IT201800003273A1 - METHOD OF HANDLING THE CASH CONTAINED IN AN AUTOMATIC ITEM DISTRIBUTOR - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine for articles, for example packets of cigarettes.

Generally, these vending machines comprise a substantially parallelepiped-shaped container body in which column dispensers are housed that extend in height inside the container body. Each column dispenser is suitable for containing the items to be distributed, arranged one above the other. At the lower end of each column dispenser there is an electric dispensing actuator that can be operated to push the last product of the column into an item dispensing mouth accessible by a user.

The vending machine is equipped with a user interface comprising a touch screen suitable for displaying information on the status of the vending machine and for receiving instructions from the user to dispense one or more items against the introduction of money into an accepting device. money, suitable for receiving money from the user.

A processing unit is suitable for interacting with the electric dispensing actuators, with the user interface and with the money accepting device.

One of the most delicate aspects in managing a vending machine of this type is related to the presence of cash inside the vending machine. The cash, in addition to deriving from the proceeds for the sale of the products dispensed, must in any case already be present in the dispenser even at the beginning of the sales, in order to allow the disbursement of the rest, i.e. the difference of money between the amount entered. by the user and the price of the goods purchased.

Vending machines, especially those installed outside commercial establishments, are therefore exposed to attempts to steal the money contained in the vending machine. Therefore, vending machine owners tend to leave as little money in the machine as possible.

An attempt to at least partially solve this problem of vending machines consists in dispensing change not cash, but a credit receipt that the user can then show to the owner of the business where the machine is installed. hand over the rest in cash.

However, this solution may be acceptable in the case of very high remainder amounts, while it is not practicable in the case of modest amounts. Applying the credit slip practice extensively could therefore lead to a loss of customers.

The purpose of the present invention is to propose a method of managing money inside a vending machine and a relative vending machine capable of dealing more effectively with the problem of managing cash within the vending machine itself.

Said object is achieved with a cash management method according to claim 1 or 2 and with an automatic vending machine according to claim 3. The dependent claims describe preferred embodiments of the invention.

The characteristics and advantages of the cash management method inside an automatic vending machine for items and of the vending machine according to the invention will in any case be evident from the description given below of its preferred embodiment examples, given by way of non-limiting indication. , with reference to the attached figures, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the functional elements of an automatic vending machine; figure 2 is a flow diagram of a general sales algorithm of a vending machine;

- figure 3 is a flow diagram of an algorithm of the phase of managing the selection of a product;

- figure 4 is a flow diagram of an algorithm of the money insertion management phase;

figure 5 is a flow diagram of an algorithm of the product dispensing management step;

figure 6 is a flow diagram of an algorithm of the change management step;

- figure 7 is a flow diagram of an algorithm of the management phase of a second purchase;

figure 8 is a flow diagram of an algorithm of the management phase of a second purchase, in a variant embodiment;

figure 9 is a flow diagram of a general sales algorithm, in a variant embodiment;

- Figure 10 is a flowchart of an algorithm of the data collection phase and offer of alternative proposals of the algorithm of the previous figure; And

Figure 11 is a flow diagram of a warehouse management algorithm of the vending machine which uses the data obtained from the algorithms of Figures 9 and 10.

In said drawings, 1 denotes, as a whole, an automatic vending machine for items, for example packets of cigarettes.

In a general embodiment illustrated schematically in Figure 1, the vending machine 1 comprises a container body 10 in the shape of a substantially parallelepiped. The container body 10 can be of the “stand-alone” or built-in type. In the latter case, only one front panel 12 is exposed to the outside for interaction with the user and possibly with the person in charge of maintenance of the vending machine 1.

Inside the container body 10 there is a plurality of column dispensers 14 which extend in height between a lower end and an upper end. Each column dispenser 14 is suitable for containing the items to be distributed, arranged one above the other.

In one embodiment, at least some of the column dispensers 14 contain different or different brand items from articles contained in other column dispensers 14.

