JPH0243225B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) This invention is applicable to, for example, a coffee vending machine that sells coffee by the cup by adding a certain amount of coffee powder, milk, and sugar to a certain amount of hot water. Regarding vending machines.

(Prior art) For example, in a vending machine that sells coffee by the cup, a certain amount of hot water is released from a hot water storage tank via a solenoid valve, and various ingredients such as coffee powder, milk, and sugar are pumped from the respective storage tanks by a motor that rotates the vending machine. A certain amount is released by By the way, some of these vending machines are designed to freely change the setting of the operating time of the motor to make a coffee beverage according to one's taste. As such a vending machine, Tokukai Sho
There is a technique described in Publication No. 57-69389.
This technology allows you to select between coffee without additives and coffee with additives that specify at least one type of additive, and when coffee with additives is selected, the amount of the additive is increased. In a coffee vending machine that allows the amount of additives to be increased from the normal amount using a switch, when the increase switch for an additive that is not specified by the selected selection switch is turned on,
This allows a certain amount of additives, which is smaller than the normal amount, to be added together with the specified additives.

By the way, AC motors are used in such vending machines to discharge various raw materials (including additives), such as coffee powder and milk powder. The reason for this is that, compared to a DC motor, an AC motor can provide a constant rotation speed without being affected by voltage fluctuations or the remaining amount of various raw materials. Therefore, the drive time of the various raw material discharge motors is set as a timer constant in accordance with the discharge amount of the various raw materials.

However, when the power supply frequency changes from, for example, 50Hz to 60Hz, the rotational speed of each discharge motor changes. Therefore, even if the timer constant is set accurately according to the amount of each raw material to be released, the amount of each material to be released changes, and, for example, the amount selected by the increase switch is no longer released.

Therefore, in order to respond to changes in power supply frequency, timer constants corresponding to each power supply frequency are stored in memory for each discharge motor for each type of raw material, and from this memory, timer constants for each discharge motor according to the power supply frequency are stored. is read and set.

However, the technique of storing timer constants of discharge motors for various raw materials in accordance with each power supply frequency in a memory has a problem in that the memory capacity must be increased.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, when the power supply frequency changes, the rotation speed of the discharge motor changes, making it impossible to obtain an accurate discharge amount.In order to solve this problem, the timer constant of the discharge motor for each power supply frequency is Even if it is stored in memory, the memory capacity must be increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine that can always dispense an appropriate amount of raw materials even when the power frequency varies without requiring a large memory capacity.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention changes the operating state depending on the power frequency in response to the insertion of a required amount of money into a coin mechanism and the activation of a selection switch. In vending machines that sell products mixed with various raw materials, the drive source for discharging various raw materials operates for a certain period of time set by a timer, detects the frequency of the power supply, and determines whether this frequency is the set frequency or not. and a timer control means for variably setting the timer setting time to a time for making the discharge of the raw material constant by calculating a correction time when the frequency is determined to be other than the set frequency by the determining means. This is a vending machine that attempts to achieve the above purpose by providing a.

(Function) By providing such a means, the frequency determining means determines whether or not the frequency of the power source is the set frequency, and if this determination determines that the frequency of the power source is other than the set frequency. The set time of the timer is variably set by the timer control means to a time at which constant amounts of various raw materials are discharged.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention will be described as applied to a coffee vending machine.

As shown in FIG. 2, the primary winding of the power transformer 2 is connected to the AC power source 1, and the coin mechanism 3,
A hot water electromagnetic valve 4 and a coffee powder discharge motor 5, a milk powder discharge motor 6, and a sugar discharge motor 7 as discharge drive sources for various raw materials are connected, respectively. A stabilized power source 8 is connected to the secondary winding of the power transformer 2, and serves as a power source for driving the microprocessor 9. Further, a sine wave signal outputted to the secondary winding of the power transformer 2 is shaped into a square wave signal by a waveform shaping circuit 10, and is supplied to the microprocessor 9 as a frequency discrimination signal. The basic operating time of the microprocessor 9 is determined by a clock signal from a clock oscillator 11;
The programmed sequence control is sequentially executed based on this clock signal. The microprocessor 9 controls the interface circuit 12 to take in the coin signal from the coin mechanism 3, output a sales start signal and a sales price signal to the coin mechanism 3, and output the signal from the selection switch group 13. Captures the selection signal. It also controls the hot water solenoid valve 4, coffee powder discharge motor 5, milk powder discharge motor 6, and sugar discharge motor 7, controls the display device 14, and takes in switch signals from the timer setting switch 15. Furthermore, it controls RAM (random access memory) 16. The coin mechanism 3 outputs a coin signal when coins of a predetermined amount or more are inserted, releases change and stops outputting the coin signal when a sales start signal and a sales price signal are input. The hot water solenoid valve 4 is installed at the outlet of the hot water tank and controls the release of a certain amount of hot water by opening the valve for a preset certain period of time. each of the discharge motors 5;
Reference numerals 6 and 7 control the rotation of rotational release mechanisms provided at the bottom of the coffee powder storage tank, milk powder storage tank, and sugar storage tank, respectively, to control the release of raw materials (coffee, milk, and sugar). A timer setting switch 15 outputs a signal for setting the operation reference time of the hot water solenoid valve 4 and each of the discharge motors 5, 6, and 7. The RAM 16 is provided with a timer memory, an arithmetic memory, flags for determining whether each lamp of the display device 14 is turned on or off, and the like.

