JP2008065853A - Commodity storage and carrying-out device for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly and surely carry out a stored commodity within a commodity storage and carrying-out column. <P>SOLUTION: The commodity storage and carrying-out device for a vending machine for carrying out a plurality of commodities forming a commodity string toward the head commodity side comprises a belt for loading the plurality of commodities forming the commodity string, which is formed of a fabric of fibrous material having a plurality of intrusion holes at least in a line part parallel to a carrying direction, the plurality of intrusion holes having a texture rougher than the texture of a position different from the plurality of intrusion holes; a base for laying the belt; a driven pulley over which the belt is laid on the carrying directional upstream side of the base; and a drive pulley over which the belt is laid on the carrying directional downstream side of the base, which has a plurality of intruding projections to be intruded to the plurality of intrusion holes. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a commodity storage / unloading device for a vending machine.

  The see-through type vending machine selectively receives the products arranged and stored in a line in the front-rear direction of a large number of product storage and delivery columns with a bucket moving in the XY direction of FIG. 9 and transports them to a predetermined product delivery unit. It is what I did. The product storage / conveyance column is configured to store the products in a line in the front-rear direction (depth direction) of the vending machine and to sequentially deliver the products to the front of the column by power transmission drive from the bucket side. The bucket moves to the front of the column storing the products purchased and selected by the customer (customer of the vending machine), receives the products, transports them to a predetermined product dispensing unit, and discharges them. The stored products in each column can be seen through the front door panel. The customer can make a purchase selection through the actual product through the panel.

  FIG. 9 shows the appearance (front view) of the see-through type vending machine described above. In the figure, a front-opening type product storage unit 12 is formed in the casing 10 of the vending machine. Moreover, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the cooling and / or heating system etc. are also accommodated. The front surface of the housing 10 is closed by a door-type panel (front panel) 13 so as to be opened and closed. The front panel 13 has a wide see-through window so that almost the entire product storage unit 12 can be seen through. In parts other than the see-through window, there are an operation panel 14 for selecting a purchased product, a bill and / or coin collecting device 15, a product dispensing unit 16, a change / refund dispensing unit 17, a locking device (only a key hole is shown) 18, and the like. Is provided.

  A plurality of drawer-type shelf boards 301 are mounted in the product storage unit 12 at regular intervals in the vertical direction (Y direction). Each shelf 301 is provided with a plurality of product storage / discharge columns 401 arranged in the width direction (X direction). The products 11 are stored in the product storage / conversion columns 401 in a state where the products 11 are arranged in a line in the front-rear direction (Z direction). The products 11 in the product storage / conveyance column 401 are fed out to the front end of each column for each column, and are visible through the front panel 13.

  The product 11 delivered to the tip of the product storage / conveyance column 401 is selectively received (pickup) by a movable carry-out device called a catcher based on the customer's selection, and is delivered to the product delivery unit 16. The catcher includes a bucket 901 that receives a product from the column 401 and an XY drive mechanism that moves the bucket 901 in the matrix direction (up and down and left and right). The bucket 901 moves in the matrix direction (XY direction) between the front end of the column 401 arranged in a matrix and the front panel 13, and the front end of the column 401 in which the product selected by the customer's operation is stored. Receive product 11 from The received product 11 is carried out to the product delivery unit 16.

  FIG. 10 shows the structure of the product storage / conveyance column 401. The commodity storage / conveying column 401 has a conveyor belt 431 driven in a fixed direction (Z direction) as shown in a side view in FIG. The conveyor belt 431 is a belt-like flexible belt, and stores the products 11 in a line on the conveyor belt 431, and drives the belt 431 to sequentially feed the products 11 to the front of the column. Yes. The belt 431 is stretched and driven by a driving pulley 511 that is pivotally supported at the front end of the column 401 and a driven pulley 541 that is pivotally supported at the rear end thereof.

  The drive pulley 511 is pivotally supported on the shelf board 301 and is provided with a gear 531 at one end thereof, as shown as a front view in FIG. The gear 531 meshes with the transmission gear on the bucket 901 (FIG. 9) side and is driven to rotate. A bucket drive mechanism (not shown) is mounted on the bucket 901, and the rotational drive from the drive mechanism is transmitted to the gear 531 of the drive pulley 511 via the transmission gear. As a result, the belts 431 of the respective product storage / conveyance columns 401 are driven by transmission power from the bucket 901 side. Although not shown in detail, the driven pulley 541 is pivotally supported in a spring-suspended state that gives a necessary tension to the belt 431.

