JPH08287302A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide the automatic vending machine which enables plural articles to correctly be purchased and greatly simplifies the trouble to purchase an article. CONSTITUTION: The automatic vending machine 1 is equipped with a control part 8, respective selection buttons 3 are connected, and the control part 8 detects the buttons being operated. A vendable lamp 9 is built in each-selection button 3 and the control part 8 controls its illumination state or extinction state. A bill validation 10, a coin mechanism 11, a printer 12, a conveying mechanism 13, an operation input panel 14, and an amount display part 18 are connected to the control part 8 respectively. The control part 8 is provided with a memory 15 and when selection buttons 3 are operated successively, the successively operated selection buttons 3 are stored in the order of the operations. The control part 8 prints ticket pieces corresponding to the button numbers stored in the operation order in the memory 15 on a printer 12 in order and conveys them out.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine for selling ticket pieces such as a movie theater entrance ticket and a cafeteria meal ticket.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a movie theater or a dining room,
Tickets such as admission tickets and food tickets are sold at vending machines prior to use, and only users who purchase these tickets can enter the movie theater or receive services to provide food at the cafeteria. There are times when you are trying to do so. In the conventional ticket vending machine as described above, either one of an operation mode in which a plurality of ticket pieces can be continuously purchased and an operation mode in which only one ticket piece can be purchased. It can be set to mode. When the vending machine is set to the operation mode in which a plurality of ticket pieces can be purchased continuously, the user can select the required ticket piece by operating one or more selection buttons of the vending machine. select. When operating multiple selection buttons,
After the ticket corresponding to the selection button operated first is conveyed to the product outlet, the next product is selected and the corresponding selection button is operated. The vending machine stores the next operated selection button and conveys the corresponding ticket. The user repeats this operation to purchase a plurality of ticket pieces.

[0003]

In the above prior art, when a plurality of coupons are continuously purchased by the vending machine, the next selection button is carried after one coupon has been conveyed to the commodity outlet. Since it is necessary to operate, it is necessary to decide the selection button to be operated next while transporting one product and prepare to operate it, and when purchasing multiple coupons, purchased coupons It becomes difficult to grasp the number of tickets and the number of unpurchased tickets, which makes it difficult to accurately purchase the tickets. It Also, if there is a change in the product that should be purchased during the purchase of multiple tickets, it will take time and effort to find the corresponding ticket, and if it takes time, the vending machine will return the change. There is a problem with.

The invention of claim 1 has been made to solve the above-mentioned technical problem, and the purpose thereof is to be able to accurately purchase a plurality of products and to reduce the labor required to purchase the products. It is to provide a vending machine that is significantly simplified.

[0005]

An automatic vending machine according to the present invention comprises a plurality of selecting means for selecting a plurality of products to be sold and a plurality of continuously operated selecting means. Operation storage means for storing, transport means for transporting the product selected by continuous operation of the selection means, and products corresponding to the operated selection means stored in the operation storage means. Is provided with a control means for causing the carrying means to sequentially carry the goods to the outside, whereby the above object can be achieved.

[0006]

According to the invention of claim 1, when a plurality of products are purchased, a plurality of selecting means are operated continuously. The operation storage means sequentially stores a plurality of selection means that have been operated continuously. The control means causes the transportation means to sequentially convey the commodities corresponding to the operated plurality of selection means stored in the operation storage means to the outside.

Thus, when a plurality of products are continuously purchased by the vending machine, it is possible to eliminate the need to operate the next selecting means after one product is conveyed, and it is possible to deal with the necessary products. It suffices to continuously operate the selecting means to be operated. Therefore, when purchasing a plurality of products, the number of purchased products and the number of unpurchased products can be surely grasped, and accurate purchase of products can be realized. Further, when the change of the product to be purchased occurs during the purchase of the plurality of products, in the present invention, since the selecting means corresponding to the plurality of products are operated at once, it is troublesome to search for the selecting means corresponding to the changed products. Is simplified. The labor required to purchase a product is significantly simplified.

