JP2009187370A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine preventing dispensing trouble caused by jamming in a commodity dispensing mechanism part disposed in a commodity storage rack, with a simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: In this vending machine, cassette cases 200 each storing a plurality of commodities sideways and each having a stopper mechanism preventing the commodity from falling in a bottom part are vertically detachably installed in the commodity storage rack, and the commodities are vertically stacked and stored in the cassette case by operating the stopper mechanism to open a bottom part opening, and are dispensed one by one from the bottommost commodity by a commodity dispensing mechanism. The vending machine is provided with length restriction members 180 each restricting an interval in a commodity length direction in a commodity passage of the commodity dispensing mechanism 160. The interval in the commodity length direction of the commodity passage in a position of the commodity dispensing mechanism 160 can be restricted according to a commodity size stored in the cassette case 200, and disorder in an attitude of the commodity can be eliminated inside the commodity passage to eliminate the dispensing trouble at the commodity dispensing mechanism 160. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine that sells various products such as canned beverages, canned beverages, beverages in plastic bottles, and the like, and more particularly to a vending machine that facilitates replenishment of products.

A vending machine that sells various products such as canned beverages, bottled beverages, and plastic bottled beverages has a plurality of product storage shelves arranged in the cabinet of the main body cabinet, and the various products are stacked on the product storage shelves. It is configured to store and sell various products stored in the refrigerator in a refrigerated and warmed state, and frequently replenish the product storage shelves so as not to miss sales opportunities due to sold out. Is preferred. The product replenishment is preferably short and simple, but the conventional vending machine is configured to store the products one by one in the product storage shelf, and it takes a lot of time to replenish the products. The replenishment work is complicated, and it has been desired to solve this problem.
For this reason, a cassette case having a stopper for preventing a product from falling on the bottom and storing a plurality of products in a lying state is mounted on the product storage shelf in a vertically detachable manner. There has been proposed a vending machine in which the case stoppers are sequentially opened from the lower side so that products are stacked and stored in the cassette case in the vertical direction (Patent Document 1). According to the vending machine described in Patent Document 1, after preparing a cassette case storing a plurality of products in a lying state in advance and removing the empty cassette case from the product storage shelf, the cassette case is removed. A new cassette case containing the product is mounted on the trace of the cassette case, and the product is dropped into the lower cassette case to be supplied by opening the stopper of the cassette case. . Accordingly, since a plurality of products can be replenished in a lump, the product replenishment time can be greatly shortened, and replenishment work of products in a vending machine can be easily performed.

Generally, it is desired to sell a plurality of types of products having different length sizes in a vending machine, and the vending machine described in Patent Document 1, that is, a vending machine using a cassette case is no exception. . For this reason, the cassette case can be used in common for products having different length sizes as a size capable of storing the product having the maximum length size, and the attitude is set for products having a short length size. An adjustment member that divides the storage space of the cassette case in the length direction is provided so as not to be disturbed, and when the cassette case is stacked vertically on the product storage shelf, the storage space (product passage) of the cassette case in the vertical direction is constant. It is connected in the vertical direction at intervals, so that the posture of the product is not disturbed in the cassette case (in the product passage) and the product is not jammed.
JP 2005-38335 A

By the way, the product storage shelf has a product carry-out mechanism at the lower part, and a cassette case having a stopper mechanism for storing a plurality of products in a laid-down state inside the product carry-out mechanism and preventing the product from dropping at the bottom. The product is supplied to the product carry-out mechanism by operating the stopper mechanism of the cassette case to open the bottom opening, and the product continues in the cassette case in the vertical direction. The product take-out mechanism is driven by the operation of a product selection button to carry out the products one by one from the lowest product.
As described above, the merchandise delivery mechanism is configured so that merchandise is supplied from the cassette case, but the merchandise path of the merchandise delivery mechanism section has the largest length size among the merchandise that can be stored in the cassette case. It is formed to be compatible with products. In other words, the interval in the product length direction of the product passage in the product delivery mechanism is determined by the size of the product with the maximum length size, so when a product with a short length size is supplied from the cassette case, the product The attitude of the product may be disturbed, resulting in product clogging, which may cause carry-out troubles.
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its object is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to prevent a trouble of carrying out due to product jamming in a product dispensing mechanism portion disposed on a product storage shelf with a simple configuration. Is to provide a vending machine capable of

