JP2012088832A - Commodity management device, automatic dispenser, automatic dispenser system, commodity management method and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid a state in which commodities desired by consumers are not dealt in at automatic dispensers.SOLUTION: A commodity management device includes a reception part for receiving information on a sales quantity of each commodity dealt in at an automatic dispenser and information (history information) showing existence of requests for sales of each commodity not dealt in at the automatic dispenser from the automatic dispenser, and a determination part for accumulating the sales quantity or the number of the requests for each commodity based on each information received by the reception part and outputting the accumulated value for each commodity.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology related to a vending machine.

  Conventionally, vending machines having a request function have been proposed. The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is as follows. First, the vending machine recognizes card information read from an electronic money card, displays a list of products that can be requested, and accepts a product request. When a product is requested, the vending machine counts the number of requests for that product. When the number of requests reaches a certain number, the vending machine transmits the product request to the center device of the management center. The center device transmits information such as whether or not the product is sold and the sales start time to the vending machine, and the vending machine posts the information.

JP 2009-265879 A

Conventionally, the types and arrangement of vending machines are determined by the sales company. Because vending machines have limited capacity, vending machines sell only products that are determined by the sales company. For this reason, there are cases where the products that consumers want are not sold. In this case, the consumer selects and purchases a substitute for what he / she desires from among the products provided by the vending machine. Some consumers refrained from purchasing.
In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for avoiding that a product desired by a consumer is not sold in a vending machine.

  One aspect of the present invention is a merchandise management apparatus, which handles information on the number of each merchandise handled by the vending machine from the vending machine and handles each merchandise not handled by the vending machine. A receiving unit that receives information indicating that the product is desired, a determination unit that accumulates the number of sales or the number of times desired for each product based on the information, and outputs a cumulative value for each product, Is provided.

  One aspect of the present invention is a vending machine that desires to be handled from a first input unit that is operated to select a product to be purchased and a product that is not handled from among the products that are handled. A second input unit that is operated to select a product to be purchased, a product take-out port for a purchaser to acquire the product, and a product that is purchased according to an operation on the first input unit. The product control unit for notifying the product management device of the identification information of the purchased product and the history information including the number of the purchased product, and the identification information of the product desired to be handled according to the operation on the second input unit A desired information control unit for notifying the commodity management apparatus of the history information including the history information.

  One aspect of the present invention is a vending machine system including a vending machine and a merchandise management apparatus, and the vending machine is operated to select a merchandise to be purchased from merchandise to be handled. A first input unit; a second input unit operated to select a product desired to be handled from among unmanufactured products; a product outlet for the purchaser to acquire the product; A product control unit that sends out the purchased product to the product take-out port in response to an operation on the input unit, and notifies the product management device of history information including identification information of the purchased product and the number thereof; and the second input A desired information control unit for notifying the product management device of history information including identification information of a product desired to be handled in response to an operation on the unit, wherein the product management device receives the history from the vending machine. Receive information A receiver, based on the history information, accumulates the number of times said sales quantity or desired for each product, and a determination section for outputting an accumulated value for each product, a vending machine system.

  One aspect of the present invention is a merchandise management method performed by a merchandise management apparatus capable of communicating with a vending machine, from the vending machine, information relating to the number of sales of each product handled by the vending machine, A receiving step for receiving information indicating that the handling of each product not handled by the vending machine is desired, and the product management device, based on the information, for the number of units sold or desired And a determination step of outputting the accumulated value for each product.

  One aspect of the present invention relates to a computer communicable with a vending machine from the vending machine, information related to the number of products sold by the vending machine, and information not handled by the vending machine. A receiving step for receiving information indicating that the product is desired to be handled, and based on the information, the sales quantity or the desired number of times is accumulated for each product, and the accumulated value is output for each product. And a determination step for executing the computer program.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce that a product desired by a consumer is not sold in a vending machine.

