JP4369272B2 - Vending machine sales control system and sales control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sales control system and a sales control method for a vending machine that handles products that are prohibited from being sold to minors, such as tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

  For vending machines that handle products that are prohibited from being sold to minors, such as tobacco and alcoholic beverages, it is desirable to take measures to prevent minors from purchasing.

  In particular, with regard to tobacco, when the World Health Organization (WHO) General Assembly adopted the Tobacco Control Framework Convention in 2003 and the convention came into effect, the ratifying country has not yet been subject to the laws of that country within five years of its entry into force. It is obliged for adults to take measures to make cigarette vending machines unavailable. Japan is expected to ratify the treaty, and there is a growing need to take measures to prevent minors from purchasing tobacco from vending machines.

Conventionally, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 disclose techniques for preventing minors from purchasing cigarettes and the like with vending machines.
JP-A-8-287327 JP 2001-14519 A

  In Patent Document 1, a driver's license such as a driver's license is used for proof of adulthood, and the purchaser can insert the license into the license reading unit of the vending machine and sell it by the judging means ( If it is determined that the person is an adult), the power of the money discriminating machine is turned “ON”, and the vending machine is made available for sale. If the determination means determines that the sale is not possible, the power of the money discriminator is turned “OFF” and the sale is stopped.

  In Patent Document 2, a purchaser is used to identify whether the purchaser is an adult or a minor. When the purchaser stands in front of the vending machine, an interpersonal sensor (infrared sensor) detects the presence of a person and sends a detection signal to the monitor of the monitoring center. The administrator of the monitoring center identifies whether the purchaser is an adult or a minor from the video displayed on the monitor. When the administrator determines that the purchaser is an adult, the vending machine is in a state where it can be sold, and waits for the purchaser to input money and select a product. When the manager determines that the purchaser is a minor, the manager turns on the controller to send a sale prohibition signal to the main control unit of the vending machine and closes the coin slot and the banknote slot. .

  In Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, for an adult purchaser who is a sales permission target, it is not possible to proceed to a product purchase operation unless it is determined by the determination means that sales are possible. This causes the purchaser to wait before a normal purchase operation, and in some cases may cause an opportunity to refrain from using the vending machine. In vending machines that handle products prohibited for sale by minors, it is of course important to prevent minors from purchasing, but in reality most users of such vending machines are eligible for sales. It is also important to improve the convenience of adult buyers who are adults.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is to prohibit the sale of products to a person who cannot be sold, and to prevent the vending machine from delaying the sales time and reducing the usability for a person who is permitted to sell. To provide a sales control system and a sales control method.

  The vending machine sales control system according to the present invention detects at least one of determination means for determining whether or not a product can be sold based on purchaser identification information, insertion of money, and operation of a product selection button. On the other hand, it is characterized by comprising an operation detection unit that requests the determination of whether or not to sell and a control unit that receives the determination result from the determination unit and controls whether or not to execute the payout of the product.

  According to the vending machine sales control method of the present invention, when at least one of the procedure for acquiring the purchaser identification information, the insertion of money, and the operation of the product selection button is detected, the determination means is based on the purchaser identification information. And a procedure for determining whether or not the product can be sold and a procedure for controlling whether or not to execute the delivery of the product based on the determination result by the determination means.

  In the present invention, instead of waiting for the result of determining whether or not sales are possible as in the prior art, the purchaser does not accept the purchase operation of the product, but the purchaser can accept the currency and operate the product selection button (standby) The vending machine in the (status) can be purchased in the same way as a normal vending machine, such as coin insertion and product selection button operations, and the purchase operation is triggered by the purchase operation. The That is, it is possible to determine whether or not to sell in parallel with the purchase operation of the purchaser (for example, while a plurality of coins are being inserted, or until a product selection button is selected and pressed after inserting coins). it can. The purchaser can continue the purchase operation without waiting for the determination result of the sale availability. If the determination result is “sellable”, the vending machine continues the normal merchandise sales operation as it is, and causes the merchandise dispensing unit to execute the dispensing of the selected merchandise. When the sale is impossible, the product is prohibited from being paid out and the inserted money is refunded.

