CN109147167B - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a vending machine. The system can perform integral cooling and heating and regional cooling and heating respectively, and can automatically cool and heat commodities to a temperature suitable for sale. The automatic vending machine is provided with an inclined rack in a commodity storage chamber of a main body cabinet, and is provided with: an upper duct member which guides the air in the cabinet blown by the lower fan in the cabinet along the back wall of the main cabinet and has a vent hole from the center area to the lower area of the panel surface; an upper fan in the refrigerator for conveying the cold air or the hot air raised through the upper duct member downward, driving the lower fan in the refrigerator so that the lower fan in the refrigerator has a rated rotation speed when the whole cooling and heating are performed, and stopping driving the upper fan in the refrigerator; when zone cooling and heating are performed, the lower inside fan is driven so as to have a predetermined low rotational speed lower than the rated rotational speed, and the upper inside fan is driven so as to have a rated rotational speed.

Description

Automatic vending machine

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine including a commodity storage rack in a commodity storage box constructed as a main cabinet of a heat insulating housing, the commodity storage rack being provided with a plurality of commodity storage shelves arranged in an up-down direction, the commodity storage shelves being inclined such that a rear side of a commodity output port is lower than a front side of a commodity input port in a form of dividing a commodity storage passage in which a plurality of commodities are stored in a row in a horizontal posture in a front-rear direction, and the commodities stored in the commodity storage passage being output one by a commodity output device arranged in the vicinity of the commodity output port of the commodity storage shelf.

Background

Such an automatic vending machine includes commodity storage shelves (also referred to as tilt shelves) arranged in a vertical direction in a commodity storage box constructed as a main body cabinet of a heat insulating housing, the commodity storage shelves defining commodity storage paths for storing a plurality of commodities arranged in a row in a horizontal posture in a front-rear direction. The commodity storage shelves arranged in a plurality of layers in the commodity storage rack are arranged obliquely with a predetermined inclination so that a rear side of the commodity outlet is lower than a front side of the commodity inlet. A commodity output device for outputting commodities received in the commodity receiving passage in a horizontal posture one by one is provided near the commodity output port of the commodity receiving shelf. A commodity falling passage extending in the vertical direction is formed between the rear end of the commodity storage shelf and the back wall of the main body cabinet. The commodity dropping path is provided with a posture control plate which rotates between a protruding position protruding toward the commodity dropping path and a retreating position pushed open by a falling commodity and retreated from the commodity dropping path, the posture control plate is biased to protrude toward the commodity dropping path by a coil spring, and when pushed open by a commodity falling in the commodity dropping path and retreated from the commodity dropping path, the posture control plate corrects the posture of the commodity into a horizontal posture and absorbs the falling energy of the commodity to reduce the falling speed of the commodity.

The lower part of a commodity storage rack arranged in a commodity storage warehouse is provided with: a commodity output chute which is inclined in a manner that the front part is lower and the rear part is higher, and a plurality of vent holes are arranged on the whole surface of the plate surface of the commodity output chute in a penetrating manner; and a cooling/heating unit with a fan that cools or heats the commodity accommodated in the commodity-accommodating passage to a temperature suitable for sale. Further, a duct member disposed in the vertical direction is provided along the back wall of the main body cabinet. Thereby, the structure is as follows: the cooled air or heated hot air (which are also collectively referred to as "inside air") cooled by the cooling/heating unit with a fan circulates so as to be blown out into the commodity storage compartment through the duct member by driving of the fan and descend in the commodity storage compartment, and then returns to the fan through the vent hole of the commodity output chute, and the commodities stored in the commodity storage rack are cooled or heated to a temperature suitable for sale while descending in the commodity storage compartment. When a commodity selection button provided on an outer door openably and closably attached to an opening on the front surface of the main body cabinet is pressed, a commodity output device provided on the corresponding commodity storage shelf is operated, and one commodity stored in the commodity storage passage is discharged. The commodity discharged from the commodity discharge device is corrected in posture by the posture control plate while the commodity falling path is falling, and at the same time, the falling speed is reduced, and the commodity is dropped onto the commodity discharge chute, and then the commodity is rolled or slid on the commodity discharge chute and is discharged to the commodity discharge port (for example, patent document 1).

The invention disclosed in patent document 1 is configured such that: the in-warehouse air conveyed by the driving of the fan attached to the cooling/heating unit is circulated so as to be blown out into the commodity storage warehouse via the duct member and returned to the fan via the vent hole of the commodity output chute, thereby cooling or heating the commodities stored in the commodity storage rack to a temperature suitable for sale, cooling or heating (also referred to as integral cooling or integral heating) all the commodities stored in the commodity storage rack to a temperature suitable for sale, and after cooling or heating all the commodities stored in the commodity storage rack to a temperature suitable for sale, switching to the cold keeping operation or the warm keeping operation. In the invention disclosed in patent document 1, when the cooling operation or the warming operation is switched, all the commodities stored in the commodity storage shelves that have been cooled or heated to a temperature suitable for selling become heat sources to promote the cooling state or the warming state of the air in the storage, and therefore, the cooling operation or the warming operation can be extended.

As a method for solving the missing of the sales opportunity, there is known a method of: the duct member is provided with a front path of the interior air on a back side of the duct member and a return path of the interior air on a front side of the duct member at intervals, and discharge ports are provided at a plurality of positions in a vertical direction of the duct member, and the interior air from the cooling/heating unit is circulated through the front path and the return path and discharged from the discharge ports to the return path, whereby only commodities (i.e., commodities located immediately before a sale) stored in a region of a rear end of a commodity storage shelf (commodity storage path) are cooled or heated (also referred to as zone cooling or zone heating) (for example, patent document 2). Further, in the invention disclosed in patent document 2, an air volume adjusting means for adjusting the volume and direction of air in the interior that is discharged to the return path side and rises in the forward path is attached near the discharge ports provided at a plurality of locations in the vertical direction of the duct member.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 10-283556 (paragraph 0002, paragraph 0003 and FIG. 5 of the related art)

Patent document 2: japanese patent laid-open No. 2005-44293 (paragraphs 0066 to 0072 and FIGS. 9 to 12)

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

According to the invention disclosed in patent document 2, as compared with a case where all commodities stored in the commodity storage rack are cooled or heated to a temperature suitable for sale, that is, as commodities stored in the commodity storage passage defined by the commodity storage shelves of each floor, only commodities stored in a region near the rear end of the commodity storage shelf (commodity storage passage) need to be cooled or heated, and therefore, the invention is excellent in that a large capacity of heat energy can be avoided. However, the air volume adjusting device is limited to a device for cooling or heating only commodities accommodated in a region near the rear end of a commodity accommodating shelf (commodity accommodating passage), and is provided in the vicinity of a discharge port provided at a plurality of positions in the vertical direction of a duct member in order to arbitrarily adjust the air volume and the air direction of inside air that is discharged from the discharge port to the return path side and rises in the forward path, and the air volume adjusting device must be manually adjusted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide an automatic vending machine capable of performing whole cooling or whole heating and area cooling or area heating, respectively, and automatically cooling or heating products to a temperature suitable for vending at the time of the whole cooling or the whole heating and at the time of the area cooling or the area heating.