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of product storage shelves are juxtaposed in the cabinet of the main body cabinet, the product storage shelves have a product delivery mechanism at the bottom, and the product delivery A cassette case having a stopper mechanism for storing a plurality of products in an overlying state in the upper region of the mechanism and having a stopper mechanism for preventing the product from dropping at the bottom is detachably mounted in the vertical direction. Is a vending machine in which the bottom opening is opened to allow the products to be stacked and stored in the cassette case continuously in the vertical direction. In the vending machine which is to be carried out one by one, a length regulating means for regulating the interval in the product length direction in the product passage of the product carry-out mechanism is provided.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the first aspect, the length restricting means is a length restricting member that is detachably attached to a passage width restricting plate disposed opposite to the product carry-out mechanism. It is characterized by being.
The invention according to claim 3 is the vending machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the length regulating member is selectively engaged with a plurality of engaging holes formed in the passage width regulating plate. It is characterized by having a locking piece.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of product storage shelves are juxtaposed in the cabinet of the main body cabinet, the product storage shelves have a product carry-out mechanism at the lower part, and in an upper area of the product carry-out mechanism. A cassette case having a stopper mechanism for storing a plurality of products in a sideways manner and preventing a product from falling down is detachably attached in the vertical direction, and the bottom portion is operated by operating the stopper mechanism of the cassette case. A vending machine in which products are stacked and stored in the cassette case in a vertical direction by opening an opening so that the products are delivered one by one from the lowest product by the product dispensing mechanism. In the vending machine according to the present invention, there is provided a length regulating means for regulating the interval in the product length direction in the product passage of the product delivery mechanism, so that the product delivery mechanism portion can be positioned. The product passage direction of the product passage can be regulated according to the product size stored in the cassette case, and the product posture in the product passage can be eliminated. It is possible to eliminate unloading troubles due to clogging.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the first aspect, the length regulating means is detachably attached to the passage width regulating plate disposed opposite to the product carry-out mechanism. By using the member, even when it is not necessary to regulate the interval of the product passage, the length regulating member can be attached to the product carry-out mechanism, and the length regulating member is not lost. Have.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the first aspect, the length restricting member is selectively engaged with a plurality of engagement holes formed in the passage width restricting plate. By having a stop piece, it has the advantage that the space | interval of a merchandise path can be controlled with a common length control member with respect to several goods from which length size differs.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view partially showing a cross section of the main part of the internal structure of the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention. The vending machine illustrated here includes a main body cabinet 1 and an outer door (not shown).
In FIG. 1, a main body cabinet 1 is formed as a heat-insulating housing whose front surface is open, and has a product storage 12 inside. Although not shown, an outer door that closes the opening and a heat-insulating inner door that closes the front surface of the product storage in the main body cabinet 1 are attached to the front surface of the main body cabinet 1 so as to be openable and closable by hinges. . In addition, a display room displaying product samples, a product selection button, a coin insertion slot, a bill insertion slot, a merchandise outlet, a coin return slot, and the like are disposed on the front side of the outer door, and a coin processing is performed on the rear side. Devices, banknote processing devices, vending machine sales operations, lighting or dimming operations of lighting lamps installed in the display room, control devices for controlling cooling / heating units that cool or heat products in the warehouse, etc. Is arranged.
The main body cabinet 1 is divided by a bottom plate 11 into an upper product storage 12 and a lower machine room 13. The product storage 12 on the upper side is divided into a plurality of product storage rooms in the left-right direction by a heat insulating partition wall 14, and each product storage room stores products such as canned drinks, bottled drinks, and plastic bottled drinks. A product storage shelf 100 having a product delivery mechanism for storing and discharging the product by operating a product selection button is placed at the lower end thereof, and each product storage chamber is cooled or heated at the bottom of each product storage chamber A cooling / heating unit (not shown) for cooling or heating the product stored in the product storage shelf is provided. In addition, 15 is a chute for sending the product carried out from the product delivery mechanism of the product storage shelf to the product outlet of the outer door through a carry-out port with a flapper formed on the inner door, and 16 is on the back wall of the product storage It is a duct that is attached and returns the air circulating in the product storage chamber to the cooling / heating unit.

In the product storage shelf 100, cassette cases 200 storing a plurality of products in a laid-down state are stacked and attached in the vertical direction, and are guided and supported through the drawer device 300 so as to be freely drawn out from the interior of the product storage case 12. Although details of the drawer device 300 will be described later, a fixed rail member 310 fixed to the ceiling surface of the cabinet, a movable rail member 320 inscribed in the fixed rail member 310 and slidably disposed, and a commodity storage shelf 1 and FIG. 1 shows a state in which the product storage shelf 100 is pulled out forward in the cabinet via the drawer device 300.
The product storage shelf 100 is shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the main part of the product storage shelf, showing a state where the cassette case 200 is removed. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the product storage shelf. The product storage shelf will be described with reference to FIGS.
2 and 3, 110 is a pair of left and right support columns, 120 is a rail member, 130 and 140 are reinforcing members, and 150 is a mounting member for the product delivery mechanism 160 and the passage width regulating plate 170, thereby providing a product storage shelf. 100 is configured. The column 110 is made of a metal square, and its upper end is fixed to a column attachment member 340 (see FIG. 3) integrally attached to the support rail member 330 of the drawer device 300. The pillars 110 form a pair on the left and right, and in this example, a pair of left and right pillars 110 are arranged in three rows in the front-rear direction. The rail member 120 is formed of a sheet metal in a bowler hat shape with a thin cross section, and the rails 121 and 121 (refer to FIG. 3) at both ends corresponding to the ridges are bridged between a pair of left and right columns 110 in the vertical direction. 110 is fixed by screws. A semicircular positioning recess 122 is formed on the upper edge of one end of the upper rail 121 (right side in FIG. 3), and a positioning protrusion 123 is formed on the body on one end of the lower rail 121. . The rail members 120 are disposed back to back on the front side (left side in FIG. 2) and the rear side of the support column 110, respectively. In this example, six rail members 120 are bridged between a pair of left and right columns 110.

The reinforcing members 130 and 140 are formed in a rectangular shape by appropriately bending a thin steel plate, and the upper ends thereof are fixed to column support members 340 integrally attached to the support rail member 330 of the drawer device 300. A square ring-shaped handle 131 is provided at a substantially central portion of the front surface of the reinforcing member 130 disposed at the front end of the product storage shelf 100, and the handle 131 is pivotally supported by the reinforcing member 130 so that one side thereof is rotatable. Is suspended along the reinforcing member 130 and is caused when the product storage shelf 100 is pulled out. A stopper member 133 is connected to the handle 131 via a slide plate 132 that slides in the vertical direction. The stopper member 133 is fitted in an engagement hole (not shown) formed in the ceiling surface of the main body cabinet 1 in a state where the product storage shelf 100 is stored in the storage, and holds the product storage shelf 100 in the storage position. It is configured so as to come out of the engagement hole in conjunction with the raising of the handle 131.
Further, the mounting member 150 is formed by deforming a sheet metal into a deformed shape in which the upper end is stepped and the lower end is inclined toward the rear end, and is screwed to the support 110 and the reinforcing members 130 and 140, respectively. Yes. Although this attachment member 150 is visible only on the right end side of the product storage shelf 100 in FIG. 2, it is also provided on the left end side of the product storage shelf 100. The attachment member 150 is disposed opposite to the product delivery mechanism 160 and the product delivery mechanism 160 to attach and fix the passage width regulating plate 170 that constitutes a product passage together with the product delivery mechanism 160. The product delivery mechanism 160 and the passage width regulating plate 170 are already known (for example, the product delivery mechanism 160 and the passage width regulation plate 170 are disclosed in JP-A-2001-52253, and the product delivery mechanism 160 is installed in JP-A-8 The product delivery mechanism 160 has upper and lower flapper members attached to the back surface of the substrate constituting the product passage. The flapper member is driven by a drive source such as a solenoid to alternately appear in and out of the product passage, and is carried out one by one from the lowest product. In this example, the commodity delivery mechanism 160 and the passage width restricting plate 170 are disposed in front of and behind the pair of left and right columns 110, respectively.

Next, a cassette case 200 detachably mounted on the product storage shelf 100 is shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the entire structure of the cassette case 200, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a front view showing a part enlarged for explaining the positioning of the adjusting member that regulates the length size of the product of the cassette case 200. .
In the figure, the cassette case 200 is a molded product made of a transparent synthetic resin, formed as a hollow rectangular parallelepiped box having an open top and bottom, and is configured so that a plurality of products can be stacked and stored in a lying position inside. Has been. The cassette case 200 is provided with an engagement piece 210, a stopper mechanism 220, a flapper member 230, an adjustment member 240, and a covering member 250.
Two engagement pieces 210 are provided at predetermined locations on the upper and lower stages of the front wall and the rear wall of the cassette case 200. Each of the engagement pieces 210 protrudes in a direction away from the wall surface and is bent downward to be formed in a hook shape. These engagement pieces 210 form a pair on the left and right, and a positioning projection 211 that protrudes downward is formed on the inner horizontal wall surface of the right engagement piece 210 of the pair of left and right engagement pieces 210. . In addition, a circular positioning hole 212 is formed between the engaging pieces 210 where the positioning protrusions 211 are formed and at a location near the upper engaging piece 210.

