JPH0327492A - vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a vending machine, and relates to a vending machine that emits an alarm or the like when an item remains in a vending unit for a certain period of time.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, vending machines do not particularly notify when an item is dispensed from the vending item take-out section, or
There are machines that sound a chime or the like as soon as an item is taken out, but those that do not notify you that an item is present may cause the machine to jam if items are taken out consecutively, resulting in a machine malfunction, or make it easier to realize that you have forgotten to take out an item. If there is no chime, or if a chime sounds at the same time as the item is taken out, this chime causes noise to the surrounding area.

In addition, in vending machines that do not issue alarms when items are left out, if the item being sold is, for example, food, and a new item is taken out without knowing that there is residue, it may be difficult to tell which is new, or the ejected item may be difficult to distinguish. If a drink or other product that has been intentionally mixed with a poisonous substance is left in the store, the person who takes it out may be unaware of the presence of such a substance, and an accident may occur, so improvements are needed. Ta.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] Conventionally, an attempt has been made to solve the problem that occurs when automatic vending machines fail to issue an alarm when items taken out to the vending machine are forgotten and left unattended. To provide a vending machine that emits an alarm or the like when a certain period of time elapses without an item being taken out from a vending item take-out part.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a plurality of detection units for detecting articles in a sales item take-out unit, and a NAND circuit for processing detection signals from each detection unit. , a timer section that outputs a signal after a set time based on the signal output from the NAND circuit, an AND circuit that processes the signal from the timer section and the signal from the NAND circuit, and an alarm by the signal from the ANt) circuit. The present invention provides a vending machine configured with an alarm section.

[Operations] As configured as above, the vending machine according to the present invention detects that an item is placed in the vending item take-out part, and upon this detection, the timer starts counting time, and after a predetermined time has elapsed. An alarm will be issued if the detection of the item continues.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of a vending machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the main part.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a takeout section for selling products from a vending machine, and when a predetermined operation is performed, an item falls from a stocking location (not shown) through a passageway 1 and exits from the takeout section 1. 2 is the take-out door.Press this part with your hand to close the take-out part l.
Remove items that have fallen. 3 is a signal transmitting section, and 4 is a signal detecting section. Infrared rays are constantly emitted from the transmitting section 3 by a light emitting diode or the like, and reach a detecting section 4 made of a phototransistor or the like via a path shown by a dotted line 6. A plurality of detecting sections are provided as indicated by 4, 4', and 4" in FIG. 2, so that no matter where an article is located in the take-out section 1, it can be detected by any one of these detecting sections 4, 4', and 4".

Reference numeral 11 is a NAND circuit, which inputs the signals from the detection units 4, 4', and 4'' to the human input terminal, and when these input signals are all high signals (hereinafter referred to as "H"), the output signal is a low signal (hereinafter referred to as "H"). r
L J), when any of the input signals is “L”, “
Outputs a "H" signal. Reference numeral 12 denotes a 3-4 timer section, which is composed of a clock device or a monostable multi-by-break, etc., and sets its output to "L" with a signal from the NAND circuit 11, and starts counting time.

Then, after a preset time has elapsed, a signal rH is output. 13 is an AND circuit which receives signals from the NAND circuit 11 and the timer section 2 and outputs a signal when both signals are rl{J. Reference numeral 14 denotes an alarm section, which sounds a buzzer, chime, etc. in response to a signal from the AND circuit 13.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained. When a coin is inserted from a coin input section (not shown) and a desired item is specified by operating an item selection button or the like, the item is taken out from the stocking location and falls into the takeout section 1 through the passage 1. The take-out part 1 is provided with an infrared ray emitting part 3 using a light emitting diode or the like in one corner of the floor surface, and the infrared rays emitted from this part will be damaged if there is no item in the take-out part 1 that blocks the infrared rays. It reaches the detection unit 4 through a route 6. In order to be able to detect the interruption of infrared rays no matter which part of the take-out part l an article falls on, a plurality of detection parts, such as 4, 4', and 4#, are provided. Each output of these detection parts is connected to the input terminal of the NAND circuit 11, and when any path of infrared rays is blocked by an item, the input of the corresponding terminal of the NAND circuit 11 becomes "L". Become. When any of the input terminals is "L", the NAND circuit 1l outputs a signal rl{J, assuming that any of the detection sections detects the presence of an item.

This rHJ signal is manually input to the timer section l2, and this input causes the output of the timer section 12 to become "L", and at the same time starts counting time, and after a preset time, for example 1 minute, has elapsed from the start of counting. , the output signal returns to rH. The outputs of this timer section l2 and the NAND circuit 11 are input to an AND circuit 13. The AND circuit 13 is
When all input terminals are at rH, a signal of 'rH' is output. That is, when the output signal of the timer section 12 becomes "L" due to the above-mentioned detection of the article, and then, for example, when one minute has passed and the output signal becomes rH, if there is still an article in the take-out section 1, the NAND Since the circuit 11 outputs an "H" signal, the two human terminals of the AND circuit 13 are both "H", and therefore, the output terminal outputs a signal rl{J, In response to this signal, the alarm section 13 emits an alarm sound such as a buzzer or a chime.

This alarm continues to sound until the item is removed from the removal section 1.

Note that this alarm sound can also be made to say ``Please take the item, etc.'' using a synchronized voice or a magnetically recorded voice.

[Effects of the Invention] With the above-described structure, the vending machine according to the present invention emits an alarm if an item that has been taken out of the takeout section is left untaken and a certain period of time has elapsed. Therefore, not only can troubles such as forgetting to take out items or continuous operation resulting in a large number of items staying in the take-out section resulting in malfunctions, but also problems such as handling food items left behind in the take-out section and deterioration of quality be avoided. In such cases, a new item may be taken out without realizing this, making it impossible to tell which one is new, or an item intentionally mixed with a poisonous substance may be placed in the removal area, causing an accident to the person taking it out. It is possible to prevent such confusion.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of a vending machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of the same vending machine. In the figure, 1 is the retrieval part for sales products, 2 is the retrieval door, 3 is the signal transmitter, 4, 4', 4'' are the signal detection parts, and 11 is the NA
ND circuit, l2 is a timer section, 13 is an AND circuit, 14
is the alarm section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of detection units for detecting articles in the sales item take-out section, a NAND circuit that processes detection signals from each detection unit, and a timer that outputs a signal after a set time based on the signal output from the NAND circuit. A section, an AND circuit that processes the signal from the timer section and the signal from the NAND circuit, and A.
A vending machine characterized by comprising an alarm section that issues an alarm using a signal from an ND circuit.