JP3385844B2 - 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 capable of easily upgrading the version of a control program used internally.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Even in a vending machine, it is necessary to upgrade the version of the control program. This is often due to a request from a vending machine management company, rather than a version upgrade to improve functions. Even for the same type of vending machine, different control programs may be incorporated depending on the management company of the delivery destination.

Now, the control program is usually EP
-It is written in a storage medium called a ROM. Conventionally, the EP-ROM alone is set in a ROM writer and the control program is written in the EP-ROM, and then the EP-R is written.
The OM is mounted on the board.

For this reason, once the ROM is mounted on the board, the ROM is removed from the board when it is desired to change the program by, for example, upgrading the version of the program (for that purpose, the ROM is disassembled from the box housing the board). You may have to do this), and erase the contents of the removed ROM by optical processing, and then
Either set it in a ROM writing machine and write data again, or prepare a new ROM separately and mount the ROM on the board. R implemented in this way
Program change for OM (commonly called P-ROM exchange)
Takes a lot of time and effort.

Therefore, a flash memory which can be easily electrically written and erased like a normal RAM is EP.
-Recognized as an alternative to ROM. This flash memory is suitable as a program storage medium because it does not require data backup and can store a large amount of data.

[0006]

However, when the flash memory is used as the storage medium, the data can be written easily, so that data may be erased by mistake, or a different model or an older version may be installed. It may happen that there is a possibility that the program will be managed easily and accurately.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vending machine which can easily and accurately manage the version up of a control program stored in a writable memory.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The first invention ( corresponding to FIG. 1)
Performs the sales control based on the control program stored in the first storage means (5), stores the sales data generated by the sale in the second storage means (4), and stores the stored sales data. In the control device of the vending machine, which is transferred to the memory card (3) attached to the card interface (2) at the time of data collection, the first storage means (5) is a memory that can be easily written and erased electrically. Memory card (3) mounted on the card interface (2) while adopting the means
When the data stored in the memory card (3) is the data of the upgraded control program by the means (1A) for identifying the type of the control program and the means (1A), the data of the control program is changed to the first data. And a program rewriting means (6) for writing in one storage means (5).

The second invention ( corresponding to FIG. 3) is a memory card.
In the host computer (B) that aggregates and manages the sales data collected in (3), connects to the vending machine maker through a communication line and sends the latest control program periodically transmitted from the vending machine maker to the host computer (B). ), And the control program stored in the memory card (3) inserted in the host computer (B) is not the same version as the stored control program, the latest stored control program Is written in the memory card (3).

The third aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 1 and FIG. 5) is the first aspect.
Sales control is performed based on the control program stored in the storage means (5), the sales data generated by the sale is accumulated in the second storage means (4), and the accumulated sales data is collected at the time of data collection. In the control device of the vending machine which is transferred to the memory card (3) mounted on the card interface (2), the first storage means (5) employs a storage means that can be easily written and erased electrically. At the same time, the communication means for performing data communication with the vending machine manufacturer at a predetermined timing via the communication line, and the communication of the communication means,
By the identification unit (1A) for identifying whether the control program stored in the first storage unit (5) has been upgraded, and the identification unit (1A), the control program owned by the vending machine manufacturer can be identified. When it is an upgraded version, it is characterized by including a program rewriting means (6) for writing the control program in the first storage means (5).

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the memory card (3) storing the upgraded control program can be stored in the first storage means (5) only by mounting it in the card interface (2). When the control program is an old version, it is automatically rewritten to the latest version of the control program stored in the memory card (3), so that the program can be easily rewritten without human error.

Memory card storing sales data (3)
Is a host computer (B) at a vending machine management company.
In the second invention, the host computer (B) is a management system server (A) of a vending machine manufacturer (or a company that manages the control program of the vending machine) through a communication line. ), The updated control program is periodically transmitted from the management system server (A) and stored in the host computer (B). A memory card in which a control program is stored in the host computer (B)
When (3) is inserted, the control program is compared with the control program stored in the host computer (B) to check whether the version has been upgraded. If the version has been upgraded, the version is upgraded. The control program is written in the memory card (3).

In the third invention, the vending machine is connected to the vending machine maker through the communication means, and communicates with the vending machine maker at a predetermined timing to check whether the current control program has been upgraded. . If the version has been upgraded, the upgraded control program is imported from the vending machine manufacturer and the control program for the vending machine is rewritten to the latest version of the control program.

As described above, even if the vending machine management companies are the same, different control programs may be set. Therefore, even if the vending machine management company requests a version upgrade. , The upgraded control program is not always necessary for other vending machine management companies. Therefore, as described in claim 2 , even if the control program of the vending machine is upgraded, the control program is upgraded only when the upgrade is permitted.

