JP3291337B2 - Vending machine display - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a plurality of product columns.
The present invention relates to a display device of a vending machine for displaying an unsellable state of each stored product .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional display method of a vending machine, for example, a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-21593 is known. In this vending machine, a display unit is provided on the front panel in correspondence with each product column, and the display unit displays the price of the product when the product is available for sale. , Out of stock,
If a product cannot be sold due to a failure of the product column or a product jam in the product column, "urikiri" is displayed uniformly.

[0003]

However, such a conventional vending machine has the following problems. In other words, the conventional vending machine displays the "urikiri" uniformly, despite various factors that make it impossible to sell the product, such as the sold-out of the product itself and the failure of the product column. The operator who manages the product can display the front panel without opening the door of the vending machine by using the display of "urikiri" alone to indicate whether the product itself is sold out or the product column is out of order. Can not be judged by. Therefore, in daily replenishment, maintenance, inspection, etc. of vending machine products, it is necessary to open the vending machine door and check the cause of product inability to sell every time the "urikiri" display appears. It was complicated. That is,
When the message "Uri-Kire" is displayed, when you try to transport and replenish the product, the product column may actually be out of order.Before performing the product transport operation, open the door once. Therefore, it was necessary to confirm whether the cause of the "urikiri" display was actually a sold out product.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and it is possible to confirm the cause of a product unsellable from outside the vending machine, and to avoid the complexity of the operation of the vending machine. It is an object to provide a display device .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object,
The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is applied to a plurality of product columns.
Vending that displays the unsellable status of each stored product
Display of vending machine, if the product is unsellable
Whether or not multiple items are different for each of multiple product columns
Unsale status detection
Delivery means and a plurality of outsides provided for each of a plurality of product columns
Display unit, display switching means operable from outside, and sales
The product is in an unsellable state by the unusable state detection means.
External display corresponding to the product column when issued
To indicate that the product is unsellable
Is displayed on the external display unit
Unable to sell when display switching means is operated
Unsellable factors detected separately by the detection means
And a display control unit for displaying on the external display unit . The invention according to claim 2 is the same as the claim 1.
In the vending machine display device described, multiple unsellable
Factors include sold out products and broken product columns.
It is characterized by that. Further, the invention according to claim 3 is:
3. A display device for a vending machine according to claim 1 or 2.
There are multiple product selection buttons for selecting products to purchase
Display switching means provided for each of a plurality of product columns
Is composed of a plurality of product selection buttons.
You.

[0006]

According to the display device of the vending machine according to the first aspect of the present invention, the unsellable state detecting means detects the unsellable state of the product.
Status of each product column and each other
Detect while distinguishing a plurality of different unsale factors. So
And, when the commodity is sold non-state, the state is selling not
In response to the detection by the functional state detecting means, the external display corresponding to the product column displays the product in the unsellable state.
Is displayed. In that state, the display switching means
When operated , the external display shows multiple unsellable factors.
Of these, the one detected by the unsellable state detection means is displayed, so that the cause of unsellableness can be confirmed from outside the vending machine. A vending machine according to claim 2
According to the display device of the above, the cause of unsellable
Can identify whether a product column is faulty
it can. A display device for a vending machine according to claim 3.
According to the vending machine, usually provided for each product column
Product selection button can also be used as display switching means
Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced accordingly.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
On the front panel of the vending machine, corresponding to the product column,
A plurality of display units are provided, and each display unit is configured to display “$ 110” as the price of the product and “warm” or “painful” as the content of the product, although not particularly limited thereto. I have. In this case, when the product in the specific product column is sold out or when the product column breaks down, the content to be displayed on the display unit is “urikiri” instead of the product price. At that time, if you press the product selection button corresponding to the product column on which "Uri-Kire" is displayed, the display of "Uri-Kire" will be "Shinhinkire" when the product is sold out, and " Pepper "is displayed. That is, the switching operation can display the cause of the product unsellable in place of the display of “Uri-Kire”.

Next, the structure and operation of a vending machine for performing the above-described display method will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the device configuration will be described. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an apparatus mainly related to display control of a vending machine for performing a vending machine display method according to the present embodiment. The vending machine control device 1 according to the present embodiment employs a distributed control system, and includes a main control unit 4 connected to a communication line 8 and a plurality of slave control units (not shown). The main control section 4 controls the overall operation of the vending machine, and each slave control section controls the main control section 4.
Under the management of the vending machine, and controls a limited functional part of the vending machine, and each of them is constituted by a microcomputer.

Under the above-described distributed control method, the control device 1 of the vending machine includes a main control unit 4 and product selection buttons 2-1 2-2, 2-3 for selecting products. ... 2-n (hereinafter collectively referred to as "product selection button 2"), liquid crystal displays (display units) 3-1 and 3- for displaying product prices, sold-out displays, and unsale factors for each product 2, 3-3,..., 3-n (hereinafter, collectively referred to as a “liquid crystal display 3”), a display slave unit 5 that performs display control, and an input amount that is controlled by the display slave unit 5 and that displays an input amount. The display unit 6 includes a money processing slave unit 7 and the like. Here, specifically, the main control unit 4 outputs the display data to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 3 and the input amount display unit 6 to the display slave unit 5 and the vending machine including the display switching operation. Performs overall control. Further, the money processing slave unit 7 controls money processing such as the money confirmation of the inserted coin in the coin mechanism unit 7a and the money confirmation of the inserted bill in the bill processing unit 7b.

