JPH04116790A - Merchandise carrier controller for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To speedily purchase a lot of merchandise in bulk and to conveniently check the selection of the merchandise on the way by providing a storage means and a carrier control means collectively carrying out the merchandise corresponding to a merchandise selection push button stored in the storage means while depressing a confirmation push button. CONSTITUTION:A customer depresses a merchandise selection push button 7, checks the quality of the merchandise selection, depresses a confirmation push button 1 when it is good, and depresses a cancel push button 2 when it is not good to redo the merchandise selection. A merchandise selection mechanism 12 inputs the state of the confirmation push button 1 and the cancel push button 2, and transmits a signal to a carrier control part 13 when the merchandise selection is decided as OK. Then, by the instruction of the carrier control part 13, a carrier mechanism 14 carries out the merchandise corresponding to a stored merchandise control push button 7 in bulk, and a packing mechanism 6 packs these merchandise to be carried to a merchandise takeout port 10 by the instruction of packing control part 15. Thus, the sales operation is speeded up, and the merchandise selection can be redone on the way so that the mistake in purchase can be prevented, and the service can be further improved.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a vending machine that sells multiple types of products, and more particularly to a product delivery control device that facilitates bulk purchasing of products.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in a vending machine that sells a plurality of types of products, the products are delivered using a method as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, in FIG. 6, when a coin is inserted (step 5ll) and the first product is selected (step 512), that product is immediately taken out (step 513). Then, the remaining amount is compared with the minimum set price of the product (step 514), and if the remaining amount is greater, the process returns to step S12 and the selection of the second product is accepted. Step 314
If the remaining amount falls below the minimum set price of the product, the sales operation ends.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, with conventional vending machines that remove the item each time the item is selected, the next item cannot be selected until the item has been removed, which takes time when purchasing many items in bulk. . Also, when trying to purchase the required number of products within a set budget, it is difficult to review the product selection midway through, and in some cases, the more expensive products are purchased first, resulting in not being able to satisfy the required number of products. It may disappear. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a product delivery control device for a vending machine that is convenient for quickly purchasing a large number of products in bulk and for reviewing product selection midway through the purchase.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, in this invention, a confirmation pushbutton for inputting that the product selection is confirmed and a product selection pushbutton that is pressed continuously within the range that can be sold with the input amount until the confirmation pushbutton is pressed. A storage means for temporarily storing the items, and a carry-out control means for pressing the confirmation push button and carrying out all the products corresponding to the product selection push buttons stored in the storage means at once. It would be convenient if the above-mentioned device is provided with a cancel push button that allows the product selection push button temporarily stored in the storage means to be cleared midway through. Further, a vending machine equipped with the above device can be provided with a packing mechanism for packaging the products that have been carried out in bulk and carrying them out to the product outlet. Further, the vending machine can be provided with an automatic selection mechanism that automatically selects the type and number of products depending on the budget, purpose of purchase, usage, etc.

[For use]

The products to be purchased are temporarily stored simply by operating the product selection pushbutton, and when the product selection is confirmed, the confirmation pushbutton is pressed to carry out the products all at once, thereby speeding up the sales operation. Further, by providing a cancel button and making it possible to clear the product selection pushbutton stored at - time, it becomes possible to review the purchased products during product selection or cancel the purchase depending on the budget. Moreover, since the products are carried out in bulk, by providing a packing mechanism in the vending machine, it becomes possible to package a plurality of sales products and then transport them to the product outlet. Furthermore, by providing an automatic selection mechanism, it becomes possible to automatically select and sell the optimal type and quantity of products according to the budget, purpose of purchase, etc. selected from the menu displayed on the monitor.