[0015] Since the above card interface (2) has not been anything at all times attached, this card interface
By controlling the communication line through the memory card (3 ') attached to (2), it can function as the communication means.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a control block diagram showing an embodiment of a vending machine of the first invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU that controls the vending machine as a whole, and includes an identification unit 1A for identifying the type of data stored in a memory card 3 described later. Reference numeral 2 is a card interface for passing data through the memory card 3.
Reference numeral 4 is a memory for storing the control data read from the memory card 3 and for storing the sales data generated by the vending machine. Reference numeral 5 denotes the flash memory described above, which stores the control program of the vending machine.

A logic control unit 6 is provided to rewrite the control program stored in the flash memory 5, and the data of the control program stored in the memory card 3 is converted by the parallel / serial conversion unit 6A.
The parallel signal is converted into a serial signal and sent to the flash memory 5 as a program rewriting signal. The OR gate OR1 is for supplying a clock signal, which is signaled from the CPU 1 and the parallel / serial conversion unit 6A, to the flash memory 5 as a write clock.

When rewriting such a program, the CPU
It is the reset management unit 7 that prohibits other interrupts to 1s. The OR gate OR2 supplies the watchdog pulse (e) from the CPU 1 and the watchdog pulse (d) output from the logic control unit 6 to the reset management unit 7. When the program is rewritten, the watchdog pulse (d) output from the logic control unit 6 is supplied, so that the reset management unit 7 activates the reset port of the CPU 1 to prevent the CPU 1 from being reset.

FIG. 2 shows the control operation of the vending machine of FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of. When the memory card 3 is inserted into the card interface 2, step S1
From step S2, the type of the card is identified from the content of the stored data in the memory card 3. When the content of the stored data is not the control program, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether the data is a collection card for collecting sales data. If it is a collection card, the process proceeds to step S6, and the sales data stored in the memory 4 is written in the memory card 3 via the card interface 2. On the other hand, when the memory card 3 is a data setting card, the process proceeds from step S5 to step S7, and the setting data stored in the memory card 3 is read and stored in the memory 4.

Separately, when the control program is stored in the memory card 3, the steps S3 to S3 are performed.
4, the control program stored in the card is judged to be the same version as the current control program stored in the flash memory 5. If the version is the same, the process proceeds to step S5 described above, but if not, step S1 is performed to upgrade the version of the current control program.
Go to 1 or later.

In step S11, first, the CPU 1 sends a download signal (b) to the logic controller 6, and in step S12, the CPU 1 reads the write start address of the control program in the memory card 3 and sends the signal.
It is written in the memory 4 at (a). Next step S13
Then, interrupts other than the program download are prohibited, and the operation of the CPU 1 is stopped in step S14 to wait for the control program download interrupt.

Upon receiving the download signal (b), the logic control section 6 periodically supplies the watchdog pulse (d) to the reset management section 7 in step S21.
The reset management unit 7 activates the reset port of the CPU 1 so that the CPU 1 is not reset. Then, in steps S22 to S24, one byte is read from the memory card 6 based on the information of the head address stored in the memory 4, and the parallel / serial conversion unit 6A converts the data into a serial signal, which is flashed. It is written in a predetermined address of the memory 5.

When all the data are read, step S2
4 to step S26, the logic control unit 6 to C
A download completion signal is sent to PU1. As a result, the CPU 1 executes the control program newly stored in the flash memory 5, and the CPU 1 executes the CPU 1 in step S16.
The interruption prohibition to is released, and thereafter, the process proceeds to step S5.

Next, the writing of the control program to the memory card 3 according to the second aspect of the present invention will be described. The host computer B installed in the vending machine management company at the bottom of FIG. 3 originally counts and manages the sales data collected in each memory card 3, but the latest control program is the memory card 3 The host computer B is connected via a communication line to a management system server A that manages the program version on the vending machine maker side so that it can be written in. The operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When there is a transmission request from the management system server A, the process proceeds from step S31 to step S32.
The latest version of the control program transmitted from the management system server A is downloaded to the host computer B. After that, when the memory card 3 is inserted into the card interface 2 of the host computer B, the process proceeds from step S33 to step S34, and it is determined whether the data stored in the memory card 3 is sales data or control program data. , In the case of sales data, step S35
Then, the sales data in the memory card 3 is read into the host computer B.

On the other hand, when the data of the control program is stored, the process proceeds from step S34 to step S36,
It is determined whether or not the control program and the control program downloaded to the host computer B have the same version. If the versions are not the same, in step S37, the latest downloaded control program is loaded into the memory card 3 Write in. By inserting this memory card 3 into the vending machine at the next round, the control program is upgraded as described above.

