JPS6286487A - 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 that sells products using cards.

(Prior art) Generally, vending machines sell in cash (coins or banknotes), but recently so-called card-based vending machines have been introduced that allow sales and payments to be made using cards such as magnetic cards. It has been put into practical use.

In addition, as a payment method for vending machines that use cards, a card is purchased in advance with cash, on which monetary information corresponding to the purchase price is written using magnetic information or other means, and the information is written on the card each time the vending machine is used. There is a so-called prepayment method in which the amount is reduced, and a so-called deferred payment method in which the card holder is required to pay the accumulated usage amount every predetermined period when using a vending machine with a card.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) The prepayment method is a method in which a card with amount information written on it is purchased in advance with cash payment, and the card is used in a vending machine. This is a method of thinking of the card as a kind of cash voucher by writing on it. The prepayment method is safe in terms of cash collection because the cash can be obtained in advance. On the other hand, the deferred payment method is a method in which a vending machine is used with a card on which only card identification information is written without amount information written on it, and the sales amount of a certain card is collected later and the card is retained. This is a method of charging the person for the payment. The disadvantage of the deferred payment method is that it takes time and effort to collect cash. There is also the risk that cash cannot be recovered.

For the above reasons, the prepayment method is preferred and implemented because of the reliability of payment collection, but the card reader in the prepayment method must be able to write as well as read.

This writable card reader has the disadvantage that it is considerably more expensive than a read-only card reader.

As described above, conventional prepaid card vending machines have the disadvantage of being expensive because they require a writable card reader.

On the other hand, the number of products in vending machines has increased recently, and the number of flavors to choose from has also increased. For example, in a coffee vending machine, the choice of seasoning refers to the selection of the type of coffee beans, the strength of the coffee, the amount of cream, the amount of sugar, etc. It is a recent trend that the range of choices expected from vending machines is expanding and requests are becoming more diverse, but on the other hand, there are too many items to choose from, and users have to press too many selection buttons. This has the disadvantage that it is a burden on the operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a means for realizing a prepayment type card vending machine that simplifies the selection operation of multiple items and ensures cash collection using an inexpensive read-only card reader.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a read-only card reader, a money acceptance section, a product selection section, an arithmetic processing section, and a storage section. stores in the storage section the card information input from the card reader and information on the balance obtained by adding the balance stored up to that point to information on the amount of money prepaid from the money acceptance section, and stores the selected information. In the registration operation, the card information input from the card reader and the selection information selected by the product selection section are stored in the storage section, and in the vending operation, the card information input from the card reader is stored in the storage section. The card information stored in advance in the storage section is compared with the card information, and if they match, the card information corresponding to the card information is checked until the pre-stored balance reaches a predetermined negative limit amount. The product is sold based on the selection information previously stored in the storage section, and after the sale, the amount obtained by subtracting the sales amount from the balance is stored in the storage section as a balance, and these controls are performed by the processing section. It is characterized by being carried out.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on examples.

FIG. 1 is a combination diagram of block elements built into a vending machine according to the present invention, and the configuration of the vending machine according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

A microprocessor 1 serving as an arithmetic processing unit having functions to be described later includes a card reader 2 capable of reading information on a magnetic card, a product selection unit 3, and a storage unit 4 for storing card information, etc.
, a money validator 7 as a money receiving unit is connected,
Further, a product storage/export section 6 is connected to the microprocessor 1 via a product transfer drive section 5 .

First, in order to use a vending machine with a card, a user obtains a magnetic card on which card identification information is written in advance. Next, the user causes the card reader 2 to read the card identification information of the card. Furthermore, the money discriminator 7 is made to read 1,000 yen bills -6- times. The microprocessor 1 combines the card identification information and the deposit information of 1,000 yen and stores the combination in the card information storage section 4. This means that the vending machine stores that a prepayment of 1000 yen has been made for that card. Next, let the card reader read the same card, press the button for the product you want to purchase from the product selection section, and press the purchase request button (not shown) to purchase the product for 100 yen.The microprocessor 1 then Due to the request for 100 yen against the balance of 1000 yen, the balance becomes 900 yen.
A control signal is given to the product carry-out drive unit 5 to carry out designated products from the product storage and carry-out unit 6 for sale.

Give other users magnetic cards with different card identification information written on them. In this case as well, advance payment is made in the same manner as above and the vending machine is used. After reading the card information, the balance for that card is displayed numerically. If you continue to make purchases with your card, the balance will gradually decrease and become less than the amount needed to purchase the product.
At that time, for example, the balance of 30 yen can be prepaid by 1,000 yen, leaving a balance of 1,030 yen.

If you continue to make card purchases and choose to purchase a product for 100 yen when the balance reaches 30 yen, a negative balance will be allowed within a predetermined limit, and for example, the limit will be changed to the debt limit. If you call it 500 yen, the actual balance will be 500 yen + 30 yen - 530 yen, so you can purchase the product for 100 yen.

