JP2002150404A - Device for carry out of article for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To support an article weight applied onto an upper pedal using a simple constitution, smoothen retreating operation for the upper pedal, and make assemblage proper. SOLUTION: A stoper 31 is provided to support the backface of the upper pedal 2 formed freely projectably from an opening part 1a of a base plate 1 via a spring 31a and projected to an article passage side. The stopper 31 is retracted being interlocked with the upper pedal 2, and its sliding friction is reduced by a roller 34 in its tip part.

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. 15 is a rear perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-140853.
FIG. 16 is a front perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine, FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a receiving portion of a substrate opening, FIG.
8 is an explanatory view showing a standby state for selling small-diameter products, FIG.
Is an explanatory diagram showing the sales state of small-diameter products, and FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing the sales state of large-diameter rectangular products.

[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 restricted from being opened (FIG. 18). 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. 19). .

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. 19, 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 receiving direction of the upper pedal 2 is restricted by the receiving portion 1g and the product load applied to the upper pedal 2 is supported,
In order to withstand a predetermined load, a certain area was required. Therefore, there has been a problem that it has not been possible to meet the recent demand for a thinner device and that it is not necessarily suitable for mass production.

Further, there is another problem that the product load applied to the upper pedal 2 causes a sliding resistance between the upper pedal 2 and the receiving portion 1g, and the retreating operation of the upper pedal 2 cannot be performed smoothly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and is capable of supporting the product load applied to the upper pedal with a simple configuration, smoothing the retraction operation of the upper pedal, and also having good assemblability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product unloading device for a vending machine.

[0021]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine having a product discharge device disposed at a lower end of a product path. A lower pedal, which is formed so as to be able to protrude from an opening of the substrate and supports a product located at the lowermost end, and is formed so as to be able to protrude from an opening of the substrate, and is located second from the bottom. With an upper pedal that supports the product
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 lowermost product by the lower pedal is released,
In a product unloading device of a vending machine formed so as to protrude to a position for supporting a second product from the bottom, the product is formed to protrude from an opening of the substrate via an urging means, and protrudes toward the product passage. And stopper means for supporting the rear surface of the upper pedal. Thereby, the product load applied to the upper pedal can be supported with a simple configuration.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product discharging device for a vending machine, wherein the stopper means is formed so as to retreat following the retreating operation of the upper pedal.
As a result, unnecessary contact with the product can be avoided, and the posture of the product can be prevented from being disturbed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product discharging apparatus for a vending machine, wherein the stopper means includes a rotatable roller means at a portion in contact with the upper pedal. Thereby, sliding friction can be reduced when the upper pedal is retracted, and smooth operation can be ensured.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product discharging apparatus for a vending machine, wherein the stopper means comprises: a mounting shaft on which the urging means is mounted; and one end of the urging means mounted on the shaft. And a locking groove for locking. Thereby, the assembling work of the urging means can be facilitated.

[0025]

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 example of the operation of a stopper of a product discharging device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
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 perspective view showing an enlarged main part, and FIG. And FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are explanatory diagrams showing a product holding state by the upper pedal.
FIGS. 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing how to attach the stopper, FIGS. 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing how to attach the stopper when the shaft mounting portion is not provided, and FIGS. 11 to 14 are upper pedals and lower pedals. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation process of the stopper and the stopper. 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 product carrying-out 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 also 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.

The upper pedal stopper mechanism 30 is formed so as to protrude from the opening 1a of the substrate 1 via a spring 31a, and has a stopper 31 for supporting the rear surface of the upper pedal 2 protruding toward the product passage. The stopper 31 is supported by a shaft 32. The connecting member 40 has the elongated hole 41 inserted through the shaft 16 and is connected to the shaft 33.

That is, when the upper pedal 2 retreats,
The arm piece 42 of the connecting member 40 is the arm piece 7 of the carrier 7
The shaft 33 is pulled up by c. A roller 34 is attached to the shaft 33 at the tip of the stopper 31.
The roller 34 reduces sliding friction with the upper pedal 2 (see FIGS. 1 and 6).
reference).

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a mounting shaft 31b for mounting a spring 31a and a locking groove 31c are provided.
Is provided on the stopper 31. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a case where the mounting shaft portion 31b is not provided is also shown. As is apparent from a comparison of these, the former has better assembly workability.

