JPH0944745A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately control the upper limit temperature for guarantee of the quality of a hot commodity or the lower limit temperature for prevention of freezing of a cold commodity by controlling turning-on/off of a heater and a compressor by not the air temperature but the commodity temperature. SOLUTION: A heating means 51 heats the commodity, a motor compressor 52 compresses a refrigerant, and a valve 53 supplies the compressed refrigerant to a cooling box. A temperature detection means 54 is provided so as to detect the temperature of the commodity, and the temperature for turning-on/off of the heating means 51 and that of cooling operation of the motor compressor and the valve 53 are set by a setting means 55. Data of temperatures set by the setting means 55 is stored in a storage means 56, and a control means 57 compares the commodity temperature detected from the hot commodity with temperatures for turning-on/off to turn on/off the heating means 51 and compares the commodity temperature detected from the cold commodity with temperatures for turning-on/off to turn on/off the motor compressor 52 and the valve 53.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vending machine provided with a cooling and heating device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of vending machine,
The air temperature is detected as the internal temperature, and the motor compressor and heater are turned on and off. That is, the lower limit temperature and the upper limit temperature are set so that the specified product temperature becomes the median value for each room for each heating cabinet and cooling cabinet, and if the air temperature in the heating cabinet is below the lower limit temperature, the heater is turned on. When the air temperature is turned on and the air temperature exceeds the upper limit temperature due to this heating, the heater is turned off. In the refrigerator, the compressor is turned on when the air temperature exceeds the upper limit temperature, and the compressor is turned off when the air temperature is lower than the lower limit temperature due to this cooling.

[0003]

As described above, since the air temperature in the refrigerator is detected as the refrigerator temperature and the temperature is controlled based on the air temperature, the temperature of the product itself is not detected. When the product reaches the specified temperature, the heater or compressor is stopped when the air temperature reaches the specified temperature before the specified temperature is reached. It takes a long time, and if the sales are prohibited during that time, the sales opportunity is missed, and when the sales are permitted, products that are not at the specified temperature are sold. In this way, there is a temperature difference between the product temperature and the air temperature in the refrigerator, so the upper limit temperature for maintaining the quality of hot products (especially beverages with milk) or the lower limit temperature for preventing freezing of cold products is accurate. I can't manage it.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vending machine which solves the above-mentioned problems by controlling the on / off of the heater and the compressor not by the air temperature but by the product temperature.

[0005]

As shown in FIG. 1, a cooling and heating control device for a vending machine according to the present invention comprises a heating means (51) for heating a product and a motor compressor (5) for compressing a refrigerant.
2) and a valve that supplies compressed refrigerant to the refrigerator (53)
And temperature detection means (54) provided to detect the temperature of the product
And an on temperature TCon / for turning on / off the heating means (51)
The off temperature TCoff and the cooling operation by the motor compressor (52) and the valve (53) are turned on / off to turn on the temperature T.
The setting means (55) for setting the Hon / off temperature THoff, the storage means (56) for storing the data of each temperature set by the setting means (55), and the product temperature detected for the hot product are set to the on-state. The temperature THon and the off temperature THoff are compared with the heating means (51), and the product temperature detected for the cold product is compared with the on temperature TCon and the off temperature TC.
Based on the on-off control from the control means (57) and the control means (57) for controlling the motor compressor (52) and the valve (53) on and off as compared with off, the heating means (51),
A motor compressor (52) and a drive means (58) for driving the valve (53) are provided.

[0006]

[Function] Instead of the conventional management by the temperature inside the compartment obtained by the air temperature, the temperature detection means (54) for detecting the temperature of the product itself is provided, and the temperature is controlled based on the product temperature. The above-mentioned problems are solved.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 is a schematic mechanical view showing an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. There are a left storage and a right storage in the storage chambers, and although only the front row is shown in this figure, there are, for example, three rows for the depth, so that there are a total of nine storage compartments.
With respect to the canned beverages Q stored in the respective storages, a temperature sensor S for detecting the can temperature of the canned beverages sold first, that is, the lowest canned beverage is provided. In the present embodiment, the number of temperature detection targets in each storage is one, but it may be arbitrarily determined according to various sales situations.

As a method of detecting the can temperature of the canned beverage Q, if a temperature sensor S is provided on a flapper that supports the canned beverage located at the lowest position, the lowest canned beverage can be supplied when the canned drink Q is fed from above. The temperature sensor S can be closely attached to the can wall of the beverage Q to detect the can temperature. A temperature sensor may be provided on the side wall of the storage box at a position where it comes into contact with the canned beverage.

