KR0132209B1 - Cooling and heating control device for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

As a countermeasure against electric power peaks in the summer season, when a refrigerator or a heater such as a canned beverage vending machine is forcibly stopped for a certain time, the temperature of the product is prevented from changing.

The controller 1 controls the refrigerator 4 and the heater 5 on / off by the electronic thermostat 2 according to the set temperature input from the keyboard 3, but before a predetermined time in the time zone for forcibly stopping them. Temperature control is carried out at the set temperature lower than the set temperature during normal operation (cooling product) and high (heating product), and the temperature of the product is set slightly higher or lower in preparation for forced stop. As a result, even if the product temperature rises or falls slightly during forced stop, it can be sold at a temperature that is inconsistent with normal time.

Description

Cooling and heating control device of vending machine

1 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device according to FIG.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1 control unit 2 electronic thermostat

3: keyboard 4: freezer

5: heater

The present invention provides a vending machine for cooling or heating canned beverages and the like and forcibly stopping the freezer or heater only for a certain time period, wherein the product maintains an appropriate temperature (hereinafter referred to as product temperature) during the forced stop time. It relates to a cooling and heating control device.

Vending machines with built-in refrigerators or heaters have been designed to reduce power consumption by forcibly stopping the refrigerators or heaters during a predetermined time period as a countermeasure against peak power consumption during the summer season. In that case, conventionally, only the control for stopping the energization of the refrigerator or the heater is performed at that time.

However, if the freezer or heater is forcibly stopped for a certain period of time, there is a risk that the temperature in the product storage room may deviate from the redness range required to maintain the temperature of the product, and in this case, an unsuitable temperature may be sold to the customer. Is given.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling / heating control device for a vending machine which has no problem in maintaining the temperature even when the refrigerator or the heater is forcedly stopped as a power countermeasure.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a means for setting the eb set temperature as low or high by a certain temperature range with respect to the set temperature during normal operation, and when a certain time of the time zone for forcibly stopping the refrigerator or heater arrives. A means for controlling the temperature in the product storage chamber by the preset temperature is provided.

The preset temperature is set low when the product is cooled and high when the product is heated with respect to the set temperature during normal operation. The thermostat is used to control the temperature in the product storage room.Thermostat is used to set the temperature freely.Then, the preliminary temperature and the time before the forced stop time are set in the vending machine using the keyboard. It is desirable to enter the settings in the memory.

In the present invention, before the forced stop of the refrigerator or heater, temperature control in the product storage room is performed at a predetermined preset temperature which is lower at the time of cooling by a certain misleading width than the setting temperature at the time of normal operation and high at the time of heating. Cool or heat to moderate temperature. Thereby, for example, there is no fear that the temperature of a product will change in the forced stop time of about 1 hour. Then, when the forced stop time passes, temperature control is again performed at the normal set temperature.

EXAMPLE

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present description of a can drink vending machine that sells the product by cooling and heating the product according to FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described.

1 is a block diagram of a control device. Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a control unit which is composed of a microcomputer (including Melmory) that controls the entire vending machine, and reference numeral 2 denotes a product storage room which detects the temperature of the product and detects the temperature of the product. An electronic thermostat for inputting the temperature to the control unit 1, and (3) indicates a set temperature during normal operation, a forced stop time zone, and a time before the forced stop time zone in the memory in the control unit 1; A keyboard for inputting various kinds of data, such as (4), is a heater installed in a goods storage room for heating can goods. In this configuration, the control unit 4 serves to control the refrigerator 4 and the heater from the set temperature and the temperature detected by the electronic thermostat 2.

2 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the control device. First, the preset temperature is set by the keyboard 3 prior to starting the vending machine, and the preset temperature is lower for the frozen product and higher for the heated product. Step S1)). Next, the start time and end time of the time zone forcibly stopping the operation of the refrigerator 4 and the heater 5 and the time before a predetermined time (for example, one hour) before the start time are the same on the keyboard 3. Enter the setting (Step 2).

Here the vending machine goes into driving. The control unit 1 constantly compares the time posted by the built-in clock means with the time set in the memory and checks whether it is one hour before the forced stop time of the refrigerator 4 and the heater 5 (step S3). ).

Then, the refrigerator 4 and the heater 5 are turned on / off while the normal set temperature is compared with the detected temperature of the electronic thermostat until the time is reached (step S4). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the freezer 4 and the heater 5 have passed one hour of the forced stop time, temperature control is performed at a preset temperature of 2 ° C lower (frozen product) and higher (heated product) than the set temperature. do. Then, it is checked whether the start time of the forced stop time is reached (step S6), and the refrigerator 4 and the heater 5 are forcibly stopped (step S7).

According to the above embodiment, one hour prior to the forced stop of the refrigerator 4 and the heater 5, the temperature in the product storage compartment is controlled to a temperature 2 ° C. lower or higher than the normal set temperature to supercool the product by that amount. Alternatively, by overheating, even if the temperature of the product rises or falls slightly during forced stop, the product can be sold at a temperature that is equal to normal operation.

According to the present invention, even if the refrigerator or the heater is forcibly stopped for a certain time, the product can be sold at a product temperature without inconvenience to the user, so that power can be saved with confidence even during a power peak during the summer.

Claims (1)

A vending machine having a built-in refrigerator or heater and controlling them on / off to maintain the inside of the product storage compartment as a set temperature and forcibly stopping the refrigerator or heater only for a certain time period, by a predetermined temperature width relative to the normal set temperature. Means for setting a low or high preset temperature and means for controlling the temperature in the product storage compartment according to the preset temperature when a predetermined time arrives for a time period during which the refrigerator or heater is forcibly stopped. Cooling and heating control device of vending machine