JP2002150399A - Commodity delivery device for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity delivery device for an automatic vending machine provided with a bearing structure of favorable assembly workability capable of enhancing load resistance of a lower pedal. SOLUTION: Recessed parts formed by erecting one parts 1m, 1k of a substrate 1 are provided on both side end parts of the substrate 1. Hard resin made bearings 107 and 108 are arranged in the recessed parts for holding a shaft 17 of the lower pedal 4. Soft resin made fixing members 109 and 110 fixing the bearings 107 and 108 are fit in gap parts formed by the bearings 107 and 108 and the recessed parts. The fixing member 109 is formed as a wiring guide.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product unloading device for a vending machine, and more particularly, to a product (can) having a different shape and outer diameter without adjusting the size of a product passage such as a serpentine type product rack. The present invention relates to a product unloading device of a vending machine capable of selling beverages and PET bottled beverage products).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of vending machine merchandise unloading apparatuses have been provided.
No. 4 is also disclosed. The merchandise unloading device of these vending machines is provided at the lower part of the merchandise passage with a main flap for receiving the lowermost merchandise and a sub-flap positioned above and for receiving the second lowest merchandise at the time of unloading. The discharge of the product is controlled by alternately rotating and projecting these flaps toward the product passage.

[0003] In other words, these product carrying devices regulate the size of the product passage depending on whether or not the flap projects (the amount of protrusion is always constant). Has previously dealt with by separately providing a member for regulating the width of the passage in the product passage, or by providing a dedicated product discharge device adapted to the size of the product.

However, as is well known, various types of containers having different shapes and outer diameters are distributed as containers for canned beverages and PET bottled beverages. It is necessary to adjust the dimensions of the product passage as described above, which is troublesome, and depending on the shape of the container, it is not suitable for the mechanism of the product discharging device, and there is a problem that the product cannot be sold.

Therefore, the applicant of the present application has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-1.
No. 40853 has provided a product unloading device of a vending machine which can sell products having different shapes and outer diameters without adjusting the size of the product passage. Hereinafter, this product unloading device will be described.

FIG. 10 is a rear perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-140853.
FIG. 11 is a front perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine, FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a receiving portion of a substrate opening, and FIG.
3 is an explanatory diagram showing a standby state for selling small-diameter products, FIG.
Is an explanatory diagram showing a sale state of a small-diameter product, and FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a sale state of a large-diameter rectangular product.

[0007] The substrate 1 is disposed below a commodity rack (not shown) and forms one surface of a commodity path. On the other surface of the product passage, a product exit adjusting plate 20 is provided, and the product passage is set to a size capable of storing a large-diameter product. The substrate 1 is provided with openings 1a and 1b. On the back surface of the substrate 1, a pair of bearings 1c are provided upright on both side edges of the opening 1a. An elongated hole 1 for slidably holding the shaft 3 of the upper pedal 2 is provided in the bearing portion 1c.
d is provided. A cover member 17 is provided on the rear surface of the substrate 1 along the operation range of the carrier 7.

The upper pedal 2 is formed so as to be able to move forward and backward from the opening 1a toward the product passage, and is for supporting the second product from the bottom among the products stacked in the product passage. The upper pedal 2 is screwed into a napier screw member 6 which is rotated by a motor unit 25 having a gear box, and a carrier 7 and a spring 10 which move up and down along this.
Through the opening 1a by the operation of the carrier 7.

The opening 1a is provided with a receiving portion 1g which comes into contact with the back surface of the upper pedal 2. This opening 1a is
The product G2, which is in contact with both the bottom product G supported by the lower pedal 4 and the substrate 1, is provided at a position where it can advance and retreat without being hindered by the product G2. Here, the case where the product G1 is located directly above the product G and the product G2 is located diagonally to the product G is shown.

The carrier 7 has a screw hole 7 a screwed with the napier screw member 6 and a pin 7 b connecting the lower end of the spring 10.
And a stopper shaft 9 via a shaft holding member 8 when descending.
Is pressed against the tension of the spring 11. When the carrier 7 moves up, the stopper shaft 9 moves upward by the tension of the spring 11. The stopper shaft 9 is held by a shaft holding member 8 and is connected to a bearing 1e by a spring 11. The shaft holding member 8 has an elongated hole (not shown), and is held by the bearing portion 1e so as to be vertically movable by a stepped screw or the like (not shown) inserted into the elongated hole.

The self-propelled switch 13 is for detecting the standby position of the carrier 7. The lower pedal 4 is for supporting the first product from the bottom among the products stacked in the product passage, and is rotatably supported by a shaft 5 provided on a bearing 1e on the back surface of the opening 1b. Have been.
A fan-shaped stopper portion 4a provided on the back surface of the lower pedal 4.
Is for restricting the rotation range of the lower pedal 4 by contacting the stopper shaft 9 which slides up and down in the elongated hole 1f of the bearing portion 1e.

