JPH06111103A - Optical signal transmitter/receiver for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve operability and to reduce cost in the case of executing the setting operation of an automatic vending machine by means of an operating device such as a remote controller. CONSTITUTION:A phototransistor(PTR) 1a and a light emitting diode 1j are arranged on an empty space around 7-segment LEDs 1g-1 and an LED lamp 1g-2 for displaying the lacking of changes out of amount displays 1q arranged on a door constituting the front of an automatic vending machine. A setting signal for an optical signal transmitted from the operating device is received by the PTR 1a and a vending machine side setting status signal is transmitted from the diode 1j so that the setting status can be checked on the operating device side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention receives a setting signal transmitted by an optical signal from an operating device such as a remote controller to an automatic vending machine and receives an optical signal indicating the setting status of the automatic vending machine. The present invention relates to an optical signal transmission / reception device of a vending machine for transmitting at.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an automatic vending machine is provided with an operation section for instructing setting operations such as price setting, time setting, etc., sales test, inspection, sales totalization, etc. It is connected to the control section provided inside the by a cord. When performing these operations, open the door that forms the front of the vending machine, pull out the operation unit, and use the product selection button and the operation unit that are provided on the surface of the door to make various settings such as price setting. Was becoming.

However, in such a conventional vending machine, the door is opened halfway when the operating portion is pulled out from the inside of the main body of the vending machine, and various settings can be made in an unstable state of the door. I had no choice but to work.

Therefore, it is conceivable that the operation unit is made wireless by transmitting a setting signal from the operation unit to the control unit by wireless communication and causing the control unit to perform processing according to the setting signal. In addition, if the information on the vending machine side when the setting operation is performed can be transmitted to the operation unit side and the setting status can be confirmed by the hand of the operation unit, the operability is further improved.

As described above, when radio waves are used to transmit the setting signal from the operation unit and the information from the vending machine, even if there is a shield between the vending machine and the operation unit. Although it can be used, there is a disadvantage in that the operation section and the vending machine need to be provided with a radio wave transmission section and a radio wave reception section, respectively, which increases the cost. Also, setting work that requires comparison with sample products, such as changing price settings, is not compatible with remote control, and there is no need to use radio waves.

[0006]

Therefore, it is conceivable to use an optical signal such as infrared ray for transmission / reception between the operation unit and the control unit, but the optical signal directs the light emitting unit on the transmitting side to the light receiving unit on the receiving side. Since it is necessary to perform transmission / reception by using the operation unit, it is necessary to arrange the light receiving unit and the light emitting unit at appropriate places on the vending machine side in consideration of operating the operation unit at hand. Further, when arranging such components, it is necessary to reduce the cost so that a large design change is not required on the conventional vending machine side.

The present invention improves the operability such as setting work of an automatic vending machine by utilizing an optical signal between the operating device and the automatic vending machine, and receives the setting signal on the automatic vending machine side. An object is to reduce the cost of an optical signal transmitter / receiver for transmitting a setting status signal indicating a setting status from a vending machine.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An optical signal transmitting / receiving apparatus for a vending machine according to the present invention, which has been made to solve the above problems, comprises:
An optical signal transmission / reception device of a vending machine for receiving a setting signal transmitted by an optical signal from an operating device that performs a setting operation of the vending machine, and transmitting a setting status signal from the vending machine, A light receiving element for receiving the setting signal transmitted by the optical signal and a light emitting element for transmitting the setting status signal by the optical signal are provided in the amount display section on the front of the vending machine, and the opening of the amount display section is provided. It is characterized in that it is arranged in the window as desired.

[0009]

The optical signal transmitting / receiving device of the vending machine of the present invention receives the optical signal by the light receiving element when the setting signal is transmitted as the optical signal from the operating device when the setting operation of the vending machine is performed. When the setting processing according to the setting signal is performed, the setting status signal indicating the setting status of the vending machine is transmitted from the light emitting element as an optical signal. The light-receiving element and the light-emitting element are arranged in the amount display portion on the front of the vending machine as desired in the opening window of the amount display portion. That is, the light receiving element and the light emitting element can be arranged using the money amount display window that is also provided in the conventional vending machine. Further, since the money amount display window is located in a place where it is easy to visually recognize, it is easy to point the operating device at the light receiving element and the light emitting element, and the operability is good.

[0010]

FIG. 2 is a front view of an automatic vending machine equipped with the optical signal transmitting / receiving device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a front view of a remote control device as an operating device. The setting operation of the display and the like is performed by the remote control operation of the remote control device 2, and the setting status of the vending machine 1 and the sales total are displayed on the remote control device 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the door A of the vending machine 1 is shown.
On the surface of the, a selection button 1b for selecting the type of cigarette to be purchased, a bulk buying button 1c, a bill insertion slot 1
d, coin slot 1e, return lever 1f, amount indicator 1
g, a return port 1h and a take-out port 1i are provided.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a display panel of an amount display 1g. The display panel displays a 4-digit 7-segment LED 1g-1, 10 yen, and 100 yen, which are out of change. 2 LED lamps to do
g-2, connector 1g- for supplying drive signals to 7-segment LED 1g-1 and LED lamp 1g-2
3 are provided.

