JPS6225832Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention is connected to, for example, a cup-type vending machine that mixes and sells drinks from various raw materials stored in the machine, and sends a counting signal to a column-specific counting circuit that performs counting for each sales column. Regarding the sales column determining device, in particular, the present invention provides a device that can be used with many types of cup-type vending machines simply by adjusting the settings of a built-in preset circuit.

In general, in vending machines, not just cup-type ones, when counting the number of sales by sales column, the counting circuit for each column is connected directly to the selection circuit operated by the push button selectively operated by the customer. It is usual to perform column-by-column counting based on the signal from this selection circuit. However, in a vending machine that mixes multiple types of raw materials and sells multiple types of products, such as the one shown in JP-A No. 55-110388, it is possible to handle multiple types of products. In some cases, column-specific sales signals are not generated, and column-specific counting is not possible simply by connecting a counting circuit.

On the other hand, in recent years, businesses that have installed vending machines have begun to count the number of sales by column (product type) in the existing vending machines they own, and calculate the sales status by column at the installation location and the overall sales. There are many requests for the installation of sales counting devices in order to check the situation and use them for the management and operation of vending machines, and it is desired that they be installed easily.

In view of the above-mentioned points, the present invention provides a sales column determination device that makes it possible to easily count the number of sales for each column even in a vending machine that does not send out sales signals for each column. The purpose is to provide.

This invention focuses on the fact that even in vending machines that do not send out sales signals for each column, supply signals for each ingredient are sent out, and it is possible to mix multiple types of raw materials and sell multiple types of products. A sales column determining device is provided between a control circuit of a vending machine and a counting circuit for each column corresponding to the plurality of types of products, and the device detects that the vending machine is in a vending operation. a first detector that outputs a sales operation signal; a second detector that detects each of the supply operations of the plurality of types of raw materials and outputs a supply signal; and each of the sales operation signal and the supply signal. a latch circuit that stores the logical product output of the raw material, a preset circuit that can set the raw material to be supplied for each column, and a count for each column by determining whether the output of the latch circuit and the output of the preset circuit match. The present invention is characterized by comprising a determination circuit that outputs a signal, and an output gate circuit that outputs the counting signal to the counting circuit based on disappearance of the sales operation signal.

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, we will explain a cup-type vending machine that stores powdered raw materials inside the machine and selectively mixes a predetermined amount of single or multiple types of powdered raw materials with hot water to sell black coffee, coffee with milk, etc. do. Furthermore, in the following, a product refers to a beverage that is poured into a cup and sold.
In the figure, 1 surrounded by a broken line is the main part of a cup-type vending machine (hereinafter simply referred to as the vending machine), 2 is a sales column determination device, and 3 is a column-specific counting circuit that counts the number of sales for each sales column. , 4, 41, 42, 43
is a signal input line connecting the vending machine 1 and the sales column determination device 2. The sales column determination device 2 includes a first signal level converter 5 as a first detector connected to a timer motor T of the vending machine 1 via a signal input line 4, a raw material motor MC,
Second signal level converters 51, 52, 53 as second detectors connected to MS, MM, latch circuits 61, 62 with resets operated by the AND of the output signals of these two types of converters, 63. A preset circuit 7, which is set in advance to output a signal for each product, determines whether the signals from the latch circuits 61, 62, and 63 match the signals set in the preset circuit 7, and outputs a signal for each column. A determination circuit 8 that outputs an output, an output gate circuit 9 that controls column-specific signals from the determination circuit 8 based on the output signal from the first signal level converter 5, and a latch circuit that receives the signal from the output gate circuit 9. 61,62,6
The circuit 10 is composed of an OR gate circuit 10 that resets 3.

The vending operation in a cup-type vending machine will be explained with reference to FIG. First, after the customer inserts a predetermined amount of money, when the customer presses the pushbutton corresponding to the selected column, the contact point V and the contact point C selectively change to the product.
Part or all of S and M are closed, and the timer motor T is operated by the voltage applied between AB.
This timer motor T is a well-known motor that controls the vending operation of the vending machine and sets the operation start timing, operation time, etc. of various mechanical parts (not shown). When this timer motor T is driven, T1, T2, and T3 operate for a certain period of time, and by closing contacts C, S, and M, the raw material motor is selectively activated.
Driven by MC, MS, and MM. As a result, a predetermined amount of powdered raw material stored in a raw material storage box (not shown) is dropped in accordance with the drive time of the raw material motors MC, MS, and MM, and is mixed with an appropriate amount of hot water in a mixing bowl (not shown). However, since there is no linear relationship in the present invention, detailed explanation will be omitted.

As mentioned above, in order to sell the beverage in the column selected by the customer, the corresponding powder raw material is dropped (vending machine main part 1 in Figure 1).
This is common to many types of cup-type vending machines, and the present invention was developed with attention to this point. That is, the sales column determination device according to the present invention operates as follows.

