JPH11102475A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To supply easy-to-use service to users and also to surely notify a managing person of a vending machine of the failures which occurred during the use of the vending machine by preparing an input device which can input a numerical character for specifying a user. SOLUTION: When a specific commodity, i.e., a campaign commodity is selected and sold, a blue lamp 12 of an input device 9 lights up for a designated time, e.g. 30 seconds by the signal sent from a control part of an automatic vending machine. Thus, the ten keys 10 can be operated for the 30 seconds. If none of the commodities can be carried out or no change can be made, by operating a complaint button 14 is operated to light up a red lamp 13, and thereafter the ten keys can be operated for, e.g., 30 seconds. The managing person for the vending machine periodically outputs such data stored in a memory as the telephone numbers of users, the dates and the times when these telephone numbers were inputted, etc., via an output terminal of the control part, a communication circuit, etc., to perform the adjustment and confirmation and to provide the service and compensation appropriate to the user who is specified by a telephone number.

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 various commodities in an unmanned manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vending machine, since it is not face-to-face sales, a product purchaser (hereinafter referred to as a user) selects a desired product, pays the price of the product, and sells and purchases the product by taking it out. Is over and special services on the spot are not available. In order to improve this point and enhance the service level, it has recently been considered to grant privileges according to the number of uses, but for this purpose, the user can attach it to a product can, bottle lid, or product, for example. It is necessary to apply for the attached seals etc. by mail, which is extremely complicated for users, often gives up on receiving benefits, and the service system of the usual type is not fully utilized, resulting in a service system Does not necessarily lead to an increase in the number of products sold.

[0003] In addition, when a user purchases a product at a vending machine, the user sometimes encounters a problem that the product is not carried out or no change is given, despite the fact that the user has paid the amount. In this case, the user contacts the vending machine administrator, but it is difficult to contact especially at night, etc., which may cause trouble between the user and the vending machine administrator. .

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine which provides a service which is easy for a user to use and which can surely notify a vending machine manager of a trouble which has occurred during use. It is in.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a vending machine body is provided with an input device capable of inputting a number for specifying a user.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, an input device has a numeric keypad, and can input a telephone number of a user at the time of selling goods or an employee number in a vending machine installed in a specific company. In this way, these numbers input by the ten keys are stored in the memory, and the vending machine administrator provides a predetermined service to the user based on the stored data. In the event of a sales-related problem, the user uses the numeric keypad to enter the occurrence of the problem as data into the memory,
The vending machine administrator can compensate for the malfunction at a later date.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a vending machine main body, 2 is a coin slot, 3 is a bill slot, 4 is a return button, 5 is a return slot, 6 is an illuminator, 7 is a product selection button, and 8 is a product selection button. At the product outlet, their configuration is not particularly different from the conventional one. Reference numeral 9 denotes an input device provided on the front of the vending machine main body 1. The input device 9 has a numeric keypad 10, a display unit 11, a blue lamp 12, and a red lamp 13 on its outer surface. A complaint button 14 is operated by the user when a failure occurs.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the internal configuration of the present invention, and the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as in FIG. 15 is a coin discriminator for coins inserted from the coin slot 2, 16 is a banknote discriminator for banknotes inserted from the banknote slot 3, 1
7 is a vending machine control unit, 18 is a memory, 19 is a clock mechanism, 20 is a product unloading mechanism, and 21 is an output terminal of the vending machine control unit.

When a specific product, that is, a campaign product is selected and sold, the input device 9 receives a signal from the vending machine controller 17 for a designated time (for example, 30 minutes).
(For a second) The blue lamp 12 is turned on, and the key operation of the numeric keypad 10 is enabled during that time. Also, for all products regardless of the specified specific product, no products are unloaded,
A structure in which the red lamp 13 is turned on by operating the complaint button 14 within a specified time (for example, 30 seconds) when a change such as a change is not made or the like, and key operation becomes possible, for example, for 30 seconds from that point. It has become.

Next, the operation of the vending machine of the present invention will be described.

