GB2078691A

GB2078691A - Vending Machine

Info

Publication number: GB2078691A
Application number: GB8114331A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Sankyo Electric Co Ltd
Current assignee: Sanden Holdings Corp
Priority date: 1980-05-10
Filing date: 1981-05-11
Publication date: 1982-01-13
Also published as: JPS5819669Y2; JPS56164387U; GB2078691B

Abstract

In an automatic vending machine having a conveyor mechanism for supporting and downwardly conveying article-support shelves (7) within an article compartment, the conveyor mechanism has front and rear conveyor chains wound around sprocket wheels which rotatably mounted on front and rear plates of a conveyor frame, and each article- support shelf is supported on the front and rear chains by engaging its opposite ends with pins (27) of both chains. In order to make attachment and removal of each article-support shelf on conveyor chains ready, the front plate of the conveyor frame is formed with a cut-away portion through which one can access the front chain to partially draw the chain frontwardly so as to move the front chain away from the rear chain. As a result, attachment and removal of the shelf is readily performed. Therefore, change of a space between adjacent shelves can be readily carried out in dependence on different sizes of articles to be loaded. A side plate which is mounted on the conveyor frame to maintain the shelves in the article-supporting orientation, is provided with a plurality of parallel horizontal lines. These lines aid to adjust each shelf horizontal at its mounting operation. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or Relating to Vending Machines This invention relates to vending machines.

An automatic vending machine has been -known, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Patents Nos. 3,126.123, 3,130,859 and 3,193,135, which includes a vertical conveyor device for bringing article-supports within an article-storage compartment one after another to an article discharging station just below the compartment where the articles are discharged one at a time.

The automatic vending machine is useful for vending packaged articles of merchandise such as packaged liquids, for example, milk cartons, or such as cartons holding a plurality of bottles or cans of drinks. Cartons vary in size depending on different merchandise. This requires to convert the article-storage compartment in size depending on different sizes of storaged articles.

U.S. Patent 3,193,135 described above employs an adjustable side wall which may be moved toward and away from the conveyor to vary the width of the article-storage compartment in dependence on lengths of articles to be accommodated therein. The U.S. Patent also discloses an arrangement to mount article supports on conveyor chains so that spacingbetween adjacent article supports may be converted in dependence on heights of articles to be stored. That is, each article support includes at each end a pivotal mounting bracket which is provided with a hole, and each conveyor chain has a plurality of article-support mounting pins at selected spaced intervals along the length of the chain. Each article support is mounted on the conveyor by a pair of pins of opposite chains inserted into its opposite holes.The conversion of the spacing between adjacent article supports is made by removing one of them from the conveyor and then engaging it with another pair of pins of the opposite chain.

However, when it is desired to remove or attach article supports on the conveyor, an operator must insert his hand into a narrow space between the conveyor and the side wall and move the article support rearwardly and downwardly to make or break the engagement of the article support with pins of front and rear chain. The operation is not readily carried out. Especially, the attaching operation is difficult because pins of the front chain cannot be viewed from the front side aas the front chain is backside of the front plate of the frame.

According to this invention, a vending machine sis obtained which includes an article-storage compartment in which a plurality of article support means are disposed at vertically spaced intervals, means for discharging the articles on the lowermost support means from said article storage compartment one at a time and disposed at the lower end of said article-storage compartment, and means for conveying said plurality of article-support means downwardly to be positioned one after another adjacent to said article discharging means, wherein said conveying means comprise a frame having front and rear confronting vertical plate means and disposed adjacent to said article-storage compartment, a pair of front and rear sprocket wheels rotatably mounted on said front and rear plate means at their inner upper positions, front and rear endless chain means passed over said front and rear upper sprocket wheels, respectively and extending downwardly in a loop, said front endless chain means provided with a plurality of pins projecting rearwardly at equally spaced positions, said rear endless chain means provided with a plurality of pins projecting frontwardly at equally spaced positions, and wherein each of said plurality of article-support means are provided with holes in its front and rear end portions and supported on said front and rear endless chain means by said front and rear pins fitted into said front and rear holes, and said front plate means partially cut away to expose partially said front chain means so that said front chain means can be accessed to be partially moved away from said rear chain means, whereby removal and attachment of said article-support means to said conveying means may be readily performed.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a conveyor in a vending machine of an embodiment of this invention; Fig. 2 is a front view of a plurality of article compartments provided with the conveyor means in a vending machine of the embodiment of this invention; Fig. 3 is a partially enlarged side view of the conveyor; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along a line IV-lV in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line V Vin Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a vending machine, which is shown by a two dots and dash line in Fig.

