JP2007148600A - Control method of vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control method of a vending machine which enables selling of commodities stored in a part of a commodity storage chamber even when a device concerning a commodity conveyance bucket is broken down. <P>SOLUTION: The vending machine is equipped with; a plurality of commodity columns 5 set up in multiple steps in a main part 1; a commodity delivery outlet 8 arranged at its lower part; a bucket 11 set up movably in a vertical direction to transfer the commodity paid out from the commodity column 5 to the commodity delivery outlet 8; a moving mechanism 10; and a position detection means 38 which detects the position of the bucket 11, and moves the bucket 11 to a position corresponding to the commodity column 5 in which sales commodities are stored by a selling instruction, receives and transfers the sold commodities to the commodity delivery outlet 8. The control method of the vending machine makes it possible to detect a stop position of the bucket 11 when movement of the bucket 11 stops by failure of the moving mechanism 10, and to pay out directly the commodities contained in the commodity column 5 at a position lower than the stop position of the bucket 11 to the commodity delivery outlet 8 to sell them. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a control method for a vending machine provided with a product column provided in a plurality of stages on the top and bottom, and a product transport mechanism for delivering a product dispensed from the product column of each stage to a product take-out port below. The present invention relates to a control method for a vending machine related to sales of a product when a product delivered from a product column cannot be taken out by the product transport mechanism due to a failure of the transport mechanism.

A conventional vending machine of this type is known as disclosed in JP-A-8-202935. The vending machine includes a plurality of product storage rooms provided in multiple stages in the main body, a door provided to be openable and closable at the front opening of the main body, a product outlet provided at the lower part of the door, and a product storage room. A product transport bucket provided in the space between the door and the door so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and the product delivered from the product storage chamber is transported to the product outlet by the product transport bucket and sold. It is.
According to this, by receiving the product delivered from the product storage chamber configured in multiple stages in the height direction by the product transport bucket provided movably in the vertical direction, It is possible to reduce the drop distance when the product is carried out, and to prevent the product from being damaged or deformed by a drop impact.
JP-A-8-202935

By the way, in a vending machine equipped with such a product transport bucket, if a drive device that drives the product transport bucket fails and the product transport bucket cannot move up and down, a plurality of products There was a problem that a plurality of types of products stored in the storage room could not be sold.
In order to cope with such a problem, the present invention detects the stop position of the product transport bucket by the position detection means when the product transport bucket stops and cannot move due to a failure of the drive device or the like, and the product transport bucket The product stored in the product storage room located below the stop position of the product can be sold directly to the product outlet and sold. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for controlling a vending machine capable of selling products stored in a product storage room.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is arranged below the product column in communication with a plurality of product columns provided in multiple stages in the vertical direction in the main body and the outside of the main body. A product outlet is provided to be movable in the vertical direction between a position corresponding to the product column at each stage and a position corresponding to the product outlet, and the product discharged from the product column is provided to the product outlet. A bucket for transferring, a moving mechanism for the bucket, and a position detecting means for detecting the position of the bucket in the vertical direction, operating the moving mechanism in accordance with a sales command, and moving the bucket based on the position detecting means. Automatic sales for selling products by moving to a position corresponding to the product column in which the products for sale are stored, receiving the products in the bucket, and further transporting the products to the product outlet A control method for a machine, wherein when the movement of the bucket is stopped due to a failure of the moving mechanism, the position of the bucket is detected by the position detecting means, and the commodity located below the stop position of the bucket The product stored in the column can be directly paid out and sold to the product outlet according to the sales instruction.

According to this, even when the moving mechanism related to the bucket is out of order, the products stored in the product column located below the stop position of the bucket without stopping the sale of all products. Can be sold.
The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein, for each of the commodity columns, when the movement of the bucket is stopped due to a failure of the moving mechanism and the position is lower than the stop position, the sale is performed. According to the command, the product stored in the product column can be set to be directly paid out and sold to the product outlet.
According to this, for each product column, whether or not the product stored in the product column located below the stop position of the bucket can be sold when the moving mechanism related to the bucket fails. Can be set.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of product columns provided in a multi-stage in the main body in a vertical direction, a product outlet that communicates with the outside of the main body and is disposed below the product column, A bucket provided so as to be movable in a vertical direction between a position corresponding to the product column of the step and a position corresponding to the product outlet, and for transferring the product discharged from the product column to the product outlet; Each of the commodity columns when the commodity in the commodity column is taken out and sold to the commodity outlet according to a sales instruction, and the position detecting means for detecting the vertical position of the bucket. , So that the product can be transferred to the product outlet using the bucket and sold, and the product can be set directly to the product outlet and sold. Those were.
According to this, even when the moving mechanism related to the bucket breaks down, it is located below the stop position of the bucket, and the stored product is delivered directly to the product outlet for sale. The products stored in the set product column can be sold.