It is a system configuration figure showing the system configuration of a vending machine system. It is a figure showing the external appearance of a vending machine. It is a schematic block diagram showing the function structure of the control apparatus with which a vending machine is equipped. It is a figure showing the specific example of vending machine information. It is a figure showing the data structure of the historical information transmitted to a goods management apparatus from a vending machine. It is a schematic block diagram showing the function structure of a goods management apparatus. It is a figure showing the specific example of the data which a log | history information storage part memorize | stores. It is a figure showing the specific example of the totalization table output by the determination part. It is a schematic block diagram showing the function structure of a terminal device. It is a flowchart showing the flow of operation | movement of a vending machine.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a system configuration of the vending machine system 1. The vending machine system 1 includes a plurality of vending machines 10, a product management device 20, a terminal device 30, and a network 40. The vending machine 10, the product management device 20, and the terminal device 30 can communicate with each other via the network 40. Further, the vending machine 10 and the terminal device 30 can communicate with each other by short-range wireless communication, cable connection communication, or the like without using the network 40. In FIG. 1, the vending machine system 1 includes a plurality of vending machines 10, but only one vending machine 10 may be provided. In FIG. 1, the number of the merchandise management device 20 and the terminal device 30 included in the vending machine system 1 is one. Hereinafter, each apparatus with which the vending machine system 1 is provided is demonstrated.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the appearance of the vending machine 10. The vending machine 10 includes a handling product area 101, a plurality of handling product display units 102, a plurality of first input units 103, a charge input unit 104, a charge return unit 105, a product take-out port 106, a switching input unit 107, non-handling. A product area 108, a plurality of non-handled product display units 109, and a plurality of second input units 110 are provided. The vending machine 10 includes a control device 11 therein.

The handling product region 101 is a region where a plurality of handling product display units 102 and a plurality of first input units 103 are arranged.
The handled product display unit 102 displays the appearance of a product (hereinafter referred to as “handled product”) sold in its own device (the vending machine 10). The handling product display unit 102 may be configured to display the handling product itself, or may be configured to display a mock-up of the handling product. Moreover, the handling product display part 102 may be comprised using display apparatuses, such as a liquid crystal display and an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, and may be comprised so that the external appearance of a handling product may be displayed.

  The first input unit 103 is an input device for inputting to the vending machine 10 an indication of intention to purchase by specifying a handling product that the consumer intends to purchase. The first input unit 103 may be configured as a button associated with each handled product, may be configured as a button for inputting a number assigned to the handled product, or other existing configuration It may be. Moreover, the handling product display part 102 and the 1st input part 103 may be integrally comprised using the touch panel.

  The charge input unit 104 includes a bill input port, a coin input port, a wireless communication unit with an IC card, and the like. The fee input unit 104 performs processing related to fee payment by the consumer. The charge return unit 105 discharges coins or banknotes as change when the change is generated in the payment by the consumer. Note that the banknotes to be changed may be discharged from the banknote insertion slot of the fee input unit 104 instead of the fee return unit 105. The merchandise outlet 106 is a part where the handling merchandise purchased by the consumer is discharged.

  An example of the operation when a consumer purchases a product is as follows. First, the consumer inputs a fee into the fee input unit 104. Next, the consumer operates the first input unit 103 to designate a desired handling product. In response to this designation, the vending machine 10 discharges the designated handled product to the product outlet 106. The consumer can obtain a desired product by taking out the handled product discharged to the product take-out port 106.

  Next, the remaining configuration will be described. The switching input unit 107 is used when changing the operation mode of the vending machine 10. When the switching input unit 107 is pressed by the consumer, the operation mode of the vending machine 10 is switched. The operation modes of the vending machine 10 include a normal mode and a desired selection mode. Each time the switching input unit 107 is pressed, the operation mode is switched from the normal mode to the desired selection mode and from the desired selection mode to the normal mode. In the normal mode, the sales product area 101, the charge input unit 104, the charge return unit 105, the product take-out port 106, and the switching input unit 107 operate. Specifically, the vending machine 10 in the normal mode performs an operation necessary for the consumer to purchase the handled product. On the other hand, in the desired selection mode, the non-handling product area 108 operates. Specifically, the vending machine 10 in the desired selection mode performs an operation necessary for the consumer to select a desired product.

