JP3869904B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vending machine such as a ticket vending machine that sells ticket pieces such as admission tickets in an amusement facility as an example.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 2 shows an example of the basic configuration of the present invention related to a ticket vending machine used when purchasing an admission ticket or a facility use ticket at an amusement facility, and FIG. 4 shows a conventional electrical configuration. Yes. FIG. 2 is also referred to in an embodiment described later. Hereinafter, the configuration of the ticket vending machine 1 will be described first with reference to FIG. On the front face of the front door 2 of the ticket vending machine 1, a plurality of sale buttons 3 each describing items of the sold ticket pieces are arranged. In addition, the front door 2 is provided with a bill insertion slot 4 and a coin slot 5, and a money amount indicator 6 for displaying the amount of coins inserted. Each sale button 3 has a saleable lamp 7 built-in. When money is inserted, the saleable lamp 7 corresponding to a ticket piece having a price equal to or less than that amount is turned on. Also included is a sold-out lamp 8 that is turned on when the corresponding item is sold out. Further, the front door 2 has a return button 9 that is operated at the time of change change, a take-out port 10 through which change is returned and a ticket piece is taken out, and a key hole into which a predetermined switching key is inserted. There are provided a sell-out switch 11 used when setting 1 to the sold-out state, and a lock switch 12 having a key hole into which another switching key is inserted and for switching the locked state / unlocked state of the front door 2. It has been.
[0003]
Hereinafter, a conventional electrical configuration of the ticket vending machine 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The ticket vending machine 1 has a main body control unit 13 realized by a microcomputer or the like. The main body control unit 13 is installed on the front door 2 such as the plurality of sales buttons 3, the price indicator 6, the sellable lamp 7, the sold-out lamp 8, the return button 9, the sold-out switch 11, and the lock switch 12. A plurality of door devices including various operation means and display means are connected, and a bill validator 14, a coin mech 15, and the bill piece for identifying the money inserted from the bill insertion slot 4 and the coin insertion slot 5 A plurality of internal devices installed in the main body 18 of the ticket vending machine 1 such as a ticket issuing unit 16 including a printer for printing predetermined items on the recording paper and an operation panel 17 including a keyboard are connected to the power supply device. A drive voltage is supplied from 19.
[0004]
Operation means such as a sales button 3 and a return button 9, a sold-out switch 11 and a lock switch 12 installed on the front door 2, and display means such as a price indicator 6, a saleable lamp 7 and a sold-out lamp 8 are provided. The included door devices are connected to the main body control unit 13 installed in the main body 18 by a number of harnesses 20 such as 52, including signal lines and power lines. In addition, control of door devices such as operation detection processing of each of the operation means and various display controls associated therewith, and determination of the item of the ticket piece to be created and carried out by detecting the inserted amount and detecting the operation of the sales button 3 All the processes of the control of the internal devices including the process, the printing mechanism, the drive control of the carry-out mechanism, etc. are performed collectively by the main body control unit 13.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Such a conventional ticket vending machine 1 has the following problems.
[0006]
(1) As described above, since all control related to the ticket vending machine 1 is performed by the main body control unit 13, the control burden of the outside control unit 13 is large, and the operation detection of the operation means such as the sales button 3 is detected. The time required for money processing such as processing, authenticity determination of the inserted money, identification of denomination, etc. becomes longer, which may cause the user to feel uncomfortable or cause an erroneous operation. In this respect, the utility is low.
[0007]
(2) Since the door devices such as various operation means such as the sales button 3 installed on the front door 2 and various display means such as the price indicator 6 are directly controlled by the main body control unit 13, the sales button 3, and the main body control unit 13 installed in the main body 18 using the dozens of harnesses 20 for the purpose of matrix control related to the sellable lamp 7, the sold-out lamp 8, and data transmission for display. It is connected to the. For this reason, the harness 20 becomes thick, the harness 20 of the ticket vending machine 1 is bulky, and the weight increases. This makes it difficult to reduce the size and weight of the ticket vending machine 1.
