JP2001084448A - Device for adjusting merchandise supply width for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce manufacturing costs by providing a plurality of through holes penetrating vertically side by side in a longitudinal direction on the front side of a merchandise guiding plate and also setting the installation position of each through hole so that the edge parts of width adjusting members provided in a movable way in accordance with merchandise can traverse each through hole. SOLUTION: This merchandise supply width adjusting device 4 consists a pair of width adjusting members 5 respectively provided at a merchandise supply opening and a merchandise guiding plate 6. The plate 6 is formed in a flat plate shape and provided with flanges extending upward at left and right edges and also with a plurality of engagement holes 7 and a plurality of through holes 8. In such a case, the plurality of holes 8 are provided side by side in a longitudinal directions on the front side of the merchandise guiding plate of the width direction adjusting members 6 arranged in accordance with merchandise. A pair of the members 5 are formed so as to traverse a pair of the holes 8 of the same shape in accordance with the longitudinal length of merchandise to be thrown in. The structures of the members 5 and the holes 8 are simple and easily worked and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

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 supplying goods such as cans or bottled beverages, and more particularly to an apparatus for adjusting the width of the goods.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a vending machine of this type uses a so-called serpentine type product storage device having a meandering product path extending vertically. In this product storage device, a number of arc plates facing each other in the front-rear direction are provided between a pair of side plates facing the width direction of the device main body, and the product path is formed between the respective arc plates. In addition, a product insertion port is provided at an upper portion of the product storage device and communicates with an upper end side of the product passage. By inserting the product into the product insertion port from the front side of the device main body, the product is stored in the product passage. It has become.

There are a plurality of types of beverage cans sold in the vending machine having an outer diameter and a plurality of lengths, and the height in the height direction and the width in the left-right direction of the product inlet are adjusted accordingly. There is a need. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 87561, a width adjustment member movable in the left-right direction is provided in a passage of a product insertion port, and the left-right position of the width adjustment member is changed according to the length of a product for sale. It has been known. In this width adjustment device, a window is formed in the front portion of the width direction adjustment member, while a number corresponding to the set position of the width direction adjustment member is written on the bottom front surface of the passage, whereby the width adjustment member is formed. When moving, the merchandise seller can recognize the setting position of the width direction adjusting member by looking at the number visually recognized through the window.

[0004]

However, in the width adjusting device for recognizing the setting position of the width direction adjusting member on the front surface, the front surface of the width adjusting member has a small size, so that a window is formed in the front portion. However, there is a problem in that a high processing technique and a great amount of processing time are required, and as a result, the manufacturing cost of the width adjusting device is high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to reduce the manufacturing cost with a simple structure and to easily recognize the set position of the width direction adjusting member. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for adjusting the width of the product introduction.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a product guide plate for guiding a product inserted from a product input port to a product storage portion, and a left and right side of the product guide plate. A width adjusting member provided movably in the direction, and by moving the width adjusting member to a required position, the width of the vending machine is adjusted according to the width of the product at the merchandise inlet. , And a plurality of through-holes vertically penetrating on the front side of the product guide plate in the left-right direction,
The installation positions of the respective through holes are set such that the ends of the width adjusting members moved and installed corresponding to the products cross the respective through holes. Thereby, the adjustment of the width of the product insertion port in the left-right direction is achieved by moving the width adjustment member left and right, and at this time, the end of the width adjustment member crosses the through hole of the product guide plate in the front-rear direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the merchandise introduction width adjusting device for a vending machine according to the first aspect, the shape of each of the through holes is different depending on the installation position of the width adjusting member. Thereby, the setting position of the width adjusting member is confirmed from the shape of the through hole that the end of the width adjusting member crosses.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the width adjusting member and each of the through-holes are paired on the left and right in the product width adjusting device according to the first or second aspect. Thus, the adjustment of the width of the product insertion port is achieved by moving each width adjusting member on both the left and right sides.

[0009]

1 to 5 show one embodiment of a vending machine product width adjustment device of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a vending machine, and FIG. 2 is an automatic vending machine. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a product insertion width adjusting device of a vending machine, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views of a product insertion width adjusting device of a vending machine.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vending machine provided with the product width adjusting device of the present embodiment has a product storage device 2 for storing and unloading products inside a vending machine main body 1. ing. This product storage device 2 has a pair of side plates 2a facing each other in the width direction, and a product passage 2b extending between the side plates 2a so as to meander up and down with an arc plate facing each other. In addition, a product insertion port 3 for filling a product is formed in an upper portion between the side plates 2a. This product slot 3
A product introduction width adjustment device 4 is set between the product introduction width adjustment device 4 and the product introduction width adjustment device 4 to guide the product introduced from the product introduction port 3 to the product passage 2b, and The input width is adjusted.

Hereinafter, the structure of the product width adjustment device 4, which is a characteristic configuration of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS.

The product introduction width adjusting device 4 includes a pair of width adjustment members 5 and a product guide plate 6 provided at the product introduction port 3, respectively.
And adjusts the width of the product insertion port 3 in the left-right direction.

Each width adjusting member 5 is formed in a substantially L-shape including a side surface portion 5a and a bottom surface portion 5b extending in the front-rear direction. The side surface portion 5a is on the side plate 2a side, and the bottom surface portion 5b is a product insertion port. 3 is arranged on the bottom side. Bottom part 5
A protrusion 5c extending in the front-rear direction for engaging with the product guide plate 6 is provided at a lower portion of a side end of the center of the product insertion port 3 of b.
That is, the projection 5c functions as a positioning member for the width adjusting member 5.

