KR20040070549A - Outlet apparatus and method of Goods for Vending Machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method and an apparatus for discharging the goods of a vending machine are provided to reduce the manufacturing cost as well as to save the power consumption. CONSTITUTION: An apparatus for discharging the goods of a vending machine includes a plurality of goods stacking cases(31), a weight sensing unit(60), a goods guiding unit(40), an open and close unit and a control unit(80). Each of the goods stacking cases(31) stacks goods therein. The weight sensing unit(60) senses the goods discharged from the goods stacking cases(31) and the goods guiding unit(40) guides the goods discharged from the goods stacking cases(31). The open and close unit is capable of switching the path between the goods stacking unit(31) and the goods outlets. And, the control unit(80) controls the operations of the open and close unit and the driving unit.

Description

Outlet apparatus and method of Goods for Vending Machine}

The present invention relates to a product vending machine, and more particularly, a means for checking the output of the product by detecting the weight of the product to be discharged in the vending machine having a plurality of goods loading for a variety of product discharge means The present invention relates to a product dispensing apparatus and method for a product vending machine provided.

In general, a product vending machine is a vending machine that sells a single item such as a canned or cup beverage and a vending machine that sells various items such as various kinds of confectionery, toilet paper, or disposable necessities, depending on the type of product dispensed. Can be divided In particular, the vending machine that sells the latter various items usually uses a spiral method for loading and discharging the goods of various items.

Conventional spiral vending machines, the user can put money bills or coins into the money inlet, the amount indicator to display the amount of money entered, the selection button to select the desired product and the coin outlet and change out the commodity and the goods to be discharged An outer case provided with a discharge port is provided. In addition, the inside of the outer case is provided with a loading guide for guiding the goods to be loaded into the goods and the product discharge port safely loaded goods. In addition, between the product outlet and the product guide is fixed to the left and right so that the product gate can be slid back and forth inside the vending machine in order to prevent the outside cold air flows through the product outlet and at the same time to prevent theft. It also has a control unit for controlling the release of goods in accordance with the information input by the user.

On the other hand, the merchandise loading section on which the merchandise is loaded is directly or indirectly connected to the merchandise loading case arranged in a vertically and horizontally arranged manner, and the discharging means and the dispensing means provided at the rear of the merchandise loading case so as to discharge the goods in each merchandise loading case And a driving means for driving the discharging means by the control unit and a product dispensing detecting means installed at a predetermined portion in front of each product loading case to detect the dispensing of the merchandise.

In the operation of the conventional spiral vending machine, when a user inputs an amount of money and presses a selection button of a desired product, the control unit reads selection information. The control unit drives the product loading unit by the selected information of the control unit. In this case, the discharging unit of the product loading case corresponding to the selected product is driven by the driving unit, and the product loaded in the product loading case is stored in the dispensing unit, that is, spiral. The product is pushed down from the product loading case and dropped to the product gate through the product discharge guide. At the same time, the product gate is opened and the product is immediately discharged to the product discharge port.

In addition, the control unit recognizes whether or not the product is discharged by the discharge detection means installed at the front end of the product loading case immediately before the product is dropped from the product loading case by the spiral. If the product is sold out, that is, if the product is not detected by the dispensing detection means, the controller notifies the user of the product sold through the amount indicator in the outer case or the sold out indicator. do.

However, in the conventional product dispensing device of such a vending machine, in order to detect whether the product is discharged or sold out, the product dispensing detection means must be provided for each product case of the merchandise loading part, thereby increasing the complicated manufacturing process and increase in production cost. It was hard to avoid. In addition, since each product case must be provided with a product discharge detection means, the commodity loading part is complicated, especially when the product must be continuously discharged, there was a cumbersome operation of the product gate that must be opened and closed by the number of products to be discharged. This also caused a waste of power, since it must be reflected in the power consumption of the vending machine.