[0008]
(3) When performing maintenance and inspection work such as repairing the ticket vending machine 1 due to a failure, the main body control unit 13 performs overall control of the ticket vending machine 1, so that it is possible to check the location of the failure. When performing using the failure diagnosis function of the part 13, etc., it is necessary to perform it in the failure diagnosis of the ticket vending machine 1 whole. For this reason, even if it is estimated that the cause of the failure is in the door device such as the operation means or the display means installed in the front door 2 as an example, the confirmation work takes time. Further, when performing such a failure diagnosis, the amount display 6 is used as a means for displaying a response from the main body control unit 13 to the operator's diagnosis inquiry. In such a case, an operator who opens the front door 2 and operates the operation panel 17 operates the operation panel 17 or the like behind the front door 2 to make the inquiry. Then, the result of moving the result to the front surface of the front door 2 and confirming with the money amount display 6 is repeated, and the work loss in the maintenance and inspection work is large, and this work also requires labor.
[0009]
The inventions of claims 1 and 2 have been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the purpose of the invention is to increase the processing speed so as not to make the user feel uncomfortable and to improve the usability in this respect. At the same time, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine in which the structure is reduced in size and weight, and the maintenance and inspection work is greatly simplified.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the vending machine according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of operation means including a plurality of sale buttons operated to purchase a product on the front door of the machine body, a saleable lamp provided for each sale button, a sale There is provided a door device including a display means including a turn-off lamp and an amount indicator for displaying the amount of money inserted. Further, inside the main body of the fuselage, there are internal devices including a money accepting device that inspects and accepts the inserted money, and a product unloading device that unloads the corresponding product to the product takeout port when the sales button is operated. It has been. Characteristically, the present invention is characterized in that a first control device for controlling internal devices such as the money accepting device and the product carry-out device is provided inside the main body, operation detection of each operating means provided on the front door, and each lamp Control of door devices such as display control of types and price indicators, etc., and failure diagnosis to detect abnormalities of door devices, the second control device in which distributed processing is performed with the first control device to the front door In addition, the money amount indicator is rotatably connected to the rear side via a rotation support mechanism with respect to the front door.
[0011]
Thereby, in the present invention, the following operational effects are realized.
[0012]
(1) Control of internal devices installed in the main body and control of door devices installed on the front door are distributed and processed by the first control device and the second control device. As a result, compared to a case where a single control device collectively controls the entire control, the control burden on each control device can be reduced, and the processing speed of each control device can be improved. it can. Accordingly, it is possible to eliminate the situation where the processing takes time and makes the user feel uncomfortable or causes an erroneous operation, and the usability can be significantly improved in this respect.
[0013]
(2) In the present invention, the door device installed in the front door and the internal device installed in the main body are controlled by individual control devices, respectively. The number of harnesses used to connect equipment installed in the main body can be reduced to the number of signal lines and power lines used for serial communication between the first and second control devices. The machine can be reduced in size and weight.
[0014]
(3) In the present invention, the vending machine is controlled by the second control device for the door device installed on the front door, and the first control is performed for the internal device installed on the main body. It is done with the device. Therefore, when performing maintenance and inspection work such as repairing a vending machine that has failed, if it is assumed that the cause of the failure is either a door device or an internal device, check the failure location. It can carry out in the limited range regarding an internal apparatus or a door apparatus using 1 control apparatus or a 2nd control apparatus. As a result, it is possible to remarkably reduce the labor required for confirming the failure location, and the work is simplified.
[0015]
In the present invention, the money amount indicator is pivotally connected to the rear side via a pivot support mechanism with respect to the front door. Thereby, when performing the failure diagnosis as described above, when the amount display is used as a means for displaying a response from the first control device or the second control device to the operator's diagnosis inquiry, the amount display Is turned to the back side of the front door so that the worker who is working by opening the front door can easily confirm the display contents of the money amount display. Thereby, even if an operator makes an inquiry or the like using the first control device behind the front door, the result is moved to the front of the front door and confirmed by a price indicator as in the prior art. The need to repeat work is eliminated. Therefore, the work loss in the maintenance / inspection work can be significantly reduced, and the maintenance / inspection work is greatly simplified.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described below with reference to examples.
