JPH06119543A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an automatic vending machine capable of uniformizing temperature in a store within a short time. CONSTITUTION:An air duct 5A having connection ports 5a, 5b with the upper and lower parts of the inside of a commodity store 3 on its upper end part and lower end part is prepared, a circulating fan 13 is arranged so as to be opposed to the lower connection port 5b of the duct 5A and the drive of the fan 13 is controlled so that air is allowed to flow upwards in the duct 5A at the time of cooling the inside of the store 3 and flow downwards at the time of heating the inside of the store 3. The blowing direction of the fan 13 is inverted based upon a temperature difference between the upper and lower parts of the inside of the store. Thereby the inside of the store 3 can be efficiently and quickly cooled or heated, the temperature of commodities in the store 3 can be uniformized and power consumption required for cooling or heating the inside of the 3 can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a vending machine that cools or heats a product and sells the product, and more particularly to an vending machine that maintains a uniform product temperature in a refrigerator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing an example of a conventional vending machine, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view. In the figure, 1 is a vending machine main body (hereinafter referred to as a main body) having an inner door 1a and an outer door 1b on the front side, which is surrounded by a wall body 2 made of a heat insulating material, and inside of which a product storage 3 is provided. Has been.

In the product storage 3, a plurality of serpentine columns (hereinafter referred to as columns) 6 are vertically extended, and products such as canned soft drinks are stacked and accommodated. Products delivered from each column 6 are delivered to the outer door 1 by a delivery shooter 7 having a large number of ventilation holes.
The product is unloaded to the product outlet 1c formed in b. Also,
The inner door 1a is provided with a carry-out door 1d facing the product outlet 1c for preventing outside air inflow. Further, an evaporator 9a of a cooling device, a heater 9b of a heating device, and a circulation fan 9c are arranged below the delivery shooter 7, and other components of the cooling device and the heating device and their control units are included in the product storage 3. It is arranged in the machine room 8 provided in the lower part.

According to the vending machine having the above structure,
The inside or outside of the refrigerator is cooled or heated depending on the type or season of the sold product, and the cooled product or the warmed product is sold. At this time, the driving of the cooling device and the heating device is controlled by using a thermostat or the like arranged near the product just before the sale, that is, near the lower part of the column 6 so that the temperature inside the refrigerator is within a predetermined allowable temperature range. is doing. Further, the circulation fan circulates the air in the refrigerator so that the temperature in the refrigerator becomes uniform.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional vending machine, the circulation fan constantly blows air in the same direction to circulate the air in the refrigerator, and the temperature near the lower portion of the column 6 is set to a predetermined level. Since the drive of the cooling device and the heating device is controlled so that the temperature is within the temperature range, the temperature difference between the upper temperature and the lower temperature may be large, and It sometimes took time to become uniform.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vending machine which can make the internal temperature uniform in a short time.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention according to claim 1 cools or heats the inside of the refrigerator to a predetermined temperature according to the kind of the product to be sold or the sale time of the product. However, in a vending machine for selling cooled products or heated products, a ventilation duct that extends in the vertical direction and has communication ports with the upper part and the lower part of the refrigerator is provided at the upper and lower ends. A blower arranged to face one of the communication ports of the ventilation duct, and air from below to above in the ventilation duct during cooling in the refrigerator, and from above to below in the ventilation duct during heating in the refrigerator. There is proposed an automatic vending machine provided with drive control means for controlling the drive of the blower so as to be in circulation.