After the original balance becomes a negative number, if you pay cash in advance and pay it in arrears to repay some debts, the balance becomes a positive number again. For example, if your balance is 170 yen and you pay 1000 yen in advance, your balance will be 930 yen. The above arithmetic processing is performed by the microprocessor 1.

Next, we will explain how to use cards to simplify flavor selection in coffee vending machines. As mentioned above, during the sales operation, the product may be selected by pressing the button of the product you want to purchase from the product selection section 3, but for example, the flavoring in a coffee vending machine is selected, i.e., the type of coffee beans, the strength of the coffee, In vending machines, where items cannot be sold unless you select the amount of cream, amount of sugar, etc., these selection operations are troublesome. By the way, since the selection combination of a certain user is usually fixed, this selection information is registered in the storage unit 4 in correspondence with the card, and when purchasing with the card, the selection information is stored in the storage unit. 4 and can be used as is without any product selection operation. This selection information registration operation will be explained below.

First, let the card reader 2 read it. Next, the user selects the selection information to be registered in the product selection section 3, and then causes the card reader 2 to read the card again.

By this operation, the selection information is stored in combination with the card information. Next, to make a purchase based on the selection information, when the same card is read, the selection information stored in the storage section 4 is read out according to the card information, and the product selection button in the product selection section 3 is pressed. It illuminates in the same way as when it is illuminated during normal selection.

This is visually confirmed, and if the user wishes to purchase the item, he/she presses a purchase request button (not shown), and if the above-mentioned balance conditions are satisfied, the item based on the selection information is delivered and sold.

The flowchart is shown in FIG.

In the first place, the benefits for card vending machine users are:
It was convenient to be able to make purchases when I wanted to, even if I didn't have the necessary cash (especially coins).

However, there was a drawback that if the balance became less than the product purchase price and there was no additional cash on hand, the product could not be purchased. According to this specific example, a temporary debt can be made to the vending machine, and the above-mentioned inconvenience can be solved. Due to the nature of this type of vending machine,
Although the condition is that it is used in an environment where the user trusts it (for example, in a factory or office where the user is always fixed), it will be convenient for the user in the above environment.

=10= If you want to forgive debts only to people who have credit, you can, for example, increase the debt limit according to the cumulative usage amount stored in the card information storage unit 4. It is possible to realize a service in which debts are forgiven only on cards of people with credit.

On the other hand, in conventional prepayment type card vending machines, in order to write information on the prepaid amount and balance onto the card, it was necessary to provide a card reader with both reading and writing functions. However, a card reader having both of these functions has the drawback of being expensive. On the contrary,
In the prepayment type card vending machine in the above-described embodiment, since information on the prepaid amount or balance is stored in the vending machine, the card reader is a read-only machine, which has the advantage of being low in price.

Further, by registering and storing selection information such as selection of seasoning in correspondence with card information, an operational advantage can be obtained in that a complicated selection operation for seasoning can be omitted.

In the above embodiment, the condition for registering and storing product selection information was the reading operation of a magnetic card, but as another condition, for example, when a card is read and a product is sold, the product selection at that time is always the same. It may also be registered and stored. According to this condition, the same product selection will be made any number of times for the same card unless the product selection is corrected during the process, and once the product selection is changed, this selection will continue. Although there are several possible conditions for registering and storing as described above in relation to the user's operations, any conditions may be used as long as the effects of the present invention can be similarly obtained.

In the above embodiment, the block elements shown in Fig. 1 are built into the vending machine body, but in recent vending machines, the controller part, money acceptance part, product storage and delivery part, etc. are separated. Sometimes there are. In this way, even if the block elements are physically separated, or even if the number and combination of block elements changes, the function as a prepaid card vending machine will not change, so the same effect can be expected. .

In the above description, a magnetic card was used as a specific example of the card, but similar effects can be obtained with cards of other principles and shapes.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the vending machine according to the present invention, there is the convenience of being able to make a purchase even when the balance is insufficient because a temporary loan can be made to the vending machine. By using a read-only card reader, it is possible to provide a vending machine that is low in price and has the advantages of card payment and simplified product selection.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of sales operations in the embodiment of the present invention. ■...Microprocessor 2 as an arithmetic processing unit...
・Card reader 4...Storage unit 7 for card information, etc....Money validator as a money receiving unit (Figure 1) Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] It includes a read-only card reader, a money acceptance unit, a product selection unit, an arithmetic processing unit, and a storage unit, and in a prepayment operation, the card information input from the card reader and the prepayment from the money acceptance unit are In the selection information registration operation, the card information input from the card reader and the product selection part are stored in the storage unit. The selected selection information is stored in the storage unit, and in the automatic vending operation, the card information input from the card reader is compared with the card information pre-stored in the storage unit to find that they match. In this case, the product is sold based on the selection information previously stored in the storage unit corresponding to the card information until the pre-stored balance reaches a predetermined negative limit amount, and the product is sold after the sale. A vending machine characterized in that an amount obtained by subtracting an amount from the balance is stored in the storage section as a balance, and these controls are performed by the arithmetic processing section.