contention method of a predetermined communication speed, and thereafter, the control line is switched from the other level to one level. By changing to
Data transmission and reception can be performed by the contention method at another communication speed.

The eleventh aspect is dependent on the tenth aspect, wherein data transmission / reception is performed by the contention method at another communication speed, and thereafter, the control line changes from one level to the other level, whereby the other level is changed. The transmission / reception of data by the contention method of the communication speed of the above is ended.

From the above, (1) Since signal lines for performing different communication systems are shared, the number of harnesses between the main control unit and the terminal control unit can be further reduced. (2) Since different communication methods can be continuously executed at different communication speeds, a large amount of data can be efficiently transmitted and received in a short time.
It is possible to sufficiently cope with subdivision of the terminal control unit. (3) Since a different communication system can be selected by controlling the level of the control line by a program, an inexpensive general-purpose microcomputer can be used and the development load can be reduced. (4) Since a different communication method can be appropriately selected and executed,
The advantages of each communication method (for example, polling method, contention method, etc.) can be fully exhibited. (5) Since the conventional communication method can be executed as it is, existing components (for example, a coin mechanism, a bill validator, etc.) can be used as they are, and compatibility can be maintained. This has the operational effect of:

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a communication control method for a vending machine according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a main control unit 201 includes a coin processing control unit 202, a bill processing control unit 203, a card processing control unit 204, and a customer service control unit 2 as a plurality of terminal control units.
05 (dashed-dotted line), which controls the sales control unit 206 overall. The coin processing control unit 202, the bill processing control unit 203, the card processing control unit 204, and the sales control unit 2 in FIG.
06 operates in the same manner as the coin processing control unit 102, the bill processing control unit 103, the card processing control unit 104, and the sales control unit 106 in FIG.

The service control unit 205 is subdivided into independent units such as a button control unit 207, a money amount display control unit 208, a lamp display control unit 209, and an input control unit 210 in order to prevent an increase in the number of harnesses. More specifically, the button control unit 207 controls lighting and extinguishing of the sellable lamp and the sold-out lamp of the product selection button 8 and confirms whether or not the product selection button 8 has been pressed when the saleable lamp is lit. And a number corresponding to the product selection button 8 in one-to-one correspondence. The amount display control unit 208 performs control for displaying the amount information of the inserted coin, the inserted bill, and the inserted card on the display segment of the display unit 7. The lamp display control unit 209 controls turning on or off of a lamp for selling, discontinuing sale, and running out of change. The input control unit 210 captures setting input information from the remote controller 111 and transmits it to the main control unit 201. still,
The button control unit 207, the amount display control unit 208, the lamp display control unit 209, and the input control unit 210 have the same ROM, CPU, and RAM as the main control unit 201.

A signal line S is provided between the main control unit 201 and one terminal control unit (coin processing control unit 202, bill processing control unit 203, card processing control unit 204, and sales control unit 206).
The main control unit 201 is connected to the other terminal control units (the button control unit 207, the amount display control unit 208, the lamp display control unit 209, and the input control unit 210). The connection is established by a signal line RD and a control line CT. More specifically, the signal line SYN is a signal line for notifying the terminal control unit that the communication is started by the polling method from the main control unit 201, and is at a low level for a predetermined time A. The signal line SD is a signal line for transmitting data from the main control unit 201 to the terminal control unit in a polling method. The signal line RD is a signal line for performing data transmission from the terminal control unit to the main control unit 201 using a polling method, or performing data transmission and reception between the main control unit 201 and the terminal control unit using a contention method. is there. Further, control line C
T informs the main control unit 201 to perform the polling communication to the terminal control unit, or
1 is a signal line for confirming that contention communication is to be performed between the terminal 1 and the terminal control unit. When communication is performed by the polling method, the signal line is at a low level (one level). When communication is performed by the tension method, the level becomes high level (the other level). When communication is performed by the contention method of another communication rate different from the previous communication rate, the level changes from the high level to the low level. When the communication by the contention method is terminated, the level changes from the low level to the high level for a predetermined time B.
Note that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the signal line SD, the signal line RD
Are independent lines, but may be common lines.