Further, according to claim 2, the inside of the refrigerator is cooled or heated to a predetermined temperature according to the kind of the product to be sold or the sale time of the product, and the cooled product or the heated product is sold. In a vending machine, a ventilation duct that extends in the vertical direction and has communication ports at the upper end and the lower end with the upper and lower parts of the inside of the refrigerator, and a blower that is arranged so as to face one communication port of the ventilation duct. Based on the detection temperatures of the container, a first temperature detector that detects the temperature inside the refrigerator, a second temperature detector that detects the temperature inside the refrigerator, and the temperatures detected by the first and second temperature detectors. Thus, a vending machine provided with a blower direction switching means for switching the blower direction of the blower is proposed.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the drive control means controls the drive of the blower so that the air flows from the bottom to the top of the ventilation duct when cooling the inside of the refrigerator, and when the inside of the refrigerator is heated, the blower is controlled. The drive of the blower is controlled so that the air flows from the top to the bottom of the ventilation duct. As a result, the chilled air accumulates in the lower part of the refrigerator, so the cold air accumulated in the lower part of the refrigerator is circulated to the upper part of the refrigerator through the ventilation duct, and the cold air cools the products in the refrigerator while in the refrigerator. Down to the bottom. Further, since the warmed air is accumulated in the upper part of the inside of the refrigerator, the warm air accumulated in the upper part of the inside of the refrigerator is distributed to the lower portion of the inside of the refrigerator through the ventilation duct, and the warm air reaches the upper portion of the inside of the refrigerator while warming the products in the refrigerator. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the first temperature detector detects the temperature of the upper part of the refrigerator, and the second temperature detector detects the temperature of the lower part of the refrigerator. The air blowing direction of the air blower is switched by the air blowing direction switching means based on the temperature detected by the second temperature detector. For example, the blowing direction of the blower is usually set so that air flows from the top to the bottom in the ventilation duct, and when cooling the inside of the refrigerator, the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is set to the second temperature. When the temperature exceeds the temperature detected by the temperature detector by a predetermined temperature or more, the blowing direction of the blower is switched, air is circulated from bottom to top in the ventilation duct, and in the refrigerator, it is directed from the top to the bottom in the refrigerator. Air is circulated. Thereafter, when the temperature detected by the first temperature detector becomes lower than the temperature detected by the second temperature detector by a predetermined temperature or more, the air blowing direction of the air blower is switched to the normal direction. Further, when heating the inside of the refrigerator, when the temperature detected by the first temperature detector becomes lower than the temperature detected by the second temperature detector by a predetermined temperature or more, the air blowing direction of the air blower is switched, Air is circulated from the bottom to the top in the ventilation duct, and in the refrigerator, air is circulated from the upper portion to the lower portion in the refrigerator. After that, when the temperature detected by the first temperature detector becomes higher than the temperature detected by the second temperature detector by a predetermined temperature or more, the blowing direction of the blower is switched to the normal direction.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an automatic vending machine according to an embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration related to temperature control in a refrigerator. An external perspective view of the vending machine according to this embodiment is substantially the same as that shown in FIG.

That is, in the figure, reference numeral 1 is a vending machine main body (hereinafter referred to as a main body) having an inner door 1a and an outer door 1b on the front surface, which is surrounded by a wall body 2 made of a heat insulating material, and inside thereof. A product storage 3 is provided. Further, the inner door 1a is configured such that the upper portion 1a1 and the lower portion 1a2 thereof are separated from each other so that only the upper portion 1a1 can be opened and closed, and a change in the inside temperature can be minimized at the time of replenishing the goods in the inside. You can do it.

A plurality of serpentine columns (hereinafter referred to as columns) 6 are vertically extended in the product storage 3, and products such as canned soft drinks are stacked and accommodated therein. Products delivered from each column 6 are delivered to the outer door 1 by a delivery shooter 7 having a large number of ventilation holes.
The product is unloaded to the product outlet 1c formed in b. Also,
The inner door 1a is provided with a carry-out door 1d facing the product outlet 1c for preventing outside air inflow. Furthermore, product storage 3
A machine room 8 is provided in the lower part of the, and a cooling device, a heating device, a control device, and the like, which will be described later, are installed therein.