The present invention is to solve such a problem, an object of the present invention is a means for detecting whether the product is discharged in the vending machine, a plurality of product discharge detection means provided for each product loading case of the existing product loading unit The present invention provides a product dispensing apparatus and method for an automatic vending machine that facilitates the manufacturing process and reduces manufacturing costs by providing only one product dispensing detecting means in the product gate.

1 is a perspective view of a vending machine according to the present invention

2 is a sectional front view of the vending machine according to the present invention.

3 is a side cross-sectional view of a vending machine according to the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

10: vending machine 20: product outlet 30: goods loading department

31: product loading case 32: spiral 33: motor

34: motor switch 40: product guide 50: product gate

60: weight sensor 70: locking member 80: control unit

The present invention to achieve the above object,

A coin inlet for inserting money or coins, an amount indicator for inputting the amount of money and change, a selection button for selecting a product, a change-out port for change of change, and a sold-out part for indicating whether the product is sold out An outer case including a product outlet;

Inside the outer case there is provided a discharge guide for guiding the loading of goods and the goods loading portion is loaded goods. At this time, the lower portion of the discharge guide is provided with a passage connected to the product discharge port.

In addition, a control unit electrically controlling a user to release a desired product by selecting a button of the user is provided in the front part of the outer case.

In addition, the merchandise loading portion is arranged in the top, bottom, left and right and has a product loading case which is a space in which the goods are loaded and a product discharging means driven directly by the drive means installed in the rear of the product loading case in the product loading case; do.

In addition, the product dispensing guide is located at the lower portion of the product loading part to help the safe dispensing of the product, and the product dispensing store temporarily stored after the product falls through the product dispensing guide has a predetermined interval below the product dispensing guide. Are spaced apart.

At this time, there is a passage connected to the product discharge port between the product discharge guide and the product discharge warehouse, and a product gate is provided on the passage, in which cold air flows into the vending machine through the product discharge port. It is installed to prevent theft and to prevent theft through the product outlet. The product gate is fixed to the vending machine body so as to be slidable back and forth, and includes a product sensing means for sensing the weight of the product dropped through the product guide.

When the product is discharged by the user's selection, the product is detected by the product detecting means included in the product gate. Otherwise, the controller recognizes the error as an error and repeatedly attempts to discharge the product. At this time, if the number of recognized errors exceeds the number of errors previously input to the controller, it is determined that the product is sold out and displays the sold out. In addition, when the continuous product is inputted by the user, all the products continuously discharged to the product gate are sensed, and then the product gate is opened to dispense the products at once.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, the configuration according to the present embodiment is as follows.

In the front door of the outer case of the product vending machine 10 according to the present embodiment, a money inlet 11 so that a user can insert a bill or a coin, an amount display window 12 for displaying the inserted money and change, and A selection button 13 is provided to select a product, a currency outlet 14 through which change is discharged, and a sold out display unit 15 which displays a sold out state when sold out of the product is detected. And the inside of the front door of the outer case is provided with a control unit 80 for controlling the product discharge according to the user's button selection.

Inside the vending machine there is provided a product loading part 30 which is a space in which the goods are loaded. The product loading part 30 is composed of a plurality of product loading cases 31 arranged in up, down, left and right. It is directly loaded into the goods loading case 31. In addition, as shown in the goods loading case 31, a spiral 32 is provided as a product dispensing means, and substantially one article 100 is loaded between each pitch of the spiral 32. At the rear of the product loading case 31, a motor 33 equipped with a motor switch 34 is connected to the spiral 32 as a driving means for driving the spiral 32. The motor switch 34 serves to stop the motor 33 driven by the controller 80 after one rotation drive.

