JPH103569A - Control device for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce unsold commodities expiring a fresh period to the utmost and to improve the efficiency of vending by turning on a vendable commodity lamp in a commodity selection button only for commodities judged as commodities for limited premium vending out of commodities expiring a fresh period to execute premium vending in executing premium vending as a premium when a hit is generated by roulette operation or the like. SOLUTION: A control means 1 successively selects and inputs fresh period data from a fresh period storing means and checks a flag indicating approach to the expiration of a fresh period in the fresh period data. When a commodity B is judged as a commodity approaching the expiration of its fresh period, the commodity B is treated as a commodity for limited premium vending, a vendable lamp 6 in a commodity selection button for the commodity B is turned on to prepare it for premium vending. Thus whether all commodities of each commodity storing rack are commodities for limited premium vending or not is checked. The presence or absence of generation of a commodity to be vended as limited premium vending is checked, and when the presence is detected, limited premium vending is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vending machine for automatically recognizing coins or bills and selling goods.
The present invention relates to a vending machine control device for displaying a sold-out display when a product to be sold expires.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the revision of the Food Sanitation Law has changed the display from the date of manufacture to the display of the expiration date, and it has become necessary to prevent vending machines from selling products whose expiration date has expired.

Conventionally, as a device for preventing the sale of expired products even in a vending machine, the expiration date can be set and stored for each product, the stored expiration date and the current date are calculated for each product, and An apparatus for stopping the sale of the product after the expiration date is disclosed in JP-A-5-12550.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the product is discontinued due to the expiration date of the product. However, the unsold remaining expired product that has been discontinued has no commercial value and causes damage. . In this case, there is a drawback that the expiration date of each product in the vending machine is always managed and grasped, and if a product whose expiration date is almost expired is recognized, the product must be disposed of by another means such as over-the-counter sales.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the conventional problem. When a product determined to be near expiration date is generated, the product is stored so that it can be determined as a restricted premium sale target product later, and roulette operation or the like is performed. When selling a prize as a bonus in case of more hits, turn on the sellable lamp in the product selection button only for products that have been determined to be limited prize sales products that are near expiration date before and sell prizes It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine control device capable of performing the following.

[0006] In addition, according to the number of limited prize sales target products determined to be products whose expiration date is nearing expiration, switching between normal prize sales and restricted prize sales can be automatically performed so as to be automatically switched. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine control device capable of setting the number of commodities.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a vending machine control device according to the present invention comprises: a shelf life storage unit for storing a shelf life of a product; Data input means for inputting the expiration date, timer means for notifying the current date, and whether the product is near expiration date from the expiration date stored in the expiration date storage means and the date obtained from the timer means. If the product is near expiration date, control means for storing the expiration date in the expiration date storage means so that the product can be determined as a restricted premium sale target product later, The target of the sold product is limited to the product determined to be the product whose expiration date is almost expired in the expiration date storage means, and only the limited product is sold. It is composed of a limited prize sales unit for lighting the sellable display lamp in the selected button.

Further, when the number of commodities determined to be near expiration by the control means reaches the number of commodities arbitrarily set by the limited prize sales switching condition input means, the normal prize sales are automatically restricted. And a prize sales automatic switching means for switching to prize sales.

[0009] With this, when a prize is sold as a bonus in case of a win due to a roulette operation or the like, the sale in the product selection button is limited to products that are near expiration date and determined to be limited prize sales target products. The possible lamps can be turned on and prizes can be sold.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides a shelf life storage means for storing a shelf life of a product, and data input means for inputting a shelf life of the product into the shelf life storage means. Timer means for notifying the current date and time; determining whether the product is near expiration date from the expiration date stored in the expiration date storage means and the date obtained from the timer means; If so, control means for storing that the expiration date is almost expired in the expiration date storage means so that the product can be later determined as a restricted prize sales target product, and the target of the sales product at the time of execution of prize sales is the expiration date. The storage means limits the products determined to be products whose expiration date is almost expired,
The limited prize selling means for lighting the sellable display lamp in the product selection button only for this limited product, and the expiration date of the product can be input by the data input means, The input expiration date is stored in the expiration date storage means. The control means obtains the current date data from the timer means and compares the data with the data stored in the expiration date storage means, so that if the expiration date is near the expiration date, the product can be determined as a restricted premium sale target product later. When the prize is sold as a bonus in the event of a win due to roulette operation, etc., when the prize is sold, it is limited to the products that are near the expiration date and determined to be limited prize sales target products This has the effect that the sellable lamp in the button is turned on and prizes can be sold.

