JP5475258B2 - Currency recognition device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a currency identification device used in a vending machine or the like.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of money identification device, an apparatus that is provided so as to be communicable with a main control unit of a vending machine and that recognizes the correctness and denomination of inserted money when money is inserted is known.

The money identification device is provided with a clock circuit that transmits date and time information, and the money identification device acquires date and time information when various operations are performed from the clock circuit.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-124872

  However, in the conventional example, since the date and time information is acquired from the clock circuit in the money identification device, for example, when there is a deviation in the clock frequency in the money identification device, it is accurately synchronized with the clock in the vending machine. Date and time information cannot be obtained, and it may be difficult to properly identify a failure location or acquire a money input history.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a currency identification device capable of obtaining accurate date and time information.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a currency identification device that is provided so as to be communicable with a main control unit of a vending machine, and that recognizes the correctness and denomination of inserted money when money is inserted . Measurement means for measuring, and date and time information timed by the timer of the main control unit from the main control unit at the time of money insertion or money distribution to the money identification device, and using the date and time information and a date information acquisition means for updating the time being measured by said measuring means Te.

  As a result, the date / time information is acquired from the main control unit at a predetermined timing, so that accurate date / time information synchronized with the clock in the vending machine is obtained even when the clock frequency in the currency identification device is shifted, for example. It becomes possible.

  As described above, according to the present invention, for example, accurate date and time information synchronized with the clock in the vending machine can be obtained even when the clock frequency in the money identification device is shifted. It is possible to appropriately specify the cause of the failure and acquire the money input history, thereby improving convenience.

  FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a money identification device, FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a control device, and FIG. 3 is an example of a data structure of history information FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation when acquiring date / time information.

  First, the configuration of the currency identification device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The currency identification device 1 of the present embodiment is provided so as to be communicable with the main control unit 200 of the vending machine, and is inserted from the insertion slot 11 and the insertion slot 11 of the coin 2 as money as shown in FIG. The coin guide passage 12 for guiding the coin 2, the denomination identifying device 20 for identifying the authenticity and denomination of the coin 2 passing through the coin guide passage 12, and the coin 2 that has passed through the coin guide passage 12 are returned The coin distribution device 30 that distributes to each passage for each passage or receiving denomination, the coin storage tube 40 that stores the coins 2 distributed by the coin distribution device 30, and the coins 2 that are stored in the coin storage tube 40 A coin discharging device 50 for discharging and a control device 100 (not shown in FIG. 1) as date and time information acquisition means are provided. In addition, since the structure of the insertion slot 11, the coin guide passage 12, the denomination identifying device 20, the coin sorting device 30, the coin storage cylinder 40, and the coin carry-out device 50 is the same as that of the conventional one, detailed description thereof is omitted here. To do.

  The coin storage cylinder 40 includes a plurality of tubes 40A to 40E formed for each denomination. The coin distribution device 30 operates based on an instruction from the control device 100 and distributes the input coin 2 to each of the tubes 40A to 40E of the coin storage cylinder 40. Sort to a safe (not shown). Further, the denomination identifying device 20, the coin sorting device 30, and the coin unloading device 50 each determine whether or not an abnormality has occurred based on a signal provided from a sensor (not shown) provided therein, When this occurs, a predetermined abnormality signal is transmitted to the control device 100.

  Next, the control device 100 will be described with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the control device 100 includes a control unit 110, a measurement unit 120, a storage unit 130, and a communication control unit 140.

  The control unit 110 includes a computer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and controls each device by executing a program stored in the ROM. The RAM of the control unit 110 is provided with an area for storing date / time information transmitted from the main control unit 200.

  The measuring unit 120 is a known timer, and measures time based on the control of the control unit 110. The communication control unit 140 is for communicating with the main control unit 200 provided in the vending machine.

