JP2004013537A - Article chute of automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent article jamming resulting from standing of an article. <P>SOLUTION: An article chute 10 of an automatic vending machine comprises a chute part 11 which receives the article DR discharged from article storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c and carries out in attitude of lying sideways, and a guide part 13 which guides the article DR to an article carryout port 5a when contacting with the article DR carrying out through the chute part 11. An article attitude control part 13e is provided to suppress the change of the attitude of the article DR by contacting with the article DR before the article DR, after contacting with the guide part 13, becomes an attitude to generate the standing moment. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a product shooter of a vending machine, and more particularly, to a shooter unit for carrying out a product dispensed from a product storage unit in a sideways posture, and a product taking out the shooter unit. The present invention relates to a product shooter of a vending machine having a guide portion for guiding the product to a predetermined product passing portion when it comes into contact with the product.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Some vending machines that sell products such as canned beverages and bottled beverages have a plurality of product storage racks arranged side by side in a storage. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of this type of vending machine.
[0003]
In this vending machine, a storage case 2 partitioned by a heat insulating wall (not shown) is provided in a rectangular main body case 1 having an opening on the front surface, and a plurality of storage cases (shown in FIG. In the example, three (3) product storage racks (product storage units) 3a, 3b, 3c are arranged side by side. The storage case 2 supports an inner door 5 for opening and closing the front opening, while the main body case 1 supports an outer door 6 for opening and closing the front opening. The inner door 5 is provided with a product outlet (product passing portion) 5a large enough to allow only one product in the sideways posture to pass through. The outer door 6 is provided with a product outlet 6a for taking out the product DR to the outside at a portion that leads to the product outlet 5a in a closed state.
[0004]
Further, the vending machine is provided with a product shooter 4 at a position below the product storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c in the storage 2. The product shooter 4 is for taking out the product DR paid out from the lower end of each of the product storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c to the product outlet 5a in a sideways posture, and is inclined downward toward the inner door 5. It is arranged as follows. The product shooter 4 is provided with a shooter portion 4a, a shooter side plate 4b, and a guide portion 4c. By appropriately arranging the shooter side plate 4b and the guide portion 4c on the upper surface of the shooter portion 4a, a product carry-out port is provided. This constitutes a product path R leading to 5a. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 6, since the inner door 5 is provided with a product outlet 5a at a position located at the right end as viewed from the front in the extension of the shooter portion 4a, the shooter side plate 4b is connected to the right end of the shooter portion 4a. The guide portion 4c is arranged obliquely on the upper surface of the shooter portion 4a so as to be erected along the edge and so as to gradually decrease the distance between the shooter side plate 4b toward the product outlet 5a.
[0005]
According to the vending machine including the product shooter 4 configured as described above, the product DR paid out from the product storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c proceeds while rolling or sliding the shooter unit 4a as appropriate. It reaches the product exit 5a. In this case, the product DR that travels at a position off the extension of the product exit 5a is guided by contacting the guide 4c in the shooter unit 4a, and finally reaches the product exit 5a.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the commodity shooter 4 of the vending machine described above, when the commodity DR paid out from the commodity storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c and traveling through the shooter section 4a abuts on the guide section 4c, its inertia force is increased. Therefore, there is a possibility that the vehicle may ride on the guide portion 4c and stand up on the shooter portion 4a with the momentum on the guide portion 4c. The product DR that stands up in the shooter unit 4a can no longer pass through the product exit 5a, resulting in product clogging. In particular, when the number of the product storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c arranged side by side is increased, the mounting angle of the guide portion 4c is large with respect to the traveling direction of the product DR (close to 90 ° with respect to the traveling direction). So that the above-mentioned problem becomes significant.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a product shooter for a vending machine that can prevent product clogging caused by standing up of a product.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a product shooter of a vending machine according to claim 1 is configured such that a product taken out of a product storage unit is carried out in a sideways posture, and the product shooter is carried out. In a product shooter of a vending machine having a guide portion for guiding the product to a predetermined product passing portion when the product comes into contact with the product, the product after contacting the guide portion is in a posture in which a standing moment is generated. It is characterized in that a product posture regulating means for contacting the product before reaching the position and suppressing a change in the posture of the product is provided.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a product shooter for a vending machine according to the first aspect, wherein the product attitude regulating means is formed by bending a part of the guide portion.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a product shooter for a vending machine according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0011]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a product shooter of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The product shooter 10 exemplified here has a plurality of product storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c for storing products such as canned beverages and bottled beverages arranged side by side in the storage 2 similarly to the conventional product shooter shown in FIG. It is applied to a vending machine that has been used.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 1, the product shooter 10 has engaging claws 11a protruding downward from both front and rear ends of the shooter portion 11 and an engaging claw 11a 'having an insertion hole 11b. It is protruding. The engaging claw 11a and the engaging claw 11a 'engage with an engaging hole (not shown) provided in the main body case 1 of the vending machine, and further screw a screw (not shown) through the insertion hole 11b. This is for attaching the product shooter 10 to the main body case 1. The mounting mode of the product shooter 10 is at a position below the product storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c in the storage box 2 and is inclined downward toward the inner door 5, similarly to the conventional one shown in FIG. Is what you do.
