Input unit of an automatic vending machine

• US 4,608,487 A
• Filed: 03/23/1984
• Issued: 08/26/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1983
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fuji Electric Company Limited (Fuji Electric Systems Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Tokyo Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Satoshi, Hara, Seiji, Awane, Misao
• Primary Examiner(s): Trafton, David L.
• Application Number:
  US06/592,410
• Time in Patent Office: 886 Days
• Field of Search: 235/383, 235/462, 235/472, 235/375, 194/1 N, 222/2
• US Class Current: 235/383
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10881 constructional details of hand-held scanners
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/22 electrically actuated
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices

Abstract

An input unit adapted to input operation orders and set informations, necessary to automatic sales operations, into an automatic vending machine. The input unit is capable of easily coping with the changes in and the addition to the input contents, of easily and positively inputting the selling prices as the set information, of remarkably reducing the signal harness for input use into an automatic vending machine.

Claims

1. An input unit of an automatic vending machine comprising, in combination:

a bar sheet printed by given bar codes with selling prices to be set into an automatic vending machine;

a bar code reader of hand scanner type including a light emitting element adapted to sequentially apply its light on bars or spaces of said bar sheet through manual movement in accordance with the arrangement of the bars and spaces of said bar codes, and a photoelectric conversion element adapted to detect the light reflection amount from said light emitting element to output electric signals corresponding to the bar code;

means for converting the signals from said photoelectric conversion element into digital signals;

means for converting selling prices shown by said digital signals into codes recognizeable by the automatic vending machine; and

plurality of commodity selection switches corresponding to a plurality of selling columns, each of said commodity selection switches being adapted to select an applicable selling column for setting a sales price in a mode of said price setting.

3. An input unit of an automatic vending machine in accordance with claim 1, further comprising an input mode appointing switch being adapted to set the automatic vending machine into an input mode.

4. An input unit of an automatic vending machine as defined in claim 3, wherein said bar sheet includes bar codes printed thereon representing a command for setting a sales price, the output of bar codes showing the command being adapted to set said automatic vending machine into a sales price setting mode when said automatic vending machine is in the input mode.

5. An input unit of an automatic vending machine as defined in claim 3, wherein said bar sheet is printed with a bar code representing a command for setting each of all selling columns at the same sales price, the output of said bar code showing the command being adapted to set the automatic vending machine into a same sales price setting mode when said automatic vending machine is in the input mode.

6. An input unit of an automatic vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bar sheet is provided with bar codes display portion in which the selling prices is expressed in a plurality of black bars and the spaces among the bars, and direct-vision readable display portion in which alphanumeric display readable through the direct-vision readable display is provided near said bar code display portion, said direct-vision readable display portion being in a color by which a detection output similar to the space of said bar code is provided through said bar code reader.

2. An input unit of an automatic vending machine comprising, in combination,

a bar sheet printed by given bar codes representing a command for indicating total amount sold data,

a bar code reader of hand scanner type including a light emitting element adapted to sequentially apply its light on bars or spaces of said bar sheet through manual movement in accordance with the arrangement of the bars and spaces of said bar codes, and a photoelectric conversion element adapted to detect the light reflection amount from said light emitting element to output electric signals corresponding to the pattern of the bar code;

means for converting the signals from said photoelectric conversion element into digital signals;

means for converting selling prices shown by said digital signals into codes recognizeable by the automatic vending machine; and

a plurality of comodity selection switches corresponding to a plurality of selling columns, each of said commodity selection switches being adapted to select the applicable selling column for indicating total amount sold data onto an indicator.

7. An input unit of an automatic vending machine as defined in claim 7, further comprising an input mode appointing switch being adapted to set the automatic vending machine in an input mode.

8. An input unit of an automatic vending machine as defined in claim 7, wherein said bar sheet is printed thereon with bar codes representing a command for indicating total amount sold data, the output of said bar codes showing the command being adapted to set the automatic vending machine into a total amount sold data indication mode when said automatic vending is in the input mode.

9. An input unit for an automatic vending machine comprising, in combination:

a bar sheet printed with preselected bar codes with selling prices to be set into an automatic vending machine;

a bar code reader of the hand-scanner type including a light emitting element adapted to sequentially apply its light on bars or spaces of said bar sheet through manual movement in accordance with the arrangement of the bars and spaces of said bar codes, and a photoelectric conversion element adapted to detect the light reflection amount from said light emitting element to output electric signals corresponding to the pattern of the bar code;

means for converting the signals from said electric conversion element into digital signals;

means for converting the selling prices shown by said digital signals into codes recognizable by said automatic vending machine; and

means for specifying column setting said selling prices, said sales column to be set in price being specified by the commodity switches prices operated by a customer during purchase.