AUTOMATIC VENDING MACHINE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress article disposal due to thermal deterioration in an automatic vending machine which has a preservation area divided into upper and lower parts and cools down or heats up the articles for selling them. SOLUTION: A normal temperature preservation storage area 4 and a heating/cooling preservation storage area 5 are divided. An operation means 16 compares: a sellout prediction time obtained by a stock number storage means 12 in the heating/cooling preservation storage area 5 and an average sales interval time measuring means 15; and a heatable remaining time obtained by a heatable time storage means 13 and a storage time measuring means 14. Then it is decided if the articles stored in the heating/cooling preservation storage area are to be sold out within the heatable time. By controlling a normal temperature article discharge means 7, the number of articles to be heated in the heating/cooling preservation storage area 5 is controlled, and the number of articles which are deteriorated by heating is suppressed. COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI