CN114419783A

CN114419783A - Article storage device and article supply device

Info

Publication number: CN114419783A
Application number: CN202210099040.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 村上厳洋; 近藤创; 五十岚达志; 黑川信夫
Original assignee: Bandai Co Ltd
Current assignee: Bandai Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-15
Filing date: 2022-01-25
Publication date: 2022-04-29
Anticipated expiration: 2042-01-25
Also published as: TW202238535A; CN114419783B; JP2022141351A; JP7189987B2

Abstract

The invention provides an article storage device which has a structure capable of supplying a sheet body, a box body and the like as an article and can be installed on an article supply device. The article storage device of the present invention is attachable to an article supply device, and includes: a main body portion; and a delivery unit that is provided in the main body unit and delivers the article stored in the main body unit to the outside of the article storage device; and the sending-out part is configured to be capable of: a delivery-enabled state in which the article can be delivered; and a non-delivery state in which the article cannot be delivered.

Description

Article storage device and article supply device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an article storage device and an article supply device.

Background

There is an article supply device that supplies an article according to payment of a payment for a good. Patent document 1 discloses an article supply device that can supply articles in accordance with payment of a payment for a cargo.

[ Prior art documents ]

[ patent document ]

[ patent document 1] Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2008-27226

Disclosure of Invention

[ problems to be solved by the invention ]

The article supplied in patent document 1 is not a sheet-like or box-like article. In view of this, a configuration is required in which articles such as sheets and cases can be supplied by storing the sheets and cases as articles and attaching the articles to an article supply device.

Thus, the present invention provides an article storage device which has a structure capable of supplying a sheet, a case, or the like as an article and which can be attached to an article supply device, and an article supply device to which the article storage device is attached.

[ means for solving problems ]

The present invention is an article storage device that can be attached to an article supply device, and includes:

a main body portion; and

a feeding section provided in the main body section and configured to feed the article stored in the main body section to an outside of the article storage device; and is

The delivery part is configured to be capable of: a delivery-enabled state in which the article can be delivered; and a non-delivery state in which the article cannot be delivered.

The present invention is an article supply device, including:

the article storage device;

an acceptance unit that accepts payment of a payment for the item;

a detection unit that detects payment of the payment amount;

an operation unit that accepts an operation for delivering the article stored in the article storage device in accordance with the detection of payment of the payment amount; and

and a power transmission unit for transmitting power generated by the operation to the delivery unit to deliver the article.

[ Effect of the invention ]

The present invention can provide an article storage device which has a structure capable of supplying a sheet body, a case, and the like as an article and can be mounted on an article supply device, and an article supply device on which the article storage device is mounted.

Drawings

Fig. 1(a) and (B) are a diagram showing an example of an external appearance of the article supply device 10 according to the embodiment and a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the article supply device 10.

Fig. 2(a) and (B) are views showing an example of the external appearance of the article storage section 11 according to the embodiment.

Fig. 3(a) and (B) are views for explaining the structures of the guide portion 206 and the support member 305 according to the embodiment.

Fig. 4(a) to (C) are views for explaining the structures of the guide portion 206 and the support member 305 according to the embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the periphery of the guide portion 206 of the embodiment as viewed from the right side surface side of the article storage portion 11.

Fig. 6(a) to (C) are views for explaining the configuration of the pressing part 205 and the rail 208 according to the embodiment.

Fig. 7(a) and (B) are views for explaining the configurations of the 1 st holding portion 202 and the 2 nd holding portion 203 according to the embodiment.

Fig. 8(a) to (C) are views for explaining the interlocking structure of detection of the presence of an article by the switch 204 and notification by the notification unit 108 in the embodiment.

Fig. 9(a) to (C) are views for explaining the structure of the roller 207 according to the embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between the opening 201A of the placement unit 201 and the roller 207 according to the embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a diagram for explaining a power transmission mechanism on the main body 13 side to which power corresponding to an operation on the handle 104 is transmitted according to the embodiment.

Fig. 12(a) to (D) are views for explaining the power transmission mechanism on the article storage 11 side for transmitting power corresponding to the operation of the handle 104 according to the embodiment.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention in the scope of claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not essential to the invention. Two or more of the plurality of features described in the embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. The same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof is omitted.

First, an external configuration of the article supply device 10 will be described with reference to fig. 1 (a). Fig. 1(a) is a diagram showing an example of the front appearance of an article supply device 10 according to the embodiment. In fig. 1a, a main body of the article supply device 10 is composed of a front wall, a rear wall, and side walls, and an article storage portion (also referred to as an article storage device or an article holding device) 11 is a container (or a bucket, a box, or the like) for storing an article supplied from the article supply device 10 to a user and is attached to the article supply device 10. The article storage unit 11 can be attached to the article supply device 10 by sliding it from the front side to the rear side of the article supply device 10 along a specific rail or the like disposed inside the cover 12. Further, the article storage 11 may be removed from the article supply device 10 by pulling the article storage 11 forward along the rail from the article supply device 10. The rear wall of the article storage section 11 may not contact the rear wall of the article supply device 10 during mounting.

The article storage unit 11 is made of plastic, and has a region 101 provided on the front surface, and the region 101 is configured to present information related to the supplied article. The article storage section 11 may be configured to be able to see the articles stored therein from the outside, or may be configured to be unable to see the articles stored therein from the outside. The article may be a sheet, a printed matter, a card, a cd rom (compact disc read only memory) cartridge, or the like, which can be stored in the article storage portion 11 in a stacked manner. The article storage 11 is provided with an article supply port 102, and the supply port is provided with a shutter (opening/closing door) 103, so that the inside of the article storage 11 cannot be accessed from the supply port 102.