  On the belt 431, as shown in (a) and (c) of the figure, a backrest plate 601 for preventing the product 11 on the belt 431 from falling backward is erected and fixed. . A movable stopper 701 is provided in front of the belt 431 to hold the product 11 conveyed to the front end of the product storage / unloading column 401 at the front end position of the product storage / unloading column 401, as shown in FIG. Has been.

  The movable stopper 701 has a vertical slide part 702 and a horizontal arm part 703 and has a substantially L shape, and the horizontal arm part 703 comes into contact with the front of the product at the end of the column. The vertical slide portion 702 is attached to the front end surface of the column partition wall 651 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction (Y direction). The column partition walls 651 are fixedly installed on the shelf board 301 at regular intervals.

  The movable stopper 701 is always spring-biased at a position where it comes into contact with the product 11 at the tip of the product storage / conveyance column 401, but when the bucket 901 is positioned in front of the product storage / conveyance column 401, The stopper function is released by being pushed down by the operation from the top. As a result, the product 11 at the tip of the product storage / unload column 401 is pushed forward and transferred to the bucket 901. The bucket 901 receives the product 11 from the product storage / unloading column 401 side by driving the belt 431 of the product storage / unloading column 401 with the transmission gear and simultaneously pressing the movable stopper 701 downward.

  The conveyor belt 431 is preferably installed so that the level difference from the shelf 301 is as small as possible in order to feed and carry out the commodity 11 in a stable posture. For this reason, both the driving pulley 511 and the driven pulley 541 are formed with a small diameter. In order to reliably drive the belt 431 with the small-diameter driving pulley 511, a tubular friction member 512 such as rubber is covered at the center of the driving pulley 511. The conveyor belt 431 is driven by the friction member 512 in contact with the drive pulley 511 with high friction.

Further, as shown in (c), a backrest plate 601 is attached to the conveyor belt 431, and a wide notch 432 is provided in a portion located in front of the backrest plate 601. The conveyor belt 431 is released from contact with the friction member 512 at the notch 432. In this contact release position, the contact friction between the belt 431 and the drive pulley 511 is reduced. As a result, when all the products 11 on the conveyor belt 431 are paid out and the backrest plate 601 comes into contact with the stopper 701, the drive pulley 511 is idled so that the backrest plate 601 contacts the stopper 701. It can be stopped safely and comfortably at the contact position.
JP 2000-30140 A JP 2002-24932 A

  In the above-described conventional product storage / delivery device of the vending machine, in order to smoothly drive the belt 431 of the product storage / conveyance column, it is better to increase the diameter of the drive pulley 511. However, when the pulley diameter is increased, the level difference from the shelf board 301 is increased, thereby increasing the thickness of the shelf board 301 and reducing the storage efficiency of the product 11. For this reason, in the conventional apparatus, a small-diameter driving pulley 511 must be used, but in order to drive the belt 431 with a torque of a certain degree or more with the small-diameter driving pulley 511, the tension of the belt 431 is very large. There is a need to. If the tension of the belt 431 is increased by the small-diameter driving pulley 511, the friction loss between the pulley and the belt increases, the power load on the bucket 901 side increases, and the driving cannot be performed smoothly. There has been a problem that mistakes are likely to occur in the operation of unloading the product when it is fully loaded.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to improve the efficiency of storing products in the product storage section, and to increase the power load on the bucket side without increasing the power load on the bucket side. An object of the present invention is to provide a product storage / conveyance device for a vending machine that can smoothly and reliably carry out the stored product.

  The present invention is a product storage and delivery device of a vending machine that transports a plurality of products forming a product row to the top product side, and has a plurality of penetration holes in at least one row portion parallel to the transport direction, A belt on which a plurality of commodities forming the commodity row are placed, which is made of a woven fabric of a fiber material in which the texture of the plurality of penetration holes is a coarser texture than the texture at a position different from the plurality of penetration holes; A base for stretching the belt, a driven pulley for stretching the belt on the upstream side in the transport direction of the base, and a plurality of penetration protrusions for penetrating the plurality of penetration holes, And a drive pulley that stretches the belt on the downstream side in the transport direction of the base.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the storage efficiency of the goods in a goods storage part can be improved. Further, the stored product in the product storage / conveyance column can be smoothly and reliably carried out without increasing the power load on the bucket side.

