JP2008059091A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine that can display advertising information promptly without increasing the capacity of a main storage device and can display advertising information matching the location of installation and the like. <P>SOLUTION: Advertising information satisfying a predetermined extraction condition is extracted from a plurality of pieces of advertising information stored in an MC 37, the extracted advertising information is stored in a RAM 24 only by an amount depending on the capacity of the RAM 24, and the advertising information in the RAM 24 is displayed on an LCD 14 in a display order on a display list. This can display the advertising information promptly without increasing the capacity of the RAM 24 to increase advertising effects without increasing the cost of the RAM 24. For example, advertising information matching conditions such as the time and the location of installation of the vending machine can be displayed to provide increased advertising effects. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine that sells products such as canned beverages, paper-packed beverages, and boxed confectionery and displays advertisements.

  Conventionally, as this type of vending machine, a display unit capable of displaying advertisement information and a main storage device capable of storing advertisement information are stored, and the advertisement information stored in a predetermined external storage device is stored in the main storage device. In addition, there is known one in which advertisement information of a main storage device is displayed on a display unit.

  However, in this vending machine, since the advertisement information stored in the external storage device is simply displayed on the display unit, for example, advertisement information suitable for the time zone, the installation location of the vending machine, etc. can be displayed. However, there was a problem that the advertising effect by advertisement could not be improved.

Thus, there is also known one in which advertisement information satisfying a predetermined extraction condition is extracted from a plurality of advertisement information stored in an external storage device and displayed on a display unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-132264 A

  By the way, since the main storage device of the vending machine also stores control data and the like of the cooling / heating equipment, the number of advertisement information stored in the main storage device is limited. Further, for example, when a main storage device having a large capacity is used to store all the extracted advertisement information, there is a problem that the cost of the main storage device is increased.

  Furthermore, in the case where the advertisement information of the external storage device is extracted one by one and stored in the main storage device, it is necessary to extract the advertisement information and transfer it to the main storage device. In the case of sequentially switching and displaying, it takes a long time until new advertisement information is displayed on the display unit, and as a result, there is a problem that the advertising effect due to the advertisement is reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is to display advertisement information promptly without increasing the capacity of the main storage device and to be suitable for an installation location or the like. Another object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of displaying the advertisement information.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a display unit capable of displaying advertisement information and a main storage device capable of storing advertisement information, and the advertisement information stored in a predetermined external storage device is stored in the main storage device. In the vending machine that stores the advertisement information of the main storage device on the display unit, the advertisement information satisfying a predetermined extraction condition is extracted from the plurality of advertisement information stored in the external storage device Advertisement information extracting means, and a plurality of pieces of advertisement information extracted by the advertisement information extracting means are stored in the main storage device only in accordance with the capacity of the main storage device, and the advertisement information in the main storage device is arranged in a predetermined display order. And a control means for displaying on the display unit.

  As a result, only the advertisement information corresponding to the capacity of the main storage device is stored in the extracted advertisement information. Therefore, when the advertisement information in the main storage device is sequentially switched and displayed, new advertisement information is promptly displayed. It becomes possible to do. Further, since the advertisement information that satisfies the predetermined extraction condition is displayed on the display unit, it is possible to display the advertisement information suitable for the conditions such as the time zone and the installation location.

  According to the present invention, advertisement information can be displayed quickly without increasing the capacity of the main storage device, so that the advertising effect can be improved without increasing the cost of the main storage device. it can. Further, for example, advertisement information suitable for conditions such as the time zone and the installation location of the vending machine can be displayed, so that the advertising effect by advertisement can be further improved.

  1 to 8 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of the vending machine, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the vending machine shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system configuration of the vending machine, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of advertisement information, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of an advertisement display operation in the vending machine shown in FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an advertisement screen, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of a display list, and FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram showing a modification of the vending machine.

  First, the structure of the vending machine will be described with reference to FIGS. In the description here, the front side in FIG. 1 is represented as the front, the back side as the rear, the left side as the left, and the right side as the right.

  The vending machine main body 1 has a box shape and is provided with a heat insulating chamber 1a having an open front. The heat insulation chamber 1a is divided into a plurality of storage rooms SR arranged side by side with a heat insulating partition plate (not shown).

