JPH08212434A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent unnecessary constitution which does not contribute to vending from being obtained by storing data corresponding to a column which contains no article to be vended so that the data corresponds to a selecting means. CONSTITUTION: On the memory 22 of the automatic vending machine 1, a button number storage area and a column number storage area consisting of a 1st storage area and a 2nd storage area are set. In the 1st storage area, 1st data as the numbers of columns C previously set for respective selection buttons S are stored and in the 2nd storage area, 2nd data as numbers of columns other than specific columns C are stored in area parts corresponding to the specific columns C. When one of the selecting means is operated to purchase an article, the column corresponding to the 2nd data is selected out of the storage means first and when the 2nd data is not found, the column corresponding to the 1st data is selected. Consequently, the columns where articles are stored and the selecting means can be made to correspond to each other and a state wherein some of the selecting means do not contribute to purchases of articles can be prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to vending machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a vending machine 1 commonly referred to in the prior arts and embodiments described below.

As an example, in a vending machine that sells cigarettes and the like, a display section 3 for displaying a plurality of products is provided on the front surface of the front door 2 in four stages as an example. Further, on the front surface of the front door 2, a plurality of selection buttons S, which are selection means for selecting each product, are arranged at positions corresponding to each product sample of the display section 3. Button numbers such as S1, S2, ..., Sn are sequentially set in advance in each selection button S. In addition, each selection button S has
A sellable lamp that is lit to identify a product that can be sold according to the amount of money put in, and a sold-out lamp that is lit to display a sold-out state are incorporated.

On the front surface of the front door 2, a bill insertion slot 5, a coin slot 6, the amount of coins thrown in, and the remaining amount due to the purchase of merchandise are displayed. A monetary amount display 7 including segments, a change port 8 for returning change, and a product outlet 9 are provided. Also,
A bulk buying button 10 that is operated when bulk buying a plurality of products is provided.

Inside the automatic vending machine 1, the same number of columns as the number of samples and selection buttons S of each commodity displayed in the display section 3 or more columns are provided. At least one selection button is associated with each column. A plurality of products are stored in each column, and in response to the operation of the select button S, the product of the column corresponding to the operated select button S is transferred by the product transport mechanism provided for each column. It is transported to the outlet 9 and taken out by the user.

[0006]

Depending on the vending machine, some columns of the plurality of columns may be used for storing articles unrelated to the articles to be sold.
In particular, a gift may be stored as the article. That is, when a specific product is purchased, a product having a predetermined amount of money or more is purchased at one time, or a model having an optical lottery device installed on the front door 2 as an example, the selection button S
There is a case where the lottery device performs a lottery by the above operation and the prize stored in the column is carried out to the outside when the lottery is won.

In such a case, it is necessary to put the selection button S corresponding to the column in which the prize is stored in the inoperable state such as the sold-out state, and the selection button S becomes useless. Further, the display portion corresponding to the column of the display unit 3 does not contribute to the sale of the product even if the sample is displayed, and this display portion is also wasted.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent useless construction that does not contribute to the sale of products and to use the vending machine with high efficiency. Is to provide.

[0009]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine having a plurality of selecting means for selecting a plurality of products to be sold and a plurality of storing means for storing the plurality of products to be sold. Column and any one of the plurality of columns previously associated with each of the selection means are stored, and the second column data of any one of the plurality of columns is rewritten. The storage means that is stored as much as possible, and the second column data and the first column data in the storage means corresponding to the operated selection means are stored in correspondence with the operation of any one of the plurality of selection means. Read in order and read second
When the column corresponding to the column data is selected and there is no second column data, the column selecting means for selecting the column corresponding to the first column data and the column selected by the column selecting means It is equipped with a product transporting means for transporting a product, by which,
The above object can be achieved.

An automatic vending machine according to a second aspect of the present invention further includes display portions of product samples provided at positions corresponding to the plurality of selection means, thereby achieving the above object. can do.

