JP2005234941A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine enabling any one to easily select a commodity without mistake. <P>SOLUTION: The vending machine comprises a body case 11 storing commodities to be sold; a display part 12 for making a customer select a commodity; a money reader 34 reading the amount of input money; and a commodity releasing mechanism 30 releasing the selected commodity. The body case 11 includes a microphone 17 detecting the voice pattern of the customer. The vending machine further comprises a voice recognition control device 24 performing operation guide and confirmation guide for commodity selection, based on the voice pattern detected by the microphone 17, and confirming the received money by the money reader 34 to control the release of the selected commodity by the commodity release mechanism 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine capable of selecting a desired product by a customer's voice.

In recent years, various vending machines have been installed so that necessary products can be easily purchased. When purchasing a product using this vending machine, the amount of the displayed product is deposited, and the product is released by pressing a selection button. There has been disclosed a vending machine in which functional members are mounted in an arbitrary arrangement in a functional member mounting portion provided on the entire panel (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-217016 (pages 3 to 4, FIG. 1)

  However, in the conventional vending machine, the operation part provided with the product selection button is high enough to be operated by a normal adult, so a short child or a wheelchair is used. For a person, there is a risk that the product selection button may be out of reach or the product may be selected incorrectly, and the necessary product may not be purchased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine that allows anyone to easily select a product without error.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a product to be sold is stored in the main body case, and a display unit for the customer to select the product is provided to read the amount to be deposited. A vending machine having a product release mechanism for attaching a money reader and discharging a selected product, wherein the main body case is provided with a microphone for detecting a customer's voice pattern. A voice recognition control device is provided for performing operation guidance and confirmation guidance for product selection based on the confirmation, confirming payment by the money reader, and controlling the release of the product selected by the product release mechanism. Is. Since the customer's voice input from the microphone is detected by the voice recognition control device and operation guidance and confirmation guidance are performed, anyone can easily select a product without error.

  In the invention according to claim 2, the voice recognition control device compares the voice pattern input from the microphone with the voice pattern stored in the voice pattern memory in advance for discrimination of the product selection. Based on the discrimination result of the discrimination means, the voice pattern for confirming the same pronunciation as the voice pattern inputted from the microphone and the voice guide for recording the operation guidance are read out from the product guidance memory, and the voice is output from the speaker. And an instruction means for performing control. By recording the sound pattern for selecting a product in the sound pattern memory, it is possible to distinguish the customer's voice from external noise and perform correct recognition.

  The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the voice pattern memory stores a voice pattern for selecting a product displayed on the display unit by a number. is there. Product selection is made by uttering numbers, making selection easier

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the display unit is provided with a product lamp, and the instruction unit lights the product lamp based on a determination result of the determination unit. The selected product can be confirmed by lighting the product lamp.

  In the invention according to claim 5, the main body case is provided with an inventory detection sensor for detecting the presence or absence of goods, and inventory information detected by the inventory detection sensor is managed via a communication network. Information transmitting means for transmitting to the terminal is provided. Since the detection signal of the inventory detection sensor is received by the inventory management terminal, the commodity inventory can be easily managed.

  A vending machine that houses a product to be sold in the main body case, has a display unit for a customer to select a product, attaches a money reader that reads the amount of money received, and has a product release mechanism that discharges the selected product The main body case is provided with a microphone that detects the customer's voice pattern, and provides operation guidance and confirmation guidance for product selection based on the voice pattern detected by the microphone and confirms payment by the money reader. In addition, the voice recognition control device that controls the release of the product selected by the product release mechanism provides the operation guidance and confirmation guidance by detecting the customer's voice input from the microphone. But it can be done easily without error.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to an illustrated embodiment. 1 to 6 are diagrams for explaining a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of the vending machine, FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the equipment configuration of the vending machine, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the voice recognition control device, FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the control operation of the merchandise inventory information of the vending machine, and FIG. 6 is an inventory management terminal. It is a flowchart explaining the control operation | movement of goods inventory information.

  The vending machine 10 of the present embodiment is a device that sells beverages containing juice, coffee, tea, etc. in cans or plastic bottles, or products such as magazines, and is installed indoors or outdoors where people pass. The main body case 11 accommodates a product release mechanism 30 for releasing the product selected by the customer, and recognizes the customer's voice, which will be described in detail later, and performs product guidance to control various devices and the product release mechanism 30. A voice recognition device 24 is provided. The main body case 11 is formed in a substantially elongated vertically long rectangular box shape as a whole to accommodate various products, and a display unit 12 for products to be sold is provided on the upper side of the front, and a customer can store products in the center. It is an operation part for selecting, depositing a necessary amount or receiving change, and a product outlet 13 for the product released by the product release mechanism 30 is provided on the lower side.