At the lower end of each column dispenser 14 there is an electric dispensing actuator 16 which can be operated to push the last product of the column into a dispensing spout 18 accessible by a user. Therefore, in the presence of several articles in a dispensing column, the last article, i.e. the lowest one, can be engaged by the dispensing actuator 16 and, once the last article has been pushed into the dispensing mouth 18, the article immediately above passes, by gravity, into the position of the last article which can be engaged by the electric actuator 16. The vending machine 1 is provided with a user interface 20 comprising a tactile screen 22, or "touchscreen", suitable for displaying information on the status and operation of the vending machine and to receive instructions from the user.

In particular, as will be better described below, the touch screen 22 displays the contents of the column dispensers and, if the user initiates a purchase request for one or more items, the sequence of interactions with the user for selecting the or items and for payment.

The distributor 1 also comprises a money accepting device 24, suitable for receiving money from the user.

The distributor 1 is governed by a processing unit 30 suitable for interacting with the electric dispensing actuators 16, with the user interface 20 and with the money accepting device 24.

In one embodiment, the processing unit 30 is provided with hardware and software means suitable for communicating with a remote server 32, for example to send / receive e-mail messages.

In one embodiment, the vending machine 1 is provided with a validator device of age 34, for example of the type suitable for receiving and analyzing a user identification document. In one embodiment, the vending machine 1 is also provided with a printer unit 36, suitable for example to issue a receipt or, as described below, a credit receipt.

The block diagram of figure 2 shows a general sales diagram used by vending machine 1.

In a first phase A, the selection of the product to be purchased is managed.

In a second phase B, the money insertion operation is managed.

In a third phase C the delivery of the product is managed.

In a fourth phase D the disbursement of any change is managed.

In a fifth phase E a possible second purchase is managed.

In one embodiment, in fact, if the amount of money entered by the user is higher than the price of the selected item, the distributor proposes the purchase of a second product.

Phase A of selecting the product to purchase is illustrated in more detail in the flow chart in Figure 3.

In a first sub-phase A1, the user interface screen displays the categories of items that can be purchased. The distributor therefore waits for the user's choice (sub-phase A2). After the user has chosen the category, the distributor displays the purchasable products on the screen (sub-phase A3) and awaits the user's choice (sub-phase A4).

If at the end of a predetermined time interval the user has not selected any product, the procedure ends and the distributor goes to an initial state of.

If the user selects a product, in one embodiment the insertion of an identity document, for example the National Service Card, is required to verify the user's age (sub-phase A5). If the age verification gives a positive result, the sales algorithm goes to phase B of managing the money insertion, otherwise the procedure ends. If age verification is not required, you can go directly to the money entry management phase. The money insertion management procedure (phase B) is illustrated in more detail with reference to the flow chart in Figure 4.

In a first sub-phase B1, the price of the selected item is displayed on the user interface screen. The control unit enables the banknote and / or coin acceptor device (sub-phase B2) and the missing money is displayed (sub-phase B3). While the user enters the money, the missing money is displayed, until the money is sufficient to complete the purchase.

At this point, the control unit disables the money accepting device (sub-phase B4) and the money insertion management procedure ends and the sales algorithm passes to phase C of product dispensing management.

The product dispensing management phase C is illustrated in more detail in Figure 5.

In a first sub-phase C1, the control unit starts the movement of the electric dispensing actuator corresponding to the column dispenser 16 containing the selected item.

During or at the end of this sub-phase, information relating to the supply can be displayed on the screen (sub-phase C2).

When the dispensing cycle is finished, the price of the product is decreased by the amount entered (sub-phase C3).

If the resulting amount is zero, the sale procedure ends. Otherwise, if a change remains, you go to procedure D to manage the change.

The change management procedure D is illustrated in more detail in figure 6. In the illustrated embodiment, with "MoneyIns" the current change is indicated, ie the change calculated at the end of the product dispensing procedure C, while with "RestoMax ”A maximum change value that can be dispensed for each sale is indicated, established for example by the owner or operator of the vending machine.

If MoneyIns = 0, the procedure ends and the distributor returns to an initial state (phase A).

