JP2005092581A - Vending machine controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine controller which makes it possible to print error information in real time using an existing internal printer in order to avoid trouble with users in the event that articles have not been dispensed. <P>SOLUTION: A vending machine, from which articles can be purchased using cards and which has a control part for dispensing articles after the price of each article has been subtracted from a card at the time of purchase using the card and a printer for printing data, is characterized in that error information is printed by the printer in the event that an article has not been dispensed after the price of the article has been subtracted from the card. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device for a vending machine that carries out a product after subtracting the price of the product selected at the time of purchasing the product using a card from the card.

  As an example of purchasing a product using a card, a vending machine is known in which a product price is transferred after subtracting the sales price of the selected product from the amount of the card and communicating the remaining amount of the card (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .

  Further, there is known a vending machine that stores data in a memory when an abnormality occurs at the time of carrying out the product, and enables printing by a predetermined operation at a later date (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Furthermore, a vending machine that prints and issues failure information from a printer that issues a receipt when electronic information cannot be accurately written on an electronic card is known (see, for example, Patent Document 3).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-49956 (see page 5, FIG. 3) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-312842 (refer to FIGS. 3, 6, and 8) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-251246 (see pages 3 and 4, see FIGS. 1 and 2)

  However, in the vending machine described in Patent Document 1 described above, since the product is carried out after the remaining card amount is updated, the product is sold out when the product is not carried out due to some abnormality or in the case of a product shelf without a sold-out detection switch. When there was, there was a problem that only the fee was taken and the goods did not pass to the buyer.

  Further, in the vending machine described in Patent Document 2 described above, abnormality information must be temporarily stored in a memory, and a certain amount of memory area must be secured in advance.

  Further, the vending machine described in Patent Document 3 described above requires a receipt issuing function, and the existing vending machine is not provided with a receipt issuing function so much, so that a large amount of modification is required. There was a problem.

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a control device for a vending machine in which abnormality information can be printed in real time with an existing internal printer in order to avoid troubles with users when goods are not carried out. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, a product can be purchased with a card, and a control unit for carrying out the product after subtracting the price of the product selected at the time of purchasing the product with the card from the card, and for printing data in the machine In a vending machine provided with a printer, when the product is not carried out after the price of the product is subtracted from the card, abnormality information by the printer is printed.

  Further, when the printer runs out of paper, the abnormality information is temporarily stored, and printing of the abnormality information is started by detecting that the paper has been set.

  The abnormality information includes a card ID (identification), a sales date / time, a product name, a product price, an amount before card subtraction, an amount after card subtraction, and the like.

  According to the control device of the vending machine of the present invention, the purchase amount of the user is guaranteed by leaving the printing of the abnormal information in the vending machine in real time, and the card ID is verified when returning the purchase amount to the user. This can be done easily.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, an example of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS.

  4 is a front view showing an example of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view of the vending machine of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the vending machine of FIG. .

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the vending machine that is the object of the present embodiment stores the product in the main body case 1. The main body case 1 constitutes a heat-insulating housing and has an opening 2 in a substantially upper half on the front side. A front door 3 is provided in the opening 2. The front door 3 is formed by fitting a transparent plate material 3b such as glass into a rectangular frame 3a. The front door 3 is composed of a pair of left and right, and closes the opening 2, and is pivotally supported by the left and right edges of the opening 2 to open and close the opening 2 of the main body case 1 in the left-right direction. A locking device 4 is provided between the main body case 1 and the front door 3. The locking device 4 permits / denies the opening / closing of the front door 3 by the locking / unlocking operation from the front side of the main body case 1. The front door 3 is normally locked by the locking device 4 and is in an open / close refusal state. A handle 5 is provided at the open end of each front door 3 so that a hand can be placed when the front door 3 is opened.

