JPH1166415A - Automatic vending machine and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eject commodity at a suitable temperature corresponding to the request of a customer without lowering quality by dividing the inside of a cabinet into a storage zone at a low temperature and a vending standby zone at the temperature suitable for hot merchandise and successively feeding commodity from the storage zone to the vending standby zone. SOLUTION: The inside of the cabinet is divided into a storage zone A at the low temperature close to an ordinary temperature and a vending standby zone B at the temperature suitable as hot commodity by opening/closing mechanisms 12-15 having insulating functions for serpentines 4-7. In the storage zone A of the respective serpentines 4-7, the limited number of canned beverages 25 to be stored are stored and kept lower than about 25 deg.C. In the vending standby zone B, on the other hand, canned beverages 26 of a number suitable for the vending conditions of install spot are stored and kept at the temperature from 52 to 53 deg.C suitable for vending as commodity. When the canned beverages 26 is sold, the opening/closing mechanisms 12-15 are opened based on the number of feeding and feeding time calculated from vending condition data in the past, and the prescribed number of canned beverages 25 are fed from the storage zone A to the vending standby zone B, heated to the temperature from 52 to 53 deg.C and kept.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine capable of selling heated hot products and a control method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vending machine which handles heated so-called hot products, for example, hot beverages, all beverages are stored at a high temperature of 52 to 53 ° C., which is the time when beverages are consumed. Is likely to progress, and there is a risk of deterioration due to long-term stay in the vending machine warehouse, and if left as it is, the deteriorated product will be sold, and consumers will complain, causing distrust of the vending machine . In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to shorten the time for which the product is kept at a high temperature before drinking, but if the product is heated after a consumer's sales request, the time until the product is unloaded is reduced. It will be long and buy another frustration of the consumer. One way to solve this problem is to minimize the number of items stored in the vending machine warehouse to minimize the time the items are exposed to high temperatures, but this method constantly sells items. It is necessary to monitor the situation and pay attention to replenishment of goods, which is not preferable in terms of operating efficiency of the vending machine.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine which can carry out a product at an appropriate temperature according to a consumer's request without deteriorating the quality of a hot product, and which has a high operating efficiency. And a control method therefor.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, the interior of a vending machine main body is divided into a low-temperature storage zone and a high-temperature sales standby zone corresponding to an appropriate temperature of a product. An opening / closing mechanism is provided between the two zones for thermally isolating the two zones and for sequentially sending out the products from the storage zone to the sales standby zone.

In the present invention, the interior of the vending machine main body is divided into a low-temperature storage zone and a high-temperature sales standby zone corresponding to an appropriate temperature of the product, and heat is applied between the two zones. An opening and closing mechanism is provided that can shut off the product and send out the product sequentially from the storage zone to the sales standby zone, and activates the opening and closing mechanism according to the sales status of the product so that the product is sent from the storage zone to the sales standby zone. Control unloading.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, the inside of a vending machine is divided into two zones by an opening / closing mechanism. One zone is a low-temperature zone near normal temperature, in which goods are stored in a low-temperature state, and the other zone is stored. Is a high-temperature zone suitable for the temperature of hot products, in which a limited number of products waiting to be available for sale are accommodated in a high-temperature condition suitable for sales, and a high-temperature zone is provided when sales are requested. From the low-temperature zone to the high-temperature zone by operating the opening and closing mechanism according to the sales situation, and each product exists in the high-temperature zone. Time as short as possible.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a serpentine type vending machine. Reference numeral 1 denotes a vending machine main body, and four serpentines 4, 5, 6, and 7 are arranged in a cabinet 3 surrounded by a heat insulating material 2. Each serpentine has a product inlet 8, 9, 10, 1
1, opening / closing mechanisms 12, 13 composed of a heat insulating material in an intermediate portion;
14, 15, and carry-out ports 16, 17, 18, 19 at the lower part, a storage zone A is formed between the inlet of each serpentine and the opening / closing mechanism, and a sales standby zone B is provided between the opening / closing mechanism and the carry-out port. Is formed. 20 is a shooter, 2
1 is a product outlet, 22 is a heater, 23 is an evaporator,
24 is a fan. When the heater 22 is operated, the warm air is circulated from below to above by the fan 24,
The lower sales standby zone B is maintained at a high temperature suitable for selling hot products, for example, at 52 to 53 ° C. in the case of canned beverages,
The temperature decreases toward the upper part, and the storage zone A defined by the opening / closing mechanisms 12 to 15 made of a heat insulating material is kept at a low temperature close to normal temperature, for example, 35 ° C. or lower in the case of canned beverages.

