JP2952760B2 - 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 a vending machine such as a ticket vending machine for selling ticket pieces such as entrance tickets in an entertainment facility.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an admission ticket or a facility use ticket is used in an entertainment facility or the like, necessary ticket pieces are purchased in advance by a ticket vending machine.
Money inserted for the purchase of ticket pieces is stored in a hopper fixedly installed inside the body of the ticket vending machine. The money stored in the hopper is collected by a ticket vending machine administrator or the like, for example, after the end of business hours. FIG. 2 is a front view of the ticket vending machine 1 on which the present invention is based, and FIG. 4 shows a collection procedure. FIG. 2 is also referred to in the embodiment described later. Hereinafter, the configuration of the ticket vending machine 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The ticket vending machine 1 is used, for example, to sell entrance tickets, facility use tickets, and the like at entertainment facilities and the like. On a front surface of a front door 2 of the ticket vending machine 1, a plurality of sale buttons 3 each listing items of ticket pieces to be sold are arranged. Further, the front door 2 is provided with a bill insertion slot 4 and a coin insertion slot 5, and a balance display section 6 for displaying the balance of the inserted money.

Each of the sale buttons 3 has a built-in sellable lamp, and when money is inserted, a sellable lamp corresponding to a product having a price equal to or less than the amount of money is turned on. Also,
A sold-out lamp that is lit when the corresponding product is sold out is also built in.

[0004] The front door 2 has a return button 7 operated when change is refunded, a return port 8 for returning change,
A ticket slot 9, a key hole into which a predetermined switching key is inserted, a sold-out switch 10 used when setting the ticket vending machine 1 to a sold-out state, and a key hole into which another switching key is inserted. A lock switch 11 for switching between a locked state and an unlocked state of the front door 2, and a release stop display unit 12 for displaying “release stop” when the ticket vending machine 1 stops selling are provided.

[0005] Inside the body, there are provided a hopper for temporarily storing the inserted money, and a safe from which the money in the hopper is transferred by a collecting operation described later and can be taken out. Further, an operation panel including various switches and ten keys for setting an operation mode of the ticket vending machine 1 to various modes and inputting data for the setting by the administrator or the like is installed inside the body.

Referring to FIG. 4, a description will be given of a procedure for collecting the above-mentioned money according to the prior art. At the end of a business day, for example, the manager inserts a predetermined switching key into the lock switch 11 of the front door 2 to switch the front door 2 to the unlocked state at step a1 in FIG. In step a2, the front door 2 is opened, and in step a3, the administrator or the like operates the operation panel to set the ticket vending machine 1 to the sale suspension state, and the sale suspension display unit 12 displays the "cancel sale" display. Then, the operation related to the sale of the ticket pieces of the ticket vending machine 1 is stopped.

[0007] In step a4, the administrator or the like operates the collection switch of the operation panel to set the ticket vending machine 1 to the money collecting operation state. In step a5, the control unit including the microcomputer of the ticket vending machine 1 moves the money stored in the hopper to the safe one by one. When the money in the hopper is exhausted and all the money has been moved to the safe, the movement of the money is automatically terminated, and step a6 is performed.
Then, the manager collects money from the safe. In step a7, the power of the ticket vending machine 1 is shut off and the front door 2 is closed , and in step a8, the front door 2 is locked. In this way, the operation of collecting money after one business day ends.

[0008]

In such a conventional ticket vending machine 1, it takes a relatively long time to collect the money including the period of the operation of moving the money from the hopper to the safe in step a5. It is necessary to keep the front door 2 of the ticket vending machine 1 unlocked over the period of steps a2 to a7, and there is a problem that the risk is high in crime prevention. In addition, an administrator or the like performing the collection work is required to unlock the front door 2 as shown in FIG.
It is necessary to monitor the ticket vending machine 1 by waiting near the ticket vending machine 1 during the collection operation from the point of security for the period of steps a1 to a7 . For this reason, when performing the collection work of a plurality of ticket vending machines 1 as an example, it is necessary to provide the standby time for each of a plurality of ticket vending machines 1, and only the collection work of each one can be performed. There is a problem that a lot of work time is wasted. In addition, such a problem is not limited to the above-described ticket vending machine 1 but is common to all types of vending machines that need to collect inserted money.

The first and second aspects of the present invention have been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the risk of crime prevention when collecting money, An object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine in which wasted time is prevented from being generated.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an airframe.
By operating the sales buttons arranged on the front door of
A vending machine that sells a product corresponding to the sale button.
Thus, the inserted money is stored and fixed to the body.
Hopper and the money stored in the hopper
Outside the fuselage with the front door open.
Safe with removable door and front door closed
In the normal sales operation mode,
Switch to the collection operation mode in which money moves to the safe.
Operation switch provided on the front door.
When collecting the money in the hopper, the front door is closed.
With the operation selector switch
Switch from the selling operation mode to the collection operation mode and
Move the money stored in the safe to the safe, and then
Automatic vending to open the front door and take out the safe outside the machine
It is a vending machine. This allows the front door of the vending machine to be closed during the period of money transfer from the hopper to the safe, which requires a relatively long time when collecting money, thereby reducing the risk of crime prevention. It can be significantly reduced. In addition, the operator or the like performing the collection work also during the movement of the currency, since the front door of the vending machine is closed, the need to wait near the vending machine during the collection work is eliminated,
It is possible to perform other operations such as a collection operation of another vending machine. As a result, it is possible to prevent generation of useless time in the collection operation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the operation changeover switch includes a key switch operated by inserting a specific key member. Therefore, when the money transfer operation is started, it is possible to reliably prevent a situation in which the movement operation is started by accidental operation of the switches on the front of the machine body, and to reduce the risk of crime prevention.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments.

