JPH01233694A - Video cassette vending/renting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily change a sheet by a person in charge and to prevent a mistake in changing by providing a lamp to correspond with respective indication parts on the back side of a front panel and lighting up the lamp to correspond with the indication part in which an information sheet to be replaced is stored at the time of replacing the stock of video cassettes. CONSTITUTION:A lamp 14 to correspond with respective indication parts 9 is provided on the back side of the front panel and a lamp lighting means to light up a lamp 14 to correspond with the indication part 9 in which an information sheet 10 to be replaced is stored at the time of replacing the stock of the video cassettes. Namely, the lamp 14 to correspond with the respective indication parts 9 is provided on the back side of the front panel and only the lamp 14 to correspond with the indication part 9 of which information sheet is to be replaced is made to light up. Thus, since the indication part 9 can be decided from the back side by turning on/off the lamp 14, the work is facilitated, simultaneously the changing mistake is prevented and no trouble is caused to a customer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to a video cassette sales and rental device, and more particularly to simplifying the exchange of information sheets regarding video cassettes.

(bl Conventional technology Video cassette sales and rental devices are currently in practical use.

This device stores a plurality of video cassettes inside and releases (sells or rents) any of them according to the customer's selection. In order to facilitate the customer's selection of video cassettes, the front panel of the device has a display section that displays information sheets (jacket photos, performer names, etc.) regarding each video cassette. Customers decide which video cassettes to purchase or rent by judging the content from this notice. By the way, when the video cassettes in stock are replaced, the display on this display section is also replaced. In the sales/rental device, the display section is provided on the front panel, and information sheets can be exchanged from the back side by opening the front panel.

(C) Problem to be solved by the invention However, the information sheet is on the outside (front panel surface side)
When viewed from the back of the front panel,
There was a problem in that it was difficult to judge which information sheet was stored in which display section and which one should be replaced. This makes it easy for information sheets to be replaced incorrectly, leading to the risk of selling or lending the wrong video cassette to a customer. There were such drawbacks.

In view of the current situation, it is an object of the present invention to provide a video cassette sales and rental device that solves the above problems by notifying the display unit where the information sheet should be replaced from the back side using a lamp. (d) Problem Means for Solving the Problems This invention has a plurality of display sections on the surface of an openable/closable front panel, and each display section stores and displays information sheets regarding video cassettes in stock from the back side of the front panel. In the video cassette sales and rental device, lamps are provided on the back side of the front panel that correspond to the respective display sections, and when the video cassette stock is replaced, the lamps corresponding to the display sections in which the information sheet to be replaced is stored are turned on. It is characterized by being provided with a lamp lighting means.

(e) Function The video cassette sales and rental device of the present invention is provided with lamps corresponding to each display section on the back side of the front panel, so that only the lamp corresponding to the display section in which the information sheet should be replaced is turned on. . This makes it possible to determine the display part from the back side by the blinking of the lamp, which simplifies the work and eliminates mistakes in replacement, thereby eliminating inconvenience to customers.

(f) Embodiment FIG. 1 (A) shows a video cassette 7) which is an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a front view of a sales rental device. A customer operation panel is provided on the right side of the front, and a plurality of display sections 9 for displaying video cassette titles and photos are provided on the left door.

The customer operation panel includes, from the top, a CRT 1 that displays operational guidance, etc., a mode selection key 2 that selects an operation mode such as lending or returning, a coin slot 3 that inserts coins, and a card that identifies the customer. There are provided a card insertion slot 4, a bill insertion slot 5 into which banknotes are inserted, a change return slot 6 from which change is discharged, and a receipt discharge lower from which receipts are discharged. In addition, jacket photos and the like are displayed on the display section 9. A video cassette exit 8 is formed at the lower right corner of the display section 9, through which the video cassette is ejected/returned. The door provided with this display section 9 can be opened and closed using the right side of the device as a fulcrum.

FIG. 2B shows a side sectional view of the display section 9.

