JP2002222462A - Cup capping device of automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely adhere a cap paid out of a cap storage box to the top surface of a drink containing cup at a stable attitude in a cup conveyance route. SOLUTION: A shutter type cap supply guide 12 is arranged at a capping point in the cup conveyance route above a cup conveyance path and after a cap 9 paid out of the cap storage box 10 through a cap shooter 11 as a drink is vended is received and temporarily held, a cap supply guide is opened to mount the cup on a cup carrying mechanism 5 and then fall the cap on the drink containing cup carried to the capping point and adhere it; and the cap supply guide comprises a shutter plate 12a divided into segments 12a-1 and 12a-2 and a rack and pinion type opening/closing mechanism 12c which synchronizes with the segments and moves to the opening/closing position and a cone-shaped cap reception part 12d is formed on the top surface of the shutter plate over the left and right segments.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is applied to a cup-type vending machine which sells various beverages such as syrup beverages and coffee prepared in the machine in a cup, and provides the customer with a cap over the beverage-containing cup. Cup capping device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a cup-type vending machine described above, a cup supply mechanism, a raw material canister for various beverages, hot water /
Equipped with a cold water tank, an ice machine, and a cup transport mechanism (rectangular coordinate type). When the cup dispensed from the cup supply mechanism during beverage sales is mounted on the cup transport mechanism and transported inside the machine, the raw material, hot water / 2. Description of the Related Art There is known a cup mixing system in which cold water is sequentially charged and stirred to cook a beverage, and then a beverage-containing cup is delivered to a product outlet.

On the other hand, for such a cup-type beverage vending machine, in order to prevent the user from spilling the beverage when carrying the beverage-containing cup taken out of the product outlet, the cap storage inside the machine is used. A cup capping device in which a dish-shaped cap (lid) is stored in the storage, and the cap dispensed from the cap storage according to the selling operation is attached to the upper surface of the beverage cup on the cup transport route. Is being developed. In addition, the capping method is such that the cap dispensed from the cup storage is directly dropped onto the cup to be adhered, or the cap dispensed from the cap storage is supplied to the upper surface of the cup using the guide rail, and the cap is supplied. There is a known method of putting on.

Next, an outline of a cup-type vending machine in which the above-mentioned cup capping device is combined will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
In (a) and (b), 1 is a cup supply mechanism, 2 is a raw material canister, 3 is a hot water tank, 4 is a beverage cooking section having stirring blades, 5 is a cup transport mechanism, 6 is a product outlet, A cup capping device 7 combined with a cap storage is provided on a cup transport route between the cooking section 4 and the product outlet 6.

[0005] In the above configuration, the cup 8 dispensed from the cup supply mechanism 1 at the time of selling a beverage is held by the cup transport mechanism 5 waiting at the station I, and then is transferred from the raw material canister 2 at the station II on the cup transport route. Ingredients are supplied to the cup 8, hot water is supplied in the following station III, and the ingredients in the cup are stirred by the stirring blades provided in the cooking unit 4 to cook the beverage. After the cap discharged from the cap storage, which will be described later, is attached to the upper surface of the beverage cup 8 at the capping station IV set on the route for transporting the beverage, the beverage cup is bent at the station V at the product outlet 6. Send to stage. FIG. 4C shows a state in which the cap 9 is attached to the cup 8 containing the beverage.

Here, the cup transport mechanism 5 is shown in FIG.
As shown by X, the X-axis portion 5a, the Y-axis portion 5b moving in the left-right direction along the X-axis portion 5a, the hand portion 5c moving in the front-rear direction along the Y-axis portion 5b, and the hand portion 5c Cup elevating cup holder 5d, openable / closable cup hand 5e, and Z-axis part 5f for elevating and lowering cup receiver 5d
The cup receiving table 5d is moved along a predetermined cup conveyance path by drive control of the stepping motors of the respective shafts based on the beverage sales command.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the structure of the above-mentioned cap storage. That is, the cap storage case 10 includes a cap storage tube 10a defining a plurality of columns for collectively stacking and storing a large number of caps 9 in a tube, and a cap drop ring provided on the lower surface side of the cap storage tube 10a. 10b, the cap 9 is cut out one by one by the operation of the cap drop ring 10b based on the cap dispensing instruction, and the cap 9 is dropped and carried out.

[0008]

However, the above-mentioned conventional capping apparatus has the following problems to be solved in practical use. (1) In the method in which the cap 9 discharged from the cup storage 10 is directly dropped on the cup, the cap 9 is dropped due to the drop between the cap drop ring 10b and the cup 9.
Is often disturbed in the falling posture, so that it often does not ride well on the upper surface of the cup 9, and the stability of the capping operation is lacking. In addition, when a plurality of cap storages are provided according to different cup sizes, in this method, it is necessary to set a cap supply point separately for each cap storage.