In Figure 1, the raw material motor MC is for coffee;
MS is for sugar, MM is for milk, and the first column is a vending machine that sells coffee with milk and sugar, the second column is coffee with sugar, the third column is coffee with milk, and the fourth column is black coffee. The case where the sales column determination device 2 of the present invention is connected will be explained. When connecting to a vending machine, the preset circuit 8 is set for each column, details of which will be described later.

For example, when the first column is selected by the customer, since coffee with milk and sugar is sold, the raw material motors MC, MS, and MM of the vending machine 1 are driven to dispense a predetermined amount of powdered raw material. At the same time, the drive power for these raw material motors is supplied to the second signal level converters 51, 5 through signal input lines 41, 42, 43 connected to the raw material motors MC, MS, MM.
2 and 53, and these second signal level converters convert this drive power into a voltage suitable for the electronic circuit and output it as a raw material supply signal. Furthermore, since a similarly converted selling operation signal is output from the first signal level converter 5 to which driving power is supplied via the signal input line 4, the logical product is obtained and the latch circuit 61, 62 and 63 are set, and a logic signal "1" (hereinafter simply referred to as "1") is outputted to the determination circuit 8 as a supply signal accompanying the raw material supply operation. Further, a judgment signal from the preset circuit 7, which is set for each column, is input to the judgment circuit 8, and a sold column is judged based on the coincidence with the output "1" from the latch circuit. When the first column is sold, column-specific signals are output to the output gate circuit 9 from the leftmost end in the figure. This output gate circuit 9 is controlled by the sales operation signal from the first signal level converter 5, and when the sales operation signal from the first signal level converter 5 falls, the leftmost gate of the output gate circuit 9 is controlled. A counting signal is output to the column-by-column counting circuit 3, and it is counted that the first column has been sold once. Further, this counting signal is sent to the latch circuits 61, 62, and 63 via the OR gate circuit 10 to reset these latch circuits, and the set state is set by the fall of the sales operation signal of the first signal level converter 5. The worn out output gate circuit 9 is restored and the entire sales column determination device 2 is placed in a standby state.

Next, the column judgment operation of the judgment circuit 8 will be explained with reference to FIG. First, in the preset circuit 7, beverages to be sold can be set for each column using digital switch groups 71, 72, 73, and 74, and the top, middle, and bottom three digital switches correspond to coffee, sugar, and milk, respectively. In other words, since the first column is coffee with milk and sugar, all three digital switches in the digital switch group 71 are turned on, and since the second column is coffee with sugar, the upper and middle digital switches in the digital switch group 72 are turned on. The lower digital switch corresponding to milk is turned off. Thereafter, in the third and fourth columns, sales beverages are similarly set for each column by turning on and off the three digital switches. Judgment signals for each column are sent to the judgment circuit 8 based on whether the three digital switches are turned on or off. If the on state of the switch is "1" and the off state is "0", then in the case of the first column, the order becomes "1, 1, 1" from the top. This judgment circuit 8 inputs an output "1" or "0" from one of the latch circuits to one input terminal, and inputs an output "1" or "0" from one of the latch circuits to the other input terminal by turning on or off a digital switch that constitutes a judgment signal for each column. Or a gate group 81, 8 consisting of three exclusive OR circuits that input "0"
2, 83, 84, and an AND gate circuit 8 which performs ANDing of the signals from the three exclusive OR circuits for each column and outputs a signal for each column.
Consisting of 11,822,833,844.

Then, when the first column is selected by the customer and coffee with milk and sugar is sold, the output "1" is output to the gate group 81, 82,
The signal is input to one input terminal of three exclusive OR circuits 83 and 84, respectively. In addition, all the digital switches 71 in the first column in the preset circuit 7 are in the ON state, and the judgment signals are "1, 1, 1" from the top.
Therefore, the three exclusive OR circuits of the gate group 81 output a signal based on the coincidence of the input signals, and the AND gate circuit 811 performs the logical product. At this time, in the other gate groups 82, 83, 84, the output of the latch circuit and the judgment signal cannot match, so the AND gate circuits 822, 833, 844 cannot perform the logical product, and in the end, the leftmost AND gate circuit 811 A signal is output only from the output gate circuit 9 to the output gate circuit 9. For example, in the gate group 82, all the supplied signals are "1", while in the digital switch group 72, the signals are turned on from above,
It is on and off, and the determination signal is "1, 1, 0".

In the output gate circuit 9, this column-specific signal is inputted to one input terminal of an AND gate circuit 91, and the signal from the fall detection circuit 95 is inputted to the other input terminal. When this detection circuit is set and outputs a signal due to the fall of the sales operation signal from the first signal level converter 5 due to the end of the sales operation, the output signal is sent to the AND gate circuits 91 and 9.
Input to each input terminal of 2, 93, 94,
Only the AND gate circuit 91 to which a signal is input from the determination circuit 8 to its other input terminal performs a logical product and outputs a count signal to the column-specific counting circuit 3. Then, based on this count signal, it is counted that the first column has been sold. Further, this count signal is passed through an OR gate circuit 10 to a fall detection circuit 9.
5 and puts the output gate circuit 9 into a standby state.

