JPH10228574A - Cup type vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance use's reliability on a cooked merchandise and also to solve the impatience of a waiting time by making at least a cooking mechanism part inside a vending machine invisible when a merchandise is not selected and making it visible when it selected. SOLUTION: When a user selects a merchandise and operates one of merchandise buttons 2, a lighting lamp is turned on, the inside of a vending machine body 1 is brightened and a cooking mechanism part 11 is externally observed through a transparent plate 10. Then, coffee beans are placed into a milling mechanism 13 from a coffee beam container box 12 and ground there, the ground coffee is poured into a coffee extracting mechanism 14 and coffee is extracted. And the coffee is poured into a cup that is ejected from a cup mechanism 16 on a vend stage 15. A series of processes of cooking and discharging are sequentially and visually followed. When the discharge of a merchandise is finished, the lighting lamp is turned off again, and the inside of the body 1 is made dark and is no longer seen from the outside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cup-type vending machine which cooks and carries out a product every time it is sold.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A cup-type vending machine is a method in which raw materials stored in a vending machine are cooked and sold in a cup each time they are sold. The can-type vending machine has a high freshness and good taste. Although the cooking mechanism is inside the vending machine, the product is usually invisible from the outside because there is a product display or exhibition part on the front, so the purchaser can directly cook Users have no idea whether cooking is being done on the spot or not, and their reliability has not yet been obtained. Also, depending on the type of product, cooking may take a long time due to the time required for cooking, and the time until the product is completed should be displayed with a light-emitting diode lamp or the like in order to alleviate the user's frustration during that time. However, there is a problem that the user's dissatisfaction cannot be sufficiently solved.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a cup-type vending machine which can improve the reliability of a user with respect to cooked products of a cup-type vending machine and can eliminate the frustration of waiting time. Is to provide.

[0004]

According to the present invention, at least a cooking mechanism inside a vending machine is made invisible when a product is not selected, and is visually checked only when a product is selected. It can be so.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, the front of a cooking mechanism of a vending machine is made transparent so that external light does not directly enter the cooking mechanism so that the cooking mechanism cannot be seen from the outside. Only when a product is selected, the cooking mechanism is illuminated so that the cooking mechanism can be viewed. As a means for making the front surface of the cooking mechanism transparent and preventing the cooking mechanism from being seen from the outside in a state without illumination, the front surface of the cooking mechanism may be covered with a colored transparent material.

In the present invention, a member in which a transparent portion and an opaque portion are mixed is disposed on the front of the cooking mechanism of the vending machine. When the product is not selected, the cooking mechanism cannot be seen because of the opaque portion. However, the cooking mechanism may be seen through the transparent part by illuminating the cooking mechanism only when a product is selected.

Further, in the present invention, a member which can be converted to either opaque or transparent is disposed on the front of the cooking mechanism of the vending machine. It is also possible to make the member transparent so that the cooking mechanism can be viewed only by selecting the product and illuminating the cooking mechanism.

[0008]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a vending machine for regular coffee, wherein a is a front view when a product is not selected, b is a longitudinal side view, and c is a front view when a product is selected. . 1 is a vending machine main body, 2 is a product selection button, 3 is a product display corresponding to the product selection button, 4 is a bill slot, 5 is a coin slot, 6 is a return button, 7 is a return slot, 8 is This is the product exit. Reference numeral 9 denotes an exhibition part, the front surface of which is covered with a transparent plate, for example, a plate 10 colored with a transparent resin such as acrylic, or a transparent plastic such as acrylic. A regular coffee cooking mechanism 11 is provided behind the plate 10 and includes a coffee bean storage box 12, a mill mechanism 13, a coffee extraction mechanism 14, and a bend stage 15, which are formed of a transparent material. A cup mechanism 16 is connected to the bend stage 15. 17 is the vending machine body 1
It is an illuminator arranged above the cooking mechanism 11 inside.
Reference numeral 18 denotes an external illuminator provided on the upper outside of the door 19 of the vending machine main body 1.

When no product is selected, the illuminating lamp 17 does not turn on, and even if the plate 10 is transparent, very little light enters the inside of the vending machine main body 1;
Can hardly be seen from the outside. When the user selects a product and operates one of the product selection buttons 2, the lighting 17
Lights up, the inside of the vending machine main body 1 becomes bright, and the cooking mechanism 11 can be observed from the outside through the transparent plate 10. Therefore, the coffee beans enter the mill mechanism 13 from the coffee bean storage box 12 and are ground there, and the ground beans enter the coffee extraction mechanism 14 to extract the coffee, and are poured into the cup carried out from the cup mechanism 16 to the bend stage 15. A series of processes of cooking and unloading can be followed sequentially. When the unloading of the product is completed, the illumination lamp 17 is turned off again, the inside of the vending machine main body becomes dark, and is not visible from the outside.