Returning to FIG. 2, a heater 1 and an evaporator 3, a heater 2 and an evaporator 4 are provided in the left and right compartments, respectively. Reference numeral 5 is a motor compressor that compresses the refrigerant and circulates it to the evaporators 3 and 4 via the valves B ₁ and B ₂ . 6
Is a control device for controlling the vending machine as a whole. 7
Is a dip switch for setting the left compartment and the right compartment to the cooling compartment / heating compartment. In the present embodiment, the left compartment is set to the cooling compartment and the right compartment is set to the heating compartment.

Reference numeral 8 is a keyboard for setting and inputting various sales data (price data, etc.). In the present embodiment, the heater ON temperature THon, the heater OFF temperature THoff for the heaters 1 and 2, the motor compressor 5 and the valve B are further added. Cooler on temperature TCon, Cooler off temperature TCof
While setting f, three operating modes, namely, operating mode I: average temperature of hot products as can temperature,
Uses the average temperature of cold products.-Operation mode II: Uses the average temperature and maximum temperature of hot products as the can temperature, and the average temperature and minimum temperature of cold products.-Operation mode III: The maximum temperature and the minimum temperature of hot products as can temperature. It is equipped with a mode selection key that selects one of the maximum and minimum temperatures of cold products. The setting data by the keyboard 8 is stored in the RAM in the control device 6.

The control operation of the vending machine will be described below. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, step S1
When the operation mode is designated by the keyboard 8 at, the mode I,
Mode II and Mode III are adopted. The operation contents of each mode will be described in detail below.

The control operation when the operation mode I is first selected will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this operation mode, the average temperature of hot products and cold products is adopted as the can temperature, and the number of canned beverages to be detected is one for each storage box, so there are nine in total.

First, for the hot beverage in the right storage (heating storage),
Step S11 can temperature detected for the nine detected in the right chamber at an average temperature TH ₁ of them is calculated. In step S12, the average can temperature TH ₁ is determined or less than the heater on temperature THon. Now, the average can temperature TH ₁ at the time of power-on time of less than the heater on temperature THon, the heater 2 in step S13 is turned on, heating is initiated to the right box. In the next step S14, the average can temperature T
It is determined whether or not H ₁ has become equal to or higher than the heater-off temperature THoff, but since the temperature is still low at this point, the process proceeds to the next step for cold beverages.

In step S16, the temperatures of the nine canned beverages in the left storage (cooling storage) are detected, and their average temperatures TC ₁
Is calculated. In step S17, the average can temperature TC ₁ is determined whether there are coolers on temperature TCon more. Here, since the average can temperature TC ₁ is equal to or higher than the cooler ON temperature TCon, the motor compressor 5 is turned on in step S18, the valve B ₁ is opened, and cooling of the left container is started. In the next step S9, it is determined whether or not the average can temperature TC ₁ has become equal to or lower than the cooler off temperature TCoff, but since the temperature is still high at the present time, the process returns to the original step.

In this way, heating and cooling are started, and as a result, the average can temperature TH ₁ of the right chamber is set to the heater off temperature THo.
ff If the temperature is higher than the temperature, the process proceeds from step S14 to step S15, the heater 2 is turned off, and the heating is stopped. Also, the average can temperature TC ₁ in the left side compartment is the cooler off temperature THo
ff If the temperature is cooled below the temperature, the process proceeds from step S19 to step S20, the motor compressor 5 is stopped, the valve B ₂ is closed, and the cooling is stopped.

Next, the control operation when the operation mode II is selected will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this operation mode, the average temperature T for hot products is used as the can temperature.
H ₁ and maximum temperature TH ₂ are adopted, and average temperature TC ₁ and minimum temperature TC ₃ are adopted for cold products.

When the average temperature TH _{1 of the} hot beverage becomes equal to or lower than the heater-on temperature THon, the heater 2 is turned on in step S23 to start heating the right compartment, and the maximum temperature TH _{2 of the} hot beverage is equal to or higher than the heater-off temperature THoff. If it is heated to, the heater 2 is turned off in step S25. If the average temperature TC ₁ of the cold beverage becomes equal to or higher than the cooler on temperature TCon, the motor compressor 5 is turned on and the valve B ₁ is opened in step S28 to start cooling the left cabinet, When the minimum temperature TC _{3 of the} beverage is cooled to the cooler off temperature TCoff or lower, the motor compressor 5 is turned off and the valve B ₁ is closed to stop the cooling in step S30.