  1 to 6 each show an embodiment of the main part of the present invention. The vending machine of the embodiment shown in the figure is a see-through type vending machine in which the actual product of sale is seen through the front door panel and selected for purchase. Same as technology. In other words, the vending machine according to the embodiment selectively receives the products 11 arranged and stored in a row in a large number of product storage and carry-out columns 40 by the bucket 90 that is driven to move in the paper XY direction in FIG. It is comprised so that it may carry out to the goods delivery part 16. FIG. The product storage / conveying column 40 stores the products in a line in the front-rear direction (depth direction: Z direction) of the vending machine, and sequentially delivers the products to the front of the column by transmitting power from the bucket 90 side. It is configured. The bucket 90 moves to the front of a predetermined product storage / unload column 40 storing products purchased and selected by a customer (customer of a vending machine), receives the product 11 and transports it to the product delivery unit 16. The product 11 stored in each product storage / conveying column 40 can be seen through the front door panel 13. The customer can make a purchase selection through the real product through the door panel 13.

  FIG. 1 shows an external configuration of a see-through type vending machine to which the technology of the present invention is applied as viewed from the front. In the figure, a front-opening type product storage unit 12 is formed in the casing 10 of the vending machine. Moreover, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the cooling and / or heating system etc. are also accommodated. The front surface of the housing 10 is closed by a door-type panel (front panel) 13 so as to be opened and closed. The door-type panel 13 has a transparent window that is wide enough to see almost the entire product storage unit 12. In parts other than the see-through window, there are an operation panel 14 for selecting a purchased product, a bill and / or coin collecting device 15, a product dispensing unit 16, a change / refund dispensing unit 17, a locking device (only a key hole is shown) 18, and the like. Is provided.

  A plurality of drawer-type shelf boards 30 are mounted on the product storage unit 12 at regular intervals in the vertical direction (Y direction). Each shelf board 30 is provided with a plurality of product storage / unload columns 40 arranged in the width direction (X direction). The product storage / conveying column 40 is partitioned by a partition plate 65. The products 11 are stored in the respective product storage / conversion columns 40 in a state where the products 11 are arranged in a line in the front-rear direction (Z direction). The products 11 in the product storage / unloading column 40 are fed out to the front end of the column for each column, and are visible through the door panel 13.

  The product 11 delivered to the tip of the product storage / conveyance column 40 is selected by a movable carry-out device called a catcher based on the customer's selection, and is delivered to the product delivery unit 16. The catcher includes a bucket 90 that receives the product 11 from the product storage / unload column 40, and an XY drive mechanism that moves the bucket in a matrix direction (horizontal and vertical). The bucket 90 moves in the matrix direction (XY direction) between the front end of the product storage and carry-out column 40 arranged in a matrix and the door panel 13 and stores the product selected by the customer's operation. The product 11 is received from the tip of the product storage / unload column 40. The received product 11 is carried out to the product delivery unit 16.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the main parts of the drawer-type shelf board 30 and the product storage / conveying column 40. As shown in the figure, the product storage / conveying column 40 of this embodiment has a conveyor belt 43 (endless belt, belt) driven in a fixed direction (Z direction). The merchandise 11 is stored in a line on the conveyor belt 43, and the merchandise 11 is sequentially fed forward of the merchandise storage / conveying column 40 by driving the conveyor belt 43. The belt 43 is an endless belt in which a belt-like woven fabric of synthetic fibers (woven fabric made of fiber material) is connected in a loop shape, and sprocket holes 44 (penetration holes) are provided at a constant pitch along both width ends. . As will be described later, the sprocket hole 44 shown in FIG. 2 may be a portion where the texture of the woven fabric is rough (see FIGS. 7 and 8). The belt 43 is attached and held in a stretched state on a conveyor base 45 (base) that can be attached to and detached from the shelf board 30. That is, the merchandise carry-out mechanism of the merchandise storage carry-out column 40 is configured as a conveyor unit 41 independent of the shelf board 30. The conveyor unit 41 has an L-shaped locking key portion 42 projecting downward, and the key portion 42 is fitted and locked into the slit 35 of the shelf plate 30 so that the conveyor unit 41 can be placed at an arbitrary position on the shelf plate 30. It comes to be installed.

