JP2003196723A - Cooling system for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cooling system for an automatic vending machine capable of satisfactorily cooling an electronic equipment part disposed on a front door without causing an increase in a manufacturing cost and without requiring an installation space for the cooling system. <P>SOLUTION: A blowing fan 8 for cooling a condenser 7 is rotated reversely to blow outside air sucked in from an air outlet 13 toward the rear face of a front door 10. This can discharge air of high temperature around the rear face of the front door 10 of the electronic equipment part 14 or the like out of the automatic vending machine to cool the electronic equipment part 14 or the like disposed on the front door 10. Since outside air temperature around the air outlet 13 is generally lower than that outside air temperature around an air inlet 12, it is possible to efficiently cool the electronic equipment part 14 on the front door 10 down to low temperature. An increase in a manufacturing cost is not brought about because the blowing fan 8 for cooling the condenser 7 is also used as a device for cooling the electronic equipment part 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooling device for a vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 6, an automatic vending machine for selling cooled products 1 is equipped with a cooling device including a refrigeration cycle. That is, the evaporator 3 for cooling and the blower fan 4 for circulating cold air are arranged in the inner box 2 having the heat insulating structure, and the lower portion 5a of the vending machine body 5 outside the inner box 2 is arranged.
In addition to the compressor 6 and the air-cooled condenser 7, a blower fan 8 for sending air to the condenser 7 and the compressor 6 to cool the condenser 7 is arranged. An intake port 12 is formed below the product outlet 11 in the front door 10 so that the outside air can circulate well in the lower portion 5a of the vending machine body 5. An exhaust port 13 is formed below the face plate 5b. And
By driving the blower fan 8, the condenser 7 and the compressor 6 are cooled by the outside air sucked through the intake port 12, and then discharged through the exhaust port 13. As shown in FIG. 7, since the intake port 12 is generally located below the product outlet 11, the intake port 12 is located slightly below the rotational axis 8a of the blower fan 8. There is. Further, for example, the blower fan 8 is controlled to be driven when the compressor 6 is being driven.

In recent years, in order to save energy, the number of devices that require a DC power source 16 that can be efficiently controlled (for example, blower fans 4 and 8, an inverter-controlled fluorescent lamp device, etc.) has increased, and the DC power source 16 generates heat. The amount is increasing. In addition, the amount of heat generated by the control unit 17 has been increasing along with the increase in various control functions and miniaturization. Electronic device section 1 provided with these DC power source 16 and control section 17
The reference numeral 4 is arranged in the front door 10 between the product sample display portion 15 and the product outlet 11. The electronic device section 14 may be provided with a choke coil for a fluorescent lamp, and the amount of heat generated from the choke coil is
It is larger than the DC power supply for fluorescent lamps controlled by an inverter.

As described above, the electronic device section 14 is in an environment where its temperature easily rises, but especially under direct sunlight in summer.
Since the front door 10 including the electronic device unit 14 is warmed, the temperature of the electronic device unit 14 is likely to rise further.
However, the electronic components used in the electronic device unit 14 generally have the property that their reliability decreases when the ambient temperature rises. Further, although this electronic component also includes an electrolytic capacitor and a coil, such an electrolytic capacitor and a coil have the property of shortening the life when used in a high temperature environment. Therefore, it is desirable to prevent the temperature of the electronic device section 14 from rising as much as possible. As a conventional method for dealing with this, increase the ventilation volume by increasing the number and opening area of the intake ports 12 and the exhaust ports 13 or increasing the number of rotations of the blower fan 8, or by dispersing electronic devices as much as possible. Placement is done.

[0005]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional structure, even if the number and opening area of the intake ports 12 and the exhaust ports 13 are increased, or the rotation speed of the blower fan 8 is increased, the front door 10 is not affected. Since it is difficult for outside air to flow into the place where the electronic device unit 14 is arranged, in the above-described conventional vending machine, the warmed air in the place of the electronic device unit 14 remains in the place, There is a risk that the reliability of electronic components may be reduced and the life of electrolytic capacitors and coils may be shortened.

