JPH07334747A - Controller of automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cool an article storage chamber preferentially when articles to be vended are replenished, to shorten the cooling time, and to display the time reaching a proper temperature. CONSTITUTION:This controller is constituted of article storage chambers 1-3, a condensing unit 4, evaporators 5-7, thermistors 8-10, a control circuit 11, a setter 12, a selection switch 13, a display unit 14, and valves V1-V6. When articles to be vended are replenished, the priority valve of the article storage chamber where the articles are stored is opened and the valves of other article chambers are closed to perform preferential cooling until the proper temperature is reached, and, the temperature variation rate per time is calculated from the temperature detected by the thermistor and stored, and the time reaching the proper temperature is calculated and displayed.

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 which cools and sells commercial products such as canned beverages, and more particularly to an automatic vending machine which cools a product storage chamber with a cooler when the commercial products are replenished. Regarding the control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional vending machine that cools and sells sold products, when the sold products stored in one of a plurality of product storage rooms are sold out and the sold products are replenished, Also, after the operator completes the replenishment work, the temperature of the product storage room is detected, as in the case of normal sales.
Operates the cooler by the on / off signal of the thermostat
The replenished sales product was cooled by the cooling control method of stopping.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional method, since the plurality of product storage chambers are all cooled uniformly, the above-mentioned replenished product for sale reaches a temperature suitable for sale (hereinafter also referred to as suitable temperature). There is a problem that it takes a long time,
Also, because the time to reach the appropriate temperature is unclear,
There is also a problem in that a customer who purchases a sales product that has not reached the appropriate temperature gives a discomfort.

An object of the present invention is to provide a controller for an automatic vending machine which solves the above problems.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a vending machine that cools a product storage room in which sold products are stored with a cooler, a plurality of product storage rooms are provided. Priority instructing means for selecting any one and instructing cooling prioritizing over other product storage rooms, and prioritizing the selected product storage room to a predetermined cooling temperature based on the output of the priority instructing means. A priority cooling means for cooling and a cooling control means for controlling cooling of the other commodity storage chamber in operation of the priority cooling means are provided.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in an automatic vending machine in which a cooler cools a product storage room in which the products to be sold are stored, temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the product storage room and time for detecting the temperature by the temperature detecting means. Cooling rate calculation means for calculating and storing a cooling rate per hit; cooling time calculation means for calculating a cooling time based on a stored value of the cooling rate calculation means, a preset cooling temperature and an output of the temperature detection means. Display means for displaying the output of the cooling time calculation means.

Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, in the vending machine in which the cooler cools the product storage room in which the products to be sold are stored, one of the plurality of product storage rooms is selected and the other product storage room is selected. Priority instructing means for giving priority to cooling, priority cooling means for preferentially cooling the selected product storage chamber to a predetermined cooling temperature based on the output of the priority instructing means, and the selected product storage A temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the chamber; a cooling rate calculating means for calculating and storing a cooling rate per hour by the temperature detecting means; a memory value of the cooling rate calculating means; Cooling time calculating means for calculating the cooling time based on the output of the temperature detecting means, display means for displaying the output of the cooling time calculating means, and cooling of the other product storage chamber in which the priority cooling means is operating Cooling And a control means.

[0008]

In the first aspect of the present invention, when the product to be sold is replenished, the product storage chamber in which the product to be sold is stored is preferentially cooled, so that the time to reach the appropriate temperature can be shortened and other product storage chambers can be shortened. Cooling control for maintaining the cooling state of can also be performed. Further, in the second aspect of the invention, since the cooling rate of the product storage chamber is calculated and stored, the time until reaching the appropriate temperature can be calculated and displayed.

