JP2006146690A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic vending machine with a simple structure, where the structure of a commodity storage part is simplified, a commodity delivery device is easily assembled and manufacture cost can be reduced. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of partition plates dividing a width direction are arranged inside a vending machine main body and/or a back side of a front door in parallel. The commodity delivery devices are fitted to the partition plates. Thus, an upper space of the commodity delivery device, which is sandwiched between the partition plates, is set to be the commodity storage part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine having a simple structure that simplifies the structure of a product storage unit incorporating a product delivery device and improves the workability of assembling the product delivery device.

A vending machine for packaged products such as cigarettes is usually a product formed by a plurality of packaged products stacked and stored in a product storage unit (product column) in front of the product storage unit in order from the lowest one. Configured to pay out in the chute. Specifically, in the product storage unit (product column), a product dispensing device that also serves as a placement unit for packaged products is incorporated in the lower part. This product dispensing device basically includes a housing that also serves as a mounting table for stacking and placing packaged products, and a packaged product that is movably provided in the front-rear direction of the housing and placed on the housing. It is configured to include a pusher that pushes (cigarette) forward (see, for example, Patent Document 1). By driving the product dispensing device, the packaged products stacked and stored in the product storage unit are discharged from the lowest position to the front side of the product storage unit.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-14540

  By the way, a plurality of product storage units (product columns) provided in multiple rows over a plurality of rows on the vending machine main body and / or its front door are generally multi-staged vertically at intervals that define the size (column length) of the storage area. A plurality of product dispensing devices are arranged and fixed on a plurality of shelf plates (column bases) provided in the same, and a partition plate that divides the space on the shelf plate in the width direction is mounted between these product dispensing devices. Composed. The shelf plate is fixed to the vending machine main body and / or the back plate of the front door, and the partition plate is fixed to the shelf plate and the back plate. And the electrical wiring with respect to each goods delivery apparatus is given along the said shelf board, respectively. Therefore, the configuration of the product storage unit itself is complicated, which is a factor that hinders the reduction of the manufacturing cost.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and its purpose is to simplify the configuration of the product storage unit, facilitate the assembly of the product delivery device, and further reduce the manufacturing cost thereof. It is possible to provide a vending machine with a simple configuration that can be used.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the vending machine according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of product storage units in multiple stages,
<a> A plurality of partition plates that divide the width direction are provided in parallel inside the vending machine body and / or on the back side of the front door that can be opened laterally on the front surface of the vending machine body,
<b> Forms a mounting portion for stacking and mounting box-shaped packaged products, and attaches a plurality of product delivery devices for delivering the lowest packaged product forward to the partition plates while separating them in the vertical direction. With that
<c> An upper space of each of the product dispensing devices sandwiched between the partition plates is the plurality of product storage units.

  Preferably, the commodity dispensing device is attached to the partition plate on a side surface of a box-shaped housing whose upper surface is a mounting portion for stacking and mounting box-shaped packaged products. It consists of what has the structure which formed the part protrudingly. In particular, as described in claim 3, it is desirable that the mounting portion on the partition plate in the commodity dispensing device is realized as an elastic engagement piece that engages with a groove provided in the partition plate.

  By the way, the plurality of product dispensing devices are mounted on each of the plurality of partition plates provided in parallel as described in claim 4 so that their mounting height positions are aligned, and the vending machine main body and / or the It is provided in multiple stages over a plurality of rows in the width direction of the front door.

  According to the vending machine having the configuration described above, a plurality of partition plates that define the width of the product storage section (column width) by dividing the inside of the vending machine body and / or the back side of the front door in the width direction, For example, after providing in parallel between the upper and lower sides of the vending machine main body and / or the front door, it is only necessary to attach a plurality of product storage devices to each of these partition plates. Column base) is unnecessary, and the configuration can be greatly simplified and the cost of parts can be reduced. In addition, it is only necessary to prepare a long partition plate between the upper and lower sides of the vending machine main body and / or the front door as a standard, and a plurality of types of partition plates corresponding to the size (column length) of the product storage section are prepared. Since it is not necessary, it is possible to reduce the type of parts and the number of parts, and it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost in this respect as well.

