JPH0546847A - Automatic vending machine with recognition function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sell a product which a user requests by permitting a sounding means to inform the user of the content of the sales product without immediately discharging the selected product when a product selection button is operated. CONSTITUTION:A sound synthesis device 7 is provided. When a sales controller 4 detects the operation of one of product selection buttons 1H, 1C, 2H and 2C in a sales possible state, it gives the instruction of synthesized sound recognizing the content of the selected product to the sound synthesis device 7. The synthesized sound of 'Is it cold drink? Please operate the same product selection button if not mistaken.' is pronounced. The sales controller 4 detects whether the product selection button is reoperated or not and gives the instruction of the discharge of the product to a product discharge device 5. When the user notices misoperation and operates a refund lever 6, the operation is detected and a refund operation is instructed to a coin unit 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine which operates a product selection button to select any product for sale.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A cup-type drink vending machine will be described as an example. In the example shown in FIG. 3, a first product selection button 1H for selecting a hot drink of brand A on the customer service side of the vending machine. And a second product selection button 1C for selecting a brand A cold beverage, and a third for selecting a brand B hot beverage.
A product selection button 2H and a fourth product selection button 2C for selecting a cold drink of brand B are provided, and any one of the above product selections is performed in a state where the coin unit 3 detects the available state. When the sales control device 4 detects that the button has been operated, the sales control device 4 instructs the product dispensing device 5 to dispense the selected product specified by the product selection button whose operation has been detected, to the product outlet. When a refund lever 6 is operated prior to the operation of the product selection button, the sales control device 4 instructs the coin unit 3 to refund the deposit.

Specifically, when the operation of the first product selection button 1H is detected, the product dispensing device 5 supplies the cup dispensed to the cup station position facing the product outlet,
It is operated so that the brand A raw material is melted in hot water and discharged. When the operation of the fourth product selection button 2C is detected, the ice is poured out into the cup, and the product of the brand B material melted in hot water is poured onto the cup.

In this conventional vending machine, as shown in FIG. 4, when the sales control device 4 detects the operation of any of the product selection buttons in # 1, it immediately executes # 2 to sell the products already selected. It is configured to instruct the delivery of the product.

[0005]

When this vending machine is installed and sold, the user is inconvenient because of the following points.

A user who desires the hot drink of brand A should operate the first product selection button 1H.
Frequently, the second product selection button 1C of the same brand is operated by mistake. In this case, it is not until the time when the cup of the product outlet is taken out that the cold beverage that is not the hot beverage of the desired product is dispensed, and the user may feel distrust of the vending machine. Has become one of.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vending machine capable of selling a desired product to a user while avoiding the distrust caused by the user's erroneous operation.

[0008]

A vending machine with a confirmation function according to claim 1 is a vending machine which operates a product selection button to select one of the products to be sold, and is specified by the operated product selection button. And a payout control for instructing the payout of the selected sales product by detecting that the product selection button designating the already selected sales product has been operated again. And means are provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine with a confirmation function, the contents of the sale item specified by the operated item selection button are selected in the vending machine which operates the item selection button to select any sale item. And a payout control means for detecting the fact that the product selection button designating the already selected sale product has been re-operated and instructing the payout of the selected sale product. Is characterized by.

A vending machine with a confirmation function according to claim 3 is the vending machine with a confirmation function according to claim 1 or 2, which detects a lapse of a prescribed time after the operation of the product selection button is detected. Even if the operation of the confirmation button is not detected, forcible payout means for instructing the product payout means to pay out the already-selected sale product is provided.

[0011]

According to the first or second aspect of the present invention, when the operation of the product selection button is detected, the sounding means or the display means uses the product selection button whose operation is detected without immediately paying out the selected product. Notify the user of the content of the specified sales product. When the user re-operates the same product selection button, the payout control means instructs the payout of the selected sale product and the product is paid out.

Therefore, the user can be given an opportunity to confirm. According to the configuration of claim 3, if the user does not operate the product selection button again even though the user has been given an opportunity to confirm, the compulsory payout means detects the lapse of the specified time, and the compulsory payment is forced. It is possible to avoid a situation in which the time required for each sale is extended and the time required for each sale is extended.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. It should be noted that components having the same functions as those of the conventional example shown in FIG.

The automatic vending machine with the confirmation function of the present invention is provided with a voice synthesizer 7 as shown in FIG. 2 and a part of the sales controller 4 is constructed as shown in FIG. When the operation of any of the product selection buttons is detected in # 1 in the state of sale, next, in # 2, the voice synthesizing device 7 is instructed to generate a synthetic voice for confirming the content of the selected product.