Means for solving the problems

The inventors have solved the above problems, and in particular, have the following problems: various studies have been made to save the labor of manually adjusting the air volume adjusting unit disposed in the vicinity of the outlet at a plurality of positions in the vertical direction of the duct member, and to enable the entire cooling or the entire heating without being limited to the zone cooling or the zone heating, and as a result, have found that: when the air volume adjusting unit arranged near the outlet at a plurality of positions in the vertical direction of the duct member is eliminated, if the fan is driven at the rated rotation speed, the temperature difference of commodities accommodated in the region near the rear end of each commodity accommodating shelf (commodity accommodating passage) is caused by the rapid decrease of the discharge amount discharged from the discharge port to the return passage side due to the straight-ahead movement of the air in the interior rising in the duct member, and on the other hand, if the fan is controlled to be driven at a predetermined rotation speed lower than the rated rotation speed, the air in the warehouse rising in the duct member loses the straight traveling property, the discharge amount from the discharge port increases, when the fan is driven and controlled at a predetermined rotational speed or less lower than the rated rotational speed, it takes a long time to cool or heat the commodities accommodated in the region near the rear end of each tier of commodity accommodating shelves (commodity accommodating paths) to a temperature suitable for sale. In this case, the following were confirmed by experiments: even if the duct member is provided with the discharge ports at a plurality of positions in the vertical direction, a temperature difference between the temperature of commodities stored in a region near the rear end of a commodity storage shelf (commodity storage passage) on the upper layer side and the temperature of commodities stored in a region near the rear end of a commodity storage shelf (commodity storage passage) on the other layer side is large, and particularly, commodities stored in a region near the rear end of a commodity storage shelf (commodity storage passage) on the upper layer side are deviated from a temperature suitable for sale. Accordingly, the following invention has been accomplished in which the driving control of the fans attached to the cooling/heating unit is appropriately changed, the upper inside fan for conveying the inside air raised via the duct member downward via the commodity drop passage is additionally provided, and the position of the discharge port provided in the duct member is examined, so that the commodities in the region near the rear end of each of the commodity storage shelves (commodity storage passages) from the lower layer side to the upper layer side can be automatically cooled or heated without causing a temperature difference when performing the zone cooling or the zone heating, and all the commodities stored in the commodity storage shelves can be automatically cooled or heated without causing a temperature difference when performing the overall cooling or the overall heating without omission.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an automatic vending machine comprising, in order from top to bottom, in a commodity storage compartment of a main body cabinet constructed as a heat-insulating casing: a commodity storage rack in which a plurality of commodity storage shelves are arranged in the vertical direction, the commodity storage shelves defining a commodity storage passage for storing a plurality of commodities arranged in a row in the front-rear direction in a horizontal posture; a commodity output chute inclined in a low front and high rear direction; and a cooling/heating unit that cools or heats the commodities accommodated in the commodity accommodating passage to a temperature suitable for sale, the cooling/heating unit including an in-store lower fan, the commodity accommodating shelf being inclined such that a rear side, which becomes a commodity discharge port, is lower than a front side, which becomes a commodity input port, and a commodity discharge device that discharges the commodities accommodated in the commodity accommodating passage in a horizontal posture one by one in the vicinity of the commodity discharge port, a commodity drop passage extending in a vertical direction being formed between a rear end of the commodity accommodating shelf and a back wall of the main body cabinet, and commodities discharged from the commodity discharge device being discharged onto the commodity discharge chute via the commodity drop passage, the automatic vending machine being characterized by comprising: a duct member which is disposed in the commodity falling path so as to extend in a vertical direction along a back wall of the main body cabinet, guides cold air or hot air cooled or heated by the cooling/heating member blown by the fan at a lower portion in the interior so as to rise, and has a vent hole from a central area to a lower area of a plate surface of the duct member; an upper fan located above the rear end of the uppermost commodity-accommodating shelf and configured to convey the cold air or hot air raised by the duct member downward through the commodity falling passage; driving the lower fan in the refrigerator so that the lower fan in the refrigerator has a rated rotation speed, and stopping driving the upper fan in the refrigerator when the whole cooling or the whole heating is performed; when zone cooling or zone heating is performed, the lower inside-compartment fan is driven so as to have a predetermined low-speed rotation speed lower than the rated rotation speed, while the upper inside-compartment fan is driven so as to have the rated rotation speed.

The invention according to claim 2 is the vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined low-speed rotation speed of the lower fan in the interior is 40% to 60% of the rated rotation speed.

The invention according to claim 3 is the vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the fan is integrally attached to the commodity storage rack.

The invention according to claim 4 is the vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the duct member includes a lower duct member and an upper duct member, and the upper duct member is integrally attached to the commodity storage rack.

The invention according to claim 5 is the vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine includes a shielding member that is located above the upper fans in the storage and is integrally attached to the commodity storage rack with a space therebetween, and the shielding member prevents the cold air or the hot air rising through the duct member from directly contacting the upper wall of the main body cabinet.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the invention of claim 1, an automatic vending machine is provided with, from top to bottom, in a commodity storage box constructed as a main body cabinet of a heat-insulating casing: a commodity storage rack in which a plurality of commodity storage shelves are arranged in the vertical direction, the commodity storage shelves defining a commodity storage passage for storing a plurality of commodities arranged in a row in the front-rear direction in a horizontal posture; a commodity output chute inclined in a low front and high rear direction; and a cooling/heating unit that cools or heats the commodities accommodated in the commodity accommodating passage to a temperature suitable for sale, the cooling/heating unit including an in-store lower fan, the commodity accommodating shelf being inclined such that a rear side, which becomes a commodity discharge port, is lower than a front side, which becomes a commodity input port, and a commodity discharge device that discharges the commodities accommodated in the commodity accommodating passage in a horizontal posture one by one in the vicinity of the commodity discharge port, a commodity drop passage extending in a vertical direction being formed between a rear end of the commodity accommodating shelf and a back wall of the main body cabinet, and commodities discharged from the commodity discharge device being discharged onto the commodity discharge chute via the commodity drop passage, the automatic vending machine being characterized by comprising: a duct member which is disposed in the commodity falling path so as to extend in a vertical direction along a back wall of the main body cabinet, guides cold air or hot air cooled or heated by the cooling/heating member blown by the fan at a lower portion in the interior so as to rise, and has a vent hole from a central area to a lower area of a plate surface of the duct member; an upper fan located above the rear end of the uppermost commodity-accommodating shelf and configured to convey the cold air or hot air raised by the duct member downward through the commodity falling passage; driving the lower fan in the refrigerator so that the lower fan in the refrigerator has a rated rotation speed, and stopping driving the upper fan in the refrigerator when the whole cooling or the whole heating is performed; when the zone cooling or the zone heating is performed, the lower inside fan is driven so as to have a predetermined low rotational speed lower than the rated rotational speed, and the upper inside fan is driven so as to have the rated rotational speed, whereby the following effects of the automatic vending machine can be provided: in the case of the whole cooling or the whole heating, the inside air which rises substantially straight in the duct member by the inside lower fan driven to have the rated rotation speed is not conveyed downward by the inside upper fan due to the stop of the inside upper fan, but flows forward of the commodity storage (toward the front end side of the commodity stored in the commodity storage passage of the commodity storage shelf) to automatically cool or heat all the commodities stored in the commodity storage rack to a temperature suitable for sale without a temperature difference, and in the case of the area cooling or the area heating, the inside air which rises in the duct member by the inside lower fan driven to have a predetermined low rotation speed lower than the rated rotation speed loses the straightness, and thereby, a part of the inside air which rises in the duct member flows into the inside of the storage from the air vent hole bored in the duct member to flow into the inside of the storage to store the commodity storage shelves stored in a plurality of layers arranged in the up and down direction In the plate, commodities in a region near the rear end of commodity storage shelves (commodity storage passages) below the middle layer are cooled or heated, and on the other hand, in-box air raised to the upper end of the duct member is conveyed by an in-box upper fan toward the lower side of the commodity falling passage, whereby commodities stored in a region near the rear end of an upper commodity storage shelf (commodity storage passage) among commodity storage shelves arranged in multiple layers in the vertical direction are cooled or heated, and commodities stored in a region near the rear end of an upper commodity storage shelf (commodity storage passage) to a lower commodity storage shelf (commodity storage passage) can be automatically and intensively cooled or heated to a temperature suitable for sale without a temperature difference.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the commodity storage rack of fig. 1 as viewed from obliquely right above.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the commodity-accommodating shelf of fig. 1 together with a partition member.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the upper fan and mounting member within the library of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of the upper duct member and shield member of fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the cooling/heating unit and the commodity output chute of fig. 1 as viewed from obliquely right above.

