JP5625636B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine, and more particularly to a vending machine equipped with an optical communication adapter that receives a request signal from an external device and transmits a response signal in response to the request signal.

  An outer door that displays product samples or advertisements in the exhibition room on the front, a lighting device that illuminates the product samples or advertisements displayed in the exhibition room, and on the front of the outer door or inside the exhibition room A human detection sensor that detects a person within a predetermined distance and outputs a detection signal, and when a detection signal is received from the human detection sensor, the lighting device is turned on, and a human being exceeds a preset time. There has been proposed a vending machine including a control device that turns off the illumination device when no detection signal is received from the detection sensor.

  This vending machine outputs a detection signal to the control device when the human detection sensor detects a person inside a predetermined distance, and turns on the lighting device when the control device receives the detection signal from the human detection sensor. Let In addition, the lighting device is turned off when the control device does not receive a detection signal from the human detection sensor beyond a preset time.

  When this vending machine does not detect a person inside a predetermined distance, the lighting device is turned off, so that the power consumed by the lighting device can be reduced (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

  In addition, a vending machine has been proposed in which a human detection sensor is provided in a sales information display section that displays various information such as the amount of money to be inserted, the amount of change, bill cancellation, fishing out, and sales. According to this vending machine, a person inside a predetermined distance can be accurately detected (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

  There has also been proposed a vending machine that is provided with a sales information display unit and is provided with an optical communication adapter. According to this vending machine, while receiving a request signal from an external device, a response signal is transmitted in response to the request signal (see, for example, Patent Document 4).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-283544 JP 2000-137863 A JP 2005-49965 A JP 2000-57425 A

  By the way, the reflection type sensor and the pyroelectric type sensor constituting the human detection sensor both detect the user by receiving the optical signal (for example, the infrared signal), and thus the optical signal can be received. It is necessary to install a human detection sensor at the position.

  However, the position where optical signals can be received is the front surface of the outer door (for example, the outer surface of the outer door, the inside of the exhibition room provided on the outer door), and new human detection sensors are installed in all vending machines. It is difficult to do.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and uses an optical communication adapter that receives a request signal from an external device and transmits a response signal in response to the request signal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine capable of detecting a person who is present.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention is provided with a sales information display unit that displays sales information including an input amount, and an optical signal receiving unit receives a request signal transmitted from an external device. On the other hand, in the vending machine provided with the optical communication adapter in which the optical signal transmission means transmits the response signal in response to the received request signal, the optical signal output from the optical signal transmission means is reflected, and the optical signal reception It is characterized by comprising human detection means for judging that there is a person inside a predetermined distance when input to the means.

  In the vending machine, the present invention is characterized in that a shielding means for shielding an optical signal transmitted from the optical signal transmitting means is provided between the optical signal transmitting means and the optical signal receiving means. .

  In the vending machine according to the present invention, when the optical signal receiving unit receives a request signal transmitted from an external device, the human detection unit is invalidated until a preset time elapses. It is characterized by that.

  The vending machine according to the present invention includes a human detection unit that determines that there is a person inside a predetermined distance when the optical signal output from the optical signal transmission unit is reflected and input to the optical signal reception unit. Therefore, it is possible to detect a person inside a predetermined distance using an optical communication adapter that receives a request signal from an external device and transmits a response signal in response to the request signal.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of the sales information display unit shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing the structure of the sales information display unit. FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing a circuit configuration of the sales information display unit shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the slave control unit shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the transmission pulse and the interval between the transmission pulses.

  Embodiments of a vending machine according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The invention is not limited to the embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the vending machine described here sells products such as canned beverages and beverages in plastic bottles in a cooled state or a warmed state. And a door 2. The main body cabinet is constituted by combining a plurality of steel plates, and has a box shape with a heat insulating structure with an open front surface. The outer door 2 is for closing the front opening of the main body cabinet, and is supported on one side edge (left edge) of the main body cabinet in such a manner that it can be opened and closed. On the front surface of the outer door 2, an exhibition room 21 for displaying samples of products to be sold, a selection button 22 for selecting products, a coin insertion slot 23 for inserting coins, and a bill insertion slot for inserting banknotes. 24, a sales information display unit 25 for displaying sales information including the input amount, a product outlet 26 for taking out the product, and the like are provided for selling the product.

