JPS58163092A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vending machine that mixes and cooks raw materials and sells food and beverage products such as coffee, cocoa, soup, and soft drinks. This increases the added value of the display and improves the operability of switching and displaying various types of sales control information.

It is desirable to be able to adjust and change the type of raw materials, discharge amount, discharge timing, etc. of food and beverages sold in this type of vending machine in a short time with simple operations. In recent years, the food and beverages sold have become more diverse and of higher quality, or in response to the preferences of buyers.
For example, the control of mixing raw materials and cooking tends to become significantly more complex and sophisticated than in the past, such as the addition of a function that allows the addition of sugar and the like to be adjusted arbitrarily. Therefore, in the conventional method of mixing and cooking, operation and inspection are complicated.
Since the time required increases, it is desired to improve and improve the cooking of raw materials and the manner of cooking.

In other words, as the type and amount of 1filJ11141 data increases, the amount of work required during maintenance and inspection and data setting increases. Efforts are being made to widen the display area and display guidance messages together with control data, but using such a large area guidance display only for maintenance and inspection is a significant cost burden. Therefore, it is necessary to try to divert it to other uses.

In addition, in recent years, the types of parts sold have increased, and the number of selection buttons has increased, unlike the conventional method of matching product types and product selection buttons on a one-to-one basis. Disadvantages such as confusion when making a selection, a complicated arrangement of selection buttons, and an increase in costs were becoming more apparent. Therefore, efforts are being made to allow a wide variety of products to be selected using a small number of selection buttons.For example, a coffee selection button has a function that instructs to increase the amount of sugar or to further reduce the amount of chestnuts (3). Techniques such as combining operation buttons or encoding product names using alphanumeric characters so that the product can be selected using numeric buttons are becoming increasingly lacking.

However, with the above-mentioned level of innovation, from the perspective of the purchaser, the number of button operations when selecting and purchasing a product increases, which may make the purchaser feel more complicated, or may reduce their desire to purchase. It was also necessary to be able to confirm the Therefore, it was necessary to take further measures such as adding guidance displays and audio services corresponding to button operations.

On the other hand, data collectors are used that have functions such as displaying sales management data such as sales proceeds by product, sales volume, machine number, date and time, printing it on paper, and further recording it on a semiconductor memory element. However, there are drawbacks such as the printing speed of the printer is slow and it takes too much time to print all the required data.In addition, the recording results may cause abnormalities or accidents, or the required amount of raw materials to be replenished. The disadvantage is that reading the time etc. requires skill and is complicated (4'
) It was desired to be able to display information such as news and guidance messages at the time of harvesting data.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and to enable the guidance display used for setting sales control data to be used for other purposes, such as displaying guidance when selecting a product. The purpose is to provide a vending machine that can be used for multiple purposes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine that is capable of displaying warnings of management-related accidents and irregularities and messages for advice on management services when confirming or collecting sales management takes. .

That is, the vending machine of the present invention includes a control section that controls a display function, a display means that can commonly display information according to each purpose, and a connector that is connected to the control section and into which the display means is inserted. , an instruction means for instructing the control section about the use of the display means inserted into the connector, and the control section inserts into the connector information according to the use indicated by the instruction means. It is characterized in that it is displayed on a display means.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

First, FIG. 1 shows an example of a schematic configuration of a control circuit in a vending machine of the present invention. In the illustrated configuration, the microprocessor l includes random access memory (RAM) II and read-only memory (ROM) as external memories.
! It is connected to the input coin processing unit lθ,
Controls financial transactions related to selected products. The input circuit 9 still has a product selection button, temperature detection sensor,
It is equipped with various input elements such as a discharge raw material sold-out sensor, and control information from these input elements is input to the microprocessor l. Furthermore, the microprocessor l, via the amplifier circuit 7, prepares, cooks, and prepares food and drink products.
It also controls various devices such as output circuits necessary for producing hot water, cold water, ice, etc.

On the other hand, an auxiliary microprocessor is connected to the microprocessor 1, which is additionally provided to control the function of displaying control information necessary for the product sales process. I am having them share in the work.

The auxiliary microprocessor drives a setting guide instruction circuit /& and a product selection instruction circuit /j through connectors 12 and 13, respectively, and also displays signals on the displays 3 and 3' as will be described later. It displays the necessary sales control information, and also displays the input amount processing section/
I is directly controlled to display the input amount.

