JP2001266237A - Article storage device in automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article storage device in an automatic vending machine which can hold all of tall and short articles successfully in a storage place position without altering the kind of a gate. SOLUTION: Gates 41 are provided vertically in stages for one column 22 and also arranged laterally, side by side, almost in parallel from the center of a rotary shaft to the opening part at the front end of the column 22 when closed, and linearly and almost longitudinally upward from the center of the rotary shaft when opened. Consequently, the short article 21 and tall article 21 can be held successfully in the storage place position in the standby mode. An article can be discharged smoothly in the discharge mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a product storage device for a vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art JP-A-10-302140 discloses that
As shown in FIG. 8, the product storage rack 3 is constructed by arranging the columns 2 for storing the products 1 in one row in front and rear and in the left and right rows, and mounting the bucket unit 4 in front of the product storage rack 3. There is disclosed a vending machine in which an XY transport mechanism 5 is provided, and when a sales instruction is issued, a product 1 paid out from a column 2 is transferred to a bucket unit 4 and sent to a product outlet 7. A driving device common to each column 2 is mounted on the bucket unit 4 as a power source for the commodity dispensing mechanism provided for each column 2 and the bucket unit 4 is moved to the position of the column 2 where a sales instruction is given. The power is transmitted from the driving mechanism on the bucket side to the commodity dispensing mechanism of the column 2 to pay out the commodities 1. The column 2 is supported so as to be able to be pulled out forward from the rack support frame so that the products 1 can be individually replenished. The side is configured so that it can be lowered obliquely downward.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the main body of the column 2 is made of a gutter-shaped case having a U-shaped cross section. To be stored. The column case 6 incorporates a gate opening / closing mechanism 9 that is disposed at the front end of the column case 6 and restrains the product 1 at the storage position, and a pusher mechanism 10 that pushes the product 1 from behind to forward.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the gate opening / closing mechanism 9 has a pivotable gate 1 whose one end is pivotally supported by the front end of the side wall 6a of the column case 6 and protrudes from the front end surface of the column 2.
1, a cylindrical cam 12 connected to the rear of the gate 11,
A slider 13 incorporated at the front end of the column case 6 so as to rotate the gate 11 to the open / close position in conjunction with the cylindrical cam 12, and a return spring for urging the slider 13 from behind toward the standby position. 14 These cylindrical cam 12, slider 13, and return spring 14 are incorporated inside one side wall of the column case 6, and are covered by a cover from the side. At the time of product payout, a push pin 4a provided in the bucket unit 4 so as to be able to move back and forth.
Abuts against the slider 13 and presses the slider 13 backward, whereby the gate 11 is rotated upward through the cylindrical cam 12 to be opened.

The pusher mechanism 10 is provided along the front and rear direction at the bottom of the column case 6, and a belt 15 stretched between a pair of front and rear pulleys, and a product connected to the belt 15 and arranged in the last row in the column 2. 1 comprises a pusher 16 for pressing against the rear, a rack gear 17 connected to a pulley on the front end side of the belt 15 and having a peripheral surface protruding from the front surface of the column case 6. Then, at the time of dispensing the product, the drive gear 4b provided on the bucket unit 4 abuts on the rack gear 17 and rotates with the gate 11 opened, thereby moving the pusher 16 forward, and moving the product 1 into the bucket unit. 4 to be paid out.

[0006]

However, according to the above-described conventional configuration, the product 1 is restrained at the storage location by only one gate 11, so that the product is paid out when the product 1 is short. Occasionally, the product 1 slips under the gate 11 and a large number of products 1 are paid out by mistake. If the gate 11 is arranged at a low position to prevent this, the tall product 1 will fall forward. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, when the front side of the column 2 is pulled out diagonally downward to replenish the product 1 to the uppermost column 2, such a problem is likely to occur. .

[0007] As a conventional method for coping with such a problem, as shown in FIG.
It is shown that a substantially L-shaped gate 11 that bends further downward from a laterally extending tip is used as the gate 11, and according to this, a product that is bent short below the gate 11 is short. 1a can be satisfactorily brought into contact with each other to be restrained at the storage location. However, the gate 11 having a substantially L-shape abuts the product 1b when the gate 11 is rotated upward during the delivery of the product 1b for the tall product 1b, resulting in poor delivery (see FIG. 12 imaginary). Line section), it is applicable only to the short product 1a,
Each gate 11 according to the height of the product 1 (1a, 1b)
Must be replaced, which is troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem, and satisfactorily restrains a short product and a tall product at a storage location without changing the type of gate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine product storage device that can be used.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a column for accommodating commodities in a line in a front-rear direction. A gate opening / closing mechanism that opens and closes the opening at the front end of the column by rotating the gate around the gate to allow movement of the product from the storage location or restrict the product to the storage location, and a product storage location A vending machine provided with a pusher mechanism for pushing out the product from behind to the front with a pusher, wherein the gate is provided in a plurality of stages vertically for one column, and each gate is turned when closed. Arranged horizontally in a substantially parallel posture from the dynamic axis toward the opening at the front end of the column, and arranged in a straight line along the vertical direction substantially upward from the rotation axis when open. It is.

With this structure, a plurality of gates are provided up and down for one column, so that even for short products, the products can be satisfactorily restrained at the storage location, and the gate can be opened. Occasionally, by setting each of the gates to extend substantially vertically upward from the rotation axis, it is possible to prevent contact with a tall product at the time of dispensing the product, Can be performed without any trouble.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the merchandise storage device of the vending machine according to the first aspect, a gate provided in a plurality of stages is tilted so that a rotation axis thereof is inclined in the same direction from a horizontal direction.
When the gates are opened and arranged in a straight line substantially in the vertical direction, the gates are arranged so as not to come into contact with each other.

[0012] With this configuration, even when the gate is formed to be long so that the product can be securely restrained at the time of waiting for sale, it is possible to prevent the gates from coming into contact with each other when the product is paid out.

[0013] The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
Wherein the gate opening / closing mechanism is slidable in a substantially vertical direction by being engaged with a single retractable member that is capable of retracting in the front-rear direction and a cam groove provided in the retractable member. The tooth surface is formed at a plurality of upper and lower locations on the inner surface side.
A plurality of upper and lower gates rotatably supported by the shaft portion, the two slide members having a shaft portion extending substantially in the front-rear direction, a gear portion surface meshing with the tooth surface of the slide member formed on the shaft portion, and a gate; And means for urging in the closing direction.

With this configuration, the gates in the upper and lower stages can be satisfactorily opened and closed with a relatively simple configuration and a small number of component configurations.

[0015]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

A product storage device of a vending machine is constructed by arranging columns for storing products in a front and rear row in an upper and lower row and a left and right row in substantially the same manner as in a conventional vending machine. X with bucket unit in front
A -Y transport mechanism is provided, and when a sales instruction is issued, the goods paid out from the column are transferred to the bucket unit and sent out to the goods outlet. Further, the driving force of the driving device mounted on the bucket unit is transmitted to a column facing the bucket unit, and the product is paid out from the column to the bucket unit.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the frame of the main body of the column 22 is made of a gutter-shaped column case 24. Store in posture. A gate opening / closing mechanism 40 disposed at the front end of the column case 24 and restraining the product 21 in a storage position by two upper and lower gates 41;
A pusher mechanism 50 that pushes the product 21 forward from behind with a pusher 51 and an attachment device 60 that adjusts the width of a storage location of the product 21 with an attachment 61 are incorporated.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the gate opening / closing mechanism 40 is movable back and forth in the front-rear direction.
A retractable member 42 which can be brought into contact with a push pin 31 provided to be able to retract and retract, a biasing spring 43 for biasing the retractable member 42 toward the near side, a guide projection shaft 44 and a guide The guide 4 is slidably guided in a substantially vertical direction by a wall 45 or the like, and is inserted into a cam groove 42 a provided in the extension member 42.
6b is engaged and slides in a substantially vertical direction, and
It comprises a slide member 46 having a tooth surface 46a formed at a location, and two upper and lower gates 41 rotatably supported by a shaft 41a extending substantially in the front-rear direction. A gear surface 41 is provided on the outer periphery of the rear portion of the shaft portion 41a of the gate 41.
b is formed, and the gear surface 41b is meshed with the tooth surface 46a of the slide member 46. Gate opening / closing mechanism 40
Are all incorporated inside one side wall of the column 22. 47 is a gate 41
The gate opening / closing portion 41c is urged in the closing direction by a spring provided at the rear end of the shaft portion 41a. In particular, these gates 41 are arranged such that their rotation axes X are inclined in the same direction as the horizontal direction (in this embodiment, the front side is slightly inclined downward), and FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, when the gate 41 is opened and the gate opening / closing portions 41c are linearly arranged substantially in the vertical direction, the gate 4
1 are arranged so that they do not come into contact with each other in the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pusher mechanism 50 includes
The portion of the pusher 51 excluding the main body is incorporated into the bottom of the column 22. The pusher mechanism 50 includes a driven gear 52 that is freely rotatable and rotatable from the bucket unit 30 and is rotatable with the driving force transmission gear 32, and a driving rotary shaft that supports the driven gear 52 and integrally rotates. 53
A belt drive gear 54 attached to the drive rotation shaft 53 and rotating integrally therewith; and a driven rotation shaft 56 supported by a tensioner 55 disposed at the rear end of the bottom of the column 22.
A belt driven gear 57 attached to the driven rotating shaft 56 and integrally rotating; a driving belt 58 with teeth extending between the belt driving gear 54 and the belt driven gear 57; The floor portion 2 of the column 22 by the guide portion
2b, the main body is guided movably in the front-rear direction on the floor surface 22b of the column 22, and the teeth 51b provided thereunder mesh with the teeth of the drive belt 58 to elastically engage. And a pusher 51 to be combined.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the attachment device 60 has an attachment 61 attached thereto via a parallel link mechanism 62, and is housed in a space behind the gate opening / closing mechanism 40 inside one side wall of the column 22. The storage position is such that the product can be moved back and forth from the storage position to the product storage location side.