  A merchandise storage rack 2 composed of a serpentine rack is disposed in each warehouse SR. Each merchandise storage rack 2 has a merchandise inlet 2a in the upper part on the front side, and stores merchandise C such as canned drinks, bottled drinks, and plastic bottled drinks in a meandering storage path 2b stacked in a horizontal direction. ing. Further, at the lower part of each product storage rack 2, a product carry-out mechanism 2 c for dropping and carrying the stored product C onto the chute plate 3 for one piece is provided. Furthermore, each of the product storage racks 2 arranged for each storage room SR is provided with a sold-out detection sensor (not shown) that detects the presence or absence of the product C in units of storage passages 2b. The merchandise storage rack 2 is not limited to a serpentine rack, but can use other types of racks that can carry out one stored merchandise as in the serpentine rack.

  In each warehouse SR, a chute plate 3 and a duct plate 4 are provided from the bottom to the back. In the space below and on the rear side of the chute plate 3 and the duct plate 4, an evaporator 5, an electric heater 6, a cooling / heating air circulation blower 7, etc. of the refrigeration equipment are arranged. The back side space is configured as a duct D. Furthermore, a temperature sensor (not shown) that detects the temperature of the product that is about to be carried out in the product storage rack 2 is provided in each storage room SR.

  A machine room MR is provided below the bottom plate 1b of the heat insulation room 1a. In the machine room MR, a condenser 8, a compressor 9 and expansion means (not shown) of the refrigeration equipment are provided. The exhaust heat blower 10 and the like are arranged.

  Further, a heat insulating inner door 11 is provided on the front side of the heat insulating chamber 1a so as to cover the front opening of the heat insulating chamber 1a. A product storage room (each storage room SR) is provided with the inner door 11 closed at the front end of the heat insulating chamber 1a (upper and lower left and right) (the lower front end is the front end of the bottom plate 1b) and the front end of each partition plate. Packing (no reference) is provided for airtightness, and each storage room SR becomes an independent heat insulation space with the inner door 11 closed. Further, a plurality of window holes 11a corresponding to the chute plates 3 of the respective compartments SR are formed in the lower part of the inner door 11, and the window holes 11a are pushed open by the products C sliding down the chute plates 3. A flap door 11b is provided.

  That is, in this vending machine, each storage room SR constitutes an independent heat insulation space, and the evaporator 5 and the electric heater 6 are provided independently in each storage room SR. Any one of the three modes of cooling, heating, uncooling, and heating can be arbitrarily selected and implemented for each storage room SR by the setting device 30 (see FIG. 3).

  The outer door 12 is provided at the front opening of the vending machine main body 1 so as to be openable and closable. A decorative panel 13 is provided on the upper surface of the outer door 12. The decorative panel 13 has a rectangular window hole 13a for exposing the screen of the liquid crystal display 14, and an advertisement part 13b for displaying a product manufacturer name, a product name, and the like in characters.

  A liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as LCD) 14 is for displaying still images and moving images constituting an advertisement screen and a product sales screen described later in color, and the screen is exposed from the window hole 13a. It is arranged inside the decorative panel 13. The LCD 14 has a predetermined size and a predetermined resolution, for example, a size of 18 inches and a resolution of 1280 × 1024 pixels. Instead of the LCD 14, a well-known display that enables similar display, such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a PDP (Plasma Display Panel), or the like, can be used.

  Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the LCD 14 is provided with a touch sensor 33 (see FIG. 3) that detects the position touched by the user on the screen and designates the coordinate position on the screen. Yes. In addition to the well-known electrostatic transparent touch panel and pressure-sensitive transparent touch panel, the touch sensor 33 includes a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit that constitute an infrared sensor arranged at equal intervals on the upper and lower sides and the left and right sides of a rectangular frame. It can be used as appropriate.

  Further, on the front surface of the outer door 12, a lock operation lever 15, a coin insertion slot 16, a return lever 17, a bill insertion slot 18, a coin return slot 19, and a product outlet 20 are provided in the layout shown in FIG. Incidentally, the lock operation lever 15 is for operating a lock mechanism (not shown) provided in the outer door 12, and can be used by a dedicated key. Further, the product outlet 20 is provided with a flap door 21 that can be opened manually, and a product receiving plate 22 that receives the product C discharged from the flap door 11b is provided inside thereof.

  Next, the control system configuration of the vending machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 23 is for controlling the temperature adjustment and carrying out of the product C, and controlling the display of the LCD 14 and data communication with the outside. The control unit 23 includes a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM 24 as a main storage device, a timer circuit, and the like, and can exchange data necessary for control with each other. Further, the RAM 24 can store a predetermined number of advertisement information to be described later. The control unit 23 constitutes advertisement information extracting means and control means as defined in the claims of this application.

