JPH06261842A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obviate a consumer's resistance sensation at the time of purchasing a merchandise by concealing an operation sound by a different sound such as a water flow sound, etc., at the time of using the vending machine. CONSTITUTION:The vending machine is provided with a detecting means 2 for detecting an operation of the vending machine 1, and a concealing sound generator 3 for generating a concealing sound such a water flow sound, etc., at the time when the operation of the vending machine 1 is detected, and when a user purchases a merchandise by the vending machine 1, the concealing sound such as the water flow sound, etc., is generated, by which an operation sound of the vending machine 1 and an operation sound generated at the time when a merchandise is discharged are concealed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates mainly to a vending machine for selling sanitary products and the like in a washroom.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vending machine for selling sanitary products and the like is sometimes installed in a private room of a washroom, but since this type of vending machine needs to be small, operating noise, etc. There is a problem in that the use of the place pattern can be delayed because a large operating noise is generated particularly in the structure in which the product is supplied by manually operating the lever after charging the fee.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and when the vending machine is used, its operating sound is concealed by another sound such as a water flow sound so that the consumer feels resistance when purchasing the product. The purpose is to provide a vending machine that solves the problem.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a detecting means 2 for detecting the operation of the vending machine 1 and a water flow sound when the operation of the vending machine 1 is detected. And a concealment sound generator 3 that emits the concealment sound.

The concealment sound generator 3 may be provided with a manual switch for generating a concealment sound by manual operation.

[0006]

When the user purchases a product by the vending machine 1, the detecting means 2 detects this and the concealing sound generator 2 produces a concealing sound such as a water stream sound. The operating noise generated when the product is discharged is hidden.

[0007]

1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a vending machine according to the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a vending machine section, and 20 is a concealed sound generator.

[0008] The vending machine section 10 supplies a merchandise in cooperation with the fee processing section 11 for judging the authenticity of money inserted by the user, calculating the amount of money and discharging change as necessary. And a product supply unit 12 for controlling the.

The commodity supply unit 12 is configured as an electric type that automatically operates in response to a signal from the charge processing unit 11 or a manual type that operates by a lever operation of a user. The product supply unit 12 stores products 13 such as sanitary products and contraceptives, and is configured to discharge the products 13 to the outlet 14 based on the above operation.

The concealment sound generator 20 comprises a timer 21, a drive circuit 22 for outputting a concealment sound signal such as water flow sound based on a signal from the timer 21, and a speaker 23 operated by the output of the drive circuit 22. . In addition, the concealment sound generator 20 is provided with a manual switch 24 for generating a concealment sound by a manual operation of the user.

Based on the input of the reset signal, the timer 21 operates the drive circuit 22 for at least a fixed time until the end of the supply of the product, and causes the speaker 23 to generate the concealed sound. Manual switch 2 is used as the reset signal.
In addition to the current supplied with the closing of No. 4, the vending machine section 1
The operation signal from 0 is input, and the concealed sound is output if there is a signal input from either one.

In this case, as a means for detecting the operation of the vending machine section 10, for example, a charge input detection signal from the charge processing section 11 is used and the detection signal is supplied to the timer 21 as a reset signal. As the drive circuit 22, for example, a concealed sound such as a water flow sound is PCM recorded in a semiconductor memory element, and is amplified and output based on a signal from the timer 21.

Based on such a configuration, when the user inputs a predetermined fee to the fee processing section 11 of the vending machine section 10, the article supply section 12 discharges the article 13 to the outlet 14. On the other hand, in parallel with the product supply, a reset signal is output from the charge processing unit 11 to the timer 21 when the charge is input, so that the timer 21 is activated to supply the product via the drive circuit 22 and the speaker 23. The concealment sound such as water flow sound is generated for a certain time until the end.

Therefore, when the vending machine is installed in a private room of a toilet, the operating noise generated by using the vending machine is not hidden and is not heard by a person outside the user, so that the user is resistant. You can purchase the products without them.

Further, in this embodiment, since the manual switch 24 for operating the concealed sound generator 20 is provided regardless of the operation of the vending machine section 10, the user operates the switch 24 without purchasing the product. By doing so, the concealed sound can be generated, and thus can be used for other purposes such as concealing the sound when the toilet is used.

If the product supply section 12 is of a manually operated type, a switch for outputting a reset signal based on the operation of its operation lever or the like may be provided. The switch 24 may not be provided. In this case, only the reset signal is output, that is, the concealment sound is generated by operating the lever without charging the fee.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the detecting means for detecting the operation of the vending machine and the concealment sound generator for producing the concealing sound such as the water flow sound when the operation of the vending machine is detected are provided. When a product is purchased by a vending machine, it detects it and automatically generates a concealing sound such as water flow sound, so the operating sound of the vending machine and the operating sound generated when the product is discharged are concealed. Therefore, it is possible to use the vending machine without resistance without being aware of the use by a person outside when using the vending machine in the private room of the washroom.

When the concealment sound generator is provided with a manual switch for manually generating the concealment sound, only the concealment sound can be generated regardless of whether the vending machine is used or not. It can also be used for other purposes such as turning off the sound of.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine 2 Detecting means 3 Concealment sound generator 10 Vending machine section 11 Charge processing section 12 Product supply section 13 Product 14 Outlet 20 Concealment sound generator 21 Timer 22 Drive circuit 23 Speaker 24 Manual switch

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine comprising: a detecting means for detecting the operation of the vending machine; and a concealment sound generator for producing a concealing sound such as a water flow sound when detecting the operation of the vending machine. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the covert sound generator includes a manual switch for generating covert sound by a manual operation.