JP2009205475A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine capable of appropriately realizing local temperature adjustment and the whole temperature adjustment with a simple structure without increasing the number of components. <P>SOLUTION: In the vending machine 1, a duct plate 50 forming a cylindrical circulation duct 30 is arranged to face to a back wall of a product storage chamber 10. When a volume of air sent out by an in-chamber fan 60 is plenty since an upper inlet 51 is located near an upper end of a product rack 20, the air reaches to an upper part of the product rack 20, and is sucked in the circulation duct 30 from the upper inlet 51 via a wide range of the product rack 20. When a volume of air sent out by the in-chamber fan 60 is small since intermediate inlets 52a, 52b formed on the duct plate 50 are located near a lower end of the product rack 20, the air is sucked in the circulation duct 30 from the intermediate inlets 52a, 52b via a range near a lower end of the product rack 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine, and more particularly, to a vending machine that cools or heats a product such as a beverage in a container such as a can, a bottle, a pack, or a plastic bottle for sale.

  The vending machine is composed of a casing surrounded by a heat insulating material, in which products are stored, and the internal air is heated or cooled to a predetermined temperature (low temperature). Note that the product may refer to a beverage or the like in a container such as a can, a bottle, or a plastic bottle, or may refer to a combination of a beverage or the like and a container that encloses the beverage.

The products are stored in a product rack having a function of sequentially discharging the products downward, and product cutting means for dropping the products one by one is installed below the product rack. Then, the product cut out and dropped by the product cutting means is transported to a product outlet formed in the front door by a product transporting means (such as a shooter or a conveyor).
Also, below the shooter, air temperature adjusting means (evaporator and heater) and air blowing means (fan) are installed, and the cooled or heated air passes through the ventilation holes formed in the product conveying means. It blows out toward the product rack. Furthermore, since the circulation duct is arranged on the rear surface of the product storage, the blown air is sucked into the circulation duct via the product rack and returns to the blowing means again.

The products are sold after being adjusted to a desired temperature according to the type, season, installation location of the vending machine, and the like. At this time, when adjusting the temperature of one or two products stored at the lowest level to be sold next time or next time, and the temperature of many products stored in the product rack as a whole There is a case to adjust to.
Therefore, a vending machine that can appropriately cope with both cases is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-58312 A (page 5-7, FIG. 11)

The invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with a plurality of suction ports (same as the suction ports formed in the circulation duct) for sucking out air from the product storage at different heights, and the plurality of suction ports are used for merchandise. Selection means for selecting an air outlet for sucking out the air in the storage is provided. And by this configuration, it is possible to adjust the temperature locally by selecting only the suction port provided below, while the overall temperature can be adjusted by selecting the suction port provided above. ing.
However, since the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires selection means (valve portion that is operated by a link mechanism) that can close the suction port, the number of parts is increased. In addition, when the suction port provided in the upper part is selected, air is also sucked out from the suction port provided in the lower part (same as flowing into the circulation duct), so that the air is sufficiently close to the ceiling of the product storage I did not get around.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of appropriately realizing local temperature adjustment and overall temperature adjustment while having a simple configuration without increasing the number of parts. .

(1) A vending machine according to the present invention (Claim 1) includes a casing surrounded by a heat insulating material and provided with an opening on one side;
A heat-insulating door that can freely open and close the opening, and has a product exit through which the product can pass;
A product storage formed by a partition wall installed in the housing;
A product rack disposed in the product storage for storing products;
Product transport means for transporting the product cut out and dropped from the product rack to the product exit;
An air temperature adjusting means that is installed below the product conveying means and adjusts the temperature of the air in the product storage;
Blower means installed below the commodity transport means and for sending air into the commodity storage;
A vending machine having a circulation duct for returning the air sent by the blowing means to the blowing means via the inside of the commodity rack,
The circulation duct is formed with an upper suction port that opens at a position near the upper end of the product rack, and an intermediate suction port that opens at a position near the lower end of the product rack,
When the amount of air sent by the blowing means is large, the air is sucked into the circulation duct from the upper suction port via a wide range of the commodity rack, and when the amount of air sent by the blowing means is small, The vending machine, wherein the air is sucked into the circulation duct from the intermediate suction port via a range close to the lower end of the commodity rack.

(2) In the vending machine according to the present invention (Claim 2), in (1), the upper suction port opens at a position of 70 to 85% of the height of the product rack from the lower end of the product rack. ,
The intermediate suction port is opened from a lower end of the product rack at a position of 8 to 25% of a height of the product rack.

  Since the vending machine according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, the local temperature adjustment and the overall temperature adjustment can be performed only by changing the amount of air sent by the blowing means without requiring a special mechanism. It can be realized as appropriate.

