JP2002150408A - Serpentine type article storage rack for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To motion-regulate a movable sideplate using a simple operation, while allowing two-line storage for half-sized cans, using both left and right areas of the movable sideplate assembled inside a column of a rack as an article storage space. SOLUTION: The top part of the movable sideplate 4 assembled in a zigzag- like article passage 3, formed between circular arc-shaped segments 2 arrayed vertically, is suspended to a guide rail 7 to be guide-supported movably to the left and right regulation positions; a vertical-directional intermediate part of the movable side plate is linked to a parallel link mechanism 9 arranged in an outside of the article passage to be kept in upright attitude; the link mechanism is constituted of a baseplate 10 attached to a rack sideplate; a movable connecting plate 11 supported to the baseplate to be slidable vertically, and a pair of upper and lower links 12, of which the each one-end is connected to the movable connecting plate; and each support arm 4a, pulled out outside of the passage from the movable sideplate through a clearance g between the segments 2, is connected to the other end of the each link.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a serpentine type product storage rack of a vending machine which sells cans, bottles, plastic bottle products, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Serpentine-type product storage racks for vending machines are well known and meander in the vertical direction formed by arranging a plurality of arc-shaped segments between rack side plates standing upright on the left and right. Canned products and the like are stacked and stored in a product passage (column) in a horizontal position, and the products arranged in the lowest order are carried out in order by the operation of a bend mechanism arranged on the exit end side of the product passage.

Further, in the above-mentioned serpentine-type product storage rack, a movable side plate extending vertically along a meandering product path is used in order to adjust the width of the product path according to the length of the product to be sold. Incorporation is actual opening 60
As is well known in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 65877, most of the serpentine type product storage racks are equipped with movable side plates so that products of various sizes can be sold. Here, in the above-mentioned rack configuration, a parallel link mechanism is assembled across the movable side plate and one of the rack side plates, and the movable side plate is held in the upright posture at each adjustment position by the link mechanism.

On the other hand, recent can products are of various sizes from long size cans having a large capacity to half size cans having a half length. In this regard, in the above-described rack configuration, the width of the product passage can be variably set in accordance with products of various sizes by adjusting the movable side plate. However, since the link mechanism described above is incorporated in the column, the width of the column is reduced to one column. Can store only one row of products. In particular, when selling half-size cans, since goods are stored using half the area of the product passage, the remaining half area is dead space and cannot be used for storing goods.

[0005] Therefore, the columns of the product storage rack are configured according to the length of the long-size cans, and when selling half-size cans, the products can be stored and sold in two columns in the columns of the product storage rack. Such a configuration has been previously proposed by the same applicant as the present invention as Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-55273. In this configuration, the link mechanism mechanism described above is eliminated so that products can be stored in both the left and right regions of the movable side plate, and the movable side plate has upper and lower ends at the top tray of a product storage rack and a case of a bend mechanism. The left and right multi-stage adjustment grooves are selected to engage with this position, and the bend mechanism is equipped with two sets of left and right stopper mechanisms, and a single-row sales mode in which long-sized cans and the like are stored in a single row In the two-row sales mode in which two sets of stopper mechanisms are operated synchronously and half-size cans are stored in two rows, the stopper mechanism of the bend mechanism is individually operated to control the product discharge.

[0006]

In the serpentine-type product storage rack proposed above, especially when selling half-size cans, the number of products stored in one column can be doubled to increase the product storage efficiency of the rack. On the other hand, the upper and lower ends of the movable side plate are engaged with the adjustment grooves formed on the rack side and positioned without using the link mechanism. For this reason, it is necessary to position the movable side plate at two positions at the upper end and the lower end for the adjusting operation of the movable side plate. In particular, for adjusting the lower end side, insert the hand from the lower side of the rack and almost settle on the movable side plate in the setting position. Needs to be changed, and the operability is extremely poor. In addition, if the set positions of the upper end and the lower end are shifted due to an operation error, the posture of the movable side plate is tilted, which may cause a transport trouble such as a product clogging in the product path.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide two rows of half-size cans using both left and right regions of a movable side plate incorporated in a product passage of a column as product storage spaces. An object of the present invention is to provide a serpentine-type product storage rack of a vending machine improved so that storage can be performed, the movable side plate can be moved and adjusted by a simple operation, and can be stably supported in an upright posture.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a plurality of arc-shaped segments are arranged between rack side plates that are vertically opposed to each other and meander in the vertical direction. A vending machine that forms a product passage, arranges a movable side plate along the meandering product passage, and adjusts the width of the passage between the movable side plate and the rack side plate according to the length of the product for sale. In the serpentine-type product storage rack, the top of the movable side plate is suspended and supported so as to be movable to respective left and right adjustment positions by being suspended on a rail member bridged between the rack side plates, and the upper and lower middle portions of the movable side plate are The product is held in an upright posture by being linked to a parallel link mechanism installed outside the product passage (claim 1).
Specifically, the parallel link mechanism includes a base plate attached to a side plate of the rack, a movable connecting plate supported to be slidable up and down on the base plate, and a pair of upper and lower links having one end connected to the movable connecting plate. Then, the support arm drawn out of the passage from the movable side plate through the gap between the segments arranged vertically at the other end of the link is connected (claim 2).