Otherwise, the control unit compares MoneyIns with RestoMax (sub-phase D1). If MoneyIns <RestoMax, then the sales algorithm goes directly to the next phase of managing a second purchase (phase E). If, on the other hand, MoneyIns> RestoMax, then the distributor asks the user if he wants to purchase another item (sub-phase D2) and waits for the answer (sub-phase D3).

If the proposal is accepted, you move on to phase E of managing a second purchase. If the proposal is not accepted, a credit receipt is printed (sub-phase D4), which will be used by the user to get a refund of the money within the business owner or manager of the distributor. Figure 7 illustrates in more detail the phases of the procedure E of managing a second purchase.

In a first sub-phase E1, the control unit selects, among all the available items, only those whose price, decreased by a predetermined discount, is lower than or equal to the current remainder (MoneyIns> = Price-Discount).

The control unit sorts the selected items based on this calculation, in order to minimize the remaining rest (sub-phase E2). The proposed price is the price of the item minus the discount. The control unit displays on the user interface screen a table of products selected and sorted according to the criterion of minimizing the rest (sub-phase E3).

In Figure 7, Table 1 shows an example of a product table with its price and a predetermined discount.

If, for example, MoneyIns = 110 cents, table 2 shows the products selected from table 1 that meet the criterion MoneyIns> = Price-Discount.

Finally, table 3 shows an example of ordering the products of table 2 on the basis of the smallest residual remainder.

At this point the distributor is waiting for the user's choice (sub-phase E4).

If the user selects a product from table 3, the management procedure for the second purchase ends and the procedure for dispensing product C is passed.

If the user decides not to select any product, or in the absence of selection after a predetermined time, the distributor distributes the rest in the form of money (if MoneyIns = <RestoMax) (sub-phase E5) or in the form of a credit receipt (if MoneyIns> RestoMax) (sub-phase E6).

Figure 8 shows a procedure E 'for managing a second purchase in a variant of construction.

In a first sub-phase E1, among all the available items (table 4), the control unit makes a first selection, selecting only those that meet both of the following conditions:

- the price, decreased by a pre-established discount, is less than or equal to the current change (MoneyIns> = Price-Scontomax); And

- the price is at least equal to the current remainder (Price> = MoneyIns).

In a second sub-phase E2, the control unit calculates, for each of the selected items, the actual discount ("Effective Discount") as the difference between the price and the current change (Table 5).

In a third sub-phase E3, the control unit makes a second selection, selecting, from the available items, those whose price is equal to or lower than the current remainder, setting the actual discount equal to zero (Table 6).

In a fourth sub-phase E'4, the control unit makes a union of the first and second selections and sorts the selected items in an ordered table or grid (table 7) so that the items of the first selection appear first (table 5) in order of actual decreasing discount and with a proposed price equal to the current change, and then the items of the second selection (table 6), ordering them by decreasing price.

The control unit displays the ordered table or grid on the user interface screen (sub-phase E5).

In this way we obtain a maximization of the revenue, a minimization of the discount, and therefore a maximization of the earnings.

At this point the distributor is waiting for the user's choice (sub-phase E6).

If the user selects a product from table 7, the management procedure of the second purchase ends and the product delivery procedure is passed (phase C). If the user decides not to select any product, or in the absence of selection after a predetermined time, the distributor distributes the rest in the form of money (if MoneyIns = <RestoMax, sub-phase E'7)) or in the form of a credit receipt (if MoneyIns> RestoMax, sub-phase E'8).

In this embodiment, compared to the previously described procedure, a variable discount is used from time to time to further reduce the disbursement of change in cash and with the advantageous effect of inducing a higher sale of the system.

In particular, while in the procedure described above with reference to Figure 7, the sale price of a product, proposed during the second purchase phase, is a predetermined value equal to the normal price minus the applicable discount value, and therefore the attempt to reduce (or completely eliminate) the supply of the change passes through the proposal of products (typically discounted) which in any case minimize the possible gain for the owner, in the embodiment of figure 8 the algorithm interprets the discount column (used as fixed value) as a "maximum applicable discount" value ("Scontomax") and selects as plausible sales proposals all those products that fall within a price range between the full price and the price with the maximum discount applied and compatible with the value of the theoretical remainder. Figure 9 represents the flow diagram of a sales algorithm in an embodiment variant, in which an intermediate phase F is envisaged between the first phase A of managing the selection of the product to be purchased and the second phase B of managing the insertion of money of data collection and management of alternative proposals.

