JPS5846491A - Counting/memory system for 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 count storage method for storing count values such as sales data in memory devices provided inside and outside of an arithmetic and control unit in a vending machine, and particularly relates to a count storage method that is inexpensive with low reliability. It was designed so that it could be carried out.

Initially, electromagnetic counters were used to count sales data such as the number of products sold in vending machines, and were used for the following purposes.

Total counter, e.g. 76 types Selection counter e.g. 16
For example, if there are 16 types of products to be sold and 6 types of product sales prices, there are 2 types of price counters and test counters for each type of purpose.
The use of such a large number of electromagnetic counters causes the following problems.

(1) Fllllllllll expensive Case 2) It takes a lot of space to install the counter, making it larger.

(3) For example, if three counters are used and switched to the above-mentioned 2y types, the interface configuration will become complicated and the cost will increase.

Moreover, if the device becomes larger and more complex as described above, it will no longer be possible to cope with the control system using a relay control device, an electromagnetic counter, or the like that is centered on all the components.

Conventionally, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem 1, various controls in vending machines have been collectively performed by a processing unit called a microcomputer, which allows for miniaturization and the ability to perform complex control functions. It looks like this. An example of the configuration of a Kagaru vending machine is shown in FIG.

In the illustrated configuration, the arithmetic and control unit 93. t controls the vending operation of the vending machine by taking out the product in response to a vending enable signal from the coin mechanism λ in response to the insertion of a coin. That is, when a coin is inserted into the coin mechanism λ, the amount inserted is displayed on the display 3, and compared with the product selling price set in the coin mechanism λ,
A sellable signal is sent for products of the type for which the input amount has reached the set value of the selling price. The arithmetic and control unit 1 instructs all the products selected by the purchaser by pressing the selection switch j to be transported out of the products of the product types to which the sellable signals have been sent. At this time, in order to facilitate the purchaser's product selection, a lamp provided for each switch of the rung display Hs is lit for the product that is available for sale, or a sold-out display rung is lit for the product that is sold out. In addition, for food and beverage products that require co-cooking, sugar,
A switch is installed to instruct customers to increase or decrease the amount of milk, etc., and it is possible to add flavoring according to the buyer's preference.In addition to displaying all the lights for such operations, these display rungs continue to light up during sales operations. do. In addition, the contacts of these product selection switches, raw material inventory switches, switches that control heaters and compressors in response to temperature switches for food and beverage products, and other control switches are arranged in a key matrix in the signal input circuit/l. and its signal input circuit/1
Various control data, for example, having an r-bit configuration, are sequentially input to the arithmetic and control unit @1 in response to signals from the strobe circuit/3, and are used for various control operations.

In addition, X shown in the key matrix of the signal input circuit/da
As shown in FIG. 2, the marked portion is a series connection between the switch contact SW and the diode D for preventing mutual interference. Also,
This key matrix can also be constructed using transistors or IC circuit elements.

The output signal of the arithmetic and control unit l is displayed in the above-mentioned rung display section j.
In addition to controlling the lighting display of the monitor display (the light emitting display of each light emitting diode FD in the rear section 6), various monitor instructions such as presence or absence of a power outage, sales status, etc., and all news are displayed. Constant output circuit 7 via 7
It controls the operation of heaters, compressors, motors, etc. that are constantly operated to maintain the temperature of food and drink products, and controls the sales output circuit r via a machining amplifier/g, and controls the delivery of various products. Controls the various mechanisms and discharge valves for food and beverage products, such as porridge. The product delivery/discharge section is driven by directly controlling the output transistor by the arithmetic and control unit to make it conductive.

However, the conventional vending machine shown in the figure has a read-only memory (R) that stores data used for various control operations.
OM) /θ, random access memory (RAM)
// and clock LSI/2, but the address bus from the arithmetic control unit l to these external memory devices lθ, //, /2 is provided to the arithmetic control unit/2.
-f! of the output boat of Rather than dedicating the IC, a common output port is used as the control output signal line for the sales output circuit t, which is used only during product sales operations. Therefore, the external memory device /θ, //.

