JP2006171847A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic vending machine for validly developing display effects by operating proper image display corresponding to a current state. <P>SOLUTION: Which of a waiting state and a stand-by state and a selling state is the current state is determined by a main control part 21, and an image display instruction including an image code for specifying image data displayed in the determined state is transmitted to a display control part 24, and the image data corresponding to the image code instructed by the image display instruction are read from one of an image data storing part 24a, an external storage device 25 and of the DVD media of a DVD drive 26, and an image based on the read image data is displayed at an display unit 6 by a display control part 24. That is, the current state of an automatic vending device is properly determined, and proper image display corresponding to the determined current state is operated by an image display unit 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine equipped with an image display on the customer service surface.

Vending machines that sell beverages in cups as products, and vending machines that sell beverages in cans, bottled beverages, beverages in plastic bottles, etc., are equipped with an image display such as a liquid crystal display on the customer service. Is known. These vending machines display images of commodities that can be sold on an image display to differentiate them from conventional vending machines that do not have an image display.
JP-A-11-66408 JP 2001-175939 A

  In a vending machine having an image display, various images can be displayed on the image display at the time of product purchase, and still images and moving images for product promotion can be displayed on the image display at times other than the time of product purchase. There is utility.

  By the way, the state of the vending machine is roughly divided into a sales state indicating a state from when the purchase operation is started by the purchaser until the sale is completed, and a standby state indicating a state where the purchase operation can be accepted. There is a standby state indicating a state after the standby state continues for a predetermined time.

  In order to fully display the display effect of the image display device, it is preferable to determine whether the current state is the standby state, the standby state, or the sales state, and to perform image display most suitable for the current state. . However, since known vending machines do not perform such state determination, it is difficult to say that appropriate image display according to each state can be performed.

  The present invention was created in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of effectively exhibiting a display effect by performing an appropriate image display according to the current state. is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, the vending machine according to the present invention includes an image display provided on the customer service surface of the main body, and a state determination that determines whether the current state is a standby state, a standby state, or a sales state. Means, image display instruction means for sending an image display instruction including an image code for specifying image data to be displayed in the determined current state, and display in each of a standby state, a standby state, and a sales state Image storage means for storing image data, and image display switching means for reading out image data corresponding to the image code instructed according to the image display instruction from the image display instruction means from the image storage means and sending it to the image display , That characterizes it.

  According to this vending machine, it is determined whether the current state is a standby state, a standby state, or a sales state, and an image code for specifying image data to be displayed in the determined current state is provided. It is possible to send an image display instruction including the image data, read image data corresponding to the image code instructed according to the image display instruction, and display an image based on the read image data on the image display. That is, it is possible to determine the current state of the vending machine and display an appropriate image according to the determined current state on the image display.

  According to the present invention, a display effect can be effectively exhibited by performing an appropriate image display according to the current state.

  The above object and other objects, structural features, and operational effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

  FIGS. 1-8 shows one Embodiment which applied this invention to the vending machine which sells a cup drink as a goods. In the following description, the top of FIG. 1 is shown as the top, the bottom of FIG. 1 as the bottom, the left of FIG. 1 as the left, the right of FIG. 1 as the right, the front side of FIG. To do.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a vending machine.

  The main body 1 includes a cabinet (not shown) having an open front surface and a door (no symbol) provided to be openable and closable at the front opening of the cabinet. Although not shown in the drawings, the main body 1 contains a cup moving machine in addition to a beverage generating device such as a cup unloader, a water purifier, a hot water generator, a raw material storage, a coffee extractor, an ice maker, and a stirrer. .

  On the front surface (service surface) of the door of the main body 1, the bill insertion slot 2, the coin insertion slot 3, the return lever 4, the coin return slot 5, the image display 6, and the image display 6 are arranged side by side. A plurality of operation buttons 7 are provided. The image display 6 includes a known display such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, and a PDP (Plasma Display Panel), and is sent from a display control unit 24 (see FIG. 2) described later. The image data to be displayed is displayed as an image.

  Further, on the lower side of the image display 6 on the front surface of the door, a vertically long rectangular cup carry-out port 8, a cup mounting table 9 provided outside the cup carry-out port 8, and the front side of the door are projected forward. A simple table 10 is provided. Furthermore, a pair of left and right slide doors 11 a and 11 b for opening and closing the cup carry-out port 8 are provided on the rear side of the cup carry-out port 8.