Further, in the third aspect of the invention, the operation of the first and second aspects of the invention, that is, since the commodity storage chamber in which the replenished merchandise for sale is stored is preferentially cooled, the time to reach the appropriate temperature can be shortened, It is possible to display the time until the temperature reaches the appropriate temperature, and it is possible to control the cooling of other product storage chambers.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic vending machine showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 to 3 are product storage chambers (1) to (3) for storing products to be sold, 4 is a motor compressor, a condenser. Refrigerator condensing unit consisting of
7 is an evaporator for cooling the sold products, V _{1 to} V ₆ are valves for supplying the refrigerant from the condensing unit 4 to the evaporators 5 to 7 as shown, and 8 to 10 are product storage chambers (1) to (3) Is a thermistor that detects the temperature of the device, 11 is a control circuit, and 11a is a CP that controls and calculates vending machines.
U, 11b and 11c are ROM and RAM as memories,
11d is a timer for measuring time, 11e is an interface between a control circuit and an external device, 12 is a setting device for inputting a set temperature when cooling, 13 is a product storage room (1) to (3) is selected A selection switch 14 is a display for displaying the operating state.

In FIG. 1, among the valves V _{1 to} V ₆ ,
V _1, V _3, V ₅ is referred to as normal valve opened during operation in a normal operation or cooling control means,, V _2, V _4,
V ₆ is referred to as priority valve, and Akeraru ones during operation in priority cooling means, the diameter of the priority valve, so that it is cooled with priority made larger than the diameter of the normal valve.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the priority cooling means and the cooling control means of the vending machine of FIG. In FIG. 2, when replenishing the products for sale, first,
The operation is once started in normal operation (step S1), and the product storage chambers (x), (x = 1, 2, 3) supplemented with the sold products are set by the selection switch 13 (step S1).
2, branch Y), close the normal valve of the product storage room (x),
The priority valve is opened to enter the priority cooling mode for cooling (step S3), the normal valves in the product storage chambers other than the product storage chamber (x) are closed, and the cooling is interrupted (step S4).

Next, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the product storage chamber (x) in the preferential cooling mode has reached the proper temperature set by the setting device 12 (thermistor for detecting temperature of the product storage chamber (x)). 8-10) (step S5), and if the temperature has reached the appropriate temperature (step S5, branch Y), close the priority valve to release the priority cooling mode of the product storage chamber (x) ( Step S
6) Open the normal valves in the product storage chambers 1 to 3 (step S7) to start normal operation.

If the temperature of the product storage chamber (x) has not reached in step S5 (step S5, branch N), the temperature of the product storage chambers other than the product storage chamber (x) is the upper limit temperature set by the setter 12. Thermistor 8-10
If any of the corresponding thermistors is checked (step S8) and the upper limit temperature is exceeded (step S8, branch Y), the corresponding product storage chamber is set to the cooling control mode, and the normal valve of the product storage chamber is turned on. It is opened and cooled (step S9), and cooling is continued until the set temperature set by the setting device 12 is reached. When the set temperature is reached, the cooling control mode is released and the normal valve is closed (step S1).
0), returning to step S5, the priority cooling mode is continued until the temperature of the product storage chamber (x) reaches an appropriate temperature.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the cooling rate calculation means and the cooling time calculation means of the vending machine of FIG. In FIG. 3, when replenishment of the sale product is completed, the selection switch 13 sets the product storage chambers (x), (x = 1, 2, 3) in which the sale product is replenished (step S1).
1, branch Y), the room temperature of the product storage room (x) is detected by any of the thermistors 8 to 10 (step S12), and the RAM 11 is set via the setting device 12.
In the case where the temperature change rate, which is the cooling rate per hour, stored in c is set to zero, that is, the seasonal change,
When it is necessary to calculate the temperature change rate again due to a change in the product sold (step S13, branch Y), the temperature detected in step S12 is T ₀ , the time at this time is t _0, and from time t ₀ When the time after 5 minutes is t ₁ and the temperature at that time is T ₁ , the temperature gradient a ₀ during this time is calculated by the equation (1).

[0016]

## EQU1 ## a ₀ = (T ₀ −T ₁ ) / (t ₀ −t ₁ ) ... (1) Sequentially every 5 minutes as data of t ₀ to t ₆ and T _{0 to} T ₆ , averaged for 30 minutes. When the gradient is calculated as the temperature change rate a, it is expressed by equation (2) (step S15).