(2) In the method in which the dispensing cap 9 is directly dropped from the cup storage 10 along the guide rail onto the upper surface of the cup, the cap is disturbed in the course of sliding down on the rail and the capping operation is unstable. In addition, extra time (loss time) is added to the rail transport of the cap to discharge the cap from the cap storage after the arrival of the beverage cup, and until the beverage cup is sent to the product outlet. There is also a problem that the required sales operation time becomes long.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and ensures that a cap dispensed from a cap storage in the machine is stably adhered to a top surface of a drink cup in a stable posture without loss time on a cup transport route. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cup capping device for a cup-type vending machine which has been improved as possible.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a cup feeding mechanism, a raw material feeding section, a cooking section, and a cup conveying mechanism are provided in a machine, and a cup communicating with a product outlet. In a cup capping device of a cup-type vending machine in which a cap dispensed from a cap storage at a capping point determined on a transport route is supplied and applied to the upper surface of a cup containing beverage, the capping device is used for cup storage. A cap shooter that sends the cap dispensed from the warehouse to the capping point, and a shutter-type cap supply guide connected to the cap shooter and installed above the cup conveyance path,
After receiving the cap sent from the cap storage via the cap shooter in accordance with the beverage selling operation and temporarily holding it, open the cap supply guide as the beverage selling operation progresses and mount it on the cup transport mechanism and cap it. It is to be dropped onto the beverage-containing cup conveyed to the point without any waiting time and to be adhered (claim 1), and is specifically configured in the following manner.

(1) The cap supply guide comprises a shutter plate divided into two right and left segments, and a shutter plate opening / closing mechanism for moving the segments to open / close positions in synchronization with each other. A mortar-shaped cap receiving portion is formed across the left and right segments (claim 2), so that the cap discharged from the cap storage via the shooter can be stably caught at a fixed position on the shutter plate.

(2) Vibration means for correcting the receiving position of the cap by applying vibration to the shutter plate is provided (claim 3), and the disturbance of the position of the cap received by the shutter plate is corrected during temporary storage. So that it can be stably attached to the upper surface of the cup.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In the drawings of the embodiment, members corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. That is, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the cap shooter 11 is laid below the cap storage 10 and is linked to the cap shooter 11 so as to be set on the way of the cup transport route in the machine. A shutter-type cap supply guide 12 for temporarily holding the cap is disposed at the position of the capping station IV (see FIG. 4B).
After the cap supply guide 12 receives the cap 9 discharged from the cap storage 10 and temporarily stores it therein, the cup supply guide 12 is opened after the arrival of the beverage containing cup, and the cap 9 is placed on the upper surface of the beverage containing cup 8. They are dropped and attached.

Here, the cap supply guide 12 includes a shutter plate 12a having a two-part structure, a guide rail 12b,
The shutter plate 12 is composed of an assembly with a shutter plate opening / closing mechanism 12c. The shutter plate 12 has a pair of segments 12a-1,
Each segment is guided and supported so as to be slidable in the opening and closing direction along the guide rail 12b. The opening / closing mechanism 12c is mounted on each of the segments 12a-1 and 12a-2 and arranged in parallel with each other.
c-1 and the pinion 12 meshing with the two racks 12c-1
c-2 and a drive motor 12c-3, and the drive motor 1
By rotating and rotating 2c-3 forward and backward, the segments 12a-1 and 12a-2 slide in synchronization with each other in opposite directions via a rack / pinion to open and close the shutter plate 12a. A mortar-shaped cap receiving portion (concave portion) having a two-stage structure in which the bottom is cut off in an arc shape as shown in the figure at the center of the upper surface of the shutter plate 12a over the left and right segments 12a-1 and 12a-2. 12d are formed. This cap receiving portion 12d has a steep slope at the first stage on the outer peripheral side,
The second step on the inner peripheral side has a gentle slope. The first step slope catches the cap 9 that has slipped down from the cap shooter 11 and slides the second step slope when the shutter plate 12a is opened. The outline of the cap 9 is guided by the arc-shaped inner peripheral edge and dropped directly below.

Next, the operation of the capping device having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (d). First, in the sales standby state, the shutter plate 12a of the cap supply guide 12 is held in a closed state. Here, when a beverage is sold by the cup-type vending machine, the selling operation described in FIG. 4 is performed, and the cap drop ring of the cap storage 10 shown in FIG. 1
0b is operated to pay out the caps 9 one by one. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2A, the cap 9 slides on the inclined surface of the cap shooter 11 and falls into the cap receiving portion 12d (see FIG. 1B) of the shutter plate 12, as indicated by a chain line. The state is accepted and held and temporarily held here.

