JPH0632125B2 - Vending machine - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an automatic vending machine that immediately sells coffee when the coffee raw material is not actually discharged from a coffee raw material discharge port of a coffee raw material supply mechanism such as a canister. Regarding the device.

[Technical background of the invention] Coffee raw material supplied from a coffee raw material supply mechanism and hot water supplied from a boiling water tank etc. are supplied to an extraction mechanism to obtain coffee, and sugar, cream or the like is added to the coffee as necessary. There is an automatic vending machine that adds a product and supplies it to a cup set in a selling port to sell the cup. Further, in recent years, consumers' tastes have been diversified, and the number of types of regular coffee such as mocha, blue mountain, and kilimangelo that can be sold in cups by an automatic vending machine has been increasing.

In this way, in the automatic vending machine that can sell multiple types of regular coffee, each coffee item is equipped with a plurality of canisters for storing coffee ingredients corresponding to this item, and each item provided on the front of the automatic vending machine is provided. In response to the pressing operation of the selection switch to be selected, the material discharge motor of the canister that stores the corresponding coffee material is driven for a predetermined time to supply a predetermined amount of coffee material to the coffee mill from the discharge port. Then, the coffee raw material ground in the coffee mill is supplied to the extraction mechanism together with a predetermined amount of hot water. As a result, the coffee of the item corresponding to the selection switch selected by the customer is supplied into the cup of the selling port (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-22).
3893).

Further, it is necessary to control the coffee raw material (bean) used for one cup of coffee to a constant amount at all times. As a method of controlling this constant amount, in addition to the method of driving the material discharge motor for a predetermined time, for example, the number of rotations of the carry-out spiral shaft (feed-out auger) that carries the coffee material (beans) from the canister to the coffee mill is changed. A method has been proposed in which the rotation of the raw material discharging motor is stopped when the number of rotations is detected and reaches a reference number (Actually published 60-5576).
Issue).

Therefore, once the canister is replenished with coffee ingredients, it is almost decided how many cups of coffee can be sold with one canister of coffee ingredients. Therefore, when the canister is replenished with coffee ingredients, the number of possible sales is counted. , And count down every time you sell a cup of coffee, and when the count value reaches 0, judge that this regular coffee is sold out, and execute the sold-out processing such as the sold-out display of this item. .

Normally, the number of times cup coffee that can be sold with one canister of coffee raw material can be sold, because it is structurally impossible to accurately control the discharge amount of coffee raw material discharged from the canister during one selling operation. It is set lower.

[Problems of Background Art] However, the vending machine using the coffee material supply mechanism such as the canister as described above has the following problems.

That is, in order to increase the number of types of regular coffee that customers can select, it is necessary to increase the number of canisters installed. However, the shape of the entire vending machine is almost constant, and it is difficult to extremely increase the volume.
Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the volume of each canister that stores each coffee ingredient.

If the capacity of the canister is small, the number of times that can be sold corresponding to one canister of coffee raw material will naturally be small, but as mentioned above, this number of times that can be sold is set to be less than the actual number of times that can be sold for safety. Therefore, the ratio of the amount of residual coffee raw material remaining in the canister to the total capacity of the canister at the time of the sold-out display increases. Therefore, the manager of this vending machine needs to replenish the coffee raw material frequently, which causes a problem that the labor and cost required for the maintenance increase.

Also, since the customer is often sold out, the service is poor.

