JPS6224389A - 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 sells products using cards.

(Prior art) Generally, vending machines sell in cash (coins or banknotes), but recently so-called card-based vending machines have been introduced that allow sales and payments to be made using cards such as magnetic cards. It has been put into practical use.

In addition, as a payment method for vending machines that use cards, a card is purchased in advance with cash, on which monetary information corresponding to the purchase price is written using magnetic information or other means, and the information is written on the card each time the vending machine is used. There is a so-called prepayment method in which the amount is reduced, and a so-called deferred payment method in which the card holder is required to pay the accumulated usage amount every predetermined period when using a vending machine with a card.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) The prepayment method is a method in which a card with amount information written on it is purchased in advance with cash payment, and the card is used in a vending machine. This is a method of thinking of the card as a kind of cash voucher by writing on it. The prepayment method is safe in terms of cash collection because the cash can be obtained in advance. On the other hand, the deferred payment method is a method in which the card is blanked out with only card identification information written thereon, without amount information written thereon. The disadvantage of the deferred payment method is that it takes time and effort to collect cash. There is also the risk that cash cannot be recovered.

For the above reasons, the prepayment method is preferred and implemented because of the reliability of payment collection, but the card reader in the prepayment method must be able to write as well as read.

This writable card reader has the disadvantage that it is considerably more expensive than a read-only card reader.

As described above, conventional prepaid card vending machines have the drawback of being expensive because they require a writable card reader.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a means for realizing a prepayment type card vending machine with reliable cash collection using an inexpensive read-only card reader.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a read-only card reader, a money acceptance section, an arithmetic processing section, and a storage section, and in the prepayment operation, the The card information inputted from the reader is stored in the money storage unit, and in the automatic vending operation, the card information inputted from the card reader is compared with the card information previously stored in the storage unit to find a match. , the product is sold until the pre-stored balance reaches a predetermined negative limit amount, and after the sale, the amount obtained by subtracting the sales amount from the balance is stored in the storage unit as a balance; The present invention is characterized in that these controls are performed by the arithmetic processing section.

(Example) The present invention will be described below based on examples.

FIG. 1 is a combination diagram of block elements built into a vending machine according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the structure of the vending machine according to the present invention will be explained.

A microprocessor 1 as an arithmetic processing unit having functions to be described later includes a card reader 2 capable of reading information on a magnetic card, an operation display panel 3, a storage unit 4 for storing card information, etc., and a money identifier 7 as a money acceptance unit. is connected to the microprocessor l, and a product delivery drive unit 5 is connected to the microprocessor l.
A product storage/unloading section 6 is connected via.

First, in order to use a vending machine with a card, a user obtains a magnetic card on which card identification information is written in advance. Next, the user causes the card reader 2 to read the card identification information of the card. Furthermore, the money identifier 7 is made to read a 1000 yen bill. The microprocessor 1 combines the card identification information and the deposit information of 100 yen and stores it in the card information storage section 4. This means that the vending machine stores that a 1,000 yen prepayment has been made for that card. Next, if you have the same card read by the card reader and press the button for the product you want to purchase from the operation display panel, and the product is 100 yen, the microprocessor 1 will request 100 yen for the 1000 yen balance, so the microprocessor 1 will is set to 900 yen, and a control signal is given to the product carrying-out drive section 5 to store and carry out the product at the product storage and carrying-out section 6.
The specified products will be carried out and sold from there.

Give other users magnetic cards with different card identification information written on them. In this case as well, advance payment is made in the same manner as above and the vending machine is used. After reading the card information, the balance for that card is displayed numerically on the operation display panel 3. If you continue to make purchases on your card, the balance will gradually decrease and become less than the amount needed to purchase the product.In that case, for example, you can prepay 1,000 yen for the 30 yen balance, leaving a balance of 1,030 yen. be able to.

If you continue to make card purchases and choose to purchase a product for 100 yen when the balance reaches 30 yen, a negative balance will be allowed within a predetermined limit, and for example, the limit will be changed to the debt limit. If you call it 500 yen, the actual balance will be 500 yen + 30 yen = 530 yen, so you can purchase the product for 100 yen.

After the original balance becomes a negative number, if cash is paid in advance (partly paid in arrears to repay debt), the balance becomes a positive number again. For example, if your balance is 170 yen and you pay 1000 yen in advance, your balance will be 930 yen. The above arithmetic processing is performed by the microprocessor 1. The flowchart is shown in FIG.

In the first place, the benefits for card vending machine users are:
It was convenient to be able to make purchases when I wanted to, even if I didn't have the necessary cash (especially coins).

However, there was a drawback that if the balance became less than the product purchase price and there was no additional cash on hand, the product could not be purchased. According to this specific example, a temporary debt can be made to the vending machine, and the above-mentioned inconvenience can be solved. Due to the nature of this type of vending machine,
Although the condition is that it is used in an environment where the user trusts it (for example, in a factory or office where the user is always fixed), it will be convenient for the user in the above environment.

If we were to try to forgive debts only to creditworthy people, we could, for example, increase the debt limit according to the cumulative usage amount stored in the card information storage unit 4. It is possible to realize a service where debts are forgiven only for the following cards.

On the other hand, in conventional prepayment type card vending machines, in order to write information on the prepaid amount and balance onto the card, it was necessary to provide a card reader with both reading and writing functions. However, a card reader having both of these functions has the drawback of being expensive. On the contrary,
In the prepayment type card vending machine in the above-described embodiment, since information on the prepaid amount or balance is stored in the vending machine, the card reader is a read-only machine, which has the advantage of being low in price.

In the above embodiment, the block elements shown in Fig. 1 are built into the vending machine body, but in recent vending machines, the controller part, money acceptance part, product storage and delivery part, etc. are separated. Sometimes there are. In this way, even if the block elements are physically disturbed, or even if the number of block elements and their combinations change, the function as a prepaid card-using vending machine will not change, so the same effect can be expected. can.

In the above description, a magnetic card was used as a specific example of the card, but similar effects can be obtained with cards of other principles and shapes.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the vending machine according to the present invention, there is the convenience of being able to make a purchase even when the balance is insufficient because a temporary loan can be made to the vending machine. By using a read-only card reader, it is possible to provide a vending machine that is low in price and can provide benefits from using a card.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of sales operations in the embodiment of the present invention. ■...Microprocessor 2 as an arithmetic processing unit...
・Card reader 4...Storage unit for card information, etc.

Claims (1)

[Claims] It includes a read-only card reader, a money acceptance unit, an arithmetic processing unit, and a storage unit, and in a prepayment operation, card information input from the card reader and information on the amount of money prepaid from the money acceptance unit are provided. Information on the balance obtained by adding the balance stored up to that point is stored in the storage unit, and in the automatic vending operation, the card information input from the card reader and the card information previously stored in the storage unit are stored in the storage unit. If they match, the product is sold until the previously stored balance reaches a predetermined negative limit amount, and after the sale, the sales amount is subtracted from the balance and the balance is set as the balance. A vending machine characterized in that the information is stored in a storage section and these controls are performed by the arithmetic processing section.