[0017]
FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a basic configuration of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the electrical configuration of a ticket vending machine 21 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the ticket vending machine 21. Moreover, the structure shown in FIG. 2 of the ticket vending machine 21 has been described above, and the description thereof will be omitted.
[0018]
Hereinafter, the structural features of the ticket vending machine 21 will be described with reference to FIG. In the ticket vending machine 21 of the present embodiment, the money amount indicator 6 is provided on the front door 2 so as to be rotatable with respect to the rear side thereof via a hinge 22 that is a rotation support mechanism. Therefore, when an operator or the like opens the front door 2 of the ticket vending machine 21 and operates the operation panel 25 including the liquid crystal display device 23 and the switch panel 24 installed in the front door 2 in this embodiment, If the display 6 is rotated to the back side of the front door 2, the inspection data displayed on the money amount display device 6 as described later when the cause of the abnormality is elucidated is stored in the front door 2. It can be easily confirmed without moving to the front side.
[0019]
Hereinafter, the electrical configuration of the ticket vending machine 21 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The ticket vending machine 21 has a door control unit 26 that is installed on the front door 2 connected to the main body 18 so as to be openable and closable, and is a second control device realized by a microcomputer or the like. The door control unit 26 includes front doors such as the plurality of sales buttons 3, a price indicator 6, a sellable lamp 7, a sold-out lamp 8, a return button 9, a sold-out switch 11, a lock switch 12, and an operation panel 25. Door devices such as various operation means and display means installed in 2 are connected. Further, the door control unit 26 is provided with an expansion slot so as to be able to cope with the case where the usable sales button 3 is expanded, and the expansion sales button 3 shown in FIG. An extension set 29 composed of the off lamps 8 can be connected. The main body 18 of the ticket vending machine 21 is provided with a main body control unit 27 which is a first control device realized by a microcomputer or the like. The main body control unit 27 is connected to internal devices installed inside the main body 18 of the ticket vending machine 21 such as the bill validator 14, the coin mech 15, and the ticket issuing unit 16, and a drive voltage is supplied to the main body control unit 27 from the power supply device 19. .
[0020]
The door control unit 26 performs distributed control with respect to the main body control unit 27. That is, the door control unit 26 detects, in the sales operation mode, detection processing of pressing operations of the plurality of sales buttons 3, display processing of the amount indicator 6, lighting or extinguishing processing of the sellable lamp 7 and the sold-out lamp 8, and return In the maintenance mode in which the operation detection processing of the button 9, the sold-out switch 11 and the lock switch 12 is performed and the maintenance and inspection operation of the ticket vending machine 21 is performed, for example, the display processing of the liquid crystal display device 23 of the operation panel 25 and the switch panel 24 An operation detection process is performed.
[0021]
On the other hand, in the main body control unit 27, the authenticity of money inserted using the bill validator 14 and the coin mech 15 is detected, denominated and calculated, and issued according to the type of the pressed sales button 3. Ticket type determination and ticketing operation control by the ticket issuing unit 16 are performed. Further, lighting data for lighting the saleable lamp 7 corresponding to the type of ticket that can be issued is created by comparing the amount of money inserted and the price of the ticket to be issued.
[0022]
Thereby, in the ticket vending machine 21 of the present embodiment, among the overall control of the ticket vending machine 21 conventionally handled by a single main body control unit, the door control unit 26 shares control related to the door device, The control burden on the main body control unit 27 is reduced. Further, the door control unit 26 performs an operation detection process of the sales button 3 and a display control of the money amount display 6. For example, with the main body control unit 27, identification data of the pressed sales button 3 and Data related to the amount displayed on the amount display 6 is serially transmitted as an example. For this reason, the door control unit 26 and the main body control unit 27 are electrically connected using, for example, about four harnesses 28 including a power supply line and the signal line for serial transmission.