The unhandled product area 108 is an area in which a plurality of unhandled product display units 109 and a plurality of second input units 110 are arranged.
The unhandled product display unit 109 displays the appearance of a product that is not sold in its own device (the vending machine 10) (hereinafter referred to as “unhandled product”). The unhandled product display unit 109 may be configured to display photographs of unhandled products, or may be configured to display mock-ups of unhandled products. Further, the non-handled product display unit 109 may be configured using a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, and may be configured to display the appearance of the unhandled product.

  The second input unit 110 is an input device for a consumer to designate an unhandled product that the vending machine 10 desires to handle and to input the intention of handling to the vending machine 10. The second input unit 110 may be configured as a button associated with each non-handled product, may be configured as a button for inputting a number assigned to the non-handled product, or other configuration. It may be. Further, the non-handled product display unit 109 and the second input unit 110 may be integrally configured using a touch panel.

  Next, the configuration of the control device 11 provided in the vending machine 10 will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the functional configuration of the control device 11 provided in the vending machine 10. The control device 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and the like connected by a bus. The control device 11 executes the vending machine control program, thereby communicating the communication unit 111, the first input control unit 112, the product control unit 113, the second input control unit 114, the desired information control unit 115, the time measuring unit 116, and the storage. It functions as a device including a unit 117, an input unit 118, and an output unit 119. All or some of the functions of the control device 11 may be realized by using hardware such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA). Moreover, the control apparatus 11 may be implement | achieved when a computer reads and executes the control program for vending machines recorded on the computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system.

The communication unit 111 transmits and receives data to and from other devices via the network 40.
The first input control unit 112 determines an operation performed by the consumer on the first input unit 103 and notifies the product control unit 113 of the determination result. For example, when any one of the first input units 103 is pressed by the consumer, the first input control unit 112 detects the pressed first input unit 103. Then, the first input control unit 112 notifies the product control unit 113 of the identification number assigned to the pressed first input unit 103 as a determination result.

  The merchandise control unit 113 controls the handling merchandise stored in the vending machine 10 based on the amount of money put into the fee input unit 104 and the determination result notified from the first input control unit 112. For example, the product control unit 113 determines the handled product that the consumer intends to purchase according to the identification number assigned to the pressed first input unit 103. Next, the product control unit 113 determines whether or not the amount of money put into the charge input unit 104 is equal to or higher than the price of the handled product that the consumer is going to purchase. Then, when the amount of money that has been input is equal to or higher than the price, the product control unit 113 discharges the determined handled product to the product outlet 106. In addition, the product control unit 113 transmits information related to the handled product purchased by the consumer to the product management apparatus 20 as history information.

  The second input control unit 114 determines an operation performed by the consumer on the switching input unit 107 and the second input unit 110 and notifies the desired information control unit 115 of the determination result. For example, when the switching input unit 107 is pressed by the consumer, the second input control unit 114 notifies the desired information control unit 115 that the switching input unit 107 has been pressed as a determination result. When any one of the second input units 110 is pressed by the consumer, the second input control unit 114 detects the pressed second input unit 110. Then, the second input control unit 114 notifies the desired information control unit 115 of the identification number assigned to the pressed second input unit 110 as a determination result.

  The wish information control unit 115 performs a process of changing the operation mode from the normal mode to the desired selection mode when the switching input unit 107 is pressed by the consumer. Specifically, the wish information control unit 115 instructs the first input control unit 112 to change the state of the first input unit 103, and controls the second input control to change the state of the second input unit 110. The unit 114 is instructed. For example, the wish information control unit 115 instructs the first input control unit 112 to turn off the first input unit 103 and instructs the second input control unit 114 to turn on the second input unit 110. good. By such a change in state, the consumer can recognize that the desired selection mode has been entered.

