JPH04253294A - Remote collecting system for state information for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the remote collection of the state information of an automatic vending machine by executing the data communication of cellular radio communication with a center. CONSTITUTION:A central control part 1 is equipped with a storage circuit 11 to store and hold the kind and amount of merchandise purchased by a customer 200 and the time, and these kinds of information is held within required time. At every fixed time, the stock amount of each kind of merchandise, the condition of change, information concerning the fault information of equipments, report time and recognition number of the automatic vending machine or the like at that point of time are added to the information stored in the storage circuit 11, and an information message is edited and dispatched to a cellular radio communication control part 6. The cellular radio communication control part 6 transmits the information message through a cellular radio communication network to the sales information collection center. On the other hand, when it is instructed from the sales information collection center to stop the vending of the automatic vending machine, to set the temperature of merchandise or to change the advertisement display of the automatic vending machine, corresponding to the instruction, the central control part 1 controls equipments.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for remotely collecting status information of vending machines.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, information regarding the status of a vending machine,
For example, information such as the remaining amount of products sold by the vending machine, the operating status of the vending machine, specifically whether the power is on or off, whether there is a power outage, whether there is a malfunction of the equipment, etc. It was only discovered when the staff of the vendor supplying the product made their rounds.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] For this reason, even if a particular product in a vending machine is sold out, it takes a long time for the product to be replenished, or the state of being out of change continues for a long time.
We could not avoid losing a valuable sales opportunity.

[0004]Furthermore, there is a problem in that the detection of equipment failures such as lights out, malfunctions of coolers in drinking water vending machines, etc. is delayed.

[0005] In order to solve these problems, it is conceivable to collect information remotely and take immediate action when a situation such as a sell-out occurs. For this purpose, it is possible to use a telephone line, but with this solution, it is necessary to connect a telephone line every time a vending machine is installed, and it is necessary to pay a fee for using the telephone line. Another problem arises in that it becomes impossible to move easily.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The remote collection system for vending machine status information of the present invention is capable of determining the remaining amount of products in a vending machine installed for the purpose of selling a plurality of types of products, and the amount of each product type. monitoring means for monitoring information regarding the state and sales status of the vending machine, including at least the sales volume, sales time, input amount, and change status; and storage means for accumulating the information collected and accumulated by the monitoring means; A call setting means for setting a call to an information collection center by data communication of cellular wireless communication, and a call setting means for setting a call to an information collection center using the information accumulated by the storage means and the information collection center set by the call setting means. The vending machine includes a reporting means for reporting to the information collection center via the information collection center, and a control means for controlling the vending machine by receiving instructions from the information collection center via data communication of cellular wireless communication.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, which shows one embodiment, there is shown an example of a configuration in which the present invention is applied to a soft drink vending machine. The vending machine 100 includes a central control section 1, a money transfer section 2, and a man-machine interface (operation section) 3.
, a product storage section 4, a product dispensing control section 5, a cellular wireless communication control section 6, a backup power source 61 during a power outage, and a cooler 7. When the customer 200 inserts a coin, information regarding the amount received from the money transfer section 2 is sent to the central control section 1 via the signal line 21. The central control unit 1 sends this amount to the customer 20 based on the display on the money transfer unit 2.
An instruction to indicate to 0 is given via the signal line 22. When the customer 200 specifies the type and quantity of the product using the operation unit 3, the central control unit 1 confirms via the signal line 41 that there is inventory in the product storage unit 4, and then sends the product to the product delivery control unit 5.
An instruction is given via the signal line 51 to pay out the product. When change is required, the money transfer unit 2 is instructed to return the change via the signal line 22. The central control unit 1 is a customer 200
The automatic vending machine is equipped with a memory circuit 11 that stores and retains the type, quantity, and time of products purchased by the vending machine, and this information is retained within the vending machine for a necessary period of time.

[0009] The central control unit 1 of the vending machine periodically updates the information stored in the storage circuit 11 with information regarding the inventory quantity of each product at that time, the status of change, the presence or absence of equipment failure information, and A contact message is edited by adding the time for reporting and the identification number of the vending machine itself, and this message is passed to the cellular radio communication control section 6. When the cellular radio communication control unit 6 receives the contact message, it requests a cellular radio communication network (not shown) to connect with the sales information collection center. The cellular radio communication control unit 6 confirms that the cellular radio communication network has established a connection with the sales information collection center, and transmits a contact message to the sales information collection center. If the communication port of the sales information collection center is communicating with another vending machine, the cellular wireless communication control unit 6 repeats the above process again after a certain period of time has elapsed. Carry out reporting of messages to the sales information collection center. On the other hand, when there is an instruction from the sales information collection center to stop or operate the vending machine, set product temperature, or change the advertisement display of the vending machine, the central control unit 1 controls the equipment accordingly.

0010

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention has the following effects.

(1) By using cellular wireless communication, inventory information, sales information, and information regarding the status of vending machines can be collected remotely without any special incidental work.

(2) By being able to collect inventory information of vending machines remotely, it is possible to know in advance that products are running low, thereby preventing inadvertent stockouts and preventing lost sales opportunities.

(3) The amount of information exchanged between the vending machine and the information collection center at one time is not very large. Therefore, relatively low-speed data communication can be used. This uses a small bandwidth for wireless communication, and the time required for each communication is extremely short, so even if a cellular wireless communication network, which is a public communication network, is used, the communication cost can be set low. In this sense, collecting information from vending machines is better than using wired communication.
The effectiveness can be increased by using wireless communication.

(4) It is meaningful that the collection of information is highly real-time, but on the other hand, the real-time nature is not such that every second counts. Considering this and the characteristics of the data to be communicated as described in the previous section, there is little need for the information collection center to be able to handle communication with many vending machines at the same time. In other words, as an information collection center, it is sufficient to prepare a small number of communication ports compared to the number of vending machines, and when communications from multiple vending machines overlap, it is enough to have one of the vending machines wait. In this sense as well, the use of cellular wireless communication is effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

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

[Explanation of symbols]

100 vending machine 1 Central control section 2 Money transfer department 3　　　　Operation section 4 Product storage section 5 Product payout control section 6 Cellular wireless communication control section 7 Product temperature control section 200 customers 11 Memory circuit 23 Display section 24 Coin receiving slot 25 Change return machine

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A vending machine that is installed for the purpose of selling multiple types of products and includes at least the remaining amount of products, sales volume by product type, sales time, input amount, and change status. monitoring means for monitoring information regarding the status and sales status of the computer; storage means for storing the information collected and accumulated by the monitoring means; a setting means, a reporting means for reporting the information accumulated by the storage means to the information collection center via a call between the information collection center set by the call setting means; 1. A method for remotely collecting status information of a vending machine, comprising: control means for controlling the vending machine by receiving an instruction via data communication of cellular wireless communication.