JPS59231695A - 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] [Technical Field to Which the Invention Pertains] The present invention relates to a cup-type vending machine that sells liquid beverages such as coffee. This relates to a cleaning mechanism.

[Prior art and its problems]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a piping system for carrying out products in a conventional cup-type vending machine.

In Figure 1, 1 is a hot water tank that stores hot water for dissolving powdered raw materials such as coffee, and 2-1.2-2.2-3
is a stirring tank for stirring various powder raw materials such as powdered coffee and powdered cocoa with hot water.

The hot water tank 1 and each stirring tank 2-1.2-2.2-3 are connected via pipes 3-1.3-2.3-3, respectively. -2.3-3 are opened and closed by hot water valves Mb1, Mb2, and Mb3, respectively.

4-1.4-2.4-3 is each stirring tank 2-1.2-2.2
-3 is a raw material tank installed above each raw material tank 4-1.
．． 4-2. Different powder raw materials are stored in 4-3, and raw material discharge motors Mcl and MC2 are provided at the bottom of each raw material tank.
, Mc3, the powder raw material is transferred to each stirring tank 2-1.2-2.
．． 2-3. The discharged powder raw material is transported by stirring motors Mal, Ma2, Ma installed at the bottom of each stirring tank.
3.

5 is a paper tip that is built into the vending machine body and is automatically carried out to the sales room 6. The upper part of the sales room 6 and each stirring tank 2
-1 to 2-3 are pipes 7-1. .

7-2. Connected via 7-3, each pipe 7-1 to 7
-3 from each stirring tank 2-1 to 2-3 through a paper cup 5,
A beverage, which is a product, is put into the container. Reference numeral 8 denotes a drainage bucket installed below the sales room 6, and the drainage bucket 8 stores the discharged product beverages, the water for washing the piping system, and the like.

FIG. 2 shows the electrical circuit of the piping system described above.

In FIG. 2, a contact XA of a sales start relay XA (not shown), which is turned on when a sale starts, and a customer Any product selection pushbutton Pi (i=1.2.
3. Product selection relay xi (not shown) is turned on by
i=1.2.3, not shown), the raw material discharge motor Mci, and the timer relay Ti (i=1 .2.3, not shown) are connected in series with each other.

A stirring motor Mai and a hot water valve Mbi are connected in parallel to both ends of each series circuit of the raw material discharge motor Mci and the a-contact Ti.

In addition, each relay point between the raw material discharge motor Mci and the a contact Xi is connected to a push button switch P that starts cleaning the piping system.
L and the b contact XA of the sales start relay XA are connected to the bus line M.

Further, between the bus bars M and N, a pushbutton switch P for displaying sold-out information and a sold-out indicator light D4 are connected in series, and when switch P4 is pressed, the sold-out indicator light D4 is connected.
lights up.

With the above configuration and the control circuit shown in FIG. 2, when sales start, relay and contact
Since the switch a is turned on, the hot water valve Mbl and stirring motor Mal are driven, the hot water valve of the pipe 3-1 is opened, and hot water is poured from the hot water tank 1 into the stirring tank 2-1. Next, timer contact T
1 is turned on for a predetermined period of time, the discharge motor Mcl is driven, and an appropriate amount of powder raw material is put into the stirring tank 2-1, stirred by the stirring motor Mal, and put into the paper cup 5.

When this kind of sales operation is repeated, pipes 3-1~
Scale adheres to inside 3-3, and powder raw materials stick to stirring tanks 2-1 to 2-3 and pipes 7-1 to 7-3, so it is necessary to clean these regularly. It is.

Figure 2: In the conventional control circuit, when a maintenance worker presses the cleaning switch PL for a certain period of time as necessary, the b contact
Since A, XI, X2, and X3 are turned on only while the switch PL is turned on, the hot water valves Ma1 to Ma3
The stirrer motors Mb1 to Mb3 are driven when open while the switch PL is pressed, and the hot water passes through all the raw material piping paths from the hot water tank to the drain bucket 8 as described above. Pipe 3-1 to 3-3.7-1
7-3 and stirring tanks 2-1 to 2-3 were being cleaned.

For this reason, in conventional cup-type vending machines, if maintenance personnel forget to press the cleaning switch PL, or press it for too short a time, the piping system and stirring tank will not be sufficiently cleaned, resulting in dirt. This has disadvantages such as clogging of pipes and contamination of drinking water with hot water.

[Purpose of the invention]

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional vending machines of this type, and provide a cleaning mechanism that automatically cleans the piping system and stirring tank periodically to ensure reliable and sufficient cleaning. The objective is to provide a vending machine with high safety and serviceability for customers, which prevents contamination of products with foreign substances even if piping becomes clogged.

