JPH0465794A - Cup type automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain vending matched with the environmental condition of an installed position by making it possible to optionally set up the opening timing of a vending door. CONSTITUTION:The cup type automatic vending machine can be set up to any of a method for receiving and raising a cup 6 filled with drink moved from a drink injection part, moving the cup 6 to a vending part, and after the end of drink injection or after the lapse of an optionally set time from the arrival of the cup 6 at a certain reference position in a cup carrying route, opening the vending door 3 and a method for starting the opening of the door 3 on an optional carrying position on the carrying way of the cup 6 filled with drink. When the machine is set up so that the door 3 is opened slightly before the carrying-out of the drink cup 6 when the machine is install in a beautiful environment, the drink cup 6 can be carried out simultaneously with the opening of the door 3, and in an installation environment where dust may easily be generated, the door 3 is opened before a drink cup 6 is positioned under the cup lifting route to prevent the cup from the invasion of dust or the like.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (a) Industrial application field In the present invention, a beverage pouring section is provided at an appropriate location in the aircraft, separate from the sales section, and the cup that has been filled with beverage is moved and sent to the sales section. The present invention relates to a type of cup-type vending machine, and particularly relates to a cup-type vending machine having a configuration in which the opening timing of an automatically opening/closing type vending door provided in a vending department can be freely set.

(B) Conventional technology Conventionally, in this type of cup-type vending machine, as in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 16278/1983, the cup falls into a vending spout located at a relatively low position on the front of the main body. In some cases, a beverage is poured into the cup from a beverage supply nozzle located near the outlet.

Further, as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-278695, the beverages are not supplied at this outlet, but instead the beverages, sugar, etc. are supplied and stirred one after another while the cup is being moved within the machine.

A cup-type vending machine has also been proposed, which has a vending system that delivers a prepared cup beverage to a vending spout.

(c) The invention attempts to solve the problem. g! Daigo latter JP-A-6
In the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-278695, there is no outlet for dispensing beverages, so the outlet is not contaminated with beverages and the like, making it sanitary.

However, both devices are equipped with a vending door that the customer must open manually when taking out the cup, making it inconvenient to take out the cup. Additionally, the sales outlet is located low, requiring the customer to lower their posture and making it difficult to take out the product.

In view of the above points, the present invention is a system that lifts a cup filled with beverage and carries it out to a sales department installed at a high position, which facilitates taking out the cup, and also facilitates the opening operation of the vending door and the raising of the cup. To provide a cup-type vending machine in which the timing of each of the two times can be freely set according to the environmental conditions of the light in which the vending machine is installed.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides that a beverage injection unit is provided at an appropriate location in the aircraft, separate from the sales department, and the cup after the beverage injection is transferred via the cup transfer path. In a cup-type vending machine that moves from the beverage injection section to the vending section and dispenses it, the cup receives the beverage cup moving from the beverage injection section, raises it, and moves it to the vending section located at a higher position on the front of the main unit. a cup lifting device that allows the lifting cup to be sent to the sales section from the cup lifting path; There are two different setting methods: a timer method in which the vending door is opened after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed, and a timing method in which the vending door is opened when the cup being transported along the cup transfer route passes a certain predetermined position. and a designation means for specifying whether to use a timer method or a timing method.

(e) Effect The vending door begins to open at a predetermined time after the end of pouring the drink or when the cup reaches a certain reference position on the cup transport path. Further, it is possible to set the vending door to start opening at an arbitrary transfer position while the cup containing the beverage is being transferred.

The time required for the vending door to open is constant, so if you install a vending machine in a clean environment, such as a reception area in an office, you can set the vending machine to open a little before the cup with drinks is dispensed, so that the vending door As soon as the cup is opened, the beverage cup can be taken out.

However, if the installation light is poor and the environment is prone to dirt and dust, setting the timing to open the vending door before the beverage cup is located under the cup ascending path will prevent dirt from entering the cup. It is a hygienic sale.

(F) Examples Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.6 The cup-type vending machine according to the present invention does not pour beverages into the dispensed cup at the vending section, but at the beverage pouring section. are arranged at appropriate locations in the machine apart from this sales department, and the sales department has a structure in which cups that have already been filled with beverage are carried out.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the overall appearance of a cup-type vending machine according to the present invention, in which the vending section 1 is of a counter table type with a wide open sideway, which differs greatly from the conventional rectangular vending machine. It is said that Then, a part of this counter table part 2 is raised up into a dome shape, and an opening hole for taking out products is provided there, while a sales door 3, which is also dome-shaped, is located close to the bottom of this dome part. The vending door 3 is provided with a hole that matches the opening hole when the vending door 3 is opened. Therefore, the opening hole is normally closed by the vending door 3, and the opening of the cup is formed by matching the hole.

