JPS592076B2 - Vending machine failure recording device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention provides a failure record system in which when a failure occurs in a vending machine, the device self-diagnoses itself and records the diagnosis results in a storage device to be useful for failure analysis during subsequent maintenance. It provides equipment.

When a vending machine malfunctions, it causes financial inconveniences such as not discharging products properly or giving too much or too little change, which is an extremely important problem.

There are various situations in which such failures occur, but they can be roughly divided into wear failures that occur continuously and accidental failures that occur stochastically.

In particular, random defects are a troublesome problem for vending machine managers.

That is, even if the situation is investigated after receiving notification that a vending machine has malfunctioned, the malfunction cannot be reproduced and the location of the malfunction cannot be determined.

Furthermore, even if such vending machines are returned to a factory or repair facility and thoroughly inspected, reproducibility is low and repair is often impossible.

The majority of vending machines that are determined to be malfunctioning are due to such accidental failures, and sometimes malfunctions are caused by incorrect operation by the customer even though the machine is normal. .

From this point of view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a failure recording device for clarifying failures of unknown cause during maintenance.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied. The upper part of the broken line shows the general configuration of the vending machine, and the lower part shows the failure recording device of the present invention.

Although the configuration of the vending machine is known and a detailed explanation will be omitted, the inserted money signal S1. S2. In S3, the input amount is calculated by the calculation circuit 10, and the control circuit 13 controls the sales drive control section 14 based on the input amount, the selling price information SP from the sales price setting circuit 11, and the selection information SE from the product selection circuit 12. Outputs signal C1.

Then, if change is required according to the calculation type of the calculation circuit 10, the control circuit 13 sends a control signal C2 to the change dispensing drive control section 15.
Output.

Next, the parts related to the present invention will be explained. It is composed of a failure detection circuit 5, a state storage device 6, failure detection sensors 1 and 2, and if particularly required, a temperature sensor 16 and a voltage sensor 17.

In this embodiment, the failure detection sensors 1 and 2 are confirmation devices that detect whether a coin or a product has been ejected from the change dispensing device 18 or the product ejecting device 19.

In addition, there are other functions such as detecting a coin jam in the input coin passage and detecting whether a vending signal has been output to the vending 1 drive control section 14, and it is better to install failure detection sensors at various locations in the vending machine.

Further, according to this embodiment, the failure detection sensors 1 and 2 are used as confirmation devices to detect malfunctions in sales operations, and are effective in reliably detecting failures, so it is preferable to incorporate such types of failure detection sensors.

In addition, when detecting the presence or absence of a sales signal output or when detecting a defect in the motor, a failure detection sensor of a type that directly detects an open failure in the sales signal transmission path or a restricted current generated in the motor is used.

The failure detection circuit 5 has two roles; the first is failure detection, and it detects a failure based on the detection status of the failure detection sensors 1 and 2;
The second step is to create input data to the state storage device 6.

Therefore, the failure detection circuit 5 creates sales status data based on input amount information from the arithmetic circuit 10, change amount information from the control circuit 13, product selection information from the product selection circuit 12, and environmental signals such as temperature and voltage, and dispenses change. Detection data of the failure detection sensors 1 and 2 is created based on the status signal and product discharge status signal.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the failure detection circuit 5, which includes a pair of upper and lower register groups 3, a shift control circuit 4, and a failure determination circuit 20.

Register group 3 contains input amount information, product selection information, change amount information, change payout status signal, product discharge status signal, temperature information,
Voltage information is stored in binary codes each having a predetermined number of bits, and the above information related to one sales operation is stored in a pair of upper and lower registers, respectively.

Therefore, information related to the previous sales operation and information related to the current sales operation are stored in the upper and lower registers, respectively, and when a new sales operation is performed, a sales end signal generated regarding this sales operation causes the lower register to be stored. The contents stored in the register are transferred to the upper register, and information from new sales operations is written to the lower register.

This operation is performed by registers 3A and 3 that store input amount information.
As shown in FIG. 3, each D-type flip-flop DFF is provided with eight D-type flip-flops DFF, and input amount information is stored in binary code.

The input terminals of each DFF constituting the register 3B are connected so that input amount information is input in parallel, and when the clock pulse CP2 arrives at the C terminal, this is stored, and the output terminal Q is connected to each DFF constituting the register 3A. When the clock pulse CP1 arrives, the register 3A is connected to the input terminal of the clock pulse CP1. From this, the contents of register 3B are stored in the internal DFF.

The shift control circuit 4 shifts the register 3 in response to the input of a sales end signal VE generated upon completion of the operation of the sales drive control section 14.
A clock pulse CP1 and after a slight delay register 3
The configuration is such that a clock pulse CP2 is output to the output terminal B.

In addition, registers 3C and 3D are product selection information, register 3
E and 3F store change amount information, registers 3M and 3N store product discharge status signals, registers 3K and 3L store change payout status signals, registers 3G and 3H store temperature information, and registers 3■ and 3J store voltage information, respectively. It is composed of DFFs corresponding to a predetermined number of storage bits.

Similarly to registers 3A and 3B, clock pulse CP,
The contents of the lower register are transferred to the upper register by the clock pulse CP2, and the new information is stored in the lower register by the clock pulse CP2.

The failure determination circuit 20 constantly monitors the states of the register 3N that stores the product discharge status signal and the register 3L that stores the change payout status signal, and outputs a failure signal to the OR gate 21 when an abnormality is detected in the product or change payout. .

The state storage device 6 then receives the output from the OR gate 21 as a write signal WP and reads and stores the contents of the upper and lower registers regarding the above information.

Further, the status storage device 6 is configured so that it can also be operated by the operation output of a customer failure button 22 attached to the outside. Therefore, even if the vending machine itself does not determine that the vending machine is malfunctioning, the same operation can be performed if the customer determines that the vending machine is malfunctioning.

This has two effects: when a customer mistakenly determines that the vending machine is malfunctioning, and when the vending machine itself has insufficient malfunction detection ability.

With this configuration, when the failure judgment circuit 20 detects an abnormality or when the customer failure button 22 is operated, the details of the failure and the previous sales status are stored in the status storage device 6, so that the status can be checked at the time of repair. By reading the contents stored in the storage device 6, the person in charge of repair can easily understand the situation at the time of failure and contribute to repair operations.

In addition, if the malfunctioning vending machine itself or the control device containing the status memory device (i.e. coin knock) is returned to a repair facility such as a factory, the memory contents of the status memory device 6 can be examined to clearly identify the malfunction. You can understand the situation.

In addition, if the vending machine is determined to be malfunctioning, it will be returned to the factory etc. with the power cut off, so the status storage device 6 is a normal semiconductor storage device called RAM, which is powered by a battery. Power supply compensation measures are required.

As another countermeasure, it is very effective to use a non-volatile memory IJ (FROM) whose information does not disappear even when the power is cut off.

As described in detail above, the present invention constantly monitors the condition of the vending machine, and when a malfunction is discovered or a customer complains about the problem, the current situation is automatically memorized to be useful for subsequent repairs and to prevent problems with customers. It is extremely effective in eliminating the problem.

Furthermore, at least the detection status of the failure detection sensor and the sales status related to both the current and previous sales operations are stored, so most failures can be identified by comparing the normal and abnormal conditions, reducing repair time. This also has the advantage of making it easy to confirm malfunctions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a vending machine to which the invention is applied, FIG. 2 shows the invention in a block diagram, and FIG. 3 shows the specific configuration of the register. 1.2...Failure detection sensor, 3...
Register group, 4...Shift control circuit, 6...
. . . State storage device, 20 . . . Failure determination circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A failure detection sensor, a pair of register groups that store the detection status by the failure detection sensor and the sales status related to at least the current and previous sales operations, and one register group that stores information regarding the current sales operation based on the completion of the sales operation. a shift control circuit that writes the related detection status and sales status and transfers the contents of the register group to the other register group; and a failure determination circuit that monitors the detection status stored in the register group regarding the current sales operation. and a state storage device that reads and stores the contents of the register group based on the failure determination of the failure determination circuit.