JP2002329244A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently heat articles and to suppress their temperature variation in the hot mode of an automatic vending machine. SOLUTION: A surface type heating body 30 is provided on the reverse surface of a delivery chute 20 of the automatic vending machine 10 and after the heating by a main heater 22D is completed, a fan for air circulation is stopped, and the articles are always heated by the surface type heat generating body 30 through the delivery chute 20 right below an article rack and held hot.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine provided with a product heating device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vending machine for canned coffee and the like is provided with a plurality of rows of product racks, and the products in the product racks are heated by blowing hot air from below the product racks. I have.

[0003]

Here, it is assumed that the power consumption of vending machines in Japan as a whole is equal to the power generation of two nuclear power plants, and in recent years, from the viewpoint of reducing CO2 emissions, The problem is how to reduce the power consumption of vending machines.

[0004] In this case, it is also a major problem how to reduce the power consumption of the vending machine which is already installed and currently in use.

[0005] As one of means for reducing the amount of power consumption during the daytime of a vending machine, heat is stored in a regenerator using nighttime electric power, and this is used for daytime heating. Is also conceivable.

[0006] However, even when the heat storage agent is used in this manner, the power consumption cost is reduced, but the actual reduction in the total power consumption is small.

In the vending machine, in the heating mode, the temperature inside the refrigerator is maintained at a predetermined value or more by using a temperature sensor.
The set temperature difference for heater ON / OFF is large,
When the heater is turned on, most of the heat is transferred to other than the product, so that the rise of the product temperature is delayed. Also, due to the relatively large temperature rise and fall as described above,
There is a problem in that the taste of a commercial beverage, for example, coffee, is rapidly reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a vending machine capable of reducing actual power consumption when heating a product. Aim.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a vending machine in which the temperature of a product is less or less.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present inventor has found that, when goods are heated by air circulating in a vending machine, heat is deprived in other parts of the vending machine, so that the product can be efficiently and promptly heated. It has been found that there is waste that heating cannot be performed, and this wasteful energy consumption is omitted, so that the actual power consumption is reduced and the temperature rise and fall of the commodity are reduced.

According to the present invention, there is provided a commodity rack provided with a commodity discharging opening at the lower end of each row inside the outer box, and arranged in a plurality of rows in a width direction when viewed from the front of the outer box. One or a plurality of adjacent product racks are arranged as one set, and are arranged at a lower side of the product ejection opening in each set so as to be inclined downward toward the front surface, and the air flows from the back side to the front side. It has a plate-shaped delivery chute in which a plurality of air holes that allow outflow are formed, and a heating device that blows hot air into the space behind at least one set of delivery chutes and circulates them. The warming device includes a heater and a circulation fan that forms an air flow that flows through a wind circuit that circulates through the inside of the outer box through the delivery chute. The automatic fan transmits heat of the heater by the air flow. For vending machines, A heating element is attached to at least one of the front surface and the back surface of the burr chute at least in a region immediately below the product rack, so that the heat of the heating element is released in the product rack direction. The above object is achieved by a vending machine.

Further, the heating element may be a planar heating element having a hole corresponding to the air hole.

Further, the heating element may be a linear heating element attached to a region of the rear surface of the delivery chute where the air hole is not provided.

Further, the heating element may be always in a heating state in a heating mode, and the circulation fan may be stopped when the heater is off.

According to the present invention, there is further provided a product rack provided with a product discharging opening at the lower end of each row inside the outer box and arranged in a plurality of rows in the width direction as viewed from the front of the outer box. One or a plurality of adjacent product racks in a row are arranged as one set, and are arranged at a lower side of the product ejection opening in each set so as to be inclined downward toward the front surface, and from the back side to the front side. A plurality of plate-shaped delivery chutes in which a plurality of air holes that allow outflow of air are formed, and a heating device that circulates by blowing hot air into a space behind the at least one set of delivery chutes, The heating device includes a heater, and a circulation fan that forms an air flow that flows through the wind circuit that circulates through the inside of the outer case via the delivery chute, and the heat of the heater is transmitted by the air flow. Vending machine, An automatic vending machine characterized in that at least a part of the surface of the rebalancing chute is a heat ray reflecting surface, and a heat ray lamp for emitting a heat ray so as to be reflected toward the lower end of the commodity rack is provided on the heat ray reflecting surface. The above object is achieved by a machine.