[Key points of the invention]

The present invention provides an automatic cleaning control mechanism that can be easily added to the cleaning mechanism of a conventional cup-type vending machine and is equipped with a timer, a cleaning indicator, etc. This system allows cleaning to be performed automatically at a set time at a cost, and also displays that cleaning is in progress until a little before the start of cleaning or a little after the end to ensure safety for customers. It is.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.

In FIG. 3, a timer T for setting the cleaning start time, which is excited at a predetermined set time, is connected between the power supply bus MN, and a water level sensor, which is automatically turned on when the drain bucket 8 becomes full, is connected. The a-contact XP1 and a reset relay Xp that stops the cleaning mechanism when the drain bucket is full are connected in series, and the a-contact X41 of a cleaning display relay X4, which will be described in detail later, and a cleaning indicator light D5 are connected in series.

Furthermore, the bus MSN is connected to the primary side of the transformer TR,
The secondary side of the transformer TR is connected to a rectifier 10, and a DC power supply voltage VDD is output from the rectifier 10.
A DC voltage ■Cc for applying a signal voltage is outputted via a rectifier 11.

In FIG. 4, the set terminal S of the flip-flop FF
is connected to a contact XT of timer T and is applied with DC voltage VCC. The output terminal q of the flip-flop FF is connected to the input terminal of an AND gate AND connected to the clock oscillator 12. Furthermore, output terminal Q
is connected to the cleaning display relay X4 via the inverter INV1.

When the Q output of the flip 70 knob FF becomes "higb", the "high" signal applied to the cleaning display relay x4 via the inverter INV1 becomes "low",
Cleaning display relay X4 is turned on by power supply voltage VDD.

C1, C2, and C3 are a pre-cleaning counter, a cleaning counter, and a post-cleaning counter, respectively, and each counter C1,
C2 and C3 count the clock signal of the clock oscillator 12, and count from the start of counting until a predetermined count value is reached.
outputs a “high” signal.

The pre-cleaning counter C1 starts the cleaning operation after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the start of the washing display to the customer, and the post-cleaning counter C3 stops the washing display after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the end of washing, and the washing counter C2 continues the cleaning operation for a certain period of time.

Input terminal ■1 of pre-cleaning counter C1 is AND gate AN
output terminal 01 of counter C1.
is connected to the input terminal 12 of the washing counter C2, and the output terminal 02 of the counter C2 is connected to the input terminal 3 of the post-washing counter C3.

Further, the output terminal 02 of the counter C2 is connected to the inverter IN
It is connected via V2 to a cleaning relay XL that starts and ends cleaning.

The cleaning relay XL is activated when the output signal of the cleaning counter C2 is “
When it becomes high''', it is turned on by the power supply voltage VDD in the same way as the cleaning display relay X4.

Further, the output terminal 03 of the post-cleaning counter C3 is connected to the input terminal of the reset circuit 13, and the output terminal of the reset circuit 13 is connected to the flip-flop F through the OR gate OR.
F, each reset terminal R, R of counter C1, C2, C3
1, R2, and R3. And reset circuit 1
3, when the applied voltage from counter C3 falls after cleaning,
A reset signal is sent to each reset terminal and to R1, R2, and R3 via the OR gate OR to reset the flip-flop FF and counters CL C2 and C3.

The other input terminal of the OR gate OR is connected to the a contact Xp2 of the reset relay xP, and the DC voltage V
CC is applied. And when drain bucket 8 is full,
A contact Xp1 is automatically turned on and reset relay xP
is excited, the a contact XP2 is turned on, and the voltage VC
Since C is applied to the flip-flop FF and the reset terminals of the counters C1, C2, C3 and to R1, R2, and R3 through the OR gate OR, cleaning is not started even if the timer T is energized.

In FIG. 5, XL is the three contacts of the cleaning relay XL, and the three contacts xL are connected in parallel with the cleaning switch PL of the conventional cleaning mechanism shown in FIG. Cleaning relay XL
While is being excited by the washing counter c2, the a contact XL is turned on and nine washings are performed.

X42 is one contact of the cleaning display relay X4, and is connected in parallel to the sold-out display push button switch P4.

While the cleaning display relay X4 is excited by the flip-flop FF, the three contacts X42 are turned on, and the sold-out indicator light D4 lights up.

In the above configuration, the cleaning operation is performed according to a time chart as shown in FIG.

First, when the timer relay T is energized at a predetermined set time, the 1st contact X1 is turned on, the flip 70 knob FF is set, the q output becomes high, and the cleaning display relay X4 is energized. A contact X41
, X42 is turned on, and the sold-out indicator light D4 and the cleaning indicator light D5 are turned on.