  The shelf plate 30 has a tray shape in which a back plate 32 and a side plate 33 are raised from three sides of a rectangular bottom plate 31, and the bottom plate 31 and the back plate 32 each have a number of slits 35 for engaging and locking the locking key portions 42. It is drilled side by side in parallel. The slits 35 and 34 are provided at an interval pitch that is sufficiently narrower than the width of the product storage and carry-out column 40. The conveyor unit 41 can be mounted at an arbitrary position on the shelf board 30 by inserting and locking the locking key portion 42 into any of the many slits 35 formed in the bottom plate 31.

  A partition plate 65 that divides the product storage / unload column 40 is also detachably mounted on the shelf plate 30. The partition plate 65 has a substantially rectangular flat plate shape having substantially the same length as the depth of the shelf plate 30, and has an L-shaped key portion 66 fitted and engaged with the slit 35 of the bottom plate 31 and the slit of the back plate 32. 34 is integrally provided with a projecting plate portion 67 which is fitted and engaged. The partition plate 65 is formed by inserting and locking an L-shaped key portion 66 and a protruding plate portion 67 into any of a large number of slits 35 and 34 formed in the bottom plate 31 and the back plate 32, respectively. Similarly, it can be installed and installed at an arbitrary position on the shelf board 30.

  With the above-described configuration, the product storage / unload column 40 can be installed in any number (rows) within the width of the shelf 30 for each shelf 30 and the width of each product storage / unload column 40 is also arbitrary. Can be set to The width of the commodity storage / unloading column 40 can be optimally variably set according to the width size of the commodity 11 to be stored and transported. That is, according to the conveyance width of the product 11, a single conveyor unit 41 can be partitioned with different widths using the partition plate 65, and a plurality of conveyor units 41 adjacent on the shelf plate 30 are used with the partition plate 65. Thus, a single commodity storage / unloading column 40 can be formed by partitioning with different widths. Thereby, while being able to respond | correspond flexibly to several types of goods 11 from which size differs, the storage space of the goods 11 can be utilized efficiently. The slits 35 and 34 can also function as good ventilation holes for keeping the product 11 cold or warm.

  At the tip of the conveyor unit 41, there is a gear 53 for driving the belt 43 from the bucket 90 side, and a movable stopper 70 for holding the product 11 conveyed to the column tip at the tip position of the column 40. is set up. These will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the main part of the conveyor unit 41 part. In the figure, (a) is an exploded perspective view, and (b) is a schematic side view. As shown in the figure, the conveyor unit 41 includes a conveyor base 45, a conveyor belt 43, a driving pulley 51, a driven pulley 54, a backrest plate 60, a movable stopper 70, and the like.

  The main structural part of the conveyor base 45 is constituted by a belt-like frame having a length that matches the depth of the shelf board 30. Support shafts 46 and 47 project from the front and rear ends of the frame, respectively. A driving pulley 51 is pivotally supported on the support shaft plate 46 at the front end, and a driven pulley 54 is pivotally supported on the support shaft plate 47 at the rear end. The drive pulley 51 is provided with a sprocket protrusion 52 (penetration protrusion) that engages with the sprocket hole 44 of the conveyor belt 43. The conveyor belt 43 is driven by the engagement between the sprocket hole 44 and the sprocket protrusion 52.

  A gear 53 is provided at one end of the drive pulley 51. The gear 53 meshes with a transmission gear on the bucket 90 side and is driven to rotate. The bucket 90 is equipped with a belt drive mechanism (not shown), and the rotational drive from the drive mechanism is transmitted to the gear 53 of the drive pulley 51 via the transmission gear. As a result, the conveyor belt 43 of each commodity storage / conveying column 40 is driven from the bucket 90 side. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted about this transmission mechanism, for example, what is disclosed by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2002-24932 etc. can be utilized as it is. Although the detailed illustration of the driven pulley 54 is omitted, the driven pulley 54 is pivotally supported in a spring-suspended state that gives a necessary tension to the conveyor belt 43.