  In addition, according to the above-described configuration, the size (column length) of the product storage unit can be changed simply by changing the mounting height of the product delivery device with respect to the partition plate. is there. In particular, as described in claims 2 and 3, a mounting portion to the partition plate is provided on the side surface of the box-shaped housing whose upper surface is a mounting portion for stacking and mounting box-shaped packaged products. If a product dispensing device having a structure in which an elastic engagement piece that engages with a groove provided in the partition plate is protruded, assembly and removal of the product dispensing device with respect to the partition plate can be easily performed. The attachment height position can be easily changed, and the product dispensing device can be easily maintained.

  Hereinafter, a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking as an example a vending machine for cigarettes (cigarettes) representative of packaged goods.

"overall structure"
FIG. 1 is an external view showing a schematic configuration of a vending machine according to this embodiment, and shows a state in which a front door 2 of a box-type vending machine body 1 is opened. FIG. 2 is a side view schematically showing the internal structure of the vending machine. The vending machine is roughly provided with a vending machine body 1 having a box-shaped housing having a height of about 180 cm, a width of about 80 cm, and a thickness of about 50 cm, and a front opening of the vending machine body 1 that can be opened to the right. And a plurality of product storage units (product columns) 3 provided inside the vending machine main body 1 and on the back side of the front door 2.

  Incidentally, inside the vending machine main body 1, a long product column 3 and a plurality of types of short columns 3 having different product storage amounts are provided in a plurality of rows. A plurality of short columns 3 are provided on the back side of the front door 2 over three upper and lower stages. Each of the product storage units 3 is provided with a product delivery device for delivering the packaged product in one direction at the lower part thereof. Here, the side of the product storage unit 3 from which the packaged product is delivered by the product delivery device, that is, the side provided with the product delivery outlet is defined as the front side of the product storage unit 3 and the opposite side is defined as the back side. .

  Each of these product storage units (product columns) 3 is partitioned in the width direction by a plurality of partition plates 4 provided in parallel with a predetermined interval inside the vending machine body 1 and the back side of the front door 2. At the same time, the product dispensing device 5 is mounted on each partition plate 4 so as to partition the region partitioned by these partition plates 4 in the vertical direction, so that the upper space of each product dispensing device 5 is set. ing. In other words, each commodity storage unit 3 includes a commodity dispensing device 5 at the lower portion thereof, and is set as an upper space of the commodity dispensing device 5 surrounded by the partition plate 4.

  In particular, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the product storage units 3 has a product chute 6 between the inner side surface of the back plate of the vending machine body 1 and between the rear side surface of the front door 2. A space of a predetermined width is formed, and each of the product storage portions 3 faces the product chute 6 at a front end upper portion of the product delivery device 5 so as to face each product chute 6 so as to face down. Is provided. Further, the back portions of the respective product storage units 3 are opened. As shown in FIG. 1, when the front door 2 is opened, the opened rear portions of the opened product storage units 3 are exposed and used as product loading units for the product storage units 3. Yes.

  Note that a wire guide 7 is stretched in the vertical direction on the opened rear surface of the product storage unit (product column) 3 to prevent the packaged product from dropping off from each product storage unit 3. Each of these wire guides 7 also plays a role of sequentially leading downward as the plurality of packaged products stacked and stored on the product delivery device 5 are stored. Further, as will be described later, each of these wire guides 7 is inserted through a slit groove extending in the width direction provided in the rear portion of the product dispensing device 5 to store the upper end portion of the uppermost product storage portion 3 and the lowermost product storage. It is stretched between the lower end of the part 3. In the figure, 8 is a product outlet opening at the lower part of the front door 2, and 9 is a bowl-shaped guide that guides the packaged product selectively delivered from each product storage unit 3 to the product outlet 7. Product guide.

  That is, the vending machine according to the present invention basically stores a plurality of product storage units (cigarettes) stacked and stored on the front side in order from the lowest package product. The product column) 3 is provided in multiple stages in a plurality of column rows on each of the vending machine main body 1 and the front door 2 thereof. In particular, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the front side on which the product payout opening of each product storage unit (product column) 3 is formed is the back inner side of the vending machine body 1 and the front door 2. A space of a predetermined width that forms a product chute 6 is formed between the back side of the vending machine body 1 and the back side of the front door 2 so as to face the back side of the vending machine main body 1 and to face each other. It is said. When the front door 2 is closed, the product storage portions 3 provided on the vending machine main body 1 and the front door 2 are arranged so that their back faces face each other. When the front door 2 is opened, the product storage portions 3 It is characterized in that the back surface is exposed as the product loading section.

