JP3591308B2 - Vending machine with inventory management function - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vending machine with an inventory management function (hereinafter, simply referred to as a vending machine) for managing the number of stocks of solid products such as cans, bottles, and PET bottles (hereinafter, simply referred to as products).
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a conventional vending machine. In FIG. 2, 1 is an outer box, 2 is an inner box, 3 is a heat insulating material sandwiched between the outer box 1 and the inner box 2, 4 is an inner door filled with the heat insulating material 3, and 5 is a product sample or the like. The arranged outer doors 6 are product storage shelves for storing the products 7, and a payout mechanism 8 for paying out the products 7 one by one according to a sales signal is provided below the shelf. As is well known, the payout mechanism 8 has a selling lever for locking the lowest order product and a locking lever for locking the next selling item immediately above the lowest order item, and sells in response to a sales signal. The lever and the locking lever are configured to alternately appear and disappear in the product passage. The discharged product 7 falls by gravity, is guided by the shooter 9, passes through the flap door 10 below the inner door 4, and is sent to the product outlet 11. The stored product 7 is cooled or heated as previously set by a cooler 12 or a heater 13 provided in the vending machine storage. At this time, the air in the refrigerator is circulated by the fan 14 to cool or heat the product 7. A machine room 15 is provided in a lower part of the refrigerator, and houses a compressor 16 and a condenser 17 of a refrigerator.
[0003]
On the other hand, the payout mechanism 8 is provided with a sold-out sensor. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a sold-out sensor in a vending machine. In FIG. 3, a movable plate 18 is rotatably mounted on a main body of the payout mechanism 8 by a shaft 19, and a limit switch 20 is provided near the movable plate 18. The commodity 7 shown in the figure is the next sale commodity, and when this commodity 7 is present, the movable plate 18 is at the position shown by the solid line, and after the lowest commodity is paid out, the commodity 7 becomes the lowest commodity. The movable plate 18 is returned to the position shown by the dotted line by the action of a torsion spring (not shown) attached to the shaft 19. At this time, one end of the movable plate 18 is operated by pushing the operation button 21 of the limit switch 20 to detect the sold-out state. Based on the information from the sold-out sensor, the status of the product inventory in the vending machine is managed.
[0004]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a product presence / absence detecting unit for estimating the number of refilled products in the vending machine. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 22 denotes an input port for replenishing the product 7, reference numeral 23 denotes a tray for sending the product 7 from the input port 22 to the product storage shelf 6, reference numeral 25 denotes a segment constituting the product storage shelf 6, and reference numeral 26 denotes a portion of the input port 22. Is a switch type sensor for detecting the presence / absence of a product 7 provided in the system. A lead wire 27 is attached to the switch type sensor 26 and connected to a detection circuit 28. In the payout mechanism 8, the selling lever 81 projects into the product passage and locks the lowest order product. In this case, the locking lever for locking the next product to be sold is submerged in the payout mechanism 8, as shown in FIG. Does not appear.
[0005]
Next, a method for estimating the stock quantity will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, when the product 7 has been replenished up to the insertion port 22, the switch 7 is turned on by the product 7. On the other hand, when the product storage shelf 6 is fully replenished with the product 7, the number of stocks up to the slot 22 is physically determined by the size A of the product storage shelf 6, the size B of the tray 23, and the diameter C of the product 7. Is decided. Therefore, when the switch-type sensor 26 detects the product 7, the stock quantity is set to a numerical value obtained in advance, and the numerical value is subtracted each time the product is sold, so that the stock quantity in the vending machine can be grasped.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The vending machine manager must replenish the products so as to avoid running out of stock as much as possible in order to sell the products efficiently. However, replenishment at a stage when the stock quantity is still large is very inefficient in operation. Therefore, it is important how to manage the stock quantity of goods with high accuracy in order to improve the efficiency of work and sales.
[0007]
In this regard, the conventional example has the following problems. This type of product storage shelf is shared by commodities having different diameters so that commodities to be sold after being brought into a vending machine installation location, particularly commodities having different diameters, can be stored and sold. On the other hand, when a switch-type sensor installed at the input port detects the presence or absence of a product at the input port and estimates the stock quantity, the number of products that can be stored up to the input port varies depending on the type of the product, and particularly, the diameter of the product. Depends on C. For example, when a product storage shelf is fully replenished with commodities, 21 can be replenished by a 350-ml thick can (C = 66 mm) to the inlet, and 29 can be replenished by a 250-ml thin can (C = 53 mm). Therefore, eight differences occur. Therefore, when the product is replenished and the switch-type sensor detects the product, if the value set as the stock quantity is set to 21 in accordance with the 350 ml thick can at the time of shipment, it is changed to the sales of 250 ml thin can at the vending machine installation location. When the small cans are replenished, there is an error of +8. When the small cans are set to 29 at the time of shipment, when the large cans are refilled, an error of -8 is obtained. In this case, it is conceivable to set the stock quantity at a vending machine installation location by switching a switch or inputting data from a keyboard. However, the cost is increased, and it is burdensome for the operator to switch the switch or perform keyboard input. .
[0008]
An object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine with an inventory management function that can accurately perform inventory management regardless of the type of a product (particularly, the diameter of the product).
