JPH04358297A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the power consumption of a vending machine by adjusting automatically the illumination in accordance with the sales of commodities in each time bend. CONSTITUTION:A controller 14 functioning as a date collecting means totalizes the sales amounts of commodities in each time band in a working mode of a vending machine. These totalized sales data are stored a time band-based sales data storage means 19. Then the controller 14 turns off some or all of the illumination lamps 4, 5 and 12 or reduces the luminous intensity of these lamps in such time bend, when the reduction of the sales amounts is estimated. Thus the power consumption of the vending machine can be reduced.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Object of the invention]

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine that can reduce the power consumption of illumination lights for illuminating display panels, sample products, and the like.

0003

2. Description of the Related Art In general, vending machines use lighting to illuminate display panels, sample products, etc. at night to indicate that products are on sale. In this case, since there is no need to turn on the lighting during the day, the lighting time of the lighting may be controlled by a timer, or a light sensor that detects the surrounding brightness may be installed and the light sensor may be used to turn on the lighting. was supposed to be controlled.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the sales of vending machines' products vary depending on the installation location and time of day, with some places and times selling relatively well at night and other places and times not so well. be. In this case, during times when product sales are good, you can expect to increase sales by brightening the lights and actively attracting customers, but during times when product sales are slow, sales growth due to lighting effects can be expected. Since you can't expect much from it, it's enough that the lighting is minimal enough to let you know that it's on sale.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, all lighting lights are turned on regardless of the sales of the product. ) However, this had the disadvantage of making the lighting brighter than necessary, wasting electricity and increasing maintenance costs.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and therefore, its purpose is to provide a vending machine that can automatically adjust lighting according to the sales of products depending on the time of day, and that can save power. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Configuration of the invention]

[0008]

[Means for solving the problems] The vending machine of the present invention includes:
A lighting lamp for illuminating parts related to display or operation, a data collection means for collecting sales data for each time period by aggregating the number of products sold for each time period, and a means for collecting product sales data for each time period based on the sales data for each time period. The illumination control means is provided to control to turn off some or all of the illumination lights or to reduce the illuminance during a time period when the light is expected to be low.

[0009]

[Operation] While the vending machine is in operation, the data collection means aggregates the number of products sold by time zone and collects sales data by time zone in advance. Based on the time-based sales data collected in this way, the lighting control means turns off some or all of the lighting lights or reduces the illuminance during times when the number of product sales is expected to be low. control to save power.

[0010] In this case, while the vending machine is in operation, the data collection means totals the number of products sold by time period, and lighting control is automatically performed based on this sales data by time period.
To control illumination without requiring labor and to perform optimal illumination control suitable for the installation location of the vending machine.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 2, in the upper half of the front door 1 of the vending machine, display cans 2 serving as samples of products that can be sold are arranged in, for example, three rows. A backlight panel 3 with pictures and letters as a background is provided at the rear of the display can 2. At night, this backlight panel 3 can be illuminated with a backlight 4 serving as an illumination light. There is. Further, an underlight 5 is provided below each row of display cans 2, and the display cans 2 can be illuminated by lighting the underlight 5 at night. Furthermore, a selection button 6 for selecting the product is provided directly below each display can 2.

On the other hand, in the center of the front door 1, there are provided a coin insertion slot 7, an input amount display 8, a coin return lever 9, a light sensor 10 for determining day and night, and the like. A product outlet 11 is provided at the bottom of the front door 1, and a backlight panel 13 that can be illuminated with a backlight 12 serving as an illumination light is also provided above the product outlet 11.

Next, the electrical configuration will be explained based on FIG. 1. The control device 14 is mainly composed of a microcomputer, and operates the product discharging device 15 in response to an operation signal from the selection button 6 to deliver the product (not shown) to the product outlet 1.
Drop it to 1. Further, the control device 14 controls the cooling cycle 16 and the electric heater 17 to keep the internal product at an appropriate temperature, and also distinguishes between day and night based on the output signal of the optical sensor 10, and turns off the backlights 4 and 12 during the day. Prohibits power supply to underlight 5.

In this case, the control device 14 also functions as data collection means and illumination control means. Its function as a data collection means is to sequentially store the types and quantities of sold products and sales times in the product sales history storage means 18, and to aggregate the number of products sold by time of day from this stored data. The time zone sales data is obtained by using the time zone sales data storage means 19, and the time zone sales data is stored in the time zone sales data storage means 19. On the other hand, the function as a lighting control means is to turn off one or both of the backlights 4 and 12 and the underlight 5 even at night during hours when the number of products sold is expected to be low based on the sales data by time of day. It is controlled as follows.

