JP2002015360A - Vending machine setting system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] By displaying an input screen display of setting items on a Web page displayed on a host computer, it is possible to perform an input operation with a visually excellent GUI. SOLUTION: A setting program is installed in a host computer 1 accessible via an Internet communication network 2, a setting data is created by accessing from a terminal 3, and the created setting data is transferred to the terminal 3. Via the vending machine 4. The host computer 1 includes a Web page display unit 11, a data processing unit 12 for generating setting data of each vending machine, a setting data file 13 for storing the generated setting data, and a predetermined data in the setting data file 13. A search processing unit 14 for searching for setting data related to a vending machine, and a setting data transmitting unit 15 for transmitting the searched setting data to the terminal via the Internet are provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for setting various setting items relating to a vending machine, for example, a selling time, a selling price and the like of a product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are many items to be set in a vending machine. For example, a vending machine sets a selling price for each type of product to be sold, and when two products are sold in one operation, which column among a plurality of columns for storing products is used as a selling two column. Many items such as setting whether to do, setting the selling time when selling products whose selling time is regulated by regulations, setting the lighting time of fluorescent lights etc. provided on the display of product samples, etc. Must be set.

In a conventional vending machine, a control unit for controlling the operation of the vending machine is provided with an input unit for inputting these setting contents and a setting data creating program for converting the inputted setting contents into setting data. . As the input unit, various forms such as a remote controller for operation and an operation panel provided inside the vending machine are known, but all of the input units need to be miniaturized because they must be incorporated in the vending machine. . For this reason, conventionally, all the setting contents are inputted by a total of 22 keys of 10 keys for inputting a number and a dedicated key, and the inputted contents are confirmed on a display section which can simultaneously display 16 columns and 2 lines.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional vending machine, since the input section and the dedicated remote controller for operation are attached to each vending machine, the cost of the vending machine increases. In addition, the size of the input unit cannot be increased because it must be stored in the vending machine, and therefore, the operability is not always good. On the other hand, since the setting data creation program is also attached to each vending machine, when upgrading the setting data creation program or when there is a bug etc. in this program and it is corrected, all vending machines that are targeted The program has to be updated, which makes the task extremely complicated.

Further, in order to reduce the cost, it is necessary to reduce the capacity of the storage element for the program, and it is not possible to attach a large-capacity program excellent in operability to each vending machine. For this reason, there is a problem that the setting operation is difficult to perform in synergy with the small number of keys of the input unit.

According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-259337, a portable telephone (specifically, a telephone using a PHS) communicates with a vending machine to transmit inventory management information and sales management information. It is known that the time and effort required to obtain such information and the burden of a service person collecting such information can be reduced by taking the information from a vending machine into a portable telephone. No changes are suggested. In particular, such information collection does not require multiple input operations or confirmation of the setting contents as in the case of changing the setting contents, but simply transmits and receives the data itself to and from the portable telephone. And did not satisfy the demand for improved operability of data input.

The present invention has been proposed in view of these problems of the prior art, and can use a large-capacity setting data creating program excellent in operability, and can easily rewrite the program. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine setting system capable of performing such operations. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for displaying a Web page displayed on a host computer.
By displaying an input screen display of setting items on a page, it is possible to perform an input operation with a visually excellent graphical user interface (GUI), as if answering a questionnaire on an Internet Web page. An object of the present invention is to provide a setting system for a vending machine in which various settings can be made by operation.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention is a system for setting vending machine sales time and the like, wherein a setting for creating setting data of a vending machine is provided. A host computer having a data creation program, and a terminal that accesses the host computer, creates setting data of desired setting contents on the host computer, and downloads the created setting data. The vending machine is characterized in that a communication means for receiving setting data from the terminal and a setting changing means for changing the setting based on the setting data are provided in the vending machine.

According to the first aspect of the present invention having such a configuration, if the setting data creating program is stored in the host computer, the setting contents are determined in an interactive manner, for example, in order to facilitate the operation of creating the setting data. Even a large-capacity setting data creation program that can be used can be used. When updating the setting data creation program, only one program stored in the host computer needs to be updated. By transferring the setting data created by the host computer to the vending machine via the terminal, it is not necessary to attach an input unit and a setting data creation program to the vending machine.

[0010] A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the invention, the host computer is accessible via the Internet. In the second aspect of the invention having such a configuration, the host computer can be accessed via the Internet, so that the host computer can be accessed from anywhere without providing a dedicated communication means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the host computer is a Web server connected to the Internet, and the setting data of each vending machine is input on the Web server. A web page display for displaying a data input web page, a setting data file for storing setting data of each vending machine input through the data input web page displayed by the web page display, and a setting data file A search processing unit for searching for setting data related to a predetermined vending machine therein, and a setting data transmitting unit for transmitting the searched setting data to the terminal via the Internet. According to the third aspect of the present invention having such a configuration, the input operation of the setting data can be performed on the Web page. Therefore, compared with the operation remote controller having only the numeric keys and the display thereof,
The operability by the GUI can be secured, and a large number of items can be set quickly and accurately. Also, by storing the setting data in the setting data file on the Web server, the setting data is stored when a similar setting is performed for many vending machines or when a part of the setting data is corrected. Data can be used.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first, second or third aspect of the present invention, the terminal is a portable telephone. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention having such a configuration, the terminal can be reduced in size and can also perform ordinary telephone communication, so that the terminal does not become an obstacle when moving.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [1. Configuration of Embodiment] Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a host computer in which a program for creating setting data described later is installed. The host computer 1 is connected to the Internet communication network 2 and can access the setting data creation program from outside.

