JP2002109627A - Vending machine and commodity carrying-out mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity carrying-out mechanism capable of being miniaturized, while maintaining the commodity blocking prevention function. SOLUTION: This commodity carrying-out mechanism is provided with a commodity storage part 20 for piling up and storing a commodity A and a carrying-out member 33 for discharging the commodity A at the lowest step in the commodity storage part 20. It is provided with a cylindrical cam 31 provided, so as to turn by power of a drive motor. The carrying-out member 33 is provided so as to be reciprocatable in accordance with the turn of the cylindrical cam 31. The carrying-out member 33 is provided with a guide part 33a, which is an oblong hole or a long groove long in its travel direction. A belt 36, movable in endless manner, is provided with a support member 38 capable of supporting the commodity A stored in the commodity storage part 20 from below. The belt 36 is provided with a connection member 36. The connection member 36 is provided with a shaft 37a movable along the guide part 33a, so as to move the belt 36 in the interlocking relationship with the carrying-out member 33.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine technology for storing goods in a stacked state, and more particularly to a product discharging mechanism capable of discharging products while preventing the products from being clogged, and an automatic device provided with the same. About vending machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in vending machines for cigarettes and the like, box-shaped products are stacked and stored in front and rear two rows. In such a vending machine, a product delivery mechanism is provided to carry out the delivery of the product by pushing out the product at the bottom of the rear row to push out the product at the bottom of the front row. In order to prevent the product from being jammed by temporarily supporting the product other than the product to be extruded so as to be lifted from below, the member that presses the product is provided with a support member that is long connected rearward. I have.

[0003] For example, the product carrying mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-54873 is configured as follows. That is, in the product storage unit, the products are stacked and stored in two front and rear rows. In the lower part of the product storage section, one end of a plurality of link members connected in a row is attached to an endless member that is rotated by a motor, and the other end is free. Then, according to the rotation of the endless member in the counterclockwise direction, the link member pushes the lowermost product in the rear row, whereby the lowermost product in the front row is pushed out. Further, the product moved to the front row is also directly pushed out by the link member. It should be noted that products other than the product to be extruded are temporarily supported by being placed on each link member, thereby preventing product clogging. After the product is carried out, the link member moves rearward due to the clockwise rotation of the endless member, and returns to the rear of the lowermost product in the rear row.

[0004] The product carrying mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-231460 is configured as follows. That is, in the lower part of the product storage unit similar to the above,
A plurality of pushing members are attached to an endless member rotated by a motor. Then, as the endless member rotates counterclockwise, the pushing member pushes the lowermost product in the rear row, whereby the lowermost product in the front row is extruded. Further, the product moved to the front row is also directly extruded by the pushing member. In addition, the product other than the product to be extruded is temporarily supported by being placed on the extrusion member, and the product is prevented from being clogged. After the product is unloaded, the endless member is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, so that the extruding member moves around and returns to the rear of the lowest product in the rear row.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional product carrying mechanism of a vending machine has the following problems. That is, JP-A-9-54
In the product carrying mechanism of No. 873, a large number of link members are connected, and the other end is free. Therefore, in order to smoothly move the link members, it is necessary to hang down while maintaining a large arc. There is. For this reason, a space is required in the height direction and the horizontal direction of the product carrying mechanism.

[0006] In the commodity discharging mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-231460, an extruding member for carrying out commodities orbits by an endless member, so that the extruding member is passed in front of the endless member. To move it rearward, a space is needed in front of the endless member.

