JPH06176251A - Control method for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To fairly adjust the account of an IC card with no contact when purchasing an article from an automatic vending machine while using the IC card. CONSTITUTION:This method is provided with a main automatic vending machine control part 1, IC card control part 2 and antenna 4, when articles show the same price, the method is switched to a first control system for carrying out the articles after a certain amount corresponding to that price is subtracted from the IC card and when the prices are not same, the system is switched to a second control system for adjusting the account of the IC card corresponding to the price of the article after the amount contained in the IC card is transferred to the main automatic vending machine control part 1 and the article is carried out.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling an automatic vending machine which can purchase a product by using an IC card in a contactless manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are two types of vending machines, one of which is for purchasing goods by cash and the other of which is for using a prepaid card instead of cash. In the latter vending machine,
The card inserted through the card insertion port is taken into the card reader / writer, the amount of money included in the card is rewritten according to the purchased product, and the card is carried out together with the product. The card using the conventional card is not only convenient for the user in that cash is not required, but also advantageous in management of the vending machine. However, there is still some dissatisfaction in that the user needs to take out the card in his possession, insert it into the vending machine, and retrieve the card that has been taken out after the purchase of the product is completed.

There is already known a non-contact type IC card having a built-in integrated circuit, capable of wirelessly extracting information contained in the integrated circuit to the outside and writing information from the outside by wireless. If this IC card can be used in an automatic vending machine, a user can operate the automatic vending machine and purchase a product without removing the card, which is extremely convenient. However, when using a non-contact type IC card, the condition that the IC card is always held by the user and not temporarily held in the vending machine and that the purchase price is determined only after the product is selected and the product is carried out Since there is a condition that the amount of money included in the item can be settled, it becomes a problem how to perform the settlement without any loss for both the user and the vending machine administrator.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a control method for a vending machine which can use a non-contact type IC card and can make a fair payment.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an antenna, an IC card control unit, and a vending machine owner are provided in a vending machine which can purchase a product by a non-contact type IC card. When a control unit is provided and the product purchase operation is started, the first control method of carrying out the product after subtracting a certain product price amount from the IC card via the antenna and the IC card control unit and the product purchase operation A second control method in which the amount included in the IC card is transferred to the main control unit of the vending machine and the IC card is settled after the product is carried out. The control method can be switched to either one of the control methods depending on the type of the commodity price so that the second control method is used when there are a plurality of control methods.

[0006]

In the present invention, when the prices of the products handled by the vending machine are all common and single, the control method is switched to the first control method. When a user carrying an IC card stands in front of a vending machine and enters a product purchase operation, the IC card control unit sends a command for subtracting the amount of the common price via an antenna to the IC card carried by the user wirelessly. The amount of money included in the IC card is rewritten to the amount of money deducted by a certain common price, while the IC card control unit sends information that the common price has been received to the vending machine main control unit. , Selectable buttons of all commodities that can be sold, that is, all the commodities if not sold out are lit. When the user selects a product and presses the button, the product is unloaded and the selling operation ends.

When the prices of the products handled by the vending machine are not common, that is, when there are a plurality of prices, the control method is switched to the second control method. When a user carrying an IC card stands in front of a vending machine and enters a product purchase operation, the IC card control unit carries a command to retrieve the amount of money included in the IC card in a temporary deposit form via an antenna. Information is sent to the IC card wirelessly, and the information indicating that the amount of money has been received from the IC card control unit is sent to the vending machine main control unit, and ICs are sold except for those that are sold out, that is, ICs The selection buttons for all products whose price is less than or equal to the card amount will light up. When the user selects a product and presses the button, the product is unloaded, and the vending machine main control unit sends the difference between the deposit amount and the sale product price to the card control unit as refund information. The card control unit wirelessly sends a command to return the refund amount to the IC card via the antenna, the refund amount is written in the IC card, and the selling operation ends.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a control circuit for carrying out the control method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of a vending machine having this control circuit. 1 is the main controller of the vending machine,
Reference numeral 2 is an IC card control unit, 3 is a setting device provided in the IC card control unit 2, and 4 is an IC connected to the IC card control unit 2.
An antenna for transmitting and receiving information to and from the card. 5 is a set button that the user operates to activate the control circuit of the vending machine when the product is purchased; 6 is an indicator section; 7 is a sample article arranged in the indicator section 6; 8 is a product selection button. , 9 is a refund lever, 10 is a product unloading mechanism, and 11 is a product unloading port.

Next, the control method of the present invention will be specifically described.

FIG. 3a shows a control circuit in the first control method used when the prices of the products handled by the vending machine are all the same. The price of the product is set by the setting device 3 of the IC card control unit 2 (see the figure). (110 yen in the example) is set. When the user who now carries the IC card 11 presses the standing set button 5 in front of the vending machine to purchase a product, the control circuit of the vending machine enters the operating state and the IC card control unit 2 sets the set price. A command to subtract 110 yen from the amount included in the IC card is wirelessly sent via the antenna 4
Send to C card 12. As a result, the contents of the IC card 12 are rewritten, and for example, if the initial amount of money is 1000 yen, the balance of 890 yen is written. Meanwhile I
The C-card control unit 2 inputs that the vending machine main control unit 1 has received a deposit of 110 yen, so that the vending machine main control unit 1 can sell all the products except for those sold out. The product selection button 8 lamp is turned on. When the user operates the one product selection button 8,
The vending machine main control unit 1 issues a carry-out signal to the product carry-out mechanism 10, the selected product is carried out to the product carry-out port 11, the selling operation is completed, and the control circuit enters a standby state.

