JP2007048036A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine which is superior in operability and anti-theft security, and at low production cost. <P>SOLUTION: The vending machine is provided with an electronically-controlled locking mechanism 40 which locks a vending machine body 10 and an outer door 20; a key cylinder 31 which can be rotated, when an authorized key is inserted in it; a rotation detecting means 35 which detects that the key cylinder 31 rotates by at least a prescribed angle; a key cylinder detecting means 36 which detects that the key cylinder 31 is located at a prescribed position; and a control device 60 which controls the locking mechanism 40 so that it releases locking, when the key cylinder detecting means 36 detects the key cylinder 31 and the rotation detecting means 35 detects that the key cylinder 31 has rotated by at least a prescribed angle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine that sells stored articles, and more particularly, to a technique of a lock mechanism of an outer door that opens and closes a vending machine body.

  Conventionally, this type of vending machine has a vending machine body having a front opening for storing articles, an outer door for opening and closing the front opening of the vending machine body, and a handle lock for locking the vending machine body and the outer door. A device having a lock mechanism called an expression is known. This locking mechanism locks or unlocks the outer door by a turning operation of a handle provided on the outer door. Further, this handle is normally embedded in the outer door. Therefore, in this state, the handle cannot be operated. A key cylinder is incorporated in the handle, and the handle is pulled forward by inserting and rotating a valid key into the key cylinder. As a result, the handle can be operated.

In such a vending machine, if the key cylinder is destroyed, the handle can be operated, and thus various security measures have been proposed. For example, a double locking method in which a lock mechanism is provided in addition to the lock mechanism has been proposed. Patent Document 1 proposes a technique in which an electronically controlled second lock mechanism is provided in addition to the lock mechanism.
JP-A-8-212443

  However, although the double locking method has a visual effect on malicious ones, each locking mechanism itself is not different from the conventional one, so the effect of double locking is the time required for destruction. It was a long and short problem, and there was a problem that it was not enough as a security measure. In addition, the operator has to perform two unlocking operations to open the outer door, which is a complicated operation. Further, since the lock mechanism is provided twice, there is a problem that the structure is complicated and the cost is increased.

  On the other hand, in the thing of patent document 1, the security performance is improved without reducing operativity by controlling the electronically controlled second locking mechanism in cooperation with the mechanical locking mechanism. . However, since the lock mechanism is provided twice, the problem of the complicated structure and high cost has not been solved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a vending machine with good operability and crime prevention performance at low cost.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present application, in a vending machine comprising a vending machine body having a front opening for storing articles and an outer door for opening and closing the front opening of the vending machine body, An electronically controlled locking mechanism that locks the outer door, a key cylinder that can be rotated when a valid key is inserted, a rotation detecting means that detects that the key cylinder has rotated more than a predetermined angle, and a key cylinder A key cylinder detecting means for detecting that it is attached at a predetermined position, and a lock for releasing the lock when the key cylinder detecting means detects the key cylinder and the rotation detecting means detects a rotation of the key cylinder beyond a predetermined angle. A device characterized by comprising a control device for controlling the mechanism is proposed.

  According to the present invention, the electronically controlled lock mechanism performs the unlocking operation only when the key cylinder is attached at a predetermined position and the key cylinder is rotated by a valid key. Even if it is removed, unlocking can be prevented. In addition, the unlocking operation is better than that provided with multiple locking mechanisms, and the cost can be reduced because of the simple configuration.

  In this vending machine, the lock is released simply by rotating the key cylinder using a legitimate key. Compared with the conventional vending machine adopting the handle lock type, the operator determines whether the lock is actually released or not. It is hard to be transmitted to. Therefore, in the present application, in the above vending machine, the control device proposes a control device that displays a predetermined message on a display that displays the amount of money to be charged, etc., when performing the lock release control. Thereby, since the operator can surely recognize that the lock is released, the operability is improved. In addition, if the message is not displayed even if the key cylinder is rotated using a valid key, it can be assumed that some trouble has occurred in the electrical system, and if the message is displayed but the lock is not released, the lock mechanism It can be inferred that a mechanical failure has occurred. That is, since the problem part can be easily separated, the maintainability is excellent.