It is assumed that the main control unit 201 is programmed to change the level of the control line CT at an appropriate timing when performing continuous communication by the polling method and the contention method. In addition, coin processing control section 202, bill processing control section 203, card processing control section 2
04, the sales control unit 206 performs communication by a polling method, the button control unit 207, the lamp display control unit 209, and the input control unit 210 perform communication by a contention method of a predetermined communication speed, and the price display control unit 208 Communicates with a contention method of another communication speed higher than the previous communication speed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a telegram used in the polling system and the contention system.

In FIG. 2, a telegram includes a 1-bit start bit START and 8-bit data DATA.
, A 1-bit parity bit PARITY, and a 1-bit stop bit STOP. In detail,
The start bit START is for identifying the head of a message, and is always at a low level. Data DAT
A is data such as an address, a command, etc., consisting of a low level (logical value “0”) and a high level (logical value “1”). The parity bit PARITY is the data DA
It is for confirming the error of TA and the data DAT
It goes to high level or low level according to the contents of A.
The stop bit STOP is for identifying the end of the message, and is always at a high level. As a result, data transmission / reception is performed between the main control unit 201 and the plurality of terminal control units using the telegram of FIG. 2 as a reference unit.

FIG. 3 shows a polling method (for example, 4800
4 is a time chart for explaining that a contention method (for example, 19200 bps, 38400 bps) having a different communication speed is continuously executed.

The operation of FIG. 1 will be described below with reference to the time chart of FIG.

First, the main control unit 201 sets the control line CT to low level, thereby setting the main control unit 201 and the terminal control unit to be subjected to the polling method in a communicable state. The transmission from the terminal control unit which is a target of the tension method is prohibited, and the signal line SY
By setting N to the low level for the fixed time A, the terminal control unit, which is the object of the polling method of the first communication speed, is notified that communication is started. After that, the main control unit 2
No. 01 sequentially inquires of the terminal control unit to be polled whether there is a transmission request. In detail,
The main control unit 201 includes a coin processing control unit 202 serving as a transmission destination.
A message a representing the address and the processing command to the coin processing control unit 202 and a message b obtained by inverting the message a are transmitted to the coin processing control unit 202 using the signal line SD. The coin processing control unit 202 converts the telegram c responding to the processing commands of the telegrams a and b into the main control unit 2 using the signal line RD.
Send to 01. The main control unit 201 includes a bill processing control unit 203, a card processing control unit 204, and a sales control unit 206.
Also, the same processing as described above is repeated. From the above,
The communication by the polling method with the communication speed of 4800 bps is ended.

Next, the main control unit 201 sets the control line CT to the high level, thereby enabling communication between the main control unit 201 and the terminal control unit which is a target of the contention system having a low communication speed. Set to state. Thereafter, the button control unit 207 transmits a message d indicating that transmission of data to the main control unit 201 is to be started, a message e indicating an address of the main control unit 201 serving as a transmission destination, and a button control unit 207 serving as a transmission source. A message f representing an address and a message g representing data itself are continuously transmitted to the main control unit 201 using the signal line RD. still,
The lamp display control unit 209 and the input control unit 210 repeat the same processing as described above even with the main control unit 201. After that, the main control unit 201 sends a message h indicating that data is to be transmitted to the price display control unit 208, a message i indicating the address of the price display control unit 208 as a transmission destination, and a main control unit as a transmission source. A message j indicating the address of 201 and a message k indicating that the current communication speed is to be increased are continuously transmitted to the amount display control unit 208 using the signal line RD. Accordingly, the communication speed of the main control unit 201 and the amount display control unit 208 can be set to 38400b by software processing.
It will match in ps. The communication speed of the main control unit 201 and the amount display control unit 208 can be changed by preparing in advance a plurality of frequency dividers that divide the oscillation clock from the self-running or other running oscillator by a predetermined frequency. It can be easily realized by selecting the frequency division output of the frequency divider according to the processing. As described above, the communication by the contention method with the communication speed of 19200 bps is ended.

Next, the main control unit 201 sets the control line CT to the low level, thereby establishing communication between the main control unit 201 and the money amount display control unit 208 which is a target of the contention method having a high communication speed. Set to a possible state. Thereafter, the money amount display control unit 208 transmits a message in the same format as the contention method with a low communication speed to the main control unit 201 using the signal line RD. For example, when the display unit 7 is a liquid crystal screen or the like that displays image information for advertisement, the main control unit 201 sends a large amount of image data to the money amount display control unit 208 in a short time by using the signal line RD. It will be able to send.

Next, the main control unit 201 sets the control line CT to the high level for a predetermined time B, thereby terminating the communication in the contention system with a communication speed of 38,400 bps.

[0039]

According to the present invention, signal lines for performing different communication systems (polling system and contention system) are shared, so that the number of harnesses between the main control unit and a plurality of terminal control units is reduced. In this case, the number of communication methods can be significantly reduced as compared with a case where different communication methods are simply combined. Further, since different communication methods can be continuously executed at different communication speeds, a large amount of data can be efficiently transmitted and received in a short time, and it is possible to sufficiently cope with segmentation of the terminal control unit. Further, since a different communication method can be selected by controlling the level of the control line by a program, an inexpensive general-purpose microcomputer can be used, and the development load can be reduced. In addition, since different communication systems can be appropriately selected and executed, the advantages of each communication system can be fully exhibited. Furthermore, since the conventional communication method can be executed as it is,
Existing components (for example, coin mechanism, building burrs, etc.) can be used as they are, and compatibility can be maintained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a communication control method for a vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a telegram used in a polling method and a contention method.

FIG. 3 is a time chart for explaining a communication control method for a vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the vending machine.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of a conventional vending machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 201 main control unit 202 coin processing control unit 203 bill processing control unit 204 card processing control unit 206 sales control unit 207 button control unit 208 amount display control unit 209 lamp display control unit 210 input display unit

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A communication control method for a vending machine, comprising: a plurality of terminal controllers for controlling the sharing of each part of the vending machine; and a main controller for controlling the plurality of terminal controllers in an integrated manner. Transmitting and receiving data in different communication systems using the same signal line interposed between the main control unit and the plurality of terminal control units. 2. The communication control method for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein data transmission and reception in said different communication systems are performed continuously. 3. The communication control method for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission and reception in the different communication systems are performed at different communication speeds. 4. The different communication system includes a polling system in which the main control unit has a higher transmission right than the plurality of terminal control units, and a polling system in which the main control unit and the plurality of terminal control units have equal transmission rights. 4. The communication control method for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the contention method comprises: 5. The data transmission / reception according to the different communication method, wherein at least two of the polling method and the plurality of contention methods having different communication speeds are performed. Communication control method for vending machines. 6. The data transmission / reception for changing the communication speed by the contention method of a predetermined communication speed, thereby enabling data transmission / reception by the contention method of another communication speed. The communication control method for a vending machine according to claim 5, wherein 7. The contention system according to claim 7, wherein said polling method uses a signal line for transmitting data from said plurality of terminal control units to said main control unit. 7. The communication control method for a vending machine according to claim 4, wherein data is transmitted and received between the vending machines. 8. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein a control line for selecting the different communication system is provided between the main control unit and the plurality of terminal control units. Vending machine communication control method. 9. When the control line is at one level, data transmission / reception is performed by the polling method. When the control line is at the other level, data transmission / reception is performed by the contention method at a predetermined communication speed. Claim 8
The communication control method of the vending machine described in the above. 10. Performing data transmission / reception for changing a communication speed by the contention method of a predetermined communication speed,
10. The automatic vending machine according to claim 9, wherein the control line changes from the other level to the one level so that data transmission / reception can be performed by the contention method at another communication speed. Machine communication control method. 11. Data transmission / reception is performed in the contention mode at another communication speed, and thereafter, when the control line changes from one level to the other level, data is transmitted in the contention mode at another communication speed. The communication control method for a vending machine according to claim 10, wherein the transmission and reception are terminated.