  The conveyor belt 43 is stretched and driven by a driving pulley 51 and a driven pulley 54, and the stretching is performed so that the conveyance surface on which the product 11 is mounted is parallel to the surface of the shelf plate 30. In this case, since the driving pulley 51 has a larger diameter than the driven pulley 54, the central axis of the driving pulley 51 is supported below the central axis of the driven pulley 54. For this reason, the support shaft 46 that supports the drive pulley 51 protrudes obliquely downward and forward of the conveyor base 45 while bending in a crank shape. With such a configuration, the level difference between the conveyor belt 43 and the shelf board 30 can be reduced, whereby the storage efficiency of the product 11 in the product storage unit 12 can be improved. Moreover, since the winding angle of the conveyor belt 43 with respect to the drive pulley 51 becomes large, the shaft load of the drive pulley 51 is reduced and the conveyor belt 43 can be reliably driven. Further, since the conveyor unit 41 has a simple structure, it can be inexpensive.

  As described above, in the embodiment, the conveyor belt 43 is driven not by friction between the pulley and the belt but by the catch between the sprocket hole 44 and the sprocket protrusion 52. For this reason, the tension of the belt 43 can be greatly reduced as compared with the driving by the conventional thin pulley. Thereby, the torque load of belt drive can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to reduce the driving load on the bucket 90 side and to smoothly carry out the delivery / unloading operation of the product 11 in the product storage / unload column 40.

  The conveyor unit 41 has a backrest plate 60 for preventing the product 11 on the conveyor belt 43 from falling backward, and the product 11 conveyed to the tip of the column at the front end of the product storage / unload column 40. A movable stopper 70 is provided to keep it in position. The backrest plate 60 will be described in detail with reference to separate drawings (FIGS. 5 and 6). The movable stopper 70 is pivotally supported by the conveyor base 45 and is formed so as to enter and exit the front of the conveyor belt 43.

  The movable stopper 70 has a stopper portion 71 and a guide portion 72 integrally, and the side surface is formed to have a substantially arc shape. The stopper portion 71 is in contact with the front surface of the product 11 at the end of the column to regulate the delivery of the product 11. The movable stopper 70 is pivotally supported on the conveyor base 45 together with the spring 73. The spring 73 always elastically biases the stopper portion 71 toward the front of the product storage / conveying column 40, that is, the stopper position. A concave receiving portion 74 that receives a push-down operation from the bucket 90 side is formed below the stopper portion 71. A guide portion 72 is formed on the back side of the receiving portion 74. The guide portion 72 is formed so as to cover the front end portion of the conveyor belt 43 stretched around the drive pulley 51.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the guide portion 72 of the movable stopper 70 is pivotally supported by an appropriate shaft portion with respect to the conveyor base 45. As shown in FIG. 3 (b), this shaft portion is provided at least above the lowermost end surface of the drive pulley 51, so that together with the spring suspension means (not shown) in the driven pulley 54 described above, A tension is applied to the belt 43 (applying member).

  FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the configuration in the vicinity of the movable stopper 70. As shown in the figure, when the bucket 90 is positioned in front of the product storage / conveying column 40, the receiving portion 74 is pushed downward obliquely by a lever operation from the bucket 90 side. By this lever operation, the stopper portion 71 is retracted downward from the stopper position in front of the column, and the stopper function is released. As a result, the commodity 11 at the end of the column is pushed forward and transferred to the bucket 90.

  The bucket 90 has an operation lever 92 that swings in synchronization with the operation of the transmission gear. The transmission gear drives the conveyor belt 43 of the product storage / conveyance column 40, and simultaneously pushes the movable stopper 70 downward. Thus, the product 11 is received from the product storage / unloading column 40 side. At this time, the upper end portion of the stopper portion 71 retracted from the stopper position is formed so as to bridge the flat floor surface 75 between the conveyor belt 43 and the bucket 90. As a result, the product 11 at the tip of the conveyor belt 43 is smoothly transferred to the bucket 90. The bucket 90 is provided with a cam mechanism 94 for synchronizing the operation lever 92.

  FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the backrest plate 60. In the same figure, (a) shows a front sectional view of the conveyor unit 41, and (b) and (c) show side views thereof, respectively. As shown in the figure, the backrest plate 60 has a vertically long box shape having a thickness in the front and rear, and is formed on the conveyor belt 43 so as to stand upright independently. On the bottom surface of the backrest plate 60 is formed a protrusion 61 that fits into and engages with the sprocket hole 44 of the conveyor belt 43. Further, the backrest plate 60 has a pair of leg portions 62 and 62 extending downward from both side portions. Each leg 62 is bifurcated so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the product storage / conveyance column 40. A convex portion 63 is formed inside each leg portion 62. The backrest plate 60 is placed with the pair of leg portions 62 and 62 straddling the conveyor belt 43. The front ends of the leg portions 62 and 62 straddling the belt 43 are respectively located on the side portions of the conveyor base 45.

  On both sides of the conveyor base 45, linear guide grooves 48 are provided for loosely fitting the convex portions 63 and guiding them in the longitudinal direction of the column 40. In addition, a groove 49 is formed on the upper surface of the conveyor base 45 so that the protrusion 61 formed on the bottom surface of the backrest plate 60 is inserted into the sprocket hole 44 of the conveyor belt 43. The groove 49 is formed with a predetermined depth up to a position close to the tip of the commodity storage / unloading column 40.

  When the backrest plate 60 is located at a position slightly rearward from the tip of the product storage / conveyance column 40, the protrusion 61 on the bottom of the backrest plate 60 is fitted into the sprocket hole 44 of the conveyor belt 43. By being engaged with each other, the product is moved forward together with the conveyor belt 43 to support the product on the product storage / unload column 40 from the rear. The backrest plate 60 that has been moved forward needs to be moved rearward (backward) when the merchandise storage and carry-out column 40 is replenished with merchandise. At this time, conventionally, the backrest plate fixed to the belt had to be forcibly retracted together with the belt. However, according to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5C, the backrest plate 60 is tilted obliquely and the bottom surface is slightly lifted, so that the protrusions 61 on the bottom surface and the sprocket holes of the belt 43 are formed. The engagement with 44 can be released, and only the backrest plate 60 can be easily and smoothly retracted to an arbitrary position. Then, if the backrest plate 60 is made to stand again again at the target retracted position, the engagement between the protrusion 61 and the sprocket hole 44 can be resumed at that position. In this case, the convex part 63 is provided on both of the leg parts 62 branched into two branches, but one convex part 63 on the front end side of the product storage / conveying column 40 is formed so as to fit into the guide groove 48 relatively deeply. The other convex portion 63 is preferably formed so as to be relatively shallowly inserted into the guide groove 48 and easily removed.

  FIG. 6 shows the state of the groove 49 formed on the upper surface of the conveyor base 45. In the same figure, (a) is a state at a position away from the tip of the product storage / unloading column 40, and (b) is a side sectional view showing a state at a position near the tip of the product storage / unloading column 40. On the upper surface of the conveyor base 45, there is provided a groove portion 49 for dropping and engaging the protrusion on the bottom surface of the backrest plate 60 into the sprocket hole 44 of the conveyor belt 43. It is formed so that it gradually becomes shallow near the tip of the carry-out column 40 and the depth disappears near the tip of the product storage carry-out column 40.

  For this reason, the backrest plate 60 is driven to move forward together with the conveyor belt 43 by the engagement between the protrusion 61 and the sprocket hole 44 at a position away from the tip of the product storage / conveying column 40. When it comes to a position close to the tip of the carry-out column 40, the projection 61 is pushed up, the backrest plate 60 is inclined forward, and the engagement with the sprocket hole 44 becomes shallow. In this shallow engagement state, as shown in (b), even if the conveyor belt 43 is driven forward, the protrusion 61 escapes above the sprocket hole 44. Therefore, although the backrest plate 60 receives a slight forward moving force, the backrest plate 60 can be stopped safely without difficulty when it contacts the movable stopper 70. In the past, in order to stop the backrest plate by contacting the stopper, a wide notch was provided in a part of the conveyor belt to reduce the friction. Smooth friction control can be eliminated. Further, since there is no need to provide a large notch in the belt, there is no risk of belt breakage due to strength reduction.

