JP2002063644A - Serpentine type article storage rack for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve safety with respect to a vend mechanism assembled to the article carry-out part of a serpentine type article storage rack and to carry out the PET bottle article of large size through stable operation. SOLUTION: In the serpentine type article storage rack of multiple column type for vending PET bottle articles 14 by providing a flapper type vend mechanism 10 and a passage regulation plate 11 on the outlet end of an article passage for each of columns located back and forth, after the vend mechanisms are located to be aligned on the front end face side of the rack, these vend mechanisms are covered from the front side and a front cover 15 is provided between rack side plates 7 so that a driving mechanism exposed on the rear side of the vend mechanism is prevented from being broken down by hitting an object or hand is prevented from being injured by touching. Besides, after the vend mechanisms of a standard specification (for canned articles) are located while being closer to the body side of PET bottles, a lateral spacer 16 is mounted while passing to fulfill a gap between the rack side plates 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a serpentine type product storage rack for a vending machine, and more particularly to a rack structure for selling PET bottle products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, a general structure of a vending machine which mounts a serpentine type product storage rack described above and sells cans and bottled products, and a general structure of a serpentine type product storage rack are shown in FIGS. In FIG. 2, 1 is a cabinet serving as a heat-insulating housing, 2 is a front outer door, 2a is a product outlet,
3 is a heat-insulated inner door, 4 is a serpentine-type product storage rack,
Reference numeral 5 denotes a product take-out shooter, and reference numeral 6 denotes a cooling / heating unit.

Next, FIGS. 3 and 4 show a detailed structure of the above-mentioned serpentine type product storage rack 4. FIG. As shown in the figure, the serpentine-type product storage rack 4 defines a pair of rack side plates 7 standing upright on the left and right, and a plurality of meandering product passages (columns) 12 laid between the rack side plates 7 and arranged in front and rear. A rail 8; a top tray 9 for placing goods placed in the upper part of the rack in connection with the product passages 12 in each row; and a flapper placed in the exit side end of the product passage 12 corresponding to each column in each row. Type bend mechanism 10, and the bend mechanism 10
And a passage width regulating plate 11 disposed so as to face the outlet passage 13 therebetween.

Here, the structure of the bend mechanism 10 is disclosed in
FIG.
The flapper 10b which emerges from the base frame 10a into the outlet passage 13 of the product and locks and releases the product passing therethrough is combined with an electromagnetic solenoid, a return spring, and a link mechanism as shown in FIG. The drive unit 10c is arranged side by side to control the emergence of the vehicle in accordance with the selling operation. Usually, in order to save space, two bend mechanisms 10 are provided for the front and rear columns.
As shown in FIG.
And a passage regulating plate 11 is provided before and after the outlet passage 13. In the figure, 10
d is a product detection lever of a sold-out switch attached to the bend mechanism 10.

In the serpentine type product storage rack 4 having the above-described assembly structure, the bend mechanisms 10 of the columns in the front row and the second row are tied back to back and assembled inside the rack 4, and the front end face of the rack 4 is provided. Is provided with a passage regulating plate 11 of the frontmost column. Therefore, it is impossible to directly touch the bend mechanism 10 from the front of the rack, and the hand is not erroneously pinched by the drive unit, the flapper, and the like of the bend mechanism 10 in the normal maintenance work.

[0006]

Recently, with the spread of PET bottle products, vending machines are selling not only cans and bottle products but also PET bottle products having a large content. By the way, a PET bottle product is a container with a tapered irregular cap made of thin plastic, unlike a can product, and the height of the container is larger than that of the can product. Therefore, in order to sell PET bottle products in a serpentine type product storage rack equipped with a standard bend mechanism conventionally used for can products, the following points must be considered.

That is, in order to lock and hold the PET bottle in the sales standby position in a stable posture by the flapper-type bend mechanism, the flapper of the bend mechanism is a torso part of the PET bottle and a strong part (the PET bottle is a The bottom side is covered with reinforcing ribs) to support it. Also, when loading PET bottle products into the product storage rack 4 in FIG. 3, specify the orientation (usually turning the cap to the left side). It is necessary to formulate a rule that the top tray 9 is thrown in the position.

