JP4669936B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vending machine, and more particularly, to a means by which a customer can quickly select an item desired to be purchased even when the number of items for sale is large.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, products such as food and drink have been actively sold using vending machines, and customers can easily purchase desired products 24 hours a day. Vending machines are also used as ticket vending machines for ticket sales at stations and food vouchers at cafeterias, and the opportunities to use vending machines in our social life are expected to increase further in the future.
[0003]
FIG. 5 is a front view showing a schematic appearance when a conventional vending machine is used as a food vending machine. The vending machine 50 (food ticket vending machine) shown in this example includes a coin slot 51, a plurality of selection buttons 52 corresponding to the number of sales columns (sales menu) for selecting a product, and an article for taking out a food ticket. And a take-out port 53.
[0004]
FIG. 6 is a front view showing the appearance of each of the selection buttons 52 described above. The selection button 52 shown in this example includes an illustration display unit 52a that displays product information such as the name, illustration (photograph), and price of a product sold, and a switch unit 52b that generates a product selection signal.
[0005]
Hereinafter, the usage of the vending machine 50 shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the customer inserts the price from the coin insertion slot 51, determines the product to be purchased by looking at the product information displayed on the illustration display section 52a of each selection button 52, and the switch section of the selection button 52 on which this product is displayed Press 52b with your finger. Then, since the food ticket relating to the selected product is discharged to the article take-out port 52, the customer receives it.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional vending machines as described above have the following problems. In other words, if there are a lot of products (menus) like a ticket vending machine, the number of selection buttons corresponding to them will increase, and as a result, it will be difficult for customers to find where the selection buttons for the products they want to buy are located. At the same time, for example, in the case where the customer rushes at a specific time such as a cafeteria in the station platform, the turnover rate of the customer is deteriorated, which is a business problem.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems related to the conventional vending machine, and can automatically select a selection button related to a product desired by a customer from a large number of sold products. The purpose is to provide a vending machine.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 of the vending machine according to the present invention has a display means, each of which has a plurality of selection buttons for selecting a product, and designates the product by a group unit. A vending machine that controls the display of the selection button to display information related to the corresponding product in accordance with the selection of the large classification button. In response to the selection of the classification button, information related to the corresponding intermediate classification product is temporarily displayed on the display means of the large classification button, and further, information related to the final product based on the selection from the intermediate classification is displayed on the selection button. It was made to display on the display means.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the illustrated embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment in the case where a vending machine according to the present invention is used as a food vending machine. The vending machine 10 shown in this example includes a coin slot 11, a plurality of selection buttons 12 corresponding to the number of sales columns (sales menu) for selecting a product, an article outlet 13 for taking out a food ticket, And a plurality of large classification buttons 14 for designating the products in groups.
[0009]
FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of each selection button 12 and each large classification button 14. The selection button 12 and the large classification button 14 shown in this example are a liquid crystal display unit (display means) 21 for displaying product information such as the name, photo, price, etc. of the sales product, and a switch unit 22 that issues a product selection signal. Consists of
[0010]
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining the operation of the vending machine according to the present invention. As shown in this figure, the vending machine according to the present invention displays predetermined product information on the liquid crystal display unit 21 that each of the selection button 12 and the large classification button 14 has, and selects a product from each switch unit 22. A control unit 31 for processing a signal, an image storage unit 32 for storing the product information as image data or character data and supplying the data to the control unit 31, and a vending machine for power saving of the liquid crystal display unit 21 It includes a sensor 33 that senses surrounding people and notifies the control unit 31 of the detected information as a notification signal.
[0011]
Hereinafter, an example of the operation of the vending machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. First, when there is no customer around the vending machine 10, since the sensor 33 does not detect the customer and does not output a notification signal, the control unit 31 turns off each liquid crystal display unit 21 to save power.
[0012]
When the customer approaches the vending machine 10, the sensor 33 detects this and outputs a notification signal to the control unit 31. The control unit 31 turns on the liquid crystal display unit 21 based on the notification signal, reads image data or character data related to predetermined product information from the image storage unit 32, and displays the image data or character data on each liquid crystal display unit 21.
[0013]
Next, the customer is allowed to select a desired product group from the large classification button 14. The large classification button 14 is classified into, for example, “Chinese food”, “Japanese food”, and “Western food”. When the customer presses the switch unit 22 of any of the large classification buttons 14, the control unit 31 causes the liquid crystal display unit 21 of the selection button 12 corresponding to this selection group to emit light. Therefore, since the number of selection buttons 12 to be selected is limited to the purchase desired product group, the customer can immediately find the product desired to purchase.
[0014]
In this case, if the selection button 12 corresponding to the product that you want to promote sales, such as “Today's recommended menu”, is controlled to distinguish the light emission color of the liquid crystal display unit 21 from other products, the advertising effect Can also expect.
[0015]
In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the selection button 12 corresponding to the number of sales columns (number of sales menus) is arranged, but the present invention is not limited to this example, For example, selection buttons may be prepared for the products corresponding to each product group designated by the large classification button 14.
[0016]
FIG. 4 is a schematic external front view for explaining a second embodiment of the vending machine according to the present invention. The configuration of the vending machine 10 shown in this example is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 except that the number of selection buttons 12 is greatly reduced. The configuration and function blocks of each large classification button 14 and selection button 12 are the same as those shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively.
[0017]
The vending machine shown in this example operates as follows. That is, when the customer presses one of the large classification buttons 14, the control unit 31 displays only the information on the related product group on the liquid crystal display unit 21 of each selection button. Accordingly, since only the selection buttons to be selected by the customer are limited to the purchase desired product group, the customer can immediately find the purchase desired product.
[0018]
In addition, when the large classification button 14 is pressed, the large classification button 12 temporarily displays the product information related to the medium classification product group, for example, “mochi”, “noodles”, “set meals”, and the customer If only the corresponding product is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 21 after further selection, the number of selection buttons 12 to be selected by the customer can be further reduced, and the purchase desired product can be found immediately. At the same time, the number of liquid crystal display portions attached to the selection button can be reduced, which is effective in reducing the manufacturing cost.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the present invention includes a large classification button and a selection button each having a liquid crystal display section, and is configured to control the display of the liquid crystal display section included in the selection button by selecting the large classification button. This is very effective in realizing a vending machine that can instantly specify the desired product even if there are many items.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a first embodiment of a vending machine according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of a large classification button and a selection button used in the vending machine according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining the operation of the vending machine according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing a second embodiment of the vending machine according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic external front view showing a configuration example of a conventional vending machine. FIG. 6 is an external front view showing a configuration example of a selection button used in the conventional vending machine.
10. ・ Vending machine
11. Coin slot
12. ・ Selection button
13 .. Goods outlet
14 .. Large classification button
21. ・ Liquid crystal display (display)
22. ・ Switch part
31 ・ ・ Control part
32. Image storage device
33 ・ ・ Sensor

Claims (1)

A plurality of selection buttons for selecting products each having a display means, and a plurality of large classification buttons for designating the products in units of groups ;
According to the selection of the large classification button, a vending machine that controls to display information on the corresponding product on the display means of the selection button,
In response to the selection of the large classification button, information related to the corresponding medium classification product is temporarily displayed on the display means of the large classification button, and further, information related to the final product is selected based on the selection from the medium classification button. A vending machine characterized by being displayed on a button display means.

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