JP2004295809A - Article dispensing device for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article dispensing device for a vending machine that is simple in configuration and easily compatible with simultaneous put-out of two articles. <P>SOLUTION: This article dispensing device with a device body provided with a stopper member normally projecting onto the upper face front end side of the device body to impede dispensing of the article placed on the upper face of the device body while retreating from the upper face of the device body to permit dispensing of the article when putting out the article, is structured to allow the side part of the device body to be selectively mounted with an auxiliary stopper member connected to a shaft part of the stopper member to move integrally with the stopper member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vending machine which is incorporated in a lower part of a product column for storing a plurality of box-shaped products (for example, cigarettes) in a stacked manner and pays out the products at the lowest position to the front of the product column in order. Related to a commodity dispensing apparatus.
[0002]
[Related background art]
A vending machine that sells box-shaped products such as cigarettes is provided with a plurality of product columns 2 for stacking and storing a plurality of products inside a box-shaped vending machine main body 1 as shown in FIG. I have. In response to a selective operation of a product selection button (not shown) provided on the front door 3, the corresponding products are paid out from the product column 2 in order from the lowest position thereof, and It is configured to guide to a product take-out section 5 provided on the front door 3.
[0003]
In addition, a commodity payout device 6 is incorporated in a lower portion of each of the commodity columns 2. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 which shows a perspective view of the inside of the commodity dispensing apparatus 6, the commodity dispensing apparatus 6 includes an apparatus main body 11 having an upper surface as a mounting surface for commodities, and a device main body 11 which is hung from the upper surface thereof. The belt includes an endless belt 12 provided in an orbit in the front-rear direction, and a pressing member (pusher) 13 attached to the outer periphery of the endless belt 12. Then, in response to a product selection operation, the motor 14 serving as the driving system is operated to drive the endless belt 12 to travel, and the pressing member 13 is projected from the rear end of the apparatus main body 11 to the upper surface thereof so that the front end is moved. 7 (a) and 7 (b), the product S placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 11 is pushed out as shown in FIG. 7 (a) and FIG. 7 (b), and the product S is pushed forward (the front side of the product column 2). (For example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
More recently, the product dispensing device 6 incorporates a stopper claw 15 that moves up and down in conjunction with the travel of the pressing member 13 to prevent the product S placed on the upper surface of the device main body 11 from being unintentionally dropped. Has also been developed (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Incidentally, the stopper claw 15 is formed of a substantially L-shaped lever body which is provided so as to be able to swing in the vertical direction, and swings by a cam mechanism (not shown) connected to a drive system (drive pulley) of the endless belt 12. It is driven dynamically. Normally, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), the front end of the tip protrudes toward the front end of the upper surface of the apparatus main body 11, thereby preventing the commodity S placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 11 from being dispensed and simultaneously pressing the presser. As shown in FIG. 7 (b), the member 12 withdraws from the upper surface of the apparatus main body 11 along with the driving of the member 12, thereby playing the role of permitting the dispensing of the product S.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-14539 [Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-219104 [0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the width of the product column 2 described above is exclusively provided to form a product storage space slightly wider than the maximum width of the various products S, and the product dispensing device 6 installed in the lower part of the product column 2 is It is realized as having a size about the width of the product column 2. Therefore, the width of the commodity dispensing device 6 (apparatus main body 11) is approximately the same as the maximum width of the commodity S. On the other hand, the stopper claw 15 described above is deviated from a position where the traveling of the pressing member 13 is not hindered, specifically, from the center in the width direction of the product dispensing device 6 on the side of the orbit of the endless belt 12. Position. Therefore, the stopper claw 15 protrudes to a position near the corner of the front end of the product S placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 11, thereby preventing the product S from dropping.
[0007]
By the way, depending on the sales form of the product S, especially when selling a product S having a small size, the product column 2 is set to be twice as wide as the width of the product S, and the products are stacked in two rows in the product column. , And it is required to pay out two products S at the lowest position at the same time. In this case, usually, the commodity dispensing device 6 is provided at the center of the commodity column, and the commodities S are stacked in two rows on the commodity dispensing apparatus 6 so that the two lowermost positions are pressed by the pressing member 13 of the commodity dispensing apparatus 6. Are set so as to be pressed and paid out simultaneously. However, when the product dispensing device 6 is provided at the center position of the product column in this way, the stopper claw 15 protrudes only toward the front end of one product S, so that the other product S cannot be prevented from falling. Problem arises.