The article storage 11 is provided on the upper side of the main body 13, and a handle 104, a cash inlet 105, a cash return port 106, a cash return button 107, and a notification unit 108 for notifying that there is no article in the article storage 11 are arranged on the front surface of the main body 13.

The handle 104 is an operation member configured to be rotatable in an arrow direction in accordance with payment of the money of the goods, and the user rotates the handle 104 to open the damper 103, thereby supplying the lowermost article among the articles stored in the article storage portion 11 from the supply port 102. The handle 104 is prevented from rotating by the lock mechanism in a state where payment of the money is not confirmed, and the lock mechanism is released to be rotatable when payment of the money is confirmed.

The cash inlet 105 is used for inserting coins when paying a cash payment, and may have a plurality of types corresponding to the size of the cash. For example, as an example, a slot of a size capable of inserting a 500 yen coin and a 100 yen coin may be prepared. However, in fig. 1, the input ports of the 500 yen coins and the 100 yen coins are shared, and the input port corresponding to the size of the 100 yen coin is closed (blocked).

The cash inlet 105 can switch between a state of accepting input of cash and a state of not accepting input of cash by controlling an internal mechanism. Specifically, the article storage 11 has a mechanism for detecting the presence of an article, and even when the presence of an article is not detected, the input port is closed and the input of coins is not accepted. Thus, when the inside of the article storage 11 cannot be recognized from the outside, the coin is not erroneously inserted even though there is no article inside.

The cash inlet 105 is formed with a recess including a curved surface, and the inlet is provided near the bottom (deepest portion) of the recess. Thus, even a child can insert cash from the cash inlet 105 by sliding the cash along the curved surface. The cash return port 106 is configured to be able to return the inserted coins by operation of a cash return button 107 and to allow the coins returned from the apparatus to be taken out.

Fig. 1B is a block functional diagram showing hardware components (a part of which may include software) in the article supply device 10. Coins inserted from the cash inlet 105 are held in the cash holding unit 111, and whether or not the coins reach a specific amount is determined by the payment detecting unit 112. When it is determined that the specific amount of money is reached, the rotation portion 113 connected to the handle 104 is unlocked, so that the handle 104 can be rotated. This enables the handle 104 to be rotated. When the rotation unit 113 rotates, the coins held by the cash holding unit 111 are discharged to the coin storage unit 114, and the rotation unit 113 is locked again. When the cash refund button 107 is operated, the cash held in the cash holding portion 111 is refunded from the cash refund port 106.

The notification unit 108 is a notification unit that notifies that there is no article in the article storage unit 11. The notification unit 108 notifies the outside of the presence of the article to the outside in a visually recognizable manner when the article is not present, based on the detection result of the presence or absence of the article in the article storage unit 11 by the detection unit.

In the present specification, when the positional relationship of the respective members is described, the positional relationship may be referred to as front (front), rear (rear), left (left side), right (right side), upper (upper), lower (lower), and the like, and these expressions are relative expressions with reference to the article supply device 10 of fig. 1. For example, the front corresponds to the front side of the article supply device 10, and the rear corresponds to the rear side of the article supply device 10. The top, bottom, left, and right are top, bottom, left, and right with respect to the article supply device 10 of fig. 1.

Next, the structure of the article storage section 11 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 2. The article storage 11 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped body portion having an outer wall portion 200 forming the outer periphery of the article storage 11 and a placement portion 201 on which an article is placed. The upper surface of the mounting portion 201 and the lower end surface of the supply port 102 form the same plane. The placement portion 201 partitions the space inside the article storage portion 11 into a 1 st space located above the placement portion 201 and a 2 nd space located below the placement portion 201. The articles placed on the placement portion 201 in the 1 st space may have various sizes. The article is also shaped like a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and the size can be specified by the width × length × height. In this case, the width, length, and height of the article correspond to the size in each direction of the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis shown in the coordinate system of fig. 2 (a). The article may be a sheet or a card having a size of business card up to a4 size, or may be a thick article such as a CDROM box or a DVD (digital versatile disc) box.

In order to enable discharge of articles of various sizes, the 1

st holding portions

202L and 202R and the 2 nd holding portion 203 are disposed in the 1 st space. The 1

st holding portions

202L and 202R are holding members that support the article from the sides in the width direction of the article, and are movable in the width direction (X-axis direction) along the track formed on the placement portion 201, whereby the distance (W1) between the 1

st holding portions

202L and 202R can be set to a size corresponding to the width of the article. The 1

st holding portions

202L and 202R are movable on rails along the width direction of the pressing portion 205, and the 1

st holding portions

202L and 202R are configured to be movable in a direction to approach each other or in a direction to separate from each other. The 2 nd holding portion 203 is a holding member that supports the article from the side in the depth direction of the article, and is movable in the depth direction (Y-axis direction) along a track formed on the placement portion 201, whereby the distance (L1) between the 2 nd holding portion 203 and the arrangement position of the leading portion on the supply port 102 side of the article can be set to a size corresponding to the length of the article. In addition, the moving range of the 2 nd holding portion 203 on the rail is larger than the moving range of the 1 st holding portion 202 on the rail.

Next, the switch 204 is a detecting portion that detects whether or not an article is present in the article storage portion 11. When an article is present, it is pressed downward by the article, so that the presence of the article can be detected. In addition, the article is held by being pressed downward by the pressing portion 205, and even if only 1 article remains, the pressing force of the pressing portion 205 is transmitted to the switch 204 through the article, so that the presence of the article can be detected. On the other hand, since the switch 204 is not directly pressed by the pressing portion 205, when there is no article, the switch 204 is not pressed, and thus the absence of the article can be detected.