Fig. 7 shows a duct, fig. 7 (a) is a perspective view of the duct, and fig. 7 (b) is a perspective view of the duct to which a coil spring holding a commodity discharge chute is attached.

Fig. 8 shows a state of connection between the duct and the air tunnel of the cooling/heating unit, fig. 8 (a) is a perspective view of a state in which the duct is connected to the air tunnel, and fig. 8 (b) is a perspective view of a state in which the duct and the air tunnel are separated.

Fig. 9 is an explanatory view showing the flow of the interior air (cold air or hot air) circulating in the commodity storage when the commodities stored in the commodity storage shelves at the front of the sales order (commodities stored in the region near the rear end of the commodity storage shelf) are intensively cooled or heated.

Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of the interior air (cold air or hot air) circulating in the commodity storage compartment when the whole commodities stored in the commodity storage rack are cooled or heated.

Description of the reference numerals

1. A main body cabinet; 4. a commodity storage rack; 5. a commodity output chute; 6. a cooling/heating unit (cooling/heating means); 7a, a lower duct member; 7b, an upper duct member; 10. a commodity storage shelf; 42. a partition member; 43. a commodity storage passage; 44. a commodity input port; 45. a commodity outlet; 46. a commodity falling path; 70. a vent hole; BM, commodity output device; f1, a fan at the lower part in the warehouse; f2, upper fan in warehouse.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of an automatic vending machine for vending canned beverages and plastic bottled beverages as an example of the automatic vending machine to which the present invention is directed, and fig. 2 is a perspective view of the commodity storage rack 4 of fig. 1 from the upper right oblique side. The left and right sides refer to the left and right sides when viewed from the front surface of the vending machine.

As shown in fig. 1, the vending machine includes: a main body cabinet 1 formed as an adiabatic case with a front surface opened; and an outer door 2 supported openably and closably on the front surface of the main body case 1 so as to close the front surface opening of the main body case 1, and the outer door 2 is provided with a commodity outlet 2 a. The main body cabinet 1 is a heat-insulating casing constructed by arranging heat-insulating panels made of urethane foam on the inner side of an outer box made of steel plate, i.e., an upper wall 1a, left and right side walls 1b, a back wall 1c, and a bottom wall 1d, and a space surrounded by the heat-insulating panels arranged on the upper wall 1a, left and right side walls 1b, back wall 1c, and bottom wall 1d is a commodity storage box, and the lower part of the commodity storage box is an equipment room 8. The front surface of the commodity storage in the main body cabinet 1 is closed by an openable and closable heat-insulating inner door 3, and the heat-insulating inner door 3 is provided with a commodity discharge opening 3a, and the commodity discharge opening 3a has a shutter 3b which can be pushed open by a commodity sent out from the commodity storage. A plurality of commodity storage shelves 4 are stored in the left-right direction in a commodity storage box surrounded by the heat insulating panels of the main body cabinet 1, and the commodity storage shelves 4 have commodity storage shelf plates 10 arranged in multiple stages in the up-down direction. The commodity storage rack 4 includes a pair of left and right rack side plates 41, 41 made of thin steel plate having a rectangular flat plate shape, and the commodity storage shelf 10 is mounted on the pair of left and right rack side plates 41.

The commodity-accommodating shelf 10 is mounted on the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41, 41 in such a manner as to be inclined with a predetermined inclination so as to be high on the front side of the commodity-inlet 44 and low on the rear side of the commodity-outlet 45. An internal space surrounded by the commodity storage shelf 10, the left and right shelf side plates 41, or, as necessary, the partition member 42 (see fig. 2 and 3) placed on the commodity storage shelf 10 defines a commodity storage passage 43 (commodity lane) for storing a plurality of commodities in a horizontal posture in a row in the front-rear direction, and the commodity storage passage 43 (commodity lane) is formed in a plurality of upper and lower stages (10 commodity lanes in the present embodiment). A commodity discharge device BM that discharges and discharges commodities S stored in the commodity storage passages 43 one by one is disposed on the lower surface of the commodity storage shelf 10 on the upper side, which is the upper portion of each commodity storage passage 43, in the vicinity of the commodity discharge port 45 of the commodity storage shelf 10. The commodity output device BM is a well-known commodity output device described in, for example, japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2012-137949, and is configured by mounting the following components on a thin box-shaped substrate: a pedal member BM1 provided so as to be freely retractable with respect to the commodity storage path 43 and movable between a protruding position protruding toward the commodity storage path 43 in a state of holding a commodity of the first selling order (a rearmost commodity, also referred to as a "sales commodity") and a retracted position retracted from the commodity storage path 43 in a state of releasing the holding of the sales commodity; a stopper member provided so as to be freely retractable with respect to the commodity storage passage 43 and movable between a retracted position retracted from the commodity storage passage 43 and a protruding position protruding toward the commodity storage passage 43 in a state of holding a commodity in a second order of sale (a commodity next to a rearmost commodity, also referred to as a next commodity of sale) in which the commodity is subsequently sold; a link mechanism that moves the pedal member BM1 and the stopper member to a protruding position and a retracted position; a drive means (solenoid, motor) or the like for driving the link mechanism, and the pedal member BM1 projects toward the commodity storage passage 43 to hold a commodity for sale during the time of waiting for sale, and the stopper member is in a state of retreating from the commodity storage passage 43, and the drive means is driven based on a sale command, whereby the stopper member projects toward the commodity storage passage 43 via the link mechanism to hold a next commodity for sale, and then the pedal member BM1 retreats from the commodity storage passage 43 to deliver the commodity for sale. Further, in order to mount the commodity discharging device BM that discharges the commodities accommodated in the commodity accommodating passage 43 on the uppermost layer one by one, the mechanical locking member 100 constituted by the dummy commodity accommodating shelf plate 10 is erected on the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41, 41 above the commodity accommodating passage 43 on the uppermost layer.

Further, an in-cabinet upper fan F2 is disposed at a rear end upper position of the mechanical locking capsule 100. The upper region of the rear end of the mechanical locking capsule 100 is a portion that becomes a blind spot by the mechanical locking capsule 100 being disposed obliquely with a predetermined inclination so that the rear side is lower than the front side, and the in-compartment upper fan F2 is disposed by the blind spot. The indoor upper fan F2 is for conveying the indoor air that has risen via an upper duct member 7b described later downward, and is mounted on the pair of left and right rack side plates 41, 41. Further, a shielding member 200 is provided above the upper inside fan F2 with a space from the upper inside fan F2. The shielding member 200 is also mounted on the pair of right and left frame side plates 41, 41. The shielding member 200 is disposed so that the rear end portion thereof faces the upper end opening of the upper duct member 7b, and is configured to prevent the interior air rising through the upper duct member 7b from directly contacting the upper wall 1a of the main body cabinet 1. By providing the shielding member 200, particularly, when the commodities are cooled, the interior air (cold air) raised through the upper duct member 7b can be prevented from directly contacting the upper wall 1a of the main body cabinet 1, and condensation can be prevented from occurring in the interior (upper wall 1a) due to a temperature difference between the interior and the exterior of the interior.

