JP7380295B2 - beverage dispensing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a beverage dispensing device that can suppress a decrease in identification accuracy even when notes, marks, etc. written on the surface of a cup are present within a judgment frame for identifying color information of a cup.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, beverage supply devices such as coffee machines have been installed in stores such as convenience stores. When a beverage is selected by a user, the beverage supply device generates a beverage by, for example, grinding coffee beans and extracting dripping, and supplies the beverage to a cup disposed in a beverage supply section. Beverage is discharged and supplied from a nozzle forming the part (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP2009-274767A

By the way, conventionally, when supplying a beverage to a cup placed on a placement section of a beverage supply section, an image of the cup placed on the placement section is captured, and an image area of the cup in this captured image is displayed. A determination frame is provided, cup identification is performed based on color information, brightness information, etc. within this determination frame, and a beverage corresponding to the cup identification is supplied to the cup.

However, if notes, patterns, marks, scratches, stains, etc. are present on the cup surface within the determination frame, there is a problem in that the presence of these items lowers the accuracy of color information identification.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and even when there are notes or marks written on the surface of the cup within the judgment frame for identifying the color information of the cup, the identification accuracy decreases. An object of the present invention is to provide a beverage dispensing device that can suppress

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objects, the present invention provides a beverage supply device that supplies a beverage produced in a beverage production section to a cup disposed in a beverage supply section, which an imaging unit that acquires a captured image; a determination unit that provides a determination frame in a predetermined area of the cup in the captured image acquired by the imaging unit and determines the color of the cup based on color information within the determination frame; , a beverage supply control unit that generates a beverage corresponding to the color determined by the determination unit and controls supplying it to the cup, the determination frame being composed of a plurality of divided determination frames, and the determination unit calculates the standard deviation of the color information in each division determination frame, and determines the color of the cup based on the color information in the division determination frames other than the division determination frame for which the standard deviation exceeds a predetermined value.

Further, in the present invention, in the above invention, the division determination frames may be arranged in a circumferential direction of the cup.

Further, in the above invention, the present invention may further include a guide section that guides the rearrangement of the cup when all of the division determination frames exceed the predetermined value.

Further, in the above invention, the standard deviation of the color information is a standard deviation in a color space, a maximum value of standard deviations of each color element, an average value of standard deviations of each color element, and a standard deviation of each color element. It may be either an added value or a standard deviation of one selected element.

According to the present invention, even if there are notes, marks, etc. written on the surface of the cup within the judgment frame for identifying the color information of the cup, it is possible to suppress a decrease in identification accuracy.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of a beverage supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a control system of the beverage supply device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the configuration of the beverage supply section shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the beverage supply section shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a determination frame on a captured image. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the beverage supply control process performed by the control unit.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Overall configuration>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of a beverage supply device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control system of the beverage supply device 1. As shown in FIG. Moreover, FIG. 2 is a front view showing the configuration of the beverage supply section 22 shown in FIG. 1. Moreover, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the beverage supply section 22 shown in FIG. 1.

The beverage supply device 1 illustrated here is, for example, a coffee machine installed in a store such as a convenience store, and performs, for example, grinding coffee beans and extraction processing of dripping, and pours the coffee into a cup C, which is a cylindrical container with a bottom. , for example, supplies coffee drinks containing milk drinks such as caffe latte.

The beverage supply device 1 includes a main body cabinet 10 and a front door 20. The main body cabinet 10 has a substantially rectangular shape with an open front. Inside the main body cabinet 10, a beverage production section 11 for producing a beverage (for example, coffee) is provided.

The front door 20 is a door body having a size sufficient to close the front opening of the main cabinet 10. The front door 20 is provided at one edge on the front side of the main body cabinet 10 so as to be swingable around the central axis of a shaft portion (not shown) extending along the vertical direction. It is possible to open and close the opening.