The pressing portion 205 can move downward by its own weight, and presses downward the tip portion (front portion) of the article held by the 1 st holding portion 202 and the 2 nd holding portion 203 on the supply port 102 side. The pressing portion 205 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the main body portion via a rail 208 described later. The guide portion 206 functions to guide the article stored in the article storage portion 11 when the article is sent out to the outside. The guide 206 adjusts the height of the discharge path so that only a single article is discharged from the supply port 102 through the discharge path of the article by adjusting the height from the placement portion 201 according to the height of the single article.

Fig. 2(B) is a diagram showing an example of a cross-sectional structure of the article storage section 11 based on the cross-section a-a' of fig. 2 (a). The components 201 to 206 are the same as those described in fig. 2 (a). In fig. 2(B), the heights of the 1 st and 2 nd holding portions 202 and 203 are substantially the same, and the stacking amount of the articles that can be stored in the article storage portion 11 is determined based on the volumes specified by the 1 st and 2 nd holding portions 202 and 203. The article storage 11 is disposed in the 2 nd space below the placement portion 201 on which the article is placed, in a roller 207 for discharging the article to the outside and a part of a transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotational force of the handle 104 to the roller 207.

The roller 207 is provided near the center of the article storage portion 11 (or the pressing portion 205) in the width direction, and when the handle is rotated 1 turn in conjunction with the handle 104, the roller 207 is also rotated 1 turn. A surface of the roller 207 is formed with a slip-proof member such as rubber. The roller 207 has a cross-section in the shape of a cylinder with a notch through which only 1 article can be ejected by 1 rotation of the handle. If the roller 207 is made to be a complete cylinder shape, there is a fear that the articles are discharged continuously, and therefore the notch is provided to discharge only a single article. Further, the shutter 103 operates so as to open to the outside of the article storage 11 in response to the rotation of the roller 207. Thus, the shutter 103 can be opened to supply the article only when the roller 207 is rotated.

The damper 103 is configured by arranging a plurality of opening/closing doors in the width direction of the article storage section 11, and at least one of the opening/closing doors is opened when articles are supplied. In this embodiment, the barrier 103 may be formed by 3 switch doors 1 to 3, and only the 2 nd switch door in the center may be opened or all of the 3 switch doors may be opened depending on the width of the article. The rail 208L is a rail member for regulating the vertical movement direction of the pressing portion 205, and allows the pressing portion 205 to accurately press the article.

The operating portion 209 is a mechanism for transmitting the rotational force of the handle 104 to the roller 207, and at least a part thereof protrudes downward from the bottom of the article storage portion 11 so as to be connected to a rotational force transmission mechanism of the handle 104 provided in the main body 13 located below the article storage portion 11.

Next, the structure of the guide 206 will be described with reference to fig. 3. Fig. 3(a) is a diagram showing an example of the external configuration of the guide portion 206. The guide portion 206 has a reinforcing member 302 attached to a main member 301 extending in the width direction, and is engaged with a support member 305 shown in fig. 3(B) to determine the height of the guide portion 206 from the placement portion 201. The guide portion 206 is detachably disposed in the article storage portion 11 via a support member 305. A holding portion 301A capable of holding the guide portion 206 is provided substantially at the center of the main member 301, and an indication portion 301B capable of specifying the position of the guide portion 206 is provided at an end of the holding portion 301. The indicating section 301B functions to show the current position of the guide section 206 with respect to a scale section indicating the position of the guide section 206 disposed in the article storage section 11. The 1 st engaging portion 304A for engaging with the support member 305 is disposed in the vicinity of one end portion of the guide portion 206, and the 2 nd engaging portion 304B for engaging with the support member 305 is disposed in the vicinity of the other end portion of the guide portion 206.

The bottom surface of the guide portion 206 is aligned with the bottom surface of the main member 301, and is substantially parallel to the upper surface of the placement portion 201 when the guide portion 206 is disposed in the article storage portion 11. The guide 206 may be made of plastic, for example, but in this case, the reinforcing member 302 may be made of metal (e.g., iron or other metal). The holding

portions

302A and 302B constitute a part of the reinforcing member 302 for holding when the height of the guide portion 206 is adjusted.

The

members

303A and 303B are used to attach the 1 st engaging portion 304A and the 2 nd engaging portion 304B to the main member 301, respectively, and the 1 st engaging portion 304A and the 2 nd engaging portion 304B are disposed so as to be slidable in the arrow direction (the longitudinal direction of the guide portion 206 and the width direction of the article storage portion 11) in a space formed between the main member 301 and the

members

303A and 303B. The 1 st engaging portion 304A and the 2 nd engaging portion 304B have projections in the sliding direction (the left-right direction), and the projections engage with the stepped grooves (engaged portions or concave portions) formed in the support member 305, whereby the guide portion 206 is supported at a specific height.

Fig. 3(B) is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the support member 305. The support member 305 includes a 1 st support portion 305A and a 2 nd support portion 305B. The 1 st support part 305A and the 2 nd support part 305B have grooves formed in front surfaces of both left and right ends, respectively. The distance from each groove to the bottom surface of the support member 305, and further the distance to the upper surface of the placement portion 201 when stored in the article storage portion 11, are different. The support member 305 has a 1 st surface facing the region 101 or the supply port 102 side of the article storage portion 11 when stored in the article storage portion 11 and a 2 nd surface opposite thereto, and grooves of the 1 st support portion 305A and the 2 nd support portion 305B are formed in the 2 nd surface. That is, fig. 3(B) mainly shows the configuration of the 2 nd surface side of the support member 305, and the guide portion 206 shown in fig. 3(a) also shows the configuration as viewed from the 2 nd surface side.