  Further, in the present application, the vending machine includes a storage unit that stores a detection result of the key cylinder detection unit, and the control device includes a key cylinder detection unit when the storage unit has a history of non-detection of the key cylinder. It is proposed that the lock release is not performed even when the key cylinder is detected and the rotation detecting means detects the rotation of the key cylinder beyond a predetermined angle.

  According to the present invention, if the key cylinder is removed even once, the lock cannot be released even if the key cylinder is attached thereafter. Therefore, even if a criminal attaches an alternative key cylinder after removing the key cylinder due to destruction or the like, the lock cannot be released. Therefore, the crime prevention performance is further improved.

  Note that the reason why the key cylinder is removed includes not only an unjust thing by a criminal or the like but also a valid thing such as a replacement work by an operator. Therefore, in this application, in such a vending machine, the control device has a history of key cylinder non-detection in the storage means, the key cylinder detection means detects the key cylinder, and the rotation detection means exceeds a predetermined angle of the key cylinder. It is proposed that a predetermined message be displayed on a display device that displays the amount of money to be input when the rotation is detected. As a result, the operator can recognize that the reason why the lock cannot be released is the removal of the key cylinder. In such a case, the operator may take a predetermined measure such as clearing the history stored in the storage means.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the electronically controlled locking mechanism performs the unlocking operation only when the key cylinder is attached at a predetermined position and the key cylinder is rotated by a valid key. Even if the cylinder is removed due to destruction or the like, unlocking can be prevented. In addition, the unlocking operation is better than that provided with multiple locking mechanisms, and the cost can be reduced because of the simple configuration.

  A vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of the vending machine, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the vending machine.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vending machine 1 opens and closes a box-shaped vending machine body 10 having a front opening in which a product storage room and a machine room are formed, and a front opening of the vending machine body 2. The outer door 20 is provided. On the front surface of the outer door 20, a display 25 for displaying the amount of money inserted, a money return lever 26, a coin consisting of a product sample 21, a product selection button 22, a coin slot 23, a bill slot 24, a 7-segment LED, etc. A return port 27, a merchandise outlet 28, and a handle 29 are attached. A key cylinder unit 30 is attached inside the outer door 20, and a cylinder body 31 of the key cylinder unit 30 is exposed on the front surface of the outer door 20. In addition, a lock mechanism 40 that is electronically controlled to be locked and unlocked by a control unit (described later) is provided inside the outer door 20. The locking mechanism 40 engages with a U-shaped or U-shaped locking piece 11 provided on the front surface of the vending machine body 10 to lock and unlock the outer door 20.

  Next, the detailed structure of the key cylinder unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the key cylinder unit 30.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the key cylinder unit 30 includes a cam-like cylinder body 31 that can be rotated by inserting a valid key, a front support member 32 that supports the front portion of the cylinder body 31, and a cylinder body. The rear part supporting member 33 which supports the rear part of 31 and the casing 34 which accommodated these are provided.

  A convex portion 31 a for restricting the rotation angle is formed on the front surface of the cylinder body 31. A notch 32 b that engages with the convex portion 31 a of the cylinder body 31 is formed on the inner periphery of the through hole 32 a of the front support member 32. Thereby, the cylinder main body 31 is freely rotatable within a predetermined angle range. In the present embodiment, the key inserted into the cylinder body 31 can be rotated in a range of 90 ° from the 9 o'clock direction to the 12 o'clock direction when viewed from the front of the outer door 20.