  The cup mounting table 9 has an area sufficient for mounting a cup C, which will be described later, and has a plurality of protrusions spaced in the left-right direction. Further, on the left and right sides of the cup mounting table 9, wall surfaces having a predetermined height for restricting the left and right movement of the cup C are provided.

  The pair of left and right sliding doors 11a and 11b normally closes the cup carry-out port 8, and when the cup is taken out, it moves in the left-right direction so as to be separated from each other to open the cup carry-out port 8. The means for opening and closing the slide doors 11a and 11b includes a spring that biases the slide doors 11a and 11b so as to approach each other and maintains a closed state, and a symmetric shape on the rear side of the slide doors 11a and 11b. A pressed surface such as a curved surface provided, and parts such as a roller for pressing the pressed surface by advancing the cup holder of the cup moving machine to move the slide doors 11a and 11b away from each other. Can be adopted. Of course, the slide doors 11a and 11b are spring-biased so that they come close to each other, and a rack is provided on the rear side of each slide door 11a and 11b so that the pinion engaged with each rack can be rotated by a dedicated motor. May be.

  The cup C has an inverted frustoconical outer shape, and has an annular rib on the outer periphery of the upper end. The cup C is made of a combustible material such as paper, and the outer diameter of the annular rib existing at the upper end is the largest, and the outer diameter of the lower end is the smallest. A large number of the cups C are stacked and accommodated in the cup unloader, and are dropped and unloaded one by one from the cup unloader.

  The cup moving machine includes a cup holder that can hold and release the cup C, and a three-dimensional moving mechanism that can move the cup holder in the left-right direction, the front-rear direction, and the up-down direction. The cup holder has a cup holding portion having a substantially C-shaped top surface at the tip thereof, the inner diameter of the cup holding portion is slightly smaller than the maximum outer diameter of the cup C, and the left and right spacing of the open portion is the cup C Slightly larger than the minimum outer diameter. The three-dimensional movement mechanism includes an X-axis motor, a Y-axis motor, and a Z-axis motor, and a motion conversion mechanism such as a ball screw and a nut that converts the rotational motion of each motor into a linear motion and transmits the linear motion to the cup holder.

  After the money is inserted and the beverage is selected, the cup holder of the cup moving machine moves to the carry-out position of the cup carry-out machine and receives the cup C dropped and carried out from the cup carry-out machine. As described above, since the inner diameter of the cup holding portion is slightly smaller than the maximum outer diameter of the cup C, if the cup C is dropped from above the cup holding portion, the cup C automatically moves to the cup holding portion. Retained.

  After receiving the cup C, the cup holder moves in a predetermined procedure within the main body 1, and the desired beverage production is carried out in the cup during the movement process. For example, when coffee containing sugar and milk is selected as a beverage, the cup holder is charged with sugar powder and milk powder from the raw material storage in the cup C, and the coffee liquid extracted by the coffee extractor is stored in the cup C. And is moved in a predetermined procedure in the main body 1 so that stirring is performed.

  After the beverage production is completed, the cup holder holding the cup C containing the beverage moves to the standby position set inside the cup outlet 8 and advances forward by a predetermined distance from the same position to each slide door 11a, 11b is moved left and right so as to be separated from each other to open the cup carry-out port 8, and the cup C is lowered from the advance position by a predetermined distance, and the cup C is placed on the cup mounting table 9, and then retracted from the lower position by a predetermined distance. Then, the cup C is left on the cup mounting table 9 and returned to the initial position before the beverage is generated. As described above, since the left-right distance of the open portion of the cup holding portion is slightly larger than the minimum outer diameter of the cup C, if the cup holder is moved backward after the cup holder is lowered, the cup holding portion The holding can be released, and the cup C containing the beverage can be left on the cup mounting table 9.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system related to image display of the vending machine.

