JP2007140765A - Automatic article vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic article vending machine having a configuration allowing easy takeout of a commodity or a gift without causing complication of the configuration. <P>SOLUTION: This automatic article vending machine allowing the takeout of a selected article from a large number of displayed articles has: a display case 2 having a drum body 3 capable of suspending the large number of articles inside it; a drive part 5 for a drum equipped in the display case 2 on a bottom part side of the drum body 3; a grasp device 8 grasping the article suspended on the drum body 3 side, performing vertical movement wherein the article is brought from a suspension position to a drop position, and forward and backward movable to a drum peripheral face; and a control part 100 registered with position information of each the article on the drum body 3 side, driving the drum body 3 according to information related to the selected article to make the article suspension position on the drum body 3 side face the grasp device 8, and capable of setting a takeout form of the article by the grasp device 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article vending machine, and more particularly, to a vending machine including a mechanism capable of taking out a selected item from among displayed products and prizes.

  Conventionally, as a device for selecting and taking out displayed products and giveaways, products and giveaways are mounted on individual display shelves provided vertically and horizontally in the display section, and directed to the positions of these shelves. There is a configuration in which a shelf at a selected position is tilted by a lifter that can be moved in the horizontal and vertical directions to drop a product or a premium toward a takeout port (for example, Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, merchandise and prizes are not only mounted on the above-described shelves, but also may be displayed suspended by hooks provided in the display section. As a take-out mechanism in the case of this hanging, the hanging part is a rotating disk, and the hanging part provided on a part of the peripheral surface of the disk is hung on the hanging part using the downward direction by the rotation. The structure which drops the goods and prizes which were lowered is proposed (for example, patent documents 2).
JP 2002-85810 A (paragraph “0018” column) JP 2003-154156 A (paragraph “0008” column)

  However, in the conventional article vending machine, it is necessary to move the lifter to the position of each shelf when taking out goods or giveaways. For this reason, there exists a possibility that the structure for a movement may become complicated or installation space may become large.

  Further, when dropping a suspended product or prize by rotating the disk, a driving mechanism for the rotating disk is required for each hook, and the configuration may be extremely complicated.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an article vending machine having a configuration in which a product or a gift can be easily taken out without causing complication of the configuration in view of the problems in the conventional article vending machine.

The present invention has the following configuration.
(1) An article vending machine capable of taking out a selected item from among a large number of displayed articles, the display case having a drum body in which a large number of articles can be suspended, and the drum body The drum drive unit mounted on the display case on the bottom side, and the lifting and lowering of the drum that holds the article suspended on the drum body side and brings the article from the hanging position to the dropping position The position information of each article on the drum body side is registered, and the article suspension position on the drum body side is set by driving the drum body according to the information on the selected article. An article vending machine comprising: a control unit that faces the gripping device and that can set a take-out state of the article by the gripping device.

(2) In the item (1), a hook is provided at a hanging position of the article in the drum body, and the hook has at least 12 steps, and each step corresponds to a number of days of the month. The article vending machine described.

(3) The article according to (1) or (2), wherein the control unit determines the article suspension position on the drum side corresponding to the selected date and faces the gripping device. vending machine.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the selected article can be taken out by the gripping device by rotating in a state where the drum body located in the display case faces the gripping device. In particular, since the articles suspended on the drum body side are dropped by the gripping device, there is no need to provide a special configuration such as a driving member for dropping or a tilting shelf member for each article on the drum body side. Simplification is possible.

  According to the second and third aspects of the invention, the article suspension position of the drum body is made to correspond to the date, and in the invention according to the third aspect, the suspension selected from these dates The article can be taken out with the position facing the gripping device, and it is possible to enhance the interest.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of an article vending machine according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, an article vending machine 1 is arranged inside a display case 2 having a transparent window and a display case 2 and is rotatable. The drum body 3 is provided.
The lower part of the display case 2 is covered with a wall portion, and an operation portion 2A including a control portion described later is provided on a part of the wall portion.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drum body 3 is formed of a hollow body whose upper and lower surfaces of the outer peripheral wall are closed, and a rotating shaft 3A is provided between the centers of the upper and lower surfaces.
The rotating shaft 3A penetrates downward from the bottom surface side corresponding to the lower surface, and a lower end thereof is provided between the output shaft side of the driving motor 5 provided on the display case side via the flange 4 and the rotating shaft 3A. It is interlocked with the gear group 5A provided. 2, reference numeral 3 </ b> A <b> 1 indicates a part of the rotating shaft 3 </ b> A, and in FIG. 2, a spline formed on the peripheral surface corresponding to the lower wall surface side of the drum body 3. The upper end and the lower end of the rotating shaft 3A are integrated with the drum body 3 side.

  On the display case 2 side, a plurality of receiving rollers 6 are provided along the rotation trajectory of the drum body 3 on the upper plate provided to face the lower surface of the drum body 3. The receiving roller 6 is a portion on which the lower surface of the drum body 3 is mounted, and supports the drum body 3 in a rotatable manner.

The drum body 3 is provided with a number of hooks 7 for hanging articles on the outer peripheral surface thereof.
The hook 7 has at least 12 steps on the outer peripheral surface of the drum body 3, and each step is formed in a number corresponding to several days of the month, thereby providing a date corresponding to 365 days.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the hook 7 is attached to the drum body 3 with a flange 7A provided at the base of the hook 7 with respect to the holes formed at the respective hanging positions on the outer peripheral surface of the drum body 3. The structure which abuts on the outer side of a surrounding surface is used. That is, when the lower side of the flange 7A is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the drum body 3 using the moment generated by gravity in the hook 7, the upper peripheral surface of the hook is pressed against the inner peripheral edge of the hole on the drum body 3 side. To maintain the state of being prevented from coming off. In addition, the tip of the hook 7 is bent so as to protrude substantially in the horizontal direction when held in an inclined state with respect to the drum body 3.

On the other hand, a gripping device 8 is provided on a part of the inner peripheral surface of the display case 2 so that an article suspended from the hook 7 of the drum body 3 can be gripped and taken out from the hook 7.
The gripping device 8 is a device that can be moved up and down and moved back and forth with respect to the drum body 3 in order to bring an article located on the drum body 3 side from the suspended position to the dropping position. Has been.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an initial state of the gripping device 8. The initial state in FIG. 4 is not an arbitrary position of the drum body 3, but a state where the gripping device 8 is positioned at the lowest position, for example. Say. In FIG. 4, the gripping device 8 includes a carriage 81 that can be moved up and down along a lift rail 80 provided on the side of the display case 2 that faces the drum body 3, an advancing / retreating drive unit 82 mounted on the carriage 81, A catcher lever 83 used as a gripping member is provided as a main part. Hereinafter, each part will be described.

The carriage 81 is a base member having wheels 81 </ b> A that are inserted into the lift rail 80 and can roll, and pulleys 81 </ b> C and 81 </ b> D provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the lift rail 80 at both ends in the up-and-down direction. Each end of the belt 81B is fixed. The belt 81B is driven to pull through a drive pulley 81E1 provided on an output shaft of a positionable lifting drive motor 81E such as a stepping motor fixed to the lift rail 80 side. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 81F denotes a belt tension adjusting member. A support plate 82A made of a sheet metal member for installing each member of the advance / retreat drive unit 82 is fastened and integrated with the carriage 81.
An advance / retreat drive motor 82B is fixed to the support plate 82A, and a drive gear 82B1 is attached to the output shaft of the advance / retreat drive motor 82B.
The drive gear 82B1 meshes with an idle gear 82C that is pivotally supported by the rising piece 82A1 of the support plate 82A, and the idle gear 82C is engaged with a screw shaft 82D inserted through the rising piece 82A1. The screw gear 82E is meshed.
The screw gear 82E is threaded on the inner surface and engages with the screw shaft 82D, and the teeth formed on the outer peripheral surface mesh with the idle gear 82C, thereby interlocking with the rotation of the idle gear 82C. The screw gear 82E is prevented from moving in the axial direction by being pinched by the rising piece 82A1 and the cylindrical member 82F fixed to the stationary part on the support plate 82A side. For this reason, when the idle gear 82C rotates, the screw gear 82E rotates in conjunction with it, and the screw shaft 82D can advance and retract in the axial direction according to this rotation.
An interlocking member 84 is integrated with the end of the screw shaft 82D on the side facing the drum body 3 in the axial direction. The interlocking member 84 has a rail formed on the upper portion of the support plate 82A. A slide base member 85 that can move forward and backward along the rail portion 82A2 by being fitted to the portion 82A2 is integrated.
The slide base member 85 is an installation part of a catcher lever 83 used for taking out articles.

As shown in FIG. 5, the catcher lever 83 is composed of a pair of lever main bodies 83A that can swing when the base end is supported by a support pin 83A1, and the swing end side is closed by a spring 83B. The habit of swinging is given.
The catcher lever 83 is a member that can be expanded against the above-mentioned behavior, and the expansion operation is for swing drive disposed on the swing end side between the support pin 83A1 and the spring 83B. This is done by the cam 83C.
The swing drive cam 83C is attached to the output shaft of the grip drive motor 86 (see FIG. 4) supported by the slide base member 85.
In the present embodiment, a configuration for setting the forward / backward position and the lift position of the catcher lever 83 and the position of the drum body 3 facing the gripping device 8 is provided.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the control unit 100 used in this configuration. In FIG. 6, the control unit 100 includes a microcomputer as a main part, and is used for drums that detect the positions of the operation panel 101 and the drum body 3 as members related to the present embodiment via an I / O interface (not shown). A motor position sensor 102, a lift position sensor 103 that detects the lift position of the carriage 81, and a forward / backward position sensor 104 that detects the forward / backward position of the catcher lever 83 are connected to the input side, and the drive motor 5 of the drum body 3 is connected to the output side. The drive unit 105, the drive unit 106 of the elevation drive motor 81E, the drive unit 107 of the advance / retreat drive motor 82B, and the drive unit 108 of the gripping drive motor 86 are connected to each other.

The operation panel 101 is provided in the operation unit 2A provided in the drum body 3, and is provided with numeric keys and initial keys for inputting the date according to the arrangement condition of the hooks 7 provided in the drum body 3. Yes.
The position detection sensor 102 of the drum body 3 detects the rotational position of the drum body 3, in other words, the rotation position from the initial position by the drive motor 5. The equipped encoder is used.
Moreover, although the elevation position detection sensor 103 and the advance / retreat position detection sensor 104 are not shown, limit sensors having a well-known structure are used.

In the control unit 100, the drive motor 5 is driven so that the article suspension position on the drum body 3 side faces the gripping device 8 corresponding to the date input on the operation panel 101. When the drive of the drive motor 5 is completed, or while the drum body 3 is rotating, the lifting / lowering drive motor 81E is driven to a position in the vertical direction corresponding to the hanging position of the article on the drum body 3 side. Is to be positioned.
When it is determined from the signal from the lift position detection sensor 103 that the gripping device 8 is positioned in the vertical direction, the control unit 100 drives the gripping drive motor 86 to expand the catcher lever 83, and the catcher in the expanded state. The advance / retreat drive motor 82B is driven to advance the lever 83 toward the hanging position of the article.
When the advance position is detected by the advance / retreat position detection sensor 104 of the catcher lever 83 that has advanced to the suspended position by driving the advance / retreat drive motor 82B, when the grip drive motor 86 is expanded by the signal from the control unit 100. The article is gripped by being closed by being driven in the opposite direction.
The opening and closing of the catcher lever 83 is achieved by rotating the swing driving cam 83C with a phase of a predetermined angle, and maintains the state in which the articles grasped by this rotation are prevented from falling off. . FIG. 7 shows a state where the catcher lever 83 has advanced from the initial position shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the catcher lever 83 in the state of gripping the article returns to the initial position before advancement by the reverse operation of the forward / backward drive motor 82B.
When the backward movement of the catcher lever 83 is completed, the elevating drive motor 81E reverses in a direction in which the carriage 81 can be returned to the initial position, and communicates with the article take-out port 2B (see FIG. 1) provided in the operation unit 2A. The carriage 81 is positioned on a discharge unit (not shown), and the operation of expanding the catcher lever 83 is performed again so that the article can be taken out.

  In the present embodiment, the hook 7 provided on the drum body 3 is provided in a tilted state using a moment in the direction of gravity, and its tip is bent at an angle close to the horizontal direction. As described above, when the initial position catcher lever 83 moves backward (moves in the direction indicated by the arrow P in FIG. 8) while holding the article, the hanging string of the article is pulled out in a state where it is difficult to be caught at the tip.

  According to the present embodiment, since the drum body 3 is merely configured to be rotationally driven, it is possible to reduce the inertia during rotation and shorten the movement time to the position facing the gripping device 8. As a result, the time required for taking out the article does not increase, and it is possible to avoid giving the customer the impression of waiting.

  Regarding the configuration of the hook 7 described above, the base end portion is not inserted into the hole on the drum 3 side, but can be simply screwed as shown in FIG. The folding position may be bent in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction. Further, in the case of such a tip configuration, the catcher lever 83 in the gripping device 8 is moved forward and backward so that the hanging string or the like can be folded at the tip folding position so as to get over the bent portion at the tip. It is also possible to take it out so as not to be caught.

1 is an external view of an article vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the structure of the drum body used for the goods vending machine shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of the holding structure of the hook provided in the drum body shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the structure of the holding | gripping apparatus used for the goods vending machine shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view for explaining the principle configuration of a catcher lever used in the gripping device shown in FIG. 4. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the control part used for the goods vending machine shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the one aspect | mode of the holding | gripping apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the taking-out state of the articles | goods which made object the hook shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Goods vending machine 2 Display case 3 Drum body 8 Grasp device 81 Carriage 82 Advance / retreat drive part 83 Catcher lever 100 Control part

Claims (3)

An article vending machine capable of taking out a selected item from among a large number of displayed articles,
A display case provided with a drum body capable of suspending a large number of articles therein;
A drum drive unit mounted on the display case on the bottom side of the drum body;
A gripping device capable of gripping an article suspended on the drum body side and bringing the article from a suspended position to a dropping position and moving forward and backward with respect to the drum peripheral surface;
The position information of each article on the drum body side is registered, and the article suspension position on the drum body side is faced to the gripping device by driving the drum body according to the information on the selected article, and the gripping device An article vending machine comprising: a control unit capable of setting an article take-out state by the apparatus. A hook is provided at the hanging position of the article in the drum body,
2. The article vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the hook has at least 12 stages and each stage has a number corresponding to several days of the month.   3. The article vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines an article suspending position on the drum side according to a selected date and faces the gripping device.

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