Finally, the control operation when the operation mode III is selected will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this operation mode, as the can temperature, the highest temperature TH ₂ and the lowest temperature TH ₃ are adopted for the hot product, and the highest temperature TC ₂ and the lowest temperature TC ₃ are adopted for the cold product.

When the lowest temperature TH _{3 of the} hot beverage becomes equal to or lower than the heater-on temperature THon, the heater 2 is turned on in step S33 to start heating the right compartment, and the highest temperature TH _{2 of the} hot beverage is equal to or higher than the heater-off temperature THoff. If it is heated to, the heater 2 is turned off in step S35. If the maximum temperature TC ₂ of the cold beverage becomes equal to or higher than the cooler on temperature TCon, the motor compressor 5 is turned on and the valve B ₁ is opened in step S38 to start the cooling of the left cabinet and the cold. When the minimum temperature TC _{3 of the} beverage is cooled to the cooler off temperature TCoff or less, the motor compressor 5 is turned off and the valve B ₁ is closed to stop the cooling in step S40.

Changes in the can temperature in each of the above operation modes I, II and III are shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, respectively.
In Mode I which adopts average temperature, even if there is extremely high temperature or low temperature, it is not greatly affected by it,
Processed at approximately average temperature. In Mode II,
Since the maximum temperature of the hot beverage is adopted as the off temperature THoff which is the upper limit temperature, it is most suitable for temperature control of milk beverages and the like in which components are destroyed by high temperature. Further, since the lowest temperature of the cold drink is adopted as the off temperature TCoff which is the lower limit temperature, freezing can be prevented. In the mode III, the lowest temperature of the hot beverage is adopted as the ON temperature THon which is the lower limit temperature, and therefore it is suitable for beverages in which various bacteria may be generated due to the temperature decrease. Further, since the maximum temperature of the cold beverage is adopted as the ON temperature TCon which is the upper limit temperature, it is suitable for a beverage having a limited upper limit temperature. In this way, the optimum operation mode can be selected according to the type of beverage sold.

In the embodiment described above, the right compartment is the heating compartment and the left compartment is the cooling compartment. However, the present invention can be applied to the case where both are set as the heating compartment or the cooling compartment. The control operation in such a case is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, respectively. In FIG. 10, the right warehouse is controlled in steps S11 to S15 in the same manner as in FIG. 4, and the same control is performed in the left warehouse in steps S11 ′ to S15 ′. In FIG. 11 as well, in steps S31 to S38, basically the same control as that of the above-described cooling box is performed.
When the valve B ₁ is closed at 36, the motor compressor 5 is turned off at step S 38 only when the other valve B ₂ is closed at this time. The same control as that for the right warehouse is performed for the left warehouse in steps S31 'to S38'. In this embodiment, the canned drink is adopted as the sale product, but the present invention can be applied to a bottled drink, a PET bottle and a paper pack drink.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the temperature of the product itself is detected and the temperature is controlled instead of detecting the air temperature in the refrigerator. Therefore, until the product reaches an appropriate temperature, The heater or compressor can be operated properly, the time required for cooling and heating can be shortened, and the product can be managed at an accurate temperature, so that deterioration of components and freezing due to high temperature heating can be eliminated. Further, in the conventional air temperature detecting device, the whole of the inside of the refrigerator must be caught as a uniform temperature, but in the case of detecting the temperature of each product as in the present invention, the object of temperature detection is It is possible to limit the products to be sold first, and by doing so, it is possible to put the products supplemented later (sales later) into the saleable state even if the temperature does not reach a predetermined temperature, and increase the sales chance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for responding to complaints of a vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic mechanism diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing operation mode selection in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control operation in operation mode I.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control operation in operation mode II.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the control operation in operation mode III.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing temperature changes of canned beverages in operation mode I.

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing temperature changes of canned beverages in operation mode II.