=== Details of conveyor belt ===
The configuration of the conveyor belt of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration substantially the same as the configuration of the main part of the commodity storage / unloading column 40 shown in FIG. 2, in which a partially enlarged view of the conveyor belt 433 is inserted. This conveyor belt 433 is an endless belt in which a strip-shaped woven fabric of synthetic fibers (woven fabric made of fiber material) is connected in a loop shape. The conveyor belt 433 is formed by alternately weaving longitudinal fibers 433a along the conveying direction and transverse fibers 433b perpendicular to the longitudinal fibers 433a. As shown in FIG. 7, the longitudinal fibers 433a are adjacent to each other at both sides of the conveyor belt 433, and the transverse fibers 433b are woven at a substantially constant interval. In the present embodiment, a plurality of (for example, two) transverse fibers 433b form one set. As a result, the sprocket protrusion 52 (penetration protrusion) is satisfactorily caught in a penetration hole 443 described later.

  The conveyor belt 433 according to the present embodiment is formed by fusing the ends of what is woven as described above. As a result, as shown in the inset of FIG. 7, the conveyor belt 433 has a fine texture as a whole, but has a rough texture portion along both sides thereof. Moreover, this rough texture part will have the horizontal direction fiber 433b for every substantially constant space | interval mentioned above. As a result, the rough texture portion is divided at substantially constant intervals in the transport direction, and functions as the penetration hole 443 similar to the sprocket hole 44 described above.

  FIG. 8A is a partial side view around the drive pulley 51 shown in FIG. 3B, and FIGS. 3B and 3C show the conveyor belts 43 and 433, respectively. It is a top view. The distance “D” between the sprocket holes 44 in the conveyor belt 43 in FIG. 3B is the distance along the peripheral surface between the sprocket protrusions 52 provided on the peripheral surface of the drive pulley 51 in FIG. It is set equal to “D” (same pitch). On the other hand, if the interval between the transverse fibers 433b in the conveyor belt 433 in FIG. 3C is set to be sufficiently smaller than this “D”, the conveyor belt 433 will be the same as that in FIG. It is possible to have a penetration hole 443 corresponding to the sprocket hole 44. Here, the conveyor belt 433 is driven by the sprocket protrusion 52 of the driving pulley 51 being caught by the lateral fibers 433b.

  As described above, the conveyor belt 433 having the configuration shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8C is continuously penetrated in the conveying direction in the manufacturing process of the first stage such as weaving of the longitudinal fibers 433a and the transverse fibers 433b. It will already have a hole 443. Therefore, the conveyor belt 433 can be manufactured at a lower cost than the conveyor belt 43 in which the sprocket holes 44 shown in FIG. 8B must be accurately drilled as the second step, for example. In particular, when manufacturing the conveyor belt 43 that is an endless belt, the sprocket holes 44 at the ends are fused with high precision, or the sprocket holes 44 are accurately placed at predetermined positions after the fusion. Must be drilled. On the other hand, when the end portions of the conveyor belt 433 are fused, such high accuracy is not required. Therefore, the conveyor belt 433 can be manufactured at a lower cost, and the manufacturing cost of the vending machine can be reduced accordingly.

  If the length of the conveyor belt 43 shown in FIG. 8B is changed, the length of the conveyor belt 433 shown in FIG. The change unit in the case of changing the length is arbitrary. Therefore, the vending machine using the conveyor belt 433 has a configuration that can easily cope with a model change, for example.

  In addition, as another aspect of the conveyor belt, as shown in FIG. 8 (d), there is an example in which the texture is roughened only in the vicinity of the position where the sprocket protrusion 52 is inserted to form a penetration hole (444). . Such a conveyor belt 434 can be formed by appropriately weaving the longitudinal fibers 434a and the transverse fibers 434b. Further, as shown in FIG. 8E, the penetration hole 445 may be formed by roughening the texture of only one side portion (one row portion) of the conveyor belt 435. Further, as shown in FIG. 8 (f), the penetration hole 446 may be formed by roughening only the central portion (one row portion) of the conveyor belt 436. However, in this case, the position of the sprocket protrusion 52 on the peripheral surface of the drive pulley 51 must also be the one corresponding to the above 52 '.

