JP2001307207A - Goods discharging device of vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a goods discharging device of a vending machine for ensuring opportunities of sales as far as possible and discharging goods fallen from a goods storage to a pullout opening located in higher position quickly and surely. SOLUTION: When goods S are sold, a goods discharging device 32 discharges the goods S fallen from one of exit openings 37a to a takeout opening 3. Exit openings 37a are lined in a row and disposed on a lower end of a goods storage 31. The device 32 has a guide plate 39 to guide the goods S fallen from one of the exit openings 37a higher than the opening 3 to forward direction and discharge the goods S to the opening 3. The device 32 also has a conveyor device 41 below the goods storage 31. The device 41 operates, then receives and conveys the goods S to the opening 3 upward and forward when the goods S are fallen from the exit openings 37a other than predetermined openings 37a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a merchandise unloading device for a vending machine for unloading merchandise paid out from a merchandise storage to a merchandise outlet provided at a relatively high position during a sale.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant of the present invention has proposed a product unloading device of this kind,
For example, it has already been proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-66749. In this product unloading device, a belt conveyor is applied as a transport device for transporting the dispensed products toward a product outlet, and is disposed below a product storage for storing products. The belt conveyor extends forward and upward, and is wound around a frame having a depth dimension substantially equal to the depth of the product storage, and a rotating shaft at a front end and a rear end of the frame. It includes a belt arranged to be inclined upward, a drive mechanism for rotating the belt via the rotation shaft, and the like. The belt has a width corresponding to the width of the product storage box, and a projection for supporting the dispensed product from the rear side when transporting the dispensed product is provided on a surface of the belt. A plurality are attached at equal intervals in the direction.

[0003] On the other hand, each of the commodity storages has a plurality of commodity passages extending in the up-down direction and arranged in the front-rear direction. In each product passage, many products of the same item are stored in a vertically stacked state. Further, at the lower end of each product passage, a product payout device is provided, and at the time of sale, the product payout device of the product passage that stores the selected product is activated, thereby paying the lower end of the product passage. From the exit, only the lowest commodities are paid down.

[0004] The goods delivered from the goods aisle at the time of sale by the goods carrying device having the above-mentioned belt conveyor are carried out to the goods taking-out port as follows. That is, when a product is selected by the purchaser, first, the belt is rotationally driven by the driving mechanism. Next, the selected product is discharged downward from the payout port of the product path, and falls onto the rotating belt. Then, the product is conveyed obliquely upward and forward by one of the protrusions while being prevented from moving backward, and is carried out to the product outlet.

[0005]

According to the above-mentioned commodity delivery device, all the goods delivered from each commodity passage of the commodity storage at the time of sale fall once on the belt and are conveyed by the belt conveyor. It is carried out to the product exit. For this reason, for example, when it becomes impossible to carry out the product due to the breakdown of the belt conveyor, it becomes impossible to sell all the products in the product storage. As a result, the merchandise cannot be sold to the purchaser who has attempted to purchase any of the merchandise in the merchandise storage, and a sales opportunity is missed. Further, in the above-mentioned product discharging device, since the product discharged from the product path falls on the rotating belt, when the product falls on the belt, the product is greatly resilient on the belt and remains in an unstable state. Transport is performed. For this reason, the dispensed product may slide down to the rear projection beyond the projection that should originally support the product. In this case, even if the product is delivered from the product passage near the product outlet, it takes time to carry out the product after the delivery. Therefore, there is room for improvement in this product carrying-out device in the above points.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is possible to secure a sales opportunity as much as possible, and it is possible to comparatively dispose of commodities paid out downward from a commodity storage. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine product unloading device that can quickly and reliably unload a product to a product outlet provided at a high position.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine having a plurality of payout ports provided at a lower end of a merchandise storage in a vending machine main body at the time of sale. A product dispensing device of a vending machine that conveys a product paid out from one of the plurality of payouts to a front product takeout port, and a predetermined predetermined front side positioned higher than the product takeout port among the plurality of payout ports. A guide means for carrying out the goods paid out from the payout port to the product outlet by guiding the goods forward, and a payout means provided below the product storage and provided in a plurality of payout ports other than a predetermined payout port. And a transport unit that operates when the product is dispensed from the exit, receives the dispensed product, and conveys the product obliquely upward and forward to the product outlet.