Furthermore, even if the coffee ingredient is not discharged from the ingredient discharge port even though the coffee ingredient is solidified in the canister due to moisture or the like and the ingredient discharge motor is driven, Unless the count value becomes 0, it is not displayed as sold-out, so there is a disadvantage that only hot water, cream and sugar are supplied to the cup set in the selling port.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been conceived in order to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a discharge for detecting the presence or absence of the discharge of the coffee raw material at the raw material discharge port of the coffee raw material supply mechanism. By providing a detection mechanism, it is possible to immediately execute the sold-out process only when the coffee raw material is not actually supplied, and to provide an automatic vending machine capable of improving service to customers, simplifying maintenance and improving reliability. is there.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention is an automatic vending machine that operates a coffee raw material supply mechanism for a predetermined time based on preset data to supply a coffee raw material from a discharge port to a coffee extraction mechanism to obtain a cup of coffee. In the device, a discharge detection mechanism for detecting the presence of the coffee raw material discharged from this discharge outlet is provided at the discharge outlet of the coffee raw material supply mechanism, and the time during which the discharge detection mechanism detects the presence of the coffee raw material is the predetermined time. The coffee sell-out process is executed when the prescribed time set correspondingly is not satisfied.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 2 is an external view. 1 is a sign that advertises items to be sold, 2 is a display lamp for sale indicating that the product is available for sale, 3 is a display lamp for change out of change, and 4 is a display of the amount of money spent. A digital display, 5 is a money insertion slot for the coin mechanism, and 6 is a lever for returning the input money. Further, 7 is a selection switch for selecting each item such as cafe au lait, American coffee containing sugar / cream, regular A coffee, regular B coffee, regular C coffee, and special coffee, and 8 is sold out of the above items. A sold-out lamp that indicates the state, 9 is a function switch that specifies sugar increase, sugar decrease, no sugar, cream increase, cream decrease, etc. as necessary, 10 is a money return slot, 11 is a cup set sales The mouth 12 is a brewing lamp indicating that coffee is being brewed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of each part housed in the housing, and 13 is a boiling water tank, and tap water supplied from a water supply pipe (not shown) in this boiling water tank 13 is supplied to the heater 14. It is heated to a predetermined temperature. The hot water heated to a predetermined temperature is supplied by the hot water solenoid valve 15, the hot water supply pipe 1
Hot water is supplied to the extraction mechanism 17 via 6. Further, three canisters 1 as a coffee raw material supply mechanism for accommodating the regular A coffee raw material, the regular B coffee raw material and the regular C coffee raw material, respectively, are provided at the upper position in the housing.
8, 19, 20 are provided for each canister 18,
Discharge port 18 for discharging coffee ingredients below 19 and 20
motors 18a, 19a, 20a for discharging the raw materials, respectively.
b, 19b, 20b are attached.

Discharge ports 18a, 19 of each canister 18, 19, 20
The coffee raw material discharged from a and 20a is hopper 21.
After being ground into a powder form in a coffee mill 22 via the, it is supplied to the extraction mechanism 17. The extraction mechanism 17 sucks and extracts the powdered coffee raw material and hot water supplied into the brewer 17a into the cylinder 17d through the filter 17c by vertically moving the piston 17b. The coffee extracted by the extraction mechanism 17 is discharged into the mixing bowl 23. The canister 2 containing the cream is stored in the mixing bowl 23.
4. A canister 25 containing sugar supplies a predetermined amount of cream and sugar, respectively. In the mixing bowl 23, the coffee is mixed with additives such as cream and sugar, and then supplied into the cup 26 set in the selling port 11.

In the figure, 27 is a supply roll that supplies the filter 17c to the extraction mechanism 17, and 28 is the used filter 17
It is a winding roll for guiding c to the waste bucket 29.

FIG. 1 (a) is a cutaway sectional view showing the coffee material discharge port 18 a of the canister 18, the hopper 21 and the coffee mill 22 taken out. A delivery auger 31 is attached to the bottom of the canister 18, and the delivery auger 31 is rotationally driven by a raw material discharge motor 18b. As a result, the coffee raw material 32 in the canister 18 is discharged from the discharge port 18a and discharged into the hopper 21. The coffee raw material 32 discharged into the hopper 21 is ground into powder in the coffee mill 22 and supplied into the brewer 17a of the extraction mechanism 17.

