JP2001023022A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic vending machine which excels in its maintainability and is advantageous in reduction of the power consumption and prevention of the robbery of its commodity. SOLUTION: A door lock mechanism is prepared to lock a glass door 3 and the door 3 is opened only when a commodity is taken out. Thus, the unnecessary opening/closing actions of the door 3 can be prevented. As a result, the outside air entering a commodity storage chamber 2 is decreased and the commodities A are always kept at a desired temperature. Furthermore, the door 3 is opened when the locking of the door lock mechanism is canceled in response to an unlocking operation of a lock 6d of an auxiliary door 6. Thereby the door 3 can be opened as necessary even in cases except a failure or maintenance mode of an automatic vending machine. Thus, the vending machine also excels in its maintainability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine for selling products such as cans or bottled beverages by cooling or heating.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, vending machines of this type include a product storage room for storing products such as cans or bottled beverages, a glass door for opening and closing the front of the product storage room, and a plurality of vending machines in the product storage room. Products are stored in a line in the front-rear direction, the front side is tilted downward, and the products are slid so that the products can be taken out from the front, and the products of each product unloading mechanism are locked. Then, when the lock is released, the product lock mechanism that allows the frontmost product to be taken out, a cash slot and a product selection switch provided on the front of the vending machine main body, and lock and unlock of the product lock mechanism when purchasing the product There is known a device provided with a control means for controlling the pressure. The operation of the vending machine at the time of product purchase will be described. First, money is inserted from a cash slot, and when a product is selected by a product selection switch, the lock of the product lock mechanism of the selected product is released, and the glass is removed. By opening the door, the desired product can be taken out. Next, when the product is taken out and the glass door is closed, the product lock mechanism is locked after a predetermined time has elapsed. In this vending machine, the glass door is freely openable and closable. For example, when the vending machine breaks down, the glass door is opened to repair the failed part.

[0003]

However, in the vending machine described above, the glass door is easily opened unnecessarily except for the time of taking out the product and during the maintenance work. Therefore, the cooling efficiency of the product storage room is reduced, and the waste is reduced. There is a problem that power is consumed. In this case, by opening the glass door, the product may be exposed to the open air or touched by people,
There is also a problem that it is not preferable for hygiene. Further, since the glass door is always openable and closable, there is also a problem that the opening of the glass door for the purpose of theft of a product or the like cannot be prevented beforehand. Therefore, providing a lock means that allows the glass door to be opened only when the product is taken out is effective in saving power consumption and preventing theft of the product, but on the other hand, the glass door is arbitrarily opened during maintenance. As a result, there is a problem that it is not possible to do so.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine which is excellent in maintainability, advantageous in saving power consumption and preventing theft of goods. It is in.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a vending machine main body having an opening at the front and a product are supplied through a front opening of the vending machine main body. It has a product storage room that can be loaded and unloaded, a front door that opens and closes the front opening of the vending machine main body, and a product unloading mechanism that locks the product in the product storage room and unlocks the product when the product is unloaded. In a vending machine, a door lock mechanism for locking the front door, control means for unlocking the door lock mechanism when the lock of the product carrying mechanism is unlocked, and locking the door lock mechanism after a predetermined time has elapsed. And a lock release means for arbitrarily releasing the lock of the door lock mechanism from outside the vending machine main body. Thereby, the lock of the door lock mechanism is released when the product is carried out, and the lock of the door lock mechanism is performed after the elapse of a predetermined time, so that the front door is not opened except when the product is taken out.
When it is necessary to open the front door, for example, when the vending machine is out of order or during maintenance, the front door is opened by unlocking the door lock mechanism by the unlocking means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vending machine according to the first aspect, further comprising an auxiliary door for opening and closing a predetermined portion of the vending machine main body, and a lock mechanism for locking and unlocking the auxiliary door. The unlocking means is constituted by an interlocking mechanism for unlocking the door lock mechanism in conjunction with the unlocking operation of the lock mechanism. Thereby, in addition to the operation of the first aspect, since the lock of the door lock mechanism is released together with the unlocking of the auxiliary door, the unlocking of the auxiliary door and the unlocking of the door lock mechanism are performed by one operation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the second aspect, the door lock mechanism is rotatably connected to a solenoid provided on the auxiliary door side and a rod of the solenoid, and is rotatable around a predetermined axis. A link that is rotatably connected to the link, a door lock member that is rotatable on a predetermined axis, and an engaging portion that is provided on the front door and engages with the door lock member. The mechanism is provided in the lock mechanism,
An unlocking member that rotates in a predetermined direction by the unlocking operation of the lock mechanism and a link of the door lock mechanism, and the link is locked by contact of the unlocking member that has rotated to the predetermined position by the unlocking operation of the locking mechanism. And a contact member that rotates in the release direction. Thereby, in addition to the effect of claim 2, when the rod of the solenoid moves to one side on the predetermined axis, the link rotates around the predetermined axis, and the door lock member moves on the predetermined axis toward the front door side. Engage with the engaging portion.
Further, when the rod of the solenoid moves on the predetermined axis to the other side, the link rotates around the predetermined axis, the door lock member moves on the predetermined axis in the direction of the auxiliary door, and the engagement with the engaging portion is released. Further, when the lock mechanism is operated in the unlocking direction, the unlocking member rotates and abuts on the abutting member of the link at a predetermined position. Subsequently, the link rotates in the lock release direction due to the contact and rotation of the lock release member, and the engagement between the door lock member and the engagement portion is released.