[0011] The invention according to claim 2 is a method for automatically controlling when the number of commodities determined to be near expiration by the control means reaches the number of commodities arbitrarily set in advance with the limited premium sales switching condition input means. Means for automatically switching premium gift sales from limited premium sales to limited premium sales.Switching premium sales from normal premium sales to restricted premium sales is performed in advance with the limited premium sales switching condition input means. This has the effect that the settings can be made arbitrarily.

An embodiment of a vending machine control device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 show Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 1 shows a vending machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a data storage area showing the data storage state of the storage means, and FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 are flowcharts showing the operation of the main part.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes control means for controlling the sale of products whose expiration date has expired, 2 denotes expiration date storage means for storing the expiration date, near expiration date flag, and expiration date flag for each product storage, 3 Is data input means for inputting data to the expiration date storage means 2, 4 is a timer means for notifying the present date, 5 is expiration date when a prize is sold as a bonus sale in case of winning by roulette operation. Limited prize sales means for selling only limited products that have been determined to be limited prize sales target products, and reference numeral 6 denotes a sellable lamp in a select button that is lit and displayed when the restricted prize sales target product is sold. .

The operation of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3, 4, and 5.

For example, in the operation of inputting the expiration date data to the expiration date storage means 2 by the data input means 3,
As shown in FIG. 3, when the product A is stored in the product storage number 1, the product B is stored in the product storage number 2, and the product C is stored in the product storage number 3, the data input means 3 first stores each product. Enter the expiration date data corresponding to the warehouse number (STE
P301), and resets the expiration date expiration flag and the expiration date flag for each storage box to “0” (STEP 3).
02). After inputting the expiration dates of all product storages (STEP 303), the input is terminated and sales are controlled based on the expiration dates.

Next, taking the sales control of the goods A and B as an example, the control means 1 reads the current date from the timer means 4 (STEP 401). Product storage number 1 or product B storing product A from the expiration date storage means 2.
Is sequentially selected and read (STEP 402). Each read current date is compared with the expiration date in the expiration date data (STEP 403), and it is determined whether the expiration date has passed (STEP 404). If the expiration date has passed, the control means 1 sets the expiration date expiration flag of the expiration date storage means 2 to ON "1" (STEP 405), and stops selling the product A (STEP 406).

In the case of the commodity B whose expiration date has not passed, it is determined whether the expiration date is almost expired (STEP 407). If the expiration date is about to expire, the expiration date flag in the expiration date storage means 2 is turned ON "1" (STEP 408).
I do. As described above, it is possible to check the expiration date of the product for each product storage (STEP 409).

Next, taking as an example a prize sales control as a bonus when a win is made by the roulette operation, the control means 1 sequentially selects and reads the expiration date data from the expiration date storage means 2 (STEP 501). The expiration date expiration flag in the expiration date data is checked (STEP 502).

In the case of the product B, the expiration date flag is determined to be ON "1" (STEP 503), and the product is an object of the limited prize anti-sale.
To turn on the sellable lamp 6 in the product selection button of the product B (STEP 504) to prepare for premium sales. Product C
In this case, the expiration date of the expiration date flag is determined to be OFF “0” (STEP 503), so that no prize sales with restrictions are performed, and the process ends without any processing.

As described above, all the products stored in each product are checked for limited prize sales target products (STEP
505) Then, when the check on the commodities for all the merchandise storages is completed, it is further checked whether or not the restricted prize sale target commodities are generated (STEP 506), and if there is a check result, the restricted prize sale is executed. (STEP
507).

If there is no check result, normal prize sales are executed for all salable commodities (STEP 508).

As described above, according to the first embodiment, when a prize is sold as a bonus in case of a hit due to a roulette operation, a product which is determined to be a limited prize sales target product with a near expiration date. For a limited time, a prize can be sold by turning on a sellable lamp in the product selection button.

(Embodiment 2) Another embodiment of the vending machine control apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 6, 7, 8, and 9 show a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a vending machine control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a data storage area diagram showing a storage state of restricted prize sales switching condition setting data, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are flowcharts showing main part operations.

In the figure, the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted. 9 is a prize sales automatic switching unit that automatically switches from normal prize sales to limited prize sales, 8 is a switching condition (number of products) storage unit for determining prize sales automatic switching,
7 is a limited prize sales switching condition input means for setting and inputting the number of commodities in the switching condition (improper) storage means 8; 1a is a control means; 2 is a expiration date storage means; 4 is a timer means; The restricted prize selling means 6 is a sellable lamp.

The operation of the second embodiment configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9.