Further, a plurality of cool storage materials 41 and heat storage materials 42 are arranged on the inner wall surface of the product storage 3, and an evaporator 113b, which will be described later, is provided between the cool storage material 41 and the inner wall surface, and the heat storage material 42. A heater 121b is arranged between the inner wall surface and the inner wall surface. Further, a partition plate 5 extending in the up-down direction is provided between the column 6 and the cool storage material 41 and the heat storage material 42 arranged on the back surface of the inside of the compartment, and a ventilation duct 5A is formed by the back surface of the compartment and the partition plate 5. There is. Further, communication holes 5a and 5b having a predetermined opening area are formed in the upper and lower portions of the partition plate 5, respectively.

On the other hand, in FIG. 4, 11 is a cooling device,
Compressor 111, compressor drive circuit 112, evaporator 11
3a, 113b, expansion valve 114, condenser 115, fan 116 for cooling condenser 115, fan drive circuit 117 for driving fan 116,
And a solenoid valve 118a, 118b and a flow rate control valve 119, which are connected by a pipe to form a refrigeration circuit as is well known. Further, in this refrigeration circuit, the evaporator 113a and the evaporator 113b are connected in parallel,
The flow rate of the refrigerant to 113a and 113b is controlled by solenoid valves 118a and 118b and a flow rate control valve 119.

The above-mentioned evaporator 113a is arranged in front of the lower communication port 5b of the partition plate 5, the evaporator 113b is arranged between the regenerator material 41 and the wall body 2, and the other components are machine room 8
It is located inside.

A heating device 12 is composed of heaters 121a, 121b and a heater driving circuit 122. The heater 121a is in front of the lower communication port 5b of the partition plate 5 together with the evaporator 113a, and the heater 121b is in contact with the heat storage material 42 and the wall. The heater driving circuit 122 is arranged between the body 2 and the heater driving circuit 122 in the machine room 8.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a circulation fan, which is equipped with a condenser starting type motor and is capable of switching its rotation direction.
It is arranged under the delivery shooter 7 in the product storage 3 so as to face the communication port 5b with the heater 3a and the heater 121a interposed therebetween. A circulation fan drive circuit 14 drives the circulation fan 13 in a rotation direction based on a control signal from a temperature control unit 18 described later.

Reference numerals 15a and 15b denote temperature detectors, which are arranged so as to detect the temperatures of the upper and lower parts of the product storage 3, respectively. Reference numeral 16 is a timer, which is composed of a crystal oscillator, a digital counter, etc., and outputs digital data representing a standard time in seconds. A dip switch 17 is used to set whether to cool or heat the inside of the refrigerator. Reference numeral 18 denotes a temperature control unit, which includes a well-known CPU and the like, reads the detected temperatures of the temperature detectors 15a and 15b, the standard time output from the timer 16, and the set value of the DIP switch 17, and based on these, the cooling device. 1
1. The drive control of the heating device 12 and the circulation fan drive circuit 14 is performed, and the temperature control is performed so that the temperature in the product storage 3 becomes a predetermined temperature.

In this embodiment, the cooling device 11 is used so as to utilize the electric power in the midnight electric power time zone in which the electric power demand is low and to reduce the electric power consumption in the time zone in which the electric power demand is high.
The heating device 12 and the circulation fan 13 are drive-controlled to perform temperature control so that the temperature inside the product storage 3 becomes a predetermined temperature. In other words, the midnight power hours are currently set to 8 hours from 23:00 in the middle of the night to 7:00 in the next morning.
These times are set in advance in the program of the temperature control unit 18, and energy for maintaining the internal cold storage temperature is stored in the cold storage material 41 or the heat storage material 42 in the midnight power time zone when the power demand is low, and the daytime, especially the power demand. We are reducing power consumption in vending machines during busy hours.

When cooling the interior or heating the interior,
The temperature detectors 15a and 15b detect the temperatures of the upper and lower parts of the refrigerator, and the circulation fan 1 is based on these temperatures.
The blowing direction of 3 can be switched. As a result, the temperature difference between the upper and lower sides of the inside of the refrigerator can be eliminated, the temperature inside the refrigerator can be made uniform, and unnecessary power consumption can be reduced.

