JP7347209B2 - rice milling equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to rice milling equipment that mills rice by paying for it.

Patent Document 1 describes rice milling equipment that operates rice milling using a dedicated prepaid card.

Patent Document 2 describes rice milling equipment that performs rice milling operation using an application for rice milling operation.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-9370 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-107604

An object of the present invention is to facilitate rice milling operation using a general-purpose card.

In order to solve this problem, the invention according to claim 1,
In rice milling equipment that inputs brown rice, selects the desired polishing level with the polishing level selection switch, and performs rice milling operation.
Equipped with a card reader that reads card information and a control unit that recognizes card information,
The card information includes points for performing rice milling operations,
An integration switch that integrates the points of multiple cards into one card.
and an integration selection switch to select the card to be integrated,
After operating the integration switch, a plurality of card information is sequentially read into the card reader, and when an arbitrary card is selected with the integration selection switch, the points are integrated with the selected card,
After reading the first card (A) with a card reader, if you read a second card (B) that is different from the first card (A), the first card (A) The points and the points of the second card (B) are displayed on the driving screen,
When the rice milling operation is performed by operating the polishing degree selection switch while displayed on the operation screen, the points of the first card (A) are subtracted as the rice milling operation time elapses, and then the points of the second card (A) are subtracted. (B) where the points are allowed to be subtracted; and
It is characterized in that points can be transferred to either the first card or the second card by operating the integration switch and the integration selection switch during rice milling operation. rice milling equipment.

The invention according to claim 2 is:
Equipped with a charge slot for inserting cash,
The rice milling operation time will be the amount of money invested or the time corresponding to the points mentioned above.
In the case of rice milling operation by inputting cash, the rice milling operation will be stopped after the operating time corresponding to the input amount has elapsed.
In the case of rice milling operations using card points, the user is prompted to insert additional cash or load a new card just before or when the operating time corresponding to the points has elapsed. At the same time as providing a predetermined time for inserting additional cash or loading a new card, and an extension time for continuing the rice milling operation,
When the insertion of cash is detected during the extra time, counting of driving time is started retroactively to the start of the extra time, and when a new card having points is recognized, a new counting of driving time is started from the time of recognition. The rice milling equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that:

According to the present invention, points from multiple cards can be integrated into one card, which improves convenience for users.

Furthermore, since the card integration operation can be performed using the rice milling equipment, convenience for the user is improved.

A plan view showing the inside of rice milling equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention Front view of the same rice milling equipment as seen from the guest room side A schematic process diagram showing the work flow of the rice milling equipment A side view showing the input hopper and first conveyance means of the rice milling equipment Front view with a partial cross section of the stone removal hopper of the same rice milling equipment Control block diagram of the rice milling equipment Flowchart diagram of the rice milling equipment Flowchart diagram of the rice milling equipment Side sectional view of the stone removal machine of the same rice milling equipment Side view of the stone removal machine placed on the stand of the rice milling equipment Plan view of the stand and blower of the rice milling equipment Side view of the blower of the rice milling equipment Time chart of the same rice milling equipment Flowchart diagram of the rice milling equipment Flowchart diagram of the rice milling equipment Diagram showing the storage state of card information in the control unit Diagram showing operations when integrating cards Diagram showing the operation screen during rice milling operation using a card Flowchart of rice milling operation using card

The charge-type rice milling equipment according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the rice milling equipment has a structure in which a building 1 is partitioned into a machine room 3 and a guest room 4 in the front and back direction by a partition wall 2.

Inside the rice milling equipment, there is an input hopper 5 for storing the brown rice brought by the user, a rotary valve 6 for feeding out the brown rice in the input hopper 5, and a first conveying means 7 for receiving the fed brown rice and frying the grain. , a stone remover 8 for sorting and separating stones mixed in brown rice, a second conveyance means 9 for frying the brown rice sorted by the stone remover 8, and a rice miller 10 for polishing the brown rice to make polished rice. , a polished rice tank 11 for storing polished rice is provided.

