EP4632705A1

EP4632705A1 - Automatic vending machine for exchange of empty reusable packages with identical full packages

Info

Publication number: EP4632705A1
Application number: EP25460010.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Aleksandra Rojkowska; Michal Rojkowski
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2024-04-06
Filing date: 2025-03-26
Publication date: 2025-10-15
Also published as: PL448213A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an automatic machine for exchanging empty reusable packages for identical full packages filled with contents specific to the type of packaging.

The automatic vending machine according to the invention is a cabinet with rectangular walls. In the upper part of the front wall (1) there is a insertion slot (2) and in the lower part of the front wall (1) there is a dispensing slot (3). A skewed conveyor belt (4) for gravitational transport of packages from the conveyor belt (2) to the dispensing conveyor belt (3) is provided inside the cabinet between the conveyor belt (2) and the dispensing conveyor belt (3). A reference (5) is provided in the conveyor belt (2) for comparing the inserted package (b) with the original. The reference is positioned at the end of a horizontal slider (6), which moves along a horizontal guide (7) on the guide bed (8). In the dispensing slot (3), a horizontal slider (12), with a length less than the length of the package (b), is positioned on a horizontal guide (11). At the end of the horizontal slide (12), there is an impact absorber (13) for contacting the end of the dispensed package (b). The slider (12) with the dispensed package (b) positioned thereon is driven by a dispensing actuator (15) from an inner end position at the end of the guide bed (14). The dispensing actuator (15) communicates with the payment terminal similarly to the insertion actuator (9). In another version, between the insertion slot (2) and the dispensing slot (3) there is a mechanical conveyor belt (4) with compartments for receiving empty packages and accommodating full packages.

Description

The invention involves an automatic vending machine for exchanging empty reusable packages with identical full packages with the same capacity, filled with contents specific to the type of packages.
There are automatic vending machines for the return of packages such as bottles, cans, for recycling purposes, wherein there is a slot on one wall of the cabinet into which disposable packaging is inserted. Inside the machine there are devices that sort the packages and forward them to the correct containers. There are also machines known to accept returnable packages, such as soft drink glass bottles, where there is a sensor in or near the slot to monitor the shape of the bottle, a sensor to check that the bottle being thrown in does not contain any residual contents, and cameras to detect attempts to fraudulently insert the wrong packages, e.g. non-returnable packages. There is also a window in the side wall of the machine that provides a receipt for the packages that have been inserted. Alternatively the machine pays out the amount due for the packages that have been inserted. We are also familiar with vending machines in which, after the amount due has been paid out through the dispensing slot, chocolate bars, sweets or drinks are available in a few moments. In addition to a payment terminal, these machines usually have a touch screen. The shopper uses this to select the correct product and follow the on-screen instructions to make the payment. Vending machines can be used to sell a wide range of products, such as lunches, bottled or canned drinks, confectionery, ready meals and snacks, beverages, or hot or cold ready-to-eat refreshments.
An automatic vending machine for the recovery of empty packages and the sale of beverages in glass containers, comprising a supporting base with a housing thereon, is known from a Chinese patent description No. CN111462405 . A control panel with a payment terminal (cash register) is located on the front wall of the housing. On one of the side walls there is a slot and in the interior of the housing there are four storage belts, which are placed one on top of the other. Inside the cabinet, a dispensing slot travels along the opposite side wall, moving sequentially from one belt to another. When a beverage is selected on the control panel, a pushing arm activates the movement of the beverage into a chute leading to the dispensing slot, from which the beverage is manually collected by the shopper.
The Chinese utility model No. CN210324355 describes an automatic vending machine for receiving empty plastic packages and counting the number of packages inserted by means of an infrared sensor. The housing has a slot for inserting empty packages on one wall of the housing. Inside the housing, behind the insertion slot, there is a conveyer belt. This conveyer belt transports the empty packages into a compression chamber to reduce their volume. There they are pierced by a series of needles to allow the air to be removed from the inside of the package.
Owing to the technological progress, the well-known vending machines are becoming more and more technically advanced in order to facilitate the most diverse environments as much as possible and to enable them to respond to their current needs as quickly as possible. They are practical, energy-efficient, high performance and often have a permanent connection to the base via Wi-Fi or via Internet, allowing rapid intervention to deal with overflow, to provide maintenance services or respond to damage.
According to the invention, an automatic machine for exchanging empty reusable packages for identical full packages filled with contents suitable for the type of package, which is in the form of a cabinet with a wall-mounted insertion slot for insertion and identification of empty packages, a dispensing slot for full packages, with a payment terminal, is characterised in that at the top of the wall there is a dispensing slot for empty packages and at the bottom of the wall there is a dispensing slot for full packages.
In the insertion slot, there is a reference to identify the inserted empty packages comparing them against the original packages, and in the dispensing slot there is a blind to protect the dispensing slot from the insertion of the empty packages. Between the insertion slot and the dispensing slot inside the cabinet there is a conveyor to transport the packages from the insertion slot to the dispensing slot. A payment terminal communicating with the insertion slot and the dispensing slot is arranged on one of the walls.
Advantageously, an skewed conveyor belt from the insertion slot to the dispensing slot for gravity transport of packages is used as the conveyor, or a mechanical, chain or gear conveyor or a rotary conveyor with package slots is used.
In the insertion slot, on a horizontal guide, there is a horizontal slider whose length is smaller than the length of the inserted package. The slider has a reference on the end wall in the form of an identification ring, which corresponds to the end of the inserted package. The slider with the identified empty package on it is driven by an insertion actuator to an extreme inner position at the end of the guide bed, where a horizontal ejector pin is positioned for ejecting the bottle from the slider. The length of the guide bed is higher than the length of the package so that, when retracted, the package fits entirely inside the automatic vending machine cabinet, the insertion actuator communicates with the payment terminal.
In the dispensing slot there is a horizontal slider on a horizontal guide bed. The slider is shorter than the length of the package and has an impact absorber at the end for contact with the end of the dispensed package. The slider with the dispensed package placed thereon is driven by a dispensing actuator from an internal end position at the end of the guide bed. The dispensing actuator communicates with a payment terminal.
The blind in the dispensing slot is an impact absorber at the end of the slider. The skewed conveyor belt between the insertion slot and the dispensing slot is made up of several shorter segments stacked on top of each other.
At the lower end of the skewed conveyor belt, a slide stop in the form of a rotating roller with wings is placed horizontally above the conveyor belt in front of the dispensing slot.