That is, when cooling the inside of the refrigerator, the temperature controller 18 controls the cooling device 11 and the circulation fan 1 during the midnight power time period.
Drive 3 At this time, in the drive control of the circulation fan 13, the air blowing direction is switched based on the temperature T1 at the upper part of the compartment and the temperature T2 at the lower part of the compartment detected by the temperature detectors 15a and 15b. Normally, the circulation fan 13 is rotated so that the air flows from the bottom to the top in the ventilation duct.
Further, when the temperature T1 in the upper part of the compartment is lower than the temperature T2 in the lower part of the compartment by a predetermined temperature β1 or more (T1 ≦ T2-β1), the blowing direction of the circulation fan 13 is switched, and the inside of the ventilation duct is changed from top to bottom. The circulation fan 13 is rotated so that air circulates. Further, when the temperature T1 in the upper part of the compartment is higher than the temperature T2 in the lower part of the compartment by a predetermined temperature α1 or more (T1
The air blowing direction of the circulation fan 13 is switched to ≧ T2-α1), and the circulation fan 13 is rotated so that the air flows from the bottom to the top in the ventilation duct. As a result, the chilled air accumulates in the lower part of the refrigerator, so the cold air accumulated in the lower part of the refrigerator is circulated to the upper part of the refrigerator through the ventilation duct, and the cold air cools the products in the refrigerator while in the refrigerator. Down to the bottom. In addition, there is no collision of circulating air in the refrigerator, and the law of natural body flow, that is, cold air moves toward the lower part and accumulates in the lower part, and warm air moves toward the higher part and moves toward the higher part. By using the law of accumulation, you can efficiently cool the inside of the refrigerator,
In addition to being able to maintain a uniform product temperature in the refrigerator,
It is possible to reduce the power consumption required for cooling the inside of the refrigerator.

On the other hand, when heating the inside of the refrigerator, the temperature controller 18 controls the heating device 12 and the circulation fan 1 during the midnight power time.
Drive 3 At this time, in controlling the drive of the circulation fan 13, the temperature detectors 15a,
The air blowing direction is switched based on the temperature T1 at the upper part of the compartment and the temperature T2 at the lower part of the compartment detected by 5b. Normally, the circulation fan 13 is rotated so that air flows from the top to the bottom in the ventilation duct. Further, when the temperature T2 at the lower part of the compartment is higher than the temperature T1 at the upper part of the compartment by a predetermined temperature β2 or more (T1 + β2 ≦ T2), the blowing direction of the circulation fan 13 is switched, and air is blown from the bottom to the top in the ventilation duct. The circulation fan 13 is rotated so that the air flows. Further, the temperature T2 at the bottom of the refrigerator is higher than the temperature T1 at the top of the refrigerator by a predetermined temperature α.
When it becomes lower than 2 (T1−α2 ≧ T2), the blowing direction of the circulation fan 13 is switched, and the circulation fan 13 is rotated so that the air flows from the upper side to the lower side in the ventilation duct. As a result, the warmed air accumulates in the upper part of the inside of the refrigerator, so the warm air accumulated in the upper part of the inside of the refrigerator is circulated to the lower part of the inside of the refrigerator through the ventilation duct, and the warm air is heated to the upper part of the inside of the refrigerator while heating the products in the refrigerator. Reach In addition, the circulating air does not collide in the refrigerator, and the law of natural body flow can be used to efficiently heat the inside of the refrigerator in a short time, and the product temperature in the refrigerator can be kept uniform. In addition, the power consumption required for heating the inside of the refrigerator can be reduced.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cold storage material 41 is cooled or the heat storage material 42 is heated during the midnight power time period when the power demand is low, and the energy required during the time period when the power demand is high is supplied. In addition to being able to sufficiently store the electric power, it is possible to make the temperature inside the refrigerator and the temperature of the goods inside the refrigerator uniform in a short time in a limited midnight power time period, and the power consumption required to drive the cooling device 11 and the heating device 12 can be reduced. It can be reduced.

