JP2002319062A - Commodity delivery device for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity delivery device for an automatic vending machine capable of accurately and smoothly delivering a commodity with a small sized driving source having a small driving capacity by reducing a load applied to the driving source. SOLUTION: When vending the commodity, first locking bodies 14a and 15a are driven and pulled down by a solenoid 21 and thereby a cylindrical commodity a1 at the lowest position is delivered downward. At the same time, second locking bodies 14b and 15b are protruded and thereby the cylindrical commodity a1 on the next from the lowest position is locked. Then, the first locking bodies 14a and 15a are protruded and the second locking bodies 14b and 15b are pulled down. The cylindrical commodity a1 at the next from the lowest position is locked by the first locking bodies 14a and 15a so that the cylindrical commodity a1 is kept in a vending waiting condition. When the solenoid 21 is started in order to start the vending operation, the first locking bodies 14a and 15a are operated first by the solenoid 21 and the second locking bodies 14b and 15b are operated after the operation of the first locking bodies 14a and 15a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a merchandise discharging device for a vending machine which sequentially discharges cylindrical products such as cans, bottles and plastic bottles containing beverages such as juice and coffee one by one.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vending machine which sells cylindrical products such as cans, bottles, plastic bottles, etc., for example, serpentine columns are arranged in front and rear and left and right as a product storage device in a cabinet. Are stacked and stored.

[0003] A product discharging device is provided at the lower part of each column, and these product discharging devices discharge the cylindrical products in each column one by one from the lowest one.

[0004] The product discharge device locks the discharge passage through which the cylindrical product introduced from the column passes, and the tubular product introduced into the discharge passage, and releases the lock in response to a predetermined signal. And a product discharging mechanism for dropping and discharging the cylindrical product downward.

[0005] The types of products sold by vending machines are usually changed in accordance with the season, sales, and the like, and the cross-sectional outer dimensions of the cylindrical products are variously changed in accordance with the change. In view of this, the present applicant has proposed a product discharging device that can handle cylindrical products having various cross-sectional dimensions with one model, and has already filed a patent application as Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-275374.

[0006] This product discharging device is shown in FIGS. 7 (A) and 7 (B).
As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of guide plates 40 are provided which face each other and the interval between the guide plates 40 serves as a discharge passage for the cylindrical product. Locking bodies 41 and 42 for locking the first and second products which alternately protrude and retract are provided.

A solenoid 43 as a drive source is provided on the back surface of one of the guide plates 40, and a pair of lower locking members disposed between the one guide plate 40 and the other guide plate 40 is provided. An interlocking mechanism 44 for interlocking the bodies 41 with each other and an interlocking mechanism 45 for interlocking the pair of locking members 42 disposed above are provided.

At the time of waiting for the sale of the cylindrical product, as shown in FIG. 7A, a pair of lower locking members 41 project into the discharge passage on the front surface side of the guide plate 40 and close to each other.
Also, the upper pair of locking members 42 are immersed in the back side of the guide plate 40 and are open from each other. Then, the lowermost tubular product a introduced into the discharge passage is supported by a pair of locking members 41 that are closed to each other, and the subsequent tubular product a is sequentially over the lowermost tubular product a. Stack up and wait for sale.

When the solenoid 43 is excited by a predetermined signal from this state, the first and second locking members 41, 4 of one guide plate 40 are actuated by the solenoid 43.
2 are driven simultaneously. And, by this driving, FIG.
As shown in (B), the second locking member 42 of one of the guide plates 40 rotates about the support shaft 42a as a fulcrum and protrudes toward the surface of the guide plate 40. The second locking body 42 of the guide plate 40 also rotates about the support shaft 42a as a fulcrum to rotate the guide plate 40
The first locking body 41 of one of the guide plates 40 rotates about the support shaft 41a to sink into the back side of the guide plate 40, and interlocks with this to guide the other guide. The first locking member 41 of the plate 40 also rotates about the support shaft 41a as a fulcrum to rotate the guide plate 4
0 immersed in the back side.

In accordance with the immersion operation of the first locking body 41, the lowermost cylindrical product a in the discharge passage moves under its own weight, and the lowermost cylindrical product a on the lowermost layer. a
Are locked by the second locking body 42.

After the lowermost tubular article a has passed through the portion where the first locking member 41 is disposed and is discharged therebelow by the immersion operation of the first locking member 41, the first locking is performed. The body 41 rotates in the opposite direction about the support shaft 41a and projects toward the surface of the guide plate 40, and the second locking member 42
It pivots in the opposite direction about 2 a as a fulcrum, and sinks into the back side of the guide plate 40.