[0008]
It is uneconomical to incorporate two product dispensing devices 6 in one product column in order to solve such a problem, and it is undeniable that the configuration of the vending machine becomes large. In addition, if the stopper claws 15 are provided on both sides of the orbit of the endless belt 12, the configuration of the product dispensing device 6 is unavoidably complicated. Furthermore, it is uneconomical to prepare a dedicated product delivery device 6 for simultaneous delivery of two products.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a purpose thereof is to provide a simple method that can easily cope with the simultaneous dispensing of two products without deteriorating the versatility of assembling to a product column. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine product dispensing device having a configuration.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the product dispensing device of the vending machine according to the present invention is installed at the lower part of a product column that stores a plurality of products in a stacked manner and is arranged on the front of the product column in order from the lowest product. To pay out,
An apparatus main body having an upper surface for placing a product,
A push that protrudes from the upper surface of the apparatus main body and is movably provided from the rear end side to the front end side of the apparatus main body, and presses the rear end of the product placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body to push out the product. Components,
Normally, it protrudes to the front end side of the upper surface of the device main body to prevent payout of the product placed on the upper surface of the device main body, and is driven by the driving mechanism of the pressing member to interlock with the pressing operation of the product by the pressing member. And a stopper member that retreats from the upper surface of the apparatus body and permits payout of the product,
Attached selectively to the side of the apparatus main body and connected to the stopper member, while always protruding toward the front end side of the upper surface of the apparatus main body to prevent payout of products placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body, An auxiliary stopper member is provided which retreats from the upper surface of the apparatus main body in conjunction with the movement of the stopper member and permits payout of the product.
[0011]
Preferably, the stopper member and the auxiliary stopper member each include an L-shaped lever body having a claw portion projecting from the upper surface of the apparatus main body at a tip thereof. It is configured such that the shaft portions serving as the rotation fulcrum of the lever body are connected to each other. Particularly, the stoppers are configured to be connected to each other by fitting the shafts of the auxiliary stopper members into the shaft holes provided in the shafts of the stopper members in the same orientation.
[0012]
In other words, the commodity dispensing device according to the present invention is such that, for example, a long shaft portion of the auxiliary stopper member is fitted by inserting a hole for mounting the auxiliary stopper member provided on a side portion of the device main body, and the tip of the shaft portion The auxiliary stopper member mounted on the side of the apparatus main body is interlocked with the stopper member by fitting the stopper into the shaft hole provided in the shaft portion of the stopper member incorporated in the product dispensing device. It is characterized in that it is driven by being driven. In particular, the present invention is characterized in that the auxiliary stopper member is mounted only when a product dispensing device for simultaneously dispensing two products is realized, thereby maintaining the versatility of the product dispensing device.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a merchandise payout device of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an appearance of a commodity payout apparatus according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a view showing an internal structure thereof. In this product dispensing device, an upper surface of a device main body 21 forming a box body made of a synthetic resin is used as a mounting portion of a product S, and a motor 22 and a plurality of drive pulleys 23 driven by the motor 22 are provided therein. Built-in. An endless belt 24 made of a synthetic resin having a predetermined width and formed to form an orbit in the front-rear direction from the upper surface of the device main body 21 to the inside thereof is stretched between the plurality of drive pulleys 23. The center of the upper surface of the main body 21 is driven to travel from the rear end toward the front end. A T-shaped pressing member (pusher) 25 is attached to the endless belt 24, and the pressing member 25 projects from the rear end side of the apparatus main body 21 to the upper surface thereof by one round running of the endless belt 24, The product placed on the apparatus main body 21 moves to the front end side while pressing the rear end thereof. Then, the pressing member 25 pays out the product S from above the apparatus main body 21 and then stops at a position where it is sunk inside the apparatus main body 21 as a standby position.
[0014]
Note that a sold-out detection lever 26 having an arcuate shape is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 21 at a side of the traveling path of the endless belt 24. The sold-out detection lever 26 is urged by a spring (not shown) so as to protrude from the upper surface of the apparatus main body 21, and receives a load of a product S placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 21. Is pushed inside. A switch (not shown) is turned on / off by the vertical movement of the sold-out detection lever 26, and the sold-out of the product S and the payout of the product are detected from the ON / OFF timing (ON time).