The second time chart shows the time chart of display data transfer between the microprocessor l and the auxiliary microprocessor, which cooperate with each other to control the display of control information as described above.
As shown in the figure. In the illustrated time chart, first,
When the signal as-1 indicating the start of transfer of display data is set to a low logic level and sent from the microprocessor 1 to the auxiliary processor 2, the auxiliary microprocessor that receives the low logic level signal will respond if it is possible to receive the display data. The signal plane is brought to a low logic level and sent back to the microprocessor l. The microprocessor l detects that the signal level has changed from a high logic level to a low logic level, and sends the display data DATA to the auxiliary microprocessor in synchronization with the clock (7) signal OL, and the data transmission is completed. When finished, the auxiliary microprocessor that changes the signal aS from a low logic level to a high logic level and detects the level change on that signal plane changes the signal AO
It changes K from a low logic level to a high logic level to confirm the completion of data transmission to the microprocessor l. Display data is transferred between the microprocessor 1 and the auxiliary microprocessor 2 in this manner.

Next, the correspondence of display data on the memory Mazda of the microprocessor 1 and the auxiliary microprocessor 2, which perform such cooperative operations, is shown in FIGS. 3(4) and (B).
). In the illustrated memory map, some display data corresponding to the operating state of the vending machine is sent to the auxiliary microprocessor from among data related to display 1 stored in the microprocessor 1, and and displayed on the input amount display //. In addition, for example, instructions as to whether the data of the amount displayed on the input amount display // is 3 (za) bytes or 3 bytes as shown in the figure can be made using the mode selection function provided in the input circuit B. This is done by setting with a switch, and the same applies to the control data displayed on the display 3.3'. Therefore, even if the number of digits of display data differs depending on the model of the vending machine, by changing the setting state of the above-mentioned switch in the input circuit B, it is possible to flexibly respond to the difference between the models. Furthermore, from the microphone processor's point of view, the details of controlling the displays 3 and 31 and the input amount display // in response to differences in the number of digits of display data are left to the auxiliary microprocessor. Since it is only necessary to send data, the control circuit for cup-type beverage vending machines, etc., of which the number of units produced for each model is relatively small, can be used to control the display function to the auxiliary microgrocer. It is possible to concentrate on discharge control, etc., and it is highly effective in standardizing control software for various models, and it is also very effective in packaging software. In other words, for a single model, it is more cost-effective to have the microprocessor centrally control all of the display functions, but it is better to have multiple pieces of hardware with different specifications share the control. However, the overall software development cost is reduced and the increase in hardware costs can be fully absorbed.

Next, an example of a display mode according to the present invention on the display 3 is shown in FIG. This display 3 is used, for example, when adjusting discharged materials, during test sales operations, and when checking sales management data such as sales proceeds, and is a liquid crystal display 3/1 display control circuit 32 in which light emitting elements are arranged in a matrix. and a display power supply circuit 33. Here, to explain the display when adjusting the discharged material as an example, first, by selecting and pressing the "Material discharge" key from the large item selection keys 3'l, the "Material discharge" mode is set. Ru.

At this time, the large item selection mark moves, for example, from the position corresponding to the "sales" key to the position corresponding to the "material discharge" key. It is assumed that the large item selection mark ψ is always located at a position corresponding to the "sales" key.

Next, the desired product name is selected using the medium item selection key 3S, and the material of the component to be changed is selected using the small item selection key 3g.

The illustrated example shows a case where "American coffee" is selected as the product and "coffee" is selected as the material by selecting the item partition line l/.The displayed data is that the first line from the top is standard data and the second line from the top is standard data. The first line is the currently set setting data, and the third line is the change data that is about to be changed. Each character and number is displayed, for example, in a 5 x 7 dot matrix, and setting data can be changed using the "write" key 36, "clear" key n1, numeric key R, and according to the procedure in a predetermined format. , these keys J4'-N are included in an input circuit 9 for the microprocessor 1, and display data changed by the operation of each key is displayed on the display 3 via the auxiliary microprocessor 1.

Figure 1 shows an example of a panel display that displays ioo characters in 5 rows and SO columns. Because it was necessary to display explanations for each product, such as
The previously complicated panel can be made into a relatively simple configuration, and even if the display content differs depending on the model, it can be handled simply by changing the software, and the display 3
Since there is no need to change the hardware, the effect of such commonality is significant. In addition, in the display unit 3,
Instead of the liquid crystal display 31, which has features such as low power consumption and thinness, other types of display such as a plasma display, a light emitting diode display, a fluorescent tube display, etc. can be used. If there are a mixture of indicators,
This can be solved by providing a selection switch for switching the display in the input circuit B, and the degree of freedom in system configuration can be expanded.