  A product outlet 6 is provided below the front side of the main body case 1. As shown in FIG. 6, the commodity outlet 6 opens in a rectangular shape and communicates with the inside and outside of the main body case 1, and can be opened and closed by the outlet door 7. The lower part of the take-out door 7 is pivotally supported by the lower edge of the product take-out port 6 and rotates in the front lower direction to open the product take-out port 6. Further, the take-out door 7 rotates so as to automatically close the product take-out port 6 by the weight 7a. The extraction door 7 is provided with a door lock mechanism (not shown), and the closed state of the extraction door 7 can be maintained by this door lock mechanism.

  On the inner rear side of the main body case 1 and inside the opening 2 opened and closed by the front door 3, a product storage 8 is configured. The storage 8 is provided with a product storage shelf 9 having a plurality of levels (in this embodiment, 6 levels). Each product storage shelf 9 is configured by arranging product storage racks 10 (hereinafter referred to as racks) as storage units in a plurality of rows (eight rows in the present embodiment) in the left-right direction. The rack 10 is provided with a conveying means 11. The transport means 11 is formed by winding an endless transport belt 11b around rollers 11a arranged in parallel in the front and rear direction. The upper surface of the conveyor belt 11b is horizontally disposed in the front-rear direction. Then, the conveying means 11 puts the product on the upper surface of the conveyor belt 11b, drives the roller 11a, circulates the conveyor belt 11b, and pays the product from the rear toward the front (product delivery direction). put out.

  The racks 10 are juxtaposed in the left-right direction in such a manner that the product payout directions by the transport means 11 are parallel to each other. Each adjacent rack 10 is configured such that the transport means 11 can be interlocked. That is, the rack 10 which accommodates and conveys a comparatively large product can be obtained by interlocking the conveying means 11 of the racks 10 adjacent to each other. In addition, if the conveyance means 11 of the adjacent racks 10 are sequentially interlocked, all the racks 10 arranged in one commodity storage shelf 9 can be made into one rack 10. In this case, the total left and right width of all racks 10 is the maximum area of the product payout area. In addition, the rack 10 is numbered 1 to 8 from the left side to the rack 10 in the uppermost product storage shelf 9, for example, and the rack 10 in the following product storage shelf 9 from the left side. Numbers 9-16, 17-24,... This rack number is also referred to as a column number.

  Product unloading means is provided on the front side of the main body case 1 and in the front area of the product storage shelf 9. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the product carry-out means includes a product receiving base 12 (hereinafter referred to as a receiving base). The cradle 12 is formed to have a width corresponding to the total left and right width of all racks 10 arranged on one commodity storage shelf 9, that is, the same width as the maximum area of the commodity dispensing area. The cradle 12 has left and right side walls 13 at the ends in the left-right width direction. A receiving surface 14 is formed between the left and right side walls 13 so as to incline forward and downward to form a product storage area. The cradle 12 configured as described above can be moved up and down in the front area of the product storage shelf 9, and each receiving position (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 6) for receiving the product corresponding to each product storage shelf 9. And a take-out position (indicated by a solid line in FIG. 6) for delivering the product to the outside of the main body case 1 corresponding to the product take-out port 6.

  Further, the product carry-out means includes a drive unit 15. The drive unit 15 drives the transport unit 11 of the rack 10. The drive unit 15 is provided on the cradle 12 and is movable in the left-right direction of the cradle 12. Then, when the cradle 12 is in the receiving position, the driving unit 15 moves to a driving position corresponding to each rack 10 and transmits power to the conveying means 11 of each rack 10. In the rack 10 to which the power is transmitted, the conveyor belt 11b circulates and pays out the products on the conveyor belt 11b toward the receiving surface 14 of the receiving tray 12.

  Further, the product carrying means includes an inner door 16. The inner door 16 has a plate-like lower end pivotally supported on the lower front side of the cradle 12 and is rotatable in the front lower direction. The inner door 16 is allowed to rotate so as to open the receiving surface 14 of the receiving table 12 facing the product outlet 6 when the receiving table 12 is in the take-out position. At this time, the inner door 16 is in a position overlapping the take-out door 7 of the product take-out port 6, and rotates together when the take-out door 7 is rotated to open the product take-out port 6. Then, the product on the receiving surface 14 of the receiving tray 12 can be taken out from the main body case 1 through the product outlet 6. Further, the inner door 16 is controlled to rotate at a position where it is raised so as to close the front side of the cradle 12 when the cradle 12 is moved or moved to each receiving position, and is transported from each rack 10. The product is prevented from falling from the cradle 12.

