JP4288864B2 - Vending machine product unloading device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a product unloading device of a vending machine, and more specifically, a product (a product of a can beverage or a plastic bottle beverage) having a different shape and outer diameter without adjusting a product passage size such as a serpentine product rack. This relates to a product unloading device for vending machines capable of selling
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, various vending machine product carry-out devices have been provided, which are also disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-295384. These vending machine carry-out devices are provided at the lower part of the product passage with a main flap for receiving the lowest product and a sub-flap that is located above and receives the second product from the bottom when carried out. The carry-out of the product is controlled by alternately projecting these flaps to the product passage side.
[0003]
That is, since these product carry-out devices regulate the product passage dimensions depending on the presence or absence of the protrusion of the flap (the amount of protrusion is always constant), when selling products with different shapes and outer diameters, In order to cope with this problem, a member that regulates the width of the passage is separately provided in the product passage, or a dedicated product carry-out device adapted to the product dimensions is provided.
[0004]
However, as is well known, since containers of can beverages and plastic bottle beverages are distributed in various shapes and outer diameters, if a product having a different shape or the like is sold, The size of the product passage must be adjusted, which is troublesome, and depending on the shape of the container, there is a problem that it may not be suitable for the mechanism of the product carry-out device and may not be sold.
[0005]
Accordingly, the applicant of the present application, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-140853, has provided a product unloading device for a vending machine that can sell products having different shapes and outer diameters without adjusting the product passage dimensions. Hereinafter, this commodity carry-out device will be described.
[0006]
FIG. 12 is a rear perspective view showing the product unloading device of the vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-140853, FIG. 13 is a front perspective view showing the product unloading device of the vending machine, and FIG. FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing a sales standby state of a small-diameter product, FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales state of a small-diameter product, and FIG. 17 is a sales state of a large-diameter square product. It is explanatory drawing.
[0007]
The board | substrate 1 is arrange | positioned at the lower part of the merchandise rack which is not shown in figure, and forms one surface of a merchandise path. A product outlet adjusting plate 20 is disposed on the other surface of the product passage, and the product passage is set to a size that can accommodate a large-diameter product. The substrate 1 is provided with openings 1a and 1b. On the back surface of the substrate 1, a pair of bearing portions 1c are erected on both side edges of the opening 1a. The bearing portion 1c is provided with a long hole 1d for slidably holding the shaft 3 of the upper pedal 2. A cover member 17 is provided on the back surface of the substrate 1 along the operation range of the carrier 7.
[0008]
The upper pedal 2 is formed so as to be movable forward and backward from the opening 1a toward the product passage, and is for supporting the second product from the bottom among the products stacked in the product passage. The upper pedal 2 is screwed into a napier screw member 6 that is rotated by a motor unit 25 having a gear box, and is connected to a carrier 7 that moves up and down along this via a spring 10. It is formed so as to advance and retreat from the opening 1a.
[0009]
The opening 1 a is provided with a receiving portion 1 g that comes into contact with the back surface of the upper pedal 2. The opening 1a is provided at a position where the product G2 that is in contact with both the bottom product G supported by the lower pedal 4 and the substrate 1 can be advanced and retracted without being obstructed by this. Here, the product G1 is located immediately above the product G, and the product G2 is located diagonally with respect to the product G.
[0010]
The carrier 7 includes a screw hole 7a that is screwed into the Napier screw member 6 and a pin 7b that connects the lower end portion of the spring 10, and resists the tension of the spring 11 via the shaft holding member 8 when the carrier 7 is lowered. It is formed to press. Further, when the carrier 7 is raised, the stopper shaft 9 is moved upward by the tension of the spring 11. The stopper shaft 9 is held by a shaft holding member 8 and is connected to the bearing portion 1 e by a spring 11. The shaft holding member 8 has a long hole (not shown), and is held by the bearing portion 1e so as to be vertically movable by a stepped screw or the like (not shown) inserted through the long hole.