The 1 st supporting part 305A has a 1 st engaged part and a 2 nd engaged part including a multistage groove, and the 2 nd supporting part 305B has a 3 rd engaged part and a4 th engaged part. The 1 st to 4 th engaged portions include the same number of grooves (for example, 4 levels), the height of each of the 1 st to 4 th engaged portions (from the bottom surface 306 of the support member 305 or from the upper surface of the mounting portion 201 when the article storage portion 11 is provided) is the same, and the height of each of the 2 nd to 3 rd engaged portions is the same. That is, the height positions of the groove at the lowermost stage of the 1 st engaged portion and the groove at the lowermost stage of the 4 th engaged portion coincide with each other, and similarly, the height positions of the 2 nd stage, the 3 rd stage, and the uppermost stage coincide with each other. The height positions of the groove at the lowermost stage of the 2 nd engaged portion and the groove at the lowermost stage of the 3 rd engaged portion are identical, and similarly, the height positions of the 2 nd stage, the 3 rd stage, and the uppermost stage are identical, respectively.

Fig. 3(B) also shows an example of the arrangement of the 1 st engaging portion 304A and the 2 nd engaging portion 304B. Here, the 1 st engaging portion 304A engages with the lowest stage of the 1 st engaged portion, and the 2 nd engaging portion 304B engages with the lowest stage of the 4 th engaged portion, whereby the bottom surface position of the guide portion 206 becomes the lowest, corresponding to the case where the thickness of a single article is the smallest. Further, since the number of stages in each pair is defined, if one engaging portion is engaged with the 1 st engaged portion (or the 4 th engaged portion) at a certain number of stages, the other engaging portion is also engaged with the 4 th engaged portion (or the 1 st engaging portion) at a corresponding number of stages. Similarly, if one engaging portion engages with the 2 nd engaged portion (or the 3 rd engaged portion) at a certain number of stages, the other engaging portion also engages with the 3 rd engaged portion (or the 2 nd engaged portion) at a corresponding number of stages. Thus, the height position can be set more finely by further providing the 2 nd engaged part and the 3 rd engaged part (further providing the 1 st engaged part and the 4 th engaged part) than in the case where only the 1 st engaged part and the 4 th engaged part are provided (or the case where only the 2 nd engaged part and the 3 rd engaged part are provided).

In this way, the 1 st engaging portion 304A and the 2 nd engaging portion 304B can be made to correspond to an article of any height by, for example, sliding the 1 st engaging portion 304A in the 1 st longitudinal direction (left direction) to engage with the 1 st engaged portion, sliding the 2 nd engaging portion 304B in the 2 nd longitudinal direction (right direction) which is the opposite direction to the 1 st longitudinal direction to engage with the 4 th engaged portion, or sliding the 1 st engaging portion 304A in the 2 nd longitudinal direction (right direction) to engage with the 2 nd engaged portion, and sliding the 2 nd engaging portion 304B in the 1 st longitudinal direction (left direction) to engage with the 3 rd engaged portion in the width direction of the article housing portion 11 (longitudinal direction of the guide portion 206, width direction of the article). The 1 st engaging portion 304A is slidably engageable with any of the 1 st engaged portion and the 2 nd engaged portion, and the 2 nd engaging portion 304A is slidably engageable with any of the 3 rd engaged portion and the 4 th engaged portion.

Fig. 4(a) shows a state where the 1 st engaging portion 304A is engaged with the 1 st supporting portion 305A. The article storage section 11 is configured such that each engagement section is engageable with each support section in a state where the guide section 206 is in contact with the support member 305. As shown in fig. 4(a), the 1 st engaging portion 304A engages with the groove at the lowest stage of the 1 st engaged portion. Fig. 4(B) is an enlarged view of the engagement between the 1 st engagement portion 304A and the 1 st support portion 305A. As shown in fig. 4(B), the 1 st engaging portion 304A has

cylindrical projections

401 and 402 on the left and right, and a convex operating portion 403 is formed on the top. The shape of the 1 st engaging portion 304A and the 2 nd engaging portion 304B is not limited to the shape shown in fig. 4(B) as long as it has a cylindrical shape at least in part. The user can slide each engaging portion by operating the operation portion 403. Each engaged portion (groove) 404 formed in the 1 st support portion 305A has a C-shape or an inclined U-shape, and has a structure in which the 2 nd surface side of the support member 305 is opened.

Fig. 4(C) is a diagram showing the relationship between the indicating portion 301B provided on the holding portion 301A of the main member 301 and the scale portion 404. The scale corresponding to the position of the guide portion 206 is assigned to the scale portion 404, the position of the guide portion 206 corresponds to the number of stages from the 1 st to the 4 th engaged portions, and the number of stages of the currently engaged portion can be specified in accordance with the position indicated by the indicating portion 301B. In addition, the scale portion 404 may be provided with a line segment indicating the designated position, and a numerical value indicating the number of steps in association therewith. Alternatively, a value indicating the height of the guide portion 206, or a value indicating the height or size of the article may be given to the scale portion 404.

Next, fig. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of the periphery of the guide portion 206 as viewed from the right side surface side of the article storage portion 11. The guide 206 is fixed in position by inserting the front end 501a of the fixing member 501 into the gap between the end of the main member 301 and the rail 208R. When the height of the guide portion 206 from the upper surface of the mounting portion 201 is adjusted, the adjustment must be performed after the fixing member 501 is removed. The fixing member 501 is provided with an inclination at the base side of the distal end portion 501a to prevent the end portion of the main member 301 from coming off. Fig. 5 shows only the structure of the right side surface, but the left end portion of the main member 301 is fixed to the position by the same structure.