  The display unit 12 of the main body case 11 is provided with a number display unit 21 that displays a product sample 20 of each product to be sold, displays the price of the product at the bottom, and describes a number for distinguishing each product. In the vicinity thereof, a product lamp 22 for lighting and indicating the selected product is attached. In addition, the main body case 11 is provided with an inventory detection sensor 23 for detecting the presence or absence of each product to be accommodated. The operation part at the lower part of the display unit 12 of the main body case 11 includes a human body detection sensor 17 for detecting the presence of a customer at a substantially central part, a speaker 18 for outputting product guidance to the customer and a microphone 19 for detecting the customer's voice. Is attached to the right side, and a coin reader 34 having a coin insertion slot 14 and a bill insertion slot 15 and a change dispenser 35 having a coin return slot 16 at the lower part thereof are provided.

  The voice recognition control device is configured to output a sound related to product guidance from the speaker 18 based on signals transmitted from the human body detection sensor 17, the microphone 19, the stock detection sensor 23, and the money reader 34, the product lamp 22 blinks, This is a part for controlling the operation of the discharge mechanism 30 and the operation of the change dispenser 35 and transmitting the inventory information to the information transmitting means 31. The voice recognition control device 24 includes a voice sampling means 25 for extracting voice inputted by the customer from the microphone 19 and a voice pattern memory storing a voice pattern that may be inputted as the voice of the product number from the customer. 27, a discrimination means 26 for judging the coincidence between the voice sampling data output from the voice sampling means 25 and the data in the voice pattern memory 27 read from the voice pattern memory 27, and a voice from the speaker 18 as a product guide. The product guidance memory 29 storing the data to be output, the detection data of the human body detection sensor 17, the determination data of the determination means 26, the data regarding the presence / absence of the product from the inventory detection sensor 23, and the data regarding the deposit from the money reader 34 are received. Then, the data in the product guide memory 29 is read out and the speaker 18 is read out. An instruction means 28 is provided for giving an instruction to output sound, blinking the commodity lamp 22, operating the commodity discharge mechanism 30, releasing change from the change dispenser 35, and transmitting inventory information to the information transmission means 31. .

  As shown in FIG. 3, the vending machine 10 is connected to an inventory management terminal 33 that manages the inventory of commodities via a communication network 32. The communication network 32 can transmit and receive data by wire or wireless. The inventory management terminal 33 is a part that receives data relating to the commodity inventory transmitted from the information transmitting means 35 of the vending machine 10, determines that the commodity is out of stock, and instructs the commodity delivery.

  Next, an example of a control operation by the voice recognition control device 24 of the vending machine 10 will be specifically described. As shown in FIG. 4, first, when a customer or the like approaches the vending machine 10 and the human body detection sensor 23 detects a human body (ST1), the instruction means 28 is based on a detection signal from the human body detection sensor 23. The data in the product guide memory 29 is read out, and the operation guidance such as “Please say the number of the desired product” is made from the speaker 18 after “Thank you for using”, for example (ST2). When the customer refers to the product sample 20 displayed on the display unit 12 and a number such as “No. 1” is input as the number displayed on the number display unit 21 below (ST3), The voice sampling means 25 samples and extracts the voice, and the discrimination means 26 compares the coincidence between the data from the voice sampling means 25 and the voice pattern data read from the voice pattern memory 27, and the discrimination result is indicated by the instruction means 28. The instruction means 28 determines whether or not the voice has been correctly recognized based on the determination result (ST4). If the voice cannot be correctly recognized, the speaker 18 gives an unrecognizable guidance message such as “cannot be recognized”. Speaking is performed (ST5), and the process returns to the operation guidance step (ST2) again. When the voice can be correctly recognized, the stock is detected based on the product presence / absence information from the stock detection sensor 23 (ST6), and when there is no stock, the speaker 18 indicates, for example, “stock is out of stock”. No guidance is made (ST7), and the process returns to the operation guidance step (ST2) again. When the product is in stock, the instruction means 28 provides a product confirmation guide such as “No. 1” which is the product number correctly recognized from the product guide memory 29 from the speaker 18 and the selected object. The product lamp 22 of the product is turned on (ST8). Subsequently, when the elapsed time T is about 3 seconds (t1) has elapsed (ST9), the instruction means 28 reads the product guidance from the product guidance memory 29, and inserts, for example, "120 yen from the speaker 18. Is received (ST10), and when the customer receives a signal from the coin insertion slot 14 or the banknote insertion slot 15 and detects the receipt of money from the money reader 34, the merchandise release mechanism 30 is issued. Operates to release the product to the product outlet 13 (ST12), and then, from the speaker 18, for example, "Thank you for your visit" followed by the product take-out guidance such as "Please take the product". If there is, the change dispenser 35 discharges coins to the coin return slot 16, the product lamp 22 is turned off (ST13), and the process ends.