  In addition, if the purchaser identification information, which is a material for determining whether or not to sell (identification material for whether to be a purchase-permitted person or a purchase-unable person), is acquired from the image data of the camera that has photographed the purchaser, the purchaser himself The user does not need to perform an operation for identification, and only a purchase operation in a normal vending machine in which money is inserted and a product selection button is pressed is easy to use. Moreover, in the above-mentioned patent document 2, when there is human detection by a human sensor (infrared sensor), the imaging data of the camera is sent to the determination means. Cannot be distinguished from people in On the other hand, in the present invention, as described above, when the purchase operation such as coin insertion is detected, the determination means is required to make a determination. Therefore, the image data of the camera received as purchaser identification information at that time is securely purchased. It belongs to the person.

  Moreover, the camera can be used as a security camera in addition to the purchaser's identification judgment if it can shoot not only in the vicinity of the customer service area but also in an area farther away from the vending machine. The camera can be used effectively even when the vending machine is not used.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to insert money and operate a product selection button without waiting for the result of determining whether or not to sell a product, and when at least one of these operations is detected, whether or not to sell the product is determined, Based on the determination result, it is controlled whether or not the product is to be paid out, so that it is possible to prohibit the sale of the product to the person who cannot be sold and the time required for the sales to the person who is allowed to sell. You can sell without feeling the delay or inconvenience.

[First Embodiment]
1 and 2 are block diagrams showing the configuration of the sales control system of the vending machine according to the present embodiment. The vending machines described below handle products that are prohibited from being purchased by minors, such as tobacco and alcoholic beverages. 1 and 2, * A indicates that the output of the operation detection output unit 14 illustrated in FIG. 1 is input to the operation detection input unit 21 illustrated in FIG. 2, and * B indicates the determination result output unit 22 illustrated in FIG. Is input to the determination result input unit 17 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the money processing unit 11, the selection button unit 12, the operation detection unit 13, the operation detection output unit 14, the sales processing unit 15, the control unit 16, the determination result input unit 17, the product dispensing unit 18, the output during determination The components of the unit 19 and the unsaleable output unit 20 are provided in a vending machine.

  The money processing unit 11 confirms the authenticity of coins and bills inserted from a coin insertion slot and a bill insertion slot provided on the customer service surface (front surface) of the vending machine, and counts the amount of money inserted. Further, when the sales processing unit 15 determines that the sale is not possible due to the sale of all the products and prohibits the acceptance of money, the money processing unit 11 does not accept the money. The selection button unit 12 detects an operation of a product selection button provided on the customer service surface of the vending machine.

  The operation detection unit 13 receives outputs from the money processing unit 11 and the selection button unit 12 and detects that money has been inserted or a product selection button has been operated. In response to this detection, the operation detection unit 13 transmits a signal for requesting whether or not to sell the product to the operation detection input unit 21 illustrated in FIG. 2 via the operation detection output unit 14.

  The operation detection output unit 14, together with the operation detection input unit 21 shown in FIG. 2, performs I / O (Input / Output) as a relay when inputting and outputting signals between the operation detection unit 13 and the camera control unit 23. Functions as a port.

  The sales processing unit 15 receives signals from the money processing unit 11 and the selection button unit 12 and controls payout of the selected product and change processing for change. In addition, the sales processing unit 15 determines whether each product can be sold from the inserted money, the change to be held, and the unit price of each product stored in the memory provided in the vending machine. It also has a function of determining each time there is an input.

  Further, the sales processing unit 15 includes a control unit 16. The control unit 16 determines the product based on the determination result of the determination unit that determines whether or not the product can be sold based on the purchaser identification information and the determination result of whether each product performed in the sales processing unit 15 is sellable. The operation of the dispensing unit 18 is controlled.