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a product presence / absence detecting means for detecting presence / absence of a product at an arbitrary position for estimating a stock number of products stored in a product storage shelf, In a vending machine provided with a sold-out detecting means for detecting a sold-out of a product, a detection signal of presence of a product from a product presence detecting means at the time of product replenishment and a signal indicating no product of the sold-out detecting means after the product replenishment are detected. By setting the total number of items sold up to the next time as the number of items in stock when the item is replenished to the position of the item presence / absence detection means, inventory management can be performed accurately regardless of the type of item (particularly, the diameter of the item). I do.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is an algorithm for estimating the number of goods in stock according to the embodiment of the present invention. This will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 used in the conventional example. When the vending machine is shipped, the estimated stock quantity is set to an initial value, for example, 21 pieces (step 31). The power is turned on at the vending machine installation location (step 32), and as shown in FIG. 4, when the product 7 is replenished up to the slot 22, the switch sensor 26 is turned on by the product 7 (step 33). When it is confirmed in step 33 that the switch type sensor 26 is ON, the estimated number of stocks is substituted for the number of stocks and the number of sales is set to zero (step 34). The stock quantity setting value is an initial value, for example, 21 at the time of startup. The initial value is a value determined by the setting position of the switch type sensor 26 and the type of the replenishment product 7, and physically, the size A of the product storage shelf 6, the size B of the tray 23, and the It is determined by the diameter C. For example, in this case, 21 bottles can be replenished to the inlet 22 in a 350 ml thick can (C = 66 mm), and 29 can be replenished in a 250 ml thin can (C = 53 mm). When 7 is a 350 ml thick can, the initial value is 21 pieces, and when the product 7 to be refilled is a 250 ml thin can, the initial value is 29 pieces. However, the normal product storage shelf 6 is commonly used for both 350 ml thick cans and 250 ml thin cans. In such a case, the initial value is 21 lines. The reason for using 21 bottles is that if the number of stocks is set to 21 at the time of initial management of the stock number, even if the product 7 to be stored in the product storage shelf 6 becomes a 250 ml thin can and the storage number becomes 29 bottles, Since the numerical value in the inventory management is smaller than the actual number of stocks in the product storage shelf 6, the case where the product 7 exists in the management numerical value even though the product 7 is not in the product storage shelf 6 is avoided. Because you can do it.
[0011]
Next, the sales signal is monitored (step 35), and each time the sales signal is input to the payout mechanism 8 and sales are performed, one is added to the sales quantity and one is subtracted from the stock quantity (step 36). The addition and subtraction in step 36 are repeatedly performed until the sold-out sensor is turned on in step 37. When the sold-out sensor is detected to be turned on in step 37, the counting is terminated (step 38).
[0012]
After counting is completed (step 38), the number obtained by adding +1 to the total sales number is stored as an estimated stock value (step 39). Next, when the commodity 7 is replenished again and the switch-type sensor 26 is turned on (step 33) by the commodity 7, the stock quantity in the step 34 is replaced with the previous quantity stored as the stock quantity estimated value in the step 39. Substitute the numerical value obtained by adding +1 to the total sales number. The reason why the value +1 is added to the number of sales as the estimated number of stocks in step 39 is that one product remains in the payout mechanism 8 even if the sold-out sensor is turned on.
[0013]
The above will be described using actual numerical values as follows. In a state where the initial value of 21 is set as the estimated number of stocks in step 31, after the vending machine is turned on (step 32), a 250 ml thin can is put in and the switch type sensor 26 is turned on. When the replenishment of the products 7 is performed up to the insertion slot 22, the actual stock quantity becomes 29 while the stock quantity under management is 21 (step 34). Thereafter, the product 7 is sold (Step 35), and the sale is continued by executing the closed loop of Steps 35 to 37 until the sold-out sensor is turned ON (Step 37). The sold-out sensor is turned ON when the actual stock quantity becomes one, and in this case, the number of products 7 that can be sold is 28. Therefore, when the sold-out sensor is turned on (step 37) and the counting is completed (step 38), the stock number under management is -7, and the actual stock number is one. Become. However, the next time the product 7 (250 ml thin can) is replenished and the product 7 is replenished until the switch-type sensor 22 is turned on, the value set as the management stock number at this time is Since the total sales number is 29 and +1 is added to 29, the management stock number 29 and the actual stock number 29 match, and the error becomes zero. Although the example shown above is a case where a 250 ml thin can is replenished, the same applies to a case where the refill product 7 is changed to a 350 ml thick can.
[0014]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, a commodity presence / absence detecting means is provided at an arbitrary position in a vending machine, and the total number of commodities from the signal of the commodity presence / absence detecting means after commodity replenishment to the detection of a commodity absence signal of the sold-out detection means after replenishment is provided. By estimating the number of items in stock at the time of product replenishment up to the next item presence / absence detection means from the number of items sold, the number of items in vending machines can be managed accurately regardless of the type of product (especially, product diameter). In addition, the efficiency of replenishment work and sales can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an algorithm for estimating the number of goods in stock according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a conventional vending machine.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a sold-out sensor in a vending machine.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a product presence / absence detecting unit for estimating the number of refilled products in a vending machine.
[Explanation of symbols]
6 ... commodity storage shelf, 7 ... commodity, 8 ... payout mechanism, 22 ... input port, 26 ... switch type sensor, 28 ... detection circuit.

Claims (1)

Product presence detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a product at an arbitrary position for estimating the number of products stored in the product storage shelf, and sold-out detecting means for detecting sold-out of the product stored in the product storage shelf In the vending machine, the total number of products sold from the product presence detection means at the time of product replenishment at the time of product replenishment and the product absence signal of the sold-out detection means after the product replenishment is detected by the next product presence / absence A vending machine with an inventory management function, wherein the number is set as the number of stocks when commodities are replenished up to the position of the detection means.

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