The rear ends (commodity discharge ports 45) of the commodity storage shelves 10 arranged in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction in each commodity storage rack 4 are positioned on the same vertical line, and a commodity falling passage 46 through which the commodities S fall is formed between the commodity discharge port 45 and the upper duct member 7 b. A position control plate 47 is provided at the rear end of each commodity-accommodating shelf plate 10, and the position control plate 47 is rotated between a protruding position protruding toward the commodity-dropping passage 46 and a retracted position retracted from the commodity-dropping passage 46 by being pushed open by the falling commodity S. The attitude control plate 47 is biased by a coil spring, not shown, to project toward the commodity falling path 46, and the attitude control plate 47 has the following functions: when pushed open by the commodity S falling on the commodity falling path 46 and retreated from the commodity falling path 46, the posture of the commodity S is corrected to the horizontal posture, and the falling energy of the commodity S is absorbed to reduce the falling speed of the commodity S. A plurality of vent holes 47a (see fig. 3) are formed in the plate surface of the attitude control plate 47.

The lower portion of the commodity storage rack 4 is provided with: a commodity discharge chute 5 which is disposed in a posture inclined in a lower front-lower rear-higher manner so as to connect a lower region of the commodity drop path 46 to a commodity discharge opening 3a provided in the heat-insulating inner door 3, and in which a plurality of vent holes 5a are bored in a plate surface of the commodity discharge chute 5 (see fig. 6); and a cooling/heating unit 6 that cools or heats the commodities S stored in the commodity-receiving shelves 4 to store the commodities S in a cold state or a hot state, wherein the commodity-receiving shelves 4, the commodity-discharging chute 5, and the cooling/heating unit 6 are provided in this order from top to bottom in the commodity storage. The cooling/heating unit 6 constitutes a cooling/heating member that cools or heats the commodities S accommodated in the commodity-accommodating passage 43 to a temperature suitable for sale.

The cooling/heating unit 6 is disposed in a space behind the commodity discharge chute 5 disposed in a posture inclined in a low front and high rear direction. In the cooling/heating unit 6, the evaporator 6a, the heater 6b, and the interior lower fan F1 are arranged in the order of the evaporator 6a, the interior lower fan F1, and the heater 6b from the front side in the front-rear direction. The inner-compartment lower fan F1 can be controlled in voltage or PWM to change the rotation speed. The evaporator 6a, the lower fan F1 in the warehouse, and the heater 6b are disposed in an air tunnel that surrounds and protects the respective fans, and an air tunnel 60 for spacing is provided in communication with the air tunnel of the heater 6 b. The wind tunnel of each of the evaporator 6a, the lower inside fan F1, and the heater 6b is continuous with the wind tunnel 60 as a whole in a tunnel shape, and hereinafter, the wind tunnel 60 is referred to as a wind tunnel representing each of the evaporator 6a, the lower inside fan F1, and the heater 6b, that is, the wind tunnel 60 of the cooling/heating unit 6. A lower duct member 7a is provided in connection with the air tunnel 60 of the cooling/heating unit 6. The lower duct member 7a is disposed along the rear surface of the commodity storage box (the back wall 1c of the main body cabinet 1) so as to extend to a region below the commodity falling passage 46, and includes an inlet-side opening 74 (see fig. 7) facing the outlet of the air tunnel 60 and an outlet-side opening 78 (see fig. 7) communicating with a region below the commodity falling passage 46. An upper duct member 7b is disposed in communication with the outlet-side opening 78 of the lower duct member 7 a.

A refrigerator condensing unit 9 forming a refrigeration cycle with the evaporator 6a of the cooling/heating unit 6 is disposed in the equipment chamber 8 at the lower portion of the main body cabinet 1. The refrigerator condensation unit 9 includes a compressor 9a, a condenser 9b, an outdoor fan 9c, an expansion valve (not shown), and the like, and the condenser 9b disposed outside the commodity storage and the evaporator 6a disposed inside the commodity storage are connected by a refrigerant pipe via the expansion valve.

Although not shown, parts necessary for automatic selling of the commodity S by the input of money, such as a commodity display chamber in which a plurality of commodity samples corresponding to a commodity passage are displayed, a commodity selection button for specifying the commodity S to be purchased, a coin input slot into which coins of a price are input, a bill insertion slot into which bills of a price are inserted, a coin return slot through which change coins are taken out or coins returned in accordance with a return instruction, a return lever for instructing return of change or input coins, and the like, are arranged on the front surface of the outer door 2, and a handle of a door lock mechanism for closing and locking the outer door 2 to the main body cabinet 1 is provided.

The commodity-accommodating shelf 4 includes a pair of left and right shelf side plates 41, 41 on which the commodity-accommodating shelf 10 is erected. As shown in fig. 2, the left and right frame side plates 41, 41 are made of thin steel plates having a rectangular flat plate shape. The commodity storage shelf plates 10 are vertically stacked on the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41, 41. Two front and rear frame side hook fittings 40 similar to the frame side hook fittings of the serpentine commodity storage frame are provided on the upper ends of the pair of left and right frame side plates 41, and the commodity storage frame 4 is stored in the commodity storage box by locking and fixing the frame side hook fittings 40, 40 to main body side hook fittings (not shown) laid on the top of the commodity storage box.

As shown in fig. 2, a plurality of partition members 42 can be attached to the commodity-accommodating shelf 10 as needed. These partition members 42 are used to define commodity storage paths 43 (commodity lanes) in which a plurality of commodities are stored in a row in the front-rear direction in a horizontal posture, in the commodity storage paths 43 (commodity lanes). Further, the width in the left-right direction of the commodity storage passage 43 (commodity lane) is set to a width slightly smaller than the length of the diagonal line of the commodity in order to facilitate the input of the commodity at the time of commodity replenishment (loading), while preventing the posture (axis) of the commodity rolling or sliding on the commodity storage shelf 10 from changing from the posture at right angles to the front-rear direction to the posture in line with the front-rear direction, and forming a slight gap between the commodity stored in the commodity storage passage 43 (commodity lane) and the partition plate 42 (or the rack side plate 41).

As shown in fig. 3, the commodity-accommodating shelf plate 10 is reinforced by forming flanges 11 and 11 bent downward from the left and right side edges of the rectangular plate surface. A hollow portion 12 formed by being rounded into a hollow cylindrical shape (a curled shape) is formed at the front end of the commodity-accommodating shelf plate 10. A pin insertion portion 11a is formed by a notch at the front portion of the flanges 11, and arc-shaped pin engagement portions 11b, 11c are also formed by notches at the substantially middle portion and the rear end of the flange 11. The commodity-accommodating shelf panel 10 is configured to be attached to the left and right rack side plates 41, 41 by arranging the commodity-accommodating shelf panel 10 so that the pin insertion portions 11a and the pin engagement portions 11b, 11c provided in the flanges 11, 11 face the pin members P0 to P2 (see fig. 2) erected on the left and right rack side plates 41, 41.