The front surface of the front door 20 constitutes a customer service surface, and is provided with a display section 21, a beverage supply section 22, and an opening/closing door 22a. The display unit 21 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal touch panel, and has an input unit 21a that displays various information and allows input operations such as touch operations.

The beverage supply section 22 is configured by providing a recessed portion below the display section 21 . This beverage supply section 22 has a nozzle 23, a stage 24, a rear wall 25, and side walls 26L and 26R (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The nozzle 23 discharges the beverage produced by the beverage production section 11 downward. The stage 24 is provided in a region below the nozzle 23. The stage 24 is a placement section on which the cup C is placed, and is provided with an arcuate stopper 24a. In addition, the stage 24 is formed with a plurality of passage holes 24b through which the beverage discharged from the nozzle 23 and not supplied to the cup C passes (see FIG. 4), and below the passage holes 24b are formed a hole for storing the beverage. A tray (not shown) is provided.

The rear wall 25 covers the rear surface of the stage 24. The side walls 26L and 26R cover both sides of the stage 24. The side walls 26L and 26R are provided so that the distance between them gradually increases from both side edges of the rear wall 25 toward the front.

The opening/closing door 22a is made of a translucent material such as transparent resin, and has a size sufficient to cover the entrance 27 of the beverage supply section 22. The opening/closing door 22a has a left end portion pivotally supported by the front door 20, and is swingable in the front-rear direction. In other words, the opening/closing door 22a can swing in the front-rear direction in a manner approaching and away from the beverage supply section 22, and when swinging backward in a manner approaching the beverage supply section 22, the opening/closing door 22a can swing at the entrance of the beverage supply section 22. 27 can be closed and the inlet 27 can be opened when swinging forward away from the beverage supply 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the beverage supply device 1 includes a cup detection section 31, a light projection section 32, an imaging section 33, a door opening/closing detection section 35, a door opening/closing locking mechanism 36, and a control section 40.

The cup detection section 31 is constituted by, for example, an optical sensor, and detects whether or not the cup C is placed in the beverage supply section 22, that is, whether or not the cup C is placed on the stage 24. The cup detection section 31 provides the detection result of the presence or absence of the cup C to the control section 40.

The light projecting section 32 is provided on the left side wall 26L and the right side wall 26R of the beverage supply section 22, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The light projection unit 32 is, for example, an LED, and irradiates the surface of the cup C placed on the stage 24 with light. The light projecting section 32 is provided above the side walls 26L and 26R, respectively, so as to be able to irradiate light onto the upper circumferential surface of the cup C from diagonally above.

The imaging unit 33 is provided at the lower part of the left side wall 26L of the beverage supply unit 22, and acquires an image including the cup C.

The door opening/closing detection section 35 is provided near the entrance 27 of the beverage supply section 22, and is composed of, for example, an optical sensor. The door opening/closing detection section 35 detects whether the entrance 27 is opened or closed by the opening/closing door 22a, and more specifically, it detects whether the entrance 27 is closed, that is, whether the opening/closing door 22a is closed. be. The door opening/closing detection section 35 provides the control section 40 with a detection result as to whether or not the opening/closing door 22a is closed.

The door opening/closing locking mechanism 36 is provided near the entrance 27 of the beverage supply section 22. This door opening/closing lock mechanism 36 has two states: a locked state in which the opening/closing door 22a that closes the entrance 27 is held in a closed state and restricts the opening/closing door 22a from swinging forward; It is possible to selectively switch between a release state in which the lever is allowed to swing forward. Switching of the door opening/closing locking mechanism 36 is performed in response to a command from the control unit 40.

The control unit 40 connects the beverage production unit 11 , the display unit 21 , the cup detection unit 31 , the light projection unit 32 , the imaging unit 33 , the door opening/closing detection unit 35 , and the door opening/closing locking mechanism 36 , and stores information stored in the storage unit 41 . It controls the operations of these parts in an integrated manner according to programs and data.