On the other hand, in the bend mechanism 10 described above, the drive units 10c mounted on the back of the frame 10a are arranged on one side so as not to overlap with each other in a state where the two bend mechanisms are held back to back, and 10b is laid out slightly shifted on the opposite side of the frame 10a. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5, when the two bottle mechanisms 10 are tied together and housed in a rack, and the PET bottle products 14 are stored in the front and rear columns in the same direction, the flapper 10b of the bend mechanism 10 PET bottle products 14
The holding range A for supporting the plastic bottle varies depending on the column, and the flapper 10b supports the lower half of the body of the plastic bottle in the rear row column (the right column in the figure), but holds the flapper 10b in the front row column (the left column in the figure). The range A moves to the upper half side of the plastic bottle. For this reason, depending on the size of the PET bottle, a part of the flapper 10b may be out of the range of the trunk, and the product carrying-out operation may be unstable.

In this regard, the bend mechanism 10 is separated by one for each column without arranging the bend mechanism 10 and aligned in the same direction as shown in FIG. 6, and the flapper 10b supports the lower half of the plastic bottle. With such arrangement, the PET bottle products 14 stored in each column of the rack can be stably held. However, as shown in FIG.
Another problem arises when placing. That is, when the bend mechanism 10 is disposed on the front side of the rack and the passage regulating plate 11 is disposed on the inner side of the rack as shown in the figure with respect to the frontmost column, the drive unit assembled on the rear side of the frame of the bend mechanism 10 as is The movable mechanism of 10c (electromagnetic solenoid, return spring, link, etc.) is exposed directly to the front of the rack. For this reason, during the maintenance work performed by opening the door of the vending machine, an object may hit the bend mechanism 10 in the front row exposed on the front of the rack, causing a failure. There is a risk of injury if touched.

[0010] Further, since the bend mechanism 10 of the standard specification is designed for can products that are shorter and smaller than plastic bottle products, the length (width) of the bend mechanism 10 is left as it is.
The space between the rack side plate 7 and the frame 10a of the bend mechanism 10 is vacant on the head side of the plastic bottle due to the shortage of the plastic bottle, which may hinder the attitude control of the plastic bottle product 14.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned problems, to enhance the safety of a bend mechanism attached to a product outlet of a rack, and to stabilize PET bottle products. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine serpentine-type product storage rack improved so that it can be carried out by the above-mentioned operation.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided, according to the present invention, a multi-column serpentine type product storage rack mounted on a vending machine. In those equipped with a flapper type bend mechanism and a passage regulating plate at the exit end of the product passage,
The bend mechanism of the frontmost column is arranged so as to be aligned with the front end side of the rack, and the front cover is provided at the front end between the rack side plates so as to cover the bend mechanism from the front (claim 1).

According to this structure, even if the bend mechanism of the front row column is provided on the front side of the rack, the drive mechanism mounted on the back of the bend mechanism is hidden behind the front cover, so that maintenance of the vending machine can be performed. The bend mechanism, which is caused by hitting an object during operation, can be prevented from malfunctioning, and there is no danger of the worker's hand directly touching the bend mechanism and causing injury. Further, according to the present invention, with respect to a column set for selling PET bottle products, the bend mechanism of the column is arranged close to the body side of the PET bottle to be stored in a designated direction, and is arranged side by side with the bend mechanism. A horizontal spacer is arranged in the head side area of the PET bottle (claim 2).

Assuming that a standard bend mechanism designed for canned goods is used, in a column for storing plastic bottle products having a size longer than that of canned goods, the entire width of the column is covered only by the bend mechanism. As a result, the space between the bend mechanism and the rack side plate is vacant as described with reference to FIG. In this regard, if the horizontal spacer is combined with the bend mechanism as described above, the PET bottle product can be guided in a stable posture in cooperation with the bend mechanism, and the horizontal spacer serves as a mounting seat for the bend mechanism. Also fulfills the role.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
(a) to (d) will be described based on the illustrated embodiment. In addition,
In the drawings of the embodiment, the same members corresponding to FIGS. 4 to 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted. That is, in the illustrated embodiment, the bend mechanism 10 is arranged in the same manner as in FIG. 6, and the plastic bottle product 14 is stored in this column (the storage position of the plastic bottle is the sideways position with the cap facing left) for sale. Here, the front end surface of the serpentine type product storage rack 4 straddles the left and right rack side plates 4 so as to cover the bend mechanism 10 installed at the front end of the rack corresponding to the frontmost column from the front. A front cover 15 is provided to prevent the drive unit 10c (electromagnetic solenoid, return spring, link mechanism, etc.) mounted on the back of the frame of the bend mechanism 10 from being directly exposed to the front of the rack.

