JP2004310602A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine which can perform error detection with ease and accuracy corresponding to every detection of various article information by detecting an article without failure at an article delivery outlet of the vending machine or at the article passage through which the article is lead to the outlet. <P>SOLUTION: A non-contact IC tag is set on the article, and an IC reader 9 which reads article information out of the non-contact IC tag is set by the commodity delivery outlet on the article passage of the vending machine. A delivery unit 7, article selection buttons 3, the IC reader 9, a buzzer 5, a timer 22, and a modem 23 are connected to a controller 21. The IC reader 9 reads information of the non-contact IC tag of the article when the article delivered out of an article column passes by the IC reader 9 so that it can detect an article loss by being picked, improper delivery by article jamming, poor loading, abnormal numbers of article vendition by the improper delivery, which are informed by the buzzer 5 and notified by the modem 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vending machine, and more particularly to a product dispensing.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the past, theft of vending machine products and sales has often been robbed by the destruction of doors, but in recent years, the strength of vending machines has increased, and such doors have been destroyed to steal money. More and more methods of putting hands directly from the product outlet or shaking the main body of the vending machine to drop the product from the product column and pull it out are increasing. Conventionally, in order to prevent theft by such a method, a vibration sensor detects vibration when the vending machine is destroyed, and detects a swing of the vending machine body and issues an alarm.
[0003]
However, in this method, the vibration sensor is difficult to adjust, and if the sensitivity is increased, the impact due to the falling of the product at the time of sale, the vibration at the time of opening and closing the door, and the passing of people and vehicles near the vending machine In some cases, the sensor may react due to vibration, and if the sensitivity is reduced to prevent such an erroneous reaction, the sensor may not work well when theft occurs. In addition to vulnerabilities, vending machines also detect defects such as blockage or over-dispensing that occur during product release, and products with brands different from those originally set in the product column. A means to detect improper loading etc. that is loaded is required, and a vibration sensor for theft detection cannot detect such a throwing out fault or improper loading, etc.A separate sensor must be provided to detect these Therefore, the number of parts increased and the cost increased. These problems have not yet been resolved.
[0004]
It is not anti-theft, but in order to prevent products with brands other than the set brand from being loaded into the vending machine and sold, the product is coated with a fluorescent agent and ultraviolet rays are applied to the product receiving section of the vending machine. It is conventionally known that a light emitting source and a light receiver are provided, and the brand of the product is determined by irradiating the fluorescent material of the dispensed product with ultraviolet rays and receiving the light emitted by the fluorescent material with the light receiver. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-269419
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The product is coated with a fluorescent agent, the vending machine is provided with an ultraviolet light source and a light receiver in the product receiving section, and the fluorescent light of the dispensed product is irradiated with ultraviolet light and the light emitted by the fluorescent agent is received by the light receiver. The above-described conventional technique of determining the brand of a product by not only can prevent loading, but also can detect sampling and defective ejection. However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, regardless of any of the sampling detection, the ejection failure detection, and the loading failure detection, the product information must first be reliably detected from the fluorescent material in the product receiving unit of the vending machine. In order to do so, it is necessary to set the installation location of the ultraviolet light source and receiver at a position facing the fluorescent material coating part of the delivered product, or to match the location of the product with the ultraviolet light source and receiver. It is necessary to set the fluorescent agent coating site, which is a constraint on the design of vending machines and products.
[0007]
Also, even if the location of the ultraviolet light source and the receiver is appropriate, the fluorescent agent coated on the product may not face the direction of the ultraviolet light source, depending on the attitude of the projected product and the shape of the product. In some cases, the photodetector may not properly receive the emission of the fluorescent agent.
