JP2002150407A - Device for carry out of article for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent positional shift to article passage side, while securing proper attachability to a rack. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a base plate 1, arranged in a lower end part of an article passage to form one inner wall of the article passage, a lower pedal 4 formed projectable from an opening part 1a of the bas plate 1 to support an article positioned in the lowermost end, an upper pedal 2 formed freely projectably from the opening part 1a, to support the second article in the second position from the bottom, a locking claw 1t which is formed bent so as to incline one portion of the base plate 1 downward in order to sandwich a pin 123 laid inside the article passage, and an elastically deformable holder 120 provided in the base plate 1.

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. 9 is a rear perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-140853, FIG. 10 is a front perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine,
FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a receiving portion of the substrate opening, and FIG.
Is an explanatory diagram showing a standby state for selling small-diameter products, and FIG.
FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales state of a small-diameter product, and FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales 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. 12). 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. 13). .

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. 13, 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 is opened,
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]

In the case of disposing the commodity carrying device constructed as described above on a rack, a pin installed on the rack is provided with a locking claw (see FIG. ) And a holder (not shown) as an elastic member, thereby fixing the lower end of the substrate 1. However, it is difficult to obtain the accuracy of the perpendicularity of the locking claw from the viewpoint of processing. If the device is to be arranged on a rack with the accuracy not obtained, the device may be moved toward the product passage due to vibration or the like. There is a problem that the product comes out and presses the product, which is likely to cause the product to be clogged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a product unloading device of a vending machine which can prevent a positional shift to a product passage side while ensuring good mountability to a rack. The purpose is to:

[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 so as to protrude from the opening and supports a product located second from the bottom, and a part of the substrate is inclined downward so as to clamp a pin provided in the product passage. A bent claw and an elastically deformable holder provided on the substrate are provided.
Thereby, the processing accuracy of the locking claw as in the related art is not required, and it is possible to prevent the displacement of the locking claw toward the product passage while securing the good mounting property to the rack.

[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 enlarged sectional view showing a main part of a merchandise unloading device of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
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, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a state in which two commodity carrying-out devices are tied together and arranged on a rack, and FIG.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the product unloading device shown in FIG.
It is a bottom view which shows the goods carrying-out apparatus shown in FIG. 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.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5, a locking claw 1t is formed by bending a part of the substrate 1 so as to be inclined downward so as to clamp the pin 123. And an elastically deformable holder 120 provided on the substrate 1. The holder 120 includes the locking portion 12.
0a, 120b are formed, and the locking holes 1u,
1v is fitted and locked.

With such a configuration, even when the accuracy of the inclination angle is not high, a substantially constant holding force can be obtained by the elastic force of the holders 120 arranged opposite to each other.
Therefore, the processing accuracy of the right-angled locking claw as in the related art is not required, and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the position on the inner side of the product passage inner wall 21 while ensuring good attachment to the rack is ensured. Displacement can be prevented. FIGS. 6 to 8 show an example in which two product unloading devices are tied and arranged, and in this case, the same effect is obtained. The upper part of the substrate 1
Are fixed by well-known conventional means.

Note that the locking claw 1t shown in the above-described embodiment can be arranged so as to be pinched along with a resiliently deformable holder with respect to a pin member erected on a rack. The present invention is not limited to the illustrated product discharging device, and may be applied to another product discharging device.

[0032]

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, A locking claw formed by bending a part of the substrate so as to be inclined downward to hold a pin provided in the product passage; and an elastically deformable holder provided on the substrate. Therefore, the processing accuracy of the locking claw as in the related art is not required, and it is possible to prevent the positional shift to the product passage side while ensuring good mountability to the rack.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part of a product unloading device of a vending machine 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 a state in which one product unloading device is arranged on a rack.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which two commodity carrying-out devices are tied together and arranged on a rack.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the product unloading device shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a bottom view showing the product unloading device shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine according to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-140853.

FIG. 10 is a front perspective view showing a product unloading device of a vending machine.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a receiving portion of a substrate opening.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a standby state for selling small-diameter products.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales state of small-diameter products.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a sales state of a large-diameter rectangular product.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 1a Opening 1t Locking claw 1u, 1v Locking hole 2 Upper pedal 4 Lower pedal 6 Napier screw member 7 Carrier G Product 14 Connecting member 16 Shaft 21 Product passage inner wall 25 Motor unit 30 Upper pedal stopper mechanism 50 Lower pedal stopper Mechanical unit 60 Position detection switch 70 Sold out switch 76 Actuator 120 Holder 120a, 120b Locking unit 122, 123 pin

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── 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 F term in Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (reference) 3E046 BA03 BB03 BB04 CA01 DA01 EA08 EA20 EB01 GA01 3F030 AA01 AB01 CA02 CB03 CC02 EA02 EB03

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 to protrude from an opening of the substrate and supporting a product located second from the bottom, and a part of the substrate being held downward to clamp a pin provided in the product passage. An engaging device for a vending machine, comprising: a locking claw that is bent so as to be inclined; and an elastically deformable holder provided on the substrate.