  Thus, according to the vending machine having such a structure, the open back portions of the plurality of product storage portions 3 provided on the vending machine main body 1 and the front door 2 are exposed all at once by simply opening the front door 2. The inventory status of the packaged products stored in each of the product storage units 3 can be easily viewed collectively. Moreover, since the back surface of each product storage unit 3 is open, the package product can be easily loaded into these product storage units 3. In particular, since all of the upper space of the product dispensing device 5 forming the product storage area in each product storage unit 3 is open on the back side, it is possible to load packaged products very easily. Conversely, when replacing packaged products or maintaining the product dispensing device 5, when taking out all of the packaged products stored in the product storage unit 3, the removal operation can be performed very easily. . Therefore, it is possible to improve the handling and maintenance of the vending machine with a simple structure.

<Composition of product dispensing device>
By the way, when the product chute 6 is provided in each of the vending machine main body 1 and the front door 2 as described above, the product storage provided in the vending machine main body 1 and the front door 2 as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 34766648, respectively. In general, it cannot be denied that the depth length is longer than that of a central chute vending machine that forms a product chute between the parts. However, in this embodiment, the required space width as the product chute 6 is reduced by adopting the product delivery device 5 having the following configuration, and the protrusion length of the product delivery device 5 from the product storage unit 3 is reduced. This is to prevent the vending machine from increasing in depth.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of the commodity dispensing apparatus 5 used in this embodiment. FIG. 3A is an overall perspective view of the product, and FIG. 3B shows the internal structure of the case with the side plate removed. FIGS. 2A and 2C are views showing the inner structure after removing main components such as a support arm and a lifter described later.
The product dispensing device 5 basically includes a box-shaped housing 10 whose upper surface is a mounting surface for packaged products, and a circular orbit in the front-rear direction of the housing 10 to form an upper surface of the housing 10. And an endless timing belt 11 that is stretched over the inside of the belt and a pusher 12 attached to the timing belt 11. The housing 10 has a width comparable to that of a packaged product, for example, and the length (front / rear length) of the upper surface (product placement surface) is set shorter than the length of the packaged product. ing. Incidentally, in this example, a product placement surface having a length of about 2/3 of the length of the packaged product is formed.

  The pusher 12 is made of a substantially T-shape having a width lower than the height (thickness) of the packaged product placed on the upper surface of the housing 10 and narrower than the width. The pusher 12 protrudes from the rear portion of the housing 10 to the upper surface thereof as the timing belt 11 is rotated and driven in one direction by the motor 13. The vehicle is driven to travel over a predetermined distance. The pusher 12 pushes the rear end of the packaged product placed on the upper surface of the housing 10 and pushes it forward.

  The pusher 12 that has pushed out the packaged product over a predetermined distance is drawn into the internal space of the housing 10 from the hole provided in the front portion of the housing 10 by the subsequent rotation (running) of the timing belt 11. Then, it is guided to a predetermined standby position. That is, in the commodity dispensing apparatus 5 according to this embodiment, only one pusher 12 is attached to an endless timing belt 11, and the pusher 12 is mounted on the casing by rotating the timing belt 11 once during driving. 10 is protruded from the upper surface and is driven to travel only once from the rear end portion to the front end portion. Incidentally, the motor 13 that travels and drives the timing belt 11 operates in response to a predetermined activation signal (payout instruction), and stops operating in response to a payout completion signal.