In this variant of the algorithm implementation, out-of-stock products are proposed, which are made to appear as purchasable, or "virtual" products, that is, not physically associated with any dispenser. In both cases, the algorithm proposes a purchase alternative aimed at maximizing revenue.

The algorithm collects in a non-volatile table the instant a product is requested and the actual presence or absence of the product.

The control unit compares sales, lost sales, virtual product selections in predetermined time periods, and is able to organize precise statistics on products, from the least sold to the most sold.

Therefore, the algorithm is able to suggest to the seller, or to the owner or manager of the distributor, if it is not advisable to replace unsold or under-sold products with out-of-stock products or to, for example, convert into real products (i.e. by associating a real dispenser) to the most requested virtual products, to the detriment of providers who "work little".

The owner of the machine will periodically receive an e-mail with precise indications of the changes to be made in order not to lose customers (due to out of stock products that could make the regular customer desist) and to improve the turnover relating to the machine.

An example of implementation of phase F of data collection and presentation of alternative purchase proposals is shown in the flow chart of Figure 9. In a first sub-phase F1 the control unit creates a table of virtual products.

Virtual products and / or out of stock products are displayed on the user interface screen, for example together with available products.

If the user does not select either a virtual product or an out of stock product, the algorithm moves on to the second phase B of managing money insertion.

If, on the other hand, the user selects an out of stock or virtual item, the control unit searches for an alternative item having substantially the same price (sub-phase F2).

If there are no alternatives present, the procedure ends and the algorithm returns to the initial phase of waiting for the selection of a product (phase A).

If, on the other hand, there is at least one alternative, the alternative products are displayed on the screen (sub-phase F3) and the algorithm waits for a user choice (sub-phase F4).

If the user selects a product, it moves on to the next phase B of managing money insertion, otherwise the procedure ends and the algorithm returns to the initial phase A waiting for the selection of a product. Figure 11 shows the distributor's warehouse management algorithm that uses data relating to product selections.

In a first phase G1, G1 ', G1 ", the control unit accesses the DB databases; DB '; DB ”of the selections of the out of stock products and / or to the database of the selections of the virtual products and to the database of the selections of the available products, respectively.

The algorithm then calculates the number of selections, or "clicks", of out-of-stock and / or virtual products and the number of sales for each dispenser (phases G2; G2 '; G2 ").

In one embodiment, the control unit also calculates the profit that would have resulted in the sale of the out-of-stock and / or virtual products (phase G3; G3 ') and the sales of each column dispenser (phase G3 ").

Periodically, for example on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, the control unit sends to the seller, or to the owner or manager of the distributor, a report, for example via e-mail, containing the data relating to requests for out of stock products and / or virtual and to sales for each dispenser (phase G4).

As mentioned above, the seller, or the owner or manager of the distributor, can use this data to plan the distributor's warehouse, that is, the contents of the dispensers, in order to maximize profits and reduce unsold items.

To the embodiments of the money management method and of the automatic vending machine according to the invention, a person skilled in the art, in order to meet contingent needs, will be able to make changes, adaptations and replacements of elements with other functionally equivalent ones, without departing from the scope of the following claims . Each of the features described as belonging to a possible embodiment can be realized independently of the other described embodiments.