The portion surrounded by the dotted circle in fig. 5 indicates the distance d of the guide portion 206 (main member 301) from the upper surface of the placement portion 201, and this distance d varies depending on the position of the engaged portion (groove) with which the engaging portion is engaged. For example, if the groove increases by an equal distance (α) every step up, when an initial value corresponding to the first step (the lowest step) is di, the distance d is d ═ di + α (n-1) (where n is a value corresponding to any one of the steps 1 to 8). In addition, the value of α may also vary. For example, the amount of increase may be made smaller or larger as the level increases. The position of the lower end of the shutter 103 substantially coincides with the position of the upper surface of the mounting portion 201.

Next, the structure of the pressing portion 205 and the rail 208 will be described with reference to fig. 6. Fig. 6(a) shows an example of the appearance of the pressing portion 205, fig. 6(B) shows an example of the appearance of the rail 208, and fig. 6(C) shows an example of the cross-sectional structure of the article storage portion 11 around the pressing portion 205.

The pressing portion 205 is a member extending in the width direction of the article placed in the article storage portion 11 (or the width direction of the article storage portion 11), and presses the front portion of the article located on the supply port 102 side from the upper surface side of the article when the article is placed in the article storage portion 11. The pressing portion 205 can press the article against the roller 207 by pressing the front portion immediately above the roller 207 arranged from the upper surface side, and can accurately transmit the rotational force of the roller 207 to the article. The pressing portion 205 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction along

rails

208L and 208R disposed at both left and right ends of the pressing portion 205. The pressing portion 205 can be removed from the rail 208 by operating the upper protrusion 601. Further, engaging portions 602 are provided at both ends of the pressing portion 205, and the pressing portion 205 is positioned by the engagement of the engaging portions 602 with the notch portions 611 of the rails 208. The notch 611 has an open end 611A on the upper side and an end 611B0 on the lower side, and the engagement portion 602 can be inserted from the open end 611A to allow the pressing portion 205 to freely fall along the notch 611 under its own weight. The pressing portion 205 is located at the lowermost point when the engaging portion 602 reaches the end 611B.

The pressing portion 205 includes a protection member 604 for protecting the switch 204 at a lower portion. The protective member 604 functions to prevent an operation from being performed from the outside through the supply port 102 when there is no article in the article storage 11 and the switch 204 protrudes upward. The protection member 604 has a holding unit 605, and the switch 204 is disposed in the holding unit 605 to hold the switch 204. This prevents the switch 204 from being damaged by an external operation of the switch 204. The protrusion 603 abuts against the rail 208, and the load in the front-rear direction of the article storage section 11 applied to the engagement section 602 is reduced, thereby preventing the engagement section 602 from being damaged.

As shown in fig. 6(C), a recess 606 is formed on the bottom surface of the pressing portion 205 so as not to interfere with the rotation of the roller 207. The shape of the concave portion 606 is not particularly limited as long as it does not interfere with the rotation of the roller 606, but may be, for example, a circumferential recess along the rotation of the roller so as not to interfere with the discharge of the article. The concave portion 606 may be formed only in a portion where the roller 606 is disposed. The surface of the recess 606 is continuous with the opening 201A provided in the mounting portion 201.

Next, the mechanism of the 1 st holding unit 202 and the 2 nd holding unit 203 for holding the article placed on the placement unit 201 will be described with reference to fig. 7. Fig. 7(a) shows the case where the 1

st holding portions

202L and 202R and the 2 nd holding portion 203 are arranged on the mounting portion 201. The 1

st holding portions

202L and 202R are movable in the width direction of the article storage portion 11 along the

openings

701L and 701R and the

rails

702L and 702R formed in the placement portion 201. The 2 nd holding portion 203 is movable in the depth direction of the article storage portion 11 along the opening 703 and the rail 704 formed in the placement portion 201.

The 1

st holding portions

202L, 202R and the 2 nd holding portion 203 each include a lock mechanism so as to be able to stop at a specific position, and a stop position corresponding to the article size can be allocated in advance. An opening 705 formed in the placement portion 201 is used to position the 2 nd holding portion 203, and the 2 nd holding portion 203 can be fixedly supported on the placement portion 201 by attaching the locking member of the 2 nd holding portion 203 to the 2 nd holding portion 203 through the opening. A plurality of openings 705 may be arranged along the long side of the opening 703 at positions corresponding to the length of the article in the depth direction. Thus, the 2 nd holding portion 203 can be fixed to the placement portion 201 via the openings 703 using the locking members. The projection 203D is a member for releasing the locked state of the lock member, and when the projection 203D is pushed in, the lock member engaged with the opening 705 or the like is pushed downward to release the lock. The locking member is pressed in the direction of the 2 nd holding portion 203 by a spring or the like, and when the pressing of the projection portion 203D is released at a position where an opening is formed in the mounting portion 201, the locking member engages with the opening in accordance with the pressing force, and the stop position of the 2 nd holding portion 203 can be fixed. Similarly, the 1 st holding portion 202 may be provided with a locking mechanism including the locking member and the projection 203D.

In fig. 7(a), a projecting portion 203A is disposed on the top of the 2 nd holding portion 203. The extension portion 203A is configured to be movable in the vertical direction along an opening 203B formed in the 2 nd holding portion 203. The opening 203B is formed at a substantially middle height from the upper end of the 2 nd holding portion 203, and the extension portion 203A cannot move below the opening 203B. An elastic body 203C is attached to the back side of the 2 nd holding portion 203, and the elastic force of the elastic body acts to press the extension portion 203A downward. The elastic force acts to press the upper surface of the article stacked on the mounting portion 201 downward through the protruding portion 203A. The elastic force may act in a range in which the 2 nd holding portion 203 moves in the opening 203B, or may act in a part of the range. At this time, when the height of the stacked article is equal to or higher than a certain height, for example, higher than the lower end of the opening 203B, the article is pushed downward by the extension 203A. The protruding portion 203A presses the stacked commodity from the rear, and thus the rotational force of the roller 207 can be accurately transmitted to the article while keeping balance with the front of the commodity pressed by the pressing portion 205. The elastic body may be formed of any elastic material, such as rubber or a spring.