  The main control unit 21 has a microcomputer configuration, and its memory specifies image data to be displayed in each of a standby state, a standby state, and a sales state, which will be described later, in addition to the program related to the image display instruction shown in FIG. The image code is stored. The setting data storage unit 21a is a partial area of the memory, and is created by assigning an image code for specifying image data to be displayed in a standby state based on at least one of a time zone, a date, and a day of the week. A data table as shown in FIG. 5 is stored. The contents of this data table can be set as appropriate using an input device 22 such as a handy terminal connected to the main control unit 21. The main control unit 21 includes a clock unit 21b that can obtain data related to the date, day of the week, and time. The main control unit 21 basically determines the current state of the vending machine, selects an image code for specifying image data to be displayed in each state, and displays an image including the image code. It plays the role of sending instructions to the display control unit 24.

  The sales control unit 23 has a microcomputer configuration, and a program for generating and carrying out a desired beverage by operating the beverage production device and the cup moving machine is stored in the memory. The sales control unit 23 sends an operation timing signal necessary for selecting an image to be displayed in a sales state to be described later to the main control unit 21.

  The display control unit 24 has a microcomputer configuration, and a program related to image switching shown in FIG. 4 is stored in its memory. The image data storage unit 24a is a partial area of the memory, and mainly stores still image data and moving image data having a small data capacity among image data to be displayed in a standby state, a standby state, and a sales state, which will be described later. ing. An external storage device 25 such as a hard disk or an adapter-connected memory card and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) drive 26 are connected to the display control unit 24. The external storage device 25 mainly includes still image data and a moving image with a small data capacity. Image data is stored, and moving image data having a large data capacity is mainly stored in the DVD medium of the DVD drive 26. Although it depends on the free space, the image data stored in the DVD medium of the external storage device 25 or the DVD drive 26 can be appropriately taken into the image data storage unit 24a. Basically, the display control unit 24 appropriately receives image data corresponding to the instructed image code from the image data storage unit 24a, the external storage device 25, or the DVD drive 26 in accordance with an image display instruction from the main control unit 21. It plays the role of reading and sending it to the image display 6.

  FIG. 3 shows a flow of a program relating to an image display instruction stored in the memory of the main control unit 21.

  The main control unit 21 determines whether the vending machine is in a current state, that is, in a standby state, a standby state, or a sales state (steps ST1, ST6, ST9 in FIG. 3).

  Incidentally, the sales state refers to a state from when the purchase operation is started by the purchaser until the sale (cup removal) is completed. The standby state refers to a state in which the product purchase operation can be accepted in a non-sale state. Furthermore, the standby state refers to a state after the standby state continues for a predetermined time. When any of the operation buttons 7 is pressed in the standby state, the state shifts to a standby state, and when there is an initial purchase operation such as pressing a predetermined operation button 7 in the standby state, the state shifts to a sales state. When a series of merchandise sales operations are completed in the sales state, the state shifts to a standby state, and when the standby state continues for a predetermined time, for example, 60 seconds, the state shifts to a standby state.

  When the current state of the vending machine is a standby state, time data (including the current time, year, month, day, and day of the week) is read from the clock unit 21b, and the corresponding time zone is set based on the time data. An image code for specifying the image data to be displayed in the standby state is read from the stored data in the storage unit 21a, and a display instruction for the standby image including the image code is sent to the display control unit 24 (FIG. 3). Steps ST2 to ST5).

  Further, when the current state of the vending machine is a standby state, an image code for specifying image data to be displayed in the standby state is read from the memory, and a display instruction for a standby image including the image code is displayed. The data is sent to the unit 24 (steps ST7 and ST8 in FIG. 3).

  Further, when the current state of the vending machine is the sales state, an image code for specifying image data to be displayed in the sales state is read from the memory, and a display control unit displays a display instruction for the sales image including the image code. 24 (steps ST10 and ST11 in FIG. 3). The timing of the start of beverage production and the completion of beverage production can be known from the operation timing signal from the sales control unit 23.

  FIG. 4 shows a flow of a program relating to image switching stored in the memory of the image display 24.

  The display control unit 24 determines whether the display instruction from the main control unit 21 is a standby image, a standby image, or a sales image (steps SE1, SE4, and SE7 in FIG. 4).

  When the display instruction from the main control unit 21 is a standby image display instruction, the image data corresponding to the image code is read from any of the image data storage unit 24a, the external storage device 25, and the DVD medium of the DVD drive 26; A standby image based on the read image data is displayed on the image display 6 (steps SE2 and SE3 in FIG. 4).