Further, the heat ray reflecting surface may be provided on a surface of the delivery chute outside a collision area where a product discharged from the product discharging opening collides.

Further, the heat ray reflecting surface may be formed by attaching a heat ray reflecting film to the surface of the delivery chute.

The heat ray lamp may be a halogen lamp.

Further, the hot-wire lamp may be always in a light-emitting state in a heating mode, and the circulation fan may be stopped when the heater is off.

According to the present invention, the commodity immediately before being thrown out of the commodity rack is directly heated by the heat or the heat ray from the delivery chute near the lower part thereof, so that there is no wasteful consumption of energy, and The temperature rises and falls less.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a vending machine 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is of a cooling and heating type, and has a height range of about 4/5 from the upper end of the front surface of an outer box 12 thereof. Is opened and can be freely opened and closed by a middle door 16. Reference numeral 14 in the figure indicates a heat insulator attached to the inner peripheral surface of the outer box 12 and the back side of the middle door 16.

A horizontal partition plate 13 is provided in the inner space of the outer box 12 at a height of about 1/5 from the bottom, and above the horizontal partition plate 13 is shown in FIGS. As seen from the front, six rows of product racks 18A-
18F is disposed so as to be freely inserted and removed in the front-rear direction.

The commodity racks 18A to 18F are suspended from the ceiling 12A of the outer box 12 at the upper end surface, and a commodity filling opening 19 is formed in the upper part of the front surface toward the front surface. I have. In addition, product rack 18A ~
18F are appropriately partitioned by a heat insulating partition wall 25, and the product racks 18A to 18C, 18D and 18E, 1
The left storage 11A, the middle storage 11B, and the right storage 11C that store 8F, respectively.

In the figure, there are four product filling openings 19 in the vertical direction for each of the product racks 18A to 18F, as shown in FIG.
This is because each of 8A to 18F includes four vertically long product storage channels 17 in the depth direction. There are also three-row or five-row vending machines.

The lower end of each product storage channel 17 in each of the product racks 18A to 18F is formed as a product ejection opening 21A below the product ejection device 21.
It faces downward to the delivery chute 20 for discharging the product, which is arranged below A-18F. The delivery chute 20 is disposed so as to be freely inserted into and removed from the horizontal partition plate 13 and to be inclined forward and downward in a mounted state.

The space 13 below the horizontal partition plate 13
A includes a heater 22D for heating and a cooling device 2
A refrigerator compressor 22A and a condenser 22B which constitute a part of the compressor 2 are arranged.

Reference numerals 52A, 52B and 52C in FIGS.
Is heated by the heater 22D or the cooling device 22
Is blown into the lower space 20B on the lower side (back side) of the delivery chute 20 in the left warehouse 11A, the middle warehouse 11B, and the right warehouse 11C, and further reaches the ceiling 12A through the inside and outside of the product rack. Shown is a circulation fan for forming an airflow that flows through a wind circuit returning from here through a gap 23 on the back surface.

Reference numeral 24 in FIG. 2 denotes an openable and closable front door covering the entire front surface of the outer box 12 including the inner door 16, and reference numeral 25 in FIG. 1 denotes a position between the commodity racks 18C and 18D, and 1
A heat insulating partition wall 26 provided between 8D and 18E indicates an opening formed in the middle door 16 and guiding the product dropped on the delivery chute 20 to the front.

As shown in FIG. 3, the left warehouse 11A,
The convection fan 52A in the middle storage 11B and the right storage 11C,
Evaporators 54A, 54B, 54C of the refrigerator in the cooling device 22 are arranged on the suction sides of 52B, 53C, respectively. The heater 22D for heating includes, for example, a sheathed heater, and as shown in FIG. 3, an evaporator 54 corresponding to the middle storage 11B and the right storage 11C.
B, 54C and the convection fans 52B, 52C. The air blown by the convection fans 52A, 52B, and 53C passes through a number of air holes 20A formed in the delivery chute 20 of each warehouse, and passes through the product rack 18.
It is supplied to the lower side of A to 18F.

As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 4, a planar heating element 30 is closely attached to the back surface of the delivery chute 20 in the right storage 11C in the middle storage 11B.