[0008] According to this configuration, at the time of sale, the commodity paid out from the predetermined predetermined payout port located higher than the commodity takeout port is guided forward by its own weight by the guide means, and On the other hand, while being carried out to the take-out port, the commodity paid out from the payout port other than the predetermined payout port is received by the carrying means operating when the commodity is paid out, and is conveyed diagonally upward and forward, It is carried out to the product exit. Therefore, even if the transporting means breaks down and it becomes impossible to carry out the merchandise, the merchandise carried out by the guide means can be continued to be sold and a sales opportunity can be secured. Further, since the guide means may be any as long as it can guide the product forward by its own weight, the guide means can be easily configured with a simple structure such as one having a slope falling forward. it can. Furthermore, since the goods carried out by the carrying means are carried obliquely upward and forward, the goods can be carried out to a commodity payout port provided at a relatively high position.

In this case, the unloading completion detecting means for detecting whether or not the unloading of the goods to the product outlet is completed, and when the goods are unloaded by the transport means, the unloading completion detecting means detects the unloading of the goods to the goods outlet. And stopping means for stopping the operation of the transport means when the completion of the operation is detected.

According to this configuration, when the completion of carrying out of the commodity to the commodity taking-out port is detected during carrying out of the commodity by the carrying means, the stopping means stops the operation of the carrying means. As described above, since the operation of the transport unit is stopped after the product has been unloaded to the product outlet, the operation of the transport unit is continued until the product is unloaded, while the transport unit is operated after the product is unloaded. The operation and stop of the transporting means can be appropriately controlled so as to stop the operation. Thus, the transporting means is not operated unnecessarily, and as a result, the life of the transporting means can be extended.

In these cases, an operation start time setting means for setting the time from a predetermined point in time indicating the delivery of the goods to the start of the operation of the transport means corresponding to each of the plurality of payout ports, and an operation start time setting means. It is preferable that the apparatus further includes an operation start unit that starts the operation of the transport unit when a set time corresponding to the payout port that has paid out the product has elapsed from a predetermined time.

[0012] According to this configuration, the time from the predetermined time point indicating the delivery of the product (for example, the time point when the product is selected by the purchaser or the time point when the product is paid out) to the time when the carrying-out means starts operating. (Hereinafter referred to as “operation start time”) is set in correspondence with the payout port, and when the product is paid out and the operation start time corresponding to the payout port that paid out the product has elapsed from a predetermined point in time. By starting the operation of the transporting means, it becomes possible to wait for the dispensed product to stabilize in attitude before starting to transport the product. That is, for example, if the distance is large in accordance with the vertical distance between each payout port and the transporting means, it usually takes time for the posture of the product to stabilize, so the operation start time is reduced. By increasing the length, it is possible to convey the product in a stable posture, and it is possible to prevent a conveyance error due to the conveyance in an unstable posture and a delay in the conveyance time due to the conveyance error.

[0013] In these cases, it is preferable that the product storage is constituted by a plurality of product storages arranged in parallel in the left-right direction, and that the transport means is provided for each product storage.

According to this configuration, the transporting means is provided for each of the plurality of merchandise storage boxes arranged side by side in the left-right direction, so that one of the plurality of transporting means fails.
Even if it becomes impossible to carry out the merchandise due to this, it is possible to continue selling the merchandise stored in the merchandise storage corresponding to the conveying means by another non-failed conveying means. Therefore, in combination with the commodity discharging device of the first aspect, more sales opportunities can be secured.

[0015] In the above case, the conveying means includes a chute inclined upward and forward, and a front sprocket and a rear sprocket provided at both right and left ends of the chute, and rotatably provided near the front and rear ends of the chute. A pair of left and right drive mechanisms each having a sprocket and a chain wound around the sprocket, a drive source for rotating at least one of the front sprocket and the rear sprocket of the pair of drive mechanisms at the time of sale, and a pair of drive sources. Attached in a state of being bridged between each chain of the drive mechanism, at the time of sale, along with the rotation of the chain, while moving along the chute along with the rotation of the chain,
And a product pressing rod for pressing the product dropped on the chute from behind.

According to this configuration, at the time of sale, the commodity dispensed downward from the commodity storage falls down on the chute, then slides backward along the chute, and abuts the commodity pressing rod on the rear side. Supported. Then, depending on the drive source,
When the pair of driving mechanisms are driven, the product pressing rod moves obliquely upward and forward along the chute as the chain wound around the front sprocket and the rear sprocket rotates in a predetermined direction. Thereby, the product dropped on the chute and supported by the product pressing rod moves obliquely upward and forward along the chute while being pressed from behind by the product pressing rod, and is carried out to the product outlet. Since the product pressing rod is attached in a state of being bridged between the chains of the pair of right and left drive mechanisms, that is, since both ends of the product pressing rod are attached to the left and right chains, respectively, Even if the delivered product slides backward on the chute and abuts against the product pressing rod, the product pressing rod hardly bends, so the product can be securely stopped, and the product can be properly stopped at the contact position. Can be supported. Therefore, the goods can be quickly and reliably carried out to the goods outlet provided at a relatively high position by the carrying means having the above configuration.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3
1 shows a vending machine incorporating a product unloading device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in these figures,
In this vending machine 1, the product exit 3 of the main door 2 is
This is a so-called barrier-free type that is provided at a relatively high position compared to a general vending machine and allows a purchaser to take out a product without bending down too much. The vending machine 1 includes the main door 2 and a box-shaped vending machine main body 4 whose front surface is opened and closed by the main door 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, a merchandise display 12 having a large number of merchandise samples 11 is provided on the upper front half of the main door 2.
A selection button 13 for selecting a product for each product sample 11 is arranged on the front face of the product sample 2. In addition, on the front of the main door 2, to the right of the product display 12,
There are provided a coin slot 14 for inserting coins, a bill slot 15 for inserting bills, a return lever 16, an amount indicator 17 for displaying the inserted amount, and the like. Further, on the front surface of the main door 2, below the product display 12, the product outlet 3 having a horizontally long rectangular front shape is provided. Further, on the back of the main door 2, a vending machine main body 4 including a product unloading device 32 described later is provided.
A control circuit (having functions as a stopping means, an operation start time setting means, and an operation start means, not shown) having a microcomputer for performing various controls in the apparatus is provided.

The goods outlet 3 is provided with an outlet door 21 for opening and closing the front surface thereof, and a goods receiver 22 for receiving the goods S carried out to the goods outlet 3. The exit door 21
The merchandise is rotatable about its upper end, and is normally hung down to close the product outlet 3 and when the product S is taken out, the purchaser lifts the lower end of the outlet door 21 by the purchaser, so that the product is lifted. Open the outlet 3. Also, the exit door 21
Above is provided an outlet door switch 21a for detecting the open / closed state of the outlet door 21. on the other hand,
The front wall of the product receiver 22 is rotatable about its lower end, and is always in an upright position on the back side of the outlet door 21 and receives the product S carried out. When the upper end is pulled forward by the purchaser, the product S is slightly inclined toward the front, so that the product S can be easily taken out.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inside of the vending machine main body 4 is partitioned by two heat-insulating partition walls 23, 23 facing each other at an interval in the left-right direction. , Three product storage rooms 24, 24, 24 are defined in the vending machine main body 4. In the lower half of the front surface of the vending machine main body 4, a heat insulating door 25 that can be opened and closed is provided between the vending machine main body 4 and the main door 2. In the heat-insulating door 25, three product outlets 26, 26, 26 respectively corresponding to the respective product storage rooms 24 are provided side by side in the left-right direction. As shown in FIG. 3, each product outlet 26 is provided at a position slightly higher than the product outlet 3, and each product outlet 26 is provided with an outlet door 27 for opening and closing the front surface thereof. I have. Each of the exit doors 27 is configured to be rotatable about its upper end, and always closes the commodity exit 26 in a state of hanging down.
5a, which is delivered to the user and slides forward along the product S
, The product outlet 26 is opened. Further, at the upper end of each of the exit doors 27, an exit door switch 2 for detecting the open / close state of the exit door 27 is provided.
8 (unloading completion detecting means). The exit door switch 28 detects that the exit door 27 is in the open state or the closed state, and the exit door 27 in the closed state is once opened and closed again, so that the commodity exit 26 is closed. It is detected that the carry-out of the commodity S to the commodity take-out port 3 has been completed.

Each product storage room 24 of the vending machine body 4 has a product storage 31 for storing the product S,
A product unloading device 32 for unloading the product S paid out from the product storage 31 to the product outlet 3, and a product storage 31;
Cooling / heating device 33 having an evaporator 33a for cooling the product S therein and a heater 33b for heating
And so on.

The product storage 31 is a vertically extending column 3 formed of a metal plate having a vertically long rectangular shape in front and rear and left and right.
5 are connected in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 3), and two serpentine-type merchandise passages 37, 37 extending vertically are provided in each column 35.
Is provided. Also, in the upper part of the product storage 31,
Commodity insertion port 31 opening to the front and connected to each commodity passage 37
a is provided. In each product passage 37, products S of the same item, such as various canned beverage products and plastic bottle products,
It is stored in a state where it is piled up and down on its side. In each column 35, a product delivery device 38 that pays out only the lowest product S at the time of sale downward is provided with a product passage 37.
Each is provided at the lower end thereof. The payout port 37a at the lower end of the product passage 37 regulated by each product payout device 38 can be manually set and changed according to the size of the product S.