[0015]
Specifically, when the product S is no longer present on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 21, the switch is turned on for a long time, so that the sold-out of the product S is detected. The switch is temporarily turned on by the payout, and the switch returns to the off state within a short time due to the next product falling on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 21, so that one product payout is detected. It has become something. The driving of the endless belt 24 described above is started by energizing the motor 22 in response to a product sales instruction, and after a predetermined time has been detected by the switch, the energization of the motor 22 is performed. This is done by stopping. As a result, the endless belt 24, in particular, the pressing member 25 attached to the endless belt 24 makes one round of the running track.
[0016]
On the other hand, on the front end side of the apparatus main body 21, a stopper claw 27 is provided which is located on a side of the running track of the endless belt 24 and protrudes from the upper surface of the apparatus main body 21. The stopper claw 27 is formed of an L-shaped lever body having a claw portion 27a projecting from the upper surface of the apparatus main body 21 at its tip, and its base portion 27b is rotatably supported so that the claw portion can be moved up and down. It is provided movably. The stopper claw 27 is driven by a cam mechanism 28 connected to a driving pulley 23 for driving the endless belt 24 to travel. When the endless belt 24 makes one revolution, the stopper claw 27 is synchronized with the device at a predetermined timing. It retracts from a position protruding from the upper surface of the main body 21. That is, the stopper claw 27 is always positioned so as to protrude from the upper surface of the apparatus main body 21 to prevent the commodity S placed on the apparatus main body 21 from dropping from the front end side of the apparatus main body 21. . Only when the endless belt 24 is driven and driven to push out the product on the apparatus main body 21 by the pressing member 25 and pays out the product, the stopper claw 27 is retracted from the projecting position to pay out the product. It does not hinder.
[0017]
By the way, a shaft hole 29 for connecting the auxiliary stopper member 31 is provided coaxially in the shaft portion 27b of the stopper claw 27. The shaft hole 29 may be, for example, a hole 29a in which a pair of cut grooves are provided around a round hole as shown in FIG. 3 (a), or a half-section having a D-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. 3 (b). The auxiliary stopper member 31 is formed by an arc-shaped hole 29b. The drive mechanism such as the drive pulley 23 described above inside the apparatus main body 21 is disposed so as to avoid such a side portion of the shaft portion 27 b of the stopper claw 27. In a region from the shaft portion 27b of the stopper claw 27 to the inside of the orbit of the endless belt 24 and further to the side plate of the apparatus main body 21, there is a space through which the shaft portion of the auxiliary stopper member 31 can be inserted. Is formed. A shaft body 32 of the auxiliary stopper member 31 which will be described later is inserted into a position of the side plate of the apparatus main body 21 facing the shaft portion 27b of the stopper claw 27 so that the base end of the shaft shaft body 32 is pivoted. A mounting hole 21a for the supporting auxiliary stopper member 31 is provided.
[0018]
On the other hand, the auxiliary stopper member 31 selectively attached to the side of the apparatus main body 21 has an L-shaped lever body having substantially the same shape as the stopper claw 27, and is coaxial with the shaft of the lever body. And a shaft body 32 of a predetermined length provided. The shaft body 32 has a length substantially equal to the width of the apparatus main body 21, specifically, a length from the side plate of the apparatus main body 21 to the shaft portion 27 b of the stopper claw 27. A fitting portion 32a having a shape fitting into the shaft hole 29 is provided. The auxiliary stopper member 31 is connected to the shaft portion 27b of the stopper claw 27 by inserting the shaft portion 32 into the inside of the device main body 21 from the mounting hole 21a as necessary, and Be attached.
[0019]
The connection between the shaft portion 27b of the stopper claw 27 and the shaft body 32 of the auxiliary stopper member 31 is performed by easily joining them with an appropriate frictional force without separating them. By withdrawing the auxiliary stopper member 31 in the axial direction with a predetermined force, the connection is released against the frictional force, and the auxiliary stopper member 31 can be removed from the apparatus main body 21. .
[0020]
Thus, according to the commodity dispensing apparatus configured such that such an auxiliary stopper member 31 can be selectively attached to the side portion of the apparatus main body 21 and can be moved in conjunction with the stopper claw 27, a mode of assembling into the commodity column is provided. It is only necessary to determine whether or not to attach the auxiliary stopper member 31 according to. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), when it is only necessary to pay out the products S stacked and stored in one row one by one, the product column is placed in a standard state without the auxiliary stopper member 31 being attached. Simply by incorporating the product S in the lower part, the product S can be paid out while preventing the product S from being unintentionally dropped.