Claims (7)

CLAIMS 1. Method of handling cash contained in an automatic vending machine for items, in particular packs of cigarettes, where said vending machine comprises: - a container body in the shape of a substantially parallelepiped; - a plurality of column dispensers extending in height inside the container body, each suitable for containing, arranged one above the other, the articles to be distributed, in which at the lower end of each column dispenser there is a electric dispensing actuator operable to push the last product of the column into an article dispensing mouth accessible by a user; - a user interface including a touch screen suitable for displaying information on the status of the vending machine and receiving instructions from the user; - a money accepting device, suitable for receiving money from the user; And - a processing unit suitable for interacting with the electric dispensing actuators, with the user interface and with the money accepting device, in order to manage the selection of the product to be purchased, the money insertion operation, the dispensing of the product, and the supply of the rest, the method including the steps of: - establish for each item the amount of a maximum change in cash that the vending machine can provide; - following the purchase of a first item, calculate the current change as the difference between the amount of money introduced by the user and the price of the first item purchased; - if the current change is greater than the maximum change, propose the purchase of a second item; - if the proposal is not accepted by the user, print a credit receipt, otherwise: - select, from among all the available items, only those whose price, decreased by a pre-established discount, is lower than or equal to the current remainder; - calculate a residual change as the difference between the current change and the price of the second article minus the pre-established discount; - order the selected items in order to minimize the remaining rest; - display on the interface screen the items selected and ordered in accordance with the previous phase for the user to select a second item. 2. Method of managing the cash contained in an automatic vending machine for items, in particular packs of cigarettes, where said vending machine comprises: - a container body in the shape of a substantially parallelepiped; - a plurality of column dispensers extending in height inside the container body, each suitable for containing, arranged one above the other, the articles to be distributed, in which at the lower end of each column dispenser there is a electric dispensing actuator operable to push the last product of the column into an article dispensing mouth accessible by a user; - a user interface including a touch screen suitable for displaying information on the status of the vending machine and receiving instructions from the user; - a money accepting device, suitable for receiving money from the user; And - a processing unit suitable for interacting with the electric dispensing actuators, with the user interface and with the money accepting device, in order to manage the selection of the product to be purchased, the money insertion operation, the dispensing of the product, and the supply of the rest, the method including the steps of: - establish for each item the amount of a maximum change in cash that the vending machine can provide; - following the purchase of a first item, calculate the current change as the difference between the amount of money introduced by the user and the price of the first item purchased; - if the current change is greater than the maximum change, propose the purchase of a second item; - if the proposal is not accepted by the user, print a credit receipt, otherwise: - from all the available articles, make a first selection, in which only the articles that meet both of the following conditions are selected: - the price of the item, decreased by a pre-established discount, is less than or equal to the current remainder; And - the price of the item is at least equal to the current remainder; - calculate, for each of the items selected in the first selection, the actual discount as the difference between the price of the item and the current change; - among all the available items make a second selection, in which the items whose price is equal to or lower than the current remainder are selected, and set the actual discount equal to zero; - make a union of the first and second selection and order the selected items in an ordered table or grid so that the items of the first selection appear first in order of actual decreasing discount and with a proposed price equal to the current remainder, and then the articles of the second selection, sorting them by decreasing price; - display the ordered table or grid on the user interface screen for the user to select a second article from said ordered table or grid. 3. Automatic vending machine for articles, in particular packs of cigarettes, comprising: - a container body in the shape of a substantially parallelepiped; - a plurality of column dispensers extending in height inside the container body, each suitable for containing, arranged one above the other, the articles to be distributed, in which at the lower end of each column dispenser there is a electric dispensing actuator operable to push the last product of the column into an article dispensing mouth accessible by a user; - a user interface including a touch screen suitable for displaying information on the status of the vending machine and receiving instructions from the user; - a money accepting device, suitable for receiving money from the user; And - a processing unit suitable for interacting with the electric dispensing actuators, with the user interface and with the money accepting device, in order to manage the selection of the product to be purchased, the money insertion operation, the dispensing of the product, and the supply of the rest, characterized in that the processing unit is programmed to implement a method of managing the money contained in the vending machine according to claim 1 or 2. 4. Vending machine according to the previous claim, comprising an age validator device, for example of the type suitable for receiving and analyzing a user identification document. 5. Vending machine according to claim 3 or 4, comprising a printer unit, suitable for issuing a receipt and / or a credit slip. 6. Computer program that can be executed by a control unit of an automatic vending machine for items, including code modules to implement the method according to claim 1 or 2. 7. Computer product in which a computer program is stored that can be executed by a control unit of an automatic vending machine for articles to implement the method according to claim 1 or 2.