JP2008027294A - Automatic vending machine and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic vending machine capable of executing the restarting of a sub-control part while suppressing the loss of merchandise sales opportunity. <P>SOLUTION: The automatic vending machine provided with a control part for controlling a merchandise selling operation and an auxiliary control part for assisting the control operation of the control part, is provided with: a condition storing part for storing a condition for restarting the auxiliary control part; a history storing part for storing history about the auxiliary control part; a determining part for determining whether the history corresponds to the condition; and a restarting part for restarting the auxiliary control part when the determining part determines that the history corresponds to the condition. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine and a program.

  For vending machines, a main control unit that executes basic functions such as product sales operations, as well as providing multimedia content that combines video, still images, and audio through a liquid crystal display, speakers, etc. Some have a secondary control unit that executes an applied function. Each of the main control unit and the sub control unit has a CPU individually. The main control unit is expected to devote itself to fulfilling the basic functions, and its CPU capacity, resources (memory, resources), and connectable input / output devices are optimally set. For this reason, application functions that require diversity in addition to high speed tend to be provided to a dedicated slave control unit.

  For example, a vending machine that sells cup beverages has a function of guiding a user how to operate a button for selecting a product and adjusting a taste through a liquid crystal display or a speaker (for example, patents). Reference 1). In order to perform such an additional function, the slave control unit needs to have a higher performance CPU and a larger capacity memory than, for example, the main control unit. In addition, when changing or extending a service after the vending machine is shipped, the main control unit is almost unchanged, while the sub control unit often updates programs or replaces contents. Since it is actually difficult to perform sufficient tests on the sub-control unit every time this program is updated or content is replaced, it is difficult to maintain the quality of the sub-control unit compared to the main control unit. Has been. For this reason, there is a possibility that more problems may occur in the slave control unit than in the main control unit.

  Of the malfunctions, a hardware failure or an abnormality that can be determined by the application function itself by application software or the like can be dealt with by, for example, the watchdog timer or the application function itself.

  On the other hand, some of the malfunctions accumulate with the lapse of the operation time after startup, and become apparent only when the operation time reaches a predetermined time. For example, when the slave control unit executes a predetermined application function based on the application software, a memory area is secured, and the memory area is released after the processing is completed. However, if there is a memory area open leak (memory leak), each time this application function is executed, the unopened memory area increases and the free memory area decreases. In addition, while repeatedly acquiring and releasing memory areas of various sizes, the memory area in use and the free memory area that has been released are mixed to cause fragmentation of the memory area. In this case, even if the sum of the individual free memory areas is sufficient, the maximum free memory size (the maximum value among the sizes of the individual free memory areas) becomes small.

  If the free memory area in the slave control unit is reduced or fragmented, the vending machine may not be able to sell the product substantially. For example, when selecting a product interactively for a vending machine through a liquid crystal display with a touch panel, if a memory error occurs in the slave control unit, the display on the liquid crystal display may be abnormal or the touch panel input will not be accepted. Or

As a response to such a problem that becomes apparent due to accumulation, restart of the slave control unit can be mentioned. It is known that immediately after the restart, reduction of free memory area, fragmentation, etc. are reset and eliminated.
JP 2003-91768 A

  By the way, when the slave control unit is restarted, generally, the main control unit cannot control the sales operation. This is because the application control of the slave control unit may be executed in cooperation with the basic control of the sales operation by the main control unit. Therefore, in general, the restart of the slave control unit is executed with the sales operation of the main control unit prohibited.

  In this case, the vending machine misses the sales opportunity while the slave control unit is restarted. For example, sales prohibition for several minutes (for example, 3 minutes) is prohibited for vending machines installed in large numbers (for example, 100 units) in public areas such as highway service areas and parking areas where users are not interrupted regardless of the time of day. Even if imposed, the total time to miss a sales opportunity per year is approximately 1800 hours (3 minutes x 100 cars x 365 days). For this reason, if the control unit is restarted according to a predetermined date and time determined in advance, the sales of the vending machine may be greatly reduced depending on how the date and time is determined.

  On the other hand, according to the installation location of the vending machine, it is in principle difficult to set an optimal date and time that minimizes the loss of sales opportunities. In other words, when the date and time of restarting the slave control unit is determined in advance, this date and time may not be an optimum value that minimizes the loss of sales opportunities of vending machines, for example.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of restarting the slave control unit while suppressing loss of sales opportunities for products. is there.

  The invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is a vending machine comprising a control unit that controls the sales operation of a product, and an auxiliary control unit that assists the control operation of the control unit, wherein the auxiliary control unit A condition storage unit that stores a condition for restarting, a history storage unit that stores a history of the auxiliary control unit, a determination unit that determines whether or not the history satisfies the condition, and the history And a restarting unit that restarts the auxiliary control unit when the determining unit determines that the above condition is satisfied.