By the immersion operation of the second locking member 42, the tubular article a locked by the second locking member 42 moves downward by its own weight, and the guide plate 40
Is received and locked by the first locking body 42 protruding toward the front surface side.

As described above, the first and second locking members 41 and 42 are controlled so as to alternately protrude and retract by the solenoid 43, whereby the cylindrical articles a in the discharge passage are sequentially arranged from the lowest one. It is discharged downward one by one.

In such a product discharging apparatus, it is possible to cope with various different cross-sectional outer dimensions of the cylindrical product a within a certain range.

[0015]

However, in the above-mentioned commodity discharging apparatus, the first and second locking members 41 and 42 are simultaneously driven by the solenoid 43 as a driving source. The load becomes quite large,
Therefore, a solenoid 43 having a large driving capacity is required,
This is disadvantageous in terms of downsizing and economy, and the load becomes too large, and the smoothness of operation is impaired, and a discharge error of the tubular article a is likely to occur.

Further, simultaneously with the operation of rotating the first locking member 41 downward, the second locking member 42
When the outer shape of the cylindrical product a is somewhat large, the second locking member 42 is moved before the lowermost cylindrical product a moves downward. Hits the lowermost cylindrical product a, and its movement is regulated. This causes the smoothness of operation to be impaired, and the cylindrical product a
There is a risk of causing a discharge error.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the load applied to the drive source and to use a small and small drive capacity drive source accurately and smoothly. An object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine product discharge device capable of sequentially discharging products.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a pair of guide plates which oppose each other and define a discharge passage for a cylindrical article introduced from a column between the opposing guide plates. At least one of the first and second guide plates alternately protrudes and retracts toward the discharge passage.
And a locking member for locking the second product is provided, and the lowermost cylindrical product in the discharge passage is locked by the first locking member protruding into the discharge passage when the product is on standby for sale, At the time of selling the product, the first and second locking members are driven by the drive source, and the first locking member is immersed, whereby the lowermost cylindrical product is discharged downward and the second engagement member is released. When the stop body protrudes, the next layer of cylindrical goods on the lowermost part is
Then, the first locking body protrudes, and the second locking body is immersed, so that the cylindrical product of the next layer is detached from the second locking body and is locked. In the merchandise discharge device of a vending machine that is locked by the first locking member and is in a standby state for sale, when the drive source is activated to start the selling operation, the first locking member is first moved by the driving source. And the second locking member is operated after the operation of the first locking member.

In particular, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the speed of the second locking body is low at the beginning of its operation, and thereafter the second locking body is operated so as to rapidly increase its speed. .

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a serpentine column 1 as a product storage device and a product discharge device 2 for sequentially discharging cylindrical products a stacked and stored in the column 1 one by one.

The commodity discharging device 2 includes a pair of guide plates 3 and 4 provided at the lower part of the column 1 so as to be opposed to each other. A cylindrical commodity passes between the opposed guide plates 3 and 4. The discharge passage 5 is formed.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the main part of the product discharging device 2. On the back side of each of the guide plates 3, 4, vertically long side plates 7, 8 are provided. A pair of support shafts 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b are rotatably supported.

The support shafts 9a, 9b and 10a, 10
b are vertically separated from each other and guide plates 3 and 4
Are arranged so as to extend in parallel along the width direction.
And at the end of each support shaft 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b,
The sector gears 12 constituting the interlocking mechanism are respectively attached, and the sector gear 12 and the spindle 10 attached to the spindle 9a are attached.
a meshes with the sector gear 12 attached to the support shaft 9b, and the sector gear 12 and the support shaft 10b attached to the support shaft 9b.
And the sector gear 12 attached to the other meshes with each other, whereby the rotational power of one of the support shafts 9a disposed on the lower side is transmitted to the other support shaft 10a, and the one of the support shafts 9b disposed on the upper side.
Is transmitted to the other support shaft 10b.

A first locking member 14a, 15a is attached to the lower support shaft 9a, 10a so as to face each other, and a second locking member 14b, 15b is mounted on the upper support shaft 9b, 10b. Mounted facing each other.

These locking members 14a, 15a, 14b, 1
5b is rotated about its supporting shafts 9a, 10a, 9b, 10b as fulcrums, so that the guide plates 3, 4 are formed through the openings 3a, 4a formed in the guide plates 3, 4.
, That is, projecting and retracting with respect to the discharge passage 5.