1 to 3 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a ticket vending machine 1 according to an embodiment of the vending machine of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the ticket vending machine 1 having a basic configuration of the present invention. Is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the ticket vending machine 1.

The configuration shown in FIG. 2 of the ticket vending machine 1 of the present embodiment has been described, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

Hereinafter, an electrical configuration of the ticket vending machine 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The ticket vending machine 1 of the present embodiment is used to sell ticket pieces such as entrance tickets and facility use tickets in entertainment facilities and the like, for example, and the present invention is applied to a ticket vending machine in such entertainment facilities. It is not limited to ticket vending machines, and is not limited to ticket vending machines.In addition to the vending machines, it is necessary to input money to purchase goods and to collect the inserted money. It is widely practiced for vending machines.

The ticket vending machine 1 has a control unit 13 realized by a microcomputer or the like. The control unit 13 is supplied from the plurality of sale buttons 3, the balance display unit 6, the return button 7, the sold-out switch 10, the lock switch 11, the release stop display unit 12, the bill insertion slot 4 and the coin slot 5. Bill burr 14 for discriminating money, a coin mech 15, a ticket issuing unit 16 including a printer for printing predetermined items on a recording sheet for the ticket, a power supply device 17, a bill insertion slot 4 and a coin slot 5. A hopper 18 that stores and accumulates the money inserted from the hopper 18 and a safe 19 in which the money stored in the hopper 18 is moved under the control of the control unit 13 as described below. The hopper 18 has a moving mechanism for moving the money stored therein one by one to the safe 19 under the control of the control unit 13.

Hereinafter, a specific example of the procedure for collecting money in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3, but the present invention is not limited to the specific procedure described below. Clearly not. At the end of the business day, for example, the manager or the like proceeds to step b1
Then, the sold-out switch 10 is unlocked by inserting a predetermined specific key into the sold-out switch 10 and rotating it, and the ticket vending machine 1 is set to the sale stop state. At this time, the release suspension display section 12 displays "release suspension", and the operation related to the release of the ticket pieces of the ticket vending machine 1 is suspended.

Next, at step b2, for example, the administrator presses the return button 7 five times consecutively. In step b3, the control unit 13 detects five consecutive operations of the return button 7 in the release stop state, sets the ticket vending machine 1 to the money collecting operation state, and the control unit 13 The stored money is moved to the safe 19 one by one. The money in the hopper 18 is lost and the money safe 1
When all the movements to 9 are completed, the money movement operation is automatically terminated.

Thereafter, in step b4, the sold-out switch 10 is locked, and the "sale stop" state of the ticket vending machine 1 is released. In step b5, the locking switch 1 of the front door 2
1, a predetermined switching key is inserted, and the front door 2 is switched to the unlocked state. In step b6, the front door 2 is opened, and in step b7, the manager or the like collects money from the safe 19. In step b8, the ticket vending machine 1 is turned off and the front door 2 is turned off.
Is closed , and the front door 2 is locked in step b8 . In this way, the operation of collecting money after one business day ends.

In the ticket vending machine 1 of the present embodiment as described above, it takes a relatively long time to collect the money, during the time of the operation of moving the money from the hopper 18 to the safe 19 in step b3, and , The front door 2 can be closed, and the risk of crime prevention can be significantly reduced. In addition, since the front door 2 of the ticket vending machine 1 is closed even during the movement of the money, the manager or the like performing the money collecting operation does not need to wait near the ticket vending machine 1 during the collecting operation. It is possible to perform other operations such as a money collecting operation of another ticket vending machine 1. As a result, it is possible to prevent generation of useless time in the collection operation.

In the ticket vending machine 1 of this embodiment, a specific key is inserted into the sold-out switch 10 to set the ticket vending machine 1 to the sale stop state.
The collecting operation is started by performing a pressing operation a plurality of times, such as one time. Therefore, when the money transfer operation is started, it is possible to reliably prevent a situation in which the transfer operation is started by accidental operation of the switches on the front door 2 and to reduce the risk of crime prevention in this respect as well. Can be.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but includes a wide range of specific examples without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0023]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
For example, the front door of the vending machine can be kept closed during the period of money transfer from the hopper to the safe, which takes a relatively long time to collect money, which significantly reduces the risk of crime prevention. Can be reduced. In addition, the operator performing the collection operation, even during the movement of the currency, the front door of the vending machine is closed, so that the need to wait near the vending machine during the collection operation is eliminated, and Other operations such as a vending machine collection operation can be performed. As a result, it is possible to prevent generation of useless time in the collection operation.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operation changeover switch includes a key switch operated by inserting a specific key member. Therefore, when starting the money transfer operation, it is possible to reliably prevent a situation in which the transfer operation is started by accidental operation of the switches on the front of the body,
The risk on the security can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electric configuration of a ticket vending machine 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a ticket vending machine 1 having a configuration serving as a basis of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a money collecting operation according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a conventional money collecting operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ticket vending machine 2 Front door 3 Sell button 7 Return button 10 Sold-out switch 11 Lock switch 13 Control unit 18 Hopper 19 Safe

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vending machine for selling a product corresponding to a selling button by operating a selling button arranged on a front door of the machine, wherein the inserted money is stored, and A hopper fixed to the hopper, and the money stored in the hopper can be stored.
One, a compatible safe taken out該機body outside in a state where the front door is opened, in a state where the front door is closed, from the normal sales mode of operation,
An operation switch disposed on the front door for switching to a collection operation mode in which money stored in the hopper moves to the safe.
The front door is closed when collecting money in the hopper.
With the operation selector switch,
Switch from operation mode to collection operation mode, and
Move the stored money to the safe, and then
A vending machine that opens the door and takes the safe out of the machine. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the operation changeover switch includes a key switch operated by inserting a specific key member.