JP2003317141A - Article throw-out device of automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically set the passage width of a throw-out passage where articles pass to a width corresponding to the diameter of the articles only by throwing the articles in. <P>SOLUTION: Provided are a fixed wall 6 which is combined with an article throw- out mechanism 5 to constitute one surface of a throw-out passage and a movable wall which faces the fixed wall across the throw-out passage, the movable wall equipped with a positioning means of setting the passage width corresponding to the diameter of the articles passing through the throw-out passage. The movable wall has a movable plate 17 suspended through a moving shaft 21 in front-rear directional guide long holes 22 formed in right and left side walls 15a of a machine frame 15, a positioning piece 20 which is arranged loosely in a restriction square hole 25 formed in the side wall part of the machine frame while projecting backward from the movable plate, a relay plate 16 which forms a bridge between the positioning piece and machine frame, and a torsion coil spring 26 which pushes up and energizes the movable plate through the relay plate; and the positioning piece is pressed against the top side of the square hole with an article entering the throw-out passage to lock and hold the movable plate at a set position of the throw-out passage width corresponding to the diameter of the article. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product dispensing device for an automatic vending machine that sells products such as beverages filled in bottles and cans. It relates to the structure of the product dispensing device that can be automatically determined and maintained according to the diameter size of the product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vending machine (serpentine type), for example, when a large-diameter product (thick can) is loaded into a product storage rack in which a passage width is set according to a small-diameter product (small can), The product is jammed inside and it becomes impossible to throw it out. On the contrary, when a small-diameter product is placed in a product passage whose passage width is set according to a large-diameter product, the product is equipped with a product ejection device (bending mechanism) equipped at the lower end of the product passage. There will be a sales trouble that the products will be passed through without being passed. For this reason, in the vending machine, when changing a sale product to a product having a different diameter size, it is necessary to adjust the passage width of the ejection passage according to the diameter size of the product.

In this case, in the conventional vending machine 1 as shown in FIG. 8, in order to adjust the passage width of the product dispensing passage, as shown in the drawing, a hand is inserted from the front side of the vending machine into the refrigerator. With respect to the product passage 2 corresponding to each column of the product storage rack, the passage plate (passage width adjuster) 4 arranged in the ejection passage 3 on the lower end outlet side is moved to a position corresponding to the diameter size of the product, or Alternatively, the width of the ejection passage is determined by replacing the passage plate with a different thickness.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the conventional vending machine is combined with a dispensing mechanism (bending mechanism) 5 that receives the dispensing command and dispenses the products A one by one. A passage width of the ejection passage 3 is set between a fixed wall 6 fixedly provided on the machine body side and the passage plate 4 facing the fixed wall 6, and the passage plate 4 is as shown in the drawing. Further, pins 7 and 8 projecting from the upper and lower ends thereof are fitted and supported by upper and lower positioning holes 9 and 10 formed in the rack side wall. here,
Upper positioning hole 9 is crank-shaped, lower positioning hole 1
0 has an inverted U-shape and is connected in a plurality of stages, and the passage plate 4 is adjusted to the adjustment positions “a”, “b”, according to the diameter size of the product A.
I try to move to "C" and "D".

Further, as another adjusting means, FIG.
As shown in (c), the contact plate 11 having a predetermined plate thickness is attached to the front surface of the passage plate 4 via the hooks 12 provided on the back surface thereof, and then the passage plate 4 is shown in (a) and (b) of FIG. By moving to the adjustment position, the passage width of the throwing passage 3 between the fixed wall 6 and the product A1 having the minimum diameter size and the product A3 having the intermediate diameter size correspond to "a" and "c" (see FIG. 9). It is adjusted to "a" and "ha". Further, when the passage plate 4 is moved to the solid line and chain line positions after the contact plate 11 is removed as shown in (c), the passage width of the ejection passage 3 corresponds to “B” and “D” in FIG. 9. Adjusted to width.

[0006]

By the way, in the conventional method of manually adjusting the passage width by manually operating the passage plate 4 as described above, as shown in FIG. Since the passage width is adjusted almost in a groping state, work in an unreasonable posture is forced, and since it is not possible to visually confirm whether or not the passage width is properly adjusted, an adjustment error is likely to occur.

On the other hand, as described above, it is possible to automatically adjust the width of the ejection passage according to the diameter size of the merchandise by simply placing the commodity in the product storage rack without relying on the manual work. An article-dispensing device for an automatic vending machine, which can be adjusted, has been previously proposed as, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-154271. The proposed product dispensing device includes a fixed wall that forms one surface of a dispensing passage in combination with a product dispensing mechanism, and a movable wall that faces the fixed wall with the dispensing passage interposed therebetween. To determine the width of the exit passage corresponding to the product's diameter size,
As the positioning means for holding, two sets of upper and lower movable plates are suspended and supported via elongated shafts formed in the left and right side wall portions of the machine frame (frame) of the movable wall via a support shaft, and are formed in a stepped shape on the partition wall. By inserting the left and right protrusions provided on the movable plate into the notched window having the positioning surface, the movable plate is locked and held at a position corresponding to the diameter size of the product when the product passes through the ejection passage. Further, the tip of the lever-type relay plate, which is spring-biased, is abutted from the rear of the movable plate to hold the movable plate in a state of protruding toward the ejection passage side.

[0008] By the way, in order to commercialize a product dispensing device of the above-mentioned system in which the dispensing passage width is automatically set, the stability and reliability of the passage width adjusting function for the movable wall are particularly required.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a product dispensing device for a vending machine, which is based on the product dispensing device proposed above and improved so as to enhance the stability and reliability of its adjusting function.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, products having a cylindrical shape such as a bottle, a can or the like or a similar shape are stacked and stored in a product passage,
A fixed wall, which is a product dispensing device of a vending machine that dispenses one by one from the lowest ordered products based on a dispensing command, and which forms a surface of a dispensing path in combination with a product dispensing mechanism, and the fixed wall. And a movable wall facing each other across the dispensing passage, the movable wall having a positioning means for determining and holding the dispensing passage width corresponding to the diameter size of the product, wherein the movable wall is , The machine frame attached to the machine side of the vending machine, and the guide slots in the front-rear direction formed on the left and right side walls of the machine frame, which are pivotally supported via the moving shaft, and the tip of which protrudes toward the ejection passage side. Between the movable plate and the machine frame, and a positioning piece that extends rearward from the left and right ends of the movable plate so as to be loosely fitted in a square hole formed in the side wall portion of the machine frame. Relay link plate that is connected to connect the And a biasing spring that presses the movable plate toward the ejection passage side, and the positioning plate is pressed against the upper side of the square hole according to the product that has entered the ejection passage, and the movable plate corresponds to the diameter size of the product. The ejection passage width is configured to be locked and held at a set position (claim 1).

Further, there is the following configuration as an embodiment thereof. (1) Saw-toothed concave and convex grooves are formed on the upper side of the square hole formed on the left and right side walls of the machine frame and the upper edge of the positioning piece of the movable plate facing the upper side of the square hole, and passes through the ejection passage. When the ejection passage width corresponding to the diameter size of the product is determined, the concave-convex groove of the positioning piece and the concave-convex groove of the square hole are engaged with each other to enhance the positioning holding function of the movable plate. 2).

(2) Two sets of movable plates are vertically arranged on the movable wall, and the ejection passages are individually associated with the lowest and second products that enter the ejection passage and stand by at the selling position. The width is adjusted (claim 3). (3) As a means for guiding the product entering the ejection passage from the product passage to the fixed wall side, it is juxtaposed with the movable wall on the upper side thereof,
An oscillating pressing plate, which is spring-biased so as to project into the ejection passage with the upper end serving as a shaft fulcrum, is provided to stabilize the positioning operation of the movable plate (claim 4).

