JP2001357450A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic vending machine which is capable of selling of even the merchandise which is large in height. SOLUTION: In the case of housing the merchandise B which is large in height in a merchandise column 20, the merchandise C which is small in height is housed in a column 2 of a lower stage and a merchandise column 20 of a middle stage is moved to the side of the column 20 of the lower stage. Thus, an interval between the column 20 of the middle stage and the column 20 of an upper stage is increased so that the merchandise B can be housed in the column 20 of the middle stage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a variety of shapes and sizes of beverages sealed in cans, bottles, plastic bottles, paper packs, or the like, or dairy products and confectioneries contained in predetermined containers such as cups. And vending machines capable of selling products having the following.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a vending machine of this kind, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-302140, a vending machine main body having a product outlet at a lower part on a front surface is disclosed.
A plurality of product columns arranged in the width direction and the vertical direction of the vending machine main body, a product bucket arranged movably in the width direction and the vertical direction of the vending machine main body in front of each product column, and a product bucket. A vending machine having a moving mechanism for moving the main body in the width direction and the vertical direction is known.

[0003] In this vending machine, when a product is selected, the product bucket is moved to the product column corresponding to the selected product by the moving mechanism, and the product in the product column is pressed from behind by the extruding member and is moved from the product bucket. The goods bucket which has been carried out and received the goods is moved to the goods outlet by the moving mechanism, and the goods in the goods bucket are carried out to the goods outlet.

[0004]

However, since the vertical intervals of the respective product columns are formed at fixed intervals corresponding to relatively small products such as cans, bottles or dairy products in containers, for example, There is a problem that products having a size exceeding the vertical space of each product column, such as PET bottles, cannot be stored, and it is not possible to sufficiently cope with sales of products having various shapes and sizes. Was.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of selling a product having a large height.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a vending machine main body having a product outlet at a predetermined position and at least a vertical direction of the vending machine main body are arranged. A plurality of product columns, a product unloading mechanism provided in each of the product columns, for unloading the products in the product columns in a predetermined direction, a product receiver capable of receiving the products unloaded from each of the product columns, and a product receiving device. A moving mechanism for moving the body in the arrangement direction of each product column, moving the product receiver to an arbitrary product column by the moving mechanism, and carrying out the product in the product column into the product receiver by the product unloading mechanism, In a vending machine in which a product receiver receiving the product is moved to a product outlet by a moving mechanism, each of the product columns is provided so as to be movable to an arbitrary position in a vertical direction. . As a result, when a product having a large height is stored in the product column, the product is stored in the product column by moving the product column in the vertical direction to increase the interval between arbitrary product columns.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the first aspect, there is provided a position detecting means for detecting a vertical position of the product column, and the position detecting means is provided together with the product columns in the vertical direction. It comprises a detection object which can move in the vertical direction, and detection means for detecting each of the detection objects, and the detection means is provided on the product receiver. Thereby, claim 1
In addition to the above operation, the vertical position of the product column is detected by detecting the object to be detected in the product column by the product receiver detecting means. In this case, when the product column is moved, the object to be detected also moves in the vertical direction together with the product column. Therefore, even if the vertical position of the product column is changed, the product receiver is always moved to the vertical position of the target product column. It becomes possible.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the second aspect, each of the detected objects is formed by a light emitting body, and the detecting means is formed by an optical sensor. Thus, in addition to the function of the second aspect, by detecting the light of the illuminant by the optical sensor, the detection target is detected by the detection means.

[0009]

1 to 15 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of a vending machine, FIG. 2 is a front sectional view thereof, FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the product column, FIG. 5 is a front view thereof, FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a mounting structure of the product column, FIG. 7 is a front sectional view of a product bucket, and FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the column drive mechanism, FIG. 10 is a front sectional view of the main part,
11 is an explanatory view of the operation, FIGS. 12 to 14 are explanatory views of the operation of the product support plate, and FIG. 15 is a front view of a product column showing an example of storing the product.