When the user inserts coins or bills from the coin slot 2 or the bill slot 3 and presses a selection button 7 for a product set as a campaign product in the vending machine control section 17, the inserted amount of money is paid. If the product is available for sale, a vending machine control unit 17 sends a sales signal for the product,
The product is unloaded to the product outlet 8 by the operation of the product unloading mechanism 20. At that time, the blue lamp 12 of the input device 9 lights up,
The ten key 10 can be operated. While the blue lamp 12 is on, the user inputs his or her telephone number or employee number, and presses the (E) key after the input is completed. If you make a mistake, press the (C) key to clear it and then try again. (E) No key input is accepted after the key is pressed. The specified time (3
(0 seconds), the input can be accepted for another 10 seconds from the key input immediately before the designated time. Even if the designated time is exceeded, if the key input is performed sequentially within 10 seconds, the key input is accepted during that time. 10
If there is no key input for more than a second, the blue lamp 12 is turned off, and the numeric keypad 10 does not accept any key operation. As a result,
The memory 18 includes a telephone number or employee number input by the user using the numeric keypad 10, a date and time when the telephone number or employee number is input by the time mechanism 19, the number of purchased products sent from the vending machine control unit 17, Various data such as the number of uses is stored. The display unit 11 of the input device 9 includes:
The operation state of the numeric keypad 10 and other notes on the operation of the numeric keypad are displayed as appropriate.

When goods are continuously purchased from a vending machine (continuous purchase refers to a case where a plurality of goods are carried out after a coin or bill is inserted and before a change discharge signal is transmitted). The key operation of the input device can be enabled for about 30 seconds from the last product sending signal. In the case of this continuous purchase, the total number of purchases of the commodity until the change discharge signal is received (the commodity selection button is turned off) can be set as the campaign number. In addition, by switching the internal setting of the vending machine control unit, the input device can be activated only during continuous purchase (when a plurality of purchases are made), that is, the input device can be set as a campaign target.

When a user inserts coins or bills and selects a product corresponding to the amount of money, the product is not discharged, or when a predetermined change is not output, for example, 3
When the complaint button 14 of the vending machine is pressed within 0 seconds, the red lamp 13 of the input device 9 is turned on, and the key input of the numeric keypad 10 is accepted for a specified time (for example, 30 seconds). The user inputs his / her telephone number or employee number, and presses the (E) key after the input is completed. If you make a mistake, press the (C) key to clear it and then try again. Thereafter, when the designated time comes, the key input is not accepted. As a result, the memory 18 stores the telephone number or employee number input by the user, the date and time when those numbers were input, as trouble data.

[0015] The vending machine administrator periodically updates the memory 1
The data such as the telephone number or employee number of the user stored in 8 and the date and time when those numbers were input are output via the output terminal 21 of the vending machine control unit 17 to the output of the communication network or the vending machine. Output by device, organize and confirm,
Perform service and compensation processing appropriate for the user specified by the telephone number or employee number.

In the above-described embodiment, the memory and the clock mechanism are arranged in the vending machine control section. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the memory and the clock mechanism may be built in the vending machine control section.

[0017]

According to the present invention, there is no need for the user to send the product cover or seal to the campaign owner for the campaign product to receive the service, and the user can use his / her own telephone number or employee at the time of purchase. Just by entering the number into the vending machine, the campaign will provide services according to the number of uses, so the willingness to use the vending machine will work, and if a problem occurs when using the vending machine Even if you cannot contact the vending machine administrator on the spot, you will always be compensated at a later date, so it is possible to avoid troubles between the user and the vending machine administrator, and the user's vending machine Reliability is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine main body 2 Coin slot 3 Bill slot 4 Return button 5 Return slot 6 Lighting part 7 Product selection button 8 Commodity exit 9 Input device 10 Numeric keypad 11 Display part 12 Blue lamp 13 Red lamp 14 Complaint button 15 Coin Identification machine 16 Banknote identification machine 17 Vending machine control unit 18 Memory 19 Clock mechanism 20 Commodity unloading mechanism 21 Output terminal

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine characterized in that an input device capable of inputting a number specifying a product purchaser is provided in the vending machine main body. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the input device has a numeric keypad for inputting a number for specifying a purchaser of the product. 3. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a memory for storing data input by the input device.