JPS6286489A - 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 you can obtain cash in advance. On the other hand, the deferred payment method is a method in which a vending machine is used with a card on which only card identification information is written without amount information written on it, and the sales amount of a certain card is collected later and the card is retained. This is a method of charging the person for the payment. 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 disadvantage of being expensive because they require a writable card reader.

On the other hand, the number of products in vending machines has increased recently, and the number of flavors to choose from has also increased. For example, in a coffee vending machine, the choice of seasoning refers to the selection of the type of coffee beans, the strength of the coffee, the amount of cream, the amount of sugar, etc. It is a recent trend that the range of choices expected from vending machines is expanding and requests are becoming more diverse, but on the other hand, there are too many items to choose from, and users have to press too many selection buttons. This has the disadvantage that it is a burden on the operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide means for realizing a prepayment type card vending machine that can simplify the selection operation of multiple items and ensure 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 product selection section, a money acceptance section, a password input section,
It includes an arithmetic processing section and a storage section, and in the prepayment operation, the card information input from the card reader, the password information input from the password input section, and the information on the amount of money prepaid from the money acceptance section are used. The balance information including the previously stored balance is stored in the storage section, and in the selection information registration operation, the card information input from the card reader and the selection information selected by the product selection section are stored. The combination information of the card information input from the card reader and the password information input from the password input section and the card information previously stored in the storage section are stored in the storage section, and in the vending operation, the combination information of the card information input from the card reader and the password information input from the password input section The combination information of the card information and the password information is checked, and if they match, the storage section corresponding to the card information is stored until the pre-stored balance reaches the limit amount of a negative number, which is a predetermined negative number. The product is sold based on selection information stored in advance in the product, and after the sale, the amount obtained by subtracting the sales amount from the balance is stored in the storage unit as a balance, and these controls are performed by the arithmetic processing unit. It is characterized by

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on examples.

FIG. 1 is a combination diagram of block elements built into a vending machine according to the present invention, and the configuration of the vending machine according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

A microprocessor 1 serving as an arithmetic processing unit having functions to be described later includes a card reader 2 capable of reading information on a magnetic card, a product selection unit 3, and a storage unit 4 for storing card information, etc.
, a money validator 7 serving as a money receiving section, and a password input section 8 are connected to each other.Furthermore, the microprocessor 1 is connected to a product storing/exporting section 6 via a product discharging drive section 5.

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, inputs the password from the password input section 8, and then causes the money validator 7 to read the 1000 yen bill.

The microprocessor 1 combines the card identification information, the password, and the deposit information of 1,000 yen, and stores the combination in the card information storage section 4. This means that the vending machine stores that a prepayment of 1000 yen has been made for that card.

Next, read the same card with the card reader □, enter the PIN from the PIN input section 8, press the button for the product you wish to purchase from the product selection section 3, and press the purchase request button (not shown) to enter the PIN. If the product is worth 100 yen when the numbers match, the microprocessor 1 sets the balance to 900 yen and sends a control signal to the product delivery drive unit 5 to store the product since the balance is 1000 yen and the request is for 100 yen. Unloading section 6
The specified products will be carried out and sold from there.

Next, we will explain how to use cards to simplify flavor selection in coffee vending machines. As mentioned above, during the sales operation, the product may be selected by pressing the button of the product you want to purchase from the product selection section 3, but for example, the flavoring in a coffee vending machine is selected, i.e., the type of coffee beans, the strength of the coffee, In vending machines, where items cannot be sold unless you select the amount of cream, amount of sugar, etc., these selection operations are troublesome. By the way, since the selection combination of a certain user is usually fixed, this selection information is registered in the storage unit 4 in correspondence with the card, and when purchasing with the card, the selection information is stored in the storage unit 4. It can be read out from the page and used as is without any product selection operations. This selection information registration operation will be explained below.

First, the card is read by the card reader 2, and then the password is input. Next, the user selects the selection information to be registered in the product selection section 3, and then causes the card reader 2 to read the card again. By this operation, the selection information is combined with the card information and stored in the storage section. The next time you make a purchase based on your selection information, you can swipe the same card,
When the password is then input, the selection information stored in the storage section 4 is read out in accordance with the card information, and the product selection button of the product selection section 3 is illuminated in the same way as it is illuminated during normal selection. This is visually confirmed, and if the user wishes to purchase the item, he/she presses a purchase request button (not shown), and if the above-mentioned balance conditions are satisfied, the item based on the selection information is delivered and sold. A flowchart of the sales operation is shown in FIG.