[0008]
In addition, when the commodity information is detected from the fluorescent agent coated on the commodity as in the above-described conventional technique, it is difficult to detect various kinds of commodity information such as brands and prices of the commodity.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and can reliably detect a product in a product outlet of a vending machine or a product path leading a product to the product outlet, and can detect various product information. The purpose is to be able to respond to.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem by providing a non-contact type IC tag on a product and configuring a vending machine to read product information from the non-contact type IC tag by a radio wave type reading means (IC reader). Things.
[0011]
That is, the vending machine of the invention according to claim 1 is a product selection unit for selecting a product to be purchased, a product storage unit for storing a plurality of products, and a product storage unit for storing the product selected by the product selection unit. From the commodity storage means, a commodity outlet from which the commodity ejected by the commodity ejection means is paid out, and a commodity ejected from the commodity storage means to the commodity outlet. A vending machine that includes a control unit, and instructs the product discharging unit to perform a discharging operation. The vending machine outputs product information from a non-contact type IC tag provided on the product. Electromagnetic wave reading means for reading is provided in the product passage or the product outlet.
[0012]
By storing the product provided with the non-contact type IC tag in the vending machine in the product storage means, the electromagnetic wave type reading means can be used in the product outlet or in the product path leading the product to the product outlet. The product information can be read from the device to reliably detect the product.
[0013]
In this case, the radio-type reading means can surely read the product information regardless of the position of the non-contact IC tag as long as the product is located in the product exit or the product path, and the reading means can read the product exit or the product exit. The product can be provided at an arbitrary position in the product path for guiding the product to the product outlet, and the position of the non-contact type IC tag provided on the product can also be set arbitrarily, which does not restrict the design of the vending machine and the product. Further, since the non-contact IC tag is used, it is possible to detect various product information such as each brand and price of the product, and it is possible to freely deal with sampling detection, ejection failure detection, loading failure detection, and the like.
[0014]
A vending machine according to a second aspect of the present invention includes the above-described configuration according to the first aspect of the present invention, and the control unit reads the merchandise information from the non-contact type IC tag by the reading unit. It is characterized by comprising an abnormality detecting means for judging that an abnormality has occurred if the article discharging means has not been operated after a point in time which is a predetermined time before the time when the article information was read.
[0015]
In this case, when the reading means reads the product information from the non-contact type IC tag, it is determined that there is an abnormality if the product discharging means has not been operated after a predetermined time before the time when the product information was read. Therefore, it is possible to reliably detect the removal from the product outlet and prevent theft.
[0016]
A vending machine according to a third aspect of the present invention includes the above-described configuration according to the first aspect of the present invention, and the control unit instructs the merchandise discharging unit to perform a discharging operation. And measuring means for starting time measurement, and abnormality detecting means for judging that there is an abnormality if the reading means does not read the information until the time measured by the measuring means exceeds a predetermined time. And
[0017]
In this case, if the information is not read by the reading unit until the time from instructing the product discharging unit to perform the discharging operation exceeds a predetermined time, it is determined that there is an abnormality, and the discharge failure due to the product clogging or the like is determined. Can be reliably detected.
[0018]
Further, a vending machine according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes the above-described configuration according to the first aspect of the present invention, and the brand information of the product is included in the product information read from the non-contact type IC tag by the reading unit. It is characterized by.
[0019]
In this case, the reading unit reads the brand information of the product from the non-contact type IC tag, and determines that there is an abnormality when a brand different from the brand of the originally set product is read, thereby reliably detecting the improper loading. be able to.
[0020]
Further, a vending machine according to a fifth aspect of the present invention includes the above configuration according to the first aspect of the present invention, and selection of a product by the product selection means includes selection of a sales quantity.
The control unit includes a measurement unit that starts measuring time on condition that the product storage unit is instructed to perform a throwing operation, and the one sales unit selected by the product selection unit and the measurement unit If the number of times the reading means has read the product information before the measured time elapses a predetermined time is different from the number of times the reading information is read, an abnormality detecting means for judging an abnormality is provided.