  Desired information control section 115 operates as follows when the operation mode is the desired selection mode. First, the wish information control unit 115 determines a non-handled product desired by the consumer according to the identification number assigned to the pressed second input unit 110. Next, the wish information control unit 115 transmits information related to the unhandled product selected by the consumer to the product management apparatus 20 as history information.

The time measuring unit 116 counts time and notifies the product control unit 113 and the desired information control unit 115 of the count result.
The storage unit 117 is configured using a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. The storage unit 117 stores vending machine information related to the device itself. The vending machine information is information including, for example, a handling product sold by the own device and information on a non-handling product that is processed by the own device. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of vending machine information. The vending machine information includes the district ID, vending machine ID, patrol code, consumption count, product code of each handled product, and product code of each non-handled product. The district ID is identification information representing the district where the vending machine 10 is installed. The vending machine ID is identification information representing the vending machine 10. The patrol staff code is identification information indicating the patrol staff in charge of the vending machine 10. A patrolman is a person in charge who replenishes or replaces products. The consumption count number represents the total number of handled products sold by the vending machine 10. The product code is identification information representing a handled product or a non-handled product. The flag indicates whether the corresponding product code is a product code related to a handled product or a product code related to a non-handled product. For example, the value of the flag “0” indicates that this product code is information related to the handled product. Further, the value of the flag “1” indicates that this product code is information regarding unhandled products. Information stored in the storage unit 117 may be updated by information input via the input unit 118, or may be updated by information received from the product management device 20 or the terminal device 30 by the communication unit 111. .

  The input unit 118 is an input device such as a keyboard or a pointing device. The patrolman of the vending machine 10 operates the input unit 118 to input the value of each item of the vending machine information. Each value input to the input unit 118 is stored in the storage unit 117. The output unit 119 is an image display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. The output unit 119 displays, for example, each value of the input information and vending machine information stored in the storage unit 117 in accordance with an instruction input to the input unit 118. The input unit 118 may be configured as a communication device for short-range wireless communication or a connector for cable connection communication. In this case, the input unit 118 inputs information received by communication from the terminal device 30 and stores the information in the storage unit 117.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of history information transmitted from the vending machine 10 to the product management apparatus 20. The history information has each value of district ID, vending machine ID, sales date, product code, count number, patrol code, and flag. The district ID is identification information representing the district where the vending machine 10 that is the transmission source of the history information is installed. The vending machine ID is identification information representing the vending machine 10 that is the transmission source of the history information. The sales date represents the date when the handled product is sold or the date when the non-handled product is selected. Note that the sales date may further include time information. The merchandise code is identification information representing a sold handled product or a selected non-handled product. The count number represents the number of products sold or the number of times a non-handled product has been selected. The patrol code is identification information representing a patrol person who is in charge of the vending machine 10 that is the transmission source of the history information. The flag indicates whether the history information is information about handled products or information about unhandled products. For example, the value of the flag “0” indicates that the history information is information related to the handled product. Further, the value of the flag “1” indicates that this history information is information relating to unhandled products. Each information included in the history information is determined based on vending machine information registered in the storage unit 117.

  Next, the configuration of the product management device 20 will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing the functional configuration of the merchandise management apparatus 20. The merchandise management apparatus 20 includes a CPU, a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and the like connected by a bus. The merchandise management apparatus 20 executes a merchandise management program, thereby executing a communication unit 201, a regional information storage unit 202, a vending machine information storage unit 203, a merchandise information storage unit 204, a patrol information storage unit 205, and a history information storage unit. 206, functions as a device including a history information control unit 207 and a determination unit 208. Note that all or some of the functions of the merchandise management apparatus 20 may be realized using hardware such as an ASIC, PLD, or FPGA. Further, the merchandise management apparatus 20 may be realized by a computer reading and executing a vending machine control program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system.