It is also conceivable to separately provide a device for cooling the electronic equipment section 14, but in this case, the manufacturing cost is increased by the amount of the cooling device and an installation space for the cooling device is also required. Will be.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and makes it possible to improve the electronic equipment section provided on the front door without increasing the manufacturing cost or requiring the installation space for the cooling device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cooling device for a vending machine which can be cooled.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, a cooling device for a vending machine according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises:
On the front door that can be opened and closed freely on the vending machine body,
An electronic device section including electronic devices such as a control section is provided, and a condenser of the refrigeration cycle, a compressor, and a blower fan are provided in a space below the inner box in the main body of the vending machine. By rotating the blower fan in the forward direction, the outside air is sucked in from the intake port provided at the lower end of the front door or in the vicinity thereof to cool the condenser, and the exhaust provided in the lower rear part of the vending machine main body or the vicinity thereof. In a vending machine that exhausts air from the mouth, by rotating the blower fan in the reverse direction to blow the outside air sucked from the exhaust port toward the back side of the front door, the air at the back side of the front door such as the electronic device section is automatically It is characterized in that it can be discharged outside the vending machine.

According to this structure, the blower fan is rotated in the reverse direction to blow the outside air sucked from the exhaust port toward the back side of the front door, so that the outside air is blown downward to the back side of the front door such as the electronic device section. The high temperature air that has been sent from the front door and stayed at the back surface of the front door is discharged to the outside, and as a result, the temperature of the air at the back surface of the front door can be lowered, and the electronic device section can be cooled. You can In general, the vending machine is installed so that its back side is not exposed to direct sunlight, so the outside temperature near the exhaust port is often lower than the outside temperature near the intake port. It is possible to efficiently cool the electronic device section of the above by the outside air of a lower temperature. Further, since the blower fan for cooling the condenser is also used as a device for cooling the electronic device section, there is no increase in manufacturing cost and no installation space for the cooling device is required. .

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the cooling device for a vending machine according to the first aspect, the control section allows the fan to rotate in the reverse direction when the compressor is stopped. And

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the cooling device for a vending machine described in (1), the controller allows the fan to rotate in the reverse direction when the temperature of the condenser is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature.

According to the configurations of claims 2 and 3,
When it is necessary to cool the condenser or compressor, the blower fan is rotated forward to prevent the cooling capacity of the refrigeration cycle from decreasing, while the blower fan does not need to cool the condenser or compressor. Can be reversed to cool the electronic device section.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 2 or 3.
In the cooling device for a vending machine described in (1), the control unit allows the blower fan to rotate in the reverse direction when the outside air temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 2 or 3.
In the cooling device for an automatic vending machine described in (1), the control unit allows the blower fan to rotate in the reverse direction when the temperature of the electronic device unit is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the cooling device for a vending machine according to any of the second to fifth aspects, when the control unit detects that it is within a predetermined period, the blower fan reverses. It is characterized by allowing rotation.

According to the configurations described in claims 4 to 6,
The blower fan can be rotated in the reverse direction only when it is necessary to cool the electronic device section. The invention according to claim 7 is
The cooling device for a vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the rotation shaft center of the blower fan is arranged at a position higher than the intake port.

According to this structure, when the blower fan is rotated in the reverse direction, the outside air sucked from the exhaust port hits a position higher than the intake port on the back surface of the front door, and is easily sent to the electronic device section side. It can be cooled better.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The same functions as those of the constituent elements of the conventional vending machine are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in this vending machine, a blower fan 8 for sending air to the condenser 7 and the compressor 6 is disposed in the lower portion 5a of the vending machine body 5. For this, a reversely rotatable one is used. Then, the blower fan 8 for cooling the condenser 7 and the compressor 6 is controlled by the control unit 20 provided in the electronic device unit 14.
However, the blower fan 8 is configured to be reversely controlled under a predetermined condition, and the blower fan 8 is rotationally controlled by the control unit 20 so as to blow air backward during forward rotation and forward forward during reverse rotation. In addition, an experiment was performed in which the blower fan 8 was rotated forward and backward, and in this experiment, when the blower fan 8 was rotated reversely, about 70% of the air volume when the blower fan 8 was rotated normally. It has been confirmed that the amount of air that corresponds to it will come out.

A condenser temperature sensor 21 for detecting the temperature of the condenser 7 is provided in the vicinity of the condenser 7, and an outside air temperature sensor 22 for detecting the outside air temperature is provided in the front door 10 near the intake port 12. It is arranged.

Further, like the conventional vending machine, the outside air can be satisfactorily distributed to the lower portion 5a of the vending machine body 5,
A plurality of intake ports 12 are formed in the front door 10 below the product outlet 11, and an exhaust port 13 is formed in the lower part of the rear plate 5b of the vending machine body 5, and the rotation shaft 8a of the blower fan 8 is It is arranged at a position higher than the intake port 12.