  The determination result input unit 17, together with the determination result output unit 22 shown in FIG. 2, is an I / O (Input / Output) port that relays signals when inputting and outputting signals between the control unit 16 and the camera control unit 23. Function as.

  When receiving a sales continuation instruction from the control unit 16, the product dispensing unit 18 selects a product selected by the product selection button from the products stored in the product storage unit of the vending machine from the product collection provided on the customer service surface. Execute the process of paying out to the exit.

  When the unsaleable output unit 20 receives an unsaleable instruction from the control unit 16, the unsaleable output unit 20 displays information notifying the unsale on the display unit provided on the customer service surface. Alternatively, sales impossible information may be output by voice.

  When the control unit 16 has not received a determination result from the determination unit, the in-determination output unit 19 displays that the determination is being performed on a display unit provided on the customer service surface. Or you may notify that it is in determination with an audio | voice.

  In addition, the display part which displays the said sale impossible or being determined may provide a display part for exclusive use separately in a customer-facing surface, and may make it share existing things, such as a display part for money display.

  Next, the configuration shown in FIG. 2 will be described. While the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is mainly responsible for the sales operation of products by vending machines, the configuration shown in FIG. 2 has a function of determining whether or not the purchaser is a sales permission target. .

  The operation detection input unit 21 receives the signal from the operation detection output unit 14 described above and outputs the signal to the camera control unit 23. The camera control unit 23 controls the operation of the camera 24.

  The camera 24 is provided as a means for acquiring purchaser identification information that is a determination material for identifying whether the purchaser is an adult or a minor. The camera 24 may be provided anywhere as long as it can photograph at least the face of the purchaser facing the customer service surface of the vending machine. For example, the camera 24 may be provided internally or externally on the front panel which is the customer service surface, These include the side walls and the walls where vending machines are installed.

  The monitor 25 and the monitor control unit 26 are provided at a location away from the installation location of the vending machine. For example, it is arranged in a separately provided monitoring center. The monitor control unit 26 receives image data of the camera 24 from the camera control unit 23 by wire or wirelessly, and causes the monitor 25 to display the purchaser photographed by the camera 24. In addition, it also has a function of transmitting to the camera control unit 23 the result of determination as to whether sales are possible, which is input from the determination result input means 27.

  The determination result input means 27 determines whether the sale is possible by identifying whether the manager in the monitoring center looks at the purchaser shown on the monitor 25 to determine whether it is an adult or a minor, and inputs the result to the monitor control unit 26. For example, a keyboard, a touch panel, other buttons, switches, and a microphone can be used.

  The above-described camera 24, camera control unit 23, monitor 25, monitor control unit 26, and determination result input unit 27 constitute a determination unit. Further, an image recognition unit 28 may be added.

  The image recognizing unit 28 automatically identifies the adult / minor of the purchaser from the imaging data (image data) of the camera 24. In this case, the monitor 25 and the administrator can be unnecessary. Therefore, the image recognition unit 28 may be provided on the vending machine side without providing a monitoring center.

  The determination result output unit 22 receives the determination result by the determination unit from the camera control unit 23 and transmits it to the determination result input unit 17 shown in FIG.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the flow of the sales operation of the vending machine according to the present embodiment will be described.

(Step S1)
The vending machine is on standby. In this standby state, the insertion of money is not prohibited, and anyone, whether an adult or a minor, can enter the money and further operate the product selection button after the money is inserted.

(Steps S2, S3)
This is a step in which the operation detection unit 13 detects reception of money in the money processing unit 11. For example, in the case of purchasing three 100 coins when purchasing a product of 280 yen, if the first 100 yen coin is inserted, “Yes” is determined in step S3 and the process proceeds to step S7.