The communication unit 201 transmits and receives data to and from other devices via the network 40.
The regional information storage unit 202, the vending machine information storage unit 203, the product information storage unit 204, the patrol person information storage unit 205, and the history information storage unit 206 are configured using a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. The The area information storage unit 202 stores the area ID and the name of the area and information about the area in association with each other. The vending machine information storage unit 203 stores the vending machine ID and information related to the vending machine (model name, installation location, installation date / time, number of products handled, etc.) in association with each other. The merchandise information storage unit 204 stores a merchandise code and information related to the merchandise (product name, date and time of sale, retail price, etc.) in association with each other. The patrol information storage unit 205 stores the patrol code and information related to the patrol (name of the patrol, vending machine ID, etc.) in association with each other.

The history information storage unit 206 stores history information received from the vending machine 10. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of data stored in the history information storage unit 206. As shown in FIG. 7, the history information storage unit 206 may store the received history information one by one.
Returning to FIG. 6, the description of the merchandise management apparatus 20 will be continued. The history information control unit 207 writes the history information received from each vending machine 10 by the communication unit 201 in the history information storage unit 206. The determination unit 208 performs determination processing based on a plurality of history information stored in the history information storage unit 206 at a predetermined timing. The predetermined timing may be a timing of every certain period (for example, every day, every week, every 10 days, every month, every three months, etc.), and the execution of the judgment process is instructed by the administrator. May be the timing when the execution of the determination process is instructed by the patrolman via the terminal device 30, or may be another timing.

  Next, the determination process will be described. The determination unit 208 performs determination processing based on history information accumulated during a predetermined period. The predetermined period may be, for example, 10 days, may be one month, or may be a period specified by an administrator, a patrolman, or the like every time determination processing is performed. The determination unit 208 counts the count number of each product code for each vending machine (for each vending machine ID) based on the history information accumulated during a predetermined period. And the determination part 208 outputs a total result as a total table for every vending machine. The output of the determination unit 208 may be performed, for example, as printing by a printer connected to the product management apparatus 20, may be performed as data transmission to the terminal apparatus 30 via the network 40, or may be performed in other forms. It may be done.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a summary table output by the determination unit 208. As shown in the figure, the determination unit 208 calculates the cumulative value of the count number for each product code, and determines the rank in descending order of the count number. Then, the determination unit 208 sorts the records including the product code, the cumulative value of the count number, and the flag according to the rank, and outputs the result as a total result. The determination unit 208 performs this process for each vending machine 10. Therefore, a total result is output for each vending machine. The tabulation result shown in FIG. 8 is the tabulation result of a vending machine that sells 20 types of handled products. The determination unit 208 may output the aggregation result using a ruled line different from other ruled lines under the same number of records as the number of products handled by the vending machine. In the case of FIG. 8, the ruled line between the 20th and 21st positions is a two-line ruled line different from the other ruled lines (one line). By outputting in this way, it is possible to easily distinguish a product that is in the same rank as the number of products handled by the vending machine and a product that is not in that rank.

  A specific example of the determination process will be described. For example, if a determination request is received for the vending machine ID “M0001” and the sales period “20xx / 01/01” to “20xx / 01/10” from the terminal device 10 used by the patrol code “J0001” The unit 208 operates as follows. First, the determination unit 208 refers to the history information storage unit 206 and searches for history information that satisfies the conditions of the vending machine ID “M0001” and the sales dates “20xx / 01/01” to “20xx / 01/10”. Next, the determination unit 208 accumulates the count for each product code based on the retrieved history information. The determination unit 208 records the combination of the product code, the cumulative count value, and the flag value as one record, and rearranges the records according to the count number. Next, the determination unit 208 assigns a number (order) according to the arrangement order to each record. In this way, the determination unit 208 generates a total result. Further, the determination unit 208 generates a tabulation table by collecting the tabulation results in a table format as shown in FIG.