The control unit 40 is a control unit that controls the entire device, and includes a determination unit 40a, a beverage supply control unit 40b, and a guide unit 40c. The determination unit 40a provides a determination frame in a predetermined area of the cup C in the captured image acquired by the imaging unit 33, and determines the color of the cup C based on the color information within this determination frame. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, a preset determination frame W is provided within the cup image DC within the captured image D, and the color of the cup C is determined based on the color information within this determination frame W. do.

Here, the determination frame W is composed of four divided determination frames W1 to W4 arranged in the circumferential direction of the cup C. The determination unit 40a determines the standard deviation of the color information in each of the division determination frames W1 to W4, and determines the color of the cup C based on the color information in the division determination frames other than the division determination frames for which this standard deviation exceeds a predetermined value. Determine. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, images of the character string M1 and mark M2 are projected on the surface color of the cup C in the division determination frames W3 and W4, and the color information varies, resulting in the accuracy of color determination of the cup C. decreases. For this reason, the determination unit 40a calculates the standard deviation of the color information in the division determination frames W1 to W4, excludes the division determination frames W3 and W4 whose standard deviation exceeds a predetermined value, and divides the division determination frames W3 and W4 whose standard deviation is within the predetermined value. The color of the cup C is determined based on the color information within the determination frames W1 and W2.

Note that the standard deviation of the color information in each division judgment frame W1 to W4 is the standard deviation in a color space such as the HSV color space, the maximum value of the standard deviation of each color element, the average value of the standard deviation of each color element, and the standard deviation of each color element. It may be either the added value of the standard deviation of , or the standard deviation of one selected element. Furthermore, the reason why the division determination frames W1 to W4 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the cup C is that letters and the like are often written vertically in the axial direction of the cup C. Therefore, when characters and the like are written horizontally in the circumferential direction, the division determination frames W1 to W4 are arranged in the axial direction of the cup C.

The beverage supply control section 40b generates a beverage corresponding to the color of the cup determined by the determination section, and performs control to supply the beverage to the cup C.

If the standard deviations of all the division determination frames W1 to W4 exceed a predetermined value, the guide unit 40c guides the cup C to be rotated and rearranged. This guidance may be displayed on the display unit 21 or may be an audio guidance. In the guidance display by the display unit 21, in addition to text display, the repositioning operation of the cup C may be displayed pictorially.

<Beverage supply control processing>
Next, the beverage supply control processing procedure by the control unit 40 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 40 first determines whether the cup detection unit 31 detects that the cup C is in the beverage supply unit 22 (step S101). That is, the cup detection unit 31 detects whether the cup C is placed on the stage 24 or not.

If it is detected that there is a cup C (step S101: Yes), the control unit 40 determines whether the opening/closing door 22a is closed based on the detection result of the door opening/closing detection unit 35 (step S102). ). If the opening/closing door 22a is not closed (step S102: No), the determination process of step S102 is repeated.

On the other hand, when the opening/closing door 22a is closed (step S102: Yes), the control unit 40 causes the light projecting unit 32 to project light onto the surface of the cup C, and causes the imaging unit 33 to capture an image including the cup C. An instruction is given to acquire an image, a captured image is acquired, and the color of the cup C is determined based on the color information within the determination frame W (step S103). Thereafter, it is determined whether the color determination by the determination unit 40a was possible (step S104). Color determination is possible when at least one of the division determination frames W1 to W4 has a standard deviation within a predetermined value. If the color cannot be determined (step S104: No), the guide unit 40c provides guidance to prompt the user to relocate the cup C (step S105). After that, the process moves to step S101.

If the color can be determined (step S104: Yes), the determination unit 40a determines the type of beverage in the cup C corresponding to the determined color (step S106). For example, if the color of cup C is brown, it is determined that it is a cafe latte, if the color of cup C is white, it is determined that it is blended coffee, and if the color of cup C is dark blue, it is determined that it is premium coffee. It is determined that there is.