That is, in the present embodiment, the host computer 1 is connected to a Web connected to the Internet.
A web page display unit 11 for displaying a data input screen for inputting setting data of each vending machine is provided on the web server. The Web page display section 11 displays various input Web pages 10 necessary for data setting of a vending machine, such as a menu screen, a data input screen, and a data confirmation screen. Also, on the Web server, a data processing unit 12 for generating setting data of each vending machine based on data input through the data input Web page 10 displayed by the Web page display unit 11,
Setting data file 1 for storing generated setting data
3 are provided. Further, a search processing unit 14 for searching for setting data relating to a predetermined vending machine in the setting data file 13 and a setting data transmitting unit 15 for transmitting the searched setting data to the terminal via the Internet. Are provided.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a terminal which is a portable telephone which can be connected to the Internet communication network 2. The terminal 3 accesses a setting data creation program in the host computer 1 via the fixed station 31 and the Internet connection network 2, and The user can input desired setting data to the host computer 1 through the Web page 10 displayed on the computer 1. The terminal 3 is also configured to be connectable to the vending machine 4. At the time of the connection, the terminal 3 can download the setting data input to the host computer 1 to the vending machine 4 to which the terminal 3 is connected. it can.

A communication device 41 for communicating with the terminal 3 is incorporated in the vending machine 4. As this communication device, a communication cable used when data is exchanged between a mobile phone and a personal computer may be used, or non-contact communication means such as infrared rays may be used. . Each vending machine is provided with an ID number. When the terminal 3 is connected to the vending machine, the terminal 3 and the Internet communication are designated by specifying the ID number of the vending machine to the terminal 3. The setting data for the vending machine can be downloaded from the host computer 1 via the network 2, or can be transmitted from the vending machine 4 to the host computer 1 on the contrary.

Further, each vending machine 4 is provided with a setting change means 42 for replacing the internally stored setting data with newly transmitted setting data upon receiving the setting data. As described above, the setting items of the vending machine 4 include a selling price setting, a column setting, a selling time setting, a lighting time setting, and the like. When setting is performed for these many setting items, it is desired that the setting operation be performed easily. [2. Operation of Embodiment]

The operation of this embodiment having the above-described configuration is as follows. In the present embodiment, when setting each item for a certain vending machine 4, the terminal 3 is connected to the host computer 1 while the terminal 3 is connected to the vending machine 4, and various settings are made. Then, the set data can be immediately downloaded from the host computer 1 to the vending machine 4 via the terminal 3 or in a state in which the terminal 3 is separated from the vending machine to be set (to be completely separated from the vending machine). The terminal 3 can be connected to the vending machine 4 and the data set by the host computer 1 can be downloaded to the vending machine 4.

First, the terminal 3 is connected to the Internet communication network 2
When the host computer 1 (Web server) is accessed via the PC, for example, a Web page 10 for inputting setting values is displayed on the screen of the terminal 3 by the Web page display unit 11 in the host computer 1. On the displayed Web page 10, for example, a plurality of models of vending machines are displayed.
On page b, a model of a vending machine for which setting data is to be created is selected from a plurality of models. Then, a setting screen corresponding to the selected model is displayed. This setting screen is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, and the setting items can be switched by selecting the tag 51 on the setting screen 5.

FIG. 2 shows a screen for setting a selling price. For example, when there are 1 to 20 columns, a price can be set for each column. Terminal 3
When the ID number of the specific vending machine to be set is transmitted to the host computer 1 in advance, the model of the vending machine corresponding to the ID number is selected in advance, and the data setting screen of the model is displayed. Or the current settings of the vending machine may be displayed. In this way, if the program is programmed to display the current setting contents, only the changed points in the current setting contents need to be set again, and the setting operation is completed in a short time.

When the setting of the setting items is completed as needed, the data processing unit 12 of the host computer 1
Creates setting data based on the set contents, and saves the setting data in a data file 13 in the host computer 1. In this case, when the terminal 3 is not connected to the vending machine 4, the terminal 3 disconnects the connection with the host computer 1 or inputs the ID number of another vending machine. Then, the setting of another vending machine 4 is performed.

After the setting data is input between the terminal 3 and the host computer 1 in this manner, the terminal 3
Is connected to the corresponding vending machine 4, and the terminal 3 is connected to the host computer 1 again via the Internet communication network 2. Then, the host computer 1 performs a process of searching the data file 13 for setting data on the vending machine 4 to which the terminal 3 is connected. In this process, the search processing unit 14 is operated by an operation such as manually acquiring the ID number of the connected vending machine from the terminal 3 or transmitting the ID number from the vending machine 4 itself and transmitting the ID number. Is extracted from the file and transmitted from the transmitting unit 15 to the vending machine 4 via the terminal 3.