This vending door 3 is located at the upper part of the cup ascending path through which the beverage cup below rises, and has the role of preventing dust from entering the chamber during standby and preventing tampering.

Moreover, this sales department 1 is provided at a height position (for example, 900 m) higher than the conventional height position.

Specifically, it is formed immediately below the panel section 4A to which the selection button 4 is attached, and is a recessed sales section that is recessed toward the back.
It has a horizontal opening at a height that does not hinder the taking out of the cup 6. Cups with beverages already poured into them are delivered to this sales section 1, and therefore, the supply section where cups, beverages, ice, etc. are sent out is located separately from this sales section 1 inside the aircraft. It has a configuration in which it is distributed over several locations. 4 is a product selection button.

Figures 2 and 4 are perspective views of the external structure of the sales mechanism inside the main body that performs the sales operation described above, and Figure 2 shows the process of pouring a beverage into a cup and moving the cup after filling to the cup lifting device. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a situation in which a cup containing a beverage is raised by the cup lifting device, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a situation in which a cup containing a beverage approaches the sales department. .

In each figure, reference numeral 5 denotes a cup gripping device having openable/closable cup gripping pieces 7A and 7B for gripping a cup 6 sent out from the cup supply device in response to a sales command.

This cup gripping device 5 has a slider 9 slidably mounted on a rail 8 disposed substantially horizontally in the cabinet of the vending machine, so that it can slide in the front and back direction. As the cup back and forth moving device 5o for sliding the cup gripping device 5, a rack gear mechanism can be used.

For example, a configuration can be considered in which a rack is formed in the transverse direction on the back side of the rail 8, and a drive motor for a pinion and a pinion that meshes with the rack is provided on the slider 9 side.

The degree of opening of the cup gripping pieces 7A and 7B, which allow the cup holder to be inserted, can be adjusted depending on the size of the cup used.

As the mechanism for opening and closing the cup gripping pieces 7A and 7B, an appropriate mechanism may be adopted, such as one for opening and closing using a rotationally driven cam.

By the way, above the illustrated position in FIG. 2, where the cup gripping device N5 is opened so that it can receive the delivered cup, there is a beverage supply device, an ice maker, etc. (none of which are shown).
are provided, and their beverage dispensing nozzle IO and ice discharge hose 11 face the cup 6. Then, the beverage selected by the customer is mixed, and the beverage dispensing nozzle 1o
It is poured out through.

At this time, the beverage supply device dilutes syrup with carbonated water to prepare a carbonated beverage, or dissolves powdered raw materials such as coffee in hot water and adds sugar and milk as necessary to make a coffee beverage. Mix. Similarly, when the customer selects an item, the ice maker delivers ice through the ice discharge hose 11 into the cup held by the cup gripping device 5.

When the drink and ice are supplied to the cup, the cup gripping device 5 is slid in the direction of arrow A by the cup back and forth moving device 5o, comes to the position shown in FIG. 3, and stops at a predetermined position. Reference numeral 12 denotes a cup vertical movement device that transfers and raises the cup that has arrived at the predetermined position.

This cup lifting device 12 is shown in FIG.

Endless belt 14 or endless chain <20.20
It is arranged vertically between a pair of pulleys 13 and 13 that are pivotally supported by a drive motor 15, and can be rotated in the forward and reverse directions, and all the members attached to this endless belt 14 or endless chain, The coaster 18 is configured to be vertically slidable along a guide rod 19.

The coaster 18 is normally waiting at a position slightly below the bottom surface of the cup 6 moving in the entry direction, and when the cup 6 arrives, it rises slightly to support the bottom surface of the cup and is placed on top of it.

Thereafter, the cup gripping pieces 7A, 7B are opened and the coaster 18 is transferred from the cup gripping pieces 7A, 7B. Next, after the cup gripping pieces 7A and 7B are opened more widely so that there is no problem in raising the cup 6,
Cup rising outfit again! The coaster 18 is raised by the normal rotation of step 12, and is stopped at a position slightly protruding from the cup guide opening 21, which has a shape slightly larger than the diameter of the cup, so as to prevent the cup from falling over.

In Figure 4, the cup 6 is the counter table part 2 of the sales department l.
As can be understood from the figure, the cup 6 containing the beverage is pushed downward from the outlet 22 formed by the opening of the sales door 3, and is placed inside the sales department l. At this time, of course, sales door 3
is opened to form an outlet 22 from which the cup comes out.