  According to this vending machine, when the history related to the auxiliary control unit corresponds to the condition for restarting the auxiliary control unit, the restart is executed. For example, if the history is a history having a correlation with the free area in the memory used for the operation of the auxiliary control unit, the condition is set in advance to a condition corresponding to an allowable value such as reduction of the free area or fragmentation. If set, the auxiliary control unit is restarted only when the memory area reaches this allowable value. In other words, as long as the history indicates that restart is not required, it will not be restarted, so avoiding loss of merchandise sales opportunities associated with this restart compared to, for example, restarting at a predetermined time It will be possible. That is, the auxiliary control unit can be restarted while suppressing the loss of the sales opportunity of the product.

In the vending machine, it is preferable that the restart unit stops the control operation of the control unit when the auxiliary control unit is restarted.
For example, when the operation of the auxiliary control unit is an operation executed in cooperation with the product sales operation by the control unit, the sales operation by the control unit may malfunction while the auxiliary control unit is restarted. . Therefore, it is possible to avoid troubles such as worsening the feeling of the user of the vending machine by stopping the control operation of the control unit in advance while the slave control unit is restarted.

Further, in such a vending machine, a time measuring unit that measures the current time, a determination time storage unit that stores the determination time of the determination unit, and a detection unit that detects whether or not the current time is the determination time It is preferable that the determination unit determines whether or not the history satisfies the condition when the detection unit detects that the current time is the determination time.
According to this vending machine, when the history about the auxiliary control unit corresponds to the condition for restarting the auxiliary control unit at the determination time, the restart is executed. If this determination time is set in advance to a time at which loss of merchandise sales opportunities associated with restart can be avoided as much as possible, loss of merchandise sales opportunities can be effectively suppressed by this vending machine.

Further, in the vending machine, the condition storage unit stores a plurality of conditions as the condition, and the restarting unit is configured such that the history corresponds to one or more conditions among the plurality of conditions. When the determination unit determines, it is preferable to restart the auxiliary control unit.
According to this vending machine, it is possible to give flexibility to the determination of restart according to the number of conditions that should be met in the determination. That is, the greater the number of conditions to be met among a plurality of conditions, the more severe the judgment, while the smaller the number of conditions to be met, the more relaxed the judgment. Thus, loss of merchandise sales opportunities can be effectively suppressed.

In the vending machine, the condition storage unit stores a plurality of conditions having a weighting coefficient as the condition, and the restart unit corresponds to one or more of the plurality of conditions in the history. In addition, it is preferable that the auxiliary control unit is restarted when the determination unit determines that a total value obtained by multiplying a value indicating the corresponding condition by a weighting coefficient exceeds a predetermined value.
According to this vending machine, it is possible to give more flexibility to the determination of restart according to the condition to be applied in the determination and the weighting factor. Therefore, the loss of the sales opportunity of goods can be controlled more effectively.

The invention for solving the problems includes a sales unit that sells cup beverages, a cleaning unit that cleans the sales unit, a control unit that controls the sales operation of the sales unit and the cleaning operation of the cleaning unit, A vending machine provided with an auxiliary control unit for assisting the control operation related to the sales operation of the control unit, wherein the timekeeping unit counts the current time, and the cleaning time stored by the cleaning unit is stored A time storage unit, a detection unit that detects whether or not the current time is the cleaning time, a condition storage unit that stores conditions for restarting the auxiliary control unit, and a history relating to the auxiliary control unit Is stored, a determination unit that determines whether or not the history satisfies the condition, and a restart unit that restarts the auxiliary control unit, the restart unit, The current time is the washing time and the When the output unit detects, or when the detection unit detects that the current time is not the cleaning time, and the determination unit determines that the history meets the condition, the auxiliary control unit To reboot.
According to this vending machine, the restart is executed so as to overlap with the cleaning time that may be accompanied by the prohibition of the sales operation, and the history related to the auxiliary control unit restarts the auxiliary control unit at a time other than the cleaning time. If the conditions for doing so are met, a restart is performed. Therefore, the auxiliary control unit can be restarted while suppressing the loss of the sales opportunity of the product.

  Further, the invention for solving the above-described problems is characterized in that the auxiliary control is provided in a computer in a vending machine comprising a control unit that controls the sales operation of a product and an auxiliary control unit that assists the control operation of the control unit. A procedure for determining whether or not a history relating to a part corresponds to a condition for restarting the auxiliary control part, and if the determination part determines that the history corresponds to the condition, the auxiliary control part is And a restarting program.

  The slave control unit can be restarted while suppressing the loss of the sales opportunity of the product.

=== Vending machine configuration ===
A configuration example of the vending machine 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of an external configuration of a vending machine 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration that governs the operation of the vending machine 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a chart showing a configuration example of the restart schedule table data 204a stored in the RAM 204 of the present embodiment. FIG. 4A is a chart showing a configuration example of the history data 204b stored in the RAM 204 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a diagram of the condition data 204c stored in the RAM 204 of the present embodiment. It is a chart which shows an example of composition.

