JP2811973B2 - Ice discharge control device for vending machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice discharge amount control device installed in a vending machine for discharging ice into a cup at the time of selling beverages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional ice discharge amount control device for a vending machine is configured such that a constant amount of ice is supplied to a cup by opening an ice door solenoid for controlling opening and closing of an ice discharge port for a predetermined time. Have been. For example, a time chart shown in Table 1 shows the operation of the syrup-based beverage at this time.

[0003]

[Table 1]

In Table 1, an iced door solenoid is energized for 0.9 or 0.8 seconds at a predetermined timing in a series of beverage selling operations, during which a fixed amount, for example, 40 grams of ice particles is placed in a cup. To be discharged. The energization time to the ice door solenoid can be arbitrarily changed and adjusted to an optimum value, thereby controlling the amount of ice discharged.

[0005]

However, the above-described conventional ice discharge amount control device has a problem that the amount of ice particles to be discharged varies depending on the season and the frequency of use. In other words, the temperature of the surroundings where the vending machine is installed generally rises in summer and falls in winter, so that the inside temperature of the vending machine is also affected by this. Therefore, the ice generated by the ice maker and stored inside tends to melt and become smaller in the summer compared to the winter. Similarly, if the frequency of use is low and the elapsed time from the discharge of ice at the time of selling the previous drink to the time of selling the next drink becomes longer, the ice particles stored during that time will melt and become smaller.

As described above, in the conventional ice discharge amount control device, the size of the ice particles stored therein changes due to the change of the ambient temperature and the frequency of use due to the season and the like, and the amount of the discharged ice varies. Is generated. As a result, there is a problem that the ratio of ice mixed into the beverage is not constant.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ice vending machine for a vending machine capable of constantly discharging a fixed amount of ice to stabilize the quality of a beverage. An object of the present invention is to provide a discharge amount control device.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ice discharge amount control for a vending machine in which the amount of ice discharged into a cup at the time of selling beverages is controlled by the opening time of an ice discharge port. In the apparatus, a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature in the refrigerator, a non-sale time measuring means for measuring an elapsed time from the time of selling the beverage accompanied by the last ice discharge, and a temperature in the refrigerator and the non-sale time as input values , Each inside temperature and non-sale time
Check the pre-set rules to find the antecedent part,
Ice discharge amount is set in advance corresponding to these antecedent parts.
The consequent part, and the antecedent about the internal temperature
Cut out according to the degree of belonging of the input value to the department membership function
Of the ice discharge from the center of gravity of the membership function
And a fuzzy control unit for outputting the opening time of the ice discharge port corresponding to the ice discharge amount .

[0009]

In the present invention, the temperature sensor detects the temperature inside the vending machine, and the non-sale time measuring means measures the elapsed time from the last time the beverage was sold with ice discharge, and the obtained values were obtained. Is input to the fuzzy control unit. A membership function is set in advance for each input value in the fuzzy control unit, the degree of belonging of the input value to the membership function is obtained, and the ice discharge port corresponding to the degree of belonging obtained from a preset rule. Calculates and outputs the open time. Thus,
The opening time of the ice discharge port is controlled so that the amount of ice discharged from the ice discharge port is always constant even when the values of the refrigerator temperature and the non-sale time change.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ice discharge amount control device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, an in-compartment temperature sensor 1 is installed in a frame of a vending machine (not shown), detects the temperature in the frame, and sends the value to the input unit 2 as a temperature sensor input signal. The input unit 2 A / D converts the temperature sensor input signal and sends it to the sales control unit 3. The sales control unit 3 sends the temperature sensor input signal to the state input unit 5 in the fuzzy control unit 4, and also measures the elapsed time since the last drink sales measured by a built-in timer (not shown), that is, the unsold time. Send to status input unit 5. At the same time, the sales control unit 3
The ice discharge time is corrected based on the correction value sent from the controller 6 and sent to the output unit 6. Here, the state input unit 5 temporarily stores the input temperature sensor input signal and the sales information indicating the non-sale time, and then sends it to the inference unit 7 at a predetermined timing. The inference unit 7 calculates the temperature sensor input signal and the sales information
A plurality of membership functions 8 each set in advance
Find the degree of belonging to Next, the degree of membership for each membership function obtained for each input value is compared with a rule stored in the rule unit 9 in advance to find a corresponding correction value. If a plurality of correction values are found, These are combined by the centroid method to calculate one correction value and send it to the state input unit 5. The output unit 6 sends a drive current to the ice door solenoid 10 for a designated time according to the value of the ice discharge time sent from the sales control unit 3. Although not shown, the ice door solenoid 10 drives an ice door provided at an ice discharge port only for a period during which electricity is supplied, opens the ice door, and discharges ice to the cup.

As shown in Table 2, the rule section 9 stores rules 1 to 3 consisting of an antecedent part and a consequent part. In the antecedent part, the inside temperature is divided into three stages of "low", "standard" and "high", and the unsale time is divided into three stages of "short", "standard" and "long", respectively. Are combined as conditions. In the consequent part, an appropriate ejection amount (correction value) corresponding to the antecedent part is set in seven stages.

[0012]

[Table 2]

In Table 2, the size of the ice particles entered in the column between the column where the antecedent part is entered and the column where the consequent part is entered is not directly related to the rules, and It indicates the size of the ice grain in the condition of the part. Here "very big"
This indicates that the ice-made grains keep their initial size with little melting. The others indicate the degree to which the ice particles have melted and become smaller.