That is, when the stopper shaft 9 is located above the elongated hole 1f, the stopper portion 4a and the stopper shaft 9 are pressed against each other so that the lower pedal 4 can be prevented from opening (FIG. 13). reference). On the other hand, when the stopper shaft 9 is located below the elongated hole 1f, the pressure contact between the stopper portion 4a and the stopper shaft 9 is released, and the lower pedal 4 is formed so as to be opened by a product load (see FIG. 14). .

When the commodity G is sold out and the lower pedal 4 is no longer loaded with the commodity, the spring 12 is urged to return to the closed state. The sold-out state of the product is detected by a sold-out switch (not shown) provided at the base of the lower pedal 4.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. In the sales standby state, the state is as shown in FIG. The motor unit 25 is operated in response to a sales command from a main control unit (not shown), and the carrier 7 starts to descend by the rotation of the napier screw member 6, and the upper pedal 2 connected to this by the spring 10 opens from the opening 1 a. When it protrudes and its tip abuts on the first product from the bottom, it enters the sales start state.

After the upper pedal 2 comes into contact with the first product from below, the carrier 7 continues to descend while the spring 10 is extended, and presses the shaft holding member 8. As shown in FIG. 14, when the carrier 7 descends to the lower limit position, the shaft holding member 8 pushes down the stopper shaft 9, so that the contact of the lower pedal 4 with the stopper portion 4a is released and the lower pedal 4 opens,
The first product from the bottom falls.

When a product falls, the upper pedal 2 projects to the maximum extent toward the product path by the tension of the extended spring 10 and supports the next product. That is, since the upper pedal 2 projects following the falling operation of the first product from the bottom, even products having a diameter significantly smaller than the size of the product passage can be reliably supported.

Thereafter, the lower pedal 4 returns to the standby position shown in FIG. Since the carrier 7 is raised by the rotation of the napier screw member 6, the upper pedal 2
To return to the standby position by retracting into the opening 1a.

[0018]

However, since the shaft 5 of the lower pedal 4 is inserted through a through hole provided in the bearing 1e, when selling a heavier product, the shaft 5 or the bearing 5 is required. Concentrated load is easily applied to the part 1e,
In order to further expand the range of products to be sold, there has been a problem that it is desired to provide appropriate bearing means for the lower pedal 4. Also, to be suitable for mass production,
There is a problem that a configuration having good assembling workability is desired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a vending machine product discharge device having a bearing structure capable of improving the load resistance of the lower pedal and having good assembling workability. The purpose is to do.

[0020]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a vending machine according to the present invention comprises:
A substrate disposed at a lower end of the product passage, forming a first inner wall of the product passage; a lower pedal formed to protrude from an opening of the substrate to support a product located at a lowermost end; An upper pedal that is formed to protrude from the opening and supports a product located second from the bottom, and the upper pedal is urged to protrude toward the product passage prior to the opening operation of the lower pedal. And when the support of the lowest product by the lower pedal is released, the product ejection device of a vending machine formed to protrude to a position supporting the second product from the bottom. At both end portions, a concave portion formed by erecting a part of the substrate is provided, a bearing for holding a rotating shaft of the lower pedal is arranged in the concave portion, and a fixing member for fixing the bearing is provided. Formed by the bearing and the recess In which it fitted into the gap portion. Thereby, the load resistance of the lower pedal can be improved, and the assembling workability can be significantly improved.

[0021]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention; The present invention is not limited by the embodiment.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an assembling procedure of a bearing for a lower pedal according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view showing a product discharging device, and FIG. 3 is a front view showing the product discharging device. FIG. 4 is a perspective view, FIG.
5 to 7 are partial cross-sectional views showing how to assemble the bearing.
8 and 9 are perspective views showing a use state of the bearing. In the following description, members that are the same as or correspond to those already described are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description of the basic configuration and operation will be omitted, and only different portions will be described.

The upper pedal 2 is connected to the carrier 7 via a connecting member 14 slidably formed on the substrate 1. The upper pedal stopper mechanism 30 moves back and forth from the opening 1a in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the upper pedal 2, supports the upper pedal 2 from the back, and can receive a product load. The lower pedal stopper mechanism 50 is
The lower pedal 4 is opened by the contact of the carrier 7 when the carrier 7 descends, and the lower pedal 4 is kept closed at other times. The start and end of the operation of the carrier 7 are detected by the position detection switch 60. The sold-out switch 70 detects the sold-out of the product G by detecting the opening / closing operation of the actuator 76.

Next, an outline of the basic operation of the commodity discharging device will be described. In the sales standby state, the upper pedal 2 is open and the lower pedal 4 is closed, and the products stacked in the rack are supported by the lower pedal 4.
Then, in response to a sales command from a control unit (not shown), the motor unit 25 operates, and the napier screw member 6 rotates.

Then, the carrier 7 screwed to the napier screw member 6 descends, the upper pedal 2 connected via the connecting member 14 starts to protrude from the opening 1a, and the upper pedal stopper mechanism 30 moves the upper pedal 2 downward. Support from.
At this time, the projecting direction of the upper pedal 2 is regulated by the shaft 16, and the upper pedal 2 projects between the first product from the bottom and the second product from the bottom supported by the lower pedal 4.