(Step S7)
In step S7, it is determined whether or not the amount of money input is equal to or greater than the sales amount of the product for each product handled by the vending machine, and whether or not change can be paid out from the amount of money input and the change held by the vending machine. To do. For example, assuming that the sales price of the product is 280 yen, if only one 100-yen coin is inserted, “No” is determined in step S7, and the process returns to step S2.

  When the purchaser inserts three 100-yen coins, if the total amount (300 yen) exceeds 280 yen, and there are 10 change-pending numbers of 10 yen, the sales price is more than (300 yen> 200). Yen) and 20 yen (300 yen-280 yen) are reserved as change, so “Yes” is determined in the step S7, the process proceeds to the next step S8, and the sale enable lamp of the product selection button is turned on. However, the sold-out lamp is lit on the selection button corresponding to the product in the sold-out state.

  In the above-described procedure, when the first 100 coins are inserted, a signal is sent from the money processing unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 to the operation detecting unit 13, and the operation detecting unit 13 receives the signal and operates the operation detecting unit 13. A signal requesting the determination to the determination unit is sent to the operation detection input unit 21 shown in FIG. 2 via the detection output unit 14.

(Steps S4 and S5)
This is a step of detecting an operation of a product selection button. In the case of “No” in step S3, that is, in the example described above, when the purchaser is inserting coins worth 300 yen, that is, when no insertion is detected in the time between coin insertions, In S4, when the purchaser presses the product selection button as the next operation, the operation is read by the selection button unit 12, and the read signal is detected by the operation detection unit 13. If the product selection button has been operated, the process proceeds to step S7.

(Step S6)
If the product selection button is not pressed and "No" is determined in step S5, the process proceeds to step S6. If the refund lever is operated here, the process proceeds to the refund process in step S14 and the refund process is executed. Is done. If the refund lever has not been operated, the process returns to step S2.

(Step S8)
Upon receiving the “Yes” determination in step S7 and proceeding to step S8, it is determined whether or not a product has been selected with the product selection button. If the product has already been selected, the process proceeds to the next step S9. If it is not yet selected, the process proceeds to step S6 to determine whether or not the refund lever is operated.

  In parallel with the purchase operation by the purchaser described above, a determination process for whether or not to sell is performed in the components related to the determination shown in FIG. For example, when the operation detecting unit 13 detects the insertion of the first 100-yen coin, the detection output is output from the operation detection output unit 14 and received by the operation detection input unit 21. The operation detection input unit 21 sends a signal to the camera control unit 23. Upon receiving this signal, the camera control unit 23 sends the image data of the camera 24 to the monitor control unit 26. The camera 23 may be in a state in which the camera 23 is always operated to photograph the front of the customer service surface, or when the signal from the operation detection input unit 21 is received by the camera control unit 23, the camera 23 is activated in the photographing state. Also good.

  The imaging data of the camera 24 is sent from the camera control unit 23 to a monitoring center installed at a location different from the vending machine installation location by wire or wirelessly. In the monitoring center, the monitor control unit 26 receives the image data of the camera 24, and the monitor control unit 26 displays an image (still image or moving image) captured by the camera 24 on the monitor 25. That is, the purchaser is displayed on the monitor 25.

  Then, an administrator in the monitoring center looks at the purchaser shown in the image on the monitor 25 to determine whether it is an adult or a minor, and the determination result is sent to the monitor control unit 26 using the determination result input means 27. input. Alternatively, the image recognizing unit 28 may be provided so that the image recognizing unit 28 (computer) determines whether the person is an adult or a minor from the purchaser's image data without depending on the person's determination.

  The determination result is sent from the monitor control unit 26 to the camera control unit 23, and further sent from the camera control unit 23 to the determination result output unit 22. The determination result output from the determination result output unit 22 is input to the determination result input unit 17 illustrated in FIG. 1 and further sent from the determination result input unit 17 to the control unit 16.

(Step S9)
And in the control part 16, the process of step S9 is made. If the purchaser is identified as an adult and the determination result is available for sale, the control unit 16 outputs a sales continuation instruction to the product dispensing unit 18 and proceeds to step S10.