Further, when the q output of the flip-flop FF becomes "high", the clock signal of the clock oscillator 12 is sent to the pre-cleaning counter c1 via the AND gate AND.

The pre-cleaning counter c1 counts this clock signal and outputs a 'high' signal for the time Δt1 to the cleaning counter C2.
Apply to. The cleaning counter C2 counts the clock signal from the time when the signal from the counter C1 falls, similarly outputs a "high" signal for a time Δt2, and applies this signal to the post-cleaning counter C3. With,
The cleaning relay XL is energized for a time Δt2.

Then, in FIG. 5, the a contact XL is turned on, and the hot water valves Mal to Ma3 and stirring motor MbIA7Mb3 are driven for a time Δt2 in the same manner as in the conventional example described above, and the pipes 3-1 to 3-3.7 are driven. -1 to 7-3 and stirring tanks 2-1 to 2-3 are cleaned.

In this way, washing is started after the time Δt1 has elapsed since the customer is informed by the sold-out indicator light D4 and the cleaning indicator light D5 that the product is being washed and cannot be sold. In addition, it is possible to prevent burns caused by the large amount of hot water discharged from the pipes 7-1 to 7-3 into the sales room 6.

Next, the post-cleaning counter C3 counts all the clock signals from the time when the signal from the counter C2 falls, and applies a 'high' signal to the reset circuit 13 for a time Δ[3.

The reset circuit 13 sends out a reset signal at the time when the signal from the counter C3 falls, and resets the flip 70 knob F.
F and counters c1, C2, and C3 are reset. As a result, the cleaning display relay x4 is demagnetized, and the 3 contacts x41
．． X42 is turned off, and the sold-out indicator light D4 and the cleaning indicator light D5 are turned off.

In this way, from the time when the signal of the cleaning counter C2 falls, the cleaning relay XL is turned off, and the cleaning ends, a period of time Δ
[Since the sold-out indicator light D4 and the cleaning indicator light D5 are lit until 3 elapses, the remainder of the cleaning water will fall from the pipes 7-1 to 7-3 into the sales room 6 as water droplets immediately after cleaning is completed. This prevents washing water from contaminating the products when sales are resumed.

Furthermore, when the drain bucket 8 becomes full of water, the three contacts Xp1 turn on ``automatic number ζ'', the reset relay Xp is energized, and the a contact Xp2 turns on, so the flip-flop FF and counters C1, C2, and C3 turn on. It is held in the reset state, the cleaning relay XL is not turned on even if the timer T is energized, and cleaning is performed when the drain bag 8 is full of water.
Water is prevented from overflowing from the drain bag 8.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, an a contact XL that automatically starts and ends cleaning, and 3 x 4 contacts that display a sold-out message are added to the conventional cleaning mechanism shown in FIG. 2. By simply using the timer T, even a conventional vending machine can be automatically cleaned at an arbitrary time.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, there is provided a timer that turns on the right washing indicator light and the sold-out indicator light at an arbitrary set time, and a pre-washing timer that starts washing after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time when the timer operates. A counter and a post-cleaning counter that turns off the indicator light after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the end of cleaning are provided so that cleaning is automatically performed at any time and for a predetermined period of time. This eliminates the need for insufficient cleaning due to the length being too short, making it possible to provide a vending machine with excellent safety and serviceability to customers. Further, since the indicator light indicates that the vending machine is being cleaned, customers are reliably informed of the operation of the vending machine, contributing to improved service.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the main parts of the piping system of a vending machine, Fig. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of an electric circuit of a conventional vending machine, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a power supply circuit of an embodiment of the present invention. Circuit diagram shown, 4th
5 is a circuit diagram showing the main part of the same embodiment, FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the same embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the operation of the circuit of FIG. 4. 3-1~3-3.7-1~7-3...pipe, 2-1
~2-3... Stirring tank, Ma1-M23... Stirring motor, Mbl-Mb3... Hot water valve, 9... Commercial power supply, X
L...3 contacts, D4...sold out indicator light, D5...
Cleaning indicator light, C1...Counter before cleaning, C2...Counter during cleaning, C3...Counter after cleaning, T...Timer relay, 8...Drain bucket, xPl・
...λ contact, XP...reset relay, XP2...
3 contacts. Patent applicant: Fuji Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Representative Patent Attorney Aoyama, 2 people

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A cleaning mechanism that performs cleaning by passing cleaning liquid through a predetermined part, a timer that controls the cleaning mechanism to be driven for a certain period of time from an arbitrary set time, and a display unit that displays that cleaning is in progress. A vending machine characterized by: (2. In the vending machine according to claim 1, there is provided a sensor for detecting that a drain tank for storing cleaning liquid used for washing is full of water, and a sensor for detecting when the drain tank is full of water. A vending machine that is equipped with a means for stopping.