JP2001134833A - Commodity storage rack for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the configuration of combining a top guide with a top tray for commodity insertion so as to easily and smoothly perform the adjusting operation of commodity rolling passage width. SOLUTION: Concerning the commodity storage rack for automatic vending machine, with which a cylindrical commodity inserted from the front is fed into an article storage passage by continuously arranging a top tray 11 for commodity insertion at the top of the meandering commodity storage passage inside the rack, an L-shaped top guide 14 for regulating the rolling passage width corresponding to commodity size is laid on the top tray top tray is framed between rack side plants through a curled shaft part 11a formed at the front edge of the top tray, a curled cylindrical part 14a is fitted to the shaft part of the top tray so as to slide/incline by forming this cylindrical part at the bottom front edge of the top guide, and an engaging projection 14b formed at the rear part of the top guide is locked and fixed at each adjusting position while being fitted into a passage width adjusting hole 11c formed on the top tray.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a serpentine type product storage rack mounted on a vending machine for cans, bottles, and the like, and more particularly, to a structure of a top tray that is incorporated in the rack and feeds input products to a storage passage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows a vending machine to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 1 is a main body cabinet of a vending machine, 2 is an outer door, 3 is a heat-insulated inner door, and a serpentine type product storage rack 4 is housed in the cabinet of the main body cabinet 1. In addition, 5 is a product takeout shooter,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a product outlet, and 7 denotes a refrigerator for keeping cool in the refrigerator.

Next, the detailed structure of the above-mentioned serpentine type product storage rack 4 is shown in FIGS. The illustrated example shows a rack having a front-rear two-part structure in which four front and rear product storage columns are defined. That is, the product storage rack 4 is a pair of left and right rack side plates 8 and rails (arranged vertically above and below the arc-shaped rail segments) which extend between the rack side plates and define meandering product storage passages 9 arranged in front and rear rows. )
A set of a top tray 11 laid in a rearwardly inclined position between a product loading port 10 and a product input port opened at the upper front of the rack connected to the upper end of the product storage passage 9, and a bend mechanism 12 installed at the lower discharge end side. Become three-dimensional.

[0004] With such a configuration, when a product is loaded into the product storage rack 4, the product 13 (a cylindrical product such as a can or a bottle) is placed in a horizontal position from the front of the rack.
Put on top of 1. Thereby, the product 13 rolls on the inclined surface of the top tray 11, falls from the rear end into the product storage passage 9 and is stored. In order to regulate the width of the rolling passage in the top tray 11 according to the size (length) of the product 13, the rolling passage width L of the product is adjusted as shown in FIG. A top guide 14 is laid along the rolling path.

A structure for mounting the top guide 14 on the top tray 11 is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-519.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 77, the top tray is erected between rack side plates via a curled shaft formed at the front edge thereof, and an engaging claw protrudes from the top guide on the lower surface side of the front end. A support portion having a U-shaped cross section is provided, the claw of the support portion is fitted to the curled shaft portion of the top tray to slidably engage and support left and right, and an engagement protrusion formed on the rear bottom surface of the top guide. There is known a configuration in which a roller is fitted into an adjusting hole formed on a top tray to regulate the width of a rolling passage.

[0006]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional top guide mounting structure, when the top guide is a resin molded product, the claw of the supporting portion can be formed integrally with the top guide body. However, when the top guide is made of a steel plate, it is difficult to form the support portion with the claw from the top guide body by sheet metal processing, and the support portion component manufactured as a separate part is welded to the top guide body. Since a method is required, the cost is high. In addition, when the support portion of the top guide is fitted to the shaft portion of the top tray, there is a play that can slightly move in the front-rear direction, so that the positioning operation when fitting the engagement protrusion into the adjustment hole is troublesome. It is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to simplify the operation of adjusting the width of a product rolling passage by combining a top tray for product introduction with a top guide. Another object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine product storage rack that has been improved so that it can be performed smoothly.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided, in accordance with the present invention, a merchandise supply passage formed in a vertical meandering shape formed between left and right rack side plates. A product storage rack of a vending machine in which a top tray is arranged, and a cylindrical product thrown in a horizontal position from the front of the rack via the top tray is sent to the product storage passage. A top guide having an L-shaped cross section that stands upright with the bottom surface mounted on a top tray so as to regulate the width of the rolling path of the product along the longitudinal direction according to the product size, wherein the top tray is located in front of the top guide. The top guide is provided between the rack side plates via a curled shaft portion formed at the edge, and the top guide is formed with a curled tubular portion serving also as a slide portion and a hinge portion at the bottom front edge thereof. Is fitted to the outer periphery of the shaft portion of the top tray, and the engaging projection formed on the rear bottom surface of the top guide is fitted into the passage width adjusting hole formed on the top tray to be locked and fixed at each adjustment position. 1).

Further, in the above structure, in order to enhance the adjusting operability, the top guide is pushed up with the fingertip from the back side of the top tray at the time of the work of adjusting the width of the rolling passage, and the engaging projection is formed on the top tray. A work hole for extracting from the adjustment hole is opened (claim 2). With this configuration, when adjusting the width of the product rolling path on the top tray according to the length of the product for sale, the top guide can be smoothly moved to a new position by tilting and sliding the top guide with a simple fingertip operation. Can be replaced. In addition, since the top guide has a curled tubular portion which also serves as a slider and a hinge at the front edge thereof and fits the tubular portion around the outer periphery of the shaft portion of the top tray, the top tray can be adjusted during the adjusting operation. There is no danger of falling off from the shaft portion, and the cylindrical portion can be easily formed by curling by a press method or the like.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the drawings of the embodiment, members corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. First, in FIG.
1 has a shaft portion 11a which is curled at the front end thereof and protrudes left and right, and an engagement tongue piece 11b which engages with a support pin of a rack side plate is formed at a rear portion as described later. A plurality of left and right slit-shaped adjusting holes 11c for defining the mounting position of the top guide 14 are provided at the center, and a work hole 11d into which a fingertip is inserted when the top guide is adjusted is opened at the front.