  Further, the determination unit 208 may further perform the following processing. First, the determination unit 208 refers to the vending machine information storage unit 203 and reads the number of products handled by the vending machine 10 that is the object of processing. Next, the determination unit 208 extracts records of non-handled products up to the same rank as the number of handled products in descending order of the count number of the counting results. Next, the determination unit 208 counts the number of extracted non-handled product records as the number of extracted records. Next, the determination unit 208 searches for records of handled products from the rank of the number obtained by adding 1 to the number of handled products toward the smaller count number. And the determination part 208 extracts the record of handling goods by the same number as the number of extraction records. The determination unit 208 outputs the extracted record of unhandled products as a record of products to be handled in the future. Further, the determination unit 208 outputs the extracted record of handled products as a record of products that should be handled in the future.

  Next, the terminal device 30 will be described. The terminal device 30 is an information processing device used by a patrolman. The terminal device 30 transmits an information browsing request to the product management device 20 and receives and displays information stored in the product management device 20 and an output result of the determination unit 208. Therefore, the patrolman can browse the information accumulated in the product management device 20 and the output result of the determination unit 208 by operating the terminal device 30. Further, the terminal device 30 transmits information input by the patrolman to the merchandise management device 20 in response to the patrolman's instruction. In addition, the terminal device 30 transmits an information browsing request to the vending machine 10 and receives and displays information stored in the storage unit 117 of the vending machine 10. Therefore, the patrolman can browse the information stored in the storage unit 117 of the vending machine 10 by operating the terminal device 30. Moreover, the terminal device 30 transmits the information input by the patrolman to the vending machine 10 according to the patrolman's instruction.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the terminal device 30. The terminal device 30 includes a CPU, a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and the like connected by a bus. The terminal device 30 functions as a device including a communication unit 301, an input unit 302, a display unit 303, a control unit 304, and a storage unit 305 by executing a terminal program. All or some of the functions of the terminal device 30 may be realized using hardware such as an ASIC, PLD, or FPGA. The terminal device 30 may be realized by a computer reading and executing a terminal program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system.

  The communication unit 301 transmits and receives data to and from other devices via the network 40. Further, the communication unit 301 may communicate with the vending machine 10 by short-range wireless communication or cable connection communication. The input unit 302 is an input device such as a keyboard or a pointing device. The display unit 303 is an image display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The display unit 303 displays, for example, information input by operating the input unit 302, information received from other devices, and the like. The control unit 304 controls each functional unit of the terminal device 30. The storage unit 305 stores information such as a patrolman code.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the vending machine 10. First, when the consumer is not performing any operation on the vending machine 10 (initial state) (step S101-NO, step S104-NO), the first input control unit 112 of the vending machine 10 is The first input unit 103 is turned off. In the initial state, the second input control unit 114 of the vending machine 10 turns on the switching input unit 107 and turns off the second input unit 110.

  When the consumer inputs a fee into the fee input unit 104, the product control unit 113 determines a handled product corresponding to the input fee and notifies the first input control unit 112 of the determination result. The first input control unit 112 turns on the first input unit 103 corresponding to the determined handled product. Next, when the first input unit 103 is pressed by the consumer, the first input control unit 112 notifies the product control unit 113 of the pressed first input unit 103. The product control unit 113 determines whether or not the amount inserted into the charge input unit 104 is equal to or higher than the price of the handled product corresponding to the pressed first input unit 103. Then, when the amount of money that has been input is equal to or higher than the price (step S101—YES), the product control unit 113 discharges the handled product selected by the consumer to the product take-out port 106 (step S102). In addition, the product control unit 113 transmits information on the handling product purchased by the consumer to the product management apparatus 20 as history information (step S103).