[Embodiment 1]
(vending machine)
1 to 3 schematically illustrate the vending machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view in a side view (when there is a large amount of air flow), and FIG. 2 is a side view. FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a circulation duct. In the following drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a part of the description is omitted.
1 and 2, a vending machine (hereinafter referred to as a “vending machine”) 1 is installed in a product storage 10 having a casing surrounded by a heat insulating material, and in the product storage 10 to store products. The product rack 20 having a function of sequentially discharging downward, the product outlet 12 formed on the front wall 11 of the product storage 10 through which the product can pass, and the product S dropped from the product rack 20 are transported. And a shooter (same as the merchandise conveying means) 13 to be conveyed to the outlet 12.

Below the shooter 13, an air temperature adjusting means 70 for adjusting the air temperature is installed. The air temperature adjusting means 70 includes an evaporator 71 that emits cold heat and an in-compartment heater 72 that discharges hot heat. Adjacent to the evaporator 71, an internal fan (same as the air blowing means) 60 that sends out air toward the evaporator 71 is installed in the fan case 61.
The evaporator 71 constitutes the refrigeration cycle 50.

The cooling unit 80 is condensed by the compressor 81 that compresses the refrigerant, the condenser 82 that condenses the high-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor 81, the blower 83 that blows air to the condenser 82, and the condenser 82. A solenoid valve (not shown) that distributes the high-pressure refrigerant to each commodity storage 10, an expansion mechanism (electronic expansion valve, capillary tube, etc.) 84 that depressurizes the distributed high-pressure refrigerant, and a low temperature supplied via the expansion mechanism 84 An evaporator 71 that evaporates the low-pressure refrigerant (more precisely, evaporators 71a, 71b, and 71c disposed in each product storage 1) and an accumulator (not shown) that accumulates the low-pressure refrigerant heated in the evaporator 71 And a refrigerant pipe 86 for connecting these devices.
Therefore, when the low-pressure low-temperature refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator 71, the cold heat is released. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant may be supplied (same as the heat pump operation). In this case, heat is released.

(Circulation duct)
In FIG. 3, a duct plate 50 is obtained by bending a plate material into a U-shaped cross section in a plan view, and includes a duct plane 50c, duct side surfaces 50b and 50d formed on both side edges of the duct plane 50c, and a duct. It has a duct installation surface 50a parallel to the duct plane 50c formed on the side surface 50b, and a duct installation surface 50e parallel to the duct plane 50c formed on the duct side surface 50d. The duct plane 50c is formed with a pair of intermediate suction ports 52a and 52b and one blowout port 53.

(Wind flow)
In FIG. 1, the duct plate 50 is installed with the duct installation surfaces 50 a and 50 e in contact with the rear wall 14 of the product storage 10 and the lower end of the duct plate 50 in contact with the floor 15. Therefore, the cylindrical circulation duct 30 surrounded by the duct plane 50c, the duct side surfaces 50b and 50d, and the rear wall 14 is formed, and the upper end portion of the circulation duct 30 is opened in a rectangular shape to become the upper suction port 51. (See FIG. 1).
Since the upper suction port 51 is located near the upper end of the product rack 20, when the amount of air sent out by the internal fan 60 is large, the air reaches the upper part of the product rack 20 and the product rack 20 is wide. The air is sucked into the circulation duct 30 from the upper suction port 51 via the range. At this time, the inflow from the intermediate suction ports 52a and 52b to the circulation duct 30 hardly occurs.

  In FIG. 2, since the intermediate suction ports 52 a and 52 b are close to the lower end of the product rack 20, when the amount of air sent by the internal fan 60 is small, the air passes through a range close to the lower end of the product rack 20. Thus, the air is sucked into the circulation duct 30 from the intermediate suction ports 52a and 52b. At this time, the air sent out by the internal fan 60 flows through the lower part of the product rack 20 and therefore does not flow into the circulation duct 30 from the upper suction port 51.

(Example)
4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining an example of the vending machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view schematically showing the main part, and FIG. It is a time chart which shows the driving | running state of a fan. Note that the same or corresponding parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a part of the description is omitted.

In FIG. 4, in the vending machine 1 as an embodiment, the height (A) of the product rack 20 is 125 mm, and the height (B) of the circulation duct 30, that is, the position of the upper suction port 51 is the product rack 20. It is 850-1050 mm from the lower end part.
The height (D) of the intermediate suction port 52 itself is 50 to 150 mm, and the lower edge of the intermediate suction port 52 is at a position (E) 100 to 150 mm from the lower end of the product rack 20. Therefore, the upper edge of the intermediate suction port 52 is located in the range (C) of 150 to 300 mm from the lower end of the product rack 20.

