JPH06208673A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the labor of a person in charge by automatically removing a receipt by a receipt removing device even when the receipt is remaining in a receipt receiving part because it is forgotten to be taken or the like. CONSTITUTION:When merchandise is sold by the insertion of cash and merchandise selection by a user, the receipt 28 is printed by a receipt printer 22. In this case, when a reference time is exceeded, the shaft 32a of a stepping motor 32 rotates counterclockwise and a gear 34 rotates in a same direction. Thus, the gear 36 engaged with the gear 34 is driven clockwise, a bottom part 26 to which the gear 36 is fixed rotates clockwise with the shaft 38 as a center and the bottom part 26 of the receipt receiving part 18 is opened. By such operation, the receipt 28 remaining in the receipt receiving part 18 falls down to a receipt containing part 39 and the receipt 28 forgotten to be taken and remaining in the receipt receiving part 18 is removed.

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 for issuing a receipt accompanying a sale, and more particularly to an automatic vending machine having a receipt removing device in a receipt receiving portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Usually, in this type of automatic issuing machine, a receipt is issued in association with sales, and the issued receipt is discharged to a receipt receiving section. Therefore, the user is supposed to receive the receipt discharged to the receipt receiving portion.

[0003]

However, in the conventional vending machine as described above, when the user forgets to take the receipt, the receipt remains in the receipt receiving portion.

Therefore, the remaining receipt has to be removed by the attendant, which is a labor for the attendant.

Further, if the remaining receipts are left as they are, the aesthetic appearance is impaired, which is annoying to the next user.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and automatically removes the receipt remaining in the receipt receiving portion of the vending machine, thereby reducing the labor of the staff and comfortable use. The purpose is to provide the environment.

[0007]

To achieve this object, an automatic vending machine according to the present invention comprises a receipt receiving portion for receiving an issued receipt and a removing means for removing the receipt discharged to the receipt receiving portion. I have it.

The present invention also provides a measuring means for measuring the time from the time when the receipt is printed, a storage means for storing a reference time for comparing with the time measured by the measuring means, and a measuring means. When the comparing unit determines that the time measured by the comparing unit compares the reference time stored in the storing unit with the comparing unit, and the comparing unit determines that the time measured by the measuring unit reaches the reference time stored in the storing unit. It is desirable to include a removing unit that removes the receipt discharged to the receipt receiving unit.

Further, according to the present invention, the receipt receiving portion may be provided with a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a receipt, and a measuring means for measuring a time from the time when the receipt is detected by the detecting means.

[0010]

In the vending machine of the present invention having the above structure,
The receipt receiving unit receives the issued receipt, and the removing unit removes the receipt in the receipt receiving unit.

The measuring means measures the time from the end of printing the receipt, the storing means stores the reference time, and the comparing means stores the time measured by the measuring means and the time stored in the storing means. And when the measured time reaches the reference time, the removing means removes the receipt in the receipt receiving portion.

Further, the detecting means provided in the receipt receiving portion detects the presence or absence of the receipt, the measuring means measures the time from when the detecting means detects the presence of the receipt, and the comparing means measures the measuring time as a reference time. When it is determined that the receipt has been reached, the removing means removes the receipt in the receipt receiving portion.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the external structure of the vending machine of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The housing 10 of the vending machine is provided with a coin insertion slot 12, a bill insertion slot 14, a product ejection slot 16, a receipt receiving section 18, and a display 20 for performing various types of display and input. .

Next, the structure of the receipt receiving portion 18 of the vending machine of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The receipt receiving unit 18 is formed in a box that is small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, and is connected to a receipt printer 22 that prints sales records provided above by a pipe-shaped receipt guiding unit 24.

Further, the bottom portion 26 of the receipt receiving portion 18
Is provided with a bottom opening / closing mechanism 30 for removing the receipt 28 that has been forgotten. The bottom opening / closing mechanism 30 includes a stepping motor 32 that drives the bottom opening / closing mechanism 30 and a gear 34 fixed to a shaft 32 a of the stepping motor 32.
And the gear 36 and the receipt receiving portion 1 that mesh with the gear 34.
It is constituted by a bottom portion 26 of 8. Bottom 26 is bottom 2
A left end portion 26a of 6 is rotatably supported about a shaft 38 between a closed position indicated by a solid line and an open position indicated by a chain double-dashed line, and a gear 36 is fixed to a left end portion 26a of the bottom portion 26.

Below the bottom opening / closing mechanism 30, there is provided a receipt container 39 for accommodating the receipt 28 that has been forgotten to be taken.

Next, the control device of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The control unit 40 includes a CPU 42, a ROM 44 storing a program for controlling the operation of the vending machine,
It is composed of a RAM 46 for storing data used by a program, and the CPU 42 has a ROM 44 and an RA.
The M46 is connected, and the receipt printer 22 and the bottom opening / closing mechanism 30 are connected to the CPU 42 via the data bus 47.

