WO1997040476A1

WO1997040476A1 - Automatic vending machine

Info

Publication number: WO1997040476A1
Application number: PCT/JP1997/001262
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hitoshi Yokoyama
Original assignee: Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 1996-04-19
Filing date: 1997-04-11
Publication date: 1997-10-30
Also published as: CN1189230A; JPH09288763A; HK1018834A1; CN1150495C

Abstract

The expiration of shelf life and the lack of goods are prevented by appropriately supplying an automatic vending machine with proper goods. An estimated number of goods which can be sold within their shelf life therefor is determined by calculating an average number of goods to be sold per day on the basis of an actual number of goods sold during the past predetermined number of days, and multiplying the resultant average number of goods to be sold by the number of days of shelf life of the goods to be supplied supplementary. When this estimated number of goods is smaller than a prescribed upper limit number thereof peculiar to a relative columnar space, the same estimated number of goods is set as the number of goods to be stored in the relative to the same columnar space. The number of goods remaining in the columnar space is determined by substracting the number of goods sold from the previously set number of goods to be stored, and a proper number of goods to be fed supplementary to the columnar space by subtracting the number of goods remaining in the columnar space from a present newly set number of goods to be stored.

Description

Description Vending machine technology

The present invention relates to a vending machine capable of managing the expiration date of a product for sale. Background art

Products sold at vending machines are marked with a shelf life, which is for storage at room or cold temperatures, and when products containing dairy products are heated as hot products. Has voluntarily set a different expiration date from the above-mentioned expiration date because the milk component tends to deteriorate. The term “expiration date” described below refers to this. The following control is known when selling such a product with an expiration date.

① When a product is put into the column, enter the refill quantity and the expiration date from the keyboard. As a result, the vending machine stores the number of products put in and the date and time, and when the number of staying days of the product exceeds the expiration date, it judges that the product has expired, displays a sold-out display, and does not sell the product.

(2) In the above control, it is assumed that in order to more easily count the number of products put into each column, the number of full items in each column is input in advance, and that when refilling products, it is always necessary to replenish until the product is full. Then, when the “full preset button” is turned on at the time of full replenishment, there is a type that counts the “up number from the last full preset” as the number of inserts.

③ In addition, in the above-mentioned Mizo Cup Preset Method ②, when daily sales proceed at the same pace, a column where the expiration date is likely to be detected is detected. Based on By pressing the full preset button, there is a control to judge that the column has no replenishment and that the other columns have been replenished by the above formula.

However, controls 1) and 2) do not sell products whose expiration date has expired, and cannot prevent expiration date. In addition, the control of (3) can prevent the expiration of some degree of poor taste, but the function can be expected, but (*) it cannot prevent the expiration of taste for extremely poorly sold columns from the first full refill. In addition, since the products whose expiration date is predicted are not replenished at all, if the sales of products suddenly change, they will be sold out immediately, missing out on sales opportunities, and needing to replenish a large amount of products at once As a result, the efficiency of product replenishment deteriorates, and since a large amount of products are introduced at one time, the expiration of the taste is more likely to occur. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine that eliminates expiration of tora-mi and minimizes out-of-sale by properly replenishing products. And Disclosure of the invention

As shown in FIG. 1, the first invention is a vending machine capable of managing the expiration date set for a product for sale, and includes a column for storing the product and a product for storage in the column. Sales control means 51 for selling, sales number counting means 52 for counting the number of sales of the product each time the product is sold by the sales control means 51, clock 53 for measuring time, predetermined Average sales quantity calculation means 5 for calculating the average number of sales per day from the number of sales in the number of days, food expiration date input means 55 for inputting the expiration date, and the average sales quantity and expiration date Means for calculating the expected number of products that can be sold within the expiration date based on the product of the number of days. It is characterized by replenishing products.

Therefore, the average number of sales per day is calculated from the number of sales in the past specified number of days, and the product of the average number of sales and the number of days of the expiration date of the product to be refilled this time can be sold within the expiration date. Since such expected sales volume is calculated, if products are replenished based on it, the expiration date can be eliminated.

As shown in the second invention, this is a vending machine capable of managing the expiration date set for a product for sale, comprising: a column for storing the product; and a sales control means 5 for selling the product stored in the column. 1, a sales number counting means 52 for counting the number of sales of the product each time the product is sold by the sales control means 51, a clock 53 for measuring time, and a sales number in a predetermined number of days. Mean sales number calculation means 5 for calculating the average number of sales per day; taste expiration input means 55 for inputting the tiger taste expiration days; and taste based on the average sales quantity and the AA taste expiration days. Expected sales quantity calculation means 56 for calculating the expected number of products that can be sold within the time limit, prescribed full number input means 57 for inputting the prescribed number of cups that can be accommodated in the column, If the number is less than the above, store in the above column Set the likelihood Osaka sales number as, and a storage number deciding unit 5 8 that sets the prescribed full number as the stored number otherwise characterized by supplementing the product based on the receiving number.

A column has a prescribed full number that is fixedly determined by the size of the column and the size of the product to be stored.In Invention 2, when the expected sales number falls below this prescribed full number, the product is placed in the column. Expiration will occur if it is stored up to the specified full number, so the expected sales number is set as the number of storage in the column, and when the expected sales number exceeds the specified full number, the product is stored in the column up to the specified full number. Can be sold out before the expiration date, so the original specified full number is set as the number of items to be stored in the column. Thus, past sales Since the number of items to be stored in the column is arbitrarily set according to the situation, it is possible to eliminate the expiration of the tomorrow.

The third invention is an automatic vending machine capable of managing a shelf life set for a product for sale, a column for storing the product, and a sales control means 51 for selling the product stored in the column, Each time a product is sold by the sales control means 51, the sales number counting means 52 counts the number of sales of the product, a clock 53 measures time, and the average per day from the number of sales in a predetermined number of days. Mean sales number calculating means 54 for calculating the number of sales, expiration date input means 55 for inputting the number of days before the expiration date, and within the expiration date from the product of the average number of sales and the number of the expiration dates. Expected sales number calculation means 56 for calculating the expected number of products that can be sold, prescribed full number input means 57 for inputting the prescribed full number that can be stored in the column, and when the expected number of sales falls below the prescribed full number Means the number of items stored in the above column. A storage number determination means 58 that sets the number of sales only and sets the specified full number as the number of storages in other cases, and detects the number of stocks by subtracting the number of sales from the number of storages previously set in the column above A stock quantity calculating means 59, a stock quantity calculating means 60 for calculating the number of stocks by subtracting the stock quantity from the storage quantity set this time, and a display means 61 for displaying the calculated stock quantity are provided. It is characterized by the following.

Although the above-mentioned storage quantity is obtained each time a product is replenished, in the third invention, the inventory quantity is obtained by subtracting the sold quantity from the storage quantity set last time, and Since the proper replenishment number for the column is determined by subtracting the stock number from the set storage number, it is possible to easily replenish products based on the proper replenishment number.

If there is a column for which the expected sales volume is less than the specified full number, if that column is displayed or warned by the expiration warning means 62, only that column will be replenished according to the above replenishment number. And other columns Therefore, it is sufficient to replenish until it is full without being aware of the number of refills, thus improving workability.

This type of vending machine is provided with a sold-out detecting means 63 for detecting the sold-out of the product in the column, and when the sold-out is detected by this means 63, the claim 3 or 4 It is a harm that the stock quantity detected by a certain stock quantity calculation means 59 is 0, but if the replenishment quantity is incorrect when replenishing the product, it may not be 0 and it may not be Means an error in the calculation of the number of replenishments by the replenishment number calculating means 60. Therefore, every time the sold-out detecting means 63 detects the sold-out, the clearing means 64 clears the stock quantity calculated by the stock quantity calculating means 59 to zero. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a claim correspondence diagram of the vending machine of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a control block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the apparatus of FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. It is one. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a CPU that controls the entire system, and 2 is a product storage that stores products. Each product has five columns CI to C5. 3 is a deadline detection switch for detecting a sold-out product in each column. Reference numeral 4 denotes a product selection button for selecting a product in the column. Each button is provided with a sellable lamp 4a indicating that the product can be sold and a sold-out lamp 4b indicating that the product is sold out. 5 is a keyboard for inputting various sales data, 6 is This is the keyboard 5 in-face.

Reference numeral 7 denotes an ROM that stores a program describing a control operation performed by the CPU 1, and reference numeral 8 denotes an RAM that temporarily stores data such as the number of introduced products. 9 is a clock IC that measures time.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a confirmation activation button that is pressed when refilling the product, and 11 denotes a full bliss button that is pressed when the column is refilled with a set number of stored products. 1 and 2 indicate the amount of money inserted into a currency identification device (not shown) and the "appropriate replenishment number" described later.

Hereinafter, the control of the main unit S will be described based on a flowchart.

First, the calculation of average sales volume and inventory management will be described with reference to FIG. Every time there is a sale, the process proceeds from step S1, step S2 to step S3, and the number of sales N1, N2, —N5 is counted for each column. In step S4, the value obtained by subtracting (the number of sales since the last full preset) from the "storage number" previously set for the sold column is set as the inventory number. This storage number and full preset will be described later. In step S5, if the sold-out detection switch 3 detects out-of-sale in the column, it is a harm that the stock number is 0 at present, but ffl » It may not be 0 when it is replenished. Therefore, in step S6, the stock quantity is set to zero.

—If the date is updated, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S7, where the number of updated days is counted. In step S8, if the counted number of days reaches the predetermined number of days D (ぇ is between 1a), step S At 9, the average number of sales A x (N l / D, N2 / D ... N5 / D) is calculated for each column, and the number of days and the number of sales are cleared at step S10, and the process returns to step S1. In the above flow, the average number of sales was calculated every week, but every day is updated, the average number of sales Ax in the immediately preceding week is calculated This is the flow of Fig. 4.

Every time there is a sale, the process proceeds from step S11 and step S12 to step S13, and the number of sales is counted in columns for each column. Steps S14 to S16 are the same as steps S4 to S6 in FIG.

On the other hand, when the date is updated, the process proceeds from step SI1 to step S17, where the updated number of days is counted. In step S18, if the counted number of days reaches the predetermined number of days D (for example, one week), step SI9 is performed. In, the number of sales in the past D days is calculated for each column, and the average number of sales A x is calculated in step S20.

In addition to the control for calculating the average number of sales described above, the control that is executed when the routeman comes to the patrol is described below.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the number of stored items. In step S21, the number of days of the expiration date (for example, two weeks) is input. The number of days is set independently by the company that manages the vending machine, and is a fixed value regardless of the season or product, so once it is set, there is no need to set it again. If the confirmation start button 10 is turned on, the process proceeds from step S22 to step S23, where the average sales number Ax calculated for each column is read, and then in step S24, The specified full number preset for each column is read.

In step S25, the expected sales quantity that can be sold within the expiration date is calculated from Ax X (the expiration date). In step S26, for each column, it is determined whether the expected sales number is less than the specified full number. If the expected sales number ≥ the specified full number, the column is replenished with the specified full number of products. Since the items are sold out within the expiration date, the prescribed full number is set as the number of items to be stored in the column in step S27.

On the other hand, if the expected sales volume < In step S 28, the expected sales volume that is lower than the specified full number is set for the column in step S 28, and in step S 29, the sellable lamp 4 a corresponding to the column expires Flashes as a warning.

By turning on the confirmation start button 10 in this way, a combra whose expiration is predicted is displayed if the number of replenishments up to the specified full number is displayed, and the routeman sees the display and replenishes the commodities. That is, in FIG. 6, if one of the comla where the salable lamp 4 a is blinking is designated, the process proceeds from the step S 31 and the step S 32 to the step S 33 and the product location in the comba is determined. The number of warehouses is read. In step S35, the proper replenishment number of commodities is calculated from (storage number set-in-stock number) and displayed on the display unit 12, so that the rootman replenishes the column with the number of commodities.

In this way, for the column where the sellable lamp 4a is blinking, replenish the product with the appropriate replenishment amount shown, and for the other columns, pay attention to the specified full number, that is, the number of items. You just need to replenish the product until it is full without having to do it. If the products are refilled in all columns, the full preset button 11 is turned on, and the process proceeds from step S31 to step S35. Recognized and in step S36, the flashable salable lamp 4a is cleared.

(table 1 )

Table 1 shows the case where all columns have the specified full number of 20.In column C1, the expected number of sales (24)> the specified full number (20), the storage number is 20 ( Since the number of units sold since the last full preset is 12 units, the number of units in stock is the previously set storage unit (20)-the number of units sold (12) = 8 and is properly refilled. The number is the number of storages set this time (20)-the number of stocks (8) = 1 2.

In column C4, the expected number of sales (12) <the specified number of full (20), so the number of sales is set to 12 (expected number of sales), and the number of sales since the last full preset was 11 Therefore, the stock quantity is the previously set storage quantity (20) —Hanuri quantity (U) = 9 and the appropriate replenishment quantity is the currently set storage quantity (12)-stock quantity (9) = 3. Become. (Table 2)

Table 2 shows the time of the next product replenishment. For example, in column C4, the expected number of sales (18) <the number of full storage units (20), so the number of storage units is set to 18 and Since the number of units sold since the full preset is 11 units, the number of units in stock is the previously set number of units (12) —the number of units sold (11) = 1, and the appropriate number of refills is 18) —Stock quantity (1) = 17

In the above description, the expiration date is set by the company that manages the vending machine. However, the present invention can be applied to the case where the expiration date printed on the product package is managed.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A vending machine that can manage the expiration date set for products for sale,

A column for storing products,

Sales control means (5 1) for selling the goods stored in the column; sales number counting means (52) for counting the number of sales of the goods each time the goods are sold by the sales control means (51); ,

A clock (53) that measures the time,

Means for calculating the average number of sales per day from the number of sales in a given number of days (54);

Expiration date input means (55) for inputting the expiration date, and expected sales number calculation means for calculating an expected number of sales within the expiration date from a product of the average sales number and the poor expiration date (56)

Automatic sales characterized by replenishing products based on the expected sales quantity

2. A vending machine that can manage the expiration date set for a product for sale.

A column for storing products,

Sales control means (51) for selling the goods stored in the column, and sales number counting means (52) for counting the number of sales of the goods every time the goods are sold by the sales control means (51). ) When,

A clock (53) that measures the time,

Expiration date input means (55) for inputting the expiration date; An expected sales number calculating means (56) for calculating an expected number of sales within the expiration date from the product of the average sales number and the expiration date;

A prescribed number of full number input means (57) for inputting a prescribed number of full capacity that can be accommodated in the column;

When the expected number of sales is less than the specified full number, the expected number of sales is set as the number of storages in the above column, and in other cases, the storage number determination means (58) is set to set the specified full number as the storage number. ,

A vending machine for replenishing commodities based on the storage number.

3. A vending machine that can manage the expiration date set for products for sale.

A column for storing products,

Sales control means (5 1) for selling the goods stored in the column; sales number counting means (5 2) for counting the number of sales of the goods each time the sales control means (5 1) sells the goods When,

A clock (5 3) that measures the time,

Means for inputting the number of days of the expiration date, and means for calculating the expected number of sales that can be sold within the expiration date from the product of the average number of sales and the number of days of the expiration date. (5 6)

A specified full number input means (57) for inputting a specified full number that can be accommodated in the column;

When the expected number of sales falls below the specified full number, the expected number of sales is set as the number of storages in the above column, otherwise the storage number determination means (58) sets the specified full number as the storage number.

The number of sales is subtracted from the storage number previously set in the above column to detect the number of stocks Inventory calculation means (59)

When the number of stocks is calculated by subtracting the number of stocks from the number of storages set this time, the replenishment number calculation means (60)

A vending machine comprising display means (61) for displaying the calculated replenishment number.

4. When the expected number of sales is determined to be less than the specified number of sales by the storage number determination means (58), an expiration warning means (62) that displays or warns that expiration will occur when replenishing products according to the specified full number. The vending machine according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising:

5. Out-of-stock detection means (63) for detecting the out-of-sale of the product in the column, and the inventory detected by the in-stock number detection means (59) when the out-of-sale detection means (63) detects out-of-sale. The vending machine according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising clearing means (64) for clearing the number to zero.