Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Article handling
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-04
2001-10-23
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Article handling
C700S241000, C340S870030, C340S870030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308111
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information collecting system for an unattended merchandise selling machine/service providing machine such as a vending machine, which can wait on customers without human intervention in selling merchandise and providing services.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, merchandise selling machines/service providing machines that can wait on customers without human intervention, including, for example, card issuing machines and unattended repair reception machines for shoes and the like, as well as vending machines, have been widely used. It is important for vending machines and automatic service providing machines that wait on customers without human intervention to collect customer service data and machine abnormality occurrence data for replenishment of merchandise, sales management, measures against machine failures, and the like.
Consider vending machines hereinafter. To determine the number of goods to be delivered to each vending machine and a delivery route thereto, perform sales management, and determine measures against a faulty machine, information must be periodically collected from each vending machine. It takes much labor and time to manually perform this information collection. For this reason, for example, a telephone line may be connected to a vending machine or a specific low-power radio unit may be installed to perform telephone line connection at a remote place, thereby allowing information collection using the telephone line. Alternatively, information collection may be performed by using dedicated radio services using tele-terminals, MCA radio units, and the like. With this operation, information can be collected without human intervention. In these methods, however, it takes much labor and high cost to lay telephone lines to vending machines, or high initial costs or running costs are required for the machines.
Under the circumstances, an information collecting apparatus for a vending machine is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-154135, which uses a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) that covers a narrow area but is designed for personal use at low cost. The information collecting apparatus for the vending machine disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-154135 will be described below with reference to
FIGS. 1
to
4
.
FIG. 4
is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of a vending machine
109
used for this information collecting system. As shown in
FIG. 4
, the vending machine
109
includes a selling apparatus
112
and a coin processing apparatus
113
, and forms an automatic merchandise selling mechanism. The selling apparatus
112
and the coin processing apparatus
113
are connected to a central processing unit (CPU)
110
through an interface
111
. The central processing unit
110
controls the operations of the selling apparatus
112
and the coin processing apparatus
113
in accordance with programs. In addition, a ROM
114
storing operation programs, a RAM
115
, and an information communication apparatus
116
are connected to the central processing unit
110
through a bus line
117
. The RAM
115
has a transmission data storage section
115
a
for storing transmission data such as sales data, out-of-stock information, failure information, and abnormality information. The central processing unit
110
totalizes sales in the vending machine
109
and stores the resultant data in the transmission data storage section
115
a
every time a sale is made, or stores out-of-stock information, failure information, or the like in the transmission data storage section
115
a
upon detection of a corresponding state.
FIG. 2
is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of a PHS terminal apparatus
101
mounted in the vending machine
109
. As shown in
FIG. 2
, the PHS terminal apparatus
101
includes a control section
102
having a CPU
102
a,
a ROM
102
b,
and a RAM
102
c,
a radio section
103
, a vending machine interface
104
, a speech codec
105
, and a speech band modem
106
. The vending machine interface
104
is connected to the control section
102
to allow communication with the information communication apparatus
116
(see
FIG. 1
) of the vending machine
109
, and is designed to receive transmission data such as sales data, out-of-stock information, failure information, and abnormality information from the vending machine
109
. Upon reception of transmission data from the vending machine
109
through the vending machine interface
104
, the control section
102
performs control to convert the data into speech data through the speech band modem
106
, convert this modem signal into a signal that can be transmitted by the PHS through the speech codec
105
, and perform radio data transmission through the radio section
103
.
FIG. 3
shows an information collecting system for a vending machine, which implements a combination of PHS transmission and telephone line transmission by using the vending machine
109
and the PHS terminal apparatus
101
shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. The PHS terminal apparatus
101
mounted in the vending machine
109
transmits/receives data to/from a PHS base station
107
. The PHS base station
107
transmits/receives data to/from a center
120
through a telephone line
118
. In this case, the PHS base station
107
can use a center originating scheme in which the center
120
collects sales data from the vending machine
109
at the fixed time and a terminal originating scheme in which failure information, out-of-stock information, or abnormality information is transmitted from the vending machine
109
to the center
120
in real time. In the center originating scheme, by collecting sales data and failure information at the fixed time at night, the number of goods to be delivered to each vending machine, a delivery route thereto, and a measure against a faulty machine on the next day can be determined. In the terminal originating scheme, since transmission can be performed upon occurrence of a failure or abnormality, the failure or abnormality can be instantly handled, thereby shortening the time during which sales cannot be performed.
FIG. 4
shows an information collecting system for a vending machine, which uses the vending machine
109
and the PHS terminal apparatus
101
in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, but does not use any telephone line. The PHS terminal apparatus
101
transmits/receives data to/from a portable PHS terminal apparatus
121
. The portable PHS terminal apparatus
121
has the same arrangement as that of the PHS terminal apparatus
101
shown in
FIG. 1
, and includes a control section
102
, a radio section
103
, a speech codec
105
, and a speech band modem
106
. The portable PHS terminal apparatus
121
can transmit/receive data to/from the PHS terminal apparatus
101
within its transmission/reception area. The manager of the vending machines
109
can therefore collect data from all the vending machines
109
within the transmission/reception area without approaching any vending machines
109
. When the radio section
103
receives a data signal from the vending machine
109
through the PHS terminal apparatus
101
, the portable PHS terminal apparatus
121
stores the signal data in the memory (RAM
102
c
) of the control section
102
.
A concrete example of an information collecting system using the portable PHS terminal apparatus
121
will be described below. The manager of the vending machine
109
may collect data from the PHS terminal apparatus
101
mounted in the vending machine
109
into the portable PHS terminal apparatus
121
while driving a merchandise delivery car
122
, and may unload and deliver necessary goods from the merchandise delivery car
122
to the vending machine
109
on the basis of the collected data. In this case, the portable PHS terminal apparatus
121
preferably has the function of processing various types of information stored in the memory of the control section
102
and displaying the resultan
Ellis Christopher P.
Foley & Lardner
NEC Corporation
Tran Khoi H.
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