JP2002163718A - Control method of vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control method of a vending machine which can periodically confirm the opening/closing state of a partition plate, even when an article is not sold and surely close the partition plate, as need. SOLUTION: Open/closed state of the partition plate 6 is confirmed periodically, and when the partition plate 6 should be closed but is not closed, the partition plate 6 is automatically closed. Consequently, the inside of a box can surely be sectioned through heat insulation. Furthermore, fault of a partition plate opening/closing mechanism 60 can be found speedily.

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 temperatures by dividing the interior of a refrigerator into a plurality of chambers, and more particularly to a method of controlling a vending machine.
The present invention relates to a vending machine control method in which the open / close state of a partition plate is periodically checked by a detection means, and the partition plate is closed when it is not closed when it should be closed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to urge the vending machine users to purchase products, the front door of the main body case and the inner door of heat insulation are formed as see-through doors, and the products in the warehouse and the selling operation are 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. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-302140, and FIG. 6 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 necessary. 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 includes 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 the 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. Further, the partition plate 6 is opened and closed by a partition plate opening / closing mechanism (not shown), and the open / closed state is detected by a detection switch (not shown) at the time of product sale.

[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 a 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 via the flapper 32 of the inner door 3.

[0008]

However, in the conventional vending machine control method, the end check of the closing operation of the partition plate 6 is performed only at the time of selling the product. When the partitioning plate 6 is not completely closed due to the closing operation failure, the chambers in the refrigerator which should be divided into different temperature zones communicate with each other, and there is a problem that heat insulation cannot be maintained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and is an automatic vending machine that periodically checks the open / closed state of a partition plate other than at the time of sale of a product and can surely close the partition plate when necessary. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling a machine.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a method for controlling a vending machine according to the present invention is characterized in that a partition plate for dividing a compartment into a plurality of chambers and having different temperature zones at the time of selling goods. A method for controlling a vending machine that opens and closes, wherein an open / close state of the partition plate is periodically checked by a detection unit, and the partition plate is closed when it is not closed when it should be closed. It was done.

First, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the upper chamber is set to the hot setting. If the setting is hot, it is determined whether or not the product is on sale. If it is not the hot setting, there is no need to close the partition plate to insulate the inside of the compartment, so that the power to the motor for opening and closing the partition plate is stopped, and the standby state is set.

When the product in the upper room is on sale, the partition plate is opened by energizing the open / close motor to secure the operation space of the XY transport mechanism, and the energization to the open / close motor is temporarily stopped. After the sales are completed, the energization of the opening / closing motor is started again, the partition plate is closed, and a standby state is set.

On the other hand, if the goods in the upper room are not on sale,
It is determined whether or not the time set in the counter is 0. If the time is not 0, the power supply to the opening / closing motor is stopped, and a standby state is set.

If the time set in the counter is 0, a time n (n is arbitrary) is set, and
It is determined whether or not N (partition plate is closed).
If the close detection means is ON, the partition plate is in a closed state, and the power to the open / close motor has been stopped.
Set to the standby state.

If the close detecting means is not ON, it is determined that the partition plate is in the open state, and the power supply to the opening / closing motor is started to operate the partition plate in the closing direction.
It is again determined whether or not N (the partition plate is in the closed state). If the closing detection means is ON, the partition plate is in a closed state, and thus the power supply to the opening / closing motor is stopped, and a standby state is set. If the closing detection means is not ON, it is determined whether or not the time T has elapsed from the start of energization of the open / close motor.

In a state where the closing detecting means is not turned on,
When the time T has elapsed, it is determined that the partition plate opening / closing mechanism has failed.

As described above, the open / close state of the partition plate is periodically checked, and if the partition plate is not closed when it should be closed, the closing operation of the partition plate can be automatically performed. , The inside of the refrigerator can be reliably insulated. Further, a failure of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism can be quickly found.

[0018]

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. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited by the embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration inside the main body case, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an automatic closing operation of the partition plate. 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) of 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 partitioning plate opening / closing mechanism 60, the H / C changeover switch 42, and the inner door switch 43 are provided in the main body controller 5 for controlling them.
8 is connected. The main body control unit 58 is connected by a communication line to a main control unit (not shown) that controls the entire vending machine.

Further, as will be described later, the main body control section 58 has a counter for setting a time for detecting the open / closed state of the partition plate 6. The time setting for this counter can be performed by a keyboard or the like (not shown). Although not shown, the XY transport mechanism 9 is also connected to the main body control unit 58.

Next, the automatic closing operation of the partition plate 6 will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is determined whether the temperature of the upper chamber 7 is set to the hot setting (step S10).
If it is the hot setting (Yes at Step S10), it is determined whether the product is on sale (Step S11). If it is not the hot setting (No at Step S10), since there is no need to close the partition plate 6 and insulate the inside of the compartment, the power supply to the opening / closing motor 61 is stopped (Step S17), and the standby state is set ( Step S18).

If the product in the upper chamber 7 is on sale (Yes at step S11), the partition plate 6 is opened to secure the operation space of the XY transport mechanism 9, so that the opening / closing motor 61 is opened. Is stopped (step S17), and a standby state is set (step S18).

On the other hand, if the product in the upper room 7 is not on sale (No at step S11), it is determined whether or not the time set in the counter is 0 (step S12).
If not (No at Step S12), the power supply to the opening / closing motor 61 is stopped (Step S17), and a standby state is set (Step S18).

If the time set in the counter is 0 (Yes at step S12), n (n is arbitrary) is set (step S13), and the close detection switch 41 is turned on (the partition plate 6 is closed). It is determined whether or not it is set (step S14). If the close detection switch 41 is ON (Yes at Step S14), since the partition plate 6 is closed, the power supply to the open / close motor 61 is stopped (Step S17), and the standby state is set (Step S18). .

If the close detection switch 41 is not ON (No at Step S14), the partition plate 6 is open, and the power supply to the opening / closing motor 61 is started to start the partition plate 6.
Is operated in the closing direction (step S15), and it is determined again whether the close detection switch 41 is ON (the partition plate 6 is in the closed state) (step S16). If the close detection switch 41 is ON (step S16)
Affirmatively), the partition plate is closed, and the power supply to the opening / closing motor 61 is stopped (step S17), and a standby state is set (step S18).

On the other hand, if the close detection switch 41 is not ON (No at step S16), the open / close motor 6
It is determined whether or not the time T has elapsed from the start of energization of No. 1 (step S19). If the time T has not elapsed (No at Step S19), the ON output of the close detection switch 41 is determined until the time T has elapsed (Step S16). When the time T has elapsed (Yes at Step S19), it is determined that the partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60 has failed (Step S20), and the power supply to the opening / closing motor 61 is stopped.

It is desirable that the system be configured so that, when it is determined that a failure has occurred, a vending machine installer or the like can be notified. For example, in the event of a failure, the sold-out lamp or not-shown lamp blinks, or the push-button (not shown) is operated during standby for sale, or the push-button and return lever (not shown) are combined to operate the sold-out lamp. The lamp or the available lamp may blink, or, instead of the blinking of the lamp, a keyboard indicator (not shown) or the price indicator may indicate that a failure has occurred.

As described above, according to the vending machine control method according to this embodiment, the open / close state of the partition plate 6 is periodically checked, and the partition plate 6 is not closed when it should be closed. In this case, the closing operation of the partition plate 6 can be automatically performed, and the inside of the refrigerator can be reliably insulated. Further, a failure of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism 60 can be quickly found.

[0032]

As described above, according to the vending machine control method according to the present invention, a vending machine which opens and closes a partition plate which divides the inside of a refrigerator into a plurality of chambers and has different temperature zones when selling products. In the control method, the open / closed state of the partition plate is periodically checked by a detecting unit, and when the closed state is not established when the partition should be closed, the partition is closed. Can be reliably insulated. Further, a failure of the partition plate opening / closing mechanism can be quickly found.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a vending machine according to an 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 an automatic closing operation of a partition plate.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional vending machine.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing the inside of a 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 58 Body control unit 60 Partition plate opening / closing mechanism 61 Opening / closing motor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshinari Ito 1-1-1, Tanabe-Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa F-term in Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (reference) 3E044 AA01 DB16 FB12 FB13

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine control method for opening and closing a partition plate for dividing a compartment into a plurality of chambers and setting different temperature zones at the time of selling a product, wherein the open / closed state of the partition plate is periodically confirmed by a detecting means. A method for controlling a vending machine, wherein the partition plate is closed when it is not closed when it should be closed.