[0007] The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a product carrying mechanism capable of realizing downsizing while maintaining a function of preventing product clogging. It is another object of the present invention to provide a vending machine which can save space required for a product carrying-out mechanism and can secure more space for storing products.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotary body provided endlessly rotatably, and a product which is moved together with the rotary body to carry out an article. A discharging member provided with a cylindrical cam rotatably provided by the power of a driving source, wherein the discharging member is reciprocally movable in accordance with the rotation of the cylindrical cam. The member is formed with a guide portion which is a long hole or a long groove extending in the movement direction, and the rotating body is provided with a support member capable of supporting a product stored in the product storage portion from below, The rotating body is provided with a connecting member biased by the guide portion so that the rotating body rotates in conjunction with the carry-out member.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the connecting member comes to the end of the linear portion of the rotating body, the carrying-out member can be further moved outward by the guide portion which is a long hole or a long groove. it can. Therefore, even if the total length of the rotating body is shortened, the carry-out member can be moved by the full stroke of the cylindrical cam, so that the total length of the product carry-out mechanism can be reduced. Further, since all the supporting members are attached to the rotating body, the space in the height direction and the horizontal direction can be saved as compared with the case where the link member having the other end is provided freely. Further, since the carrying-out member reciprocates, the space at the front end of the rotating body can be saved as compared with the case where the carrying-out member moves around.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine including a product storage section for stacking and storing commodities, and a carry-out member for carrying out the lowest product in the product storage section. A rotatable cylindrical cam, wherein the unloading member is reciprocally movable in accordance with the rotation of the cylindrical cam, and the unloading member has a long hole or a long groove extending in the moving direction. And a rotating member provided endlessly and rotatably provided, and a support member capable of supporting a product stored in the product storage portion from below is attached to the rotating body, and The rotating body is provided with a connecting member biased by the guide portion so that the rotating body rotates in conjunction with the member.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the space in the height direction and the horizontal direction of the product carrying mechanism can be saved, so that more space for storing the goods can be secured. Become.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. 1. Configuration of Embodiment First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a base member 10 is disposed in a vending machine, and a commodity storage unit 20 and a carry-out mechanism are provided above and below a horizontal plate 11 in the base member 10. The units 30 are respectively configured. Unloading mechanism 30
Is configured so that the product A in the storage room 21 of the product storage section 20 is pushed forward (in the X1 direction in the figure) by the unloading member 33. Hereinafter, the product storage unit 20 and the unloading mechanism unit 3
The configuration of 0 will be described sequentially.

First, the product storage section 20 forms a storage room 21 extending in the vertical direction, and the products A having a predetermined size and shape are stored in the front and rear two rows in the storage room 21. . Here, among the products A stored in the storage room 21, A1 is the product in the lowermost row in the front row, and A2 is the product in the lowermost row in the rear row.

An outlet 2 for unloading the product is provided at the front and rear surfaces at the lower end of the product storage section 20.
2 and an insertion port 23 for inserting the carrying-out member 33 are provided. Of these, as shown in FIG. 3, the opening size of the carry-out port 22 is formed slightly larger than the vertical cross-sectional dimension of the product A in order to enable the product A to be smoothly carried out. The opening size of the insertion slot 23 is formed smaller than the vertical cross-sectional dimension of the product A in order to prevent the product A from inadvertently popping out.
Is formed to be larger than the vertical cross-sectional dimension of the carrying-out member 33 in order to make it possible to insert it smoothly.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the unloading mechanism 30 includes a cylindrical cam 31, a slider 32, and an unloading member 3.
3, a pulley 34, 35, a belt 36, a connecting member 37, and a supporting member 38. The cylindrical cam 31 is a member in which an endless spiral groove that can reciprocate is formed on the outer periphery.
The spiral groove is formed by a forward movement section 31a and a return movement section 31b connected at both ends of the cylindrical cam 31.

The pitch of the forward movement section 31a is set so as to secure the torque required when the goods are carried out. The pitch of the return path operation section 31b is set such that the return speed required during the return operation of the slider 32 described below can be secured. The cylindrical cam 31 is horizontally arranged on the base member 10 with the front-rear direction (the X-axis direction in the drawing) as the axial direction, and is rotatably provided by a drive motor (not shown).

The slider 32 is engaged with the helical groove of the cylindrical cam 31. Due to the engagement, the slider 32 reciprocates in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction in the figure) according to the operation of the helical groove due to the rotation of the cylindrical cam 31. It is configured to be. The slider 32 comes into contact with the rear end of the product A according to the movement thereof,
A carry-out member 33 for pushing out the product A is provided. Further, the carrying-out member 33 is located above the belt 36, and has a guide portion 33a formed therein, which is a long hole or a long groove in the moving direction thereof.