Each of the columns 35 extends downward to a lower position as the depth of the column 35 corresponding to the inclination of the conveyor device 41 of the product unloading device 32 described later. That is,
The foremost column 35 and the innermost column 35 extend so that the respective payout ports 37a, 37a are located substantially at the upper end and the lower end of the product carry-out port 26, while the central column 35 is provided with the payout port 37a. The outlet 37 extends so as to be located substantially at the center in the vertical direction of the payout ports 37a, 37a of the frontmost and innermost columns 35, 35. In this way, by making each column 35 correspond to the inclination of the conveyor device 41 and making the falling distance of the product S paid out from each column 35 to the product discharging device 32 as short as possible, the product S is received at the time of falling. The impact is reduced, and more products S can be stored in the product storage 31.

Further, the foremost column 35 has a product passage 37 on the front side thereof (hereinafter, referred to as "the foremost product passage 37").
Opening and closing the payout port 37a
There is provided a guide plate 39 (guide means) for guiding the commodity S paid out from the company to the commodity outlet 3 by guiding the commodity S to the front. The guide plate 39 is configured to be rotatable about its rear end, and normally closes the payout port 37a in a substantially horizontal state, so that when the product S is paid out from the payout port 37a at the time of sale. When the product S is pushed open by the weight of the product S, the payout port 37 is inclined in the downward direction.
Release a. Therefore, at the time of sale, the first product passage 3
The commodity S paid out from the payout port 37a of the seventh item is slid forward by its own weight on the guide plate 39 having the payout port 37a opened in a state of being inclined forward and is carried out to the product takeout port 3.
That is, in this case, the product S is carried out to the product outlet 3 without the operation of the product carrying-out device 32. Although not shown, a coil spring is provided on the rotation axis of the guide plate 39, and the biasing force of the torsion coil spring causes the guide plate 39 to always close the payout port 37a, and to pay when the product is sold. After being driven to open the payout port 37a by the delivered product S, the payout port 37a is automatically closed.

In the merchandise storage 31 configured as described above, only the lowest merchandise S is paid out downward from the merchandise passage 37 for storing the merchandise selected by the purchaser at the time of sale. The product S paid out from the front product passage 37 is guided by the guide plate 39 and carried out to the product outlet 3, while the product S paid out from the product passage 37 other than the front product passage 37 is It falls on the chute 44 of the product carry-out device 32 described later.

The product carry-out device 32 includes the guide plate 39,
A conveyor device 41 (transporting means) for transporting the product S at the time of sale and a support 42 for holding the conveyor device 41 at a predetermined position (a selling position or a maintenance position to be described later) are provided. The conveyor device 41 is disposed below the product storage 31 and stores the product storage 3 at the time of sale.
After receiving the goods S paid out from 1 and dropped, the goods S are conveyed diagonally upward and forward, and are carried out to the goods outlet 3.

The conveyor device 41 pivots about a pivot shaft 43 at the lower rear end between a selling position (see FIGS. 3 and 4) inclined forward and a maintenance position where the whole is substantially horizontal. The vending machine 4 is always held at the sales position by the support 42 and is held at the maintenance position at the time of maintenance in the vending machine main body 4 or the like. FIG.
As shown in the figure, the conveyor device 41 is inclined upward and forward, and a chute 44 receiving the paid-out product S on the upper surface.
And a pair of left and right drive mechanisms 45 (only one is shown) disposed at both left and right ends of the chute 44, and a drive motor 46 (drive source) for driving these drive mechanisms 45
And a plurality of product pressing rods 47 attached between respective chains 56 of the both drive mechanisms 45, which will be described later, and a stop for controlling the stop of the drive motor 46 by being turned on / off by the product pressing rod 47. A control switch 48 and the like are provided, and the chute 44 and the like are housed in a housing case 49 having a predetermined shape.

The chute 44 has a base frame 51 which is inclined forward and has a substantially rectangular planar shape.
On the base frame 51, a chute plate 53 having a rectangular planar shape is mounted via a plurality of conical coil springs 52. Therefore, at the time of sale,
The commodity S paid out from the commodity storage 31 falls on the chute plate 53, and the impact of the commodity S from the chute plate 53 at the time of the fall can be reduced by the coil spring 52. Thereby, the deformation of the product S can be prevented, and the forming when the product S is a carbonated beverage can be suppressed. The base frame 51 and the chute plate 53 have a large number of through-holes (not shown) penetrating in the up-down direction, so that cool and warm air from the cooling / heating device 33 passes through these through-holes. Then, it circulates above and below the product unloading device 32 to cool or heat the product S in the product storage 31.

