Beverage Supply Device Sales Counting Logic
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beverage supplying apparatuses struggle to accurately gauge the popularity of beverages, as cumulative sales data does not distinguish between continuous and intermittent sales, leading to inaccurate assessments of beverage popularity.
Innovation Solution
A beverage supplying apparatus that increments sales only when a beverage is supplied continuously for a predetermined period and the total amount exceeds a certain value, preventing incrementation during short continuous intervals or low total amounts, allowing for more precise tracking of sales.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If cumulative sales amount is calculated by totaling discharge time for each beverage, then it is easy to grasp which beverage sells well, but it cannot accurately reflect beverage popularity when sales amounts per sale differ
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cumulative sales calculation into two distinct metrics: number of sales (counting individual transactions) and cumulative sales amount (summing discharge times). This segmentation allows the system to provide both an easy-to-understand transaction count for popularity assessment and a detailed amount metric for financial tracking, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and measurement precision.
2Productivity
If the same beverage is supplied continuously with short intervals, then productivity is improved, but sales counting becomes inaccurate if each continuous supply is counted as separate sales
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by setting a predetermined period threshold before counting a sale. The control section monitors the interval between beverage discharges and only increments the sales count when the interval exceeds this predetermined period. This preliminary condition checking prevents multiple sales counts for continuous supplies while maintaining accurate productivity tracking.
3Quantity of substance
If sales are counted for every beverage discharge, then all sales are recorded, but intermittent supplies are incorrectly counted as continuous sales
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamics by making the sales counting condition adaptive based on time intervals. The control section dynamically evaluates whether the interval between discharges exceeds the predetermined period, allowing the system to differentiate between continuous supplies (short intervals, not counted as new sales) and intermittent supplies (long intervals, counted as new sales). This dynamic condition checking ensures accurate sales classification while maintaining complete recording of all discharges.
Data Source
AI summary
A beverage supply device is provided with: physical buttons for receiving an indicator operation indicating that a beverage selected from among the plurality of types of beverages is to be supplied; a control unit that causes a selected beverage to be discharged from a predetermined nozzle while one of the physical buttons is receiving an indicator operation; and a storage unit that stores the number of sales for each beverage. The control unit increases the number of sales for a beverage by one sale when the same beverage is supplied continuously and the interval during which the beverage is supplied continuously is longer than a predetermined period. The control unit does not increase the number of sales for a beverage when the interval during which the beverage is supplied continuously is shorter than a predetermined period.