The charging hopper 5 and the polished rice tank 11 are provided so as to look into the passenger compartment 4 side, and the first conveying means 7, the stone remover 8, the second conveying means 9, and the rice polishing machine 10 are installed on the machine room 3 side. The charging hopper 5 is provided on one left and right side of the passenger compartment 4, and the polished rice tank 11 is provided on the other left and right side of the passenger compartment 4. As shown in FIG. 2, between the input hopper 5 and the polished rice tank 11, a polishing level selection switch 12 for setting the polishing level, a charge input slot 13 for charging charges, a change return slot 14, etc. are provided on the board. A control panel will be installed. An opening/closing door 15 for closing and opening the input port of the input hopper 5 is provided on the front side of the input hopper 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first conveying means 7 has a first conveying pipe 17 that receives the brown rice fed out from the input hopper 5 by interlocking the rotation of the rotary valve 6 and conveys it using high pressure air from the blower 16. We are prepared. This first conveying pipe 17 is constituted by a hose member, and has a horizontal conveying part 17a connected to a blower 16 at one end, and a horizontal conveying part 17a connected below the frame part 6a of the rotary valve 6 to receive the brown rice in the middle part, and It is bent to form a vertical conveyance section 17b whose upper end connects to a stone removal tank 18, which is installed near and above the removal machine 8 and is an example of a storage section of the present invention.

The blower 16 is configured to be able to supply pressurized air to the first conveying pipe 17 by interlocking a fan (not shown) with the rotation of a blower motor 16m (see FIG. 6), and the blower motor 16m is controlled to turn on and off. That is, when the polishing level polishing switch 12 is turned on with the charge input as a condition, driving output is provided to the motors of each part of the rice milling equipment, and the blower motor 16m is also turned on to supply compressed air to the conveying pipe 17. The valve motor 6m that interlocks the rotary valve 6 is also turned on to feed out the brown rice in the input hopper 5 via the rotary valve 6, and the brown rice fed out from the lower opening of the valve frame 6a is transferred to the conveying pipe 17. It is pneumatically conveyed along the stone removal tank 18 as a storage tank.

As shown in FIG. 4, a foreign matter discharge port 19 such as foreign matter is formed on the side of the horizontal conveyance portion 17a at the bent portion of the conveyance pipe 17 from the horizontal conveyance portion 17a to the vertical conveyance portion 17b, and furthermore, this foreign matter discharge port A foreign matter discharge shutter 19a that opens and closes the shutter 19 is provided. A net body 20 is disposed midway through the vertical conveyance section 17b of the conveyance pipe 17 to serve as a foreign matter trapping means for trapping relatively large diameter or long foreign matter such as straw waste among foreign matter. Even if the particles are lifted up along the vertical conveyance section 17b, they reach the net body 20 and are captured, and fall down inside the vertical conveyance section 17b due to their own weight or when the air blowing by the blower 16 is stopped and enter the foreign matter discharge port 19. The foreign matter tends to accumulate and can be discharged to the outside of the machine or to the collection box 19b from the foreign matter discharge shutter 19a that opens as appropriate.

Note that the net 20 serving as the foreign matter trapping means has a mesh size that allows the air-transported brown rice to pass through, so that the brown rice can reach the stone removal tank 18 from the upper end of the vertical conveyance section 17b. The mesh size is such that straw waste cannot pass through the net 20.

As shown in FIG. 5, the de-stoning tank 18 includes a first outlet 18a and a second outlet 18b, of which the first outlet 18a is provided to be able to supply brown rice to the de-stoner 8, and the second outlet Reference numeral 18b is a structure that communicates with a brown rice reduction port 21 configured above the input hopper 5.