<<< Overall configuration >>>
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the vending machine 1 according to the present embodiment includes a liquid crystal display 210 with a touch panel 220, a coin insertion slot 4, a return lever 5, a bill insertion slot 6, in the front door 2 in front of the vending machine 1. A product outlet 7, a money return port 8, and the like are provided. The front door 2 is provided so as to be openable and closable via a hinge (not shown) with respect to a main body (not shown) for storing products, and includes a handle 3 having a locking mechanism on the front thereof.

  The liquid crystal display 210 displays, for example, images (still images and moving images) and prices of various types of products so that the user can view them. The user recognizes products that can be sold by the vending machine 1 through the liquid crystal display 210.

  The touch panel 220 is an input unit that covers the surface of the liquid crystal display 210 and can generate coordinate information of the contact position of the user's finger. The touch panel 220 is transparent so that the display image of the liquid crystal display 210 can be viewed from the user side. It is composed of various materials. A RAM 104, which will be described later, provided in the vending machine 1 stores, for example, the image coordinates of the product on the liquid crystal display 210 and the product in association with each other. Thus, when the user touches an image of a desired product on the liquid crystal display 210, the product based on the association is sold through a sales mechanism 135 described later.

  As mentioned above, it can be said that the liquid crystal display 210 with the touch panel 220 of this embodiment has the functions of a sample panel and a product selection button in a general vending machine, for example. In addition, what is necessary is just to apply the well-known structure and function disclosed by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-91768, for example to the structure and function of the liquid crystal display 210 with the touch panel 220 of this Embodiment.

  The coin slot 4 is a part into which a user inserts coins, and the inserted coins are supplied to a coin identifying device 110 described later. The return lever 5 is for returning change from the money return port 8. The bill insertion slot 6 is a portion into which a user inserts a bill, and the inserted bill is supplied to a bill recognition device 120 described later.

  When the vending machine 1 of the present embodiment is a cup-type vending machine that sells cup beverages, for example, the product outlet 7 takes out the cup supplied with the beverage from the nozzle 9 at the end of the sales mechanism 135. belongs to.

<<< Main control unit >>>
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the vending machine 1 according to the present embodiment is added to manage the main control unit 100 and various slaves mainly responsible for the sales operation function and auxiliary functions such as the touch panel function described above. The slave control unit 200 and the expansion I / O are provided. The main control unit 100 and the sub control unit 200 are connected to each other via a communication cable 300 and are configured to be communicable using a dedicated protocol.

  The main control unit (control unit) 100 controls the vending machine 1 according to the present embodiment, and includes a CPU 101, a counter 102, a timer 103, a RAM 104, a ROM 105, and the like. These configurations are mainly for the vending machine 1 to perform known functions such as a sales operation described below.

  The coin recognition device 110, the bill recognition device 120, the sales control unit 130, the cooling / heating control unit 140, and the input / output control unit 150 illustrated in the figure correspond to slaves of the main control unit 100 of the present embodiment.

  The coin discriminating device 110 detects the change of change, receives the inserted coin from the coin insertion slot 4, and returns the change from the money return slot 8 as necessary. The banknote identification device 120 detects an out of the bill, receives an inserted banknote from the banknote insertion slot 6, and returns the bill from the banknote insertion slot 6 as necessary.

  When the vending machine 1 according to the present embodiment is a cup-type vending machine that sells cup beverages, for example, the sales control unit 130 is based on an instruction signal from the main control unit 100, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-127137. The beverage is cooked by controlling the sales mechanism 135 having a known configuration disclosed in the publication, and the beverage is supplied to the cup of the product outlet 7 through the nozzle 9. The cooling control unit 140 controls the cooling mechanism 145 having a well-known configuration disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-155001 based on an instruction signal from the main control unit 100, for example, a beverage ingredient The hot water or water is heated or cooled.

  The input / output control unit 150 transmits an input signal input through a control panel 155 having a predetermined keyboard (not shown) to the main control unit 100.

<<< Sub control section >>>
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the sub control unit (auxiliary control unit) 200 mainly controls the liquid crystal display 210 with the touch panel 220 described above, and similarly to the main control unit 100, the CPU 201 and the counter 202. A timer (timer) 203, a RAM 204, a ROM 205, and the like. These configurations are for the vending machine 1 to perform known functions such as image (still image and moving image) display. In addition, the RAM 204 determines the restart schedule table data 204a indicating the scheduled restart time of the slave control unit 200, the history data 204b indicating the history of the auxiliary function of the vending machine 1, and the restart. The condition data 204c indicating the above conditions is stored. The ROM 205 stores a predetermined program that causes the slave control unit 200 to execute processing such as determination of restart.

  Further, as illustrated in the figure, the extension I / O 230 is connected to the slave control unit 200. The expansion I / O 230 is configured such that a speaker, a microphone, a predetermined card reader / writer, a two-dimensional bar code reader, a camera, and the like can be connected so that the sub control unit 200 can perform an auxiliary function.