Further, a phototransistor 1a as a light receiving element for receiving an infrared light signal from the remote control device 2 is disposed beside the 7-segment LED 1g-1, and a light receiving output of the phototransistor 1a is taken out above the phototransistor 1a. Connector 1a-1 is provided. Furthermore, above it, a light emitting diode 1j as a light emitting element for transmitting a setting status signal from a vending machine by an infrared light signal.
And a connector 1j-1 for inputting a signal to the light emitting diode 1j.

A smoke lens is provided on the front surface of the display panel so that various parts cannot be seen directly from the outside and the 7-segment LE is used.
The display of D1g-1 and the LED lamp 1g-2 is supposed to have good visibility without washout. However, this smoke lens transmits infrared light, and does not prevent the phototransistor 1a from receiving infrared light and the light emitting diode 1j from transmitting infrared light. As a result, the money amount indicator 1g constitutes a light receiving portion and a light emitting portion on the vending machine 1 side.

As shown in FIG. 5, a light projecting / receiving window 2a is formed at the tip of the remote controller 2.
A light emitting diode 2b for transmitting an optical signal to the light receiving portion (phototransistor 1a) of the vending machine 1 and a phototransistor 2c for receiving the optical signal from the vending machine 1 are provided inside the light emitting / receiving window 2a. Are arranged in a desired state.

On the operation surface of the remote controller 2, there are various operation keys such as keys for setting operations such as inspection, price setting, column setting, sales totalization, sales test, movement test, and fault recovery, and other cursor keys. 2d is arranged,
Further, a display device 2e composed of a liquid crystal display panel for displaying the setting status is provided. The remote controller 2 is a portable remote controller that is supplied with power from a household power source through an AC adapter (not shown) and is driven by an internal rechargeable battery or dry battery.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the main part of the remote control device 2. In FIG. 4, the operation control unit 21 is composed of a microcomputer, and controls the operation of the remote control device 2 while using the working area of the storage unit 22 based on a control program stored in a memory (not shown).

The arithmetic control unit 21 detects the operation of the operation key 2d by the key input unit 23 and, at the same time, detects the operation key 2d.
The command data designating the setting operation according to the operation is output to the optical modulator 24, the command data is modulated by the optical modulator 24 into a setting signal of a predetermined format, and the light emitting diode 2b transmits it as an infrared optical signal. To do. Also,
The arithmetic and control unit 21 uses the display output unit 25 to display the display device 2e.
Control.

When the optical demodulator 26 receives the optical signal from the vending machine 1 with the phototransistor 2c, the optical demodulator 26 demodulates the received signal into received data, holds the received data, and sends the received signal to the operation controller 21. Is sent. The arithmetic control unit 21 receives the reception generation signal from the optical demodulation unit 26, fetches the reception data, and displays the data on the display 2e according to the contents of the setting status of the reception data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of essential parts of the vending machine. In FIG. 3, the system control unit 11 is composed of a microcomputer, and controls the deposit control unit 12, the customer service control unit 13 and the sales control unit 14 based on a control program stored in a memory (not shown) to control the deposit. The section 12 performs operations such as selection of inserted coins, identification of inserted banknotes, and discharge of change. Further, the customer service control unit 13 performs processing such as display of the amount of money to be paid and change out of money on the amount display 1g, or product selection input by button operation by the customer, and the sales control unit 14 discharges the selected product or the like. Control.

Phototransistor 1a of money display 1g
The received light output of is input to the optical demodulation unit 15, and the optical demodulation unit 15 demodulates the optical signal received by the phototransistor 1a into received data and outputs the received data to the optical signal control unit 16.
When receiving the reception data from the optical demodulation unit 6, the unit 6 holds the reception data and sends a reception generation signal to the system control unit 11. The system control unit 11 receives the reception generation signal from the optical signal control unit 16 and takes in the reception data, and controls the setting operation according to the content of the command data interpreted from the reception data.

On the other hand, when the setting signal from the remote controller 2 is input and the setting operation is performed, the system control section 11 sends the data of the current setting status to the optical signal control section 16. The optical signal control unit 16 performs signal control such as converting the data output from the system control unit 11 into transmission data of a predetermined format, and sends the transmission data to the optical modulation unit 17. Then, the light wave modulator 17 modulates the transmission data into an optical signal of a predetermined format, and emits it as an infrared optical signal by the light emitting diode 1j.