The extension portion 203A may have a substantially hexagonal shape obtained by cutting off a vertex portion of the article storage portion 11 on the front surface side of a rectangular shape, for example. Alternatively, the shape may be an elliptical shape, a semicircular shape, a semielliptical shape, or other shapes. The protruding portion 203A has a shape in which the length in the width direction is longer than the length in the depth direction, and is configured to press at least a part of the rear side of the article stacked on the placement portion 201.

Fig. 7(B) is a diagram for explaining the movable range of the 1 st holding portion 202 and the 2 nd holding portion 203 on the mounting portion 201. The movable range of the 1 st holding part 202 is a range indicated by an arrow D1, and the movable range of the 2 nd holding part 203 is a range indicated by an arrow D2. In this case, D2 > D1 holds.

Next, the interlocking structure of the detection of the presence of an article by the switch 204 and the notification by the notification unit 108 will be described with reference to fig. 8. Fig. 8(a) shows a state in the article storage section 11 when an article is present in the article storage section 11. At this time, switch 204 is pressed upward, but is also pressed downward by article 800, so that notification display portion 801 is in a state of being invisible from the outside through notification portion 108. At this time, the tip end 204A of the switch 204 is flush with the mounting portion 201. The notification display portion 801 is connected to an L-shaped member 802 that abuts against the projection portion 204B of the switch 204 via a rotation shaft, and the L-shaped member 802 is biased by a spring or the like so as to rotate clockwise in fig. 8 (a). The rotation of the L-shaped member 802 and the notification display portion 801 linked thereto by the pressing force is suppressed by the protrusion portion 204B of the switch 204.

On the other hand, as shown in fig. 8(B), when the downward pressing by the article is released without the article 800, the switch 204 is pressed upward, and the tip portion 204A protrudes upward from the placement portion 201, and as a result, the protrusion portion 204B that suppresses the rotation of the L-shaped member 802 also moves upward. As a result, the L-shaped member 802 rotates in the direction of the arrow, and the notification display portion 801 also rotates downward. Thus, the message area 801A of the notification display unit 801 shown in fig. 8(C) can be visually recognized from the outside via the notification unit 108. The notification unit 108 is made of a transparent member such as plastic or glass, and the user can recognize the message area 801A from the outside through the member.

Next, the structure of the roller 207 will be described with reference to fig. 9. The roller 207 functions as a delivery unit capable of delivering the article stored in the article storage unit 11 to the supply port 102. Fig. 9(a) to 9(C) show an example of the external configuration of the roller 207. Fig. 9(a) shows the front surface of the wheel 207, and as shown here, a rotation axis 901 protrudes from the side of the wheel 207 to the left and right, and the wheel 207 can rotate with reference to the rotation axis 901. The rotation shaft cooperates with the handle 104 via a specific mechanism, and when the handle 104 is rotated 1 turn, the wheel 207 is also rotated 1 turn centering on the rotation shaft 901. A flat portion 902 is formed on the surface of the roller 207 along the rotation axis 901, and the flat portion 902 does not come into contact with the article to be fed when the roller 207 rotates.

Fig. 9(B) shows a side surface of the roller 207, and a curved surface 903 is formed on the back side of the flat surface 902 of the roller 207. The roller 207 has a shape in which a portion is missing by cutting out the outer surface of a cylinder, the cut-out portion corresponding to the flat surface portion 902, and the remaining semi-cylindrical portion corresponding to the curved surface portion 903. In addition, the ratio of the cut-off portion to the remaining portion of the cylinder is large. The area of the curved surface portion 903 is larger than that of the flat surface portion 902.

Fig. 9(C) shows the back surface of the roller 207, but the curved surface 903 of the roller 207 functions to contact the article and feed the article to the supply port 102. Since the curved surface portion 903 transmits rotational force to an article when the curved surface portion contacts the article, the surface is preferably covered with a material that does not easily slip, for example, a soft member such as rubber or a slip-proof member. The curved surface portion 903 may be covered with a soft material at least partially, or may be entirely covered with a soft material. The range of at least a part may cover the entire circumferential direction of the curved surface portion 903 and intermittently cover the width direction. Further, the circumferential direction may be covered discontinuously, or the entire circumferential direction may be covered with a plurality of soft members.

As shown in fig. 6(C), the placement portion 201 has an opening near the supply port 102, and by bringing the roller 207 into contact with the article through the opening, the rotational force of the roller 207 is transmitted to the article, and the article is sent out to the supply port 102. Fig. 10 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between the opening and the roller 207.

Fig. 10 shows a state transition diagram showing the relationship between the respective rotational positions of the roller 207 and the mounting portion 201. State 1 represents the initial position when the wheel 207 starts rotating. In the initial position, the roller 207 does not protrude from the opening 201A of the placement portion 201. Thereafter, the roller 207 rotates counterclockwise in fig. 10 about the rotation shaft 901, at least a part of the roller 207 protrudes from the opening 201A, and the right end of the roller 207 comes into contact with the article placed on the placement portion 201, thereby pushing the article forward of the article storage portion 11. In this way, the curved surface 903 of the roller 207 enters the state 4 from the state 2 protruding from the opening 201A through the state 3. During this time, the curved surface 903 protruding from the opening 201A contacts the article and applies a force to push the article forward. In the state 2 to the state 4, the wheel 207 is in the "dischargeable state". The state 5 is changed after the left end of the roller 207 contacts the article in the state 4, and the roller 207 does not contact the article. That is, only the curved surface portion 903 protrudes from the opening portion 201A and comes into contact with the article, and the flat surface portion 902 does not protrude and therefore does not come into contact with the article. From the state 5 to the state 1, the roller 207 is in the "non-dischargeable state". In this state, although the position of the article is not moved, the article is exposed outward to a range sufficient for the article to be drawn out from the supply port 102. The user pulls the portion of the article exposed from the supply port 102 to take out the article from the article storage section 11.