The first discharge port 18a and the second discharge port 18b are provided with first and second opening/closing shutters 22a, 22b corresponding to each other, and the first and second opening/closing shutters 22a, 22b, which are normally in a closed position, correspond to each other. The first and second discharge port solenoids 23a and 23b are energized to take an open position. It is configured to return to the closed position by demagnetizing the solenoid 23a or 23b. A switching valve 24 is provided between the first discharge port 18a and the second discharge port 18b, and is provided so that the brown rice that normally reaches the storage tank 18 flows down to the first discharge port 18a side. The switching valve 24 is configured to change its position by turning on the switch, thereby causing brown rice to flow down toward the second discharge port 18b.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the brown rice de-stoned by the de-stoning machine 8 and the un-polished rice as leftover rice flow down to a lower hopper 26 provided at the lower part of the second conveyance means 9. The second conveying means 9 is configured to pneumatically convey the brown rice vertically upward using pressure air generated by driving the blower 27 . The brown rice lifted up by the second conveying means 9 is configured to flow down into the rice polishing tank 28 of the rice milling machine 10.

The brown rice taken out from the rice milling tank 28 is polished by the rice milling machine 10, and the polished rice is stored in the polished rice tank 11.

Since the first conveying means 7 is configured to air convey brown rice by driving the blower 16, when the amount of brown rice in the input hopper 5 decreases, the brown rice cannot fall into the horizontal conveying section 17a due to pressure air. For this reason, when the amount of brown rice in the input hopper 5 falls below a predetermined value, the blower 5 is stopped so that the remaining rice can easily fall. In the flowchart of FIG. 7, each part switch and sensor information is input to the control unit 30 (S101). When the below-mentioned hopper lower limit sensor 31 determines that there is brown rice and one of the plurality of whiteness selection switches 12 is turned on, an output is output to turn on the blower motor 16m and the valve motor 6m (S102 to S105). The brown rice in the input hopper 5 is delivered to a predetermined amount by the rotation of the rotary valve 6, and the delivered brown rice is air-transported by the compressed air generated by the rotation of the blower 6 (S106).

Then, when the amount of brown rice in the input hopper 5 falls below the height of the lower limit sensor 31 placed at a predetermined position and the lower limit sensor 31 is turned on (S107), the blower motor 16m is turned off and the blower 16 stops rotating (S108). . At the same time, the foreign matter discharge shutter 19a is opened (S109). A timer set for a predetermined time T1 is activated, and when this predetermined time T1 has elapsed, the blower motor 16m is restarted and the foreign matter ejection shutter 19a is closed (S112, S113). Since it continues to operate and feeds out brown rice, almost all of the brown rice in the input hopper 5 remaining below the lower limit sensor 31 can be fed out and deposited on the horizontal conveyance section 7a. After the predetermined time T1 has elapsed, the valve motor 6m is turned off (S114), the blower motor 16m is restarted (S115), and the thus deposited brown rice is transported by air (S116), and then transferred to the horizontal transport section 17a and the vertical transport section. The stone removal tank 18 can be reached through the section 17b.

In this way, by stopping the blower motor 16m for the predetermined time T1 while the rotary valve 6 is feeding out brown rice, the small amount of brown rice in the input hopper 5 can be reliably fed to the horizontal conveyance section 7a. As a result, by continuing to operate the blower 16 as in the past, the pressure air blows up the gap created by the rotation of the rotary valve 6 and the brown rice does not stagnate in the input hopper 5, and the remaining rice in the input hopper 5 does not remain. You can use less rice. Further, at this time, the rotary valve 6 is stopped by turning off the valve motor 6m, thereby preventing the pressure air from blowing up from the blower 16, thereby preventing the users of the passenger room 4 from feeling uncomfortable.

Note that the restart of the blower motor 16m in S115 and the air conveyance in S116 accompanying this restart are executed for a predetermined time T2 (S117, S118). After the predetermined time T2 has elapsed, the blower motor 16m is turned off and stopped. This predetermined time T2 is set to a time during which the conveyance means 7 can convey the brown rice in the input hopper 5 that remains below the lower limit sensor 31.

Next, the discharge control from the destoning tank 18, which serves as a storage tank for brown rice that is pneumatically transported by the first transporting means 7, will be explained based on FIG. Steps S201 to S204 correspond to steps S101 to S106 in FIG. 7, and the brown rice is pneumatically conveyed to the destoning tank 18. Then, it is determined whether or not the take-out switch 25 is turned on. If the take-out switch 25 is not turned on, the brown rice undergoes the normal de-stoning and milling process, and the switching valve 24 is switched to the side to be supplied to the de-stoning machine 8. Then, the first discharge port 18a is opened, the second discharge port 18b is closed, and the air-conveyed brown rice is sequentially supplied to the destoner 8.

Further, when it is determined in S205 that the take-out switch 25 is turned on, the switching valve 24 is switched to the take-out side (S212). Then, both the first discharge port 18a and the second discharge port 18b are closed to store brown rice in a predetermined amount (S213 to S216). In the embodiment, during a predetermined time T3, the first and second discharge ports 18a and 18b can be closed and stored (S217 to S219), and after the predetermined time T3 has passed, a stop output is output to the motor 16m of the blower 16 to stop the blower. 16 is stopped (S220), the second discharge port 18b is opened, and brown rice can be collected from the brown rice return port 21 (S221 to S223).

In the case of returning brown rice, that is, taking brown rice home, it communicates with the stone removal tank 18, which is air conveyed through the brown rice returning port 21, so that pressure air is blown out from this brown rice returning port 21 to reach the guest room 4 side. Although this may cause discomfort to the users, by storing brown rice in the stone removal tank 18 during T3 for a predetermined period of time as described above, this stored brown rice can block the gushing out and prevent it from gushing out into the guest room. Note that, as in the embodiment, by incorporating stopping the blower 16 as a condition for opening the second discharge port 18b, the effect of preventing dust scattering is significant.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, if S211 or S223 is executed, it is possible to return to S201. Therefore, even if brown rice is returned in S223, if there is still rice left in the input hopper 5, it will be detected in S202, and the second and third Brown rice reduction is now being carried out for the second time.

As shown in FIG. 9, the stone removing machine 8 is equipped with a tilting oscillating sorting board 32, and brown rice and stones or similar foreign substances are separated by specific gravity.Brown rice is taken out on the lower side of the slope, and stones or similar substances are taken out on the upper side of the slope. foreign matter is removed. It should be noted that the remaining rice remaining on the surface of the tilting oscillating sorting board 32 is taken out from the upper side of the slope. To be more specific, the stone removal machine 8 has a fan case 41a containing an inclined swinging sorting board 32 and a fan 41 mounted on a frame 40 so as to be swingable by a swinging mechanism. A rice gutter 42 is installed. The rotation of the fan 41 allows air to be blown upward through the slits formed in the tilted oscillating sorting board 32, and a brown rice port 43 for taking out the brown rice flowing down the upper layer is provided on the lower side of the sloping side of the tilting oscillating sorting board 32. On the upper side of the slope, there is a remaining rice opening 44a which opens at the bottom end of the tilting oscillating sorting board 32 and is opened and closed by a remaining rice shutter 44, and a stone removal opening 45a which opens at the end side wall surface and can be opened and closed by a stone removal shutter 45. is forming. A remaining rice gutter 42 is visible below the remaining rice opening 44a, and can receive and convey the remaining rice taken out from the remaining rice opening 44a.

Now, when brown rice mixed with stones and gravels is supplied from the upper stone removal tank 18 to the stone removal machine 8 having the above-mentioned configuration to the tilting swing sorting board 32, the stones and gravels sink to the lower layer due to the swinging of the swinging mechanism. The brown rice is shaken up and conveyed, and the brown rice floating above the gravel layer is slid along the inclination direction toward the brown rice opening 43 side. The stone gravel is conveyed in a rocking motion together with some of the brown rice, and is stopped and retained at the end by a stone removal shutter 45.

When the stone removing shutter 45 is opened near the end of this stone removing action, the accumulated stones are discharged from the stone removing opening 45a. At this time, some of the brown rice at the end is also mixed with the stones and discharged from the stone removal port 45a. By the way, by opening the remaining rice shutter 44, the remaining rice that is shaken up and conveyed following the stones discharged from the stone removal port 45a is taken out from the remaining rice opening 44a through the remaining rice gutter 42. In this way, most of the brown rice is discharged from the brown rice port 43, and a small amount of rice remaining on the surface of the tilting shaking sorting board 32 is taken out from the remaining rice port 44a by being shaken up and conveyed. The amount of rice remaining on the 32 surfaces of the moving plate can be reduced. In this way, near the end of the de-stoning operation, a small amount of leftover rice remaining on the surface of the tilting oscillating sorting board 32 is taken out from the left-over rice opening 44a by shaking and conveying. It constitutes a processing step.

As shown in FIG. 10, the stone removing machine 8 is placed on the upper part of the pedestal 46. As shown in FIG. A foreign matter removing device 47 is provided below the brown rice port 43 of the tilting oscillating sorting board 32, and is configured to separate foreign matter such as long straw that flows down with the brown rice and discharge it. A remaining rice box 48 for collecting the remaining rice is disposed within a pedestal 46 that supports the stone removal machine 8 frame 40. Furthermore, the blower 16 of the first conveying means 7 and the blower 27 of the second conveying means 9 are arranged at the lower part of the frame 46 (FIG. 10). The four circumferences of the blowers 16 and 27 are covered with a cover 50 (FIG. 11). Since the air blowers 16 and 27 are arranged using the space under the frame 46, it can contribute to space saving. Further, by providing the cover 50, noise can be reduced. Note that the blowers 16 and 27 have air outlets on the same side, and the cover 50 is attached to sandwich the air outlets and the hose member 51 (FIG. 12). With this configuration, noise leakage can be reduced. Further, the cover 50 is provided with an adjustment guide (not shown) that can adjust the intake area. With this configuration, insufficient intake of air by the blowers 16 and 27 can be prevented with a simple configuration in which the cover 50 is provided with an adjustment guide.

The brown rice from the brown rice port 43 and the remaining rice from the remaining rice gutter 42, which are taken out by the operation of the stone remover 8, are received by the lower hopper 26 of the second conveyance means 9 and lifted up and conveyed. The second conveying means 9 has the same configuration as the first conveying means 7, and the second conveying pipe 33 connects the blower 27 to a horizontal conveying section 33a that receives brown rice from the lower hopper 26, and a horizontal conveying section 33a. The pneumatically conveyed brown rice is guided downward into the rice polishing tank 28 from the upper end side of the vertical conveyance section 33b.

By the way, during the remaining rice processing process of the stone removing machine 8, the amount of remaining rice on the surface of the inclined sorting and swinging sorting board 32 gradually decreases and the layer becomes thinner. On the other hand, since the blower 16 of the first conveying pipe 17 is in the driving state, pressure air is blown out and reaches the surface of the tilting oscillating sorting board 32. This pressure wind creates turbulence that prevents the remaining rice from moving smoothly to the shaking side. Therefore, by stopping the drive signal to the blower motor 16m of the blower 16 during the remaining rice processing process of the stone remover 8, the influence of the pressure air can be reduced. Regarding the specific configuration, upon recognizing the open signal output of the stone removal shutter 45 or the remaining rice shutter 44, the control unit 30 controls to stop the drive output to the blower motor 16m. The opening forces of the stone removal shutter 45 and the remaining rice shutter 44 are controlled by timers, and the blower motor 16m is configured to restart and return in conjunction with the elapse of the setting timer T6 of the remaining rice shutter 44. . In addition, the stop control time of the blower 16 may be the total time T6' of the stop time of the stone removal shutter 45 and the remaining rice shutter 44 (FIG. 13). Note that, for example, after detecting that the amount of brown rice in the input hopper 5 has become less than a predetermined amount, the blower 16 may be stopped during the process of removing the remaining rice from the stone removing machine 8. obtain.

The brown rice supply control to the rice milling machine and the first and second conveyance means drive control will be explained based on FIG. 14. The rice polishing tank 28 is equipped with an upper limit sensor 35u and a lower limit sensor 35d for detection, and a rotary valve 36 below, and if the upper limit sensor 35u does not detect brown rice (S301, S302), it is determined that brown rice can be accepted. Rice polishing is performed by driving the first conveying means 7, second conveying means 9, and rotary valve 36 to supply brown rice to the rice milling machine 10 (S303 to S306).

During the rice polishing process, a preset time T4 is counted, and when this set time T4 (for example, 5 minutes) has elapsed (S307, S308) and brown rice is detected by the lower limit sensor 35d (S309), the first conveying means 7 and the 2. The conveying means 9 and the rotary valve 36 are stopped for a predetermined time T5 (for example, 10 seconds) (S310 to S314). After this, return to the start and repeat the above steps.

Note that if the upper limit sensor 35u detects brown rice in S302, no more brown rice can be accepted, so the process moves to S310 to S311 where all parts are stopped. Further, when detecting the lower limit sensor 35d or lower in S309, the driving state of each part is continued without performing control to stop each part, and the process returns to the flow start. If the brown rice is below this lower limit sensor 35d, it is assumed that the rice milling is about to end.

The dust mixed in the air-conveyed unpolished rice is provided in the stone removal tank 18 so that it can be discharged via a connected dust hose 37, and the discharge end of this dust hose 37 is connected to the polishing end of the rice polishing machine 10. It is configured to be connected so as to be introduceable to a bran fan device 38 that conveys bran discharged during processing to a predetermined location. Inside the stone removal tank 18, there are inclined shelves 18f, 18f, .

Next, based mainly on FIG. 15, a procedure for inserting cash into the charge slot 13 and performing rice milling operation will be described.

When the fee insertion detection sensor (not shown) detects that the user has inserted a fee into the fee input slot 13 (S401), the control unit 30 inputs the detection information and outputs the opening/closing door 15 to the opening/closing door 15. 15 performs an opening operation. The user puts the brown rice he/she brought into the input hopper 5 and selects the desired polishing degree (for example, no-wash rice 12a, standard 12b, or milled rice 12c) using the polishing degree selection switch 12. The control unit 30 receives the selection information of the polishing level selection switch 12 and outputs an operation start output to each part of the apparatus (S401 to S403).

When each part of the apparatus is operated, as described above, the rotary valve 6 feeds out the brown rice in the input hopper 5, the first conveying means 7 conveys it, the destoner 8 destones it, and the second conveying means conveys it. The rice is then polished by a rice milling machine 10 to become polished rice and discharged into a polished rice tank 11. When the operating time corresponding to the charge has elapsed (S405) or when the feeding hopper lower limit sensor 31 detects that the brown rice supplied to the rice milling machine 10 has run out (S406), the control unit 30 outputs an operation stop output and the predetermined The rice milling operation ends after a certain period of time (S413). The input hopper lower limit sensor 31 may also be called a brown rice presence/absence detection sensor.

By the way, in FIG. 15, when the take-out switch 25 is turned on (S415), the shutter 22b on the side from the brown rice return port 21 opens as shown in FIG. 8, and the brown rice can be collected through the brown rice return port 21. In this embodiment, since the brown rice return port 21 is set above the input hopper 5, the compressed air by the blower 16 of the first conveying means 7 is blown out from the brown rice return port 21. This pressure air has the effect of blowing away the brown rice that has accumulated on the edge of the input hopper 5 and on the screen for separating long foreign objects (not shown) and causing it to fall into the input hopper 5. In order to prevent this pressure air from blowing onto the operator near the input hopper 5, the opening/closing door 15 is closed and activated based on the ON operation of the take-out switch 25 (S418), thereby preventing the above-mentioned blowing. can.

On the other hand, when the take-out switch 25 is OFF and the set time has elapsed since the rice milling operation stop output, and the human detection sensor installed on the ceiling of the guest room 4 detects that no one is present (S419), the opening/closing door 15 is closed (S418). At the end of the rice milling operation, if there is change, a change lamp 14a provided near a change return port 14 is flashed. The user can collect the change coming out from the change return slot 14 by looking at the display on the change lamp 14a.

Next, the use of rice milling equipment by card will be explained.

When using the rice milling equipment, the user can mill the rice using the points of the card A, instead of inserting cash into the charge slot 13 to mill the rice.

When the user holds the card A in his possession over the card reader 100, the card information is read by the control unit 30, and as shown in FIG. is memorized.

Card A can be used as long as the card number can be read, whether it is a commonly available card or a special card for rice milling operations.

When a user performs a rice milling operation using a card for the first time, he or she holds Card A over the card reader 100 to read the card information, inserts cash, and mills the rice.The user receives points dedicated to the rice milling operation according to the amount of cash inserted. is assigned and linked to the card number. Once the points are accumulated, rice milling operations can be carried out using only the card.

For example, for 100 yen in cash, you can process 10 kg of brown rice in a driving time (for example, 2 minutes), and for every 100 yen in cash, you will be given 10 points, and once you accumulate 100 points, you can mill rice for 100 yen worth of driving time. shall be.

When the user holds card A over the card reader 100 during the next rice milling operation (S501), the card number, the number of points given, and the remaining operation time are displayed on the operation screen 102, as shown in FIG. . Then, the opening/closing door 15 is opened and brown rice is put into the input hopper 3 (S502), and the polishing level selection switch 12 is operated to start the polishing level rice milling operation (S503). is subtracted and displayed.

Next, a description will be given of processing when the same user uses a plurality of cards for rice milling operations and points for rice milling operations are accumulated on each card.

The operating procedure for integrating the points of multiple cards into one card will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 17, the user operates the integrated switch 101 and holds the card A over the card reader 102, and then holds the card B over the card reader 102. Then, a selection screen for selecting which card to integrate is displayed on the operation screen 102 of the control panel. When the driving screen 102 is a touch panel, when the card to be selected, for example, card A (No. 1 in FIG. 17) is selected, the points of card B are transferred to card A, and the points are integrated into card A. The card A is stored in the controller 30 in association with new points and remaining driving time, which will be described later.

If the operation screen 102 is not a touch panel, the brightness selection switch 12 may be used. For example, when selecting card A, select the standard polishing switch 12b, and when selecting card B (No. 2 in FIG. 17), select the grinding switch (12c) on the operation screen 102. It may also be configured to display. The integrated switch 101 can be operated both during rice milling operation and during non-rice milling operation.

With this configuration, it is possible to improve the convenience of using the card.

Next, the improvement in convenience when using a card compared to using cash will be explained mainly based on FIG. 19.

In the case of cash, when the rice milling operation time equal to the input fee has elapsed during rice milling operation (S504), the rice milling operation will immediately stop (S405, S414 in Figure 15), but if you are using a card, you will receive points. When the rice milling operation time of minutes has elapsed, a prompt to insert cash is displayed on the operation screen 102, and an extension time is provided to extend the rice milling operation time by a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) (S505). Further, the extension time may be extended as the number of points at the start of the rice milling operation increases.

Further, when the insertion of additional cash during the extended time is detected or a new card with points is recognized (S506), counting of new driving time may be started from the time of recognition, or the additional time may be started. Counting of driving time may be started retroactively. Additionally, if it detects that cash has been inserted during the extra time, it will start counting the driving time retroactively to the start of the extra time, and if it recognizes a new card with points, it will start counting the new driving time from the point of recognition. You can do it like this.

If no additional cash is inserted or a new card is recognized during the extended time, the rice milling operation will be stopped (S507).

Thereby, it is possible to encourage users to use the card, and it is also possible to improve convenience for users who use the rice milling operation for a large amount of brown rice.

Although FIG. 19 shows a rice milling operation using a card, it can also be applied to a configuration in which cash and cards are used together. For example, at the start of rice milling operation, driving may be performed using a card, and cash may be inserted during the extra time when the driving time equal to the points has elapsed.

When points are assigned to a plurality of cards, the rice milling operation may be performed continuously using the points of the plurality of cards. In this case, when card A is held over card reader 100, points are displayed on the driving screen. Next, when card B is held up, the points of card B are marked together with the points of card A. When the polishing level selection switch 12 is operated in this state, the points of card A are first subtracted, and then the points of card B are subtracted as time elapses during the rice milling operation.