1, comprises a machine cabinet 1 and a door 2, which are also shown by a two dots and dash line in Fig. 1, closing a front opening of cabinet 1. In cabinet 1, at least one conveyor 3 (two conveyors are shown by a solid line and two conveyors are shown by a two dots and dash line in Fig. 2) is provided. Conveyor 3 defines a side of an article compartment 4, while the other side is defined by a side wall or an article guide wall 5, which is supported by adjacent conveyor 3 or inner wall of cabinet 1. A plurality of articles 6 are stored in article compartment 4. In order to support articles 6, a plurality of article-support means or shelves 7 are disposed at vertically spaced intervals in article compartment 4 and are supported on conveyor 3.Each article 6 is supported by shelf 7 at its one lower edge portion, with its opposite side surface contacting with, and guided by, side wall 5, as shown in Fig. 2. At the lowermost end of article compartment 4, an article-discharging mechanism 8 is disposed to discharge articles 6 on the lowermost shelf 7a one at a time towards an article chute 9 which is disposed in front of the mechanism. Article discharging mechanism 8 has a horizontal platform 81 having a slit 82 to extend from its front and to its rear end. Sprocket wheels 83 and 84 are disposed below platform 81 at the front and rear positions. A horizontal endless chain 85 is wound around sprocket wheels 83 and 84. Two article-engaging members 86 and 87 are mounted on endless chain 85 with equally spaced intervals along the chain. So that either one of members 86 and 87 may project above platform 81 through slit 82.A drive motor 88 and a transmission mechanism 89 are provided to drive endless chain 85 by one article space at a vending time. Door 2 is provided with a delivery station 10 connected with chute 9, and has an access opening 11 for delivery station 10. Access opening 11 is usually closed by a shutter plate 12.

In a typicai operation, when a customer deposits a coin or coins into the machine and pushes an article selection button (not shown), article-discharging mechanism 8 operates to discharge an article to delivery station 10. The customer opens shutter plate 12 and can obtain the article in delivery station 10. When articles on the lowermost shelf 7a are all discharged, conveyor 3 operates to move the next shelf 7 to a position adjacent to article discharging mechanism 8. Thus, new lowermost articles are prepared for further vending.

Conveyor 3 comprises a frame 13 having a front plate 14 and a rear plate 1 5 which extend vertically and confront one another. Opposite ends of a shaft 16 are rotatably supported by the upper portions of front and rear plates 14 and 15.

Shaft 16 is provided with sprocket wheels 17 and 18 adjacent front and rear plates 14 and 1 5.

Endless chains 19 and 20 pass over sprocket wheels 17 and 18 and hang down in loops.

In the shown embodiment, another shaft 21 is rotatably supported by lower portions of front and rear plates 14 and 15, and sprocket wheels 22 and 23 are mounted on lower shaft 21. Endless chains 19 and 20 also pass over lower sprocket wheels 22 and 23. A drive motor 24 is mounted on frame 13 and its output shaft 25 is coupled.

with lower shaft 21 by chain and sprocket means 26 so that rotation may be transmitted to lower shaft 21 from drive motor 24 to drive conveyor chains 1 9 and 20.

Each one of endless chains 19 and 20 is provided with a plurality of pins 27 projecting towards the other one at equally spaced positions along the chain. Each shelf 7 is supported by pins 27 of front and rear chains 19 and 20.

Referring to Figs. 3-5, each shelf 7 is formed to have an "L"-shaped vertical section. A base portion 71 of the "L" supports articles 6. A vertical portion 72 of the "L" has brackets 73 and 74 at its opposite ends in which holes 75 and 76 are formed. Pins 27 of front and rear chains 19 and 20 are fitted into holes 75 and 76 to support shelf 7.

A plate 28 is mounted on frame 13 to contact with vertical portion 72 of each shelf 7 and guides it during operation of the conveyor so that base portion 71 of each shelf 7 may be maintained horizontal in compartment 4 to reliably suppprt articles thereon. Shelf-guide plate 28 extends between front and rear plates 14 and 1 5 andes secured thereto at its opposite ends. End portions of plate 28 near front and rear plates 14 and 15 are formed stepped to extend through loops of chains 19 and 20 so as to form grooves 29 and 30 in which chains 19 and 20 and brackets 73 and 74 are received.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, front plate 14 is provided with a flange 31 which extends rearwardly to cover chain 1 9 and bracket 73 of each shelf 7 received in groove 29. Flange 31 serves to guide articles 6 at article-loading operation in cooperation with side wall 5. Side wall 5 is provided with an article stopper 51 at its rear end to prevent articles from being forced out of shelf 7 rearwardly, as shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, front plate 14 is formed with a cut-away portion 32, which is usually closed by a cover plate 33. Cover plate 33 is secured to front plate 14 by screws 34 and is readily removable. In Fig. 2, a conveyor 3 to which cover plate 33 is attached and another conveyor 3 from which cover plate is removed are illustrated. When cover plate 33 is removed, front chain 19 received in groove 29 is exposed in cutaway portion 32. Therefore, an operator can readily access chain 19 in groove 29 to partially draw it frontwardly through cut-away portion 32.

Therefore, one shelf 7 is released from engagement with pin 27 of front chain 19, as shown in Fig. 3. Then, the one shelf 7 is moved frontwardly to release engagement with pin 27 of rear chain 20. As a result, shelf 7 can be readily removed from conveyor 3.