  As in the case of the conveyor belt 43 described above, the driving of the conveyor belts 433, 434, 435, and 436 is not caused by friction between the pulley and the belt, but between the through holes 443, 444, 445, and 446 and the sprocket protrusion 52. It is done by catching. For this reason, the tension of the belts 433, 434, 435, and 436 can be greatly reduced as compared with the driving by the conventional small-diameter pulley. Thereby, the torque load of belt drive can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to reduce the driving load on the bucket 90 side and to smoothly carry out the delivery / unloading operation of the product 11 in the product storage / unload column 40.

=== Other Embodiments ===
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on the typical Example, this invention can have various aspects other than having mentioned above. For example, the front surface of the movable stopper 70 can be used as a display label surface of a product. It can also be used as a position detection target when positioning the bucket 90 in front of the column.

  In the above-described embodiment, the conveyor belts 43, 433, 434, 435, and 436 are endless belts, but are not limited thereto. For example, the conveyor belt may be an endless belt that moves a predetermined distance, conveys and pays out goods, and then moves backward to prepare for the next sale.

It is a front view showing the appearance composition of a see-through type vending machine to which the present invention is applied. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the principal part Example of the drawer | drawing-type shelf board and goods storage carry-out column in the Example of this invention. It is the disassembled perspective view and schematic side view which show the principal part Example of the conveyor unit part in the Example of this invention. It is a schematic side view which shows the structure of the movable stopper vicinity in the Example of this invention. It is the front sectional view and side view which show the structure of the backrest board in the Example of this invention. It is a sectional side view which shows the state of the groove part formed in the upper surface of the conveyor base in the Example of this invention. It is an exploded view which shows the principal part Example of the goods storage carry-out column in the Example of this invention. It is the side surface and top view of a conveyor belt in the Example of this invention. It is a front view which shows the external appearance structure of the conventional see-through type vending machine. It is the side view, front view, and perspective view which show the structure of the goods storage carry-out column part in the conventional vending machine.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Case of vending machine 11 Goods 12 Goods storage part 13 Door type panel 16 Goods delivery part 17 Change / refunding part 18 Locking device 30 Pull-out shelf 31 Bottom plate 32 Back plate 33 Side plate 34,35 Slit 40 41 Conveyor unit 42 L-shaped locking key part 43 Conveyor belts 433, 434, 435, 436 Conveyor belts 44 Sprocket holes 45 Conveyor bases 46, 47 Support shafts 48 Linear guide grooves 49 Groove parts 51 Drive pulleys 52 Sprocket projection 53 Gear 54 Driven pulley 60 Backrest plate 61 Projection portion 62 Leg portion 63 Convex portion forming a slide follower 65 Partition plate 66 L-shaped key portion 67 Projection plate portion (tongue plate portion)
70 movable stopper 71 stopper portion 72 guide portion 73 panel 74 concave receiving portion 75 bridged floor 90 bucket 92 operation lever 94 cam mechanisms 433a, 434a, 435a, 436a longitudinal fibers 433b, 434b, 435b, 436b transverse fibers 443, 444, 445, 446 penetration hole

Claims (7)

A vending machine product storage and transport device that transports a plurality of products forming a product line to the top product side,
From a woven fabric of fiber material having a plurality of penetration holes in at least one row parallel to the conveying direction, and the texture of the plurality of penetration holes is a coarser texture than the texture at a position different from the plurality of penetration holes A belt on which a plurality of products forming the product row are placed;
A base for stretching the belt;
A driven pulley that stretches the belt on the upstream side in the transport direction of the base;
A drive pulley that has a plurality of penetration protrusions for penetrating into the plurality of penetration holes, and stretches the belt on the downstream side in the transport direction of the base;
A vending machine for storing and carrying out goods.   The product storage / conveyance device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the belt is an endless belt. The drive pulley having a larger diameter than the driven pulley;
An applying member for applying tension to the belt stretched around the pulley in a state where the central axis of the driving pulley is pivotally supported by the base below the central axis of the driven pulley;
The product storage / unloading device for a vending machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that   4. The product storage / conveyance device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of penetration holes are provided on both side portions parallel to a conveying direction of the belt.   5. The commodity storage / unloading device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of through holes are provided at the same pitch as the plurality of penetration protrusions.   2. The commodity storage / unloading device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the rough texture is continuously formed in a line portion parallel to at least the transport direction.   2. The commodity storage / unloading device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the rough texture is continuously formed on both side portions parallel to the transport direction.

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