JP2002150406A - Device for carry out of article for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect operation start time and operation finish time for an upper pedal (carrier) by a single position-detecting switch, reduce the number of part items, and property allow mass production. SOLUTION: This device is provided with the position-detecting switch 60, moving vertically through the rotation of a napier screw member 6, having an actuator 63 in the vicinity of a stand-by position of the carrier 7 formed to make the upper pedal 2 and a lower pedal 4 openable, and for detecting the operation start time and the operation finish time of the carrier 7, by the presence and absence of abutting of the actuator 63 with the carrier 7. The actuator 63 is turnably journaled to a shaft part 64 which is set upright in a switching unit 62, and is fomed to be held turnably by a locking claw 65, so as to enhance assemlage.

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, in order to detect the open / closed state of the upper pedal 2 at the start of operation, during operation, at the end of operation, etc., it is usually necessary to provide a plurality of switch means for detecting these states. However, there is a problem that the cost is increased. In addition, it has been desired to provide an apparatus configuration that can respond to recent demands for thinner apparatuses and that can also be used for mass production, and it has been difficult to provide position detecting means adapted to this.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is possible to detect the start and end of the operation of the upper pedal (carrier) with one position detection switch, thereby reducing the number of parts. It is another object of the present invention to provide a vending machine product unloading device suitable for mass production.

[0020]

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 vending machine product unloading device formed so as to protrude to a position for supporting a second product from the bottom, a carrier is formed to move up and down by rotation of a napier screw member and to open and close the upper pedal and the lower pedal. An actuator is provided near the position, and a position detection switch is provided for detecting the start and end of the operation of the carrier based on the presence or absence of contact between the actuator and the carrier. Thus, the start and end of the carrier operation can be detected by one position detection switch,
The number of parts can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product discharging device for a vending machine, wherein the position detecting switch is provided on a switch unit disposed on a substrate, and the actuator is a shaft portion provided upright on the switch unit. The switch unit is rotatably supported, and is formed so as to be rotatably held by a locking claw erected on the switch unit. Thus, the actuator can be easily and quickly assembled to the switch unit.

[0022]

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 a perspective view showing a position detection switch 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 perspective view showing a product discharging device. 4 is a rear view showing the product unloading device, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state (a) and an operation concept (b) of the position detection switch during standby for sales, and FIG. 6 is a position detection switch during sales operation. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state (a) and an operation concept (b) of the position detection switch. FIG.
8 and 9 are explanatory diagrams showing an operation state (a) and an operation concept (b) at the end of sales of another position detection switch provided in the development process of the present invention. 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 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.

In the vicinity of the standby position of the carrier 7, a switch unit 62 is provided. The switch unit 62 includes a position detection switch 6 held by a locking claw.
0 is provided. The position detection switch 60 is formed so as to be turned on / off by an actuator 63 that operates when the operation of the carrier 7 starts and ends. That is, the position detection switch 60 is turned on / off depending on whether or not the inclined portion 7g of the carrier 7 is in contact with the actuator 63. The basic operation of the carrier 7 is as described above.

The actuator 63 is rotatably supported by a shaft 64 of the switch unit 62 and is rotatably held by a locking claw 65. Further, a spring 6 which comes into contact with and biases the other end of the actuator 63
6 is supported by the shaft 67.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the start and end of the operation of the carrier 7 can be detected by one position detection switch 60, and the number of parts can be reduced. Further, as shown in the operation conceptual diagram (b) of FIG. 10, the range of switch OFF is wider than that of the position detection by the other position detection switches 60 shown in FIGS. Can be reliably detected even when the overrun occurs due to inertia or the like.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 9 which is usually adopted, the ordinary screw member 105 is used instead of the napier screw member 6, so that two position detection switches 60 are required at the top and bottom. , Motor unit 25
Must be rotated in reverse to switch the carrier 7 up and down. Therefore, the number of parts increases and the control becomes complicated.

[0034]

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. The vending machine has an actuator in the vicinity of a standby position of a carrier formed so as to be able to open and close the upper pedal and the lower pedal by rotating the napier screw member. A position detection switch is provided to detect the start and end of operation of the carrier based on the presence or absence of contact with the carrier. Can detect operation start and operation end of the carrier Te, it is possible to reduce the number of parts.

Further, according to the commodity discharging device for a vending machine according to the present invention (claim 2), the position detection switch is provided in the switch unit disposed on the substrate, and the actuator is provided upright on the switch unit. The switch unit is rotatably supported by the shaft unit and is formed so as to be rotatably held by a locking claw provided upright on the switch unit, so that the actuator can be easily and quickly assembled to the switch unit. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a position detection switch 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 an explanatory diagram showing an operation state (a) and an operation concept (b) of the position detection switch during standby for sales.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state (a) and an operation concept (b) of the position detection switch during a selling operation.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state (a) and an operation concept (b) of the position detection switch at the end of sales.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state (a) and an operation concept (b) at the end of sales of another position detection switch provided in a development process of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state (a) and an operation concept (b) at the end of sales of another position detection switch provided in a development process of the present invention.

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 part 2 Upper pedal 4 Lower pedal 6 Napier screw member 7 Carrier 7g Inclined part G Product 14 Connecting member 16 Shaft 21 Product passage inner wall 25 Motor unit 30 Upper pedal stopper mechanism 50 Lower pedal stopper mechanism 60 Position detection switch 62 Switch unit 63 Actuator 64 Shaft 65 Locking pawl 66 Spring 67 Shaft 70 Sold-out switch 76 Actuator 105 Screw member

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── 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 CA01 DA01 EA09 EB01

Claims (2)

[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 discharging device of a vending machine formed so as to protrude to a position for supporting a second product from the bottom, a standby of a carrier formed so as to move up and down by rotation of a napier screw member to open and close the upper pedal and the lower pedal. A vending machine having an actuator in the vicinity of a position and a position detection switch for detecting the start and end of operation of the carrier based on the presence or absence of contact between the actuator and the carrier. apparatus. 2. A position detecting switch is provided on a switch unit disposed on a substrate, and an actuator is rotatably supported by a shaft provided on the switch unit and is erected on the switch unit. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is configured to be rotatably held by the engaging claw.