  On the other hand, a bifurcated support arm 14 projecting continuously from the upper surface of the housing 10 is provided at the front end of the housing 10 so as to be able to tilt forward. Note that the tip of the support arm 14 is bent slightly upward, so that when the support arm 14 is kept in a horizontal state, unintentional dropping of the packaged product from the product payout opening is prevented. Have a role. The support arm 14 engages with a rotary cam mechanism 19 connected to a pulley 15 on which the timing belt 11 is stretched, and is driven forwardly in association with the travel (movement position) of the pusher 12 described above. It is. Specifically, the support arm 14 selectively engages with the first cam follower 19a and the second cam follower 19b of the rotating cam mechanism 19 as shown in FIG. Operation is controlled. The support arm 14 supports the packaged product pushed out from the upper surface of the housing 10 by the pusher 12 from the lower side, and tilts forward with the completion of the push-out operation of the packaged product by the pusher 12 as will be described later. In this way, the packaged product is gradually tilted forward while playing the role of dropping in front of the housing 10 (product delivery device), specifically, into the product chute 6 described above.

  In particular, the support arm 14 maintains the horizontal posture by engaging the engagement pin 14a with the inner surface of the first cam follower 19a as described later. Then, when the engaging pin 14a is disengaged from the first cam follower 19a, the restriction of the horizontal posture is released, and the product is tilted forward by receiving the weight of the packaged product supported on the upper surface thereof. Thereafter, the support arm 14 is held in a forwardly inclined position by engaging an operating end 14b provided at the base thereof with the second cam follower 19b.

  Further, on the upper surface of the housing 10, rod-like lifters 16 are provided so as to be fitted into two long grooves positioned on both sides thereof and extending in the front-rear direction. The lifter 16 is provided such that its rear end portion can be moved in the front-rear direction along the long groove, and the front end portion thereof is displaced up and down in association with the front-rear movement of the rear end portion. As shown in FIG. 4, the lifter 16 includes a long groove 16a engaged with a drive pin 14c provided on the support arm 14. When the support arm 14 is tilted forward to a predetermined angle, the lifter 16 is moved by the drive pin 14c. Pressed to raise its front end. That is, the lifter 16 is driven up and down in accordance with the forward tilting operation of the support arm 14 and in association with the movement of the pusher 12 described above.

  In particular, the lifter 16 is driven from the point in time when the pusher 12 described above completes the extrusion of the packaged product and is pulled into the inside of the housing 10 to raise its front end, and overlaps the packaged product pushed out by the pusher 12. It plays the role of supporting the next product being made from the bottom side. The action of the lifter 16 prevents the collapse of the packaged product remaining on the upper surface of the housing 10 as will be described later. Further, when the lifter 16 is lowered as the lifter 16 is lowered after the delivery of the packaged product is completed, the next product (package product) supported by the lifter 16 is moved to a predetermined placement position of the casing 10. Led to.

  An arc-shaped sold-out detection lever 17 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 10 so as to be located on the side of the travel region of the timing belt 11 described above. The sold-out detection lever 17 is biased upward and is provided so as to protrude from the upper surface of the housing 10. The sell-out detection lever 17 receives the load of the packaged product placed on the housing 10 and enters the inside of the housing 10. It can be pushed in. When the sold-out detection lever 17 is pushed into the housing 10, the reed switch 18 is urged by the magnetic body provided on the lever 17 to detect the presence of the packaged product on the housing 10. It is like that. When the sold-out detection lever 17 protrudes from the upper surface of the housing 10, it is determined that there is no packaged product that depresses the sold-out detection lever 17 by releasing the bias of the reed switch 18, and the sold-out detection is detected. Is done.

  The rotary cam mechanism 19 described above also plays a role of regulating such movement of the sold-out detection lever 17. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5 with its main part extracted, the sold-out lever 17 is provided to be engaged with the outer peripheral edge of the rotating cam mechanism 19, and the rotational position (rotating angle) of the rotating cam mechanism 19 is provided. ), The vertical movement is regulated. The rotating cam mechanism 19 forcibly presses the sold-out detection lever 17 over the period during which the lifter 16 is raised, that is, prohibits the sold-out detection lever 17 from projecting to the upper surface of the casing 10. Therefore, the wrong sell-out detection operation is not executed.