Next, a power transmission mechanism that transmits power corresponding to an operation of the handle 104 will be described with reference to fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining the power transmission mechanism. In fig. 11, one end of a main shaft body 1101 constituting a part of the gear train mechanism is attached to the rotation center axis of the handle 104. A spur gear 1102 is fixed to the other end of the main shaft body 1101. Above the spur gear 1102, a pinion 1103 meshing with the spur gear 1102 is rotatably supported. Further, a spur gear 1104 meshing with the pinion 1103 is axially supported above the pinion 1103 at the lower end of the rear surface of the article storage portion 11, and power corresponding to the operation of the handle 104 can be transmitted to the article storage portion 11 via the pinion 1103.

Therefore, when the handle 104 is manually rotated in the direction of arrow T1, the rotational force is transmitted to the spur gear 1102 via the main shaft body 1101, and the rotational force in the direction of arrow T2 is transmitted to the spur gear 1104 via the pinion 1103 meshing with the spur gear 1102. Further, the spur gear 1104 is rotated by 1 turn by continuing to operate the handle 104.

Further, a spur gear 1106 meshing with the spur gear 1102 is rotatably supported obliquely below the spur gear 1102. A counter shaft 1108 is rotatably supported below the spur gear 1106, and a pinion 1107 meshing with the spur gear 1106 is attached to one end of the counter shaft 1108. A bevel gear 1109 is attached to an end of the intermediate shaft 1108. When the user rotates handle 104, main shaft body 1101 rotates and spur gear 1102 rotates. This rotates the pinion 1103 and the spur gear 1104. On the other hand, by the rotation of the spur gear 1102, the intermediate shaft 1108 is rotated via the spur gear 1106 and the pinion 1107, and the bevel gear 1109 is rotated. Thus, if the bevel gear 1109 were prevented from rotating, rotation of the handle 104 and rotation of the spur gear 1104 would also be prevented.

Bevel gear 1110 engages bevel gear 1109. Therefore, when the bevel gear 1109 is rotated in accordance with the rotation of the handle 104, the bevel gear 1110 is also rotated, but the bevel gear 1110 is integrated with the rotating portion 113. Here, the rotating portion 113 is a mechanism for releasing the lock of the handle 104 when the deposit of the coin corresponding to the specific amount is detected by the payment detecting portion 112 as described above, and the rotating portion 113 is locked when the specific amount is not deposited. At this time, the

bevel gears

1110 and 1109 cannot rotate, and as a result, the handle 104 is prevented from rotating. In this way, in the locked state of the rotating portion 113, the rotation of the bevel gear 1109 and the bevel gear 1110 is also blocked, and the handle 104 cannot rotate, so the spur gear 1104 does not rotate, and the article cannot be taken out. On the other hand, when the payment amount detector 112 detects that the specific amount has been paid, the lock of the rotating unit 113 is released and the handle 104 is allowed to be operated, so that the bevel gear 1110 and the bevel gear 1109 rotate in response to the operation of the handle 104, and the spur gear 1104 rotates.

In fig. 11, the main shaft body 1101 directly connected to the handle 104 and the intermediate shaft 1108 to which the bevel gear 1109 that cooperates with the rotating part is attached are separate bodies, but the bevel gear 1109 may be provided in the main shaft body 1101.

Next, a power transmission mechanism in the article storage 11 that transmits power corresponding to the operation of the handle 104 will be described with reference to fig. 12. Fig. 12(a) is a diagram showing an example of an external appearance of the transmission mechanism. In this transmission mechanism, when the lock of the switch 1201 is released and the spur gear 1104 provided on the rear wall of the article storage 11 rotates, the rotational force is transmitted to the roller 207 via the spur gear 1202, the main shaft body 1203, the

bevel gears

1204, 1205, and the intermediate shaft 1206.

In the transmission mechanism shown in fig. 12(a), the switch 1201 functions as a lock unit that controls whether or not the spur gear 1104 shown in fig. 11 is rotatable. When the article storage portion 11 is attached to the article supply apparatus 10, the projection 1201C is pressed by the article storage portion 11 coming into contact with the rear wall of the article supply apparatus 10, and the engagement state (contact state) between the projection (1201D in fig. 12C) at the tip end portion of the switch 1201 and the spur gear 1104 is released, so that the spur gear 1104 can rotate. As shown in fig. 12(D), a concave portion 1104B that engages with a projection 1201D at the tip of the switch 1201 is formed in a portion of the spur gear 1104 where no toothed side surface is formed. The switch 1201 is pivotable about a shaft 1201A, and is pressed in the 1 st direction indicated by an arrow by a pressing portion 1201B, and by this pressing force, a protrusion 1201D at the tip portion of the switch 1201 is operated in the direction of the lock spur gear 1104 via the shaft 1201A. Therefore, when the article storage portion 11 does not contact the rear wall of the article supply apparatus 10, the projection 1201D engages with the spur gear 1104 by the pressing force of the pressing portion 1201B, and the rotation operation of the spur gear 1104 is suppressed. The protrusion 1201C of the switch 1201 protrudes in the 1 st direction. The protrusion 1201D of the switch 1201 protrudes in the 2 nd direction opposite to the 1 st direction.