  One end of the stopper mechanism 220 is pivotally supported by a shaft portion 222 formed at the front side position on the left side wall of the cassette case 200, and the other end (free end) is formed on the operation notch 223 formed below the right side wall of the cassette case 200. And a stopper piece 221 that is exposed to the outside of the cassette case 200. The stopper piece 221 is closed across the bottom opening of the cassette case 200 (ie, a position along the diagonal line of the cassette case 200) and opened at the bottom opening (ie, a position parallel to the front wall of the cassette case 200). ) Is swingably disposed. As shown in FIG. 5, the operation notch 223 includes a first positioning groove 223a for positioning the stopper piece 221 at a position parallel to the front wall of the cassette case 200, and the stopper piece 221 substantially horizontally. A second positioning groove 223b that is positioned at a position along the diagonal line, and third and fourth positioning grooves 223c that are positioned above the second positioning groove 223b and in which the free end of the stopper piece 221 is gradually inclined upward. , 223d. When the free end of the stopper piece 221 is locked to the first position 425a of the operation notch 223, the bottom opening of the cassette case 200 is opened. On the other hand, when the free end of the stopper piece 221 is locked to any one of the second to fourth positioning grooves 223b to 223d, the bottom opening of the cassette case 200 is closed. The second to fourth positioning grooves 223b to 223d are provided in accordance with the length size of the product, and the interval from the left side wall of the cassette case 200 is increased by gradually tilting the stopper piece 221 upward. As a result, the cassette case 200 can be used for a plurality of types of products having different length sizes.

The flapper member 230 is configured by a sheet metal as a lid, and is attached in such a manner as to open and close the top opening of the cassette case 200. That is, the flapper member 230 is pivotally supported on the upper edges of the front wall and the rear wall of the cassette case 200, and as shown in FIG. It is provided so as to be able to oscillate between being pushed in and parallel to the front wall or the rear wall, that is, to be able to oscillate in such a manner that the top opening of the cassette case 200 is opened and closed. Note that the flapper member 230 is normally biased to a position that closes the top opening of the cassette case 200 as shown in FIG. 4, and the product is stored through the top opening of the cassette case 200. The product is allowed to pass by being pushed by the product and swinging inward, and after the product has passed, the product returns to its original state to prevent the product stored in the cassette case 200 from coming out. It is configured.
The adjustment member 240 is a plate-like body formed by press-molding a thin steel plate into a rectangle, and is arranged so as to be movable in the left-right direction in the cassette case 200 (product passage). It is configured to regulate the length (that is, the product length). Locking pieces 241 projecting outward are formed on both side edges of the upper portion of the adjusting member 240, and locking pieces 242 projecting outward are also formed on both side edges of the lower portion of the adjusting member 240. Yes. On the other hand, on the front wall and the rear wall of the cassette case 200, a plurality of slits 213 and 214 for engaging with the locking pieces 241 and 242 are formed, and in this example, three slits are formed. Therefore, when the product with the maximum length size is stored in the cassette case 200, the slit 213 at the left end shown in FIG. 6A is selected and the adjustment member 240 is inserted, and the product with the minimum length size is inserted into the cassette. When storing in the case 200, the right end slit 213 shown in FIG. 5B is selected and the adjusting member 240 is inserted so that the product passage length in the cassette case 200 is adapted to products having different length sizes. be able to.

Here, of the slits 213 and 214 formed on the front wall and the rear wall of the cassette case 200, the upper slit 213 has a slit for reducing the width at the entrance end as shown in FIG. A protrusion 213 a is formed, and the slit width at the position of the retaining protrusion 213 a is determined to be smaller than the double-held thickness of the locking piece 241 of the adjustment member 240. Therefore, although there is a slight resistance when engaging the locking piece 241 of the adjustment member 240 with the slit 213, the locking piece 241 is deformed by bending the wall surface forming the slit 213 when pushed against the resistance. Passes through the position of the retaining protrusion 213a and is inserted into the slit 213. Even if the cassette case 200 is turned upside down after the locking piece 241 is inserted into the slit 213, the locking piece 241 is prevented from being pulled out of the slit 213 by the retaining protrusion 213a. Even when the cassette case 200 is turned upside down, the adjusting member 240 does not fall out of the cassette case 200. The lower slit 214 is formed with a constant width, but a retaining protrusion may be formed in the same manner as the upper slit 213.
Corresponding to the adjustment member 240 described above, the product carry-out mechanism 160 of the product storage shelf 100 is provided with a length regulating member for regulating the interval in the length direction of the product passage, which will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a partially exploded perspective view showing an enlarged cross section of the lower part of the product storage shelf 100. In the figure, the cassette case 200 is cut in the vicinity of the front wall and the product is removed. The product delivery mechanism 160 facing the passage width regulating plate 170 shown in the figure is located on the front side of the cut surface, and in the same figure, the product delivery mechanism 160 of the rear column can be seen.