In the present embodiment, the commodity-accommodating shelf plate 10 is formed with 3 slit-shaped engagement grooves 14 corresponding to three types of short-sized commodities, in the front-rear direction, at a position on the left side of the plate surface determined to have a width corresponding to a long commodity, and the right end engagement groove 14 corresponds to a half-sized commodity having a length substantially half of that of the long commodity. These engaging grooves 14 are for locking and fixing the partition member 42, and are formed to have a width larger than the plate thickness of the partition member 42. A plurality of vent holes 10a are perforated in the plate surface of the commodity-accommodating shelf plate 10. The ventilation holes 10a are bored so that the perforation ratio is different in the front-rear direction of the commodity-accommodating shelf 10. In the present embodiment, the configuration is such that: the commodity-accommodating shelf 10 has the highest perforation rate in the intermediate region MT in the front-rear direction, and has the lowest perforation rate in the front region FT and the rear region RT across the intermediate region MT.

The partition member 42 is made of thin steel plate and is attached to the commodity-accommodating shelf plate 10 so as to extend in the front-rear direction and defines a commodity-accommodating passage 43. As shown in fig. 3, the partition member 42 has 3 claws 421 projecting downward at the lower portion thereof, and these claws 421 are configured to be engageable with 3 engaging grooves 14 extending in the front-rear direction formed in the plate surface of the commodity-accommodating shelf 10. The placement of the partition member 42 is performed by: after the 3 claws 421 of the partition member 42 are opposed to the corresponding 3 engagement grooves 14, when the partition member 42 is lowered, the 3 claws 421 fall into the corresponding 3 engagement grooves 14 and engage with each other, and the partition member 42 is placed. When the partition member 42 is placed on the commodity-accommodating shelf 10 (for example, placed at a position corresponding to a half-size commodity) in this manner, two rows of commodity-accommodating passages (commodity lanes) for the half-size commodities are formed on both sides of the partition member 42, and when the partition member 42 is removed, a commodity-accommodating passage (commodity lane) for a long commodity is formed. In this way, the commodity storage rack 4 is used for selling commodities of different types (long commodities and short commodities) having different lengths. In this case, the configuration is: the two commodity discharging devices BM are arranged in parallel in the vicinity of the commodity discharge port 45 corresponding to the half-size commodity storage passage 43, and are controlled individually when the partition member 42 is placed at a position corresponding to a half-size commodity, and are controlled in synchronization when the partition member 42 is placed at a position corresponding to a commodity having a length other than the half-size commodity. Two attitude control plates 47 are provided in parallel in the left-right direction corresponding to the two commodity output devices BM.

As shown in fig. 4, the inner upper fan F2 is a box-shaped fan, is attached to a thin steel plate attachment member 410 in a downward direction, and is mounted on the pair of left and right rack side plates 41, 41 via the attachment member 410. The mounting member 410 is provided with an opening 412 at a substantially central position of the base 411 corresponding to the width between the pair of right and left shelf side plates 41, 41. Flanges are formed by bending the front and rear ends of the base 411, and L-shaped engaging pieces 413 and 414 extending over the front and rear flanges and a hook-shaped engaging piece 415 (2 on the right end side and 1 on the left end side) arranged between the engaging pieces 413 and 414 are formed to protrude outward on the left and right ends of the base. Through holes OP1, OP2 (see fig. 2) corresponding to the shapes of the L-shaped engaging pieces 413, 414 are formed in the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41, 41 corresponding to the L-shaped engaging pieces 413, 414, and through holes OP3 (see fig. 2) corresponding to the shapes of the hook-shaped locking pieces 415 are formed in the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41, 41 corresponding to the hook-shaped locking pieces 415. The inner upper fan F2 is attached to the pair of right and left rack side plates 41, 41 as follows: after the in-house upper fan F2 is aligned with the opening 412 of the base 411 in the mounting member 410 and screwed, the L-shaped engaging pieces 413 and 414 and the hook-shaped engaging piece 415 of the mounting member 410 are inserted into the through holes OP1 to OP3 of the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41 and 41, respectively, and then the hook of the hook-shaped engaging piece 415 protruding outward from the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41 and 41 is engaged with the shelf side plate 41, whereby the in-house upper fan F2 is attached to the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41 and 41.

As shown in fig. 5, the upper duct member 7b is fixed to a flange screw on the rear side of the mounting member 410 of the in-house upper fan F2. The upper duct member 7b is made of thin steel plate having a cross section in japanese コ character form extending in the vertical direction, and is mounted on the pair of side brackets 41, 41 so as to extend along the back wall 1c of the main body cabinet 1. That is, the width of the upper duct member 7b in the left-right direction corresponds to the width of the pair of left and right rack side plates 41, 41. The left and right leg pieces (flanges) shaped like japanese コ are screwed to the pair of left and right rack side plates 41, and the upper end of the plate surface of the upper duct member 7b is screwed to the flange on the rear side of the mounting member 410 of the in-cabinet upper fan F2, thereby being mounted on the pair of left and right rack side plates 41, 41. A plurality of vent holes 70 are formed in a distributed manner from the central region to the lower region in the vertical direction of the plate surface of the upper duct member 7 b. The central region in the vertical direction of the plate surface of the upper duct member 7b corresponds to a substantial intermediate layer of the commodity-accommodating shelves 10 arranged in a plurality of layers in the vertical direction (in the present embodiment, the commodity-accommodating shelf 10 in the fifth layer from below), and a plurality of vent holes 70 are provided corresponding to the commodity-accommodating shelves 10 arranged in a plurality of layers in the vertical direction, which are located below the intermediate layer among the commodity-accommodating shelves 10. As shown in an enlarged view in fig. 5, the vent hole 70 is formed by a circular hole perforated in the plate surface of the upper duct member 7 b. An engaging piece 71 having screw through holes 71a and 71a is provided in a stepped manner at the lower end of the plate surface of the upper duct member 7b, and by engaging and fixing the engaging piece 71 to the lower duct member 7a shown in fig. 7 described later, the upper duct member 7b communicates with an outlet-side opening 78 of the lower duct member 7a to guide the air in the storage. The locking and fixing of the engagement piece 71 to the lower pipe member 7a will be described with reference to fig. 7 to be described later.

Fig. 5 shows a shielding member 200 which is disposed above the upper inside fan F2 with a space from the upper inside fan F2 and prevents the inside air rising through the upper duct member 7b from directly contacting the upper wall 1a of the main cabinet 1. The shielding member 200 is made of a thin steel plate having a rectangular flat plate shape and a width substantially equal to the width between the pair of left and right frame side plates 41, 41. A pair of attachment pieces 201 bent to extend downward are provided at both left and right ends of the shielding member 200. These attachment pieces 201 are formed with screw holes. The shielding member 200 is mounted on the pair of right and left frame side plates 41, 41 as follows: the shielding member 200 is mounted on the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41, 41 by screwing screws (not shown) screwed from the outside of the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41, 41 into screw holes of the mounting piece 201, in addition to being disposed between the pair of left and right shelf side plates 41, 41. Further, a guide plate 202 inclined downward is integrally provided at the rear end of the shielding member 200, and the guide plate 202 is configured to guide the in-cabin air ascending through the upper duct member 7b to the front side.

