JP3471826B2 - Vending machine operation control method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation control method for an automatic vending machine which is widely used in the market for selling can products such as beverages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, vending machines for canned beverages are generally equipped with a refrigerator and a heater, and the products stored in the refrigerator are kept cool by operating the refrigerator and the heater according to the sales mode. ， We keep it warm and sell it as a cold or hot product.

Here, the operation of the refrigerator and the heater is controlled as follows. That is, for cold products, for example, the target value of the internal temperature is set so that the product temperature is kept at around 5 ° C and kept cold, and the actual internal temperature measurement value and internal temperature detected by the temperature sensor (for example, thermistor) are set. The refrigerator is thermostatically controlled based on the deviation from the set value. Also, for hot products, for example, the product temperature is 60 ℃
The temperature inside the refrigerator is set so as to keep the temperature at the front and back so that the heater is thermostat-cycle controlled.

[0004]

By the way, recently, as the demand for electric power increases, the demand for electric power tends to be concentrated in a specific time zone of the day and the season, and particularly in the daytime in summer. As the demand for electric power reaches its peak, its countermeasures have become a major social issue.
Therefore, the power company discounts the power charge for the use of power at midnight when the power demand is low (midnight power charge).
As a result, measures are being taken to minimize the concentration of power demand during the daytime.

In this respect, the vending machine has an extremely high nationwide penetration rate, and as described above, the refrigerator and the heater, which consume relatively large amount of power, are mounted on the vending machine, and the daytime in summer is long. The ambient temperature of the belt is high and the power consumption of the refrigerator especially increases. For this reason, it is a major important issue to push forward countermeasures including energy saving of vending machines for the above-mentioned concentration problem of electric power demand.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to save energy in response to the above-mentioned problems and to reduce power consumption in a specific time zone during the day when power demand is concentrated. An object of the present invention is to provide an operation control method for such a vending machine.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention controls the operation of the vending machine by the following operation control method. (1) During the daytime at a particular time when electricity demand is concentrated , the upper limit temperature of cold products is appropriate for cold products.
For hot and hot products, the setting range corresponding to the minimum temperature
Switch to the thermostat cycle control of the
During a certain time period before the interzone, the refrigerator and heater are forced to continue continuously.
After driving, the normal thermostat
Switching to stat cycle control for operation control

(2) In addition to the operation control method of the preceding paragraph (1), the setting range of the temperature inside the warehouse during the midnight time of the day is set to a value lower than the standard setting value during normal operation for the storage of cold products. The refrigerator and heater are thermostatically controlled by shifting to the low temperature side and to the hot side for hot goods storage above the reference set value.

[0009]

In the operation control method of the preceding paragraph (1), the power consumption of the vending machine in the specific time zone during the day when the power demand is concentrated is limited to the minimum required consumption by the sales control circuit and the like. Enable sales.

Further, using the product itself stored in the vending machine as a heat storage material, the refrigerator and the heater are operated in the midnight hours when the power demand is low to store energy in the product itself during the daytime. In the time of day, the energy stored in the product is released to reduce the amount of power consumed during the daytime.
As a result, late-night electricity charges can be applied on the electricity consumer side, and power consumption of vending machines can be reduced during the daytime hours when electricity demand is high. In addition, it is possible to obtain the energy saving effect while preventing the centralization of the electric power demand totally consumed by the vending machine including the daytime and the nighttime.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 3, the vending machine 1 installed at the location receives electric power from the distribution line 4 of the power system through the pull-in switch 2 and the distribution board 3, and the refrigerator 5 and the heater installed in the machine. The refrigerator 6 and the heater are operated and controlled by the controller 7 in a control pattern as described later, while the products 6 stored in the refrigerator are kept cold and warm by driving the refrigerator 6. Also,
FIG. 4 is a system diagram of the controller 7. During steady operation, the reference temperature set value set by the temperature setter and the in-compartment temperature information obtained by the temperature sensor installed in the refrigerator are input to the CPU, and the refrigerator, The heater is controlled by the thermostat cycle as described above, and the refrigerator and the heater are controlled by the following control patterns in accordance with the time schedule preset by the timer.

First, FIG. 2 shows a control pattern of the vending machine during the daytime when power demand is concentrated. That is, the afternoon of 1-3
During the time zone, the sales control circuit that requires the minimum power consumption of the vending machine by stopping the refrigerator and heater by timer control,
Consume only for lighting.