Specifically, when the number of products sold per hour is, for example, 9 or less, both the backlights 4 and 12 and the underlight 5 are turned off.
In the case of a book, only one of the backlights 4, 12 and underlight 5 is turned on and the other is turned off. For example, in the case of 20 or more books, both types are turned on. Such lighting/extinguishing control is performed by switching the output levels V1 and V2 of the control device 14 between high and low levels, and when one output level V1 is reversed to high level, the transistor 20 is turned on and the relay coil is switched on. 21, the relay contact 22 is turned on, and the backlights 4 and 12 are energized. When the other output level V2 is reversed to high level, the transistor 23 is turned on and the relay coil 24 is turned on.
A current flows through, turning on the relay contact 25 and energizing the underlight 5.

For example, sales data by time of day is shown in Figure 3.
When the situation becomes as shown in , lighting control is performed as follows. In this example, it is assumed that the period from 18:00 to 6:00 the next morning is determined to be night based on the output of the optical sensor 10. In this case, even at night, the number of products sold per hour is, for example, 9.
In the following cases, that is, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. the next morning and from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., both the backlights 4 and 12 and the underlight 5 are turned off. In the case of 10 to 19 lights, that is, from 21:00 to 22:00 and from 2:00 to 4:00 the next morning, only one type of backlight 4, 12 and underlight 5 is turned on and the other is turned off. In addition, if there are 20 or more lights, that is, from 18:00 to 21:00, backlight 4, 12
and underlight 5 both light up.

[0017] By controlling the lighting in accordance with the sales of the products as described above, sales can be increased by brightening the lights and actively attracting customers during times when the sales of the products are high. On the other hand, during times when products are not selling well, lighting effects cannot be expected to increase sales much, so lighting is kept to the bare minimum necessary to make it clear that products are on sale, in an effort to conserve electricity.

By the way, although it is conceivable that a service person or the like inputs data and controls the lighting according to the sales of products as described above using timer control, in general, one service person or the like controls a large number of automated systems. Since the vending machines are usually managed, it is extremely troublesome for service personnel etc. to collect and input accurate sales data by time of day for each vending machine. Because it is easy to cause human errors such as mistakes and data management errors,
It is extremely difficult to perform appropriate lighting control manually.

In this regard, in this embodiment, while the vending machine is in operation, the control device 14, which functions as a data collection means,
Since the number of products sold by time period is aggregated and lighting control is automatically performed based on this sales data by time period, there is no need for human labor for lighting control, and management does not become complicated. Another advantage is that the lighting can be controlled optimally depending on the location where the vending machine is installed.

In this embodiment, the optical sensor 10 is used to determine whether it is day or night, but this may also be performed using a timer. Furthermore, in this embodiment, one or both of the backlights 4 and 12 and the underlight 5 are turned off during times when the number of products sold is predicted to be low based on sales data by time of day. The illuminance may be reduced to save power.

[0021] Furthermore, sales data by time zone may be collected by day of the week, week, or month, and control may be changed by day of the week, week, or month. In addition, in this embodiment, control is performed in hourly units based on sales data by time zone, but fine control in units of tens of minutes or rough control in units of several hours may also be performed. good.

Furthermore, the administrator may be able to arbitrarily set the border lines (number of lines) for determining whether the backlights 4, 12 and underlight 5 are turned on or off by operating a keyboard or the like.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to vending machines that sell drinks, but may also be applied to vending machines that sell other products such as cigarettes, and may also be applied to vending machines that sell other products such as cigarettes. Various modifications are possible, such as application to various vending machines.

[0024]

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the present invention is based on sales data by time period collected by the data collection means, and a part of the lighting lamps is used during a time period when the number of products sold is expected to be low. Alternatively, all the lights are turned off or the illuminance is controlled to be lowered, so that the lighting can be automatically adjusted according to the sales of products depending on the time of day, and power saving can be achieved.

[0025] In this case, while the vending machine is in operation, the data collection means totals the number of products sold by time period, and lighting control is automatically performed based on this sales data by time period.
There is also the advantage that lighting control does not require labor and management does not become complicated, and that optimal lighting control can be performed that suits the installation location of the vending machine.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

[Fig. 1] Block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention

[Figure 2] Front view of vending machine

[Figure 3] Diagram showing an example of the number of products sold by time of day

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is the front door, 2 is the display can, 3 is the backlight panel, 4
is a backlight (illumination light), 5 is an underlight (illumination light), 6 is a selection button, 10 is a light sensor, 12 is a backlight (illumination light), 13 is a backlight panel, 14 is a control device (data collection means) , lighting control means), 18 is a product sales history storage means, and 19 is a time zone sales data storage means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A lighting lamp that illuminates a part related to display or operation, a data collection means that aggregates the number of products sold by time period and collects sales data by time period, and a data collection device that collects sales data by time period, based on the sales data by time period. and lighting control means for controlling part or all of the illumination lights to be turned off or to reduce the illuminance during a time period when the number of products sold is expected to be low.