In the figure, reference numeral 180 denotes a length restricting member (length restricting means), and the figure shows an exploded state before the length restricting member 180 is attached to the passage width restricting plate 170. The length regulating member 180 is formed by bending a thin steel plate, and has a latching claw 181 a that is selectively engaged with a plurality of engagement holes 171 to 173 formed in the passage width regulating plate 170. It consists of a piece 181 and a regulating plate 182 that protrudes into the product passage and extends downward to regulate the length of the product passage. The engagement holes 171 to 173 of the passage width regulating plate 170 are provided corresponding to the adjustment stages (slits 213 and 214) of the adjustment member 240 inserted into the cassette case 200. In the figure, reference numeral 190 denotes a passage constituting member that is arranged so that the product does not directly contact the right end mounting member 150.
The length restricting member 180 is attached to the engagement holes 171 to 173 of the passage width restricting plate 170 according to the position of the adjusting step of the adjusting member 240 inserted into the cassette case 200. The attachment state of this length regulating member 180 is shown in FIG. In the figure, since the adjustment member 240 is inserted by selecting the slit 214 (213) at the right end of the slits 214 (213) of the cassette case 200, the length regulating member 180 is engaged with the passage width regulating plate 170. The locking claw 181a of the locking piece 181 is engaged with the hole 173 and attached. Thus, the distance (product length size) with respect to the passage constituting member 190 can be regulated by selecting one of the plurality of engagement holes 171 to 173 as the attachment position of the length regulating member 180. .

Next, the drawer device 300 for pulling out the product storage shelf 100 from the interior will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a main part in a state in which the product storage shelf 100 is pulled out from the interior in order to explain the constituent members of the drawer device 300. This drawer device 300 suspends the fixed rail member 310 fixed to the ceiling surface in the cabinet, the movable rail member 320 that is slidably disposed in contact with the fixed rail member 310, and the commodity storage shelf 100. It is comprised by the support rail member 330 to support. The fixed rail member 310, the movable rail member 320, and the support rail member 330 are long rail members formed by appropriately bending thick steel plates.
The fixed rail member 310 is formed in a bowler hat shape in cross section, and is fixedly supported by a bolt so as to face the front-rear direction on the ceiling surface in the warehouse. The movable rail member 320 includes an inverted U-shaped main body 321 inserted into the fixed rail member 310, an intermediate portion 322 protruding outward from both ends of the main body 321, and an upper portion from the intermediate portion 322. And a plurality of (three in this example) rollers 324 are fixed to the leg 322 in the front-rear direction. The lower end of the roller 324 has a space in which the flange portion of the fixed rail member 310 can be inserted between the intermediate portion 322 and the upper end is large enough to be exposed to the outside beyond the upper end of the leg portion 322. Has been chosen. Further, the support rail member 330 has a rectangular shape so as to wrap the movable rail member 320 from below, and the upper surface is opened leaving the rail contact portion 331. A notch 332 (regulating means) into which the roller 323 is fitted is formed at a predetermined position of the rail contact portion 331 of the support rail member 330. A support mounting member 340 made of a sheet metal (thick plate) is integrally fixed to the lower surface of the support rail member 330, and the support 110 is fixed to the support mounting member 340.

Here, the assembly of the drawer device 300 into the cabinet will be described. Before the drawer device 300 is assembled into the cabinet, the movable rail member 320 is assembled to the fixed rail member 310 to be a semi-finished product. In order to prevent the movable rail member 320 from dropping forward from the fixed rail member 310, the stopper piece 320a formed by cutting and raising at the rear end of the movable rail member 320 is cut and raised on the fixed rail member 310. This is because the movable rail member 320 cannot be inserted from the front of the fixed rail member 310 because it is configured to come into contact with the engaging piece 310a formed by this. Therefore, the movable rail member 320 is inserted from behind the fixed rail member 310. In this case, the flange portion of the fixed rail member 310 is inserted so as to be sandwiched between the intermediate portion 322 of the movable rail member 320 and the roller 324, and the both are integrated.
As described above, the fixed rail member 310 to which the movable rail member 320 is assembled is fixed to the predetermined position on the ceiling surface in the warehouse by bolts and disposed in the warehouse. In this manner, the support rail member 330 is inserted from the front of the fixed rail member 310 and the movable rail member 320 fixed to the ceiling surface in the cabinet. In this case, the rail contact portion 331 of the support rail member 330 is positioned so as to cover the roller 324 fixed to the leg portion 323 of the movable rail member 320 from above, and the support rail member 330 lowers the movable rail member 320 downward. Insert it so that it wraps around. As a result, assembling of the drawer device 300 into the cabinet is completed, and the stopper piece 320a of the movable rail member 320 abuts on the engaging piece 310a of the fixed rail member 310 in the pulled-out state as shown in FIG. The pull-out position of the member 320 is restricted, and the notch 332 formed in the rail contact portion 331 of the support rail member 330 is fitted into the roller 324 of the movable rail member 320 so that the pull-out position of the support rail member 330 is restricted. In this case, when the roller 324 is fitted into the notch 332 of the rail contact portion 331, the support rail member 330 is restricted from moving in the front-rear direction. That is, the product storage shelf 100 pulled out from the interior is placed in the product replenishment position. It can be held in a stopped state (position where the entire product storage shelf 100 is pulled out from the interior). In addition, although the example which formed the notch 332 in the predetermined position of the rail contact part 331 of the support rail member 330 as a control means which controls the goods storage shelf 100 pulled out from the inside to a goods replenishment position was demonstrated. It can replace with and can be set as the dent into which the roller 324 fits.