  On the other hand, the consumer looks at the handled product displayed on the handled product display unit 102, and if there is no product to be purchased, the consumer sees the unhandled product displayed in the non-handled product area 108. . Then, the consumer presses the switching input unit 107 when there is a product to be purchased among the unhandled products. When the switching input unit 107 is pressed (step S101—NO, step S104—YES), the second input control unit 114 detects this and notifies the desired information control unit 115 of it. Desired information control unit 115 changes the operation mode to the desired selection mode. In addition, the wish information control unit 115 instructs the second input control unit 114 to turn on the second input unit 110. In response to this instruction, the second input control unit 114 turns on the second input unit 110 (step S105). Further, the time measuring unit 116 starts time measurement (step S106).

  When the operation mode is the desired selection mode, the desired information control unit 115 waits while determining whether a predetermined time has elapsed until the second input unit 110 is pressed (step S107-NO, step S108-NO). ). When the predetermined time elapses without the second input unit 110 being pressed (step S107—NO, step S108—YES), the desired information control unit 115 turns off the second input unit 110 so as to turn off the second input control unit 110. 114 is instructed. The second input control unit 114 turns off the second input unit 110 in response to this instruction. Then, the wish information control unit 115 changes the operation mode from the wish selection mode to the normal mode, and the vending machine 10 returns to the initial state (step S113).

  On the other hand, when the second input unit 110 is pressed before the predetermined time has elapsed (step S107—YES), the desired information control unit 115 determines according to the identification number assigned to the pressed second input unit 110. Determine the unhandled products that consumers want. And the wish information control part 115 transmits the information regarding the unhandled goods selected by the consumer to the merchandise management apparatus 20 as history information (step S109). In addition, the desired information control unit 115 instructs the second input control unit 114 to turn off the second input unit 110 and causes the time measuring unit 116 to start timing. In response to this instruction, the second input control unit 114 turns off the second input unit 110 (step S110). In addition, the time measuring unit 116 starts time measurement in response to this instruction (step S111). The wish information control unit 115 waits while determining whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed (step S112—NO). During this time, the wish information control unit 115 does not accept consumer operations on the switching input unit 107 and the second input unit 110. When the predetermined time has elapsed (step S112—YES), the vending machine 10 returns to the initial state (step S113).

  Thus, in the configured vending machine system 1, information is collected by the vending machine 10 as to which product is a non-handled product that the consumer desires to handle. And the merchandise management apparatus 20 totals the collected information. Therefore, it becomes possible for the patrolman to change the handling product according to the counting result, thereby providing the consumer's desired product for each vending machine 10. Moreover, the merchandise management apparatus 20 outputs a tabulation table according to the rank order of the count numbers. Therefore, for each vending machine 10, it becomes possible to appropriately select and sell products that have been highly desired by consumers. From the above, it is possible to improve the consumption rate of the products by matching the product arrangement of the vending machine 10 with each region and the customer base of the place.

  In addition, the consumer can press the second input unit 110 without charging the fee input unit 104. Therefore, the consumer can easily press the second input unit 110 regardless of purchase or not. For this reason, it is possible to collect more information about which products the consumer desires to be handled by the vending machine 10 in the future.

  In addition, the consumer can input a desired non-handled product in the encountered vending machine 10 by at least two operations (pressing the switching input unit 107 and the second input unit 110). Therefore, it is possible to provide motivation to perform the operation even for those who have a short time required for the operation and do not have enough time. Therefore, it is possible to increase the collection rate of information regarding desired non-handled products.

  In addition, the vending machine having the conventional request function merely collects questionnaires and purchaser information regarding purchased products. Furthermore, there is a problem that only information on consumers who actually purchased the products can be obtained, and information on various potential purchasers that differ depending on the region, place, customer base, and season is not reflected in the questionnaire. In the vending machine system 1, such a problem is solved as described above.

<Modification>
The merchandise management apparatus 20 may be configured to further include a merchandise number storage unit that stores the cumulative number of counts in association with each combination of the vending machine ID and the merchandise code. In this case, every time history information is received, the history information control unit 207 may increase the cumulative value of the count number corresponding to the combination of the vending machine ID and the product code by the count value of the history information.

