JPH0371389A - Card type automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability and the sale working efficiency of card type automatic vending machine by providing a set area to a card for the commodity selection information and a sale control part which gives an instruction to a commodity discharging device to discharge the commodities based on the commodity selection information read out of the card. CONSTITUTION:The commodity selection information is written into a set area of a card 1, and a sale control part 3 gives an instruction to a commodity discharging device to discharge the commodities in accordance with the commodity selection information read out of the card 1. When the coins and then the card 1 are inputted, the operation is switched to a rewrite mode of the commodity selection information. Then the commodity selection information of the card 1 is updated to the contents which are designated by the commodity selection switches 6a - 6x operated later. Thus the updated information is returned. As a result, a customer can purchase the commodities with no complicated operation required. Then the time required for a single sale operation is shortened and the sale working efficiency is improved together with improvement of the operability of card type automatic vending machine.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is used to sell selected products using a prepaid card with a prepaid amount written thereon or a postpaid card that charges a fee based on personal authentication information read from the card. The present invention relates to card-type vending machines.

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional card-type vending machine is constructed as shown in FIG. In the case of a private card, the prepaid amount is written on card 1.

The card reader/writer 2 once takes in the inserted card, reads the prepaid amount written on the card 1, and inputs the read prepaid amount as deposit information M to the sales control section 3.

The sales control unit 3 compares the sales prices of the plurality of sales columns with the advance payment amount given by the input money information M to determine whether the product can be sold, and the sales control unit 3 determines whether the product can be sold or not by comparing the sales prices in the plurality of sales columns with the prepaid amount given by the input money information M, and then selects the sales possibility lamps 5a to 5a provided in the product selection switch group 4. Among the 5X, the one corresponding to the sales column determined to be available for sale by the above determination is lit. When one of the product selection switches 6a to 6X of the product selection switch group 4 corresponding to a sales column determined to be available for sale is operated, a product dispensing device 7 is instructed to dispense the selected product. At the same time, the sales control unit 3 instructs the card reader/writer 2 to update the prepaid amount written on the card 1. Specifically, the prepaid amount for the card 1 is updated to the amount given in the deposit information minus the selling price, and the updated card 1 is returned.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a conventional configuration, in order to purchase a product, it is necessary to input the card 1 and specify the product by operating one of the product selection switches 6a to 6X. . In recent vending machines, the number of products handled has increased, and the number of product selection switches 6a to 6X has become extremely large.You can purchase the desired product by operating any of the product selection switches. It takes a long time for the user to recognize what is going on, and the usability becomes poor. Furthermore, if it takes time for the user to recognize the item, the time required for one sale will increase, leading to a problem that the sales utilization rate per unit time will decrease.

An object of the present invention is to provide a card-type vending machine that can contribute to improved operability and improved sales operation efficiency in a usage mode where the same product is purchased every time.

Means for Solving the Problems The card-type vending machine of the present invention specifies the product to be purchased by operating a product selection switch, and either deducts the price of the product to be sold from the amount of coins inserted, or The selected product is sold by deducting the charge for the sold product from the prepaid amount written, or by charging the charge for the sold product in deferred payment based on the personal authentication information written on the entered card, and A product selection information setting area is provided on the card, and the product dispensing device is instructed to dispense the product specified by the product selection switch operation or the product selection information read from the card. The present invention is characterized in that a sales control section is provided which instructs, when the input is detected, to update the product selection information on the card to the content specified by the product selection switch whose operation is subsequently detected.

According to this configuration, product selection information is written in the setting area of the card, and the sales control section instructs the product dispensing device to dispense the selected product according to the product selection information read from the card.

When a coin is inserted and a card is input, the mode switches to a rewriting mode of product selection information, and the product selection information on the card is updated to the contents specified by the product selection switch operated after that and is returned.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be explained based on FIGS. 1 and 2. Components having the same functions as those shown in FIG. 3 ε showing a conventional example will be described with the same reference numerals. FIG. 1 shows a card-type vending machine of the present invention. Traditional private
In the card, only the prepaid amount is written in the setting area, but in the card 1 shown in FIG. 1, the prepaid amount and product selection information are written. Product selection switch 6
When purchasing a product through operations a to 6X, coins are inserted into the coin unit 8 without inputting the card 1. The sales control unit 3 into which the coin has been inserted compares the amount of coins inserted with the sales price of each sales column to determine whether it can be sold. Among the sales lamps 5a to 5X, only those corresponding to the sales column determined as "sale" are lit. ′
When the sales control unit 3 detects that the product selection switch of the sales column determined to be available for sale has been operated, it instructs the product dispensing device 7 to dispense the product.