FIG. 1 (b) is a cross-sectional view showing details of the discharge port 18a of the canister 18, and the coffee raw material 32 is sent from the discharge port 18a to the circular discharge port 18a.
A detection plate 33 for detecting the discharge by the rotation of is attached. That is, the upper end of the detection plate 33 is rotatably attached to the upper edge of the discharge port 18a by the shaft 34, and the coffee raw material 32 is discharged.
When is tilted as shown by the chain double-dashed line, the spring plate 35 attached to the opposite end activates the signal switch 36. Therefore, the signal switch 36 is closed (ON) when the coffee raw material 32 is being discharged, and is open (OFF) when the coffee raw material 32 is not being discharged from the discharge port 18a. These detection plates 33,
The shaft 34, the spring plate 35, and the signal switch 36 form a discharge detection mechanism for the coffee raw material 32.

The discharge ports 19a, 2 of the other canisters 19, 20 are
The same detection plate 33 and signal switch 3 for 0a
6 and the like are provided.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of this automatic vending machine. The coin mechanism 42 for storing coins inserted into the commercial power supply 41 from the coin insertion slot 5, the hot water supply solenoid valve 15 for the water heating tank 13, and the canisters 18 are provided. , 19 and 20 for discharging the respective raw materials, motors 43b for the coffee mill 22, a coffee mill motor 43 for the coffee mill 22, and motors for discharging the raw materials 24a, 25a for the canisters 24, 25 containing cream and sugar are connected. . Further, the AC voltage of the commercial power supply 41 is converted into a DC control voltage by the stabilizing power supply 44 and supplied to the microprocessor 45. The microprocessor 45 executes various arithmetic processes based on the information input from the selection switch 7 and the function switch 9 according to a control program stored therein, and supplies raw materials and additives corresponding to each item. The RAM 46, the timer circuit 47, the clock oscillator 48, and the interface circuit 49, which store the data of FIG. The coin mechanism 42, the hot water supply solenoid valve 15, the raw material discharge motors 18b, 19b and 20b, the coffee mill motor 43, and the raw material discharge motors 24a and 25a are connected to the interface circuit 49. Furthermore, each selection switch 7, each display device 50 including each sold-out lamp 8, each canister 18, 1.
The signal switches 36 attached to the respective discharge ports 18a, 19a, 20a of 9, 20 are connected.

In the RAM 46, as shown in FIG. 5, there is a data memory R1 for storing the standard amount of coffee raw material, the standard amount of sugar, the standard amount of cream, and the standard amount of hot water released at one time for each sale item. Has been formed. Further, in the RAM 46, the A coffee raw material, B coffee raw material, and C coffee raw material stored in the respective canisters 18, 19, 20 are discharged, respectively. A flag area R2 for storing a flag is formed. Further, each signal switch 36 attached to each discharge port 18a, 19a, 20a of each canister storing the coffee raw material is used to integrate the time T of the closed (ON) state during the drive period of each raw material discharge motor. A time counter R3 is formed.

The standard amount of coffee raw material, the standard amount of cream, and the standard amount of sugar set in the data memory R1 are the coffee raw material, the cream, and the raw materials of the respective canisters 18, 19, 20, 24, and 25 for storing the sugar. Discharge motor 1
8b, 19b, 20b, 24a and 25a are recorded as drive times, and the standard amount of hot water is stored as the open time of the hot water solenoid valve 15.

When the regular coffee is sold, the microprocessor 45 operates according to the control program stored in the sixth
The processing shown in the figure is performed. That is, when a predetermined amount of coins are inserted into the coin mechanism 42 from the coin slot 5 with the on-sale display lamp 2 lit, the selection switch 7 is operated (in this case, the function switch 9 is set in advance. When operated, sugar increase, decrease, cream increase, decrease, and no sugar are set.) Since the customer has selected a purchase item, the coffee raw material type and standard amount of the corresponding item from the data memory R1 in the RAM 46 Read data such as sugar standard amount, cream standard amount, and hot water standard amount. Then, at P1, it is checked whether or not the raw material cutting flag corresponding to the coffee raw material in the flag region R2 is set to 1. Then, when it is confirmed that the raw material cut flag of the coffee raw material is not set to 1,
The coin mechanism 42 is controlled to accept coins and return change.