FIG. 9 is a time chart showing temperature changes of canned beverages in operation mode III.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a control operation in the operation mode I when both the right and left compartments are heating compartments.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the control operation when both the right and left compartments are cooling compartments in operation mode I.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Heater 2 Heater 3 Evaporator 4 Evaporator 5 Motor compressor 6 Controller 7 Dip switch 8 Keyboard S Temperature sensor B Valve

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A lower limit ON temperature THon and an upper limit OFF temperature THoff for a heating means for heating a product, and an upper limit ON temperature TCo for a cooling means for cooling a product.
n and the lower limit off temperature TCoff are set in advance, and the product temperature detected for the hot product is compared with the on temperature THon and the off temperature THoff to control the heating means to be turned on and off, and for the cold product. An automatic vending machine, which compares the detected product temperature with the ON temperature TCon and the OFF temperature TCoff to control the ON / OFF of the cooling means. 2. The average temperature of the hot product and the cold product are respectively obtained from the temperatures detected for the products, and if the average temperature of the hot product is lower than the off temperature THon, the heating means is turned on and the average temperature of the hot product is , If the off temperature THoff is exceeded, the heating means is turned off. If the average temperature of cold products is above the on temperature TCon, the cooling means is turned on. If the average temperature of cold products is below the off temperature TCoff, the cooling means is turned off. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein. 3. The average temperature and maximum temperature of hot products are calculated from the temperatures detected for the products, and the average temperature and minimum temperature of cold products are obtained. If the average temperature of the hot products is below the ON temperature THon, the heating means is turned on. If the maximum temperature of the hot product exceeds the off temperature THoff, the heating means is turned off. If the average temperature of the cold product exceeds the on temperature TCon, the cooling means is turned on. If the minimum temperature of the cold product is below the off temperature TCoff, the cooling means is cooled. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the means is turned off. 4. The maximum temperature and the minimum temperature of the hot product and the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature of the cold product are obtained from the temperature detected for the product, and the heating means is turned on when the minimum temperature of the hot product is lower than the ON temperature THon. If the maximum temperature of the hot product exceeds the off temperature THoff, the heating means is turned off. If the maximum temperature of the cold product exceeds the on temperature TCon, the cooling means is turned on. If the minimum temperature of the cold product is below the off temperature TCoff, the cooling means is cooled. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the means is turned off. 5. An average temperature of a hot product and a cold product is respectively obtained from the temperatures detected for the products, and if the average temperature of the hot products is below the off temperature THon, the heating means is turned on and the average temperature of the hot products is , If the off temperature THoff is exceeded, the heating means is turned off. If the average temperature of cold products is above the on temperature TCon, the cooling means is turned on. If the average temperature of cold products is below the off temperature TCoff, the cooling means is turned off. The average temperature and maximum temperature of hot products and the average temperature and minimum temperature of cold products are calculated from the temperature detected for the product targeted for temperature detection in operation mode I, and the average temperature of hot products is ON temperature THon. If it is lower than the above, the heating means is turned on, if the maximum temperature of the hot product exceeds the off temperature THoff, the heating means is turned off, and the average temperature of the cold products is the on temperature TCon. If it exceeds, the cooling means is turned on, and if the minimum temperature of the cold product is below the off temperature TCoff, the cooling means is turned off. Operation mode II, the maximum temperature of the hot product from the temperature detected for the temperature detection target product And the minimum temperature, the maximum and minimum temperatures of the cold product are calculated. If the minimum temperature of the hot product is below the on temperature THon, the heating means is turned on. If the maximum temperature of the hot product is above the off temperature THoff, the heating means is turned off. If the maximum temperature of the cold product exceeds the on-temperature TCon, the cooling means is turned on, and if the minimum temperature of the cold product is below the off-temperature TCoff, the cooling means is turned off. Claim 1 made selectable
The vending machine described. 6. A heating means (51) for heating a product, a motor compressor (52) for compressing a refrigerant, a valve (53) for supplying a compressed refrigerant to a cooling box, and a temperature for detecting a product. The temperature detecting means (54) provided, the on temperature TCon for turning on / off the heating means (51) / off temperature TCoff, and the on temperature THon for turning on / off the cooling operation by the motor compressor (52) and the valve (53).
The setting means (55) for setting the ON / OFF temperature THoff, the storage means (56) for storing the data of each temperature set by the setting means (55), and the product temperature detected for the hot product, THon and the off temperature THoff are compared with the heating means (5
1), the product temperature detected for cold products,
Control means (57) for controlling the on / off of the motor compressor (52) and the valve (53) in comparison with the on temperature TCon and off temperature TCoff, and heating means based on the on / off control from the control means (57). (Five
An automatic vending machine comprising: 1), a motor compressor (52), and a drive means (58) for driving a valve (53).