[0013]
The shooter section 11 of the product shooter 10 is a portion that constitutes a product path R for receiving the product DR paid out from the lower end of each of the product storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c and carrying out the product in a sideways posture. A shooter side plate 12 and a guide portion 13 are provided on the upper surface. More specifically, when the product outlet 5a of the inner door 5 is on the right side as viewed from the front, the shooter side plate 12 is erected on the right edge as viewed from the front of the shooter portion 11, and the shooter side plate is directed toward the product outlet 5a. By arranging the guide portion 13 obliquely at the lower end of the upper surface of the shooter portion 11 so that the distance between the guide portion 13 and the guide portion 12 gradually decreases, a product passage R reaching the product outlet 5a is formed.
[0014]
2 to 4 show details of the guide portion 13 which is a main part of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the guide portion 13 in FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the guide section 13 in FIG. Hereinafter, the guide portion 13 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
[0015]
The guide 13 has a bottom wall 13a, a side wall 13b, and a cover 13c.
[0016]
The bottom wall portion 13a is a flat plate-shaped portion serving as a mounting portion for the shooter portion 11. The bottom wall portion 13a is provided with a pair of engaging claws 13aa and an insertion hole 13ab. Each of the engaging claws 13aa is a tongue-shaped portion bent and formed so as to protrude downward from the bottom wall portion 13a. These engaging claws 13aa serve as a guide portion for the shooter portion 11 when the bottom wall portion 13a is engaged with an engagement hole (not shown) of the shooter portion 11 in such a manner that the bottom wall portion 13a contacts the upper surface of the shooter portion 11. 13 has a function of defining the position and the mounting angle. The insertion hole 13ab is a through hole formed at one end of the bottom wall portion 13a. Through this, the guide portion 13 is screwed into a screw hole (not shown) of the shooter portion 11 so that the guide portion 13 is formed on the upper surface of the shooter portion 11. It can be held.
[0017]
The side wall portion 13b extends in a substantially right angle direction from one side edge of the bottom wall portion 13a. When the bottom wall portion 13a is brought into contact with the upper surface of the shooter portion 11, the side wall portion 13b is substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the shooter portion 11. It is the part that stands in the direction. In the present embodiment, the side wall portion 13b is configured so as to form a triangular flat plate whose width gradually increases from a portion located on the upper side of the shooter portion 11 to a portion located on the lower side. A support piece 13d is provided substantially at the center of the side wall 13b. The support piece 13d is bent substantially at right angles in a direction opposite to the bottom wall 13a, and is inserted into a hole (not shown) of the shooter section 11 so as to be in contact with the rear face of the shooter section 11. -Shaped part.
[0018]
The cover portion 13c is a portion bent and extended from one side edge of the side wall portion 13b in a direction facing the bottom wall portion 13a, and a portion located on the upper surface of the shooter portion 11 below the side wall portion 13b. Is formed in a substantially triangular shape having a size sufficient to cover the surface. A product posture restricting portion (product posture restricting means) 13e is formed at the extending end of the cover 13c. The product posture regulating portion 13e is a portion in which the extending end of the cover portion 13c is bent and extended in a direction away from the bottom wall portion 13a with the folding curve 13 ″ as a base line.
[0019]
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line DD in FIG. In FIG. 5, when the product attitude regulating unit 13e is not provided, the state of the attitude change until the product DR rises in the shooter unit 11 is indicated by a rectangular two-dot chain line. In addition, the number in parentheses attached to the code DR indicates the order of the posture change of the product DR. The symbol G indicates a change in the position of the center of gravity of the product DR, and the symbol P indicates a change in the contact point between the product DR and the shooter unit 11. The numbers in parentheses after the symbols G and P correspond to changes in the attitude of the product DR. Hereinafter, the conditions for forming the product attitude regulating section 13e in the guide section 13 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
[0020]
When the commodity DR paid out from the commodity storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c abuts on the guide section 13 when the chute section 11 advances along the inclination, as shown in the posture of DR (1), the inertia force causes the commodity DR. There is a case where the vehicle rides on the cover 13c. Further, the product DR riding on the cover 13c gradually rises, for example, due to the momentum on the cover 13c, and stands up (DR (5)) after passing through the positions DR (1) to DR (4). May occur.
[0021]
Here, the positional relationship between the center of gravity G of the product DR and the ground point P is such that, before reaching DR (4), the center of gravity G is located on the front side of the position vertically above the ground point P before reaching DR (4). 5 (left side in FIG. 5). For this reason, a moment for raising the product DR (hereinafter, simply referred to as a rising moment) does not occur.