  2 is an enlarged front view of the sales information display unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing the structure of the sales information display unit. The sales information display unit 25 of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention displays various information such as change amount, bill stoppage, change of fishing, and sale in addition to the input amount, as shown in FIG. As shown, the circuit board 3, the display body 4, and the cover member 5 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the circuit board 3 includes a 5-digit 7-segment LED 31 and a plurality of LEDs 32, 33, 34, and 35. The 5-digit 7-segment LED 31 can display numbers from 0 to 99999, and displays the input amount and change amount. The plurality of LEDs 32, 33, 34, and 35 correspond to displays such as “Bill Cancel”, “Fishing Out”, and “On Sale” printed on a nameplate (not shown), and the corresponding LEDs 32, 33, 34, and 35 are displayed. When “” is lit, the indications “cancel bill”, “fishing out”, and “sold” appear and can be visually recognized from the front through the cover member 5.

  In addition, a light emitting element 36 and a light receiving element 37 are mounted on the circuit board 3. The light emitting element 36 is an element that outputs an optical signal, specifically an infrared signal, and constitutes an optical signal transmitting means. The light receiving element 37 is an element to which an optical signal, specifically an infrared signal is input, and constitutes an optical signal receiving means. The light emitting element 36 and the light receiving element 37 constitute an optical communication adapter, and the light receiving element 37 receives a request signal transmitted from an external device (not shown) such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). In response to the request signal, the light emitting element 36 transmits a response signal.

  The display body 4 is a base for attaching the circuit board 3 to the vending machine, and the circuit board 3 described above is mounted on the rear surface. The display body 4 is made of plastic, and is provided with the above-described 7-segment LED 31 and windows 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 exposed for each of the plurality of LEDs 32, 33, 34, 35. The lighting state of the segment LED 31 and the plurality of LEDs 32, 33, 34, and 35 can be viewed from the front. Further, the display body 4 is provided with one window 46 common to the light emitting element 36 and the light receiving element 37, and the infrared signal output from the light emitting element 36 is irradiated to the front area and irradiated from the front area. The infrared signal is input to the light receiving element 37. A partition plate 47 is installed in one window 46 common to the light emitting element 36 and the light receiving element 37. The partition plate 47 is for preventing an infrared signal output from the light emitting element 36 from being input to the light receiving element 37 as it is. The partition plate 47 shields the infrared signal output from the light emitting element 36. And the light receiving element 37. The partition plate 47 is made of a black member, for example, black plastic, and the infrared signal output from the light emitting element 36 is shielded by the partition plate 47 and is not input to the light receiving element 37 as it is.

  The cover member 5 is a member that covers the front surface of the display body 4, and is provided on the front surface of the display body 4 described above. The cover member 5 is composed of a translucent member, and the lighting state of the above-described 7-segment LED 31 is visually recognized from the front area.

  A nameplate (not shown) is interposed between the display body 4 and the cover member 5. The nameplate is formed of a transmissive film sheet having a light diffusing window at a position corresponding to the 7-segment LED 31, the light emitting element 36, the light receiving element 37, and the like. Indications such as "Cancel bill", "Fishing out", and "On sale" are printed.

  Further, the front surface of the partition plate 47 described above is in close contact with the cover member 5 via a name plate (not shown), and the infrared signal output from the light emitting element 36 transmits through the cover member 5 and the sales information display section. 25 is irradiated to the front area of 25 and is not input to the light receiving element 37 as it is. On the other hand, the infrared signal irradiated in the front area of the sales information display unit 25 passes through the cover member 5 and is input to the light receiving element 37.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing a circuit configuration of the sales information display unit shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the circuit board constituting the sales information display unit of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an optical communication transmission circuit 6, an optical communication reception circuit 7, and a slave control unit 8. .