In the invention according to claim 4, the bucket always stands by at a position higher than the position corresponding to the product column located at the uppermost stage, and the bucket stores the sale product from the standby position according to the sales command. In the middle of moving to the position corresponding to the commodity column, when the movement is stopped due to a failure of the moving mechanism, it is controlled to move upward toward the standby position.
According to this, when the said moving mechanism which concerns on the said bucket fails, the said bucket is moved upward from the position at the time of the failure, and the number of the said product columns located below the stop position of the said bucket is increased. Can be.

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the commodity column located below the stop position of the bucket without stopping the sale of all commodities even when the moving mechanism related to the bucket fails. By making it possible to sell products stored in the container, it is possible to provide a control method for a vending machine capable of increasing sales opportunities and improving sales efficiency.
Moreover, according to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, when the moving mechanism which concerns on a bucket breaks down, it is each about whether the goods accommodated in the goods column located below the stop position of a bucket are sold. Since it can be set for each product column, for example, if there is a risk of damage or deformation when the product is taken directly to the product outlet, do not sell the product column that stores the product. Can be set to That is, it is possible to provide a vending machine control method that is adapted to the type of merchandise regarding the sale of merchandise.

According to the invention of claim 3, even when the moving mechanism related to the bucket breaks down, the product that is located below the bucket stop position and that is stored is delivered directly to the product outlet and sold. Since the products stored in the product column set to be sold can be sold, the sales efficiency will be improved by increasing the sales opportunities, and the vending machine adapted to the product type in relation to the product sales. A control method can be provided.
According to the invention of claim 4, when the moving mechanism related to the bucket fails, the number of product columns that are moved downward from the position at the time of the failure and positioned below the stop position of the bucket A vending machine control method that can increase the number of product columns that can be sold, increase the sales opportunities for products stored in the product columns, and improve sales efficiency. Can be provided.

A preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which opened the outer door in the vending machine which concerns on a form.
As shown in the figure, this vending machine includes a main body 1 having an open front surface and an outer door 2 that covers the opening on the front surface of the main body 1 so as to be freely opened and closed. The main body 1 is provided with a storage 3 having an open front and surrounded by a heat insulating member, and a product storage column (product column) 5 for storing products in a line in the front and rear. A product rack 4 is provided that is arranged in a vertical row and a horizontal row. The product storage column 5 is composed of a spiral member 26 and the like arranged in two rows in the front-rear direction and configured to send the product forward based on a sales command. Each commodity storage column 5 is mounted on a plurality of shelves 6 provided in the storage 3.

A product sent from each product storage column 5 is received between the outer door 2 and the front of the product rack 4 arranged in the storage 3 in the main body 1 and sent to a product outlet 8 described later. A transport device (moving mechanism) 10 is provided. The operation of the commodity transport apparatus 10 is controlled by a control unit 30 described later.
The outer door 2 is configured so that a product stored in the product storage column 5 and a product purchased by a customer at the time of product sales are sent from the product storage column 5 to the product transport device 10 and sent to the product take-out port 8. The transparent plate 7 is disposed in the area corresponding to these so that it can be visually observed. In addition, an operation unit is formed on the side of the transparent plate 7, and a numeric keypad 17 for designating a product to be sold by a combination of numeric keys, a bill insertion port 18a of the bill processing device, a coin insertion port 18b of the coin processing device, a money return A lever 19, a display device 20 for displaying sales information, a coin return port 21 for returning change coins, a key portion 22 and the like are arranged. Further, a product outlet 8 is provided at the lower part of the outer door 2 so as to be positioned below the product conveying device 10, and an outlet door for taking out the sales products sent to the product outlet 8 on the front side thereof. 9 is provided. In addition, an input keyboard 31 to be described later is provided on the back surface of the outer door 2 for inputting various settings such as sales settings.

