JPH0766466B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial field of application> The present invention relates to a vending machine provided with a plurality of account buttons for selectively specifying products for sale (including various tickets such as boarding tickets). However, in particular, the present invention provides a vending machine with a high operating rate that can be urgently avoided when a failure occurs in any of the account buttons.

<Prior Art> For example, in a conventional automatic ticket vending machine, any one of a plurality of account buttons is operated in order to receive money and sell a ticket within the amount range. The account button has a structure in which a lamp is incorporated inside the number display surface, a structure in which a number display element including a plurality of segments is incorporated, and the like. A specific account (amount of money) has been fixedly assigned to, and when money is input, the account button within the amount of input amount lights up or displays, and tickets that can be sold are displayed. ing.

FIG. 7 shows the customer service side of a conventional automatic ticket vending machine 21 having a plurality of account buttons 22, and FIG. 8 shows this automatic ticket vending machine 21.
It shows the lighting state of the account button row when coins of 300 yen are put into.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> In the automatic ticket vending machine 21, if the account button 22a to which an account of 240 yen is assigned breaks down (for example, the lamp is out, the number display element is broken, etc.), As shown in the figure, the display of the account button 22a does not operate, and it becomes unclear to the user whether or not the account exists. Therefore, the customer is confused about the operation and calls the attendant,
As a result, you must stop using the automatic ticket vending machine 21,
There is a problem that the operating rate of an expensive automatic ticket vending machine is significantly reduced.

The present invention provides a vending machine with a high operating rate that avoids confusion among users by temporarily disabling the account button associated with the failure and designating an alternative button when the account button fails. With the goal.

<Means for Solving Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vending machine that sells a product within the range of the input amount of money based on the operation of inputting money and selecting a product to be sold. A plurality of account buttons for selecting and having a variable display function, a memory storing a table showing a correspondence relationship between each account button and a product for sale, and detecting whether or not each account button is defective. A self-diagnosis processing unit that specifies an account button related to a failure, and a control unit that rewrites the table in the memory by designating a substitute button for the account button specified by the self-diagnosis processing unit.

<Operation> When the self-diagnosis processing unit identifies the account button involved in the failure, the control unit specifies a substitute button for the identified account button and rewrites the correspondence relationship of the table in the memory. Since each account button has a variable display function, the display content of the designated alternative button can be easily changed based on the above rewriting process. As a result, it is possible to automatically avoid minor failures such as defective display of the account button, and it is not necessary to stop the operation of the entire effective vending machine, which greatly improves the operation rate of the vending machine. You can do it.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 shows an automatic ticket vending machine 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
This figure shows the account button part of the customer service side. In the figure, the breakdown button (“240 yen” account button 2a) is disabled and the layout is changed by specifying this instead and the layout is specifically shown. is there. Although the illustrated example is the automatic ticket vending machine 1, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to general automatic vending machines that accept coins and sell products.

Each of the above-mentioned account buttons 2 has a variable display function, and as shown in FIG. 2, has a plurality of built-in numeral display elements 12 each composed of seven segments. The second
The figure (A) displays a 3-digit number, and the figure (B) shows 4
Each display of a digit number is illustrated.

Thus, when coins of 300 yen are thrown in, it is shown in Fig. 2
Since the 40 yen account button 2a is defective, the self-diagnosis processing unit 9 described later operates to invalidate the defective account button 2a, and the 240 yen account button is again set to the next position (account button). 2b) is designated as an alternative, and the layout is changed by sequentially lowering each account button 2 after 240 yen one by one.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit configuration example of the automatic ticket vending machine 1 according to the present invention. In the figure, the control unit 3 constitutes a microcomputer together with the memory 4. The currency processing mechanism unit 5 and the ticket issuing processing unit 6 are connected to the control unit 3, and the guidance display unit is provided via the input / output buffer 7. 8, the account button 2, and the self-diagnosis processing unit 9 are connected to each other. Based on the program stored in the memory 4, the control unit 3 performs processing operations in the money processing mechanism unit 5 (for example, acceptance of input money, judgment of authenticity of money, reading and judgment of bill type of money, calculation and release of change). Etc.), processing operations in the ticket issuing processing unit 6 (for example, magnetic recording or printing of ticket issuing information, etc.), guide display unit 8
Display operation (for example, display of guidance characters, etc.), processing operation for the account button 2 (for example, operation of the account button 2 in the sellable range), processing operation for the self-diagnosis processing unit 9 (for example, detection of abnormality of the account button 2). Such)
Each processing operation of is controlled in series.

Further, the memory 4 stores a table T showing the correspondence between each account button 2 and a sales ticket. FIG. 4 shows an example of this table. FIG. 4A shows the table contents when the account button is normal, and FIG. 4B shows the table contents when the account button is abnormal. . In FIGS. 4A and 4B, the “account button No.” in the leftmost column of the table T is a number assigned to each account button, and in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 account button is assigned for ticket sales of par value 80 yen,
Similarly, No. 2 is allocated to "120 yen" and No. 3 is allocated to "150 yen". In the next column "absence / absence of abnormality", flags indicating whether or not each account button is normal ("0" when normal, "1" when abnormal) are set. In table T), the flag "1" is set in the No. 8 account column. In the next column of "setting contents", a flag indicating whether it is for adults or for dwarfs (a flag "0" for adults and a flag "1" for dwarfs) and the amount data of each account are set. In the abnormal account No. 8 account column, the amount data is set to zero, and the No. 9 account column is rewritten from "260 yen" to "240 yen", and further The account section has also been changed to a layouter that has been gradually lowered by one. Of course, the processing method for this abnormal account is not limited to the shift processing described above, and the method can be set as appropriate, for example, replacing the abnormal account with a spare account.