Further, the restricting means for holding the product storage shelf 100 pulled out from the warehouse in a stopped state at the product replenishment position is also provided in the lower part of the product storage shelf 100, which will be described with reference to FIGS. . 10 is a main part perspective view showing a region in the vicinity of the bottom plate 11 of the main body cabinet 1, FIG. 11 is a main part perspective view showing an enlarged front area of the guide rail member of FIG. 10, and FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a regulating means. is there.
In the figure, reference numeral 400 denotes a guide rail member, and this guide rail member 400 is fixed to a heat insulating partition wall 14 (see FIG. 1) that divides the inside of the cabinet into a plurality of product storage chambers, and is below the product storage shelf 100. The product storage shelf 100 is prevented from swinging left and right by coming into contact with the mounting member 150 provided on the left and right sides. A stopper member 500 is rotatably disposed by a stepped screw 51 at the front upper end of the guide rail member 400. The stopper member 500 has a hook-like locking piece 510 at the top and a restriction hole 512 (see FIGS. 11 and 12) for restricting the rotation range is formed in the body portion. Therefore, the weight balance of the body is selected. Reference numeral 50 denotes a mounting member for the stepped screw 51, and a pin 52 that is loosely fitted in the restriction hole 512 is implanted in the mounting member 50.
At the rear end of the mounting member 150 of the product storage shelf 100 with respect to the stopper member 500, an engaging tongue piece 151 is formed by cutting and raising as shown in FIG. The engaging tongue 151 abuts against the slant surface of the stopper member 500 immediately before the product storage shelf 100 is pulled forward and reaches the product replenishing position, and rotates the stopper member 500 counterclockwise (stopper member). The counterclockwise rotation range of 500 is regulated by the regulation hole 512). When the engagement tongue piece 151 passes through the flange portion of the rotated stopper member 500, the stopper member 500 is rotated clockwise by its own weight to hold the engagement tongue piece 151. As a result, the product storage shelf 100 is held in a stopped state at the product replenishment position. When the product storage shelf 100 is stored in the cabinet, the stopper member 500 is manually rotated counterclockwise to disengage the stopper member 500 from the engagement tongue 151.

  Now, an operation for packing products into the cassette case 200 will be described below. The cassette case 200 is used as a returnable box, and the cassette case 200 is filled with merchandise in a manufacturing factory or product warehouse that manufactures beverage products. As shown in FIG. 4, the product is packed in the cassette case 200 by engaging the stopper piece 221 with any of the second to fourth positioning grooves 223 b to 223 d of the operation notch 223 to open the bottom opening of the cassette case 200. In the closed state and with the adjustment member 240 inserted into the upper and lower slits 213 and 214, the product is placed in a lying position through the flapper member 230 that opens and closes the top opening. In this way, a plurality of products are stacked and stored in the cassette case 200 in a lying position. The product put in the cassette case 200 does not come out when the flapper member 230 returns. The sales status of the vending machine is transmitted to the central management center from the transmitter installed in the vending machine, and the automatic management system installed in the area where workers who maintain and manage the vending machine visit this central management center. Create a product stuffing command for each replenishment request (product type, quantity) of the vending machine, control the production plant line according to this stuffing command, and stuff the product into the cassette case 200 to manage product inventory Can be eliminated.

  Next, the cassette case 200 is mounted on the product storage shelf 100 after the product storage shelf 100 is pulled out from the interior, and then the cassette case 200 is mounted from the right direction shown in FIG. In this case, one engaging piece 210 (the left engaging piece 210 in FIG. 4) of the upper and lower engaging pieces 210 of the cassette case 200 is engaged with the upper and lower rail members 120 of the commodity storage shelf 100. In this case, when the cassette case 200 is mounted on the front side (left side in FIG. 2) of the column 110, the upper and lower engaging pieces 210 provided on the rear wall of the cassette case 200 shown in FIG. When the cassette case 200 is mounted on the rear side, the upper and lower engaging pieces 210 provided on the front wall of the cassette case 200 are engaged with the rail member 120. With the engaging piece 210 of the cassette case 200 engaged with the rail member 120 in this way, the cassette case 200 is horizontally moved to the left and the other engaging piece 210 is engaged with the rail member 120. Subsequently, the cassette case 200 is horizontally moved leftward so that the positioning protrusion 211 of the other engagement piece 210 is fitted into the positioning recess 122 of the rail member 120. The positioning projections 211 of the rail member 120 are fitted into the positioning holes 212 of the cassette case 200 at the same time that the positioning projections 211 are fitted into the positioning recesses 122 of the rail member 120. Thereby, the movement of the cassette case 200 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction is restricted. As described above, the positioning concave portion 122 and the positioning convex portion 123 are provided on the rail member 120 of the commodity storage shelf 100 to position the mounting position of the cassette case 200, so that the commodity storage shelf is shared with respect to products having different length sizes. Can be used.