  The merchandise carrying device 10 supports a bucket section (bucket) 11 that receives merchandise delivered from the merchandise storage column 5, a bucket support section 12 that cantilever-supports the bucket section 11 at one end thereof, and a bucket support section 12. The guide rail 13 that guides the vertical movement of the bucket portion 11, the driving means 15 that moves the bucket portion 11 in the vertical direction by acting on the bucket support portion 12, and the upper limit that detects the upper limit position of the bucket portion 11 A switch 32 and a lower limit switch 33 for detecting the lower limit position are provided. The driving means 15 includes a moving mechanism section 36 that moves the bucket support section 12 in the vertical direction along the guide rails 13, a driving motor 37 that drives the moving mechanism section 36, and an encoder section that detects the activation and rotation amount of the driving motor 37. (Position detecting means) 38 and the like are provided. Further, the guide rail 13 that guides the movement of the bucket portion 11 changes the posture of the bucket portion 11 from the horizontal state to the inclined posture in which the tip (front end) faces downward when the bucket portion 11 moves downward and reaches the lower limit position. Guide them to change. The bucket portion 11 is held at the upper limit position (see FIG. 2) of the guide rail 13 positioned above the uppermost product storage column 5 in the normal standby state.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the control means 30 for controlling the sales operation of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention. Here, the main control unit 40 controls the overall sales control of the vending machine. In the vending machine of such an embodiment, when the customer selects and inputs a product for sale using the numeric keypad 17, the drive motor 37 of the product transport apparatus 10 is activated, and the bucket unit 11 moves downward from its upper limit position. Then, it moves to a height position (for example, 11a indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2) corresponding to the product storage column 5 in which the sales product is stored and stops. Then, the spiral member 26 of the product storage column 5 is rotationally driven by the spiral drive means 27, and the product stored in the spiral member 26 is delivered from the product storage column 5 and received in the bucket portion 11 stopped at a predetermined position in front of the product storage column 5. Is done. Thereafter, the bucket part 11 that has received the product moves downward again. And if the bucket part 11 reaches a lower limit position, the bucket part 11 will be guided to the guide rail 13, and will change the attitude | position to the attitude | position (11b shown with a broken line in FIG. 2) that a front-end | tip faces below. Thereby, the sales commodity placed on the bucket portion 11 is sent to the commodity outlet 8 below. At this time, the lower limit switch 33 is actuated by the bucket portion 11 that has reached the lower limit position, whereby the energization of the drive motor 37 is cut off and the movement of the bucket portion 11 is stopped. After that, when it is detected by the commodity carry-out sensor 34 provided above that the sale commodity has been delivered to the commodity outlet 8, the drive motor 37 is energized again, and the bucket portion 11 moves upward. When the bucket portion 11 reaches the upper limit position, the upper limit switch 32 is activated, the energization of the drive motor 37 is interrupted, and the movement of the bucket portion 11 is stopped and held at the upper limit position. Thus, each part is controlled by the main control part 40, and the sales goods selected by the customer are taken out to the goods outlet 8 and sold.

  By the way, when the bucket motor 11 held at the upper limit position in the standby state starts to move downward when the drive motor 37 of the drive device 15 is activated, the operation of the drive motor 37 is simultaneously performed when the operation of the upper limit switch 32 is released. The amount (for example, the rotation amount) is measured by the encoder unit 38, and thereby the vertical position of the bucket unit 11 is detected. That is, when the product is sold, it is detected by the measurement of the encoder unit 37 that the bucket unit 11 has moved to a predetermined position corresponding to the product storage column 5 in which the sold product is stored, and the drive motor 37 is thereby stopped. Then, the bucket unit 11 stops at the predetermined position. Then, the spiral member 26 of the product storage column 5 is driven by the spiral drive means 27 behind the product storage column 5, and the sold product is delivered to the bucket unit 11. Thereafter, the bucket portion 11 that has received the sales product moves downward again to reach the lower limit position, and carries the sales product to the product outlet 8. When the lower limit switch 33 is activated, the drive motor 37 is stopped, and the bucket portion 11 is stopped at the lower limit position in an inclined state with the tip thereof directed downward.

Further, when the bucket unit 11 starts moving upward after carrying out the sale merchandise to the merchandise outlet 8, the operation of the lower limit switch 33 is released and the operation amount of the drive motor 37 is again controlled by the encoder unit 38. The vertical position of the bucket portion 11 that is measured and moves upward is again detected. In other words, the vertical position of the bucket portion 11 that moves in the vertical direction along the guide rail 13 is always detected by the encoder portion 38.
By the way, in the vending machine of the present embodiment, the product stored in the product storage column 5 is carried out to the product outlet 8 using the bucket portion 11 of the product carry-out device 10 or directly from the product storage column 5. The product can be set by the input keyboard 31 for each product storage column 5 to be dropped into the product outlet 8 and carried out. For example, even if the stored product is provided close to the product outlet 8 and dropped directly to the product outlet 8, the product may be damaged or deformed due to the impact of the fall. If not, the product stored in the product storage column 5 is set to be sold by dropping it directly to the product outlet 8, so that the sales time can be shortened and the sales efficiency can be improved.