The product guide plate 6 is formed in a flat plate shape, has a flange extending upward at left and right ends, and is provided with a plurality of engaging holes 7 and a plurality of through holes 8. The product inserted by the product guide plate 6 is guided to the product storage unit 2.

Each of the engaging holes 7 is formed on the product guide plate 6 on the left and right side, and is formed in a shape extending in the front-rear direction so as to engage with the projection 5c. Here, each engaging hole 7 is provided with each width adjusting member 5.
Are provided so as to correspond to the length in the left-right direction of the product to be inserted.

Each of the through holes 8 is set at a set position of the width adjusting member 5 such that an end of the width direction adjusting member 5 on the center side of the product guide plate 6 of the width direction adjusting member 5 traverses above it in the front-rear direction. A plurality of product guide plates 6 are provided side by side in the left-right direction. Here, a pair of each width adjusting member 5 crosses a pair of through holes 8 having the same shape in accordance with the length of the product to be put in the left-right direction. In this case, each through hole 8 corresponding to the product A is formed in a long hole shape, each through hole 8 corresponding to the product B is formed in a square shape, and each through hole 8 corresponding to the product C is formed in a circular shape.

In the merchandise insertion width adjusting device 4 configured as described above, the width of the merchandise insertion opening 3 in the left-right direction is regulated by each width adjusting member 5 in which the projection 5c is engaged with the engagement hole 7. . Here, when changing the width of the product insertion port 3 to the width of a new product, the engagement between the projection 5c of each width adjustment member 5 and each engagement hole 7 is released, and each width adjustment member 5 The projection 5c is inserted into the engagement hole 7 having a length between the side surfaces 5a. On this occasion,
What is necessary is just to move each width | variety adjustment member 5 so that the edge part of the bottom part 5b may cross each through-hole 8 of the shape corresponding to goods.

As described above, according to the commodity width adjusting device of the vending machine of the present embodiment, since the end of the bottom surface 5b of each width adjusting member 5 crosses over the through hole 8, a part of the width adjusting member 5 is partially cut. The left and right widths of the product insertion port 3 can be easily recognized by checking the through hole 8 that is closed. Further, each of the width adjusting members 5 and each of the through holes 8 has a simple structure, so that the processing of the parts is easy, and the manufacturing cost of the product width input device can be reduced. Further, unlike the related art, there is no need to write a number or the like corresponding to the set position of the width adjusting member 5 on the front surface of the product guide plate 6, so that the size of the apparatus in the height direction can be reduced.

Further, since each through-hole 8 has a different shape depending on the installation position of each width adjusting member 5, when changing the width of the product insertion port 3, the product inputter can adjust each width corresponding to a desired product. The setting position of the member 5 can be instantaneously determined, and each width adjusting member 5 is not installed at a wrong position.

Further, since the length of the product slot 3 in the left-right direction is adjusted by the pair of width adjusting members 5, even if the length of the product to be fed is short in the left-right direction, the product can be placed on the side plate 2a. It can be put in any position between them. In this case, by placing the product in the center between the side plates 2a, the product stored in the product storage room 2 is prevented from being shifted to one of the left and right.

In this embodiment, each through-hole 8 has a different shape in accordance with a product to be put in. However, each through-hole 8 may have the same shape.

In this embodiment, a pair of width adjusting members 5 and a pair of through holes 8 are shown. However, as shown in FIG.
And each through hole 8 may be provided.

[0023]

As described above, according to the merchandise introduction width adjusting device of the vending machine of the first aspect, the end of the width adjusting member crosses the through hole at the bottom of the merchandise entrance in the front-rear direction. Therefore, the left and right widths of the product insertion port can be easily recognized by confirming the partially closed through-hole. Further, the structure of the width adjusting member and the through-hole is simple and processing is easy, and the manufacturing cost of the product input width adjusting device can be reduced. Further, unlike the related art, there is no need to write a number or the like corresponding to the set position of the width adjusting member on the front surface of the passage of the product insertion port, so that the size in the height direction of the apparatus can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the shape of the through-hole is made different according to the installation position of the width adjusting member. When changing the width of the product insertion slot, the product putter can instantaneously determine the setting position of the width adjustment member corresponding to the desired product, and the width adjustment member is not installed at an incorrect position.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first and second aspects, the width adjusting member and each of the through holes are paired on the left and right sides. When the length in the left-right direction is short, the position of the product insertion port in the left-right direction can be arbitrarily set. For example, in the case of a vending machine having a serpentine-type product storage room,
It is possible to set so that the product to be put in is stored near the center of the product storage room, and the product stored in the product storage room does not shift to one of the left and right.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a vending machine provided with a product insertion width adjusting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of a vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a product introduction width adjusting device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a product introduction width adjusting device.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a product introduction width adjusting device.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the product introduction width adjusting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vending machine main body, 3 ... Commodity introduction port, 4 ... Commodity introduction width adjustment device, 5 ... Width adjustment member, 6 ... Commodity guide plate, 8 ... Through-hole.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A product guide plate for guiding a product inserted from a product input port into a product storage unit, and a width adjusting member movably provided in the left and right direction of the product guide plate, the width adjusting member being required. The vending machine adjusts the width according to the product width of the product input port by moving to the position of the vending machine. Wherein the position of each through hole is set such that the end of the width adjusting member moved and installed corresponding to the product crosses each through hole. apparatus. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the through holes has a different shape depending on an installation position of the width adjusting member. 3. The apparatus for adjusting the width of a product in a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the width adjusting member and each through hole are formed as a pair of right and left parts.