JPH0225234B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a vending machine having two or more vending mechanisms.

BACKGROUND ART An example of a vending machine having two or more systems of vending mechanisms is shown in FIG. 1. Reference numeral 1 denotes a control device which receives a bend signal from a currency sorting device 2 (hereinafter referred to as C/M) indicating that sales are possible. In response to this, two systems of sales mechanisms are controlled. The sales mechanisms include a cup delivery mechanism (1) 3-1 and a raw material delivery mechanism (1) 4- which belong to the first sales organization.
1. Bend stage (sales product outlet) (1) 5-
1.Available for sale indicator lamp (hereinafter referred to as API lamp)
6-1, sold out indicator lamp 7-1 and push button 8-
1. Cup delivery mechanism (2) belonging to the second sales mechanism 3
-2, Raw material delivery mechanism (2)4-2, Bend stage (2)
5-2, API lamp 6-2, sold out indicator lamp 7
-2 and push button 8-2, and a delivery mechanism 9 for common raw materials (such as ice) for beverages sold by both the first and second sales mechanisms, and a common raw material bending stage.
There is a mechanism 10 for distributing to (1) or (2). C/
One control device 1 controls all sales mechanisms based on the monetary processing results of M2.

Now, for example, if a first sales organization sells coffee drinks using powder raw materials, and a second sales organization sells soft drinks using syrup (liquid) raw materials, both coffee drinks and soft drinks are required. Conventionally, the control device 1 sells, for example, a coffee drink to a customer, and controls a sales mechanism to start selling a soft drink after the sale ends. As a result, there was a problem in that it took a long time to sell.
In addition, when a common raw material is used at the same time by two sales mechanisms, if a lapse occurs in which the raw materials are supplied from the raw material delivery mechanism to both sales mechanisms at the same time, the supply of raw materials at both sales mechanisms will be delayed. Sales operations themselves are delayed.

A vending machine having two vending mechanisms is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 56090/1983. The vending machine disclosed herein has two vending mechanisms and two CPUs, and when one vending machine sells multiple types of products with different control contents, one CPU is in operation while the other is in operation. This is a technology that prohibits the operation of the CPU. On the other hand, since the present invention uses one control device for each sales organization, the technique disclosed in the publication is not directly related to the present invention.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention prevents delays in vending operations when two or more vending commands are received in a vending machine as shown in FIG. 1 having two or more vending mechanisms of different types. To provide a vending machine that can minimize customers' waiting time for sales by determining the sales start time of each sales mechanism so that two or more sales mechanisms do not use common raw materials at the same time, and by operating multiple sales mechanisms simultaneously. The purpose is to

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the vending machine of the present invention has the following features as shown in the claim correspondence diagram of FIG.
A vending machine in which each vending mechanism is equipped with a push button switch for sales commands and a bending stage for discharging products, as well as a raw material discharging mechanism commonly used by each vending mechanism and a control device for controlling vending operations. In the above, the control device includes a sales command determining means for determining which sales organization's sales command pushbutton switch has been operated, and a raw material discharging mechanism for determining whether or not the operations of the raw material discharging mechanism regarding the common raw materials overlap. a lap determining means; a sales start time determining means for determining mutual sales start times of the sales organizations so that the raw material transport mechanisms are not used simultaneously by each sales organization when the operations of the raw material transport mechanisms overlap; The present invention is characterized by comprising a driving means for driving the commonly used raw material transport mechanism and each sales mechanism based on the output of the timing determining means.

Operation When a push button switch for a sales command is operated, a signal from the push button switch is sent to a sales command determining means, and the sales command determining means determines which sales organization's push button switch has been operated. In accordance with the determination result, the raw material lap determination means determines whether or not the operation of the raw material delivery mechanism for the common raw materials to be used will lap. This determination result is applied to the sales time determining means, and if the raw material transport mechanism is not in operation, the sales start time determining means is used to prevent each sales organization from using the raw material transport mechanism at the same time. Decide on the timing.
When the sales time is determined, the driving means operates a predetermined raw material delivery mechanism and also causes a plurality of sales mechanisms to operate sales in parallel.

Example An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

The configuration of the control device and other mechanisms of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a microcomputer, for example, is used as the control device 1, and the control device 1 is programmed as described below.

The C/M 2 detects coins inserted from a coin slot provided on a panel (not shown) of the vending machine, checks the coins, and sends information indicating the inserted amount to the control device 1 .