  In other words, the product dispensing device 5 includes a pusher 12 that pushes a packaged product placed on the upper surface of the housing 10 toward the front, and is provided at the front portion of the housing 10 so as to be tiltable forward. 12 supports the package product pushed out from the upper surface of the casing 10 by about half from below, and then tilts forward with the completion of extrusion by the pusher 12 while gradually tilting the package product forward. The lifter 16 is provided with a support arm 14 that drops into the housing 10 and supports the next product (package product) remaining on the housing 10 from below when the package product is tilted forward by the support arm 14 to prevent the product from collapsing. And. In order to drive the support arm 14 and the lifter 16 in accordance with the movement of the pusher 12, the support arm 14 and the sold-out detection lever 17 are engaged with the rotating cam mechanism 19 driven by the timing belt 11, respectively. Further, the lifter 16 is engaged with the support arm 14.

  The movement of the product dispensing apparatus 5 configured as described above will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6H. In the state where the pusher 12 is held at the standby position in the back of the housing 10. As shown in FIG. 6A, the support arm 14 is maintained in a horizontal state by engaging its engaging pin 14a with the first cam follower 19a. Here, the sold-out detection lever 17 is shown protruding from the upper surface of the housing 10, but when a packaged product is placed on the housing 10, it is pushed by the weight of the packaged product. The sold-out detection lever 17 is pushed into the housing 10.

  When the commodity dispensing device 5 is operated, the pusher 12 protrudes from the rear part of the housing 10 to the upper surface as shown in FIG. 6B, and moves toward the front of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. 6C. To do. Even if the rotary cam mechanism 19 rotates with the movement of the pusher 12, the engagement pin 14a of the support arm 14 is kept engaged with the first cam follower 19a. Is maintained as it is. At this time, the sold-out detection lever 17 is pushed by the rotating cam mechanism 19, so the sold-out detection lever 17 is forcibly pushed down into the housing 10.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6D, when the pusher 12 reaches the push-out completion position, the engagement pin 14a of the support arm 14 is disengaged from the first cam follower 19a. When a product exists, the product is tilted forward as shown in FIG. 6E by receiving the weight of the packaged product. This time, the operating end 14b provided at the base of the support arm 14 engages with the second cam follower 19b.

  Then, as the pusher 12 further moves, that is, as the rotary cam mechanism 19 further rotates, the operating end 14b of the support arm 14 is pushed by the second cam follower 19b. As shown in FIG. 6 (f), it is further inclined forward. The lifter 16 is lifted by the further forward tilt of the support arm 14. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (g), the forced displacement restriction of the sold-out detection lever 17 is released immediately before the operating end 14b is disengaged from the second cam follower 19b, and thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6 (h). Since the engagement pin 14a of the support arm 14 is again engaged with the first cam follower 19a of the rotary cam mechanism 19, the support arm 14 is returned to the horizontal position shown in FIG.

  According to the product dispensing apparatus 5 operating in this way, as shown in FIGS. 7 (a) to (f), the package product dispensing action from the product storage unit 3 incorporating the product dispensing apparatus 5 is disassembled. As for the plurality of packaged products stacked on the product delivery device 5 and stored in the product storage unit 3, only the package product at the lowest position is delivered by driving the product delivery device 5. That is, when the pusher 12 presses the rear end portion of the lowermost package product, a plurality of package products are pushed forward as shown in FIG. However, since the advance of the second and subsequent packaged products is restricted by the front plate of the product storage unit 3, only the lowest packaged product is guided into the product payout opening as shown in FIG. 7 (c). And placed on the support arm 14 held horizontally.

  Thereafter, when the support arm 14 is tilted forward as shown in FIG. 7D with the rotation of the rotary cam mechanism 19, the package product at the lowest position is also tilted forward. The next package product remaining in the product storage unit 3 loses the overall support by the package product at the lowermost position, and only the front end side is supported by the rear end portion of the package product tilted forward. As a result, it will tilt backwards. At this time, the lifter 16 is lifted as the support arm 14 is tilted forward, so that the package product tilted backward in the product storage unit 3 is supported by the lifter 16 as shown in FIG. As a result, the collapse of the storage posture of the packaged product remaining in the product storage unit 3 is prevented. Then, the package product remaining in the product storage unit 3 is supported by the lifter 16, and the force (the weight of the package product) that has pushed the lowermost package product pushed forward is released. The package product at the lowest position slides down on the support arm 14 by its own weight and is paid out into the product chute 6 formed on the front side of the product storage unit 3.