  On the other hand, a cover member 17 is provided on the inner front side of the main body case 1 at the lower position of the lowermost product storage shelf 9 and at the upper position of the cradle 12 at the take-out position. As shown in FIG. 5, the cover member 17 is formed of a rectangular plate, and is configured to be pivotable in the front-up direction with the front end side being pivotally supported in a substantially horizontally disposed state. When the cradle 12 is in the take-out position, the cover member 17 rotates to a substantially horizontal position and hides the cradle 12. At this time, the cover member 17 is locked by the cover lock mechanism 18 and the concealed state is maintained. As a result, it is possible to partition between the area where the receiving tray 12 is located and the area where the receiving shelf 9 is located when taking out the merchandise on the receiving tray 12 from the merchandise outlet 6. Further, when the cradle 12 is moved, the cover member 17 is rotated to a substantially vertical position by releasing the cover lock mechanism 18 when the cradle 12 is moved to each receiving position. Allow.

  An operation unit 20 connected to the main body case 1 is configured outside the main body case 1 and on the right side of the main body case 1 in FIG. 4. When the operation unit 20 automatically sells products, It has a billing unit 21 that accepts and pays out money, an operation unit 22 that selects merchandise, and a card accepting unit 23 for holding a non-contact card. Further, a printer 24 for data printing is provided inside the operation unit 20 as indicated by a dotted line.

  The operation unit 22 is a four-digit display for displaying a product selection numeric keypad, a determination key, an operation button 22a such as a correction key, a fishing cutout, a bill stop lamp, a rack number of the selected product, a received amount or a change amount. There is a display panel 22b configured and the like.

  Next, the billing unit 21 includes a bill slot 21a for receiving bills, a coin slot 21b for receiving coins, a return lever 21c for instructing return of change, banknotes and coins, a return slot 21d for returning change and the like. .

  By the way, the vending machine exemplified in the present embodiment can be used as a vending machine that automatically sells products, and can also be used as a showcase on the premise of manned sales. In the vending machine mode used as a vending machine, the front door 3 is locked and set so that the operation unit 20 can be used. In the showcase mode used as a showcase, the front door 3 is unlocked and the extraction door 7 cannot be opened and closed so that the operation unit 20 cannot be used. Further, in the showcase mode, the receiving stand 12 of the product carry-out means is put on standby at the take-out position, and the receiving stand 12 is covered with the cover member 17 to be concealed.

  The operation of the present invention for the vending machine configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram for controlling the vending machine according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation process in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a print format.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the main control unit 30 is configured by a CPU 30 a, and comprehensively controls the operation of the vending machine based on programs and data stored in the ROM 31 and the RAM 32. The main control unit 30 controls the printing contents of the card control means 34 for performing card processing when the non-contact type card C is held over the card receiving unit 23 and the printer 24 for data printing via the communication driver 33. Printer control means 35 for performing, coin recognition means 36 for receiving and dispensing inserted coins and banknotes, display panel control means 37 for controlling display on the display panel 22b, push button control means 38 for controlling the operation buttons 22a, automatic The conveyance control means 39 which controls goods carrying out (conveyance) of a vending machine is connected. The changeover switch 40 for switching between the vending machine mode and the showcase mode is directly controlled by the main control unit 30 and is therefore connected to the main control unit 30.

  Hereinafter, the operation of carrying out the merchandise of the vending machine will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2, in the case of purchasing a product using a non-contact card C used in the vending machine, the user first selects a desired product using the operation button 22a (S1).