FIG. 5 is a control block diagram showing the third embodiment of the present invention. The point different from FIG. 1 is the vending machine 5.
This is that a memory card (3 ') for directly connecting 0'to a LAN (local area network) is permanently attached to the card interface (2). FIG. 6 shows an example of the connection. Each computer C is connected to the LAN constructed in the company or factory shown in D, and the vending machine 50 'is connected to this LAN through the memory card 3'. It The operation of this vending machine 50 'is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of.

At midnight, the process proceeds from step S41 to step S42, and the vending machine 50 'is connected to the management system server A of the vending machine maker through one of the computers C. In step S43, it is determined whether the control program stored in the flash memory 5 has the same version as the control program stored in the management system server A. If they are the same, the process ends here. move on. Step S
51 to step S56 and step S61 to step S66, the same as the step S11 to step S16 and step S21 to step S26 of FIG.
The current control program that is read byte by byte and stored in the flash memory 5 is rewritten to the latest version of the control program. The sales data is collected through the memory card 3 as described above.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the third invention, and the vending machine 50 'is the same as that shown in FIG. The vending machine manufacturer side is provided with a beverage manufacturer information collection data analysis system E separately from the management system server A. This data analysis system E, when the control program is upgraded on the management system server A side, It is determined whether or not the version upgrade is actually performed. The operation of this system will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

At 2:00 midnight, the process proceeds from step S71 to step S72, and the vending machine 50 'is connected to the management system server A of the vending machine maker. In step S73, it is determined whether the current control program stored in the flash memory 5 has the same version as the control program stored in the management system server A. If they are the same, the process ends here, but if they are not the same, step S74
At the vending machine 50 ', the vending machine 50' is connected to the data analysis system E, and a determination as to whether or not a version upgrade is necessary is made. If you need to upgrade, download is allowed,
In step S76, the management system server A is connected again, and the process proceeds to step S81 and subsequent steps. Step S81
~ Step S86 and Step S91 to Step S9
6 is the same as step S51 to step S56 and step S61 to step S66 of FIG. 7, and the current control program stored in the flash memory 5 is rewritten to the latest version of the control program.

In the above embodiment, the determination as to whether or not to actually perform the version upgrade is entrusted to the beverage maker information collection data analysis system E, but the person in charge makes the determination at the vending machine management company side. May be.

[0032]

As described above, according to the first invention,
Just attach the memory card that stores the upgraded control program to the card interface,
When the control program stored in the first storage means is an old version, the latest version of the control program stored in the memory card is automatically written in the first storage means, so that it can be easily performed without human error. The program version is updated. According to the second aspect of the present invention, a host computer that collects sales data of a memory card is connected to a vending machine manufacturer through a communication line, and a control program upgraded from the management system server is stored in the host computer. If the control program stored in the memory card inserted in the computer is different from the control program stored in the host computer, the new version of the stored control program is written to the memory card. Programs can be easily managed through a memory card. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the vending machine is connected to the vending machine maker through communication means, and the vending machine maker is contacted at a predetermined timing to check whether the current control program has been upgraded. When the version is updated, the version up control program is taken in and the control program of the vending machine is rewritten, and the version up processing of the control program can be completely automated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of a vending machine to which the control device of the first invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the vending machine of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a system diagram showing a connection example of a host computer of the second invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control program rewriting operation in the host computer shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a control block diagram of a vending machine to which the control device of the third invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a system diagram showing an installation example of the vending machine of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the vending machine of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a control block diagram showing another embodiment of the vending machine shown in FIG.

9 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the vending machine of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 1A identification section 2 card interface 3 memory card 4 memory 5 Flash memory 6 Logic control section 6A parallel / serial converter 7 Reset management section 50 vending machines A management system server B host computer C computer E data analysis system

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-5-298530 (JP, A) JP-A-1-93886 (JP, A) JP-A-6-96513 (JP, A) JP-A-8-63360 (JP , A) JP 7-295905 (JP, A) JP 3-269791 (JP, A) JP 6-314202 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB) Name) G07F 5 / 22,9 / 00 G06F 9/06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. Sales control is performed based on a control program stored in the first storage means (5), sales data generated by the sales is accumulated in the second storage means (4), and the accumulated data is accumulated. The sales data is transferred to the memory card (3) attached to the card interface (2) at the time of data collection, and can be electrically written and erased in the first storage means (5) in the controller of the vending machine. Adopting an easy storage means, communication means for performing data communication with a vending machine maker at a predetermined timing via a communication line, and control of storage in the first storage means (5) by communication of the communication means. An identification unit (1A) for identifying whether the program has not been upgraded, and by the identification of the identification unit (1A), when the control program owned by the vending machine manufacturer has been upgraded, The first storage means the control program of the
An automatic vending machine comprising: a program rewriting means (6) for writing in (5). 2. The version of the control program is updated only when the version of the control program owned by the vending machine maker is upgraded by the identification of the identification unit (1A) and when the version upgrade is permitted. vending machine according to claim 1, wherein performing.