Further, the daytime time when the power demand is concentrated
In order to avoid that the temperature of the products stored in the storage compartment fluctuates and greatly deviates from the optimum temperature for sale, the operation mode is set for a certain period of time (for example, about 2 hours from 11 to 13:00) before shifting to the stop The refrigerator and heater are switched from thermostat cycle control to forced continuous operation for operation control, and the product is cooled and heated more than during steady operation to store energy. However , due to the influence of ambient temperature, this power demand
If the product temperature exceeds the permissible range during the daytime when the product is concentrated , that is, the upper limit temperature (eg, 10 ° C. or higher) of the suitable sales temperature for cold products and the lower limit temperature (eg, for hot products) (eg, taking into account the case where it becomes 50 ° C. or less), refrigerator, respectively heater maximum temperature,
Thermostat cycle control is performed in the setting range corresponding to the lower limit temperature, and the vending machine is operated with the minimum power required to maintain the product temperature.

On the other hand, in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), a large amount of energy is stored in the product stored in the refrigerator during the nighttime when the power demand is low, and the energy stored in the product during the day is stored. This is a control pattern that is released to suppress power consumption during the day. In other words, in the cold product storage, the refrigerator temperature is shifted down to the L range which is lower than the reference set temperature (5 ° C) during steady operation by about 2 to 3 ° C during the nighttime. The operation is controlled and the stored goods in the refrigerator are kept cooler than at the time of steady operation.
Then, during the daytime, the inside temperature setting is returned to the reference range, and the cold energy stored in the product itself is released at night to reduce the power consumption by operating the refrigerator. In the hot product storage, the heater is operated by shifting up the set temperature in the store to the H range which is higher than the reference set temperature (60 ° C) during steady operation by about 2 to 3 ° C during the nighttime. It controls and keeps the stored products in the refrigerator at a higher temperature than during normal operation. Then, during the daytime, the inside temperature setting is returned to the reference range, and the energy stored in the product itself is released at night to reduce the power consumption amount due to the operation of the heater.

The control pattern of FIG. 2 shows the case where the inside temperature setting value in the night time zone remains at the reference set temperature, but the night time zone is shown in FIG.
As described in (a) and (b), it is possible to control the operation of the refrigerator and the heater by combining the control patterns for shifting the setting range of the internal temperature by the timer control.

[0016]

As described above, the operation control method of the present invention has the following effects. (1) Refrigerator at a specific time of day when electricity demand is concentrated,
By extending the time when the heater is stopped, it can greatly contribute to preventing the concentration of electric power demand, which is a social issue. In addition to the above control , the refrigerator and heater are switched to forced continuous operation during a certain time period before shifting to the control to cool and heat the products stored in the refrigerator, so that the products are stopped during the stop time period. It is possible to avoid that the product temperature greatly deviates from the optimum temperature for sale.

(2) On the other hand, in the midnight time when the power demand is low, the set range of the temperature inside the refrigerator is shifted from the set temperature during the steady operation to store a lot of energy in the products stored in the refrigerator, By adopting an operation control method that releases the energy stored at night, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the vending machine during the daytime and to prevent the concentration of power demand. Even on the side of electric power consumers who use vending machines, it is possible to reduce electric power charges by utilizing the late-night electric power charge system. In addition, especially for cold products, by storing heat at night when the ambient temperature is low, it is possible to efficiently operate the refrigerator and save energy. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the concentration of the electric power demand consumed by the vending machine in total including the daytime and nighttime hours, and at the same time, the energy saving effect can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a control pattern of an automatic vending machine according to the present invention, in which (a) is a cold commodity storage cabinet and (b) is a control pattern diagram of a preset temperature for a hot commodity storage cabinet.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control pattern of the vending machine of the present invention.

[Figure 3] Driving circuit diagram of vending machine

FIG. 4 is a system configuration diagram of the controller in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 vending machine 4 distribution lines 5 refrigerator 6 heater 7 controller

Continued front page       (56) References JP-A-58-148376 (JP, A)                 JP-A-50-146142 (JP, A)                 Actual development Sho 60-5552 (JP, U)                 Actual development Sho 56-96291 (JP, U)                 Actual Kaihei 4-20188 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A refrigerator or a heater is mounted in the machine,
A method for controlling the operation of a vending machine that cools and heats can-type products stored in a refrigerator and sells them as hot and cold products.
Control, and the upper limit of the optimum temperature for cold products.
For hot and hot products, the setting range corresponding to the minimum temperature
It has a thermostat cycle control of
In a specific time zone during the day when power demand is concentrated, the specific time
During a certain time period before the interzone, the refrigerator and heater are forced to continue continuously.
Driving, and during the specific time,
For sale, the maximum temperature is suitable for sales, and for hot products, the minimum temperature is
Thermostatic cycle control of the setting range corresponding to the degree
Switch to the normal thermostat when the specified time period elapses.
A method for controlling the operation of a vending machine, which is characterized in that the operation is controlled by switching to full cycle control . 2. The automatic vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the setting range of the inside temperature in the midnight time of the day is set to a temperature lower than the reference set value during the normal operation for the cold product storage. The operation control method of the vending machine is characterized in that the refrigerator and the heater are thermostat-cycle controlled by shifting the hot goods storage to a temperature higher than the reference set value.