JPH07225867A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable even an inexperienced customer to smoothly purchase the commodities with no prescription of the input sequence by optionally granting the corresponding input sequence when the customer inputs a designated item for purchase of the desired object. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 31 controls each circuit device based on the program stored in a ROM 32 and stores these control data in a RAM 33 so that they can be freely read out. Then the CPU 31 does not prescribe the input sequence for operations of a destination station selection button 17, an equipment button 18 which selects the reserved seat tickets, the non-reserved seat tickes, etc., a touch panel switch 21 containing a display which shows the designated fare for purchase of a ticket and also performs the touch input operations, etc. Thus the input operations are granted in an optional sequence. Furthermore the CPU 31 shows the due input items which are not inputted yet by the customer on a guidance display 13 while the designated purchase items are received in an optional sequence.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine such as an automatic ticket vending machine installed in railway station affairs. More specifically, the display guidance when purchasing a product for sale and the operability of purchasing the product for sale are improved. Regarding vending machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Taking an example of an automatic ticket vending machine used for railroad operations from various automatic vending machines, when purchasing a ticket from this automatic ticket vending machine, the boarding section, type of boarding ticket, number of passengers, adult / small A customer issues a desired ticket by inputting various purchase designation items such as people.

In this case, the input operation at the time of purchasing the ticket is set and permitted in a predetermined input order. For example, first a cash or card insertion operation, then a boarding section input operation, then a ticket type such as a limited express ticket, a selection of the number of passengers, a selection of adults / children ... Input operations are performed in the input order.

[0004]

However, inexperienced customers who do not know the input order take time to input, especially when there are many purchase designation items such as seat reservation tickets, take care not to make a mistake in the input order. It takes time to buy tickets,
It had a problem of poor serviceability.

In view of the above, the present invention provides an automatic vending machine which enables an unskilled customer to make a smooth purchase operation by allowing the input operation to be performed without restricting the input order during the automatic sales operation. With the goal.

[0006]

The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine which sells designated input sale products designated by input by inputting purchase designation items one by one according to the type of sale items.
It is characterized in that it is provided with an optional accepting means for accepting an input order of the purchase designation item at the time of the input operation of the purchase designation item.

An automatic vending machine for inputting designated purchase items corresponding to the type of sale item one by one and selling designated designated sale items, wherein at the time of input operation of the purchase designated items, The present invention is characterized by comprising an arbitrary accepting means for accepting and accepting the input order of the purchase designation items, and a display means for displaying and guiding the undesignated purchase designation items when the optional acceptance means arbitrarily accepts.

Further, the vending machine is a vending machine which sells the designated designated products for which the input designation is made by inputting the designated purchase items one by one according to the type of the sale item, and at the time of the input operation for the designated purchase items. At the time of reselection input of the purchase designation item of the same type as the already input purchase designation item at the time of the optional acceptance means arbitrarily accepting the input order of the purchase designation item and the optional acceptance means described above, A reselection input acceptance means for preferentially accepting the reselection input is provided.

[0009]

According to the present invention, when the customer inputs the purchase designation items for sale one by one, the arbitrary accepting means arbitrarily accepts the input order of the purchase designation items without restricting the input order. To be arbitrarily selected and input operation can be freely performed.

When the arbitrary accepting means accepts the input order of the purchase designation items in the arbitrary order, the display means guides the undesignated purchase designation items to be input by the customer.

Further, when the optional acceptance means accepts the input order of the purchase designation items in an arbitrary order, when the purchase designation item of the same type as the already input purchase designation item input by the customer is reselected and input. Then, the reselection input acceptance means preferentially accepts the reselection input.

[0012]

As a result, the customer can arbitrarily select the purchase designation item and perform the input operation without being restricted by the input order, and the input operation can be smoothly performed in a highly flexible handling state. In addition, there is no need to wait for the next input operation after each input of the purchase designation item, and all the purchase designation items for one transaction can be quickly and continuously input in the order in which they are noticed. The input operation time per person can be shortened. Especially, it is suitable for unfamiliar customers or when there are many designated purchase items, and the serviceability to the customers is improved.

Further, among the purchase designation items, in the input process in which the input operations are performed at once in order of ease of input operation, the purchase designation items that have not been input are also displayed and displayed, so that the customer can make purchases with or without input. The designated items can be clearly grasped and input operation can be easily performed.