In addition, when the raw material cut flag of the corresponding raw material is set to 1 in P1, the item selected by the selection switch 7 is sold out, and therefore the coin inserted into the coin insertion slot 5 is transferred to the money return slot 10. Send out.

When the coin storing process is completed, the operating time of each canister read from the data memory R1 is set to the respective canister 18
˜20, 24, 25 raw material discharge motors 18 b to 20
b, 24a, 25a. Further, the hot water supply solenoid valve 15 is also set with a time corresponding to the standard hot water amount. When the setting of each time is completed, the cup 2 in the selling port 11
After setting 6, the motors and the hot water supply solenoid valve 15 are activated at P2 and driven for the above set time. At the same time, the count value T of the time counter R3 of the RAM 46 is cleared to 0 in synchronization with the time when the material discharge motor of the canister that stores the coffee material is activated. When each set time set in the data memory R1 in P3 ends, each standard amount of coffee raw material, hot water, cream, and sugar are supplied. As a result, the coffee of the item selected by the selection switch 7 is supplied into the cup 26.

When the drive of the material discharge motor of each canister of coffee material for a predetermined time is completed in P3, RA is calculated in P4.
If the count value N of the time counter R3 of M42 does not reach the specified time T _M which is set for each item, coffee raw material due to either the coffee material 32 contained in the canister has run out, or moisture, etc. It is determined that 32 has solidified and is not being discharged from the discharge port even though the material discharge motor is being driven. Then, the ingredient cut flag of the coffee ingredient in the flag area R2 of the RAM 46 is set to 1. Then, the sold-out lamp 8 of the item is turned on. The value of the specified time T _M is taken into consideration in the data memory R in consideration of the error at the time of discharging the coffee raw material 32.
It is set to be slightly shorter than each set time of 1.

The counting of the count value N of the time counter R3 of the RAM 46 is performed by the time interruption process at every 0.1 seconds shown in FIG. 7, for example. That is, the timer circuits 47 to 0.
When the interrupt signal at 1 second intervals is input, the state of the signal switch 36 is checked, and if it is in the [ON] state, the coffee raw material 32
Is determined to be discharging, and the count value N of the time counter R3 is incremented by 1. Further, the signal switch 36 is set to [O
FF], it is determined that the coffee raw material 32 has not been discharged due to some factor, and the processing ends.
As described above, the time during which the coffee raw material 32 is discharged from the discharge port of the canister is obtained by the time interruption process, so that the actual time during which the coffee raw material 32 is actually discharged can be accurately integrated.

In the vending machine configured as described above, assuming that the coffee raw material 32 stored in each canister is smoothly discharged from the discharge port to the last one, when the customer presses the selection switch 7 of his or her preference, When the coffee raw material 32 used for the item remains in the canister for the discharge amount used for one sale, the coffee is normally sold. Then, when only one serving or less of the coffee raw material 32 remains in the canister, the coffee using the one or less serving of the coffee raw material 32 is supplied to the cup 26. At the same time, the raw material cut flag 1 of the coffee raw material 32 is set, and the sold-out lamp 8 of each item using the coffee raw material 32 is turned on. In this state, if the next customer mistakenly presses the selection switch 7 with the sold-out lamp 8 lit, the inserted coin will be the money return port 10.
Will be returned to.

In this way, when the coffee raw material 32 stored in each canister actually becomes 0, the coffee sold-out processing such as a sold-out display is performed, so that the coffee raw material stored in the canisters can be completely processed. Since it can be used effectively and the refill interval of coffee ingredients to the canister can be lengthened,
It is possible to reduce the labor and cost required for maintenance. Further, since the sold-out display does not easily occur, the service to the customer can be improved.

