JPS6145394A - Controller 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] (a) Industrial Application Fields One aspect of the present invention is to control a vending machine that detects an abnormality in the product discharging device for each sales column and stops sales from the abnormal sales column. Regarding equipment.

(B) Conventional technology In general, a product ejection device has a carrier attached to the output shaft of a drive deceleration motor, and a detection device detects whether the product ejection device is in a standby state or an operating state based on the rotational position of the carrier. It is configured so that it can be detected. During the sales operation, when the motor is driven and the carrier is removed from the standby position, the motor is kept driven until the carrier returns to the standby position. Regarding the product discharging device fRK having such a configuration, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 53-13498 states that when the carrier is out of the standby position in the sales standby state and the carrier does not return to the standby position even if the motor is driven, this sales column is published. It has been disclosed that sales will be discontinued due to an abnormal column. At this time, it is common practice to set abnormal column data in the RAM indicating the sales column equipped with the faulty product ejecting device, and to discontinue the sale of the product in the sales column as being unsaleable through a determination of whether or not it can be sold. After removing the cause of the abnormality in the product discharging device and restoring the device, the motor is driven to move the carrier from the standby position to the operating position, and when the carrier returns to the standby position, the abnormality column data is reset.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the prior art, in order to reset abnormal column data, a motor must be driven, making the operation cumbersome. The abnormal column data is stored in a memory that is backed up by a battery when the power is cut off, as necessary data for automatic vending operations, along with sales price data and sales total data for each product. Therefore, abnormal column data cannot be erased even if the power is cut off.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to reset abnormal column data when power is cut off or turned on in a control device that stores abnormal column data in a RAM backed up by an auxiliary power supply circuit.

(b) Means for solving the problem The present invention is a RAM that stores data necessary for the sales operation of the own rdJ version and is backed up by a battery when the power is cut off.
Then, an abnormality in the product ejecting device is detected based on the detection power of the detection device that can distinguish between the standby state and the operating state of the product ejecting device, and the abnormal column data indicating the sales column in the abnormal state is stored in the RAM. The basic structure consists of a means for setting, and a means for reading the abnormal column data of KRAM when the power is cut off or turned on.

(E) When the operational power is cut off, the reset means resets the abnormal column data stored in the RAM.

(f) Embodiment Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which (1) is a control section of a vending machine composed of microcombi parts, and (2) is a sales column of products for each sales column. Data necessary for automatic sales operation such as price is set 7) RAM, (3)
retains the memory contents of 1/CRAM M+21 when the power is turned off! l
The auxiliary power supply circuit (4) is an initial setting circuit that gradually raises the power supply voltage that rises sharply after power is turned on, and outputs an initial signal when it reaches a predetermined level. And (5,) to (5o) are motors that drive the product discharging device for each sales column, and (61) to (6n) are motors (50 to 5n) that operate in conjunction with carriers attached to their output shafts. -Carrier switch to turn OFF, C, ~C
Reference numeral 4 indicates a money switch which outputs an input money signal according to the type of money when money is inserted, and reference numerals (7,) to (7n) are product selection switches for each sales column.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts explaining the operation of the control unit (1), and the input detection flow in FIG. 3 is periodically processed by a timer interrupt. In the main flow of Fig. 2, after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the power was turned on, the control unit (1) performs initial setting using an initial signal generated in the initial set circuit (4) in step N1, and in step N2, the control unit (1) performs initial setting on the initial setting circuit (4). ) clears all areas where column error data is stored.

Step N4 sets the register ``1'' that stores the sales column hidden in RAM (21), and the N4 step sets the register ``1'' that stores the sales column hidden in RAM (21).
Determine whether it is set to M +21. Column abnormality data is set +4 N, move to step, but if column abnormality data is not set, N, step RA for Ii anti-selling column difficulty 1
Determine whether the carrier flag is set in M+21〇Here, the input detection of the carrier switch in the input detection flow will be explained together with the input detection of the selection switch. Step n sets "1" as the sales column positive, and step n detects the output of the carrier switch (6,) and turns it off.
In the case of ON, the carrier flag of RAM+21 is reset in step n, and in the case of ON, the carrier flag is set in step n4. Then, in step n, the operation of the selection switch (7I) is detected and turned ON. Then, in step n6, RAM+2>IcMli and the selection flag for sell column N1111 are set, and in step n7, sales column ItL2 is specified. The process passes through step n8 and moves to step n.

In this way, it is detected that the carrier switches and selection switches of all sales columns are ON, and this process is repeated to confirm that the carrier switches and selection switches are ON for all sales columns from 1 to n. From step 08 to n. It becomes a step.