This vending machine has a vending machine main body 10 having a part of the front surface formed to be transparent, and a plurality of product columns 20 arranged in the width direction and the vertical direction of the vending machine main body 10.
A product unloading mechanism 30 provided in each product column 20, a product bucket 40 as a product receiver capable of receiving the product A unloaded from each product column 20, and a product bucket 40 provided on the product bucket 40 side; It comprises a column drive mechanism 50 for driving the product unloading mechanism 30 of the product column 20 and a bucket moving mechanism 60 for moving the product buckets 40 in the direction in which the product columns 20 are arranged.

The vending machine main body 10 has an opening except for a lower part on the front surface, and this opening is covered with a transparent glass plate 10a. A product outlet 11 is provided at a lower portion of the front surface of the vending machine main body 10, and a bill slot 12, a coin slot 13, an amount display section 14, a coin return port 15, and a product selection operation section 16 are provided on one side surface of the front face. Is provided. The inside of the vending machine main body 10 may be cooled or heated to a predetermined temperature depending on the type of the product for sale, or may be kept at a normal temperature.

Each product column 20 has a column body 21 extending in the front-rear direction, and is provided in the vending machine body 10 so as to be able to be pulled out forward. Product column 20
Although a detailed description of the drawer structure is omitted, it can be configured using, for example, a known slide rail. The product column 20 includes a partition plate 22 that partitions the inside of the column main body 21 in the width direction. The partition plate 22 is attached to a substrate 23 provided in the center of the column main body 21 in the width direction. Each product column 20 is supported by a shelf 24 extending in the width direction for each row in the vertical direction.
Are detachably attached to a plurality of columns 25 erected on both sides in the width direction in the vending machine main body 10. In this case, each of the shelves 24 is engaged with one of a plurality of upper and lower holes 25a provided on each of the pillars 25 with locking pieces 24a provided at both ends thereof, and depending on the position of the engaging hole 25a, a product column in each row is provided. 20 can be moved to any position in the vertical direction.

Two product unloading mechanisms 30 are provided for each of the product columns 20, and the product unloading mechanisms 30 of the product column 20 are arranged in the width direction of the column main body 21. Each product carrying-out mechanism 30 includes a pair of pulleys 31 rotatably mounted on the front end side and the rear end side of the column main body 21, an endless belt 32 supported by each pulley 31, and a pulley on the front end side. A gear 33 is attached to the rotating shaft 31. The product A is placed on the upper surface of the belt 32. That is, in each of the product columns 20, two rows of the products A are stored with the partition plate 22 therebetween. In addition, the product unloading mechanism 30 is configured to rotate the gear 33 of the pulley 31 by a column driving mechanism 50 described later, thereby rotating the belt 32 and moving the product A forward.

The product bucket 40 has a bucket body 41 formed in a box shape.
It is formed to have a width substantially equal to zero. Product bucket 40
Is provided with a product support plate 42 for supporting the product A from the product column 20 when the product A is received from the product column 20.
1 support plate moving mechanisms 4 provided on both sides in the width direction
3 allows the bucket body 41 to move in the front-rear direction. The product support plate 42 is formed of a transparent plate extending in the up-down direction, and its lower end is bent so as to face obliquely upward toward one end side (the product column 20 side) of the product bucket 40. Each support plate moving mechanism 43 includes an endless wire 43a connected to the product support plate 42, and a pair of front and rear pulleys 43b rotatably supporting the wire 43a.
And a motor 43c for rotating the front pulley 43b. The motor 43c transmits torque to the pulley 43b via a plurality of gears 43d. Also,
A bottom plate 44 whose rear end is rotatably supported is provided on the bottom surface side of the bucket body 41, and the bottom plate 44 is configured to open and close the bottom surface of the bucket body 41 by a drive mechanism (not shown). Further, the bottom plate 4 is provided at the rear of the bucket body 41.
A product guide plate 45 that is inclined downward toward 4 is provided.

