JPH0720656U - vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide an automatic ticket vending machine with a short ticket processing time. [Configuration] When the ticket selection button is pressed, the ticket issuing operation is started, and until it is determined that the ticket can be found by the inserted money or the inserted stored fair card, that is, Until the ticketing condition of the main body, whether the change processing can be performed for the input amount of money or whether the SF card can be issued, is confirmed, the ticket with the data written and printed is put in the main body of the automatic ticket vending machine. A holding means for holding is provided.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a vending machine such as a vending machine, and more particularly to a vending machine having a high processing speed.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, for example, in an automatic ticket vending machine, coins or bills are inserted into a main body of the automatic ticket vending machine (hereinafter, also referred to as a main body of the automatic vending machine) or a stored fair (SF) card is inserted. When the selection button corresponding to the desired ticket is pressed, the amount of money inserted, the balance of the SF card, or when money is inserted and the SF card is inserted, Tickets are issued when the total amount of them exceeds the ticket fee and the main body can process the change.

The control operation of the above-described conventional automatic ticket vending machine will be further described based on the flowchart of FIG. 4B. Money (including an SF card) is inserted into the main body, and the selection button is pressed down. Then (Yes at Step 200 and Yes at Step 202. Hereafter, the step is referred to as S.) In the main body, it is determined whether or not the money accepted can be issued (S204).

When it is determined that the received money can be used for ticketing, that is, when the amount of money inserted is more than the fare of the ticket and the change processing can be performed and the ticketing conditions of the main body are confirmed (Yes at S204), the ticket to be issued The predetermined data is written in the magnetic head by the magnetic head, the predetermined items are printed by the thermal head, etc., and then the ticket is ejected to the ejection port. Of course, in this case, if there is change, the change is also discharged to the discharge port.

By the way, when the amount of money input cannot be changed in the main body, or in the case of an SF card that cannot be used in the main body, for example, an attempt was made to purchase a coupon ticket with a premier for a SF card with a premium. In such cases (usually, SF cards cannot be used because double discount is applied in this case), but post-processing such as change processing cannot be done even if ticket processing is possible, that is, the ticketing conditions for the main unit are fixed. Therefore, in this case, the money already inserted or the inserted SF card is returned to the user without performing the ticket issuing process (No at S204, No at S208, S210).

[0006]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the above-mentioned conventional vending machine, the sale processing operation of the sale item is started after it is determined whether the amount of money put into the main body meets the fee of the sale item and the post-processing such as change can be performed. However, there is a drawback that the processing time becomes long because the sale processing operation is not performed until the ticket issuing conditions of the main body are fixed.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vending machine capable of shortening the sale processing time.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, the vending machine according to the present invention is provided when a predetermined money is inserted into the main body or a predetermined SF card is inserted and a selection button for selecting a sale item is pressed. , In an automatic vending machine that discharges the sale item to the discharge port provided in the main body, when the selection button is pressed, the sale operation of the sale item is started and the input is performed. It is characterized by the provision of a holding means for holding the sale item in the main body until it is determined that the sale item can be sold by money or the inserted SF card.

[0009]

[Action]

 In the above structure, the holding means starts the sales operation of the sale item when the selection button is pressed. Then, the sale item is held in the main body until it is determined that the sale item can be sold by the inserted money or the inserted SF card.

[0010]

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings by taking an automatic ticket vending machine as an example. FIG. 1 is a front view of an automatic ticket vending machine, in which a display screen 2 for guiding a user (passenger) about the operating state of the main body a is provided above the customer service panel 1 of the main body a. There is.

On the customer service panel 1 below the display screen 2, a button group 3 for selecting and purchasing a predetermined ticket is provided, similar to a known automatic ticket vending machine. At the lower part of the customer service panel 1, as in the well-known automatic ticket vending machine, there is an SF card insertion slot 4, a coin insertion slot 5, a bill insertion slot 6, a ticket ejection slot 7 and a change return slot 8. A section 9 is provided.

Inside the outlet 7 of the main body a, a ticket issuing unit b shown in FIG. 2 is provided.

This ticket issuing unit b writes predetermined data with the magnetic head H on the ticket a transported by the transport path 10 as in the case of being incorporated in a known automatic ticket vending machine. The above items can be printed by the thermal head T.

In FIG. 2, S is a sensor and W is a wing. Of these, the sensor S is provided on the discharge port 7 side of the transport path 10 and is configured to detect a ticket a. It The wing W is driven by a solenoid (not shown). When the wing W is positioned as shown by the solid line, it guides the ticket a from the transfer path 10 to the outlet, and when it is positioned as shown by the chain line, it is transferred. The ticket a from the road 10 can be stored in the collection box a'in the main body a.

In FIG. 1, C is a controller for controlling the main body a as a whole, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration thereof. The controller C has a central processing unit (CPU) 13 that performs arithmetic processing using a system program stored in the ROM 11 and working data stored in the RAM 12.