The side plate 7 provided on the back side of one guide plate 3 is longer than the side plate 8 provided on the back side of the other guide plate 4 in the vertical direction.
Upper and lower guide holes 17 and 18 are formed in the lower and upper portions of the side plate 7, respectively. A first cam pin 19 is inserted into the lower guide hole 17, and a second cam pin is inserted into the upper guide hole 18. 20 has been inserted.

A solenoid 22 as a driving source and an operation plate 23 driven by the solenoid 22 to reciprocate up and down are provided on the back side of the one guide plate 3. The first cam pin 19 is attached to the lower part of the operation plate 23, and the second cam pin 2 is attached to the upper part.
The cam pins 19 and 20 move up and down integrally with the operation plate 3.

The first guide plate 3
Of the locking member 14a, the first and second
The cam projection 25 having the cam portions 25a and 25b is integrally formed so as to protrude. The first cam portion 25a is disposed at the back of the distal end side of the locking body 14a away from the support shaft 9a, and the second cam portion 25b falls from the first cam portion 25a to the surface side of the locking body 14a. And extends to the side where the support shaft 9a is disposed.

In the second locking member 14b provided on one of the guide plates 3, a cam projection 26 is integrally formed on the back of the second locking member 14b. A substantially C-shaped notch 27 is formed in the cam projection 26, and the inner lower surface of the notch 27 corresponding to each other is a first cam portion 27 a, and the upper surface is a second cam portion. 27b, and the second cam portion 27b has a shape approximating a quadratic curve. Then, the second cam pin 20 is inserted into the notch 27.

The first and second locking members 15a and 15b provided on the other guide plate 4 side are formed in a thin flat shape having no cam projection on the back surface.

[0032] FIG. 2 is shown a state in which the large Futoshikan a ₁ outer dimension of the cross-section is waiting for its sales is introduced as a tubular item into the discharge passage 5. At the time of standby for sale, the first cam pin 19 is arranged below the guide hole 17 and the first locking member 1 is attached to the first cam pin 19.
4a, the first cam portion 25a abuts, and by this abutment, the first locking body 14a is held in a state of projecting obliquely downward from the surface of the guide plate 3, and the first locking body 14a The first locking body 15a on the guide plate 4 side is also held symmetrically with the body 14a so as to protrude obliquely downward from the surface of the guide plate 4, and the pair of locking bodies 14a.
a, 15a thick cans a ₁ lowermost in the discharge passage 5 is locked by the subsequent thick cans a ₁ on the Futoshikan a ₁ is sequentially stacked.

The second guide pin 20 is disposed below the guide hole 18, and the second locking member 14b is
The base portion of the first cam portion 27a comes into contact with this, and the second locking member 14b stands substantially vertically by this contact and is held in a state of being immersed in the back side of the guide plate 3, and The second locking member 15b on the guide plate 4 side is also symmetrically provided with the second locking member 15b so as to be erected substantially vertically and immersed in the rear side of the guide plate 4.

From this state, when the product is sold, the solenoid 2
1 is supplied with a predetermined signal, and in response to the input of this signal, the operation plate 23 is driven to move up and down via the solenoid 21. When the operation plate 23 moves upward, the first and second cam pins 19 and 20 move upward integrally with the operation plate 23. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the first cam pin 19 separates from the first cam portion 25a of the first locking member 14a during the ascent of the first cam pin 19, and the first cam pin 19 moves in response to the separation. the engaging member 14a is rotated downward with a load of its own weight and Futoshikan a _1.

Immediately after the first cam pin 19 is detached from the first cam portion 25a of the first locking member 14a, the second cam pin 20 which is in the process of ascending moves to the second locking member 14b of the second locking member 14b.
The second locking member 14b rotates about the support shaft 9b in response to this contact, and projects into the discharge passage 5 on the front surface side of the guide plate 3.

The turning operation of the first locking member 14a and the second
The rotation of the locking member 14b is transmitted to the first locking member 15a and the second locking member 15b on the guide plate 4 side via the sector gear 12, respectively. 14a and 15a open each other, and the second locking members 14b and 15b rotate so as to close each other.

[0037] The first locking body 14a, the bottom thickness can a ₁ to fall down by its own weight by the opening of the 15a, a second locking body which thickness can a ₁ of the following layers are each other close to each other 14b,
15b.