Upper pedal 2, lower pedal 4, and stopper 3
1 is as shown in the order of FIGS. 11 shows the selling standby state, FIG. 12 shows the selling state, FIG. 13 shows the state of the upper pedal 2 at the time of the retreat operation, and FIG. 14 shows the selling standby state.

As described above, the product load applied to the upper pedal 2 can be supported by the stopper 31 and the like having a simple structure, and the roller 34 allows the upper pedal 2 to retreat smoothly, and furthermore, the vending machine can be easily assembled. A device for unloading goods from the machine can be provided.

[0038]

As described above, according to the commodity discharging device for a vending machine according to the present invention (claim 1), it is disposed at the lower end of the commodity passage and forms one inner wall of the commodity passage. A substrate, formed so as to freely protrude from an opening of the substrate,
A lower pedal that supports a product located at the lowermost end; and an upper pedal that is formed to protrude from an opening of the substrate and that supports a product located second from the bottom, wherein the upper pedal is provided with the lower pedal. Prior to the opening operation, when the lower pedal is released from supporting the lowermost product by the lower pedal, the protrusion projects to the position for supporting the second lowermost product. A product discharging device of a vending machine formed so as to be able to protrude from an opening of the substrate via an urging means and to support a back surface of an upper pedal protruding toward the product passage. Therefore, the product load applied to the upper pedal can be supported by a simple configuration.

Further, according to the commodity discharging device for a vending machine according to the present invention (claim 2), the stopper means is formed so as to retreat following the retraction operation of the upper pedal, so that there is no use with the commodity. Contact can be avoided, and the product attitude can be prevented from being disturbed.

Further, according to the commodity discharging device for a vending machine according to the present invention (claim 3), since the stopper means is provided with a rotatable roller means at a portion in contact with the upper pedal, the upper pedal is retracted. Sometimes, sliding friction can be reduced, and smooth operation can be ensured.

In addition, according to the commodity discharging device for a vending machine according to the present invention (claim 4), the stopper means includes a mounting shaft portion on which the urging device is mounted and the urging device mounted on the shaft portion. And a locking groove for locking one end of the urging means, the assembling work of the urging means can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation example of a stopper of a product discharging device 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 perspective view showing an enlarged main part.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a product holding state by an upper pedal.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for assembling a stopper.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a procedure for assembling a stopper.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for assembling a stopper when a shaft mounting portion is not provided.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a procedure for assembling a stopper in a case where a shaft mounting portion is not provided.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation process of an upper pedal, a lower pedal, and a stopper.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation process of an upper pedal, a lower pedal, and a stopper.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation process of an upper pedal, a lower pedal, and a stopper.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation process of an upper pedal, a lower pedal, and a stopper.

FIG. 15 is a rear perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-140853.

FIG. 16 is a front perspective view showing the product unloading device of the vending machine.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a receiving portion of a substrate opening.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory view showing a standby state for selling small-diameter products.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a sale state of small-diameter products.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales state of a large-diameter rectangular product.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 1a Opening 2 Upper pedal 4 Lower pedal 6 Napier screw member 7 Carrier 7c Arm piece G Product 14 Connecting member 16 Shaft 21 Product passage inner wall 25 Motor unit 30 Upper pedal stopper mechanism 31 Stopper 31a Spring 31b Mounting shaft 31c Lock Grooves 32, 33 Shaft 34 Roller 40 Connecting member 41 Slot 42 Arm piece 50 Lower pedal stopper mechanism 60 Position detection switch 70 Sold out switch 76 Actuator

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Katsuhiko Fukuda, 1-1 1-1 Tanabe Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. No. 1 F-term in Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (reference) 3E046 BB03 CA01 CD04 DA01 EA07 EA08 EB02 3F030 AA01 AB01 EB03

Claims (4)

[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 protrude to a position for supporting a second product from the bottom, the product is formed so as to protrude from an opening of the substrate via an urging means, and protrudes toward the product passage. And a stopper means for supporting a rear surface of the upper pedal. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stopper means is formed so as to retreat following an operation of retreating the upper pedal. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said stopper means includes a rotatable roller means at a portion contacting said upper pedal. 4. The stopper means has a mounting shaft for mounting the biasing means and a locking groove for locking one end of the biasing means mounted on the shaft. 1-3
A vending machine product delivery device according to any one of the preceding claims.