In the above arrangement, when the top of the movable side plate is moved to the selected adjustment position along the guide rail member, the parallel link mechanism follows the operation and the movable side plate moves while maintaining the upright posture. It is kept in the new adjustment position. Moreover, since the parallel link mechanism is arranged outside the product passage and connected to the movable side plate via the connection arm passing through the gap between the vertically arranged segments, without being disturbed by the parallel link mechanism. The left and right areas of the movable side plate can be used as product storage space, and half-size cans can be stored and sold in two rows.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. In the figure, 1 is a rack side plate standing upright facing the left and right, 2 is an arcuate segment arranged between the rack side plates 1 arranged in the vertical direction, 3 is a meander formed between the front and rear segment rows. Reference numeral 4 denotes a movable side plate extending vertically along the product passage 3, 5 denotes a bend mechanism, and 6 denotes an outlet passage width adjuster opposed to the bend mechanism 5 with the product outlet passage interposed therebetween. .

The movable side plate 4 is supported by a guide rail (through pin) 7 whose upper end is bridged between the rack side plates 1 so as to be movable in the left-right direction.
Further, an adjusting plate 8 is laid on the upper end side of the product passage 3 and the upper end corner of the movable side plate 4 is engaged with a plurality of left and right positioning adjusting grooves 8a formed on the plate surface to be locked at the selected adjusting position. I am trying to do it.

A parallel link mechanism 9 is provided outside the product passage 3. The link mechanism 9 includes a vertically long base plate 10 fixed to the rack side plate 1, and a long groove 10a of the base plate 10.
Movable connecting plate 11 slidably guided along
And a pair of upper and lower parallel links 12 having one end connected to the movable connection plate 11. On the other hand, the movable side plate 4 is provided with a pair of upper and lower connecting arms 4a which are drawn forward from the upper and lower intermediate portions through the gap g between the segments 2 arranged vertically.
The connecting arm 4a and the above-mentioned parallel link 12 are connected to each other by pin connection.

When the movable side plate 4 is moved and adjusted from the position shown in the figure to the left side in this configuration, a hand is inserted through a product insertion opening opened at the upper front of the rack to slightly lift the top of the movable side plate 4 and move the movable side plate 4. After disengaging the side plate 4 from the positioning adjustment groove 8a of the adjustment plate 8, the movable plate is moved along the guide rail 7 to a new adjustment position, and the movable side plate 4 is lowered at this position to adjust the adjustment groove of the adjustment plate 8. 8a. In this case, the parallel link mechanism 9 follows the movement of the movable side plate 4 and holds the movable side plate 4 connected to the link 12 in an upright posture. In the case where the movable side plate 4 is moved and adjusted by the columns arranged in the front row of the product storage rack as shown in the illustrated example, the connecting arm exposed on the front of the rack can be operated without inserting a hand from the product input port. 4a with the movable side plate 4
The movement can be adjusted.

The dimension L shown in FIG. 1 is the entire width of the product passage 3 defined inside the rack, and L1 and L2 are the widths of the product passages formed on the left and right sides of the movable side plate 4 as a partition. In the case of selling long size cans, the movable side plate 4 is moved to the left side and the products are stored in the right passage. When a half-size can is sold, the movable side plate 4 is positioned at the center and the width of the left and right passages is L.
After setting such that 1 = L2, the goods are divided into two rows on the left and right sides and loaded into each passage.

[0015]

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, the top of the movable side plate incorporated in the meandering product passage of the serpentine type product storage rack is suspended on the rail member bridged between the rack side plates. The movable side plate is suspended so as to be movable to each of the right and left adjustment positions, and the upper and lower middle portions of the movable side plate are connected to a parallel link mechanism installed outside the product passage so as to be held in an upright posture. A base plate attached to the rack side plate, a movable connection plate supported vertically slidably on the base plate, and a pair of upper and lower links having one end connected to the movable connection plate, and the other end of the link
By connecting and supporting the support arm drawn out of the passage from the movable side plate through the gap between the vertically arranged segments, the left and right areas of the movable side plate can be used as a product storage space without being disturbed by the link mechanism. Size cans can be stored and sold in two rows on the left and right, and when adjusting the width of the product passage, the movement can be adjusted while maintaining the upright posture of the movable side plate by operating from one place.
It is possible to provide a serpentine-type product storage rack exhibiting an excellent effect of adjusting operability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration perspective view of a serpentine type product storage rack according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an operation mechanism in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rack side plate 2 Segment 3 Commodity passage 4 Movable side plate 4a Connecting arm 9 Link mechanism 10 Base plate 11 Movable connecting plate 12 Link

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of arc-shaped segments are arranged between rack side plates standing upright on the left and right sides to form a merchandise passage meandering in a vertical direction, and extend in a vertical direction along the merchandise passage. A movable side plate to be arranged, and a width of a product passage partitioned between the movable side plate and the rack side plate is adjusted according to a length size of a sold product. A parallel link mechanism in which the top of the side plate is suspended and supported so as to be movable to respective left and right adjustment positions by suspending it on a rail member bridged between the rack side plates, and the upper and lower middle portions of the movable side plate are set outside the product passage. A serpentine-type product storage rack for a vending machine, characterized in that the rack is held in an upright position by connecting to a vending machine. 2. The product storage rack according to claim 1,
The parallel link mechanism comprises a base plate attached to the rack side plate, a movable connecting plate supported slidably up and down on the base plate, and a pair of upper and lower links having one end connected to the movable connecting plate, and the other end of the link A serpentine-type product storage rack for a vending machine, wherein a support arm drawn out of a passage from a movable side plate through a gap between vertically arranged segments is connected.