In another version, in the insertion slot, a template in the form of an identification ring is placed at the upper end of the guide, which corresponds to the end of the package to be inserted. The length of the slanted guide is greater than the length of the package so that, when inserted, the package fits entirely inside the vending machine cabinet, with the insertion slot communicating with the payment terminal. Between the insertion slot and the dispensing slot, there is a mechanical conveyor with compartments for incoming empty packages and compartments for full packages. In the dispensing slot, there is an opening in the upper wall with dimensions compatible with the package dimensions and on the lower wall there is a bottom with a shock absorber for fall mitigation.
The vending machine according to the invention has a simple design, the exchange of packages is simple, intuitive.
The invention is shown in an example of embodiment in the drawing, wherein Fig. 1 shows the machine in a transparent axonometric view, Fig. 2 shows the machine in a transparent front wall view, Fig. 3 shows the filling container with inserted gas cylinder in an axonometric view, and Fig. 4 shows the dispensing slot in the package ejection phase in an axonometric view, while Fig. 5 shows an axonometric view of the mechanism layout of the automatic machine in another embodiment example.
As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the automatic vending machine according to the invention is a rectangular cubicle-shaped cabinet, in which in the upper part of the front wall (1) a insertion slot (2) is placed and in the lower part of the front wall (1) a dispensing slot (3) is placed. Next to the cabinet a package (b) is shown, which is to be inserted into the insertion slot (2), here it is a gas cylinder intended for water carbonation vending machines. Inside the cabinet, between the insertion slot (2) and the dispensing slot (3), there is an skewed conveyor belt (4) for the gravitational transport of the packages from the insertion slot (2) to the dispensing slot (3). The conveyor belt (4) is made up of several shorter segments arranged one above the other in order to reduce the cabinet dimensions. A payment terminal (not shown in the figure) is mounted on one of the cabinet wall. It communicates with the insertion slot (2) and the dispensing slot (3). As shown in Fig. 3, a reference (5) is placed in the dispensing slot (2), which is used to compare the inserted package (b) with the original, for mechanical identification - if the confirmation is missing the machine will not operate. This is an identifying ring that reproduces the end of the package (b) for which the machine is designed. The reference (5) is placed at the end of a horizontal slider (6), which moves along a horizontal guide (7) on the guide bed (8). The length of the slider (6) is less than the length of the package (b) to be inserted, while the length of the guide bed (8) is longer than the length of the package (b), so that the package (b), when inserted, fits completely into the automatic vending machine cabinet. The movement of the slider (6) triggers the insertion actuator (9), which is actuated when payment is made at the payment terminal that communicates with the insertion actuator (9). The insertion actuator (9) moves the slider (6) along the guide bed (8) to the innermost end. On the guide bed (8) there is a horizontal ejection pin (10), which causes the package (b) to be ejected from the slider (6) and to slide by gravity onto the conveyor belt (4). A horizontal slider (12) is positioned in the dispensing slot (3) on the horizontal guide 11, the length of which is less than the length of the package (b), as shown in Figure 4. At the slider end (12) there is an impact absorber (13) to contact the end of the dispensed package (b). The impact absorber (13) acts as a stop to prevent the exchanged package (b) from sliding into the dispensing slot 3. The slider (12) with the dispensed package (b) on it is driven by a dispensing actuator (15) from an internal end position at the end of the guide bed (14). The dispensing actuator (15) communicates also with the payment terminal. At the lower end of the skewed conveyor belt (4), in front of the dispensing slot (3), there is a limiter in the form of a rotating roller (16) with wings, positioned horizontally above the conveyor belt. The purpose of the stop is to ensure the free outward sliding of the package b, since without the stop it is possible for the ejected packages b to be jammed by another packages sliding along the conveyor belt (4).
Replacing an empty package with a full one in the automatic machine is simple and intuitive, and does not even require detailed instructions. The empty, light-weight package (b) is pushed into the insertion slot 2 as far as it comes into contact with the reference (5). The slider (6) with the empty slot on it is pulled by the insertion cylinder (9) along the guide bed (8) to its innermost position once the slot has been identified and payment has been made at the payment terminal. There, the slot (b) meets the resistance of the ejector pin (10) and is pushed onto the skewed conveyor belt (4), where it pushes the packages placed on it into the dispensing slot 3. To prevent subsequent packages from pressing against the slider (12) and impeding ejection of the full package, a stop is provided at the lower end of the skewed conveyor belt (4), before the dispensing slot (3). The wings of the rotating roller (16) stop the successive packages from sliding until a full package (b) has been ejected.
In another version, as shown in Fig. 5, the empty packages (b) (bottles) are exchanged starting from the vertical position of the slot (b) - the empty package (b) slides from below into the slightly skewed conveyor belt (2') until it comes into contact with the reference (5'). Once the payment has been made, the empty package (b), together with the guide (2'), is positioned vertically and from there falls into the chamber of the rotary conveyor (4') with the full package (b) and a free space for the empty package (b) - at this point the rotary conveyor (4') performs an offset of half the diameter of the package (b). The full slot b is then moved over the dispensing slot, into which it falls through the upper opening (3") of the dispensing slot (not shown in the figure). A shock absorber is placed at the bottom of the dispensing slot in order to cushion the fall of the package.