[0021]
In this case, the number of one sale selected by the commodity selection means and the number of times the reading means has read the commodity information until the time after instructing the commodity ejection means to perform the dispensing operation exceeds a predetermined time. If the numbers are different from each other, it is determined that there is an abnormality, so that an abnormality in the number of units sold due to a defective ejection or the like can be reliably detected.
[0022]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0023]
1 to 3 show an example of the embodiment. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a vending machine, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a product to be sold, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system.
[0024]
As shown in FIG. 1, the vending machine of this embodiment is provided with a door 2 on the front of a vending machine main body 1 and is a product selection means for selecting a product to be purchased on the front of the door 2. A product selection button 3 and a product outlet 4 from which the product is paid out are provided, and an alarm is sounded inside the door body 2 when an abnormality such as theft (pulling out), defective ejection, or improper loading occurs. A buzzer 5 is provided as a notifying means.
[0025]
Inside the vending machine main body 1, a plurality of product columns 6 as product storage means for vertically storing and storing a plurality of products are provided, and a product selection button 3 is selected below the product column 6 by a product selection button 3. There is provided a dispensing unit 7 which is a product discharging means for discharging a product from the product column 6 to the front, and the product discharged from the product column 6 is provided between the lower front surface of the product column 6 and the product outlet 4. Are provided. In the vicinity of the product outlet 4 in the product path 8, there is provided an IC reader 9 which is a radio wave reading means for reading information from a non-contact type IC tag. The IC reader 9 may be provided at the product outlet 4 other than the product reader 8 as described above, or may be provided at an arbitrary position in the product outlet 4 or the product passage 8.
[0026]
In the product column 6 of this vending machine, as shown in FIG. 2, a product 11 provided with a non-contact type IC tag 10 which is a non-contact type recording medium in which product information such as brand and price is written. To store. The non-contact type IC tag 10 may be placed in the product 11, may be attached to the product as a seal, may be placed inside the wrapping paper, and may be provided at any position on the product in any mode. Can be.
[0027]
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the control system of the vending machine is provided with a control unit 21 which constitutes abnormality detection means, and after the control unit 21 instructs the discharge unit 7 to perform a discharge operation. A timer 22 is provided as measuring means for measuring time, and a modem 23 is provided as communication means for notifying a service center or a security company when a problem occurs in the vending machine. Then, the throw-out unit 7, the product selection button 3, the IC reader 9, the buzzer 5, the timer 22, and the modem 23 are connected to the control unit 21, respectively, and the product thrown out of the product column 6 When passing through the vicinity of the reader 9, the IC reader 9 reads information of the non-contact type IC tag 10 provided on the product 11, and the buzzer 5 notifies when an abnormality occurs, and the modem 23 transmits the information to the service center or the like. It reports to security companies.
[0028]
In addition, each of the product selection buttons 3 is associated in advance with the brand of the product to be sold and the number of products to be sold, and by simply selecting the product selection button 3, the product corresponding to the selected product selection button 3 Brand and sales quantity can be selected.
[0029]
The method of selecting the brand and sales quantity of the product in this embodiment includes the case where the sales quantity is one. In addition to the above selection method, the product selection button is divided into a product brand selection button and a sales quantity selection button such as a numeric keypad, and the product brand selection button is associated with the product brand and the sales quantity selection button is associated with the sales quantity, respectively. Thus, the product brand may be selected with the product selection button, and the sales quantity may be selected with the sales quantity selection button.
[0030]
To read the product information, the non-contact IC tag 10 is supplied with power by radio waves from the IC reader 9, thereby transmitting the product information written in the non-contact IC tag 10 to the IC reader 9, In response to the transmission, the IC reader 9 reads the product information. Unlike a bar code, which reads information optically, the IC reader 9 can reliably output the target product regardless of the throwing attitude of the product. Can be read.
[0031]
In addition, in addition to the above-mentioned method, a battery is provided in the non-contact type IC tag 10 and the product information is transmitted to the IC reader 9 by the power of the non-contact type IC tag 10 itself. Receiving the information, the IC reader 9 may read the product information.