  At this time, the sold-out detection lever 17 described above is forcibly pushed down into the housing 10 by the rotating cam mechanism 19, so that the packaged product remaining in the product storage unit 3 is supported by the lifter 16 diagonally. Even if a space in which the sold-out detection lever 17 can protrude from the upper surface of the housing 10 by tilting backward is not detected by the sold-out detection lever 17. Therefore, malfunction of the sold-out detection lever 17 can be surely prevented.

  Then, after the package product is paid out, the lifter 16 is lowered with the rotation of the rotary cam mechanism 19 described above, so that the package product left in the product storage unit 3 is as shown in FIG. It will be placed on the product dispensing device 5. At this time, as described above, the lifter 16 is provided so as to advance and retreat in the front-rear direction in accordance with the raising / lowering operation thereof, so that the packaged product remaining in the product storage unit 3 is moved to the rear side. Then, as shown in FIG. 7A, the front end side is supported by the support arm 14. Even when the forcible displacement of the sold-out detection lever 17 by the rotating cam mechanism 19 is released, the sold-out detection lever 17 receives the load of the packaged product remaining on the housing 10 and is pushed into the housing 10 again. It will be. The sold-out detection lever 17 protrudes from the upper surface of the housing 10 only when there is no packaged product on the housing 10, thereby detecting a sold-out state.

  Thus, according to the commodity dispensing apparatus 5 operating as described above, the package commodity is not pushed out from the housing 10 of the commodity dispensing apparatus 5 completely, for example, only by half pushing out the package commodity by the support arm 14 described above. While tilting forward, it is possible to effectively pay out the front of the product storage unit 3 using its own weight. Moreover, the packaged product can be paid out to the front of the product storage unit 3 in a state of being tilted forward. Accordingly, it is possible to drop the packaged product in the product chute 6 while keeping the dropped attitude of the packaged product approximately vertically long.

  In addition, since the product guide provided by projecting to the front surface of the product dispensing device 5 to regulate the dropping posture after dispensing the packaged product from the product storage unit 3 is not required, the amount of projection to the front of the product storage unit 3 is increased. It can be kept small enough. As a result, the product dispensing device 5 can be made compact and the overall depth of the product storage unit 3 can be shortened. Moreover, since the possibility of the packaged product being caught in the product chute 6 can be sufficiently reduced, the passage width of the product chute 6 can be reduced. Therefore, the overall depth length of the vending machine can be reduced by the amount that the depth length of the product storage unit 3 and the passage width of the product chute 6 can be reduced.

<Assembly structure of product delivery device to product storage>
By the way, as described above, the commodity storage unit 3 in the vending machine according to this embodiment has a plurality of partition plates 4 provided at predetermined intervals on the inside of the vending machine body 1 and on the back side of the front door 2. They are provided in parallel, and are configured by attaching the above-described commodity dispensing device 5 to these partition plates 4. In order to easily realize the mounting of the product dispensing device 5 to the partition plate 4, the product dispensing device 5 includes a product storage unit 3 at the rear side of the side surface of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. A mounting portion 21 for the partition plate 4 forming the side wall is provided, and an engagement piece 22 for the front plate 4 a of the product storage portion 3 is provided at the front end portion of the housing 10.

  The front plate 4a is formed, for example, by bending a front end portion of the partition plate 4 at a right angle and cutting out an upper portion of the attachment position of the product delivery device 5 to form a product delivery outlet. Incidentally, the size of the product payout opening is set slightly larger than the thickness of the package product. Therefore, the front plate 4a plays a role of preventing the other package products stacked on the lowest package product from being paid out from the product storage unit 3.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8 showing the mounting structure of the product dispensing device 5 with respect to the partition plate 4, the mounting portion 21 has a plate-like shape in which the rear end edge of the partition plate 4 is sandwiched between the side surface of the housing 10. The projection 21a includes an elastic engagement piece 21b that is located on the back side of the plate-like projection 21a and is formed to project from the side surface of the housing 10. The elastic engagement piece 21 b plays a role of fixing the commodity dispensing device 5 to the partition plate 4 by fitting into an engagement hole 4 b provided at the rear end portion of the partition plate 4. In addition, the engagement piece 22 is provided between the first projection and a plate-like first projection that is fitted into a square hole 4c provided at the upper end portion of the front plate 4a from the back surface side. The plate-like second protrusion sandwiching the upper end edge of the housing 10 is provided so as to protrude from the front end portion of the housing 10. In particular, the engagement piece 22 is formed as a support body of the commodity dispensing device 5 that protrudes forward of the housing 10 along the forward tilting posture of the support arm 14 described above.