In addition, the lower portion of the product loading portion 30 is provided with a product guide 40 for guiding the product safely dropping, the lower portion of the product guide 40, cold air introduced through the product outlet 20 The product gate 50 for preventing theft and preventing theft is fixed to the vending machine body so as to be slidable back and forth by the controller 80. In this case, the product gate 50 includes a weight sensor 60 as a product detecting means therein so as to detect the weight of the product to be discharged to check whether the product is discharged. In addition, when the product gate 50 slides on the upper portion of the product gate 50 to open a passage with the product outlet 20, the product 100 on the product gate 50 falls into the product outlet 20. The locking member 70 which helps to keep the product is spaced apart from the product gate 50 by a predetermined interval and is fixed to the vending machine body by bolts.

The lower part of the product gate 50 including the product detecting means 60 therein is provided with a passage so that the product is dropped to the product outlet 20, the user is discharged through the product outlet 20 It becomes possible to take out old product.

Hereinafter, the operation and effects of the vending machine according to the configuration of the present embodiment will be described.

When a user inserts a coin or a bill into a currency input port 11 at the front of the vending machine 10 and selects a button of a desired product, the control unit 80 loads the selected product 100 loaded thereon. The motor 33 of 31 is operated. In the spiral 32 to which the motor 33 and the rotating shaft are connected, goods are loaded at each pitch, so that one product per revolution is discharged to the front of the product loading case 31 and the motor 33 rotates once. Position 34 stops operation. The discharged product falls safely on the product gate 50 along the product guide 40 provided at the bottom of the product loading case 31, and the weight sensor 60 embedded in the product gate 50 is a real product for a predetermined time. It will detect whether or not At this time, if it detects and confirms that the actual product is discharged, the controller 80 slides the product gate 50 to open a passage between the product discharge port 20 and the product on the product gate 50. 100 is caught by the locking member 70 is fixed to the vending machine body is spaced apart a predetermined interval on the upper portion of the product gate 50 to fall downward from the product gate (20). When the product drops into the product outlet 20, the controller 80 closes the passage between the product outlet 20 and the product loading part 30 by repositioning the product gate 50. On the contrary, when the product discharge is not detected in the weight sensor 60, the controller 80 recognizes an error and attempts to discharge the product again. However, if the product is not discharged, the error is continuously recognized. If the number of errors exceeds the number of errors previously input to the controller 80, the controller 80 displays sold out on the sold out display window 15. .

As described in detail above, according to the product vending machine according to the present invention, the product detection means of the vending machine is reduced, thereby reducing the product loading space, thereby miniaturizing the vending machine, making the manufacturing process easier, and reducing the production cost. In particular, since the product gate is discharged in a single opening / closing operation, especially when the product is continuously discharged, the operation is not cumbersome and the power consumption is also reduced.

Claims (4)

A plurality of product loading cases in which goods are loaded therein, product detection means for detecting goods discharged from the product loading cases, product guide means for guiding goods discharged from the product loading cases, and In the product dispensing device of the product vending machine having an opening and closing member for opening and closing the passage between the product guide means and the product discharge port, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the opening and closing member and the drive means, The product detection means is a product dispensing apparatus of the product vending machine, characterized in that the product is provided integrally with the opening and closing member to detect the product discharged. The product dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the product detecting means is a weight sensor for detecting the weight of an object. A continuous product selection button for continuously displaying products, a plurality of product loading cases into which goods are loaded, product guide means for guiding goods discharged from the product loading cases, and detecting the discharged goods The product dispensing method of a product vending machine provided with a product dispensing means for integrally provided with an opening and closing member for opening and closing the passage between the product guide means and the product discharge port, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the opening member and the driving means. To When the user presses the continuous product selection button, the product dispensing means continuously discharges the product by the main control part, and after the product is continuously detected by the product discharging detection means, the opening and closing member is opened through the main control part. A product dispensing method of a product vending machine, characterized in that the product is discharged at the same time by driving once. The method of claim 3, wherein when the user inputs an amount of money and inputs a product, if the product detection unit does not detect the product, the main controller recognizes an error and repeats the product dispensing process. When the number of times exceeds the number of errors previously input to the main control portion, the product dispensing method of a product vending machine, characterized in that the product is sold out.