  The storage unit 130 is a rewritable storage element such as an EEPROM, and the storage unit 130 stores history information indicating the contents of the abnormality that occurred in the currency identification device 1 and the history of the occurrence date and time as shown in FIG. ing. When the control unit 110 receives an abnormal signal from any one of the devices 20, 30, and 50, the control unit 110 obtains the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second at that time from the measuring unit 120, and details of the abnormality based on the abnormal signal The occurrence date and time consisting of the acquired year / month / day / hour / minute / second is recorded in the history information.

  Next, operations of the control device 100 and the main control unit 200 when acquiring date / time information in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. 4. In the present embodiment, the date and time information is transmitted from the main control unit 200 with a predetermined timing when the power is supplied to the vending machine and the currency identification device 1.

  First, when the power is turned on to the vending machine and the currency identification device 1, the main control unit 200 transmits a predetermined connection confirmation command to the currency identification device 1 (step S1). On the other hand, when receiving the connection confirmation command via the communication control unit 140, the control unit 110 of the currency identification device 1 transmits a response signal to the command to the main control unit 200 via the communication control unit 140 (step S2). ).

  When the main control unit 200 receives the response signal, the main control unit 200 acquires date / time information including the current year / month / day / hour / minute / second from a timer (not shown) provided in the vending machine, and includes the acquired date / time information. A predetermined date and time transmission command is transmitted to the currency identification device 1 (step S3). On the other hand, when receiving the date / time transmission command via the communication control unit 140, the control unit 110 transmits a response signal to the command to the main control unit 200 (step S4), and based on the date / time information included in the command Setting is performed (step S5). Specifically, the control unit 110 stores the date / time information in the RAM and transmits the date / time information to the measurement unit 120. In addition, when the date and time information is received from the control unit 110, the measurement unit 120 performs time measurement starting from the time represented by the date and time information. Thereby, since the date information can be acquired from the main control unit 200, for example, even when a deviation occurs in the clock frequency in the money identification device 1, accurate date information synchronized with the clock in the vending machine is obtained. Is possible.

  Further, the main control unit 200 transmits the latest date and time information to the currency identification device 1 every time a predetermined time (for example, one hour) has elapsed after transmitting the date and time information (step S6). On the other hand, when receiving the date / time transmission command via the communication control unit 140, the control unit 110 transmits a response signal to the command to the main control unit 200 (step S7), and based on the date / time information included in the command Setting is performed (step S8). In addition, the processing content of the control part 110 here is the same as that of said step S4 and step S5. In this way, when the date and time information is acquired when the power is turned on, the control unit 110 can acquire the latest date and time information from the main control unit 200 every predetermined time.

  When the control unit 110 receives a predetermined coin insertion signal transmitted from the denomination identifying device 20 every time a valid coin 2 is inserted, the control unit 110 acquires the current date from the measurement unit 120. The coin insertion history information including the denomination based on the coin insertion signal and the acquired year / month / day / hour / minute / second may be stored in the storage unit 130. Thereby, the control part 110 becomes possible [distinguishing the time slot | zone with little insertion of the coin 2 based on coin insertion log | history information, ie, the time slot | zone with few sales opportunities,]. In this case, the control part 110 can reduce the power consumption of the money identification device 1 by performing control so as to stop the energization of each device in the money identification device 1 in a time zone where there are few sales opportunities. .

  As described above, according to the currency identification device 1 according to the present embodiment, the control device 100 that acquires the date and time information from the main control unit 200 when the power is turned on is provided. Therefore, for example, the clock frequency in the currency identification device 1 is shifted. Even when it occurs, accurate date and time information synchronized with the clock in the vending machine can be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately identify the cause of failure such as deterioration over time, acquire the input history of coins 2 and the like, and improve convenience.

  In addition, since the control device 100 acquires the date / time information transmitted from the main control unit 200 when the power is turned on, it can easily acquire accurate date / time information.