  The product dispensing device 5 including the mounting portion 21 and the engagement piece (supporting body) 22 as described above is arranged from the rear side of the partition plate 4 according to the height position of the product dispensing outlet formed on the front plate 4a. As shown in FIG. 8, the engagement piece 22 is fitted into the square hole 4c, and the partition plate 4 is inserted between the side surface of the housing 10 and the plate-like protrusion 21a. The end plate is sandwiched, and the elastic engagement piece 21b is fitted into the engagement hole 4b to be attached to the partition plate 4. Further, the removal is performed by deforming the elastic engagement piece 21b to release the engagement with the engagement hole 4b and withdrawing the commodity dispensing device 5 to the rear end side of the partition plate 4 in this state.

  If the product dispensing device 5 is configured to be directly attached to the partition plate 4 in this way, a plurality of partition plates 4 are provided at predetermined intervals on the inside of the vending machine main body 1 and / or on the back side of the front door 2. The upper space of the product delivery device 5 sandwiched between the two partition plates 4 can be used as a product storage section (product column) 3 simply by attaching the product delivery device 5 to the partition plates 4 in parallel. Therefore, the configuration of the product storage unit 3 itself can be made very simple. In addition, unlike conventional general vending machines, shelf boards (column bases) for attaching product dispensing devices are provided in multiple stages, and it is not necessary to attach a plurality of partition plates to each of these shelf boards. The number of components can be greatly reduced. In particular, it is only necessary to prepare a long partition plate 4 over the entire length of the product storage section 3 provided in multiple stages, and attach a plurality of product delivery devices 5 to the predetermined height positions of the partition plate 4 respectively. Since the height direction can be divided vertically and a plurality of stages of the product storage portions 3 can be formed at once, the assembling property can be simplified. Therefore, combined with the effect of reducing the number of parts, the manufacturing cost can be greatly reduced.

《Structure of the back of the product storage unit》
Now, as described above, the product storage unit 3 in the vending machine according to this embodiment is configured by arranging a plurality of partition plates 4 in the horizontal direction and attaching the product delivery device 5 to these partition plates 4. Therefore, the back surface of each product storage unit 3 is opened as a space surrounded only by the partition plates 4 arranged in parallel as shown in FIG. As described above, the packaged product is loaded into each product storage unit 3 from the opened rear surface.

  Further, a wire guide 7 for preventing the drop of the packaged product from each product storage unit 3 is stretched in the vertical direction on the opened back surface of the product storage unit 3. In particular, the wire guide 7 is fixed at both ends to the upper end of the uppermost product storage unit 3 and the lower end of the lowermost product storage unit 3, and is partitioned by the product dispensing device 5 to be multistage in the vertical direction. It is stretched so as to straddle all of the plurality of product storage units 3 provided in the package. More specifically, the rear end portion of the casing 10 of the commodity dispensing device 5 is provided with a slit groove 23 formed in the vertical direction of the casing 10 as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 10 respectively. The wire guide 7 is stretched through each of the slit grooves 23.

  Incidentally, the slit groove 23 includes a first groove 23 a having a predetermined width extending in the width direction of the housing 10, and a second groove 23 b extending from the first groove 23 a to the back surface of the housing 10. Is attached to the commodity dispensing device 5 by being fitted into the first groove 23a through the second groove 23b. As shown in FIG. 10, the wire guide 7 is supported by the commodity dispensing device 5 so as to be displaceable in the width direction within the range of the first groove 23a against the elastic force. In addition, in FIG. 10, 24 is a cross-shaped cover body attached to the rear part of the goods delivery apparatus 5 provided over several rows. As described above, the plurality of product delivery devices 5 attached to the partition plate 4 are fixed from the back side by the cover body 24, and electrical wiring is provided to the product delivery devices 5 through the back side of the cover body 24.