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
~ It demonstrates based on the Example shown in FIG. [Embodiment 1] An embodiment corresponding to claims 1, 3, and 4 of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 is a side view of the movable wall mechanism, FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the movable wall,
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the setting state of the passage width for each product diameter, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the dispensing operation during product sales.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, two sets of movable plates 17 arranged vertically are provided on the front side of the machine frame 15 of the movable wall. Here, the machine frame 15 is a box-shaped machine frame base 15
It has a configuration in which a pair of L-shaped machine frame side walls 15b are provided at both left and right ends of a, and the left and right machine frame side walls 15b have elongated guide holes 22, a shaft hole 23 that are tilted backward, and a regulation angle at which the upper side is inclined. The hole 25 is notched as shown in the drawing, and the upper side of the regulation square hole 25 and the guide slot 22 are formed in parallel. Further, in the guide elongated hole 22, a movable plate 17 in which the left and right ends of the upper part are bent in a U shape and passed through the moving shaft 21 is suspended and supported so as to be movable in the front-rear direction along the guide elongated hole 22. Further, the movable plate 17 is provided with a positioning piece 20 which extends rearward from the left and right ends of the movable plate 17 and is loosely fitted in the regulation square hole 25 of the machine frame side wall 15b.
An elongated hole is opened in a direction parallel to the movable plate 17. The movable plate 17 is lightly bent so that its tip projects into the ejection passage 3.

Further, in order to hold the movable plate 17 at the initial position shown in the drawing, the fixed end side shaft 18 passed through the shaft hole 23 of the machine frame side wall 15b and the elongated hole of the positioning piece 20 of the movable plate 17 are passed through. The relay plate 16 is spanned between the free end side shaft 19 and the movable plate 17 on the shaft of the fixed end side shaft 18 via the relay plate 16 pivotally supported by the shaft. A torsion coil spring 26 is provided so as to push it forward. As a result, the movable plate 17 is moved to the front end side of the elongated guide hole 22 formed in the machine frame side wall 15b by the spring bias and is held at the initial position shown in the figure.

The above movable wall is replaced with the passage plate 4 in FIG. 8 and is assembled in an automatic vending machine, and the through pins 27 passed through the left and right side plates of the product storage rack housed in the storage.
The U-shaped groove portions formed in the upper and lower two places of the machine frame 15 are hooked to each other. Next, the structure of the product dispensing device,
The setting operation of the width of the ejection passage will be described with reference to FIGS.
That is, when the product dispensing device is mounted on the vending machine shown in FIG. 8, the product dispensing device is installed at the lower end outlet side of each product-specific passage 2 of the multi-column product storage rack, and the product dispensing mechanism (bending mechanism) 5 The fixed wall 6 combined with the movable wall and the movable wall face each other across the ejection passage 3.

With such a configuration, the product A introduced from the product insertion port on the front of the upper part leading to the product-specific passage 2 (see FIG. 8) of the product storage rack falls while transferring to the meander-shaped product-specific passage 2. Enter the ejection passage 3 from above. In the dropping process, the product A is first pressed by the pressing plate 1 arranged on the upper side of the movable wall.
Falls on top of 3. The pressing plate 13 is arranged side by side on the upper part of the movable wall and is installed on the inlet side of the ejection passage 3, the upper end of which is pivotally supported by the support shaft 13a, and the tip end is flipped up toward the ejection passage 3. It is biased by a torsion coil spring 24. As a result, the product A falling and entering the ejection passage 3
The impact is absorbed by the pressing plate 13, and the pressing plate 13 tilts to guide the product A toward the fixed wall 6. as a result,
The product A drops by gravity along the wall surface of the fixed wall 6 from positions I to III and lands on the lower flapper 14b of the ejection mechanism 5. In addition, the pressing plate 13 guides the product A that subsequently drops to the fixed wall 6 side in the same manner as described above, whereby the subsequent product is stacked on the product that has landed first.

Further, in the process of dropping the product, the ejection passage 3
The product A that has entered the item A pushes the movable plate 17 protruding from the movable wall into the ejection passage. As a result, the movable shaft 17 that rotatably supports the upper end of the movable plate 17 slides rearward along the elongated guide hole 22 and secures the ejection passage width corresponding to the diameter size of the product A. Rotates counterclockwise from the position "a" to the position "b" about the moving shaft 21 to change to the upright posture. At the same time, the positioning piece 20 of the movable plate 17 that is linked to the relay plate 16 that is biased by the biasing spring 26 is pushed up, and the upper edge thereof is located on the machine frame side wall 15
It is pressed against the upper side of the slope of the regulation square hole 25 opened in b and locked and held at this position. As a result, the movable plate 17 maintains an upright posture, and secures the ejection passage width corresponding to the diameter size of the product A between the movable plate 17 and the fixed wall 6.

