JPS6077291A - 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 [Technical field to which the invention pertains] This invention relates to a vending machine that mixes a plurality of types of raw materials and sells a wide variety of products.

[Prior art and its problems]

For example, there are vending machines that mix multiple types of coffee beans and sell a variety of blended coffees with different tastes. Generally, when blending coffee beans, the types of coffee beans that can be blended are limited based on taste, aroma, etc. Table 1 shows the coffee that can be prepared and sold using four types of raw beans: A, B, , C, and D. ○ marks indicate that the coffee can be prepared, and X marks indicate that it cannot be prepared. That is, it is impossible to mix coffee beans A, A, and f. Below, coffee beans A and D can be blended, coffee beans B and C can be blended, coffee beans B and D cannot be blended, and coffee beans C and D can be blended. . In the end, in this case, there are four types of straight coffee, A, B, C and D, which are not mixed, and the blended coffees are B, A1D, B+C,
C It is possible to sell 4 types of blended coffee. A
0 However, in conventional vending machines of this type, when a certain type of raw material beans is sold out, not only straight coffee but also blended coffee that uses that raw material beans are all sold out, reducing sales efficiency. It had a point.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to - When a certain type of raw material is sold out, it can be prepared and sold using other substitute raw materials. The aim is to provide vending machines with

[Key points of the invention]

In a vending machine that mixes multiple types of raw materials and sells many types of products, there is a first sales mode that mixes a preset substitute raw material and sells the product when the raw material is sold out; It has a second sales mode that prohibits the sale of products using this raw material when the raw material is sold out, and the sales operation is performed based on the first or second sales mode selected in advance. In the first sales mode, if the desired raw material is sold out, a substitute raw material is prepared and sold.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration when the present invention is applied to a coffee vending machine.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a raw material bean sold-out detection means, and this raw material bean sold-out detection means 1 detects sold-out of each type of raw material beans and outputs a signal according to the detection result. Reference numeral 2 denotes a substitute page setting means, and this substitute page setting means 2 sets types of raw material beans that can be substituted for types of raw material beans that are sold out when blending. Table 2 shows the types of raw material beans that can be substituted for each other with the four types of raw material beans, AlB, C, and D.
X marks cannot be substituted. That is, coffee beans B can be substituted for coffee beans A, and coffee beans B117
) instead, coffee beans C can be substituted, and coffee beans C
Coffee beans can be used instead.

Substitution function release means 3 cancels the mode in which blended coffee is sold using substitute raw beans when the raw material beans are sold out, and if the raw material beans are sold out, all blended coffee using the raw material beans cannot be sold. Manually switch to the conventional mode. Preparation start signal output means 4
outputs a signal to start mixing raw beans when selling blended coffee.

In the control means 5, the above-mentioned raw material bean sold-out detection means 1,
Signals from a substitute page setting means 2, a substitute function canceling means 3, and a blending start signal output means 4 are input to perform control operations for selling straight coffee, blended coffee, or blended coffee substituted with raw material beans.

Further, the sales means 6 performs sales operations such as carrying out the cup and pouring coffee into the cup in response to a signal from the control means 5.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the circuit configuration of a vending machine according to the present invention.

The raw material bean sold-out detection device 11 is constituted by a microswitch attached to each canister that stores raw material beans by type. In this raw material bean sold-out detection device 11,
As shown in FIG. 3, canisters CA each store raw beans A, B, C, and I).

Microswitches 21a, 22a, 23.24a attached to the bottoms of canisters CB, CC, and CD, respectively, and levers 21b, 22b, 23b, and 24a attached to the bottoms of canisters CA, CB, CG, and CD, respectively.
24b is turned on and off to detect the presence or absence of raw material beans in the canister. In Fig. 3, the raw beans A in the canister CA are sold out and there are no more beans (the Lee lever is turned off).
211] is in the horizontal position, the microswitch 21a is turned on by the operation of the lever 211), and a signal of "1" is input to the control device 15. Also, canister
CB, CG, and CD are filled with raw material beans B, C, and D, respectively, and the levers 22b, 23b, and 24b are pushed down by the raw material beans, and the microswitch 22 is pressed down.
a, 23a.

24a are each turned off, and the control device 15 receives "0".
” signal is input.

In FIG. 2, the dip switch 12 is a switch for setting the type of raw material beans that can be substituted. In this embodiment, as shown in Table 2, coffee beans B are used instead of coffee beans A. can be substituted, so turn on the dip switch 12a as shown in FIG. At this time, the focus b1 corresponding to the switch 12a becomes W1''. Since coffee beans A and coffee beans C cannot be substituted, the dip switch 121) is turned off and the focus b1) corresponding to the switch 12b becomes 0''. become. Below is coffee beans A.

D cannot be substituted, so turn off the dip switch 12C, coffee beans B and C can be substituted, so turn on the dip switch 12d, and coffee beans B and D cannot be substituted, so turn off the dip switch 12e. Since coffee beans C and D cannot be substituted, the dip switch 12f is turned on. dip switch 12g, 12h
is not used, so turn it off. In this embodiment, the data output from bits I)1 to b6 of dip switch 12 is "100101". The setting data of the dip switch 12 is output as data representing the type of raw material beans that can be substituted when preparing the raw material beans. Even if the number of canisters is four, the information in Table 2 can be stored as long as the dip switch has at least 6 bits.