Next, a cup 8 containing beverages cooked inside the machine.
As shown in FIG. 2 (b), when the robot reaches the capping point on the cap transporting route on the cup transporting mechanism 5, the cup transporting mechanism is temporarily stopped at this position, and the shutter plate 12a which has been closed until now is stopped. Segment 12a-1,1
The shutter is opened by retracting 2a-2 left and right. As a result, the cap 9 held between the left and right segments is dropped as shown in FIG. 2C and lands on the upper surface of the beverage containing cup 8 located below the standby position.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG.
is closed, the cup hand 5e of the cup transport mechanism 5 is opened, and the cup receiver 5d is raised from the reference position to push the cap 9 landing on the upper surface of the cup 8 against the back surface of the shutter plate 12a. Press the upper edge of the cup and attach it. Then, after lowering the cup holder 5d of the cup transport mechanism to return the cup 8 to the original reference position, the cup hand 5e is closed and the cup 8 is clamped from the left and right. The product is restarted, conveyed to the product outlet shown in FIG. 4, and a series of selling operations is completed.

Even when there are two cap storages 10 storing caps of different sizes, the cap storages 10 are arranged side by side above the cap shooter 11 as shown in FIG. Shooter 11
Can be transferred as a common shooter to the cap supply guide 12 from the respective cap storage boxes.

Next, an embodiment according to claim 3 of the present invention will be described. That is, the cap shooter 1 shown in FIG.
When the cap 9 is not correctly received at the center of the cap receiving portion of the shutter plate 12 due to the disturbance of the posture when the cap 9 is transferred to the shutter plate 12 from 1, the cap 9 is moved to the cup 8 in the subsequent operation of FIG. May not land well on top of the cup when dropped on it.

Therefore, as a measure for preventing such a capping trouble, a vibration motor 13 is added as a vibrating means to the shutter plate 12a, and the vibration motor 13 is started while the cap 9 is temporarily suspended to start the shutter plate 12a. 12a
Vibration. As a result, the cap 9 moves to the center of the cap receiving portion 12d (see FIG. 1 (b)), and is corrected to a stable horizontal posture.

Further, as an application example of the vibrating means,
Instead of installing the vibration motor 13, a spring 14 is attached to the shutter plate 12a as shown in FIG.
By flicking at a, vibration can be given to the shutter plate 12a. Thus, the cap 9 whose receiving posture from the cap shooter 11 is inclined as shown by the solid line in the drawing.
Moves to the center of the cap receiving portion 12d as indicated by a chain line, and the receiving posture is corrected.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, a cap shooter for sending a cap dispensed from a cup storage to the capping point and a shutter connected to the cap shooter and installed above a cup conveying path. It has a cap supply guide of the formula, receives the cap sent from the cap storage via the cap shooter according to the beverage sales operation, temporarily holds it, opens the cap supply guide, mounts it on the cup transport mechanism, and places it at the capping point Is dropped onto the beverage-containing cup transported to the beverage-containing cup, and the cap can be securely deposited on the upper surface of the beverage-containing cup in a stable posture without a loss of sales time.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, wherein a vibrating means is added to the shutter plate of the cap supply guide.
The posture of the cap received by the shutter plate via the cap shooter can be corrected to perform a more stable capping operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a capping device according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a configuration layout diagram, and (b) is a detailed configuration diagram of a cap supply guide in FIG.

FIGS. 2A to 2D are explanatory views of a capping step of attaching a cap to a cup, and FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an application example of the shutter plate vibrating means according to the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of a cup-type vending machine equipped with a cup capping device, wherein FIG. 4A is a front view, FIG. 4B is a plan view, and FIG.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a cup transport mechanism provided in the cup-type vending machine of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a cap storage mounted on the cup-type vending machine of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cup supply mechanism 2 Raw material canister 3 Hot water tank 4 Beverage cooking part 5 Cup transport mechanism 5d Cup cradle 5e Cup hand 6 Product outlet 7 Capping device 8 Cup 9 Cap 10 Cap storage 11 Cap shooter 12 Cup supply guide 12a Shutter plate 12a-1, 12a-2 segment 12c Opening / closing mechanism of shutter plate 13 Vibration motor (vibration means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cap supply mechanism, a raw material supply section, a cooking section, and a cup transport mechanism are provided in a machine, and a cap dispensed from a cap storage at a capping point defined on a cup transport route leading to a product outlet is provided. A cup capping device for a cup-type vending machine adapted to be supplied and adhered to an upper surface of a containing cup, wherein the cap shooter sends a cap dispensed from a cup storage to the capping point, and is connected to the cap shooter. A shutter-type cap supply guide installed above the cup transport path is provided, and the cap supplied from the cap storage via the cap shooter is received and temporarily stored according to the beverage selling operation, and then the cap supply guide is opened and the cup is opened. On the cup with the beverage that is mounted on the transport mechanism and transported to the capping point And then crowded in cup capping apparatus of the cup type automatic vending machine being characterized in that so as to deposit. 2. The cup capping device according to claim 1, wherein the cap supply guide comprises a shutter plate divided into two left and right segments, and a shutter plate opening / closing mechanism for operating the segments to open / close positions in synchronization. Become
A cup capping device for a cup-type vending machine, wherein a mortar-shaped cap receiving portion is formed over the left and right segments on the upper surface of the shutter plate. 3. A cup capping apparatus for a cup-type vending machine according to claim 2, wherein said shutter plate is provided with vibration means for correcting vibration of said cap by applying vibration to said shutter plate. .