JP3174282B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine which mainly includes a bucket for temporarily storing conveyed products and can sell a plurality of products at once.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a general vending machine, at the time of selling a product, the success or failure of the sales according to an operation input relating to a designated product among a plurality of products is determined based on money information input by a user. A transport control command is output in accordance with the result determined by the arithmetic processing in the arithmetic processing control device provided in the apparatus, and in response to the transport control command, the product unloader discharges the designated product from the product storage unit (stocker) to the product outlet. I have.

[0003] Recently, many vending machines capable of selling a plurality of products at once have been developed and are widely used. In such vending machines, a bucket is provided on the product unloading machine,
When the result of the arithmetic processing in the arithmetic processing control device indicates a plurality of units that can be sold, the designated product is temporarily stored in the bucket, and when the number of the designated product reaches the applicable number that can be purchased, the number of buckets corresponding to the number is set. The designated product is discharged to the product outlet.

[0004]

In the case of the above-mentioned vending machine in which a plurality of products can be sold at one time, the size of the bucket is restricted to some extent because the bucket is stored in the vending machine. On the other hand, the size of a product is not always uniform according to its type, and the storage state varies in the bucket. Therefore, when the specified product is stored in a state protruding from the opening of the bucket, the remaining other products are unloaded. And may cause poor sales.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and a technical problem thereof is that it is possible to sufficiently avoid a defective carry-out or a defective sale regardless of a storage state of a designated product in a bucket. It is to provide a vending machine.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a merchandise storing section for storing a plurality of merchandise, and sales corresponding to input money information in response to an operation input relating to a specified merchandise among the plurality of merchandise. And a calculation processing control device that outputs a transport control command signal in accordance with the result of the determination, and unloads the designated product from the product storage unit in response to the transport control command signal. In addition, in a vending machine equipped with a product unloader including a bucket for temporarily storing the designated product when the result of the determination indicates a plurality of sellable numbers, a pass sensor provided around the opening of the bucket, And a full sensor provided around the halfway in the depth direction of the bucket and separated from the passage sensor to detect a storage state of the designated product and output a state detection signal. A vending machine comprising: a state detecting means; and a vibration applying means for applying vibration to the bucket according to a predetermined vibration control command signal, wherein the arithmetic processing control device generates and outputs a predetermined vibration control command signal according to the state detection signal. Is obtained.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The vending machine of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a vending machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

This vending machine has a merchandise storage unit 1 storing a plurality of merchandise and a sales success / failure in response to an operation input relating to a designated merchandise among the plurality of merchandise in response to money information input by a user. In addition, an arithmetic processing control device 2 for calculating and determining the number of units that can be sold and outputting a transport control command signal in accordance with the result of the determination, and unloading a designated product from the product storage unit 1 in response to the transport control command signal. In addition, when the result of the determination indicates a plurality of available products, a product unloading machine 3 including a bucket 3a for temporarily storing the designated product, and a storage state of the designated product, which is provided at a predetermined location of the bucket 3a, is detected. Storage state detecting means for outputting a state detection signal and a vibration applying means for applying vibration to the bucket 3a in accordance with a predetermined vibration control command signal. 4, and a product outlet 5 for discharging the designated goods of the number fraction from the bucket 3a when the designated goods has reached the appropriate number can be purchased. However, the arithmetic processing control device 2 here is the bucket 3
A predetermined vibration control command signal is generated and output in accordance with a state detection signal from the storage state detection means provided in a.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a basic configuration of a bucket 3a provided in a product unloading machine 3 provided in the vending machine.

In the bucket 3a, as a storage state detecting means, a passage sensor 8 provided around the opening thereof and a passage sensor 8 provided at a predetermined interval h around a halfway in the depth direction. Full sensor 9 provided. Providing the clearance C in the range of the predetermined interval h is important for accurately detecting the storage state of the designated product temporarily stored in the bucket 3a. That is, the storage state detecting means detects the storage state of the designated product by the passage sensor 8 and the full sensor 9, and outputs a state detection signal.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3 as one use state, if the designated product 6 temporarily stored in the bucket 3a is of a relatively small type, the normal state is maintained even when a plurality of the specified products 6 are stored. In such a case, it is possible to avoid unsatisfactory unloading and sales.

However, as shown in FIG. 4 as another use state, if the designated product 7 temporarily stored in the bucket 3a is of a relatively large type, if a plurality of the specified products 7 are stored, an abnormal state occurs. In such a case, it is not possible to avoid a failure in carrying out or a failure in sales.

Therefore, as described above, the storage state of the designated product is detected by the passage sensor 8 and the fullness sensor 9 provided on the bucket 3a as a state detection signal. If a vibration control command signal corresponding to the vibration control command signal is generated and output according to the vibration control command signal and the vibration applying device 4 applies vibration to the bucket 3a, it is effective as a measure for avoiding an abnormal state.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a selling operation by the arithmetic processing control device 2 provided in the vending machine.

The processing of the selling operation by the arithmetic processing control device 2 is based on the monetary information input by the user, the success or failure of the sales according to the operation input relating to the specified product among the plurality of products, and the number of sellable products. A transport control command signal is output to the product unloading machine 3 according to the result determined by the arithmetic processing. Thus, the selling operation is started, and the product unloading process (step S1) by the product unloading machine 3 is performed.

