JPH0660261A - Cooling/heating controller for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute a delicate energy saving control corresponding to a sales state immediately before by comparing the number of sales of every prescribed time with the standard number of sales and determining whether the next prescribed time is subjected to energy saving operation or not in accordance with its sales state. CONSTITUTION:When a commodity selection push-button 3 is pushed, a designated commodity is carried out of a vending unit 4, and simultaneously, a sales counter in a storage part 1a is added by '1'. Subsequently, after the sales counter is cleared in the previous time, whether a prescribed time, for instance, two hours elapse or not is checked, and unless two hours elapse, the operation returns to a first step, and when two hours elapse, the number of count in the sales counter and the standard number of sales set in the storage part 1a are compared. As a result, in the case the number of count >= the standard number of sales, a cooling/heating unit 6 is subjected to regular operation, and in the case the number of count < the standard number of sales, the cooling/heating unit 6 is subjected to energy saving operation. Thereafter, the sales counter is cleared, and after returning to a first step, the same control is repeated at every two hours.

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 equipped with a means for cooling or heating a product (referred to as a cooling / heating means), and more particularly to an energy saving operation control thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic vending machine equipped with a cooling / heating means such as a cooler or a heater, conventionally, the operation of the cooling / heating means is stopped or a set temperature is set during a time when there are few sales opportunities such as midnight. We are trying to save energy by shifting.

[0003]

Conventionally, the energy saving operation of the cooling / heating means is uniformly set by setting the time zone, but when the energy saving time zone and the sales situation do not match depending on the installation environment of the vending machine. There is. Therefore, in the past, energy-saving operation was performed during times when sales were high and products with insufficient cooling or heating were provided, or conversely, normal operation was performed during times when sales were low, resulting in waste. was there. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling / heating control device for an automatic vending machine capable of performing fine energy-saving operation in accordance with the actual sales situation.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises means for counting the number of products sold at regular intervals of a day,
Means for setting a standard sales number for the fixed time, and compares the sales number within the time and the standard sales number each time the fixed time has elapsed, if the sales number is less than the standard sales number The above object is achieved by providing means for operating the cooling / heating means in an energy-saving manner for a certain period of time.

[0005]

[Operation] One day is divided into certain time intervals, the sales quantity at each time is compared with the standard sales quantity to grasp the sales situation, and if the sales quantity is small, the energy saving operation is performed for the next constant time. This makes it possible to perform detailed energy-saving control according to the immediately preceding sales situation.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control device showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a main control unit that controls the entire vending machine, 1a is a storage unit that stores the control program and various control data, 2 is a coin discriminating unit that sorts and counts the inserted coins, and 3 is a coin discriminating unit. A product selection push button for designating a product that the customer wants to purchase, 4 is a sales unit for storing and unloading the product, 5 is a sales control unit for issuing a product unloading command of the sales unit 4 in response to a sales permission signal from the main control unit 1, 6 is a cooling / heating unit that cools or heats the product with a cooler or heater installed in the selling unit 4, and 7 is a cooling / heating control unit that controls on / off of the cooling / heating unit 6 according to a command from the main control unit.

The operation of the control device will be described below with reference to the flow chart of FIG. When a coin is inserted, the main control unit 1 compares the inserted amount with the product price set in the storage unit 1a based on the coin signal from the coin discriminating unit 2 to determine whether or not the product can be sold, and selects a product that can be sold. The sellable lamp built in the push button 3 is turned on.
Therefore, when the product selection push button 3 is pressed, the specified product is unloaded from the sales unit 4 (step S1),
At the same time, the sales counter in the storage unit 1a is incremented by 1 (step S2).

Then, it is checked whether or not a certain time, for example, two hours has passed since the sales counter was cleared last time (step S3). If not, step S
Returning to 1, if the time has elapsed, the count number in the sales counter is compared with the standard sales number set in the storage unit 1a (step S4). If the count number ≧ the standard sales number, the cooling / heating unit 6 is normally operated (step S5), and if the count number <the standard sales number, the cooling / heating unit 6 is energy-saving operated (step S6). After that, the sales counter is cleared, the process returns to step S1, and the same control is repeated every two hours.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the sales quantity is monitored by comparing the sales quantity for each fixed time with the standard sales quantity, and the result is used to determine whether or not to perform energy saving operation for the next fixed time. It is possible to perform detailed energy-saving control according to the sales situation of, and to provide lukewarm products due to unexpected sales situation, or conversely waste energy, as in the case of uniformly performing energy-saving operation at a predetermined time zone. It never happens.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Control Section 1a Storage Section 2 Coin Discrimination Section 3 Product Selection Push Button 4 Sales Unit 5 Sales Control Section 6 Cooling Unit 7 Cooling Control Section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic vending machine equipped with a cooling / heating means for goods, means for counting the quantity of goods sold at regular time intervals within a day, and means for setting a standard quantity of goods sold for the constant time. , Whenever the fixed time elapses, the number of sales within that time is compared with the standard number of sales, and if the number of sales is less than the standard number of sales, the cooling / heating means is operated to save energy for the next fixed time. A cooling / heating control device for a vending machine, which is provided with means.