<<< Reboot schedule table data >>>
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the restart schedule table data 204 a stored in the RAM (discriminating time storage unit) 204 of the slave control unit 200 according to this embodiment indicates the scheduled restart time of the slave control unit 200. It is comprised with the information to show.

  In the example shown in the figure, for each day of the week, along with information indicating whether or not there is a restart, the time when there is a restart is predetermined. In the example shown in the figure, the control unit 200 is scheduled to be restarted according to 4 am from Monday to Friday. In addition, it is scheduled to restart at 5 am on Saturday and not on Sunday. As described above, the restart is repeatedly performed according to the day of the week throughout the year. The restart schedule table data 204a may be set in advance when the vending machine 1 is shipped from the factory, for example, or may be set through the control panel 155 by a route man or the like when the vending machine 1 is installed.

  In the restart schedule table data 204a of the present embodiment, it is assumed that the day of the week and the time estimated to minimize the loss of sales opportunities are set in advance according to the installation location of the vending machine 1. As will be described later, when these days and times are reached, the sub control unit 200 determines whether or not to restart.

  Note that the time information specified by the restart schedule table data 204a is not limited to the day of the week and time illustrated in FIG. 5, but may be, for example, the date and time.

<<< history data >>>
As illustrated in FIG. 4A, the history data 204 b stored in the RAM (history storage unit) 204 of the slave control unit 200 according to the present embodiment indicates a history related to the auxiliary function of the vending machine 1. It is configured with information.

  In the example of the figure, the number of sales of the product from the previous restart to the current time, the capacity of the free memory area in the RAM 204 of the slave control unit 200 from the previous restart to the current time, from the previous restart to the current time History information such as the number of touches on the liquid crystal display 210 with the touch panel 220, the current operating rate of a cooling fan (not shown) that cools the CPU 201 of the sub-control unit 200, and the current non-sale time of the product are accumulated. ing.

  The number of times the product is sold is counted by the counter 102 of the main control unit 100 and transmitted to the sub control unit 200 every time the sales mechanism 135 performs a sales operation. This number of sales is the number of times that can correspond to the number of operations of auxiliary functions such as displaying images (still images and moving images) accompanying sales. Therefore, the number of sales and the possibility that the free memory area of the RAM 204 is reduced or fragmented due to image display or the like may have a correlation. Therefore, the number of sales of the product can be information for determining whether or not to actually execute the restart at the restart time scheduled in the restart schedule table data 204a.

  The minimum free memory capacity is the minimum capacity of the free memory area in the RAM 204 of the slave control unit 200 at a predetermined time (the time from the previous restart to the current time). In the present embodiment, the sub control unit 200 detects the capacity of the free memory area of the RAM 204 every unit time, obtains the minimum value among the plurality of detection values in the predetermined time, and records the minimum free memory capacity as a history. Data 204b is updated.

  The maximum free memory capacity is the maximum capacity of the free memory area of the RAM 204 of the slave control unit 200 during a predetermined time (the time from the previous restart to the current time). In the present embodiment, the slave control unit 200 detects the capacity of the free memory area of the RAM 204 every unit time, obtains the maximum value among the plurality of detection values in the predetermined time, and records the maximum free memory capacity as a history. Data 204b is updated.

  The free memory block capacity is a minimum value among a plurality of maximum free memory blocks in a predetermined time (the time from the previous restart to the current time). In the present embodiment, the sub control unit 200 detects the maximum capacity of the free memory block in the RAM 204 every unit time, obtains the minimum value among the plurality of detection values in the predetermined time, and sets it as the free memory block capacity. The history data 204b is updated.

  The number of touches on the liquid crystal display 210 has a relationship that is substantially proportional to the number of sales of the above-described product. On the other hand, when the user's input operation on the liquid crystal display 210 is executed for various services other than the product selection, the number of touches is smaller than the number of sales of the product in the free memory area of the RAM 204. There is a higher correlation with the possibility of fragmentation and the like. The number of touches is counted by the counter 202 of the sub control unit 200 every time the touch panel 220 generates a signal with the touch of a finger or the like.

  Since the cooling fan operating rate may have a correlation with the load on the CPU 201 of the slave control unit 200, it is determined whether or not to actually execute the restart at the restart time scheduled in the restart schedule table data 204a. Information. For example, as the cooling fan operating rate is higher, this means that the load on the CPU 201 is larger, and therefore the possibility that the free memory area of the RAM 204 is reduced or fragmented due to image display or the like is further increased. In the present embodiment, the secondary control unit 200 executes rotation or stop of the cooling fan according to a temperature detected by a predetermined temperature sensor (not shown) provided in the vicinity of the CPU 201, for example. Yes. For example, the sub control unit 200 rotates the cooling fan only when the temperature of the temperature sensor exceeds a predetermined value. Then, the rotation operation time is measured by a predetermined timer (not shown). In the present embodiment, the slave control unit 200 obtains, for example, the ratio of the cooling fan rotation operation time with respect to the past one hour, and sets this as the current cooling fan operating rate.