When the terminal 3 is connected to the vending machine 4 and the host computer 1 is connected to perform the setting operation, the operation of storing the setting data in the data file 13 is not necessarily performed. Not necessary. The setting data generated on the host computer 1 is transmitted to the transmitting unit 15
Can be directly downloaded to the vending machine 4 through the Internet communication network 2 and the terminal 3. Of course, even in this case, the setting data is stored in the data file 13 in consideration of the convenience in correcting the data at a later date and the unified management of the setting data of each vending machine 4 on the host computer 2. You can also.

As described above, upon receiving the setting data, the vending machine 4 overwrites the already stored old setting data with the new setting data received from the terminal 3. When the setting data is overwritten in this way, the vending machine 4 operates based on the new setting data.

[3. Effect of Embodiment] As described above, according to the present embodiment, by accessing the Internet using a terminal such as a mobile phone, the input screen of the Web page 10 prepared on the host computer 1 is displayed. The user can perform a setting operation regarding various items of the vending machine 4 by using this. As a result, various setting operations can be easily performed as compared with the case where a conventional keyboard and an input unit having a small-area display screen and an operation remote controller are used. In particular, the Web page 10 on the host computer 1
Since it is possible to freely switch between layouts and pages, an optimal input environment can be obtained for each vending machine model and each setting item.

Further, by providing storage means for setting programs and data in the host computer 1, the terminal 3
It is only necessary to have only a data input function and an operation command input function, and it is also possible to use a terminal such as a mobile phone which does not have many memories and arithmetic processing units by itself. . By using a mobile phone as a communication terminal, each vending machine itself does not need to be provided with a special communication function only by providing an interface for connection with the terminal, and the vending machine itself can be used. Can be simplified.

Further, since the setting program is arranged on the host computer 1 side, each vending machine can be connected to the vending machine 4 while the terminal 3 is disconnected from the vending machine 4. It is possible to set data for each vending machine in advance regardless of time or place, and then download the setting data to each vending machine. it can. Therefore, a terminal completely different from the terminal (mobile phone) connected to the host computer 1 can be connected to each vending machine to download data. For example, an administrator performing maintenance and inspection can check his / her own terminal. It is also possible to set data on the vending machine, download it from a salesman who patrols the installation location of each vending machine, and make settings for each vending machine.

[4. Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, the portable telephone itself is used as the terminal 3, but the portable telephone may be connected to a small computer called a mobile for a notebook personal computer to be used as the terminal. .
In that case, the screen of the terminal can be further enlarged, and the setting operation becomes easier. In addition, by providing a sufficient storage device in the terminal 3 itself, the setting data is downloaded from the host computer 1 to the terminal 3 in a countermeasure, and the setting data is stored in a state where the terminal is connected to the vending machine. It is also possible to transfer the data to a vending machine. This makes it possible to transfer data set on the host computer even to a vending machine installed at a location where radio waves from the mobile phone do not reach.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the program for creating the setting data of the vending machine is provided in the host computer, the setting data creating program is installed for each of a plurality of vending machines. There is no necessity, and such a program can be easily updated. Further, by using a program on the host computer, it is possible to use an input screen for setting which is easy to see and has excellent operability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functions of a host computer in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Host computer 2 ... Internet communication network 3 ... Terminal 4 ... Vending machine 10 ... Input Web page 11 ... Web page display part 12 ... Data processing part 13 ... Setting data file 14 ... Search processing part 15 ... Transmission part

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued from the front page F term (reference) 3E044 AA01 CA03 CB01 CB02 CB03 DB12 DE01 5B049 BB11 CC09 CC31 DD05 EE05 FF03 FF04 FF09 GG03 GG04 GG06 GG07 GG08 5B089 GA11 GA25 HA10 HA13 JA35 JB22 KA03 KA03

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A system for setting vending machine sales time and the like, comprising: a host computer provided with a setting data creating program for creating setting data of a vending machine; A terminal for causing the host computer to create setting data of the setting contents, and downloading and storing the created setting data; and receiving means for receiving the setting data from the terminal, and setting based on the setting data. A setting system for a vending machine, wherein the setting changing means for changing the setting is provided in the vending machine. 2. The vending machine setting system according to claim 1, wherein said host computer is accessible via the Internet. 3. The host computer is a Web server connected to the Internet, and a Web page display unit for displaying a data input Web page for inputting setting data of each vending machine on the Web server. A setting data file for storing setting data of each vending machine input through the data input Web page displayed by the Web page display section, and setting data relating to a predetermined vending machine in the setting data file are searched. The vending machine setting system according to claim 2, further comprising: a search processing unit; and a setting data transmitting unit that transmits the searched setting data to the terminal via the Internet. 4. The vending machine setting system according to claim 1, wherein said terminal is a portable telephone.