  The upper portion of the rear support member 33 is bent forward, and the end portion is bent downward. A rotation detection switch 35, which is a sensor that detects the rotation state of the cylinder body 31, is attached to the space formed above the rear support member 33. In the present embodiment, a micro switch is used as the rotation detection switch 35. When the cylinder main body 31 rotates, the body portion of the cylinder main body 31 in a cam shape comes into contact with the lever 35a, and the contact of the rotation detection switch 35 is turned ON / OFF. The rotation detection switch 35 is connected to a control unit described later via a harness 51.

  A push button type key cylinder detection switch 36 for detecting whether or not the cylinder main body 31 exists at a predetermined position is disposed behind the rear support member 33. The push button part 36 a of the key cylinder detection switch 36 contacts the rear end of the cylinder body 31 through the through hole 33 a of the rear support member 33. That is, the contact of the key cylinder detection switch 36 is ON while the cylinder body 31 is present. The key cylinder detection switch 36 is housed in the casing 34 via the mounting plate 37. The key cylinder detection switch 36 is connected to a control unit described later via a harness 52.

  Next, the detailed structure of the lock mechanism 40 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the lock mechanism 40.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the lock mechanism 40 includes a lock mechanism that engages with a locking piece of the vending machine main body 10 at an upper part and a lower part in a vertically extending rectangular tube-shaped casing 41. Each lock mechanism includes a snatch lock 42, a solenoid 43 for driving the release pin 42a of the snatch lock 42, and a link 44 that connects the flanger 43a of the solenoid 43 and the release pin 42a of the snatch lock 42. Yes. Each of the snatch locks 42 is provided with a driving piece 42c linked to the locking portion 42b. The drive piece 42 c is engaged with drive pins 45 a provided at the upper and lower ends of the slide plate 45 extending vertically in the casing 41. The slide plate 45 is connected to the casing 41 by a coil spring 46.

  With this structure, when each solenoid 43 is energized, the flanger 43a and the link 44 move toward the solenoid 43, and the release pin 42a of the snatch lock 42 is activated. Thereby, the latching | locking part 42b of the snatch lock 42 rotates, and it will be in a lock release state. At this time, the drive piece 42c rotates together with the engaging portion 42b of the snatch lock 42, and the slide plate 45 linked to the drive piece 42c also slides up and down.

  When the energization of each solenoid 43 is stopped, the slide plate 45 is slid back by the coil spring 46 connected to the slide 45, and the drive piece 42c of the snatch lock 42 is rotated. Thereby, the latching piece 42b of the snatch lock 42 is also rotated and the locked state is restored.

  Next, the control unit of the vending machine according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control system of the vending machine. Here, only the configuration related to the gist of the present invention is described, and other configurations are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the rotation detection switch 35, the key cylinder detection switch 36, the solenoid 43, and the display device 25 are connected to the control unit 60. The rotation detection switch 35 and the key cylinder detection switch 36 are connected to the control unit 60 so as to be LOW active. That is, the rotation detection switch 35 is connected so that it is LOW when the rotation detection switch 35 detects the rotation of the cylinder body 31 at a predetermined angle or more, and HIGH when it is not detected. Similarly, the key cylinder detection switch 36 is connected so that it is LOW when the cylinder body 31 is present at a predetermined position and HIGH when it is not present. In addition, the control unit 60 includes a key cylinder detection history storage unit 61 that stores a history of detection results of the key cylinder detection switch 36.

  Next, the operation of the vending machine according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the unlocking operation of the vending machine.

  When the controller 60 detects that the rotation detection switch 35 has changed from the HIGH state to the LOW state in the standby state, the key cylinder detection switch 36 is in the LOW state, and the cylinder body 31 is stored in the key cylinder detection history storage unit 61. If there is no history of the removal (step S1, S2), unlock control (energization of the solenoid 43) is performed (step S3), and a predetermined message (for example, “OPEn”) is displayed on the display 25. Display (step S4).

  On the other hand, in the standby state, it is detected that the rotation detection switch 35 has changed from the HIGH state to the LOW state. However, when the key cylinder detection switch 36 is in the HIGH state, the unlocking control is performed because the cylinder body 31 has been removed. Not performed (step S1).