  When the display instruction from the main control unit 21 is a standby image display instruction, image data corresponding to the image code is obtained from any of the image data storage unit 24a, the external storage device 25, and the DVD medium of the DVD drive 26. The standby image based on the read image data is displayed on the image display 6 (steps SE5 and SE6 in FIG. 4).

  Furthermore, when the display instruction from the main control unit 21 is a display instruction for a sales image, image data corresponding to the image code is obtained from any one of the image data storage unit 24a, the external storage device 25, and the DVD medium of the DVD drive 26. The sales image based on the read image data is displayed on the image display 6 (steps SE8 and SE9 in FIG. 4).

  In the following, a specific example of the above-described image display instruction and image switching will be described by taking as an example the case where the vending machine is installed at the entrance of an office building where the departure time is 9:00 and the leaving time is 18:00. To do.

  FIG. 5 shows a data table for the standby state stored in the setting data storage unit 21 a of the main control unit 21. As can be seen from the figure, the image code 101 is assigned to the time zone of 8:00 to 9:00, which is the working time, and the image code is assigned to the morning time of 9:00 to 12:00. 102 is assigned, and the image code 101 is assigned to the time zone of 12:00 to 13:00, which is the lunch break time, and the image code 102 is assigned to the time zone of 13:00 to 18:00, which is the business hours in the afternoon. The image code 101 is assigned to the time zone of 18:00 to 19:00, which is the leaving time, and the image code 102 is assigned to the subsequent time zone (19:00 to 8:00). . Further, since the period from December 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004 is the campaign period, the image code 101 is converted into the image code 103 corresponding to the campaign, and the image code 102 is converted into the image code 104 corresponding to the campaign. Is set to do. Further, on holidays and holidays (Saturday and Sunday), it is set that the image code 101 is converted to the image code 000 with no image display and the image code 102 is converted to the image code 000 with no image display. Yes.

  The current state of the vending machine is in the standby state, and the current time is 8:00 to 9:00, the daytime is 12: 0 to 13:00, or the time is 18:00 to 19:00. When it is the time zone, the image A1 in FIG. 6A defined by the image code 101, that is, the product promotion moving image broadcast on the television is displayed on the image display 6. These time zones are the most crowded and the frequency of product purchases is high, so they actively promote products and promote sales.

  In addition, the current state of the vending machine is a standby state, and the current time is a business time zone of 9:00 to 12:00, a business time zone of 13: 0 to 18:00, or 19:00 to 8:00. In the time zone, the image A2 in FIG. 6B defined by the image code 102, that is, the still image including the manufacturer name and brand name is displayed on the image display 6. Since these days are not very busy and the purchase frequency of the products is not high, we will refrain from displaying moving images and save power.

  When the date is within the campaign period from December 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004, for the campaign specified by the image code 103 instead of the image A1 of FIG. A moving image (not shown) is displayed on the image display 6, and a still image for campaign (not shown) defined by an image code 104 instead of the image A2 of FIG. Is displayed on the image display 6 to actively announce the campaign.

  Further, when the date is a holiday or holiday (Saturday and Sunday), the image A1 or the image code 103 of FIG. 6A defined by the image code 101 is not displayed, and the image code In order to save power, the image A2 in FIG. 6B defined by 102 and the image defined by the image code 104 are not displayed.

  When the current state of the vending machine is the standby state, the image B1 of FIG. 7A defined by a predetermined image code, that is, the top menu image is displayed on the image display 6. This top menu image includes images or characters that can be used to identify individual menus corresponding to the types of products such as HOT and COLD and various types. When it is in a state where it cannot be sold due to a failure or the like even in the standby state, an image B2 in FIG. 7B, that is, an image with characters being prepared is displayed.

