JPH0757148A - Ice discharge controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure a vending amount matching the ice making capacity of an ice machine by adequately deciding the sellout of the ice in the ice machine. CONSTITUTION:On the basis of an opening time which is outputted as a vending command, the ice discharge door 5 of the ice machine 3 is opened, and consequently the amount of ice which is actually discharged is detected by an ice discharge amount detection sensor 7; when the ice discharge amount reaches an ice discharge amount corresponding to a door opening time T0, the door 5 is closed. This ice discharge controller is equipped with a timer 12 which clocks the opening time of the door 5 and a sellout decision part 13 which decides a sellout of ice when the time clocked by the timer becomes longer than the door opening time by more than a certain rate.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice discharge control device for an automatic vending machine that sells iced cup beverages, and more particularly to an ice discharge control device that can properly detect when ice is sold out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of ice discharging device, in order to detect the sold-out of ice in an ice making machine, the discharge amount of ice specified by a sales command is integrated and the integrated amount exceeds a certain amount. At times, it is determined that the ice inside the ice machine has run out.

[0003]

However, when the discharge door is opened and the ice is discharged based on the discharge amount of ice specified by the sales instruction, the specified discharge amount of ice and the actual discharge amount are Considering the error, the amount of ice that is determined to have run out is set with a margin for the capacity of the ice maker.

In order to reduce this error, the amount of ice actually discharged may be measured by an ice discharge amount detection sensor, and the measured value may be integrated, but even in this case, it is sold several tens of times. Cannot be ignored because the measurement error of the sensor is added up, and therefore, in this case as well, it is necessary to give some margin to the determination of sold-out ice. Therefore, there is a problem that the number of consecutive sales at one time is less than the number of times that the ice making capacity of the ice making machine can actually sell, and therefore the number of sales when there are continuous sales requests is limited. .

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by appropriately determining the sold-out of ice in the ice making machine, it is possible to secure the number of sold ice commensurate with the ice making capacity of the ice making machine. An object is to provide a control device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the ice discharge door (5) of the ice making machine (3) is opened based on the opening time T ₀ output as a sales command, whereby the actual discharge is performed. The ice discharge amount detection sensor (7) detects the ice discharge amount Q, and when the ice discharge amount Q reaches the ice discharge amount Q ₀ corresponding to the door opening time T ₀ , the door (5) is closed. An ice discharge control device for controlling the opening time of the door (5);
It is characterized by including a sold-out determination unit (13) for determining that the ice is sold out when the time measured by the timer T becomes longer than a certain ratio with respect to the door opening time T ₀ .

[0007]

The actual opening time of the door (5) required to discharge a predetermined amount of ice is related to the condition of the ice, and when the amount of ice in the ice making machine (3) becomes small, the ice will only gradually increase. Because it will not come out
The opening time of the door (5) becomes longer. Therefore, in the present invention, the actual opening time T of the door (5) detected by the timer (12) is
When the prescribed command opening time T ₀ becomes longer than a certain ratio, it is determined that the amount of ice in the ice making machine (3) is small and the item is sold out.

When an acceleration sensor or an impact sensor is used as the ice discharge amount detection sensor (7), if sherbet-shaped ice is discharged, it becomes difficult to detect the ice discharge, and therefore the door discharge There is a risk that the opening time will be longer and the ice will be sold out. By the way, the reason why ice becomes sherbet is
This is the case where the product is left at high temperature and high humidity after ice making, and sherbet-like ice does not come out immediately after ice making. On the other hand, when the level of ice in the ice making machine (3) is lowered, the ice making machine (3) is operated and sherbet-like ice is not discharged. Therefore, sherbet-like ice may be discharged while the ice making machine (3) is stopped, so that the ice making machine (3) determines that the ice sold out while the ice making machine (3) is in operation. I have to.

Further, even if the ice discharge amount detection sensor (7) fails, it may be judged that the ice discharge amount has been sold out. Therefore, it is necessary to check the function of whether the ice discharge amount detection sensor (7) is normal or not. I have to. At that time, there is always ice in the ice making machine (3) immediately after ice making, and when there is no sale at this time, a small amount of ice is tested and sold, and the ice discharge amount detection sensor (7 ) Function is checked.

[0010]

1 is a control block diagram showing an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. This vending machine has an individual control device (slave) for each function such as money management and product unloading, etc., and each of these control control devices is comprehensively controlled by the main control device (master). The master / slave method is adopted. Reference numeral 1 is its master, 2 is a communication interface for communicating with the master 1, and connected to this communication interface 2 is a slave S for controlling the ice making machine 3.

In the ice making machine 3, 4 is a compressor for making ice, 5 is a door for discharging the ice made by the ice making machine 3 to the outside, and 6 is for opening and closing the door. It is a door solenoid. An ice discharge amount detection sensor 7 detects the amount of ice discharged.

[0012] In the slave S, 11 is a door control mechanism for beverage dispensing, when the door opening time T ₀ for the beverage from the master 1 is input, the ice discharge amount Q from the door opening time T _{0 0} is calculated and an opening command is issued to the door solenoid 6 to start ice discharge. However, the ice discharge amount Q detected by the ice discharge amount detection sensor 7 is Q _0.
When it reaches, the output of the open command is stopped. 12 is
It is a timer that measures the time T during which the open command is output from the door control mechanism 11. 13 is the door command opening time T ₀
It is a sold-out determination unit that determines the sold-out of ice by comparing with the actual door opening time T.