The planar heating element 30 is provided with the air hole 20A.
Is a through hole 30A, and in FIG.
The delivery chute 20 is provided in substantially the entire range except for the vicinity of the left and right ends on the rear surface, and is configured so that generated heat is radiated from the front surface.

Reference numeral 38 in FIG. 5 indicates a day / night power switching device. The day / night power switching device 38 switches the power supplied to the power supply 39 of the vending machine 10 to nighttime power, which is low in cost at night, and to daytime power, which is normal cost in daytime. .

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a control system of the vending machine 10. The control device 40 includes a left storage 11A, a middle storage 11
B, a cooling or heating operation is performed based on the detected temperatures of the temperature sensors 42A to 42C provided in the vicinity of the commodity ejection opening 21A at the lower end of the commodity storage channel 17 corresponding to each right storage 11C.

Normally, the cooling device 22 is provided with one cooler compressor 22A for the entire vending machine 10, and the refrigerant is supplied from the condenser 22B and the switching valves 23A to 23A.
C, and is selectively supplied to any of the corresponding evaporators 54A to 54C. or,
The circulation fans 52A, 52B, 52C are constantly operated to circulate cold or warm air.

Next, the operation of the vending machine 10 will be described.

Such a vending machine 10 generally has, for example, product racks 18A to 18C and 1 shown in FIGS.
The space between 8D and between 18D and 18E is shut off by the heat insulating partition 25, and the left storage 11A for storing the product racks 18A to 18C is always in the cooling mode, and the right storage 11C and 18D for storing 18E and 18F are being stored. The storage 11B is in a heating / cooling switching mode.

In the vending machine 10, in the heating mode, the heater 22D is energized and the product rack 18D,
18E, 18F or 18E, 18F is heated.

At the start of the heating mode, the sheet heating element 30 is also energized to heat the air circulated by the fan 52B, 52C or 52C together with the heater 22D, and the appropriate temperature of the product (around 55 ° C.). Raise the temperature quickly until

After the inside of the vending machine 10 reaches the proper temperature, only the heater 22D is turned off, and the sheet heating element 3 is turned off.
0 maintains the ON state. At this time, the fans 52B and 52C or 52C are stopped to prevent warm air from circulating in the refrigerator.

When the fans 52B and 52C are turned off,
The heat generated by the planar heating element 30 reaches from the back surface to the front surface of the delivery chute 20 and becomes radiant heat from here, or heats the air so that the inside of the product can be discharged from the product outlet 21A at the lowermost end of the product rack above it. It will be heated. Therefore, it is sequentially heated (insulated) from the bottom in the order of sale.

Further, as described above, the fans 52B, 52
Since C is stopped, the air flow formed by the fan does not take heat from the planar heating element 30 and carry it away to the wind circuit on the side of the product rack. Therefore, the heat from the planar heating element 30 is efficiently transmitted to the product at the lower end of the product rack, and there is no waste.

In this manner, the conventional vending machine 1
Although the entire interior of the refrigerator in the heating mode of 0 is heated including the products at the lower end of the product rack, the interior of the refrigerator is locally heated in order from the products to be thrown out. Therefore, the heating efficiency of the product can be greatly improved without heating the product that is not thrown out, the upper part of the product rack, and the like.

Further, since the sheet heating element 30 is always in a state of energization and heat generation, the temperature of the commodity at the lower end of the commodity rack is little changed. For this reason, the temperature of the product is small in the vertical direction, and it is possible to prevent a decrease in the taste of beverages such as coffee by repeating heating to a high temperature and reducing the temperature as in the related art. or,
Excessive heating of commodities stored above the merchandise rack and not thrown out for the time being can be suppressed.

In the above embodiment, the sheet heating element 30 is disposed on the back surface of the delivery chute 20, but the present invention is not limited to this. , The planar heating element 31 may be arranged on the surface of the delivery chute 20. However, in this case, the sheet heating element 31 is provided at a position where the dropped product does not collide, or a material that can withstand an impact is used.

Although the planar heating element 30 is used as the heat source as described above, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG.
0 may be affixed to an area of the delivery chute 20 except for the air hole 20A.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a heat ray reflecting surface 62 is formed on a part or all of the surface of the delivery chute 20 and irradiated with a heat ray lamp 64 made of, for example, a halogen lamp. The heat rays reflected by the surface 62 may be incident on the lower end of the product rack 18.