The setting signal transmitted from the remote controller 2 is a 1-byte leader code (start code),
It consists of a 2-byte custom code (maker-specific code) and a 2-byte data code (key data).
This 5-byte signal is transmitted within 108 msec.
The setting status signal transmitted from the vending machine 1 is 88
It is a byte signal and is transmitted in about 2 seconds.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the control of the system control unit 11 in the vending machine 1, and FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the control of the arithmetic control unit 21 in the remote control device 2. The operation will be described.

As shown in FIG. 7, the operation control unit 21 in the remote control device 2 has the optical demodulation unit 26 in step S21.
Whether or not the setting status data has been received is determined based on the output of the setting status. If the setting status data is received, the setting screen is displayed by the display device 2e in step S22, and step S2
Return to 1.

If no setting status data is received in step S21, it is determined in step S23 based on the output of the key input unit 23 whether or not there is a key input by the operation key 2d. If there is no key input, step S25. With display 2e
The standby screen is displayed by and the process returns to step S21,
If there is a key input, command data for setting operation corresponding to the operated key is transmitted as an optical signal as a setting signal in step S24, and the process returns to step S21.

As shown in FIG. 6, the system controller 11 in the vending machine 1 determines whether or not there is a setting signal based on the output of the optical signal controller 16 in step S11, and the setting signal is received. For example, in step S12, the command is decoded from the command data of the setting signal, and the setting process according to the decoded command, such as the price setting process, is performed.
In step S11, the data of the setting status is transmitted by an optical signal.
Return to.

If the setting signal is not received in step S11, it is determined in step S14 whether or not a coin or a bill is inserted, and if not inserted, the process directly returns to step S11. If a coin or bill is inserted, it is determined in step S15 whether or not there is an input for product selection. If there is no product selection, the process directly returns to step S11. If there is a product selection, the product selected in step S16 is sold ( (Emission), sales are totaled in step S17, and the process returns to step S11.

8 to 10 show the display 2 of the remote controller 2.
It is a figure which shows the example of a display by e, and FIG. 8 is step S25.
5 is a display example of a standby screen by. FIG. 9 shows a display example when the sales total key is operated. First, the total result of the first column is displayed, and when the cursor key "▽" is pressed, the total result of the next column is displayed.

FIG. 10 shows a display example when setting a price. When the price setting key is operated, a display prompting the insertion of coins is displayed, and when the coins of the price to be set in the vending machine 1 are inserted, the inserted amount of money. Is displayed, and when the selection button 1b of the product for which this display amount (220 yen in this example) is set is pressed, the price of the product is set to this display amount.

As described above, since the remote control device 2 and the vending machine 1 communicate with each other by an optical signal, the setting work can be performed with the door A closed and the operability is good. Become. Further, neither the remote control device nor the vending machine need be provided with the radio wave transmitting unit and the receiving unit, and the cost can be reduced. Further, since the light receiving part and the light projecting part of the vending machine 1 are provided inside the amount indicator 2g of the door A, it is necessary to secure a dedicated space such as providing the light receiving part and the light projecting part in different places. Not only that, but the light receiving part and the light projecting part are in proper positions, and the operability is further improved.

[0032]

As described above, according to the optical signal transmitting / receiving device of the vending machine of the present invention, the automatic vending machine and the operating device such as the remote controller communicate with each other by an optical signal to perform the setting operation of the vending machine. In order to do so, the light receiving element for receiving the setting signal from the operating device and the light emitting element for transmitting the setting status signal of the vending machine are provided in the opening window of the price display section of the vending machine. , The light receiving element and the light emitting element can be arranged by using the money amount display window which is also provided in the conventional vending machine, and the money amount indicator is located in a place where it is easy to visually recognize the operation device. Thus, it becomes easier to direct the light emitting element, and the operability is improved at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a panel surface of an amount display in an automatic vending machine equipped with an optical signal transmitting / receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a main part of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a main part of a remote control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the remote control device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart on the vending machine side in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart on the remote controller side in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a standby screen in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of sales total amount in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example at the time of price setting in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vending machine 1a Phototransistor 1j Light emitting diode 2 Remote control device (operating device)

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Katsuya Miyamori 111 Okubo-cho, Okubo-cho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo Akashi Factory

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An optical signal transmission / reception of a vending machine for receiving a setting signal transmitted as an optical signal from an operating device for performing a setting operation of the vending machine and transmitting a setting status signal from the vending machine. A device, wherein a light-receiving element for receiving a setting signal transmitted by the optical signal and a light-emitting element for transmitting the setting status signal by an optical signal are provided in an amount display unit on a front surface of a vending machine. An optical signal transmission / reception device for a vending machine, characterized in that the optical signal transmission / reception device is arranged in an opening window of an amount display portion as desired.