Each drive mechanism 45 includes two front sprockets 54 (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as an upper sprocket 54a) rotatably provided at the front end of the chute 44 with a space therebetween in the vertical direction. , A lower front sprocket is referred to as a “lower sprocket 54b”), a rear sprocket 55 rotatably provided at the rear end of the chute 44, and a chain 56 wound around the front sprocket 54 and the rear sprocket 55. And The upper sprocket 54a, the lower sprocket 54b, and the rear sprocket 55 of both drive mechanisms 45 are connected to a connecting shaft 57 in which the corresponding sprockets extend in the left-right direction.
a, 57b and 57c, respectively.
Rotate synchronously. A drive gear 58 formed of a spur gear is fixed in the middle of a connection shaft 57b connecting the lower sprockets 54b, and the drive gear 58 is driven to rotate by a drive motor 46 in a predetermined direction. The drive gear 58 may be configured integrally with the lower sprocket 54b.

The drive motor 46 is arranged below the chute 44 and has a plurality of gears 59 in a gear box 59.
a (only one is shown) and an intermediate gear 60 are connected to the drive gear 58. As a result, at the time of sale, the drive motor 46 is operated, so that the drive gear 5
8, the lower sprocket 54b of both drive mechanisms 45 rotates counterclockwise. In this way, the rotation of the lower sprockets 54b causes the chains 56 of the both drive mechanisms 45 to rotate counterclockwise using the lower sprockets 54b as driving sprockets.

The drive motor 46 is operated by a control circuit (not shown) as an operation start time setting means and an operation start means, for example, from a predetermined time point such as a time point at which the commodity S is paid out, to a commodity passage for dispensing the commodity S. 37 payouts 3
The operation is controlled to start when a preset operation start time corresponding to 7a has elapsed. Thus, after the posture of the paid-out product S is stabilized on the shoot plate 53, the conveyance of the product S is started. This corresponds to, for example, each payout port 37a.
If the distance is large depending on the vertical distance between the camera and the shoot plate 53, it usually takes time for the attitude of the product S to stabilize. This is for transporting the product S in a stable posture. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a transport error caused by transporting the product S in an unstable posture and a delay in transport time due to the transport error. The predetermined time may be a time when the selection button 13 is pressed by the purchaser.

Between the chains 56 of both drive mechanisms 45, four product pressing rods 47 are attached at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the chain 56 in a state of being bridged between them. Therefore, as described above, at the time of sale, as the chain 56 of the two drive mechanisms 45 rotates counterclockwise, each product pressing rod 47 moves around the chute 44 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.

The stop control switch 48 is provided in the vicinity of the drive motor 46, and is turned ON / OFF by a product pressing rod 47 via a rotatable link 61 having a predetermined shape.
OFF is switched. That is, the link 61 is always at a predetermined position indicated by a solid line in FIG.
By pressing the switch button 48a of the stop control switch 48, the stop control switch 48 is turned on or off. On the other hand, one of the product pressing rods 47 is a link 61
When the link 61 passes below the switch button 4 by rotating the link 61 to a switching position shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
8a is released, and the stop control switch 4
8 is turned OFF or ON.

Then, a predetermined stop condition to be described later for stopping the drive motor 46 is satisfied, and the stop control switch 48 is turned on / off by the product pressing rod 47 via the link 61 as described above. When
A control signal is output from the control circuit (not shown) as a stopping means to the drive motor 46, and based on this, the drive motor 46 is stopped. Accordingly, the rotation of the chain 56 of both drive mechanisms 45 also stops, and accordingly, each product pressing rod 47 stops at a predetermined position (standby position). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper sprocket 54a is located above the middle portion of the chute plate 53 in the front-rear direction.
The four product pressing rods 47 stop at four places between the lower sprocket 54b, below the link 61, and near the rear sprocket 55, respectively. In particular, the product pressing rod 47 that stops above the chute plate 53 is the one shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
It stops so that it may be located immediately below between 7a and 37a. As a result, all of the products S paid out from all the payout ports 37a fall on the chute plate 53 without hitting the product pressing rod 47.

An accommodation case 49 for accommodating the above-described chute 44 and the like is constituted by a bottom wall 63, a pair of left and right side walls 64 (only one is shown), a front wall 65 and a rear wall 66. The upper half is open. Front wall 65
A take-out chute 65 a that is inclined upward and extends to near the front end of the chute 44 is provided at an upper part of the chute 44. After receiving the goods S conveyed to the front end of the chute 44, the carry-out chute 65a slides the goods S forward,
It is carried out to the product outlet 3.

Next, the operation of the product unloading device 32 at the time of sale will be described. As described above, the conveyor device 41 of the product unloading device 32 is normally held at the selling position, and each product pressing rod 47 is located at the standby position shown in FIG. When money is inserted by the purchaser and the desired product selection button 13 is pressed,
Commodity delivery device 3 in commodity passage 37 for storing the commodities
8 is activated, and only the lowest commodity S is paid out through the payout port 37a.

When the commodity S is paid out from the payout port 37a of the front commodity passage 37, the commodity S is supplied to the guide plate 39.
Slides forward under its own weight while being guided by
5a falls. Thereafter, the vehicle further slides forward by its own weight along the carry-out chute 65a. Then, the commodity S is carried out to the commodity taking-out opening 3 while pushing the carry-out exit door 27 forward with its weight. Therefore, in this case, the product S is quickly and reliably carried out to the product outlet 3 without the operation of the conveyor device 41, and the sale of the product S is completed.

Further, the payout opening 3 of the foremost commodity passage 37 described above.
Excluding 7a, when the product S is paid out from the payout port 37a of the product passage 37 in front of the product pressing rod 47 on the chute plate 53 (hereinafter, this product pressing rod is denoted by "47A"). After the product S falls on the chute plate 53, it slides slightly backward, and is abutted and supported on the product pressing rod 47A on the rear side. on the other hand,
When the product S is paid out from the payout port 37a of the product passage 37 behind the product pressing rod 47A, the product S falls on the chute plate 53 and then moves toward the rear end of the chute plate 53. , Slides rearward, and is supported on the rear side by contacting the inclined plate 4 a in the vending machine main body 4. When the commodity S is paid out from the payout port 37a of the innermost commodity passage 37, the commodity S once falls on the inclined plate 4a, slides down forward, and is delivered to the chute plate 53.

After a predetermined time (operation start time) has elapsed since the commodity S was paid out, the drive motor 46 is operated, and the commodity S is conveyed diagonally upward and forward along the chute plate 53. More specifically, for example, when the commodity S is paid out from the commodity passage 37 immediately after the frontmost commodity passage 37, that is, the payout port 37a of the commodity passage 37 in the second row from the front, about 1.5 seconds from the time of dispensing. After elapse, the drive motor 46 is controlled to start operating. On the other hand, the other product passages 37, that is, 3
When the commodity S is dispensed from the payout port 37a of the commodity passage 37 in the sixth to sixth rows, the drive motor 46 is controlled to start operating about 1.0 second after the dispensing time. The operation start time of the drive motor 46 by such control is the vertical distance between each payout port 37a and the shoot plate 53, and the time until the paid-out product S has a stable posture on the shoot plate 53. Is set in consideration of time. Thereby, as described above, the product S can be transported in a stable state, and a transport error and a delay in transport time can be prevented.

When the drive motor 46 operates as described above,
The chain 56 of both drive mechanisms 45 rotates counterclockwise,
Along with this, all the product pressing rods 47 also have the chutes 44.
Move counterclockwise around. In this case, the product pressing rod 47A moves forward along the shoot plate 53, and the product S supported by the product pressing rod 47A is conveyed obliquely upward and forward along the shoot plate 53 by being pressed from behind. Is delivered to the carry-out chute 65a. On the other hand, the product pressing rod 47 located near the rear sprocket 55 (hereinafter, the product pressing rod is denoted by “47B”) also moves forward along the chute plate 53 and moves to the inclined plate 4a. Supported products S
Is pressed from behind by the product pressing rod 47B,
It is conveyed in the same manner as described above, and delivered to the unloading chute 65a. Thereafter, the product S is carried out to the product take-out port 3 while pushing and opening the carry-out door 27, and the sale of the product S is completed.
In this case, the opening of the carry-out door 27 is detected by the carry-out door switch 28, and the stop control switch 48
Is turned on / off a predetermined number of times (for example, twice), a control signal is output from the control circuit to the drive motor 46, and based on this, the drive motor 46 stops. Thus, each product pressing rod 47 stops at the standby position in preparation for the next sale.

Next, regarding the operation of the product unloading device 32 in the case where a plurality of products S are purchased consecutively, when the products S in the same product storage room 24 are continuously purchased,
The case where the products S in the two different product storage rooms 24 and 24 are continuously purchased, and the case where the products S in the three different product storage rooms 24, 24 and 24 are each continuously purchased will be briefly described in order. I do.