[0008]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of a vending machine according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the vending machine, FIG. 2 is a front view of a door lock mechanism, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit.

This vending machine has a vending machine main body 1 having an opening at the front, a goods storage room 2 into which goods can be loaded and unloaded through the front opening of the vending machine main body 1, and a vending machine. A glass door 3 serving as a front door for opening and closing a front opening of the main body 1, a product unloading mechanism 4 provided in the product storage room 2, a door lock mechanism 5 capable of locking the glass door 3, and a vending machine main body 1 , An auxiliary door 6 that is provided at the front of the vehicle and is opened when collecting money, an interlocking mechanism 7 that can unlock the door lock mechanism 5, and a control unit 8 that controls the operation of the door lock mechanism 5.
And an open / close detection device 9 for detecting the open state and the closed state of the glass door 3.

The vending machine main body 1 is provided with an auxiliary door 6 at one end in the width direction on the front surface and a glass door 3 at the other end.

The product storage room 2 stores products A such as various bottles or canned drinks, and the inside of the product storage room 2 is cooled to a predetermined set temperature by a freezing device (not shown).

The glass door 3 is provided in front of the product storage room 2 so that the product A in the product storage room 2 can be viewed from the front of the vending machine main body 1. In this case, an urging force by a spring or the like is applied to the glass door 3 in the door closing direction, and the glass door 3 keeps the closed state unless a force is applied to the glass door 3 from the outside in the opening direction. ing.

Each of the commodity carrying-out mechanisms 4 is provided in the commodity storage room 2, and accommodates the commodity A in a row in the front-rear direction with the commodity A being inclined forward and downward. Each product A is locked by the product lock section 4a, and when the lock is released, the frontmost product A
Can be taken out from the front. When the foremost product A is taken out, the rear product A moves forward and is locked.

The door lock mechanism 5 has a solenoid 5a, a link 5b and a lock pin 5c provided on the auxiliary door 6 side, and the lock pin 5c is provided with a hole 5 provided on the glass door 3 side.
d. The link 5b is rotatably connected to a rod 5e of the solenoid 5a via a connecting portion 5f, and is rotatably connected to a lock pin 5c via a connecting portion 5g, so that the link 5b is rotatable around a rotation shaft 5h. Supported. Further, the link 5b has a door lock mechanism 5
Is applied by the spring 5i in the lock direction. In this case, the rod 5e and the lock pin 5c are arranged such that the longitudinal direction thereof coincides with the left-right direction of the vending machine main body 1, and the rod 5e is below and the lock pin 5c is above.