[0023]
In addition, because of the usage characteristics of the ticket vending machine 21 that is installed outdoors, mischief or abnormal use by the user is assumed, and as a cause of failure of the ticket vending machine 21, there are many cases of the door device. Thus, in this embodiment, the door control unit 26 has a self-diagnosis function related to the door device. That is, the door control unit 26 operates the operator's operation panel 25 to display a matrix circuit relating to a plurality of sales buttons 3, a display device such as a price indicator 6, a saleable lamp 7, a sold-out lamp 8, or the like. The off switch 11 and the lock switch 12 are scanned to determine whether the circuit is normal. At this time, if an abnormality is detected, it is detected in which circuit portion the abnormality has occurred, and as an example, processing such as displaying the type of abnormality and the location where the abnormality has occurred on the amount display 6 is performed.
[0024]
Further, the main body control unit 27 detects the amount of money inserted by the bill burr 14 or the coin mech 15, and determines and prints the item of the ticket piece to be carried out based on the signal from the door control unit 26 that detects the operation of the sales button 3. Control of the internal devices including the drive control of the mechanism and the carry-out mechanism is performed. That is, as described above, the main body control unit 27 is freed from the control related to the door device among the control of the entire ticket vending machine 21 conventionally handled by a single main body control unit. For this reason, the control which the main body control part 27 shares can be performed at high speed.
[0025]
As described above, in the ticket vending machine 21 of this embodiment, the control of the internal device installed in the main body 18 and the control related to the door device installed in the front door 2 are performed by the main body control unit 27 and the door control. The distributed processing is performed by the unit 26. Thereby, compared with the conventional case where a single control device collectively controls the whole, the burden on the control of the main body control unit 27 can be reduced, and the processing speed of the main body control unit 27 is improved. be able to. Accordingly, it is possible to eliminate time-consuming situations such as confirmation of the amount of money inserted, determination and printing of a ticket piece to be carried out, and carrying-out processing, and a situation in which the user feels uncomfortable or causes erroneous operation. In this embodiment, the usability can be greatly improved in this respect.
[0026]
In addition, among the overall control of the ticket vending machine 21 conventionally performed by a single main body control unit, the door control unit 26 controls the door device. Further, the door control unit 26 performs the operation detection processing of the sales button 3 and the display control of the money amount display 6, and as an example, the identification data of the sales button 3 pressed and Data related to the amount displayed on the amount display 6 is serially transmitted as an example. For this reason, between the door control part 26 and the main body control part 27, as mentioned above, a few harnesses 28, such as about four, are used including a power supply line and the signal line for the said serial transmission. Are electrically connected. Thereby, the harness 28 to be used can be made thin and the ticket vending machine 21 can be reduced in size and weight.
[0027]
Further, in the ticket vending machine 21 according to the present embodiment, the control of the ticket vending machine 21 is individually performed by the door control unit 26 and the main body control unit 27 as described above. Therefore, when performing maintenance and inspection work such as repairing the ticket machine 21 due to a failure, when it is estimated that the cause of the failure is either the front door 2 or the main body 18, confirmation of the failure location is performed. The corresponding door control unit 26 or main body control unit 27 can perform the confirmation work target within a limited range. As a result, it is possible to remarkably reduce the labor required for confirming the failure location, and the work is simplified.
[0028]
Further, in the ticket vending machine 21 of the present embodiment, as described above, the money amount indicator 6 is connected to the front door 2 via the hinge 22 so as to be pivotable to the rear side. Thereby, when performing the failure diagnosis as described above, when the amount display 6 is used as a means for displaying a response from the door control unit 26 or the body control unit 27 to the operator's diagnosis inquiry, the amount display The container 6 is rotated behind the front door 2. Thereby, the front door 2 is opened, and the worker who is working on the operation panel 25 installed on the front door 2 as described above can easily confirm the display content of the money amount display 6. . As a result, when the operator operates the operation panel 25 behind the front door 2, the result is moved to the front of the front door 2 and confirmed on the price display 6 as in the prior art. The need to repeat work is eliminated. Therefore, the work loss in the maintenance / inspection work can be significantly reduced, and the maintenance / inspection work is greatly simplified.