Fig. 6 shows the air tunnel 60 of the commodity output chute 5 and the cooling/heating unit 6 arranged in the lower portion of the commodity-accommodating shelf 4. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a state in which the commodity output chute 5 is disposed above the air tunnel 60 of the cooling/heating unit 6. As shown in fig. 6, the commodity discharge chute 5 is provided with a plurality of vent holes 5a on its chute surface. The vent hole 5a is perforated on the middle and front sides of the commodity discharge chute 5 except for the rear side. A guide piece 51 bent in a shape of japanese "く" is formed at the front end of the commodity discharging chute 5. A downwardly extending vertical portion 511 of the guide piece 51 is formed along the front wall of the main body case 1, and a screw insertion hole 511a is formed in the plate surface of the guide piece 51, and the vertical portion 511 is fixed to the front wall of the main body case 1 by a screw. Further, a locking piece 512 extending downward is formed at the rear end of the commodity discharging chute 5, the locking piece 512 is disposed in a state of being locked to the lower duct member 7a, and the rear-side rear surface of the commodity discharging chute 5 is held by a coil spring SP attached to the lower duct member 7 a. In fig. 6, the upper pipe member 7b, which is locked and fixed to the front wall 71 of the lower pipe member 7a, is not shown.

As shown in fig. 7, the lower duct member 7a is made of thin steel plate having a concave cross section, and is composed of a front wall 71 having a rectangular flat plate shape, left and right side walls 72, and back walls 73, 73. An inlet-side opening 74 communicating with the outlet of the air duct 60 is formed in a position near a substantially central lower portion of the front wall 71, screw holes 75, 75 are formed in the left and right sides near both left and right ends on the upper side of the front wall 71, and a pair of upper and lower screw holes 76, 76 are formed below these screw holes 75. Further, slit-shaped locking grooves 77 and 78 for locking the air tunnel 60 are formed at both left and right ends of the inlet-side opening 74. As shown in fig. 7 (b), a spring fixing piece 50 shaped like japanese "く" is fixed by screws to a pair of upper and lower screw holes 76, 76 formed in the upper side of front wall 71 near both left and right ends. The structure is as follows: a coil spring SP is locked to the spring fixing piece 50, and the coil spring SP holds the rear-side back surface of the commodity discharging chute 5 and reduces the impact of the commodity falling to the rear end side of the commodity discharging chute 5.

The lower duct member 7a is disposed in such a manner that its lower end is placed on the bottom wall 1d of the main body cabinet 1 and the back walls 73, 73 are fixed to the back wall 1c of the main body cabinet 1 by fixing members such as double-sided tape, and a space surrounded by the front wall 71, the left and right side walls 72, 73 of the lower duct member 7a and the back wall 1c of the main body cabinet 1 serves as a passage through which air in the interior flows, and its upper end serves as an outlet-side opening 78 communicating with the lower end of the upper duct member 7 b. Fig. 7 shows the upper duct member 7b by a chain line, and the lower end of the upper duct member 7b is locked and fixed to the lower duct member 7a by overlapping an engagement piece 71 provided at the lower end of the upper duct member 7b with a front wall 71 of the lower duct member 7a arranged along the back wall 1c of the main body cabinet 1, and by screwing a screw SC into screw holes 75, 75 formed in the front wall 71 of the lower duct member 7a through screw through holes 71a, 71a formed in the engagement piece 71. Thereby, the upper duct member 7b communicates with the outlet-side opening 78 of the lower duct member 7 a.

Fig. 8 shows a state of connection between the lower duct member 7a and the air tunnel 60 of the cooling/heating unit 6, fig. 8 (a) shows a state after the lower duct member 7a is connected to the air tunnel 60, and fig. 8 (b) shows a state after the lower duct member 7a and the air tunnel 60 are disassembled. In fig. 8, the upper duct member 7b is omitted.

As shown in fig. 8, the air tunnel 60 has a size surrounding the inlet-side opening 74 of the lower duct member 7a, and locking pieces 611 and 612 protruding rearward are provided at the rear edges of the left and right side walls 61. The locking piece 611 is formed as a trapezoidal projection that is inserted into a slit-shaped locking groove 77 formed in the front wall 71 of the lower duct member 7a, and a bulging portion 611a is provided on the plate surface of the locking piece 611. The locking piece 612 is formed as a hook-shaped projection that is inserted into a slit-shaped locking groove 78 formed in the front wall 71 of the lower duct member 7 a. The plate thickness of the locking pieces 611 and 612 is smaller than the groove width of the slit-shaped locking grooves 77 and 78 formed in the front wall 71 of the lower duct member 7a, and the height of the bulging portion 611a provided in the locking piece 611 is set so that the sum of the plate thickness of the locking piece 611 and the bulging amount of the bulging portion 611a is slightly larger than the groove width of the locking groove 77.

The wind tunnel 60 is integrated with the lower duct member 7a by: the locking pieces 611 and 612 provided on the left and right side walls 61 are inserted into the slit-shaped locking grooves 77 and 78 formed in the front wall 71 of the lower duct member 7a, and then slid downward, and the hooks of the locking pieces 612 are engaged with the back surface of the front wall 71 of the lower duct member 7a, whereby the air tunnel 60 and the lower duct member 7a are integrated (see fig. 8 (a)). When the locking piece 611 of the air tunnel 60 is inserted into the locking groove 77 of the lower duct member 7a, the bulging portion 611a of the locking piece 611 becomes a resistance when passing through the locking groove 77, and a click feeling is obtained when passing through the locking groove 77.

In the vending machine having the above-described configuration, the outer door 2 and the heat-insulating inner door 3 shown in fig. 1 are opened to load the commodity S from the commodity inlet 44 into the commodity storage passage 43 (commodity passage) defined by the commodity storage shelf 10. The commodity loaded into the commodity storage path 43 (commodity lane) first is held by the pedal member BM1 protruding into the commodity storage path 43 of the commodity carrying device BM to become a commodity in a first order of sale (also referred to as a commodity for sale), the loaded commodity is stacked in front of the commodity for sale held by the pedal member BM1 to become a next commodity for sale, and the commodities continuously loaded are sequentially stacked in front of the next commodity for sale. After the commodities are loaded, the commodities S stored in the commodity-storing shelves 4 are cooled or heated by the cooling/heating unit 6 and stored in a cold state or a hot state suitable for sale, thereby being brought into a saleable state (a sales standby state).

Here, the flow of the interior air (cold air or hot air) circulating in the commodity storage when the commodities stored in the commodity storage shelves 4 are cooled or heated by the cooling/heating unit 6 will be described with reference to fig. 9 and 10. Fig. 9 shows a state of the circulating airflow when the area cooling or the area heating is performed, and fig. 10 shows a state of the circulating airflow when the whole cooling or the whole heating is performed.

Although not shown, the vending machine includes a control unit for controlling the entire vending machine, the control unit including a ROM storing various execution programs, a RAM storing various data, a CPU executing various execution programs in accordance with various input signals, and the like, and the in-cabinet lower fan F1 and the in-cabinet upper fan F2 are driven and controlled in accordance with a program for performing area cooling or area heating, and overall cooling or overall heating.