  The non-sale time is the time that has elapsed without the sales mechanism 135 operating since the most recent operation, and is counted by the timer 103 of the main control unit 100. In the sub-control unit 200, for example, when the free memory area of the RAM 204 is reduced or fragmented due to image display or the like, and a problem such that the user cannot accept an instruction for product selection, the non-sale time will result. A situation may occur where a predetermined allowable time is exceeded.

<<< Condition data >>>
As illustrated in FIG. 4B, the condition data 204c stored in the RAM (condition storage unit) 204 of the slave control unit 200 of the present embodiment indicates the threshold value of each item in the history data 204b described above. It is configured with information.

  In the example shown in the figure, a predetermined threshold is set for the number of sales of the product from the previous restart to the current time. For example, when the number of sales of the product exceeds the threshold value, the threshold value is set such that the occurrence probability of a decrease in the free memory area or fragmentation of the RAM 204 exceeds a predetermined value.

  Further, in the example of the figure, a predetermined threshold is set for each of the minimum free memory capacity, the maximum free memory capacity, and the free memory block capacity of the RAM 204 of the slave control unit 200. When each capacity is less than each threshold value, the probability of occurrence of a decrease in the free memory area or fragmentation of the RAM 204 exceeds a predetermined value.

  As in the case of the number of sales of the above-described product, in the example of the figure, predetermined thresholds are set for the number of touches, the cooling fan operating rate, and the non-sale time. For example, when the number of touches, the cooling fan operating rate, and the non-sale time exceed the threshold values, these threshold values are set to values that cause the occurrence probability of a decrease in the free memory area or fragmentation of the RAM 204 to exceed a predetermined value, respectively. Is set.

  Each of the above threshold values may be set in advance when the vending machine 1 is shipped from the factory, for example, or may be set through the control panel 155 by a route man or the like when the vending machine 1 is installed. Moreover, it is preferable to switch the threshold value of the above-mentioned air-cooling fan operating rate between, for example, summer and winter. That is, the average value of the air cooling fan operating rate in summer is higher than the average value in winter, and accordingly, the summer threshold must be set higher than the winter threshold in advance.

=== Restart of slave control unit (1) ===
With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the operation of restarting the slave control unit 200 in the vending machine 1 having the above-described configuration will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure when the slave control unit 200 according to the present embodiment is restarted. FIG. 6A is a chart showing a configuration example of the condition data 204c ′ stored in the RAM 204 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 6B is a history data 204b stored in the RAM 204 of the present embodiment. It is a graph which shows the structural example of '.

<<< When the condition data has no weight >>>
First, the sub control unit 200 refers to the restart schedule table data 204a stored in the RAM 204, and reads the day of the week and the time of the current restart schedule (S100). As will be described later, the slave control unit 200 waits for a predetermined time after the previous restart, and executes the process of step S100 before the current restart scheduled time.
The sub control unit 200 determines whether or not the date and time counted by the timer 203 is a scheduled date and time corresponding to the day of the week and time read in step S100 (S101).

If it is determined that the date and time counted by the timer 203 is the scheduled date and time (S101: YES), the sub control unit 200 selects an item to be compared with condition data 204c described later from the history data 204b stored in the RAM 204. Depending on the item, this is updated to the current value (S102).
Next, the sub control unit 200 compares the current value of the item selected in the history data 204b with the threshold value of the condition data 204c stored in the RAM 204 (S103).

For example, when the number of sales of the product, the number of touches on the liquid crystal display 210, the cooling fan operating rate, and the non-sale time are all equal to or less than the threshold value, and any of the minimum free memory capacity, maximum free memory capacity, and free memory block capacity If the value is also equal to or greater than the threshold, the sub control unit 200 determines that the history data 204b does not satisfy the restart condition (S104: NO).
In this case, the slave control unit 200 executes the process of step S100 described above again after being in the sleep state for a predetermined time (S105, S106). Specifically, the slave control unit 200 starts timing after resetting a predetermined timer (not shown) (S105), and determines that the time measured by this timer has reached a predetermined time (S106: YES) ), The process of step S100 is executed. This predetermined time is set to be less than the time between the current restart time and the next restart time. In the present embodiment, the predetermined time is obtained in advance based on the restart schedule table data 204a.

For example, when any of the number of sales of the product, the number of touches on the liquid crystal display 210, the cooling fan operating rate, and the non-sale time exceeds a threshold, or the minimum free memory capacity, the maximum free memory capacity, and the free memory block capacity If any of these is less than the threshold value, the secondary control unit 200 determines that the history data 204b satisfies the restart condition (S104: YES).
In this case, the slave control unit 200 executes restart (S107). Specifically, the sub control unit 200 prohibits the sales operation by not accepting an input operation such as product selection by the user. Next, after the secondary control unit 200 restarts, the secondary control unit 200 resumes accepting the input operation and releases the prohibited state. The setting and release of the sales prohibition state are not limited to the above. For example, the slave control unit 200 transmits a predetermined instruction signal to the main control unit 100 to set the sales prohibition state and The cancellation may be executed. Moreover, it is preferable that the sub control unit 200 performs predetermined communication with the main control unit 100 and confirms that the main control unit 100 is not in the middle of the sales operation immediately before the sales operation is prohibited. If the main control unit 100 is in the middle of the sales operation, the sub control unit 200 confirms that the sales operation has ended, and then prohibits the subsequent sales operation.
After the process of step S107, the sub control unit 200 executes the process of step S105.

  As described above, when the history data 204b indicates the occurrence of a decrease in the free memory area of the RAM 204 or fragmentation at the date and time scheduled in the restart schedule table data 204a, If a restart is performed and no such suggestion is found, the restart will not be performed.

<<< When condition data has weight >>>
The processing in steps S203 and S204 described above is performed when the numerical value of the history information related to the auxiliary function of the vending machine 1 is out of the range determined by any one threshold value of the condition data 204c (FIG. 4B). The slave control unit 200 is restarted. However, the method of comparing the history information with the restart condition is not limited to this.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6A, the condition data 204c ′ includes a weight (weight coefficient) indicating the weight of each threshold value and a total evaluation index (total value) to be described later for determining whether or not to restart. And a reference total evaluation index (predetermined value) that defines the threshold value.

  In this case, in steps S203 and S204, the current value of the history data 204b '(FIG. 6B) is compared with the threshold value of the condition data 204c' to obtain a primary determination result for each item. In the example of FIG. 6B, since the number of sales (“250 times”) of the product indicated by the history data 204b ′ exceeds the threshold value (“200 times”) indicated by the condition data 204c ′, NG is determined as the primary determination result. Is associated with “1”. Further, since the free memory block capacity (“150 kB”) indicated by the history data 204 b ′ is less than the threshold value (“200 kB”) indicated by the condition data 204 c ′, “1” is similarly associated. On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 6B, “0” is associated with OK.

  In the present embodiment, the weight determined by the condition data 204c ′ is taken into consideration for an item that is NG as the primary determination result. In the example of FIG. 6B, for the number of sales of the product that has been judged as NG in the primary determination, a numerical value “5” obtained by multiplying “1” indicating NG by a weight “5” is used as the evaluation index. And For the free memory block capacity that is NG in the primary determination, a numerical value “10” obtained by multiplying “1” indicating NG by a weight “10” is used as an evaluation index. As illustrated in FIG. 6B, the history data 204b 'according to the present embodiment is configured to include the total value of the above evaluation indices (total evaluation index "15").

  On the other hand, as described above, the condition data 204c ′ defines a threshold value of the total evaluation index for determining whether or not to restart (reference total evaluation index). In the present embodiment, when the total evaluation index of the history data 204b ′ is equal to or greater than the reference total evaluation index of the condition data 204c ′, the slave control unit 200 is restarted, while the total evaluation index is less than the reference total evaluation index. If so, do not perform a reboot. According to the illustrations of FIGS. 6A and 6B, the total evaluation index (“15”) is equal to or greater than the reference total evaluation index (“15”), so that the slave control unit 200 is restarted. The

  The weight and the reference total evaluation index in the condition data 204c ′ described above may be set in advance when the vending machine 1 is shipped from the factory, for example, or the control panel 155 may be used by a route man or the like when the vending machine 1 is installed. May be set through.

  Moreover, the numerical values of the above-described weights and evaluation indices are examples, and are not limited to these. In short, the weight can be any relative information that determines the weight of each item, and the evaluation index can be any information that can be compared with the reference information to determine whether or not to restart. It may be a thing.

=== Reactivation of the slave control unit (2) ===
When the vending machine 1 of the present embodiment is a cup-type vending machine that sells cup beverages, for example, it may have a so-called rinsing function for passing water through the piping of the sales mechanism 135 or the like. This rinse function is realized by a known configuration disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-323063. If a predetermined schedule (not shown) is stored in the RAM 104 of the main control unit 100, the rinsing function can be automatically executed when the date and time counted by the timer 103 coincides with the date and time indicated by the schedule. . Since the sales operation of the sales mechanism 135 is prohibited during rinsing, it is preferable that the timing of restarting the slave control unit 200 that similarly prohibits the sales operation is overlapped with the time of rinsing.

  As illustrated in FIG. 7, the restart schedule table data 204 a ′ stored in the RAM 204 of the slave control unit 200 is based on predetermined rinse schedule table data (not shown) stored in the RAM 104 of the main control unit 100. Configured. This figure is a chart showing a configuration example of the restart schedule table data 204a 'stored in the RAM 204 of the present embodiment.