  The optical communication transmission circuit 6 is for transmitting information including point-of-sale information (POS: Point of Sales) to an external device (not shown). The main communication unit 10 controls the vending machine in an integrated manner. They are connected by a serial communication line SL. In addition to the modulation circuit 61, the optical communication transmission circuit 6 includes the above-described light emitting element 36. The transmission information transmitted from the main control unit 10 is modulated and transmitted from the light emitting element 36 as a response signal (infrared signal). Is output.

  The optical communication receiving circuit 7 is for receiving information including request information from an external device. Similar to the optical communication transmitting circuit 6, the optical control receiving circuit 7 and the serial communication line SL which control the vending machine in an integrated manner. Connected by. The optical communication receiving circuit 7 includes a demodulation circuit 71 in addition to the light receiving element 37 described above, and a request signal (infrared signal) input to the light receiving element 37 from an external device (not shown) is demodulated. And output to the main control unit 10 as reception information. The request signal is, for example, a signal having a pulse width of 200 ms.

  The sub-control unit 8 is for controlling the lighting of the above-described 7-segment LED 31 and the plurality of LEDs 32, 33, 34, and 35, and the main control unit 10 that comprehensively controls the vending machine through the control communication line IL. The control signal transmitted from the main control unit 10 is received. The sub control unit 8 controls lighting of the 7-segment LED 31 and the plurality of LEDs 32, 33, 34, and 35 based on the received control signal.

  The slave control unit 8 is connected to the optical communication transmission circuit 6, and the main control unit 10 sets validity / invalidity of the human detection process. If the setting is valid, the slave control unit 8 performs optical communication. By transmitting a transmission signal (for example, a pulse signal having a pulse width of 6 ms and an interval of 500 ms) to the transmission circuit 6, an infrared signal is output from the light emitting element. The slave control unit 8 is connected to the optical communication receiving circuit 7, and when an infrared signal is input to the light receiving element 37, a reception signal is input to the slave control unit 8. Therefore, the slave control unit 8 connected to the optical communication transmission circuit 6 and the optical communication reception circuit 7 constitutes a human detection unit, and the infrared signal output from the light emitting element 36 is reflected and input to the light receiving element 37. It is determined that there is a person inside the predetermined distance. Here, the predetermined distance is a distance at which the infrared signal output from the light emitting element 36 is reflected and input to the light receiving element 37.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the slave control unit shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, when the power of the vending machine is turned on, the sub control unit 8 sets the pulse state to indefinite (undefined) (step S1). Next, the main control unit 10 sets whether to enable or disable the human detection means, and the sub control unit 8 determines which is set by a signal from the main control unit 10 ( In step S2), when the human detection means is valid (step S2: Yes), a transmission pulse restart process is executed (step S3). On the other hand, if the setting of the human detection means is not valid, the human detection means remains in an invalid state (step S4). The slave control unit 8 stands by until an effective setting of the human detection means is received (step S5).

  When the transmission pulse restart process is executed, it is next confirmed whether or not the restart determination is OK (step S6). If OK, the process proceeds to the next process. If the restart process is not OK (step S6: No), the transmission pulse restart process is executed again (step S3).

  When the restart determination process is OK (step S6: Yes), if the slave control unit 8 has not received the invalid setting of the human detection means (step S7), the transmission pulse process is started (step S8). ). Thereafter, when the transmission pulse interruption condition is not satisfied (step S9: No), a reception pulse detection process is executed (step S10). If a pulse is detected (step S11: Yes), it is determined that there is a person inside the predetermined distance, and the presence of a pulse is set (step S12). On the other hand, when a pulse is not detected (step S11: No), it is determined that there is no person inside the predetermined distance, and no pulse is set (step S13). On the other hand, when the transmission pulse interruption condition is satisfied (step S9: Yes), the transmission pulse is temporarily stopped (step S14), and then the transmission pulse restart process is executed (step S15). If the transmission pulse can be restarted (step S16: Yes), the transmission pulse process is started (steps S7 and S8). If the transmission pulse cannot be restarted (step S16: No), the transmission pulse is transmitted again. A pulse restart process is executed (step S15).

  FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the transmission pulse and the interval between the transmission pulses. As shown in FIG. 6, the pulse width of the transmission pulse transmitted from the CPU 82 is 6 ms, and the transmission pulse interval is 500 ms. This is because if the light emitting element 36 is caused to emit light frequently in order to detect humans, power will be consumed unnecessarily. Therefore, the pulse width is reduced and the light emission interval is set within a range that does not hinder human detection. It depends on the setting.

Further, the detection of the received pulse is determined as having a pulse when all of the following conditions are satisfied in the determination at the terminal level of the sub control unit 8.
(1) When the width of the reception pulse is not less than the width of the transmission pulse-2 ms and not more than the width of the transmission pulse (2) The interval of the reception pulse is not less than the interval of the transmission pulse -50 ms and the interval of the transmission pulse + 50 ms If there is.
(3) When pulses are received n times in succession (default for n is 2 times).
These conditions are default values, and these parameters are changed by a command from the main control unit 10. In addition, by making a determination using software in this way, even if noise enters the optical communication receiving circuit 7, it is not recognized as valid data, so that the influence of noise can be eliminated.

  The transmission pulse is interrupted when the width of the reception pulse becomes equal to or larger than the width of the transmission pulse + 2 ms. While the transmission pulse is interrupted, the state with or without the pulse is maintained. This is because the point-of-sale information (POS information) is obtained by transmitting a pulse of 200 ms from the external device to the vending machine at the start of communication. Thus, a reception pulse having a width of transmission pulse + 2 ms or more is received. In this case, the transmission pulse is interrupted so as not to affect the communication.

The transmission pulse is resumed when all the following conditions are resumed.
(1) When a high received signal is not detected for 5 seconds or more.
(2) If a high received signal is detected within 5 seconds, restart the 5 second timer.
Note that 5 seconds as a reference is that the maximum interval of no communication is 2 seconds, which is more than twice as long. Since the optical communication is completed within 5 seconds, the human detection means is automatically enabled by doing so.

  The vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention described above has a predetermined distance when the slave control unit 8 (human detection means) reflects the infrared signal output from the light emitting element 36 and inputs it to the light receiving element 37. Since it is determined that there is a person inside, a request signal from an external device is received, and an optical communication adapter that outputs a response signal in response to the request signal is used to detect a person inside a predetermined distance Is possible.

  In addition, since the partition plate 47 that shields the infrared signal output from the light emitting element is provided between the light emitting element 36 and the light receiving element 37, there is a situation in which the infrared signal output from the light emitting element 36 is input to the light receiving element 37 as it is. It is avoided and a person who is inside a predetermined distance can be accurately detected.

  Further, when the light receiving element 37 receives a request signal having a pulse width of 200 ms or more from an external device, the human detection means is invalidated for a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds), so that an optical communication transmission signal can be reliably output. .

2 Outer door 21 Exhibition room 22 Selection button 23 Coin slot 24 Bill insertion slot 25 Sales information display section 26 Product outlet 3 Circuit board 31 7 segment LED
32, 33, 34, 35 LED
36 Light emitting element (optical signal transmitting means)
37 Light receiving element (optical signal receiving means)
4 Display body 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 Window 46 Window 47 Partition plate 5 Cover member 6 Optical communication transmission circuit 61 Modulation circuit 7 Optical communication reception circuit 71 Demodulation circuit 8 Sub control unit (human detection means)
10 Main Control Unit IL Control Communication Line SL Serial Communication Line

Claims (2)

Provided with a sales information display unit that displays sales information including the input amount, and the optical signal receiving means receives the request signal transmitted from the external device, while responding to the received request signal, the optical signal transmitting means is the response signal In a vending machine equipped with an optical communication adapter that transmits
When the optical signal output from the optical signal transmission unit is reflected and input to the optical signal reception unit, the human detection unit determines that there is a person inside a predetermined distance ,
A vending machine characterized in that, when the optical signal receiving means receives a request signal transmitted from an external device, the human detection means is disabled until a preset time elapses .   2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein shielding means for shielding an optical signal transmitted from the optical signal transmitting means is provided between the optical signal transmitting means and the optical signal receiving means.

Images