[0021]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 4B, when it is sufficient to simultaneously pay out two products S stacked and stored in two rows in order from the lowest one, an auxiliary is provided on the side of the apparatus main body 21. What is necessary is just to mount the stopper member 31 and to assemble the stopper member 31 in the substantially central portion at the lower part of the product column. Then, unintentional dropping of one row of the products S is prevented by the stopper claws 27 pre-installed in the apparatus main body 21, and at the same time, unintentional dropping of the other row of the products S is prevented by the auxiliary stopper member 31. Becomes possible. As a result, it is possible to effectively cope with a request for simultaneously paying out two products S from the product column.
[0022]
Further, according to the above-described configuration, only by preparing the auxiliary stopper member 31 having the shaft body 32 of a predetermined length, the stopper claw (the auxiliary stopper) is also provided on the side of the apparatus main body 21 according to the specification of the product column. Since it is possible to realize a commodity dispensing apparatus including the member 31), it is possible to achieve a great effect in practical use, for example, while maintaining the versatility of the commodity dispensing apparatus, the production cost itself can be reduced. .
[0023]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, the size (width) of the apparatus main body 21 may be set according to the width of the product column and the product size. Generally, if the width of the apparatus main body 21 is set to be substantially equal to the minimum width of the product column, even when two narrow products S are paid out at the same time, two of these products are arranged and the apparatus main body is arranged. 21 can be placed on the upper surface. Further, when the auxiliary stopper member 31 is mounted on the apparatus main body 21, if the auxiliary stopper member 27 can be performed only in a state where the stopper claw 27 is protruding from the upper surface of the apparatus main body 21, the alignment at the time of coupling the shaft portions can be easily performed. It is possible to do it. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since the auxiliary stopper member which is selectively attached to the side portion of the device main body and is connected to the shaft portion of the stopper member incorporated in the device main body is provided, Even when two products are paid out at the same time, it is possible to realize a product payout device capable of reliably preventing unintentional dropping of these products. In addition, since it has a simple configuration, a great effect in practical use can be obtained, for example, the manufacturing cost can be kept low.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a view showing an appearance of a product payout device of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the internal structure of the commodity delivery device shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of the shape of a shaft hole of a stopper claw in the commodity delivery device shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mode of assembling the product payout device shown in FIG. 1 into a product column.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vending machine.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a general internal structure of the commodity delivery device.
FIG. 7 is a view showing the operation of the commodity delivery device shown in FIG. 6;
[Explanation of symbols]
21 apparatus main body 23 drive pulley 24 endless belt 25 pressing member (pusher)
26 Sold-out detection lever 27 Stopper claw 28 Shaft 31 Auxiliary stopper member 32 Shaft

Claims (2)

A product dispensing device of a vending machine that is incorporated at a lower portion of a product column that stores a plurality of products in a stacked manner and pays out the products from the lowest position to the front of the product column in order,
An apparatus body having an upper surface for placing a product thereon,
A push that protrudes from the upper surface of the apparatus main body and is movably provided from the rear end side to the front end side of the apparatus main body, and presses the rear end of the product placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body to push out the product. Components,
Normally, it protrudes to the front end side of the upper surface of the apparatus main body to prevent the dispensing of the product placed on the upper surface of the device main body, and is driven by the driving mechanism of the pressing member to interlock with the pressing operation of the product by the pressing member. And a stopper member that retreats from the upper surface of the apparatus body and permits payout of the product,
Attached selectively to the side of the apparatus main body and connected to the stopper member, while always protruding toward the front end side of the upper surface of the apparatus main body to prevent payout of products placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body, A product dispensing device for a vending machine, further comprising an auxiliary stopper member for retreating from the upper surface of the apparatus main body in conjunction with the movement of the stopper member and permitting the dispensing of the product. The stopper member and the auxiliary stopper member each include a lever body having a claw portion protruding from an upper surface of the apparatus main body at a distal end thereof.
2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary stopper member is mounted on the apparatus main body by connecting shafts serving as pivots of the levers to each other. 3.

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