Thereafter, the operating body 23 moves downward, and accordingly, the second cam pin 20 comes into contact with the first cam portion 27a of the second locking body 14b, and this cam portion 27a is pushed. As a result, the second locking member 14b rotates in the opposite direction to the initial position and sinks into the rear side of the guide plate 3, and in conjunction with this, the second locking member 15b on the guide plate 4 side also moves to the initial position. In the reverse direction, and sinks into the back side of the guide plate 4.

Further, as the operating body 23 moves downward, the first cam pin 19 comes into contact with the second cam portion 26b of the first locking body 14a, and the cam portion 26b is pushed. The first locking body 14a rotates in the opposite direction to the initial direction and projects toward the surface of the guide plate 3, and in conjunction with this, the first locking body 15a on the guide plate 4 side also moves in the opposite direction to the original. It pivots and projects to the surface side of the guide plate 4.
Then, the first cam pin 19 finally becomes the second cam portion 25.
b to the first cam portion 25a, whereby the locking members 14a and 15a are stably supported.

[0040] Thus the second locking body 14b, by 15b is opened together retracted to the rear side of the guide plate 3 and 4, these stoppers 14b, Futoshikan _{a 1} is which has been supported by 15b falls downwardly securing body 14b, disengaged from 15b, also the first locking body 14a, 15a is by closing each other projecting to the surface side of the guide plate 3 and 4, Futoshikan _{a 1} is that the falling These locking members 14a, 15
a, and enters a sales standby state. Such is Futoshikan a ₁ sequentially one by one for every predetermined vending command in the provided is discharged to a user of the vending machine.

In the first half when the solenoid 21 is activated and the operation plate 23 is raised, the contact pressure between the first cam pin 19 and the first cam portion 25a of the locking member 14a is applied as a load to the solenoid 21. When the first cam pin 19 is detached from the first cam portion 25a of the locking body 14a, the load is released, and thereafter, the second cam pin 20 is moved to the second cam of the second locking body 14b. A load that comes into contact with the portion 27b and rotates the locking body 14b is applied to the solenoid 21.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the distance A between the first cam pin 19 in contact with the cam portion 25 and the movement B and the distance B until the second cam pin 20 reaches the cam portion 27b. A <B, the load for operating the first locking members 14a and 15a and the load for operating the second locking members 14b and 15b are simultaneously applied to the solenoid 21. Instead, the load is dispersed in the first half and the second half when the operating body 23 rises, and is added to the solenoid 21,
Therefore, it is possible to use a small solenoid and a small driving capacity as the solenoid 21, thereby reducing costs and realizing a compact product discharge device 2. Further, since the load applied to the solenoid 21 is dispersed, the smoothness of operation is increased, and the thick can a ₁
Can be sequentially and smoothly discharged.

On the other hand, from the relationship of A <B, the first locking members 14a and 15a operate first, and
The second locking members 14b and 15b operate a little later than the operations of the first and second a. That is, the bottom thick can a
The second locking members 14b, 15b operate after the start of the dropping of ₁ to protrude to the surface side of the guide plates 3, 4.

As in the conventional product discharging device shown in FIG.
When the first locking member 41 and the second locking member 42 operate simultaneously, as described above, when the cross-sectional outer dimension of the tubular product a is larger than a certain value, the second locking member 42 Hits the lowermost cylindrical product a, and its movement is regulated, which may impair the smoothness of operation and cause a discharge error of the cylindrical product a.

On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, the second locking members 14a and 15a
The engaging member 14b, 15b is operated and thus the second locking body 14b with a margin from the bottom thickness can a ₁ begins to fall, 15b protrude, Futoshikan a ₁ Thus in margin due to the fall Of the second locking members 14b, 15b with the second locking members 14b, 15b.
Without movement is restricted, it is possible to smoothly discharge the Futoshikan a ₁ operating properly predetermined range. And correspondingly, it is possible to accommodate more discharge of large Futoshikan a ₁ outer dimension from the first locking body 14a, Futoshikan a ₁ prior to the protruding operation of 15a falls.

In the present embodiment, the second cam portion 27b of the second locking member 14b has a shape approximating a quadratic curve. When the locking member 14b is rotated by being pushed, the locking member 14b is rotated based on the shape approximate to the quadratic curve.
b rotates at a relatively slow speed at first, and then rapidly rotates.

[0047] That is, the second locking body 14b so does not contact with the Futoshikan a ₁ when the bottom thickness can a ₁ begins to fall, 15b is slowly rotated rapidly after dropping certain level , Projecting to a predetermined position, so that the succeeding thick can a ₁ on the lowermost portion is
b and 15b can be properly locked and received.