  Here, when the cassette case 200 is mounted on the empty product storage shelf 100 as shown in FIG. 2, the cassette case 200 is mounted sequentially from the position immediately above the product delivery mechanism 160, and the example of FIG. Then, since six rail members 120 are erected on the commodity storage shelf 100, the three cassette cases 200 are stacked and mounted in the vertical direction. When the cassette cases 100 are stacked and mounted on the commodity storage shelf 100 in this way, the openings of the cassette cases 200 adjacent in the vertical direction are connected vertically. In this state, the stopper piece 221 of the lowermost cassette case 200 is operated, that is, the stopper piece 221 engaged with any of the second to fourth positioning grooves 223b to 223d of the operation notch 223 shown in FIG. It is removed from the positioning groove and moved to a position parallel to the front wall of the cassette case 200 and engaged with the first positioning groove 223a. As a result, the products stored in the cassette case 200 are dropped onto the product delivery mechanism 160 and stacked on the flapper member of the product delivery mechanism 160. By sequentially operating the stopper piece 221 of the upper cassette case 200 as described above, the product falls into the lower cassette case 200, and the upper part of the product delivery mechanism 160 is defined as the product passage in the cassette case 200 communicating vertically. Products are stacked on top of each other. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the cassette case 200 is mounted on all of the product storage shelves 100. In FIG. 1, six rows of product passages in the front-rear direction, that is, six product columns are formed.

As described above, the product storage shelf 100 with the cassette case 200 mounted is stored in the store, and the product in the cassette case 200 is cooled or heated to an appropriate temperature by the control of the cooling / heating unit in the store, and then sold. Is done. When a product selection button (not shown) is operated, the product delivery mechanism 160 of the corresponding product column is activated to carry out the lowest product in the product column one by one, thereby lowering the product in the product column by one To do. When the sale of the product proceeds, the stacked cassette cases 200 are emptied and the product needs to be replenished.
Next, the product replenishment work by the cassette case 200 will be described. When replenishing products to the vending machine, the product storage rack 100 is pulled out from the interior. In this case, the product storage shelf 100 is pulled out from the warehouse via the drawer device 300. When the product storage shelf 100 is pulled out to the product replenishment position, the notch 332 formed in the rail contact portion 331 of the support rail member 330 of the drawer device 300 is fitted into the roller 324 of the movable rail member 320 as shown in FIG. Include. Thereby, the said product storage shelf 100 is hold | maintained in a stop state in the goods replenishment position. Thus, when the product storage shelf 100 is held at the product replenishment position in the stopped state by the drawer device 300, the engaging tongue piece 151 of the mounting member 150 provided below the product storage shelf 100 is a stopper as shown in FIG. The product storage rack 100 is also held in the stopped state at the product replenishment position by engaging with the locking piece 510 of the member 500. In this example, a notch 332 and a stopper member 500 formed in the rail contact portion 331 of the support rail member 330 of the drawer device 300 are provided as the restricting means for holding the product storage shelf 100 in the stopped state at the product replenishment position. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only one of the two may be used.

As described above, when the product storage shelf 100 is pulled out from the vending machine, the product replenishment shelf 100 is held in a stopped state at the product replenishment position, and the cassette case 200 that is empty in this state is removed from the product storage shelf 100. . In this case, when an upward force is applied to the emptied cassette case 200 to cause the positioning hole 212 of the cassette case 200 to come out of the positioning projection 123 of the rail member 120, the positioning protrusion of the engaging piece 210 of the cassette case 200 211 is disengaged from the positioning recess 122 of the rail member 120, and the cassette case 200 is removed from the commodity storage shelf 100 by pulling the cassette case 200 in the right direction while maintaining this state. And after attaching the new cassette case 200 in which goods were stored to the goods storage shelf 100, the stopper piece 221 of the said cassette case 200 is operated, and the goods in the newly attached cassette case 200 are dropped. When the exchange of the empty cassette case 200 and the new cassette case 200 is completed, the product storage shelf 100 is stored in the cabinet and the replenishment of the product is finished.
It should be noted that the number of products in the cassette case 200 positioned at the lower stage of the new cassette case 200 that is installed after being replaced with an empty cassette case 200 is small, and the falling distance of the product supplied from the installed cassette case 200 is long. In some cases, the drop impact becomes large, so that the product may be damaged or the posture may be disturbed during the fall. Therefore, when the number of products in the lower cassette case 200 is small, the lower cassette case 200 and the new cassette case 200 are exchanged, and the removed cassette case 200 is mounted again on the upper cassette case 200. Also good. When the lower cassette case 200 is removed from the product storage shelf 100, the stopper piece 221 of the cassette case 200 (the stopper piece 221 is opened to the bottom of the cassette case 200 in a state of being mounted on the product storage shelf 100 for sale). Is moved to a position parallel to the front wall of the cassette case 200 so as to be opened, and moved to a position where it is closed across the bottom opening. As a result, the products stacked with the stopper piece 221 as a boundary are separated, and the products remaining in the cassette case 200 are prevented from falling.