This makes it possible to improve the convenience of rice milling operations using multiple cards.

During rice milling operation, if it is detected that the brown rice in the input hopper 5 is less than a predetermined amount during the operation time (S406 S508), if a card is used, the remaining operation time is linked to the card information and the remaining operation time is The time may be made available for use during the next rice milling operation. For example, if it is detected that the brown rice in the input hopper 5 is less than a predetermined amount at 1 minute and 30 seconds after the start of operation, the remaining 30 seconds of operation time will be linked to the card information, and the remaining 30 seconds will be used during the next rice milling operation. The rice milling operation may be started using the .

This can promote card usage.

Next, a case will be described in which the card user uses the function of packing rice bran produced by milling rice using the bran pack device 110 and providing the package to the user.

When the user operates the rice bran pack device selection switch 111, the rice bran transported by the rice bran fan device 38 is transported to the rice bran pack device 110, and the packed rice bran pack 112 is transported to the guest room 4 side. In this case, points are given to the card (for example, 5 points). Thereby, the amount of bran stored in the bran bag 113 in the machine room 3 can be reduced, and the effort of the manager of the rice milling equipment to collect the bran can be reduced. Moreover, the points are increased as the number of bran packs 112 created increases.

Note that the rice milling equipment of this embodiment is described as a type in which charges or points are deducted as the operating time passes, but the rice milling equipment may be configured such that the user sets the weight of rice that he or she wants to mill in advance and operates the rice milling equipment for that amount. can also be applied.

Since the rice milling equipment of this embodiment is unmanned, it is equipped with a surveillance camera 120. In this case, the camera is installed in a space cut out from a part of the partition wall 2 so that it can monitor both the passenger compartment 4 and the machine room 3.

5 Input hopper 6 Rotary valve 7 First conveyance means (conveyance means)
8 Stone removal machine 10 Rice polishing machine 15 Opening/closing door 16 Air blower 17 Conveying pipe 18 Storage section (stone removal tank)
18a First discharge port 18b Second discharge port 21 Brown rice return port 22a First opening/closing shutter 22b Second opening/closing shutter 24 Changeover valve 100 Card reader 101 Integrated switch 102 Operation screen 110 Bran pack device 111 Selection switch for bran pack device

Claims (2)

In rice milling equipment that inputs brown rice, selects the desired polishing level with the polishing level selection switch, and performs rice milling operation.
Equipped with a card reader that reads card information and a control unit that recognizes card information,
The card information includes points for performing rice milling operations,
An integration switch that integrates the points of multiple cards into one card.
and an integration selection switch to select the card to be integrated,
After operating the integration switch, a plurality of card information is sequentially read into the card reader, and when an arbitrary card is selected with the integration selection switch, the points are integrated with the selected card,
After reading the first card (A) with a card reader, if you read a second card (B) that is different from the first card (A), the first card (A) The points and the points of the second card (B) are displayed on the driving screen,
When the rice milling operation is performed by operating the polishing degree selection switch while displayed on the operation screen, the points of the first card (A) are subtracted as the rice milling operation time elapses, and then the points of the second card (A) are subtracted. (B) where the points are allowed to be subtracted; and
It is characterized in that points can be transferred to either the first card or the second card by operating the integration switch and the integration selection switch during rice milling operation. Rice milling equipment. Equipped with a charge slot for inserting cash,
The rice milling operation time will be the amount of money invested or the time corresponding to the points mentioned above.
In the case of rice milling operation by inputting cash, the rice milling operation will be stopped after the operating time corresponding to the input amount has elapsed.
In the case of rice milling operations using card points, the user is prompted to insert additional cash or load a new card just before or when the operating time corresponding to the points has elapsed. At the same time as providing a predetermined time for inserting additional cash or loading a new card, and an extension time for continuing the rice milling operation,
When the insertion of cash is detected during the extra time, counting of driving time is started retroactively to the start of the extra time, and when a new card having points is recognized, a new counting of driving time is started from the time of recognition. The rice milling equipment according to claim 1, characterized by:

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