/2 is used, the arithmetic and control unit l sends a control output signal to one of the control output signals CB, CF2, CFt, which selectively operates the devices fdt/θ, //, /λkm. , the output transistor 9 for the sales output circuit r is cut off, and the output ports Ao to 2 for control output are used as address buses.

In addition, regarding the data bus for control data read from the external memory devices /θ, //, /2, data from the signal input circuit /2 can be transferred without dedicating a part of the input port of the arithmetic and control unit l. Input Capo) Do-D
Under the control of the strobe output circuit /l, the same data line is used alternately by the external memory devices /θ, //, /2 and the signal input circuit /g in a time-sharing manner. It is configured as follows.

Therefore, in the conventional device shown in FIG.
The configuration is significantly simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In addition to displaying data directly related to vending operations such as cooking temperature in the vending machine, the numeric display ≠ shown in the second figure also displays external memory devices /θ, /l.

/2 or can also be used to display read control data.

Note that the various counters described above may use electromagnetic counters connected to the constant output circuit 7 and the sales output circuit r in the configuration shown in the first diagram, but this increases the cost despite the use of the arithmetic and control device l. .

FIG. 3 shows an example of how the random access memory built into the arithmetic and control unit fl in the vending machine having the above-mentioned configuration is used. One section in the figure corresponds to ≠ bit, that is, one digit number, and 6 digits are stored in 6 digits.
Use digit partitions.

By adding and storing the value for each division each time a product is sold, it is possible to match the count value of the external electromagnetic counter with the count value stored in the built-in random access memory. . But all! If the magnetic counter is 6 digits, it is a total counter.
6 digit test counter 6 digit selection counter 6 digits x 10 items - 60 digit price counter 6 digits x 6 keys - 36 digits, it will occupy a total of ior digits, that is, 1732 bits. However, there is a limit to the storage capacity of the random access memory built into an arithmetic and control unit composed of an 1-step microcomputer, and normally it is jl-2 bits for a 2-byte type, and tor≠ for a μ-byte type. It's just a focus. Therefore, if the above-mentioned 4'32 bits were occupied, there would be insufficient storage capacity for controlling the vending machine, so a random access memory // was provided outside the arithmetic and control unit I to perform the control operations for the sales data, etc. mentioned above. The purpose is to store the count value 1, which is not directly involved in the calculation. For storing counted values in such an external memory device l/, as shown in FIG. The 112-memory contents of the external memory device FIT// can be read out as needed and displayed on the numeric display without having to read out the contents of the external memory device FIT//.

However, an external memory device installed in a vending machine
/ Because it needs to be constructed at low cost, it is difficult to correct data errors, and it is also difficult to have a large-scale program for correcting data errors run by an arithmetic and control unit consisting of a chip microcomputer. Have difficulty. Moreover, since vending machines have many built-in noise sources such as motors, renoids, and compressors, the address lines, data lines, and control lines for the external memory device// are affected by the noise, resulting in data errors. Although it is easy to do so, it is also difficult to suppress noise.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to make it possible to store counted values with high reliability by skillfully using both a memory device built into an arithmetic and control unit and a memory device attached externally. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a count storage method for a vending machine.

That is, the count storage method of the present invention has storage means provided both inside and outside the arithmetic and control unit of the vending machine, stores all digits of the count value in the vending machine in the storage means provided outside, and only the lower digits of the counted value are stored in a storage means provided in the
comparing the lower digit part of the counted value stored in the externally provided storage means with the lower digit part of the counted value stored in the internally provided storage means at a predetermined cycle, and correcting it if there is a discrepancy; Alternatively, the entire feature is that mismatched information is stored.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