Next, FIG. S shows an example of a detailed configuration of a display control circuit section using an auxiliary microprocessor in the schematic configuration of the vending machine of the present invention shown in FIG. In the configuration shown, the auxiliary microprocessor 2 and the display 3, 3' are connected to the connector/
2, /3, and when the display 3 is used for setting guidance, a setting guidance instruction circuit ty is added to the connector 12, and it is connected to The voltage v1 changes to a high (B) level, for example, +SV, and a low (G) level, for example, Ov. Further, the setting guidance instruction circuit /l is provided with a display consisting of a light emitting diode 50 and a resistor 3/ to confirm the connection of the display 3. The light goes out when you remove it. That is, by visually observing whether the light emitting diode SO is turned on or off, it is possible to easily confirm whether or not the display 3 is connected.

Next, when using the same display as a product guide display 3', a connector 13 is connected to the display 3'.
A product guide instruction circuit 15 is added to the display 3.
Depending on whether / is connected, the voltage V changes between the high (6) level and the low (low) level, as described above, so this change in voltage level is detected by the auxiliary microprocessor, It is possible to easily determine whether the display 3' is connected or not. Further, the product guide instruction circuit /j is provided with a switch SS for creating a code corresponding to the purpose, in order to use the display device 31 for a plurality of different purposes. Note that the indicators 3 and 3' can also be used for different purposes without having to be removed, by mechanically devising such as rotating the mounting surface.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the following remarkable effects can be obtained.

In other words, whereas the display devices in conventional vending machines were used individually according to each purpose, in the vending machine of the present invention, the display device was mainly used to guide sales control data settings. configured to be detachable,
It can also be used for purposes such as guidance when selecting a product or a game function as a type of discount sale, increasing the added value of the display and at the same time improving serviceability by increasing the content displayed for guidance.

In addition, by making the display device removable, which previously had to be installed on each vending machine to guide data settings, it can be used as a bag only when setting data or performing maintenance inspections. A single display can be shared by a plurality of vending machines, and the cost burden per machine can be significantly reduced.

The display control according to the present invention is not only suitable for application to vending machines, but also can be applied to control displays of high-end copiers, etc. to display the number of copies per user, malfunctions, failures, etc.
Alternatively, it can be used to display guidance on operation methods, etc. It can also be applied to control displays of measuring instruments to display measurement results and guidance on measurement methods. It can be used for trip meters, navigation, games, fault indications, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the general configuration of the vending machine of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a time chart showing an example of the mode of display data transfer, and FIGS. 3 (4) and (B) are the same. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of how the display data is stored, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of how the data is displayed, and FIG. S is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the data display control circuit section. It is. l, Co...Microprocessor, 3.3'...Display unit, t...Random access memo IJ,! ;...Read-only memory, 6.9
...Input circuit, 7...Amplification circuit, t...Output circuit, lθ...Inserted coin processing section, //...
...Input amount display, 3/...LCD display, 32...
・Display control circuit, 33...Display power supply circuit, 3'l・
...Large item selection key, 3S...Medium item selection key, 36
...Write key, "n...Clear key, 3g
...Small item selection key, y...Number key, ψ...
Large item selection mark, ll/... item partition line, 4I2.
・Data designation mark in the middle, SO...Light emitting diode, si~StI...Resistor, SS...Switch. Patent applicant Fuji Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd.'Representative patent attorney
Yoshi Tani - Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 (A) (B) Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A control unit that controls a display function, a display means that can commonly display information according to each application, and a display unit that is connected to the control unit.
1. A connector into which the display means is inserted, and an instruction means for instructing the control unit to use the display means inserted into the connector, and the control unit is configured to receive instructions from the instruction means.
A vending machine characterized in that information corresponding to the application is displayed on a display means inserted into the connector. 2. In the vending machine according to claim 1,
A plurality of the connectors are provided depending on the purpose, and the instruction means is an instruction circuit provided in each connector that detects that the display means is inserted and sends a detection signal to the control unit. vending machine. B) The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the detection signal is a code signal, and the instruction circuit has a switch for switching the code signal depending on the application.