(Step S10)
When receiving a sales continuation instruction from the control unit 16, the product delivery unit 18 executes the delivery of the product selected by the product selection button. That is, the selected product is taken out from the product storage column inside the vending machine to the product outlet. Thereby, the purchaser can take out the product, and can obtain the product at hand.

(Step S14)
If there is a change after the product has been paid out (for example, in the example described above, a change of 20 yen is generated because 300 yen has been inserted to purchase a 280 yen product), in step S14 Perform change refund processing.

(Step S11)
At the stage where the sales continuation instruction is not input to the control unit 16, the control unit 16 sends a signal to the determining output unit 19, and the determining output unit 19 notifies the purchaser that the determination is in progress. Therefore, it is displayed on the display unit provided on the customer service surface. Or you may notify by voice. Of course, you may notify by both a display and an audio | voice.

(Step S13)
If the result of the determination is that sales are not possible, or some trouble has occurred in the sales control system, and no sales continuation instruction is input to the control unit 16 for a certain period of time, “Yes” is determined in step S13, and in step S14. Refund processing of input money is performed. At this time, the payout of merchandise is prohibited.

(Step S12)
When the determination result is unsaleable, the payout of the product is prohibited as described above, but in addition, a signal may be sent from the control unit 16 to the unsaleable output unit 20. In response to this signal, the unsaleable output unit 20 displays the unsaleable information on a display unit provided on the customer service surface in order to notify the purchaser. Or you may notify by voice. Of course, you may notify by both a display and an audio | voice. Furthermore, when the sale is not possible, the input slot of money may be closed or the input may not be accepted even if the product selection button is pressed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the purchaser can insert money and accept the operation of the product selection button even before receiving the determination result of whether or not the product can be sold. The person identification information is automatically acquired by the camera. Judgment is started after the insertion of money, and is performed in parallel between the purchase operation of the purchaser (operation of the money insertion to the operation of the product selection button). The product is paid out by continuing. That is, it is possible to determine whether or not the product can be sold based on the purchaser identification information while controlling the sale of the product by the sales processing unit 15.

  As described above, the sales permission target person can purchase the product without waiting for the determination, without performing a special operation for the determination, and without being conscious of the determination.

  In addition, a function for displaying sales promotion may be added during the period from the insertion of money or the selection of goods to the delivery of goods. For example, after a coin is inserted and this operation is detected, only the sale enable lamp of the product selection button corresponding to the column in which the product set as the sales promotion target product is stored is set for a certain time (for example, 2 or 3 seconds). ) Blink to appeal to buyers. Thereafter, as described above, the sale enable lamp of each product selection button is controlled based on the result of the sale availability determination for each product, the product selection button for which the sale enable lamp is lit is selected, and adult / not If the judgment result based on the adult identification is sellable, the product is paid out. As described above, by causing the sales promotion display to be interrupted during the sales operation, the minimum time for identification can be lengthened without causing the purchaser to wait much. In addition, cigarette advertising regulations are being strengthened, and this will be an effective product appeal to buyers.

  In the above example, the sales possible lamp in the product selection button is used for the sales promotion display. However, a sales promotion display may be provided separately to display the sales promotion information. The display unit may also serve as a display function during identification. The sales promotion time can also be switched by setting.

  In addition, in the case of the purchaser's adult / minor identification using a camera, it may be difficult to determine whether or not the person shown on the camera has a purchase intention, but in this embodiment, the monitoring center is Since a detection signal of money insertion is also sent, it can be easily determined that the person shown in the camera is the purchaser.

  Further, in the above embodiment, even when the input amount does not reach the minimum selling amount, the operation detection unit 13 requests the determination unit to determine when the first coin is inserted. Since the start of the judgment can be accelerated and the judgment result can be put out earlier, if the judgment result becomes available, the waiting time until the product is paid out after the purchaser presses the product selection button. Shortening can be achieved.