[0032]
Further, in the example of this embodiment, the buzzer 5 is used as the notification means, but the notification may be performed using a liquid crystal, a lamp, or the like. In addition, by providing a plurality of different notification means and properly using the notification means depending on the type of abnormality such as theft, defective ejection, or improper loading, it is possible to reliably report the occurrence of the abnormality in the vending machine including the type of abnormality. You may do so.
[0033]
In this vending machine, in a normal selling operation, first, a customer selects a brand and quantity of a product to be purchased with a product selection button 3. Then, the control unit 21 instructs the throwing-out operation to the throwing-out unit 7 of the product column 6 corresponding to the selected product, instructs the timer 22 to measure time, and instructs the throwing-out unit 7 to perform the throwing operation. Is stored.
[0034]
When the product discharged from the product column 6 by the discharging unit 7 is paid out to the product outlet 4 through the product path 8, the discharged product 11 is installed in the product path 8. By passing near the reader 9, the IC reader 9 reads the product information from the non-contact type IC tag 10 provided on the product 11.
[0035]
Then, when the IC reader 9 reads the product information from the non-contact type IC tag 10, the control unit 21 checks whether the throwing operation has been instructed to the throwing unit 7, and the product read by the IC reader 11. The information is checked, and the brand recorded on the non-contact type IC tag 10 of the product 11 and the brand of the product selected by the product selection button 3 (the brand originally set in the product column 6 corresponding to the product selection button 3). The IC reader 9 checks whether the number of products (the number of products sold) from which the product information has been read is the same as the selected number. It is checked whether the time measured by 22 is within a predetermined time set in advance.
[0036]
Then, the fact that the dispensing unit 7 has performed the dispensing operation, that the brand of the product whose product information is read by the IC reader 9 and the brand of the selected product are the same, Are the same and that the time measured by the timer 22 is within a predetermined time set in advance, the control unit 21 determines that a normal selling operation has been performed, and ends the selling operation. I do.
[0037]
As for the method of measuring the time, in addition to the method in which the control unit 21 instructs the ejection unit 7 to perform the ejection operation and causes the timer 22 to start measuring the time as in the example of this embodiment, A sensor for detecting that a product has been delivered is provided, and the control unit 21 instructs the delivery unit 7 to perform a delivery operation and causes a timer to start measuring time when the product is delivered from the delivery unit 7. You may do so.
[0038]
In addition, the fact that the dispensing unit 7 has performed the dispensing operation, that the brand of the product for which the product information is read by the IC reader 9 and the brand of the selected product are the same, and that the sales quantity and the selected quantity are the same If it cannot be confirmed that the time measured by the timer 22 is within a predetermined time set in advance, the control unit 21 determines that an abnormality that is not in a normal selling operation has occurred. , The buzzer 5 is sounded, and a notification is sent to a service center or the like using the modem 23. Hereinafter, details will be described for each type of abnormality.
[0039]
(Theft due to sampling, etc.)
In this vending machine, a person who wants to steal a product puts his hand through the product outlet 4 to pull out the product 11 from the product column 6 or shakes the vending machine body 1 to drop the product 11 from the product column 6. When the product 11 is to be extracted, the product 11 to be extracted passes through the vicinity of the IC reader 9 provided in the product path 8, and the IC reader 9 is provided to the product 11 to be extracted. The merchandise information is read from the non-contact IC tag 10.
[0040]
Then, when the IC reader 9 reads the product information from the non-contact type IC tag 10, the control unit 21 checks whether the throwing operation has been instructed to the throwing unit 7, and the product 11 read by the IC reader 9. And whether the brand name of the product selected by the product selection button 3 is the same as the brand name information, and whether the time measured by the timer 22 is within a predetermined time set in advance. In this case, the projecting unit 7 does not perform the projecting operation according to the instruction of the control unit 21, and the control unit 21 does not store that the projecting operation has been instructed to the projecting unit 7. Therefore, the control unit 21 determines that theft has occurred due to unauthorized removal such as withdrawal, sounds the buzzer 5 to notify that theft has occurred, and uses the modem 23 to detect theft. To report to Bisusenta and security company or the like.