  Further, it is detected that the rotation detection switch 35 is changed from the HIGH state to the LOW state in the standby state, and the cylinder body 31 is removed from the key cylinder detection history storage unit 61 even when the key cylinder detection switch 36 is in the LOW state. If there is a history of such events (steps S1 and S2), a predetermined message (for example, “OFF”) is displayed on the display unit 25 without performing unlock control (step S5).

  On the other hand, when the control unit 60 detects that the key cylinder detection switch 36 has changed from the HIGH state to the LOW state in the standby state, the control unit 60 stores in the key cylinder detection history storage unit 61 that the cylinder body 31 has been removed (Step S60). S6).

  According to such a vending machine 1, the lock mechanism 40 is not unlocked when the cylinder body 31 is removed, and the lock mechanism 40 is unlocked even when the cylinder body 31 is replaced. Will not improve the crime prevention performance. In particular, since a double lock mechanism or the like is not employed, the crime prevention performance can be improved with a simple structure and low cost. Further, since the unlocking operation is only insertion and rotation of a valid key, good operability can be obtained. Further, when the lock mechanism 40 is released or when the cylinder body 31 is changed, a predetermined message is displayed on the display unit 25, so that even better operability can be obtained.

  Note that the operator cannot unlock the lock mechanism 40 even after the cylinder body 31 has been replaced even if it is a valid key. In this case, by deleting the history in the key cylinder detection history storage unit 61. Thereafter, normal operation becomes possible.

  Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the above embodiment, the mechanical contact type switch is used as the rotation detection means of the cylinder body 31 and the detection means of the cylinder body 31, but other detection means such as an optical sensor may be used. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although what used the snatch lock 42 and the solenoid 43 was illustrated as the electronically controlled locking mechanism 40, as long as it can control from the control part 60, another locking mechanism may be sufficient. .

Front view of vending machine Side view of vending machine Exploded perspective view of key cylinder unit Configuration diagram of lock mechanism Block diagram of control system Flow chart explaining unlocking operation of outer door

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vending machine, 10 ... Vending machine main body, 11 ... Locking piece, 20 ... Outer door, 25 ... Display, 29 ... Handle, 30 ... Key cylinder unit, 31 ... Cylinder main body, 32 ... Front support member 33 ... Rear support member 34 ... Casing 35 ... Rotation detection switch 36 ... Key cylinder detection switch 40 ... Lock mechanism 41 ... Casing 42 ... Snatch lock 43 ... Solenoid 44 ... Link 45 ... Slide plate 46 ... Coil spring, 60 ... Control unit, 61 ... Key cylinder detection history storage unit

Claims (4)

In a vending machine having a vending machine body with a front opening for storing articles and an outer door for opening and closing the front opening of the vending machine body,
An electronically controlled locking mechanism that locks the vending machine body and the outer door;
A key cylinder that can rotate when a valid key is inserted; and
Rotation detecting means for detecting that the key cylinder has rotated more than a predetermined angle;
Key cylinder detection means for detecting that the key cylinder is attached at a predetermined position;
Vending machine comprising: a control device for controlling the lock mechanism to release the lock when the key cylinder detecting means detects the key cylinder and the rotation detecting means detects rotation of the key cylinder beyond a predetermined angle. Machine. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the control device displays a predetermined message on a display that displays the amount of money to be charged, etc., when performing the lock release control. Storage means for storing the detection result of the key cylinder detection means;
When the storage means has a history of non-detection of the key cylinder, even if the key cylinder detection means detects the key cylinder and the rotation detection means detects rotation of the key cylinder more than a predetermined angle. 3. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein unlocking is not performed. The control device has a history of non-detection of the key cylinder in the storage means. When the key cylinder detection means detects the key cylinder and the rotation detection means detects the rotation of the key cylinder beyond a predetermined angle, a display for displaying the amount of money to be inserted, etc. The vending machine according to claim 3, wherein a predetermined message is displayed on the container.

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