[0011]

According to the invention of claim 1, a plurality of products to be sold are selected by operating any one of the plurality of selecting means. Here, when the product to be sold is not stored in some of the plurality of columns, the second column data corresponding to this column is made to correspond to the selection means corresponding to this column, and the storage means is stored. To memorize. Accordingly, when one of the plurality of selection means is operated when purchasing the product, the column selection means stores the second column data and the first column data in the storage means corresponding to the operated selection means. In this order, the column corresponding to the read second column data is selected, and if there is no second column data, the column corresponding to the first column data is selected.

When the second column data corresponding to the operated selection means is stored in the storage means, the column selection means selects the column corresponding to the second column data, and the commodity transport means is the column selection means. The goods are transported from the column selected by. The second column data corresponding to the operated selection unit is not stored in the storage unit, and the first column data
When the column data is stored, the column selecting means selects the column corresponding to the first column data, and the product carrying means carries the product from the column selected by the column selecting means.

In this way, any of the plurality of selecting means can be associated with the column in which the product to be sold is stored, and some of the plurality of selecting means do not contribute to the sale of the product. It is possible to prevent a situation in which the structure becomes useless.

Further, a sample that contributes to the sale of the product can be displayed in the product display part at the position corresponding to the selection means in which the second column data is stored, and a part of the plurality of display parts can be displayed. It is possible to prevent a situation in which a wasteful configuration that does not contribute to the sale of products is created.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the useless structure which does not contribute to the sale of the product from occurring and to realize the vending machine which can be used with high efficiency.

[0016]

1 is a block diagram for explaining the electrical construction of a vending machine 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vending machine 1 as seen from the front. FIG. 2 is referred to in the section of the related art, and the configuration of the vending machine 1 is described. In the following description, for the mechanical structure of the vending machine 1, refer to the description of the structure given in the section of the prior art, and the description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 1, a vending machine 1
The electrical configuration of will be described.

The vending machine 1 is provided with a control unit 11 including a microcomputer as an example. A plurality of columns C arranged inside the vending machine 1 are connected to the control unit 11. Inside the column C, products (cigarettes) and prizes are stacked and stored.
Column numbers C1 to Cn are preset for each column C. Tobacco is stored in the column numbers C1, C2 and C1 to Cn, and prizes are stored in the column number C3. The column with column number C3 is
It is called a specific column.

A plurality of selection buttons S on the front surface of the front door 2
Are arranged on the front surface of the front door 2 of the vending machine 1 at a position corresponding to the display position of each product sample in the display section 3, and are associated with each column C in a one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-one correspondence beforehand. Has been.

Each selection button S has L as an example.
Sold-out lamp 13 consisting of ED (light emitting diode) etc.
Also, a sellable lamp 14 is built in, and the control unit 11 controls the lit state or the extinguished state. The sold-out lamp 13 is turned off in the standby state when the corresponding column C has the product in stock, and is lit when there is no product in the stock. The salable lamp 14 is turned off during standby, and is lit when the sold-out lamp 13 is not lit as described above and a deposit of the minimum selling price or more is received.

The control section 11 also includes the bill insertion slot 5
Bill Bali 15 which is arranged on the back surface of the bill and detects the number of bills inserted from the bill insertion slot 5 for each denomination, and the coin insertion slot 6
A coin mech 16 for detecting the number of coins inserted from each denomination, and a transport mechanism 1 provided for each column C and transporting the products in each column C one by one toward the outlet 9.
7 and the amount display 7 are connected. Further, the control unit 11 is connected to an operation input panel 18 installed inside the vending machine 1 and used for management of the vending machine 1 and data input. The control unit 11 includes a CPU
(Central processing unit) 19, I / O (input / output) port 2
0, a timer 21, and a memory 22 including a RAM (writeable / readable memory) and the like are provided.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the stored contents of the memory 22.

In the memory 22, a button number storage area 23 in which the button numbers 1 to n preset for each selection button S are stored, and column numbers in which the column numbers C1 to Cn are allocated and stored. The storage area 24 is set. In the column number storage area 24, the first
The storage area 25 and the second storage area 26 are set to have a partial area for each button number.

The first storage area 25 stores the column number of the column C preset in each selection button S. For example, C1 for S1 and C2 for S2.