Further, in the vending machine of the present embodiment, when the driving means 15 of the commodity carry-out device 10 breaks down and the bucket portion 11 becomes unmovable or stops during the movement, the abnormal state As a provisional avoidance measure, it is possible to set so that the product can be dropped and sold directly from the product storage column 5 in which the sales product is stored to the product outlet 8. In this case, since each product storage column 5 has a different vertical position and type of stored product for each product storage column 5, the setting of whether or not the product can be sold is set for each product storage column 5 using the input keyboard 31 or the like. It is desirable to make it possible.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the sales control of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention. The sales control of this vending machine will be described based on the drawings. First, when the customer inserts the money corresponding to the desired product through the bill insertion slot 18a and the coin insertion slot 18b, and operates the numeric keypad 17 to select a sale product by a combination of number keys, step 1 (S1). Thus, it is determined whether or not the product storage column 5 in which the sold product is stored is set to the product storage column 5 that uses the bucket portion 11 to carry out the product to the product outlet 8. If the product carry-out column 5 is to carry the product directly to the product take-out port 8 without using the bucket portion 11, the process proceeds to step 11 (S11), and the spiral drive means 27 of the product storage column 8 is activated. Thus, the spiral member 26 is rotationally driven, and the sold product is sent directly to the product outlet 8. If the product storage column 5 storing the sales products is the product storage column 5 that uses the bucket portion 11 to carry out the products to the product outlet 8, the drive motor 37 is activated in step 2 (S2). The bucket part 11 moves downward.

  In step 3 (S3), it is determined whether or not the bucket unit 11 has moved to a position corresponding to the product storage column 5 that stores the sales product. If the bucket unit 11 has moved to a position corresponding to the product storage column 5 that stores the sales product, the drive motor 37 is stopped in step 15 (S15), and thereafter, “the product storage column storing the sales product”. The spiral member 26 is rotated and the product is sent to the bucket unit 11 stopped in front of it, and the bucket unit 11 receiving the product further moves downward to send the product to the product outlet 8. A sales operation (not shown) is executed. If the bucket unit 11 has not moved to the position corresponding to the commodity storage column 5 in step 3 (S3), whether or not a predetermined time required for the movement has elapsed in step 4 (S4). Determined. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process returns to step 3 (S3). If the predetermined time has elapsed, a failure of the commodity carry-out device 10 is estimated. Is reversed, and the bucket portion 11 is moved toward the upper standby position.

In step 6 (S6), it is determined whether or not the bucket unit has moved to the upper standby position. If the bucket unit 11 has moved to the standby position, the drive motor 37 is stopped in step 8 (S8), and the bucket 11 is held at the standby position. If the bucket unit 11 has not moved to the standby position, it is determined in step 7 (S7) whether or not a predetermined time required for the movement has elapsed. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process returns to step 6 (S6). If the predetermined time has elapsed, the drive motor 37 is stopped in step 8 (S8), and the bucket portion 11 is moved to the stop position. Retained.
After the drive motor 37 is stopped, in step 9 (S9), the product storage column 5 in which the selected sales product is stored drops the product directly to the product outlet 8 when the product delivery device 10 fails. It is determined whether or not it is set so that it can be sold. If it is not set so that the product can be directly taken out to the product outlet 8, the process proceeds to step 14 (S14), and the selling operation is stopped.

Further, if it is set so that the product can be directly taken out to the product outlet 8, in step 10 (S10), the stop position of the bucket portion 11 is the product storage column in which the sales product is stored. It is determined whether or not it is a position that does not hinder direct product delivery from 5 to the product outlet 8. And when it has trouble in delivery of the goods of the goods storage column 5 in which the sales goods were stored, it progresses to step 14 (S14) and sales are stopped. In this case, for example, when it is impossible to carry out the products from all the product storage columns 5 after that, for example, because the bucket portion 11 remains stopped at the position corresponding to the product outlet 8, It is desirable to stop selling products by displaying “Preparing” or the like on the display 20.
In step 10 (S10), if the stop position of the bucket portion 11 does not interfere with the delivery of the product in the product storage column 5, the spiral drive means 27 of the product storage column 8 is activated in step 11 (S11). Thus, the spiral member 26 is rotationally driven, and the sold product is sent directly to the product outlet 8. Then, in step 12 (S12), it is determined whether or not the sale merchandise has been carried out to the merchandise outlet 8 by the merchandise carry-out sensor 34. If the sales commodity is carried out to the commodity outlet 8, the sales operation is finished. If the sale product is not carried out to the product outlet 8, it is determined in step 13 (S13) whether or not a predetermined time required for carrying out has passed, and if the predetermined time has passed, step 14 ( In S14), the selling operation is stopped, the sold-out lamp 17a of the numeric keypad is turned on, and the inserted money is returned from the bill insertion slot 18a or the coin return slot 21.