When the selector switch 13 is manually set to the on state, it enters the first mode in which blended coffee is sold by mixing raw beans that can be substituted in the event that the raw material beans are sold out, and when set to the off state, the selector switch 13 enters the first mode. , when the raw material beans are sold out, the second mode is set, which makes it impossible to sell all blended coffees using the raw material beans.

The control unit 15 inputs the sold-out detection signal for each type of raw bean from the raw bean sold-out detection device 11 and the data representing the type of substituteable raw bean from the dip switch 12.
In addition to controlling the selling operation of straight coffee, if the changeover switch 13 is set to the on state, when the raw material beans are sold out, the sales of blended coffee is performed using raw material beans that can be substituted for the raw material beans. The sales operation in the first mode is controlled. Further, when the changeover switch is set to the OFF state, when one raw material bean is sold out, a second mode of sales operation is controlled in which all blended coffees using that raw material bean cannot be sold. The vending mechanism 16 performs operations such as carrying out the cup and pouring coffee into the cup in response to signals from the control section 15.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned vending machine will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

In step S1, a sold-out detection signal for each type of raw material bean is read from the raw material bean detection device 11. This sold-out detection signal is 1'' when the item is sold out, and 0'' when the item is not sold out, as in a double series.

Step S2. S3. S4 is raw material beans A-, B, C,
If some of D is sold out and the changeover switch 13 is in the on state, a substitute raw material bean is selected based on the setting data of the date switch 12.

On the other hand, if there are no raw beans that are sold out or if the changeover switch 13 is in the OFF state, continue as is in step 56J.
2J, perform the subsequent normal sales operation.

Step s5. In s6, when there is a raw material bean that is sold out and the changeover switch 13 is in the ON state, it is determined that a raw material bean that can be substituted for the required raw material bean that is sold out is set by the DIP switch 12. Then, the sold-out state is canceled and the set substitute raw material beans are mixed to make the blended coffee ready for sale.

Furthermore, if it is determined that there are no substitute raw material beans, a sold-out display is performed for all blended coffees that use the sold-out raw material beans.

After step S7, judgments and actions in the sales operation are performed. In other words, among the eight Pi indicators that display the types of coffee being sold, the APi that indicates the coffee that can be purchased with the amount that the customer has inserted into the vending machine lights up, and the APi that the customer turned on lights up. When a desired coffee is selected from the displayed coffees and the corresponding pushbutton switch is pressed, a sales signal is output, and only the AI'i indicating the selected coffee continues to be lit, and the selected coffee is placed in the cup taken out. The coffee is infused. Then, monetary transactions such as change are performed.

When the changeover switch 13 is in the ON state, if the raw material beans are sold out and there are raw material beans that can be substituted for the sold-out raw material beans, the sold-out status is canceled in step S6, so the deposit is made in step S8. Judging - Step S9
Then, ΔPi indicating sellable coffee including blended coffee using sold-out raw material beans lights up. Then, when the customer selects a blended coffee that uses sold-out raw material beans, a blended coffee prepared with substitute raw material beans is sold.

In addition, by adding the dip switch 12 in the above embodiment, it is possible to use two or more types of substitute raw beans and to prioritize the substitutes for blending.

Furthermore, although the above embodiment is a case in which the present invention is applied to a coffee vending machine, the present invention is not limited to coffee vending machines, but is also applicable to automatic vending machines that mix multiple types of raw materials and sell multiple types of products. Applicable to vending machines.

Table 1 Table 2 [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the present invention, there is a first sales mode in which a substitute raw material set in advance is mixed and sold when a raw material is sold out; It has a second sales mode that prohibits the sale of products using this raw material when the raw material is sold out, and the sales operation is performed based on the first or second sales mode selected in advance. Therefore, when raw materials are sold out, substitute raw materials can be used for sales, which increases the sales efficiency of vending machines.You can also switch between the first or second sales mode with a simple operation, depending on the sales situation. It will be possible to use vending machines.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the vending machine of the present invention, and Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the vending machine of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of a dip switch for setting substitute raw material beans, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the vending machine of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Raw material beans sold out detection means, 2... Substitute page setting means, 3... Substitution function cancellation means, 4... Preparation start signal output means, 5... Control means, 6... Sales means. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 1 Figure 3 Figure 4 Star

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a vending machine vending device that mixes multiple types of raw materials and sells multiple types of products, a detection means that detects sold-out of each type of raw material and outputs a signal according to the detection result, and an optional a setting means for setting the type of other raw materials that can be substituted for the raw material; a first sales mode for selling the product by mixing substitute raw materials when the raw material is sold out; a switching means for switching between a second sales mode and a second sales mode that prohibits the sale of products using the raw materials; and a switching means for switching to the first sales mode and depending on the setting state of the setting means when the raw materials are sold out. and a control means for controlling the use of substitutable raw materials.