First, the product S in the same product storage room 24
Are continuously purchased, the product unloading device 32
After the initially selected product S is carried out to the product outlet 3 via the product outlet 26, the next product can be selected. In this case, whether or not the initially selected product S has been carried out is determined by detecting the opening / closing of the carry-out door 27 by the carry-out door switch 28. Further, when the products S in the two different product storage rooms 24 and 24 are continuously purchased, the products S are removed from the product outlets 32 of the product storage rooms 24 in the order in which the products are selected. 3 respectively. Further, when the products S in the three different product storage rooms 24, 24, 24 are successively purchased, respectively, the products S selected in the first and second orders are set in the same manner as described above. After the removal of the first selected commodity S is detected,
A third choice becomes possible. That is, of the three conveyor devices 41 in the vending machine main body 4, those that operate simultaneously are:
Up to two. As a result, the conveyor device 41 can be operated stably while suppressing power consumption of the vending machine 1 as a whole.

Next, with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 5, it is assumed that a foreign object is put into the product storage room 24 of the vending machine main body 4 from outside via the product outlet 3 while waiting for sale. Operation control of the product unloading device 32 will be described. This process is executed every predetermined time (for example, several seconds) during standby for sales. In this process, first, in the vending machine 1 in the sales standby state,
Whether or not money has been input (step 1, hereinafter referred to as “S
1 "), whether the take-out door 21 is open (Step 2), and whether the carry-out door 27 is open (Step 3). Whether or not money has been inserted is determined by detecting, by a control circuit, whether or not money has been introduced into a money identification device (not shown) provided on the back side of the coin insertion slot 14 or the like. You. Whether or not the take-out door 21 and the carry-out door 27 are open is determined by detecting the ON / OFF state of the take-out door switch 21a and the carry-out door switch 28 by a control circuit. .

When the result of the determination in step 1 is Yes, that is, when money is inserted, it is determined that the vending machine 1 is in the selling state, and this program is terminated. When the determination result of step 2 or step 3 is No, that is, when the take-out door 21 or the carry-out door 27 is closed,
It is determined that there is no possibility that a foreign object is contained in the product storage room 24, and this program is ended.

On the other hand, the determination result of step 1 is No, and the determination results of step 2 and step 3 are Y
In the case of es, the take-out door 21 and the carry-out door 27 are open even though no money has been inserted. Therefore, it is determined that some foreign matter has been put into the product storage room 24 due to mischief, and the conveyor device 41 Is activated (step 4). In this case, the conveyor device 41 operates until the stop control switch 48 is switched ON / OFF a predetermined number of times (step 5), and then the conveyor device 41 stops (step 6). Thus, even if a foreign object is put into the product storage room 24 due to mischief, the foreign object can be carried out to the product outlet 3. As described above, by carrying out the foreign matter to the product outlet 3 in advance, it is possible to make it easier for the purchaser to find the foreign matter, and to alert the purchaser.

As described in detail above, according to the commodity discharging device 32 of the present embodiment, the payout port 37a of the foremost commodity passage 37
The goods S paid out from are transported to the goods take-out port 3 by sliding down under their own weight by the guide plate 39, while the goods S paid out from the pay-out ports 37a other than the foremost product passage 37 are By being conveyed obliquely upward and forward by the conveyor device 41, it is carried out to the product outlet 3.
Therefore, even if the conveyor device 41 breaks down and it becomes impossible to carry out the product S, the sale of the product S carried out by the guide plate 39 which does not require any power can be continued and a sales chance can be secured. can do. In addition, the product storage device 3 allows the product storage 3
The goods S paid out from 1 below can be carried out to the goods payout port 3 provided at a relatively high position.

In addition, when the completion of carrying out the goods S to the goods taking-out port 3 is detected when the goods S are carried out by the conveyor device 41, the operating conveyor device 41 is stopped, so that the goods S are carried out. The operation and stop of the conveyor device 41 can be appropriately controlled so that the conveyor device 41 continues to operate until the product S is carried out, while the operation of the conveyor device 41 is stopped after the product S is carried out. Thereby, the conveyor device 41 is not operated unnecessarily, and as a result, the life of the conveyor device 41 can be extended.