  Further, when the date and time information is acquired when the power is turned on, the control device 100 acquires the latest date and time information from the main control unit 200 every predetermined time, so that the latest and accurate date and time information can be obtained continuously. The accuracy of the time measured by the unit 120 can be improved.

  Below, the money identification apparatus 1 which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the control device 100 is configured to acquire the date / time information by requesting the main control unit 200 to transmit the date / time information at a predetermined timing. is there. Since other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, only differences will be described here.

  The operations of the control device 100 and the main control unit 200 when acquiring date / time information in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the date and time information is acquired with a predetermined timing when the power is supplied to the vending machine and the currency identification device 1.

  First, when power is turned on to the vending machine and the currency identification device 1, the control unit 110 transmits a predetermined date / time request command to the vending machine via the communication control unit 140 (step S11). On the other hand, when receiving the date / time request command, the main control unit 200 transmits a response signal to the command to the currency identification device 1 (step S12), and then transmits date / time information to the currency identification device 1 (step S13).

  On the other hand, when receiving the date / time information via the communication control unit 140, the control unit 110 sets the date / time based on the date / time information (step S14). The contents of the date and time setting are the same as in step S5 described above.

  In addition, after receiving the date / time information, the control unit 110 transmits a date / time request command to the vending machine every predetermined time (for example, one hour) (step S15). On the other hand, when receiving the date / time request command, the main control unit 200 transmits a response signal to the command to the currency identification device 1 (step S16), and then transmits the latest date / time information to the currency identification device 1 (step S17). . Then, when receiving the date / time information via the communication control unit 140, the control unit 110 sets the date / time based on the date / time information (step S18). In this way, the control unit 110 can acquire the date / time information by requesting the main control unit 200 to transmit the date / time information when the power is turned on.

  As described above, according to the currency identification device 1 according to the present embodiment, the control device 100 acquires date / time information by requesting the main control unit 200 to transmit date / time information when the power is turned on. Date and time information can be easily acquired.

  In addition, the said embodiment is only a specific example of this invention, and this invention is not limited only to the said embodiment. For example, in the said embodiment, although only the coin 2 was handled, you may comprise so that a banknote can also be handled.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although it comprised so that it might operate | move as a predetermined | prescribed timing at the time of power activation, it operate | moves as a predetermined | prescribed timing at the time of coin 2 insertion, the distribution time of the coin 2 by the coin distribution apparatus 30, etc. You may comprise as follows.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a currency identification device showing a first embodiment of the present invention. Functional block diagram of control device The figure which shows an example of the data structure of history information Sequence diagram explaining the operation when acquiring date and time information The sequence diagram explaining operation | movement at the time of acquiring date information in the money identification device which shows 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Money identification apparatus, 2 ... Coin, 20 ... Denomination identification apparatus, 30 ... Coin distribution apparatus, 100 ... Control apparatus, 110 ... Control part, 200 ... Main control part

Claims (5)

In the currency identification device that is provided so as to be communicable with the main control unit of the vending machine, and that identifies the authenticity and denomination of the inserted money when money is inserted,
A measuring means for measuring time;
Date and time information timed by the timer of the main control unit is acquired from the main control unit at the time of money insertion into the money identification device or at the time of money distribution, and measured by the measuring means using the date and time information money discrimination apparatus comprising the date and time information acquiring means for updating the the times. The money identifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the date / time information acquisition unit acquires date / time information transmitted from the main control unit at the predetermined timing. The money identification device according to claim 1, wherein the date information acquisition unit acquires date information by requesting the main control unit to transmit date information at the predetermined timing. 4. The money according to claim 1, wherein the date and time information acquisition unit acquires the latest date and time information from the main control unit every predetermined time when the date and time information is acquired at the predetermined timing. Identification device. Storage means for storing a history of anomalies and occurrence dates and times that occurred in the currency identification device;
5. A history recording unit that acquires date and time information from the measurement unit when an abnormality is detected and stores the content and date and time information of the abnormality in the storage unit. Currency identification device.

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