Step N of the main flow determines whether there is an abnormality in the product discharging device by detecting the carrier flag set for sales column No. 1. When the product ejection motor (5,) is in a non-operating state, the motor carrier is normally in the standby position and the carrier switch (61) is ON, so the carrier related to sales column No. 1 is activated at step n4 of the input detection flow. The flag is set in RAM (21).However, if the motor carrier is out of the standby position and the carrier switch (6,) is at 0FFL, then the RA
No carrier flag is set in M(2).

In this case, the product discharging device of sales column Nll is abnormal, and in step N, the column abnormality data regarding sales column 11kLl is set to RAM (21) and the process moves to step N. If it is normal and the carrier flag is set in RAM (2+), then in step N, the input amount is compared with the sales price of the sales column Nfll stored in RAM (2+), and the product in the sales column is sold. Determine whether it is possible.When money is inserted into the vending machine, the money switch 01
~C4 outputs the inserted money signal, but when the inserted money signal is detected at step n0 of the input detection flow by a timer interrupt, nl.

In step, the input amount is calculated based on the amount of money indicated by the input money signal. In this sale possibility determination, the control unit (1) also determines the possibility of sale in response to a change presence signal and a product sold-out signal (not shown). If it is possible to sell, the process moves to steps N and O, and it is checked whether the selection flag for the sales column Nfll is set in RAM+21. If the selection flag is not set or if the product cannot be sold, the process moves to step N, where sales column floor 2 is designated, and the process moves through step N8 to step N4. This process is repeated for each sales column, but if the products in sales columns LV & 12 are available for sale and the selection switch S is operated, the selection flag for sales column NCL2 is set in RAM (21). To be N, .N1 from step
．． It becomes a step. At this time, the selection flag is set in RAM+21 when selection and switch operation are detected in the input detection flow using a timer interrupt. And if the selection flag of sales column N112 is set, N□
, reset the selection flag in steps N1. Sales in steps = spotlight control of products from ram 2. That is, N1. In the step, a drive signal is output on Tanabata to operate the product discharging device in sales column N112, and after discharging the product, the selling price of the product is subtracted from the installed amount, and the remaining amount after the subtraction is other than O" yen. Control is performed to pay out this amount as change, and the process moves to step N.

Also, when column abnormality data is set in RAM (21), the main 70-processing regarding that sales column is N4.
Even if the corresponding selection switch is turned on to jump from step to step N, the sales operation will not occur. When the power to the vending machine is turned off, auxiliary power is supplied to RAM+21 from the auxiliary power circuit (3), and the stored contents are protected. However, after the power is restored, the column abnormality data in RAM (21) is cleared, so the main flow processing for each sales column moves from step N4 to step N, and the abnormality of the product ejecting device is determined again using the carrier flag. Therefore, when the power is turned on after recovering the product ejection device from failure, only the column abnormality data can be automatically cleared.In addition, in this example, the column abnormality data is reset in the initial flow, but when the power is turned off, the Column abnormality data may be cleared in the power-off flow when the voltage drops.

(g) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, in a vending machine that protects the memory contents of the RAM by an auxiliary power supply circuit, column abnormality data indicating a sales column whose sale is discontinued due to a failure of the product ejection motor is cleared by turning off the power. can do. Therefore, when the power is turned off to eliminate the cause of the failure, and then the power is turned on again, the column abnormality data is cleared, so the abnormality can be quickly resolved from a system perspective. Moreover, when the control device of such a vending machine is transferred to another vending machine, the column abnormality data of the original vending machine is cleared when it is installed in the new vending machine. There is no longer any inconvenience caused by column abnormalities in vending machines being applied to new vending machines.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the control circuit of the vending machine according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a main flowchart showing the operation of the control section, and Fig. 3 is an input diagram showing the operation at the timer interrupt of the control section 1. The detection flow is shown. (1)...Control unit, (2)...RAM,
+31... Auxiliary power supply circuit, (5,) ~ (5n)...
・Product discharge motor, (61) to (6n)...Carrier switch. Applicant Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. and one other representative Patent attorney Shizuo Sano Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a vending machine that is equipped with a product ejection device for each sales column and a detection device that can distinguish and detect the standby state and operating state of the ejection device, data necessary for operation is stored and the power is cut off. A RAM which is sometimes backed up by an auxiliary power supply circuit, a means for detecting a sales column in which the product discharging device is abnormal based on the detection power of the detection device and setting column abnormality data in the RAM, A control device for a vending machine, comprising a reset means for resetting the column abnormality data stored in the RAM when power is turned on.