  The control unit 23 is connected to a coin processor 25, a bill validator 26, a carry-out drive unit 27, a compressor drive unit 28, a heater drive unit 29, and a temperature adjustment setting device 30. In addition, the control unit 23 includes a sold-out detection sensor (not shown) that detects the presence / absence of the product C in the product storage rack 2 arranged for each storage room SR in units of storage passages 2b. A temperature sensor (not shown) is connected via a temperature detection unit (not shown), which is connected via a temperature detection unit (not shown).

  The coin processor 25 and the bill validator 26 are disposed in the outer door 12, and the coin processor 25 performs authenticity identification, counting and storage of coins inserted through the coin insertion slot 16, and relates to the amount of coins inserted. Data is sent to the control unit 23. The bill validator 26 performs authenticity recognition and storage of the bill inserted through the bill insertion slot 18, and sends data related to the amount of the inserted bill to the control unit 23.

  The carry-out drive unit 27 is for controlling the operation of the product carry-out mechanism 2c provided in each product storage rack 2, more specifically, the operation of an actuator such as a solenoid used in the product carry-out mechanism 2c. On the basis of the control signal from, the predetermined product carry-out mechanism 2c is operated to carry out the desired product carry-out.

  The compressor drive unit 28 is for controlling the operation of the compressor 9 constituting the refrigerator, specifically the operation of the motor for driving the compressor 9, and is based on the control signal from the control unit 23. The compressor of the period is driven.

  The heater drive unit 29 is for controlling energization to each electric heater 6, and energizes a predetermined electric heater 6 based on a control signal from the control unit 23.

  The temperature adjustment setting device 30 is for selecting any one of the three modes described above for each storage room SR, and includes a push button switch for mode selection and the like, and relates to the selected mode. Data is sent to the control unit 23.

  The controller 23 is connected to an LCD drive unit 31, a coordinate detection unit 32, an audio output unit 34, a memory card adapter (hereinafter referred to as MC adapter) 36, a modem 38, and a wireless communication unit 40. Yes.

  The LCD driving unit 31 is for controlling the display of the LCD 14 provided on the outer door 12, and drives the LCD 14 based on image data and control signals from the control unit 23 to perform an intended image display.

  The coordinate detection unit 32 sends data related to coordinates on the screen to the control unit 23 based on the detection signal of the touch sensor 33. Since the area displayed on the advertisement screen to be described later is set with reference to the coordinates on the screen of the LCD 14, it is easy to determine which area is selected on the advertisement screen by the data sent from the coordinate detection unit 32 to the control unit 32. I can judge.

  The audio output unit 34 drives the speaker 35 based on the audio signal and the control signal from the control unit 23 to perform an intended audio output. At least one speaker 35 is arranged on both sides of the LCD 14 in the outer door 12 so that a three-dimensional sound effect can be obtained by a stereo method.

  The MC adapter 36 is detachably connected to a memory card (hereinafter referred to as MC) 37 as an external storage device. The modem 38 is for performing data communication with an external server or the like using a public telephone line 39 or the like, and the wireless communication unit 40 is connected to an external server or the like using a mobile phone network or a PHS telephone network or the like. For performing data communication wirelessly.

  Image data such as still images and moving images that can be displayed on the LCD 14 and audio data output from the speaker 35 are transmitted by data communication via the MC 37 and the modem 38 or by data communication via the wireless communication network 40. The data can be taken into a storage means such as a hard disk provided in the control unit 23, and data can be updated arbitrarily.

  The image data and audio data include a display image at the time of an advertisement screen, a display character and output audio, and a display image at the time of a product sales screen (including a plurality of product images corresponding to each of the products that can be sold), display Characters and output speech are included.

  The MC 37 stores a plurality of pieces of advertisement information displayed on the advertisement screen. Each advertisement information includes an advertisement ID, image data, audio data, advertiser, advertisement category, time zone, and display priority as shown in FIG.

  The advertisement ID is an attribute for identifying the advertisement information, and a different ID is assigned to each advertisement information. The advertisement category is an attribute for representing the category of the advertised product or service, and for example, a category such as “beverage”, “food”, or “automobile” is given. The advertiser and the advertisement category represent attributes related to advertisement contents. The time zone is an attribute for representing a time zone in which the advertisement information can be displayed, and a different time zone is stored for each advertisement information. The display priority is an attribute for prioritizing the display order of the advertisement information, and any one value among 1 to 3 is stored. In this case, the display order of the advertisement information is given priority over the other advertisement information as the value of the display priority becomes smaller. The time period and the display priority order can be arbitrarily set according to the contract contents with the advertiser.