The above is the passage width setting operation for products having a small diameter size. However, for products having different diameter sizes, the dispensing passage width is automatically set just by inserting the products in the same manner as described above. Is set. FIG. 4 shows the setting state of each large and small product according to the diameter size, and the movable plate 17 corresponds to the diameter size of the product A.
It is set to the "D" position.

Next, referring to FIG. 5, the operation of the dispensing device of the present invention when selling a product will be described. When a sale command is given to the product ejection mechanism 5 in the sale standby state of FIG. 3, the solenoid 29 of the ejection mechanism 5 is energized, and the upper flapper 14a is rotated by the rotary shaft 3a.
The merchandise projecting toward the ejection passage 3 side around 0a and arranged secondly is held at this position. At the same time, the upper flapper 14a
The stopper pin 28 and the lower flapper 14b are disengaged, and the lower flapper 14b becomes free. As a result, the lower flapper 14b rotates clockwise around the rotary shaft 30b in response to the weight of the products arranged in the lowest order, and the products are dropped and ejected downward.

Further, when the energization of the solenoid 29 is turned off after the lowest product is thrown out, the upper flapper 14a is retracted to the inside of the fixed wall 6 by the spring force of the return spring 31 and the lower flapper 14b is opened. It is pushed in by the stopper pins 28 and protrudes toward the ejection passage side. This allows
The second product, which has been restrained by the upper flapper 14a until now, becomes free and is carried on the lower flapper 14b, which completes one selling operation and returns to the selling standby state. Incidentally, reference numeral 32 in the figure is a switch mechanism for detecting the sold-out item.

On the other hand, when the lowest product A is thrown out, the lower movable plate 17 of the movable wall, which has been pushed by this product and held in a vertical posture until now, is provided with a torsion coil spring 26. Although it is temporarily returned to the initial position shown in FIG. 1 due to the force, when the second and third lined products move to the lowest and second sales standby positions in accordance with the above-described product dispensing operation, the movable wall The upper and lower movable plates 17 are pushed by the product A, and the ejection passage width corresponding to the diameter size of the product A is maintained as in the case described above.

Although FIG. 5 describes the operation of selling the product having the smallest diameter, the product having different diameters is also sold by automatically setting the ejection passage width corresponding to the product diameter as described above. can do. Also, by providing the movable wall 17 with two sets of upper and lower movable plates, even if an atypical product is mistakenly inserted, the product is blocked in the middle of the passage, and conversely, the selling trouble of passing through the ejection mechanism 5 is prevented. it can.

[Embodiment 2] Next, an embodiment corresponding to claim 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6. FIG. 6 is a side view of the movable wall, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory drawing of the dispensing operation when selling the product. The configuration and operation of this embodiment are basically the same as those of the above-described first embodiment, except that the regulation square hole 25 opened in the machine frame side wall 15b of the movable wall has a sawtooth-shaped concave-convex groove on the slope of its upper side. The positioning pieces 2 are formed on both ends of the movable plate 17 so as to form a playable portion 25a in the regulation square hole 25.
As for 0, the sawtooth-shaped uneven groove 20a similar to the uneven groove 25a is also formed on the upper edge thereof.

With the above structure, the movable plate 17 is pushed by the product A that has entered the discharge passage 3 in the product storage state shown in FIG.
Is retracted to the passage width setting position and is in the upright posture, the uneven groove 20a of the positioning piece 20 and the uneven groove 25a of the regulation square hole 25 are formed.
And will come to mesh. As a result, the movable plate 17 can be securely retained in the passage width setting position. Although FIG. 7 shows the dispensing operation at the time of selling the product, the operation is the same as that of the first embodiment.