The heat ray reflecting surface 62 is made of, for example, an aluminum thin film or the like, and is provided in the delivery chute 20 so as to prevent a product falling from above from colliding.

A part or the whole of the surface of the delivery chute 20 may be formed as an aluminum polished surface so that heat rays can be reflected.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a vending machine equipped with a heating device, a product can be efficiently heated to reduce energy consumption, and the product can be produced by a temperature change. It has an excellent effect that quality deterioration can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a delivery chute pulled out state in the vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing the vicinity of a product storage channel and a delivery chute in a vending machine.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a delivery chute and a planar heating element.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a power control system of the vending machine.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a delivery chute and a linear heating element.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an example of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vending machine 12 ... Outer box 14 ... Insulation body 17 ... Product storage channel 18A-18F ... Product rack 20 ... Delivery chute 20A ... Air hole 20B ... Backside space 22D ... Heater 23 ... Gap 30, 31 ... Planar heating element Reference numeral 30A: Through hole 40: Control device 52A, 52B, 52C: Circulating fan 54A, 54B, 54C: Evaporator 60: Linear heating element 62: Heat reflection surface 64: Heat lamp

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] May 10, 2001 (2001.5.1
0)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 4

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 4

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 6

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 6

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 7

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 7

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A product rack having a plurality of rows in the width direction as viewed from the front of the outer box, wherein a plurality of rows of product racks are provided inside the outer box at the lower end of each row. One or a plurality of adjacent ones are set as one set, and are disposed downwardly toward the front surface under the product ejection opening in each set, and the outflow of air from the back side to the front side is performed. The heating device includes a plate-shaped delivery chute in which a plurality of air holes that can be formed are formed, and a heating device that blows hot air into at least one set of delivery chutes and circulates the hot air. A vending machine that includes a heater and a circulation fan that forms an air flow that flows through a wind circuit that circulates through the inside of the outer box through the delivery chute, and that transmits heat of the heater by the air flow. In the delivery shoe Wherein a heating element is attached to at least one of the front surface and the back surface in a region immediately below the product rack, so that heat of the heating element is released in the product rack direction. Vending machine. 2. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said heating element is a planar heating element having a hole corresponding to said air hole. 3. The heating element according to claim 1, wherein:
A vending machine, wherein the vending machine is a linear heating element attached to an area of the rear surface of the delivery chute where the air hole is not provided. 4. The heating device according to claim 1, wherein the heating element is always in a heating state in a heating mode, and the circulation fan is stopped when the heater is off. A vending machine characterized by the following. 5. A product rack which is provided with a product discharging opening at the lower end of each row inside the outer box, and which is arranged in a plurality of rows in the width direction as viewed from the front of the outer box; One or a plurality of adjacent ones are set as one set, and are disposed downwardly toward the front surface under the product ejection opening in each set, and the outflow of air from the back side to the front side is performed. The heating device includes a plate-shaped delivery chute in which a plurality of air holes that can be formed are formed, and a heating device that blows hot air into at least one set of delivery chutes and circulates the hot air. A vending machine that includes a heater and a circulation fan that forms an air flow that flows through a wind circuit that circulates through the inside of the outer box through the delivery chute, and that transmits heat of the heater by the air flow. In the delivery shoe A vending machine characterized in that at least a part of the surface of the product is a heat ray reflection surface and a heat ray lamp for emitting a heat ray so as to be reflected toward the lower end of the product rack is provided on the heat ray reflection surface. . 6. The heat ray reflecting surface according to claim 5, wherein the heat ray reflecting surface is provided on a surface of the delivery chute outside a collision area where the product discharged from the product discharging opening collides. vending machine. 7. The vending machine according to claim 5, wherein a heat ray reflecting film is attached to a surface of the delivery chute to form the heat ray reflecting surface. 8. A vending machine according to claim 5, wherein said heat ray lamp is a halogen lamp. 9. The hot-wire lamp according to claim 5, wherein the hot-wire lamp is constantly lit when in a heating mode.
A vending machine wherein the circulation fan is stopped when the heater is turned off.