Fig. 9 shows the state of the circulating air flow when zone cooling or zone heating is performed, and in this case, the in-compartment lower fan F1 and the in-compartment upper fan F2 of the cooling/heating unit 6 are driven. In this case, the in-house lower fan F1 is driven and controlled so that the in-house lower fan F1 has a predetermined low rotational speed lower than the rated rotational speed (for example, 40% to 60% of the rated rotational speed), and the in-house upper fan F2 is driven and controlled so that the in-house upper fan F2 has the rated rotational speed. When the interior lower fan F1 is driven at a predetermined low speed lower than the rated speed, the interior air (the cold air cooled by the cooler 6a or the hot air heated by the heater 6 b) enters the interior of the lower duct member 7a from the air tunnel 60 of the cooling/heating unit 6 through the inlet side opening 74 of the lower duct member 7a, and is then blown out from the outlet side opening 78 of the lower duct member 7a toward the lower end of the upper duct member 7 b. The flow rate of the air in the interior that is blown out from the outlet-side opening 78 of the duct member 7a toward the lower end of the upper duct member 7b and rises in the upper duct member 7b is relatively weak (that is, slower than the flow rate in the case where the interior lower fan F1 is driven at the rated rotational speed) because the interior lower fan F1 is driven at a predetermined low rotational speed that is lower than the rated rotational speed, and is branched into the circulating air flow a1 from the vent hole 70 bored in the upper duct member 7b and becomes the circulating air flow a0 that reaches above the upper duct member 7b (the upper end of the commodity storage container). The circulating airflow a0 that has reached the upper end of the upper duct member 7B is turned back downward by the in-cabinet upper fan F2 to become the circulating airflow B. The circulation airflow B is branched into circulation airflows B1 by the position control plate 47 and flows downward. The circulating gas streams a1, B1 circulate as follows: the air sucked by the lower inside fan F1 is split into the circulating airflows a2 and B2 through the vent holes 10a bored in the commodity-accommodating shelf 10, and is returned to the lower inside fan F1 through the vent holes 5a of the commodity output chute 5 as the circulating airflow C. The circulating airflows a1 and a2 wash down commodities stored in a region near the rear end of the commodity storage passages 43 (commodity channels) in the commodity storage shelves 10 of the vertically arranged commodity storage shelves 10 of the fifth or lower tier from below to cool or heat the commodities, while the circulating airflows B1 and B2 wash down commodities stored in a region near the rear end of the commodity storage passages 43 (commodity channels) in the commodity storage shelves 10 of the upper tier (sixth or lower tier) in the commodity storage shelves 10 of the vertically arranged commodity storage shelves 10 to cool or heat the commodities.

Here, when the commodity S is placed on the commodity-accommodating shelf board 10, the vent hole 10a at the projected portion of the commodity S viewed from the upstream side in the flow direction of the circulating airflows C, A2, B2 is blocked by the commodity S, but the vent hole 10a corresponding to the gap outside the projected portion of the commodity S, that is, the gap between the commodity and the partition plate 42 (or the rack side plate 41) due to the width of the commodity-accommodating passage 43 (commodity lane) being set slightly longer than the length of the commodity S, is opened. Therefore, when the commodity S is placed on the commodity-accommodating shelf 10, the circulating airflows C, A2 and B2 are also formed (when the commodity S is compared with a sliding window of a japanese building, the circulating airflow D corresponds to harmful wind). In this way, when zone cooling or zone heating is performed, by controlling the driving of the in-house lower fan F1 so that the in-house lower fan F1 has a predetermined low rotational speed lower than the rated rotational speed (for example, 40% to 60% of the rated rotational speed), and by controlling the driving of the in-house upper fan F2 so that the in-house upper fan F2 has the rated rotational speed, it is possible to intensively cool or heat the commodities S (the commodities S stored in the commodity storage rack 4 before the sale) stored in the region near the rear end of the commodity storage passage 43 of each commodity storage shelf 10 to a temperature suitable for sale without a temperature difference.

Further, it was clarified by experiments by the inventors and the like that: in contrast to the case where the interior lower fan F1 is drive-controlled so that the interior lower fan F1 has a predetermined low-speed rotation speed (for example, 40% to 60% of the rated rotation speed) that is lower than the rated rotation speed (the interior upper fan F2 is drive-controlled at the rated rotation speed), in the case where the interior lower fan F1 is drive-controlled at 40% or less of the rated rotation speed, it takes a long time to cool or heat the commodities S stored in the region near the rear end of the commodity-storing passages 43 of the commodity-storing shelves 10 of each floor to a temperature suitable for sale, and there is no large difference in the time until the commodities S stored in the region near the rear end of the commodity-storing passages 43 of the commodity-storing shelves 10 of each floor are cooled or heated to a temperature suitable for sale when the interior lower fan F1 is drive-controlled at 60% or more of the rated rotation speed, however, the temperature difference occurs between the commodities S stored in the commodity storage shelf 10 in each floor in the region near the rear end of the commodity storage path 43. The reason why the temperature difference occurs in the commodities S at the respective floors in the region near the rear end of the commodity-accommodating shelf 10 is not sufficiently analyzed when the drive control of the in-house lower fan F1 at 60% or more of the rated rotation speed is performed without a large difference in the time until the commodities S accommodated in the region are cooled or heated to the temperature suitable for sale, but is considered to be due to the following reasons: when the in-compartment lower fan F1 is driven and controlled at 60% or more of the rated rotation speed, the flow speed of the in-compartment air rising inside the upper duct member 7b increases and becomes straight, and therefore the circulating airflow a1 passing through the vent holes 70 bored in the upper duct member 7b decreases.

Fig. 10 shows the state of the circulating air flow when the cooling-as-a-whole or the heating-as-a-whole is performed, and in this case, the in-compartment lower fan F1 of the cooling/heating unit 6 is driven, while the in-compartment upper fan F2 is stopped from being driven. In this case, the inner-compartment lower fan F1 is driven and controlled to rotate at a high speed at the rated rotation speed. By the drive control of the inside-lower fan F1 so as to rotate at a high speed, the flow velocity of the inside air (the circulating air flow a0) that rises through the lower duct member 7a in the upper duct member 7b becomes a relatively high flow velocity with high linearity, and the partial flow (the partial flow corresponding to the circulating air flow a1 shown in fig. 9) discharged from the inside of the upper duct member 7b to the inside of the commodity storage container through the vent hole 70 of the upper duct member 7 is reduced. Therefore, the in-warehouse air blown out from the outlet-side opening 78 of the lower duct member 7a to the lower end of the upper duct member 7b substantially reaches the upper end of the upper duct member 7 b.

The circulating air flow a0 reaching the upper end of the upper duct member 7b is blown onto the guide plate 202 provided at the rear end of the shielding member 200 located above the in-compartment upper fan F2 and spaced apart from the in-compartment upper fan F2. In this way, since the shielding member 200 prevents the circulating airflow a0 rising through the upper duct member 7b from directly contacting the upper wall 1a of the main body cabinet 1, particularly when cooling commodities, the circulating airflow a0 (cold air) rising through the upper duct member 7b can be prevented from directly contacting the upper wall 1a of the main body cabinet 1 and causing condensation on the upper wall 1a due to a temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the cabinet.

Here, since the guide plate 202 of the shielding member 200 is provided in a downwardly inclined manner, the circulating airflow a0 rising through the upper duct member 7b passes through the guide plate 202 to become the circulating airflow D guided forward by the shielding plate 200. The circulating airflow D reaches the front of the commodity storage, cools or heats commodities stored in the front end region of the commodity storage passage 43 (commodity passage) of the commodity storage shelf 10 by being washed down, and then descends in the commodity storage, and thereafter returns to the in-storage lower fan F1 through the vent hole 5a of the commodity output chute 5. In this way, the air in the commodity storage is sucked by the in-compartment lower fan F1 through the ventilation holes 5a of the commodity discharge chute 5 by the driving of the in-compartment lower fan F1, and therefore, the circulating air flow D guided forward by the shielding plate 200 by the suction of the in-compartment lower fan F1 is gradually branched into the circulating air flow D1 directed downward in the commodity storage through the ventilation holes 10a perforated in the commodity-storage shelf 10, and all the commodities stored in the commodity storage passages 43 (commodity passage) of the commodity-storage shelf 10 are washed down and cooled or heated while being lowered in the commodity storage. In this way, when the entire cooling or the entire heating is performed, the driving of the in-compartment lower fan F1 is controlled so that the in-compartment lower fan F1 reaches the rated rotation speed, and on the other hand, the driving of the in-compartment upper fan F2 is stopped, whereby the in-compartment air rising in the upper duct member 7b does not flow out into the commodity storage compartment through the vent hole 70, but reaches the upper end of the upper duct member 7b and then becomes the circulating air flow D, D1 guided forward by the shielding member 200, whereby the commodities stored in all the areas of the commodity storage rack 4 can be cooled or heated to a temperature suitable for sale.