In the above structure, the blower fan 8 is shown in FIG.
Drive control is performed by the control unit 20 shown in FIG. First, in step S1, the state of the compressor 6 is detected. When the compressor 6 is being driven, the process proceeds to step S2, and the blower fan 8
Is controlled to rotate forward. As a result, as shown in FIG.
The outside air sucked from the intake port 12 is sent rearward by the blower fan 8 to cool the condenser 7 and the compressor 6, and then discharged from the exhaust port 13. In addition, in FIG. 4, the compressor 6 is turned on.
An example of the relationship between / OFF and the temperature of the condenser 7 will be shown. As shown in FIG. 4, by starting driving the compressor 6, the temperature of the condenser 7 rises.

On the other hand, when the compressor 6 is stopped in step S1, the process proceeds to step S3, and the temperature of the condenser 7 detected by the condenser temperature sensor 21 cools the condenser 7. It is determined whether the temperature is equal to or lower than a sufficiently low specified temperature T1 that does not need to be set. Then, when it is detected that the condenser 7 is equal to or lower than the specified temperature T1, the process proceeds to step S4, and the outside air temperature detected by the outside air temperature sensor 22 is the preset outside air temperature. It is determined whether T2 or more. Here, the set ambient temperature T2 is set to an ambient temperature at which the reliability of the electronic components used in the electronic device unit 14 decreases, or an ambient temperature at which the electrolytic capacitor, the coil, or the like may deteriorate. It

In step S4, the outside temperature is the set outside temperature T2.
When the above is detected, the process proceeds to step S5, and the blower fan 8 is rotated in the reverse direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the outside air sucked from the exhaust port 13 is sent forward by the blower fan 8. Here, since the intake port 12 is arranged at a height slightly lower than the rotation axis 8a of the blower fan 8, a part of the outside air sent by the blower fan 8 contacts the back surface of the front door 10. Then, the outside air is sent from below to the electronic device section 14 and the vicinity thereof. As a result, the DC power source 16, the control unit 17, the choke coil (not shown) for the fluorescent lamp, and the like heat up the temperature to a high temperature, and the electronic device unit 14 (a portion below the product sample display unit 15 in the front door 10). The air accumulated in the air is pushed out by the outside air, and is discharged to the outside, for example, from the gap between the front door 10 and the vending machine body 5. Therefore, by the outside air sent to the electronic device section 14 and its vicinity,
The electronic device unit 14 and its ambient temperature are forcibly cooled, which reduces the reliability of the electronic components used in the electronic device unit 14 and extends the life of the electrolytic capacitors and coils of the electronic device unit 14. It is prevented from becoming short.

In this case, since the rear side of the vending machine is generally arranged so as not to be exposed to direct sunlight, the outside air temperature near the exhaust port 13 is lower than the outside air temperature near the intake port 12. In many cases, the electronic device section 14 can be satisfactorily cooled by the outside air having a lower temperature.

In the above embodiment, the case where the outside air temperature sensor 22 is arranged in the front door 10 in the vicinity of the intake port 12 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.
It may be provided in the vicinity of the exhaust port 13 or in another place. Further, instead of the outside air temperature sensor 22, a sensor for detecting the temperature of the electronic device unit 14 is provided, and step S4 is performed.
The blower fan 8 may be configured to rotate in the reverse direction when it is detected that the temperature of the electronic device unit 14 is equal to or higher than the set upper limit temperature. In this case, the temperature of the electronic device unit 14 is It can be cooled accurately when the temperature is high.

Further, the timer built in the control unit 20 determines that it is the summer season, and only during the summer season, the blower fan 8 is reversely rotated under the above conditions, and it is determined that it is during the daytime. The blower fan 8 may be reversely rotated under the above conditions only in the daytime. Furthermore, regardless of the outside air temperature, in summer, when the compressor 6 is stopped and the temperature of the condenser 7 is equal to or lower than the specified temperature T1, the blower fan 8 is rotated in the reverse direction or regardless of the outside air temperature. In the daytime, when the compressor 6 is stopped and the temperature of the condenser 7 is equal to or lower than the specified temperature T1, the blower fan 8 may be reversed, or the compressor 6 is simply stopped. Moreover, when the temperature of the condenser 7 is equal to or lower than the specified temperature T1, the blower fan 8 may be reversely rotated.

In the above embodiment, the case where the intake port 12 is formed at the lower end of the front door 10 has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the intake port 12 may be formed on the floor surface 5c of the vending machine body 5 near the lower end portion of the front door 10 (that is, on the floor surface 5c near the front end portion). Applicable. Moreover, although the case where the exhaust port 13 is formed in the lower portion of the rear plate 5b of the vending machine body 5 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the exhaust port 13 is the lower end of the rear plate 5b on the floor surface 5c of the vending machine body 5. It can also be applied to a portion formed near a portion (that is, a portion near the rear end portion on the floor surface 5c) or the like.