The auxiliary door 6 has a cash slot 6a, a bill slot 6b, each product selection switch 6c, and a lock 6d as a lock mechanism. The unlocking of the lock 6d allows the auxiliary door 6 to be opened and closed freely. In this case, the locked lock 6d is located below the door lock release mechanism 5, and is unlocked when rotated by 90 ° clockwise in the figure by a key (not shown).

The interlocking mechanism 7 has a lock 6 on the back side of the auxiliary door 6.
a metal member 7a as a lock release member provided so as to rotate integrally with d, and a lever 7b as an abutting member provided at the end of the link 5b on the rod 5e side and continuing to the link 5b. Have been. In this case, the metal fitting 7a is arranged such that one end thereof extends upward when the lock 6d is locked, and when the lock 7d is rotated in the unlocking direction of the lock 6d, the one end of the lever 7a is turned.
b.

The control unit 8 is constituted by a microcomputer, and each product selection switch 6c, the product carrying out mechanism 4,
It is connected to the door lock mechanism 5 and the open / close detection device 9.

The opening / closing detecting device 9 comprises, for example, a pair of magnet switches. One magnet switch is provided on the vending machine main body 1 side, and the other magnet switch is provided on the glass door 3 side. When they close, they come into contact with each other.

Here, the operation of the door lock mechanism 5 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the rod 5 of the solenoid 5a
When e moves in the direction of the glass door 3, the link 5b between the link 5b and the rod 5e moves, so that the link 5b
Rotates around the rotation shaft 5h. Thus, link 5
The connecting portion 5g between the b and the lock pin 5c moves toward the glass door 3, and the lock pin 5c and the hole 5d of the glass door 3 are engaged. When the rod 5e of the solenoid 5a moves toward the auxiliary door 6, the engagement between the lock pin 5c and the hole 5d is released.

The operation of the control unit 8 for locking and unlocking the door lock mechanism 5 and the product carry-out mechanism 4 when taking out a product will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the commodity selection switch 6c is operated,
When an arbitrary product is selected (S1), the lock of the door lock mechanism 5 is released (S2). This enables the glass door 3 to be opened. Next, the open / close detection device 9 determines whether or not the glass door 3 is in the open state (S3). If the glass door 3 is in the open state, the lock of the product carrying mechanism 4 is released (S4). As a result, the product A can be taken out. Next, the glass door 3
Is determined to be in a closed state (S5). If it is in a closed state, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time T1 has elapsed in the closed state (S5).
6). If the time T1 has not elapsed, the process returns to step S6. If the time T1 has elapsed, the product unloading mechanism 4 is locked (S7), and the door lock mechanism 5 is locked (S8). Here, it is determined whether or not the glass door 3 is in the open state (S9). If the glass door 3 is in the closed state, the process returns to step S1. In the open state, the door lock mechanism 5 is locked even though the glass door 3 is open, and the lock of the door lock mechanism 5 is released (S10), and the urging force of the glass door 3 is set. After the glass door 3 is closed, the door lock mechanism 5 is locked (S
11). Thereby, after returning to the state where the glass door 3 is closed and the door lock mechanism 5 is locked, the process returns to step S1.