[0008]

1 is a block diagram for explaining the electrical construction of a vending machine 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the vending machine 1 according to this embodiment. Hereinafter, a configuration example of the vending machine 1 of the present embodiment will be described in accordance with the case where a meal ticket in a cafeteria is sold. The external configuration of the vending machine 1 will be described below. On the front surface 2 of the vending machine 1, there are arranged selection buttons 3 as a selection means corresponding to the number of meal items provided as an example, and a coin slot 4 and a bill slot 5 are provided below the selection buttons 3. Each select button 3 has a sellable lamp, which will be described later, built therein. Furthermore, a change-out return port 6 and a merchandise take-out port 7 through which the purchased meal ticket is conveyed are provided in the lower part thereof. The selection button 3 includes
Button numbers such as 1, 2, ..., Nm are sequentially set in advance. In addition, on the front part 2, the amount of coins inserted,
Further, as an example of displaying the remaining amount due to the purchase of the product, a money amount display unit 18 including a plurality of digits of a day character segment is provided.

The electrical construction of the vending machine 1 will be described below. The vending machine 1 includes, for example, a control unit 8 which is a control unit realized by a microcomputer or the like,
The selection buttons 3 are connected, and the operation of the selection buttons 3 is detected by the control unit 8. Each select button 3 has a sellable lamp 9 formed of an LED (light emitting diode) or the like as an example, and the control unit 8 controls the lighting state or the extinguishing state as described later. The control unit 8
Includes a bill bar 10 for detecting the number of banknotes inserted into the vending machine 1 from the banknote insertion slot 5 for each denomination, and a coin mech for detecting the number of coins inserted through the coin insertion slot 4 for each denomination. 11, a printer 12 for printing necessary items on a band-shaped paper unwound from a roll paper, for example, the band-shaped paper is conveyed to the printer 12, and the band-shaped paper after printing is cut into a predetermined length. After that, the transport mechanism 13 constituting a transport means for transporting the meal ticket obtained by cutting to the product takeout port 7
An operation input panel 14 which is built in the vending machine 1 and used for management of the vending machine 1 and data input, and the amount display section 18 are connected to each other. Control unit 8
Calculates the total amount to be inserted from the number of inserted coins for each denomination detected by the bill bar 10 and the coin mech 11. In addition, the control unit 8 is provided with a memory 15, which is an operation storage unit including, for example, a RAM (writable / readable storage element). As will be described later, in the memory 15, when the selection buttons 3 are continuously operated, the selection buttons 3 that have been operated continuously are stored in the order of operation.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the stored contents of the memory 15. The memory 15 stores an operation order storage area 16 in which the operation order of 1, 2, ..., N of the continuously operated selection buttons 3 and the button number of the continuously operated selection buttons 3 are stored. The sequentially stored button number storage area 17 is set. In the partial area of the button number storage area 17 corresponding to each of the above-mentioned operation orders, as an example, continuously operated button numbers are n1, n2, n3, ...
Each is stored like nm.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the vending machine 1 of this embodiment. With reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, the operations when a plurality of products are purchased by the vending machine 1 and when a single product is purchased will be described respectively. First, the case of purchasing a plurality of products will be described. In step a1, the process waits until money is inserted from the coin insertion slot 4 and the bill insertion slot 5. When the insertion of money is detected in step a1, the sellable lamp 9 corresponding to the merchandise that can be sold for the total amount of money inserted in step a2 is turned on. At step a3, the operation of the selection button 3 is detected. When the operation of the selection button 3 is not detected in step a3, the process proceeds to step a8, and it is determined whether or not the conveyance of the product is completed. This decision is
This is realized by detecting whether or not the product transport mechanism 13 shown in FIG. 1 finishes the operation of transporting the food ticket obtained by being printed and cut into a predetermined length to the product outlet 7. Specifically, for example, it is realized by detecting whether or not a motor or the like included in the transport mechanism 13 has been driven for a predetermined period from a predetermined timing.