[0011]
The self-propelled switch 13 is for detecting the standby position of the carrier 7. The lower pedal 4 is for supporting the first product from the bottom among the products stacked in the product passage, and is rotatably supported by the shaft 5 provided on the bearing portion 1e on the back surface of the opening 1b. Has been. The fan-shaped stopper portion 4a provided on the back surface of the lower pedal 4 is for contacting the stopper shaft 9 that slides up and down in the elongated hole 1f of the bearing portion 1e, thereby restricting the rotation range of the lower pedal 4. Is.
[0012]
In other words, when the stopper shaft 9 is positioned above the long hole 1f, the stopper portion 4a and the stopper shaft 9 are pressed against each other to restrict the opening of the lower pedal 4 (see FIG. 15). On the other hand, when the stopper shaft 9 is positioned below the elongated hole 1f, the pressure contact between the stopper portion 4a and the stopper shaft 9 is released, and the lower pedal 4 is formed to be opened by a product load (see FIG. 16). .
[0013]
When the product G is sold out and the product load is no longer applied to the lower pedal 4, the spring 12 is biased to return to the closed state. The sold-out state of the product is detected by a sold-out switch (not shown) provided at the base of the lower pedal 4.
[0014]
Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. In the sales standby state, it is as shown in FIG. In response to a sales command from a main control unit (not shown), the motor unit 25 is operated and the Napier screw member 6 rotates, whereby the carrier 7 starts to descend, and the upper pedal 2 connected to the spring 10 is connected to the opening 1a from the opening 1a. When it protrudes and its tip comes into contact with the first product from the bottom, it enters a sales start state.
[0015]
Even after the upper pedal 2 comes into contact with the first product from the bottom, the carrier 7 continues to descend while extending the spring 10 and presses the shaft holding member 8. As shown in FIG. 16, when the carrier 7 is lowered to the lower limit position, the shaft holding member 8 pushes down the stopper shaft 9, so that the contact with the stopper portion 4a of the lower pedal 4 is released, the lower pedal 4 is opened, and the lower pedal 4 is opened. The first product will fall.
[0016]
When the product falls, the upper pedal 2 protrudes to the maximum extent by the tension of the extended spring 10 and supports the next product. That is, since the upper pedal 2 protrudes following the dropping operation of the first product from the bottom, even a product having a diameter much smaller than the product passage size can be reliably supported.
[0017]
Thereafter, the lower pedal 4 returns to the standby position shown in FIG. Since the carrier 7 is lifted by the rotation of the napier screw member 6, the upper pedal 2 is pushed up to be retracted into the opening 1a and returned to the standby position.
[0018]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since the protruding portion of the upper pedal 2 is regulated by the receiving portion 1g and the product load applied to the upper pedal 2 is supported, a certain area is required to withstand a predetermined load. . Therefore, there has been a problem that it has not been possible to meet the recent demand for thinner devices and is not necessarily suitable for mass production.
[0019]
This invention is made in view of the above, Comprising: It aims at providing the goods carrying-out apparatus of the vending machine which can guide the protrusion direction of an upper pedal appropriately between goods.
[0020]
Another object of the present invention is to provide a merchandise carry-out device for a vending machine that can respond to a request for thinning the device.
[0021]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-described object, a product carry-out device for a vending machine according to claim 1 of the present invention is provided at a lower end portion of a product passage and forms a wall of one of the product passages, and the substrate. A lower pedal that supports the product located at the lowermost end, and an upper pedal that is formed so as to protrude from the opening of the substrate and supports the product located second from the bottom. The top pedal is located on the side of the product located second from the bottom when in the sales standby state, and on the side of the product passage following the opening operation of the lower pedal at the time of sale. In the product unloading device of the vending machine formed so as to protrude to a position where the product can be supported even when the product with the smallest diameter filling the product passage is arranged as the second product from the bottom. The upper pedal is The upper edge of the opening and out, is provided with a guide projection which projects into the product passage side.
[0022]
As a result, the posture of the second product from the bottom guided by the guide protrusion is controlled, and it is possible to prevent the position of the product from being too close to the opening side, so that a protruding space of the upper pedal can be secured. Accordingly, the protruding direction of the upper pedal can be appropriately guided between the products, and the product can be prevented from being clogged.