The surface of this display section 9 is made of plastic transparent cover 1)
Inside this transparent cover 1) is stored an information sheet 10 on which a jacket photo and the like are printed. This transparent cover 1) can swing counterclockwise around a fulcrum 1)a at its upper end, and when it swings, it presses down the microswitch 16. This oscillation is normally caused by the leaf spring 1
3, and when the customer presses the transparent panel 1), the microswitch 16 is turned on. That is, each display section 9 also serves as a video cassette selection switch, and the control section (see FIG. 2) indicates that the video cassette of the display section 9 whose microswitch 16 is turned on is selected.
is detected. The information sheet 10 is inserted into the interior through an insertion slot 15 provided on the back side of the display section. An LED 12 is provided on the lower side of the display section 9 toward the panel surface, and
An LED 14 is provided toward the back surface. LED 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a lamp that indicates to the customer that the video cassette posted on this display section is available for sale/rent. Furthermore, the LED 14 is a lamp for instructing the staff member which display part the information sheet 10 should be replaced with when replacing the video cassette.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the video cassette sales and rental apparatus. The control unit 20 is composed of a microcomputer, and the control unit 20 includes a memory 21. A memory card interface 22 is built-in. A memory card 23, which is an IC card, is inserted into the memory card interface 22. This memory card 23 stores a list of video cassettes to be replaced and a list of display units whose information sheets are to be replaced. In addition, this control section 20
includes a CRT unit 24 that controls the display of the CRTI.
, a keyboard unit 25 that controls pressing of the mode selection key and the cassette selection key, and a card league unit 26 that reads the data of the card inserted from the card insertion slot 4.
, a cash handling unit 27 that controls the release of inserted cash and change, a printer unit 28 that prints receipts and journals, and a video cassette handling section 29 that transports video cassettes inside the device. This video cassette handling section 29 also has the barcode league. Further, the control unit 20 is connected to the center via a modem 30.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a "title-panel correspondence table" and a "video cassette inventory file" set in the memory 21. The title-panel correspondence table determines in which display section the jacket photo of the stored video cassette is displayed, that is, which video cassette is selected when one of the micro switches 16 is pressed. This is a table for In addition, the video cassette inventory file shown in FIG. 3B stores data on all video cassettes in stock. This data includes the title code of the video cassette, the cassette number, the slot number in which the video cassette is stored, and location data indicating whether or not the video cassette is currently being lent. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the format of stored video cassette exchange data. This data includes the title code of the video cassette to be collected, the title code of the video cassette to be stored in its place, the cassette number, and
It consists of the number (panel position) of the display section where the information sheet should be replaced.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control section of the video cassette sales and rental apparatus. Video cassette exchange data is received via nl. In this embodiment, the video cassette exchange data is received and retrieved by inserting the memory card 23. In addition to this method, it is also possible to receive payments online from the center. Next, a staff member replaces the video cassette. At this time, the device may provide support such as automatic ejection of the video cassette to be replaced. When the video cassette has been replaced, the number of the display unit for which the information sheet should be replaced is searched (n3), and the LED 14 of this display unit is turned on (n4). At the same time, the number of the information sheet to be stored in this display section is displayed on the CRTI (
n5). The staff member turns on the microswitch 16 on the display every time the information sheet is replaced. (n6, n7)
. When the micro-sinch is turned on, the control section turns off the LED 14 of the display section (n8). All LEs
Until D goes out (until the sheet replacement is completed) n6
The following operation is repeated, and when the exchange is completed, the operation is finished based on the judgment at n9. Note that the information sheet numbers may be displayed on the CRTl one after another each time one information sheet is replaced, or the information sheet numbers to be replaced may be displayed side by side at the same time.

n3. n4 corresponds to the lamp lighting means of the present invention.

(g) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the video cassette sales and rental device of the present invention, even when the front panel is opened to replace the information sheet, a lamp is provided on the back side of the panel so that the information sheet must be replaced. By lighting only the lamp on the display, the staff can easily change the seat, and
No replacement errors occur. This not only makes the staff's work easier, but also prevents a customer from receiving the wrong video cassette, thereby preventing a decline in customer service.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 (A) is a front view of a video cassette sales and rental device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (B) is a side sectional view of the display section of the video cassette sales and rental device, and FIG. Block diagram of the control unit of the sales and rental device, Figure 3 (A
), (B) is a diagram showing the title-display unit correspondence table and video cassette inventory file set in the control unit of the video cassette sales and rental device, and (C) is a diagram showing the video cassette exchange data stored in the memory card. A diagram showing
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control section of the video cassette sales and rental apparatus. 9-display section, l〇-information sheet, 14-replacement LED, 15-insertion slot.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A video cassette sales and rental device that has a plurality of display sections on the surface of an openable/closable front panel, and each display section stores and displays information sheets regarding video cassettes in stock from the back side of the front panel, A lamp corresponding to each display section is provided on the back side of the front panel, and a lamp lighting means is provided for lighting the lamp corresponding to the display section in which the information sheet to be replaced is stored when replacing the stock of video cassettes. A video cassette sales and rental device featuring: