JPH05298534A - Goods selection button for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To clearly display every kind of sales state such as (salable) or (sold out) by employing a circular goods selection button. CONSTITUTION:This button is comprised in such a way that a circular light conductive display body 7 in accordance with a sales condition of (salable) and a X-type light conductive display body 8 in accordance with the sales condition of (sold out) are assembled concentrically in the inside of a cylindrical operating cap 2 made of light-transmissive material, and a green light emitting LED 9 and a red light emitting LED 10 put on at each sales condition of (salable) and (sold out) are arranged on a printed wiring board 4 on the back side corresponding to each of the light conductive display bodies 7, 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a merchandise selection button for an automatic vending machine, and more particularly, to a "saleable" and "sold out" display mechanism incorporated in the merchandise selection button.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is an external view of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 11 is a front door of a main body case, 12 is a lighting section for displaying a product sample 13, and 14 is a product. An outlet, 15 is a coin slot, 16 is a product sample 3 and 1
The illumination unit 12 is a product selection button installed corresponding to the pair 1.

Here, the function of the above-mentioned product selection button is well known, and by inserting a coin and pressing the product selection button corresponding to the desired product, the product selection switch linked to the product selection button operates, The product corresponding to the product selection button is carried out from the bend rack in the store to the product outlet. In addition, a display board and an LED are provided inside the product selection button so that “sellable” and “sold out” are displayed for each product selection button according to the sales conditions of whether or not the product is available at the time of sale. (Light emitting diode) is incorporated.

FIG. 5 is a conventional product selection button 16
This is an example of a "sold" or "sold out" display. In the illustrated example, "sale" and "sold" are placed inside the operation cap (push button) of the oblong product selection button made of translucent material. A display board in which the characters "off" are arranged on the left and right is built in, and the back side of each display is equipped with an LED that emits light depending on the presence or absence of stock. It is also known to display “sold” or “sold out” with, for example, a symbol mark of “O” or “X”.

[0005]

By the way, in the conventional product selection button, the display of "sold" or "sold out" is displayed separately on the left and right sides of the push button. Therefore, the push button design is inevitably changed. Limited to a horizontally long shape. On the other hand, as described above, the product selection buttons are individually attached to the product selection switches, and the product selection switches are operated via an actuator rod or the like when the push buttons are pressed. In this case, if the shape of the push button is laterally long, the force may be biased depending on the position where the push button is pressed by the fingertip, and the push button may tilt due to the looseness of the assembly structure, and the product selection switch may not operate properly. Further, in order to prevent this, the linkage mechanism between the product selection button and the switch becomes complicated and the cost becomes high.

In this regard, if the shape of the product selection button is round, there is no bias in the force when the push button is pressed, so the product selection switch can be reliably operated with a simple actuator mechanism, and the design It's also neat. However, it is difficult to assemble the display mechanisms of “available for sale” and “sold out” on the left and right sides of the round product selection button side by side in the product selection button, as in the conventional case, because of space limitation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to solve the above-mentioned problems and adopt a round-shaped product selection button to meet the sales conditions of "available for sale" and "sold out". It is to provide a product selection button for a vending machine that can be clearly displayed.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the product selection button of the present invention is constructed as follows. (1) Inside the cylindrical operation cap made of translucent material, concentric with a ○ -shaped light guide display that corresponds to "Sale" and a X-shaped light guide display that corresponds to "Sold out" , And can be sold separately by facing the rear part of each light guide display,
It is configured by arranging light emitting elements that light up under each sales condition of "sold out".

(2) An X-shaped light guide display body corresponding to "sold out" is housed in the center of the inside of a cylindrical operation cap made of a light-transmissive material, and the peripheral area of the light guide display body and the back of the light guide display body. It is configured by arranging light-emitting elements that light up under "saleable" and "sold out" sales conditions. (3) Further, in each of the above-mentioned configurations, it is preferable that the display of “sold” and “sold out” are displayed by light emitting elements of different colors.

[0010]

In the configuration of (1) above, if the sales condition at the time of sale is "sellable", the light of the light emitting element guides through the light guide display of the O shape, and the light is emitted to the end face of the operation cap. Display a circle. If the sales condition is "sold out", the light of the light emitting element is guided through the X-shaped light guide display body and an X mark is displayed on the end surface of the operation cap. Here, each light guide display body is, for example, a cylinder or a columnar body made of transparent acrylic resin, and when light is incident from one end face, the other end face does not leak from the middle of the optical path and has the shape. It shines together. Moreover, the circles and crosses make it easy to visually judge whether or not the product can be sold, and the circle-shaped and x-shaped light guide displays are concentrically arranged so that they can be installed efficiently even in a narrow space inside the round operation cap. it can.