[0025]

As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, when a product placed in the product storage rack of the vending machine enters the dispensing passage, the fixed wall and the movable wall are movable according to the diameter size of the product. Since the passage width between the walls is set automatically,
It eliminates the need for the manual adjustment work of manually setting the passage width associated with the change of the product, which facilitates the management of the vending machine.

In addition, a positioning piece is provided for the movable plate disposed on the front surface of the machine frame of the movable wall, and the positioning piece is provided so as to project from the movable plate to the rear side so as to be loosely fitted in the regulation square hole formed in the side wall portion of the machine frame. The relay plate is provided between the positioning piece and the machine frame, and then the movable plate is pressed and urged toward the ejection passage side by the urging spring provided on the relay plate. With this, the passage width can be adjusted smoothly, and by forming serrated grooves on the upper side of the regulation square hole and the upper edge of the positioning piece, the movable plate can be securely locked and held at the passage width setting position. Can improve reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a movable wall mechanism showing a form of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the movable wall mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the passage width setting operation of the movable wall mechanism in a use state in which the fixed wall and the product dispensing mechanism are combined.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view showing a passage width setting position of a movable wall mechanism corresponding to each diameter size of a product.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a product dispensing operation.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the movable wall mechanism showing the form of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a product dispensing operation according to the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a passage width adjusting work of a product dispensing passage in a conventional vending machine.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional ejection passage adjusting mechanism.

FIG. 10 shows a conventional passage adjusting mechanism different from that shown in FIG.
(a) to (c) are diagrams showing adjustment states corresponding to products with different diameter sizes.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Entry paths 5 Merchandise ejection mechanism 6 fixed wall 13 Press plate 15 Machine frame with movable walls 16 relay board 17 movable plate 20 Positioning piece 20a serrated groove 21 axis of movement 22 Guide slot 25 Regulated Square Hole 25a serrated groove 26 Torsion coil spring (biasing spring for relay plate) A product

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Haruyuki Ueda             1-1 Tanabe Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa             Inside Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kentaro Waki             1-1 Tanabe Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa             Inside Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3E046 BA03 BB03 CA01 CA11 EA09                       EB02 GA03

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine product in which products having a cylindrical shape such as a bottle or a can or the like and having a similar shape are stacked and stored in a product passage, and one product is dispensed one by one from a product lined up at the bottom according to a dispensing command. A dispensing device, comprising: a fixed wall that forms one surface of a dispensing passage in combination with a product dispensing mechanism; and a movable wall that faces the fixed wall with the dispensing passage interposed therebetween. In a device provided with a positioning means for determining and holding a passage width corresponding to a diameter size of a product passing through the exit passage, the movable wall has a machine frame attached to a machine side of the vending machine, and the machine frame of the machine frame. A movable plate, which is pivotally supported by elongated guide holes formed in the left and right sidewalls through a moving shaft and has a tip projecting toward the ejection passage, and the machine frame that extends rearward from the movable plate. A positioning piece arranged so as to be loosely fitted in the regulation square hole formed in the side wall portion of The relay plate is provided between the positioning piece and the machine frame, and an urging spring for pressing and urging the movable plate toward the ejection passage side through the relay plate is provided in the ejection passage. Depending on the entered product, the positioning piece is pressed against the upper side of the square hole so that the movable plate is locked and held at the setting position of the ejection passage width corresponding to the diameter size of the product. Product ejection device. 2. The product dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the upper side of the square hole formed on the left and right side walls of the machine frame and the upper edge of the positioning piece of the movable plate facing the upper side of the square hole are serrated. The concave and convex groove is formed, and the concave and convex groove of the positioning piece and the concave and convex groove of the square hole are engaged and engaged at the position where the width of the discharging passage corresponding to the diameter size of the product passing through the discharging passage is determined. Characteristic vending machine product dispensing device. 3. The product dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the movable wall is equipped with two sets of upper and lower movable plates. 4. The product dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, as a means for guiding a product entering from the product passage into the dispensing passage to the fixed wall side, being juxtaposed with a movable wall. A product dispensing device for a vending machine, characterized in that an oscillating pressing plate, which is spring-biased so that the tip projects toward the dispensing path with the upper end serving as a shaft fulcrum, is provided on the side.