JPH0644449A - Automatic vending machine for turning off control panel part at the time of holding for sales - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To constituting the vending machine so that a control panel is turned off at the time of holding for sales, and an illuminating device can be turned on at the time of purchase by a customer. CONSTITUTION:The automatic vending machine 1 is provided with a customer detecting device 4 for detecting whether a customer exists or not due to a fact that a person approaches, a main controller 6 for inputting a signal of the customer detecting device 4 and outputting a turn-on/off signal to an illuminating device 5 of a control panel part 2, and a covering member 3 of smoke glass, etc., for covering the control panel part 2 so that a push-button, etc., are invisible. In such a state, at the time of holding for sales, the control panel part 2 is turned off, and when a customer purchases a drink, etc., the illuminating device 5 is turned on so that merchandises are easily visible and easily selectable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is intended to be installed in a new office in consideration of refreshments and amenities that tend to hate the flashy image these days. The present invention relates to a vending machine that turns off the control panel unit during standby.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vending machine which is provided with a customer detecting device in a vending machine and which controls a fluorescent lamp by inputting a signal from the detecting means and which receives a price and sells a product,
Customer detection means for detecting the approach of a person, main control means for inputting a signal from the customer detection means and outputting a dimming signal, and data storage means for storing data of illuminance required for dimming And a fluorescent lamp dimmer of a vending machine, which includes a dimmer unit that changes an output voltage according to the dimmer signal and a fluorescent lamp that receives power from the dimmer unit (Actual Kaihei 2-70282).
(See Japanese Patent Publication).

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned conventional fluorescent lamp light control device for a vending machine is designed to balance the attraction of customers and power saving.
When installing in a new office considering recent refreshments and amenities, it does not match the environment,
There was a problem that it interfered with the effect of production. In view of such circumstances, the present invention displays drinks and the like of a vending machine, for example, a cup-type vending machine, a sign board part for promoting sales, a smoked glass or a mirror glass in a flavor part for selecting a sold beverage, or By covering with a silk-printed covering member or the like, the control panel section (signboard section, flavor section) is turned off when the vending machine is not used (this is equivalent to standby). For this reason, it is possible to blend in with the environment of the place where the vending machine is installed and bring it into a harmonious state. And, it is possible to adopt a design that does not give a feeling of strangeness. further,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic vending machine that can produce a production effect that matches the environment and that turns off the control panel section during standby.

[0004]

The present invention adopts the following technical means in order to solve the above problems. The invention according to claim 1 is, in an automatic vending machine, a customer detection device that detects the presence or absence of a customer when a person approaches, and a signal of the customer detection device is input to the lighting device of the control panel section to turn on or off. A technical means including a main controller that outputs a signal and a covering member such as smoked glass that covers the control panel so that the push buttons and the like cannot be seen is adopted. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the first aspect, a plurality of vending machines are connected and installed, and the main control device is activated from the detection signal of the customer detection device attached to any vending machine. As a result, a technical means was adopted that enables the lighting devices in the control panel section to be connected and turned on and off synchronously.

[0005]

As a result of adopting the above technical means, the present invention can adopt the design of the entire vending machine that matches the environment of the new office. In this way, the display of sales contents, etc., the signboard part for promoting sales and the flavor part for selecting sales contents are, from the user side, clearly displayed only when using, It is possible to appeal to users the existence of vending machines and the ease of selecting products. However, when it is not used, the lighting of the control panel part does not match the environment, especially in a new office where refreshments and amenities that have been recently desired are taken into consideration, which hinders the effect of production. To solve this problem, install a customer detection device in an appropriate part of the vending machine, and turn off the control panel section (signboard section, flavor section) during sales standby,
It is designed to be in harmony with the environment and not to give a sense of incongruity. In this state, when the customer detection device detects that the user is approaching, the control panel illumination lights up momentarily. Is.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall schematic perspective view showing two vending machines according to an embodiment of the present invention installed. The state shown on the right side is a state in which a control panel section 2 of the vending machine 1 is turned on. The states shown on the left side represent states in which the control panel unit 2 of the vending machine 1 is turned off. This is an automatic vending machine 1 that has an overall design and colors to be installed in the indoor refreshment area, etc., and when there is no user on standby, the control panel section 2 (signboard section, flavor section)
Turn off the light so there is no flashy image. And
It should be in harmony with the environment of the place. that is,
Smoke glass and smoke acrylic on the control panel 2 (for example, Mitsubishi Rayon's product name "Acrylite")
Etc.) It is covered with a cover member 3 of a mirror glass or a synthetic resin plate such as a silk-printed acrylic resin plate. The color of the covering member 3 is preferably blackish gray or the like. Because of this, if the control panel unit 2 is not illuminated, the entire vending machine 1 will melt into the environment of the place, so the design of the vending machine 1 is If it matches the atmosphere and environment, it is possible to create a staging effect that matches the environment.