FIG. 2 is a view in which the plate 10 of FIG. 1 is replaced with a mixture of a transparent portion and an opaque portion instead of a transparent plate. The plate 24 shown in b is a transparent original plate 25
Are provided with a large number of stripes 26. These plates 21 and 24 act as if they are lace curtains, and when a product is not selected and the illumination lamp 17 is not turned on, little light is incident on the inside of the vending machine and the inside is hardly visible. Is selected and the illumination lamp 17 is turned on, so that the inside can be clearly seen.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which the plate 10 of FIG. 1 can be made transparent or opaque. The plate 31 is made of liquid crystal, is connected to a power supply 32, and is made transparent by adjusting the applied voltage. Or opaque.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which the plate 10 of FIG. 1 can be made transparent or opaque by displacing the panels with respect to one another by forming a plurality of panels.
Is a front view, and b, c, and d are cross-sectional views. In this embodiment, three panels 41, 42 and 43 are provided.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a fixed type, and panels 42 and 43 are vertically slidable, each having a stripe pattern.
The pattern of the panel 41 is composed of a transparent stripe 411 and an opaque stripe 412, and the pattern of the panel 42 is a transparent stripe 421 and an opaque stripe 42.
2, the pattern of the panel 43 is composed of a transparent stripe 431 and an opaque stripe 432. Now, for example, the opaque stripe 412 of the panel 41
Is colored gray, the opaque stripe 422 of the panel 42 is colored red, and the opaque stripe 432 of the panel 43 is colored blue. In the mutual positional relationship shown in FIG. The cooking mechanism cannot be seen unless the cooking mechanism is illuminated when the product is not selected. When a product is selected, the panel 42 is slid downward as shown in FIG.
, The illuminated cooking mechanism is visible from the outside through this transparent part. Further, from this state of the panel, the panel 43 is slid upward as shown in FIG.
By matching the two transparent straps 411 and 421, the blue stripe 432 of the panel 43 will be seen as a pattern. The pattern provided on the panel is not limited to a stripe but may be a dot. The number of panels is not limited to three, and the sliding direction is not limited to the vertical direction. In this way, various patterns can be displayed by sliding the panels to each other,
Arbitrarily complicated display can be performed by variously determining the number of panels, the sliding direction, and the transparent and opaque patterns.

In each of the above-described embodiments, when the commodity is selected and the illuminating lamp is turned on, the external illuminating lamp 18 as shown in FIG. 1 is simultaneously turned off. , Can make the inside clearer.

[0015]

According to the present invention, since the cooking or unloading process can be shown to the user, a sense of security can be given to the user and the value of the product can be increased. Is so robotic and interesting that the user is free from the frustration of waiting.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention when a product is not selected, b is a partially longitudinal side view, and c is a front view when a product is selected.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a main part of the present invention, in which a and b are different from each other.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a different embodiment of a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a different embodiment of the main part of the present invention,
b, c, d are sectional views.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine main body 2 Commodity selection button 3 Commodity display section 4 Bill insertion slot 5 Coin insertion slot 6 Return button 7 Return slot 8 Commodity take-out 9 Display section 10 Board 11 Cooking mechanism section 12 Coffee bean storage box 13 Mill mechanism 14 Coffee extraction mechanism 15 Bend stage 16 Cup mechanism 17 Illumination light 18 External illumination light 19 Door part 21 plate 22 Transparent plate 23 Dot 24 Plate 25 Transparent plate 26 Stripe 31 Plate 32 Power supply 41 Panel 411 Transparent stripe 412 Transparent stripe 42 Panel 421 transparent stripe 422 opaque stripe 43 panel 431 transparent stripe 432 opaque stripe

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cup-type vending machine characterized in that at least a cooking mechanism inside the vending machine is not visible when a product is not selected, but is visible only when a product is selected. 2. The cooking mechanism of the vending machine has a transparent front surface, external light does not directly enter the cooking mechanism, and the cooking mechanism is illuminated only when a product is selected. The cup-type vending machine according to claim 1. 3. A vending machine wherein a member in which a transparent portion and an opaque portion are mixed is disposed on a front surface of a cooking mechanism, and the cooking mechanism is illuminated only when a product is selected. The vending machine according to claim 1. 4. A member that can be converted to either opaque or transparent is disposed on the front of the cooking mechanism of the vending machine. When a product is not selected, the member is made opaque. 2. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine is transparent and illuminates the cooking mechanism.