The pulleys 34, 35 are arranged near the end of the cylindrical cam 31. An endless belt 36 is hung between the two pulleys 34 and 35. Belt 3
6, a connecting member 37 for transmitting power from the slider 32 is provided. The connecting member 37 has a shaft 37a whose both ends are slidably inserted into the guide portion 33a of the carrying-out member 33.
Is provided. Further, a plurality of support members 38 are disposed behind the connecting member 37 on the belt 36. The support member 38 moves together with the connecting member 36 in accordance with the movement of the belt 36, and extruded products A1,
The product A other than A2 is provided so as to be supported so as to be lifted from below.

As shown in the principle diagram of FIG. 10, the left and right vertices α of the belt 36 and the moving end β of the slider 32 of the cylindrical cam 31 are provided at the same position. In this case, the end γ of the linear portion of the belt 36 at which the connecting member 37 can move is the moving end β of the slider 32.
Inside.

2. Operation of Embodiment The operation of the present embodiment as described above is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. That is, from the initial state shown in FIG. 1, when the dispensing of the product A is instructed in the vending machine, the motor operates and the cylindrical cam 31 rotates. Then, the outward movement section 31a of the cylindrical cam 31 causes
The slider 32 and the carry-out member 33 start moving in the X1 direction. Thereby, as shown in FIG.
Enters the product storage unit 20 through the insertion opening 23 and pushes the product A2 in the lowermost row of the rear row, so that the product A1 in the lowermost row of the front row starts to be pushed out from the carry-out port 22. At the same time, the guide portion 33a
Connecting member 37 via shaft 37a inserted into
Since the belt 36 is biased in one direction, the belt 36 rotates counterclockwise.

Then, as shown in FIG.
Reaches the center of the product storage unit 20, the product A2 moves to the lowermost position in the front row, and the product A1 is completely pushed out of the product storage unit 20. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the carry-out member 33 passes through the center of the product storage unit 20,
When reaching the carry-out port 22, the product A2 is also pushed out from the carry-out port 22. After such unloading operation, the slider 32 and the unloading member 33 are moved by the return path operation portion 31b of the cylindrical cam 31.
Starts moving in the X2 direction and stops when it reaches the initial position. In addition, at the return operation end, as shown in FIG. 8, the connection member 37 stops in a slightly inclined state.

As described above, by discharging the commodity A1 at the bottom of the front row and the commodity A2 at the bottom of the rear row, the falling commodity A in the front row and the rear row is stored from behind the unloading member 33. The plurality of support members 38 entering the part 20
Since it is placed on the upper side, the head is small and the collapse is prevented, and the retreating of the carry-out member 33 is prevented from being hindered by the product A in the rear row, so that the product is not jammed.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, if the end γ of the linear portion of the belt 36 where the connecting member 37 is movable is simply set so that the slider 32 of the cylindrical cam 31 can move full stroke. The left and right vertices α of the belt 36 protrude left and right from the moving end β of the slider 32 by the shaded portion.

However, in the present embodiment, FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B and FIG. 10, the shaft 3 of the connecting member 37 which moves together with the slider 32 during the reciprocating motion.
7a always comes to the end of the guide 33a of the carrying-out member 33 opposite to the traveling direction, so that the slider 32 and the carrying-out member 33 can be moved further outward. Therefore, even if the left and right vertices α of the belt 36 are aligned with the moving end β of the slider 32 by shortening the entire length of the belt 36, the deviation is absorbed by the guide portion 33a,
The slider 32, the carrying-out member 33 and the connecting member 37 operate without any problem. For this reason, the slider 32 can be moved by a full stroke while shortening the overall length of the product carrying mechanism.