The front cover 15 has curled portions formed at the upper and lower ends thereof, and the through pins passing therethrough are fixed to the left and right rack side plates 7 and fixed at fixed positions, or are formed above and below the front cover 15. The curl portion is projected right and left to form a shaft, and this shaft is fixed by caulking to a mounting hole formed in the left and right rack side plates 7. On the other hand, the bend mechanism 10 adopts a standard specification product that can be shared with can products,
The bend mechanism 10 is arranged near the right end of the column as shown in FIG. 1 (c). At this position, the body of the PET bottle product 14 stored in the column is supported by the flapper 10b. A lateral spacer 16 is additionally provided so as to fill a gap between the left end edge of the left side and the left rack side plate 7 on the side of the head of the PET bottle.
The horizontal spacer 16 is fixed to the rack side plate 7 as a sheet metal product having a U-shaped cross section as shown in FIG.
The bend mechanism 10 can be supported by being bridged between upper and lower through pins provided between the end surface of the first and second rack side plates.

According to this configuration, the plastic bottle product 1
Since the front cover 15 covers the bend mechanism 10 disposed on the front end side of the rack 4 with respect to the vending machine column 4, when the maintenance work in the machine is performed by opening the door of the vending machine, there is an object on the bend mechanism 10. The safety can be ensured without the risk of the drive unit being damaged upon contact or the injury of the operator touching the drive unit. In addition, a bend mechanism 10 of a standard specification shorter and smaller than the plastic bottle product 10 is attached to the horizontal spacer 1.
6 and the bend mechanism 10
The plastic bottle product 14 having a longer size than the horizontal spacer 16 can be guided to an appropriate posture in cooperation with the horizontal spacer 16 to perform a stable product unloading operation.

[0018]

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, the front cover is provided at the front end between the rack side plates so as to cover the bend mechanism of the frontmost column arranged on the front end side of the rack. At the time of maintenance work in the machine performed by opening the door of the vending machine, there is no danger of the drive unit being damaged by an object hitting the bend mechanism 10 or the operator's hand touching the drive unit without being injured. Can be secured.

In addition, with respect to a column set for selling plastic bottle products, the bend mechanism of the column is arranged so as to be closer to the body of the PET bottle for storing in a designated direction, and the bend mechanism is arranged side by side with the bend mechanism. The horizontal spacers are arranged in the head side area of the, so that a standard-size bend mechanism designed and manufactured for can products is adopted, and PET bottle products longer than the bend mechanism are carried out with stable operation. Can be controlled.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural view of a product discharge section of a serpentine type product storage rack according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) and (b) are front views and side sectional views, respectively, and (c) is a schematic view. Plan view

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the configuration of a vending machine equipped with a serpentine-type product storage rack.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a configuration of a conventional example of a serpentine type product storage rack in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a product discharge section in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a product storage state when selling PET bottle products in the rack configuration of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a product storage state when the arrangement of the bend mechanism is changed from that of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 Serpentine type product storage rack 10 Bend mechanism 10a Frame 10b Flapper 10c Drive unit 11 Passage regulating plate 12 Product passage (column) 13 Exit passage 14 PET bottle product 15 Front cover 16 Horizontal spacer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A multi-column type serpentine type product storage rack mounted on a vending machine, wherein a flapper type bend mechanism and a passage regulating plate are provided at an exit end of a product passage for each of columns arranged in front and rear rows. The serpentine of a vending machine characterized in that the bend mechanism of the front row column is arranged in line with the front end of the rack, and the front cover is provided at the front end between the rack side plates so as to cover the bend mechanism from the front. Type product storage rack. 2. The product storage rack according to claim 1,
With respect to a column set for selling PET bottle products, the bend mechanism of the column is arranged in a specified direction, close to the body side of the PET bottle that stores the designated direction, and the bend mechanism is arranged in the head side area of the PET bottle along with the bend mechanism. A serpentine-type product storage rack for a vending machine, wherein a horizontal spacer is arranged.