JPS62108390A - Stock soldout detection 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 Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a vending machine that mixes and sells a plurality of liquid raw materials, and particularly relates to a vending machine that mixes and sells a plurality of liquid raw materials, and particularly relates to a system for detecting sold-out of liquid raw materials. To detect when a vending machine is running out of liquid raw materials, set the number of cups of each liquid raw material that can be sold in advance, and then subtract the number of cups that can be sold of the liquid raw material that was used for sale every time the vending machine sells the liquid raw material. If the result of subtraction was zero, it was considered sold out, and a sold-out lamp was lit for the product that was being sold using that liquid raw material.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with this method, it is not possible to accurately detect when the liquid raw material is sold out, and in extreme cases, it is possible that several glasses of liquid raw material that are sold out may be left in the tank. Some liquid ingredients may remain. - For example, when setting the number of cups that can be sold, the total amount of liquid in each liquid ingredient link is divided by the amount to be sold at one time, but if the same liquid ingredient is used, it will be sold - times. If the quantities are different, the number of cups that can be sold is determined by dividing by the number of cups sold in - times, and the number of cups that can be sold is determined based on the result, but in reality, the number of cups that can be sold at one time is the one that sells the most. However, when the product is sold out, a large amount of liquid raw material remains in the tank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional methods, it is an object of the present invention to accurately detect when a liquid raw material is sold out.

Means for Solving the Problems Therefore, in view of the above object, the present invention sets the amount of each liquid raw material in a tank before sale, and calculates the amount of liquid raw material used for sale every time it is sold. The amount is subtracted, and when the result of the subtraction is zero, it is determined that the product is sold out, and the sold-out lamp of the product that was sold using the liquid raw material is lit.

Function: Therefore, since the amount used in the - time is subtracted from the total amount of liquid in the tank for each liquid raw material, it is possible to accurately detect when the liquid is sold out.

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1st
The figure shows the supply system for liquid raw materials, etc. in this type of vending machine, where A a - A d are liquid raw material tanks, B
a-B d are raw material delivery mechanisms for transporting liquid raw materials from liquid raw material tanks, and C is a cup for receiving drinks to be sold. D is a chute for receiving the discharged liquid raw material.

FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of a controller that controls this vending machine. 1 is a microcomputer (referred to as CPU) that performs input/output signal processing, and 2 is a coin detection mechanism that detects coins inserted into the vending machine and generates a signal representing the amount of money inserted. 3a to 3n are raw material setting switches for setting the amount of liquid raw material to be discharged and the total amount of liquid raw material; 4a to 4;
n is a switch corresponding to the product for sale. Also, 6a~
5n is a sold-out indicator lamp indicating that the item to be sold is sold out, and 50 to 5z are lamps indicating that the item can be sold. 6
A to 6e are relays for driving each raw material delivery mechanism B a to B e respectively, 2.3 a to 3 n and 4 a to 4 n are connected to the input boat of CPU 1, and the output boat is connected to the Off indicator lamps 5a to 5n.

Relays 6a to 6d are connected.

The CPU 1 has a RAM 7, in which are written the liquid raw material discharge amount for each product for one push set by the raw material setting switches 3a to 3n and the total amount of liquid raw material for each liquid raw material tank.

Next, the operation of the control device for the vending machine having the above configuration will be explained with reference to the flowchart of the operation shown in FIG.

First, as an example, carbonated water is placed in liquid raw material tank Aa, and liquid raw material tank A b is stored in liquid raw material tanks A a - A e.
- It is assumed that syrup such as cola is stored in Ae. At this time, the total amount of liquid raw materials contained in each raw material tank Aa to Ae is set to R using raw material setting switches 38 to 3n.
In addition to writing in A M 7, the amount to be carried out when selling each raw material once is written in the same way using the raw material setting switches 3a to 3n.

Now, when a customer inserts, for example, 100 yen into the vending machine, the coin detection mechanism 2 sends a signal equivalent to 100 yen to the CP.
It is sent to U1 (gtep 1 in FIG. 3).

The CPU 1 determines the product that can be sold based on this input amount, and displays any of the sellable lamps 5o to 62 for the corresponding product (5top 2 in Fig. 3) by lighting the sellable lamps 5o to 62. , the customer knows that a predetermined product such as cola can be sold, and turns on any one of the switches 4a to 4n corresponding to the product to be sold such as cola (5top 3 in FIG. 3). and CPU
1 reads which of the switches 4a to 4n are turned on and detects that an instruction has been given to sell any one of the products, such as cola. If cola is selected, the amount of cola syrup and carbonated water sold in - sales is read out from RAM 7 (5top in Figure 3).
4) Based on this, calculate the operating time of the raw material transport mechanism of the tank for each raw material to be transported, and turn on the relays 6a to 6C corresponding to each raw material for the calculated time, A predetermined one of the raw material delivery mechanisms Ba-Be is driven to discharge a predetermined amount of cola syrup and carbonated water from each predetermined tank Aa to Ae (3rd 5to
p5).

The ejected cola syrup passes through shooter D to cup C, and the carbonated water goes directly to cup C, and -
The sale is completed (5 step 6 in Figure 3).

Now, when the above-mentioned sales operation is performed, the CPU 1 subtracts the amount of each sold raw material from the total amount of each raw material written in the RAM 7 (5top 7 in FIG. 3), and writes the subtracted amount of each raw material as a new When the total amount of each raw material is written to the RAM 7, and the subtracted amount of each raw material reaches a predetermined amount that is determined to be sold out of the raw material, the CPU 1 determines that the product to be sold using that raw material is sold out. Display lamp 6a
to 5n, the relevant lamp is displayed, and the sales operation of items whose display lamps are lit thereafter is stopped (5top 8 in Fig. 3).

As mentioned above, in the sold-out processing after the end of sales, the sold-out status is determined by subtracting the raw materials used for the sale from the total amount of each raw material, making it possible to accurately determine sold-out status.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above explanation, the present invention subtracts the amount of liquid raw material carried out from the raw material tank from the total amount, and when making a sell-out determination, the sold-out determination is made based on the total amount. , the effect of making it possible to accurately determine whether a product is sold out can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing the raw material supply state of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart of FIG. 1. A a -A e...Liquid raw material tank, Ba-
Be... Raw material delivery mechanism, C... Cup, D... Shooter 11... CPU,
2...Coin detection mechanism, 3a-3n...
Raw material setting switch, 4a-4n...Switch corresponding to the product for sale, 6a-6n...Sold out indicator lamp, 60-5z...Sellable lamp, 6a-6
e...Relay, 7...RAMon~A
5----Written salary tank Ba~Bc,---) lPrzuka voice* Groove C---Ka Tsubu

Claims (1)

[Claims] A tank for storing several types of liquid raw materials, a raw material delivery mechanism for transporting the liquid raw materials from the tank, a plurality of product selection switches for selecting different sales products, and a display indicating that the sales product is sold out. a sell-out lamp; a switch for setting the amount of raw material to be discharged from the raw material discharge mechanism;
It is comprised of a microcomputer that controls the raw material delivery mechanism and the switches and lamps, and when the product selection switch is pressed, a predetermined amount of liquid raw material corresponding to the selected product is delivered from the tank and blended. When sold as a product, the microcomputer subtracts the amount of liquid raw material carried out from the tank from the total amount, and when the amount falls below a predetermined amount that is considered sold out, the microcomputer subtracts the amount of liquid raw material carried out from the tank and sells the powder raw material. A raw material sold-out detection method for a vending machine is characterized by performing control to display a sold-out lamp of a product to be mixed and sold.