In the ROM 44, the program storage area 4
4a, a reference time storage area 44b, and a product information storage area 44C are provided. In addition, in RAM46,
A work area 46a is provided.

The operation of the vending machine thus configured will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when the power is turned on, the initialization is executed, the shaft 32a of the stepping motor 32 rotates counterclockwise, and the gear 34 fixed to the shaft 32a rotates in the same direction. Therefore, the gear 36 meshing with the gear 34 is driven in the clockwise direction, the bottom portion 26 to which the gear 36 is fixed rotates clockwise around the shaft 38, and the bottom portion 26 of the receipt receiving portion 18 is opened (S10). . By this operation, the receipt remaining in the receipt receiving portion is removed when the power is turned on. Then, the shaft 32a of the stepping motor 32 rotates clockwise, and the gear 34 rotates in the same direction. Accordingly, the gear 36 meshing with the gear 34 is driven in the counterclockwise direction, the bottom portion 26 to which the gear 36 is fixed rotates in the counterclockwise direction about the shaft 38, and the bottom portion of the receipt receiving portion 18 is closed ( S20).

Next, when the user sells a product by inputting money and selecting a product (S30), the receipt printer 22 uses the information stored in the product information storage area 44C of the ROM 44 as a record thereof. The receipt 28 is printed (S40). Next, when the receipt is printed, time measurement is started (S50). Next, if the product is not sold continuously (S60 / N
O), the measurement time is stored in the reference value storage area 44b of the ROM 44.
It is compared with the reference time stored in (S70). Here, as the reference time, 1 minute is stored in the reference value storage area 44b of the ROM 44. When the measurement time exceeds the reference time of 1 minute (S70, NO), the shaft 32a of the stepping motor 32 rotates counterclockwise and the gear 34 rotates in the same direction. Therefore, the gear 36 meshing with the gear 34 is driven in the clockwise direction, the bottom portion 26 to which the gear 36 is fixed rotates about the shaft 38 in the clockwise direction, and the bottom portion 26 of the receipt receiving portion 18 is opened (S80). . By this operation, the receipt remaining in the receipt receiving section 18 falls into the receipt storage section 39, and the uncollected receipt remaining in the receipt receiving section 18 is removed.

Subsequently, the shaft 32 of the stepping motor 32
a rotates clockwise, and the gear 34 rotates in the same direction.
Accordingly, the gear 36 meshing with the gear 34 is driven in the counterclockwise direction, the bottom portion 26 to which the gear 36 is fixed rotates in the counterclockwise direction about the shaft 38, and the bottom portion of the receipt receiving portion 18 is closed ( S90).

As described above, according to the vending machine of this embodiment, it is possible to automatically remove the receipt 28 left in the receipt receiving section 18 of the vending machine due to forgetting to take it or the like. People can use it comfortably.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in detail above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the time is measured from the end of printing, but it is also possible to provide a sensor in the receipt receiving section 18 and measure the time after the sensor detects the receipt. Further, although the bottom portion 26 of the receipt receiving portion 18 is supported by the shaft 38 and is rotatable, it may have a structure of opening and closing in a sliding manner.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the receipt receiving portion 1
Receiving the receipt 2 from which you can open and close both sides of the receipt opening
The fan 50 may be attached so as to blow off the blower 8 and a forget-to-remove receipt storing portion 39 may be provided so as to store the blown-out receipt 28 'on the opposite side.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the vending machine of the present invention, the receipt removing device automatically removes the receipt even if the receipt remains in the receipt receiving portion due to being forgotten. be able to. Therefore, the labor of the staff is reduced, and the person who uses the vending machine next time can use it comfortably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the appearance of a vending machine according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a receipt removing device of the vending machine of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a control device for a vending machine according to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a ROM area of the vending machine of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an area of a RAM of the vending machine of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a receipt removing operation of the vending machine of this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a modified example of the receipt removing device of the vending machine of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 18 Receipt Receiving Section 26 Bottom 30 Bottom Opening / Closing Mechanism 40 Control Section

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine that issues receipts in association with sales, comprising: a receipt receiving section for receiving the issued receipts; and a removing means for removing the receipts discharged to the receipt receiving sections. Characteristic vending machine. 2. A measuring means for measuring a time from when the receipt is printed, a storage means for storing a reference time for comparing with a time measured by the measuring means, and a measuring means for measuring the time. Comparing means for comparing the stored time with the reference time stored in the storage means, and the comparing means determines that the time measured by the measuring means has reached the reference time stored in the storage means. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a removing unit that removes the receipt discharged to the receipt receiving unit. 3. The receipt receiving unit is provided with a detecting unit for detecting the presence or absence of a receipt, and a measuring unit for measuring a time from when the receipt is detected by the detecting unit. Vending machine described.