On the other hand, the top guide 14 is bent in an L-shape along its longitudinal direction, and its bottom front edge is subjected to edge bending (curling) processing so that the top guide 11 is formed from the shaft portion 11a of the top tray 11 described above. A curl-shaped cylindrical portion 14a is formed, which also serves as a one-diameter slide portion and a hinge portion. Further, a V-shaped engaging projection 14b protruding downward so as to fit into the adjustment hole 11b of the top tray 11 described above is further provided on the bottom rear surface side of the top guide 14 with a working hole 11d formed in the top tray 11. Projection 14d corresponding to
Are cut and raised. Note that the curled tubular portion 14a does not completely close the edge bending end thereof as shown in FIG.
The top guide 14 can be tilted while leaving some play gap g as shown in the enlarged view of FIG.

In the top tray 11, both ends of a shaft portion 11a formed on the front edge thereof are inserted into deformed adjusting holes 8a opened in the left and right rack side plates 8, and an engaging tongue piece 11b formed on the rear side is further inserted. It is hooked on the through pin 8b bridged between the rack side plates 8 and supported in a posture slightly inclined backward from the horizontal. On the other hand, the top guide 14 has a cylindrical portion 14a formed on the front edge thereof fitted and connected to the shaft portion 11a of the top tray 11 from the shaft end side so as to be slidable and tiltable. The mating projection 14b is fitted into the adjustment hole 11c of the top tray 11 and is fixed so as not to move left and right from the adjustment position.

[0013] When the rolling passage width L of the top tray 11 is adjusted in accordance with the length size of the product when changing the product to be sold, as shown in FIG. Insert your hand into the bottom side
The protrusion 14d protruding from the top tray 11 is pushed up with a fingertip, and the top guide 14 is tilted upward with the cylindrical portion 14a at the front edge as a fulcrum, and the engagement protrusion 14c is pulled out from the adjustment hole 11c of the top tray 11. Subsequently, the top guide 14 is slid sideways along the shaft portion 11a of the top tray 11 to move to a new adjustment position, and the top guide 14 is moved to this position at this position.
The engagement protrusion 14b is fitted on the adjustment hole 11c so as to overlap with the first one, and is set at a new adjustment position.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, the rolling path of the product along the longitudinal direction on the top tray with respect to the top tray incorporated in the product storage rack (serpentine type product storage rack). A top guide having an L-shaped section is laid on the top tray so that the bottom surface is placed on the top tray so as to regulate the width according to the product size. The top tray is left and right through a curled shaft formed at the front edge thereof. The top guide is provided between the rack side plates, and the top guide is formed with a curled tubular portion serving also as a slide portion and a hinge portion at the bottom front edge thereof, and the fitted tubular portion is fitted around the shaft portion of the top tray, and By engaging the engaging protrusion formed on the bottom rear surface of the top guide with the passage width adjustment hole formed on the top tray and fixing it at each adjustment step position, the top guide can be configured with a simple structure. It can be smoothly carried out in a single fingertip operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural view of a main part according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is an exploded perspective view of a top tray and a top guide, and (b) explanatory view of an operation of adjusting a top guide.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the top tray and the top guide of FIG. 1 are incorporated in a serpentine type product storage rack;
(a) is a side view, (b) is a plan view

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of an entire vending machine equipped with a serpentine-type product storage rack to which the present invention is applied.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are main part configuration diagrams of FIG. 3, wherein FIG. 4A is an external view of a product storage rack, and FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 Serpentine-type product storage rack 8 Rack side plate 9 Meandering product storage passage 11 Top tray 11a Curled shaft portion 11c Adjustment hole for top guide 11d Work hole 13 Product 14 Top guide 14a Curled cylindrical portion 14b Engagement protrusion L Product Rolling passage width

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Naoki Kuwahara 1-1-1, Tanabe-Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. F term (reference) in Electric Corporation 3E046 BA03 BB03 BB04 CA03 CD01

Claims (2)

[Claims] A top tray for placing a product is disposed on the top of a meandering product storage passage defined between left and right rack side plates, and the product is placed in a horizontal position from the front of the rack via the top tray. It is a product storage rack of a vending machine that sends the input cylindrical product to the product storage passage,
A top guide having an L-shaped cross section that stands on the top tray with the bottom surface placed on the top tray so as to regulate the width of the rolling path of the product along the longitudinal direction according to the product size on the top tray. The tray is installed between the left and right rack side plates via a curled shaft formed at the front edge thereof, and the top guide is formed with a curled cylindrical portion serving also as a sliding portion and a hinge at the bottom front edge thereof. The cylindrical portion was fitted on the outer periphery of the shaft portion of the top tray, and the engaging projection formed on the rear surface of the bottom of the top guide was fitted into the passage width adjusting hole formed on the top tray to be locked and fixed at each adjusting position. A product storage rack for a vending machine, characterized in that: 2. The product storage rack according to claim 1,
Automatic work, characterized in that a work hole is opened in the top tray to push up the top guide with a fingertip from the back side of the top tray at the time of adjusting the rolling passage width and to pull out the engaging projection from the adjustment hole of the top tray. Product storage rack for vending machines.