  The determination unit 208 may count the count number for each area ID instead of counting the count number for each vending machine ID. By being configured in this way, it is possible to determine the tendency of the desired product for each region, not for each vending machine 10.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vending machine system, 10 ... Vending machine, 20 ... Merchandise management device, 30 ... Terminal device, 40 ... Network, 101 ... Handling product area, 102 ... Handling product display part, 103 ... First input part, 104 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Charge input part, 105 ... Charge return part, 106 ... Product take-out port, 107 ... Switching input part, 108 ... Non-handling product area, 109 ... Non-handling product display part, 110 ... Second input part, 111 ... Communication part 112 ... 1st input control part, 113 ... Product control part, 114 ... 2nd input control part, 115 ... Desired information control part, 116 ... Timekeeping part, 117 ... Memory | storage part, 118 ... Input part, 119 ... Output part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 201 ... Communication part (receiving part), 202 ... Area information storage part, 203 ... Vending machine information storage part, 204 ... Merchandise information storage part, 205 ... Patrol information storage part, 206 ... History information storage unit, 207 ... History information control unit, 208 ... Determination unit, 301 ... Communication unit, 302 ... Input unit, 303 ... Display unit, 304 ... Control unit, 305 ... Storage unit

Claims (9)

Receive from the vending machine information related to the quantity sold of each product handled by the vending machine and information indicating that handling is desired for each product not handled by the vending machine And
Based on the information, the sales unit or the desired number of times for each product is accumulated, and a determination unit that outputs a cumulative value for each product;
A product management apparatus comprising:   The product management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit ranks each product based on the size of the accumulated value.   The determination unit ranks in order from the largest cumulative value, and the ranking value is the same as or smaller than the number of products handled by the vending machine, and the ranking value is the ranking value. The merchandise management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the merchandise is output by distinguishing merchandise larger than the number of merchandise.   The product management according to claim 3, wherein the determination unit extracts and outputs a product that is not handled by the vending machine from products having the same rank value as the product number or smaller than the product number. apparatus.   The determination unit extracts products handled by the vending machine from among products having the same ranking value as the number of products that are not handled by the extracted vending machines. The merchandise management apparatus according to claim 4, wherein A first input unit that is operated to select a product to be purchased from among the products being handled;
A second input unit operated to select a product desired to be handled from among products not handled;
Product outlets for buyers to acquire products,
In accordance with an operation on the first input unit, a product control unit that sends out a purchased product to the product outlet and notifies the product management device of history information including identification information of the purchased product and the number thereof,
In response to an operation on the second input unit, a desired information control unit for notifying the product management device of history information including identification information of a product desired to be handled;
Vending machine equipped with. A vending machine system comprising a vending machine and a product management device,
The vending machine is
A first input unit that is operated to select a product to be purchased from among the products being handled;
A second input unit operated to select a product desired to be handled from among products not handled;
Product outlets for buyers to acquire products,
In accordance with an operation on the first input unit, a product control unit that sends out a purchased product to the product outlet and notifies the product management device of history information including identification information of the purchased product and the number thereof,
A desired information control unit for notifying the product management device of history information including identification information of a product desired to be handled in response to an operation on the second input unit;
The product management device includes:
A receiving unit for receiving the history information from the vending machine;
A vending machine system comprising: a determination unit that accumulates the number of sales or a desired number of times for each product based on the history information and outputs the accumulated value for each product. A product management method performed by a product management device capable of communicating with a vending machine,
Receive from the vending machine information regarding the number of products sold by the vending machine and information indicating that the handling of each product not handled by the vending machine is desired. Receiving step;
Based on the information, the product management device accumulates the number sold or the number of times desired for each product, and determines the output of the accumulated value for each product;
A merchandise management method. For computers that can communicate with vending machines,
Receive from the vending machine information regarding the number of products sold by the vending machine and information indicating that the handling of each product not handled by the vending machine is desired. Receiving step;
Based on the information, the step of accumulating the number sold or the number of times desired for each product, and a determination step of outputting a cumulative value for each product;
A computer program for running.

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