In (a) of FIG. 5, in the product storage 10 that is totally cooled, the supply of refrigerant to the evaporator 71 indicated by “OFF” is stopped (more precisely, the operation of the compressor constituting the refrigeration cycle is stopped). As a result, the temperature rises. When the temperature reaches the predetermined upper limit temperature, the temperature is lowered by restarting the supply of the refrigerant to the evaporator 71 indicated by “ON” (more precisely, the operation of the compressor constituting the refrigeration cycle is started). Therefore, by repeating such ON-OFF, the internal temperature is maintained in a certain temperature range while fluctuating in a sawtooth shape.
On the other hand, the internal fan 60 is continuously operated regardless of the supply stop or supply restart of the refrigerant to the evaporator 71. At this time, since the rotation speed of the internal fan 60 is 3800 rpm and the duty ratio is 100%, the air sent out by the internal fan 60 always reaches the upper part of the product rack 20 even if it is not immediately after cooling. Then, it flows into the circulation duct 30 from the upper suction port 51 (see FIG. 1).

In FIG. 5B, in the product storage 10 that is locally cooled (the same as the zone cooling), the temperature in the storage fluctuates in a sawtooth shape by repeating the ON-OFF as in the case of the overall cooling. While maintaining a certain temperature range.
On the other hand, the internal fan 60 starts operation when the internal temperature reaches a predetermined upper limit temperature. That is, since the internal fan 60 starts blowing in accordance with the start of supply of the refrigerant to the evaporator 71, the cooled air is immediately sent out. At this time, since the rotation speed of the internal fan 60 is 3000 rpm and the duty ratio is 50 to 80%, the air sent out by the internal fan 60 passes through the lower part of the product rack 20 and the intermediate suction port 52a, 52b flows into the circulation duct 30 (see FIG. 2).

Furthermore, after the temperature in the refrigerator reaches a predetermined lower limit temperature (after the supply of the refrigerant to the evaporator 71 is stopped) and 1 to 2 minutes have elapsed, the internal fan 60 stops operating. Therefore, at least the air immediately after being cooled is sent out.
For example, when the duty ratio is 80%, the input current to the internal fan 60 repeats 400 ms energization (ON) and 100 ms power outage (OFF), and when the duty ratio is 60%, 300 ms energization. (ON) and a power failure (OFF) of 200 ms are repeated, and when the duty ratio is 50%, a power supply (ON) of 250 ms and a power failure (OFF) of 250 ms are repeated. At this time, since the cycle of such energization / power failure is very short, the internal fan 60 rotates at a low speed due to the inertia of the rotating system (swivel blade, motor, etc.).

  In addition, in the Example, although the case where the goods storage 10 is cooled is shown, this invention is not limited to this, When the goods storage 10 is heated (it supplies electricity to the heater 72 in a warehouse, etc.). In the case of heat pump operation), overall temperature adjustment and local temperature adjustment can be realized as described above.

  According to the present invention, local temperature adjustment and overall temperature adjustment can be appropriately realized by changing the amount of air sent by the blowing means without requiring a special mechanism. Can be widely used as a vending machine.

Sectional drawing which illustrates typically the vending machine which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. Sectional drawing which illustrates typically the vending machine which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The perspective view which shows typically the circulation duct in the vending machine shown in FIG. Sectional drawing which shows typically the principal part of the Example of the vending machine shown in FIG. The time chart which shows the operating condition of the fan in a store | warehouse | chamber in the Example of the vending machine shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine 10 Commodity storage 11 Front wall 12 Commodity exit 13 Shuter 14 Rear wall 15 Floor surface 20 Product rack 30 Circulating duct 50 Duct plate 50a Duct installation surface 50b Duct side surface 50c Duct side surface 50d Duct side surface 50e Duct installation surface 51 Upper suction port 52a Intermediate suction port 52b Intermediate suction port 53 Outlet port 60 Internal fan 61 Fan case 70 Air temperature adjusting means 71 Evaporator 72 Internal heater 80 Cooling unit 81 Compressor 82 Condenser 83 Blower 84 Expansion mechanism 86 Refrigerant piping S product

Claims (2)

A housing surrounded by heat insulating material and provided with an opening on one side;
A heat-insulating door that can freely open and close the opening, and has a product exit through which the product can pass;
A product storage formed by a partition wall installed in the housing;
A product rack disposed in the product storage for storing products;
Product transport means for transporting the product cut out and dropped from the product rack to the product exit;
An air temperature adjusting means that is installed below the product conveying means and adjusts the temperature of the air in the product storage;
Blower means installed below the commodity transport means and for sending air into the commodity storage;
A vending machine having a circulation duct for returning the air sent by the blowing means to the blowing means via the inside of the commodity rack,
The circulation duct is formed with an upper suction port that opens at a position near the upper end of the product rack, and an intermediate suction port that opens at a position near the lower end of the product rack,
When the amount of air sent by the blowing means is large, the air is sucked into the circulation duct from the upper suction port via a wide range of the commodity rack, and when the amount of air sent by the blowing means is small, The vending machine, wherein the air is sucked into the circulation duct from the intermediate suction port via a range close to the lower end of the commodity rack. The upper suction port opens at a position of 70 to 85% of the height of the product rack from the lower end of the product rack;
2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate suction port opens at a position of 8 to 25% of the height of the product rack from a lower end of the product rack.

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