The storage mode in the memory device with a built-in arithmetic control unit according to the method of the present invention is as shown in FIG. 3, and the storage mode in the external memory device is as shown in FIG. In the internal memory device shown in the figure, important count values are set to one digit, and product sales numbers by type and price are set to two digits.
On the other hand, the external memory device shown in FIG. In other words, the data in the memory device built into the arithmetic and control unit is updated via an appropriate filter inside the arithmetic and control unit, so data errors rarely occur, but the external memory device has the above-mentioned problems. Since data errors are likely to occur due to the intrusion of noise, the reliability of stored data is lower than in built-in memory devices. Therefore, in the count storage method of the present invention, the fifth
According to the flowchart shown in the figure, in step S/, the lower digits of the count value stored in the external memory device are stored in parallel in the memory device in the arithmetic control device/, for example, by 2 to 4 digits; Next, in step Sλ, the count values stored in both memory devices are compared at a rate such as once a day or once a week, for example, when recovering from a power outage, when replenishing products, or at other specific times. . As a result of this comparison, if the two count stored values do not match, the count stored value in the external memory is corrected by the arithmetic and control unit 1 in step 1S3, and the corrected value is stored in the external memory device in step Ba. Transfer it to and store it.

In addition, this correction process is simplified so that, in the case of a mismatch, the lower digits of the count stored value in the external memory device are replaced with the count stored value in the internal memory device at the above-mentioned rate cycle. You can also do that.

Furthermore, the discrepancy information can be stored in, for example, an external memory device, and can be corrected all at once, for example, when collecting sales data.

When collecting the data mentioned above, in addition to displaying or recording the count value stored in the external memory device after correcting only the lower digits as described above, the count value stored in the external memory device can also be displayed or recorded electronically. By processing the data using a computer and comparing it with previously collected data, not only can other data errors be repaired, but also the upper digits can be corrected.

In other words, if all the data is collected every day or every short period, the upper digits will not fluctuate during that time (and the collected data that has fluctuated can be referenced with all the discrepancy information and past change trends mentioned above). I'll fix it (/3).

As is clear from the above explanation, in parallel with storing all digits of counted values such as product sales data in a vending machine in an external memory device with a large storage capacity, it is also possible to Counting of all digits stored in an external memory device by storing only the low-order digits, which change rapidly, in a memory device that can reliably store accurate data, and comparing the two as needed or periodically. Since the stored value can be corrected, highly reliable count storage can be reliably performed with an inexpensive circuit configuration.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vending machine that stores counts according to the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a detailed configuration of a part of the same, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the storage mode of the internal memory device, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of the counting storage process. (#l) /... Arithmetic control device, λ... Coin mechanism, 3... Amount display 2 ≠... Number display, j... Run 1 display, 6... Monitor display vessel,
7... Constant output circuit, r... Sales output circuit, ri... Output transistor, /θ... Read-only memory, //... Random access memory, /λ... Clock IC circuit, /3... Strobe output circuit, /G... Signal input circuit, /S... Transistor, /6. /7...Amplifier. Patent applicant: Fuji Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (/S) Figure 1 Figure 5 -670-

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) Storage means are provided inside and outside the arithmetic and control device in the vending machine, and all digits of the counted value in the vending machine are stored in the storage means provided outside, and all digits of the counted value in the vending machine are stored in the inside. The storage means provided stores all of the lower digits of the counted value, and the lower digits of the counted value stored in the externally provided storage means are stored in the internally provided storage means. A count storage system for a vending machine, characterized in that the count is compared with the lower digit part of the count value at a predetermined period, and when there is a mismatch, it is corrected or information on the mismatch is stored. 2. In the count storage method according to claim 1, sales data in the vending machine is used as the count value, and at all times, according to changes in the sales data,
A count storage method for a vending machine, characterized in that only a lower digit part of the count value stored in the storage means provided inside the vending machine is updated. 3) In the count storage method according to claim 1 or 2, the count value, which is stored in the external storage means and whose lower digits are corrected at a predetermined period, is stored in another predetermined period. A count storage system for a vending machine, characterized in that the upper digits of the count value are corrected by performing arithmetic processing on a periodic basis.