JPS6286490A - 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] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a prepaid vending machine.

(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.

The payment method for vending machines that use cards is to purchase a card in advance with cash, on which information equivalent to the purchase price is written using magnetic information, etc., 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.

The prepayment method is a method in which a card with amount information written on it is purchased in advance by cash payment, and the card is used at a vending machine.By writing the amount information with the usage amount subtracted on the card again, the card becomes a kind of cash voucher. This is a method of thinking as follows. The prepayment method is safe in terms of cash collection because you can obtain cash 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 system is preferred and implemented because of the certainty of payment collection, but it has the disadvantage that since cards are used, the cost of the card league and the cost of the card itself are required.

There was also the inconvenience that the user had to carry the card.

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.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vending machine that takes advantage of the advance payment system, which can simplify the selection operation of multiple items, without using a medium such as a card that requires carrying. It is in.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a person identification section, a money acceptance section, a product selection section, an arithmetic processing section, and a storage section. Store in the storage section information on the balance obtained by adding the balance stored up to that time to the person identification information input from the person identification section and the information on the amount of money prepaid from the money acceptance section, and perform a selection information registration operation. , the personal identification information input from the personal identification section, and
The selection information selected by the product selection section is stored in the storage section, and in the automatic vending operation, the personal identification information input from the personal identification section and the personal identification information previously stored in the storage section are stored. Verification is performed, and if they match, the product, etc. based on the selection information G previously stored in the storage unit corresponding to the personal identification information is sold according to the pre-stored balance. Later, an 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 arithmetic processing section.

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

FIG. 1 is a combination diagram of block elements built into an embodiment of a vending machine according to the present invention, which will be described with reference to FIG.

The microprocessor 1 as an arithmetic processing unit includes a bill recognition unit 2 as a person identification unit, a product selection unit 3, a storage unit 4,
A money validator 7 serving as a money receiving section is connected thereto, and further connected to a product storing/exporting section 6 via a product discharging drive section 5 .

First, vending machine users pay in advance for the vending machine they use. Assume that each user is assigned a 3-digit user number in advance, and if that number is 100,
Enter this number using the numeric keypad (not shown). Next, the user's handprint is measured by the handprint recognition section 2. Thereafter, the user inputs the amount of 1,000 yen to be paid in advance using the money identifier 7. The above operations are controlled by the microprocessor 1, and the input user number 10 is
0, the bill recognition result which will be described later, and information about the accepted amount of 1000 yen are stored together in the storage unit 4. By the above operation, 1000 yen has been paid in advance for user number 100. Next, when the user wants to purchase a product, he or she first inputs the user number 100 using the numeric keypad. Subsequently, when the handprint is measured by the handprint recognition unit 2, the microprocessor 1 retrieves 100.1000 combined data from the storage unit 4. From this data, user number 1
The balance of 00 is 1000 yen, and it is determined that the handwritten bill recognition result matches the previously registered bill recognition result within a certain range.

As a result, the remaining balance of 1000 yen is displayed, and the user is informed that the product can be purchased at a price within that amount.

The user specifies the product he or she wants to purchase from the product selection section 3 and presses a purchase request button (not shown).Based on the instruction, the microprocessor 1 controls the product delivery drive section 5 to move the product storage and delivery section. From 6 onwards, the products will be carried out and sold.

If the price of this product is 100 yen, the microprocessor 1 stores 900 yen, which is 100 yen less than 1000 yen, as a balance in the storage unit 4. If you perform a prepayment operation similar to the above after your balance becomes low, the prepayment amount and balance will be added to form your balance. Advance payment and sales operations are performed as described above, but operations can be performed in the same way for other users by assigning other user numbers.

Since there is a handprint recognition unit, unauthorized use is difficult, but for example, when a handprint recognition result different from the previously registered handprint recognition result for a certain user number is input, the number of times it is input is counted and the correct handprint recognition result is calculated. When is entered,
If the number exceeds a certain number, the number is displayed and a warning that a fraudulent act has been committed can be used to prevent fraudulent acts.