  Further, the determination means can be easily connected to the vending machine side via the I / O ports such as the operation detection input unit 21, the operation detection output unit 14, the determination result output unit 22, and the determination result input unit 17, and vending No major improvements are required for the machine.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same component as the said 1st Embodiment, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the sales operation of the vending machine according to the second embodiment.

(Step S21)
The vending machine is on standby. In this standby state, the insertion of money is not prohibited, and anyone, whether an adult or a minor, can enter the money and further operate the product selection button after the money is inserted.

(Steps S22 and S23)
This is a step in which the operation detection unit 13 detects reception of money in the money processing unit 11. For example, in the case of purchasing three 100 coins when purchasing a product of 280 yen, if the first 100 yen coin is inserted, “Yes” is determined in step S23, and the process proceeds to step S27.

(Step S27)
The control unit 16 sends a signal to the in-judgment output unit 19 and receives it, and the in-judgment output unit 19 displays the signal on the display unit provided on the customer service surface in order to notify the purchaser that the determination is being made. Or you may notify by voice. Of course, you may notify by both a display and an audio | voice. After step S27, the process proceeds to step S28.

(Step S28)
In step S28, it is determined whether or not the amount of money input is equal to or greater than the sales amount of the product for each product handled by the vending machine, and whether or not change can be paid out from the amount of money input and the change held by the vending machine. To do. For example, assuming that the sales price of the product is 280 yen, if only one 100-yen coin is inserted, “No” is returned in step S28 and the process returns to step S22.

  When the purchaser inserts three 100-yen coins, if the total amount (300 yen) exceeds 280 yen, and there are 10 change-pending numbers of 10 yen, the sales price is more than (300 yen> 200). Yen) and 20 yen (300 yen-280 yen) are reserved as change, so “Yes” is determined in the step S28, the process proceeds to the next step S29, and the sale enable lamp of the product selection button is turned on. However, the sold-out lamp is lit on the selection button corresponding to the product in the sold-out state.

  In the above-described procedure, when the first 100 coins are inserted, a signal is sent from the money processing unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 to the operation detecting unit 13, and the operation detecting unit 13 receives the signal and operates the operation detecting unit 13. A signal requesting the determination to the determination unit is sent to the operation detection input unit 21 shown in FIG. 2 via the detection output unit 14.

(Steps S24 and S25)
This is a step of detecting an operation of a product selection button. In the case of “No” in step S23, that is, considering the above-described example, when the purchaser is inserting coins of 300 yen, that is, when no insertion is detected in the time between coin insertions, In S 24, when the purchaser presses the product selection button as the next operation, the operation is read by the selection button unit 12, and the read signal is detected by the operation detection unit 13. If the product selection button has been operated, the process proceeds to step S27.

(Step S26)
If the product selection button is not pressed and "No" is determined in step S25, the process proceeds to step S26. If the refund lever is operated here, the process proceeds to the refund process in step S33 and the refund process is executed. Is done. If the refund lever has not been operated, the process returns to step S22.

  In parallel with the purchase operation by the purchaser described above, a determination process for whether or not to sell is performed in the components related to the determination shown in FIG. For example, when the operation detecting unit 13 detects the insertion of the first 100-yen coin, the detection output is output from the operation detection output unit 14 and received by the operation detection input unit 21. The operation detection input unit 21 sends a signal to the camera control unit 23. Upon receiving this signal, the camera control unit 23 sends the image data of the camera 24 to the monitor control unit 26. The camera 23 may be in a state in which the camera 23 is always operated to photograph the front side of the customer service surface, or when the signal from the operation detection input unit 21 is received by the camera control unit 23, the camera 23 is activated in the photographing state. Also good.