According to the above construction, the blower fan 8 for cooling the condenser 7 and the compressor 6 is also used as an air cooling fan for cooling the electronic components of the electronic device section 14 and lowering the ambient temperature thereof. Compared with the case where a device for cooling the electronic device unit 14 is separately provided, a simple configuration can be realized at low cost, and a space for installing the separate cooling device is not required. Further, since the ambient temperature of the electronic device unit 14 can be lowered, the reliability of the electronic components of the electronic device unit 14 can be improved and the probability of failure can be reduced. Further, since the life of the electrolytic capacitor and the coil of the electronic device unit 14 can be extended, this also reduces the number of failures, reduces the operating cost, and saves resources.

Further, as described above, in summer, daytime, etc.
Energy saving can also be achieved by limiting the period of time for reversing.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the blower fan for cooling the condenser is rotated in the reverse direction so that the outside air sucked from the exhaust port is blown toward the rear surface of the front door, and the front surface of the electronic device section or the like. By discharging the air at the back side of the door to the outside of the vending machine, the high temperature air staying at the back side of the front door can be discharged to efficiently cool the electronic device section to a lower temperature. Further, since the blower fan for cooling the condenser is also used as a device for cooling the electronic device section, there is no increase in manufacturing cost and no installation space for the cooling device is required. .

Further, the control unit permits the reverse rotation of the blower fan when the compressor is stopped, and allows the reverse rotation of the blower fan when the temperature of the condenser is below a predetermined temperature. Therefore, when it is necessary to cool the condenser or compressor, it is possible to prevent the cooling capacity of the refrigeration cycle from decreasing by rotating the blower fan forward while cooling the condenser or compressor. The blower fan can be reversed to cool the electronic device section.

When the outside air temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature,
Allows reverse rotation of the blower fan, or allows reverse rotation of the blower fan when the electronic device is at a predetermined temperature or higher,
When it is detected that it is within the predetermined period, the blower fan can be reversely rotated only when it is necessary to cool the electronic device section by allowing the blower fan to reversely rotate, thereby saving energy. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side cross-sectional view of an automatic vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a flow of wind when a blower fan is normally rotated.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart schematically showing a control operation of a control unit of the vending machine.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between ON / OFF of the compressor and the temperature of the condenser.

FIG. 5 is an overall side sectional view of the same vending machine, showing a flow of wind when the blower fan is rotated in the reverse direction.

FIG. 6 is an overall side sectional view of a conventional vending machine, showing a flow of wind when a blower fan is rotated.

FIG. 7 is an overall perspective view of a conventional vending machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 Vending machine body 6 compressor 7 condenser 8 Blower fan 10 front door 11 Product outlet 12 Intake port 13 Exhaust port 14 Electronic Equipment Department 20 Control unit 21 Condenser temperature sensor 22 Outside temperature sensor

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device section provided with an electronic device such as a control section is disposed on a front door that is openably and closably attached to the vending machine body, and is below the inner box in the vending machine body. In the space of, a condenser of the refrigeration cycle, a compressor, and a blower fan are arranged, and by normally rotating the blower fan, outside air is sucked in from an intake port provided at a lower end portion of the front door or a portion in the vicinity thereof. In a vending machine that cools the condenser and exhausts it from the exhaust port provided at the lower part of the rear of the vending machine main body or in the vicinity thereof, rotate the blower fan in the reverse direction to direct the outside air sucked from the exhaust port to the back side of the front door. A cooling device for a vending machine, characterized in that the air in the rear part of the front door of the electronic device section or the like can be discharged to the outside of the vending machine by blowing the air. 2. The control unit, when the compressor is stopped,
The cooling device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the blower fan is allowed to rotate in the reverse direction. 3. The cooling device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the control unit allows the blower fan to rotate in the reverse direction when the temperature of the condenser is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature. 4. The cooling device for a vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the control unit permits the reverse rotation of the blower fan when the outside air temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. 5. The cooling device for the vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the control unit allows the blower fan to rotate in the reverse direction when the temperature of the electronic device unit is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. 6. The cooling of the vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the control unit permits the reverse rotation of the blower fan when detecting that it is within a predetermined period. apparatus. 7. The blower fan has a rotation axis centered at a position higher than an intake port.
The cooling device for the vending machine according to any one of 6 above.