3. Effects of the Embodiment The effects of the present embodiment as described above are as follows. That is, by shortening the distance between the pulleys 34 and 35, the overall length in the horizontal direction can be shortened, and the product unloading mechanism can be downsized. In addition, a plurality of support members 38
Are all attached to the belt 36 and do not need to hang down, so there is no need to reserve space for that inside the vending machine.

Further, the carrying-out member 33 and the supporting member 38
Reciprocates without rotating, it is not necessary to secure a space at the front end of the belt 36 for the carry-out member 33 and the support member 38 to pass in the vending machine. Therefore,
Since the product unloading mechanism can be downsized and the required space can be reduced, it is possible to secure more storage space for the product A in the vending machine.

4. Other Embodiments The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the size, shape, number, material, and the like of each member can be appropriately changed. For example, the size of the product storage section, the belt and the cylindrical cam, the number of support members, and the like can be freely increased or decreased at the design stage. Further, the number of rows of products in the product storage unit may be three or more, or may be one.

Further, the operation of the drive motor can be controlled by a sensor or a switch for detecting the position of the unloading member or the presence or absence of a product. For example, when the carry-out member comes to the middle of the product storage unit and the sensor detects that the product at the bottom of the front row has been discharged, the drive motor is temporarily stopped, and when the next discharge command is issued, the drive motor is activated. Then, by extruding the products pushed out from the lowermost row of the rear row to the front row, the products can be discharged one by one. And
When the sensor detects that there is no product in the rear row, the product in the front row can be pushed out without stopping the carrying-out member in the middle of the product storage unit.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a product carrying mechanism capable of realizing a compact size while maintaining the function of preventing product clogging. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vending machine which can save a space required for a product carrying-out mechanism and can secure more space for storing a product.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a product discharging mechanism of a vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state at the time of starting a product unloading operation in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 when the lowermost row of the front row is discharged.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the lowermost row of the rear row of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 when a product is discharged.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the operation of a carry-out member and a connecting member at a return operation end in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

9A and 9B are explanatory views showing the operation of the unloading member and the connecting member in the embodiment of FIG. 1, wherein FIG.
(B) shows a return operation.

FIG. 10 is a principle explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between an operating end of a slider and an apex of a belt in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a principle explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between an operating end of a slider and a vertex of a belt in a comparative example with the embodiment of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Base member 11 ... Horizontal plate 20 ... Commodity storage part 21 ... Storage room 22 ... Carry-out port 23 ... Insertion port 30 ... Carry-out mechanism part 31 ... Cylindrical cam 31a ... Outbound operation part 31b ... Incoming part operation part 32 ... Slider 33 ... Unloading Member 33a Guide part 36 Belt 36 Connection member 37 Connection member 37a Shaft 38 Support member 34, 35 Pulley

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A merchandise unloading mechanism comprising: a rotating body rotatably provided endlessly; and an unloading member that moves together with the rotating body and unloads an article, wherein the unloading mechanism is rotatable by the power of a driving source. The discharge member is provided so as to be able to reciprocate in accordance with the rotation of the cylindrical cam, and the discharge member is formed with a guide portion which is a long hole or a long groove extending in the moving direction. The rotatable body is provided with a support member capable of supporting a product stored in the product storage section from below, so that the rotatable body rotates in conjunction with the carry-out member.
The merchandise carrying-out mechanism, wherein a connection member biased by the guide portion is provided on the rotating body. 2. A vending machine comprising: a commodity storage section for stacking and storing commodities; and a carry-out member for carrying out the lowest commodity in the commodity storage section, wherein the vending machine is provided rotatably by the power of a drive source. A cylindrical cam, wherein the carrying-out member is provided so as to be able to reciprocate in accordance with the rotation of the cylindrical cam, and the carrying-out member is formed with a guide portion which is a long hole or a long groove extending in the moving direction, and is endless. A rotating member provided rotatably in a shape, wherein the rotating member is provided with a support member capable of supporting a product stored in the product storage portion from below the product, and interlocking with the unloading member, So that the rotating body rotates
A vending machine, wherein the rotating body is provided with a connecting member biased by the guide portion.