【Example】

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on FIGS. 1 to 5. First, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the vending machine, and there are two conspicuous places on the front of the machine: a confirmation pushbutton 1, which is pressed when the product selection is confirmed, and a cancel pushbutton 1, which is pressed to cancel the selection. Button 2, automatic selection pushbutton to press to automatically select a product, monitor 4, menu selection pushbutton 5
A packing mechanism 6 is also provided inside the vending machine. Note that 7 is a product selection push button, 8 is a product sample, 9 is a coin slot, and 10 is a product takeout port. Figure 1 is a block diagram of the control device of the above vending machine, Figure 2
The figure is a sales flowchart. Now, the sales operation will be explained using these figures. A coin is inserted into the coin slot 9, and the coin detection unit 11
When a coin signal is output from (step S1), the product selection mechanism 12 inputs the state of the automatic selection pushbutton 3, and if this is not pressed (NO in step S2), the product selection mechanism 12 inputs the state of the product selection pushbutton 7. do. Here, the customer presses the product selection pushbuttons 7 of the products he or she wishes to purchase one after another. Therefore, the product selection mechanism 12 continuously stores the product selection pushbutton 7 each time it is pressed (step S3). After pressing the product selection push button 7, the customer reviews the quality of the product selection, and if it is good, presses the confirm push button 1, and if not, presses the cancel push button 2 to select the product again. The product selection mechanism 12 has a confirm push button 1 and a cancel push button 2.
If you enter the status of the item and determine that the product selection is OK (
(YES in step s5), a signal is sent to the unloading control section 13. There, the unloading mechanism 14
The products corresponding to the stored product selection pushbuttons 7 are carried out all at once (step s6), and then the packing mechanism 6 packs these products according to instructions from the packing control section 15 (step S7), and the products are delivered to the product removal port 1o. transport to. On the other hand, if it is determined from the state of the cancel pushbutton 2 that the product selection is not OK (NO in step s5), the process returns to step s2 and repeats the operations up to step s5. An embodiment of the packing mechanism 6 is shown in FIG. 4, taking as an example a flower vending machine. In FIG. 4, when the products 18 selected from the product shelf 17 are carried out to the packaging 19, the binding device 20 moves to the left in the figure and bundles the products 18 through the packaging 19a. Move perpendicular to product 1
8 is dropped into the product outlet 10. Now, when the product selection mechanism 12 inputs the state of the automatic selection pushbutton 3 and determines that it is pressed (step S
2: YES), the menu selection mechanism 16 operates to make a menu selection (step S4). That is, the menu selection mechanism 16 first displays the first menu screen on the screen of the monitor 4, and the customer presses the menu selection pushbuttons 5 (0 to 5).
9 numeric keypad)) and waits for a response, and if there is a response, the next menu screen will be displayed. Taking a flower vending machine as an example, the contents of the menu are [Question: What is the purchasing budget?] ” and then enter the numbers for “
Question: What is the purpose (use) of the purchase? ” to “■ Congratulations,”
■Sympathy 2, ■...", etc.", and [
Question: What color system of flowers do you want to purchase? ] for “■white,
There are selection items such as "■Red, ■...". Through such a menu, the menu selection mechanism 16 obtains customer needs information and passes this information to the product selection mechanism 12. On the other hand, the product selection mechanism 12 stores in advance the suitability of each menu option, such as purpose (use) and color, for each stored product. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the degree of suitability described above, and the numbers represent the degree of suitability. Therefore, the product selection mechanism 12 comprehensively calculates the suitability of each product according to the customer's needs information, and finally determines the type and number of flowers that match the budget. To explain the degree of suitability shown in Figure 5, the customer's needs information is 200 yen or more and less than 300 yen for question 1's budget, sympathy for question 2's purpose (use), and white thread for question 30 colors. In this case, products B and C can be cited as products that satisfy all of these needs information. Next, regarding the sympathy item in question 2, the suitability of B is 5, and the suitability of C is 8. Furthermore, regarding the white item in question 3, the degree of conformity of B is 2, and the degree of conformity of C is 3. Therefore, when these are totaled, the ratio of suitability of B:C is 7:11, so this ratio is considered as the ratio of the number of pieces, and the number of pieces of B and C is determined according to the budget.

【Effect of the invention】

According to this invention, since the products are carried out all at once after the products have been selected, the sales operation is quick, and since the product selection can be re-selected midway through, there is no failure in purchasing. Furthermore, by providing a product packing mechanism and an automatic selection mechanism, serviceability can be further improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a control block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing its vending operation, Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the vending machine of the embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 4 is a Figure 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the packaging mechanism, Figure 5 is a diagram explaining the suitability data for automatic delivery stored in the product delivery mechanism in Figure 1, and Figure 6 is the vending operation of a conventional vending machine. It is a flowchart which shows. 1...Confirm push button, 2...Cancel push button, 3...
・Automatic selection push button, 4...Monitor, 5...Me, -
Knee selection diagram 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) a confirmation pushbutton for inputting that the product selection is confirmed; a storage means for temporarily storing continuously the product selection pushbuttons pressed within the range that can be sold with the input amount until the confirmation pushbutton is pressed; A product delivery control device for a vending machine, characterized in that a product delivery control device for a vending machine is provided, further comprising a delivery control means for pushing a confirmation push button and carrying out all products corresponding to the product selection pushbuttons stored in the storage means.