The CPU 13 is connected to a ticket issuing unit b and a monetary unit d (not shown in FIG. 1) via an I / O unit 14, and a switch input driver 15 for each switch of the button group 3 and a solenoid. The drivers 16 are respectively connected. Many other drivers and amplifiers are connected to the I / O unit 14, but they are omitted because they are not directly related to the description of the present invention.

Next, the operation of the main body a will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when a user inserts money into the coin insertion slot 5 or the bill insertion slot 6 or an SF card is inserted into the SF card insertion slot 4 and one button of the button group 3 is pressed. (S100 affirmative, S102 affirmative), the ticket issuing unit b starts the ticket issuing operation of the boarding ticket a corresponding to the pressed button (S104).

That is, in the ticket issuing unit b, the magnetic head H writes predetermined data on the boarding ticket a, and the thermal head T performs predetermined printing.

If the amount of money to be inserted has not been fixed by the time data writing and printing are completed, it means whether or not change processing can be performed on the inserted money, or depending on the inserted SF card. When the ticket B is conveyed to the position of the sensor S before the determination as to whether or not the ticket issuing process can be performed, the motor (not shown) of the conveyance path 10 is stopped. Therefore, the ticket a is held in the main body a without being discharged to the discharge port 7 (S106).

When it is determined that the change can be processed for the inserted money or the ticket can be purchased with the inserted SF card (Yes at S108), the wing W is set at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. Then, the motor rotates and the ticket B is discharged to the discharge port 7. If the judgment for the inserted money or the inserted SF card is completed by the time the data is written on the ticket a and the printing is finished, the ticket a is stopped at the position of the sensor S. It is discharged to the discharge port 7 without being discharged.

If the change cannot be made to the inserted money, or if the inserted SF card cannot perform ticketing processing, that is, if the ticketing conditions of the main body a are not fixed (Yes at S 108), it has already been inserted. Money will be returned and the inserted SF card will be returned. At this time, the wing W is set at the position indicated by the chain line in FIG. Accordingly, the ticket A, on which the data is written and further printed, is collected in the collection box a'in the main body a and disposed of (S114).

As described above, in the automatic ticket vending machine according to the present embodiment, the ticketing operation of the ticket is started before the ticketing conditions of the main body a are confirmed, so that the processing time can be shortened. Becomes

In the above embodiment, the vending machine is an automatic ticket vending machine, but it may be various automatic vending machines.

[0024]

[Effect of device]

 The vending machine according to the present invention starts the sale operation of the sale item when the selection button is pressed, and it is determined that the sale item can be sold by the inserted money or the inserted SF card. Up to now, since the holding means for holding the sale item in the main body is provided, the processing time can be shortened as compared with the case where the selling operation is started after the finalization of the inserted money or the like.

[Submission date] October 18, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0019

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

When the ticket issuing conditions of the main body have not been decided by the time data writing and printing are completed, that is, whether or not change processing can be performed on the inserted money, or the inserted SF card When the ticket B is conveyed to the position of the sensor S by the time the determination of whether or not the ticket issuing process is possible is completed, the motor (not shown) of the conveyance path 10 is stopped. Therefore, the ticket a is held in the main body a without being discharged to the discharge port 7 (S106).

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0020

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

When it is determined that the change can be processed for the inserted money or the ticket can be purchased with the inserted SF card (Yes at S108), the wing W is set at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. Then, the motor rotates and the ticket B is discharged to the discharge port 7. If the judgment for the inserted money or the inserted SF card is completed by the time the data is written on the ticket a and the printing is completed, the ticket a is stopped at the position of the sensor S. It is discharged to the discharge port 7 without being discharged.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0024

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0024]

[Effect of device]

The vending machine according to the present invention starts the sale operation of the sale item when the selection button is pressed, and it is determined that the sale item can be sold by the inserted money or the inserted SF card. Up to now, since a holding means for holding the sale item in the main body has been provided, the processing time can be shortened compared to the case where the selling operation is started after it is confirmed that the ticket can be issued with the inserted money. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an automatic ticket vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a ticket issuing unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a controller.

FIG. 4A is a flowchart showing a control operation of the automatic ticket vending machine according to the embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a flowchart showing a control operation of the conventional automatic ticket vending machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Customer service panel 3 Button group (selection button) 4 SF card insertion slot 5 Coin insertion slot 6 Banknote insertion slot 7 Ejection slot 10 Conveyance path (holding means) a Main body (main body) of vending machine (automatic ticket vending machine) b Ticket issuing unit C controller S sensor (holding means) W wing

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. When a predetermined amount of money is inserted into a main body of a vending machine or a predetermined stored fair card is inserted and a selection button for selecting a sale item is pressed,
In an automatic vending machine configured to discharge the sale item to an outlet provided in the main body of the vending machine, when the selection button is pressed, the sale operation of the sale item is started and the sale item is input. It is characterized by a holding means for holding the sale item in the main body of the vending machine until it is judged that the sale item can be sold by the money or the inserted stored fair card. Vending machine.