JPH0562075A - Sales data control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a sales data control device which can collect respective sales data in short time when plural terminals exist. CONSTITUTION:Plural automatic vending machines 2A-2F are divided into groups 3 and 4. Into respective groups 3 and 4, radio units 1A and 1D as the master machines and radio units 1B and 1C, and 1E and 1F as the slave machines are respectively set. At the radio units 1A and 1D as the master machines, a function to collect and hold the sales data held in the radio units 1B and 1C, and 1E and 1F as the slave machines in the groups 3 and 4 to which the units 1A and 1B belong is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vending machine and a so-called PO.
The present invention relates to a sales data management device that collects sales data from a sales device or a sales registration device such as a POS terminal device called an S cash register, and manages the sales data at a control station serving as a center.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As such a sales data management device, there is a structure in which an automatic vending machine is used as a sales terminal device. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-286196 discloses sales data stored in a memory of the automatic vending machine. Is sent to the center.

However, if a line is laid between the center and the sales terminal device and sales data (sales data, sold-out information, failure information, stored money information, etc.) is transmitted online, the installation location of the sales terminal device is changed. In such a case, there is a drawback that the line must be rebuilt each time. Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-105699 discloses a configuration for collecting sales data of a vending machine using a specific low power radio. As described above, if the sales data management device is wirelessly used, it is possible to collect the sales data without laying a special line.

[0004]

However, according to the conventional method, when there are a plurality of vending machines, which are terminals that hold sales data, in a certain area, the wireless units of each vending machine are accessed one by one. It is necessary to collect the sales data of each vending machine, and there is a problem that a considerable amount of time is spent to collect the data of all vending machines.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a sales data management apparatus capable of collecting each sales data in a short time when there are a plurality of terminals holding the sales data. The purpose is to

[0006]

According to the present invention, a plurality of terminals (vending machines) 2 each holding sales data are provided with a wireless unit 1, and the sales data is controlled by a control station by communication through the wireless unit 1. In the sales data management device M collected in FIG. 5, the plurality of vending machines 2 are divided into predetermined groups 3 and 4, and in each of the groups 3 and 4, the wireless units 1A and 1D which are the masters and the slaves. Wireless unit 1B
, 1C, 1E, and 1F, respectively, and the wireless units 1A and 1D, which are master devices, are set to the wireless units 1B and 1C, 1
It has a function to collect and retain sales data from E and 1F.

[0007]

Each wireless unit 1 collects sales data of each vending machine 2 in which it is installed, and the wireless units 1A and 1D, which are master units, are the wireless units that are slave units in the groups 3 and 4. It collects and holds the sales data from 1B and 1C, 1E and 1F. By accessing the wireless units 1A and 1D, which are parent devices, from the control station 5 side, it is possible to collect sales data of the vending machines 2 of the entire groups 3 and 4 to which the wireless units 1A and 1D belong.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of a sales data management device M of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an electric circuit of a wireless unit 1 and an automatic vending machine 2 as a terminal.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of vending machines 2A to 2F scattered in a fixed area such as a building or an amusement facility are provided with wireless units 1A to 1F, respectively, and are connected by wires. .. The vending machines 2A to 2F are divided into groups of, for example, 4 to 6 units (only 3 units are shown in FIG. 1) on the same floor of the building. That is, the vending machines 2A to 2C are the first group 3 and the vending machines 2D to 2F are the second group 4. Further, the wireless units 1A to 1C in the first group 3 are one wireless unit 1A which is a master unit and other wireless units 1 which are slave units.
Similarly, the wireless units 1D to 1F in the second group 4 also include one wireless unit 1D that is a master unit and the other wireless units 1E and 1F that are slave units. To distinguish.

A radio unit 1H, which is a master unit, is connected to a control station 5 composed of a personal computer via a public line 6 and a modem 7 by wire.
In this case, the teleterminal system is used when the public line is not used. Wireless unit 1 as master machine
One H is installed in, for example, the aforementioned building and manages each of the wireless units 1A to 1F.