In the present description, the transportation of the goods has been completed, and the processing moves to step a9, and it is judged whether or not there is the blinkable sellable lamp 9. Since there is no blinkable sellable lamp 9, the process proceeds to step a10 and it is determined whether a predetermined time has passed. This predetermined time is the time until the user selects the selection button 3 to be operated after the money is inserted. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process moves to step a3 to detect the operation of the selection button 3. Thereby, during the predetermined time,
The operation of the selection button 3 is awaited. When a predetermined time has passed in step a10, the change is returned in step a11. According to the present explanation, the coins that have been inserted are 10
Or returned from CoinMech 11.

When the operation of any one of the selection buttons 3 is detected in step a3, it is determined in step a4 whether or not the total input amount is less than the amount of the merchandise of the operated selection button 3 and the balance is insufficient. . If there is no shortage of the remaining amount, the corresponding salable lamp 9 blinks in step a5, and the button number set in the selection button 3 operated in step a6 becomes the first operation order of the memory 15 shown in FIG. Remembered. In step a7, step a3
The transportation of the product corresponding to the selection button 3 operated in step 3 is started. In this embodiment, the strip-shaped paper is fed out from the roll paper, the items corresponding to the selection buttons 3 are printed by the printer 12, and are conveyed toward the product take-out port 7.
In step a8, it is determined as described above whether or not the product transportation is completed.

When it is determined in step a8 that the product has not been transported, it is determined in step a3 whether another selection button 3 has been operated. Here, if another selection button 3 is operated, the process proceeds to step a4, and it is determined whether or not the balance is insufficient. If there is no shortage of the remaining amount, the corresponding salable lamp 9 blinks in step a5. At step a6, the button number set for the operated selection button 3 is stored in the second operation order of the memory 15. At step a7, the conveyance of the commodity being conveyed is continued. In step a8, it is determined as described above whether or not the product transportation is completed. If the product has not been conveyed, the process returns to step a3 to detect the operation of the next selection button 3.

In this way, it becomes possible to operate a plurality of selection buttons 3 while the product is being conveyed, the operated selection buttons 3 are displayed in blinking, and the fact that the blinking selection buttons 3 have been operated means that the buttons have been operated. The numbers are stored in the memory 15 in order of operation.

If it is determined in step a4 that the remaining amount is insufficient, the process proceeds to step a12, and the operation of the other selection buttons 3 causes the remaining amount to be insufficient. The remaining amount shortage notification operation is performed by a display operation such as "," or a voice alarm operation. After that, the process proceeds to step a7, and the transportation of the product being transported is continued.

When it is determined in step a8 that the goods have been conveyed, it is determined in step a9 whether or not there is the flashable sellable lamp 9. If there is a blinkable sellable lamp 9, the next product is transported in step a7. As described above, this carrying operation is performed by
This is an operation in which a strip of paper is unwound from the roll paper, the item corresponding to the selection button 3 is printed by the printer 12, and the product is conveyed toward the product outlet 7. If it is determined in step a8 that the product has not been conveyed, the process returns to step a3 to detect the operation of another selection button 3 again.

After that, the same processing is repeated, and when the balance shortage occurs in step a4, the balance shortage notification operation is performed in step a12 as described above, and steps a7 to a7.
Selection button 3 operated before the balance shortage occurred in 9
The products corresponding to are sequentially transported. If it is determined in step a9 that there is no blinkable sellable lamp 9, the process proceeds to step a10, and the operation of the selection button 3 again is detected for a predetermined time as described above. If the selection button 3 is not operated even after the lapse of a predetermined time, step a11
The change will be returned at.

In this way, the vending machine 1 of this embodiment is
Then, when purchasing a plurality of products continuously, the necessary selection buttons 3 can be operated continuously.