While, operation for mounting shelf 7 onto conveyor 3 is readily completed. At first, shelf 7 is inserted into compartment 4 and its rear bracket 74 is fitted onto pin 27 of rear chain 20 through hole 76. Then, pin 27 of front chain 19 is fitted into hole 75 of its front bracket 73 after drawing front chain 1 9 frontwardly through cut-away portion 32.

Operations for removing shelf 7 from conveyor 3 and for mounting it on conveyor 3 can be readily completed through cut-away portion 32.

Therefore, it will be understood that adjustment or change of space between adjacent shelves may be readily and reliably carried out in dependence on sizes of articles to be loaded in compartment 4.

Cut-away portion 32 may be made merely in flange 31. At that time, chain 19 can be also partially drawn out through the cut-away portion.

Shelf-guide plate 28 is provided with parallel horizontal lines 35 with a predetermined space between adjacent ones, by painting, pressing or other means. Those lines aid to mount shelf 7 horizontal on conveyor 3.

Claims

1. A vending machine including an article storage compartment in which a plurality of article-support means are disposed at vertically spaced intervals, means for discharging the articles on the lowermost support means from said article-storage compartment one at a time and disposed at the lower end of said article storage compartment, and means for conveying said plurality of article-support means downwardly to be positioned one after another adjacent to said article discharging means, wherein said conveying means comprise a frame having front and rear confronting vertical plate means and disposed adjacent to said article storage compartment, a pair of front and rear sprocket wheels rotatably mounted on said front and rear plate means at their inner upper positions, front and rear endless chain means passed over said front and rear upper sprocket wheels, respectively and extending downwardly in a loop, said front endless chain means provided with a plurality of pins projecting rearwardly at equally spaced positions, said rear endless chain means provided with a plurality of pins projecting frontwardly at equally spaced positions, and wherein each of said plurality of article-support means are provided with holes in its front and rear end portions and supported on said front and rear endless chain means by said front and rear pins fitted into said front and rear holes, and said front plate means partially cut away to expose partially said front chain means so that said front chain means can be accessed to be partially moved away from said rear chain means, whereby removal and attachment of said article-support means to said conveying means may be readily performed.

2. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said conveying means further comprise a pair of front and rear lower sprocket wheels rotatably mounted on said front and rear plate means at their inner lower positions, said lower portions of said front and rear endless chain means passed over said front and rear lower sprocket wheels, respectively.

3. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said conveying means further comprises an upper shaft means opposite ends of which are rotatably borne at upper portions of said front and rear plate means and on which said front and rear upper sprocket wheels fixedly mounted, a lower shaft means opposite ends of which are rotatably borne at lower portions of said front and rear plate ,means on which said front and rear lower "sprocket wheels fixedly mounted, a drive motor means, and means for transmitting the rotational force from said drive motor means to said lower shaft means.

4. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 1 - 3, wherein each of said plurality of article-support means is formed in a generally "L"-shaped vertical section, with a base portion of the "L" supporting at least one article and with a vertical portion of the "L" provided with brackets at its front and rear ends, said brackets provided with said holes in which said pins of said chain means are fitted, and wherein said conveying means further comprise article-support guiding plate means disposed to extend between said front and rear plate means and to contact with said vertical portion of each article-support means, front and rear end portions of said article-support guiding plate means formed in stepped forms to extend through loops of said front and rear endless chain means and secured to said front and rear plate means.

5. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said front plate means are provided with a flange extending rearwardly to cover said front endless chain means along said front end stepped portion of said article-support guiding plate means.

6. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said cut-away portion is formed in said flange.

7. A vending machine as claimed in Claims 16, wherein said conveying means further comprise a cover plate means for covering said cut-away portion of said front plate means and readily removably secured onto said front plate means.

8. A vending machine as claimed in Claims 17, which comprises vertical plate means for guiding articles within said compartment and disposed facing said plurality of article-support means, said article-guiding vertical plate means defining a side wall of said compartment.

9. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 8, wherein a plurality of said article compartments each accompanying said conveying means are laterally disposed adjacent to one another, with said article-guiding vertical plate means of each compartment supported by said frame of said conveying means of the adjacent compartment.

10. A vending machine as claimed in Claims 1-9, wherein said article discharging means comprise a horizontal platform having a slit to extend from its front end to its rear end, a pair of sprocket wheels disposed below said platform at the front and rear positions, horizontal endless chain means wound around said pair of sprocket wheels, two article-engaging means mounted on said horizontal chain means with equally spaced intervals so that either one of said two articleengaging means may always project above said platform through said slit, and means for driving said horizontal endless chain to move said articleengaging means by an article space at an article vending time.

11. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said article-support guiding plate means are provided with a plurality of parallel horizontal lines with a predetermined space between adjacent ones.

1 2. A vending machine constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as iilustrated in, the accompanying drawings.