Next, the configuration of the wireless unit 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The configuration is the same in each of the wireless units 1A to 1H. This wireless unit 1 uses a low-power wireless, and the wireless unit 1
For performing wireless communication between the transmitter and the transmitter 9 as a wireless device.
Also, the receiving unit 10 and a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer) 11 that executes a control operation of the wireless unit 1.
And RAM1 mainly for storing and managing sales data
2, ROM 13 storing the control program of the wireless unit 1, EEPRO storing each address and the like
M14, and the microcomputer 11 of the wireless units 1A to 1F is a wired control microcomputer 15 for the vending machine 2.
It is connected to the.

RAM of each of the wireless units 1A to 1H
12 stores sales data of the vending machine 2 and a polling cycle, and further stores a relay route when the wireless unit 1 is used as a relay for communication between other wireless units. The EEPROM 14 stores the call name of the wireless unit 1, the communication address of itself, and the RAM 12 when the relay route is not stored. In this way, since the wireless unit 1 stores its own communication address, it is possible to determine whether or not the wireless units 1 are in the same group. Further, the communication protocol between the control station 5 and the vending machine 2 as a terminal is stored and stored in the RAM 12 or the EEPROM 14.

Further, as described above, the RAM 12 of the radio units 1A and 1D which are the master units are connected to the radio units 1B and 1C or 1E and 1F which are the slave units in the group 3 or 4 to which they belong. It stores and manages sales data of the automatic vending machines 2B and 2C, or 2E and 2F, and stores the polling cycle to the wireless units 1B and 1C, or 1E and 1F, which are slaves, and the EEPROM 14 polls by itself. The communication addresses of the wireless units 1B and 1C or 1E and 1F of the slave unit to be stored are stored.

Further, the radio unit 1H which is the master machine
In the EEPROM 14, the communication addresses of the wireless units 1A and 1D of the respective master units are set.

Next, the sales data collecting operation of the sales data management device M of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 3 shows a flow of electronic messages between the control station 5 and the vending machine 2 when the control station 5 collects sales data held by the vending machines 2A to 2F.

Each wireless unit (including a master unit and a slave unit) 1
A to 1F poll the microcomputer 15 of each vending machine 2A to 2F to which it is connected at the above-mentioned polling cycle, and the microcomputer 15 is connected to the sales data held by the vending machine 2 to which it is connected. Output to the wireless unit 1. The wireless unit 1 stores the sales data in its RAM 12 and updates it at every polling.

On the other hand, the wireless unit 1A, which is the master unit of the first group 3, polls the wireless units 1B and 1C, which are the slave units in the first group 3, with the data request packet at the polling period, and the wireless unit 1B is used. And 1C is the R
The sales data stored in the AM 12 is transmitted in a packet format to the wireless unit 1A of the parent device. Wireless unit 1A
Stores the sales data from the wireless units 1B and 1C of the slaves in the RAM 12 as well as the sales data from the vending machine 2A to which the device is connected, and updates it at each polling.

Similarly, the wireless unit 1D, which is the master unit of the second group 4, also polls the wireless units 1E and 1F, which are the slave units in the second group 4, at the polling cycle, and the wireless units 1E and 1F , And outputs the sales data stored in the RAM 12 to the master unit wireless unit 1D. The wireless unit 1D stores the sales data from the slave wireless units 1E and 1F in the RAM 12 as well as the sales data from the vending machine 2D to which the wireless unit 1D is connected, and updates it at each polling.

Further, the radio unit 1H which is the master machine
Is the wireless unit 1 of each base unit in the polling cycle described above.
Poll A and 1D with a data request packet,
The wireless unit 1A transmits the sales data of the vending machines 2A to 2C stored in the RAM 12 to the wireless unit 1H of the master machine in a packet format, and similarly, the wireless unit 1D also stores the sales data in the RAM 12 in the vending machine. 2D
The sales data from 2F to 2F is the wireless unit 1H of the master machine.
Output to.

In this manner, the master wireless unit 1H polls the master wireless unit 1A or 1D once to collect the sales data of the fully automatic vending machines 2 in each group 3 or 4. In order to collect the sales data of the fully automatic vending machines 2A to 2F, the polling can be accomplished twice in the embodiment. Note that the wireless unit 1H temporarily stores the sales data of the fully automatic vending machines 2A to 2F output from the wireless units 1A and 1D in the RAM 12, waits for polling from the control station 5, and outputs the data to the control station 5. become.