For example, the limited prize sales switching means 7
As a condition for switching prize sales from normal sales to restricted prize sales, the number of commodities judged to be compared with the number of restricted prize sales target commodities among products whose expiration date is almost expired is “10”
(STEP 801), the input value is written in the switching condition setting data storage area by the switching condition (number of products) storage means 8 as "10" (STEP 80).
2). As described above, it is possible to arbitrarily set the determination condition for switching the premium sale from the normal premium sale to the restricted premium sale in advance.

Next, taking control of switching from normal prize sales to restricted prize sales in the prize sales control as a bonus sale in the event of a win due to a roulette operation, for example, the control means 1 a The expiration date data is sequentially selected and read (STEP 901), and the expiration date expiration flag in the read expiration date data is checked (STEP 902).

In the case of the commodity B, the expiration date of the expiration date flag is determined to be ON "1" (STEP 903), and it becomes a restricted prize sales target commodity. Therefore, the number of restricted prize sales target goods is counted up (STEP 904).

In the case of the commodity C, the expiration date of the expiration date flag is determined to be OFF "0" (STEP 903), so that the limited prize is not sold, and the processing ends without any processing.

As described above, all the products stored in each product are checked for limited prize sales target products (STEP
905), and the check on the commodities for all commodities storage is ended. Subsequently, the number of commodities as a switching condition set in the switching condition setting data storage area is read (STEP 906), and the number of commodities is compared with the previously-limited limited prize sales target commodities (STEP 907).

For example, if the number of limited premium sales target products counted up is "10", the result of the comparison determination is equal to or greater than the number of products as a switching condition. Is turned on (STEP 908), and limited prize sales are executed (STEP 909).

If, for example, the number of limited-prize sales target commodities counted up is "9", the result of the comparison judgment is less than the number of commodities as a switching condition, so that normal premium sales are executed (STEP 910).

As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is automatically switched between normal prize sales and restricted prize sales based on the number of restricted prize sales target products determined to be near expiration date. Can be set in advance so that the number of products serving as a switching condition can be set.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, the expiration date storage means for storing the expiration date of a product, the data input means for inputting the expiration date of the product into the expiration date storage means,
Timer means for notifying the current date, and the expiration date stored in the expiration date storage means and the date obtained from the timer means determine whether the product is near expiration date, and if the product is near expiration date, For example, control means for storing that the expiration date is about to expire in the expiration date storage means so that the product can be later determined as a restricted prize sales target product; and A limited prize selling means for limiting a product determined to be a product whose expiration date is almost expired and lighting a sellable display lamp in a product selection button only for the limited product. As a bonus, if you win a prize due to roulette operation, etc. It is possible to be limited to products it is determined that the commodity turns on the sale possible lamp in the product selection buttons perform the prize sale. Therefore, by indirectly promoting the sale of a product whose expiration date is about to expire, the unsold product remaining due to the expiration date is reduced as much as possible, and the sales efficiency can be improved.

When the number of commodities determined by the control means to be near expiration has reached the number of commodities arbitrarily set by the limited premium sales switching condition input means, the normal premium sales are automatically restricted. With automatic prize sales switching means that can switch to premium prize sales, it is possible to automatically determine whether to sell regular prizes or to sell restricted prizes according to the number of restricted prize sales target products determined to be near expiration date. Can be set in advance so that the number of products can be changed. Therefore, for vending machines with a small number of product storages, the number of products to be switched
In addition, a vending machine with a large number of product storages can be operated without giving a product buyer an unpleasant feeling by providing a large number of commodities serving as a switching condition with flexibility.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a vending machine control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a storage area diagram of Embodiment 1 of the vending machine control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a data input operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a control unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of a control unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a vending machine control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a storage area diagram of a vending machine control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of data input according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control means according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 control means 1 a control means 2 expiration date storage means 3 data input means 4 timer means 5 restricted prize sales means 6 available lamps 7 restricted prize sales switching condition input means 8 switching condition (number of products) storage means 9 prize sales automatic Switching means

Claims (2)

[Claims] An expiration date storage means for storing a shelf life of a product, a data input means for inputting a shelf life of the product into the shelf life storage means, a timer means for notifying a current date, and the expiration date. From the expiration date stored in the expiration date storage means and the date obtained from the timer means, it is determined whether or not the product is near expiration date. Control means for storing the expiration date in the expiration date storage means so that the expiration date can be determined as, and a product which is determined to be a product whose expiration date is close to the expiration date in the expiration date storage means at the time of execution of prize sales Limited prize sales means for turning on the sellable lamp in the product selection button for only the limited product. Vending machine control device. 2. When the number of commodities determined to be near expiration by the control means reaches the number of commodities arbitrarily set in advance with the limited prize sales switching condition input means, the limited prize sales are automatically restricted from the normal prize sales. 2. The vending machine control device according to claim 1, further comprising a prize sales automatic switching means capable of switching to prize sales.