JPH0239664A - Remote supervisory automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain centralized monitoring by detecting the condition of respective kind monitoring items, connecting a monitor automatically through a telephone circuit when a conditional change (abnormality) is generated, and transmitting a sensor detecting condition signal to the monitor through the telephone circuit after the connecting is completed. CONSTITUTION:A conditional change detecting circuit 3 detects the abnormal condition (conditional change) of an item detected with a sensor 2 and outputs an item signal to indicate the abnormal condition to an automatic calling device 4. The automatic calling device 4 starts a calling action automatically and make a communicatable condition with a monitor 7 through a general telephone circuit 5 and an exchange 6. An encoding transmitting circuit 8 encodes the condition signal of the respective kind control items detected with the sensor 2 and transmits to the monitor 7 through the telephone circuit and the exchange 6. Thus, the centralized monitoring of many vending machines dotting a broad area is attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to vending, and more particularly to a remotely monitored vending machine that can relatively easily monitor status items of the vending machine itself.

[Conventional technology]

The number of vending machines installed has increased significantly in recent years due to their ease of use and benefits such as no need for manpower, and they are now installed in many places nationwide. On the other hand, managing these vending machines is one of the important tasks for the installers, and there is a need for prompt response to abnormalities in the vending machines. Conventionally, a person in charge of management would go to each vending machine location and check various management items based on periodic K or reports from related parties and users.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional management of vending machines as described above, a person in charge of management must visit each installation location, which makes it impossible to respond quickly. In particular, considering the huge number of vending machines installed and the wide variety of vending machine management items (e.g. equipment failure, sold out products, out of change, etc.), conventional management methods are difficult to deal with abnormal conditions. It is almost impossible to respond quickly, and it also increases management costs, which is disadvantageous in terms of profitability.

As mentioned above, if a person in charge of management went to the vending machines at each installation location and checked the various conditions of the vending machines as in the past, this would lead to increased management costs, delays in finding faults, and problems with product quality. Delays in proper replenishment were a trap that reduced the sales that should have been obtained.

On the other hand, remote monitoring and centralized monitoring of vending machines can be considered, but since vending machines are scattered over a wide area and each machine has a small function and scale, a dedicated line is required for remote monitoring. Installing a vending machine or installing wireless equipment would significantly increase the cost per unit of vending machine, making it difficult to put it into practical use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a remote monitoring vending machine that enables centralized monitoring of a large number of vending machines scattered over a wide area with low capital investment.

[Means to solve the problem]

A remote monitoring vending machine according to the present invention includes a sensor that detects the state of a predetermined management item, a state change detection circuit that receives an output from the sensor and detects an abnormality in the state of the management item, and a state change detection circuit that detects an abnormality in the state of the management item. an automatic calling circuit that automatically calls to connect the monitoring device connected via a general telephone line when the monitoring device is detected; and after the monitoring device is connected by the automatic calling, the and a transmitting circuit for transmitting a status signal of the management item to the monitoring device via the telephone line.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

The vending machine 1 is connected to an exchange 6 via a telephone line,
A monitoring device 7 monitors the vending machine 1 based on the information data sent through the exchange 6.

A sensor 2 is installed in the vending machine 1, and detects management items related to the vending machine, such as the operating state of the vending machine (failure, etc.), the availability of products, the presence or absence of change, etc., and activates a state change detection circuit. Send to 3. The state change detection circuit 3 detects an abnormal state of the item detected by the sensor 2 (detects a state change),
The item signal indicating the abnormal state is output to the automatic calling device 4. When the automatic calling device 4 receives an abnormal item signal from the state change detection circuit 3, it automatically starts calling operation and can communicate with the monitoring device 7 via the general telephone line #15 and the exchange 6. state. On the other hand, when the connection with the monitoring device via the telephone line is completed due to the automatic call, the encoding and transmitting circuit 8 encodes the status signals of various management items detected by the sensor 2 and sends them via the telephone line and exchange 6. and sends it to the monitoring device 7. The monitoring device 7 receives the sent monitoring item status master signal, displays the status of each monitoring item, and when an abnormality occurs, K immediately reports it to the relevant person. Incidentally, in the above embodiment, the encoding/transmitting circuit 8 does not necessarily have to encode and transmit the status signal, and may be capable of transmitting the signal in various forms.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention detects the status of various monitoring items in the vending machine, automatically connects the monitoring device via the telephone line when a status change (abnormality) occurs, and after the connection is completed, the Senna detection status is Since the signal is sent to the monitoring device via the telephone line, when an abnormality occurs in the monitoring items of the vending machine, the abnormality signal is sent to the monitoring device at the same time, allowing for prompt response. In addition, the present invention does not require special additional circuits or wiring facilities for centralized monitoring, and uses general telephone lines, so the cost for monitoring is extremely low. There is great value.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. 1...Vending machine, 2...Sensor, 3
......Status change detection circuit, 4...--Automatic calling circuit, 5...2W telephone line, 6...
Switching machine, 7...Monitoring device, 8...Encoding and transmitting circuit. Agent Patent Attorney Shinsuke Honjo

Claims (1)

[Claims] A sensor that detects the state of a predetermined management item, a state change detection circuit that receives the output from this sensor and detects an abnormality in the state of the management item, and a general telephone line when the abnormality is detected. an automatic calling circuit that automatically makes a call to connect the monitoring device connected via the automatic calling circuit; and after the monitoring device is connected by the automatic call, the status signal of the management item from the sensor is transmitted to the telephone A remote monitoring vending machine comprising: a transmitting circuit that sends data to the monitoring device via a line.