Therefore, when the designated product is stored in the bucket 3a, it passes through the passage sensor 8 first, so that the arithmetic processing control device 2 performs the following processing based on the state detection signal from the passage sensor 8 as the next processing. Then, it is determined whether or not the state in step 8 is normal (step S2). As a result, if the state of the passage sensor 8 is not normal and indicates a continuous abnormality, the arithmetic processing control device 2 generates and outputs a vibration control command signal and transmits it to the vibration applying device 4. As a result, the vibration imparting device 4 performs the vibration imparting process (step S3) on the bucket 3a, and thereafter, the arithmetic processing control device 2 eliminates the jam state (here, the designated commodity in the bucket 3a by applying the vibration. Is determined based on the state detection signal from the passage sensor 8 (step S4). If the state is not resolved, an abnormality is determined. Judge and stop selling (step S5). When the sales are stopped (step S5), the entered money is returned.

On the other hand, it is determined whether or not the jam state has been resolved (step S4) and the result of the determination indicates that the jam state has been resolved, and whether or not the state of the previous passage sensor 8 is normal (step S2). Regarding the case where the result indicates normal, the arithmetic processing control device 2 subsequently determines whether or not the state of the full sensor 9 is normal based on the state detection signal from the full sensor 9 (step S6). As a result, if the result is normal, the arithmetic processing control device 2 determines whether or not there is a remaining product based on the money information (step S7). To wait for the next designated product to be sold, but if there is no remaining product, the process proceeds to the product discharging process (step S10).

On the other hand, if it is determined whether or not the state of the full sensor 9 is normal (step S6), the result of the determination indicates that the state of the full sensor 9 is not normal and abnormal, the arithmetic processing control device 2 controls the vibration control. A command signal is generated and output and transmitted to the vibration applying device 4. Thereby, the vibration imparting device 4
Then, the vibration imparting process (step S
8), and after that, the arithmetic processing control device 2 removes the jam state (here, the bucket 3
The designated product shall be flattened below the plane including the full sensor 9 parallel to the bottom surface and stored in a.)
It is determined whether or not it is based on the state detection signal from the full sensor 9 (step S9).

As a result, when it is canceled, it is determined whether or not there is a preceding remaining product (step S7). When it is not canceled, the passage sensor 8 provided around the opening of the bucket 3a is also used. Since the state detection signal from is normal and the unloading failure and the sale failure are avoided, the process shifts to the commodity discharging process (step S10). After the product discharging process (step S10), the arithmetic processing control device 2 further determines whether or not there is a remaining product based on the money information (step S11). Before returning to step S1), the process waits and prepares for the sale of the next designated product. If there are no remaining products, the sales process ends.

If such a selling operation is performed, the designated goods are continuously transferred to the commodity unloading machine 3 when the result of the arithmetic processing of the arithmetic processing control unit 2 indicates a plurality of sellable numbers of the designated goods. When temporarily storing the designated product in the bucket 3a, the storage state of the designated product in the bucket 3a is monitored by the arithmetic processing control device 2, and when the unloading failure or the sale failure is likely to occur, the vibration is applied to the bucket 3a by the vibration imparting device 4. Since it can be provided, a plurality of commodities can be sold at a time in a very stable manner without causing a carry-out failure or a sale failure under most use conditions.

[0022]

As described above, according to the vending machine of the present invention, the storage state detecting means for detecting the storage state of the designated product at a predetermined position of the bucket and outputting a state detection signal is provided. Since the vibration applying means for applying vibration to the bucket according to the vibration control command signal generated and output by the arithmetic processing control device according to the state detection signal is provided,
Even when the designated product is continuously temporarily stored in the bucket of the product unloader when the result of the calculation by the arithmetic processing control device indicates a plurality of sellable numbers of the designated product, the storage of the designated product in the bucket is also possible. When the state of the bucket is monitored by the arithmetic processing control unit and the unloading failure or the sales failure is likely to occur, the vibration can be applied to the bucket by the vibration imparting device. In addition, it becomes possible to sell a plurality of products at a time in a very stable manner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a vending machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a basic configuration of a bucket provided in a product unloading machine provided in the vending machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a use state (normal state) of the bucket described in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing another use state (abnormal state) of the bucket described in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a selling operation by an arithmetic processing control device provided in the vending machine shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Merchandise storage part 2 Arithmetic processing control device 3 Merchandise unloader 3a Bucket 4 Vibration giving device 5 Merchandise take-out port 6,7 Merchandise 8 Passage sensor 9 Full sensor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07F 11/00-11/72

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A merchandise storage section storing a plurality of merchandise, and calculating success / failure of the plurality of merchandise in accordance with an operation input relating to a specified merchandise and inputtable number of money for the input money information. An arithmetic processing control device for processing and determining and outputting a transport control command signal in accordance with the result of the determination; and carrying out the specified product from the product storage unit in response to the transport control command signal, and determining the result of the determination. And a product unloader including a bucket for temporarily storing the designated product when indicates a plurality of sellable numbers, a pass sensor provided around the opening of the bucket, A storage state that outputs a state detection signal by detecting a storage state of the designated product by a full sensor provided in the middle of the depth direction and separated from the passage sensor. State detecting means, and vibration applying means for applying vibration to the bucket in accordance with a predetermined vibration control command signal, wherein the arithmetic processing control device generates and outputs the predetermined vibration control command signal in response to the state detection signal Vending machine characterized by the following.