By the way, since the radio wave output of the specific low power radio unit 1 is limited to 10 mW or less by law, for example, the radio unit 1H as the master unit and the radio unit of the parent unit of the second group 4 are used. Distance from 1D is 1
Although direct communication becomes impossible when the distance is more than 00 m, this case can be dealt with by using the parent wireless unit 1A of the first group 3 as a relay, as shown in FIGS.

That is, in this case, the EEPROM 14 of the wireless unit 1H of the master machine collects the sales data from the wireless unit 1D of the master machine of the second group 4, and the first group 3
The wireless unit 1A of the master unit is relayed and set. In FIG. 5, the wireless unit 1 of the master machine
After H polls the wireless unit 1A of the master unit of the first group 3 and receives the sales data from the wireless unit 1A, it next polls the wireless unit 1A with an identification code "route", for example. .. Wireless unit 1
When such polling is performed, A determines that it is a relay polling by the above-mentioned communication protocol, and transmits the same message to the wireless unit 1D of the second group of masters by the relay route that it has. The wireless unit 1D is
When the polling with the "route" is performed, the sales data of the vending machines 2D to 2F of the second group 4 having the same identification code "route" is sent to the parent machine of the first group 3 according to the above-mentioned relay route. It transmits to the wireless unit 1A. When the wireless unit 1A receives the sales data with "route", the wireless unit 1A determines that it is relay data by the communication protocol, stores the sales data in the RAM 12, and then uses the sales data as a master device. It transmits to the wireless unit 1H. As a result, the wireless unit 1H as the master machine can collect the sales data of the fully automatic vending machines 2A to 2F.

In addition to the relay system, the wireless unit 1A of the master unit of the first group 3 always polls the wireless unit 1D of the master unit of the second group 4 to collect the sales data of the second group 4. Also, a method is conceivable in which when the wireless unit 1H as a master machine polls the wireless unit 1A, the sales data of the first group 3 is transmitted together from the wireless unit 1A.

Since the RAM 12 of the wireless unit 1 has a limited memory capacity, it can store only 5 to 6 relay routes, wireless unit addresses of slave units, sales data, and the like. Therefore, the wireless unit 1 as the master unit
A, 1D or wireless unit 1H as a master unit
When it is desired to increase the number of automatic vending machines that can be managed by, ie, the number of wireless units, the control unit 20 as shown in FIG. 6 is externally attached to the wireless unit 1. Control unit 20 is RS2
It is connected to the wireless unit 1 by a communication line 21 such as 32, and is composed of a microcomputer 22, a RAM 23, a ROM 24 and the like. In this case, the control program of the wireless unit 1 is stored in the ROM 24 of the control unit 20, and the sales data, the data such as the relay route and each address are stored in the RA of the control unit 20.
The wireless unit 1 is stored in the M23 and the wireless unit 1 is controlled by the control unit 20.
Will operate with the command. As a result, the wireless unit 1A or 1D as the master unit or the wireless unit 1H as the master unit can construct a system that manages, for example, seven or more wireless units 1.

In the above embodiment, the vending machine is taken as an example of the terminal that holds the sales data, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is also effective for the sales data collection management of the terminals of the POS system. ..

[0026]

According to the present invention, the wireless unit serving as the master unit of each group collects and holds the sales data of the terminals provided with them from the wireless unit serving as the slave unit in the group. Therefore, it is possible to collect the sales data of the terminals of the whole group to which the control station side only accesses the wireless unit which is the master device. Therefore, the data collection time can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a sales data management device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of electric circuits of a wireless unit and a vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of electronic messages between a control station and a vending machine.

FIG. 4 is a system configuration diagram of a sales data management device for relaying sales data between wireless units of a parent device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of electronic messages between a master unit wireless unit and a master unit wireless unit when relaying sales data between the master unit wireless units.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of electric circuits of a wireless unit and a control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 wireless unit 2 vending machine 3 first group 4 second group 5 control station M sales data management device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshiyuki Takahashi 2-18 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sales data management device, wherein each of a plurality of terminals holding sales data is provided with a wireless unit, and the sales data is collected in a control station by communication via the wireless unit. In addition to dividing into groups, a wireless unit serving as a master unit and a wireless unit serving as a slave unit are respectively set in each group, and the wireless unit serving as the master unit serves as a slave unit in the group to which it belongs. A sales data management device having a function of collecting and holding the sales data from a wireless unit.