Alternatively, it would be effective to issue an alarm such as sounding a buzzer on the spot when the number of times exceeds a certain number, which would be effective in preventing fraud.

The configuration of the handprint recognition section will be explained with reference to FIG.

In Figure 2, a black board 11 is behind the hand 0.
The hand is placed as a background, and illumination from the light 13 is applied to the hand through the transparent glass 12.

An image of the hand 10 is captured by an optical system 14 on a two-dimensional image sensor 15
(For example, CCD: Charge Coupled
The two-dimensional image information of the hand is scanned under the control of the control circuit 1G to become a time-series electrical signal, which is further binarized by the binarization circuit included in the control circuit I6. Dimensional image information is processed by microprocessor 1
7. The microprocessor 17 first stores this two-dimensional image information in the memory 18, and then extracts features of the hand shape (handprint). There is no set standard as to what features to use in handprints, but for example, the lengths of the five fingers, 20, 21, 22, 23.24, as shown in Figure 3, are useful features and can be expressed quantitatively. . In addition, the area of the bill can also be used. Many microprocessor algorithms for finding these features have already been researched and published, so they will not be explained here. The handprint feature amount obtained in this way is output as a handprint recognition result 19.

Next, we will explain a method for simplifying the selection of flavors in coffee vending machines and the like using personal identification information. 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 combinations of a certain user are usually fixed, this selection information is registered in the storage unit 4 in correspondence with the personal identification information, and when making a purchase using the personal identification information, the selection information is stored in advance. can be successively retrieved from the storage unit 4 and used as is without any product selection operation. This selection information registration operation will be explained below.

First, the user's handprint is measured by the handprint recognition section 2. Next, by selecting the selection information to be registered in the product selection section 3 and then measuring the bill again, the selection information is combined with the personal identification information and stored in the storage section. Next, to make a purchase based on the selection information, when the same bill is measured, the selection information stored in the storage section 4 is read out according to the personal identification 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.

Check this visually, and if you wish to purchase the product, press the purchase request button (not shown) = 10 =, and if the above balance conditions are satisfied, the product based on the selection information will be sold. be done.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, unauthorized use is less likely to occur, there is no inconvenience of having to carry a card at all times compared to a card vending machine, and there is no need for the user to always have coins on hand. You can get vending machines that are easy to use.

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

In the description of the above embodiment, a means for recognizing a handprint was used as the person identification unit, but other means for identifying the person that have already been put into practical use include voice recognition (voiceprint recognition, etc.) and fingerprint recognition. Therefore, the same effect can be obtained even if any one of these is used as the person identification means.

The person identification unit refers to a means for measuring the physical characteristics of the person described above and converting them into quantitative feature data.

In addition, since the above-mentioned personal identification section often has measurement errors or errors in the data itself, it is necessary to determine whether the identification information matches or does not match based on the idea of statistical judgment.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the vending machine of the present invention, there is no need to always carry cash, and there is no inconvenience of having to carry a special medium for identification purposes. It is possible to provide a vending machine that can be used easily and product selection can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a person identification section in the same embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the person identification section. . 1... Microprocessor as an arithmetic processing unit 2...
・Handprint recognition unit 4 as a person identification unit...Storage unit; a i time

Claims (1)

[Claims] The machine includes a person identification section, a money acceptance section, a product selection section, an arithmetic processing section, and a storage section. Information on the balance obtained by adding the previously stored balance to the information on the amount of money received is stored in the storage section, and in the selection information registration operation, the personal identification information input from the personal identification section and the product selection are stored in the storage section. The selection information selected by the personal identification section is stored in the storage section, and in the automatic vending operation, the personal identification information input from the personal identification section is compared with the personal identification information prestored in the storage section. , if they match, the product, etc. is sold based on the selection information pre-stored in the storage unit corresponding to the personal identification information according to the pre-stored balance, and after the sale, the sales amount is A vending machine characterized in that an amount obtained by subtracting 0 from the balance is stored in the storage section as a balance, and these controls are performed by the arithmetic processing section.