  Incidentally, each product image displayed on the product sales screen is stored in the storage unit of the control unit 23.

  Next, an advertisement display operation in the vending machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  When the power of the vending machine is turned on, the advertisement screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the LCD 14 (step S1).

  In this advertisement screen, an advertisement display area A1 for displaying image data of advertisement information and a screen switching area A2 for switching the display to the product sales screen are set.

  Then, the current time is acquired from the timer circuit of the control unit 23 (step S2), and the advertisement information including the current time in the displayable time zone is extracted from the MC 37 (step S3). For example, when the advertisement information of FIG. 4 is stored in the MC 37 and the current time is 10:00, advertisement information of advertisement IDs 0001, 0002, 0004, 0005, 0006, 0010, 0012 and 0014 are extracted. .

  Next, a display list representing the display order of the extracted advertisement information is generated (step S4). The generation of the display list will be specifically described. First, the advertisement IDs of the advertisement information extracted in step S3 are arranged as shown in FIG. Then, the display order of the advertisement information in which a small value is set for the display priority is advanced. For example, the display order of the advertisement information of the advertisement ID 0002 with the display priority “1” is set first, and the display order of the advertisement information of the advertisement ID 0006 with the display priority “2” is set second. Set to. Next, when a plurality of pieces of advertisement information having the same attribute regarding the advertisement content (advertisement category in the present embodiment) are continuously arranged, the display order is changed so that the arrangement is discontinuous. . For example, when the display order of the advertisement information of advertisement IDs 0012 and 0014 with “food” set in the advertisement category is seventh and eighth, the advertisement information of advertisement ID 0012 and the display order are set to sixth. The display order of the advertisement information with the advertisement ID 0010 is switched. Accordingly, a plurality of pieces of advertisement information having the same advertisement category are displayed discontinuously. Then, the display list generated by the above processing as shown in FIG. 7B is stored in the RAM 24.

  Next, the advertisement information is stored in the RAM 24 based on the display order of the display list (step S5). In this case, each advertisement information is transferred from the MC 37 to the RAM 24 by an amount corresponding to the capacity of the RAM 24. For example, if the number of advertisement information that can be stored in the RAM 24 is two, the display order is transferred to the RAM 24 two by two from the first advertisement information.

  Then, the advertisement information in the RAM 24 is reproduced based on the display order of the display list (step S6). In this case, the process of step S6 is repeated until all the advertisement information in the RAM 24 is reproduced, and when all the advertisement information in the RAM 24 is reproduced, the process proceeds to step S5 (step S7). When all the advertisement information in the display list is reproduced by repeating this process, the advertisement information is sequentially transferred to the RAM 24 based on the display order to repeat the reproduction of the advertisement information.

  Although explanation is omitted in the above flow, it is possible to change the extraction condition of the advertisement information by performing the processing after step S2 every predetermined time (for example, 1 hour). For example, when the current time is 20:00, advertisement information of advertisement IDs 0002, 0004, 0005, 0008, 0009, 0010, 0011, 0013, 0014, and 0015 is extracted.

  When the screen switching area A2 is touched on the advertisement screen, the advertisement screen is switched to the product sales screen and a predetermined product sales operation is performed. In this case, each product image is displayed on the LCD 14 on the product sales screen, and the product is selected by the user touching the area where the product image is displayed. When the input amount is equal to or higher than the price of the selected product, the product is unloaded by operating the product unloading mechanism 2c of the product storage rack 2 in which the selected product is stored. In addition, after the product has been taken out, the product sales screen is returned to the advertisement screen.

  As described above, according to the vending machine of the present embodiment, the advertisement information satisfying the predetermined extraction condition is extracted from the plurality of advertisement information stored in the MC 37, and each extracted advertisement information is stored in the capacity of the RAM 24. Since only the corresponding advertisement information is stored in the RAM 24 and the advertisement information in the RAM 24 is displayed on the LCD 14 based on the display order of the display list, the advertisement information can be displayed promptly without increasing the capacity of the RAM 24. It is possible to increase the advertising effect without increasing the cost of the RAM 24. Further, for example, advertisement information suitable for conditions such as the time zone and the installation location of the vending machine can be displayed, so that the advertising effect by advertisement can be further improved.