The spur gear 1104 meshes with the spur gear 1202 to transmit power from the handle 104 to the main shaft body 1203. In fig. 12(a), the length of the spindle body 1203 is shown with a middle portion omitted. The rotation of the main shaft body 1203 is transmitted to the roller 20 via

bevel gears

1204, 1205 and an intermediate shaft 1206. In this manner, the rotation of the handle 104 can be transmitted to the roller 207. The spur gears 1104 and 1202 are covered with the cover 1207, but since the spur gear 1104 meshes with the pinion 1103, a part of the spur gear 1104 is exposed outside the cover 1207. The cover 1207 shields the

spur gears

1104 and 1202 to prevent the

spur gears

1104 and 1202 from contacting the inside of the rear wall of the article supply apparatus 10 to hinder the rotation.

Next, fig. 12(B) is a diagram showing a state in which the spur gear 1104 meshes with the spur gear 1202, and at this time, a mark 1104A shown on the spur gear 1104 and a mark 1202A shown on the spur gear 1202 face each other at positions corresponding to each other. In the present embodiment, as described with reference to fig. 9 and 10, since the roller 207 has a shape in which a portion of a cylinder is missing, it is necessary to accurately define the rotation start position of the roller 207 in order to accurately contact the article with the curved surface portion 903 when the roller 207 is rotated. If the curved surface portion 903 does not properly contact the article, there is a concern that the article cannot be discharged from the supply port 102. Thus, in the present embodiment, the article storage unit 11 is attached to the article supply device 10 in the state shown in fig. 12(B), that is, in the state where the rotation of the spur gear 1104 is locked by the switch 1201, in which the state where the mark 1104A and the mark 1202A face each other is associated with the rotation start position of the roller 207 in advance. The switch 1201 serves to fix the rotation start position of the roller 207, but on the other hand, the engagement with the spur gear 1104 is released during attachment, and therefore the subsequent operation is not hindered.

The rotational position of the spur gear 1104 can be arbitrarily changed by manually rotating the spur gear 1104 as long as the article storage unit 11 is not attached to the article supply device 10. Therefore, when the article storage unit 11 is removed from the article supply device 10 and then attached again, the spur gear 1104 is rotated manually to return the rotational positions of the

spur gears

1104 and 1202 to the position where the mark 1104A faces the mark 1202A, whereby the article can be reliably discharged from the article supply device 10 without any error.

The switch 1201 is configured to be engageable with the concave portion 1104B of the spur gear 1104 when the spur gear 1104 is at the position (1 st position) shown in fig. 12B. The recess 1104B has a recess of a sufficient depth to engage with the protrusion 1201D of the switch 1201. When the spur gear 1104 is in the 1 st position, it can be locked by the switch 1201, but in a position other than the 1 st position (2 nd position), the concave portion 1104B of the spur gear 1104 does not engage with the switch 1201, and therefore locking is not possible.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An article storage device that can be attached to an article supply device, the device comprising:

a main body portion; and

2. The article storage device according to claim 1, wherein the body portion is configured to be able to store the articles in a stacked state.

3. The article storage device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the feeding portion is configured to be rotatable on condition that the article storage device is attached to the article supply device and an operation portion provided in the article supply device is operated to feed the article from the article storage device.

4. The article storage device according to claim 3, wherein the carry-out section moves from the non-carry-out state to the carry-out state in accordance with the operation of the operation section.

5. The article storage device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the delivery unit is further configured to be rotatable on the condition that payment of the goods is detected by a detection unit that is provided in the article supply device and that detects payment of the goods.

6. The article storage device of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the outfeed portion has a partially missing cylindrical shape.

7. The article storage device according to claim 6, wherein the feeding portion includes a flat surface portion whose surface is a flat surface in a portion which is partially missing, and a curved surface portion whose surface is a curved surface in a portion which is not missing.

8. The article storage device according to claim 7, wherein the curved surface portion of the sending-out portion functions to come into contact with the article and send out the article to the outside when the article is sent out to the outside of the article storage device,

the flat surface portion of the delivery portion does not contact the article and does not contribute to delivery of the article to the outside when the article is delivered to the outside of the article storage device.

9. The article storage device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein a placement portion on which the article can be placed is disposed in the main body portion,

an opening is formed in the placement portion,

the curved surface portion protrudes from the opening in the delivery-enabled state of the delivery portion.

10. The article storage device according to claim 9, wherein a supply port through which the article is supplied to the outside is formed in a front surface of the main body portion,

the feeding unit can feed out the article from the supply port so that the article positioned at the lowermost position among the plurality of articles placed on the placement unit is supplied.

11. The article storage device of claim 10, wherein the opening portion is formed in the vicinity of the supply opening,

the upper surface of the mounting portion and the lower end surface of the supply port form the same plane.

12. The article receiving device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the main body portion includes a 1 st space and a 2 nd space,

the mounting portion forms a partition wall that partitions the 1 st space and the 2 nd space.

13. The article storage device according to claim 12, wherein the article placed on the placement portion is disposed in the 1 st space, and the delivery portion is disposed in the 2 nd space.

14. The article storage device according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the main body portion further includes a transmission portion capable of transmitting power to enable the feeding portion to rotate,

the transmission unit is disposed in the 2 nd space.

15. The article storage device according to any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein the feeding-out portion is configured to be able to support the article placed on the placement portion on the curved surface portion in the feedable state.

16. The article receiving device of any one of claims 7 to 15, wherein an area of the planar portion is less than an area of the curved portion.

17. The article storage device according to any one of claims 7 to 16, wherein at least a part of the curved surface portion of the sending-out portion is constituted by a soft member.

18. The article storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the sending-out portion is provided in the vicinity of a center of the main body portion in a width direction.

19. An article supply device is provided with: the article receiving arrangement of any one of claims 1 to 18;

an acceptance unit that accepts payment of a payment for the item;

a detection unit that detects payment of the payment amount;