Next, the general operation of the control device 1 for a vending machine will be described. When one of the product selection buttons 2 is selected, the selection signal is detected by the display slave unit 5 and output to the main control unit 4 via the communication line 8 by the display slave 5. Also, when coins are inserted,
The coin mechanism unit 7a and the bill processing unit 7b detect a coin or the like, and output a detection signal to the main control unit 4 via the money processing slave unit 7. On the other hand, the display slave unit 5 displays the content corresponding to the display data sent from the main control unit 4 on the liquid crystal display 3 and the input amount display unit 6.

The main control unit 4 and each slave control unit have a program for diagnosing a failure of each functional unit controlled by itself. Each slave control unit detects a failure by executing the diagnosis program. A failure factor code indicating a failure signal including a failure content and a failure location is transmitted to the main control unit 4 via the communication line 8. The main control unit 4 stores the failure cause code in a built-in RAM. When the main control unit 4 detects a failure by its own diagnostic program,
Similarly, the failure factor code is stored in the RAM. Regarding the sold out, a slave control unit which controls a selling mechanism unit such as a product column (not shown) detects the sold out switch by using a sold out switch, and transmits a failure cause code based on the sold out signal to the main control unit 4, and The unit 4 stores the failure cause code in the RAM. Thereafter, the main control unit 4 outputs the “urikiri” display data and the product column number data to the display slave unit 5 via the communication line 8, and the display slave unit 5 outputs the liquid crystal display 3 corresponding to the corresponding product column. Is displayed on the screen.

Next, when one of the product selection buttons 2 corresponding to the product displayed as “Uri-Kire” is selected, the display slave unit 5 detects the selection signal and performs main control via the communication line 8. Output to section 4. When detecting the input of the selection signal of the product selection button 2, the main control unit 4 outputs a failure cause code to the display slave unit 5 via the communication line 8,
The display slave unit 5 switches the display on the liquid crystal display 3 according to the failure cause code. Then, the same product selection button 2
Is pressed again, the display slave unit 5 performs the same operation, and the main control unit 4 outputs “urikiri” display data to the display slave unit 5 so as to return to the original “urikiri” display, The liquid crystal display 3 displays “urikiri”.

Next, specific switching of display will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a), 2 (b) and 2 (c). At the time of normal sale, as shown in FIG. 2A, the liquid crystal displays 3-1, 3-2,...
110 "and the contents of the product such as" warm "and" cook "are displayed, indicating that the product can be sold. When the product becomes unsellable for some reason, the display of the liquid crystal displays 3-1, 3-2,... Corresponding to the unsold product is as shown in FIG. , While switching from the price display “$ 110” to the “Urikire” display, the display such as “warm” is hidden,
Indicates that the product is no longer available for sale.

In this case, when a product selection button 2-1, 2-2,... Corresponding to the product displaying "Uri-Kire" is selected and pressed, the display of "Uri-Kire" is displayed as shown in FIG. As shown in the above, the cause of the product becoming unsellable, for example, if the product is gone, it will be displayed in `` Show Hinkire '', and if there is a failure in the product column corresponding to that product, it will be displayed in `` Pepper '' Switch. When the same product selection button 2-1, 2-2,... Is selected again, the display is switched from the “showing” and “pepper” display to the original “uriki” display.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the sale of a product is disabled, the cause of the disabled product is displayed on the display 3 by pressing the product selection button 2. Therefore, it is possible to know from outside the vending machine the cause of the unsale that is displayed as “urikiri”.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, a separate switch may be provided as a display switching means,
The display is switched by a special operation such as a push button operation of a product selection button next to a product selection button corresponding to a product with "urikire" display, a push button operation in combination of a plurality of product selection buttons, or the like. Is also good. Further, the display of the contents related to the product is not limited to the embodiment, but may be a display printed on a plate instead of a liquid crystal display.

[0017] In addition, the display indicating that the product cannot be sold is "Urikire".
Not only the display but also other displays may be used.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may include other contents such as “Show Hindari”, or may be displayed by a code or the like. Furthermore, by differentiating the emission color of the LED or the like, a method of determining the cause of the unsell of the product may be used,
Needless to say, it is also possible to display the product unsale factor while keeping the “Uri-Kire” display. Specifically, LE
A display method may be used in which D is used in combination with a liquid crystal display, or the display on the liquid crystal display indicating the contents of the product is switched to the cause of non-sale of the product, and the display of “urikiri” is displayed as it is.

[0018]

According to the present invention, when an unsellable state of a product is displayed, by performing a display switching operation, the cause of the unsellableness of the product is displayed on the external display unit. It is possible to confirm the cause of a product unsell and to avoid unnecessary work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vending machine control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining switching of display contents.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control device of vending machine 2 Product selection button 3 Liquid crystal display 4 Main control part 5 Display slave part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07F 5/00-9/10

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] Claims: 1. A plurality of articles are stored in a plurality of product columns, respectively.
A vending machine display device that indicates the unsellable state of a product
Then, it is determined whether or not the product is unsellable by the plurality of product codes.
Distinguish multiple unsold factors per ram and different from each other
And a plurality of external displays provided for each of the plurality of product columns.
Unit, display switching means operable from the outside, and the unsellable state detecting means, so that the product is unsellable.
When it is detected, before corresponding to the product column
The external display indicates that the product is not available for sale
And the product cannot be sold on the external display
The display switching means is operated in a state where is displayed.
Sometimes, it is detected separately by the unsellable state detecting means.
The external display unit displays the unsold factor that has been set.
Display device of a vending machine, characterized in that it comprises a display control unit. 2. The out-of-sale factor of the plurality of non-sale factors.
And the failure of the product column is included.
The display device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein 3. A plurality of quotients for selecting a product to be purchased.
A product selection button is provided for each of the plurality of product columns.
The display switching means comprises the plurality of product selection buttons.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein
Vending machine display.