  Next, an example of the control operation regarding the merchandise inventory of the vending machine 10 will be specifically described. First, as shown in FIG. 5, when the predetermined stock detection sensor 23 is off and the product is out (ST21), the instruction unit 28 transmits the product out-of-stock information to the information transmission unit 31, and the information transmission unit 31 Out-of-product information is transmitted to the inventory management terminal 33 via the communication network 32 (ST22). When the product is replenished and the inventory detection sensor 23 is turned on (ST23), the inventory is similarly sent via the communication network 32. The product supplement information is transmitted to the management terminal 33 (ST24). That is, the vending machine 10 transmits the presence / absence of inventory to the inventory management terminal 33 based on the detection signal of the inventory detection sensor 23.

  Next, an example of a control operation related to inventory management of the inventory management terminal 33 will be specifically described. First, as shown in FIG. 6, when the inventory management terminal 33 receives out-of-product information from the vending machine 10 as described above (ST31), the inventory information regarding the vending machine 10 is recorded and the product is replenished. A delivery instruction for sending is sent (ST32). Next, when merchandise replenishment information is received from the vending machine 10 (ST33), the inventory information is updated (ST34).

  As described above, in the vending machine 10 configured as described above, when a customer is detected by the human body detection sensor 23 provided in the main body case 11, the product guide is uttered from the speaker 18 under the control of the voice recognition control device 24. Subsequently, according to the guidance, the customer refers to the product sample 20 displayed on the display unit 12 and inputs the number displayed on the number display unit 21 below by voice, and the voice is sampled by the voice sampling means 25. Is compared with the data read out from the voice pattern memory 27 pre-recorded by the discriminating means 26, and it is discriminated whether correct voice input is made. If the voice input is not correctly recognized, the process returns to the voice input step again. When the product is recognized, the product confirmation guide for repeating the number is given from the speaker 18 to confirm the payment and the product release machine. To release the product corresponding to the number at 30. Therefore, unlike conventional vending machines, even a short child or a person using a wheelchair can easily select a product by speaking the number corresponding to the necessary product, and repeat the number. The product selection guide eliminates errors in product selection. Further, the presence / absence of a product is detected by the stock detection sensor 23, and product out-of-stock information is transmitted to the stock management terminal 33 via the communication network 32. The stock management terminal 33 manages stock information and supplies the product for instructing delivery. Can be performed reliably.

  In addition, in the said embodiment, the goods which the vending machine 10 sells can be made arbitrarily and are not limited to embodiment.

  It can be used in a vending machine that can select a desired product by the voice of the customer.

It is a front view of the vending machine of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram explaining the apparatus structure of the vending machine of this invention embodiment. It is a figure explaining the structure of the communication network of the vending machine of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the speech recognition control apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the control operation | movement of the merchandise inventory information of the vending machine of this invention embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the control operation | movement of the merchandise inventory information of an inventory management terminal in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vending machine 11 Main body case 12 Display part 13 Taking out port 14 Coin insertion port 15 Bill insertion port 16 Coin return port 17 Human body detection sensor 18 Speaker 19 Microphone 20 Product sample 21 Number display part 22 Product lamp 23 Inventory detection sensor 24 Voice recognition Device 25 Voice sampling means 26 Discrimination means 27 Voice pattern memory 28 Instruction means 29 Goods guidance memory 30 Goods release mechanism 31 Information transmission means 32 Communication network 33 Inventory management terminal 34 Money reader 35 Change change machine

Claims (5)

Automatic that has a product release mechanism that stores a product to be sold in a main body case, is provided with a display unit for a customer to select the product, attaches a money reader that reads the amount of money received, and discharges the selected product In the vending machine, the main body case is provided with a microphone that detects a customer's voice pattern, and provides operation guidance and confirmation guidance for product selection based on the voice pattern detected by the microphone, and payment by the money reader And a voice recognition control device for controlling the release of the product selected by the product release mechanism. The voice recognition control device is configured to compare a voice pattern input from the microphone with a voice pattern stored in a voice pattern memory in advance for discrimination of product selection, and a discrimination result of the discrimination means And an instruction means for performing control to read out a voice from a product guide memory storing a voice pattern for confirming the same pronunciation as the voice pattern inputted from the microphone and a voice pattern for recording operation guidance, and to output voice from a speaker. The vending machine according to claim 1. 3. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein a voice pattern for selecting a product displayed on the display unit by a number is stored in the voice pattern memory. 3. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the display unit is provided with a product lamp, and the instruction unit lights the product lamp based on a determination result of the determination unit. The main body case is provided with an inventory detection sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a product, and an information transmission means for transmitting inventory information detected by the inventory detection sensor to an inventory management terminal via a communication network. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine is provided.

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