  The imaging data of the camera 24 is sent from the camera control unit 23 to a monitoring center installed at a location different from the vending machine installation location by wire or wirelessly. In the monitoring center, the monitor control unit 26 receives the image data of the camera 24, and the monitor control unit 26 displays an image (still image or moving image) captured by the camera 24 on the monitor 25. That is, the purchaser is displayed on the monitor 25.

  Then, an administrator in the monitoring center looks at the purchaser shown in the image on the monitor 25 to determine whether it is an adult or a minor, and the determination result is sent to the monitor control unit 26 using the determination result input means 27. input. Alternatively, the image recognizing unit 28 may be provided so that the image recognizing unit 28 (computer) determines whether the person is an adult or a minor from the purchaser's image data without depending on the person's determination.

  The determination result is sent from the monitor control unit 26 to the camera control unit 23, and further sent from the camera control unit 23 to the determination result output unit 22. The determination result output from the determination result output unit 22 is input to the determination result input unit 17 illustrated in FIG. 1 and further sent from the determination result input unit 17 to the control unit 16.

(Step S29)
And in the control part 16, the process of step S29 is made. If the purchaser is identified as an adult and the determination result is available for sale, the control unit 16 outputs a sales continuation instruction to the product dispensing unit 18 and proceeds to step S31.

(Step S31)
It is determined whether or not a product has been selected with the product selection button. If the product has already been selected, the process proceeds to the next step S32. If not yet selected, the process returns to step S22.

(Step S32)
When receiving a sales continuation instruction from the control unit 16, the product delivery unit 18 executes the delivery of the product selected by the product selection button. That is, the selected product is taken out from the product storage column inside the vending machine to the product outlet. Thereby, the purchaser can take out the product, and can obtain the product at hand.

(Step S33)
If there is a change after the product has been paid out (for example, considering that in the above example, a change of 20 yen is generated because 300 yen has been inserted to purchase a product of 280 yen), in step S33 Perform change refund processing.

  If there is no sales continuation instruction in step S29, the product is not paid out and the process returns to step S22.

  When the determination result indicates that the sale is impossible, the product is prohibited from being paid out, and the sale impossible information is displayed on the display unit provided on the customer service (step S30). Or you may notify by voice. Of course, you may notify by both a display and an audio | voice. Furthermore, when the sale is not possible, the input slot of money may be closed or the input may not be accepted even if the product selection button is pressed.

  Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the purchaser can insert money and accept the operation of the product selection button even before receiving the determination result of sale availability. Further, the purchaser identification information is automatically acquired by the camera. Judgment is started after the insertion of money, and is performed in parallel between the purchase operation of the purchaser (operation of the money insertion to the operation of the product selection button). The product is paid out by continuing. Accordingly, the sales permission target person can purchase the product without waiting for the determination, without performing a special operation for the determination, and without being conscious of the determination.

[Third Embodiment]
In this embodiment, the camera 24 is always operated and used as a security camera in addition to being used for the purchaser's adult / underage determination. The crime prevention in this case means that the area around the vending machine installation site is widely monitored besides the theft monitoring of goods and money from the vending machine. Therefore, the camera 24 has a wider photographing range than the vicinity of the customer service surface.

  In the state where the purchase operation of the purchaser is not detected by the operation detection unit 13, the camera 24 is used as a surveillance area for crime prevention (for example, as a vending machine faces, a park, an intersection, an entrance of a store or a financial institution). Etc.) and the imaged data is displayed on the monitor 25 of the monitoring center. An administrator looks at the image on the monitor 25 in real time and performs monitoring. Alternatively, the imaging data of the camera 24 may be recorded so that it can be confirmed later.

  When the purchase detection operation of the purchaser is detected by the operation detection unit 13, the image on the monitor 25 is switched to the purchaser in front of the customer service of the vending machine, and the determination as described above is performed. When the determination is completed, the image is switched again to the monitoring area image.