  Next, when the card C is held over the card receiving unit 23 (S2, Yes), the card C is detected, authenticated, and the remaining amount is read and transmitted to the card control means 34 (S3). In the card control means 34, the product price transmitted from the main control unit 30 is compared with the card remaining amount (S4), and if it is OK (S4, Yes), the product price is subtracted from the card remaining amount, and the settlement is successful. If so, the new remaining amount is written to the card C (S5), and the card control means 34 transmits the card ID as a settlement result, the balance before and after settlement to the main control unit 30, and the main control unit 30 performs normal operation. After confirming the settlement (S6), the product carry-out control means 39 is instructed to carry out the product, the product carry-out operation is started (S7), and when the product is carried out normally (S8, Yes), a series of sales The operation will be terminated.

  On the other hand, in step S7, the product unloading operation is started and the cradle 12 reaches the predetermined rack number position. When the product is jammed or sold out, the product is not carried out to the cradle 12 within a predetermined time, or the product is If the product is jammed during the movement and the product is not carried out, it is assumed that the product has not been successfully carried out (S9, No). The column number (product name), selling price, card ID, pre-subtraction card balance, post-subtraction card balance, etc. are transmitted as abnormal information (S10), and the printer 24 uses the code (from above) as in the print format shown in FIG. The position indicated by a) is the sales date and time, the position indicated by symbol (b) is the column number and the sales price, and the position indicated by symbol (c) is the remaining card amount before subtraction and the remaining card amount after subtraction. Column, code the position indicated by (d) performs printing of the card ID (identification) (S11), and ends the process.

  In addition, when the card C is not held over at the above step S2 (S2, No), or the product is not available for purchase with little card remaining amount at the step S4 (S4, No), and no alternative card is held over (S2, No), a predetermined time is measured (S12), and if the predetermined time has elapsed (S12, Yes), the previous selection is canceled and the process is terminated.

  Note that, in the case of selling out at the time of the abnormality, in the merchandise carry-out method of the vending machine according to the present embodiment, each rack (shelf) is not provided with a sold-out detection sensor. If the product cannot be detected at the cradle during the specified time, it will be judged as sold out for the first time. Even if it is in the state, if it is selected, the product is carried out for the first time in order to determine whether it is sold out.

  In this way, when an abnormality such as a product carry-out abnormality occurs, the trouble between the installer and the user can be avoided by printing the details of the sales abnormality immediately.

  The print content is not limited to the above-mentioned print content and printing order, and the cause of the abnormality (product jam, sold out, etc.) may be printed. Once the data is stored and the paper is replenished, printing may be started.

  In addition, although the embodiment has been described for a contactless card or a prior product selection as a sales form, the present invention is not limited to this, and for the purchase other than cash, such as an insertion method card, the present invention is The present invention can be applied to any sales method in which the settlement of the sales price is completed before the product carry-out operation, and the product may be selected after the card remaining amount is read.

  Furthermore, the merchandise unloading method of the vending machine is not limited to the merchandise unloading method described in the embodiment, and various methods can be considered as the merchandise unloading method, and an abnormality in unloading is detected at a predetermined time It is obvious that the detection method using a sensor or the like is not limited to the method, and the present invention can be applied to any vending machine as long as it is compatible with cards and includes a printer inside.

  Furthermore, even if there is no printer inside, it is easy to add an additional printer inside, so it is easier to improve the vending machine compared to the receipt issuing printer. Is possible.

It is a control block diagram of the vending machine of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the sales operation | movement of the vending machine of this invention. It is a figure which shows the printing format of this invention. It is a front view of the vending machine used as the object of the present invention. It is a plane sectional view of the vending machine of FIG. It is a sectional side view of the vending machine of FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Goods storage rack 22a Operation button 22b Display panel 23 Card reception part 24 Printer 30 Main control part 34 Card control means 35 Printer control means C Card

Claims (3)

In a vending machine comprising a control unit for carrying out a product after subtracting the price of the product selected at the time of product purchase by the card from the card, and a printer for printing data, the product can be purchased by the card, A control device for a vending machine, wherein abnormality information is printed by the printer when the product is not carried out after the price of the product is subtracted from the card. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein when the printer runs out of paper, the abnormality information is temporarily stored and printing of the abnormality information is started by detecting that the paper has been set. Vending machine control device. 3. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality information is a card ID, a sales date, a product name, a product price, an amount before card subtraction, and an amount after card subtraction. apparatus.

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