In the above configuration, at the time of standby for sales, FIG.
As shown by the solid line in FIG.
0 is located at a predetermined standby place. Therefore, the retractable member 42 of the gate opening / closing mechanism 40 is located on the near side by the urging force of the urging spring 43, and the slide member 46 is at a position closer to the upper side. The gate opening / closing portion 41 c of the gate 41 linked to the slide member 46 is connected to the front end opening 2 of the column 22.
2a is closed, and as a result, the product 21 is restrained at the product storage position. In this case, since the gates 41 are provided in two upper and lower stages, the short product 21 and the tall product 21 are provided.
, So that the movement of the product 21 can be prevented and the product 21 can be restrained at the product storage position.

On the other hand, when there is an instruction to sell the product 21, the bucket unit 30 is moved to the front of the column 22 corresponding to the product to be sold, as shown in FIGS.
The push pin 31 of the bucket unit 30 presses the retracting member 42 of the column 22 and the driving force transmission gear 32 of the bucket unit 30
2 and rotated. When the retracting member 42 is pushed, the slide member 46 descends along the cam groove 42a of the retracting member 42, and by this descending operation, the shaft of the gate 41 passes through the tooth surface 46a and the gear surface 41b of the gate 41. The part 41a is rotated. Then, as shown by a virtual line in FIG. 4, the gate opening / closing portion 41c of the gate 41 is oriented upward, and the front end opening portion 22a of the column 22 is opened, so that the commodity 21 can be paid out.

In this case, since the gate 41 is arranged so that the rotation axis X is inclined in the same direction with respect to the horizontal direction, the gate opening / closing portion 41c makes the front end opening 22a of the column 22 good. 4 and 7, even when the gate 41 is opened and the gate opening / closing portions 41c are linearly arranged substantially in the vertical direction, as shown in FIGS. The tip of the gate opening / closing portion 41c of the gate 41 is located slightly ahead of the base of the gate opening / closing portion 41c of the upper gate 41, and the gates 41 do not contact each other.
1c is completely retracted out of the product storage location (
(There is no intrusion into the adjacent column 22 side.) Even if the product 21 is tall, the gate 41 does not come into contact with the product. Note that the inclination angle of the gate 41 is desirably set to be small as long as the gate opening / closing portions 41c do not abut each other at this time, so that the product 1 can be satisfactorily restrained at the product storage position even when the gate 41 is closed. I do.

As described above, when the bucket unit 30 is moved to the front of the column 22 and the driving force transmission gear 32 of the bucket unit 30 is rotated by being brought into contact with the driven gear 52, the driving force Is transmitted to the pusher 51 via the drive pulley 54 and the drive belt 58,
The product 21 is pushed forward by the pusher 51 in synchronization with the opening operation of the gate 41, and the product 21 is paid out to the bucket unit 30.

By employing such a gate 41,
Since there is no need to replace the gate with a different one in accordance with the size of the product 21, the trouble of replacement can be saved. Further, since the gate opening / closing mechanism 40 has a relatively simple configuration, it is easy to assemble and the like, and it is possible to minimize an increase in manufacturing cost.

In the above embodiment, as means for urging the gate in the closing direction, the urging spring 43 for urging the retractable member 42 toward the front and the gate opening / closing portion 41c for urging the gate in the closing direction. Although the case where the spring 47 is provided is described,
It is also possible to provide only the urging spring 43 for urging the retracting member 42 toward the front side, and omit the spring 47. Further, instead of the spring 47 for urging the gate opening / closing portion 41c in the closing direction, a tension spring or the like that pulls the slide member 46 upward may be provided. In addition, although the case where the gate 41 is provided in two stages above and below for one column 22 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more gates 41 can be provided above and below.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of gates are provided vertically for one column, and each gate is
When closed, they are arranged in a horizontal direction from the pivot axis to the opening at the front end of the column in a substantially parallel position, and when opened, they are arranged in a straight line along the vertical direction from the pivot axis upward. By doing so, it is possible to satisfactorily restrain the short and tall commodities at the storage location at the time of selling standby, and to perform the dispensing operation of the commodities well when dispensing the commodities. Thus, it is not necessary to replace the gate with a different gate according to the size of the product, and the labor for replacement can be saved.

Further, when the gates provided in a plurality of stages are inclined in the same direction from the horizontal direction, and the gates are opened and the gates are opened and are arranged in a straight line substantially in the vertical direction, the gates do not come into contact with each other. With such an arrangement, even when the gate is formed long so that the product can be securely restrained during standby for sale, it is possible to prevent the gates from abutting each other when the product is paid out.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a product storage device of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the product storage device, showing a case where an attachment is disposed at a storage position (a case where the attachment is disposed corresponding to a maximum width product).

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view of the product storage device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a gate opening / closing mechanism of the product storage device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the gate opening / closing mechanism of the product storage device, showing a state where the bucket unit is not at the front position and the gate is closed.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a gate opening / closing mechanism of the product storage device, showing a state where a bucket unit is at a front position and a gate is closed.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a gate opening / closing mechanism of the product storage device, showing a state where a bucket unit is at a front position and a gate is opened.

8 (a) and (b) are a front view and a side sectional view of a conventional vending machine.

9 (a) is a front view of a product storage device of the conventional vending machine, FIG. 9 (b) is a side view thereof, and FIG. 9 (c) is a side view of the same when a product is dispensed.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a product storage device in the conventional vending machine.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a main part of a gate opening / closing mechanism of the product storage device in the conventional vending machine.

FIG. 12 is an essential part perspective view for explaining a problem of the conventional gate opening / closing mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Commodity 22 Column 24 Column case 30 Bucket unit 40 Gate opening / closing mechanism 41 Gate 42 Retracting member 43 Urging spring 46 Slide member 47 Spring 50 Pusher mechanism 51 Pusher

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Toshimitsu Yamanishi 5-6 Koyodai, Ryugasaki-shi, Ibaraki F-term in Kubota Ryugasaki Factory 3E046 BB01 CA20 CC03 CD01 DA03 EA01 EA11 EA20 EB01 FA04 FA10

Claims (3)

[Claims] An opening at the front end of a column is opened and closed by rotating a gate around a rotation axis extending substantially in the front-rear direction on one side wall of a column in a column for storing products in a front and rear line. A vending machine equipped with a gate opening / closing mechanism that allows the product to move from the storage location or restricts the product to the storage location, and a pusher mechanism that pushes the product at the product storage location from behind to forward with a pusher Product storage device, wherein the gate is provided in a plurality of stages vertically for one column, and when the gates are closed, the gates are arranged in a substantially parallel posture from the rotation axis toward the opening at the front end of the column. And a vending machine product storage device which is arranged so as to be arranged in a straight line substantially vertically upward from the rotation axis when opened. 2. A gate provided in a plurality of stages, the rotation axis of which is inclined in the same direction from the horizontal direction, and the gates do not contact each other when the gates are opened and arranged in a straight line substantially in the vertical direction. 2. The product storage device for a vending machine according to claim 1, which is arranged as follows. 3. A gate opening / closing mechanism, wherein one of a retractable member capable of retracting in a front-rear direction and a cam groove provided in the retractable member is slid in a substantially vertical direction, and a plurality of upper and lower inner surfaces are provided. One slide member having a tooth surface formed at a location, a shaft portion extending substantially in the front-rear direction, a gear surface meshing with the tooth surface of the slide member is formed on the shaft portion, and the shaft is rotatably supported about the shaft portion. 3. The vending machine product storage device according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of upper and lower gates; and means for urging the gate in a closing direction.