In the above, the first column was selected to explain the sale of coffee with milk and sugar, but the same applies even if other columns are selected. For example, when the third column is selected, since the coffee contains milk, the latch circuits 61 and 63 output "1" by driving the raw material motors MC and MM, and the latch circuit 62 outputs "1".
From then on, “0” is input to the determination circuit 8. However, since the supply signals of "1", "0", and "1" in order from the left do not match the determination signal from the digital switch group 71, the AND gate circuit 811 cannot perform a logical product and no signal is output. The same applies to AND gate circuits 822 and 844. Since the digital switch group 73 corresponding to the third column is in the ON, OFF, and ON states from the top, the judgment signals are “1,
0, 1'' and match with the supply signal, the AND gate circuit 833 performs a logical product and outputs a column-specific signal. Therefore, as in the case of the first column described above, the column-by-column counting circuit 3 counts that the third column has been sold.

Next, if the actual number of columns in the vending machine is smaller than the number of columns that can be set in the preset circuit 7, for example in FIG.
A case will be described in which the sales column determining device of the present invention is attached to a vending machine in which the second column is coffee with sugar, the second column is coffee with sugar, and the third column is black coffee. As mentioned above, when the number of columns that can be set in the preset circuit 7 exceeds the actual number of columns, for example, in the preset circuit 7 of FIG. 2, the digital switch group 7 corresponding to the fourth column is
Since 4 is redundant, all the digital switches are turned off and the determination signal output from the digital switch group 74 is set to "0, 0, 0". By setting the digital switch group 74 in this way, when the main part 1 of the vending machine shown in FIG. Since the output "1" is output, no signal is output from at least the leftmost one of the three exclusive OR circuits of the gate group 84. Therefore, AND gate circuit 8
44, the logical product cannot be obtained, and as a result, the count signal is not always outputted to the fourth column counting section in the column-by-column counting circuit 3. In addition, in the sales waiting state, all the supply signals from the latch circuits are "0" and match the judgment signals from the digital switch group 74, so a signal is output from the AND gate circuit 844, and the AND gate circuit of the output gate circuit 9 It is input to one input end of 94. However, since the fall detection circuit 95 is in a reset state during the sales waiting period, the AND gate circuit 94 does not output the AND gate circuit 94 to the column-by-column counting circuit 3 as in the sales operation.

In the above, we have dealt with the case where the number of columns that can be set in the preset circuit 7 exceeds the number of columns in the vending machine by turning off all the digital switches in the digital switch group 74, but simply turning off the digital switches corresponding to coffee can also Since the drink is set to be unsaleable, a count signal is simply not output to the fourth column counting section in the column-by-column counting circuit 3. Furthermore, in cup-type vending machines that mix liquid raw materials such as syrup with carbonated water and sell carbonated drinks, etc., the first signal level converter is connected to the reference power supply during vending operation, and the syrup raw material is discharged. By connecting a second signal level converter to the electromagnetic valve and setting the digital switch of the preset circuit according to the electromagnetic valve corresponding to each sales column, the sales column determination device of the present invention can be used to operate the sales counting device. Installation is possible.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to a four-column vending machine as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but can be connected to a multi-column vending machine by adding additional circuits. On the other hand, there is no problem even if there is an unused part in the circuit, so if it is manufactured to suit a multi-column vending machine, the sales column judgment of this invention can be applied to many types of cup-type vending machines with different circuits. equipment can be attached.

As described above, according to the present invention, when counting the number of sales for each column selected by the customer, the operation of supplying raw materials necessary for blending the beverage in that column is detected and a signal is output. The selected column is determined based on the match between the signal and the judgment signal of the preset circuit set in advance for each column, and the signal is output to the counting circuit, so it is influenced by various selection circuits depending on the model. It can be used in many types of cup-type vending machines by simply changing the settings of the preset circuit, and the vending counting device can be easily installed. Further, when changing the column, simply changing the settings of the preset circuit eliminates the need to change the circuit related to the sales counting device, thereby simplifying the work when changing the column. moreover,
Since a counting signal is output at the end of one sales operation, accurate counting commensurate with the sales operation can be carried out.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the determination circuit in FIG. 1. 2... Sales column determination device, 3... Column-specific counting circuit, 5... First signal level converter, 51,
52, 53... second signal level converter, 61,
62, 63... Latch circuit, 7... Preset circuit, 8... Judgment circuit, 9... Output gate circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A sales column determination device provided between a control circuit of a vending machine that mixes multiple types of raw materials and sells multiple types of products, and a counting circuit for each column corresponding to the multiple types of products, a first detector that detects that the vending machine is in vending operation and outputs a vending operation signal; and a second detector that detects each of the feeding operations of the plurality of types of raw materials and outputs a feeding signal. a detector, a latch circuit that stores the AND output of the sales operation signal and each of the supply signals, a preset circuit that can set the raw material to be supplied for each column, and an output of the latch circuit and the supply signal. a determination circuit that determines coincidence with the output of the preset circuit and outputs a count signal for each column;
A sales column determination device comprising: an output gate circuit that outputs the count signal to the counting circuit based on disappearance of the sales operation signal.