[0048] FIG. 4 is a case where an angular cross-section of the bottles a ₂ is introduced as a cylindrical product in the discharge passage 5, in this case, the first locking body 14a, 15a
When the second engaging member 14b, by 15b to project and retract alternately, the bottles a ₂ is smoothly discharged sequentially one by one.

[0049] Further, FIG. 5 is a case where cross section is introduced Hosokan a ₃ its outer dimension is small circular as tubular product into the discharge passage 5, in this case, the first locking body 14a, 15a and a second locking body 14b, by 15b to project and retract alternately, the Hosokan _{a 3} is smoothly discharged sequentially one by one.

[0050] In this case, subsequent Hosokan a ₃ riding over Hosokan a ₃ of the bottom is arranged is offset on either one of the guide plate 4 side, of the subsequent Hosokan a ₃ Part When the two locking members 14b, 15b protrude, the locking members 14b, 1b are moved toward the center by one of the locking members 15b.
5b, so that it can be discharged smoothly regardless of the offset.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, only one guide plate 3 is provided with the first and second guide plates in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The locking members 14a and 14b are provided, and the other guide plate 4 is a simple flat plate. The guide plate 4 is supported so as to be movable in parallel to a direction in which the guide plate 4 comes into contact with and separates from the one guide plate 3. You can do it.

The lowermost tubular product introduced into the discharge passage 5 is supported by the first locking member 14a and the guide plate 4 and waits for sale. As in the case of the first embodiment, the first and second locking members 14a and 14b alternately protrude and retract with a time difference by driving by the solenoid 21, so that the tubular articles are sequentially discharged. You.

[0053] Then for example, when a cylindrical product is external dimensions larger Futoshikan a ₁ moves the guide plate 4 6
To expand the width of the discharge passage 5 as shown by the solid line, when tubular products of small Hosokan a ₃ Physical Dimensions is a guide plate 4 is close to the one of the guide plate 3 as shown by the chain line in FIG. 6 By narrowing the width of the discharge passage 5, it is possible to cope with various cylindrical products having different cross-sectional outer dimensions.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the driving source is activated to start the selling operation, the first locking body is operated first by the driving source, and the second locking body is operated after the operation of the first locking body. Since the load applied to the drive source is dispersed, the load at the time of starting can be reduced, and thereby the cylindrical product can be discharged accurately and smoothly using a small drive source having a small drive capacity.
Since the second locking body operates after the operation of the locking body of
Even a cylindrical product having a larger cross-sectional outer dimension can be smoothly discharged.

In particular, in the second aspect of the present invention, the speed of the second locking body is low at the beginning of its operation, and then the second locking body operates so as to rapidly increase its speed. It can also deal with state goods.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a product discharging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the product discharging device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state during operation of the product discharging device.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which a rectangular plastic bottle is discharged by the product discharging device.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of discharging a thin can by the product discharging device.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a product discharging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a conventional product discharging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Column 2 ... Product discharge device 3, 4 ... Guide plate 5
... discharge passages 9a, 9b ... spindles 10a, 10b ... spindle 14
a, 15a first locking members 14b, 15b second locking members 17, 18 guide holes 19, 20 cam pins 22 solenoid (drive source) 23 operating plates 25a, 25b cam portions 27a, 27b ... Cam part

Claims (2)

[Claims] A pair of guide plates which oppose each other and define a discharge passage for a tubular article introduced from a column between the opposing ends, and at least one of the guide plates is alternately arranged toward the discharge passage. First and second locking members for locking the first and second products are provided, and the first locking member protruding into the discharge passage at the time of waiting for sale of the product is the lowermost cylindrical product in the discharge passage. Are locked, and the first and second locking members are driven by the drive source during the sale of the product, and the first locking member is immersed, whereby the lowermost tubular product is discharged downward and When the second locking body projects, the cylindrical product of the next upper layer at the lowermost position is locked by the second locking body, after which the first locking body protrudes, and
When the latching body of the vending machine is immersed, the cylindrical product of the next layer detaches from the second locking body and is locked by the first locking body to be in a standby state for sale, and is in a standby state for sale. In the above, when the selling source is started by activating the driving source, the first locking body is operated first by the driving source,
A merchandise discharge device for a vending machine, wherein the second locking member is operated after the operation of the first locking member. 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation speed of the second locking body is low at the beginning of its operation, and then rapidly increases thereafter.