[0041]
(Poor delivery due to product clogging, etc.)
Further, in this vending machine, the customer selects a product to be purchased with the product selection button 3, and the control unit 21 instructs the discharging unit 7 of the product column 6 corresponding to the selected product to perform a discharging operation. , The timer 22 is instructed to measure the time, the fact that the throwing operation is instructed to the throwing unit 7 is stored, and when the throwing unit 7 performs the throwing operation according to the instruction of the control unit 21, the product 11 is displayed in the product column. When the product is clogged, such as being caught in the product path 6 or the product passage 8, the product 11 does not pass near the IC reader 9 even though the discharging unit 7 is instructed to perform the discharging operation. No product information is read from the tag 10.
[0042]
In this case, when the time measured by the timer 22 elapses a predetermined time, the control unit 21 determines that the product is not correctly thrown out, sounds the buzzer 5 and a throwing failure occurs. In addition to notifying that the user has performed the service, the service center or the like is notified using the modem 23.
[0043]
(Poor loading)
Further, in this vending machine, when a product of a brand different from the product originally set in the product column 6 is loaded, when the customer selects a product to be purchased with the product selection button 3, the control unit 21 instructs the throw-out operation to the throw-out unit 7 of the product column 6 corresponding to the selected product, and instructs the timer 22 to measure time and instructs the throw-out unit 7 to instruct the throw-out operation. Then, the ejection unit 7 performs an ejection operation in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 21, and the articles ejected from the article column 6 by the ejection unit 7 are paid out to the article outlet 4 through the article passage 8, When the thrown product passes near the IC reader 9 provided in the product path 8, the IC reader 9 is sent from the non-contact IC tag 10 provided in the thrown product 11 to product information. Read The controller 21 checks whether or not the controller 21 has instructed the dispensing unit 7 to perform a dispensing operation, and determines that the brand information of the commodities 11 read by the IC reader 9 and the brand of the commodities selected by the commodities selection button 3 are the same. It is confirmed whether the time is measured by the timer 22 or not within a predetermined time. In this case, the product read by the IC reader 9 is checked. Since the brand of the information and the brand of the product selected by the product selection button 3 do not match, the control unit 21 determines that a product different from the set product is loaded in the product column 6 and the buzzer 5 And informs the service center using the modem 23.
[0044]
(Abnormal sales volume due to poor throwout, etc.)
Further, in this vending machine, the customer selects the brand and the number of products to be purchased with the product selection button 3 and the control unit 21 sends the product to the delivery unit 7 of the product column 6 corresponding to the selected product. In addition to instructing the operation, the timer 22 is instructed to measure the time, and the instructing operation of the ejecting unit 7 and the selected sales quantity are stored. The product that has been ejected from the product column 6 by the dispensing unit 7 is paid out to the product outlet 4 through the product passage 8, and the discharged product is provided in the product passage 8. The IC reader 9 reads product information from the non-contact IC tag 10 provided on each of the products 11 that have been thrown out by passing through the vicinity of the IC reader 9, and the control unit 21 sends the product information to the projecting unit 7. Throw in In addition to confirming whether or not the operation has been instructed, the brand and the sales quantity are confirmed from the product information of each product 11 read by the IC reader 9, and the time measured by the timer 22 is set to a predetermined value. It is checked whether the time is within the predetermined time. In this case, the number of product information read by the IC reader 9 within the predetermined time is different from the selected sales number stored in the control unit 21. The control unit 21 determines that there has been a discharge failure, sounds the buzzer 5 to notify the same, and uses the modem 23 to notify the service center or the like.