Next, when performing maintenance or the like, the lock 6
d is unlocked, and the auxiliary door 6 and the glass door 3 are respectively opened. In this case, when the auxiliary door 6 is opened, money collection work and the like are performed, and when the glass door 3 is opened, replenishment of products, maintenance of the product unloading mechanism 4 or cleaning of the product storage room 2 and the like are performed. The operation of the door lock mechanism 5 and the interlocking mechanism 7 interlocking with the unlocking and locking of the lock 6d during maintenance will be described below. As shown in FIG. 3, when the lock 6d rotates in the unlocking direction, the metal fitting 7a rotates about the lock 6d, so that the metal fitting 7a comes into contact with the lever 7b at a predetermined position. When the lock 6d is further rotated in the unlocking direction, the metal fitting 7
a, the lever 7b rotates, and the link 5b
Rotate around h. Thereby, the connecting portion 5g between the link 5b and the lock pin 5c moves toward the auxiliary door 6, and the engagement between the lock pin 5c and the hole 5d of the glass door 3 is released. When the lock 6d is rotated in the locking direction, the metal fitting 7a is rotated.
When the contact between the lever 5 and the lever 7b is released, the link 5 is released.
Since the force acting on b is only the urging force of the lock mechanism 5 in the unlocking direction by the spring 5i, the link 5b rotates about the rotation shaft 5h, and the lock pin 5c and the hole 5d engage.

As described above, according to the vending machine of the present embodiment, the door lock mechanism 5 for locking the glass door 3 is provided.
Since the glass door 3 can be opened only when the product is taken out, unnecessary opening and closing of the glass door 3 can be reliably prevented.
Therefore, invasion of outside air into the product storage room 2 can be reduced, and the product A can always be maintained at a desired temperature. Further, since the cooling efficiency of the product storage room 2 can be improved, power consumption can be suppressed. Furthermore, since a person or outside air does not needlessly come into contact with the product A, it is advantageous in terms of hygiene. In addition, since the glass door 3 is locked except when the product is taken out, it is possible to prevent theft of the product and destruction of the internal devices beforehand.

Further, the glass door 3 is opened by unlocking the door lock mechanism 5 in conjunction with the unlocking of the lock 6d of the auxiliary door 6, so that, for example, when a vending machine fails or maintenance is performed. The glass door 3 can be opened as needed other than when the product is carried out, such as at the time, which is extremely advantageous in terms of maintainability.

The door lock mechanism 5 is connected to a solenoid 5a,
Since a simple and reliable operation using the link 5b, the lock pin 5c, and the hole 5d is employed, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the reliability can be improved.

Further, since the interlocking mechanism 7 is configured to operate simply and reliably using the metal fitting 7a provided on the lock 6d and the lever 7b provided on the link 5b, the manufacturing cost is reduced and the reliability is improved. Can be. Further, according to the above configuration, the unlocking of the auxiliary door 6 and the unlocking of the door lock mechanism 5 are simultaneously performed. For example, the auxiliary door 6 and the glass door 3 can be simultaneously opened and closed by a single operation during maintenance. This is extremely advantageous in terms of maintainability. Further, since the door lock mechanism 5 is unlocked by unlocking the lock 6d, even if the power supply to the vending machine is stopped due to a power failure or the like, for example,
The lock of the glass door 3 can be released.

Further, since the door lock mechanism 5 is locked together with the locking of the auxiliary door 6, the glass door 3 is not opened when the auxiliary door 6 is closed. It is possible to reliably prevent forgetting to lock the door lock mechanism 5 caused by the opening and closing operation.

In this embodiment, the product storage room 2
Although a vending machine that cools a product is described above, a vending machine that heats a product storage room can obtain the same operation and effect as the present embodiment.

In the above embodiment, the solenoid 5a
Of the rod 5e of the lock pin 5 via the link 5b.
c, and locks the glass door 3 by engagement of the lock pin 5c with the hole 5d.
The rod 5e of a may be directly inserted into the hole 5d.

In the above embodiment, the lock 7d is mechanically unlocked by using the force required to unlock the lock 6d by the metal fitting 7a and the lever 7b. After detecting the lock state, the solenoid 5
The lock of the door lock mechanism 5 may be electrically released by activating a.