[0023]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the commodity carry-out device for the vending machine, wherein a shaft for restricting the protruding direction of the upper pedal is provided behind the guide protrusion so as to be in contact with the back surface of the upper pedal. It is a thing. Thereby, the protrusion direction of the upper pedal can be appropriately guided between the products, and the request for thinning the apparatus can be met.
[0024]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a product carry-out device for a vending machine according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.
[0025]
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a sales standby state of a product carry-out device of a vending machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view showing the product carry-out device, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the product carry-out device, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an operation example when the guide protrusion is not provided, and FIG. 6 is a posture control of the rectangular product by the guide protrusion. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example. In the following description, members that are the same as or correspond to those already described are denoted by the same reference numerals, redundant description of the basic configuration and operation is omitted, and only different portions will be described.
[0026]
The upper pedal 2 is connected to the carrier 7 via a connecting member 14 that is slidably formed on the substrate 1. The upper pedal stopper mechanism portion 30 advances and retreats from the opening 1a in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the upper pedal 2, supports the upper pedal 2 from the back surface, and can receive a product load. The lower pedal stopper mechanism 50 is formed so that the lower pedal 4 is opened by contact when the carrier 7 is lowered, and the lower pedal 4 is kept closed at other times. The position detection switch 60 detects the start and end of the operation of the carrier 7. The sold-out switch 70 detects the sale of the product G by detecting the opening / closing operation of the actuator 76.
[0027]
A guide protrusion 1h protruding toward the product passage is provided at the upper edge of the opening 1a from which the upper pedal 2 protrudes, and behind the guide protrusion 1h, the guide protrusion 1h is disposed so as to be in contact with the back surface of the upper pedal 2. A shaft 16 for restricting the protruding direction of the upper pedal 2 is provided.
[0028]
As apparent from comparison between FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, according to the commodity carry-out device of the vending machine according to the first embodiment, the protrusion space of the upper pedal 2 is increased by providing the guide protrusion 1 h. The upper pedal 2 can be reliably projected between the first product and the second product from the bottom.
[0029]
Also, as shown in FIG. 6, by rotating a square large-diameter product in the direction of the thick arrow and controlling the posture, it can be reliably dropped onto the lower pedal 4, and product clogging and the like can be effectively prevented. . Furthermore, by providing the shaft 16, the protruding direction of the upper pedal 2 can be restricted with a simple configuration, and it is possible to meet the demand for a thinner device.
[0030]
Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a sales standby state of the product carry-out device of the vending machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is the second product from the bottom immediately after selling the first product from the bottom. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a product held by retreating the upper pedal is dropped onto the lower pedal, and FIG. 10 is a guide projection. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the second product from the bottom is subjected to attitude control and falls onto the first product from the bottom, and FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales standby state.
[0031]
In the second embodiment, the product outlet passage plate 80 is provided with a biasing means so that the second rectangular product G from the bottom is biased toward the substrate 1 and the posture is more reliably controlled by the guide protrusion 1h side. It is provided. That is, the product outlet passage plate 80 includes a leaf spring 80a that urges the final segment 82 toward the substrate 1 and a flapper 80b that is urged to rotate toward the substrate 1 side.
[0032]
Next, the operation will be described. From the sales standby state (see FIG. 7), the lower pedal 4 is released to sell the first product G from the bottom, and at the same time, the upper pedal 2 protrudes to hold the next product G (see FIG. 8). Then, the lower pedal 4 is closed and the upper pedal 2 is retracted (see FIG. 9).
[0033]
Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the product G held by the upper pedal 2 falls on the lower pedal 4, and further the product G indicated by the imaginary line above falls. At this time, since the product G indicated by the imaginary line is urged toward the substrate 1 by the segment 82 urged by the leaf spring 80a, the product G falls while coming into contact with the substrate 1 and is guided to the guide protrusion 1h. In addition, the guide protrusion 1h reliably guides the product outlet passage plate 80 and enters the sales standby state shown in FIG.
[0034]
Further, when the product G is guided to the product outlet passage plate 80 side by the guide protrusion 1h, the product G is also urged by the flapper 80b, and more stable posture control is possible by a so-called damper effect.