  The restart schedule table data 204a 'has a configuration in which the restart schedule table data 204a (FIG. 3) is changed so as to overlap with the date and time when automatic rinsing is executed. This change can be made, for example, when the slave control unit 100 periodically refers to the rinse schedule table data stored in the RAM 104 of the main control unit 100. In the example shown in the drawing, the scheduled restart time is changed to a time obtained by adding a predetermined time (“Δt”) to the rinse time (“4:30”) on the day of the week when the automatic rinse is executed. Even if it is a Sunday that is not scheduled to be restarted, when the rinse is executed, the restart is changed in accordance with this time. Each day of the week is associated with information indicating whether or not rinsing is performed.

  The operation of restarting the slave control unit 200 based on the restart schedule table data 204a 'described above will be described with reference to FIG. This figure is another flowchart showing a processing procedure when the slave control unit 200 of this embodiment is restarted.

The sub control unit 200 refers to the restart schedule table data 204a ′ stored in the RAM 204, and reads the day and time of the current restart schedule (S200).
When the day of the week read in step S200 is not synchronized with the day of the week on which the automatic rinsing is performed (S201: NO), the secondary control unit 200 performs the same processing as the processing of steps S101 to S107 described above in steps S202 to S208. To do. As a result, when the history data 204b indicates the occurrence of a decrease in the free memory area of the RAM 204 or fragmentation at the date and time scheduled in the restart schedule table data 204a ′, the slave control unit 200 as scheduled. If such a suggestion is not recognized, the restart is not executed.

  On the other hand, when the day of the week read in step S200 is synchronized with the day of the week on which the automatic rinsing is performed (S201: YES), the sub control unit 200 performs the restart process at the time specified by the restart schedule table data 204a ′. Execute unconditionally (S209, S208). For example, when the rinse time is 4:30, the restart is performed at (4: 30 + Δt). When the time required for rinsing is Δt1 and the time required for restart is Δt2 (where Δt1> Δt2), if Δt is set in advance to be less than (Δt1−Δt2), the restart period is ensured. It will overlap within the rinse period.

  In the above-described embodiment, the restart of the slave control unit 200 overlaps with the time of automatic rinsing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, overlaps with the time of automatic sanitation or the like. There may be. In short, if there is an indispensable operation that is executed periodically with the sales operation of the vending machine 1 prohibited, it is preferable to restart the slave control unit 2 as much as possible with this operation timing.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, depending on whether or not to synchronize with the rinse time in step S201, the process is restarted according to the history information and unconditionally restarted. It is not limited to. For example, when restarting is performed as a result of determining history information, it is determined whether there is a rinse time on the day of the week, and if it is determined that there is a rinse time, the restart is executed after waiting until this rinse time It may be a thing.

=== Suppression of loss of product sales opportunities ===
According to the vending machine 1 of the present embodiment, whether or not the secondary control unit 200 is actually required to restart based on the history information at the date and time estimated to minimize the loss of merchandise sales opportunities. Can be determined. For example, if the history information indicates that it is not actually necessary to restart, the restart is not executed, so that the loss of sales opportunities can be avoided accordingly. That is, the slave control unit 200 can be restarted while suppressing a loss of sales opportunities for the product.

  Further, according to the vending machine 1 of the present embodiment, when the condition for executing the restart includes a plurality of items, whether or not the history information conforms to the condition is determined according to the weight between the items. I can judge. That is, since it is possible to prioritize the conditions for executing the restart of the slave control unit 200 in advance, it is possible to more effectively suppress the loss of merchandise sales opportunities.

  Furthermore, when the vending machine 1 of the present embodiment is a cup-type vending machine having functions such as automatic rinsing and automatic sanitation, it overlaps with the execution time of these functions accompanied by prohibition of the sales operation. A restart is performed. Therefore, the loss of the sales opportunity of goods can be controlled more effectively.

  In the above-described embodiment, the sales operation of the vending machine 1 is interrupted when the slave control unit 200 is restarted in steps S107 and S208. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, The restart may be executed without interrupting the sales operation. For example, among the sales operations of the main control unit 100, operations that are not linked with the operation of the sub control unit 200 can be executed even when the sub control unit 200 is restarted. Moreover, when the control target of the sub control unit 200 is related to an input operation by the user as in the present embodiment, there is a possibility that the user's input is not automatically accepted when the sub control unit 200 is restarted. Therefore, there is no need to interrupt the sales operation. Furthermore, when the sales operation is interrupted at the time of restart, the restart timing is not limited to overlapping within the interrupt timing as described above. In short, the restart time only needs to have a time zone overlapping with the interruption time.

  In the above-described embodiment, the slave control unit 200 of the vending machine 1 determines whether or not the restart is executed at the scheduled restart date and time, but is not limited thereto. For example, the slave control unit 200 may always perform analysis of history information in step S102 or S203 described above.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the restart of the slave control unit 200 of the vending machine 1 is executed by the slave control unit 200 itself, but is not limited to this. The control unit 100 may instruct execution of restart of the slave control unit 200.