[0017]

[Number 2] a = (1/6) _{[(T 0 -T 1) / (} t 0 -t 1) + ············ + (T 4 -T 5) / ( t ₄ the _{-t 5) + (T 5 -T} 6) / (t 5 -t 6) ] ... (temperature change rate a calculated 2) formula (2), stored in the RAM 11c (step S15).

Assuming that the temperature change rate a stored in the RAM 11c in step S16, T ₀ , t ₀ detected in step S12, the optimum temperature is T _X , and the time to reach the optimum temperature is t _X , the time to reach the optimum temperature is It is represented by Expression (3) (step S16).

[0019]

[Number 3] _{t X -t 0 = (1 /} a) (T X -T 0) ... (3) (3) time and calculated in, that effect to the stock display unit (not shown) of the applicable items for sale For example, "cooling" is displayed on the display 14 (step S17), and the remaining time until reaching the appropriate temperature is displayed on the display 14 while the timer 11d is down-counted (step S18).

In step S13, the rate of temperature change is RAM1.
If it is stored in 1c (≠ 0) (step S1
3, branch N), the process proceeds to step 16, and the time to reach an appropriate temperature is calculated. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, an example in which there are three product storage chambers is shown, but naturally, the present invention can be applied to a case where there are a plurality of other storage chambers, and two valves, a priority valve and a normal valve, are used. Although it is provided in each product storage chamber, it is also possible to provide one valve in each product storage chamber and make the function of the priority valve and the normal valve depending on the opening degree.

[0021]

According to the first and third aspects of the present invention, when a product for sale is replenished, the product storage chamber in which the product for sale is stored is preferentially cooled, so that the time to reach an appropriate temperature can be shortened. Since the cooling control for maintaining the cooling state of other product storage chambers can be performed, sales opportunities can be increased and sales can be expanded.

According to the second and third aspects of the invention, since the cooling rate of the product storage chamber is calculated and stored, it is possible to calculate and display the time until the appropriate temperature is reached, and the customer feels uncomfortable. Further, it is possible for the operator to carry out the replenishment work of the sold product in consideration of the time period when the sold product is sold, and the sales can be expanded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vending machine showing an embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 to 3 product storage room 4 condensing unit 5 to 7 evaporator 8 to 10 thermistor 11 control circuit 11a CPU 11b ROM 11c RAM 11d timer 11e interface 12 setting device 13 selection switch 14 indicator V _{1 to} V ₆ valve

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine that cools a product storage room in which sold products are stored with a cooler, and selects one of a plurality of product storage rooms to give priority to cooling over other product storage rooms. Priority instructing means, priority cooling means for preferentially cooling the selected product storage chamber to a predetermined cooling temperature based on the output of the priority instructing means, and the other product in which the priority cooling means is operating. A control device for a vending machine, comprising: a cooling control means for controlling cooling of a storage chamber. 2. An automatic vending machine that cools a product storage room in which sold products are stored with a cooler, and temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the product storage room, and a cooling rate per hour is calculated by the temperature detection means. And a cooling rate calculating means for storing the cooling time, a cooling time calculating means for calculating a cooling time based on a stored value of the cooling rate calculating means, a predetermined cooling set temperature and an output of the temperature detecting means, and the cooling time calculating means. And a display unit for displaying the output of the vending machine. 3. An automatic vending machine that cools a product storage room in which sold products are stored by a cooler, and selects one of the plurality of product storage rooms to give priority to cooling over other product storage rooms. Priority instructing means, priority cooling means for preferentially cooling the selected product storage room to a predetermined cooling temperature based on the output of the priority instructing means, and detecting the temperature of the selected product storage room Temperature detecting means, cooling rate calculating means for calculating and storing a cooling rate per hour by the temperature detecting means, stored value of the cooling rate calculating means, preset cooling set temperature, and output of the temperature detecting means A cooling time calculating means for calculating a cooling time by means of a display means, a display means for displaying an output of the cooling time calculating means, and a cooling control means for controlling cooling of the other commodity storage chamber in which the priority cooling means is operating. Prepared And a control device for a vending machine.