Vandal-Proof Tobacco Dispenser

Introduction

In 2012, an important company from Brescia, a leader in the production of machines for the outdoor sale of tobacco and related products, contacted us to jointly develop an innovative solution for controlling their equipment.

The solution needed to include both the management system (electronics with CPU, I/O, and software) and the video interface (display and touch).

From there, an important experience began for CJB, allowing us to acquire significant know-how.

The perfect HMI solution for outdoor applications

The main issue concerned the choice of the LCD display and the touch panel.

Let’s talk about the display.

For outdoor situations, even in direct sunlight, a high brightness LCD display was necessary.

The solutions available in 2012 were quite limited, so CJB undertook research on the best way to achieve what is known as “enhanced brightness” for LCD displays, essentially “how to increase the original brightness of an LCD display.”

We established a partnership, which is still active today, with a laboratory in Taiwan equipped with a clean room (where there is no dust or dirt).

We purchased batches of new displays (mainly from AUO), and these were completely disassembled in the clean room.

We analyzed the original LED backlight bars and redesigned them using high-efficiency LEDs.

We redesigned the internal light guide to ensure perfect backlight diffusion without halos.

We analyzed heat dissipation, increasing brightness from the typical 350 nits (cd/m²) to as much as 1500 nits.

We updated the display’s mechanical components.

We added a new dedicated LED driver to power the new LED bars (the original display driver was no longer usable because it provided insufficient current).

Once this was done, after reassembling the display (always in the clean room), we obtained an LCD with the same original optical characteristics but with brightness increased up to five times.

We conducted field test installations to evaluate the reliability of the solution, and we found no issues in terms of reliability and durability.

From there, we began producing LCD displays with “enhanced high brightness,” applying the same technology to LCDs of various sizes.

Today, we are capable of supplying displays from 7” to 32” and beyond, with brightness levels starting from 1000 cd/m² and higher.

Ultimately, the HMI project for outdoor machines has significantly enhanced CJB’s expertise in “brightness enhancement” for LCD displays.

Not to mention that this operation has allowed for extremely competitive costs.

The perfect solution for vandal-proof outdoor touchscreens

To ensure the robustness of the touch panel, we opted for non-PCAP technologies (such as those used in smartphone touchscreens) but rather a projective technology based on detecting variations in an electric field.

We selected touch panels with high thickness, even 8mm and beyond.

This choice was tested in a variety of environmental conditions where a standard PCAP touch panel would struggle to function properly:

• Spray
• Rainfall
• Flowing water streams
• Very thick gloves
• Dirt
• Ice on the surface
• Steam on the surface

The touch panels passed all tests and were adopted as our standard for outdoor applications.

The electronics

In 2012, we designed a multifunction control board for vending machines.

Based on NXP ARM processors, it integrated all the necessary peripherals for managing buyer recognition, payment processing, product dispensing, and more.

We produced thousands of these electronics until more recent ARM technologies led to a shift towards a multi-board architecture, where a high-performance CPU board could control multiple “slave” I/O boards for machine management.

The powerful CPU board allowed the display to be used not only for viewing and selecting available products but also for displaying animations, advertising videos, and more.

Meanwhile, outdoor vending machines gradually specialized in offering various types of products—not just tobacco or over-the-counter medicines but also phone top-ups and more.

The expertise acquired by CJB

Thanks to this project, which has been ongoing for several years now, CJB has acquired extensive expertise in:

• The production of high-brightness LCDs
• The selection of vandal-proof outdoor touchscreens that function in all kinds of environmental conditions
• Control electronics
• The management of payment devices, CNS reading, etc.
• The overall anti-vandalism management of the machine (intrusion detection)