The column drive mechanism 50 meshes with a first gear 51 meshable with the gear 33 on the product column 20 side, a second gear 52 meshed with the first gear 51, and a second gear 52. A third gear 53, a fourth gear 54 meshing with the third gear 53, and a motor 55 capable of rotating the fourth gear 54 forward and backward, and both sides in the width direction in the product bucket 40. Are provided respectively. Second and third
The gears 52 and 53 are rotatably attached to the bucket body 41, and the fourth gear 54 is connected to a rotating shaft of a motor 55. A rotatable lever 5 as a gear supporting member is provided on a shaft 52a serving as a rotation axis of the second gear 52.
The first gear 5 is attached to one end of the lever 56.
1 is rotatably mounted. That is, the first gear 5
1 is rotatable with the lever 56 about the rotation axis of the second gear 52. The other end of the lever 56 is provided with an L-shaped bent portion 56a extending in the width direction of the second gear 52. As shown in FIG. 9, the second gear 52 is connected to the main body of the lever 56 and the bent portion 56a. And is located between. In this case, both ends of the shaft 52a are
Supported by the main body side and the bent portion 56a,
Between one side surface of the second gear 52 and the bent portion 56a, a coil-shaped spring 57 as a pressure contact means wound around the shaft 52a is interposed in a compressed state. That is, the other side surface of the second gear 52 is pressed against the main body of the lever 56 by the spring 57, and the lever 56 rotates integrally with the second gear 52 due to the frictional force generated by the pressing. . A first stopper 58 and a second stopper 59 are respectively provided at an upper predetermined position and a lower predetermined position of the lever 56, and the lever 56 is moved to an upper predetermined position (a meshing position with the gear 33 on the product column 20 side).
When it rotates to the first stopper 58, it comes into contact with the first stopper 58, and when it rotates to the lower predetermined position (standby position), the second stopper 59
To come into contact with. At this time, when the lever 56 comes into contact with one of the stoppers 58 and 59, the second gear 52 receives the frictional force of the spring 57 with the lever 56 while the rotation of the lever 56 is restricted by this contact. It is designed to rotate against it.

The bucket moving mechanism 60 includes a product bucket 4
0 in the width direction, and a pair of second driving units 6 for moving the first driving unit 61 in the vertical direction.
2 and a position detecting device 63 for detecting the vertical position of each product column 20, and each of the second driving units 62 is disposed on both sides in the width direction of the vending machine 10.
The first driving unit 61 includes a guide rail 61a that movably supports the product bucket 40, and a motor 61b that moves the product bucket 40, and the second driving unit 62
Guide rail 62a that movably supports the drive unit 61
And a motor 62b for moving the first drive unit 61. The position detecting device 63 is provided on each shelf 24 of the product column 20.
And a sensor 63b for detecting each of the detected objects 63a. The sensor 63b is provided on the product bucket 40. In this case, each of the detected objects 63a is formed of a light emitting body such as an LSD, and the sensor 63b is formed of an optical sensor that detects light of each of the detected objects 63a. In the bucket moving mechanism 60, the position of the product column 20 in the vertical direction is detected by the position detection device 63, and the product bucket 40 is moved to each of the drive units 61,
62, any product column 20 or product outlet 1
It moves to 1.

In the vending machine configured as described above, when money is input and a product is selected, the product bucket 40 is moved by the bucket moving mechanism 60 to the product column 20 corresponding to the selected product. Drive mechanism 5
0 motor 55 rotates in a predetermined direction. In this case, since the products A are stored in the product column 20 in two rows in the width direction, only the column drive mechanism 50 corresponding to the row in which the selected product is stored operates. This causes the lever 56 of the column drive mechanism 50 to rotate upward as shown in FIG. 11A, and the first gear 51 meshes with the gear 33 on the product column 20 side. At this time, the rotation of the lever 56 is stopped by the contact with the first stopper 58.
Since 1, 52, 53 and 54 continue to rotate against the frictional force of the spring 57, the rotational force of the motor 55 is transmitted to the gear 33 on the product column 20 side. Thereby, the belt 32 of the product discharging mechanism 30 rotates, and the product A on the belt 32 is discharged into the product bucket 40. At this time, when the product A enters the bucket body 41, the product A is placed on the product guide plate 45 as shown in FIG.
It abuts on the lower end side of the product support plate 42 while tilting to the side. When the entry of the product A is detected by a sensor (not shown), the product support plate 42 starts to move toward the front of the bucket body 41 at a low speed as shown in FIG. As a result, while the product A transfers to the product guide plate 45,
As shown in FIG. 13 (a), the product guide plate 45 slides down while being supported by the product support plate 42, and the product A moves onto the bottom plate 44 as shown in FIG. 13 (b). Thereafter, when the motor 55 of the column driving mechanism 50 rotates in the reverse direction, the lever 56 rotates downward as shown in FIG.
Is disengaged from the gear 51 on the product column 20 side. And the product bucket 40 containing the product A
Is moved to the product outlet 11 by the bucket moving mechanism 60, the bottom plate 44 of the product bucket 40 is opened as shown in FIG.
4 and is carried out to the product outlet 11 side while sliding.

