JP2501847B2 - Sales information collection system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a plurality of vending machines (also abbreviated as vending machines) as terminal stations (simply referred to as terminals), and a center device that collects sales information for each time zone (or period) from each vending machine via a public communication line. The present invention relates to a sales information collection system including, and particularly to a sales information collection system capable of performing accurate sales calculation by discriminating abnormalities in sales information collected by a center device with high accuracy. In the drawings below, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

[Prior art]

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a vending machine in this type of sales information system. In the figure, V
Is a vending machine that also serves as a terminal, 1 is a sales control device that controls sales of the vending machine V, and VS is output from the sales control device 1 for each sale of a product for each type of product (the number of types is n) A sales product discrimination signal, 2 is a sales number cumulative counter for accumulating the sales number for each type of product by inputting the sales product discrimination signal VS, 3 is a time counting means including a clock, 4 is a deadline data storage means, and is a time counting Based on the deadline time information 3a from the means 3, for each switching time (deadline time) of a predetermined time zone (period), time zone information indicating the time zone immediately before switching, and the number of sales at this switching time point The cumulative value of the cumulative counter 2 (that is, the cumulative number of products sold for each product within the time period) is stored as sales information, and then the cumulative sales counter 2 is cleared. Reference numeral 5 is a sales information transmission means for transmitting the sales information in the deadline data storage means 4 to a center device (not shown) via the public communication line 9 and then clearing the sales information in the storage means 4.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

As described above, in the system of FIG. 4, the data transmitted from the terminal V side to the center device becomes the sales content for each time zone from the beginning. This method has an advantage that the number of sales by time zone can be easily obtained only by clearing the cumulative number of sales at each deadline, but has the following problems. (1) In serial communication using the public communication line 9, there is a phenomenon that the transmission data is corrupted. Especially, the line quality is deteriorated due to the difference in the line connection route depending on the area or the congestion of the line, and sometimes the data is garbled frequently. Sometimes. As a method to prevent this, by adding check information (for example, parity bit, CRC bit, etc.) to the transmitted data and detecting the error due to garbled data and performing retransmission processing, it can be prevented to some extent. When a plurality of bit errors occur in the transmission data, the error cannot be detected completely. Therefore, if a part of the time zone information received on the side of the center device becomes large, or if it frequently becomes large, for example, if the total of daily sales, weekly sales, etc. is calculated, There is a problem that it causes a great deal of madness. (2) Since the sales information in the deadline data storage means 4 is cleared after the data is transmitted, even if an error can be detected, the sales information of the sender has already been lost, so there is no means for recovery. There is no. Therefore, an object of the present invention is not to clear the cumulative value of the cumulative sales counter in the vending machine, but to store the cumulative value as it is at each switching of the time zone in the deadline data storage means together with the information indicating the switching time point. By transmitting this new deadline data to the center device and making the center device discriminate the presence or absence of abnormality of this deadline data from the difference of this deadline data by passage of time, by providing a sales information collection system, It is intended to improve the accuracy of error detection when communication data is garbled due to the deterioration of the quality of the public communication line, and to enable recovery and correction of the data to improve the reliability of the system.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, a sales information collecting system of the present invention comprises a plurality of vending machines as terminal stations and a center device for collecting sales information from each of the vending machines via a public communication line. In the sales information collecting system, the vending machine calculates the cumulative value of the number of sales for each type of product (hereinafter referred to as the cumulative value of the number of sales for each product) each time the product is sold, and a time counting means for counting sales by product. Means and, at each switching time point of a predetermined period through the time measuring means, deadline time point information indicating at least the time point and the cumulative sales value for each product at this time point (hereinafter, the information and the cumulative value are combined to close the deadline sales information. And a deadline sales information storage means for storing the above), and the deadline in which at least the cumulative sales value by product is changed in response to a request from the center device or under other predetermined conditions. Sales information transmitting means for transmitting the above information to the center device, wherein the center device is based on the sales information receiving means for receiving the deadline sales information transmitted from the vending machine, and the deadline sales information. Then, the product sales quantity data received last time and the product sales quantity data received this time are calculated to obtain the sales quantity for each period and for each product type (hereinafter referred to as the term product sales quantity) Means, reception data abnormality detection means for determining whether or not the number of product sales by period is an abnormal value, and abnormal data when it is determined by the reception data abnormality detection means that the number of product sales by period is abnormal And an abnormal data storage means for storing as.

[Operation] According to the above means, the vending machine transmits the cumulative number of sold products by product at the deadline to the center device, and the center device calculates the number of sold products by period based on the received cumulative value. Determine whether this calculated value is abnormal,
If it is abnormal, store it as abnormal data,
The accuracy of error detection is improved. Then, since the total value is calculated thereafter, it is possible to obtain accurate sales information based on the number of products sold by period in a normal time.