Further, in the above configuration (2), the entire end surface of the operation cap is illuminated brightly when the selling condition is "saleable", and an "x" mark is displayed when "selling out". And
As shown in (3), if the green light emitting LED or the red light emitting LED is used for the display light emitting elements of "sold" and "sold out", the displayed contents can be more clearly identified.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1 FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (d) show an embodiment corresponding to claim 1 of the present invention, in which 1 is a mounting frame for a commodity selection button, 2 is an end face forward with respect to the mounting frame 1. Cylindrical operation cap that sticks out and is fitted back and forth so that it can be moved forward and backward, 3 is a waterproof cover, 4 is a printed wiring board equipped with a product selection switch installed behind the operation cap 2, and 5 is a switch connected to the operation cap 2. The actuator rod for operation 6 is a connection coupler provided on the printed wiring board 4. In addition, inside the operation cap 2, there are a cylindrical o-shaped light guide display body 7 made of transparent acrylic resin as shown in (c) and (d) respectively, and a cross section inserted inside thereof. A cross-shaped columnar x-shaped light guide display body 8 is concentrically arranged and housed, and the printed wiring board 4 behind the light guide display bodies 7 and 8 individually faces each other. Is equipped with a green light emitting LED 9 and a red light emitting layout 10.

With this configuration, the condition at the time of sale is "sale is possible"
If so, the green light emitting LED 9 emits light, and the emitted light enters from the rear end face of the O-shaped light guide display 7, and a green O mark is displayed on the end face of the operation cap 2 as shown in FIG. .. On the other hand, if the condition at the time of sale is "sold out", red light emitting LED
10 emits light, and the light is guided through the X-shaped light guide display 8 to the end surface of the operation cap 2 as shown in FIG.
Display the mark. Accordingly, the customer can easily determine whether or not the product can be sold or sold out from the various products displayed on the illumination section by the shape and color of the mark displayed on the product selection button. Note that the light emission colors of the LEDs 9 and 10 are not limited to green and red, and a neon lamp can be used as a light emitting element instead of the LED.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 3 shows an embodiment corresponding to claim 2 of the present invention. The difference from Embodiment 1 is that the O-shaped light guide display is omitted and x is used instead. In this embodiment, a plurality of green LEDs 9 dispersed in the peripheral area of the light guide display 8 are arranged close to the back side of the end surface of the operation cap 2 so as to directly face each other.

In this embodiment, if the selling condition is "sellable", the green LED 9 emits light, so that the entire surface of the operation cap 2 is illuminated in green. In this case, in order to prevent the shadow of the X-shaped light guide display body 8 from being reflected on the end surface of the operation cap 2, the X-shape light guide display body 8 is retracted one step further from the end surface of the operation cap 2 and the front side thereof is retracted. LED
9 should be placed.

[0016]

As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, a display corresponding to each sale condition of "sale available" and "sold out" is displayed on each product selection button equipped in the vending machine. It is possible to clearly display with ○ and × marks that can be easily discriminated by the customer, and since the light guide display is adopted for the display mechanism, mutual interference with the narrow internal space even for round product selection buttons Can be incorporated without. In addition, by adopting a round product selection button, the design is cleaner compared to the conventional oblong type, and since the posture does not tilt when the push button is operated, the product selection switch can be operated with a simple actuator mechanism. It is possible to provide a highly reliable product selection button that can be reliably operated.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are views showing a configuration of a product selection button corresponding to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a front view and FIG. 1B is a side sectional view.
(C) and (d) are the ○ shape built into the product selection button,
External perspective view of x-shaped light guide display

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display state according to the configuration of FIG.
(A) is a display state diagram of "sold", and (b) is a display state diagram of "sold out"

3A and 3B are diagrams showing a configuration of a product selection button corresponding to Example 2 of the present invention, in which FIG. 3A is a front view and FIG. 3B is a side sectional view.

[Figure 4] Front view of vending machine

FIG. 5 is a front view of a conventional product selection button.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Operation cap 7 ○ type light guide display 8 × type light guide display 9 Green LED 10 Red LED 16 Product selection button

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical operation cap made of a light-transmissive material is provided with a ○ -shaped light guide display corresponding to "sale available" and an X-shaped light guide display corresponding to "sold out". In the vending machine, the light emitting elements are housed concentrically, and are individually opposed to the rear part of each light guide display to be turned on under the sale conditions of "available for sale" and "sold out". Product selection button. 2. A cylindrical operation cap made of a light-transmissive material accommodates an X-shaped light guide display body corresponding to "sold out" in the center.
Moreover, "sale is possible" in the surrounding area of the light guide display and behind.
A product selection button for a vending machine, in which a light emitting element that lights up under each sales condition of "sold out" is arranged. 3. A product selection button for a vending machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein "sale available" and "sold out" are displayed by light emitting elements of different colors. ..