Next, the case of purchasing a single product will be described. The processing from step a1 to a7 is the same as the above description, and the repeated description is omitted. At step a8, it is judged whether the transportation of the product is completed.
If the product has not been conveyed in step a8, the process returns to step a3 to wait for the operation of another selection button 3,
In the present explanation, since the other selection buttons 3 are not operated,
In step a8, the process waits until it is determined that the product transportation is completed. When it is detected in step a8 that the product transportation is completed, it is determined in step a9 whether or not there is the flashable sellable lamp 9. In the present process, since there is no blinkable sellable lamp 9, the determination in step a9 is negative, and in step a10, it is determined whether or not the predetermined time has elapsed, as described above. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the change obtained by subtracting the price of the purchased product from the amount of money input is returned in step a11 as described above.

As described above, in the automatic vending machine 1 of this embodiment, when a plurality of ticket pieces are continuously purchased, the operation of operating the next selection button 3 after one ticket piece is conveyed is performed. The need to repeatedly purchase a plurality of ticket strips is eliminated, and the selection button 3 corresponding to the ticket strip may be operated continuously. Therefore, when purchasing a plurality of coupons, the number of purchased coupons, the number of non-purchased coupons, and the like can be surely grasped, and accurate purchase of the coupons can be realized. Also, if there is a change in the coupon that should be purchased while purchasing multiple coupons,
In the present embodiment, the select buttons 3 corresponding to a plurality of coupons are operated at once, and the sellable lamp 9 incorporated in the operated select buttons 3 blinks for identification display. The labor for searching for the selection button 3 corresponding to is simplified, and the labor required for purchasing the ticket is significantly simplified.

Further, if the balance shortage occurs during the continuous operation of the plurality of selection buttons 3, the operation of the selection button 3 that caused the shortage of the balance is not accepted, and the balance shortage notification operation is performed. Therefore, the user can easily and surely recognize the occurrence of the shortage of the remaining amount, and the ticket can be purchased accurately. Further, even if the remaining amount of shortage occurs, it is possible to operate the other selection buttons 3 while the bills are being conveyed, so it is easy to change to purchase a low-priced bill. , The convenience is greatly improved.

Further, when purchasing a plurality of ticket pieces, if the purchase of the next ticket piece is unnecessary even when the remaining amount is sufficient, the selection button 3 is operated during the transportation of the last ticket piece. Good if not. At this time, the change is returned after the last ticket is transported. In this way, the time and effort required to purchase the product can be simplified.

In the above embodiment, the vending machine 1 for selling coupons such as meal tickets is explained, but the present invention is easily applicable to vending machines for selling other products such as soft drinks and cigarettes. Will be carried out.

[0025]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,
When purchasing a plurality of products, a plurality of selecting means can be operated continuously. The operation storage means sequentially stores a plurality of continuously operated selection means, and the control means sequentially transfers the commodities corresponding to the operated plurality of selection means stored in the operation storage means by the conveying means. It was designed to be transported to the outside. This eliminates the need to operate the next selection means after one product has been conveyed when purchasing multiple products in succession with the vending machine,
When purchasing a plurality of products, the number of purchased products and the number of unpurchased products can be surely grasped, and accurate purchase of products can be realized. Further, when the change of the product to be purchased occurs during the purchase of the plurality of products, in the present invention, since the selecting means corresponding to the plurality of products are operated at once, it is troublesome to search for the selecting means corresponding to the changed products. Is simplified. The labor required to purchase a product is significantly simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a front view of the vending machine 1 of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating storage contents of a memory 15.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the vending machine 1 of this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vending Machine 3 Selection Button 8 Control Unit 9 Sellable Lamp 10 Bill Barry 11 Coimmec 12 Printer 13 Transport Mechanism 15 Memory 16 Operation Order Storage Area 17 Button Number Storage Area

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of selection means for selecting a plurality of products to be sold, an operation storage means for sequentially storing a plurality of continuously operated selection means, and a continuous operation of the selection means. Transporting means for transporting the commodity selected by the external means, and the commodity corresponding to the continuously operated selecting means stored in the operation storing means, sequentially transferred to the outside by the transporting means. A vending machine equipped with control means for transporting.