JPS6191791A - Price data checking 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 Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a method for confirming price data of a vending machine.

Year 1 Conventional configuration and its problems In recent years, the control functions of vending machines have become more complex due to the diversification of stored products and the enhancement of sales management functions, etc., and the use of microcomputers is increasing.

When using a microcomputer as a control and calculation device for a vending machine, RA is used to collect price data of products to be sold.
M (Random Access Memory), the price data may be read from the RAM at the time of sale, and sales operations may be performed based on the read price data. In this type of vending machine, the RAM is backed up by a battery, etc., and is configured to save price data even in the event of a power outage, but if the battery is exhausted due to a long power outage, etc., the RAM is An abnormality occurs in which the stored price data is corrupted.

Conventionally, the method for detecting the above-mentioned abnormality is to
There is a method in which it is determined that there is an abnormality if each digit of the price data read out from the RAM is a code other than "0" to "9" in the binary coded 1o-decimal code. However, this method has the disadvantage that if the battery is exhausted and the data stored in the RAM is corrupted, the corrupted data may change to a code of rOJ ~ "9", and in this case, an abnormality cannot be detected. had.

Purpose of the Invention In view of the above drawbacks, the present invention provides a price data confirmation method that reliably detects abnormalities in price data in a control and calculation device for a vending machine in which price data is stored in an electronic memory such as a RAM. This is what we provide.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve this object, the price data confirmation method of the present invention uses a control and arithmetic device for a vending machine that stores price data in an electronic memory such as a RAM, to store the same price data electronically. By storing data in two or more different areas of formula memory, determining the presence or absence of stored products, and at the same time comparing the price data in each area with each other, and determining that the data is corrupted if there is a discrepancy. , corruption of stored data can be reliably detected.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a control device for controlling sales of a vending machine, for example, a microcomputer is used. In this embodiment, a vending machine with a so-called 16-selection function, in which 16 products can be selected, will be described. In this type of vending machine that has a multi-selection function, a push button switch is provided for each selection, and when a predetermined amount of money is inserted into the vending machine, the push button switch of the desired selection is turned on. Then, the products of the selected selection are carried out.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a RAM that rewritably stores various data necessary for selling products as well as the sales price of the corresponding product for each selection, and the sales price data of this RAM is the same as shown in Figure 2. A pair of price data is stored for each selection, one as sales price data and the other as comparison confirmation data. In the example in Figure 2, the sales price data for product 1 of the first selection is at address 1,
Comparison confirmation data for product 1 is stored at the second address, selling price data for product 2 of the second selection is stored at the third address, and comparison confirmation data for product 2 is stored at the fourth address.

3 is a battery for backing up the RAM 2 during a power outage of commercial power, and this battery 3 is connected to a diode 4.
It is connected to the power supply terminal of RAM2 via.

6 rectifies the commercial power supply and controls the control device 1. This is a power supply circuit that supplies DC power to the RAM 2, and its DC output terminal is connected to the control device 1 and also connected to the power supply terminal of the RAM 2 via a diode 6.

Reference numeral 7 is an input device for inputting sales price data for each selection and various other data necessary for controlling the vending machine. 1 RAM 20I is loaded.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a group of sold-out detection switches provided in each storage device to detect whether or not the sold products for each selection are stored.If there are no stored products, a sold-out signal is supplied to the control device 1.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a display device for displaying the presence or absence of sale items for each selection.

The control device 1 has an internal ROM (ReadO
Although the operation is performed according to the program written in n ly Memory ), the price data confirmation method of the present invention will now be described for ease of explanation.

When power is supplied to the control device 1, the operation starts according to the program written in the ROM, and in step S1, the column N in the control device 1 is used to decide the processing selection.
Add 1 to the contents of the o counter and proceed to the next processing selection. In step S2, a comparison is made to see if the content of the column number counter is less than or equal to 16, which is the maximum number of selections in this embodiment, and if it exceeds 16, step S33 is performed.
, the value of the column number counter is set to 1.

Next, in step S4, sales price data is read out from the data stored in the RAM 2 according to the value of the column number counter. In step S5, the sales price data is binary coded to 10.
It is determined whether the data is a base number or not, and if the data is normal, the process advances to step S6. In step S6, comparison confirmation data is read out from the data stored in the RAM 2 according to the value of the column number counter. Next, in step S7, the selling price data read out from the RAM 2 in step S4 is compared with the comparison confirmation data read out in step S6, and if they are the same, a sold out signal from the sold out switch group 8 is sent out in step S8. The presence of the product is determined in step S9. If the product is not available, sold-out data is written in the control device 1 in step S10, and a sold-out display signal is output to the display device 9 in step S11. .

If it is determined in step S6 that the sales price data is in a code other than a binary coded decimal number, and if it is determined in step Sγ that the contents of the sales price data and the comparison confirmation data are different, Said step S10.
The process of step S11 is executed.

Next, from step 12 onward, calculations for the input amount, determination of whether or not the sale is possible, control of the vending device, etc. are executed, and step Sφ
come back to.

When power is supplied to the control device 1 in this way, it is determined whether the sales price data of all selections are normal or not according to the value of the column number counter.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention stores sales price data in an electronic memory such as a RAM backed up by a battery.
In a vending machine, sales price data and data for comparison confirmation with the same contents are stored respectively, and the sales price is determined by comparing the sales price data with the data for comparison confirmation when determining the presence or absence of stored products. Abnormalities in data can be reliably detected, and its practical effects are significant.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a storage method of selling price data in a RAM used in the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment. 1...Control device, 2...RAM, 8.
...Sold out detection switch group, 9...Display device. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] In addition to storing the price data of vending machines, price data corresponding to the product sales price and comparison confirmation data with the same content as this price data are stored in different areas of an electronic memory that is compensated for power outages by batteries, etc. At the same time as determining the presence or absence of stored items, the price data and comparison confirmation data are checked, and if there is a discrepancy, this column is marked as an error and subsequent sales operations are prohibited and an error is displayed. A method for checking price data of a vending machine characterized by performing the following steps.