As described above, according to the control method of the vending machine of the present invention, even when the product carry-out device 10 including the bucket unit 11 breaks down, the stop position of the bucket unit 11 is stopped without stopping the sale of all products. Since it is possible to sell the product stored in the product storage column 5 that does not hinder the sale of the product, the sales opportunities of the product are increased and the sales efficiency is improved. It is possible to provide a control method for a vending machine.
Whether the product stored in the product storage column 5 that does not hinder the sale of the product can be sold by being positioned below the stop position of the bucket portion 11 when the product carry-out device 10 breaks down. Since it can be set for each product column, it is possible to provide a control method for a vending machine adapted to the type of product regarding the sale of the product.
In addition, even when the product carry-out mechanism 10 including the bucket unit 11 breaks down, it is located below the stop position of the bucket unit 11 so that there is no hindrance to sales of the product, and the stored product is directly stored in the product. Since it is possible to sell products stored in the product storage column 5 set to be sold by paying out at the outlet 8, the sales efficiency of the products is increased by increasing the sales opportunities of the products, and the sales of the products It is possible to provide a vending machine control method adapted to the product type.

In addition, when the product carry-out device 10 including the bucket unit 11 breaks down, the number of the product columns 5 that are moved downward from the position at the time of the failure and located below the stop position of the bucket unit 11. Of vending machines that can increase the number of product columns 5 that can be sold, increase the number of sales opportunities for products stored in the product column 5, and improve sales efficiency. A control method can be provided.
Note that the present invention is not limited to the apparatus described in this embodiment mode, and application changes are possible within the scope of the gist, for example.

1 is a front view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the internal structure of the vending machine which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which opened the outer door in the vending machine which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control means which controls the sales operation of the vending machine which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the sales control of the vending machine which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Body
5 Product storage column (product column)
8 Product outlet 10 Product transport device (movement mechanism)
11 Bucket (bucket)
17 Numeric key buttons
30 Control means 37 Drive motor 38 Encoder unit (position detection means)

Claims (4)

A plurality of product columns provided in multiple stages in the vertical direction in the main body, a product outlet that communicates with the outside of the main body and is disposed below the product column, and a position corresponding to the product column of each stage And a position corresponding to the product outlet, and a bucket for transferring the product discharged from the product column to the product outlet, a moving mechanism of the bucket, A position detecting means for detecting a position in the vertical direction,
The movement mechanism is operated in accordance with a sales command, the bucket is moved to a position corresponding to the product column in which the sales product is stored based on the position detection means, the sales product is received in the bucket, and the A method of controlling a vending machine that sells products by transferring them to a product outlet,
When the movement of the bucket stops due to a failure of the moving mechanism, the stop position of the bucket is detected by the position detecting means, and the product stored in the product column located below the stop position of the bucket is A control method for a vending machine, characterized in that, according to the sales command, the product can be directly delivered to the product outlet for sale.   For each of the product columns, when the movement of the bucket stops due to a failure of the moving mechanism and is positioned below the stop position, the product stored in the product column according to the sales command is directly input to the product outlet. 2. The method of controlling a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein it is possible to set so as to be paid out and sold. A plurality of product columns provided in multiple stages in the vertical direction in the main body, a product outlet that communicates with the outside of the main body and is disposed below the product column, and a position corresponding to the product column of each stage And a position corresponding to the product outlet, and a bucket for transferring the product discharged from the product column to the product outlet, a moving mechanism of the bucket, A position detecting means for detecting a position in the vertical direction,
When the products in the product column are carried out and sold to the product outlet according to the sales instruction, the products are transferred to the product outlet using the bucket and sold for each of the product columns, A control method for a vending machine, characterized in that it can be set to a product that is directly sold to the product outlet for sale.   The bucket always waits at a position above a position corresponding to the product column located at the uppermost stage, and the bucket is positioned at a position corresponding to a product column in which sales products are stored from the standby position according to the sales command. 5. The automatic operation according to claim 1, wherein the movement is controlled to move upward toward the standby position when the movement stops due to a failure of the movement mechanism during the movement. How to control the vending machine.

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