Claims

The automatic vending machine for exchanging empty reusable packages for identical full packages with the same capacity filled with contents suitable for the type of package, in the form of a cabinet with a wall-mounted insertion slot for the insertion and identification of empty packages, a dispensing slot for full packages, with a payment terminal, characterised in that the top of the wall (1) is provided with a insertion slot (2) for empty packages (b) and at the bottom of the wall (1) there is an dispensing slot (3) for full packages, whereby in the recess (2) there is a reference (5) for identification of the inserted empty package (b) against the original package and in the dispensing slot (3) there is a blind to protect the outlet (3) against insertion of the empty package (b), whereby between the insertion slot (2) and the dispensing slot (3) inside the cabinet there is a conveyor for transporting the packages (b) from the insertion slot (2) to the dispensing slot (3), with a payment terminal on one of the walls communicating with the insertion slot (2) and the dispensing slot (3).
The automatic vending machine according to Claim 1 is characterised in that a skewed conveyor belt (4) from the insertion slot (2) to the dispensing slot (3) for gravity transport of packages (b) is used for transport.
The automatic vending machine according to Claim 1, characterised in that a mechanical, chain or toothed or rotary conveyor with slots for packages (b) is used as a conveyor for transporting the packages (b) from the insertion slot (2) to the dispensing slot (3).
The automatic vending machine according to Claim 1, characterised in that in the insertion slot (2), on a horizontal guide (7), a horizontal slider is mounted (6) with a length smaller than the length of the inserted package (b), having on the end wall a reference (5) in the form of an identification ring, which is compatible with the end of the inserted package (b), whereby the slider (6) with the identified empty package (b) on it is driven by a insertion actuator (9) to an extreme inner position at the end of the guide bed (8), where a horizontal ejector pin (10) is positioned for ejecting the package (b) from the slider (6), the length of the guide bed (8) being longer than the length of the package (b) so that, when the package (b) is inserted, it fits entirely within the interior of the automatic machine cabinet, the insertion actuator (9) communicates with the payment terminal.
The automatic vending machine according to Claim 1, characterised in that in the dispensing slot (3), on a horizontal guide (11) a horizontal slider is mounted (12), with the length less than the length of the package (b), having at its end an impact absorber (13) for contacting the end of the dispensed package (b), whereby the slider (12) with the dispensed package (b) on it is driven by a dispensing actuator (15) from an end internal position at the end of the guide bed (14), the dispensing actuator (15) communicates with a payment terminal.
The automatic vending machine according to Claim 1, characterised in that the blind in the dispensing slot (3) involves an impact absorber (13) at the end of the slider (12).
The automatic vending machine according to Claim 1, characterised in that the skewed conveyor belt (4) between the insertion slot (2) and the dispensing slot (3) consists of several shorter segments arranged one on another.
The automatic vending machine according to Claim 1, characterised in that at the lower end of the skewed conveyor belt (4) in front of the dispensing slot (3) there is a sliding stop involving a rotating roller (16) with wings positioned horizontally above the conveyor belt (4).
The automatic vending machine according to Claim 1, characterised in that in the insertion slot (2'), at the upper end of the guide (2'), there is a reference in the form of an identification ring that is compatible with the end of the inserted package (b), the length of the guide (2') being longer than the length of the package (b), so that when the package is inserted, it fits completely inside the housing of the vending machine, wherein the insertion slot (2') communicates with the payment terminal, wherein between the insertion slot (2') and the dispensing slot there is a mechanical conveyor (4') with compartments for receiving empty packs (b) and for receiving full packs (b), wherein in the dispensing slot there is an opening (3") in the upper wall with dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of the pack (b) and in the lower wall there is a bottom with a shock absorber to mitigate the fall.