Raw material transport mechanism (1) 4-1, Raw material transport mechanism (2) 4-2
are provided corresponding to the respective bending stages 5-1 and 5-2. For example, the raw material delivery mechanism (1) 4-1 includes a tank (not shown) storing juice syrup and a tank for storing syrup from the tank. The apparatus is equipped with a valve (not shown) for carrying out and stopping the syrup, and by opening and closing this valve in response to a signal from the control device 1, carrying out and stopping the syrup is carried out. The raw material delivery mechanism (2) 4-2 carries out and stops other beverage syrups in the same manner as above.

The common raw material carrying out mechanism 9 has both bend stages 5-
This is to carry out raw materials such as hot water and ice that are commonly used in stages 1 and 5-2.The raw materials are carried out in response to a signal from the control device 1 and sent to the bend stage 5-2 via the bend stage distribution mechanism 10. 1 or 5-2.

API lamps 6-1, 6-2, sold-out display lamps 7-1, 7-2, and push buttons 8-1, 8-2 are provided corresponding to bend stages 5-1, 5-2, respectively. -1, 8-2 signals are sent to the control device 1, and API lamps 6-1, 6-
2. Sold out display lamps 7-1 and 7-2 are control device 1
It turns on or off depending on the signal from.

Cup delivery mechanisms 3-1, 3-2 are provided corresponding to each bending stage 5-1, 5-2, and when a product is sold, a cup for receiving the product is delivered to each bending stage 5-1 by a signal from the control device 1. Carry it out to either 1 or 5-2.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the operation of the control device of this embodiment. The basic program for managing sales is a processing program B that controls sales on the bend stage (1) side (first sales organization side) and a processing program B that controls sales on the bend stage (2) side (second sales organization side). Bend signals, push button signals, and common resources (raw materials or mechanisms) from processing programs C and C/M2
There are three processing programs: processing program A, which starts processing B and processing C based on the usage status of the program. These processes are executed in a real-time multitasking manner as shown in FIG. In the real-time multitasking method, one program is not executed continuously, but as shown in Figure 3, processing program A is executed for a certain amount, then stopped, and then another program, for example, processing program B, is executed. A certain amount of execution is executed, and then another program is processed for a certain amount, and so on, so that each program is executed as necessary by utilizing the idle time of executing other programs. This switching of execution between programs is performed sufficiently quickly, so that each program appears to operate at the same time with an operation delay time within an allowable range.

Currently, both Bend Stage (1) 5-1 and Bend Stage (2) 5-2 are not on sale.
A coin is inserted into C/M2 and the bend stage (1)
If the push button 8-1 on the side is pressed, the control device 1
detects the bend signal from the C/M 2 in steps, and also detects in steps that the push button 8-1 on the bend stage (1) side has been pressed. The above steps in the control device 1 constitute a sales command determining means. Next, step of processing program A→
After proceeding with → to set the counter for executing the sales control sequence on the bend stage (1) side, in step 1, start the sales execution process (1) on the bend stage (1) side and start the operation of the processing program B. , reset signal to C/M2 (for example, for about 2 seconds)
and a selection signal. The counter for executing the sales control sequence on the bend stage (1) side is composed of, for example, a RAM (random access memory) inside or outside the control device 1, and sets the start time and stop period for carrying out each raw material as shown in Fig. 4. It is something to do.
When processing program B is started by processing program A, this is normally done via a program (operating system/monitor) that controls the activation of processing program B. The same applies to the start of processing program C. As shown in FIG. 5, the processing program B is executed by subtracting "1" every unit time from the set value of the ON time and OFF time of each raw material on the counter set as shown in FIG. Let's do it. for example,
After waiting for 0.1 seconds (another program is executed during this idle time), "1" is subtracted from the set value of each raw material again. This operation is repeated until all set values become "0", but each time the raw material whose set value changes to "0" is turned on (starting dispensing) or off (stop dispensing).
When the set value becomes "0", the subtraction of the set value is stopped. In this way, when all the set values become "0", all the necessary raw materials have been taken out according to the time set on the counter as shown in FIG. At that point, processing program B waits until a startup request is received from processing program A again.

Next, the operation when a sales request is made on the bend stage (2) side during the sales operation on the bend stage (1) side will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6.

After the bend stage side push button 5-1 is pressed during the bend stage (1) side sales described above, the control device 1
A reset signal and a selection signal are sent from the C/M2 to the C/M2. When the C/M2 receives these signals, it processes the change, waits for the reset signal to be released, and enters the state of waiting for payment. That is, while the reset signal is being sent, the next beverage selection will not be accepted. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 6, if a coin is inserted again while the bend stage (1) side is in the sales a state and the C/M2 is in the input waiting state, the bend signal rises again as shown in Fig. 6 b, and the process is processed. In the step of program A, the control device 1 detects the bend signal, and the bend stage (2)
When the push button 8-2 on the side is pressed, the control device 1 proceeds to step →→→ of the processing program A. After detecting that the push button 8-2 is on, the control device 1 proceeds to step and displays the raw materials used for the selected beverage. It will be determined whether there will be any overlap in common raw materials with the bend stage currently on sale. The step constitutes a raw material lap determination means.

For example, the determination as to whether or not a lap occurs in the common raw material is performed as follows. As an example, let's assume that ice is a common ingredient in soft drinks and cold coffee, and that the start time of ice (the time from when a beverage is selected until the start of ice dispensing) is the same for both beverages. It is assumed that the time during which the drink is discharged is set to be different for both drinks. Now, suppose that one beverage (for example, a soft drink) is being sold while the other beverage (for example, cold coffee) is selected. The counter that stores the end time of ice dispensing for the beverage being sold indicates how many seconds after that point the dispensing of ice for that beverage will end. If the time is shorter than the start time, it is determined that no ice lap will occur, and conversely, if the time is longer than the later selected ice start time, it is determined that an ice lap will occur. Thus, in the period c in which the common raw material lap occurs in FIG. 6, the flag that disables the operation of the push button 8-2 on the bend stage (2) side is set for the period d, so that the push button 8 is not pressed as shown in e during this period. - If 2 is pressed, the step will start.
Go in the YES direction and go into standby mode. In the above-mentioned standby state, when the determination in step is NO, that is, when there is no longer a lap state of common raw material use, the process advances to step 1, sets a sequence execution counter, and carries out the requested raw material. Furthermore, if the push button 8-2 is pressed at a time other than the push button invalidation period d as shown in f, the process advances to the step and displays the bend stage (2) side time chart in the same way as when executing the sales operation on the bend stage (1) side. Set the execution counter and step to bend stage (2)
Start the sales execution process (1) on the side and run the processing program C.
At the same time, a reset signal and a selection signal are sent to the C/M2. As described above, steps , , constitute means for determining the sales start time.

When the bend stage (1) side does not use a common raw material, when the push button 8-2 is pressed after the bend signal rises, the process immediately advances to step 2, and execution of the processing program C is started. In this way, the steps . . . constitute a driving means for the bend stage.

In this way, the period indicated by g in FIG.
Bend stage (1) 5-1 and Bend stage (2) 5-
2 will be sold at the same time. Additionally, if a sales request is made on the bend stage (1) side while the bend stage (2) side is selling, it will be processed in exactly the same way, and the 6th
Simultaneous sales are carried out during the period indicated by h in the figure.

Although the embodiment relates to a vending machine equipped with two vending mechanisms, it goes without saying that the present invention is equally applicable to a vending machine equipped with three or more vending mechanisms. Furthermore, if a multi-bend specification C/M is used, the bend signal will rise immediately after resetting, making it possible to further shorten the sales time.

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, the present invention prevents common resources (raw materials or mechanisms) from being used simultaneously by multiple sales mechanisms, and allows multiple sales mechanisms to operate simultaneously to some extent even when common raw materials are used. Since it can be operated, the sales time is shortened, and when there is no common resource, simultaneous sales are made easier, achieving the effect of further shortening the sales time. Furthermore, since the present invention controls a plurality of vending mechanisms with one control device, it is possible to achieve a vending machine that exhibits the above effects without increasing costs compared to conventional vending machines.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of one embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a time chart showing the real-time multitasking method in one embodiment, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of the time chart execution counter, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the processing contents of the sales execution processing program. FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the operation of one embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a complaint correspondence diagram. 1...Control device, 2...C/M, 3-1, 3-2...
Cup delivery mechanism, 4-1, 4-2... Raw material delivery mechanism, 5-1, 5-2... Bend stage, 8-1,
8-2...Push button, 9...Common raw material delivery mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic vending machine in which each vending mechanism is equipped with a push button switch for sales commands and a bending stage for transporting products, as well as a raw material unloading mechanism commonly used in each vending mechanism and a control device for controlling vending operations. In the machine, the control device includes a sales command determining means for determining which sales organization's sales command pushbutton switch has been operated, and a sales command determining means for determining whether or not the operations of the raw material discharging mechanism for common raw materials overlap. a raw material lap determination means; a sales start time determining means for determining mutual sales start times for each sales organization so that the raw material transport mechanisms are not used simultaneously by each sales organization when the operations of the raw material transport mechanisms overlap; A vending machine capable of simultaneous sales, characterized in that it is equipped with a drive means for driving the commonly used raw material delivery mechanism and each vending mechanism based on the output of the start time determining means.