  Thus, according to the structure in which the wire guide 7 is provided on the back surface of the product storage unit 3, the position of the wire guide 7 on the upper surface of the product dispensing device 5 can be shifted in the lateral direction. As shown in (c), the packaged product P can be loaded into the product storage unit 3 while the wire guide 7 is shifted laterally at the side of the packaged product P. In particular, since the wire guide 7 is only inserted through the slit groove 23a, the displacement width in the width direction can be increased. Accordingly, since the wire guide 7 can be easily shifted in the horizontal direction, the workability of loading the packaged product P into the product storage unit 3 can be improved accordingly. When the package product P is completely loaded in the product storage unit 3, the wire guide 7 returns to its original position by its own elastic restoring force as shown in FIG. Therefore, this functions to prevent the packaged product P from falling off.

<Summary>
As described above, as described for the vending machine according to the present invention, in the present invention, a plurality of sheets provided in parallel inside the vending machine body 1 and / or on the back side of the front door 2 with its width direction partitioned. Since a structure for directly attaching the product dispensing device 5 to each of the partition plates 4 is adopted, there is no need for a shelf plate for attaching the product dispensing device for each stage, and the configuration can be greatly simplified. it can. Moreover, by simply attaching the product dispensing device 5 to a predetermined height position of the long partition plate 4, the space surrounded by the two partition plates 4 is vertically divided, and the upper space of the product dispensing device 5 is separated from the product. Since the storage unit 3 can be used, the structure thereof is very simple, and the product storage amount (column length) of the product storage unit 3 can be changed only by changing the mounting height position of the product delivery device 5. Therefore, there are effects such as being able to easily cope with a change in the specifications of the vending machine.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, the number of the product storage units 3 and the number and arrangement of the product storage units 3 may be determined according to the specifications of the vending machine. Of course, it is possible to realize a vending machine using a product dispensing apparatus having a general structure. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 is an external view showing a schematic configuration of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The side view which showed roughly the internal structure of the vending machine shown in FIG. The figure which shows schematic structure of the goods delivery apparatus used in this embodiment. The figure which shows the connection structure of the support arm and rotation cam mechanism in the goods delivery apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows the coupling | bonding structure of the sold-out detection lever and rotation cam mechanism in the goods delivery apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which decomposes | disassembles and shows the motion of the goods delivery apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which decomposes | disassembles and shows the payout effect | action of the packaged goods from the goods storage part incorporating the goods delivery apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows the attachment structure to the partition plate of the goods delivery apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows the attachment structure of the wire guide to the back surface of the some goods storage part provided in multiple stages. The figure which shows the relationship with the wire guide in the rear part of a goods delivery apparatus. The figure which decomposes | disassembles and shows the loading procedure of the package goods to a goods storage part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine main body 2 Front door 3 Commodity storage part 4 Partition plate 5 Commodity delivery device 6 Commodity chute 7 Wire guide 10 Case 11 Timing belt 12 Pusher 14 Support arm 16 Lifter 17 Sold out detection lever 19 Rotating cam mechanism 21 Mounting part 21a Protrusion 21b Elastic engagement piece 22 Engagement piece (support)
23 Slit groove 24 Cover body

Claims (4)

A vending machine provided with a plurality of product storage sections in multiple stages,
In the vending machine main body and / or on the back side of the front door that can be opened laterally on the front surface of the vending machine main body, a plurality of partition plates that divide the width direction are provided in parallel.
A plurality of product dispensing devices for dispensing the lowest packaged products forward are attached to the partition plates in the vertical direction while forming a placement unit for stacking and placing box-shaped packaged products. A vending machine characterized in that an upper space of each of the product dispensing devices is the plurality of product storage units.   The product dispensing device has a structure in which a mounting portion for projecting a partition plate is formed on a side surface of a box-shaped housing having an upper surface as a mounting portion for stacking and mounting box-shaped packaged products. The vending machine according to 1.   The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the mounting portion of the commodity dispensing device to the partition plate includes an elastic engagement piece that engages with a groove provided in the partition plate.   The commodity dispensing device is attached to each of a plurality of partition plates provided in parallel with their mounting height positions aligned, and spans a plurality of rows in the width direction of the vending machine body and / or the front door. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine is provided in multiple stages.

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