  In addition, since the advertising information that satisfies the extraction conditions is extracted based on the attribute assigned to each advertising information, the advertising information that satisfies the extraction conditions can be extracted quickly, and the advertising effect by the advertisement is further improved. Can be made.

  Furthermore, since the display order of advertisement information is set based on the display priority given to each advertisement information as an attribute, the advertisement information of a predetermined product or the like is displayed with priority over other advertisement information. And the sales promotion effect of the product can be further improved.

  Furthermore, since the display order of the advertisement information is set so that a plurality of advertisement information having the same advertisement category are displayed discontinuously with each other, the advertisement information of products belonging to the same category such as a car is continuously displayed. Therefore, there is an advantage that it does not cause an advertiser's dissatisfaction such that advertisement information such as own products is displayed after advertisement information of other companies in the same industry.

  In addition, since the external storage device is composed of the MC 37 that is detachably connected to the RAM 24, the advertisement information can be arbitrarily updated, and the latest advertisement information according to the season, place, etc. is provided to the user. Can do.

  In addition, the said embodiment is only a specific example of this invention, and this invention is not limited only to the said embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the advertisement information is extracted based on the time zone set for each advertisement information. However, the attributes such as the region, season, and age or sex of the target person of the advertisement are included in each advertisement information. The advertisement information may be extracted based on these attributes. In addition, a temperature sensor that detects the external temperature of the vending machine and a humidity sensor that detects the external humidity of the vending machine are provided so as to be connectable to the control unit 23, and an attribute such as a temperature band or a humidity band is added to each advertisement information. By providing, it is also possible to extract advertisement information based on external temperature or humidity.

  In the embodiment, the advertisement information stored in the MC 37 is stored in the RAM 24. However, as shown in FIG. 8, the hard disk 101 storing each advertisement information is connected to a public network 39 as a network. You may make it provide in the advertisement management server 100 connected via the mobile telephone network or the PHS telephone network. In this case, the advertisement information extracted from the hard disk 101 is stored in the storage unit of the control unit 23 via the modem 38 or the wireless communication unit 40. Then, each advertisement information in the storage means is transferred to the RAM 24 based on the display order of the display list after the display list is generated. As a result, the advertisement information can be managed centrally in the advertisement management server 100, so that the advertisement information can be easily updated and the operability can be improved.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the extraction condition is changed according to the elapse of the current time. However, the extraction condition may be changed using an input means such as an extraction condition setting button.

  Furthermore, although the advertisement category classified into “food” and “automobile” is shown in the above embodiment, it goes without saying that the advertisement category can be set in detail, such as “bread” and “gum”. Yes.

The front view of the vending machine which shows one Embodiment of this invention Side sectional view of the vending machine shown in FIG. The block diagram which shows the control system structure of the vending machine shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the data structure of advertisement information Flow chart showing the flow of advertisement display operation in the vending machine shown in FIG. Figure showing advertisement screen The figure which shows an example of the data structure of a display list System configuration diagram showing a modification of the vending machine

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... LCD, 23 ... Control part, 24 ... RAM, 37 ... Memory card, 100 ... Server, 101 ... Hard disk.

Claims (7)

A display unit capable of displaying advertisement information; and a main storage device capable of storing advertisement information. The advertisement information stored in a predetermined external storage device is stored in the main storage device. In vending machines that display on the display,
Advertising information extracting means for extracting advertising information satisfying a predetermined extraction condition from a plurality of advertising information stored in the external storage device;
A plurality of pieces of advertisement information extracted by the advertisement information extraction means are stored in the main storage device only in accordance with the capacity of the main storage device, and the advertisement information in the main storage device is displayed on the display unit based on a predetermined display order. Vending machine characterized by comprising control means. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement information extracting means is configured to extract advertisement information that satisfies an extraction condition based on an attribute assigned to each advertisement information. The vending machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means is configured to set a display order of advertisement information based on a display priority given to each advertisement information as an attribute. The said control means is comprised so that the display order of advertisement information may be set so that several advertisement information with the same attribute regarding advertisement content may be discontinuously displayed mutually. The vending machine described. The vending machine according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein the external storage device is constituted by a storage medium that is detachably connected to the main storage device. The vending machine according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the external storage device is provided in a predetermined server connected via a network. The vending machine according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, wherein the extraction condition can be arbitrarily changed.

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