After that, the control unit 40 displays on the display unit 21 the beverage to be supplied to the determined cup C and a guidance display that guides the user to touch the input unit 21a on which a confirmation message is displayed (step S107).

After that, the control unit 40 determines whether the input unit 21a is touched (step S108). If the input unit 21a is not touched (step S108: No), the control unit 40 repeats the determination process of step S106. On the other hand, if the input unit 21a is touched (step S108: Yes), the control unit 40 locks the opening/closing door 22a in a closed state using the door opening/closing locking mechanism 36 (step S109), and Then, the process of generating and supplying the beverage to be supplied is performed (step S110).

After that, the control unit 40 determines whether or not the beverage supply by the beverage production unit 11 has ended (step S111). If the beverage supply has not been completed (step S111: No), the control unit 40 returns to step S110 and continues the beverage generation and supply process.

On the other hand, if the beverage supply has ended (step S111: Yes), the control unit 40 unlocks the closed door 22a by the door locking mechanism 36 (step S112), and ends this process. Note that the above process is repeated at predetermined intervals.

In this embodiment, the judgment frame W is divided into a plurality of divided judgment frames W1 to W4, and the judgment unit 40a calculates the standard deviation of color information in each divided judgment frame W1 to W4, and determines whether the standard deviation is a predetermined value. Since the color of cup C is determined based on the color information in the division judgment frame other than the division judgment frame that exceeds the division judgment frame, even if there are characters etc. in the judgment frame W, the color of cup C Decrease in identification accuracy can be suppressed.

Note that in the above embodiment, the division determination frames W1 to W4 are adjacent to each other, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the division determination frames W1 to W4 may be arranged apart from each other.

In addition, each configuration illustrated in the above embodiments is a functional schematic, and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the form of dispersion/integration of each device and component is not limited to the one shown in the diagram, but all or part of it may be functionally or physically dispersed/integrated in arbitrary units depending on various usage conditions. It can be configured as follows.

1 Beverage supply device 10 Main body cabinet 11 Beverage production section 20 Front door 21 Display section 21a Input section 22 Beverage supply section 22a Opening/closing door 23 Nozzle 24 Stage 24a Stopper 24b Passing hole 25 Rear wall 26L, 26R Side wall 27 Inlet 31 Cup detection section 32 Light projection section 33 Imaging section 35 Door opening/closing detection section 36 Door opening/closing locking mechanism 40 Control section 40a Judgment section 40b Beverage supply control section 40c Guide section 41 Storage section C Cup D Captured image DC Cup image DC, DA Image M1 Character string M2 Mark W Judgment frame W1 to W4 Divided judgment frame

Claims (4)

A beverage supply device that supplies a beverage produced in a beverage production section to a cup disposed in the beverage supply section,
an imaging unit that acquires a captured image of the cup;
a determination unit that provides a determination frame in advance in a predetermined area corresponding to a part of the cup on the captured image acquired by the imaging unit, and determines the color of the cup based on color information within the determination frame; ,
a beverage supply control unit that generates a beverage corresponding to the color determined by the determination unit and controls the supply to the cup;
Equipped with
The judgment frame is composed of a plurality of divided judgment frames,
The determination unit determines the standard deviation of the color information in each division determination frame, and determines the color of the cup based on the color information in division determination frames other than the division determination frame in which the standard deviation exceeds a predetermined value. Beverage dispensing equipment. The beverage supply device according to claim 1, wherein the division determination frames are arranged in a circumferential direction of the cup. The beverage supply device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a guide section that guides rearrangement of the cup when all of the division determination frames exceed the predetermined value. The standard deviation of the color information is one of the maximum value of the standard deviation of each color element on the color space , the average value of the standard deviation of each color element, the added value of the standard deviation of each color element, or the standard deviation of one selected element. The beverage supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

Images