When the user wants to cancel the purchase after pressing the set button, by operating the refund lever 9, the IC card control unit 2 gives a command to add 110 yen, which is the set amount, to the antenna. 4 is transmitted to the IC card 12, and 110 yen is added to the remaining amount of 890 yen, the IC card 12 is rewritten to 1000 yen, and the control circuit enters the standby state. In this case, if the user leaves without operating the refund lever 9, the IC card of the user is 110
The yen will remain deducted, and when operating the refund lever 9, the refund operation cannot be performed smoothly if the user is not within the operating range of the antenna. Therefore, provide a lamp, buzzer, etc. It is desirable to be able to evoke.

In FIG. 3b, the prices of commodities handled by the vending machine are not equal to each other, and plural kinds of prices (100 yen and 20 yen in the example in the figure) are used.
(0 yen) indicates a control circuit in the second control method used when there is an item (0 yen). In this case, the price is not set in the setter 3 of the IC card control unit 2 and is indicated by "000" in the figure. ing. When the user who now carries the IC card 12 presses the standing set button 5 in front of the vending machine to purchase a product, the control circuit of the vending machine enters the operating state, and the IC card control unit 2 causes the IC card 12 to operate. Via the antenna 4 a command to deduct the total amount included in
It is transmitted to the card 12. As a result, the contents of the IC card 12 are rewritten and the remaining amount becomes 0 yen. If the amount of money initially included in the IC card 12 is 1000 yen, the IC card control unit 2 sends the vending machine main control unit 1 10
By inputting that there is a deposit of 00 yen, the vending machine main controller 1 turns on the lamp of the product selection button 8 corresponding to the product that can be sold. When the user operates the selection button 8 of the product whose price is 200 yen, the vending machine main control unit 1 issues a carry-out signal to the product carry-out mechanism 10, and the selected product is carried out to the product carry-out exit 11. Next, when the user operates the refund lever 9, the vending machine main control unit 1 calculates the difference between the deposit amount and the purchase amount and sends it to the IC card control unit 2 as the refund information, and the IC card control unit 2 returns the difference amount. In case of 10
A command to add 00 yen-200 yen = 800 yen is transmitted to the IC card 12 via the antenna 4, and the refund amount of 800 yen is written in the IC card. Also in this case, it is preferable to call the user's attention by a lamp, a buzzer or the like so that the user does not forget to operate the refund lever 9 and at that time stays within the operating range of the antenna.

A switch can be used to switch between the first control system in which the price is set in the setting device of the IC card control unit and the second control system in which the price is not set.
The vending machine main control unit may be automatically switched in conjunction with the price setting normally performed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of another example of the control circuit for carrying out the control method of the present invention, in which the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. In this example, the IC card control unit 2 does not include a setting device, and switching between the two control methods is performed by the price setting mechanism 1 normally provided in the vending machine main control unit 1.
3 is used. That is, the price setting mechanism 13 sets a price for each loaded column for each column, but the IC card control unit 2 uses the price setting mechanism 1 for each price.
The price data set in 3 is read and stored, and if the price is the same for all columns, the control method is switched to the first control method, and if there is a different price, the control method is switched to the second control method. The reading of the set price data can be performed, for example, when the power is turned on or when the price is changed.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the control system is switched according to the price condition of the product to be handled, and when the products to be handled have the same price, a fixed amount of money corresponding to the price is preliminarily obtained from the IC card to make a subsequent payment. Without prompting, the sales operation will be terminated promptly, and if the prices are not the same, the amount of the IC card will be temporarily kept as a temporary deposit, and the payment will be settled accurately.
By using the non-contact type IC card, both the vending machine manager and the user can trade the product fairly with a minimum of trouble.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an example of a control circuit used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an automatic vending machine including the control circuit of the present invention.

3A and 3B are state diagrams of the control circuit shown in FIG. 1 in a first control system and b in a second control system, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of another example of a control circuit used in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vending Machine Main Control Section 2 IC Card Control Section 3 Setting Device 4 Antenna 5 Set Button 6 Display Section 7 Product Sample 8 Product Selection Button 9 Refund Lever 10 Product Unloading Mechanism 11 Product Unloading 12 IC Card 13 Price Setting Mechanism

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location G06K 17/00 L 7459-5L

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic vending machine capable of purchasing a product using a non-contact type IC card, which is provided with an antenna, an IC card control unit, and a vending machine main control unit so that the antenna and the IC card control unit are activated when a product purchase operation starts The first control method that carries out the product after deducting a certain product price amount from the IC card via the, and the amount included in the IC card when the product purchase operation is started is transferred to the vending machine main control unit, And a second control method for performing settlement of the IC card after being carried out, such that the first control method is used when the product price of the vending machine is single, and the second control method is used when there are a plurality of product prices.
A control method for a vending machine, characterized in that either one of the control methods can be switched according to the type of product price.