[0035]
As described above, according to the commodity carry-out device of the vending machine according to the second embodiment, when the second square commodity G from the bottom is dropped by the guide protrusion 1h, the last-stage segment 82, and the flapper 80b. The position of the upper pedal 2 can be controlled to prevent the product from clogging more reliably.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the commodity carry-out device of the vending machine according to the present invention (Claim 1), the substrate disposed at the lower end portion of the commodity passage and forming one inner wall of the commodity passage, and the substrate A lower pedal that supports the product located at the lowermost end, and an upper pedal that is formed so as to protrude from the opening of the substrate and supports the product located second from the bottom. The top pedal is located on the side of the product located second from the bottom when in the sales standby state, and on the side of the product passage following the opening operation of the lower pedal at the time of sale. In the product unloading device of the vending machine formed so as to protrude to a position where the product can be supported even when the product with the smallest diameter filling the product passage is arranged as the second product from the bottom. The upper pedal is At the upper edge portion of the opening to be extended, a guide projection that protrudes toward the product passage is provided, so that the posture of the second product from the bottom guided by the guide projection is controlled, and the product It is possible to prevent the position from being too close to the opening side. Therefore, the protruding space of the upper pedal can be secured, and product clogging can be prevented.
[0037]
Further, according to the commodity carry-out device of the vending machine according to the present invention (Claim 2), it is arranged behind the guide protrusion so as to be able to contact the back surface of the upper pedal, and restricts the protruding direction of the upper pedal. Since the shaft is provided, it is possible to appropriately guide the protruding direction of the upper pedal between the products, and it is possible to meet the demand for a thinner device.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales standby state of a product carry-out device for a vending machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view showing the product carry-out device.
FIG. 3 is a front perspective view showing the product carry-out device.
FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the product carry-out device.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation example when no guide protrusion is provided.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of posture control of a rectangular product by a guide protrusion.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a sales standby state of the commodity carry-out device of the vending machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the second product from the bottom is held by the upper pedal immediately after selling the first product from the bottom.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a product held by retreating the upper pedal is dropped onto the lower pedal.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the second product from the bottom is subjected to posture control by the guide protrusion and dropped onto the first product from the bottom.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales standby state.
FIG. 12 is a rear perspective view showing a product carry-out device of a vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-140853.
FIG. 13 is a front perspective view showing a product carry-out device of a vending machine.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a receiving portion of a substrate opening.
FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing a sales standby state of a small-diameter product.
FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales state of small-diameter products.
FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales state of a large-diameter square product.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Board | substrate 1a Opening part 1h Guide protrusion 2 Upper pedal 4 Lower pedal 6 Napier screw member 7 Carrier G Goods 14 Connection member 16 Shaft 21 Goods passage inner wall 25 Motor unit 30 Upper pedal stopper mechanism part 50 Lower pedal stopper mechanism part 60 Position detection switch 70 Solder switch 76 Actuator 80 Product outlet passage plate 80a Leaf spring 80b Flapper 82 Segment

Claims (2)

A substrate disposed at the lower end of the product passage and forming one inner wall of the product passage;
A lower pedal that is formed so as to protrude freely from the opening of the substrate and supports a product located at the lowest end;
An upper pedal that is formed so as to protrude freely from the opening of the substrate and supports a product located second from the bottom;
With
The upper pedal is located on the side of the product located second from the bottom when in the sales standby state, and protrudes toward the product passage following the opening operation of the lower pedal at the time of sale. In addition, in the merchandise unloading device of the vending machine formed so as to protrude to a position capable of supporting the merchandise even when the merchandise with the smallest diameter filling the merchandise passage is arranged as the second merchandise from the bottom,
A product carry-out device for a vending machine, characterized in that a guide projection projecting toward the product passage is provided at an upper edge of the opening from which the upper pedal projects.   2. A product carrying device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a shaft is provided behind the guide projection so as to be able to contact the back surface of the upper pedal and restricts the protruding direction of the upper pedal. .

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