The configuration of this embodiment is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in this embodiment, the cool storage material 41
The present invention is applied to an automatic vending machine that is equipped with the heat storage material 42 and cools or heats the inside of the refrigerator by using midnight power, but is not limited to this, and can be applied to an automatic vending machine that does not include the cold storage material 41 and the heat storage material 42. It goes without saying that even if it is applied, almost the same effect can be obtained.

[0026]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, during the cooling of the inside, the cold air accumulated in the lower part of the inside is circulated through the ventilation duct to the upper part of the inside of the inside of the inside of the cold air. While cooling the products of the above, it reaches the lower part of the inside of the refrigerator, and the heated air accumulates in the upper part of the inside when heating the inside of the container, so the warm air accumulated in the upper part of the inside is distributed to the lower part of the inside through the ventilation duct. Since the warm air reaches the upper portion of the refrigerator while warming the goods in the refrigerator, the circulating air does not collide in the refrigerator, and the law of natural body flow is used to efficiently cool the refrigerator in a short time. Can be heated, the product temperature in the refrigerator can be kept uniform, and the power consumption required for cooling or heating the refrigerator can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, based on the temperature of the upper part of the compartment detected by the first temperature detector and the temperature of the lower part of the compartment detected by the second temperature detector,
The air blowing direction of the air blower is switched by the air blowing direction switching means, and the air in the upper part of the refrigerator and the air in the lower part of the refrigerator are circulated through the ventilation duct, so that the circulating air does not collide in the refrigerator, It is possible to efficiently cool or heat the inside of the refrigerator in a short time, and it is possible to maintain a uniform product temperature in the refrigerator.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration related to internal temperature control in one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Vending machine body, 1a ... Inner door, 1b ... Outer door, 1c ...
Commodity take-out port 1d ... Carry-out door, 2 ... Wall body, 3 ... Commodity storage, 41 ... Cool storage material, 42 ... Heat storage material, 5 ... Partition plate, 5
a, 5b ... communication port, 5A ... ventilation duct, 6 ... serpentine column, 7 ... delivery shooter, 8 ... machine room, 11
... Cooling device, 111 ... Compressor, 112 ... Compressor drive circuit, 113a, 113d ... Evaporator, 114 ... Expansion valve, 115 ... Condenser, 116 ... Fan, 117 ... Fan drive circuit, 118a, 118b ...
Solenoid valve, 119 ... Flow control valve, 12 ... Heating device, 121a, 112d
... heater, 122 ... heater drive circuit, 13 ... circulation fan,
14 ... Circulation fan drive circuit, 15a, 15b ... Temperature detector, 16 ... Timer, 17 ... DIP switch, 18 ...
Temperature control unit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. The inside of the refrigerator is cooled or heated to a predetermined temperature according to the type of the product to be sold or the sale time of the product,
An automatic vending machine for selling cooled products or heated products, which is provided with a ventilation duct extending in the vertical direction and having a communication port with an upper part and a lower part in the refrigerator at upper and lower ends, An air blower arranged so as to face one of the communication ports of the ventilation duct, and air flows from below to above in the ventilation duct when cooling the inside of the refrigerator, and from above to below in the ventilation duct when heating the inside of the refrigerator. And a drive control means for controlling the drive of the blower as described above. 2. The inside of the refrigerator is cooled or heated to a predetermined temperature according to the type of the product to be sold or the sale time of the product,
In a vending machine that sells cooled or heated products, a ventilation duct that extends vertically and has communication ports at the upper and lower ends with the upper and lower portions of the interior of the refrigerator, and the ventilation duct. An air blower arranged so as to face one of the communication ports, a first temperature detector for detecting a temperature inside the refrigerator, a second temperature detector for detecting a temperature inside the refrigerator, and A vending direction switching means for switching the blowing direction of the blower based on the temperatures detected by the first and second temperature detectors is provided.