FIG. 2 shows a specific example of a membership function for the inside temperature of the antecedent set in the fuzzy control unit 4. In the embodiment, the membership functions of “low”, “standard”, and “high”, which are the conditions of the antecedent part, are set. Here, if it is assumed that, for example, 7 ° C. is input as the internal temperature, the membership functions of “low” and “standard” correspond, and the degree of membership is 0.4 and 0.2, respectively. The range of the degree of belonging can be from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 1.
Up to.

FIG. 3 shows a specific example of the membership function for the unsold time of the antecedent part set in the fuzzy control unit 4. In the example, "short", "standard",
A “long” membership function is set. Here, if it is assumed that, for example, six hours are input as the unsold time, it corresponds to the “long” membership function, and its membership is 0.7.

FIG. 4 shows a specific example of a membership function for the discharge amount (correction value) of the consequent part which is also set in the fuzzy control unit 4. In the embodiment, seven levels of values set in the consequent part of the above rule as appropriate correction values are displayed as membership functions. Here, considering the specific values input in FIGS. 2 and 3, from the combination of the corresponding membership functions,
The rules in Table 2 will apply. As a result, in FIG. 4, two membership functions “very small” and “small” correspond. So this 2
The trapezoidal portion shown in FIG. 5 is obtained by cutting out the two membership functions according to their respective degrees of membership. By calculating the center of gravity of these two trapezoids and projecting them on the x-axis, a correction value of 130 (%) is obtained, and the standard ice discharge time is increased or decreased by this correction value. Specifically, the ice door solenoid 1 converted from a preset standard discharge amount
The actual energizing time is obtained by multiplying the energizing time to 0 by 1.3, and thereby the sales control unit 3 is controlled. In this example, the non-sale time attribution 0.7 is used.
Not corrected, but a value obtained by subtracting 100% from the correction value (see above)
In this example, 30%) is multiplied by the degree of belonging 0.7 (21%).
%) May be added to 100% to obtain the correction value.
No.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the above-described ice discharge amount control device. Hereinafter, based on FIG. 6, the operation will be systematically described with reference to FIG. When the operation is started, first, the values of the internal temperature and the unsold time are input from the state input unit 5 to the inference unit 7 (step S).
1). Next, the inference unit 7, the input inside temperature Men
Check the corresponding antecedent member by matching with the baship function (MSF).
Find the baship function and degree of membership. In addition, the entered
The corresponding antecedent membership function for sales time
Then, the degree of belonging is obtained as needed (step S2).
Furthermore, the rule part 9 is collated (step S3), and the conclusion is reached.
The consequent part of the rule is determined, and the discharge amount shown in FIG.
The membership functions are checked (step S4).
Next, the membership function of FIG.
Cut out according to attribute, and if multiple correction values are obtained
The correction value is obtained by combining them using the centroid method (step
S5). Also, if necessary, when not selling as described above
This correction value is processed using the degree of membership relating to the interval. The obtained correction value is sent from the inference unit 7 to the sales control unit 3 via the state input unit 5, and the set value of the preset standard ice discharge time (the energization time to the ice door solenoid 10) is set. Increase or decrease is changed (step S6). Next, the process proceeds to a normal beverage sales control process.

In the embodiment, even when the temperature of the refrigerator rises and the melting of the iced ice is likely to proceed, or when the non-sale time is prolonged and the melting of the ice is advanced, it is possible to reduce the temperature. In other words, depending on the situation, that is, depending on the degree to which the ice particles melt and become smaller, the ice discharge time was extended to compensate for the reduced ice, so that the use of vending machines and the atmosphere of the installation location fluctuated. Regardless, the quality of the beverage can be stabilized throughout the four seasons.

In the embodiment, the magnitude of the correction value for the ice discharge time is set in the consequent part of the rule. However, the magnitude of the ice discharge time itself can be set.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, a fuzzy control unit is provided, and a membership function corresponding to an input value consisting of an internal temperature and a non-sale time, and an optimum ice discharge time are obtained. And the optimum opening time of the ice discharge port according to the temperature in the refrigerator and the unsold time can be calculated and output. Thereby, a fixed amount of ice is always discharged from the ice discharge port every time the beverage is supplied, and there is an effect that the quality of the beverage is stabilized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a specific example of a membership function set in a fuzzy control unit.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a specific example of a membership function set in a fuzzy control unit.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a specific example of a membership function set in a fuzzy control unit.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a plurality of specific values obtained for each membership function in a fuzzy control unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Internal Temperature Sensor 2 Input Unit 3 Sales Control Unit 4 Fuzzy Control Unit 5 State Input Unit 6 Output Unit 7 Inference Unit 8 Membership Function 9 Rule Unit 10 Ice Door Solenoid

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ice discharge amount control device for a vending machine for controlling the amount of ice discharged into a cup at the time of selling beverages based on an opening time of an ice discharge port, a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature in a refrigerator; and not sold time measuring means for measuring the elapsed time from the beverage dispensing with the discharge, and the temperature and non-sales time cold storage as an input value, inside temperature and not
Check the rules set in advance for each sales time
To determine the antecedent part, and
In addition to finding the consequent part that is set in advance for output,
Input value to the antecedent membership function for the internal temperature
Of the membership function of the consequent part cut out according to the degree of membership of
The ice discharge amount is calculated from the center of gravity, and the ice discharge amount corresponding to this ice discharge amount is calculated.
A fuzzy control unit that outputs an opening time of an exit, and an ice discharge amount control device for a vending machine, comprising: