JP2006163927A - Article storage rack - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article storage rack which can be replenished with articles without excess or deficiency even when "the quantity of sold articles" is "a quantity of articles to be replenished". <P>SOLUTION: A replenishment control member 30 is disposed rotatably at a boundary region between a top tray 10 and an article storage path 20 so as to move forward/backward in an article passage region of a top tray 10, when articles stored in the article storage path 20 reach a predetermined quantity, cooperation with an article located at the top of the article storage path 20 makes the replenishment control member 30 unrotatable to prevent an article from being stored in the article storage path 20, and when articles stored in the article storage path 20 do not reach the predetermined quantity, the replenishment control member 30 is made rotatable to allow articles to be stored in the article storage path 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a commodity storage rack built in a vending machine, and more particularly to a serpentine type commodity storage rack.

  2. Description of the Related Art A product storage rack built in a vending machine that sells products such as canned beverages, bottled beverages, and plastic bottle beverages is widely known. Such merchandise storage racks have a substantially cylindrical shape (including polygonal ones) and a serpentine system suitable for storing merchandise stored in a strong container. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the serpentine product storage rack includes a top tray 110, a product storage passage 120, and a bend mech (not shown) between side plates (not shown). The top trays 110 are juxtaposed in the vertical direction, and a product insertion slot is defined between the top trays adjacent in the vertical direction.

  The top tray 110 is a plate-like member disposed so as to be gradually lowered from the product insertion port (front side) toward the product storage passage (back side), and is placed in a sideways posture from the product insertion port. The product is conveyed from the front side to the back side of the top tray 110 by rolling or sliding on the top tray 110.

  The merchandise storage passage 120 is used to deenergize merchandise conveyed in a lying position from the top tray 110 and to store merchandise therein, with the curved segments 121 and 122 facing each other on the front side and the back side. In such a manner, it is extended so as to meander in the up-down direction by appropriately connecting. And the upper end side is a product input side, and the lower end side is a product carry-out side. Therefore, the product conveyed from the top tray 110 does not break / deform the container due to an impact when passing through the product storage passage 120.

  The bendmec controls the sale of merchandise and is attached to the lower outlet of the merchandise storage passage. Although not shown in the drawing, the bend mech is composed of a pair of upper and lower pedals, a bend solenoid, and a link mechanism. Then, the products that have passed through the product storage passage 120 and have reached (dropped) to the bottom remain at the bend mech, and the next products are stacked on top of each other and stored in the product storage passage 120 one after another. It will be.

  In such a product storage rack, a posture control member 130 is disposed in a portion from the top tray 110 to the product storage passage 120 in order to correct the skewed product posture and store it in the product storage passage 120. It has been known. When the posture control member 130 is in a normal state, its orientation is defined so as to be in an advanced state with respect to the passing area of the product. Therefore, when a product is transported on the top tray 110 in this state, the product comes into contact with the attitude control member 130 before being transported to the product storage passage 120. Then, after the product comes into contact with the posture control member 130, the posture control member 130 retreats from the product passage area by rotating and allows the product to pass through the product storage passage 120.

  During this time, the product that has been put on the top tray 110 in a sideways posture is corrected when it comes into contact with the posture control member 130 even if the product is skewed in the middle. As a result, according to the product storage rack, the product can be stored in the product storage passage 120 in a state where the posture is fixed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Conventionally, a rootman (product replenishment operator) who replenishes products to a vending machine does not know exactly the items and quantities of products to be replenished to the vending machine at the time of product delivery. Problems have been pointed out, such as visiting a vending machine that is not available, and traveling back and forth between goods delivery vehicles. Inefficiencies were pointed out especially for delivery to long distances, areas with heavy traffic congestion, and delivery to higher floors of buildings.

  In order to solve such problems, the vending machine and the management computer of the sales office are connected via public lines (including wireless lines such as mobile phones and PHS), and sales information (product Item, including sales volume). For this reason, if the rootman makes an inquiry about the vending machine sales information to the management computer at the sales office before the product replenishment work, the “item of the product sold” will be changed to “the item of the product to be replenished” and Since the “quantity of the sold product” can be grasped as the “quantity of the product to be replenished”, the replenishment work of the product can be performed efficiently (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-228752 A Supervised by Fumihiko Kimura, edited by Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association, “Vending Machine Technical Overview”, Hoshiseisha Koseikaku Publishing, May 20, 1998, p. 129-136

  However, even if the “items of products sold” are identified as “items of products to be replenished” and “quantity of products sold” are “quantity of products to be replenished” as described above, There was a situation where the merchandise storage rack was full in a state where the quantity of merchandise to be fulfilled was not reached. In this case, the goods that could not be replenished to the goods storage rack (surplus) will be taken back to the delivery car or the like by the route man.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the state in which the goods are densely stored in the goods storage passage 120 shifts to the state where the goods are roughly stored in the goods storage passage 120 as shown in FIG. 6. As a result, only one less product than the quantity of the sold product can be replenished, and one product remains.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a product storage rack that can replenish products without excess or deficiency even when the “quantity of products sold” is set to “quantity of products to be replenished”. And

  In order to achieve the above object, the commodity storage rack according to claim 1 of the present invention performs replenishment control so as to move forward and backward with respect to the commodity passage area of the top tray at the boundary area between the top tray and the commodity storage passage. The member is rotatably arranged, and when the product stored in the product storage passage reaches a predetermined quantity, the replenishment control member is rotated in cooperation with the product located at the top of the product storage passage. When the product stored in the product storage passage is less than a predetermined quantity, the replenishment control member can be rotated to prevent the product from being stored in the product storage passage. It is characterized by allowing storage of goods.

  The product storage rack according to the present invention is a case where the product is stored in a coarse state even when the product is stored in a dense state regardless of the storage state of the product stored in the product storage passage. However, the same predetermined quantity of goods is stored, and when the predetermined quantity is exceeded, the goods are prevented from being stored in the goods storage passage. Since the product waiting on the top tray does not wait for a predetermined quantity exceeding the predetermined amount due to the standby state (storage state), the product is not stored in the product storage rack beyond the predetermined quantity as a result. . For this reason, the quantity of products sold by the vending machine is the same as the quantity of products that can be replenished, and even if the vending machine is replenished with the same quantity of products as the quantity sold, there will be excess or deficiency in the products. There is no. As a result, the route man can efficiently replenish goods.

  Exemplary embodiments of a product storage rack according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

  1 and 2 are conceptual diagrams showing a product storage rack according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the replenishment control member shown in FIG. 1 controls storage of products, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing which showed the state in which the replenishment control member shown in 1 accommodates goods.

  The product storage rack according to the embodiment of the present invention is built in a vending machine that sells products such as canned beverages, bottled beverages, or plastic bottle beverages, and is substantially cylindrical (polygonal ones are also available). In addition, a serpentine method suitable for storing products stored in a container having high strength is employed. In other words, the product storage rack according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a product having the top tray 10 and the product storage passage 20 between a pair of side plates (not shown).

  The product storage rack according to the embodiment of the present invention has a product storage passage 20 ranging from one to a plurality of (for example, six). In the present embodiment, a product storage rack having one product passage is illustrated and described in detail, but the present invention is not limited to a product storage rack having one product storage passage 20.

  The product storage rack includes a top tray 10, a product storage passage 20, a bend mech (not shown), and a replenishment control member 30. The top trays 10 are juxtaposed in the vertical direction, and a product inlet 11 is defined between the top trays 10 adjacent in the vertical direction. The top tray 10 is a plate-like member disposed so as to be gradually lowered from the product insertion port 11 (front side) toward the product storage passage 20 (back side). The introduced product is conveyed from the front side of the top tray 10 to the back side by rolling or sliding on the top tray 10. Further, when a predetermined amount of products is stored in the product storage passage 20, the top tray 10 can further wait for the input products. Note that the number of products that can be kept on the top tray 10 is a predetermined quantity (for example, three in the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2), and does not vary depending on the standby state.

  The merchandise storage passage 20 is used to extinguish merchandise conveyed in a lying position from the top tray 10 and to store merchandise therein, and the curved segments 21 and 22 are opposed to each other on the front side and the back side. In such a manner, it is extended so as to meander in the up-down direction by appropriately connecting. And the upper end side is a product input side, and the lower end side is a product carry-out side. Therefore, the product conveyed from the top tray 10 does not break / deform the container due to an impact when passing through the product storage passage 20.

  The bendmec controls the sale of merchandise and is attached to the lower outlet of the merchandise storage passage. Although not shown in the drawing, the bend mech is composed of a pair of upper and lower pedals, a bend solenoid, and a link mechanism. Then, the products that have passed through the product storage passage 20 and reached (dropped) to the bottom remain at the bend mech, and the next products are stacked on top of each other and stored one after another in the product storage passage 20. It will be.

  Here, a case where the product is stored in a dense state between the front segment 21 and the rear segment 22 (see FIG. 1) and a case where the product is stored in a rough state (see FIG. 2) may occur. . However, whether the product lying down in the product storage passage 20 is stored in a dense state or in a coarse state is not uniquely determined.

  The replenishment control member 30 can be inserted into the product storage passage 20 even when a product in a lying position is stored in a dense state in the product storage passage 20 or a product in a lying position is stored in a rough state. Controls so that the same number of products are stored. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, even if the goods are stored densely (see FIG. 1) or the goods are roughly stored (see FIG. 2), the goods are stored. The passage 20 must be controlled so as to store the same number of eight products.

  The replenishment control member 30 is provided in a boundary region from the top tray 10 to the product storage passage 20 between a pair of side plates (not shown). The replenishment control member 30 is formed by appropriately bending one plate-like body, and has a base portion 31, a shaft support portion 32, a stored product contact portion 33, and an unstored product contact portion 34.

  The base portion 31 has a flat plate shape, and the shaft support portions 32 extend from the side edges of the base portion to the back side. Each shaft support portion 32 is formed with a shaft hole 32a. By attaching a shaft 35 penetrating the shaft hole 32a to a side plate (not shown), the entire replenishment control member 30 can be rotated. .

  The stored product contact portion 33 contacts the uppermost product stored in the product storage passage 20 when a predetermined quantity (for example, 8) of products is stored in the product storage passage 20, and the replenishment control member 30. The unaccommodated product abutting portion 34 is a portion that prevents the entire revolving control member 30 from entering the product passage area when the entire replenishment control member 30 is prevented from rotating. Contact to prevent storage of goods.

  The stored product contact portion 33 is formed so as to extend rearward and obliquely downward from the rear edge of the base portion 31 and has a flat plate portion that contacts the product. The flat plate portion comes into contact with the uppermost product when a predetermined amount (for example, eight) of products is stored in the product storage passage 20, and the rear edge 33a of the flat plate portion (stored product contact portion) is at the back. Abuts the side segment 22. As long as this state is maintained, rotation of the entire replenishment control member 30 is prevented.

  When the product is stored in the product storage passage 20, the rear edge 33 a of the flat plate portion (stored product contact portion) contacts the back segment 22 and is rounded upward so as not to damage the segment 22. It is folded like this. Accordingly, the product that has been transported vigorously on the top tray 10 is stored in the product storage passage 20 and collides (contacts) with the flat portion of the stored product contact portion 33, and the stored product contact portion 33 Even when the edge 33a collides (contacts) with the segment 22, the segment 22 is not damaged.

  The unstored product contact portion 34 is formed so as to extend diagonally forward and downward from the front edge of the base portion 31, and when the entire replenishment control member 30 is prevented from rotating, It has a leading edge 34 a that prevents the product that has advanced and conveyed on the top tray 10 from entering the product storage path 20.

  The front edge 34a of the unstored product contact portion 34 is bent upward in an arc shape so as not to damage the product when it comes into contact with the product. Therefore, even if the product that has been vigorously conveyed on the top tray 10 collides with the front edge 34a of the unstored product contact portion 34, the product is not damaged.

  On the other hand, when the product is paid out from the product storage rack and the product stored in the product storage passage 20 does not satisfy a predetermined quantity (for example, eight), the stored product contact portion 33 is no longer in the product storage passage. Since the uppermost product of 20 cannot be brought into contact, the entire replenishment control member 30 cannot be prevented from rotating (see FIG. 3). Therefore, the non-contained product contact portion 34 rises upward due to the deepest product on the top tray 10, and the replenishment control member 30 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 (see FIG. 4). Thereafter, the product is stored in the product storage passage 20, and this product becomes the uppermost product in the product storage passage 20, and cooperates with the replenishment control member 30 to prevent rotation of the replenishment control member 30 as a whole. It will be.

  On the other hand, when there is no product on the top tray 10 and the product is paid out from the product storage rack and the product stored in the product storage passage 20 does not satisfy a predetermined quantity (for example, 8), Since the stored product abutment portion 33 can no longer contact the product at the top of the product storage passage, it is impossible to prevent the entire replenishment control member 30 from rotating. 33a contacts the rear segment 22 by its own weight.

  When a product is placed in a horizontal position from the product inlet 11 of the product storage rack according to the above-described embodiment, the product rolls or slides on the top tray 10 and is conveyed to the back of the top tray 10. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the uncontained product contact portion 34 of the replenishment control member 30 is in an advanced state with respect to the passage region of the product passing through the top tray 10. Accordingly, the product conveyed to the back of the top tray 10 comes into contact with the front edge 34 a of the unstored product contact portion 34 of the replenishment control member 30.

  Thereafter, the replenishment control member 30 with which the product abuts is then lifted by the front edge 34a of the uncontained product abutment portion 34 of the replenishment control member 30, and the replenishment control member 30 rotates clockwise in FIG. It will be. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the non-contained product contact portion 34 is retracted from the product passage area, and the product is allowed to pass through the product storage passage 20. Note that after the commodity has passed, the replenishment control member 30 returns to the state shown in FIG.

  During this time, even if the product put on the top tray 10 in a sideways posture is inclined on the top tray 10, the front edge of the uncontained product contact portion 34 of the replenishment control member 30. It is corrected when it abuts against 34a. As a result, the product is stored in the product storage passage 20 after the posture is adjusted to a fixed posture.

  Thereafter, when the product is further placed in the horizontal position from the product insertion port 11 of the product storage rack, the replenishment control member 30 repeatedly rotates and returns as described above, and as shown in FIGS. A predetermined quantity of merchandise is stored in 20. When a predetermined quantity (for example, eight) of products is stored in the product storage passage 20, the uppermost product stored in the product storage passage 20 and the stored product contact portion 33 of the replenishment control member 30 are matched. The rotation of the replenishment control member 30 as a whole is prevented.

  Even after a predetermined quantity (for example, 8) of products is stored in the product storage passage 20, if the product is placed in a sideways posture from the product input port 11 of the product storage rack, the product is not stored in the replenishment control member 30. The abutting portion 34 abuts on the front edge 34 a and waits on the top tray 10. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, even when a product is stored in a coarse state in the product storage passage 20, a predetermined quantity (for example, eight) or more of products is stored in the product storage passage 20. There is no.

  If products are further placed in a horizontal position from the product insertion slot 11 of the product storage rack and sequentially put in, the products come into contact with the products waiting on the top tray 10 and similarly stand by on the top tray 10. After that, when a predetermined quantity (for example, three) of products is stored on the top tray 10, the product cannot be supplied from the product input port 11 of the product storage rack, so that the replenishment of the product is finished. It will be.

  According to the product storage rack according to the above-described embodiment, the product is in a rough state regardless of the storage state of the product stored in the product storage passage 20, that is, even when the product is stored in a dense state. Even when the products are stored, the same predetermined quantity of products is stored. When the predetermined number of products is exceeded, storage of the products in the product storage passage 20 is prevented. Since the products waiting on the top tray 10 do not wait for a predetermined quantity exceeding the predetermined quantity due to the standby state (storage state), as a result, it is not possible to store the goods in the product storage rack exceeding the predetermined quantity. Absent. For this reason, the quantity of products sold by the vending machine is the same as the quantity of products that can be replenished. There is no. As a result, the route man can efficiently replenish goods.

  As described above, the product storage rack according to the present invention is useful for a serpentine-type product storage rack, and is particularly suitable for a product storage rack of a vending machine that can replenish products efficiently.

It is a key map showing the goods storage rack concerning the example of the present invention, and shows the state where goods were stored densely. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the goods storage rack which concerns on the Example of this invention, Comprising: The goods are shown in the state accommodated roughly. It is explanatory drawing which showed the state which the replenishment control member shown in FIG. 1 controls accommodation of goods. It is explanatory drawing which showed the state in which the replenishment control member shown in FIG. 1 accommodates goods. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the goods storage rack which concerns on a prior art example, Comprising: The goods are shown in the state accommodated densely. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the goods storage rack which concerns on a prior art example, Comprising: The goods are shown in the state accommodated roughly.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Top tray 11 Product inlet 20 Product storage path 21, 22 Segment 30 Replenishment control member 31 Base part 32 Shaft support part 32a Shaft hole 33 Stored product contact part 33a Rear edge 34 Unstored product contact part 34a Front edge 35 Shaft

Claims (1)

In the boundary area between the top tray and the product storage passage, a replenishment control member is rotatably arranged so as to move forward and backward with respect to the product passage area of the top tray,
When the product stored in the product storage passage reaches a predetermined quantity, it cooperates with the product located at the top of the product storage passage, makes the replenishment control member non-rotatable, and stores the product in the product storage passage. Preventing the storage of
A product storage rack characterized in that, when a product stored in a product storage passage is less than a predetermined quantity, the replenishment control member is pivotable to allow storage of the product in the product storage passage.

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