Also, if the coffee material is hardened in the canister due to moisture, etc., and the coffee motor is driving, but the coffee material is not discharged from the discharge port, the sell-out process is executed. It is possible to prevent inconvenience to customers.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a discharge detection mechanism that detects whether or not coffee raw material is being discharged to the raw material discharge port of the coffee raw material supply mechanism, Sold-out processing is executed immediately only when it is no longer supplied.

Therefore, every time one cup of coffee is sold, it is confirmed that one cup of coffee raw material is surely supplied, so that it is possible to improve the reliability of the entire automatic vending apparatus to the customer.

That is, if only one sensor for detecting various abnormalities is provided in the vending machine as a whole, it is needless to say that it is preferable for the customer to detect the quality of the product in the final step of selling as much as possible. For example, when a sensor is provided in a canister that stores coffee ingredients and the amount of ingredients in the canister is measured by a principle similar to a water level gauge, or when an optical sensor or the like is used to detect the amount of ingredient, If you get stuck due to such factors,
This abnormal condition cannot be detected. Further, the coffee raw material is hardened due to moisture or the like, and the abnormal state in which the raw material is not discharged from the discharge port cannot be detected even though the raw material discharge motor is driven.

Further, since the coffee raw material is measured for each cup at the discharge port, the coffee raw material stored in the coffee raw material mechanism (canister) can be effectively used. Therefore, even with a small-capacity canister, the number of times of coffee sales can be reliably ensured to the full capacity.

By the way, when a sensor is provided in the canister described above, it is necessary to judge that it is sold out when a predetermined amount of coffee raw material remains at the bottom for safety. Therefore, the capacity of the canister cannot be effectively used.

Further, since the coffee raw material is measured for each cup, the quality of the coffee sold in the cup can be constantly maintained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an automatic vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a cutaway sectional view showing a canister and a coffee mill taken out, and FIG. 1 (b) shows a discharge port of the canister. Sectional view, FIG. 2 is an external view, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an internal configuration, FIG. 4 is a block configuration section, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a main memory configuration of a RAM, FIG. 6 and FIG.
The figure is a flow chart showing the operation. 5 ... Coin slot, 7 ... Selection switch, 8
...... Sold-out lamp, 9 ...... Function switch, 1
0 …… Money return port, 11 …… Sales port, 13 …… Boiler tank, 14 …… Heater, 15 …… Hot water solenoid valve, 17 ……
Extraction mechanism, 18, 19, 20 ... Canister (coffee raw material supply mechanism), 18a, 19a, 20a ... Discharge port,
18b, 19b, 20b ... Motor for discharging raw material, 22 ...
… Coffee mill, 23… Mixing bowl, 26…
Cup, 32 ... Coffee raw material, 33 ... Detection plate, 36
...... Signal switch, 42 ...... Coin mechanism, 45 ...... Microprocessor, 46 ...... RAM, R1 ...... Data memory, R3 ...... Time counter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cup of coffee discharged from a discharge port by operating a predetermined coffee material supply mechanism for a predetermined time based on preset data by inserting a predetermined amount of money into a coin mechanism and operating a switch. In the automatic vending device which supplies the coffee extraction mechanism with the amount of coffee raw material corresponding to the coffee amount and supplies the coffee extracted from this extraction mechanism to the cup set in the sales port, A discharge detection mechanism provided at the outlet for detecting the presence of the coffee raw material discharged from the discharge port, a time measuring means for measuring the time during which the discharge detecting mechanism detects the presence of the coffee raw material, and the time measuring means And a sold-out processing means for carrying out a coffee sold-out processing when the time counted in is less than the specified time set corresponding to the predetermined time. An automatic vending machine characterized by the provision of.