Next, the vending machine for turning off the control panel during standby for sale according to the present invention will be further described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention for the two vending machines shown in FIG. 1 installed. In FIG. 2, an appropriate number of customer detection devices 4 are provided on the upper part and the lower part of the vending machine 1.
The customer detection device 4 is provided at a portion that can be detected when all users approach the vending machine 1, and includes an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a photoelectric switch, an optical sensor, and the like. Is. The lighting device 5 is arranged at an appropriate place such as the upper part and the central part of the vending machine 1,
It is designed to illuminate the lighting board brightly. Vending machine 1
Inside the CPU, a CPU that executes a processing procedure, a ROM that stores a program or the like corresponding to the processing procedure, and a RAM that is used for work such as temporarily accumulating a set amount for price setting
, A data storage device 7 for storing data necessary to execute a processing procedure, and a signal from the main control device 6 to operate to output an output voltage. And an inverter 8 for changing. When the customer detection device 4 detects a user, the detection signal is transmitted to the main control device 6, and further,
The illumination device 5 is controlled so as to be momentarily turned on so as to irradiate the control panel unit 2 via the data storage device 7 and the inverter 8. With this configuration, the illumination device 5 is turned off when there are no customers 9. Here, when the customer 9 approaches the vending machine 1, the customer detection device 4 such as an infrared sensor detects the customer 9, and the signal from the customer detection device 4 causes the inverter to be operated based on the data in the data storage device 7. 8 is controlled, the cutoff state of the voltage applied to the lighting device 5 is stopped, power is supplied, and the lighting device 5 is turned on. Then, after the customer 9 leaves the vending machine 1 and a certain set time elapses, the lighting device 5 is turned off by a control device such as a timer. Next, the relationship will be described based on FIGS. 3 and 4 which are explanatory diagrams showing the relationship between the mounting position of the customer detection device 4 and the customer 9. When the customer 9 approaches the vending machine 1, One of the detection areas 10 of the customer detection device 4 is caught. A detection signal indicating that the customer 9 is caught is sent to the main control device 6 described above, and the illumination device 5 is turned on from the main control device 6 via the data storage device 7 and the inverter 8. In this way, the attachment part of each customer detection device 4 is
It is designed and determined appropriately so as not to leak when approaching with the customer 9. FIG. 5 shows the customer detection device 4
11 is a time chart showing each output of the lighting device 5 of the control panel section, and 11 is ON and OF of the customer detection device 4.
Reference numeral 12 is a time chart showing the timing of F, and 12 is a time chart showing the timing of turning on and off the illumination of the control panel unit 2. As can be seen from the timing indicated by T in FIG. 5, the turn-off timing of the lighting device 5 of the control panel unit is turned off after a certain time has passed after the customer detection device 4 was turned off. This is selected by the controller setting, and is similarly performed when a plurality of vending machines 1 are synchronously connected. If the customer detection device 4 is OFF after the coin is inserted, the lighting is continued unless canceled. Then, if the customer detection device 4 is turned off after the select button is turned on, it is turned off after a time set by the controller. The cover member 3 that covers the control panel unit 2 described above may be a smoked glass plate or the like made of a single plate material, or may be a signboard unit, a flavor unit, or finely, a smoked glass for each push button. You may cover it. Moreover, if this smoked glass is used in the shape of a convex lens, the whole looks clear and large. This is more effective because the characters appear large, especially when displaying "sold out". Also, when installing multiple vending machines 1,
The automatic vending machine 1 is provided with IN / OUT terminals, and only the connected vending machines are synchronized with the customer detection devices 4 so that all the connected models operate.

[0008]

As a result of adopting the above configuration, the present invention provides
The following effects can be obtained. (1) In the stand-by state of sale, in harmony with the environment of the place where the vending machine is installed, when the customer purchases a drink or the like, the light is turned on so that the product can be easily seen and selected. This is because the control panel is turned on only when it is needed, so it can be optimally matched to the environment in the new office considering refreshments, amenities, etc. In addition, energy saving effect can be obtained compared with the conventional vending machine.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic perspective view showing one in which two vending machines according to an embodiment of the present invention are installed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of an embodiment showing a relationship between a customer and a customer detection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing three vending machines installed in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a time chart showing the lighting device turn-off timing in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Vending machine 2 Control panel 3 Covering member 4 Customer detection device 5 Lighting device 6 Main control device 7 Data storage device 8 Inverter 9 Customer 10 ... Detection range 11 ... ON / OFF time chart of customer detection device 12 ... ON / OFF time chart of illumination of control panel

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a vending machine, a customer detection device that detects the presence or absence of a customer when a person approaches, and a signal of the customer detection device is input to output a turn-on / off signal to a lighting device of a control panel unit. An automatic vending machine which turns off the control panel unit during standby for sale, which is composed of a main control unit and a covering member such as smoked glass that covers the control panel unit so that push buttons and the like cannot be seen. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of vending machines are connected and installed, and the main control device is operated by a detection signal of a customer detection device attached to any vending machine to control the control panel. A vending machine that turns off the control panel when the unit is on standby for sale by turning on and off the lighting devices of the parts.