As described above, the sequence of steps is as follows: grasping the released cup → pouring the beverage into the cup → after pouring the beverage, moving to the cup lifting device → transferring the cup to the cup lifting device → lifting the cup → carrying it out to the sales department A cup beverage is provided to a customer through a sales operation.

The overall flow of this sales operation can be more fully understood in FIG. That is, when the cup dropper 23 is operated in response to a sales command, the cup passes through the cup chute 24 and is gripped by the cup gripping pieces 7A and 7B. After gripping the cup, the beverage is poured from the beverage pouring nozzle 10 or the like,
The entire cup gripping device N5 is moved laterally by the cup back and forth moving device 50, and is moved in the order of Cup1→Cup2→Cup3. At the position of CoF3, the cup is transferred to the cup up-and-down moving device, and is raised along the cup-lifting path to the position of CoF4 by the cup-lifting device M12.Meanwhile,
In sales J%3, when the beverage injection is finished, it begins to open to form the outlet 22. In this way, the cup 6 is carried out to the sales department 1 from the carrying-out port 22.

In addition, in FIG. 5, S is a cup clogging detection sensor disposed just above the cup gripping device 5, and when the falling cup 6 is not properly gripped by the cup gripping pieces 7A and 7B and is tilted, The light beam is continuously blocked by this cup to detect a clogging of the cup, and the cup gripping pieces 7A and 7B are temporarily opened and closed to encourage the cup 6 to fall. In addition, a cup disposal port 31 and a drainage bucket 32 are placed below the CoF2, so that unsold cups that are stagnant due to a power outage during cup transfer can be removed until the next sale. In order to store the cup, no matter where it is on the transfer path, it must be forcibly moved to the CoF2 position after the power is restored, and the cup gripping piece 7A is placed at this position so that the cup can be discarded.
7B is opened and disposed of.

Furthermore, the S engineer is a cup presence/absence detection sensor that detects whether or not the cup 6 has been taken out by the customer, and when the cup 6 is taken out, the cup lifting device 12 is operated again to lower the coaster part 18 a little. Rank I! (Wait until the sensor S detects it.

Here, it is convenient if the opening operation of the vending door 3 and the timing at which the cup 6 is raised can be variably set as follows.

For example, if the cup 6 is moved to the bottom of the door (CoF 3 position) after the sales door 3 is completely opened, even if the garbage on the sales door 3 falls when the door opens, it will already be removed. It does not fall into the cup 6 because it has completely fallen.

Therefore, once the cup is moved from the beverage injection part, the vending door 3 starts to be opened in a short period of time, and at least the Co.
Finish opening before reaching the F3 position.

In this case, the customer may feel a little uneasy because it takes a long time after the vending door 3 opens until the cup 6 is raised and sold. This method is preferable for installation locations that are difficult to manage, such as where garbage is placed.

On the other hand, if the timing is set so that the cup is raised immediately after the vending door 3 is opened, the customer's anxiety after the vending door 3 is opened is alleviated.

In this case, it is suitable for installing in a place with good environmental conditions such as a clean room where there is no need to worry about the intrusion of dust.

In this way, depending on where the vending machine is installed (location), locations that are used by regular customers, general locations, locations that are easy to manage, etc.
This timing can be freely set so that the customer can use the system satisfactorily.

For this purpose, the operation time for opening the sales door 3 is set by setting a timer. For example, the door opening operation start time is set so that the door opening operation starts at a certain time point after the cup starts moving from standby. or,
It is also possible to set the timer after the cup has been moved. A reference position is established in the cup transfer path, a position detection sensor is placed there, and the cup is sold after a preset time from when the cup reaches that reference position and is detected by the position detection sensor. This is to open the door 3.

The other method is timing setting, which sets the door opening operation at the cup movement position.

That is, with this timing setting, (1) the opening operation is performed when the cup movement starts. ■Open the cup when it reaches the intermediate position. ■Open the cup lifting device at an intermediate position, etc. etc.

In this way, the cup movement position is detected and the door is opened.

In order to determine the timing of the opening operation of the sales door 3 as described above, the sales door 3 is provided with a door opening/closing detection switch S□ (sensor). The cup back and forth transfer device 50 has position detection sensors S, , S, , S3 at each of the standby, intermediate, and front stop positions.
will be established. The cup raising device 12 has standby, lower, intermediate,
A position detection sensor s4 at each stop position of the vending machine. s,,s
G,s, are provided.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a control circuit that uses these sensors to enable setting by both methods (timer setting and timing setting) and allows the setting means to select and operate either setting method.

In the same figure, when there is a beverage injection end signal, the variable timer (2) is activated, an output signal is output after an arbitrary set time, and the vending door drive circuit 3D is activated.

Therefore, the variable timer T can set the door opening operation time.

On the other hand, detection signals from the front position detection sensor S□, intermediate position detection sensor S2, rear (standby) position detection sensor S1, and cup support (intermediate) position sensor S are input to this sales door drive circuit 3D. There is. And which sensor S1~
It is determined in advance whether the detection signal from S is inputted to the sales door drive circuit (3D) as an operation signal.

After these determinations are made, the vending door drive circuit 3D is activated and the door opening operation is started via signals from the selected sensors S to S5 at the timing when the cup movement reaches each position. Also, the cup front and back transfer equipment! The drive circuit 500 includes a logic circuit that becomes an output state when a detection signal indicating that the cup is not at the front position is output from the front position detection sensor S, and a signal when a beverage injection end signal is generated is generated. It is connected through 60. Therefore, after the beverage is poured, the movement of the cup is controlled until it reaches the front position. The detection output of the front position detection sensor S□ is also input to the cup lifting device [1 [u motion @ roadwork 2D], and when the cup comes to the front position.

Thereafter, the cup lifting device 12 operates to raise the coaster portion 1.
8 slightly up to the cup support position (middle).

Therefore, it is possible to set the timing at which the opening operation time of the vending door 3 can be freely set depending on the time when the detection output from the sensor selected from the sensors S, S, S, S, S, T, S, T, and S is obtained, that is, the cup movement position. The entire timing system setting means is shown by a dashed-dotted line frame A, and the designation means B specifies whether to select variable timer T, which is a timer system setting means, or to select timing system setting means A.

Also, in Fig. 7, the settings are made using a timer method.
A control block diagram is shown in which the vending door is opened after a time set by a variable timer after the cup reaches an arbitrary reference position on the cup transfer route while the cup is moving on the cup transfer route.

The arbitrary reference positions are the front position, intermediate position, and rear position.

Each sensor at the cup support position is located at the position of S-engine TSZ ts31ss. Then, each sensor S, S, which becomes an input part for the variable timer T (indicated by a - dot-dashed line frame E)
Detection signals from 2°S, , S, are inputted through contacts %i, X, Y, and Z, which are selectively closed by selection means C. Therefore, the variable timer T operates based on the detection signal from the selected sensor. In other words, when the cup reaches the predetermined reference position, the variable timer T operates,
The vending door drive circuit 3D comes into operation after a set time.

(G) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the timing at which the vending door opens and cup beverages are sold can be freely set, so that dust and dirt can be removed by the installed light of the vending machine. In areas where such issues are a concern, open the vending door early so that when the beverage cup reaches the bottom of the door, it will open completely and dirt above your shoulders will not get into the cup.Also, if the environment is clean, The price rises immediately after the sales door is opened, which eliminates the customer's anxiety after the sales door opens, and allows the customer to use the product satisfactorily.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall external perspective view of a cup-type vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. Figure 3 is an external configuration diagram of the sales mechanism showing the situation immediately after transfer to the cup vertical movement device, Figure 4 is an external configuration diagram of the sales mechanism showing the situation where the cup has appeared from below in the sales department, and Figure 5 6 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of the main parts of the vending mechanism, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control circuit that can set the timing for starting the opening operation of the vending door of the present invention using a timer method or timing method. 7th ri! i is a block diagram of a control circuit for controlling the vending door to be opened after an arbitrary period of dawn after reaching a predetermined reference position after the cup has been moved; ■...Sales department, 3...Sales door, 5...Cup gripping device, 6...Cup, 7A, 7B...Cup gripping piece, 1O...Beverage pouring nozzle, 12...・Cup lifting device, 50... Cup back and forth moving device, T... Variable timer circuit, S work 1s21s3... Standby, intermediate, front position detection sensor,

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A cup-type vending machine in which a beverage filling unit is installed at an appropriate location within the machine, separate from the sales department, and the cup that has been filled with beverage is transferred from the beverage injection unit to the sales department via a cup transfer path. a cup lifting device that receives and raises a cup containing a beverage moving from a beverage injection section and moves it to a sales section provided at an upper position on the front surface of the main body; and a timer system that opens the vending door after an arbitrarily determined period of time has elapsed from the end of pouring the beverage or from the time when the cup reaches a certain reference position on the cup transfer route. There are two types of setting means with different setting methods: whether to use a timing method to open the sales door when a cup being transferred on a cup transfer path passes a certain predetermined position, and whether to use a timer method or a timing method. A cup-type vending machine characterized by comprising a designation means for designating.