[0045]
In the example of this embodiment, when an abnormality occurs, the buzzer 5 notifies the abnormality or the modem 23 notifies the abnormality, but separately or instead of the occurrence of the abnormality, the occurrence time is recorded as an error log. May be recorded on a recording medium together with the above.
[0046]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description, the present invention has the following remarkable effects.
[0047]
(1) By storing the product provided with the non-contact IC tag in the product storage means, the electromagnetic wave reading means can read the product information from the non-contact IC tag in the product outlet or the product path leading the product to the product outlet. And the location of the reading means may be at any position of the product outlet or the product path leading the product to the product outlet, and the non-contact IC tag provided on the product may be installed. The position can be arbitrarily set, and there is no restriction on the design of vending machines and products. In addition, since non-contact type IC tags are used, it is possible to detect various product information such as brands and prices of products. It is possible to freely deal with sampling detection, ejection failure detection, loading failure detection, and the like.
[0048]
(2) When the reading means reads the product information from the non-contact type IC tag, it is determined that there is an abnormality if the product discharging means has not been operated after a predetermined time before the time when the product information was read. Therefore, it is possible to reliably detect the removal from the product outlet and prevent theft.
[0049]
{Circle around (3)} If the information is not read by the reading means until the time from instructing the product discharging means to perform the discharging operation exceeds a predetermined time, it is determined that there is an abnormality, and the discharging failure due to a product clogging or the like is determined. Can be reliably detected.
[0050]
{Circle around (4)} The reading means reads the brand information of the product from the non-contact type IC tag, and when the brand different from the brand of the originally set product is read, judges that there is an abnormality, thereby reliably detecting the improper loading. be able to.
[0051]
(5) One sales quantity selected by the commodity selection means and the number of times the reading means has read the commodity information until the time after instructing the commodity ejection means to perform the dispensing operation exceeds a predetermined time. If the numbers are different from each other, it is determined that there is an abnormality, so that an abnormality in the number of units sold due to a defective ejection or the like can be reliably detected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a product sold by the vending machine of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the vending machine of FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine main body 2 Door body 3 Commodity selection button 4 Commodity take-out 5 Buzzer 6 Commodity column 7 Dispensing unit 8 Commodity passage 9 IC reader 10 Non-contact type IC tag 21 Control unit 22 Timer 23 Modem

Claims (5)

A product selection unit for selecting a product to be purchased, a product storage unit for storing a plurality of products, a product release unit for discharging the product selected by the product selection unit from the product storage unit, and the product storage unit A product outlet from which the products discharged by the product discharging means are paid out, and a product path for guiding the products discharged from the product storage means to the product outlet, and a control unit, In a vending machine in which a control unit instructs the product discharging unit to perform a discharging operation,
A vending machine characterized in that an electromagnetic wave type reading means for reading product information from a non-contact type IC tag provided on a product is provided in the product passage or the product outlet. When the control unit reads the product information from the non-contact IC tag by the reading unit, if the product discharging unit has not been operated after a predetermined time before the time when the product information is read, The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising an abnormality detecting unit that determines that the vending machine is abnormal. The control unit includes a measuring unit that starts measuring time on condition that the product discharging unit is instructed to perform a discharging operation, and until the time measured by the measuring unit exceeds a predetermined time. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising an abnormality detecting unit that determines that the information is abnormal if the information is not read by the reading unit. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the product information read from the non-contact IC tag by the reading means includes brand information of the product. Selection of the product by the product selection means includes selection of the number of sales,
The control unit includes a measurement unit that starts measuring time on condition that the product storage unit is instructed to perform a throwing operation, and the one sales unit selected by the product selection unit and the measurement unit 2. The automatic vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising an abnormality detecting unit configured to determine that an abnormality has occurred if the number of times that the reading unit has read the product information is different before the measured time passes a predetermined time. Machine.

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