Furthermore, when input correction is performed during input operation, the reselected input can be corrected with priority by simply selecting and re-inputting the item to be corrected without canceling the correction. You can deal with it, and you can efficiently make purchase changes in a short time without retyping from the beginning.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an automatic ticket vending machine 11 installed at an automatic ticket vending corner of station affairs. This automatic ticket vending machine 11 has a customer service panel 12 on the front side, and a selection message etc. during transaction or ticket vending and input operation by a customer. Guide display 13 for displaying transaction guidance items, a card insertion slot 14 for inserting and returning a value-added card, a coin insertion slot 15 for inserting coins, and a banknote insertion for inserting and returning banknotes Mouth 16, destination station selection button 17 to select and enter the destination station when purchasing tickets, facility button 18 to select seat reservation ticket / unreserved seat ticket and non-smoking / smoking use, and number of adults / children Adult / children number button 19 to select and input, ticket combined sale button 20 to select whether ticket is required or not, vacant seat display and price specified for purchase based on customer's input operation A touch panel switch 21 with a display, which is also provided for touch input, a ticket ejection opening 22 for ejecting a purchase-designated limited express ticket / seat reservation ticket / ticket, and a coin ejection opening 23 for ejecting change. I have it.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control circuit of the automatic ticket vending machine, in which the CPU 31 controls each circuit device according to a program stored in the ROM 32 and the control data is stored in the RAM.
It is readablely stored at 33.

The card processing unit 34, which is internally provided in the automatic ticket vending machine 11, determines the validity of the card inserted at the time of selling the ticket, and at the time of establishing the transaction, reduces the boarding usage amount from the card according to the contents of the ticket selling. Then, the inserted card is returned.

Further, the coin processing unit 35 determines the validity of the inserted coins, takes in the inserted coins internally when the transaction is established, and returns the coins when the transaction is not established. Further, the banknote processing unit 36 determines the validity of the inserted banknote, takes in the inserted banknote inside if the transaction is successful, and returns it if not.

By the way, when purchasing a ticket, the CPU 31 uses a button input operation of various buttons 17 to 20 for designating purchase, a touch input operation of the touch panel switch 21 with an indicator, and a card / coin / banknote. Although an amount input operation of the used amount of money is performed, the input order of these input operations is not regulated, and acceptance is allowed in an arbitrary order, and the input operation is performed in a state with a high degree of freedom.

Therefore, when the customer purchases a ticket, the destination station selection button 17 ..., the equipment button 18 ..., the number of adults / children button 19 ..., the ticket sales button 20 ... Touch panel switch 2
1 and cards / coins / banknotes can be quickly input-operated in the order of easy input-operation. Also, at this time, every time the customer inputs one purchase designation item, there is no need to wait for the input to move to the next input operation, so all purchase designation items for one transaction can be consecutively executed in the order in which they are aware. The input operation time per person can be shortened by manually performing the input operation.

When the purchase designation items are received in an arbitrary order, the CPU 31 clearly indicates on the guidance display device 13 the purchase designation items required by the customer to complete the uninput transaction. As a result, the customer can clearly grasp the already designated input items and the undesignated purchase designation items, and can easily perform the input operation, thereby facilitating the ticket purchase operation.

Further, when the CPU 31 accepts the purchase designation items in an arbitrary order, if the purchase designation items of the same kind as the already input purchase designation items input by the customer are reselected and input, the CPU 31 firstly receives the purchase designation items. Cancels the input of and prioritizes the reselection input. As a result, if the customer wants to make an input correction during the input operation, he / she can correct it by selecting only the item to be corrected and re-inputting it, without canceling the purchase designation item input so far. Therefore, there is no need to re-input from the beginning, it is possible to easily deal with partial correction, and the purchase contents of the ticket can be corrected and changed efficiently in a short time.

The fact that the information can be accepted in this arbitrary order is displayed on the guidance display 21 so that even an inexperienced customer can easily perform an input operation. Further, when the purchase designation items of all the tickets are input, the CPU 31 clearly displays the input list data on the touch panel switch 21 with a display device to let the customer confirm the purchase contents before issuing the ticket. I am trying.

The processing operation of the automatic ticket vending machine 11 thus constructed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Normally, the automatic ticket vending machine 11 displays a train number with a vacant seat that can be sold on a touch panel switch 21 with a display to guide purchase, and inputs a message for destination station selection and an arbitrary order on the guide display 13 It waits for an input by displaying a guide to the effect that it is possible (steps n1 to n2).

In the input standby state, if the customer inputs any of the purchase selection items that the customer can easily input in order to purchase the limited express ticket / seat designation ticket / ticket, etc., the CPU 31
Displays the non-input purchase designation items other than the input already input on the guidance display unit 13 and causes the input operations required until the ticket is issued to be executed one by one in an arbitrary order. At this time, the customer can perform the input operation without being limited in the order of the input operation, so that there is no waiting for the input to proceed to the next input operation after each input of the purchase designated item, and the transaction for one transaction is eliminated. You can quickly and continuously input all purchase designation items in the order in which you are aware. Further, since the customer can perform the input operation while clearly grasping the already designated input item and the undesignated purchase designation item, the customer can easily input the item.