As the carrier 7 further descends, the amount of projection of the upper pedal 2 also increases. When the carrier 7 reaches the lower limit, the upper pedal 2 has a maximum protrusion amount to support the second product from the bottom, and the carrier 7 releases the lock by the lower pedal stopper mechanism 50 to lower the product. Open the pedal 4 and carry out the first product from the bottom.

Then, by the action of the napier screw member 6,
The carrier 7 starts rising from the lower limit position. Then, the lower pedal 4 is automatically returned to the closed state by the urging means, and is locked in the closed state by the lower pedal stopper mechanism 50.

As the carrier 7 rises, the upper pedal 2 retreats from the opening 1a, and the upper pedal stopper mechanism 30 retreats in conjunction with the upper pedal 2 while supporting the upper pedal 2. Then, the product previously supported by the upper pedal 2 loses its support and falls onto the lower pedal 4 to be in a sales standby state again. The above is the basic operation of the product unloading device according to the present invention. Subsequently, the main part of the present embodiment will be described in detail.

At both end portions of the substrate 1, recesses formed by an upright portion 1m in which the edge of the opening 1a of the substrate 1 is erected and a side plate portion 1k are formed. Bearings 107 and 108 for holding the shaft 17 of the lower pedal 4 are provided at predetermined positions of the standing portion 1m.
Is provided with an insertion hole 1n and a locking hole (not shown) into which the hole is inserted. The bearings 107 and 108 are formed of a hard resin (for example, polyacetal) in order to secure strength and slidability.

The bearings 107 and 108 are shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 7, fixing members 109, 110 which are arranged in the recess formed by the upright portion 1 m and the side plate portion 1 k and subsequently fix the bearings 107, 108 are attached to the bearings 107, 10.
8 and the concave portion.
The fixing members 109 and 110 have protrusions 109a and 11 for locking into locking holes (not shown) formed in the side plate portion 1k.
0a is formed.

Here, since the fixing members 109 and 110 do not need strength and slidability and only need to prevent the bearings 107 and 108 from coming off, the fixing members 109 and 110 are made of a soft resin (for example, polypropylene). I have. The fixing member 109 is formed as a wiring guide.

As described above, with the bearings 107 and 108 and the fixing members 109 and 110, the load resistance of the lower pedal 4 can be increased, and a bearing structure with good assembling workability can be obtained.

[0033]

As described above, according to the merchandise unloading device of the vending machine according to the present invention, the substrate disposed at the lower end of the merchandise passage and forming one inner wall of the merchandise passage, A lower pedal that is formed to protrude from the opening of the substrate and supports the product located at the lowermost end; and an upper pedal that is formed to be protrudable from the opening of the substrate and supports the product located second from the bottom. The upper pedal is biased so as to protrude toward the product passage prior to the opening operation of the lower pedal, and when the support of the lowermost product by the lower pedal is released, from below. A vending machine product discharge device formed to protrude to a position supporting a second product, wherein both side edges of the substrate are provided with recesses formed by standing a part of the substrate, A bearing that holds the pivot axis of the pedal Since the fixing member for fixing the bearing is disposed in the recess and is fitted in the gap formed by the bearing and the recess, the load resistance of the lower pedal can be increased, and the assembling workability is significantly improved. Can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an assembling procedure of a lower pedal bearing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view showing the product unloading device.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view showing the product unloading device.

FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the product unloading device.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a procedure for assembling the bearing.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a procedure for assembling the bearing.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a procedure for assembling the bearing.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a use state of the bearing.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a use state of the bearing.

FIG. 10 is a rear perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-140853.

FIG. 11 is a front perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a receiving portion of a substrate opening.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a standby state for selling small-diameter products.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a sale state of small-diameter products.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales state of a large-diameter rectangular product.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 1a Opening 1k Side plate 1m Standing part 1n Insertion hole 2 Upper pedal 4 Lower pedal 6 Napier screw member 7 Carrier G Product 16 shaft 17 shaft 25 Motor unit 25a, 25b Screw 30 Upper pedal stopper mechanism 50 Lower pedal stopper Unit 60 Position detection switch 62 Switch unit 70 Sold out switch 76 Actuator 107 Bearing 108 Bearing 109 Fixing member 109a Projection 110 Fixing member 110a Projection

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Katsuhiko Fukuda, Inventor 1-1, Tanabe Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. No. 1 Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3E046 BA03 BB01 BB03 BB04 CA01 DA01 EA08 EB02

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate disposed at a lower end of a product passage and forming one inner wall of the product passage; and a lower pedal formed to protrude from an opening of the substrate and supporting a product located at a lowermost end. And an upper pedal formed so as to protrude from an opening of the substrate and supporting a product located second from the bottom, wherein the upper pedal is on the product passage side prior to the opening operation of the lower pedal. When the lower pedal is released from being supported by the lower pedal,
In a product unloading device of a vending machine formed so as to project to a position for supporting a second product from the bottom, a concave portion formed by standing a part of the substrate is provided at both end portions of the substrate, A vending machine wherein a bearing for holding a rotation shaft of the lower pedal is disposed in the recess, and a fixing member for fixing the bearing is fitted in a gap formed by the bearing and the recess. Product unloading device.