When the card 1 is input before the coin, the sales control unit 3 processes as follows.

The card reader/writer 2 reads the deposit information M of the prepaid amount and the product selection information S from the card 1 inputted before the coin, and inputs them to the sales control section 3. The sales control section 3 determines whether the product can be sold and lights up one of the sales lamps 5a to 5X corresponding to the sales column in which the product can be sold. At the same time, the sales control unit 3 determines whether the product in the column specified by the product selection information S is determined to be "saleable", and if it is determined to be "saleable", the product dispensing device 7 sends the product selection information S Instructs to pay out the products in the column specified by . Then, the card reader/writer 2 is instructed to update the prepaid amount. The card 1 with the updated prepaid amount is returned to the card slot.

The column specified by the product selection information S read from the card 1 is displayed on the display section 9 as "If the sale is not possible with the prepaid amount of the card 1 alone, please insert additional coins." If no additional coins are inserted after the specified time has elapsed, an instruction to return the card 1 is issued to the card reader/writer 2. In this way, by using the card 1 on which the product selection information S is written, the user can quickly purchase a predetermined desired product without operating a product selection switch.

If card 1 is input after inserting a coin,
The sales control unit 3 enters a mode for rewriting the product selection information written on the card 1. FIG. 2 shows the flow of the sales control section 3 in this rewriting mode.

The state in which a coin has been inserted prior to the input of card 1 is detected in steps (a-1) and (a-2), and after switching to the product selection information rewriting mode, step (a-3)
), when it is detected that any of the product selection switches 6a to 6X has been operated, the coin unit 8 is instructed to issue a refund in step (a-4). In step [a-5], the card reader/writer 2 is instructed to update the product selection information S of the card 1 to the content that specifies the sales column in which the operation was detected in step ra-3). The card 1 with the rewritten product selection information S is sent from the sales control unit 3 to step [
a-G] and is returned to the card slot.

Although the above embodiment has been explained using a private card as an example, the same applies to a deferred payment card, and in addition to personal authentication information, product selection information is written on the deferred payment card.

The above product selection information also includes the following: In a cup-type beverage vending machine, "product brand" and "cooking details" are written as product selection information. More specifically, the “product brand” is “coffee” or “
``Tea'' is written, and ``cooking details'' include ``hot'' or ``cold,'' ``no sugar,'' or ``amount of sugar,'' and ``no ice.'' This includes the difference between “with ice” and other things.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a product selection information setting area is provided on a card, and a product dispensing device is configured to dispense a product based on the product selection information read from the card among a plurality of handled products. As a vending machine is equipped with a sales control unit that instructs customers to use the product, even if the vending machine handles a wide variety of products, if it is a preset product, it can be purchased without complicated operations by simply inputting the card, making it easy to operate. - It is possible to shorten the sales operation time and improve sales operation efficiency.

Furthermore, when the sales control unit detects that a card has been input with a coin inserted, the product selection information on the card is updated to the content specified by the product selection switch whose operation was subsequently detected. Since the vending machine is configured to instruct the user to update the product selection information on the card, the user can update the product selection information on the card in the vending machine itself used for selling products, without installing a rewriting device separate from the vending machine at various locations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the card-type vending machine of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the main parts of the same device, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional card-type vending machine. 1...Card, 2...Card reader/writer, 3
...Sales control unit, 6a to 6X...Product selection switch, 7...Product payout device, 8...Coin unit, M...Input money information, S...Product selection information.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Specify the purchased product by operating the product selection switch, and either deduct the price of the sold product from the amount of coins inserted, or deduct the price of the sold product from the prepaid amount written on the entered card. Alternatively, the selected product is sold by charging the price of the sold product in deferred payment based on the personal authentication information written on the input card, and the card is provided with a setting area for product selection information, and a product selection switch is provided. or the product selection information read from the card, and when it is detected that the card has been input with a coin inserted, the product selection information of the card is This card-type vending machine is equipped with a sales control unit that instructs the product selection switch to be updated to the content specified by the product selection switch whose operation is subsequently detected.