In the vending machine, when a product B having a large height such as a plastic bottle is stored in the product column 20 as shown in FIG. 15, the lower product column 20 in FIG. The product C having a small height is stored, and the middle product column 20 is moved to the lower product column 20 side. Thereby, the space between the middle product column 20 and the upper product column 20 is increased, and the product B is stored in the middle product column 20. In this case, when the product column 20 is moved, the detected object 63a is also moved to the product column 20.
It moves up and down with.

As described above, according to the vending machine of the present embodiment, the product column 20 is provided so as to be movable to an arbitrary position in the vertical direction. By increasing the interval between the products, it is possible to store a product B having a large height dimension, and it is possible to sufficiently respond to sales of products having various shapes and sizes. In this case, by storing a product C having a small height in the product column 20 having a smaller vertical space, useless empty space is generated even when the vertical position of the product column 20 is changed. Since there is no such thing, the product can always be efficiently stored.

The detection target 6 provided on the product column 20
The vertical position of the product column 20 is detected by detecting 3a by the sensor 63b provided on the product bucket 40 side. Therefore, even if the vertical position of the product column 20 is changed, the product bucket 40 is always set to the target product. Column 2
The merchandise bucket 40 can be moved to the vertical position of 0, and there is an advantage that a setting change or the like on the product bucket 40 side due to a change in the position of the product column is not required. In this case, each detected object 63a
Is formed by a light emitter, and the sensor 63b is formed by an optical sensor, so that the position detecting device 63 can be configured at a low cost with a simple structure.

[0021]

As described above, according to the vending machine of the first aspect, it is possible to sell a product having a large height, and to sufficiently cope with the sale of a product having various shapes and sizes. Can be.

According to the vending machine of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, even if the vertical position of the product column is changed, the product receiver is always moved to the target vertical position of the product column. Therefore, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to change the setting of the product receiver side due to the change of the position of the product column.

According to the vending machine of the third aspect, in addition to the effect of the first or second aspect, the position detecting means can be configured at a low cost with a simple structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of a vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a vending machine.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a product column.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a product column.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a mounting structure of a product column.

FIG. 7 is a front sectional view of a product bucket.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of a product bucket.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a column drive mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a front sectional view of a main part of a column drive mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a column drive mechanism.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the product support plate.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the product support plate.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the product support plate.

FIG. 15 is a front view of a product column showing an example of storing products.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vending machine main body, 11 ... Commodity take-out, 20 ... Commodity column, 30 ... Commodity unloading mechanism, 40 ... Commodity bucket, 6
0: bucket moving mechanism, 63: position detecting device, 63a ...
Object to be detected, 63b: sensor, A, B, C: product.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine main body having a product outlet at a predetermined position, a plurality of product columns arranged at least in a vertical direction of the vending machine main body, and a product provided in each of the product columns. A product unloading mechanism for unloading the product in a predetermined direction, a product receiver capable of receiving the product unloaded from each product column, and a moving mechanism for moving the product receptor in the arrangement direction of each product column. An automatic product in which the product receiver is moved to an arbitrary product column, the product in the product column is carried out into the product receiver by the product unloading mechanism, and the product receiver that has received the product is moved to the product outlet by the moving mechanism. In a vending machine, each of the commodity columns is provided so as to be movable to an arbitrary position in a vertical direction. 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: a position detecting means for detecting a vertical position of the product column, wherein the position detecting means comprises: a subject movable in the vertical direction together with the product columns in the vertical direction; 2. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said vending machine comprises a detecting means for detecting, wherein the detecting means is provided on the product receiver. 3. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein each of said detected objects is formed by a light emitting body, and said detecting means is formed by an optical sensor.