In the second storage area 26, column numbers other than the specific column C are stored in the area corresponding to the specific column C. That is, it is difficult for the specified column C3 to carry out the prize from this column number, and therefore another column number, for example, C2 is stored. As a result, the button number S3 stores the column number C2 in the second area. Hereinafter, the selection button with the button number S3 is referred to as a specific selection button. Further, the symbol B attached to the second area 26 indicates a blank area in which the column number is not stored.

Hereinafter, the column number stored in the first storage area 25 will be referred to as first data, and the column number stored in the second storage area 26 will be referred to as second data.

Further, this vending machine includes a lottery device 3
0 is provided. The lottery device 30 starts its operation when the selection button S is pressed, and kicks out a win with a certain probability. Then, when a winning signal is output from the lottery device 30, the control device 11 carries out the prize stored in the column number C3.

The sales state of the vending machine having the above-mentioned structure will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S1, when the customer puts in money, in step 2, the currently available sellable lamp is turned on.

When the customer presses the select button S in step 3, the process proceeds to step 4.

In step 4, it is determined whether or not the selected selection button S is a specific selection button. Since the specific selection button is S3 as described above, if the selection button S3 is pressed, the process proceeds to step 6,
If any other selection button S is pressed, the process proceeds to step 5.

In step 5, since the normal selection button S is pressed, the product of the column number of the first data is sold. For example, when the selection button S1 is pressed, the product with the column number C1 is sold.

In step 6, the specific setting button S3
Since is pressed, the product of the column number of the second data is sold. Since the column number C2 is stored in the selection button S3, the product of the column number C2 is unloaded.

In step 7, due to the action of the lottery device 30, if the prize is won, the prize is taken out in step 8 and the process is ended.

As described above, in the vending machine 1 of the present embodiment, the specific selection button S3 corresponding to the specific column C3 in which the prize is stored cannot be conventionally used, but the second data is used. By providing the item, when the selection button S3 is pressed, the product stored in the column of the column number C2 is unloaded. Therefore, the selection button S can be effectively used, and a prize or the like other than the product can be stored in the column.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, when some of the plurality of columns do not store merchandise to be sold, the second column data corresponding to this column is stored.
The storage means is made to correspond to the selection means corresponding to this column. In addition, when purchasing one of the selection means when purchasing a product,
The column selection means reads the second column data and the first column data in the storage means corresponding to the operated selection means in this order, selects the column corresponding to the read second column data, and selects the second column data. If there is no column, the column corresponding to the first column data is selected.

In this way, any of the plurality of selection means can be associated with the column in which the product to be sold is stored, and some of the plurality of selection means do not contribute to the sale of the product. It is possible to prevent a situation in which the structure becomes useless. In addition, a sample that contributes to the sale of the product can be displayed in the product display portion at the position corresponding to the selection means in which the second column data is stored, and some of the plurality of display portions can sell the product. It is possible to prevent a situation in which a useless configuration that does not contribute to Therefore, it is possible to prevent a wasteful configuration that does not contribute to the sale of the product, and realize a vending machine that can be used with high efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a vending machine 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vending machine 10 as viewed from the front.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating stored contents of a memory 22.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the vending machine 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vending Machine 4 Selection Button 11 Control Unit 14 Sellable Lamp 22 Memory 23 Button Number Storage Area 24 Column Number Storage Area 25 First Storage Area 26 Second Storage Area

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of selection means for selecting each of a plurality of products to be sold, a plurality of columns for storing each of the plurality of products to be sold, and each corresponding to each of the selection means in advance. Storage means for storing first column data of any one of the plurality of attached columns and rewritable storage of second column data of any one of the plurality of columns; Corresponding to any one operation,
The second column data and the first column data in the storage means corresponding to the operated selection means are read in this order, the column corresponding to the read second column data is selected, and the second column data is If not,
An automatic vending machine comprising: a column selecting unit that selects the column corresponding to the first column data; and a product conveying unit that conveys the product from the column selected by the column selecting unit. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising display portions of product samples provided at positions respectively corresponding to the plurality of selection means.