[0026] Then, the input operation of the station selection button 17 ..., the equipment button 18 ..., the adult / children number button 19 ..., the ticket sales button 20 ... and the vacant train displayed and guided by the touch panel switch 21 with a display are designated. When all the designated items for the purchase of the ticket, including the touch input operation and the operation for inputting the purchase amount of the card / coin / banknote ticket, the CPU 31 lists the entered list data on the touch panel switch with display 21. If it is displayed and the customer accepts and confirms the purchase contents displayed in the list, ticket issuing processing is performed (steps n3 to n10).

Further, until all the input operations are completed, the CPU 31 displays an uninput purchase designated item on the guidance display unit 13 every time the customer inputs one purchase designated item required for ticketing. Therefore, an unfamiliar customer can perform an input operation while checking the display guidance (steps n11 to n16).

On the other hand, when the customer wants to correct the purchase designation item in the input operation process, the CPU 31 is reselected by reselecting and inputting only the purchase designation item to be corrected without canceling all. The input that has been received is given priority, and the input is switched to this reselected input for partial correction. Moreover, when all the purchase designation items necessary for ticketing are input, the entered list data is displayed in a clear list on the touch panel switch 21 with a display and the customer is asked to confirm. When a purchase operation is performed or a partial correction is made due to a purchase change or the like, the reselection input is preferentially accepted and partially corrected by reselecting only the purchase designated item to be corrected and performing a reinput operation. Therefore, at the time of correction, it is not necessary to re-input from the beginning, and only the corrected portion needs to be partially corrected (step n17).

As described above, the customer can arbitrarily select the purchase designation item and perform the input operation without being restricted by the input order, and can smoothly perform the input operation in the handling state with a high degree of freedom. In addition, there is no need to wait for each input of the purchase specification item to move on to the next input operation.
Since it is possible to quickly and continuously input all purchase designation items for transactions in the order in which they are noticed, it is possible to shorten the input operation time per person. Especially, it is suitable for unfamiliar customers or when there are many designated purchase items, and the serviceability to the customers is improved. In addition, among the purchase designated items, it is possible to perform input operations all at once in the order of easy input operation, and in this input process, the undesignated purchase designated items are displayed and guided, so that the customer clearly understands the already designated input items and the undesignated purchase designated items. Then, input operation can be performed easily. Furthermore, if you want to correct the input during the input operation, you can select the item to be corrected and re-input, and you can correct the re-selected input with priority. You can correct the purchase details of the ticket efficiently in time.

In the correspondence between the present invention and the configuration of the above-described one embodiment, the vending machine of the present invention corresponds to the automatic ticket vending machine 11 of the embodiment, and hereinafter, the sale item corresponds to a ticket. , The arbitrary acceptance means corresponds to the CPU 31, the display means corresponds to the guide display 13, and the reselection input acceptance means includes various buttons 17 to 20, the touch panel switch 21 with a display and the card / coin / banknote. Input operation,
Although it corresponds to the CPU 31 of the control system, the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an automatic ticket vending machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of a main part of the automatic ticket vending machine of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the automatic ticket vending machine of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a ticket selling processing operation of the automatic ticket vending machine of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Automatic ticket vending machine 13 ... Guide display 17 to 20 ... Button 21 ... Touch panel switch with display 31 ... CPU

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Kunio Ohashi, Kunio Ohashi, No. 10 Hanazono Dodo-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture Omron Co., Ltd. Within the corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claims: 1. An automatic vending machine for inputting designated purchase items according to the type of sale item one by one, and selling designated designated sale items, wherein the purchase designated item is input. An automatic vending machine equipped with an optional accepting means for accepting the input order of the designated purchase items. 2. An automatic vending machine that sells the designated designated items for sale by inputting the designated purchase items one by one according to the type of the item for sale. An automatic vending machine provided with an arbitrary accepting means for accepting the input order of the purchase designation items arbitrarily and a display means for displaying and guiding the undesignated purchase designation items when the optional acceptance means arbitrarily accepts. 3. An automatic vending machine that inputs designated purchase items according to the type of sale item one by one and sells designated designated sale items. At the time of reselection input of the purchase designation item of the same type as the already input purchase designation item at the time of the optional acceptance means arbitrarily accepting the input order of the purchase designation item and the optional acceptance means described above, A vending machine equipped with a reselection input acceptance means that preferentially accepts reselection input.