【Example】

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a system as one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a diagram in which the configurations of the vending machine and the center device of FIG. 2 are replaced with equivalent functional blocks. 3 (A) and 3 (B) are flowcharts showing the main operation of the vending machine (terminal) and the center device shown in FIG. 1 or 2, respectively. In FIG. 2, 01 is a CPU for controlling calculation and transmission of sales information in the vending machine V, 2A1 is an input / output interface (also abbreviated as I / O) belonging to the sales total counter 2, and 3A1 is the timekeeping. The clocks iC, 4A1 belonging to the means 3 are mainly RAMs belonging to the new deadline data storage means 4A (Fig. 1), and 5A1 are also the modem input / output interfaces iC, 11 belonging to the new sales information transmitting means 5A (Fig. 1). Similarly, it is a modem belonging to the transmitting means 5A. Reference numeral 10 is an exchange, 12 is a center device including a personal computer, and 13 is a printer attached to the center device 12. Further, in FIG. 1, V (V1 to Vn) is a vending machine, and in the vending machine V, the difference from FIG. 4 is that the deadline data storage means and the sales information transmission means are new means 4 respectively.
This is the point where A and 5A are replaced. Further, the center device 12 has sales information receiving means 12A, time zone sales calculation means 12B, and data abnormality detection means 12 as main functional parts.
Equipped with C. Reference numeral 20 is product sales data stored by the sales total counter 2, and this data 20 is composed of the sales total 22 for each product number 21. Further, D (D1, D2, D3 ...) is deadline data stored in the deadline data storage means 4A, and this individual deadline data is deadline time information 3a output from the timekeeping means 3, that is, a predetermined time zone (or It is composed of data indicating each switching time point (deadline time point) of the period, in this example, the time of the clock) and 20a as the sales data 20 for each product at each deadline time. Next, the operation of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3 (A), when the vending machine (terminal) V sells (step 102, branch Y), the sales controller 1
From the sales product discrimination signal VS output by the number n of types of sales products from the sales product cumulative counter 2, the sales product cumulative counter 2 stores (number 21
Increment the cumulative sales number 22 (step 10)
3). Next, when the deadline time point information 3a indicating the switching time point of the time zone (period) is output from the timekeeping means 3 (step 104, branch Y), the deadline data storage means 4A outputs the deadline time point information 3a at each output. , Product sales data 20a at this deadline
Are stored as a set of deadline data D (D1, D2 ...) (step 105). When the predetermined sales information transmission time is reached (step 106, branch Y), the sales information transmitting means 5A dials the center device 12 (step 107) and transmits the deadline data D as the sales information. (Step 108),
The deadline data D in the deadline data storage means is cleared (step 109). Further, in FIG. 3B, in the center device 12, when the sales information receiving means 12A receives the sales information (deadline data D) from the vending machine V (step 202, branch Y), the sales calculating means 12b for each time zone is obtained. Calculates sales by time zone, so in this example, sales data by product 20 in the deadline data D is calculated.
The difference with respect to the same data 20a one hour before is obtained for a (step 203). And this difference is positive (step 20
4, branch Y), and if it is within a certain size (step
205, branch Y), and the difference is correct and stored as the number of sales within this time period (step 206). However, if neither of the steps 204 and 205 applies (branch N), the data abnormality detection means 12C regards this difference as an abnormality and creates an abnormality record (step 20).
7). Then, the above steps 203 to 207 are repeated for all time zones (step 208). Although not shown, it goes without saying that the procedure of steps 203 to 208 is performed for all product types (product numbers). The sales data thus obtained is printed on the sales slip through the printer 13 by inputting a print request (step 209, branch Y) (step 210).

【The invention's effect】

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The sales information (deadline data) transmitted from the terminal to the center device is used as the cumulative product sales number. For example, if the deadline data D shown in the table below is sent, In the table above, the cumulative total of the sales figures is 22,-= △ 106,
It is possible to judge that the data of is an error and the accuracy of error detection is improved. When the data in (2) is found to be an error, the sales at the time are not known, but the sales during that time can be seen by looking at the difference between the data that is not an error, and the recovery correction can be made later. As described above, a highly reliable sales information collection system can be configured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram as an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the main part of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a conventional vending machine. V (V1 to Vn): Vending machine, 1: Sales control device, VS: Product identification code, 2: Cumulative sales counter, 3: Timekeeping means, 3a: Deadline information, 4A: Deadline data storage means, 5A: Sales Information transmission means, 9: Public communication line, 10: Switch, 12: Center device, 12
A: Sales information receiving means, 12B: Time period sales calculating means, 12C:
Data abnormality detection means, 20: sales data by product, 20a: sales data by product at the deadline, 21: product number, 22: cumulative sales value, D (D1, D2, D3 ...): deadline data.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sales information collecting system comprising a plurality of vending machines as terminal stations and a center device for collecting sales information from the respective vending machines via a public communication line, wherein the vending machines are: Each time a product is sold, a product-by-product sales count accumulating means for calculating a cumulative value of the sales quantity for each product type (hereinafter referred to as a product-specific sales count cumulative value), a time counting means, and a predetermined period switching via this time counting means Deadline sales information storage means for storing at least deadline time information indicating the time and the cumulative sales value for each product (hereinafter, the information and the cumulative value are referred to as deadline sales information) at each time, A sales information transmitter for transmitting to the center device the deadline sales information, which is obtained by changing at least the cumulative sales number for each product according to a request from the center device or under other predetermined conditions. When, wherein the center apparatus includes a sales information receiving means for receiving the deadline sales information sent from the vending machine, based on the deadline sales information,
And a sales calculation means by time zone for calculating the sales quantity data received last time and the sales quantity data received this time to obtain the sales quantity for each period and for each product type (hereinafter referred to as sales quantity by period) Receiving data abnormality detecting means for determining whether or not the period-by-period product sales quantity is abnormal, and storing as abnormal data when the reception data abnormality detecting means determines that the period-by-period product sales quantity is abnormal And a means for storing abnormal data, the sales information collecting system.