Further, since the conveyor device 41 is provided for each of the three commodity storage boxes 31 arranged side by side in the left-right direction, one of the three conveyor devices 41 breaks down. Even if it becomes impossible to carry out the product S, the sale of the product S stored in the product storage 31 corresponding to the conveyor device 41 can be continued by another non-failed conveyor device 41. Furthermore, at the time of sale, since the product pressing rod 47 for pressing the product S from behind is attached in a state of being bridged between the chains 56 of the pair of left and right drive mechanisms 45, the paid out product S Can slide down backward on the chute 44 and abut against the product pressing rod 47, the product pressing rod 47 hardly bends. Can be supported. Therefore, the conveyer device 41 can quickly and reliably carry out the product S to the product outlet 3 provided at a relatively high position.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be implemented in various modes. For example, instead of the conveyor device 41 of the present embodiment, a conveyor device of a belt type or the like may be used. Further, in the embodiment, only the commodities paid out from the payout port 37a of the foremost commodity passage 37 are carried out to the commodity takeout port 3 by the guide plate 39. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Near the front payout port 37a (e.g., the payout port of the second merchandise passage from the front) positioned higher than that, a component similar to the guide plate 39 is provided.
Thereby, the paid-out product S may be carried out to the product outlet 3. Further, the detailed configuration of the product unloading device 32 shown in the embodiment is merely an example,
Changes can be made as appropriate within the spirit of the present invention.

[0050]

As has been described in detail above, the vending machine product unloading device of the present invention can secure sales opportunities as much as possible, and can compare products paid out from a product storage box. This has the effect that the product can be quickly and reliably carried out to the product outlet provided at a particularly high position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a vending machine in which a product unloading device of the present invention is incorporated.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state where a main door of the vending machine of FIG. 1 is removed.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a part of the inside of the vending machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view of the product carry-out device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation control of the commodity unloading device when a foreign object is put into the vending machine main body due to mischief.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine 3 Merchandise exit 4 Vending machine main body 26 Merchandise exit 27 Unloader door 28 Unloader door switch (export completion detection means) 31 Merchandise storage 32 Merchandise exporter 37 Merchandise passage 37a Outlet 39 Guide plate (Guidance) Means) 41 Conveyor device (conveying means) 44 Chute 45 Drive mechanism 46 Drive motor 47 Product pressing rod 54 Front sprocket 55 Rear sprocket 56 Chain S Product

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Yoshio Yasaka 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Masaki Nakayama 2-5-2 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka No. 5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Dr. Kobayashi 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 3E046 BA03 BB03 CA02 DA01 EA09 EB01 FA01 HA08 3F030 AA01 AB01 CA02 CB01 CB03 CC02

Claims (5)

[Claims] At the time of sale, a commodity paid out downward from one of a plurality of payout ports provided in a front-rear direction at a lower end of a commodity storage in a vending machine main body is supplied to a front commodity outlet. A product unloading device of a vending machine for unloading, wherein a product discharged from a predetermined payout port on a front side positioned higher than the product takeout port among the plurality of payout ports,
A guiding means for carrying out to the product outlet by guiding forward; and a product provided under the product storage and paid out from a payout port other than the predetermined payout port among the plurality of payout ports. And a conveying means for receiving the dispensed commodities, conveying the dispensed commodities obliquely upward and forward, and carrying them out to the commodities take-out port. . 2. An unloading completion detecting means for detecting whether or not the unloading of the goods to the goods outlet is completed, and when the goods are unloaded by the transporting means, the unloading completion detecting means is connected to the goods outlet. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a stop unit configured to stop the operation of the transport unit when the completion of the unloading of the merchandise is detected. 3. 3. An operation start time setting means for setting a time from a predetermined point in time indicating the dispensing of goods to a start of operation of the transport means in correspondence with each of the plurality of payout ports, and And an operation start means for starting the operation of the transport means when the set time corresponding to the payout outlet for paying out the product has elapsed from the predetermined time point. Item 1 or 2
The vending machine product delivery device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 4. The product storage device according to claim 1, wherein the product storage device includes a plurality of product storage devices arranged side by side in the left-right direction, and the transport unit is provided for each of the product storage devices. Item 4. The merchandise carry-out device for a vending machine according to any one of Items 3 to 3. 5. A chute inclined upward and forward, and a front sprocket and a rear sprocket provided at both left and right ends of the chute and rotatably provided near the front end and the rear end of the chute, respectively. A pair of left and right drive mechanisms each having a sprocket and a chain wound around the sprocket; a drive source for rotating at least one of the front sprocket and the rear sprocket of the pair of drive mechanisms at the time of sale; Attached in a state of being bridged between the chains of the pair of drive mechanisms, and at the time of sale, on the chute while moving along the chute along the chute with the rotation of the chain at the time of sale. And a product pressing rod for pressing the dropped product from behind. Article conveying device for the automatic vending machine according to any one of Motomeko 1 to 4.