In the above embodiment, the spring 5i
The lock 5d is mechanically locked together with the lock of the lock 6d by applying an urging force to the link 5b using the lock. However, the solenoid 5a is operated after the lock state of the lock 6d is detected. Then, the door lock mechanism 5 may be electrically locked.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the lock of the glass door 3 is released in conjunction with the lock 6d of the auxiliary door 6, but the lock of the glass door 3 is not linked with the lock 6d. A dedicated release unit that performs only release may be provided.

[0033]

As described above, according to the vending machine of the first aspect, since the front door can be opened only when the goods are carried out, unnecessary opening and closing of the front door can be reliably prevented. . Therefore, when cooling or heating the product storage room, the intrusion of outside air into the product storage room can be reduced, and power consumption can be suppressed. further,
This is advantageous in terms of hygiene because people and outside air do not needlessly come into contact with the product. Since the front door is locked except when the product is carried out, it is possible to prevent theft of the product, destruction of the internal devices, and the like. Further, the front door can be opened as required at times other than the time of carrying out the product, such as at the time of failure of the vending machine or at the time of maintenance, which is extremely advantageous in terms of maintainability.

According to the vending machine of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the auxiliary door is unlocked and the door lock mechanism is unlocked at the same time. The front door can be opened and closed simultaneously by a single operation, which is extremely advantageous in terms of maintainability.

According to the vending machine of the third aspect, in addition to the effect of the second aspect, since the door lock mechanism and the interlocking mechanism are configured to operate simply and reliably, the manufacturing cost is reduced and the reliability is improved. Improvement can be achieved. Further, since the door lock mechanism is unlocked by unlocking the lock mechanism, the front door can be unlocked even when the power supply to the vending machine is stopped due to, for example, a power failure. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a vending machine showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a door lock mechanism.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of a door lock mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of a control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... vending machine main body, 2 ... product storage room, 3 ... glass door,
4 ... commodity carrying mechanism, 5 ... door lock mechanism, 5a ... solenoid, 5b ... link, 5c ... lock pin, 5d ... hole, 5e
... rod, 6 ... auxiliary door, 6d ... lock, 7 ... interlocking mechanism, 7
a: metal fittings, 7b: lever, A: product.

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3E044 AA01 BA01 BA02 CA01 CA02 CB06 CC10 DA10 DB14 DB15 DD03 DD06 DD10 FB01 FB02 FB03 FB04 FB05 FB07

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine main body having an opening in the front, a product storage room in which goods can be loaded and unloaded through the front opening of the vending machine main body, and a front opening of the vending machine main body opened and closed. A vending machine having a front door that locks the front door and a product discharge mechanism that locks the product in the product storage room and unlocks the product when the product is discharged, and a door lock mechanism that locks the front door; and the product discharge mechanism. Control means for unlocking the door lock mechanism when the lock is released and locking the door lock mechanism after a predetermined time has elapsed, and a lock for arbitrarily unlocking the door lock mechanism from outside the vending machine main body A vending machine comprising a releasing means. 2. An auxiliary door for opening and closing a predetermined portion of a vending machine main body, and a lock mechanism for locking and unlocking the auxiliary door, wherein the unlocking means is linked with an unlocking operation of the lock mechanism to open the door. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine is constituted by an interlocking mechanism for unlocking the lock mechanism. 3. The door lock mechanism is connected to a solenoid provided on an auxiliary door side, a link rotatably connected to a rod of the solenoid and rotatable about a predetermined axis, and rotatably connected to the link. A door lock member movable on a predetermined axis, and an engaging portion provided on the front door side and engaging with the door lock member, wherein the interlocking mechanism is provided in the lock mechanism, and the unlocking operation of the lock mechanism is performed. A lock releasing member that rotates in a predetermined direction and a link of the door lock mechanism, and rotates the link in the unlocking direction by abutment of the lock releasing member that has rotated to a predetermined position by the unlocking operation of the lock mechanism. 3. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the vending machine comprises a contact member.