FIG. 5 shows a control operation when a ticket is purchased by the automatic ticket vending machine 1.

First, when the automatic ticket vending machine 1 is energized and ready for start, in step 1 (indicated by "ST1" in the figure), it is determined whether or not money has been inserted. In the state before the coin is inserted (step 1 is “No”), the process proceeds to step 2 and the self-diagnosis processing unit 9 operates to detect and determine whether the account button 2 is defective. The self-diagnosis processing unit 9 of this embodiment is
It has a function of automatically detecting a defect or the like of the numerical display element 12 in each account button 2, identifying the account button 2a involved in the failure, and notifying the controller 3 of this. Note that the self-diagnosis processing unit 9 is not limited to the one having the above-mentioned automatic processing function, and may have a function of merely saturating the account button 2a in case of a failure, for example. The clerk operating unit is operated to manually input the account related to the failure to the control unit 3.

Thus, when it is determined that there is no abnormality in step 3 (step 3 is "No"), the contents of the table T are as shown in FIG. 4 (A), and the account button 2 is displayed based on the table T. Will be done. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is an abnormality in the account button 2 in step 3 (step 3 is "YES"), the control unit 3 determines in step 4 the account with an abnormality (No. 8 in accordance with the above example). 4), the abnormal flag "1" is set in the table T for each account) to temporarily invalidate this column, and the amount data for each account after No. 9 is shifted, as shown in FIG. 4 (B). Rewrite to table T.

When money is inserted in the money insertion standby state of step 1 (step 1 is "YES"), the amount of money inserted is displayed on the predetermined amount display portion of the customer service side in the next step 5. Then, in the next step 6, it is determined whether or not there is a ticket that can be purchased with the input amount, and when the determination is "YES", the process proceeds to step 7 and the numerical display of the account button 2 that can be purchased within the input amount range. Element 12 is activated. In the next step 8, if any of the account buttons 2 is pushed down (step 8 is “YES”), then in step 9, the pushed down account button is the account button within the purchasable range (that is, the operation is performed). It is determined whether or not it is the account button 2). If step 9 is "YES", only the account button 2 that has been pushed down is activated in the next step 10 and the numerical display of other account buttons 2 disappears to identify the account involved in the purchase operation. The fact is transmitted to the control unit 3. As a result, the control unit 3 operates the ticket issuing processing unit 6, prints and magnetically records the information of the ticket type, and issues a ticket (step 11). If there is change, the control unit 3 calculates the amount of change, and in step 12, activates the money handling mechanism unit 5 to discharge the change to the change outlet.

When the cancel button is pressed in step 8, step 8 becomes "NO", step 13 becomes "YES", the display of all the account buttons disappears in the next step 14, and the coin inserted in step 15 continues. The amount of money is returned to the outlet, and a series of processing operations is completed.

FIG. 6 shows a customer service side of the automatic ticket vending machine 1 in which an account button according to another embodiment is used. Each account button 2 shown in FIG. 6 is of a system in which the number display element section 10 and the button section 11 are separated, and the display operation of each number display section 10 is the account button 2 in the first embodiment. It has the same meaning as the display operation of itself. That is, the account button 2 in the first embodiment is different in that the numeral display element 12 is integrally formed with the button switch, whereas in the second embodiment, the two are separately formed, which is a failure. The self-diagnosis processing, the table rewriting processing, and the like are exactly the same as those in the first embodiment.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, a table in which each sale item is associated with a plurality of account buttons having a variable display function is stored, and it is detected that one of the account buttons is defective. At this time, by designating the alternative button of this account button and rewriting the correspondence relationship in the memory, it is not necessary to stop the operation of the entire vending machine due to the failure of the account button, and the operation of expensive vending machines can be performed. The rate can be greatly improved. In addition, since the failure buttons can be repaired collectively during the off-season, there is an effect that maintenance can be performed efficiently and economically.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display example of an account button according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a concrete example of an account button, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration example of an automatic vending machine according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing table contents stored in a memory, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a ticketing processing operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a front view showing a customer service surface of a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a front view showing a customer service surface of an automatic ticket vending machine, and FIG. 8 is a view showing a display state of an account button in a normal state. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display state of an account button when an abnormality occurs in the conventional example. 1 ... Automatic ticket vending machine 2 ... Account button 4 ... Memory 5 ... Control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic vending machine for selling merchandise within the range of the amount of money to be deposited based on an operation of inserting money and selecting a merchandise to be sold, and a plurality of account buttons for selecting a merchandise for sale and having a variable display function. A memory that stores a table showing the correspondence between each account button and a product for sale; a self-diagnosis processing unit that detects the presence / absence of a defect in each account button to identify the account button involved in the failure; A vending machine comprising: a control unit that rewrites the table in the memory by designating an alternative button of the account button specified by the processing unit. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the account button is a push button switch having a built-in numeral display element. 3. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein each of the account buttons comprises a combination of a numerical display element and a push button switch provided separately corresponding thereto. 4. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is composed of a microcomputer.