Give other users magnetic cards with different card identification information written on them. In this case, a prepaid vending machine can also be realized using the same procedure as above. After reading the card information, the balance for that card is displayed numerically. If you continue to make purchases with your card, the balance will gradually decrease and become less than the amount needed to purchase the product, but in that case, you can prepay 1,000 yen for the 30 yen balance, and get 1000 yen.
You can have a balance of 0.30 yen.

The password input in the above explanation is effective for preventing unauthorized use.

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. It is assumed that the above arithmetic processing is performed by the microprocessor 1.

In the first place, the benefits for card vending machine users are:
It was convenient because you could make a purchase even if you didn't have the necessary amount of cash (especially small change) when you wanted to make a purchase. 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 its nature, such vending machines are used in environments where users can trust them (for example, factories where the users are always fixed,
Although the condition is that it is used in an office (such as in an office), it will be convenient for users 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 storage unit 4 for card information, etc. It is possible to realize a service that forgives debt only for cards such as

Conventional prepaid card vending machines require a card reader with both reading and writing functions in order to write information on the prepaid amount and balance onto the card. However, a card reader having both of these functions has the drawback of being expensive. On the other hand, in the prepayment type card vending machine in the above embodiment, the prepaid amount or balance information is stored in the vending machine, so the card reader is a read-only machine, resulting in a low price. You can get advantages.

Further, by registering and storing selection information such as selection of seasoning in correspondence with card information, an operational advantage can be obtained in that a complicated selection operation for seasoning can be omitted.

In the above embodiment, the condition for registering and storing the product selection information was the reading operation of a magnetic card, but as another condition, for example, when a card is read and a product is sold, the product selection at that time is always the same. It may also be registered and stored. According to this condition, the same product selection will be made any number of times for the same card unless the product selection is corrected during the process, and once the product selection is changed, this selection will continue. Although there are several possible conditions for registering and storing as described above in relation to the user's operations, any conditions may be used as long as the effects of the present invention can be similarly obtained.

In the above embodiment, the program elements shown in Fig. 1 are built into the vending machine body, but recent vending machines have separate components such as the controller section, money receiving section, product storage/export section, etc. Sometimes it is. In this way, even if the block elements are physically separated, or even if the number and combination of block elements changes, the function as a prepaid card vending machine will not change, so the same effect can be expected. .

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.

In the above description, a numeric input pushbutton switch was considered as the password input section 8, but this does not necessarily have to be a numeric input switch, and may be another symbol input switch or voice input, and various selections are possible.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the vending machine according to the present invention, it is difficult to use the machine illegally by entering a password, and since it is possible to make a temporary debt to the vending machine, it is convenient that it is possible to make a purchase even when the balance is insufficient. To provide a vending machine which is low in price by using an inexpensive read-only card reader, and which can obtain the advantages of making payment by card and simplifying product selection by using a card. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

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. 1... Microprocessor as an arithmetic processing unit 2...
・Card reader 4...Storage unit 7 for card information, etc....Money identifier 8 as a money acceptance unit...Password input unit (Figure 1) Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] Comprising a read-only card reader, a money acceptance section, a product selection section, a password input section, an arithmetic processing section, and a storage section,
In the prepayment operation, the balance is the sum of the card information input from the card reader, the password information input from the password input section, the money amount information prepaid from the money acceptance section, and the balance stored up until then. in the storage unit, and in the selection information registration operation, store card information input from the card reader and selection information selected by the product selection unit in the storage unit,
In the vending operation, combination information of card information input from the card reader and password information input from the password input section, and combination information of card information and password information stored in advance in the storage section Check the
If they match, the product is sold based on the selection information prestored in the storage unit corresponding to the card information until the prestored balance reaches a predetermined negative limit amount. . A vending machine, wherein after a sale, an amount obtained by subtracting the sales amount from the balance is stored in the storage unit as a balance, and these controls are performed by the arithmetic processing unit.