Specifically, a user who desires a hot drink of brand A and should operate the first product selection button 1H accidentally operates the second product selection button 1C of the same brand. If # 1, the second product selection button 1 in # 1
The operation of C was detected, and in # 2, "Cold drink, isn't it?
If there is no mistake, operate the same product selection button. Or "A cold drink, please operate the same product selection button if there is no mistake. The synthesized speech of “” is produced by the speech synthesizer 7.

After # 2, in # 3, it is detected whether or not the product selection button whose operation has been detected in # 1 has been re-operated. Until the re-operation is detected in # 3, the internal counter of # 4 is detected. The content is incremented, and it is determined whether or not the content of the counter has reached the count value according to the specified time in # 5. If the specified time has not been reached, the operation of the refund lever 6 is confirmed in # 6. And return to # 3.

In the case of the above example, since the product selection button of the cold beverage is erroneously operated even though the user desires the hot beverage, the user who recognizes the confirmation voice from the voice synthesizer 7 erroneously operates. If you notice this, and operate the refund lever 6, the operation of the refund lever 6 is detected in # 6 and # 7
Then, the coin unit 3 is instructed to perform a refund operation, and the sales routine is exited. Therefore, in this case, the merchandise is not paid out.

In the above example, when the product selection button is re-operated without operating the refund lever 6, # 3 and # 8 are executed, and the brand A corresponding to the second product selection button 1C is executed. Cold drinks are dispensed.

In the case of the above example, when the refund lever 6 is not operated and the product selection switch is not operated again, the lapse of the specified time is detected in # 5 and # 8 is executed. The cold drink of brand A corresponding to the second product selection button 1C is dispensed.

In this way, by detecting the re-operation of the product selection button in # 3, the user can be made aware of the content of the product to be paid out, and the user can be provided with the true desired product. it can.

In the above embodiment, the routine composed of # 3 and # 8 is the payout control means 8 in the claims. The display of the product selection button to be re-operated in the above embodiment can be displayed by using the sellable lamp found in the conventional vending machines. Specifically, when the coin is inserted, the product selection button of the flavor that can be sold is displayed with the sellable lamp continuously lit, and it is detected in # 1 that any product selection button of the flavor that can be sold has been operated. Then, the salable lamp corresponding to the operated specific product selection button is made to blink and the other salable lamps are turned off, whereby the specific product selection button to be re-operated can be clearly displayed.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the synthetic voice by the voice synthesizer 7 is taken as an example of the sound producing means, but the same applies to a device for reading out and reproducing the words written in the semiconductor memory.

In the above embodiment, the sounding means is used to notify the user of the content of the selected product. This is as described in claim 2, in which a cathode ray tube, a liquid crystal display panel or the like is provided on the customer service surface. It is also possible to provide a screen and notify the user of the content of the sale product specified by the operated product selection button via this display means.

Further, by using the sounding means and the display means in combination to notify the user, the operability is further improved.

[0025]

As described above, according to the first or second aspect of the invention, when the operation of the product selection button is detected, the sounding means or the display means operates without immediately paying out the selected product. The user is informed of the content of the sale item specified by the item selection button that has detected. When the user operates the product selection button again, the payout control means instructs the payout of the selected sale product and the product is paid out.

Therefore, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of distrust caused by an erroneous operation by the user and sell the desired product to the user. According to the configuration of claim 3,
If the forced payout means detects the elapse of the specified time when the user does not operate the confirmation button despite giving the user an opportunity to confirm, the product selection button is not operated again. Also, since it is forcibly paid out, it is possible to specify the time required for one sale and expect an efficient sale operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a main part of a vending machine with a confirmation function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an automatic vending machine with a confirmation function of the device.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional vending machine.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a main part of a sales control device of the device.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 1H, 1C, 2H, 2C product selection switch 4 sales control device 6 refund lever 7 voice synthesizer 8 payout control means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine which operates a product selection button to select one of the sales products, and a sounding means for pronouncing the contents of the sales product specified by the operated product selection button, and a sounding device which has already been selected. An automatic vending machine with a confirmation function, which is provided with a payout control unit that detects that the product selection button for designating an existing sales product has been re-operated and instructs the dispensing of the selected sales product. 2. An automatic vending machine which operates a product selection button to select any of the sales products, and a display means for displaying the contents of the sales product specified by the operated product selection button, and a display means which has already been selected. An automatic vending machine with a confirmation function, which is provided with a payout control unit that detects that the product selection button for designating an existing sales product has been re-operated and instructs the dispensing of the selected sales product. 3. The payout control means is instructed to pay out a sale product that has already been selected in a state where the re-operation of the product selection button is not detected even when the lapse of a prescribed time is detected after the operation of the product selection button is detected. The automatic vending machine with a confirmation function according to claim 1 or 2, which is provided with a forced payout means.