The microprocessor 9 performs control based on the program shown in FIG. That is, the on-sale lamp on the display device 14 is normally controlled to turn on to check for a coin signal input from the coin mechanism 3. When the coin signal is input, the selection signal input from the selection switch group 13 is then checked. When the selection signal is input, the sales price is determined and a sales start signal and a sales price signal are output to the coin mechanism 3. As a result, the coin mechanism 3 dispenses change. Subsequently, a process display signal is output to the display device 14 so that the process display lamps on the display device 14 are displayed sequentially as the process progresses. Also, identify the load corresponding to the product being sold. For example, if coffee with sugar and milk is selected, the hot water solenoid valve 4, coffee powder discharge motor 5, milk powder discharge motor 6, and sugar discharge motor 7 are specified as loads. Next, it is checked whether the square wave signal from the waveform shaping circuit 10 is set to the reference frequency of 60 Hz. This frequency check uses a well-known method of determining the number of input clock signals when a square wave signal is input. If the result of the determination is 60 Hz, the respective reference operating times set by the daisy switch 15 are directly set in each timer to drive and control the solenoid valve 4 and each discharge motor 5, 6, 7, respectively. When this control is completed, the output of the process display signal is stopped and the sales operation is ended.

If the frequency is not 60Hz, it is determined that the frequency is 50Hz, and the load for correcting the operating time, that is, the discharge motors 5, 6, and 7, is specified. Then, the reference operation time set for each of the discharge motors 5, 6, and 7 is corrected by multiplying it by 1.2, for example. Then, the corrected value is set in a timer for the operating time to drive and control each of the discharge motors 5, 6, and 7, respectively.
Regarding the hot water solenoid valve 4, whether it is 60 Hz or 50 Hz, it operates for a certain period of time according to the standard operating time of the timer and releases a certain amount of hot water, so no correction is necessary. When this control is completed, the output of the process display signal is stopped and the sales operation is ended.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, the reference operating time of each ejection motor 5, 6, and 7 is set by the daisy switch 15 in accordance with the power supply frequency of 60 Hz.
Also, set the reference frequency as 60Hz. When the operation is started using a 60Hz power supply with this setting, the coffee powder discharge motor 5, the milk powder discharge motor 6, and the sugar discharge motor 7 will each operate based on the set standard operation time during the sales operation. It is operated for a certain period of time and releases the appropriate amount of coffee powder, milk and sugar.

In addition, when the operation is started using a 50Hz power supply, the standard operation of the coffee powder, milk powder, and sugar discharge motors 5, 6, and 7 corresponding to the raw material required for the selected product is performed for each sales operation. The time
It is corrected to 1.2 times and set again, and it is operated at the corrected time. Therefore 50Hz compared to 60Hz
Even if the rotational speed of the discharge motors 5, 6, and 7 at Hz decreases and the amount of raw material discharged per unit time decreases, the operating time of the discharge motors is extended to compensate for the decrease in the rotation speed of the discharge motors 5, 6, and 7. However, the same amount of coffee powder, milk, and sugar as at 60Hz is released.

In this way, in the embodiment, it is determined whether the power supply frequency is the set frequency or not, and based on this determination, a correction calculation is performed to determine that the power supply frequency is other than the set frequency, and the timer set time is set so that the release of various raw materials is constant. Since the time is variably set, even if the power supply frequency changes, the appropriate various raw materials can be automatically discharged at all times, and correction calculations eliminate the need for large-capacity memory.

Although this embodiment has been described in which the present invention is applied to a coffee vending machine, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited thereto.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vending machine that does not require a large memory capacity and can always dispense an appropriate amount of raw materials even if the power supply frequency varies.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of this invention, and FIG.
The figure is a flowchart showing program control in the same embodiment. 1... AC power supply, 3... Coin mechanism, 4... Hot water solenoid valve, 5... Coffee powder discharge motor, 6...
... Milk powder discharge motor, 7 ... Sugar discharge motor, 9 ... Microprocessor, 13 ... Selection switch group, 16 ... RAM (random
access memory).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In response to the input of the required amount into the coin mechanism and the input of the selection switch, the various raw material discharge drive sources whose operating states change depending on the power frequency are operated for a certain period of time set by the timer, and various raw materials are mixed. A vending machine that sells products includes a frequency determining means for detecting the frequency of the power source and determining whether or not this frequency is the set frequency, and a frequency determining means for detecting the frequency of the power source and determining whether or not the frequency is the set frequency, and a frequency determining means for detecting the frequency of the power source and determining whether or not the frequency is the set frequency. A vending machine characterized by comprising: a timer control means for variably setting the time at which the discharge of the various raw materials is made constant by correcting the set time of the timer at a certain time.