  The CPU 201 of the slave control unit 200 described above and the predetermined program that causes the CPU 201 to execute the processes of steps S101 and S202 correspond to the detection unit of the present invention. The CPU 201 of the slave control unit 200 described above and the predetermined program that causes the CPU 201 to execute the processes of steps S102 and S103 and steps S203 and S204 correspond to the determination unit of the present invention. Further, the CPU 201 of the slave control unit 200 described above and the predetermined program that causes the CPU 201 to execute the processes of steps S107 and S208 correspond to the restarting unit of the present invention.

  The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be changed and improved without departing from the gist thereof, and equivalents thereof are also included in the present invention.

  The auxiliary function of the slave control unit 200 described above is not limited to the function of the liquid crystal display 210 with the touch panel 220, and may be any function as long as it is a function that assists the function of merchandise sales operation. .

  Further, the history information related to the auxiliary function of the slave control unit 200 described above is not limited to the history data 204b and 204b 'of the above-described embodiment. In short, any information may be used as long as the information correlates with a decrease or fragmentation of the memory area of the RAM 204.

It is a front view which shows an example of the external appearance structure of the vending machine of this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the structure which manages operation | movement of the vending machine of this Embodiment. It is a chart which shows the structural example of the restart schedule table data of this Embodiment. (A) is a chart which shows the example of a structure of the historical data of this Embodiment, (b) is a chart which shows the example of a structure of the condition data of this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process in the case of restart of the subordinate control part of this Embodiment. (A) is another chart which shows the example of composition of the condition data of this embodiment, and (b) is another chart which shows the example of composition of the history data of this embodiment. It is another figure which shows the structural example of the restart schedule table data of this Embodiment. It is another flowchart which shows the procedure of the process at the time of restart of the subordinate control part of this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine 2 Front door 3 Handle 4 Coin slot 5 Return lever 6 Bill insertion slot 7 Product outlet 8 Money return slot 100 Main control part 101 CPU
102 Counter 103 Timer 104 RAM 105 ROM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 Coin identification apparatus 120 Banknote identification apparatus 130 Sales control part 135 Sales mechanism 140 Cooling / heating control part 145 Cooling / heating mechanism 150 Input / output control part 155 Control panel 200 Subordinate control part 201 CPU
202 Counter 203 Timer 204 RAM 205 ROM
204a, 204a 'Restart schedule table data 204b, 204b' History data 204c, 204c 'Condition data 210 Liquid crystal display 220 Touch panel 230 Extended I / O 300 Communication cable

Claims (7)

A vending machine comprising a control unit that controls the sales operation of a product, and an auxiliary control unit that assists the control operation of the control unit,
A condition storage unit for storing conditions for restarting the auxiliary control unit;
A history storage unit storing a history of the auxiliary control unit;
A discriminator for discriminating whether or not the history satisfies the condition;
A restart unit that restarts the auxiliary control unit when the determination unit determines that the history corresponds to the condition;
Vending machine characterized by having The restarting unit stops the control operation of the control unit when restarting the auxiliary control unit,
The vending machine according to claim 1. A timekeeping section that measures the current time,
A determination time storage unit in which the determination time of the determination unit is stored;
A detection unit that detects whether or not the current time is the determination time,
The determination unit determines whether the history meets the condition when the detection unit detects that the current time is the determination time,
The vending machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. The condition storage unit stores a plurality of conditions as the condition,
The restarting unit restarts the auxiliary control unit when the determination unit determines that the history corresponds to one or more of the plurality of conditions.
The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The condition storage unit stores a plurality of conditions having weighting factors as the conditions,
The restarting unit is such that the history corresponds to one or more conditions among the plurality of conditions, and a total value of values obtained by multiplying a value indicating the conditions by a weighting coefficient exceeds a predetermined value. If the determination unit determines, restart the auxiliary control unit,
The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein A sales department that sells cup beverages;
A cleaning section for cleaning the sales section;
A control unit for controlling the sales operation of the sales unit and the cleaning operation of the cleaning unit;
An auxiliary control unit for assisting a control operation related to the selling operation of the control unit;
Vending machine with
A timekeeping section that measures the current time,
A cleaning time storage unit for storing a cleaning time by the cleaning unit;
A detection unit for detecting whether or not the current time is the cleaning time;
A condition storage unit for storing conditions for restarting the auxiliary control unit;
A history storage unit storing a history of the auxiliary control unit;
A discriminator for discriminating whether or not the history satisfies the condition;
A restarting unit for restarting the auxiliary control unit;
With
The restarting unit
When the detection unit detects that the current time is the cleaning time, or the detection unit detects that the current time is not the cleaning time, and the history satisfies the condition If the determination unit determines, restart the auxiliary control unit,
Vending machine characterized by that. A computer in a vending machine comprising a control unit that controls the sales operation of the product, and an auxiliary control unit that assists the control operation of the control unit,
A procedure for determining whether or not a history related to the auxiliary control unit satisfies a condition for restarting the auxiliary control unit;
A procedure for restarting the auxiliary control unit when the determination unit determines that the history corresponds to the condition;
A program for running

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