  Alternatively, both the purchaser and the monitoring area are displayed on one monitor 25 and are simultaneously displayed so that the crime prevention monitoring by the camera 24 is not stopped even when the purchaser is determined to be an adult / adolescent. You may make it do. For example, the camera 24 is provided so that both the purchaser and the monitoring area are collectively included in the shooting range. When the product purchase operation is not detected, the camera 24 is focused on the monitoring area, and when the purchase operation is detected, the camera 24 is focused. The monitor 25 is alternately switched between the monitoring area and the purchaser in a short time, or zooming in and out is continuously performed. On the monitor 25, both the monitoring area and the purchaser are displayed on a divided screen as a continuous image over time. Is displayed. In this way, it is possible to realize the determination without stopping the security monitoring with one camera, and the cost can be reduced.

  As mentioned above, although each embodiment of this invention was described, of course, this invention is not limited to these, A various deformation | transformation is possible based on the technical idea of this invention.

  In the above embodiment, the purchaser identification information is acquired by photographing the purchaser with a camera. However, the purchaser has provided a license or other identification card for certifying that the purchaser is an adult on the vending machine. The purchaser may be identified by inserting it into the reading unit. In this case, the purchaser has to perform extra operations compared to using a camera, but the decision is made in response to the insertion of money or the operation of the product selection button. The same effect as the above embodiment is obtained in that the determination result is not waited for. Alternatively, a biometric authentication technique such as a fingerprint registered in advance may be adopted for purchaser identification. Furthermore, you may use what has a monetary value equivalent to money like the electronic money built in the mobile telephone.

  Further, the operation detection unit 13 may request the determination unit to make a determination in response to the operation of the product selection button instead of the insertion of money.

  Further, in a place where a plurality of vending machines are installed, a camera may be shared by, for example, two vending machines arranged adjacent to each other without providing a camera for each vending machine.

It is a block diagram (the 1) of the sales control system of the vending machine which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram (the 2) of the sales control system of the vending machine. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the sales operation | movement of the vending machine which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the sales operation | movement of the vending machine which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Money processing part, 12 ... Selection button part, 13 ... Operation detection part, 14 ... Operation detection output part, 15 ... Sales processing part, 16 ... Control part, 17 ... Judgment result input part, 18 ... Merchandise delivery part, 19 ... During output unit, 20 ... Sales not possible output unit, 21 ... Operation detection input unit, 22 ... Determination result output unit, 23 ... Camera control unit, 24 ... Camera, 25 ... Monitor, 26 ... Monitor control unit, 27 ... Determination Result input means, 28... Image recognition unit.

Claims (6)

A sales processing unit having a function of determining whether or not each product can be sold from the inserted money, the change to be held, and the unit price of each stored product;
Determining means for determining whether or not the product can be sold based on the purchaser identification information;
An operation detection unit that detects the insertion of money and requests the determination to the determination means even when the amount of money input does not reach the minimum sale amount of goods ;
A vending machine sales control system comprising: a control unit that receives a determination result from the determination unit and that receives a determination result from the sales processing unit and controls whether or not to execute the payout of the product. A vending machine sales control system according to claim 1,
The determination means is a vending machine sales control system including a camera capable of photographing the vicinity of the customer service surface of the vending machine. A vending machine sales control system according to claim 2,
The vending machine sales control system, wherein the camera is capable of photographing by switching between the vicinity of the customer service surface and an area farther away from the vending machine. A vending machine sales control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A vending machine sales control system further comprising a non-saleable output unit that outputs non-saleable information when the determination means makes a non- saleable . Procedures to obtain buyer identification information;
A procedure for causing the determination means to determine whether or not the product can be sold based on the purchaser identification information even when the amount of money input is detected and the amount of money input does not reach the minimum sales amount of the product;
A procedure for controlling whether or not to issue a product based on a determination result by the determination unit;
Sales control method for an automatic vending machine having a. The vending machine sales control method according to claim 5,
A vending machine sales control method for acquiring purchaser identification information by photographing a purchaser with a camera.

Images