[0029]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and includes a wide range of specific examples without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the control of the components installed in the main body and the control related to the components installed in the front door are performed by the first control device and the second control device. Compared to the case where a single control device performs overall control in a batch, the burden on each control device can be reduced and the processing speed of each control device can be improved. Can do. Accordingly, it is possible to eliminate the situation where the processing takes time and makes the user feel uncomfortable or causes an erroneous operation, and the usability can be significantly improved in this respect.
[0031]
Further, in the present invention, the components installed on the front door and the components installed on the main body are controlled by the individual control devices, respectively. Therefore, between the first and second control devices, It is only necessary to perform power supply for driving and data transmission. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to install a large number of wires such as switch matrix circuits for sales buttons between the main body and the front door, and the harness to be used can be made thinner, thereby reducing the size and weight of the vending machine. be able to.
[0032]
In the present invention, the vending machine is controlled by the second control device for the components installed on the front door, and is controlled by the first control device for the components installed on the main body. It is supposed to be. Therefore, when performing maintenance and inspection work such as repairing a vending machine that has failed, if the cause of the failure is presumed to be either the front door or the main body, check the failure location. With a control device, it can be performed within a limited range. As a result, it is possible to remarkably reduce the labor required for confirming the failure location, and the work is simplified.
[0033]
In the present invention, the money amount indicator is pivotally connected to the rear side via a pivot support mechanism with respect to the front door. Thereby, when performing the failure diagnosis as described above, when the amount display is used as a means for displaying a response from the first control device or the second control device to the operator's diagnosis inquiry, the amount display Is turned to the back side of the front door so that the worker who is working by opening the front door can easily confirm the display contents of the money amount display. As a result, even if an operator makes an inquiry by operating the first control device behind the front door, the result is moved to the front of the front door and confirmed on the price indicator as in the prior art. This eliminates the need for repeated work. Therefore, the work loss in the maintenance / inspection work can be significantly reduced, and the maintenance / inspection work is greatly simplified.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a ticket vending machine 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of a ticket vending machine 1 having a configuration as a basis of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the ticket vending machine 1 showing the present embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a conventional ticket vending machine 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ticket vending machine 2 Front door 3 Sales button 6 Amount indicator 18 Main body 22 Hinge 25 Operation panel 26 Door control part 27 Main body control part 28 Harness

Claims (2)

The front door of the fuselage has a plurality of operation means including a plurality of sale buttons operated to purchase products, a sellable lamp provided for each sale button, a sold-out lamp, the amount of money inserted, etc. A door unit including a display unit including a price indicator for displaying the money, a money receiving device for inspecting and receiving the inserted money inside the body of the machine, and taking out a product corresponding to the operation of the sales button A vending machine comprising internal equipment including a product delivery device for delivery to the mouth,
A first control device provided inside the main body for controlling the internal device;
Provided said front door, the first control device rows that have control of said door device is performed distributed processing and, and a second controller having a failure diagnosis function for detecting an abnormality of the door device Prepared,
The price indicator is a vending machine that is pivotally connected to the rear side of the front door via a pivot support mechanism . The front door of the fuselage has a plurality of operation means including a plurality of sale buttons operated to purchase products, a sellable lamp provided for each sale button, a sold-out lamp, the amount of money inserted, etc. A door unit including a display unit including a price indicator for displaying the money, a money receiving device for inspecting and receiving the inserted money inside the body of the machine, and taking out a product corresponding to the operation of the sales button A vending machine comprising internal equipment including a product delivery device for delivery to the mouth,
A first control device provided inside the main body for controlling the internal device;
A second control device provided on the front door, wherein the first control device performs distributed processing and controls the door device;
The price indicator is a vending machine that is pivotally connected to the rear side of the front door via a pivot support mechanism .

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