[0009] In the storage zone A of each serpentine, canned beverages 25 are inserted from the inlets 8, 9, 10 and 11, and the maximum number of canned beverages that can be accommodated is stored.
It is kept below. In the sales waiting zone B, the number of canned beverages 26 suitable for the sales situation at the installation location of the vending machine is stored, and the canned beverages 52 to 53 ° C. suitable for sale as products
Is held in. When the vending machine is now sold and the canned beverage 26 is carried out from the carry-out port 16, 17, 18 or 19, the number of deliveries and the delivery time calculated from the past sales status data stored by the vending machine control unit are reduced. On the basis of,
The opening / closing mechanism 12, 13, 14, or 15 is opened, and a predetermined number of canned beverages 25 are sent out from the storage zone A to the sales standby zone B at a predetermined time, and are heated to a temperature of 52 to 53 ° C. suitable as a product, and Of canned beverage 26. Since the number and timing of the delivery from the storage zone A to the sales standby zone B can always be corrected by data based on the past sales status, the sales standby zone B always has a number of cans appropriately corresponding to the sales status. The beverage 26 is stored.

[0010] The sales situation is remarkably different from the past situation, and the delivery of goods from the storage zone to the sales standby zone has increased rapidly, making it impossible to cope with the situation. The products sent to the sales standby zone have not yet reached the appropriate temperature. Nevertheless, if a situation arises in which products must be sold, raw products will be sold, and products that have been sent out to the sales standby zone and have not yet reached the proper temperature have been removed. In this case, it is preferable to display a message such as "Sold out" or "Please wait for a while because heating is in progress" on the display of the vending machine.

In the case of a vending machine that handles both hot products and cold products, the control functions of the opening / closing mechanisms 12, 13, 14, and 15 are stopped when selling cold products.
The opening and closing mechanism operates in an open state, and is normally sold.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the interior of a vending machine is divided into two zones having different temperatures, and one of the zones is set to a temperature as low as room temperature, and the maximum number of products in that zone is reached. The product is stored at a temperature much lower than the appropriate temperature as a hot product, and the other zone has only a minimum number of products that can be sold and is on standby at the appropriate temperature. Since the minimum required number of products are sent from the zone to the high-temperature zone, the time for which each product is kept at the high temperature, which is the appropriate temperature for the product, is extremely short, and the deterioration in quality due to the high temperature can be ignored. Since a sufficient number of small and low-temperature products are stored, the operating efficiency of the vending machine can be maintained at a sufficiently high level.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine main body 2 Insulation material 3 Inside of a warehouse 4, 5, 6, 7 Serpentine 8, 9, 10, 11 Input port 12, 13, 14, 15 Opening / closing mechanism 16, 17, 18, 19 Loading port 20 Shooter 21 Product Outlet 22 Heater 23 Evaporator 24 Fan 25 Low-temperature canned beverage 26 Canned beverage of suitable temperature A Storage zone B Sales standby zone

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. The interior of a vending machine main body is divided into a low-temperature storage zone and a high-temperature sales standby zone corresponding to an appropriate temperature of a product, and the two zones are thermally isolated between the two zones. ,
A vending machine having an opening / closing mechanism for sequentially sending out products from a storage zone to a sales standby zone. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a movable shutter is used as the opening / closing mechanism. 3. The interior of the vending machine main body is divided into a low-temperature storage zone and a high-temperature sales standby zone corresponding to an appropriate temperature of the product, and the two zones are thermally isolated between the two zones. ,
A vending machine control characterized by providing an opening / closing mechanism that can sequentially send out products from the storage zone to the sales standby zone, operating the opening / closing mechanism according to the sales situation of the product, and sending out the products from the storage zone to the sales standby zone. Method.