Since the above-described replenishment operation to the vending machine is performed by exchanging the cassette case 200 together, a plurality of products stored in the cassette case 200 can be replenished in a lump. Therefore, the replenishment time can be greatly shortened with respect to those for replenishing products one by one, and the operation can be easily performed. Moreover, since the stopper piece 221 is not removed from the cassette case 200, there is no risk of losing it. The empty cassette case 200 removed from the product storage shelf 100 is collected and reused as a returnable box.
As described above, in the present invention, a plurality of product storage shelves 100 are juxtaposed in the cabinet of the main body cabinet 1, and the product storage shelves 100 have the product carry-out mechanism 160 in the lower part, and the product carry-out mechanism 160 In the upper region, a cassette case 200 having a stopper mechanism 220 for storing a plurality of commodities in a laid state and preventing a product from dropping at the bottom is detachably mounted in the vertical direction. A vending machine in which the product 220 is stacked and stored in the cassette case 200 by operating the mechanism 220 to open the bottom opening, In the vending machine that carries out the products one by one, in the product length direction in the product passage of the product delivery mechanism 160 By providing a length regulating member 180 (length regulating means) that regulates the gap, the interval in the product length direction of the product passage at the position of the product carry-out mechanism 160 is set according to the product size stored in the cassette case 100. Since the product posture can be prevented from being disturbed in the product passage, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of carrying out the product due to product jamming in the product delivery mechanism 160.

Industrial application fields

  The vending machine according to the present invention described above is useful for selling products such as canned beverages, bottled beverages, plastic bottled beverages, and paper-packed beverages.

It is the perspective view which showed the principal part of the internal structure of the vending machine concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention in a partial cross section. It is a perspective view which shows the principal part of the goods storage shelf in FIG. It is a principal part enlarged view of the goods storage shelf in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the cassette case in FIG. It is a perspective view which expands and shows a part in order to demonstrate the stopper mechanism in the cassette case 200 of FIG. It is a front view which expands and shows a part in order to demonstrate positioning of the adjustment member which regulates the product length in the cassette case 200 of FIG. It is the partially exploded perspective view which expanded and showed the section of the lower part (goods delivery mechanism) of a goods storage shelf. It is a perspective view of the goods delivery mechanism part which shows the state which attached the length control member of FIG. It is a principal part enlarged view of the state which pulled out the goods storage shelf 100 from the inside in order to demonstrate the structural member of the drawer | drawing-out apparatus 300 of FIG. It is a principal part perspective view which shows the baseplate vicinity area | region of the main body cabinet of FIG. It is a principal part perspective view which expands and shows the front area of the guide rail member of FIG. FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing the restricting means.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main body cabinet, 12 ... Product storage, 100 ... Product storage shelf, 110 ... Support | pillar, 120 ... Rail member, 122 ... Positioning recessed part, 123 ... Positioning convex part, 150 ... Mounting member, 151 ... Engagement tongue piece, 160 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS Product delivery mechanism, 170 ... Passage width regulating plate, 180 ... Length regulating member, 200 ... Cassette case, 210 ... Engagement piece, 211 ... Positioning projection, 212 ... Positioning hole, 213 ... Slit, 213a ... For retaining Projection, 220 ... Stopper mechanism, 221 ... Stopper piece, 230 ... Flapper member, 240 ... Adjustment member, 300 ... Drawer, 310 ... Fixed rail member, 320 ... Moving rail member, 324 ... Roller, 330 ... Support rail member, 331 ... Roller contact portion, 332 ... notch, 340 ... post support member, 400 ... guide rail member, 500 ... stopper member.

Claims (3)

A plurality of product storage shelves are juxtaposed in the cabinet of the main body cabinet, the product storage shelves have a product carry-out mechanism at the bottom, and a plurality of products are laid down in the upper area of the product carry-out mechanism. A cassette case having a stopper mechanism for storing and preventing the product from dropping at the bottom is detachably mounted in the vertical direction, and the inside of the cassette case is opened by operating the stopper mechanism of the cassette case to open the bottom opening. In the vending machine in which the products are stacked and stored continuously in the vertical direction, the vending machine is configured to carry out one by one from the lowest product by the product dispensing mechanism,
A vending machine comprising length regulating means for regulating an interval in a product length direction in a product passage of the product carry-out mechanism. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the length restricting means is a length restricting member that is detachably attached to a passage width restricting plate disposed opposite to the product carry-out mechanism. 3. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the length regulating member has a locking piece that is selectively engaged with a plurality of engaging holes formed in the passage width regulating plate. Vending machine.

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