Reference numeral 14 denotes an ice making machine operation control section for controlling the operation of the compressor 4 of the ice making machine 3, and the sold-out judging section 1
The operation is started by the sold-out signal from 3. 15 is
The ice discharge amount detection sensor 7
Is a test ejection mechanism for knowing whether or not is functioning normally.

The control operation of the ice discharge control device having the above structure will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. If there is a request to sell the beverage, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S2,
Door opening time T ₀ for the beverage as a vending command is taken in door control mechanism 11, thereby, ice discharge amount Q ₀ with respect to the door opening time T ₀ at step S3 is calculated. or,
By outputting the command to open the door in step S4,
The door 5 is opened through the door solenoid 6, the discharge of ice is started, and the signal of the door opening command is output, so that the timer 12 starts counting time.

In step S6, the amount Q of ejected ice is detected by the ice ejection amount detection sensor 7, and step S7
So whether the discharge amount Q has reached the Q ₀ is the determination, in the case of Q <Q _0, by returning to the step S4, although the discharge of ice is continued, at a Q = Q ₀ From step S7 to step S8, the output of the door opening command signal is stopped, which stops the discharge of ice and stops the timer 12 at step S9.

In step S10, the time measured by the timer 12, that is, the ratio of the door output command signal output period T and the door open time T ₀ is obtained. When T / T ₀ is less than 2,
Assuming that there is sufficient ice in the ice making machine 3, steps S11 to S13 are skipped and the present flow ends, but if T / T ₀ is 2 or more, in step S11,
At present, it is determined whether or not the compressor 4 is in operation. If the compressor 4 is not in operation, this flow is terminated without determining that it is sold out, but if it is in operation, the process further proceeds to step S12.
Based on the output of the test ejection mechanism 15, it is determined whether the ice ejection amount detection sensor 7 is normal (the determination method will be described later),
If there is a failure, this flow ends, but if there is no failure, an ice sold-out signal is output from the sold-out determination unit 13 in step S13.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for determining whether the ice discharge amount detection sensor 7 is normal or abnormal, which is performed by the test discharge mechanism section 15. First, in step S21, it is determined whether or not the ice making machine 3 has been activated in step S22 by checking for the presence or absence of a signal of an operation command from the ice making machine operation control unit 14. Although this flow ends, in the case of starting, the process proceeds from step S22 to step S23, and the number of times of starting is counted. Then, the count value is determined in step S24, and if it is less than 10 times, this flow ends, but if it is the 10th activation, step S25
Then, the count value of the number of activations is cleared, and the presence or absence of the signal of the sales command from the master 1 is checked in step S26, so that it is determined in step S27 whether or not it is currently on sale.

If it is currently on sale, this flow is ended, but only when it is not on sale, a test ejection signal is output in step S28, so that ice is ejected for a certain period of time. Along with this, the signal of the ice discharge amount Q detected by the ice discharge amount detection sensor 7 is input, so that in step S30, the previous ice discharge amount Q is not output or its value Q is expected to be output. If it deviates significantly from the value,
It is determined that the ice discharge amount detection sensor 7 is abnormal, and step S3
1, the test discharge mechanism unit 15 to the sold-out determination unit 13
A signal indicating a sensor abnormality is sent to.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the actual opening time of the ice discharging door at the time of sale becomes longer than the opening time according to the sales instruction by a certain ratio or more, the inside of the ice making machine Since it was determined that the amount of ice in the ice has decreased, more accurate determination of sold-out ice is possible compared to the conventional method of estimating the remaining amount of ice in the ice making machine by integrating the ice discharge amount for each sale. It can be done, and thus when selling beverages in succession, a larger number of beverages can be sold. In addition, when it is determined that the ice is sold out, it is performed only when the ice making machine is operating.Therefore, the discharged ice becomes a sherbet shape and the ice discharge amount detection sensor does not function properly, and the door opening time Can be prevented from being erroneously determined to be sold out of ice, and the function of the ice discharge amount detection sensor itself is also checked, so that the reliability of determination of sold out of ice can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram showing an embodiment of an ice discharge control device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control operation in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for checking the operation of an ice discharge amount detection sensor in the apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Master 2 Communication Interface 3 Ice Maker 4 Compressor 5 Door 6 Door Solenoid 7 Ice Discharge Detection Sensor 11 Door Control Mechanism 12 Timer 13 Sold Out Judgment Section 14 Ice Maker Operation Control Section 15 Test Discharge Mechanism S Slave

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A door (5) for ice discharge of an ice making machine (3) is opened based on an opening time T ₀ output as a sales command, and the amount Q of ice actually discharged is thereby discharged. Quantity detection sensor
An ice discharge control device for closing the door (5) when the ice discharge amount Q detected by (7) reaches the ice discharge amount Q ₀ corresponding to the door opening time T _0. A timer (12) for measuring the opening time of the door (5), and a sold-out determination unit that determines that the ice is sold out when the time measured by the timer T is longer than a certain ratio with respect to the door opening time T ₀ (13) An ice discharge control device comprising: 2. The sold-out determination unit (13) is an ice machine.
Judgment is made during the operation of (3) and / or the ice making machine (3)
The ice discharge control device according to claim 1, further comprising means (15) for checking the function of the ice discharge amount detection sensor (7) during the operation of.