JPH10172039A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic vending machine which surely prevents non-coincidence between the temperature for preservation of commodities and the indication on a cold/hot display means. SOLUTION: When a display changeover switch is switched, the operation state of each commodity storage part, namely, whether each commodity storage part is operated for cooling or heating is discriminated, and sale permission lamps 4a of commodities stored in commodity storage parts operated for cooling are lit, and those of commodities stored in commodity storage parts operated for heating are extinguished, and thus erroneous switching of indications on a cold/hot display part is prevented even if arbitrary commodities are changed to those different by preservation temperature.

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 cold products such as soft drinks and hot products such as tea and coffee.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a vending machine of this type, as described in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-121377, a plurality of product samples are provided in a product display room of a vending machine main body. It is known that a position corresponding to a product sample is provided with a plurality of cold / hot display members for displaying information on the storage temperature of the product, that is, a cold product or a hot product. In this case, each cold / hot display member is formed so as to be able to arbitrarily switch between a surface for displaying a cold product and a surface for displaying a hot product.

[0003]

In a conventional vending machine, when the storage temperature of each product, that is, the set temperature of each product storage unit, is changed due to a change in a product to be sold or a change in seasons, this is accompanied by this. Thus, the display of each cold / cold display member is also switched. However, since the switching operation of each cold display member is performed artificially, if the storage temperature of the product and the display of the cold display member are erroneously set to be inconsistent, the service to the purchaser is deteriorated. was there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of reliably preventing a mismatch between the storage temperature of a product and the display of a cold temperature display means. To provide.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a storage device for storing a plurality of types of products having different storage temperatures and a storage temperature of each product. In a vending machine equipped with a cold temperature display means for displaying information in a switchable manner with respect to a sample of each product, the storage temperature of each product is determined based on the set temperature of each product storage unit, and the determination result is obtained. A storage temperature confirmation means for displaying each product sample is provided. Thereby, the storage temperature of the product corresponding to each product sample can be confirmed, so that even if an arbitrary product is changed to one having a different storage temperature, the display of the cold temperature display means is not erroneously switched.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vending machine according to the first aspect, wherein display means for displaying availability of sale provided for each of the commodity samples is switched to display of the storage temperature confirmation means. Switching means is provided. Thus, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, since the confirmation display of the storage temperature is performed by the sale availability display means, the addition of the structure as the storage temperature confirmation means is reduced.

[0007]

1 to 4 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of a vending machine, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing each product storage unit, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display state of a sellable lamp.

The vending machine has a commodity display room 2 in front of the vending machine main body 1, and a large number of commodity samples 3 are accommodated in the commodity display room 2. Below each product sample 3, a product selection button 4 and a cold / hot display section 5 are provided, and each product selection button 4 is provided with a sellable lamp 4a. Further, a plurality of product storage sections 1a having a heat insulating structure are provided in the vending machine main body 1, and the inside of each product storage section 1a is cooled or heated to a predetermined temperature by a cooling device and a heating device (not shown). ing. FIG.
As shown in the figure, each of the salable lamps 4a is connected to a control unit 6 composed of, for example, a microcomputer. The control unit 6 is connected to a remote controller 7, a money processing device 8, and a display changeover switch 9, respectively.

[0009] The cold and hot display section 5 displays "CO" indicating a cold product.
It has a surface on which the letters "LD" and "HOT" indicating a warm product are displayed, respectively, and has a well-known switching structure in which any of the display faces is artificially turned to the outside.

[0010] The remote controller 7 is provided in each product storage unit 1.
a is switched to a cooling or heating operation, and the temperature of each product storage unit 1a is set to, for example, 5 ° C. for a cold product.
In the case of a warm product, the temperature is set to 60 ° C.

The money processing device 8 has a coin insertion slot and a bill insertion slot (not shown), and discriminates the inserted amount and pays out change.

The display changeover switch 9 comprises a button or the like provided at a predetermined position on the main body 1 of the vending machine, and can be manually operated.

In the above configuration, when money is put into the money processing device 8, the sellable lamp 4a of the product which can be purchased is turned on by the money. When the display changeover switch 9 is switched, the operation state of each product storage unit 1a set by the remote controller 7, that is, whether each product storage unit 1a is in the cooling operation or the heating operation, is determined. As shown in FIG. 4 (a), a lamp 4 capable of selling a product stored in the product storage section 1a in the cooling operation.
a lights up, and as shown in FIG. 4B, the sellable lamp 4a of the product stored in the product storage section 1a in the heating operation flashes. That is, by switching the display changeover switch 9, each of the sellable lamps 4a and the control section 6 function as a storage temperature confirming means of each product.

As described above, according to the vending machine of this embodiment, it is determined whether the setting of each product storage section 1a is a cooling operation or a heating operation, and when the display changeover switch 9 is operated, the cooling operation is performed. Of the merchandise stored in the merchandise storage unit 1a is turned on, and the salable lamp 4a of the merchandise stored in the merchandise storage unit 1a in the heating operation is blinked. The storage temperature of the product corresponding to the storage temperature can be easily checked, and even if an arbitrary product is changed to one having a different storage temperature, switching of the display of the cold / hot display section 5 is not mistaken, and the storage temperature of the product is not changed. Inconsistency with the display of the cold / hot display section 5 can be reliably prevented. In addition, since the storage temperature confirmation display is performed by turning on and off the sellable lamp 4a, addition of a structure as storage temperature confirmation means can be reduced, which is advantageous in terms of cost and appearance.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the display provided with the dedicated display changeover switch 9 as the display changeover is shown. However, the display changeover of the storage temperature confirmation means may be performed by the remote controller 7. In addition, a sold-out display lamp can be used as the sale availability display means for switching to the display of the storage temperature confirmation means.

[0016]

As described above, according to the vending machine of the first aspect, it is possible to easily confirm the storage temperature of the product corresponding to each product sample. Even when the display is changed to a different one, it is possible to reliably prevent a mismatch between the storage temperature of the product and the display of the cold / hot display means without erroneously switching the display of the cold / hot display means.

According to the vending machine of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the addition of a structure as a storage temperature checking means can be reduced, which is advantageous in terms of cost and appearance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of a vending machine showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing each product storage unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display state of a salable lamp.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a: product storage unit, 3: product sample, 4a: sellable lamp, 5: cold / hot display unit, 6: control unit, 9: display changeover switch.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A storage device for storing a plurality of types of commodities having different storage temperatures, and a cold / high temperature display means for displaying information on the storage temperature of each product in a switchable manner for each product sample. A vending machine characterized by comprising a storage temperature confirming means for determining a storage temperature of each product based on a set temperature of each product storage unit and displaying a result of the determination for each product sample. vending machine. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display switching means for switching display means for displaying availability of sale provided individually for each of said commodity samples to display of said storage temperature confirmation means. vending machine.