  When the product type is selected by the operation button 7 in the state where the image B1 (top menu image) in FIG. 7A is displayed, the current state of the vending machine becomes the sales state and is defined by a predetermined image code. The image C1 shown in FIG. 8A, that is, an image in which the individual menu corresponding to the product type is enlarged and displayed is displayed. Subsequently, when the specific menu is selected while the image C1 of FIG. 8A is displayed, the image C2 of FIG. 8B, that is, seasoning for selecting the amount of sugar, milk, or the like. Display the image. Subsequently, when the seasoning operation is completed in a state where the image C2 of FIG. 8B is displayed, the image C3 of FIG. 8C, that is, an image for requesting the amount payment for the selection menu is displayed. . Subsequently, when the image C3 in FIG. 8C is displayed and the payment of the amount is completed, the image C4 in FIG. 8D, that is, “Wait for a while” is informed that the beverage is being generated. Please display an image containing a message such as “Please.” After the beverage generation is completed, an image C5 in FIG. 8E, that is, an image including a message such as “Thank you” for notifying that the beverage generation and the cup carry-out are completed is displayed.

  According to the vending machine described above, the main control unit 21 determines whether the current state is a standby state, a standby state, or a sales state, and specifies image data to be displayed in the determined current state. An image display instruction including an image code to be transmitted is sent to the display control unit 24, and image data corresponding to the image code instructed by the display control unit 24 according to the image display instruction is stored in the image data storage unit 24a and the external storage device 25. , And read from any of the DVD media of the DVD drive 26, and an image based on the read image data can be displayed on the image display 6. In other words, since the current state of the vending machine is appropriately determined and an appropriate image display according to the determined current state can be performed on the image display 6, the display effect of the image display 6 can be effectively exhibited. It is possible to promote sales by improving the impression received by the buyer by displaying images according to each state.

  Also, the state from when the purchase operation is started by the purchaser until the sale is completed is determined as the sales state, and the non-sale state where the product purchase operation can be accepted is determined as the standby state. Is determined as a standby state after a predetermined time has elapsed, it is possible to accurately determine the standby state, the standby state, and the sales state.

  Further, when in the standby state, the image code is selected based on the data table of the setting data storage unit 21a assigned based on at least one of the time zone, the date, and the day of the week. Fine display switching according to the day and day of the week can be performed.

  Furthermore, since the contents of the data table of the setting data storage unit 21a can be arbitrarily set using the input device 22, display switching in the standby state can be accurately performed according to the installation location and environment of the vending machine.

  Further, since the DVD drive 26 is provided as an image storage means, a moving image for product promotion having a large data capacity can be arbitrarily displayed on the image display 6, and the DVD medium can be used for other moving image display requests. Can be easily handled by replacement.

  In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a vending machine that sells cupped beverages as commodities. However, automatic sales of canned beverages, bottled beverages, plastic bottled beverages, and the like as commodities. Needless to say, the same effects can be obtained by applying the present invention to a vending machine.

It is a front view of the vending machine which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a control system block diagram which concerns on the image display of the vending machine of FIG. It is a figure which shows the flow of the program which concerns on an image display instruction | indication. It is a figure which shows the flow of the program which concerns on image switching. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the data table for standby states. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the display image of a standby state. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the display image of a standby state. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the display image of a sales state.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main body, 6 ... Image display device, 21 ... Main control part, 21a ... Setting data storage part, 21b ... Clock part, 22 ... Input device, 24 ... Display control part, 24a ... Image data storage part, 25 ... External storage Device, 26 ... DVD drive.

Claims (5)

An image display provided on the customer service surface of the main body,
State determination means for determining whether the current state is a standby state, a standby state, or a sales state;
Image display instruction means for sending an image display instruction including an image code for specifying image data to be displayed in the determined current state;
Image storage means for storing image data to be displayed in each of a standby state, a standby state and a sales state;
Image display switching means for reading out image data corresponding to the image code instructed in accordance with the image display instruction from the image display instruction means from the image storage means and sending the image data to the image display;
Vending machine characterized by that. The state discriminating means discriminates the state from when the purchase operation is started by the purchaser until the sale is completed as the sale state, and determines the non-sale state that can accept the product purchase operation as the standby state. , Determine the state after the standby state has continued for a predetermined time as a standby state,
The vending machine according to claim 1. The image display instruction means includes a data table in which an image code for specifying image data to be displayed in a standby state is assigned based on at least one of a time zone, a year, month, day, and day of the week.
The vending machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that An input device for setting the contents of the data table of the image display instruction means;
The vending machine according to claim 3. The image storage means includes a DVD drive,
The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein

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