[0022]
However, when the attitude of the product DR exceeds DR (4), the center of gravity G is located behind (right side in FIG. 5) vertically above the ground point P, so that a standing moment is generated in the product DR. Will be. That is, when the product DR exceeds the posture of DR (4), the product DR stands on the shooter unit 11 by the action of the standing moment. Incidentally, for convenience of explanation, the shooter unit 11 is drawn horizontally in FIG. 5, but the process until the standing moment is generated is the same even when the shooter unit 11 is inclined. Further, even when the product DR completely rises from the upper surface of the shooter unit 11, the same determination can be made based on the posture when the product DR comes into contact with the shooter unit 11 again.
[0023]
Here, the front end face (the short side portion located on the left side in DR (1) to DR (4) in FIG. 5) of the product DR riding on the cover portion 13c approaches the upper region of the cover portion 13c. It goes through such a moving locus. Therefore, before the posture of the product DR reaches DR (4), the product posture regulating unit 13e is arranged so as to intersect with the movement trajectory of the front end surface of the product DR, and the posture of the product DR is changed by the product posture regulating unit 13e. By suppressing the situation, it is possible to prevent a situation in which a standing moment is generated in the product DR.
[0024]
Based on these, in the present embodiment, when the attitude of the product DR becomes DR (2), the arrangement position of the product attitude regulating unit 13e and the The bending angle with respect to the cover 13c is set. However, when paying out product DRs of different sizes from the product storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c, it is necessary to provide the product attitude regulating unit 13e so as to satisfy the above-mentioned condition based on the smallest product DR.
[0025]
As a result, in the commodity shooter 10 configured as described above, even if the commodity DR paid out from the commodity storage racks 3a, 3b, and 3c runs on the guide section 13 in the process of traveling through the shooter section 11, it falls down. , The product DR can be returned to the shooter unit 11 without standing up, and the product caused by the product DR standing up in the shooter unit 11 can be returned. Clogging can be prevented. The above-described operation and effect do not depend on the mounting angle of the guide portion 13 with respect to the traveling direction of the product DR. Therefore, even when the number of the product storage racks 3a, 3b, 3c arranged side by side is increased, that is, when the mounting angle of the guide portion 13 is set to be large with respect to the traveling direction of the product DR, the product DR stands up. This eliminates the risk of product clogging caused by the above.
[0026]
Note that, in the above-described embodiment, as in FIG. 6, the product exit 5 a provided at the right end of the inner door 5 as viewed from the front on the extension of the shooter portion 11 is used as the product passing portion. Although illustrated, the invention is not limited to this. For example, the position of the product passing section may be at the left end with respect to the shooter section 11 or may be at the center. In this case, it is needless to say that the arrangement position of the guide portion 13 may be appropriately changed according to the product passing portion. For example, when the product passing portion is located at the center with respect to the shooter portion 11, the guide portions 13 may be provided on both sides of the shooter portion 11, and the product attitude regulating portions 13e may be provided on the respective guide portions 13. .
[0027]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the guide portion 13 is provided separately from the shooter portion 11, but the shooter portion 11 and the guide portion 13 may be integrally formed.
[0028]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, since the product attitude regulating portion 13e is formed integrally with the guide portion 13, it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of parts. Of course, the product attitude regulating portion 13e may be provided separately. In this case, the position at which the product attitude regulating section 13e is provided does not necessarily need to be the guide section 13. For example, the product attitude regulating section 13e can be provided at the shooter section 11.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the commodity shooter of the vending machine according to the first aspect, the commodity after contacting the guide portion contacts the commodity before reaching the posture in which the standing moment occurs, and Since the product posture restricting means for suppressing the posture change is provided, there is no possibility that the product stands up in the shooter unit, and it is possible to prevent the product from being clogged.
[0030]
Further, according to the product shooter of the vending machine according to the second aspect, since a part of the guide portion is bent to provide the product attitude regulating means, it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of parts, and to manufacture the product. It is possible to reduce costs and facilitate manufacturing operations.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a product shooter of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a guide section of the product shooter shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a guide section of the product shooter shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a guide section of the product shooter shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line DD in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a vending machine provided with a conventional product shooter.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 2 Storage 3a, 3b, 3c Commodity storage rack 5 Inner door 5a Commodity carry-out port 6 Outer door 6a Commodity take-out 10 Commodity shooter 11 Shooter part 11a, 11a 'Engagement claw 11b Insertion hole 12 Shooter side plate 13 Guide part 13 ″ Folded curve 13a Bottom wall 13aa Engagement claw 13ab Insertion hole 13b Side wall 13c Cover 13d Supporting piece 13e Product attitude regulating unit 15 Screw DR Product G Center of gravity P Ground point R Product passage

Claims (2)

A shooter unit for carrying out the goods paid out from the product storage unit in a sideways posture, and a guide unit for guiding the goods to a predetermined product passing unit when the shooter unit comes into contact with the goods to be carried out. In the vending machine product shooter equipped with
A vending machine provided with a product attitude regulating means for abutting on the product after the product abuts on the guide portion before reaching a posture in which a standing moment is generated, and suppressing a change in the posture of the product. Product shooter. The product shooter of a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the product attitude regulating means is formed by bending a part of the guide portion.

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