As described above, according to the vending machine of the present embodiment, the following effects can be provided: the main body cabinet 1 constructed as a heat insulating casing is provided with, from top to bottom: a commodity storage rack 4 in which a plurality of commodity storage shelves 10 are arranged in a vertical direction, the commodity storage shelves 10 defining a commodity storage passage 43, the commodity storage passage 43 storing a plurality of commodities arranged in a row in a horizontal posture in a front-rear direction; a commodity output chute 5 which is inclined in a low front and high rear direction; and a cooling/heating member (cooling/heating unit 6) which cools or heats the commodities S accommodated in the commodity-accommodating passage 43 to a temperature suitable for sale, and which has an in-house lower fan F1; the commodity storage shelf 10 is inclined so that the rear side of the commodity output port 45 is lower than the front side of the commodity input port 44, a commodity output device BM that outputs commodities S stored in the commodity storage path 43 in a horizontal posture by one is provided near the commodity output port 45, a commodity falling path 46 extending in the vertical direction is formed between the rear end of the commodity storage shelf 10 and the back wall 1c of the main body cabinet 1, and the commodities S output from the commodity output device BM are sent out to the commodity output chute 5 through the commodity falling path 46, and the automatic vending machine is provided with: a duct member (upper duct member 7b) which is disposed in the commodity drop passage 46 so as to extend in the vertical direction along the back wall 1c of the main body cabinet 1 and guides cold air or hot air cooled or heated by the cooling/heating member (cooling/heating unit 6) blown by the lower inside fan F1 in such a manner as to rise, and which has a vent hole 70 from the center area to the lower area of the plate surface thereof; an upper fan F2 located above the rear end of the uppermost commodity-accommodating shelf 10 and configured to convey the cold air or hot air raised by the duct member (upper duct member 7b) downward through the commodity drop passage 46; during the whole cooling or the whole heating, the in-compartment lower fan F1 is driven so that the in-compartment lower fan F1 has a rated rotational speed, and the in-compartment upper fan F2 is stopped; when zone cooling or zone heating is performed, the inside lower fan F1 is driven so that the inside lower fan F1 has a predetermined low rotational speed lower than the rated rotational speed, and on the other hand, the inside upper fan F2 is driven so that the inside upper fan F2 has a rated rotational speed, whereby inside air that has risen substantially straight inside the duct member (upper duct member 7b) by the inside lower fan F1 driven so as to have the rated rotational speed is blown out to the front inside the commodity storage due to the stop of the inside upper fan F2, and all of the commodities S stored in the commodity storage rack 4 are automatically cooled or heated to a temperature suitable for sale without a temperature difference, and when zone cooling or zone heating is performed, inside the duct member (upper duct) is cooled or heated by the inside lower fan F1 driven so as to have a predetermined low rotational speed lower than the rated rotational speed The in-house air rising inside the duct member 7b) loses its straightness, and thereby a part of the in-house air rising inside the duct member (upper duct member 7b) flows into the inside of the house from the vent hole 70 bored in the duct member (upper duct member 7b), thereby intensively cooling or heating the commodities S in the region near the rear end of the commodity-receiving passages 43 of the commodity-receiving shelves 10 below the middle tier among the commodity-receiving shelves 10 arranged in multiple tiers in the vertical direction, while the in-house air rising to the upper end of the duct member (upper duct member 7b) is conveyed toward the lower side of the commodity-dropping passage 46 by the in-house upper fan F2, thereby intensively cooling or heating the commodities S in the region near the rear end of the commodity-receiving passages 43 of the commodity-receiving shelves 10 on the upper tier among the commodity-receiving shelves 10 arranged in multiple tiers in the vertical direction, the commodities S stored in the region near the rear end of the commodity storage passage 43 of the commodity storage shelf 10 from the upper layer side to the lower layer side can be automatically cooled or heated to a temperature suitable for sale in a concentrated manner without a temperature difference.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the lower duct member 7a and the upper duct member 7b are provided as duct members and the upper duct member 7b is integrally attached to the commodity-accommodating shelf 4 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and a configuration may be adopted in which one duct member in which the lower duct member 7a and the upper duct member 7b are continuous is used instead of being divided into the lower duct member 7a and the upper duct member 7b, and the duct member is disposed along the back wall 1c of the main body cabinet 1.

Claims (5)

1. An automatic vending machine, which is provided with a commodity storage chamber of a main cabinet constructed as a heat insulation shell, and is provided with the following components from top to bottom in sequence: a commodity storage rack in which a plurality of commodity storage shelves are arranged in the vertical direction, the commodity storage shelves defining a commodity storage passage for storing a plurality of commodities arranged in a row in the front-rear direction in a horizontal posture; a commodity output chute inclined in a low front and high rear direction; and a cooling/heating member that cools or heats the commodity stored in the commodity storage passage to a temperature suitable for sale, the cooling/heating member having an in-compartment lower fan; the commodity storage shelf is inclined so that a rear side of the commodity storage shelf, which becomes a commodity outlet, is lower than a front side of the commodity inlet, a commodity discharging device for discharging commodities stored in a commodity storage passage in a horizontal posture one by one is provided in the vicinity of the commodity outlet, a commodity falling passage extending in a vertical direction is formed between a rear end of the commodity storage shelf and a back wall of the main body cabinet, and commodities discharged from the commodity discharging device are sent out onto the commodity discharge chute through the commodity falling passage,

is provided with: a duct member which is disposed in the commodity falling path so as to extend in a vertical direction along a back wall of the main body cabinet, guides cold air or hot air cooled or heated by the cooling/heating member blown by the fan at a lower portion in the interior so as to rise, and has a vent hole from a central area to a lower area of a plate surface of the duct member; an upper fan located above the rear end of the uppermost commodity-accommodating shelf and configured to convey the cold air or hot air raised by the duct member downward through the commodity falling passage;

driving the lower fan in the refrigerator so that the lower fan in the refrigerator has a rated rotation speed, and stopping driving the upper fan in the refrigerator when the whole cooling or the whole heating is performed;

when zone cooling or zone heating is performed, the lower inside-compartment fan is driven so as to have a predetermined low-speed rotation speed lower than the rated rotation speed, while the upper inside-compartment fan is driven so as to have the rated rotation speed.

2. The vending machine of claim 1,

the predetermined low-speed rotation speed of the lower fan in the warehouse, which is lower than the rated rotation speed, is 40% to 60% of the rated rotation speed.

3. The vending machine of claim 1,

the upper fan in the warehouse is integrally mounted on the commodity storage rack.

4. The vending machine of claim 1,

the duct member includes a lower duct member and an upper duct member, and the upper duct member is integrally attached to the commodity-accommodating shelf.

5. The vending machine of claim 1,

the automatic vending machine is provided with a shielding component which is positioned at the upper side of the upper fan in the warehouse and is integrally installed on the commodity storage rack in a mode of having a space with the upper fan in the warehouse, and the shielding component prevents cold air or hot air rising through the pipeline component from directly contacting with the upper wall of the main cabinet.

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